Monday, November 7, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Waiting For Superman(2010)
Directed by Davis Guggenheim who also directed “An Inconvenient Truth” which is a documentary on Global Warming, now has to tell us about American educational System. He tells us in a more dramatic yet painful way. They are in touch with 5 kids and their families and their aspirations to get into a good school and not in a school by their neighborhood which has fairly 50% dropout rate. A Leap of faith taken by the parents to put them in Kips academy, Harlem Success Academy and other institutes comes down to a lottery system where 1 in 20 could get a chance in the school and the rest 19 off 20 will have to be sad. The underprivileged kids who have limited resources can do academically better than suburban kids who have great campus, athletic rooms, etc. Davis focuses on Geoffrey Canada who purposefully chose poorest area to open Harlem success academy. His Mantra was qualified teachers, highly motivated faculties who are highly paid. They tutor kids from day 1 especially on math and English.
The best part comes when there is a chart showing that in developed nations, US ranks lowest in math and reading. But when it comes to confidence US ranks no.1 but is that just enough. Reality hits hard when stats are recorded in Cultured and employed American citizens to Unemployed and increased crime rates. The Comparison of Doctors and teachers getting fired itself speaks for itself. As every one doctor gets fired or the medical practicing degree gets revoked , but for a teacher a period of 2 years is just about to survive and no one can fire the teacher. 1 teacher gets fired among 2500, which is a huge ratio compared to 1 doctor out of 57.Waiting for Superman enlightens that number of school dropouts and increased crime rate is not because of children’s not studying but it’s just because of ineffective teaching skills and poorly motivated faculties who are not a source of inspiration. It’s a hard truth that I feel every country should accept and follow the methods of Geoffrey Canada who has vowed to create a change in the American society for the coming generations who can uplift the country’s future in all streams right from engineering, doctor, lawyers and other professions.
THIS IS A MUST WATCH DOCUMENTARY which solemnly lightens the shortcomings of American Educational system.
Rating: 4/5- Very GOOD
Buried(2010)
Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy is a truck driver working for a private contractor in Iraq. He gets up from his blackness and finds himself in a Coffin which is few feets below the ground. He finds a Cellphone and a Zippo lighter inside the coffin. In due time, he learns that he has been kidnapped and held as hostage in a coffin. The Kidnappers want a ransom from his people. They want him to make a video and send it to the captors. This is more of a Suspense Thriller movie where the director Rodrego Cortes tries to keep his audience at their toes on all moments till the end of the movie.They are ingenious in keep more plausible action than you can ever expect.Paul tries to communicate with his wife and American FBI but he gets stranded most of the time in hold and voicemail , which is really not good when you are buried in a coffin.
Director makes a smart move as not to go through any of the footage of Paul’s Kidnapping or the kidnappers or anything from other end of people conversing. Cortes has done a amazing direction in terms of voice from both the ends of the people, the frustration of Ryan with the limited amount of space available. This is one of the most gripping movies that I have seen so far. It’s a edge of the seat thriller. A perfect 90 mins odd movie fully concentrated on Ryan who gives a Mesmerizing performance. In terms of sheer craftsmanship, this is a superb film
Rating: 4/5- Very Good
Unstoppable(2010)
The King's Speech(2010)
As the Title of the film mentions about speech, it gives a sense of a person’s voice giving a speech to his followers especially when it’s a king. It tells the story of a man who is compelled to speak with stammer. It might be hard enough to take that kind of pain while talking to another person. To give a speech on a radio microphone which would be heard by entire country along with other European countries, ASIA and AMERICAN continents and not to forget Germany who were on the verge of war. The King George VI played by Colin Firth is a person who had no interest in becoming a king, but after his father death, the crown went to him as his elder brother Edward, who then renounced the throne so that he could live with the love of his life. So finally it went to Prince Albert who had issues with stammering since his childhood days. With a failed attempt to give a speech in 1925, Bertie’s wife decided to take him to speech therapy classes in order to fix the stammering problem. With all ways failed, bertie’s wife comes across Lionel played by Geoffrey Rush who has setup a Speech Therapy class.
Albert also called Bertie as nickname is tackled finely by Lionel who sets expectations in his therapy session. Long that he didn’t know that he was giving therapy classes to a future king. Lionel has his own way to handle things when things didn’t go right. He didn’t give up the hopes and always felt Bertie would speak clearly in some point of time. Firth has given a impeccable performance as a guy who is struggling to speak vividly and not being humiliated in front of his empire and other countrymen. Movie has a proper pace , storyline and to the point. At Last, Firth being the protagonist has given a 2 thumbs up performance as King George VI. Watch the movie for Colin Firth’s great acting skills. On the whole the movie is a onetime watch and I don’t feel this is 2010 best movie.
Rating: 3/5- GOOD
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
SAW 3D(2010)
SAW is the 7th and final installment of SAW series. SAW 3D would be appealing to the people who have been stuck to all the previous 6 films. According to me, none of the films have come close than the original part 1 which was more of a suspense-horror-thriller movie compared to the excessive and convoluted torture-horror installments that followed. This might be the first movie in SAW installments where a torture scene is happening in broad daylight among so many people, where 2 guys are tied with machinery around and a girl at the top who has been guilty and fooling both the guys. Truth shall be bestowed as all 3 have to choose who will be the one to die. Bobby Dagen is a better victim and a survivor of Jigsaw’s game is living his life as an author who made millions by sharing his story of rebirth.
But truth is something different which detective Hoffman knows who tries to kill Jigsaw’s wife at any cost and also plays a game where Bobby is at one end who has to save his wife from the clock ticking amidst his PR team and his manager who have been in his Book business. Its not about how Bobby saves the people but it’s a race between Jill Tuck’s revenge story with Hoffman. SAW 3D has one of the most disturbing and yet violent scenes in SAW series. Best part I loved about SAW series is, none of the mechanism is repeated or one of its own kind. That is the most intriguing part and also more than one person has to suffer in every part of the game to be played. SAW 3D does a satisfactory job of closing up most of the remaining Saw storylines – though it’s hard to imagine that the filmmakers are actually done with the franchise. As always SAW is known for its classic out of the bloom ending, SAW 3D will also give you the jolt of your life and also its hard to believe that no more games will be played as its GAME OVER !!!!
Rating: 3/5- GOOD
Death Race 2(2010)
Death Race 2 is a prequel to Death Race The film explores the origins of the first "Frankenstein" car driver from the 2008 Death Race movie. Luke played by Luke Goss is arrested for a bank robbery for his crime which is carried by his boss named Markus and also killing 2 policemen. He is sent to prison in Terminal Island. Terminal Island is under the control of Weyland Corporation who hosts Death Match between the inmates and is forced to fight until death or submission. The host of the death match is September Jones who is sexually attractive and tries to get pay per view death match resulting in high TV ratings. September asks Luke to have a death match which he rejects. Things go different way when a death match is changed to Death race where any convict who wins all the 5 races without getting eliminated, will be set free. Markus has kept a bounty of 1Mil$ as prize money who kills Luke. As the story is pretty much expected and the rise of Frankenstein is known, the character of Frankenstein is known just to keep his identity safe from Markus. Nice acting by Luke Goss and has given an equally better performance as Jason Statham. Death Race 2 has not so much amount of Car accident scenes as DEATH RACE, but its more about the storyline and the rise of Frankenstein. People, who have watched DEATH RACE, try this. It’s a onetime watch. And people who have not seen, watch this one first and then followed by the 2008 movie.
Monsters(2010)
Monsters as the title of the movie gives u shimmers and some gore stuff, but Monsters is not about it. It has two characters named Andrew and Samantha. Andrew is a free lance photographer and Samantha is Andrew’s boss's daughter. Set in future, there are some Alien creatures that have been living in Mexico due to some scientific research and now they are thriving on the Mexican land and most of the parts of Mexico have been infected. There is a huge wall built to keep the creatures away from the United States. Both of them being US citizens, they try to reach US with limited transportation facilities. Airways being stalled, they travel with armed men across the border area. Threat of Monsters is less during daytime as they don’t come out. Not an inch of Monster alien is being shown until the last scene. The film has very few special effects, a simple story but it has some different feeling which will want you to like the movie. Samantha and Andrew both being very private at start, gradually cut the slack, become friends and they both do not share a conventional romance too. Aliens can be felt by the mournful sounds, and not so clear night vision images. Monsters is not about the alien creatures thriving on earth but the way the film has been carried ahead with 2 characters supporting each other and their fear to stay away from monstrous attacks. It’s not a movie which will hold you onto the seats, but it’s an unusual movie.
Rating: 3/5- Good
The Fighter(2010)
Directed by David O Russel, the movie is based on true story of Micky ward and Dicky Eklund who are half brothers. Micky played by Mark Wahlberg has grown up looking at Dicky played by Christian Bale. Dicky who is a crack head and is more of a casual guy who roams around keeping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Dicky is being filmed for a documentary which he thinks its for his comeback, but everybody knows it’s all about his fall of his career and so forth and so on. Micky has been grown up boxing along with Dicky who has once defeated Sugar Ray who used to be a champion at that time. Micky’s mother played by Melissa Leo as Alice is acting as his manager and he has 7 sisters who are stalled at home. Micky on the other hand meets Charlene played by Amy Adams. She understands Micky’s family is the reason for his decline in boxing career and asks him to train with someone else. Things take a deliberate drift when Micky starts reacting in order to change his professional boxing career.
The film doesn’t allow the central character Micky to outshine, whereas Dicky, Alice and Charlene have sparked in the movie as their role offers it. But it’s Christian Bale who has given larger than life kind of acting skill which is spot on to the character who is a crack head, scrawny physique and a cigarette on his ear all time long. The Movie offers the proper insight into a Boxer’s life and the issues it carries with it. Scenes aren’t that visceral but a few blood spills is what you can expect. An Award is what I expect for Christian Bale for BEST Supporting Actor. He is the core part of the movie and would not want to miss his performance.
Rating: 4/5- Very Good
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Dhobi Ghat(2011)
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Black Swan (2010)
Genre: Drama
Director Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is one of the finest movies I have seen after Requiem for a Dream. Its Intense, disturbing and shocking personal tragedies like the one shown in Requiem for a Dream which was more disturbing and nightmare for many of the viewers.Natalie Portman as Nina is decent , committed and disciplined Ballet dancer in Company. She has trained for months and in many years she has been in Ballet dancer. She is working her ass off to be the Character of Swan Queen for which she needs to play dual character of White Swan and the Black Swan which is offered by her director who wants a new face for the new Season of his show.Nina has the proper character of White Swan as her character , but she fails to portray the character of Black Swan which is a darker part.
She has competition for her role in Swan queen played by Mila Kunis as Lily who is perfect and shows more feelings than Nina in the character. Darren’s Swan played by Natalie is a shear ideal character.Her Metamorphosis from White Swan to Black Swan is really heart wrenching which is driven by hallucinations, jealousy and personal relationship failure with her mother. Nina is perfect but her definition for perfection shows up when she has performed the dark part so well that she puts her relationships in jeopardy. Her Hallucinations give her a bad time.Her diligent mother witnesses how her sweet little daughter has turned out to be a hostile at the climax. I have to say, Natalie Portman is undoubtedly this year’s Best Actress award.Performances from supporting actors like Lily and Thomas are also mind blowing. Brilliant Piano Background score from Clint Mansell . This Movie is undoubtedly a Gem. MUST WATCH .
Rating: 4/5- Very Good
Monday, January 10, 2011
127 Hours(2010)
Genre:Adventure/Biographical
Directed by Oscar Winning Director Danny Boyle has once again given a Entertaining movie. Yes, Entertaining. Based on True Story and a book by Aaron Ralston , 127 Hours is a movie where Boyle has focused on just 2 things. Aaron played by James Franco who has given a heart thumping performance and Grand Canyon the area where in Aaron is stuck in a crevice. Aaron who is a Adventurous person who likes Hiking and a Nature Enthusiast goes on a Weekend to Grand Canyon without telling anyone. The 2 behavior you can see in Aaron is he is cocky and too self relient to trust his own skills.Next thing is he is too brave to do things to get him out of trouble. Things get bad with aaron when his forearm gets stuck in between the boulder and the Canyon wall. His voice for help is left unheard . His leap of faith with the fellow two girls who he goes for a dive also goes in vain. A strangle of 127 hours with limited amount of food and water can guarantee you to be dead, but aaron has a Never Die attitude. He keeps him cheerful with a Video Camera and Music and Digital Camera. He watches the videos that has been shot before falling to the crevice. His hallucinations get him in his past. Watch out for the scene where he plays a role of a TV Host. His Solo performance has surely got him accolades for this role. Brilliant Cinematography and Screenplay has given a Edge over the seat experience in 127 Hours. Danny Boyle has given a perfect touch for this movie. His techniques of playing with blood doesn’t look gore enough which is really good when it’s a entertaining movie. It’s a MUST Watch Movie and James Franco has so Nailed this Performance of Aaron Ralston. A Oscar Award would not be less for this role. Two Thumbs Up performance by JAMES FRANCO.
Rating: 4/5- Very good.
BREAK KE BAAD(2010)
Genre: Comedy
Starring Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone BREAK KE BAAD is movie which is BAD after the Break or Interval. Abhay and Aaliya are childhood friends who grew up as couples. Aaliya wants to be a actor just like her mother and Abhay likes cooking but his dad wants him to look after his business. Aaliya gets a opportunity to study in Australia but things get bad between aaliya and her aunt whose house she is been stayin. She moves out and leaves in a Shack for cheap money. Things get complicated between Aaliya and Abhay and they eventually have a break up in Australia. The movie was going pretty fine in first half, but post interval BREAK KE BAAD is a agonizing watch. The director has taken a movie for a toss. Deepika is self absorbed and has no feelings for others emotions. She is a wannabe Smoker, Abuses like Asshole, Bastard, Screw you, moron all sound so amusing that you would probably start laughing . Director has typecasted as the wannabe cool chick who smokes, abuses and does what she wants with no hard feelings. The Break up is not swiftly taken up Abhay and he opens a restaurant to have his dream. BREAK KE BAAD is so awful that I needed a BREAK after watching this idiotic script and Shoddy direction. Some movies are meant to be watched some point of your life, but this one is never. So to save your time I would prefer you take a break from watching this movie. A short skirt is what this movie offers from padukone. Its just not the type of movies that should be made which takes its audience for a toss. This movie is not about BREAK UP , but its more about how Aaliya lives her life.
SKIP THIS for SURE
Rating: 1/5 - Poor
Exam(2010)
Genre:Thriller/Mystery
You so need to watch the Trailer before you watch this movie. Because the trailer is so intriguing that you might probably watch the movie very soon. Exam is a Smart movie when it comes in terms of plot, suspense and thriller. 8 people take an exam to get a most prestigious job which they don’t know as to what it is. A set of common rules are put forward in front of the people who are taking the exam. 8 people, 70 minutes and one vacancy. As soon the Exam starts a hell lot of things unravel with the help of every person’s logical thinking. Jealousy grows in people as to be a single one left inside the room. Exam is a NO BULLSHIT movie. It totally concentrates on the script and permits the actors to show their authentic performance. Though the ending looks very cheeky, but it still makes the audience glued to their seats until the end of the movie. This is a movie which is short and sweet and is worth your time. This is not the type of exam you might have ever heard or gone through your life. It’s a Endearing one. TRY IT.
Rating: 3/5
THE TORTURED(2010)
Genre: Crime/Horror
Story based on a Serial killer who mainly targets adolescents. He tortures the kids and finally gives them a death. Similar case happens with a young Couple whose kid was kidnapped and later found to be dead with the killer being caught. Couple’s plea of getting the killer a sentence to life imprisonment goes unheard which makes them to handle the situation in their own hands. As the Movie name says TORTURED, it actually is a shame to be called that. With Mediocre torture shown, director has played with the audience’s time and money to watch this disgusting movie. The killer gets kidnapped by the couple and torture until he is dead. With Shoddy direction and a failed climax is what you can expect from this movie. A SAW series ending is what the director wanted to show, but he is gone off limits to show his central characters the DUMBEST people on the planet. If you yourself want to get tortured, then watch this movie. It’s a perfect example of “WHY NOT TO WATCH TORTURE MOVIES?” I am going 1 out of 5. 0.5 For average torture and the rest for a steamy bedroom sex scene. Strictly Not Watchable.
Rating: 1/5- POOR
THE TOWN (2010)
The TOWN is a second Directorial movie by Ben Affleck. It deals with high end Bank robbery where no DNA traces are left and security tapes are destroyed. Starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner are the two main focuses for this movie. Setup in Charlestown in Boston where there are more bank robbers and thief than any other state shows one such Bank Robbery by Doug and Jem . Bank Robbery is a crime , but kidnapping someone is a grave crime. With heavy loaded guns and fully equipped our boys go to loot the bank with no BANG BANG inside the bank. They take a lady who is a employee of the bank as hostage and leave her unharmed. Unfortunately , the lady is from Charlestown and that makes Jem paranoid. So Doug tries to find out if everything is fine. But things go different way , as Doug starts liking the lady. THE TOWN has couple of Gun Battle scenes which will keep you hooked up , but some Love Drama scenes just doesn’t fit in. There is FBI radar on Doug and his fellow Bank Robbery Crew members. But left undeterred they go ahead with another plan. THE TOWN would have been a great film , but there was some X factor missing which didn’t fully acquire the attention. Its Good, but its not the BEST. Its got good number of Action scenes, Suspense and Thriller. Its quite a Engaging watch. You will definitely not be disappointed . Give a Shot to watch this ACTION, SUSPENSE THRILLER movie.
Rating: 3/5- GOOD