Foxcatcher

Cast: Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave(Mother of John) and Sienna Miller(Dave's wife)
Director: Bennett Miller
Genre: Biography, Sport, Drama


An impactful biography, however may not be a like for every audience.


You may look forward to:

• This movie belongs to Bennett Miller. It is all about his intense presentation, slow build up and the long lasting impact that it has in your head. You carry it with you till home 
• Stories as soft as this can as well take an ugly turn, beyond any imagination. This was a good pick for a Biography
• Steve Carell gives out a lucid performance, cold and crazy. Rich and their tantrums. Well deserved applaud. He certainly stands out with all his quirkiness :)
• Channing Tatum gives out a much serious show with this one. I have mostly seen him active, in action, in dancing, in comedy. But this surely marks him differently, intense!
• Mark Ruffalo, again labelled as 'Dr. Banner', now and he didn't let that be forever :) So glad to see, labelled role players are trying things differently, and this particular role gets the best out of him, beautiful. As well all the condolences to the bereaved family of - Dave Schultz. They didn't deserve it
• Supporting set of roles played by Vanessa Redgrave and Sienna Miller are worth a mention
• Watch the movie for the biographical aspect of not just one person, but three renowned personalities, their individual psyches and interpretations, and most importantly the connection the trio shares with each other, only to end up in a disaster

What you can sleep over:

The pace of the movie is slow. It may irritate many in the beginning, but this build up is necessary for the conclusion. Therefore, not a minus



The dampeners you should be aware of:

• Some aspect of 'Mark Schultz' weren't covered, from the time he left the estate of 'Mr. Du Pont', his chapter was completely wiped off
• A few more aspects were not clearly shown, as to why and how 'Dave Schultz' accepts the offer by 'John Du Pont' in the end, when he kept saying NO from the beginning. For that matter what did 'John Du Pont' offer him after all, that 'Dave' could not refuse! Still in oblivion! 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Seventh Son

Cast: Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander(Alice), Olivia Williams(Mother), Antje Traue(Bony) and Djimon Hounsou (Radu)
Director: Sergey Bodrov 
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action


Time pass flick, watch only if you are fond of witch stories :)


You may look forward to:

• The only bigger plus of the movie were the locations and landscapes, breathtakingly beautiful
• Jeff Bridges appearing after quite some time. This man carries his own style in his acting, worth compliments
• Julianne Moore looked absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful witch i have seen in movies so far :)
• Olivia Williams, Antje Traue and Djimon Hounsou, the supporting cast, were fine in their own stands :)

The dampeners you should be aware of:

• The story of the movie was just about OK. It didn't have lot of bravery triggering exercises. Things came in and went by pretty easy. You do not feel the heat
• Ben Barnes and Alicia Vikander, as the male and female leads, were inapt choices. They didn't even look half as close to any significant bit to what they should have been. Puny little siblings like with no strong hold

My Rating: 2/5 

Birdman

Cast: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis,Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough(Laura),Amy Ryan(ex-wife) and Lindsay Duncan(Dickinson)
Director: Alejandro González
Genre: Drama, Theater, Comedy


One crazy presentation, a must watch for such audience who can appreciate artistic movies!


You may look forward to:

• Michael Keaton is the man of the movie. He is so perfect in theaters, very unconventional and a mind blowing performance. His character reminds you a lot of 'Gholum' from LOTR series :D Personified by the character he lived in, and now trying to break away amidst all his insecurities, beautifully played
• Edward Norton is as equally important in a lead role. Every character in this movie has a unique psyche. This particular caricature is the most unpredictable and insane of all. He throws out many dominant characteristics of a personality majorly overpowered by overconfidence. Without him the story is only half done
• Zach Galifianakis, steals my heart secretly. It took me quite sometime to sink this in, that it is him playing a serious and sensible role. His body language, his dialogue deliveries, damn are all so normal :D Steals it absolutely :)
• Naomi Watts doles out another power packed performance within her boundaries. She even lends out some humorous erotic moments to the audience with aplomb
• Emma Stone doesn't have much to do, nevertheless, given her limited role, she looks like an artificial barbie doll with extraordinarily big eyes :)
• Ladies supporting bandwagon: Andrea Riseborough,Amy Ryan and Lindsay Duncan, were all worth appreciations, in their own nitty gritty roles :) 
• The story of the movie takes the major stake away, the script and the dialogues are the soul of the movie, teamed up with class apart performances by all the actors. Content may not be much with as many twists and turns, but simplicity does the job
• The transition from one scene to another is so perfectly executed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, that you wont get bored even for a moment during the entire duration. Some element of mystery that he left with imaginary side of 'Riggan' is for people to perceive. Huge round of applause :)

What you can sleep over:

The very last scene, after everything. You keep wondering what more do they have to show. The last 5 mins feels a little draggy, but you wont bother much as its just 5 mins of the entire lot



The dampeners you should be aware of:

Nah nothing! This is one fun movie with all the artistry just to admire and be back :)





My Rating: 4/5 

Dolly Ki Doli

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Archana Puran Singh and Saif Ali Khan
Director: Abhishek Dogra
Genre:  Romance, Drama, Comedy


Very average time pass flick. No gain or no loss in watching or giving it a miss!



You may look forward to:

• Sonam Kapoor looks beautiful every time she is bridal. She fills in the entertainment factor for the movie and has the lead role
• Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma have more or less supporting roles. Rajkummar Rao puts up commendable accent. Rightly put act together for the film
• Pulkit Samrat comes out to be the a male lead by the end of the flick :D Thanks to the lead heroine who falls in love with him, otherwise he would be put in the same category as the other two :D Or should he thank Bollywood family connection for the role :D Again, well put up accent, just that he looks like a kid!
• Archana Puran Singh and Saif Ali Khan, are delight to watch. They helped filling in some life in the movie, even though very short appearances
• There is just one good song in the entire film, which is a romantic number between the lead pair

What you can sleep over:

You have a a few giggles and laughter, but over all it doesn't really qualify for a comedy nor romantic flick. Its a baseless crime (con-woman) flick :D




The dampeners you should be aware of:

Story of the movie is the major dampener. Absolutely no mind put while making the movie. It more or less looks like been made only for Sonam Kapoor. When already she is low on fans base, she should go for better stories, might help :)





My Rating: 2.5/5
   

Baby

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Rana Daggubati,Anupam Kher,Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Madhurima Tuli,Mikaal Zulfiqar(Ashfaq),Sushant Singh(Wasim), Murali Sharma and Rasheed Naz(Maulana)

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Genre:  Action, Crime, Thriller

 

Long time Bollywood produced a good watch. This movie is worth a wait from Akshay Kumar and Neeraj Pandey. If you love Bollywood and action thrillers, you shouldn't give this a miss!

 

You may look forward to:

 

• Akshay Kumar, after quite a gap in a serious role. Certianly, action thrillers has always worked more for him than continued comedy ventures. He is fit as ever and does very well fit into the shoes of  Tom Cruise of our Bollywood. He takes you through a bumpy ride through the entire 2.5 hours of the movie, never getting bored, and thrilling you in every scene. I am on the 'Love Akshay Kumar' campaign yet again :)
• Neeraj Pandey, does a appreciably good job in directing an otherwise long movie, literally keeping you at the edge of your seat, specially in the second half of the movie. Long time having come across one Bollywood movie minus too many directorial flaws. Kudos! The success well deserved and worthy celebration for the team :)
• Danny Denzongpa, again in a very promising role after 'Bang Bang'. I didn't appreciate him much in the later. This one sets him apart, good dialogues in nicely delivered scenes
• Taapsee Pannu, is a treat to the eyes. :) She is fuller and pretty and a surprise package of action. She certainly steals all the limelight as it comes to the female actresses of the movie
• Mikaal Zulfiqar,Sushant Singh and Murali Sharma, have brief roles, and all the three of them make impactful presence on screen
• The storyline of the movie is good keeping in mind the actions that are taken by the team members of 'Baby', however completely missing out on the other side of it, where from the beginning till the end, audience stays in oblivion of what were the unknown motives of the terrorist that of which Baby tried to stop and control, apart from just capturing them. Nevertheless, the movie doesn't give you much leeway to mull over such stuffs and keeps you engaged with many other events and beautiful locations

What you can sleep over:

 

 

Rana Daggubati and Anupam Kher, i would say didn't have a very great role. Anupam Kher never looks like a tech genius, and Rana is much more than just his body and physical capacity. Nevertheless, they fit in the team and work along.


 

The dampeners you should be aware of:

• Kay Kay Menon and Rasheed Naz, lacks impact. For all the big chatters amongst the most wanted terrorist, they hardly are shown doing anything big or notorious, except for certain rumors of planning something possibly big. Nor their moves neither their dialogues speak of something thrilling
• Madhurima Tuli just cannot act. Ajay's family angle is completely dampened due to this one role, unlike those in Hollywood movies, where this aspect however small, is still significant. We lose here big time

My Rating: 3.5/5

The Theory of Everything

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones(Jane), Maxine Peake(Elaine) and Charlie Cox(Jonnathan)

Director: James Marsh

Genre:  Biography,Drama, Romance

 

And finally one more biography this week which is easily unbeatably the best watch of the weekend. Extra ordinary story of Stephan Hawking, do not miss!!

 

You may look forward to:

 

• The very personal life of Mr. Stephan Hawking. There is not much of science in it, which covers his life's work. But this a story of incredible human resilience, patience, rarely witnessed love in real life in husband and wife, and the astonishing amount of maturity in the lead couple, epitome of understanding and sacrifice. One story which feels so complete from every angle, ironically the base of which began so imperfectly
• Eddie Redmayne gives out a power packed performance in and as Stephan Hawking. Every small development and deterioration of his condition so meticulously and amazingly captured. This guy is a perfect candidate for an Oscar. Playing a character as complex as this, never comes easy with just a few dialogue deliveries. Eddie Redmayne has nailed it
• Felicity Jones plays the next most incredible role of 'Jane', a very complicated situation to be in, and requiring enormous amount of perseverance, keeping in faith and raising a family with a deteriorating patient all by herself. The tenacity with which she stuck to him, is the reason why Stephan Hawking is what he is today and 'Jane' being the only reason why he is alive. Absolutely beautiful relation and amazingly played by Felicity Jones
• Charlie Cox's character takes you to a film set by 'Rajashree productions', where every body in a film are unbelievably good natured and totally unreal. He is one such character, serving the family of Mr. Hawkings in every possible way, with a clean soul. Many round of applauds for such human being who do exist in reality, far from our belief
• Maxine Peake, has a considerably short role, very much acknowledged, given her significance in Hawking's life
• James Marsh, not known for a lot of commercial hits, does a fantabulous job of creating a masterpiece, of depicting such a complex story impeccably well. He shows you through his direction the true meaning of a marriage, which goes hand in hand with your well being and career, one nothing without the other. Watch it to know what Stephan Hawking is beyond his credibilities and contributions to science

The dampeners you should be aware of:


This is not a story of those biggies who went through various political situations and waded through it to be a successful well known personality. This movie is about all those people holding good intentions but wading through every unfavorable situation thrown at them by life.

No dampener from the directorial point of view. The story is already flawless, barring a few non influencing fictional roles.

My Rating: 4.5/5

The Imitation Game

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode(Hugh Alexander), Mark Strong( Maj. Gen. Stewart),Charles Dance( Cdr. Alastair), Allen Leech(John), Matthew Beard(Peter), Rory Kinnear( Detective Nock) and Alex Lawther(Young Turing)
Director: Morten Tyldum
Genre:  Biography, War, Drama



Another outstanding Biography this weekend. You dont want to miss this one, for the History, for the Drama and for Benedict Cumberbatch




You may look forward to:

• Benedict Cumberbatch, do we need to say more :) If not a look alike of Alan Turing, he yet perfectly fits in the role. He gives you yet another beautiful performance as a crazy mathematical genius who breaks the unbreakable, otherwise a loner. One hell of a mind who could think beyond the boundaries and plays a significant part of the epic history from the Nazi dominated World War II
• We haven't seen much work from Morten Tyldum, but he is one Director who can outdo quite a lot of other directors in Hollywood. Apt presentation of exactly as much required to be known about a personality like that of Alan Turing and his contribution, not any less, not any more
• Matthew Goode in a strong supporting figure to Alan Turing's character, he was omnipresent throughout the movie
• Mark Strong and Charles Dance, played another set of significant roles given their arena of politics
• Allen Leech and Matthew Beard, were supports as a part of the team, acknowledging roles
• Rory Kinnear, an undercover spy, long unknown and not affecting the mission, he does his part well
• Alex Lawther deserves a mention playing the young Turing

What you can sleep over:

Keira Knightley has a significant role here. Though i expected her to me more of a genius in the man's world of the then Britain, as compared to what she is shown. Her role was either not written well or she wasn't given enough coverage. I kept wondering what was after all her contribution because of which Alan Turing was desperate to retain her, even if that meant marrying her.




The dampeners you should be aware of:


I haven't read the book, but apparently there are many aspects in this biographical film which is fictionalized and is far from the truth. Which is sort of a dampener. When you say Biography, you tend to believe everything that's shown in it with closed eyes.





My Rating: 3.5/5