Duplicity

Cast : Clive Owen, Julia Roberts

Dirctor : Tony Gilroy

Tagline : Outwit. Outspy. Outsmart. Outplay. Then get out

Duplicity is a Clive Owen/Julia Roberts vehicle...period. It was like they picked the two of them and then built a story around them trying to make it smart, witty and fast paced but it just never really achieves any of that. Given the talent of everyone involved I suppose I just expected more. Certainly the film has plenty of twists and turns and keeps you guessing but by the time you get all the answers you just won't care for some reason.

It seems like everything for Duplicity is in the right place for the perfect heist/spy thriller and yet it never manages to take off the way it should. I stand by the fact that I think the film tries too hard to be more than what it is. Duplicity should have been a fun, light Ocean's 11/12/13 type film but it seems like they wanted it to be more critically friendly and in essence made it far more complicated than it needed to be. On top of the heist aspect of the film is this whole story about corporate espionage and what lengths the corporations will go to in order to get their competitors information. I think the film makers might actually think they were trying to make some sort of real statement about corporations and competitive edge.

Clive Owen plays his usual role (part of the issue) as soft spoken, angry looking, former MI6 agent Ray Koval. Owen's usual character just doesn't really impress in Duplicity but his range as an actor is very limited. Julia Roberts returns to the big screen and does decently as former CIA agent Claire Stenwick. Owen and Roberts have okay chemistry but for this type of film okay chemistry simply doesn't cut it. This film thrives on their chemistry and their witty dialog and the back and forth bantering and while there is plenty of that it's not as good as it should be. Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti are the heads of the respective companies. They both do well but nothing outstanding which ultimately is the whole point of this film. Everything is okay but not good or great. With four big stars in this film I guess I hoped for more.

Director Tony Gilroy is a terrific writer having penned the Bourne films, my favorites in fact. But so far his films as a director Michael Clayton and now Duplicity haven't really reflected his talent as a director. I think his directorial idea is to be as critically favored as possible and create intense, gritty, and intelligent movies but the question remains as to whether or not Duplicity should have been made that complicated... thts all iv to say your honour.

Rating :

* * & 1/2

Whatever Works

Cast : Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood

Director : Woody Allen

"Whatever Works" is pure vintage Woody. Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) is a cynical, neurotic and suicidal man that Allen would've played himself had he been old enough. He's an elitist intellectual jerk who loves classical music and literature and spews life philosophy. He is a Harvard grad physicist-turned-chess-teacher who considers himself a genius and everyone else a peon. He delivers an opening monologue. He and the characters in this film go to the movies, reference movies and attend art gallery showcases -- and it takes place in New York. This is the comfort food of Woody Allen movies.

In a twist of Allen's love for cosmic coincidence, Boris meets a 21-year-old runaway Southern girl named Melodie St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) who he takes in and via foot in the door, ends up letting stay. She's a completely naive and uneducated stereotype, the complete opposite of Boris and all Woody prototypes (with great purpose, however). Mistaking his crafty insults and fatalistic world view for great intelligence, Melodie develops a crush on him and Boris, with his "take what you can get/enjoy what you have" mentality, agrees to marry her. All manages to work until Melodie's mother (Patricia Clarkson) finds her in New York and her traditional views act as a major countering force to their relationship.

Allen's crafty little concoction about not being able to plan for life and love and all its overwhelming negatives that can pop up at any moment is nearly charming. Truthfully, it's a bit sophomoric for his capability level in terms of comedy. The Southern stereotyping, random sharp turn of events and his choice to break the fourth wall (in a film no less) might all be leading somewhere, but it's nothing you totally bite on. The situations are funny and interesting but not believable or sophisticated enough to convince you to start popping Allen's philosophy pills.

"Whatever Works" is neo-classical Woody Allen. It's like asking your mother to cook you something she always made when you were a kid only it's 40 years later and not all the same ingredients are present and she uses some different and not as sophisticated ones as a replacement. In other words not quite what it used to be, but it's still pleasantly palatable and it takes you back in a positive way.

It might just work for You.

Rating :

* * *

Body Of Lies

Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Russel Crowe

Director : Ridly Scott

Tagline : Trust No One. Deceive Everyone

Even though the 70-year-old director has long established himself as one of Hollywood's best and most durable directors; having helmed some of the most entertaining films of all time, in virtually every genre (including sci-fi classics like Alien and Blade Runner); and having been nominated no less than three times for the Best Director Oscar (Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down), to decide to take on theme that has produced exactly zero blockbusters thus far – the Middle East and terrorism – takes an incredible amount of courage.

It's not easy to describe the plot of Body of Lies without giving too much away. DiCaprio plays CIA operative Roger Ferris, who is trying to flush out a terrorist leader named Al-Saleem in Jordan. He gets his orders from Ed Hoffman (Crowe), a man for whom results are the only satisfactory outcome, delivered with a fair amount of arrogance and a cocky Southern drawl. Ed plays the situation like a kid playing a video game, and has the resources to change the rules anytime he feels like it, dispensing his orders from his office, from his backyard, from his daughter's soccer game, for Pete's sake! This, of course, infuriates Ferris to no end, because he is the one who is in the trenches, chasing the bad guys, dodging bullets, ducking explosions, and procuring the badly-needed intelligence that Hoffman needs. Ferris is also trying to build a productive working relationship with the head of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), a relationship that is made even more tenuous by Hoffman's double-dealings and hidden agendas.

There are so many ways that Scott could have screwed this up. A lesser director might have chosen to ramp up the action, sacrificing intelligence for entertainment. A lesser director could have taken this story of espionage and twisted it into a convoluted and indecipherable Gordian knot. A lesser director would have gotten less convincing performances from his lead actors.

But Ridley Scott is not a lesser director. Though the plot is indeed complex, with many layers and sub-layers, deceit and treachery, Scott never lets you lose sight of the overall picture. He tells a solid, wonderfully entertaining story, without the need to drive home its message with sledgehammer subtlety (after all, very few things are black and white). And most of all, he gets electric performances from Crowe and DiCaprio, whose symbiotic relationship with a thinly-veiled veneer of mutual contempt is a pleasure to watch.

I don't know if Body of Lies will end up breaking through the barrier that every movie in this genre couldn't; but for what it's worth, I hope it does.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Moon

Cast : Sam Rockwell

Director : Duncan Jones

Tagline : The last place you'd ever expect to find yourself

Do watch this movie I've been lucky enough to have an opportunity to witness movie which will shake u.
You don't really stumble upon many riveting, independent, sci-fi films that look beautiful(let alone don't contain aliens and space magic) and capture major emotional themes successfully. Moon accomplishes this, and with very little CGI at that.

Sam Bell is an astronaut working for a corporation on the far side of the moon. His job? Maintaining a lunar facility and the automated machines which are harvesting the moon's surface. The harvested material is then sent back to Earth to use as energy.

Sam is on the very last leg of a three year contract and is quite anxious to return to his wife and daughter. Barring any incidents, Sam will be able to leave his solitude. But something does go wrong.

That said, tremendous acting by Sam Rockwell carries this film - mainly because he is basically the only person in the movie. I'm not talking about Cast Away meets the moon… This film explores loneliness much deeper than that, and with much more emotion as well. Luckily for us there are no pieces of sports equipment on which the lead dotes, but instead we're blessed with a monotonous talking robot(voiced by Kevin Spacey).

I advise that people go see this film, not only to support Duncan, the director, and Sam, but also to explore to possibilities of space and the humanity of loneliness.

Don't go in expecting to find what I have discussed, but go in expecting to find something inside yourself.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Kurbaan

Cast : Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi

Director : Rensil D'silva

Tagline : Some love stories have blood on them

Films on terrorism are nothing new to Bollywood, especially when they tackle issues on skirmishes and conflicts between India and Pakistan, but lately, this exploratory net has been cast a little bit wider, and the net being thrown at stories taking place on US soil, and this year alone we have Kabir Khan's New York, and Renzil D'Silva's Kurbaan. (Next up is My Name is Khan by same production house set in US.)

Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) teaches at the university and falls in love with colleague Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan). The two get married and shifts to New York City. Life starts normally for Avantika and Ehsaan.But not for soon. There Avantika becomes witness to some terrorist operations in her neighborhood headed by a Muslim fundamentalist (Om Puri). Soon she realizes that she is a pawn to a huge conspiracy. She secretly seeks help from a television reporter Riyaaz (Vivek Oberoi) who attempts to infiltrate the terrorist outfit to foil their big plan.

This is as simple as it sounds but there are some gaping hole in the story which i cudnt help but mention here..

The most critical plot points in the film make little sense—the FBI have Ehsaan’s photograph and history on their records. An FBI agent barks—"I want this man found and found fast"—and yet, Ehsaan roams around freely.

He has a driver’s license and a job teaching a course on, get this, the Muslim identity in the Modern World.

When Avantika realises that her neighbours are dubious, she doesn’t call the cops like any normal person would. Instead, she goes alone, at night, into their basement and stumbles on a dead body.

Riyaaz goes one step further. When he figures out that there is a sleeper cell, he doesn’t call the FBI. Instead he declares: "I’m going to deal with it myself" and joins the gang.

The terrorists aren’t very bright either. After one dinner, they enlist Riyaaz into the group. People dating each other probably spend more time looking up for partners on Google than these guys do before bringing in Riyaaz on a plan to blow up subway stations.

And then, there’s the Kareena-Saif lovemaking scene that has generated reams of newsprint. Yes, it is bold by Bollywood standards. You see her bare back. It’s aesthetically done but again, the logic for it is laughably silly – she has to get the names of the stations that will be blown up. So she seduces him and then digs into his desk to get the map with the stations marked out. She says, "Kya hum ek raat ke liye sab kuch bhool kar phele jaise nahin ho sakte", but he doesn’t wonder why she’s being so friendly all of a sudden.

Lesser mortals in the movie Kirron Kher is an Afgani in the movie, her dialect an as Afgani trails away while she having the conversation

In a regular Hindi film, viewers are happy to suspend disbelief. But a film that deals with such serious, intricate issues cannot demand that comfort.

Performance wise Saif Ali Khan has done a better role in the Sriram Raghavan's movie Ek Hasina Thi and of course Omkara, there he was convinced us on the playing negative characters with complete ease. He slips here. Kareena looks Stunning all over the movie. For some particular reason, Vivek Oberoi had a good acting and lived in his character, with this movie, he surely be getting some push in his career.
watch if you want to.

Rating :

* * *

Acid Factory

Cast : Irffan Khan, Dino Moreo, Aftab Shivdasani, Dia Mirza, Danny, Manoj Bajpai

Director : Supern Verma

Acid Factory, directed by Suparn Verma, looks like it's been assembled from the footage that was edited out of Sanjay Gupta's Kaante. Shot in the same grainy moss-green colour tone; its characters speak in a similar hyper-active overlapping style; and two big action set-pieces notwithstanding, it's a suffocating psychological thriller at its core.

Of course, there's also that trademark sequence of all characters walking towards camera in slo-mo.

But while Kaante owes much by way of debt to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs of which it was a shameless rip-off, Acid Factory has been blatantly plagiarised from the lesser-seen 2006 thriller,Unknown.

Five guys and one chick wake up in an abandoned chemical factory on the outskirts of Cape Town. They have been variously beaten, bound, shot and handcuffed, but nobody remembers a thing. Not even their names, or what they're doing there. A gas-leak at this factory has resulted in this temporary amnesia, you learn.

Repeated phone-calls from a central figure seem to suggest that a kidnapping has taken place, and that two of them are going to die. Now the group must piece back their memories and work out the possible permutations -- who are the kidnappers and who's been kidnapped? -- before the mastermind behind this operation finally shows up.

Borrowing too many tricks that have been used too many times before, director Suparn Verma kills what could have been an otherwise promising thriller by packing it with ridiculously silly chase scenes, gratuitous club songs, and outrageously idiotic dialogue.

It doesn't help that Acid Factory comes with an all-star cast of jokers including Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani and Dia Mirza who don't bring a shred of credibility to their roles. Even dependable actors like Irrfan Khan and Danny Denzongpa are wasted in thankless roles, while Manoj Bajpai hams it up as a maniacal criminal.

A film of this nature might still have worked if the holes in the plot hadn't been so glaring. I mean think about it -- six chaps can't remember a thing, and not one of them is carrying any ID?

Rating :

* & 1/2

(500) Days of Summer

Cast : Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooery Deschanel

Director : Marc Webb

Tagline : Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.

Let's face it. We've all done or been part "dumping". Whether it's the, "Lets just be friends," or the all too familiar, "It's not you, it's me," tactic, as long as you're not on the receiving end it becomes a question of, "How quickly can I get this over with, so I can move on with my life?" Equally, all of us have experienced what it feels like to "be" dumped and the complex emotions that unexpectedly follow.
Tom (Joseph-Gordon-Levitt) is a wanna-be architect turned professional greeting card writer whose life is thrown for a loop when he suddenly falls for the "new girl" Summer (Zooey Deschanel,). As one who appeared most certainly unattainable at first glance, Tom manages to charm her into what she coins as a, "casual relationship." Eventually, Tom ends up questioning their status with one another, which manages to put strain on the relationship, causing her to request the dreaded "time apart." (500) Days of Summer chronicles the bitter sweet beginnings, the untimely endings and all of that confusing stuff that takes place during the in betweens of a relationship that just isn't meant to be.

(500) Days of Summer is presented in an effective non-linear style that sets it apart from its romantic comedy predecessors, rotating back and forth between dates signified by a simple title card flashing in between scenes (2), (50), (150) and so on to represent the various days in the course of Toms roller coaster of a relationship. This seesaw method of bouncing to and from successfully manages to force the viewer in a physically engaging shared experience of Tom's feelings, which is something every director aspires to elicit from their intended audience.


Leads Deschanel and Levitt manage to bring something quite special to the screen in their portrayals of Tom and Summer (both "last nameless"). Their chemistry is really what makes the film a joy to watch. Mostly thanks to Neustadter and Weber's superb dialog, both actors seem so comfortable in their roles that their interactions with one another transcend the screen and naturally unfold before our eyes as if we were voyeurs to their unraveling, wanting so much to change the fate of their outcome, but helpless to do so. Deschanel is sexy, carefree and bound to be adored by males everywhere as Summer. Levitt captures the struggle of the neurotic "boy in love" exceptionally through all of his various stages of emotional imbalance.

(500) Days of Summer is a poem to every down and out guy who thinks he's the only one whose ever been dragged through the mill by their own Summer. What undoubtedly ends up making this picture so brilliant is how relatable it is to its victims and victimizers a like. When all is said and done, there is most definitely a lesson to be learned by Tom's experiences. Everyone you meet along the way, whether just passing through or sticking around for awhile, has a purpose. In the end nothing lasts forever, relationships begin, relationships end. Try to be thankful for all the people that broke your heart, they more than likely helped you find yourself in the process …especially you, Summer…bitch.

Rating :

* * * * & 1/2

Happy-Go-Lucky

Cast : Sally Hawkins

Director : Mike Leigh

Tagline :The one movie this fall that will put a smile on your face.

Happy-Go-Lucky has been one of the most popular movie of previous year winning numerous awards. This was supposedly a feel good movie but it turned out to be more than that.

Movie introduces us to Poppy, who regardless of what happens does not cease smiling. Her bike is stolen, her driving instructor is a lunatic, a child in her class is troubled, but does that smile waver? No.

Poppy can at first appear to be rather annoying character. She’s more happy than your average person, she wears some of most the colourful, kooky outfits you’ve ever been privy to , she speaks a lot, at times in a rather crazy vernacular but, despite this, you can’t help but love her. Where could we find such a person you ask? In one of London’s primary schools of course. Poppy is clearly a great teacher of a class of content children and the scenes in the classroom are a joy to watch. One of Poppy’s driving forces appears to be a desire to make other people happy, be it her friends, her pupils or her driving instructor. There are some points within the film where we wonder whether Poppy’s desire to help others is a negative trait. To an extent, it blinds her to some of the dangers she faces, this is obvious in a scene where Poppy, alone, speaks to homeless man in what could be described as industrial wasteland. Does this compromise the realism of the film? Does it make us question the extent to which we respect Poppy as a character? Or does it is simply add to the many layers of our protagonist? Mike Leigh, does not give us the two-dimensional character we see in the adverts. Poppy is complex, self-aware, compassionate and wiser than we know.

Sally Hawkins is mesmerising in her role as Poppy. We give immense amount of credit to actors when they pull of that strong, powerful, emotional scene often characterised by sorrow or anger. What we seem to forget is how hard it can be to smile for long periods of time. Hawkins smiles in nearly every moment she spends on screen and she clearly gives it her all. She’s really smiling. Hawkins certainly bring Mike Leigh’s script to life and she is completely believable as Poppy.

A core element of the film is not just Poppy as a character but Poppy’s interactions between the people she comes across. The relationship between Poppy and her roommate, Zoë (Alexis Zegerman) is adorable. Their voices complement each other and there is an ongoing feeling that their conversations are going no-where, despite this, you can’t help but enjoy listening to them. Eddie Marsan plays the somewhat psychotic driving instructor, Scott. Scott is Poppy’s complete opposite; miserable, rigid, prejudiced and lets just throw male into it. We slowly become aware that Poppy is not the best person to be around Scott. She appears to be against every he stands for and his agitation around her becomes palpable.

Where the film leaves the audience greatly depends on the viewer. Mike Leigh definitely makes a statement, but it’s up to you decide what you think it is. Happy-Go-Lucky is guaranteed to have you in laughs for the most of the film, it is certainly worth watching.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Star Trek

Cast ; Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana

Director : J. J. Abrams

Tagline: The Future Begins

I have to admit here that iv never seen a Star Trek movie in past.. Infact I just had a vague idea about the concept but i was not much aware of the details. But when i saw the latest movie of the franchise, I was spellbound. I wish i had seen this movie in theatre.

Star Trek follows the creation of the greatest crew to explore the far reaches of space. The opening scenes show us a dramatic and moving battle between the USS Kelvin and the time displaced ship Nerada. This battle introduces the villain Nero (Eric Bana) and shows us the birth of James Kirk. Jump ahead 25 years and we see Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) take two different paths to Starfleet and the adventure to stop the vengeance filled Nero begin.

Regarding the acting; everyone was great. The star of this movie is, obviously, Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, showing off the character's rebellious and cocky, and ultimately, leadership side. Zachary Quinto playing the iconic Spock was logical. He may not have the same deep and commanding voice Leonard Nimoy has, but the other resemblance of characteristic is undeniable. The rest of the crew -- Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as McCoy, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and especially Simon Pegg as the babbling Scotty -- did an appraisable job forming a team that would make Star Trek lasts throughout the ages. And of course Leonard Nimoy himself had no problem taking back the role of the original Spock.


The special effects are beyond description. The sheer beauty of it all was to much to take in on the first showing.
The directing is superb. The editing and camera angles are sleek. The storyline and the storytelling itself is very engaging; holding your breath and grabbing your attention in the most mind-numbing sequence, Star Trek is everything a summer blockbuster should be like.

This movie is for everyone. No matter if you're a trekkie, a film-addict or just a casual movie-goer, you will be purely entertained as I did.

Rating :

* * * *

Lucky Number Slevin

Cast : Bruce Willis,Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu

Director : Paul McGuigan

Tagline : Wrong Time. Wrong Place. Wrong Number.

I never hear a thing about "Lucky Number Slevin" until some weeks ago when i saw its IMSB rating, this quickly gain my attention specially because of the great cast: Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Ben Kinsley and Josh Harnett. I didn't know what to expect because if Hollywood have teach us something is that "big names" doesn't always mean "great films". Finally i saw this film the night i was feeling kinda sleepy... nd this was the perfect movie which kept me awake and glued throughout.

The plot is about Slevin (Harnett), who is confuse with his friend Nick Fisher who owes money to two of the most important crime bosses in NY: The Boss (Freeman) and the Rabbi (Kingsley), that also are big enemies. Now Slevin most deal with this two dangerous crime bosses.

I really like the plot, is one of those that keeps you alert in all the film and have excellent characters. And of course, the excellent climax, that i'm not going to say. If i say that, it would be major spoiler here..
The movie feels a little perplexing for the first three-quarters, but then all of a sudden Things Make Sense. And not in a contrived, force-fed sense, either; it all falls into place. That's one of the debits of the movie, though; there aren't loose ends, there aren't endless possibilities, there aren't nebulous motives, and so forth. It's all too blunt, too black-and-white without even a hint of gray sneaking in from the side.

About the cast: is just great, the two seniors (Freeman and Kingsley) are, like always, great. Harnett is becoming one of those actors who chose really good films and in this one is really good and Lucy Liu is an excellent actress and also very beautiful. But my favourite role is the one of Bruce Willis, excellent character for all that represent for Slevin and Willis is great.
Absolutely Recommended.

Rating :

* * * *

A Walk To Remember

Cast : Shane West , Mandy Moore

Director : Jim Bosgraaf

Tagline : Find out who you are and do it on purpose

Although this movie is for high school students, I found something that really imspires me. I guess it really doesn't matter the age.

When we were young, we dreamed about a wonderful love. It happened to someone but not everyone. I don't believe that there is a person like Carter exist on this planet. Perhaps I am too skeptical. But who else can be so loyalty and faithful to their lover when one knows the other is dying.

Especially they are young that they are too young to know what is life.

The director or the author of this book is somehow drawing a picture of our future life style. Whatever the religion you believe in, it is obvious the form that we should approach. In this century, we are facing the bigger and even worse problems are our new generation. We are desperately searching the solution to solve this so-called "hopeless" disease that causes all the parents in digging the hole of depression. This movie is a good one to think where we can really hold the line but not to sacrifice too much our joyful and of course moral sense. The most important is freedom.

From my point, this can never be satisfied without certain rules applied. Imagined that if our new generations can behave like in this movie, this world can never have a chance to get worse.

On the other hand, we should have a simple living environment. When people don't have not much choices to make, life can be easier. That is to say, life can have less all kinds of darkness power to poison our mental condition.

The young actor is acting perfectly and naturally. Especially when he said "I love you" to the actress, his eyes showed the greates sorrow and the compassion. The most attractive moment I've ever seen. Perhaps he is young so the passion within his eyes does not pollute much.

When you get older and your dreams never fulfilled, it would only come to the real in the movie. That's why this film is so wonderful to bring you back to the past and your dreams without space and times limit.

Rating :

* * *

Perfume : The Story of a Murder

Cast : Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman

Director : Tom Tykwer

Tagline: He lived to find beauty. He killed to possess it

Having not read the book that this film is based on, I really had no idea what to expect, or how to look at it. So I decided to go into the cinema without any expectations what so ever, and I am very glad that I did.

Your first introduced to the central character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in the early stages of the film. It shows his struggle through childhood, his appreciation for smell, and his very unique ability to smell anything and everything around him. This part of the film is very much controlled by the narrator who weaves the tale together beautifully. Soon after as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille reaches adulthood, and learns to use his ability's, we begin to see a phychotic but also brilliant character developing. At times you don't know whether to admire him for his talent or hate him for what he is, but it's certainly a very enjoyable experience watching him throughout.

However what I found most enjoyable about this movie is its screenplay. Despite not being able to smell the perfume that Jean smells, or the scents that he enjoys in the movie, you still really do get a sense of what its like and how he is feeling. Andrew Birkin, and Bernd Eichinger have done a fantastic job with images, sounds and colors. That really do enhance your overall enjoyment of the film.

Overall this is a different tale of a serial killer. There are moments of brilliance in this film that you wont see anywhere else, and the atmosphere that it creates is beautiful.

Rating :

* * * & 1/2