Ant-Man

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly(Hope),Michael Douglas(Hank Pynn),Corey Stoll(Darren),Michael Peña(Louis),Tip "T.I." Harris(Dave),David Dastmalchian(Kurt), Anthony Mackie(Falcon), Bobby Cannavale(Paxton) and Judy Greer(Lang's Ex-Wife)
Director: Peyton Reed
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure



A perfect entertainer for a weekend. Another creative addition to the pack of Marvel super heroes!




You may look forward to:

• Paul Rudd is the star of the movie. A not so known face who shot to recognition. His character doesn't speak class unlike 'Iron Man' or 'Captain America', but he has his own notorious charm. His suit may feel funny at once, but he does manage to pull off the role and never falls short in entertaining you :)
• I have always loved Evangeline Lilly. She always appears in bold roles. She has certain elegance which sets her apart. You can enjoy her in two different looks here like never seen before corporate someone and then the rock solid action avatar that of which is more familiar :)
• Michael Douglas is amazing as scientist 'Doctor Pynn'. He is one of the key personalities of this movie and i loved watching him
• Corey Stoll is a perfect villain. Alas! he had to die, but i wish he comes back. His personality as a villain in unmatched :)
• Michael Peña,Tip "T.I." Harris and David Dastmalchian constitutes the pack aiding 'Ant-Man'. Commendable support!
• Anthony Mackie, Bobby Cannavale and Judy Greer have brief appearances worth a mention
• Peyton Reed gives you a fresh package of entertainer with 'Ant-Man'. One movie you can enjoy with you entire family. This movie is less violent, more humorous and much less serious than other movies under Marvel series

What you can sleep over:

The advertisement of something like 'ANT-Man' before its launch seriously sounded funny to me, i had very less hopes from the movie. But do not let the trailer bog you down. You can have a good pass time watching it

The dampeners you should be aware of:

Do not expect much. This is a light headed flick. There is no hard hitting complex or world threatening story line. Its not a hard core male flick, but a family entertainer





My Rating: 3/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Mr. Holmes

Cast: Ian McKellen,Laura Linney(Mrs. Munro),Milo Parker(Roger),Hattie Morahan(Ann Kelmot) and Hiroyuki Sanada(Matsuda Umezaki)
Director: Bill Condon
Genre: Drama, Mystery



You will enjoy this movie, provided you go with the right expectations. Not a young and vibrant Sherlock Holmes here solving cases :)



You may look forward to:

• Ian McKellen is an amazing actor. One for his age, an absolute genius. The efficacy with which he plays Mr. Holmes past retirement, makes him feel very real, nothing like a fictional character :) All due respects for an actor like Ian McKellen whom we have always loved on big screens :)
• The story of the movie is very carefully woven. Bill Condon takes special care in maintaining the curiosity in the flick as you are watching an otherwise non Sherlock centric Holmes. Amidst beautiful country side locations and a quiet life, he creates the magic of defining each and every role with his own time, unraveling slowly through the movie, keeping the essence of simplicity intact
• Laura Linney and Milo Parker, are lovely mother and son duo. Again kept very simple and subtle, they make up for the most important supporting characters of the movie
• Hattie Morahan and Hiroyuki Sanada, appear in bits and parts as part of Mr. Holmes tattered memories. Their respective roles create mysteries on different level
• I personally liked the conclusion. All the mysteries and happenings are beautifully put together as a defining moment for the character of Sherlock Holmes. You may choose to identify 3 cases in this one film. The unsolved case which took to his retirement, the mystery behind a lost father, a non criminal case solved at the end of the movie; as well the reason to his confinement in solitude and never marrying. Subtlety at its best!

What you can sleep over:

Slow pace of the film. The trailer never suggests any rush either

The dampeners you should be aware of:

Not for all audience. Strictly for those who do admire quality film making beyond weekend entertainment. If you are going for a weekend pass time, you are calling in boredom





My Rating: 3.5/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Baahubali: The Beginning

Cast: Prabhas,Rana Daggubati,Tamannaah,Anushka Shetty(Devasena),Ramya Krishnan(Sivagami), Sathyaraj(Kattapa), Nassar(Bijjaldeva), Rohini(Sanga) and Sudeep(Aslam Khan)
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Genre: Period Drama, War, Adventure



One movie worth its hype. For all who are still wondering, must show up in the theaters :)




You may look forward to:

• What makes this movie worth a watch, are its real creditors: Director and Cinematographer. Splendid job done by both of them. Each and every frame is grand and spectacular in its own essence. Powerful rendition of the story. A story like an adventure tale from  childhood platformed on larger than life like sets, using competitive quality CGI, makes it every inch a theatrical watch. Downloading this one wont do a justice to its makers
• Prabhas and Rana Daggubati are equally competitive and very well fit into the respective roles given. The bad King doesn't look any bit less than the super hero equivalent lead.Though the number of songs credited to Daggubati is less compared to Prabhas :P Both of them look equally powerful and charismatic
• Supporting roles in movies today are equally strong. Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan and Sathyaraj are defining characters of the film
• Nassar and Rohini are amongst more mentionable supporting roles
• Hindi dub and music, both were of pretty acceptable quality. They don't look absolutely out of place, rather blends in pretty comfortably
• Thankfully there were not many typical filmy styling on the actors, nor many human flying in the air and over dramatic scenes(Barring that one scene of lifting the shiv ling :P), which spells a lot of quality for the film, at par with the standards of quality film making. Most commendable of all being the war scenes, very much at par with the international standards

What you can sleep over:

• Tamannaah starts with a valuable footing. I felt happy that she gets meatier role in South Indian movies than in Bollywood. Alas! That stood true only until she met her reel hero. Once Prabhas takes over, her role stands redundant
• Yes, this movie looks like many Bollywood and Hollywood movies clubbed together in one. This movie reminds you of many random scenes and visuals from multiple other flicks

The dampeners you should be aware of:

• The length of the movie is exhaustive. I felt i watched two movies in one, and yet incomplete. The story before interval and past interval are the length of one movie each with completely different storylines. One could easily divide Part I and Part II of Bahubali in 4 parts, say: 'Bahubali-The beginning', 'Bahubali- The Rise of an emperor', 'Bahubali- Fall of an emperor', 'Bahubali- A revengeful conclusion' :P
• Sudeep has this small cameo which simply doesn't suit him. He looks more of Ranjnikanth in the get up of a Pathan, quite on the funnier side to be honest :)

My Rating: 4/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor,Harshaali Malhotra(Shahida), Nawazuddin Siddiqui,Om Puri(Molana),Sharat Saxena(Rasika's Father) and Meher Vij(Shahida's Mother)
Director: Kabir Khan
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family



A perfect Eid release coming from Bollywood. This movie is built keeping various sentiments in mind, cant go wrong :)



You may look forward to:

• Undoubtedly Salman Khan. He plays a grounded personality with his marketed role as someone who being a staunch Hindu has an unbiased outlook towards humanity in general. He justifies the title of the movie
• Harshaali Malhotra is the female lead in my eyes. She dons innocense throughout on her absolute pretty face with extra cute smile. She speaks nothing but expresses very well, most of the humor in the movie owes to her
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a benchmark of his own. His mere appearance is enough to get him many applauds :) He takes over quite a bit of the plot on his shoulders in the 2nd half of the movie
• Om Puri is a pleasant cameo to the flick
• Good support worth a mention from Sharat Saxena and Meher Vij
• Music of the movie is decent, may not be chart busters, but are soothing numbers
• Certain aspects of the movie throws some light to the inner depth of the sentiments of local citizens of both the neighboring countries, Viz., India and Pakistan. It also attempts to highlight that its the politics which is the major culprit and not the people in general. People tend to follow as they are directed. A good attempt to heal some old wounds, i must say. Commendable!

What you can sleep over:

Kareena Kapoor. She is a place holder only for an adult female lead against Salman Khan. As usual, her content of the movie has nothing to talk about. Besides, she looks every inch a Muslim girl in that get up than a staunch Hindu! How stupid!




The dampeners you should be aware of:

Over sentimentalization. You can see glimpses of 'Rajarshi Productions' in this film. :D Everyone is just way too decent, including patrolling officers of India as well Pakistan on the borders. Pretty unrealistic, but i let it go, for one reason that they didn't goof up the rest of the story





My Rating: 3.5/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Pitch Perfect 2

Cast: Anna Kendrick(Beca), Rebel Wilson(Fat Amy),Hailee Steinfeld(Emily), Brittany Snow(Chloe), Alexis Knapp(Stacie), Hana Mae Lee(Lilly), Ester Dean(Cynthia), Chrissie Fit(Flo), Kelley Jakle(Jessica), Shelley Regner(Ashley), Skylar Astin(Beca's Boy Fren), Adam DeVine(Fat Amy's Boy Fren),Anna Camp(Aubrey), Ben Platt(Emily's guy), Birgitte Hjort Sørensen(Sound Machine's Leader), Flula Borg(Sound Machine-Pieter), John Michael Higgins(Commentator), Elizabeth Banks(Commentator) and Keegan-Michael Key(Beca's Boss)
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Genre: Music, Drama, Comedy



If you are aware of the various international bands and artists, you will enjoy this musical drama, for a weekend entertainer!




You may look forward to:

• The major credits of the movie goes to its Director: Elizabeth Banks, for successfully having managed a huge star cast into one movie and spaced them adequately. She has created a movie which is by the face of it very feminine, yet all kind of audience can enjoy for the musical influence in it. She has roped in many singing stars and actual bands have multiple cameos in the film
• Most of your time simply flies in guessing around the many cameos and various songs which are very familiar, and have once been chart busters. It was even educative for me, as i was never aware of certain bands like that of an actual Indian-American band 'Penn Masala'
• There is a huge line of credits for the huge star cast of the movie. To begin with the core 'Bella's', they were a team in essence and well balanced out roles for each, with some personal angles and comedy
• The chosen few men in the movie viz. Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine and Ben Platt were good supports, though very limited roles to them but pretty much omnipresent :) 
• Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Flula Borg are tough competitors to 'Bella'. Loved their appearances from 'Sound Machine' with some rough looks
• The other strong supporting characters were: John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks and Keegan-Michael Key. Fun to watch :)

What you can sleep over:

This is a straight away chick flick :) Sleep over it or chuck it :D




The dampeners you should be aware of:

The pace of the movie is pretty much in  a straight line. It doesn't engage the audience as much. You don't feel the disappointment of these many suspensions of 'Bella' from performing, nor do you feel the heat of it in their final performance, the last chance to prove themselves. A flat steady pace of the movie, minus many emotions leaves it a tad bit bore




My Rating: 3/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Max

Cast: Carlos(Max), Josh Wiggins(Justin),Dejon LaQuake(Chuy),Mia Xitlali(Carmen), Thomas Haden Church(Father), Luke Kleintank(Tyler), Lauren Graham(Pamella) and Robbie Amell(Kyle)
Director: Boaz Yakin
Genre: Action,Crime, Adventure, Family



One off beat commercial movie, quality watch for entire family!



You may look forward to:

• The marvelous heroic dog 'Max', this movie is all about him. Perfectly trained dog with a wonderful story written for him. Wish dogs could relish its own marketing and stardom :)
• Story has a lot more to offer than just a boy-dog relationship. I was delighted to see the content of the movie along with steady growth in the relationship with the dog and his chosen master. There is drama, adventure, crime and entertainment
• Josh Wiggins the parallel hero to Max in the film. Commendable job by him, without him the story of 'Max' is incomplete
• Dejon LaQuake and Mia Xitlali are awesome supporting characters to the leads. Specially 'Chuy' who adds onto impromptu humor in the film :)
• Thomas Haden Church, Luke Kleintank and Lauren Graham, are good additional supports, though their roles are very limited

The dampeners you should be aware of:

Robbie Amell is the bad guy of the film. I didn't expect him to be defeated this easy, he is a trained marine after all, there could be so much more action added with such a strong protagonist




My Rating: 3.5/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding

Inside Out

Cast: Amy Poehler(Joy),Phyllis Smith(Sadness), Bill Hader(Fear), Lewis Black(Anger), Mindy Kaling (Disgust), Richard Kind(Bing Bong) Kaitlyn Dias(Riley), Diane Lane(Riley's Mom) and Kyle MacLachlan(Riley's Dad)
Director: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family



A must watch for all genre of people provided you like animations :) For those who do not like animation movies, this one can be a good start :)



You may look forward to:

• The concept of the movie is very distinctive and very thoughtful. As the movie progresses, it gives a very different perspective towards how we see our lives. De-complicate every complicated thing. The story makes you think and as well refreshes you. Exactly what you need in your weekends. Best if you have kids to go along :)
• The major characters of 'Joy' and 'Sadness' has innovative interpretations as joy and sadness are always together through out the movie, no matter what. And also why are both the emotions equally important to balance out the differences
• All the other characters are mostly constituting the rest of the emotions in a person's head and how do they interact with each other, sounds fascinating and close to reality than just another story :)
• All the voices given by various artists for the humans and the emotions alike are worth appreciations

What you can sleep over:

3D is strictly ok, nothing specific to be excited about

 The dampeners you should be aware of:

There were certain sections which feels draggy, as in, the entire movie is spent in the journey back for 'Joy' and 'Sadness'. I waited for some more events and not the journey back to headquarters to be the only event in the film. Since you also want to see and feel how in different scenarios joy affects our mindset and makes us happy, while this story had joy most of the time away :(




My Rating: 3.5/5

1- Poor  2-Average  3-Good  4-Very Good  5- Outstanding