Luck By Chance (2009)

Its a pity that I saw this movie only now, coz its such a good movie!! Farhan Akhtar delivers brilliantly, konkona sen is rock solid dependable as ever and the rest of the cast are upto a lot of good. Isha Sharwani in articular was probably supposed to be just eye candy which she gloriously was, but over and above she pleasing too. A pat on the back for director cum Farhan's sister, Zoya Akhtar.

Do watch this movie!

The Angrez (20060

Aboslute trash. Don't watch it.

toy story (1995)

The world's first fully computer generated feature length animation movie! Thats the USP of Toy Story 1.

tom hanks and tim allen lend voices to the main heros(toys) in the movie.

The movie is about a set of toys which come alive in the absence of human presence. There's an intelligent plot about their lives and how they overcome a particular challenge.

dir: john lasseter who's produced the who's who of great animation movies. take your pick from - WALL-E, finding nemo, the incredibles, monster's inc, ratatouille

Office Space (1999)

a compact comedy!

a no frills screenplay gives you the feel of a reality show except for the deliberately dramatized scenes. Really impressed by the acting of David Herman; he looks very natural.

The story is set in a software company and the protagonists are disgruntled software engineers. People from the IT industry will relate a lot to this movie.

We also have some dilbert-ish sub plots that are quite hilarious.

Overall a fun watch and a quick one too

dir: mike judge (creator of beavis and butthead)

also starring: john McGinely, Dr. Perry Cox of scrubs fame, as a management consultant..thats where the dilbert scenes come in

Wicker park (2004)

a love story well told! Josh Hartnet experiences love at first sight with diane kruger.
..and the movie's rolling to a typical finish but in a slightly atypical way.

I liked the climax; nicely emotional.

Also starring: Rose Byrne (Hector's sister in Troy; very cute), Mathew Lillard (Shaggy of scooby doo)

Dir: Paul McGuigan. has Lucky Number Slevin (2006)to his credit. a good watch that too, thriller sorts. Again, Josh Hartnett is the protagonist

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Its a good movie, not a great movie. period!

But then you can't disagree with the hype. If one looks at it from a non-Indian perspective the scenes mark a definite depart from regular hollywood fare. Slumdog Millionaire (SM) is insightful from that point of view. But to an Indian, its just another love story. The much touted slums are a regular feature in many a bollywood flick. So are the visuals of syndicated begging rings and organized crime.

SM is a good film, no doubt about that. The plot is good and the screenplay is crisp. The viewer is never bored. The cast performs exceptionally well and credit for tying it all together ofcos goes to Danny Boyle. Interestingly, little is talked about Loveleen Tandon, the co-director.

I checked up on Danny Boyle and found that he's got movies such as Trainspotting to his credit.

To sum up, its a bit sad that it takes a global director to highlight Indian cinema.

Anwar (2007)

Dir: Manish Jha (also by him Mathrubhoomi)
This movie had potential. Alas, the lack of good editing spoiled it. As adaption of a short story in Hindi, the movie, according to me erred in the fact that it was too slow. Yet while your so called 'art' movies are also slow, it is coz the director is exploring thought provoking scenes. In Anwar similar scenes tend to be just irritants that force you to check the slider's progress on the media player.

The plot is certainly good and i believe the short story would make a great read. Probably an attempt was made to reproduce the text word for word.

I also felt that the movie failed to focus on a central theme. It explored several ideas in bits and pieces and tried to create a climax of sorts. To speak in favour of Anwar, the last 15 minutes were absorbing.

Siddharth Koirala plays Anwar and does a good job. Looks every part the protagonist, Anwar. Nauheed Cyrusi plays 'Mehru', the girl whom Anwar falls in love with. She looks great in the movie.

Eventually, a thought provoking film, if you can manage to sit through it. And ofcos, you could watch it for the mellifluous 'maula mere maula mere' song which is beautifully picturized.

Concept: 8/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Performance: 7/10
Technical: 6/10 (Editing)

Overall: 7/10

dasvidaniya (2008)

Vinay Pathak steals the show with yet another stellar performance.

A soft movie that deals with tremendous sadness, without making you feel sad.

A good watch
Dir: Shashant Shah

Concept 8.2/10
Performance 8.2/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Technical 7.5/10

Overall 7.8/10

Golmaal Returns (2008)

Oh this is just for the record since i've promised to post on every movie i watch. This one is mostly avoidable. It got not more than 2 chuckles out of me.

How can anyone imagine Ajay Devgan doing justice in a comic role!!

Even slapstick comedy should require a semblance of a plot.

rating: 5-6

Cashback (2006)

movie for the depressed, though not a depressing movie, but quite close. Had the protagonist been a junkie too, i'd have not watched past 5 minutes. Watch it if you're lovelorn and philosophical at the same time!

The movie is an feature adaption of a short film by the same name,director and cast that released in 2004. It was then nominated for the oscars in the best short film category. hmm...come to think of it, yeah.


trivia: The protagonist, Sean Biggerstaff, has also essayed the role of Oliver Wood, captain of the Griffindor quidditch team.

i rate it 6.8 - eclectically good

Hellboy II - The Golden Army (2008)

Dir: Guillermo Del Toro (also of Hellboy I)

Hellboy II is an action tuxedo with a comedy lining. The comic element adds a neat touch to the wham and bam and full credit to the character of Hellboy for that. Played by Ron Perllman, Hellboy is a creature with inhuman strength and an attitude to match, not to mention a sense of humour.

The plot is irrelevant and should be seen as a pretext for some ass kicking. The movie does a good job of that.

Concept - 7/10
Performance - 7.5/10
Screenplay - 7/10
Technical - 8/10

Overall 7.1/10

Saas, Bahu aur Sensex(2008)

Dir: Shona Urvashi

Pretty nice movie! Doesn't give you a strong message what with the distracting love story ( bollywood will never get over that!) Notwithstanding that, its a fun movie serving you a slice from the life of middle class India. The myriad of interesting characters keep the movie alive.

Kiron Kher delights with her performance.

So if u're looking for some timepass, this is a great watch.

Concept - 7/10
Screenplay - 7.5/10
Performance - 8/10
Technical - 8/10
Overall - 7.6

Fashion (2008)

Its a so so movie. Terrific acting from Kangna Reanut and Priy
anka Chopra, but a lot of the plot is unbelievable. For one, the dizzying levels of altruism in the supporting cast and for another the fairy tale ride the protagonist got.

It doesn't give any particular insights into the fashion industry, unless you are a farmer in a remote village in india.

Bland stuff in the end. Madhur Bhandarkar did better in Page 3, his previous film

Performance - 8/10
Concept - 6/10
Screenplay - 5/10
Technical - 8/10

Overall - 6.8/10

A Wednesday (2008)

Dir: Neeraj Pandey

A very practical thriller!

No distractions in the screenplay; precise and incisive yet dramatic.

Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher essay towering performances tightly held by a strong supporting cast.

The screenplay is slick and the viewer never gets to loosen his grip on the handrest. Jimmy Shergill stands out in his role, though not so for aamir bashir

On the downside, the oversmart hacker sequence was made too filmy.

On the whole, this is the kind of cinema bollywood so badly needs.

Concept: 8.5/10
Performance: 8.5/10
Screenplay 7.6/10
Technical 7/10

Overall 7.9/10

Rock On (2008)

"Rock On" rocks to the core. Oh how I'm speechless about this movie. Am i over-reacting? Yeah, think so, but it is a great movie. The attempt at all-round perfection is strongly gratifying. The music is just brillaint!! I'm sorry, shouldn't be giving first preference to music here, but it just slipped out. Well it is about music, so thats excusable. The songs gel nicely into the plot, you live the whole movie

The characters are nicely shown. Acting is on a high, everyone looks their role. Again, the music rocks! big fan

I think what clinches the deal for this movie is the focus on dialogue rather than histrionics. There are some very interesting exchanges like one between Farhan and Sakshi. Displays intelligent scriptwriting.

So! Announcing Abhishek Kapoor, director par excellence of Rock on! Hope to see more good stuff from you.

Special mention of the super talented Farhan Akhtar - director, actor, singer. He's rendered the songs very well.

Concept 8.2/10
Performance 8.5/10
Screenplay 8.2/10
Technical 8/10

Overall 8.2/10

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

I love Brit comedy! Its naturally funny when you have characters rattling off in short bursts at almost incomprehensible speeds. To top that, they try to give you the nonchalant, everyday expression that has 'big deal' written all over it. With such a combination, even Macbeth will sound funny. Here it gets better. We have a funny horror movie going

British cinema also seems to have an affliction for characterizing losers in their films. Probably that adds to the sarcastic comedy that is their forte. Shaun, our protagonist is one such loser living with a bigger loser (in all senses of the word) who's a close pal, and is desperately trying to get his failing relationship working. Into all this explodes an epidemic of dead-man-walking and suddenly we expect the fun to end. Surprise! Shaun, Ed (the bigger loser) and company are not losing their sense of humor over some silly flesh eating zombies. Rest assured, you'll laugh.

Special mention of Simon Pegg(shaun) and Nick Frost( Ed), who never let the movie go dull!

Concept 7/10
Performance 8/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Technical 7.5/10

Overall 7.5/10

Inside Man (2006)

I'm always a sucker for heist movies and this one doesn't disappoint one bit. Solid plot that keeps you guessing till quite till the end. Powerful presence of the lead actors - Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster do more than justice to the swift screenplay that is a must in such flicks.

Clive Owen was particularly brilliant brilliant as the no nonsense mastermind. I need to look out for his films.

Director Spike Lee is already filming the sequel to this movie and no prices for guessing who plays the lead. Denzel Washington is Lee's fav actor having given him a lot of hits such as 'Malcolm X' and 'He got game'.

An interesting piece of trivia - Spike Lee's production company is named '40 acres and a mule filmworks' - this alludes to an unfulfilled promise made by politicians during the civil war. Spike Lee tends to bring political overtones into his films and so this comes as not much of a surprise.

more trivia? - personal friend of ex arsenal striker Thierry Henry and thereby a fan of Arsenal. Huge fan of The New York Yankees and baseball in general, so much so that every film of his features some connection with the game.

Concept 8.3/10
Performance 8.4/10
Screenplay 8/10
Technical 7.8/10

Overall 8.1/10

Iron Man (2008)

A superb action movie! Near Perfect adaption of a comic superhero. near, cos nothing's perfect, but near also coz, it's a strong contender. Brilliant computer graphics, spectacular stunt sequences and a terrific Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man complete the movie. Nothing more needs to be said. It is meant to be an action flick, it means nothing less, nothing more. spotless entertainer!

concept 7.5/10
Performance 7.6/10
Screenplay 7/10
Technical 8.5/10

Overall 7.6/10

Hitman (2007)

On the face of it, its a good entertainer. there's solid action which is very well shot, there is a protagonist (Timothy Olyphant) who's got good screen presence and there's a climax. There's also the usual sprinkling of sensuality.

But, when you start to piece in the jigsaw, a lot of pieces are missing and i don't like that in a movie.

That minor issue, apart, a good action flick!

Performance 8/10
Screenplay 7.3/10
Concept 7.3/10
Technical 8/10

Overall 7.6/10

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Po, the Panda has Jack Black written all over it. It was as if Jack Black was dressed up like a panda. Such was the faithfulness in the toon's caricaturization. I've loved Jack Black in movies like Shallow Hal and School of Rock. He has a unique style of acting characterized by quips and jerks. All that is faithfully imbibed into Po's body language.

Kung Fu Panda is a good movie. It, however, falls short of greatness. The screenplay is the culprit. Most animation movies are meant to be comedies, but here we have a first half thats almost philosophical. There are goosebump moments and grand emotions and it is building up into a serious drama when it all becomes funny. Just like that! Couldn't help frowning at that, but once you accept it, it becomes enjoyable again.

I'm a big fan of the oriental martial arts, their way of life, the importance of honour, respect and courage. Its a lesson in principles. Kung Fu Panda enlivens all that while at the same time being your regular funny cartoon. Tough juxtaposition; unwarranted, somewhat pulled off..not much harm done.

Performance 7/10 (Jack Black rocks!, but the support is not very strong)
Screenplay 7/10
Technical 8/10
Concept 7/10

Overall 7.2/10