Gandhi My Father

*ing : Akshay Khanna, Bhumka Chawla,
Director :

Tagline : To the people.. He was a father. to his son.. he was a father he never had


30th January is the day when Mahatma Gandhi was murdered. all day kept hearing news related to him. so wanted to watch something which gives different face of the man. and ended up watching this movie which has Gandhi's personal life and his equation with his wife and his elder son Hari. Turns out he had a very tumultuous relationship with his son Hari. partly coz his idealism and partly coz Hari was a self destructive cocky loser who used to get swayed away by any one said anything. he gambled, drank, left his wife to die, converted to Islam, got back to hindu, lived like a beggar. and was left to die .. gandhi may hv not treated him well enough bt then he also lost his way.. later in the movie Gandhi tries many times to make amends, asks for forgiveness also..
i cant vouch for authenticity of the events portrayed in movie., bt whatever of it is true.. Gandhi did not have a great personal life ! watch it if u keen to know abt him..

Rating :
* * *

Skyfall

*ing : Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench
Director : Sam Mendes

Tagline :

So after months of wait I finally saw the latest installment of ‘James Bond’ franchise, currently running in its 50th year. James Bond, the iconic character created by novelist Ian Fleming is the coolest character to have graced on screen. Smooth, suave, handsome, Witty and has a license to kill. What else do u want from a man. The actors portraying has been changing from time to time. Starting from the very famous Sean Connery to latest Daniel Craig. Bt for ppl who grew up in 90s, the James Bond for us was Pierce Brosnan and only he. So it was difficult to accept any other actor playing role of James Bond. Exactly wat happened with Daniel Craig who initially got cold response when he started playing the Bond. Bt slowly he grew in the role and how. Skyfall is almost like coming of age film for Daniel Craig as James Bond. He very good. Also, the franchise was facing lot of issues since last movie, Quantum of Solace, hadn’t really done that well. More so, there are new franchises which have taken the action to a different level so it has become difficult for James Bond to meet the expectations. Hence I think Skyfall was given to Sam Mendes, a director who has expertise in more drama genre than action genre which Bond series is. So that he can bring some depth and new gravity to the James Bond character. He does succeed in it, quite well though. ! Film is gorgeously shot and has some amazing action sequences. The best being the chase scene at the start of the film. But the major highlight of the film is the villain, portrayed by maverick Javier Bardem. He is creepy has hell and has given brilliant performance. Exactly a match a character like ‘James Bond’ needed. It may not the best Bond movie, bt its best in recent times.
Rating :
*** & 1/2

Friends (Season 7)

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




Director : David Crane, Marta Kauffman




Tagline : All you need is friends !



Once again I have seen a season of friends and once again I am going to say the same things. It is best. 6 ppl. Living in Manhattan. It’s the best. Ross, Phoebe, Chandler, Joe, Monica, Rachel (name of the 6 characters) are like your friends. They live, talk, have fun, go thru issues which u probably have gone thru. Perhaps the biggest development in the show has been in this season where 2 of them, chandler and Monica, gets married. Also its hinted that Rachel is pregnant. After all these years of silly fun (extremely endearing though) they are growing in life at personal front too.. ! Damn look forward to watch coming seasons. You should too..
Rating :
****

Hitchcock

*ing : Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson
Director : Sacha Gervasi


Tagline : Behind every Psycho is a great woman.

Hitchcock is documentary in part of life of ace Director Alfred Hitchcock when he was making the cult classic ‘Psycho’. !
Hitchcock has always been known for his eccentrics and unusual style of movie making and marketing. Its no longer secret that while making Psycho, he was at his worst. His last movie ‘Vertigo’ had failed at box office and he was under immense pressure of giving a film which matches his reputation. Paramount which used to distribute Hitchcock’s film then refused to give money for movie so Hitchcock had to mortgage his house for money. Also, he had a troubled relationship with his wife who cud never shine in front of the talent like Hitchcock is also displayed quite maturely. The film is racy and gripping and helps even more if you have seen the original ‘Psycho’. The best about is the portrayal of hitchock by legend Anthony Hopkins. All I wud say that its hard to distinguish the character form the actor. Sure watch for all film buffs.
Rating :
*** & ½

The Wave Rider (Book)

Written by : Ajit Balakrishnan

Alright, so this is the first book I finished reading in 2013. Hopefully of many more to come this year. I saw a video of interview between the author and chetan bhagat and that’s when I got interested in reading the book. Its supposed to be book abt invention of rediff.com (not exactly a BIG name) and abt internet history and also abt entrepreneurship. Its all 3 in parts bt the book is very boring. Its very technical many times and not even told in a pacy way ! found it very difficult to finish.. wud request you to avoid unless you have knowledge abt internet and websites and wat goes behind it.
Rating :
**

Chronicle

*ing : Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
Director : Josh Trank


Tagline : Not all heroes are super.

Chronicle was a surprise hit of last year. With a complete new cast, new director, footage style shoot it was the quintessential underdog kind of movie which made it big. About group of friends who accidently stumble upon some sort of magical power and then how they use or misuse it. How the silly games end up becoming life taking dark powers and how the great line comes alive ‘with great power, comes great responsibility.’
Most of the film is fun bt I thought it went bit too far towards the end and there were scene which I thought were not necessary or were overdone. Yet, a fun ride.
Rating :
* * *

Friends (Season 6)

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

Director : David Crane, Marta Kauffman

Tagline : All you need is friends !


Friends 6
As its been many times on this blog , Friends is my favorite show on earth. Including everything. ! and I ll say it once again.. its just the best. 6 ppl living in Manhattan and living the life we always wanted to live ( part of which I have lived, living with frends etc ) and all the fun that comes along. Amazing humor, Amazing cast everything is just top notch. If you have not seen it, you surely are missing something in life. Go watch it now. !
Rating :
* * * *

Flight

*ing : Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez and Don Cheadle
Director : Robert Zemeckis

Tagline :

An airline pilot, played by Denzel Washington, miraculously saves a flight from crashing but an investigation into the malfunction reveals something more troubling. Was it for the plane was of poor quality? or was it cause of Pilot’s drunken behavior. The film is beyond crash per se. it’s about addiction, human life, troubles, insecurities, web of lies we live around. The first half n hour is all about crash and how it happens. Rest of the film unfolds the situation carefully and allows u to be shocked and get uncomfortable with the proceeding. Washington truly deserves the acting nomination he got at Oscars. Wudnt be surprised if he wins as well. A good actor that he is, brings lot of depth and dignity to the role which requires being a negative character somewhere.
Rating :
* * * & 1/2

Ruby Sparks

*ing : Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan and Annette Bening
Director : Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Tagline : She's out of his mind.


Ruby Spark is a romantic movie which is funny and dark both. What else do u want from a romantic movie.. ! and the story is soo unusual and creative too..
a writer struggling with writer’s block, suddenly starts writing abt a women of his dream (literally). He falls in love with the character and wants to spend all the time writing about her. One day he discovers that the girl is living with him. For real. He doesn’t believe it and gets paranoid which is normal. Bt he is not the only one who can see and feel her bt everyone around him can. What more, the girl does everything he types. I wudnt like to tell much abt the film and u shud watch it.. I loved it.

Rating :
****

Son of Sardar

*ing : Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla
Director : Ashwani Dhir

Tagline : For his return...He waited 30 years!

Son of sardar is same movie which released along with Jab tak hai Jaan on diwali and gave stiff competition. It also had lot of controversies where makers of SOS accused of maker of JTHJ of bullying cinema hall owners and booking theatres in advance. Khair, both the film ended up doing well. SOS falls in same category like other big hits of the last year like Rowdy Rathore, Singham, Housefull 2 and Agneepath which are truly masala films. Which loosely translates into that they have big stars, large set ups and mindless action and comedy. The true blue ‘leave ur brain behind’ kind of films. Where lot of things happen without any logical explanation yet u sit there munching ur popcorn enjoying the proceedings. SOS is a no brainer. It entertains sometimes and gives headache most of the time.
Rating :
* *

Zero Dark Thirty

*ing : Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton and Chris Pratt
Director : Kathryn Bigelow

Tagline : The greatest manhunt in history.


After watching ZDT I am convinced that Kathryn Bigelow is not a women. She just cant make manly, macho, rugged, action movies like The Hurt Locker and ZDT. If she is a women, she has to be a women trapped in a man’s body.
ZDT is about CIA’s hunt for Osama Bin Laden and their operatives obsession with his hunt. I wudnt say that the film is fact or fiction, bt the way its directed, u wudnt care. Its riveting edge of the seat stuff u must not miss.

Rating :
****

Seven Psychopaths

*ing : Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson Sam Rockwell , Michael Stuhlbarg, Christopher Walken
Director : Martin McDonagh

Tagline : They Won't Take Any Shih Tzu.

Seven Psychopaths is directed by same director who did “In Bruges”. A really quirky movie. Sever Psychopaths is ever quirkier one than first one. Its abt a writer in Hollywood played by Colin Ferrel and his struggling actor friend played by Sam Rockwell. Rockwell makes his livelihood by kidnapping dog and earning ransom. In one of those crazy moments, he ends up kidnapping dog of a gangster who loves his dog more than anything. There are some other crazy characters too but they all are overshadowed by brilliance of Sam Rockwell. It’s a crazy movie in every way. Yet its very entertaining
Rating :
* * *

Django Unchained

*ing : Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio
Director : Quentin Tarantino

Tagline : Life, liberty and the pursuit of vengeance.

This is a new film by Quentin Tarintino everyone has been waiting with bated breath. Including me. Tarintino is someone who has shaped modern America with his radical films like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds.
Django Unchained is more a western film dealing with slavery with existed in America. Its about a black man Django who is freed by a bounty hunter and their quest to find DJango’s wife. Film is very violent and very talky, which is usual for Tarintino’s films. Yet, I think its his one of the weakest film. Tarintino ought to make better films than this one. Best thing abt is acting of Christopher Waltz. Being a Tarintino fan, I have to say that I am disappointed by the film.
Rating :
* * &1/2

Matru ki Bijliee ka Mandola

*ing : Pankaj Kapoor, Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Shabana Azmi
Director : Vishal Bhardwaj

Tagline :

I am a huge fan of Vishal Bhardwaj. Right from his music to his singing to his direction. Have loved most of movies directed by him. Makdee, Omkara, Maqbool, Kaminey. Did not like 7 khoon maaf much and am yet to watch “the blue Umbrella” which is supposed to be his best.
What I like most about vishal Bhardwaj that he is intelligent director and doesn’t spoon feed audience. MKBKMD is a difficult film to make and also difficult to watch. With the topic which is soo important and topical like corruption and land grabbing issue set in Haryana the film is frustratingly inconsistent. There are some brilliant scenes and some really confused ones. Think Bhardwaj wanted to make a film with its commerce in mind so he took popular stars like Imran Khan (even though tried hard but just cudnt play rugged, loud Haryanvi ) and Anushka Sharma ( irritating at times and adorable at times).
Best thing abt film is Pankaj Kapoor. Playing a wealthy man in a fictional village named after his last name Harry ‘Mandola’. With the help of local scheming politician (played deliciously well by Shabana Azmi) He wants to grab land of farmers and wants to set up factories and Malls and high rise apartments. But he is a different man when he is drunk and becomes apologetic and and wants to do right things. Its his inner conflict equated with his daughters marriage and future of his village that sets up the film. The climax is clunky and very filmy. We were just expecting a lot better from Bhardwaj. Hopefully next time.

Rating :
** & ½

The Imposter

*ing : Adam O'Brian, Frédéric Bourdin and Carey Gibson
Director : Bart Layton

Tagline :There are two sides to every lie.

The imposter is a documentary about French man Frédéric Bourdin who is serial imposter. Yes, you read right. He is someone who enjoys stealing identities and derives pleasure out of it. The documentary is about how he acted as imposter to an American family who had lost their 13 year son 3 years ago. He actually convinces the family that he is their lost son. Even though with different appearance and completely different accent. He creates web of lies that he was sexually abused by army personnel , drugged and exported out of country. People actually start believing him and it becomes a high profile case and he gets lot of media attention of it. But there is something wrong with the family which accepted him as his son. Inspite of obvious scenario that he is NOT their lost son, they continue treat him like one. Its more than wat meets the eye. It is hinted that the family actually killed the original guy and it doesn’t get revealed so that they accept him. The film is narrated by the culprit Frédéric Bourdin himself. He ofcourse later gets detained and sent back to his own country but his claims remains inconclusive that the family may have killed their atual son. Its told in a thriller style and is creepy at times too..

Rating :
* * *

Taken 2

*ing : Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace
Director : Olivier Megaton

Tagline : First they took his daughter. Now they're coming for him.

Taken 2 is sequel to hugely popular movie Taken starring Liam Neeson. Liam plays a Former CIA operative now dealing in private securities trying to amend relationships with his x wife and his daughter. After developments of first movie, where he somehow is able to mend relationships with both, in this one he goes on a family holiday in Istanbul. Unaware that gang of ppl he killed in first one are after him to take revenge. They kidnap him and his wife. Using his skills, he is able to free them but not without a hint that there cud be sequel of this movie too. Its not as entertaining or surprising or the first one. Liam also looks labored and doesn’t seem to be enjoying his role here. This was a highlight in the first movie. Watch it only if must
Rating :
* * & ½

Memories of Murder

*ing : Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim
Director : Joon-ho Bong

Tagline :

When I see Korean films, I wonder if every movie made in Korea is about psychopath or serial killers or what. Right from ‘Oldboy’ to ‘I saw the Devil’ to this one. Memories of Murder is also about a serial killer who was active in late 80s and early 90s. He first used to rape and kill them by stuffing their underwear in their mouth. All serial killer movies can be disturbing and so is this one. There are 2 detectives who spend day and night trying to catch him. Most likely they catch him too but has to let them go cause of inconclusive evidence. In reality, and even in film, the serial killer never got caught.

Rating :
* * *

Games of Thrones (Season 2)

*ing : Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage Maisie, Williams, Michelle Fairley, Emilia Clarker
Creators : David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Tagline : War Is Coming (season 2)

Even though I did not LOVE the first season, there are few reasons why I ended up watching second season. First, its only 10 episodes of 55 minutes each. Also, I had kinda started getting the flow of all characters (also had started liking few of them) and wanted to know wat happened to them. Second season was more entertaining than first one and more things happen in this one. First season was mostly set up of conflicts. The issue remains same. Excessive violence and nudity. Wish they had gone away with it to attract wider audience.
Rating :
* * *

To Rome With Love

*ing : Woody Allen, Penélope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page
Director : Woody Allen

Tagline :

Woody Allen is still in love with Europe and exploring each city after another in his films. From Barcelona in ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’, to Paris in ‘Midnight in Paris’ and now Rome in To ‘Rome with Love’.
Like others, To Rome with Love is film about relationships, emotions, and life of few families in Rome. All of them seemingly normal yet having some peculiar quirk. There is a coffin maker who sings amazing Opra songs but only in bathroom. A very very normal man suddenly discovers that he has become very famous. a new couple in town who get separated and end up having different partners for a day and explore their fantasies. You have to watch this film for the love of Woody Allen. He may be very old yet, he has knack of exploring soo many issues abt human behavior. Cant wait for his next.
Rating :
* * * & 1/2

Games of Thrones (Season One)

*ing : Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage Maisie, Williams, Michelle Fairley, Emilia Clarker
Creators : David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Tagline : When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.

Games of Thrones is a ambitious grand and very expensive television series created by HBO. It’s a fictional story set in history about seven noble families (all of them not noble frankly) fighting for a mythical kingdom and the coveted Iron Throne. Through its morally ambiguous characters, the series explores issues of social hierarchy, religion, civil war, sexuality, crime and punishment. I started watching it only cause it had a very good viewer ratings on IMDB (Ratings: 9.4/10 from 250,639 users). Yet, I did not like it that much. Initially it was difficult to keep the track of families and their conflicts and also, it was just not exciting enough. However it was very very well made. Having said that, I think there is excessive nudity and violence which can put off many family viewers. I gradually started liking it so ended up watching the complete seasons. You watch only if you have interest in subject like these.
Rating :
* * *

The Incredibles

*ing (voices of) : Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson and Holly Hunter
Director : Brad Bird

Tagline : Twice the hero he used to be

What better way to start year by a Pixar movie. Pixar movies rarely disappoints. (looking at the fate of last two offerings , cars 2 and brave, now they do.) There was a time when each Pixar movie raised the bar so high, it felt its impossible to beat it. And they did, with every next movie they gave a better one. The Incredible is about a family of Superheroes. The father, mother, kids all are superhero. The idea itself sounds so exciting. The film deals about weight of being a superhero. Craving for a normal life. Living up to the expectations of people. Cause even if you are a superhero, you cant make happy all of them. The incredibles might not be in league of Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc., Toy Story 3 yet it’s a very good movie. Like every Pixar movie is, its worth watch for kids and adults both.
Rating :
* * * *