3 Idiots

Rating :

* * * * & 1/2

Let The Right One In

Rating :

* * * *

very good movie.. its hard to define its genre.. can be called horror, suspense, drama and even romance..

Goodfellas

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Thank You For Smoking

Cast : Aaron Eckhart, Cameron Bright, Katie Holmes

Director : Jason Reitman

Tagline : America Is Living in Spin

Some jobs are harder than others but Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), tobacco industry spokesman, handles his with effortless skill. Along with two other spokespeople for the alcohol- and firearms industry respectively, he is part of the self-appointed M.O.D. squad ("Merchants of Death") whose main objective is to talk. To BS. To spin. To confuse and convince their opponent, and charm their audience. A job of such nature naturally requires a certain moral flexibility, and with smooth-talk and sex appeal, it is apparent that Nick is incredibly gifted in this area.

He goes on TV-shows, verbally battles U.S. senators, deems the Cancer Research Foundation "arseholes" – all the while trying to set an example for his 10-year-old son. This is naturally very difficult, doing what he does. So as Big Tobacco (for whom he is a lobbyist) launches a campaign to reinstate the "cool smoking" image into mainstream Hollywood, and sends Nick to work a producer for the proper product-placement, Nick decides to bring his son along for the ride, to see "how daddy works" in hopes to bond with him.

Good satires are hard to come by, but director Reitman's "Thank You For Smoking" is so wet with sarcasm and dripping with humour that it is impossible not to enjoy. It navigates the fast-paced industry, the art of talking and spoofs the anti-smoking camp with their chiché "cancer-sick boy in a wheelchair" front (as seen in the opening scene of the film), and it explores the moral flexibility of Americans, without preaching too much in doing so. Only once does it fall prey to predictable moral messages, as when Nick starts reevaluating his work and has moral qualms following his kidnapping by an anti-smoking group, only to swoop down into tongue-and-cheek mode again and return twice as biting – and twice as funny.

In fact, even the cinematography is well-crafted in the film... just the way a scene cuts to another deserves credit, opening with a rapid-fire ironic note. Speaking of which, "Thank You"'s opening montage of cigarette packages as credits is a stroke of genius on Reitman's part. So are the various casting choices – the amount of respected actors that have been crammed into supporting roles in impressive and give rise to an almost familiar and "feel-good" tone in the film.

That said, I wouldn't call this "laugh-out-loud worthy" exactly and I didn't care for the ending but it is clear that a lot of thought has been put into Thank You For Smoking – every line is a well-articulated kick up the arse to something and delivered by the bucket-load. A very enjoyable little satire.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Avatar

Cast : Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang

Director : James Cameron

Tagline : Enter The World

there are no words to describe this movie .. i saw something i had never ever seen anything like this in past..

and i was just overwhelmed by the movie .. its hard for me to actually review it cause iv really never ever seen anything as such.. i it blew my mind..

i had read some thoughts on this movie frm ram gopal verma on his blog.. once upon a time he used to by my favorite director but with time i think he has lost his touch .. but then the words he spoke about avatar were just the kind of expression i had been looking for ..

so this review wud be entired RGV's blog post..

here it goes..

__

Some people say less is more. I say, more is less and too much is not enough – James Cameron.

As I stepped out of Imax last night after watching AVATAR in 3D, I hated James Cameron for in comparison to the ultra futuristic vision of his, he made me feel like a pre-historic being of cinema in every which way. AVATAR in 3D is the most mind-blowing cinematic experience anybody can ever hope to have in their entire lifetime. Nearly 3 decades ago I remember being awestruck with Star Wars and now nearly 30 years later AVATAR to me looked 30 years ahead of its time both in its creative output and also in terms of James Cameron’s sheer imaginative power.

Some people said that it’s low on the emotional quotient compared to Titanic but if at all, that could be because the visuals and the atmosphere of the film are so breathtaking that it takes you that much more time and effort to connect to its emotional aspect and its story when compared to a normal film with normal people.

I have never believed in God but I think James Cameron is greater than God for the simple reason that he created a far more beautiful, far more fantastic and far more exotic world than what even God can ever hope to create.

And all this he managed to do it in a paltry budget of 1200 Crores. Yes, I say it’s a paltry budget considering we make films like Kambhakt Ishq and London Dreams for budgets nearly touching 80 to 90 crores which is nearly as much as 1/12th of the budget of AVATAR and then every shot of AVATAR looks 12000 times better than our entire so-called 100 crore films.

I honestly feel that it is a crime to give away such a glorious experience as that of watching AVATAR for a mere 100 or 200 Rupee ticket to us common people.

When someone asked me if the special efx of AVATAR will inspire other filmmakers, I said that on the contrary they might have a reverse effect. What I mean is that we can only aspire to become someone when we can atleast have a belief that we can reach someone’s potential but James Cameron in AVATAR created a bench mark so high that it will take years for us lesser folk even to comprehend it let alone attempt to execute it.

It’s like if you aspire to be a runner and somehow hope to run at a speed of 20km per hour which may be the world record and then when on the track you see a guy running at 200kmph you would rather give up and come back and make family dramas and TV serials and leave the running to James Cameron.

Titanic was fantastic but it did not shake me up inspite of everyone else around me back then saying that James Cameron is God of cinema.

But with his second coming “AVATAR” I have surely turned religious.

I want to pray to him for making “AVATAR”.

I hate him for making all us so-called filmmakers in the world feel like ants. (Read chooths)

I love him for the passion and the patience with which he created new benchmarks in each and every technical aspect of the medium of films.

And lastly, “I thank him for existing”.

P.S: I truly believe “AVATAR” will divide cinema as we knew it so far into a pre “AVATAR” and a post “AVATAR” era.

Don’t see it…. Experience it.

Rating :

* * * * *

Death at a Funeral

Cast : Mathew Macfadayen, Peter Dinklage, Rupert Graves

Director : Frank Oz

Tagline : From director Frank Oz comes the story of a family that puts the F U in funeral

I'm sorry. I didn't laugh at all at this movie. Yes, it was in the genre of "whatever can go wrong will go wrong." The unending chaos hinged mostly on one thing: The fact that the idiot pharmacy student kept losing his bottle of "Valium" which actually contained very strong hallucinogens. What kind of idiot would put such things in a Valium bottle, first of all, and, second, not keep a very strong eye on the bottle at all times? I mean, to some people, the contents were pure poison! If you had a bottle of arsenic, would you just casually keep "losing" it? I personally hate hallucinogens and know that if I were forced to take them (again), I would just lose it altogether, maybe forever! That is NOT funny to me! I would have much preferred it if the "victims" in this movie knew full well what they were ingesting and, perhaps, that what they ingested were something more benign, like marijuana.

At any rate, this movie was rather slapstick, I felt. Too much frenzy.

Rating :

* *

Food, Inc.

Cast : Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan

Director : Robert Kenner

Tagline : You Will Never Look at Your Dinner Again

Food, Inc is essential viewing even though it's not a great movie. Much like An Inconvenient Truth its facts and accumulation of information trumps style or overall craft. This doesn't mean that the director isn't making a bad film or doesn't have some clever visual cues and transitions or know how to combine interviews and archival footage, since he does. But it's the precious interviews he gets, and just leaving the theater knowing that American food (or just stretching worldwide) is run by four corporations and that the farming industry as is advertised as "the American Farmer" is in deep trouble.

It's separated into sections, and each one has something interesting. The one that got to me personally was the section on chickens, how they, like cows as well, are genetically engineered to get bigger a lot faster than they used to, and how the working conditions are at best hazardous and at worst untenable. We see one woman interviewed, the only one who bucked her corporate bosses, to let the cameras in to the state of the chicken coop. Even if one hasn't seen a regular chicken coop before, the state of this place, the stark and dark mis-en-scene, gives us a picture of how it is. As someone like myself who likes a good piece of chicken every now and again, it made me about as guilty as imaginable.

But perhaps that's part of the point of Food, Inc - get us informed to the point where we're scared s***less. The downside may be the reach; while Inconvenient Truth had the boost of a Vice President, the big names in this documentary are authors, one of which wrote Fast Food Nation (and, surprisingly, eats a hamburger on camera, from a diner of course, and speaks about how burger and fries are some of his favorite food to eat despite the horrors of the fast food industry). So it's difficult to say how many people will see this who don't already have some idea about the atrocious conditions in slaughterhouses, the outbreaks of E-Coli that affect countless people including little Kevin as seen in the film, and Monsanto's patent of a soybean seed that they genetically altered. Between that last part alone and a little factoid made about Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, it's no wonder one leaves the theater flabbergasted.

There is some hope the film provides, however. A Virginia farmer, who treats all of his livestock with care and feeds them right (not copious amounts of CORN, which, by the way, is practically coming out of your ears as you read this), gives a few moments to reflect on how the ideal of the American farmer, of what they can give to the community and how they can try and be reasonable with having to do the inevitable of killing living things for food. Hell, the director even has Wal-Mart's one really good moment in the documentary sun in years with its endorsement of organic products. But whatever you're own persuasion on food- be you a hardcore vegan or someone just coming from McDonalds before the movie starts- Food, Inc can make some sort of difference, if only for the information. I know I may not stop eating certain foods, but I'll never forget to give another look or a double take on what's in it- or what may not be there at all. This movie is good, valuable stuff.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Rocket Singh : Salesman of the Year

Cast :Ranbir Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Gauhar Khan

Director : Shimit Amin

Frankly speaking, "Rocket Singh" is not the usual bollywood kind of movie with the same ages old ingredients of action, love & comedy. It may not be appreciated by the masses, but for a change it's a simple and refreshing flick with everything just in the right proportions as required. The movie neither has any sick side stories yelling loudly to impress the viewers nor there are any silly unwanted songs jumping into the screenplay from nowhere. In other words it's a great piece of art made by a thinking team strictly on the lines of innovative Hollywood projects which are based on variety of subjects written around our daily routine life.

The story talks about a fresh and honest graduate who is looking for a descent job to make his future career. The wickedness of his colleagues and seniors in the office helps him transform into a clever and strategic businessman. But in the process he also has to opt for some unethical means and uses his present job office and resources for his personal benefit. The innovative plot not only enlightens us about the cut throat competition in the Sales line but it also showcases the hardships faced by the innocent customers due to the evil practices adopted by the service providers. The film commences slowly and starts growing on the viewer with its to the point narrative and highly realistic sequences. In fact most of the viewers will find it very easy to relate with various characters in the script portrayed just like the real life people we meet every day.

After his masterpiece "Chakk De India", Shimit returns with another brilliant work which again has a huge contribution coming from his writer Jaideep Sahni. Shimit's subtle treatment of the subject never slides down and he maintains a firm grip on the movie right till its impressive climax. Interestingly, all the incidents in the movie strongly point towards some similar personal experiences of either Shimit or Jaideep in the past. Actually the whole setup of a computer company and its premises in "Rocket Singh" is more relevant to New Delhi's computer hub, Nehru Place (which Jaideep must have seen) and everyone who has visited the premises would readily agree to that. Taking into account all their works together in the past, the writer-director duo is a great team in formation and you can easily expect many more brilliant projects coming from them in the near future.

In the performance arena there are good things to write about almost everyone in the cast. It is the most authentic Sikh character's portrayal on the screen till date. Ranbir Kapoor’s choice of projects after the unexpected debacle of "Saawariya" clearly proves his gifted cinematic sense and intuition power. While watching him on screen, not even once you feel that he is in a fictional get up of a Sikh. In simple words he just slips into the body of Harpreet Singh Bedi and delivers an effortless, enjoyable and the most impressive performance of his career.

Prem Chopra delivers a lovable cameo. Gauhar Khan impresses in her role of a receptionist and she surely has got the oomph factor to burn the screen. Shazahn Padamsee is fresh and confident as Ranbir's customer cum friend. Everyone else in the team lead by Rocket Singh is perfectly chosen and they skillfully act as true to life realistic characters, especially the computer engineer and his sexy desktops glowing in the night

if you ask me then just don't take it as a comedy and go for it if you really want to see a fresh, cool and uplifting movie completely different from what we have been seeing in all this year. In short, "Rocket Singh" is one of those few rare movies which are made without thinking of any favorable box office results. If majority of the viewers like it then that's a good sign of progress being made in the Indian Cinema

Highly recommended for everyone yearning for a change in Bollywood's choice of subjects.

Rating :

* * * *

Shaun oF the Dead

Cast : Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield

Director : Edgar Wright

Tagline : It's just one of those days when you're feeling a little...dead.

I was really looking forward to enjoying a quirky, English comedy but from start to finish I just could not get into Shaun of the Dead.

It should be noted that I'm generally not a fan of zombie movies. The genre has always seemed to focus on gore, effects, and thrills over plot and innovation. But I didn't think this would be an issue since Shaun is a spoof.

But it's not a spoof. Or at least not entirely a spoof. Shaun is a conglomeration of spoof, satire, horror, thriller, fantasy, romance, and of course comedy. Very rarely do I enjoy movies that attempt to bridge more than three genres simultaneously. The only similar movie I can recall for comparison is Mars Attacks! (1996).

I had some laughs, but overall I could not slip into the proper mindset to enjoy this film even though I desperately wanted to. At times it was clever and creative by placing average Joes in bizarre zombie situations. But at the same time it suffers from all those traits that infuriate and annoy me in horror and thriller movies.

In short the primary problem was an inability to empathize with the characters. One reason I don't care for horror movies is because the main characters are generally morons. Shaun himself was no exception; he repeatedly makes poor choices and either under or over reacts to all sorts of situations. His mother is a cross between senile and dim-witted. Ed is borderline retarded.

Truthfully, in real life, I can't stand people like Shaun. They are so absorbed in their own problems that they are completely oblivious to their surroundings and events around them. They have no one to blame but themselves for their predicaments. The characters just don't seem to behave realistically, which would be fine if the movie was an outright satire sketch like Monty Python, but it's not.

Rating :

* *

The Big Lebowski

Cast : Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Director : Coen Brothers

Tagline : They figured he was a lazy time wasting slacker. They were right

I frankly do not understand why "The Big Lebowski" has been elevated to the point of being considered one of the best cult classics of all-time. Why this cult around the character of "The Dude", one of the blandest, flavorless, most uninteresting comedy protagonists ever to be put on celluloid? He's simply some dopey hippie who loves to hang around a John Goodman and a seldomly-seen Steve Buscemi, who doesn't really do much.

The plot winds into so many different twists and turns and includes so many supporting characters, all of whom seek The Dude's bag of money, that trying to understand this movie is like trying to untangle the Gordian Knot by hand. What's the point of placing layer upon layer upon layer of weird, uninteresting characters to the point that you forget what the hell this movie is about?

Nihilist German rockers? Some sicko Hugh Hefner clone? A gorgeous yet incomprehensible avant-garde artist who wants to have "The Dude's" baby? A strange drugstore cowboy who serves as some sort of Greek chorus? Stop it! "

Dnt even feel like writing anything about it.. avoid..

Rating :

* & 1/2

Funny People

Cast : Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana

Director : Judd Apatow

Judd Appatow directs his third film, Funny people. Judd Appatow has produced a ton of films, but only directed three. Appatow returns with his newest film, Funny people. It's a not a funny movie, don't get me wrong, but it is a little bit flawed. It upsets me to say this, but I was a little bit disappointed.

The first hour and a half was fairly entertaining, funny one-liners, exactly what I was expecting. Then the scene when Adam Sandler's Character goes to visit his former girlfriend's house. It dragged ON, and ON, and ON, and so forth. It was like the tempo of the movie went from snappy to outright boring and annoying. There were at least 15-20 minutes where nobody in our almost sold-out crowd laughed. Terrible.

It was almost like Apatow took two completely different editors, gave one the first half's footage, and the other the second half, and had them edit without seeing each other's work. The second half was painfully awful to sit through. Some people left the theater. Plot development was slower than ever, everything was predictable.

None of the characters were likable, expect for maybe Seth Rogan's and the children. It didn't "move" me in any way possible, plot was fairly pointless and dry, satire was nearly absent, and it relied on penis, fart and sex jokes that were nowhere even close to Superbad. Sandler was OK. It was nice having lots of cameos: James Taylor, Eminem, Tom from Facebook, Ray Romano and Sarah Silverman just to name a few. But it didn't make up for subpar acting from the others.

I thought maybe the ending would make up for the second half it could have been a decent comedy, but it was formulaic and awkward. I've seen much funnier people in much more funny movies. Infact you can watch the director’s first two movie.. 40 year old virgin and knocked up... better any day.

Rating :

* *