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

---

10 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

---

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

---

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

---

3 comments Posted by Rag at 7:05 PM  |