Escape Plan

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel(Hobbes), Faran Tahir(Javed)

Director: Mikael Håfström

Genre: Thriller, Action

 

 

You will have as you expect. It surely is an entertainer

 

 

Pluses:

• Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger together is quite a pleasure to watch in itself, although amount of action in it is a tad less, hope none is expecting it to be a hard core action flick, it wont disappoint you then
• Sylvester Stallone is the man of the movie. All tricks , good application of basic science and general alertness, comprises of his role with a sense of eccentricity in his usual character. He keeps you engaged and the show running
• The movie keeps screening at a certain pace which never slows down or disengage you, which is a good thing

Lukewarm:

• The basic embodiment of the movie is not any outstanding, its just about fine and pretty much a regular affair.If not for the smaller tips and tricks, it could have harmed the entire plot to a bigger extent. After all we have seen many movies having similar theme, being captured or played with, locked out of somewhere you have no clue, and base the rest on the survival instincts. Rings any bell!! We have many such movies!
• Jim Caviezel is a lukewarmish bad guy, not much of torture is it! :) Audience could peharps take a little bit gory content coming from him making the plot more raunchier,but alas!
• Faran Tahir is a tepid support there
• Not really such a secure prison, after all ! :) I didnt find it all that hard for Sylvester to crack it :) The only justification is its tag line, "No one breaks it alone". But whats the big deal about that! :D

  

Minuses:

After all the hype, the movie lacked a punch in there. With all the good releases around this month, i cant consider this up to the mark or comparable!

  

My rating: 3/5

Captain Phillips

Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman

Director: Paul Greengrass

Genre: Biography, Thriller, Crime

Another lovely movie this month. A true story, very well directed, touches you inner conscious. A must watch!

Pluses:

• All the credit of this movie goes to Paul Greengrass for the lasting moment even after the movie ends. Beautifully crafted and amazingly spwen dialogues, bringing out various different emotions while being in a moment of a heist
• Tom Hanks, is the man...movie written after the lead role and what a performance with utter finesse. His bravery, his breaking away moments, his leadership capabilties, his presence of mind...every corner touched indespicably
• The roles played by Barkhad Abdi and Barkhad Abdirahman are a lot debatable. You cant just look at them with fierce or hatred. They are mere puny in the hands of big guys elsewhere. Been played and hence ferocious for on their own defence. You cant help but have a mixed emotions towards them..how pitiable. And these guys were amazing playing at that, not being an actor themselves
• Second half was mostly reaping than the first half
• This movie raises many questions on various International borders. On the plight of the poor and the rich illegal governors!

Lukewarm:

The first half of the movie was more of a build up, less engaging

Minuses:

Nothing notably wrong




My rating: 4/5

Boss

Cast: Akshay Kumar,Ronit Roy,Shiv Pandit, Mithun Chakraborty, Aditi Rao Hydari,Danny Denzongpa

Director: Anthony D'Souza

Genre: Action, Drama

Now this ones overkilled by public :D Not all that bad a watch. Yes, a little low on sense, but not complete bull shit. Regular drama with action

Pluses:

• As for me, Ronit Roy steals the entire show. A strong contender as villain is so important to sustain an action film these days. No more baldies and oldies with command on dialogues alone pulling over anymore. We have hottie in his 40's with a stern cold look to  die for and some good action to kill
• Akshay Kumar was his usual self, nothing new that you have not seen before. But, i love his stylist, awesome style quotient and with the finesse with which this guy carries it off, is applauding :)
• Loved a few stills from the movie, like the chase and run sequence pulled long enough but entertaining to watch. Looks like a video game being played with multiple levels in it :D
• Thanks to Honey Singh, the music of the movie overall looks appealing, so  are the videos..catchy. Music is by far a hit
• Loved the cinematography in the song during the post credits, by the end of the flick. Creatively shot on 'Har kisi ko' song
• Mithun Chakraborty was his usual self, with all due respect to him
• Now here comes a first commercial movie with essentially no female lead in it, looked fresh :)
• My favorite take from Boss: The final action sequence between the duo :) Nicely shot and well directed action

Lukewarm:

• After a long time Danny Denzongpa on screen and however his role initially had weight, later it completely lost weight. Nevertheless, he looks quite a dapper :)
• Aditi Rao Hydari,was all right, nothing significant to her
• Introducing Shiv Pandit, he wasnt bad but he doenst look like a hero material to carry it off in future
• Script of the movie wasnt giving many promises anyway, neither did it disappoint :P It was just about flowing, however not completely silly

Minuses:

• Over exagerration of fight sequences kinda irritates me now. Specially the ones in which the solo hero is fighting masses. Blowing of stuffs and all nonsense, you just want those scenes be quickly forwarded

My rating: 2.5/5

About time

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy(Father),Lydia Wilson(Kit Kat),Lindsay Duncan(Mother)

Director: Richard Curtis

Genre: Romance, Family, Drama

 

 

Its a nice home watch with family and/or partner. Take home is the beautiful moral by the end of the movie

PS: Karan Johar should watch some such movies and promote some better family values in India


Pluses:

• Loved the presentation by Richard Curtis, the way he did blend a fraction of fantasy with reality, and managing to pull off not making the flick look chilish or mere fantasy alone, but instead connect with the adult mindset
• Minus the moral of the story, the movie is just average. So the script is aptly written for apt audience. A simple story with an invigorating positive moral to keep in mind as you walk out of the theater. What if we could change our past, correct things gone wrong! Does that really help or its just too good to be true. And what if its a mixed bag, with its own pros and cons. May be then you are good without a power of such kinds and live life as it comes
• All the actors well played the simple roles, specially the leads viz. Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams. I still remember Rachel in her 'Notebook' days, she has only become more beautiful :) While Domhnall carries a boyish charm throughout :)
• All the supports from Bill Nighy,Lydia Wilson,Lindsay Duncan were apt and significant in its own place. I like the small nitty gritty things about family values there

Minuses:

Sad that such movies dont find much of audience in India, and are hardly released here, and if at all, only selected theaters play them. I guess its time when India needs its female audience to start hitting theaters for such movies, which will help gain some market, apart from the regular action and sci-fi flicks

My rating: 3.5/5

Runner runner

 

Cast: Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton,Anthony Mackie

Director: Brad Furman 

Genre: Thriller, Crime

Not a bad watch. Movie doesnt bore you or stagnate you

Pluses:

• Justin Timberlake, of course! He is the victim and he is the smarty by the end of it! He plays really well and i am a fan of him, that explains it :P
• Ben Affleck looks suave, classy and a master player but not as good as the story unfolds :) Like his charismatic appearance in here
• Movie has a certain pace which it never looses, so you dont feel fatigued at any point of time

Lukewarm:

• Gemma Arterton was just about average, nothing astounding or remarkably worth a mention about her
• Anthony Mackie hardly ever looked like an FBI agent, more of a thug :D

Minuses:

• The negligience towards the script could be the reason to the lukewarm boxoffice response. Needs quite a lot of smart act to prove what we saw at the end. Obvious behaviour of the female lead being the biggest clue, never caught by 'Ivan', weird! Not very thoughtful

My rating: 3/5

Gravity

 

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón

Genre: Sci-Fi

Easily movie of the month, even when October just begins. Its a must must watch in the biggest screen you may have near you!

I had beautiful experience in IMAX watching it, totally worth it

Pluses:

• There is not even a single shot of earth used for any pre build up of the story. All you see is pure and only space. You get an experience not to forget immediately after the movie, it stays with you
• Script so well written, unlike other space based sci fi movies, where most of the content is within the spaceship, this one is hardly within, most of the content is out there in the real space without a container most of the times . Neither does it waste any time in unwanted dialogues, any and all pauses in the pace of the movie were all well justified
• You witness some of the most beautiful vistas of the galaxy on big screens, nothing like it
• This movie is one amongst them which for even being slow keeps you at the edge at all point of time, gives you some chilling and thrilling moments to feel
• Sandra Bullock is the lady of the movie, this movie is made for her. And what a performance
• Absolutely loved George Clooney, god damn chilled out person. Hate it that he abruptly vanished :( Wanted to see more of him

Minuses:

• Absolutely no minuses, long time having seen something which made sense to me. Thankfully i am not a space scientist to dig into flaws(if any) :D

My rating: 4.5/5

Besharam

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Pallavi Sharda, Rishi Kapoor,Neetu Singh,Javed Jaffrey

Director: Ahinav Kashyap

Genre: Comedy, Romance

 

 

A downgraded version of 'Phata Poster Nikla Hero', expect even more less, and be ready to get disappointed. However, if you expect less of a star show from Ranbir, then you may be able to sit through it not cursing it much :)

Pluses:

• You will get a few laughters here and there, a few 'besharam' jokes as well to justify the title
• Ranbir Kapoor in his freestyle best, a bit of butt crack there for those who are interest :P
• Rishi Kapoor, i just cant ever hate him. Whatever he does, is appreciable always. I loved to see him dance on his sons music :)
• Neetu Singh looked much more hotter in the item song in the end, than the lead heroine :D
• Javed Jaffrety is good, i like this fella. He is fit, i like him see dance or do action, or even when he speaks :)

Minuses:

• Low grade presentation, hopeless script. Attempt to add a lot of masala, but not exactly up to the mark
• Horrible music, pushed and forced in the movie time and again. Irritates you till the core barring one or two light numbers here and there
• Neetu Singh, and her overacting. She was just not natural enough

Lukewarm:

• Pallavi Sharda, is not a heroine material. Although she doesnt qualify for a minus since she acts well. You dont see a flaw in her acting skills, nothing extraordinary to perform with this script anyway

  

My rating: 2/5

Elysium

Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley(Kruger),William Fichtner(John Carlyle),Diego Luna(Julio),Wagner Moura
(Spider),Alice Braga(Frey)

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Genre: Sci-Fi,Action

Half baked sci fi drama. Watch it for Matt Damon. There is nothing more to it

Minuses:


Another over rated flick. Script is pretty poor. You loose all interest in its second half.

                          I am amazed the way post Earth days are shown! The buildings and status has remarkable resemblence to present day say Mumbai, India. And then there is heaven like Elysium, disease free being the only highlight to me. It looked no less than a comparison of present day poor countries vs developed countries like US, for instance. And how do they put it by the end of it, i dont find it acceptable at all. The way they portray the win over anarchic Elysium, and start delivering help to the devasted Earth and its poor people, should we not interpret it as, the United States doing the same charity for the poor or developing countries, giving away with all its resources. And if that been shown in the movie is humane and the correct thing to do, so is this practical scenario. How much will that be acceptable. Not 1% of it!

                          Again they show, very poor control of administration in Elysium. President almost without any power, and the entire show is run by Secretary of Defense played by Jodie Foster. And not just that, there is not even any second eye to what she is doin. She as if is on a foolish rampage, to be easily taken over by a mercenary pyscopath.. rookie on Elysium,"Kruger". How easily done, what a shame!

                         And then you have the regular action sequence, infiltration, destruction, sacrifice..blah blah blah. Not impressive enough

Pluses:

• Matt Damon yeah! First half is absolutely belonging to him. He gives you some nerve wrecking experiences on big screens, as he struggles to make his dreams fulfill, and his struggle and desperation to live. He manages to keep you at edge at a lot of instances
• Dream like representation of Elysium-the ultimate space station revolving around the axis of earth, is impeccable
• Rest of the supporting starcast were fine, they do their parts wherever they share the screen presence

Lukewarm:

• The direction is very tepid. Its appreciative how Neiill Blomkamp brings out the emotions and sympathy in the audience via performers. However, his attention to the script looks very half hearted
• Its all about her role, Jodie Foster, disappoints! Not her performance to be blamed, but the script

  

My rating: 2.5/5