The secret in their eyes

*ing : Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago
Director : Juan José Campanella

Tagline :

The secret in their eyes is an film from Argentina. And it makes me wonder there are soo many good movies to watch from all across the world. Secret in Their eyes is about a few people working for Investigative department in Argentina. Where they stumble upon a rape case which changes their life forever. The film has a very important and my personal theme. Revenge. I hv always belived that what is the revenge if it doesn’t justify the act. For exp, if someone rapes or kills someone, whats the fun in hanging that someone to death or shooting him with a bullet. He will get a few mins of suffering and all will end. Here, I remember one of fav movie, I saw the Devil. Where the hero takes a unique revenge on the villain. Ofcourse it spirals big time and hero has to face more consequences but I loved the idea.
The secret in their eyes has a soul of a revenge movie but its clad with emotional tone. And the experience is brilliant.
Rating :
*** & ½

Race 2

*ing : Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone
Director : Abbas-Mustan

Tagline : Betrayal is survival

Race 2
Life is a great leveler. One day you watch a film like Life of Pi and other day you are watching a trash like Race2. Yes, even though I love bollywood yet I am not ashamed of saying that race2 is a trash. Its nothing but money being spent when there is no need. Good looking people living in good looking places surrounded by more good looking people. Its all gloss but no content. I am not even going to venture in story line here coz its so confusing that u will keep wondering what happened where. And anything without making any sense. I may even hv called it a guility pleasure and a one time watch bt I am soo pissed off with the movie, I am not going to recommend anything about it.
Rating :
* 1/2

Life of Pi

*ing : Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain
Director : Ang Lee


Tagline :


Life of Pi is based on a book written by Yan Martel with the same title. It won some big prizes across the literary fests and for long time was considered to be an unflimable book. Before Ang Lee took upon the job. And I still think he was the best man to helm a book like this. Its about Pi, a boy in Pondicherry India travelling to Canada with has family and animals of his zoo. On the way there is a sea storm and the ship sinks living him on a life boat with a zebra , monkey and a tiger named Richard Parker. It’s a very meditative experience he goes through and survives on the boat for 227 days with a tiger on it. The film has amazing visuals and effects. Bt all is underwhelmed in the context of the movie.. it has a brilliant ending and a theme which is soo identifiable. Loved it.
Rating :
****

Friends (Season 9)

*ing : Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer

Creator: David Crane, Marta Kauffman

Tagline : All you need is friends !

This is perhaps the fastest I have finished a season of friends. One of the reason is that its really funny and each episode just breezes past. Second is that I had kinda free time lately so got more opp to watch it. Also, since the season and series is coming towards end, there is a niggling curiosity as what will happen next and I just want to finish it soon. Having fully known that I will regret once its done and I ll sorely miss it. Season 9 again has some nice moments and some dark ones. Phoebe gets true love and decides to get married to Mike. Monica and Chandler learn that they cant conceive and go for adoption. Rachel has a fight with Ross and moves out and start living with Joey. They try to make out but cant have sex. They decide to remain friends forever. Ross seems to hv moved on with Charlie. Last season is going to be killer as all the allegiance will get to its end.


Rating :
**** & ½

Silver Linings Playbook

*ing : Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Director : David O. Russell

Tagline : Watch for the signs

Silver Lining Playbook is an acclaimed movie starring host of brilliant actors starting with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Di Nero and our very own Anupam Kher. The film is abt dysfunctional broken disturbed sad people and issues of their life and how they try to find silver lining in it. Bradley Cooper has just come out of mental institute and is trying to make his marriage work. Jeniffer Lawrence is a young widow who is is in acute depression and sleeps with everyone in her office. De Niro has OCD about games and remotes. The film is fun but I was truly truly blown away by the performance of Jenifer Lawrence. So much so I think I hv fell in love with the lady. She’s outstanding in the movie. She justifiably got the Academy awards for best actress this year. She’s just toooo good. You wudnt expect such a performance from such a young actor. More so, Jenifer has this cute round face but in the movie, the way she plays the character you can actually feel her grief and you want to own her and love her. I don’t remember having such a strong crush on since Avril Lavigne. But I think Avril was more of a teenage fantasy whereas Jenifer is sort of women I want to keep and love forever.. Watch it for Jenifer Lawrence. Film is good too.
Rating :
*** & ½

Special 26

*ing : Akshay Kumar , Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee
Director : Neeraj Pandey

Tagline : Asli power dil mein hoti hai

There was a time that I had decided that I will not watch akshay Kumar movies anymore. For the simple logic coz he had given some worst movie in recent times. I had seen him in some of the movies like housefull, Blue and Tees Maar Khan which were the worst of its times. He gave some more n more bad movies which I decided never to watch. However Special 26 promos had me hooked. More so cause it has been directed by the same guy who directed ‘A Wednesday’. Even Akshay looks soo toned down in the promos and without his usual irritating mannerism. The film however is not that very good. It may hv gotten lot of praise all across but I did not like as much as probably others did. The concept is novel and so is treatment but I did not understand the twist part. Why Jimmy Shergill and Divya Dutta who are part of Akshay’s team , had to be part of CBI and give out all the details. Like his house address, their next plan and put the whole heist on risk. It may hv been a good cinematic experience but it was foolish twist.

Rating :
***

Sinister

*ing : Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone
Director : Scott Derrickson

Tagline : Once you see him, nothing can save you.

Sinister is one of the rare horror movie which I decided to watch. And it turned out such a bad one. Starring Ethan Hawke as a writer who writes on actual crime , the film is about a haunted house who owner’s have mysteriously been killed being hanged to a tree. The scene is chillingly shot on camera too. Apparently whoever sees the video gets affected as well..there was hardly any scene where I felt scared. I hated the movie. You better avoid it too

Rating :
*

Ratatouille

*ing : (voices of ) Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt
Director : Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava

Tagline : A comedy with great taste.

Does Pixar ever disappoints?? well atleast I haven’t been disappointed by their films. Ever. Infact every time I see a Pixar movie, the bar is raised soo high that I wonder if they will b able to live up to it when they next movie. But they do. Ratatouille is about a rat who dreams of becoming a chef in food capital of the world , Paris. Now rat is the last thing we associate to the kitchens and we don’t want to see them anywhere near our food. Also, the name Ratatouille is of a obscure French dish. Who would ever think that there can be a magical movie based on these two themes. The film is very funny and has lot of subtext and layers to it. The line which you will take out from the movie is ‘anybody can cook’. And it sounds soo true. More so, the film brings out the love for food in our life. We work hard all our life and accept mediocre food. That shouldn’t be the case. You should enjoy your meal. Love it. Adore it.
Do watch the movie.

Rating
****

It's a MAD MAD MAD MAD world

*ing : Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman
Director : Stanley Kramer

Tagline : If ever this mad, mad, mad, mad world needed "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world" it's now!

This film was strongly recommended by Shahrukh Khan and apparently its one of his favorite comedy movie. No way in world I could hv missed the movie. As the title suggests, it’s a mad mad mad mad movie in this mad mad mad mad world. Group of 5 stranger get a hint that there is a hidden treasure in a park. they all rush for it and it shows the how mad people are. There are some hilarious hilarious scenes. The film is made in 1963 and yet it seems very relevant. The simple greed and madness people have for money. In the film, ironically the mad ones behave sane and the sane ones behave mad. Watch it. You will love it.
Rating :
*** & ½

Friends (Season 8)

*ing : Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer

Director : David Crane, Marta Kauffman

Tagline : All you need is friends !


No Homeland or nothing in this world can compare to the fun I have watching Friends. It is the best series that there ever has been made. I know I hv said the same lines many a times over bt I cant help coz Iove it soo much.. every character is my favorite and every episode is my favorite. There is just soo much fun, jokes, emotions, camaraderie, bromance, chemistry in one season which is more than anything u wud see. Friends 8 again has significant development in the lives of all characters like Phoebe is in serious relationship, Rachel is pregnant, Monica and Chandler are trying to conceive and Joey is in love with Rachel. But these are just bylines, you have to watch the series to know what fun is.
Absolutely love it.
Rating :
**** & ½

Homeland (season 2 )

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*ing : Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin
Creators : *many*

Tagline : The nation sees a hero. She sees a threat

Now Homeland 2 is where hype meets substance. The story continues from first season where an American War Prisoner has been turned a terrorist and is planning an attack on America. CIA is after him but what is the truth. Is he really a terrorist or innocent as he claims (NOT). This season is full of twist and turns and unexpected events which keeps you hooked and at edge of the seat. By the end of the season, where everything seems solved and you can see the peace coming, there is a blast (literally) which makes u wonder if all u had been watching was true or not. It’s a very very gripping series. I had lot of fun watching it. Cant wait to watch 3rd season. Only advise, they shudnt drag it to forever type and finish it soon..
Rating :
****

Inkaar

*ing: Arjun Rampal , Chintragadha Singh
Director : Sudhir Mishra

Tagline :

I find Sudhir Mishra a very interesting director. He has made films in different genre. i loved his movie ‘Hazaro Khwahishe Aisi’ quite like the underrated “khoya khoya Chand” and “ye saali zindagi” was irreverent fun. However Inkar doesn’t live up to the expectations. It is about Sexual Harassment in Offices these days. Which is a very relevant topic. Film talks abt Harassment being of many types. A innocuous remark has ‘hey sexy’ could be complement to some and harassment to some. The film stars two very good looking couple, Arjun Rampal and Chitranddha Singh working in an advertising agency where Rampal is sued by Chitrandgadha for Harassment. the film also deals abt subjects of office politics, jealousy , insecurities and competition and what one does to get ahead in the corporate ladder. The film has some interesting points but doesn’t hold together eventually. Yet, its not a bad watch.

Rating :
** & ½

Guide

*ing : Dev Anand, Waheeda Rahman
Director : Vijay Anand

Tagline :

For the love of Waheeda Rahman, ended up watching what arguably is her best role and arguably one of the best Indian movie. Guide, directed by Vijay Anand, brother of star Dev Ananad, is a very complex movie about life, dreams, insecurities, guilt, freedom and everything that covers life. Raju, played by Dev Anand is a very popular guide in Udaipur. One day he greets an eccentric couple and his life changes forever since then. It will be unfair on my part to give details of the movie.. you should watch it to experience it.even though movie was made in 1965, it was very very progressive and had some themes which might shame directors of today. Special mention about music. It is one of the best.. Each and every song is a classic and its album for lifetime.
Rating :
****

Kaagaz ke Phool

*ing : Guru Dutt , Waheeda Rahman
Director : Guru Dutt

Tagline :

Kaagaz ke phool
I had always heard of classics films directed by Guru Dutt like Kaagaz ke Phool and Pyaasa and Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam. For quite long I wanted to check them out. First one I saw was Kaagaz ke Phool. And I quite liked the film.. there is inheritance of sadness in the film which is soo attracting. Guru Dutt himself was a sad man in most of his life and killed himself out of depression. Kaagaz ke Phool is set in world of cinema where a successful director falls in love with his protégé, a female actress he launches, and ends up destroying himself for the lover of her. They both love each other but somehow they cant be together.. Female lead is played by luminous Waheeda Rahman and you have to watch the film to know how beautiful and graceful the day used to be. Have to say she still is very very graceful and there is rarely anyone in industry like her today. The film has one of my most fav track as well, ‘waqt ne kiya kya sitam, Hum rahe na hum.. Tum rahe na tum..
Watch if you want to know Indian cinema better.
Rating :
*** & ½

Salmon Fishing in Yemen

*ing : Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked
Director : Lasse Hallström

Tagline :

The situation in the movie is to get a good story from middle east so that West can look good in press. Somehow I think even the movie was made for the same purpose. So that British movie industry can look good that they are finding uplifting story in Middle East. I dnt know if this is true or not, however the movie does a good job. Its abt a wealthy Sheikh (aren’t they all ? ) who wants to do bring a fishing culture in deserts of Yemen. Almost impossible task but then he has some smart workers like Evan McGregor and Emily Blunt who do it for him. With some hiccups ofcourse. It’s a good film. Quite like the thought which relates fishing to faith. That you have to be patient and then u are rewarded. Should watch this feel good film.
Rating
***

Homeland (season one)

*ing : Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin
Creators : *many*

Tagline : The nation sees a hero. She sees a threat.

I have heard LOT of things about Homeland. And its been nothing but praise. Everyone I know who has seen the series cant stop gushing about it. And I had my expectations sky high. The series (first season) is good, very good yet, it doesn’t justify the hype around. ! its about a tough CIA women who is after one of the major leaders of Al-Qyeda. The plot is quite similar to the best movie of last year “Zero Dark Thirty” but just with more drama and emotions. The twist is that she has to follow a prisoner of war from Iraq who she thinks has been turned on and is a terrorist now. If he is one or not, you must find out watching the series.
Rating :
*** & ½

Argo

*ing : Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Director : Ben Affleck

Tagline : The movie was fake. The mission was real.

Argo won the award for best movie at Oscars this year. After prolonging for months, I ended up watching the movie and quite enjoyed myself. I have always been fan of movies directed by Ben Affleck. Gone Baby Gone and The Town. Liked both of them. But both movies were more in his comfort zone as both were set in his hometown Boston. First time he goes on a completely different territory and goes all the way to Iran in 1980. Where a crisis in Iran has forced few Americans hide in a diplomat’s house. The situation is quite bad and they needed to be taken out soon. So these people pretend being a film crew and take them out. Sounds simple but film is damn good edge of the seat riveting thriller. Your heart is in mouth in final moments of the film. As I said, I really enjoyed this film, yet I cant agree that this is the best film of the year. I dnt know myself which other one wud be but it dint seem like a right choice. Also, Academy must hv nominated Ben Affleck for best director. I think that’s the guilt that made them vote for Argo as best movie.
Rating :
*** & ½

Idiocracy

*ing : Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard
Director : Mike Judge

Tagline : The Future Is A No Brainer

One of my favorite movie FightClub has a very famous dialogs. Advertising has chasing cars. Buying things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like. And I hv always agreed on it. Advertising has made us dumb in lot many ways. I never like the product which is very aggressively promoted. I wud always go for underrated subtle ones than In-your-face types.
Idiocracy is about two very very average people in present world who due to failed experiment ends up in future. And they see that advertising has made everyone really dumb. So dumb that they are the smartest around. The film has a very very interesting premise but its not well made and neither its entertaining. Yet, u can watch if if you want.
Rating :
** & ½

Dredd

*ing : Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Director : Pete Travis


Tagline: Judgment is coming

one of the rare month when I hv seen least number of movies. Been caught up with work and many things around. Dredd however was a poor choice. It is a poor rehash of a last year’s Korean movie “The Raid Redemption”. Film I loved.
Like Raid Redemption, its about a building taken over by Mafia and Gangsters of the city. This time, a cop and a rookie accidently gets caught in it and ends up blowing the entire Gang. Dredd is set in futuristic world and has more gun battles than the amazing Martial Art in Raid. Dint like it much
Rating :
**