Movie Review: Hum Do Hamare Do - Rehne Do

*** Some spoilers in this review ***

While this is not a toxic movie or one which I would need to warn you against, it's not really a great movie either. It's bland like last night's pizza that you didn't bother to heat up. 

The story is extremely predictable which is not bad because you know this going in so there's no disappointment there. Performances are good by all actors.

From my point of view, there are two big issues which make this movie a bland snoozefest rather than a feel-good formula movie. 

One, the screenplay is bad. The story itself while predictable, is quite promising. It's the story of Dhruv who is an orphan and meets a girl who wants a family to marry into. He arranges a pair of fake parents to get her to marry him. From there, even a child of five years can tell you every single twist the story takes. 

As I said, I did not mind that, but I feel that the screenplay misses out a lot of good spots where nice moments could have been created. You might have heard the expression "It's not the destination but the journey." The filmmakers here have been in such a hurry to get to the destination that they missed out a chance to take the audience on an interesting journey. 

For example, Kriti Sanon and Rajkumar Rao's romance has been done at Shatabdi Express speed. They go from first meeting to falling in love to marriage proposal so fast that there is no opportunity to create some heartwarming romantic moments. You see, marriage and the hassles of marriage, the Indian people have that in their own lives. They go to the cinema to see the romance and to feel not just entertained but inspired. Nothing for them here. 

When Kriti comes to live with Rajkumar's family before the wedding, that situation while highly implausible, is ripe for many opportunities to create comedy, romance and drama. It has been completely wasted. Remember Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and the sweet moments between Madhuri and Salman? That's the kind of thing they could have created here but missed it entirely. 

Many occasions like the big reveal which could have been dramatic dyanmite proves to be Diwali's cracker because of the way they have been written and directed. 

The second issue the film has is its extremely weak dialogue. This is already a predicable, formula story but good dialogue could still make it entertaining and watchable. But the dialogues here are so boring and mundane that you feel like they were written by someone who writes phone directories. 

The scenes that could have been explosive drama are simply yesterday's kadhi-chawal because of the boring dialogue. Rajkumar Rao has tried very hard to bring some drama to such scenes and Kriti has supported him well but if the drama is not written in the screenplay you can't create it out of thin air even with great acting. 

Just like the rest of the movie, the climax is also rushed and does not feel realistic at all. The end is unrealistic and quite unjustified. 

My recommendation is that this is not a movie worth watching in the cinema at all. You can watch it on streaming while you are making dinner or ironing clothes. You would not watch it again that I can already guarantee you. 

Coolie No. 1 - Could Not Handle the Baggage

David Dhawan has not done any favours for his son by starring him in the remake of Coolie No. 1 which was already a successful movie. Now the movie itself is okay. It's as mindless as David Dhawan's movies usually are and there's an even a little bit of entertainment in it. But the biggest problem is that when you star in a role that another actor has already done before, you will be compared to him. 

Now Varun Dhawan is an ok actor, not great but ok. He did alright in both the Dulhania movies and even in Main Tera Hero which had much less of a story. But he is no Govinda. Govinda and David Dhawan invented this genre of comedy which was mindless and entertaining with not even an iota of common sense anywhere. Does David think that he can make anybody Govinda? 

The movie itself is ok, not mind-numbing crap but not as good as the original. I watched the 1995 version with Govinda right after watching the new one and the old one is much better. The biggest reason for that is the cast. The new cast is good, David has smartly surrounded Varun with good comedy actors like Javed Jaffrey, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav etc. but the old cast was even better with actors the calibre of Kader Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Tiku Talsania. And yes, Karishma Kapoor was great in her role, Sara Ali Khan, poor girl. 

Even though a majority of the new film is copy-pasted from the old one including exact copy of scenes and line-by-line copy of dialogues, there is still a lot missing. The characters in the old one were much better fleshed out even with the same scenes. The biggest victims of that are two main characters - the father of the girl where Kader Khan was replaced by Paresh Rawal and the other is the heroine herself - Sara Ali Khan. 

If you take her out of the songs, poor Sara might even be called a guest appearance in this film. I am not talking about screen time, I am talking about character development. Sara has not been given much to do. She almost looks like a young girl wearing her mother's saree and playing "house". 

My verdict is 2.5 stars out of 5. I would not go so far as to say don't watch it, but I won't recommend it to anyone and I won't watch it again myself. 

Still, the film might do well on the box office for various reasons. I don't care. My review is never influenced by the money a film makes or what others think about it. 

The biggest reason for me for watching this film was the promotion episode on The Kapil Sharma Show. Day 2 of the promotions included some of the comedy actors and it was hilarious. If I had to set a percentage I would say the movie is about 20% entertaining compared to the TKSS episode. 

One of the things that struck me as funny was Varun Dhawan having a pity party for himself on the show that his father and brother don't listen to his ideas on the set. That's like crying that you have to go to school in the blue Mercedes when your favourite colour is white. Firstly, he is getting these movies because he is the son of a director. And second, you are an actor, your job is to shut up, dress up and do what the director tells you. When you become so smart that you know better than the director, dare to direct. 

Two examples for these things. 

I like Ranbir Kapoor's attitude on the nepotism issue. He accepts that he is getting these opportunities only because he is a star son. He acknowledges that this opportunity could have gone to someone else. Then he says he tries to do the best job he is capable of to do justice to the role and try to do it better than someone else could have done. 

Prabhudeva, who is a very successful actor as well as director, when he is working as an actor in a film being directed by someone else, he doesn't give suggestions, he just does what the director tells him to do. 

Well, that's all for now and if I don't talk to you before, Happy New Year 2021. 

Baaghi 3 Movie Review: Brawn Conquers all

 If you have 8-pack abs and big biceps you can pretty much do anything you want - that's the message that Baaghi 3 gives you. 

Let me do this review quickly checklist style so I don't have to waste any more time on this movie, oops spoiler alert. 

Music - Nothing memorable or enjoyable. I am really irritated when people "recreate" songs, yes, nobody does remix these days, it's all recreated. If the songs are from new movies it's even more irritating. Some people would like the item song by Disha, I didn't like it. I like Disha, she's supercute, but the song was directed awfully. In a film being directed by a choreographer you expect a better dance number. And the lyrics...wait, there were lyrics? 

Action - The stunts by Tiger are truly impressive, there's no denying that. But stunts are a spice in the dish, you can't make a dish with just red chilli and garam masala. I don't know what gave Ahmed Khan the conceit to think he could direct action but I wish he hadn't. 

This is a general grievance I have with Indian filmmakers. When it comes to directing action they have all graduated from the 120fps school of filmmaking. I agree with Peter Mckinnon that everything looks sexier in slow motion but these directors have taken this to the level where it's not cinematic, it's tedious. I love watching fight sequences but these just annoy the hell out of me. Before this Rohit Shetty did the same thing in Golmaal 3 (or was it 4? Who knows? Who cares?) where the hero would hit 10 punches then 10 goons would fall from the sky and take about 65 seconds doing that. Trés irritable! 

Performances: Some of them are good, Riteish Deshmukh, Jackie Shroff a few other characters. Tiger, not so much. He had acted better in Heropanti. In this one, no acting only stunting. But I don't blame him, I blame the director. Shraddha has done ok, but there wasn't much for her to do. Ankita Lokhande, ha, don't make me laugh. 

Dialogue: There are a couple of funny ones in the beginning, but then they go from mundane to pathetic. 

Direction: Very, very weak. Absolutely clichéd from start to finish. In the future if I saw a movie was directed by Ahmed Khan, will it make me want to see it? Big fat no!

I don't know how many people caught it but they stole a couple of scenes straight from "Taken" and one shot from "Wonder Woman". There was a good chance to grab a "I am Spartacus!" scene later in the film but probably Ahmed Khan didn't have that DVD. 

In terms of realism, the movie has stretched suspension of disbelief like chewing gum and taken it past the limits of elasticity. 

Did you notice I didn't talk about the story? That's because you already know the story if you have seen the trailer. If you haven't let me tell you the story now. 

"Action hero goes to Syria to rescue kidnapped brother." Done. 

Full disclaimer: My bias. I have seen Ahmed Khan only on TV in Kapil Sharma's shows. He choreographed Kapil in Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon. Every time he comes on his show he makes fun of Kapil's dance skills. We all know Kapil is not a great dancer but there is such a thing as grace. Ahmed Khan doesn't know it. It irritates me.  

Recommendation: Watch it on the TV screen when it comes to streaming while you have dinner. The 120fps action will fit perfect there. 

Bharat - Made For Stupid Audience - Movie Review

"If you cast popular stars and put some masala scenes, helped by some clever editing, then even if the film has no story it will be a great film." That's the thought behind this film.

I really like Salman Khan, he has a great screen presence. But if he stars in a formula crap I can't say that it's a good film. This is a pathetic execution of a lame idea and you can see that in everything. There are a couple of formula scenes which are ok, but on the whole it's a stupid film made while thinking that the public is stupid.

Salman's acting is very good, but weak in the old avatar. The director, and the actors, have no idea how an old person talks, walks and behaves. It's like they have never observed an old person of the human species.

The make up artists of this film should be expelled out of the industry! The main characters who are supposed to be old are actually made to look like cosplay characters.

I had said after "Tiger Zinda Hai" that I have finally seen Katrina act. Unfortunately, that streak stopped there. Nobody can blame her of "acting" in this film. She's a beautiful girl and directors usually use her for her glamorous presence. In this film even that's not there. Her dialog delivery is her weakest part and they have given her way too many lines in this film.

"The promise of a man to his father." that's the catch line of the synposis. What stupid rot! If he had not promised he would not take care of his family? WTH, man!

It was not so boring that I could not finish it but there were 7 places where it pissed me off and I wanted to turn it off because it offended my sensibilities. Still, I somehow finished it.

I am so glad I didn't go to the cinema for it. Thank god for Amazon Prime Video.

Zero - What an aptly titled movie

They have named it perfectly - Zero!

It gets zero stars from me on a scale of 10.  I tried to watch it properly, couldn't, so skimmed through it slowly hoping to some good scenes that might give me the traction to carry on watching. No such luck. It still seemed way too long and dragging.

The main star cast is also perfectly matched - Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma. None of the three have ever tried to act and they match perfectly in this steaming pile of ....cringe-worthy scenes.

My one serious issue with it is that they have made Kat look ugly and repulsive in most of the scenes - on purpose. They have tried to show her as an alcoholic. Why would you take a beautiful girl and treat her like that? If you wanted acting you should have taken someone else. Katrina's beauty is her one plus point and they have subverted that. I take issue with that.

The scene shown on the poster (with Katrina in the slinky red gown) is not in the movie. Awful! In one or two scenes where she is not shown as a  lush she does look pretty.

It's no secret that I am not a big fan of SRK. But when the movie is good I would watch it and appreciate it despite him being in the lead role. Like KHNH or Dilwale, both entertaining movies.

"Short in stature but big on love, a bachelor meets two very different women who broaden his horizons and help him find purpose in life."

Whoever wrote this description of the movie should get all the creative prizes. He/she has made it sound a 1000% more amazing than it is.

If the Indian audience like this film, I'd say they deserve it and more crap like this that would follow!

Noor: So be_noor - The Lacklustre Blockbuster

Some movies are made for entertaining audiences, some are made to make them think, and then some are made to torture the viewers.

Noor tries to be in the second category but falls in the third.

Having already wasted 2 hours of my life on it I don't want to waste more by writing a long review so here's a quick and dirty review.

The movie sucks. It sucks from beginning to end. It sucks with a passion. It sucks like it was its full time job to suck.

It's based on a book called Karachi: You Are Killing Me but I doubt that the book sucked even half that much. (I do plan to check out the book just to verify this.)

The writing is the weakest part of the film. It just...well, sucks. Lame scene followed by lame scene full of embarrassingly lame dialogue. But the lameness is not just in the dialogue, it's lame all over, the camera angles, the set-up, everything sucks consistently.

In one shot you can even see the cameraman in the mirror. Here is the shot for you.

Actually, even though it tries to be fast-moving film the movie doesn't even get going until well after the interval. Then 2 scenes later it finishes. The scene during the credits is the final torture and is accentuated by the weak casting and poor performances.

Sonakashi is not a terrible actress only a weak one, but this would be her weakest film. Given the ridiculously lame dialogue given her she does a great job of delivering them equally lamely throughout the film. And she looks fat and ugly in the whole film but I think that's what they were going for as it's commented on several times in the whole movie.

If you escaped watching it when it was in the cinemas count your blessings and don't watch it now on the streaming services either.

Movie Review - Shandaar - Salvage Operation

This was a flop, it was a train wreck. It has already been ridiculed in news stories and award functions so let's take that as granted.

You know this word - salvage? From a wreck, from the scene of a total loss what can be gathered or saved, that's salvage.

Considering that Shandaar is already a spectacular wreck let's see what we can salvage from it. It does have some pretty long animation sequences which are like its cardinal sins and some actor choices that I am sure the director regretted pretty quickly. But what does it do right?

The story. It does actually have basic story with some sub-plots. Most Hindi films only have basic story (lots of Hollywood ones too),  so that's at part with the industry. Two families coming together for a destination wedding that's also a business deal. The bride is fat, the groom is an asshole who doesn't appreciate her and the family is oppressive. This is the backdrop against which the love story of Shahid and Alia is played out. Shahid is the wedding planner and Alia is the bride's adopted orphan sister.

Characters. The cast of characters is good and varied, many of them are caricaturish but chalk that up to its mistakes. There are 4 main characters though that I really liked - 1. Vipin or Beeps (Pankaj Kapoor), Jagjinder Joginder or Tent House (Shahid Kapoor), Alia (Alia Bhatt), Isha (Sanah Kapoor).

That leads us to the actors. The performances by these 4 are excellent and watchable. The director has tried to leverage the Pankaj Kapoor-Shahid Kapoor real life relationship for comedy, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but they both perform well.

Alia looks lovely, I do like her as an actress but Sanah Kapoor as the chubby bride-to-be Isha is what took my heart and the reason I decided to write this review. She's a sweet, warm-hearted person and has an adorable smile. Her genuine love for her adopted sister Alia, actually I should say the love shared between the two step-sisters, leads to a few nice, sweet scenes in the film.

I maintain that even a terrible film usually has a few scenes, or at least one that can be salvaged from it. Or maybe a quote, or a message, or a visual. Like Justice League. The movie was so bad I called it a bitter disappointment and was really angry with Zack Snyder for this crap. But it had many Wonder Woman scenes that were worth watching. Shandaar has many nice, worth-watching scenes.

There is some comedy in Shandaar which makes you smile and maybe a few moments which make laugh out loud.

Music is okay. Not great, but the Gulaabo song became popular when the movie first came out.

One of my tests for a film is - does it make you care about the characters and what happens to them? Shandaar does. The situation in the story is like - an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Something's gotta give. You want to know how it gets resolved. On that topic, the climax was also alright, entertaining and open-ended enough to make it a good ending.

Conclusion: Watch it with low expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised. 

Movie Review - Firangi - Excellent Entertainer

"My movie is coming near year - Firangi".

Kapil has been talking about it for so long that you can't even remember how long.

Firangi is his second film. His first one was a pure comedy whereas Firangi, his home production, is more of a romance-drama-social-comedy kind of film.

It's a period film, set in the 1920's, the pre-independence India. It would be hard to believe now that the movie has come out but I have thought about this topic many times before. Here's my angle.

There are some topics, or themes, which have...let's call it consensus after the fact. It's kind of a universal hindsight. In hindsight easy to see that what the correct choice was. Similarly this is something that everybody agrees on after it has happened. Like everybody knows now that Gandhi was a shrewd politician, but not at the time!

Another case in point is Brexit. There's a great majority against it now but not when it happened. There are many thing like that.

This whole thing about Indian independence is like that. Right now after 6 decades of the independence everybody agrees that it was a good thing that we fought for it and got it. There's no doubt about it now. But often I have wondered if I had lived in that age would I have struggled for the independence? Right now it's easy, everybody thinks that they would have been in Bhagat Singh's party if they had lived in that time.

Being honest with myself I question it. Would I have been a freedom fighter. Or would I have chosen the path of the least resistance and found some logical, rational, common-sense argument to convince myself that my first duty lay with taking care of my family? There's enough evidence of that sort of thinking with me. I have worked on my career, my job, taking care of my family. How many revolutions have I taken part in? None. Not even a single march on the parliament. So I have wondered about that many times.

This story is also about a person who is not joining the movement for the struggle for independence. His first and foremost consideration is to find a job. And since the better paying, more available jobs are things that you can do in the British government he tries to find a job in the police. That's the beginning of the story. From there it goes on with showing how he finds a job with the top British officer as an orderly. And how he makes peace with the fact by thinking that the Brits are also not such bad people.

From there on the story goes on to include a king, a corrupt, frivolous type of king, a corrupt British governer and the struggle over the land of a village.

The beginning of the film is a simple family life and romance kind of story. But it soon picks up speed and includes that whole tug of war over the land. Throughout the story the role of our hero - Mange - changes as well. He grows up through the story and becomes a better man.

Speaking of performances, Kapil Sharma has done a great job. I sometimes feel that he suffers from overexposure in TV. We have seen him in so many different characters in his Comedy Circus days and later in his own shows that it might seem that he has exhausted the possibilities. Fortunately, he has a lot of acting talent and carries off a new role very convincingly. It it still a delight to watch him on screen, in the funny scenes and also in the dramatic scenes.

Ishita Dutta is beautiful and believable in her role as Sergi - a village girl that Mange falls in love with. Monica Gill has done justice to her role as a princess. But then pretty much all the actors have done well in the film.

Music is a strong point of this movie. There are about 5 songs in it, all are ok, but 2 of them are really lovely, melodic pieces that take your heart. First one is "Sajna sone jaya" and the sad song, which is my most favourite and my current loop song "Sahiba russ gaiya" sung by Rahet Fateh Ali Khan saab. The lyrics and music are so beautiful that it's nice to hear it in any good voice but the original, of course, is the best. The picturisation of both the songs is also very nicely done.

And that brings to mind the cinematography. I noticed even as I was watching how wonderfully the scenes had been captured. A true visual treat that was worth watching on the big screen. Of course the editing also deserves the credit here.

Finally, the feel of the movie. It is phenomenal! Because the first part of it is about the family life and the start of Mange's love life, it's very identifiable. Having been born in the pre-whatsapp, pre-Facebook era I can vouch for the problems that he faces. In that age it was like a thousand miles from seeing the girl you immediately fell in love with and producing a love story out of thin air. That's what you see here and the situations are directly lifted from Indian village life. They feel believable and realistic but also entertaining at the same time. Kudos to the writers and the director for that.

[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you haven't seen the movie yet. ]
[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you haven't seen the movie yet. ]
[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you haven't seen the movie yet. ]
[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you haven't seen the movie yet. ]
[Spoiler Alert: Stop here if you haven't seen the movie yet. ]


Okay, you didn't stop. So, here goes.

My only gripe about the movie is that I wish they hadn't brought Gandhi in towards the climax but then, they had their own reasons.

Another one is a scene where Gandhi asks if they had done any violence in trying to solve their problem, Mange says that they didn't. But in reality they did quite a bit of violence just before that.

In conclusion: It's a worth watching movie, either with family or girlfriend. I will be getting it on the streaming or DVD as soon as it comes out to watch again. And again. 

Movie Review - Badrinath Ki Dulhania - Social and Fun

I liked it!

In short, it's a social message wrapped in an entertaining package. And that's the best way to deliver a social message not in an art film that nobody will watch. By the way, all films are art.

This is not a spoiler to tell you that the social message is about the dowri issue and gender discrimination against girls in India. When I made my first (short) film in India it was on the same topic. So, you can guess that the topic is close to my heart.

BKD has done it well. A message film would inevitably have some lecture moments, but they have been separated well and kept short. The situation shown is very realistic, this is how things happen in India. It is disgraceful but it's the sad truth. I like the that makers of BKD had the guts to present it like that.

Acting-wise, Alia Bhatt delivers well, in a similar but different character from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Varun can also act, one of my favourite star kids along with Alia. The parents for both hero and heroine are a bit weak actors, somebody well-known would have been better but they have not done badly so, alright. Liked Badri's brother and his wife. Good new actors.

Music is okay, not as great as HSKD but not bad, at par with the current Bollywood film music.

The twists are not too hard to predict but they are well-paced and with good direction the audience can forgive the lack of surprise. I did. Last twist I did not get as well, so well-done.

The climax  is a bit short but that's not a bad thing. The epilogue is a bit forced but then they wanted to end on a happy not with no loose ends and I can understand that both as a viewer and as a filmmaker. I like happy endings in my own films as well.

Go watch it! 

Quick movie review - Roy

I just finished watching Roy. Yes, I know it's been out for a long time. The only reason I watched it was because of the song "Sooraj dooba hai yaaro".

My expectations were quite low so it didn't disappoint me. And to be honest, it was a little better than I expected. A simple story of a filmmaker casanova falling in love for the first time. Not many plot twists but the story keeps moving on at a fair pace.

For the first time I saw Arjun Rampal actually acting. Ranbir Kapoor does well in his role. Jacqueline Fernandez looks pretty and does a decent job in her role of filmmaker.

The song I liked, I still like after watching the movie so that's a plus.

There is a slight suspense or intricacy of the story that gets revealed in the end. Not too complex but alright, worth watching.

Movie Review with Spoilers - Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice - Injustice to the viewers

Warning: This review is full of strong language, creative epithets, violent suggestions and sexual references. It also contains detailed spoilers. Read at  your own risk. 

An absolute piece of crap! That's my honest and concise review of this movie. And I do reserve this review result for movies that truly deserve it.

I guess I am angry because this is one of those rare times when the movie trailer managed to fool me. I had no intention of watching this movie, then I watched the trailer and thought it was worth watching. Wrong decision!

Now the question of why, why do I call it a bad, excuse me, terrible movie.

I have said this before in a review, and I say it again here - there is the science of filmmaking and there's the art of filmmaking. The science includes all your cameras and fancy lenses and other technological wonders that are at the disposal of a modern-day director.

The art is that crucial part which helps a director create a movie that puts the audience at the edge of their seat. And they (the directors) don't usually need any special technology to do that.

This movie is full of the former but shows no discernible sign of the latter.
Let's take it piece by piece.

Story
Story is pretty simple as superhero stories sometimes are. Superman is framed for collateral damage during a Lois Lane rescue and people want him answerable.

Characters
Characters are very boring with one or two exceptions. And the director has shown the characters in a bad light. Batman comes across as petty, insecure and evil. Superman comes across as stupid and simple-minded. Also, an idiot.

Acting
Most of the actors have done a good job given the terrible story and characterisation. Except one.

The guy playing Lex Luthor, Jesse Eisenberg, he starts overacting from his first appearance on screen and never stops. If anything made me want to hurl a shoe at the high-resultion IMAX screen, it was this guy. If this was Bollywood I would surmise that this boy was the son of the film's financer. Actually, that kind of thing happens in Hollywood as well, doesn't it?

Jesse Eisenberg plays the evil mastermind so horribly that I am sure if he was playing this part in a college play the director would kick him out after the first rehearsal.

Cinematography
OMG! Does director Zack Snyder know that there are other shots in the book than close up's and ultra close up's? It was driving me nuts how he was going for a close up or super close up for about 90% of the time. This also starts right from the beginning of the film.

Editing
Other than super close-up's the movie uses way too much slo-mo in scenes where it's obviously not required. It slows down the pace and makes you want to tear your hair out.

There is one particular fight scene with Batman fighting multiple goons which made me want to take the cinematographer and editor to the top of a volcano and kick them in! You can actually see the junior artists waiting their turn to attack the big star, Ben Affleck and get beaten by him. They are ALL holding a long barreled gun but none of them fire, they all step up one by one and attack him close range so that he can beat them with his fists.

What's worse, it shows that Ben Affleck is old and out of shape. Not a good thing to do to your superhero character.

Dialogue
The dialogue is way cliched. You might actually think - "Guys, did you ever have an original thought?"
Really boring dialogues in really cliched situations.

Background Music
Just like the dialogue the background music is cliched and in some scenes really intrusive. I was screaming inside - "Can you please just fuck off? I am trying to watch the scene here!"

Predictability
Because the movie is full of all kinds of cliches it's very predictable. If you watch movies regularly you would actually be able to say "Okay, this character will use this line later in the film." "Ah, she's throwing the spear in the water, that means they will need it later when things are going critical."

And when you can predict to that level the movie becomes very boring. Actually, I was yawning all through the second half of the movie.

What also pissed me off was that for a movie called "Batman Vs. Superman" majority of the movie only shows Clark Kent fighting Bruce Wayne with tired, cliched dialogue. There is only one battle between Batman and Superman in the whole film and even that is not real because the villain has captured Superman's mother and he's fighting for that rather than on principle. That battle made me doubt Superman's sanity.

The movie is also way too serious. There is absolutely no comic relief. I can't help but contrast this with Marvel movies like the Avengers where they manage to create nice comic scenes without breaking the tension of the moment.

Redeeming qualities
Yes, thankfully there were some. Well, two. Lois Lane played by Amy Adams and Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot. (Did you notice the alliteration - LL AA WW GG?) Both the characters are the best characters in the movie and both the girls have played them wonderfully well.

Lois Lane comes across as a sensible girl dealing with extraordinary situations with consummate skill and level-headedness.

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman comes across as a powerful, strong woman with remarkable abilities backed up by a remarkable character.

In spite of every bad thing I have said here I do plan to acquire a full HD version of this movie for two reasons when the Blu-Ray comes out.

One, there's a bath tub scene with Amy Adams that's just gorgeous in high-res. No, you don't see any nudity but she is a stunningly beautiful girl and that scene is worth watching for her.

Two, during the climactic battle, when Wonder Woman makes her first  appearance as Wonder Woman in this movie, she materilises on the battlefield blocking an attack by the Cryptonian monster. The best action scene of the whole movie! Gal Gadot looks amazing as Wonder Woman and just as ravishing in her WW armour as she does in the sexy cocktail dresses in the early parts of the film.

BTW, in this whole movie, Wonder Woman is the only superhero worth watching.

That's all folks. Go waste your money on it or not, I leave that up to you.

P.S. I watched Zootropolis right after this movie. Much better story line, better characters, excellent plot twists. A more worthwhile choice!

Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Movie Review - Awesomeness Exemplified

In all honesty, it would be unfair to call this a review. It should be called a rave. And here I feel the need to put the disclaimer, I have not been paid any money by Joss Whedon or Marvel for this review, I have not been sent or offered any inducements and all the four times that I have watched this movie I have done so with my own money.

Having said that, I did absolutely love the movie! Not surprising considering I have been a hard core fan of Joss Whedon ever since I watched "Serenity" follow by "Firefly". You can read how that happened in this post: http://sunilgoswami.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/firefly-i-joined-cult.html

I was in India when Avengers 2 was released. I watched the trailer and was immediately convinced that it was not a movie to miss. I should clarify here that my main purpose in watching movies is entertainment. Any messages or learning has to be incidental. And Avengers promised to be super entertaining.

(trailer)

With great expectations I booked the second most expensive movie tickets in Delhi with my kids. (And to this day I regret not booking the most expensive ones. If any movie was ever worth it, it's this one.) Usually, I am not a big believer in 3D. It was good for the first few movies that came out as a novelty feature but after that I feel that it's become more of a gimmick, a buzzword to lure the audience and (in some cases) hide the poor storyline.

However, I am not one of those who sleep with their back to the future. I do know that it can be a powerful aid to storytelling if used right. That's the trick, if it's used right by the director, it's an amazing aid to storytelling, if it's used just to add a buzzword to the movie, it's arduous and boring. If I am peering through glasses for hours just to watch a movie you need to make it worth my while.

I would like to give two examples here. Final Destination 5 (2011), 3D is used as a gimmick, throwing things at the audience and such similar stunts. I walked out of that movie a little before halfway through. Three Musketeers (2011) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1509767/) the director has used the 3D technology that lends itself to the storytelling. I was spellbound till the very end. Watch them both if you haven't and see if I am wrong.

So, giving Marvel and Joss Whedon the benefit of the doubt I booked the 3D show, on the day that it was released. And I was right. The 3D aspect of the movie has been planned as carefully as the rest of the movie. The screen is used as a stage for the action and it feels all real that way but there's no gimmicky action and no stupid things being thrown at the audience.

Now about the movie itself. If you loved "Avengers" you are going to absolutely love "Avengers: Age of Ultron". In my personal opinion it's even better than the first. And here's why I think so.

There are more awesome characters in it, but all the characters have been giving enough screen time to do justice with them. Because the movie is part of the Marvel series you know the characters well by now and you know what they are all about. And they are all true to themselves in this movie which makes the audience identify well with them. Also we already know the actors playing those characters and it makes it easier for us to like them.

The story is complete in itself but also fits well as part of the large story arc that has been going on including Avengers 1, the 3 Iron Man movies, the 2 Captain American movies, Marvel's Hulk movie, the 2 Thor movies (did I forget any?) and the comic books.

You don't need to know anything just to enjoy this movie, but the more you know Marvel's characters and the back stories the more you enjoy the film.

The dialogue is so amazingly witty and lively that you would remember it and it would haunt you. I have watched this movie 4 times by now and every time I have been impressed by the dialogue. This is especially true as I get more of the dialogue with each subsequent viewing. For example some of the lines that get lost because they are delivered under the breath or are absorbed in fade out's you get them in the second, third, fourth time of watching. And they are witty and amusing!

In the dialogue and in the rest of film, references to the characters and stories are carefully preserved and utilized.

As a director myself, (granted that I director miniscule things compared to Hollywood), I do pay attention to and notice the things a director has to plan with his DoP and 1st AD. And I loved to see that each and every shot in the movie was planned and directed to add value to the storyline. I can't talk about those shots without spoilers so I would leave it at at that.

There is real depth in the movie. I am talking about the depth in terms of human drama, well-defined  characters and richness of the landscape, locales, building and gadgets..and pretty much everything that's part of the movie. I recently bought the Avengers 2 artbook and it's mind-blowing to see how detailed is the planning for each part of the film.

I make films myself (short, low-budget, not like Marvel) and I can hazard a guess as to how much effort and work goes into something this huge. I was wrong! The planning and pre-production work is beyond my imagination! Actually, it's more than was needed, to be honest. I mean I was curious about things like what kind of features does Hawkeye have in his bow? What powers and features does the current Iron Man suit have?

Looking at the artbook I can see they plan things in much more detail than even my curiosity. And that makes the movies so much more interesting than just something that was based on a Hollywood formula.

I didn't do this review for over a month because I didn't see any value in a review that only raves about a movie. I mean, it's Avengers you should know it'd be an awesome movie and go watch it. You don't need me to say it! Ultimately I decided to write it simply becaues *I* wanted to talk about the movie. In order to make it a balanced review, I should point out some of the weak points of the movie as well.

Sorry, don't have any. I went into it as a fan of Joss Whedon and came out as a super-fan of Joss Whedon.

Since watching Avengers 2 the first time, I have re-watched Captain America 1, Thor 1, Avengers 1 twice and of course Avengers 2  three more times and I can say with confidence that they are all immensely re-watchable.

Conclusion: If you haven't watched "Avengers:Age of Ultron" yet, you should and watch it in 3D if you can.
I myself plan to buy the blu-ray when it comes out. Actually, I have already pre-ordered the Blu ray 3D version and I don't even have a 3D TV. Don't worry, I am not crazy, the pack also contains a normal Blu-ray of the movie.

Movie Review - Lockout - Piece of Crap

Warning: This review contains spoilers but then, I don't want you to see this movie anyway. 

This was a  sci-fi action thriller which is the best kind of film. But LOCKOUT is a good example of how you can spend 20 million dollars and produce a 95 minute long pile of shit! Yes, I am that disgusted!

The story premise is simple as it should be. A maximum security prison in space is visited by the US President's daughter. During her visit things happen and there is violent takeover by the inmates, who of course are the worst murderers and psychos on Earth. A man condemned for the same prison is tasked with the responsibility to rescue the president's daughter.

With this primitive story and predictable twists a good action film can still be produced.

What I didn't like about it? Pretty much everything. The characters are very stereotypical but the actors are very lacklustre. Guy Pearce has no on-screen charisma. Maggie Grace is the one who catches the eye from the start and she does a good job as the president's daughter. The main villain inmate and his lunatic brother are the other two who stand out.

I like Maggie Grace very much. I think she's gorgeous and she's an excellent actor. But when they dyed her hair dark in Lockout, I turned it off. She was the only reason by that time to continue watching it. Then I realized that I had only half an hour more to go so I decided to stick it out.

The thing that really, really pissed me off about this is the crappy job with science and technology. There is not one or two but numerous factual errors throughout the film. Some examples that irked me especially. When the inmates throw someone out of an airlock without a pressure suit he is seen from the space police station as flowing outside the prison space station. What the director doesn't realize (maybe he didn't go to school) is that this is more serious than throwing someone into the pool. In real life his body will instantaneously decompress, an explosion from the inside. For a good example of this, watch the James Bond film - Licence to Kill.

There is no concept of communication channels in the whole film. Anything being sent point-to-point can easily, without any active effort, leak into the main PA system. Nice!

In the end, the hero and heroine jump from the station wearing space suits and fall towards Earth. Where did they find gravity for that movement, I have no idea.

In one scene, the hero has to jump across from side structure to another. Below the empty space between the two windows are huge fans. And the guy guiding the hero says, "The gravity produced by the...should keep you afloat." Well, buddy, gravity is the force that pulls you down not up. If he had said "Air column" or "the wind produced by" I'd not have minded.

One huge blunder. Because the inmates killed the maintenance engineer, the prison space station is now going to fall on Earth. What is this, a car, that someone has to drive over the pot holes? A space station can only be built in orbit around the Earth and there it is held by the Earth's gravitational force. In exceptional circumstances it may fall but not like that because someone stopped shoveling coals into the engine. Bah!

Other than such specific instances the general technological atmosphere is also very illiterate and shabby. In one scene the hero is hanging by a cable and it breaks. This is a rope or cable he brought for this specific purpose to help him climb into places and it breaks so very easily. Even in today's world, you can easily buy rope of the same thickness that will hold the weight of 10 men not just one!

Then the smoking and lighter bring their own questions.

The devices shown are also not at all futuristic. I don't mind that. I mean if I were making a film like that, I'd also use things like Android tablets and stuff. Where would I find holographic displays and other fancy gadgetry? But with 20 million dollars, I will bet you I can find better devices.

There are tactical errors like they have automatic tracking and shooting guns on the prison station but no way to shut it off from the police space station. Even in today's times such stupid plans are not implemented, this is supposed to be the future.

I can go on and on but I have already spent 95 minutes of life on this crap. I don't want to spend any more.

Conclusion: Don't watch it! At all. 

A Funny Moment from Angoor

There are some things that are just too amazing for words. Like Hrishikesh Mukerjee. That one director could make so many really fantastic films is like a record in the Hindi cinema. One of his films is Angoor. The movie is based on Shakespeare's play "Comedy of Errors", no, it's not "inspired", Shakespeare has been given full credit for the story.

The story as you probably know is based on 2 pairs of twin brothers who separate when they are babies, one brother with his servant lives in one city while his twin brother lives in another city with the first servant's twin brother. When they are all grown up and middle-aged men, one brother visits the other's city with his servant. Both the masters have the same name - Ashok, both the servants have the same name - Bahadur. And the fun starts...

This 1983 movie is not just hilarious it's a gem of Hindi cinema. The beauty is not in the story or the suspense, the beauty is in the fact that each scene, each shot is so great that you cannot help enjoying yourself. The performances are fantastic, especially Sanjeev Kumar who won the Best Actor Filmfare award for this but others are just as good.

I have watched it so many times that I have lost count. Every time I start the film, just yoon hi to watch a scene or two to refresh myself I can't help but watch it to the end. Even if I have watched it last month or yesterday. It's just so easy to watch and so hard to stop in the middle.

The scene I have posted here is amazing because of its simplicity. I don't think this kind of detail was written by Shakespeare but the film has many, many such moments. I just can't praise it enough. I think if I were stuck on a desert island. I would want this movie with me. (And a portable media player and lots of batteries of course ;) )

I hope you enjoy the scene, I didn't do any hard work in selecting it, the film is FULL of such amazingly simple but really hilarious scenes. 

Movie Review - Desi Boyz - Rocking it filmy style

When you go to see a Hindi film, especially in the current times, you don't really expect a lot of  common sense and realistic scenes. You expect to be entertained with larger-than-life characters and dramatic scenes alongwith Bollywood style music. If you go with those expectations you'll love Desi Boyz.

Frankly, my expectations were much lower courtesty of Akki's last film Tees Maar Khan. But I was pleasantly suprised. The story as usual is very basic and can be explained in one sentence. Jerry Patel (Akshay Kumar) and Nick Mathur (John Abraham) both lose their jobs in the times of recession and in order to fulfill the dire need of money in their lives, they become male escorts. That's it.

Now, if you gave that premise to a 5-year old (Desi) boy and told him the star cast, he would be able to give you ALL the twists in the story including the type and number of songs.

And yet, the movie manages to not disappoint because of the silly but nice humour and the little twists that have been executed well. The movie manages to keep people on the seats and doens't make them look at their watches. Pace of the story is fairly even.

It's Rohit Dhawan's first film as a director and I think he has done a good job. At first when I heard the name I thought David Dhawan had adopted Rohit Shetty, but later found out that he was David Dhawan's own son. To Rohit (Dhawan)'s credit, the film is much less silly than David's films that he has made with Govinda in the past.

The gigolo part of it is done with brilliant dance and music numbers. Like almost all modern music this won't last long either, but for the flavour of the month the music is very entertaining and hummable, even danceable. Suffice it to say that I have all the songs in my playlist right now.

While we are talking of music, I think at least 2 of the tunes are stoen, excuse me, inspired by other Hindi songs. If you are curious do a comparative analysis and see if they click. Here's the data. The retro type song "Filmein shilmein chalti thiiN, hum gaane waane gaate the" reminds me of that that song about Gandhi in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The other song - "Jhak maar ke" has starting music that looks exactly similar to "Rookhi sookhi roti tere haathon se kha ke aaya maja bada." I think it's from Nayak. I'd like to hear your opinions on both. But all in all, the music is very good and the singers have done a great job as well.

The kid who plays Akshay's nephew is very cute and has delivered a good performance for a child so young. Unfortunately his name is not in the IMDB credits.

The humour in the film is good and fortunately not much of it is gross male-movie type humour. The dialogues for the most part are clever and suit the characters. The outtakes used in end credits are really funny, best part of the movie in my opinion, though they are filled with *beep*s.

Let's talk more about the star cast. Both Akshay and John have been presented as beefcake and if my friend's reaction is any indication the female audience will love it. Both female leads, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh, are looking really good and their clothes have been designed to cash in on their beauty. I like both of them, especially Chitrangda so no complaints from me. I might buy the DVD just to watch them. :) No, I will buy the DVD for the extras. There are a big number of female extra's in the songs and there are really sexy. They have done their part quite well too, as I was watching them in the songs, having no interest in either John or Akshay's oiled up bodies. In one song "Subah hone na de", Bruna Abdalah has done an item song like appearance and she's hot, man!

Anupam Kher has done a great job in his role as the girl's father and they way he has balanced his gay/curious streak in the character is both hilarious and genius. Omi Vaidya the annoying guy from 3 Idiots has a small role, he is annoying in this one as well, but I think that's what he's meant to be. Mohnish Behl, small role that he done with dignity. Sanjay Dutt has delivered a good performance as the Escort Agency Owner.

As for poetry in the lyrics, hah, what poetry, mate? The lyrics are the normal, cheap, rhyming crap you get with most new songs. The chorus of 2 or 3 songs ('make some noise for the desi boys', 'subah hone na de', 'allah maaf kare') is very catchy and will stay with you but the words are almost meaningless.

There are lapses in common sense, but you kinda expect that much. For example, my highly intelligent nephew asked me yesterday, "If they are struggling so much for money why does John not sell his motorcycle?" Yes, John had really expensive-looking bike that he doesn't sell even when they lose the kid because of money. There are other things,

This film reminds me of two other movies. One "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" in which Rob Schneider does a hilarious job of being an inept gigolo. Second, "Evelyn" in which Pierce Brosnan delivers a tremendous performance as an out-of-work Irish father fighting for the custody of his children.

This movie doesn't touch either of them but is a good entertainer for a weekend afternoon.

Movie Review - Rum Diary - More like crap diary

[The image is not from the movie. I just like Amber Heard.]

Oh my god, what a shitload of crap! 

Okay, let me be clear here first, any time I spend doing a review for this pile of garbage is a waste of my life just as the two hours of watching it were.

But I am still doing it, as a public service, so I can save some other innocent, unsuspecting people from wasting 2 hours of their life on this bilge.

(Hmmm, if I insist on writing this as a full review I will need some more synonyms for crap.)


First step - motivation. Here's a fact list based on the trailers.

I don't Johnny Depp at all.

I didn't think the story had any promise.

I didn't like the backdrop of the story.

I saw a very hot looking Amber Heard in the trailer.

I love Amber heard.



Clear enough? Even on that score the movie disappointed me hugely, and I do mean that..hugely, like in a big way...like I wanted to put a chair through that screen when it finished! And I am not a violent man outside of martial arts classes.


When we entered the theatre, it was almost full to the capacity. So full indeed that I and my friend couldn't find two seats together, the only seats available were across the aisle frome each other.

That wasn't a big deal. Since it was not a girlfriend I went with but a male friend. It was okay. Only it became a big deal, later, when he wanted to ask me if I wanted to leave, but couldn't because we were sitting apart.

Looking back at it, that should have been my first clue. I don't know what it is about this town, but the audience here seems to be stupid. With the exception of Real Steel, the last few times whenever we have found the theatre full, the movie has turned out to be a colossal bore, a huge waste of time, a crapfest. Every time!

Next time I see the theatre full when I walk in, I am gonna walk right out!

So, because of the seats situation and my overall low-expection from the film (and the fact that I would have to watch Johnny Depp) put me in a foul mood and I started watching it with a "Okay-try-and-make-me-laugh" attutide.

And would you believe that in 1 hours 59 minutes of movie it could not make me laugh even ONE time?? The best it got was a half-smile on one dialogue by Aaron Eckhart but that's it. And before you say nobody can make you laugh unless you want to, I'll say you are wrong. I have watched movies and TV shows in worse moods before and a good show can not only make you laugh, it can make you forget what you were upset about. This movie actually put me in a worse mood than I had started in.

Let's get into detail now. And I will discuss the story in detail including climax because I don't WANT anyone else to go see it.

So, the story? Is very simple. A plan by a few poweful people to despoil and dominate an uninhibited island in Puerto Rico.

The plot is unfolded quickly and simply. No surprises.

The acting? Hmm, let's see. I don't know what Johnny Depp thinks he is but he couldn't make me like him. Thoroughly unimpressed by his performance. I really like Aaron Eckhart, but his role was so straightforward and boring that he had no way to do anything special in it. The only performance I liked was the guy who plays sidekick to Depp in the whole film. I am not gonna bother to look up his name.

Amber Heard is a really beautiful girl, but she has like 5 or 6 small scenes in the whole film. Based on the movie's synopsis, I was expecting her to have a role that dominated the film alongwith Depp but here she seems like window-dressing, an afterthought. You can cut her whole role out of the movie and not miss anything. She looks pretty, but I hated her character.

To be fair, audience did laugh in about 4-5 places in the movie but they had come to laugh, and maybe they liked Depp for some perverse reason. The strangers sitting in my row on my right didn't laugh either. The situatiosn that could have been funny had either been used up in the trailer or were so cliched that you needed 5 drinks in you to actually smile at them.

The climax was the clincher. The climax has some good (good as in long) build-up, one lone man against the authorities and all that, but it lets the audience down horribly when the hero just gives up.

No, I am not kidding you. That's exactly what happens. Depp wants to print the paper one last time with help from disgruntled employees, to expose Aaron's plot. The people do not come to support Depp. Aaron comes and takes away the machines of the newspaper before Depp gets there. So, Depp steals Aaron's boat and goes to New York. Credits roll.

What the hell makes a good hero? It's not good looks, it's not physical strength, it's not his charm with the ladies..it's his character. A hero is a hero because he pokes trouble, he fights the good fight.

In Die Hard 4 Bruce Willis explains to the nerdy young guy that he doesn't want to do this but if doesn't nobody else will. "And that makes me that guy!"

Later in a climax scene, when bullets are flying and the villain has the upper hand that nerdy guys saves the life of Bruce's daughter at his own peril.

Later still, when Bruce thanks the nerd for that, he replies, "Hey, what was I gonna do, let her die?"

And Bruce says, "And that makes you THAT guy!"

But this guy is not that guy, he just tucks his tail between his legs and leaves town. That's when I felt like I wanted to pick up a chair and hurl it at the screen. Fortunately for me, they were all bolted down.

If I didn't have an unlimited movie card, I'd have gone to the counter and asked for my money back!

In conclusion, it's a piece of shit, a pile of garbage and a load of crap. Don't go see it. Don't even buy a pirated copy. Tell your friends, not to go see it and to tell their friends not to go see it...

This review will have lots of grammar and spelling problems because I am not going to re-read it before posting. I refuse to waste any more time on this crap of a movie.

'Nuff said.

Crazy, Stupid, Love - Funny and stupid

Out of the 3 movies I watched last weekend this was one.

For me the main attractions were Steve Carrell who is a good comic actor and Julianne Moore who is good actress and a cute one at that.

The plot was fairly obvious from the trailers. Steve's wife wants a divorce and he is plunged into the single life willy-nilly. He gets a mentor in the form of fast-speaking, skirt-chasing, womanizer Ryan Gosling.

It's a good movie in the way that it makes you laugh. That's the only redeeming quality.

The story is the old formula - dating guru teaching a novice, you have seen this many, many times. The plot is simple and predictable, though I have to admit it managed to shock me twice with a twist.

Performances are good as expected. Steve Carell lives up to his reputation. Julianne Moore looks and acts beautiful as always. Ryan Gosling does alright in the role of dating-guru on his own, but he's not even 10% of Will Smith in Hitch in the same role. Marisa Tomei looks older and acts fine, but doesn't look anywhere near as hot as she did in "My Cousing Vinny". Emma Stone does okay. I am not a big fan of hers. Julianna Guill looks so sexy and yet so good in her role as schoolgirl that I didn't recognize her as herself. I thought she must be one of the popular teenage actresses and not the adult (grown-up, not in an R-rated way) actress that she is.

Other supporting cast is okay, nothing remarkable.

I was not very impressed by the pick-up scenes of Gosling though they were decent. His patter is okay, not as well-written as Will Smith's in Hitch. And for God's sake can we have at least one Hollywood film where the divorce is NOT the husband's fault? The wife sleeps with another man behind her husband's back but it's the husband's fault that they are getting divorced! I try to keep the battle of the sexes out of my blog, but come on, this is too much! Is the whole Hollywood so pussy-whipped they can't dare to show a woman ever being in the wrong? It was not this movie's fault, but this was like the last straw. I have just seen it way too many times now.

The climax is as predictable as the rest of the movie. Happy ending, Hollywood style.

My conclusion is that as a romcom it's entertaining enough to be watched once, but don't go in with expectations too high. It's light entertainment to keep around on DVD even, to watch when you don't want to get too deep into a movie and just want something to make you laugh.

Movie Review - RED

My system of finding and acquiring movies is quite varied, so I don't remember what criteria I used for getting this movie but I am very glad that I found it.

It's an action film, and as happens with actions films the direction is everything. This one has been directed very well by Robert Schwentke!

RED is a CIA abbreviation (in this film) that stands for - Retired Extremely Dangerous.

This is how it starts... Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is a retired agent, he should be called superagent actually. He calls the CIA pensions department and talks to his case worker Sarah about his pension check that is incorrect. She assures him that she'll get another one sent in the mail right away. They have a pleasant chat during which we see Willis tearing up his original check which had nothing wrong with it.

Then he makes another call to her, another time, and tells her he's coming to New Orleans. She tells him to give her a call when he's there.

Next scene, we see him getting up at about 3 am and going to the bathroom. The camera retreats through walls and we see a unit of commandos with guns ready to raid his apartment.

But here is when we see the true colours of Frank Moses! He's not a gentle retiree from some paper-pushing job, he's a man with reflexes like a tiger and he's deadly like the tiger's mother.

After disposing off the agents, his next item of business is to travel as per his plans but instead of meeting Sarah, he kidnaps her.

The story is not slow up to this point, but it picks up good speed from here on. Actually, maybe that's not right, but you do get a sense that the story is going to take off now.

What I really loved about the film is that despite being a formula action film it's different from the typical action movie. It progresses at a good pace without getting boring and somehow it manages to avoid the usual cliches.

The plot itself is quite good, simple but with enough twists that you don't get bored. The action unfolds nicely as well. No slack anywhere, but still the film moves at a comfortable pace, entertaining and amusing all the way through. It's a 2010 movie so technology is pretty current, stunts are very good.

The cast of characters is quite good. Apart from Bruce Willis there's Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss  and John Malkovich.

It's easy to identify with Bruce Willis. He is shown to be a man of action and thought as the situation demands. His romantic side is quite endearing and makes it easy to like him despite his habit of going around killing people.

In the beginning I thought Mary-Louise Parker was "kinda ok" but by about halfway through I realized, she's very cute. I wouldn't call her "hot" but she's very cute!

Karl Urban makes a very good antagonist as a CIA agent. John Malkovich - as soon as he appears on screen you know he's a seasoned actor. He does a great job of playing a paranoid ex-CIA agent. Helen Mirren I liked on sight. She's a bit old for me to think of her as "hot" but there is something loveable about her and the way she portrays Victoria.

The film, despite being an action film with a good amount of violence, is light and fun. I don't want to give too much away in case my readers decide to watch it but there were a few good stunt scenes and a couple of nice drama scenes that would be memorable.

Even as it was running, I was feeling quite happy that it was still going on. Despite being a violent film it has a feel-good factor. When things go wrong you feel confidence in Bruce and his team.

The plot has some good twists and turns which keep one entertained and lead to a normal, enjoyable conclusion. Although I don't mind the gruesome, gory violence that you see in some films, I prefer the "Red" kind of simple violence without too much focus on blood and breaking bones.

All in all a very watchable film for fans of action films.

Friends with Benefits - Must Watch

Now that I have been to see it twice I think I should review it as well. Don't worry I won't review it twice.

I have seen it twice so you can guess that I love the movie. Here I am just going to list out the things I loved.

First and foremost Mila Kunis. She is a petite girl, but man, what a body! She's absolutely gorgeous! Even in simple sleeveless shirts and tank tops she looks very hot! Acting wise....huh, acting? What acting? Just kidding. I did notice the acting and she has done very well.

The second thing is casting. All the characters in the movie are well-established actors, I am not talking star cast, I am talking character actors who know their craft. Justin Timberlake has done well in his role as the male lead. All the characters have been cast well and they have all done justice to their roles. Jenna Elfman plays the role of the hero's sister quite well. She is an experienced actress and it shows in her performance.

The third thing is also casting. The casting director is obviously a man after my own heart. Wherever he has to have a female extra, he thinks - let's bring in a real hottie! Well done, Lisa Miller Katz. Oh wait! It's a woman, who did that casting?!! Honestly, I checked the IMDB page for the crew after I wrote the beginning of this para. And now I see that there are a lot of women on the crew.

Including Tia Nolan who has done the editing. And she has definitely done a great job. It's not often that I am impressed by someone else's editing these days without try to find faults, but Tia has made her mark there.

Another one of my favourite characters is Woody Harrelson. I saw him first, like most people, in the American sitcom "Cheers". He has done well in his films as well since then. But in this one he really shines. He plays the gay sports editor who works with Justin and he is hilarious!

The story in itself is simple but not weak. If you had to plan a movie on the theme of two friends who try to add casual sex to their friendship I am sure you'd be able to plot it along similar lines. But still the direction and editing are fast-paced and the story doesn't lag.

Dialogues are extremely smart. They are witty and quick and quick-witted as well. (You see what I did there ;) ) I loved the dialogues right from the first scene.

Justin's father has been shown to have Alzheimer's and I am glad they have treated the disease with dignity and restraint. They have managed to introduce humour into the situation without disrespecting either the father character or people with Alzheimer's. In fact, there's a scene where Dylan (Justin) supports his father in public and the scene is both humours and touching, esp. to me.

Soundtracks are very well-chosen, even the phone ringtones.

The "small cute thing" and the "big romantic gesture" type things have been done well with good direction. They are corny as any Hollywood romcom would be but not cringeworthy.

There's some male nudity in the film. This was my biggest complain about The Inbetweeners even though I liked the movie on the whole. In FWB, it has been more than compensated by the female nudity (Mila Kunis, man!) so I am looking the other way on the male nudity (notice the pun!).

The bad things about the movie? That'll be hard, but I'll try. Everybody in the movie makes a big deal about the difference between L.A. and New York. Almost like LA people are hillbillies. They are both modern, American cities of considerable size. I don't think there's that much difference in the cultures. But I have only been to NYC not LA so I won't sue anybody based on that.

In the beginning of the movie, Mila is trying to sell Justin on NY and he gets taken in very easily. It's like he was just waiting to be sold.

Mila and Justin become good friends a little too quickly. I found it hard to buy. Though I might be just jealous that the bastard got to bang Mila. ;)

In conclusion, it's a good entertainer and well worth going to see. Another beauty of the film is that you can go to see it either with your special someone or your mates. You'd enjoy it either way. Piece of advice, the first time you see Mila's legs on screen, don't say "God, I want her!" out loud if you are seeing it with your girlfriend!

Enjoy!

Cowboys and Aliens - Quick Review

It's not a secret that I don't like Daniel Craig, part of it is the prejudice that comes from the fact that he replaced Pierce Brosnan as James Bond who I think was the most perfect Bond. But also I think Craig is an ugly boy pretending to be a ruggedly handsome man. But still I went to see this movie because I do like Harrison Ford and I knew this movie will be okay for watching once.

I was right. The plot is very basic, very sketchy. Aliens coming down in their flying machines and abducting people to study them. Also they are after gold, for whatever reason, not really explained in the movie. Craig is a cowboy with amnesia and an armgun. Btw, I don't like it that they couldn't come up with a name better than "armgun" for that cool weapon.

In short, there is some action in the film which is  worth watching, once. Nothing very remarkable, just action. The profound scenes are not really profound, emotional scenes fail mostly. The performance are fine, not a whole lot for them to do in there anyway.

Couple of sexy girls in there but not utilized well. There are quite a few chuckleworthy moments. That's all the comedy there is.

The redeeming feature of the whole film is that armgun which looks damn cool.

In conclusion, it's okay for a timepass if you like that sort of thing, but it's nothing remarkable. So if you decide to spend your Saturday afternoon with a good book, you won't lose anything.