Julie & Julia

Director: Nora Ephron

Cast: Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams, Chris Messina

Let me get done with this: “awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww”!

Heartwarming, endearing, delightful, adorable, and all the other synonyms for these words wouldn’t be enough to describe this movie and the acting.

From the word “Go” the movie grabs you and keeps u in its grasp!
Meryl Streep! Over and over she makes me fall in love with her, is there anything the woman cant do? WOW! Mind blowing, she can single handedly make a movie work, the woman is a living legend, I once again pledge my undying devotion to her.

Amy Adams, also stood her ground, and did hold up as much of the film as possible, but when Meryl Streep is part of the same movie , can you really manage to be shone? But I must say that it was a commendable effort and successful to a certain extent.

Every element of this movie is “just right”, not a bit more not a bit less, the feeling of inherent satisfaction is brought out after watching this movie, the maternal vibes given out by Meryl as a woman who everyone loves, or rather a woman who no one can hate, and the “lost soul” vibes given out by Amy as the government employee who’s wasting her life away, for she has never achieved any goal she ever set herself, all these things just hit the right note with us average people.

Enough about the women, though the movie is by them, for them and about them, we come to the men, they are not merely there to look good or make the women look good, they have their parts, and are absolutely indispensable to the plot of the movie.

Whether it is Stanley Tucci as Meryl’s all-supportive, unconditionally loving husband or Chris Messina as Amy’s almost-always-supportive and almost-unconditionally loving husband, they have both created the image of a real person, playing their parts, they are believable, they are within reach, and that I think is an achievement. They did make their presence felt in a movie all about the women.

Well coming to the plot, once again I will say, it is something so believable, so plausible, and so acceptable. Yes, I know its based on a true story, which is part of why it is believable, but it is the actors who act out each of those scenes who provide you with a sense of reality. Scenes where Julie (Amy) has a breakdown and is lying flat on the floor crying, or where Julia(Meryl) is informed of her sisters pregnancy and even through her happiness she cannot hide her tears of sorrow, for she is childless. These scenes touch you, they make you laugh and cry with them.

Well in conclusion all I can say is add a dollop of butter to anything, and it becomes bearable, lets use that philosophy in life, laugh throw the sorrows, for they will go away one day, and there will be sunshine again. This is a must watch for all the girls and women, and for men who can enjoy a movie that involves real emotions.

I would give this one 8 BOP’s.






Reviewed By-
Taru Girdonia

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5 comments Posted by Taru at 4:35 AM  |

Kurbaan

Directed By-

Renzil D'Silva (Debut)

Produced By-
Dharma Productions

Featuring-
Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi..

Dharma Productions have always lived up to the expectations and this time around its no different. I said this when i reviewed Wake Up Sid and am telling it yet again. Kurbaan is a good example that shows the amount of homework done before coming up with such a script, all thanks to the debutant director Renzil D'Silva. Kurbaan is an intense thriller based on backdrop of terrorism in the US. Having already seen numerous scripts that dealt with terrorism before, Kurbaan still manages to stand out and this time with an impact, thanks to its fabulous screenplay.

Without letting out anything major about the plot, Kurbaan is a love story between Ehsaan(Saif Ali Khan) and Avantika(Kareena Kapoor) that begins in Delhi and ends in New York. Both their lives post their marriage is something for you to watch it yourself.

The highlight of Kurbaan are its actors. Saif Ali Khan and Kareen Kapoor share some magnificent on screen chemistry and at the same time look the best in the most intense scenes. Did anyone know there was Vivek Oberoi too in the film? And if you didn't you are in for a surprise. Vivek Oberoi is flawless and looks impressive in every bit. If you think Kurbaan is a mixture of Fanaa and New York, then you have mistaken! Kurbaan alone makes a massive impact what Fanaa and New York made put together.

The music is another thing that adds on to your experience. Salim-Sulaiman are stupendous and looks like they might just give all the other music directors a run for their money in the best music category this year.

I'll go with 8 BOP's for Renzil D'Silva's Kurbaan.






Go watch this if you love quality cinema.


Reviewed By,
Raghav Ramaiah

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4 comments Posted by Rag at 11:23 AM  |

2012

Director: Roland Emmerich

Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton

I wonder why he does this? Mass destruction, absolute disaster, End of the world! Whoa! Slow down, we get the point, the planet has begun circling the drain, but dude how about toning down on the issue?

Yes the first few shots of absolute destruction are breathtaking, but after a while you’ve taken one too many breaths and your sick and tired of being expected to keep taking those deep breaths for the same old same old.

So we have the failed writer, with the failed marriage and he’s also a failed father, in short the “LOSER”, typical zero to hero track, how many times do we gotta deal with that? Fine we get past that, and what do we find? The loser guy hits jackpot in the form of a cracked radio jockey who is relaying updates on the end of the world as predicted by the Mayans, the poor guys most probably ran out of paper on which to write out the further calendars, but it is human nature my friends, to expect and to an extent want what is the worst, I guess its just a way to make our selves feel better for the lives we are living right now (sitting in front of a monitor writing about movies like this ;) ).

Anyhow, lets not lose the plot, so Mr.Loser’s ex-wife is living with a man who specializes on Boob

jobs or the like, and he quite obviously could not convince the love of his life to look a little more womanly, but we shall not dwell on that. Well we have Mr.Surgeon, who is the exact opposite of Mr.Loser, for he won over the latters lost wife and got the kids free in the package, and they quite obviously adore and idolize him, which makes Mr.Loser feel more loser-ly, and how can we not mention that Mr.surgeon also flies planes and does every other heroic thing our zero to hero doesn’t.

Coming back to the movie, everyone is packed first into a limo, then into a twin engine aircraft,

then into a full fledged Jumbo Jet and finally into the “very big ship”. And quite obviously the various modes of transport that is being used by the heroic family will be the one that somehow escapes with just a close shave, add to the family, the fat Russian boss of Mr.Loser, his bimbette wife who is having an affair with the pilot, and his 2 evil twin sons. Phew, how much more must we add to this already complicated plot.

I would like to sideline the plot for a few minutes to ask, why the hell does the INDIAN scientist

have an AMERICAN accent, and why the hell does he live in some god forsaken remote place, Why the hell is he wearing a kurta pyjama, which is also something his 10-12 yr old son is wearing? Why Why Why?? Why are we still being portrayed as the snake charming, elephant riding, chess playing weirdo’s?? If your gonna make a big budget movie and your gonna portray a certain sect of people , please do your god damned homework. Oh! And I forgot, the only other thing they can think of to pportray India is the temple, while we are a secular country, and have places of worship of almost every religion present over here, all they can think of portraying India with is a temple breaking to pieces . Sad.

Well all that being said, the movie isn’t a total disappointment, its got its good points being mostly the panoramic views of mass destruction, the actors have hammed their way through the movie and some very shoddy camera work but over all it’s a mediocre movie, and I would suggest you watch it only if you are capable of shutting down your brain to logic.

I'd give it 5 BOP’s to Roland Emmerich's to 2012.

Reviewed By,

Taru Girdonia

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1 comments Posted by Taru at 2:59 AM  |

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Jail : Mini Review

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Ajab Prem Ki.. is an absolute fun film. Having seen Rajkumar Santoshi experiment with comedy before, APKGK is not another Andaz Apna Apna but tries hard to revive the old classic. The movie starts well and somewhere during the middle is when you start to wonder if Santoshi wanted to make a comedy movie or a love story. The movie is funny and has its share of dumb-foolish moments spoiling the fun here and there. Having Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles, makes APKGK all more special. Both actors play their roles convincingly and makes you like them instantly. The music is by Pritam and is above average.

I will go with 7 BOP's for Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Jail

Madhur Bandarkar has never disappointed, has he?? Having proven himself previously with scripts that dealt with social issues, Madhur this time around has let us down with Jail. Story that revolves around a young ambitious boy Parag Dixit(Neil Nitin Mukesh) who is falsely convicted in a drug case. The life of Parag changes post conviction and his quest to freedom is for you to watch it yourself. Jail is a good film but for its pace which makes you restless as the movie steps in to the second half. Neil Nitin Mukesh is commendable and delivers just about everything what the role requires. Music by Sharib Sabri and Toshi Sabri is average and goes unnoticed provided the theme of the movie.

I will go with 7 BOP's for Madhur Bhandarkar's Jail.

Reviewed by,

Raghav Ramaiah

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2 comments Posted by Rag at 7:05 PM  |

Up (2009 - Animated film)

Directed by - Pete Docter

Cast - Edward Asner (Carl Fredricksen), Jordan Nagai (Russell), Bob Peterson (Dug) and Christopher Plummer (Charles F. Muntz)


Disney-Pixar does it again. After the tough-to-top Wall-E, the gold mine of animation has come up with, yet again, another visual treat for the young and old alike. "UP" is Pixar's tenth movie to-date. And it doesn't disappoint.

Have you ever had a dream as a kid? A plan? One that you swore you would see through no matter what?

Meet Carl Fredrickson. A shy, quiet boy whose hero is the world renowned explorer Charles Muntz. Carl befriends Ellie, a feisty little chatterbox who shares his devotion of Muntz. Ellie dreams of moving to South America one day and building a house on top of Paradise Falls and makes Carl promise he'll take her there someday.

Ellie and Carl grow up and get married, living blissfully and very much in love. They try to save up money to go to Paradise Falls but something or the other always crops up and makes it impossible. After several years, just when it seems like they can finally make it there, Ellie dies of old age, leaving Carl alone and bitter, missing his wife very much (Four minutes of wordless, heart-breaking montage encompassing Carl and Ellie's life together, set to a haunting number by composer Michael Giacchino - One of the many reasons I love this movie) To make matters worse, the City Council wants to run down Carl's house and build something else in its place.

When it all finally gets too much, 78-year old Carl hatches a plan to get away from the concrete jungle and honour Ellie's wishes at the same time by moving his house to Paradise Falls. Using, literally, thousands of helium balloons tied to his house, he lifts it off its foundations and floats his way to South America.

But unbeknownst to Carl, eight-year old Russell, a little-too-eager boyscout stows away along with him. Carl has no choice but to take Russell along with him. When they finally crash-land in South America after running into a storm, they realize they need to walk the rest of the way to get to the Falls and pull the house behind them.

Along the way, they run into a colourful, chocolate-loving bird whom Russell adopts on the spot and names Kevin (we are later told Kevin is, in fact, a female), a talking dog named Dug (a voice box on his collar allows him to speak) who adopts them and a whole lot of trouble which they were better off staying out of.

The what, the who and the how that follow is what makes this movie one of the best in 2009. The laughs are aplenty and it gets you chuckling in all the right places. Russell (the first Asian-American lead in a Pixar movie) and his naivety are just adorable. The initial moments between him and Carl are something to watch out for. Dug steals the show (A talking dog! Come on!) and his obvious love for Carl and desire to please him is just so like a dog that you can't help but love him.

It's a simple, heart-warming storyline that touches every aspect of life - love, death, sadness, betrayal, friendship and that tricky little thing called hope - with amazing finesse and leaves you longing for an adventure of your own.

I'm gonna go with 10 BOPs for this visually stunning masterpiece

(I would give it more if I could - I dare you to come out of the movie theatre and say you disagree with me. Now, shoo. Go watch it!)

Reviewed by,
Mithila Ananth

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2 comments Posted by Mith at 5:29 AM  |

Wake Up Sid

Directed By-
Ayan Mukherji

Produced By-
Dharma Productions

Featuring-
Ranbir Kapoor, Konkana Sen Sharma..

Dharma Productions have always lived up to the expectations and this time around its no different. Wake Up Sid in one word is delightful. Directed by debutant director Ayan Mukherji, Wake Up Sid has something in it that makes you like it instantly. An old plot that is well packaged and presented. More like "Old wine in a new bottle".

Wake Up Sid's protagonist Siddharth Mehra aka Sid(Ranbir Kapoor) is a college student who like any other boy of his age is carefree-laidback and totally uninterested in many aspects of life. He's excited by simple things may it be parties, long drives or abstract photography. He soon meets Aisha(Konkana Sen) in a party and within no time they start liking each other's company and much to Sid's amazement finds out that Aisha to be independent, career oriented girl unlike him. Just when things seem fine in Sid's life, is when he fails in his exams and over a long argument with his father leaves home in frustration. Soon to realize the tough world outside. He's sheltered by Aisha and here's when is starts realizing the things that was missing in his life. The things leading up to Sid's transformation is for you to watch it yourself.

Wake Up Sid is one movie that delivers even with such an old storyline, hats off to its screenplay. The movie is engaging and keeps you with it till the credit roll. Both the leads are impressive and deliver the goods well.

The Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is good as always.

I will go with 7 BOP's out of 10 for Ayan Mukherji's Wake Up Sid.






Go in with no expectations and you are sure to like it.

Reviewed By-
Raghav Ramaiah

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3 comments Posted by Rag at 12:22 AM  |

What's Your Rashee?

Directed By-

Ashutosh Gowariker

Produced By-

Ronnie Screwvala, Ashutosh Gowariker

Featuring-

Harman Bhaweja, Priyanka Chopra..

How many of you were waiting for this one from Gowariker? i know many! Sadly for all Gowariker fans, What's Your Rashee? is absolutely disappointing. Based on Madhu Rye's novel Kimball Ravenswood, WYR's? script is as flat as it can possibly get. 

What's Your Rashee's? story revolves around Yogesh Patel(Harman Bhaweja) an MBA student studying in Chicago, who is forced to return to India after receiving a message about his father's deteriorating health. On reaching India is when the family of Yogesh let out the actual reason. Yogesh is then told about the share scam committed by his brother and the family's huge debt. He's also told about the solution offered by a astrologer according to whom, If Yogesh gets married on the 20th, huge wealth is to follow the family on the very day. He's given a mere 10 days to decide a girl and get married. It does not take long for his family to convince Yogesh and he's then out looking for brides. After a lot of confusion about the brides shortlisted by his uncle, Yogesh comes up with a bizarre idea of meeting one girl from each of the 12 zodiac signs. And the plot leading upto Yogesh deciding his soul mate among the 12 is for you to watch it yourself. 

Gowariker seems to have failed miserably with WYR? provided the quality of movies that he

made previously. The movie fails to take off and the plot of the movie does not really convince you at any level. The one and the only thing that is impressive with WYR? is Priyanka Chopra's impeccable performance playing 12 different characters. She's absolutely mind blowing with each of the 12 characters and probably the only thing that makes you sit right through the exhausting 3 hours 15 minutes. Harman Bhaweja is good and tries his best to make an impact with his honest acting supported well by rest of the cast. The funnier parts that were supposed to be funny are not funny and it just frustrates you more. 

The music by Sohail Sen is ordinary and the 12 songs used for 12 the different characters are not impressive either. 

I will go with 4 BOP's out of 10 for Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Rashee?.

Avoid this Flick!

Reviewed By-

Raghav Ramaiah

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1 comments Posted by Rag at 8:32 PM  |

Wanted

Directed By-
Prabhudeva

Produced By-
Boney Kapoor

Featuring-
Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia, Mahesh Manjrekar..


If you were waiting for a good film from Salman Khan, your wait is certain to continue as Wanted turns out to be a below average watch. Directed by dance guru Prabhudeva, Wanted will fail to impress you on every level. Adapted from the original telugu flick Pokiri, Wanted is an out and out action film. The script of Wanted seems more like its made for the audience down south and implementing it with Salman Khan makes it all more interesting. Having proven his abilities with action flicks, Salman Khan looks to have gone that extra mile to give Wanted the classy touch.

Wanted's protagonist Radhe(Salman Khan) is a local thug who terminates people when offered the right price. He's seen shifting between two rival gangs to terminate one another who ever offered more money. Radhe takes no time eliminating people and is seen doing the same in every second scene and here's when he falls for the innocent-pretty girl Jhanvi(Ayesha Takia) who works in a call center. Not so impressed by his rough gangster looks, it takes a while before Jhanvi starts feeling for Radhe who helps her out from the hands of the corrupt crook inspector Talpade(Mahesh Manjrekar). On the other hand due to constant killings in both rival gangs, the top don Gani Bhai(Prakash Raj) is forced to visit mumbai to take over the underworld activities. Now is when the plot takes a unanticipated bizarre u-turn giving Wanted the much needed climax that you might end up liking. The abrupt unpredictable climax is for you to watch it yourself.

Wanted has hardly anything that you might want to look back at except for Salman Khan. The script is ordinary and the execution part makes it even more lousy. The dialogues are ineffective and fails to derive the energy necessary except for a few. Salman Khan has delivered a decent performance with some great action sequences which you are sure to enjoy. Not so impressive are the costumes which look awful in nicely shot backdrops especially in the songs- "Tose Pyar karte Hai" and "Dil Leke Darde Dil". The performances of Ayesha Takia and the rest of the crew is forgettable.

The music by Sajid-Wajid is again ordinary and is tolerable provided the violent theme of the movie. "Love me Love Me" being the most catchy of all.
Having seen the huge commercial success with the Tamil and Telugu versions, Wanted will have to literally run full shows to even compete with its counter parts.

I will go with 5 BOP's out of 10, for Prabhudeva's Wanted .





Go watch it if you are a Salman Khan Fan, and not really advisable for the rest.


Reviewed By,
Raghav Ramaiah

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1 comments Posted by Rag at 6:15 AM  |

The Ugly Truth

Directed By

Robert Luketic

Cast:

Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, Bree Turner

Why is this happening to me? Why is it that every time I decide to watch a movie and write a review for it , it turns out to be a

really bad choice? Bad luck, I must say! Well if those 2 lines weren’t enough, then read on.

Katherine Heigl, the unlucky in love lady, who is all independent and believes that she will never find a good man, and that she thinks is because they are all intimidated by her. Well absolutely uptight television producer Abby Richter (played by Katherine Heigl) is this really pretty and hot woman who well apparently cant find a man. Now someone please explain how a gorgeous woman like her is not able to find a man? Please ask the directors/writers!

Gerard Butler, the STUD! The shock-jock! Any other testosterone driven words you can find to describe a man, can be used here. Well this man, as very obviously shown in the promotional pictures, believes love happens with an organ that has nothing to do with emotions. Mike Chadway (played by Gerard Butler) is a television host, who is forced upon Abby, because the ratings shoot up as soon as he’s on air. Makes you wonder, how with his absolutely chauvinistic, horrible locker-room trash talk, the ratings go up?

Put together an ice-queen and shock jock and what do you get? The Ugly Truth! Ha! A joke that one is, the

whole movie is a series of horribly choreographed scenes, that don’t even raise whimper from the crowd. There are a couple of disgusting , toilet-humor based scenes, like a pair of vibrating knickers on Abby. They managed to put in a part where Mike tutors Abby on how to get the attentions of her very hot neighbour, who also happens to be a doctor, that doesn’t really work for the movie either!Well well, no imagination, no thought put into the screen-play. It’s a very run-of-the-mill script, that did not succeed in being a rom-com, not romantic, not a comedy!

As a saving grace I can say that the all the actors tried their best at making something good out of the script, and they do manage to get a laugh out of you in some rare scenes.

Why is Katherine subjecting herself to this, one movie after another is a failed attempt at being a rom-com, and what a waste of Gerard Butlers absolute HOT-ness! This was such a horrible choice on both their parts, I cant believe I spent hard-earned money on watching this flick! If you guys value the money you or your parents earn, please don’t go spend it on this one, buy yourself a nice accessory to go along with that new shirt.

Girls I know rom-com’s call out to us, but believe just stay away from this one.

Boys, you still might enjoy this one, for all the stud-talk and the abuses, in that beautiful accent that Gerard Butler has, and I am sure that all of you will secretly want to imbibe all that he is on screen into yourselves, but seriously that works only on screen. In real life, the girls are definitely not going to be hounding you with that sort of attitude.

I guess there is a certain section of society that could still watch it, but that doesn’t mean it still wouldn’t be a waste of their money. So well if your really really bored, then you might as well occupy your time with this one.

I would give this 4 BOP’s , it doesn’t deserve any more no matter how hard I try searching for some part of the movie that demands one more BOP from me, it really doesn’t get any further than 4.

Reviewed By,

Taru Girdonia

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0 comments Posted by Rag at 5:03 AM  |

First Look at London Dreams, Ishqiya and Main Aur Mrs Khanna

London Dreams

Directed By-
Vipul Shah

Produced By-
Aashin Shah

Featuring-
Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan,
Asin, Om Puri

Ishqiya

Directed By-

Abhishek Chaubey

Produced By-

Raman Maroo

Vishal Bharadwaj

Featuring-

Naserrudin Shah, Arshad Warsi,

Vidya Balan

Main Aur Mrs Khanna

Directed By-

Prem Soni

Produced By-

Sohail Khan

Ronnie Screwvala

Featuring-

Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor,

Sohail Khan.

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1 comments Posted by Rag at 8:38 PM  |

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Directed by: Stephen Sommers

Cast: Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans, Christopher Eccleston, Dennis Quaid,Brendan Fraser, Channing Tatum and Jonathan Pryce

OK! Here goes my attempt at salvaging this spoof they call a movie.

GI Joe-No story, but none was expected, what was expected was a choc-a-bloc action flick, with mind numbing stunts and special effects. Numb my mind they did, but not in the way expected, if it was not for those extremely loud sound effects there was nothing that could’ve kept me awake during this one.

What I fail to understand is, if the director was out to fill a movie wit CGI then why did he just not make a 3D cartoon movie. I am sure the cartoons would’ve portrayed the characters better. Over acting is an understatement here, the villain being over-villainous & the hero being over-zealous towards his cause of none other than, “saving the world”. One of these days I am going to give these super heroes a piece of my mind , because they are all at it and yet no one succeeds in “saving the world”!!!

Well well, getting back, one of the only good things I can say about this movie is that Sienna Miller looks smoking hot and has a whole load of fun being the “bad girl”, but as cliché as always, madame is forced into a second-skin sort of Black Leather outfit. What has happened to that word we so often relate to the making of movies, IMAGINATION! They have the creative license too, but no! everyone wants to walk the tried and tested route.

The action shifts from dense forests, to the streets of France, to underwater locations, to above the clouds and many, many locations in between, and you sit there wondering how one shot leads to another?

They have also tried to add, a comic character, and an inter-racial romance, both these sub-plots

as out of place as the Queen of England in a theatre watching GI Joe. Someone please explain to the director that a hard core action flick can be made without any of the added sub plots for entertainment, but only if the special effects are good enough. Here I believe the special effects were also added to give the movie a more comedic effect, very amateur and quite clearly highlighting the fact that the budgets could not cover all the CGI.

I must explain at this point, no matter if you go in with expectations or with none, you will be disappointed my friend. It cannot even be stated that this is a movie that children can watch for entertainment, because believe me the cartoons on TV these days are way more technologically advanced. So I would like to advice that no one wastes their time on this one and spoils the image that we have of watching GI Joe as children and worshipping them, do not shatter that image they worked so hard to build.

Now comes the time for the all important verdict, I give it 3 BOP’s out of 10 , this comes after a lot of deliberation with myself, for no one deserves ½ out of 10, I was once in school as well, not a good feeling that one.

Avoid this flick!

Reviewed By,

Taru Girdonia

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0 comments Posted by Taru at 3:54 AM  |

Sikandar

Directed By-
Piyush Jha

Produced By-
Sudhir Mishra

Featuring-
Parzan Dastur, Ayesha Kapoor, Madhavan, Sanjar Suri..

If you guys loved Parzan Dastur in Parzania and Ayesha Kapoor in Black, you'll love them yet again in Sikandar. Directed by Piyush Jha, Sikandar has a terrific script but when it comes to execution of the same is where it fails. Going by the sidelines of the tension that surrounds Jammu and Kashmir, Piyush Jha manages to capture the essence of the lives of young children really well.

Sikandar is a movie of a young boy Sikandar Raza(Parzan Dastur) who like any other 10 year old is naughty-innocent and a passionate football player. Living alone with his aunt and uncle, soon Sikandar finds a pal,a 10 year old Nasreen(Ayesha Kapoor), who accompanies him during the morning walk to school. During one such walk to school is when both of them find a gun lying on the same isolated path. Sikandar is cautioned by Nasreen not to get close to the gun but much to his curiosity takes the gun and without much knowledge is left with no other option but to use the gun to his own benefit, may it be scaring off the bullies in school or scaring people on the street. Soon he's seen training with a Jihadi militant who promises him a washing machine if he trains and shoots the person that they target on. Circumstances get way too complicated when Sikandar shoots the Jihadi Militant out of frustration and makes his life even more miserable. The army start a search operation in pursuit of the little boy and the twists that follow is something that you need to watch it yourself.

Sikandar is not a bad movie but it takes time for you to realize that its a good movie. You don't really feel for the characters like you felt for Ishaan Awasthi in Taare Zameen Par or Michelle McNally in Black. By the time you get into the rythm and start liking that characters, the curtains are down. The main let down factor of this movie is its promise that it created with its trailers. Parzan Dastur is impressive and manages to deliver the goods well. Ayesha Kapoor's performance is average and has blank expressions in a few scenes making her look awkward. Madhavan who plays the role of a Commander of the Indian Army is also good and is supported well by Sanjay Suri.

Music of Sikandar by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is one thing that needs special appreciation. Neatly done are the tracks "Dhoop Ke Sikke" and "Gulon Mein".

I will go with 7 BOP's for Piyush Jha's Sikandar.






Reviewed By,
Raghav Ramaiah

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3 comments Posted by Rag at 10:29 AM  |

Blue : Exclusive First Look

Directed By-

Anthony D'Souza

Produced By-

Dhilin Mehta

Featuring-

Akshaye Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Katrina Kaif, LaraDutta..

The trailer of blue definitely looks impressive and i hope this Akshaye Kumar movie doesn't disappoint which is believed to be made with a budget of 70 crores.

Tell me what you thought of this trailer.

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8 comments Posted by Rag at 10:00 PM  |

Kaminey

Directed By-
Vishal Bharadwaj

Produced By-
Ronnie Screwala

Featuring-
Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amol Gupte..


The much awaited and the most talked about movie of 2009 releases this week and it quite simply lives up to all the hype that surrounded the movie before its release. Directed By Vishal Bharadwaj, Kaminey makes up for all the lousy movies that released this year and for once you feel, "What- a- movie". Kaminey just goes on to score in every department may it be direction or the Music. Vishal Bharadwaj this time around has written a terrific script, outdoing his previous critically acclaimed Omkara. Kaminey in simple words is a complete package where in every tiny character does its bit to impress you.

Kaminey's main protagonists Charlie and Guddu(Shahid Kapoor) are twins who have quite some amusingly distinguishable characteristics when it comes to their natural way of communication. Charlie, a local thug who lisps and pronounces S as F and Guddu is a small NGO worker who stammers while he talks. Both of whom live on different dreams and values are seen fighting it out in their respective fields. Guddu's life enters a mess when gets his girl friend Sweety(Priyanka Chopra) pregnant and after much persuassion decides to marry her and much to add to his agony finds out that she is the sister of a local gangster-politician Bhope Bhau(Amol Gupte). Charlie on the other hand during one of his criminal prowl gets his hand on a guitar box that contains cocaine worth 10 crore's. From here on is when the lives of Charlie and Guddu intertwine making the plot even more interesting and engrossing. The unusual twists and turns right till the climax is something for you to watch it yourself.

The script of Kaminey is gripping and engaging too. The main thing which will blow your minds with Kaminey is its stunning dialogues that will sound serious and funny at the same time. The highlights of the movie are the actors and the bang on casting. If Shahid Kapoor impresses you with both Charlie and Guddu, Priyanka Chopra marks her presence by her bold-marathi girl's character. And for the people who had just heard of Amol Gupte and not seen him, you can see a top notch performance in his very debut movie playing Bhope Bhau. Kaminey is so skillfully made that even a few slow scenes are covered up by some stunning performances.

The music of Kaminey is Marvellous, may it be Dhan Te Han or the thought provoking song Fatak that has a AIDS awareness theme to it, all of them score full points.

Vishal Bharadwaj's magic is going to work yet again.

I will go with 9 BOP's out 10 for Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey.






And that simply makes it a **Must Watch**.


Reviewed by,
Raghav Ramaiah

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6 comments Posted by Rag at 4:15 AM  |

The Proposal

Directed By -
Anne Fletcher

Cast-
Sandra Bullock (Margaret Tate), Ryan Reynolds (Andrew Paxton), Mary Steenburgen (Grace Paxton), Craig T. Nelson (Joe Paxton), Betty White (Grandma Annie), Malin Akerman (Gertrude), Oscar Nunez (Ramone).


We’ve all had to deal with our share of mean bosses and here is one straight out of hell, bad enough for her assistant to beg his colleague for a shirt when he soils his own.

In walks a very ‘devil wears prada’-esque boss, Margaret, played by Sandra Bullock. Preceding her entry to the office is a flurry of scurrying employees and a lot of instant messages informing everyone that “it” has arrived. The “it” in question not particularly showing her mean side to anyone but the harassed assistant, Andrew, played by Ryan Reynolds.

Predictably a situation arises from which only Andrew can rescue the witch and a whole load of some funny and some very not funny drama ensues. The funny bits being overshadowed by the non-funny parts.

Margaret, a Canadian citizen living in the US needs to be saved from deportation, hence Andrew placing his own terms and conditions agrees to be her fake fiancé, this is followed by a hilarious trip to his hometown in Alaska where the Jimmy Choo and Prada wearing Margaret is humbled and is taught the value of family and relationships.

Andrew turns out to be a millionaire and is the heir to the family business, now follows some serious Hindi movie style drama with his father black-mailing him quite unsuccessfully into coming back to Alaska and taking over the business. At the same time there is apparently romance brewing between Andrew and Margaret that no one including themselves can see.

A lot of very predictable situations , which bring to mind movies like Ramji Londonwaley and Meet the parents and just about any other rom-com ever made, skipping forward comes the day for the cute grandma Annie’s 90th birthday, she says she wants to see her grandson get married before she dies, hence dump the birthday celebrations, there’s a wedding to take place.

In all the predictability come very few truly funny moments which is a disappointment coming from a Sandra Bullock movie who sadly enough is in an absolutely non-comedic role. What Sandra does best in the movie is, look absolutely ravishing , at 40 she is in absolutely great shape which she does not fail to show off in a highly unnatural and predictable scene with an equally undressed Ryan, who also, I must say is in great shape.

The movie basically has all the typical elements, the cute grandma, the rich short-tempered father, the loving mother, the sugar coated sweetheart ex-girlfriend, the couple that hates each other(but is actually in love), and a crazy multi tasking stripper cum salesman cum priest.

This romantic comedy was not romantic, mildly funny, and very predictable and I must say, all in all quite a disappointment. Being a member of the female population of our species, I can say this movie was anything but a chick flick, definitely not a drama or thriller. Then what was it? Well go ahead watch it yourself and find out.


Reviewed By,
Taru Girdonia

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2 comments Posted by Taru at 4:54 AM  |