Movies You Watched This Month – May 2013

Aashiqui2 Synopsis:
Rahul is a singer who is addicted to drinking. He meets Arohi and gets her a chance as a singer and she becomes a huge success while his career takes a nosedive.

Read the detailed plot of A Star is Born from wikipedia and it looks like Aashiqui 2 is copied almost completely from A Star Is Born – the 1954 version. The original 1937 Version is also similar except that it is about actors instead of singers. Abhimaan was also inspired from the same movie. There is one music recording scene which is copied from Akele Hum Akele Tum too.

The movie at first looked like a TV serial. It looked interesting for a while but then became repetitive and tedious. Some of the things like the reporter or other people making sly remarks did not look like from a movie set in present time.

Aditya Roy Kapoor was good as the insecure singer and his role does remind of Rockstar. Shraddha Kapoor was ok but her character looked like one from the 60s/70s who will stand by her man no matter what.

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KickAss Synopsis:
Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

The movie is part superhero, part spoof and part teenage comedy. Loved the movie. It was hilarious and totally entertaining. Some of the scenes are very good like the scene where he fights the guys outside the store and the scene where Hit Girl and Big Daddy rescue Kick-Ass and the final scenes.

Though the movie is titled Kick-Ass, Chloë Grace Moretz completely steals the show as Hit-Girl. She is excellent with her dialogues as well as the fight scenes. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was good as Kick-Ass. Nicolas Cage was very good as Big Daddy. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was good as Red Mist. Mark Strong was good as the bad guy.

 

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42film Synopsis:
Based on the true story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.

Very good movie. It shows the racial abuse that Jackie Robinson had to face and also how sports can bridge differences. Some of the scenes were very good like the scene where he is constantly heckled or the scene where his teammates start supporting him openly. While the scene where he breaks his baseball bat in frustration was very good it did not happen in real though.

Chadwick Boseman was very good as Jackie Robinson. Harrison Ford was excellent as Branch Rickey who signs up Jackie Robinson. I hope he gets an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

 

 

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71 Comments
  1. Anjanpur685Miles 11 years ago

    Saw “Life of Pi” with kid – had to stop the movie halfway as my 6 yr old got very very disturbed. Many ppl had recommended the movie – and said kids will enjoy it – somehow grown up ppl fail to understand a child’s mentality sometimes (this is 3rd or maybe 4th incidence I have experienced wrong recco) . Maybe many of the kids did enjoy it actually – but mine was very emotional as the hero lost everything (his parents/brother etc)…

    Saw “Yelavam Aruvu” (7am Arivu) in parts and got pissed off due to lot of references to Tamilians. Everything was predictable in this movie (in a tamil movie context) – heroine was crying in the end and hero was super heroic.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Agree with you on Life of Pi. I too wrongly assumed that kids will like it because there was a Tiger in it but they start asking about what happened to the father/mother. So had to stop it and tell that they he gets reunited with his parents at the end 🙂

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Life of Pi is for mature audience..If someone suggests that it is for kids probably they don’t understand the movie. Hugo is another movie which is for adults but looks like it is for kids. Toy Story3 is for both for kids and adults but there are different layers which only adults can appreciate.

      KickAss – Like it very much. Highly recommended.

    • Baba 11 years ago

      ritz i think full story should have been about what was shown in first 20-25 mins of 7aum aviru. how kalari originated in india and its teachings went to china and how kung fu got developed.Indian directors dont have sincerity, awareness of our history and imagination.someone like ang lee can make an oscar nominated film out of it.

  2. Baba 11 years ago

    skimmed throuhg new himmatwala.sajid khan is atrocious.the climax is offensive than ridiculous.ajay mother crying in front of durga. durga sends her tiger to save ajay.does he think hindus are such fools that they will excuse such crap ?dharm ki bhavna mein beh ke? utter crap

    • Baba 11 years ago

      i happened to see the old himmatwala too coincidentally today 😀 its a pretty poor film too but surprisngly is less OTT and less artificial compared to the new one. even the song ta thiya sridevi is subtle(!) compared to what tammana did

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        Agree Baba. I said same when I saw both Himmatwalas last month. The effect of new Himmatwala is that it makes the old Himmatwala look better even though that was bad too.

  3. yakuza 11 years ago

    “does he think hindus are such fools that they will excuse such crap ?dharm ki bhavna mein beh ke?”
    Subhash Ghai dis this in all his 80’s and 90’s movies including trimurty .. and it was blockbuster formula those days. Character names from Hindu mythologological stories (Ram, Lakhan, Ganga, Durga) .. and then build story, songs, conincidences around them  .. but the wat Subhash ghai did this, no one ever before or after that create same magic.
     

  4. yakuza 11 years ago

    A psychologist(50+ age) few months ago told me “What’s the point of advance education if you guys stopped enjoying small, little and simple things .. I can sense increasing impatience among new generation .. they are hard to please and this is dangerous even for their personal life .. today 50% of youngsters from 18-35 age go to psychiatrist for some or other problems and reason is technology advancement and its usage developing “Energy blocks” resulting in depression, impatience, dissatisfaction and many other disorders.”

    Well .. I can easily relate to what he said. We are definitely hard to please now .. 🙂

  5. yakuza 11 years ago

    Nothing is over … its just that now new tricks are developed to please kids which are even more cheaper.

    • Baba 11 years ago

      those tricks are better than fooling ppl on manipulative scenes playing with religious sentiments.

  6. yakuza 11 years ago

    Who played with religious sentiments ? You are wrong buddy .. you can say Subhash Ghai evoked emotions by using mythological symbolism .. to say that he “Played with sentiments” is totally incorrect and false accusation .. and to say this was “Trick” is even cheaper. It was not trick .. it was artistic way of entertaining audience, nothing wrong.

    And why only mythology ? Subhash ghai blended even symbolic patriotism very effectively in Karma .. check these song, the way he morphed patriotism with romance .. only he was able do this magic. Even today it gives goose bumps ..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysg2e2rfiwY

    and

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncdAiCpA2P0

  7. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Blue Valentine The film depicts a married couple, Dean and Cindy, shifting back and forth in time between their courtship and the dissolution of their marriage several years later.

    Liked it. It was very real. Not everyone will like it though – some may find it depressing/boring and some may hate the ending.

    Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were both excellent. Ryan’s older look was good too.

  8. yakuza 11 years ago

    Great Gatsby Premier covered by AVS .. Amitabh is loudly cheered despite minuscule role.

    Lahrein Coverage (Crowd shouting Amitabh Amitabh to an extent making US media shocked) :

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k3QesA3xEQ&feature=youtu.be&a

  9. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Take This Waltz A happily married woman falls for the artist who lives across the street.

    The movie follows the template of the married woman who falls in love with the new guy that she just meets. I thought the movie would end where the new guy leaves making it one of those unrequited love stories but it did not. I then thought the movie would end with her leaving her husband and kissing her new found love but it did not end there either.

    The movie does not stop at the romantic happy ending and instead it shows her having threesomes and there is a somewhat sad ending where you feel sorry for her.

    Liked one scene specially where Michelle is inside and Seth is outside and how the music and silence was used in that scene.

    Michelle Williams was very good Seth Rogen was good as the husband who’s always cooking. Luke Kirby was good too.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Liked this movie..well acted. Kind of cynical ending but it is director’s POV.

  10. hithere 11 years ago

    Saw Magnificent Seven (Sholay is partly based on this)..It is good..

    Broken City – I am indifferent to it. It has some good scenes but overall very average movie.

  11. ank_16n 11 years ago

    Watched Skyfall again….and had so say liked it even more this Time and for me its the best Bond movie Since Golden Eye ,its the most intense and Action version of James Bond that u have ever seen a must watch..!!

  12. cr7 11 years ago

    watched first three stories of Bombay Talkies . didn’t like kjo’s one much . dibakar’s one is based on one my all time favorite short stories.it was fine but could have been better . zoya’s story is simple .just about decent. good thing performances are very good in all the shorts .yet to watch anurag kashyap’s short.

    watched cube . it was like saw 1 . I kind of feel annoyed after watching it . The characters were interesting. but quentin’s character was irritating and weird.very average performance by all the leads . and also didn’t like the way the movie ended . i think i like happy endings .

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Watched Bombay Talkies

      Don’t know what to make of Karan Johar’s short film. Even if Saqib’s character has a feeling that Randeep’s character is a suppressed/latent homosexual why would he stalk him? That scene at Randeep’s office was weird. And then he tells Rani openly in a meeting that her husband kissed him? It had some double meaning dialogues too. Mention of Madan Mohan seemed totally pseudo especially when the song used is Ajeeb Dastan Hai which had music by Shankar Jaikishan. Randeep was very good. Saqib was good. Rani was ok.

      The short by Dibaker was ok. Performances were good. Sadashiv was best followed by Nawaz.

      Did not understand the point of Zoya’s short film. If the father gets mad at his son when he gets dressed as a girl would he be ok when he finds out that his son danced as a girl in front of the whole building society? The kid was good and acted well. The girl who played the elder sister resembled Zoya a bit and even her expressions seemed similar. Ranvir Shorey was good too.

      Anurag’s short dragged a bit and Amitabh eating the Murabba made it unrealistic. Don’t think the guards would have tolerated a character like Vijay. But the ending was good especially the dialogue about “Achar”. There was no need for a scene with the friend at the end.

  13. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Re-watched The Lives of Others, Tell No One and In the Mood for Love.

    The Lives of Others is a great movie. Tell No One is a good entertainer though some of the plot points are incredulous. Liked In the Mood for Love more this time. Love the soundtrack specially the theme music. Could not understand how she gets into his room/apartment when he is in Singapore. Had that doubt when I watched it the first time too.

  14. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Broken City and French movie The Well-Digger’s Daughter

    Broken City In a city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure: Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.

    Agree with hithere that it was a very average movie. Got boring after a while despite the good cast.

    Mark Wahlberg was ok. Russell Crowe was good in a villainous role. Catherine Zeta-Jones was ok.

    The Well-Digger’s Daughter Its remake of a 1940’s movie. In pre-World War France, a father is torn between his sense of honor and his deep love for his saintly daughter when she gets in trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.

    The movie is set in a town in pre-World war France and it is remarkable how similar French culture back then was to Indian culture. It looked completely like an old Indian movie from the 60s/70s. The girl is poor and falls in love with the rich guy who is a pilot and who has to leave for War. He sends his mother to inform her but she doesn’t. She gets pregnant and is rejected by the boy’s parents because they are poor. The boy goes missing during the war and the girl is disowned by father and so on …..

    Performances were good by everyone.

  15. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Sputnik,

    Agree that ‘The Lives of Others’ is a Great Watch.
    Slow-Paced but Satisfying.

    Espc, the Last Scene had a Continuing and Tremendous Impact.
    I have kept it on for a rewatch in future months.

    Any nice trivia on it(except that it was Germany’s entry to OSCARS)?

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      It did win the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

      Don’t know much trivia about it. You may want to read this.

      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2

      Wiki says that the director Donnersmarck and Ulrich Mühe (who played Weisler) were successfully sued for libel for an interview in which Mühe asserted that his second wife, Jenny Gröllmann, informed on him while they were East German citizens[3] through the six years of their marriage.[24] Mühe’s former wife denied the claims, although 254 pages’ worth of government records detailed her activities.[15] However, Jenny Gröllmann’s real-life controller later claimed he had made up many of the details in the file and that the actress had been unaware that she was speaking to a Stasi agent.[25]

      In February 2007, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella announced a deal with The Weinstein Company to produce and direct an English-language remake of The Lives of Others.[26][27] Minghella died in March 2008[28] and Pollack died less than three months later, ending any possibility for a remake of the film by them.[2″

  16. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched America’s Sweethearts A movie publicist deals with the messy public split of his movie’s co-stars while keeping reporters at bay while a reclusive director holds the film’s print hostage.

    The movie was entertaining. May be the Hollywood movie industry setting made it look different from regular romantic movie. Some scenes were really hilarious specially the director’s movie scenes.

    John Cusack was good as the actor who has a nervous breakdown. Julia Roberts role is the role that she usually plays with the only difference is that she is fat for a part of it. Billy Crystal was good as the manipulative publicist. Catherine Zeta-Jones was the best as the coldhearted manipulative woman. Christopher Walken was very good in a small cameo as the director.

  17. Anjanpur685Miles 11 years ago

    John Cusack I love to watch in movies – haven’t seen much of his work but Identity and couple of his other movies I loved him. Anyone can suggest/recommend good movies of his please?

    There is something about him which is very sincere…(maybe its the impact of first scene in Identity where he hits a woman and gets down to help her despite the actress opposing it and telling him drive away as if nothing has happened…)

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Have you seen Runaway Jury? Its a good movie. Liked him in that as well as Identity and The Sure Thing.

  18. Anjanpur685Miles 11 years ago

    @Sputnik,

    There is an issue in the way replies are being posted when one does not log in to the site. The reply to a comment appears as a separate comment without any paragraph indentation to the original comment.

    Thx

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Try replying to a comment now and let me know if its working.

  19. Anjanpur685Miles 11 years ago

    Thanks. Haven’t seen those.

  20. Anjanpur685Miles 11 years ago

    I think its working now, replied to one of Baba’s post and it was indented in right way. I saw the clock ticking for editing comment too..and the end of the comment. 🙂

    Thx

    PS: OOPS this reply did get posted as a separate comment though.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      I had Ajax commenting so that the whole page does not have to refresh when a comment is made but it removes the Edit Comments links. But if someone wants to edit their comments they have to refresh the page and the Edit Comments links will show up.

      The replies not nesting correctly when someone is not logged in seems to be some other problem. I think others have had that problem too.

  21. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Go Goa Gone A group of friends along with members of the Russian mafia get stuck on a remote island off the coast of Goa, when new drugs at a rave party are consumed by the guests, turning them into zombies.

    Some scenes were hilarious but many of the scenes were not that funny. There was nothing interesting in the climax – was expecting at least some twist. And with the zombies it looked like a B-grade flick. There was some tacky message about drugs incorporated just for the heck of it. That Soha Ali Khan picture/scene when Kunal Khemu was talking about being in love was cringe worthy.

    Kunal Khemu was good though he was acting partly like he did in 99. Vir Das had a role very similar to his role in Delhi Belly. Anand Tiwari was good. Pooja Gupta was ok. Saif was good in a cameo. He is there just for a few scenes in the middle and then reappears at the end.

    Raj Nidimoru and Krish DK put in a Chiranjeevi Zombie song (inspired/copied from Thriller) and put in a reference to Charminar with them being from A.P. All their earlier films Flavors, 99, Shor in the City were better than this.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Agreed. There are some good hilarious scenes but movie is very average. I am not sure about positiveness on virtual world about the movie.

      If you really want to check a good movie in similar genre..try “the cabin in the woods”. A movie with multiple layers and you will think about the movie. I am not suggesting all movies need to be like that and Zombie movies have limited bandwidth but expected more after good user reviews.

  22. Suprabh 11 years ago

    Agree about Cabin in the woods.

    It was so weird and so much happening that one may get confused…but its way too enjoyable to miss. Its mighty entertaining…I don’t know how many people would enjoy it on their Laptops or TV, but it was such a weird (in a good way) experience on the big screen.

    • FS 11 years ago

      Didn’t like Cabin in the woods. climax was different, thats all.

      • hithere 11 years ago

        *Possible spoilers*
        How often you get scary movie which makes fun of scary devices and you throw in Trueman Show like concept! ?

  23. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Frankie and Johnny Johnny has just been released from prison, and gets a job in a cafe beside waitress Frankie. Frankie is a bit of a loner, but Johnny is determined their romance will blossom.

    Liked it. Movie was good.

    Al Pacino was good but his character was that of a very needy desperate guy and he came off looking almost like a stalker. Michelle Pfeiffer looked gorgeous and was excellent as the woman who has trouble being in a relationship because of an abusive relationship in the past.

  24. hithere 11 years ago

    Saw the Scapegoat (2012)…I guess Don has very similar idea (climax). Well acted and second half is good. First half is little slow.

    ps – Based on Novel (1957)..Movie -1959

  25. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched A Royal Affair A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician – and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.

    Its based on the true story of King Christian VII of Denmark, his wife Caroline Matilda and the royal physician Struensee. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film this year.

    The movie took a bit of time to get started – the initial 20 odd minutes were a bit slow but it gradually got interesting. Movie was good – its part love story and part political thriller.

    Mikkel Boe Følsgaard was excellent as the partially insane King who’s taken for a ride by everyone. Though he initially comes off as obnoxious one ends up feeling sorry for him in the end. Alicia Vikander was good as the Queen. Mads Mikkelsen was very good as the Physician who wants to bring a change and who becomes the actual ruler for a while.

  26. ank_16n 11 years ago

    Watched—
    1. les miserables Loved it…very good Musical Starring Hugh Jackman. Amanda seyfried and Russel Crowe about a Prisoner for 19 years during French revolution gets out on Parol and then Break his parol to become a God loving man..

    Hugh Jackman has done Awesome Acting….well supported by Russel Crowe , Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter,Anna Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried…
    Hugh jackman is the Central character anna hathaway role was very small while Russel Crowe had good role and acted very well..!!

    A Must watch just for the Experience of a gem of a movie..!!

    Watched Source Code again again a must watch very good sort of Time Travel movie with some Very Good Acting..!!

    2. Sleeping Beauty boring and bad movie…..badly acted and directed with no story..!!

    3. Basic Instict again after long time……good Thriller-suspense movie with great oomph quotient….Sharone stone was great but i loved Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dr. Beth Garner more …this movie has been adapted in Hindi and Starred Milind Soman though i don’t remember the name of the movie..!!

    4. Spread(2009) starring Aston Kutcher….Ok.ok movie not very good but a more than decent watch…nothing new in the plot or Story but can watch if u like Sex-comedy somewhat..!!

    5. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011) loved it for its humor though humor is little lower than the previous 2 Harold and kumar movies….it had Emotional quotient and loved that also…nice movie a must watch if u liked the previous 2 Harold and kumar movies..!!

    6. Leather Jackets (1992) Average movie with bad execution…though watchable it could have been better..!!

  27. ank_16n 11 years ago

    also watched kai po Che boring , stretched, over-dramatic, too long that’s the way to describe this movie…movie could have been short by at least 45 minutes as they were just stretching the movie specially in the 1st half where they wasted too much time in showing how they were trying to establish their cricket acadmey…..total waste of an oppurtunity by the director….
    Amit seth was good…
    Rajkumar yadav was also very good
    while
    Sushant singh rajput was over acting and seemed hyper need to improve if he has to make a mark in long run….

    Maybe i expected a lot from the movie that’s why Didn’t liked it one bit..!!

  28. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Freedom Writers A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

    Its based on a true story but it still felt very cliched and unreal/incredulous at times. It also reminded me somewhat of Dangerous Minds which I think I may have seen in part/full long time back and Music of the Heart which I had watched recently. It was good in the way the teacher makes them writes journals and look at the similarities they had with each other.

    Hillary Swank was good as the somewhat naive and unbelievably over caring teacher. Performances were good by the rest of the cast.

  29. yakuza 11 years ago

    Good to read TONS of praises about Amitabh bachchan cameo in Gatsby … from Hollywood and Bollywood reporters alike …

    https://t.co/tFNj8Ce8iZ

  30. yakuza 11 years ago

    Watched Aashiqui-2 .. tragic movie alcoholic singer fall in love with beer bar girl. This is usual psychological love story from bhatt’s, we have seen Emraan doing same stuff in last 7-8 years .. this time its Aditya Kapoor.Movie has 3 excellent songs, few good executed scenes and performances .. that’s all about it. At times, hero’s aglomaniac and psychic behavior straining on nerves .. in-fact there is no explanation given on how and why he became alcoholic. Initially I thought there must be some past .. which will be explained later .. but movie was going on and on …. quite painful until last 20 minutes of climax where I could connect with proceedings.

    Overall .. its not really a love story per Aashiqui, its more like story of psychic alcoholic … if not for Songs and climax, it would have been horribly wrong.

  31. yakuza 11 years ago

    Amitabh Bachchan is a magnificent actor, perfect gentleman: Leonardo DiCaprio

    Hollywood star Leonardo said: “He couldn’t be a more gentle, wonderful individual to work with. And astoundingly talented. To come and play Meyer Wolfsheim in this movie and embody that roughness and a mystery, everything that comes out of his mouth is filled with so much more and so much presence. And then you see the camera cut and he’s the perfect gentleman, just a joy to be around and a wonderful collaborator. He’s a magnificent actor and I was honoured to work with him.”

    “It was really an honour working with him. He so great. He so thoughtful. And his presence, he’s really kind of regal in a sense but also really down-to-earth and so modest. And a very talented actor too. It was kind of an interesting, surprising way to go for that part and I couldn’t imagine anybody else doing it,” Tobey said.

    Meanwhile, America had a taste of stardom Bollywood-style at the New York premier of the film, which also stars actresses Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher. Deafening cheers from the fans crowding the red carpet left the American press looking in vain for Leonardo DiCaprio. The cheers, louder than for any other star, were for Amitabh Bachchan.

    Back home, India is thrilled at having to share Amitabh Bachchan with the world.

    Full Story here :
    https://movies.ndtv.com/hollywood/amitabh-bachchan-is-a-magnificent-actor-perfect-gentleman-leonardo-dicaprio-368381?fb

  32. L (Rue Ryuzaki) 11 years ago

    Iron Man 3 – Had huge expectations from this installment especially after Avengers but have to admit that I am little disappointed. The story lacks honesty and unfavorable twists & turns become difficult to digest. But it maintains the curiosity level of audience throughout as to how will Iron Man come over all the obstacles in tackling the new powerful enemy. The film has so many funny moments and witty lines are delivered with exceptional comic timing. Robert Downey, Jr delivers very good performances and even the antagonist is equally good. Overall, good popcorn entertainment and one time watch in theatres.

    Kai Po Che – It’s a good film and I really liked the movie except the ending which could have been a happy ending. These types of movies are good for a Home DVD watch rather than theatrical watch. Well I thought of skipping this movie after reading some lines of suprabh and sputnik’s reviews but on the contrary I liked it. Cinematography was good and both Rajput and Amit Sadh were brilliant. Rajkumar Yadav is very rigid and too fast while delivering the dialogues. His reactions to one of the collapsed building after Quake in which they had invested around 5 lakh were outstanding.

    Die Hard Quadrology – I thought I may not like Die Hard one this time but surprisingly it was the only part that I liked very much.

    Die Hard 1 – Bunch of German crooks take over the famous building “Nakatomi Plaza” in Los Angeles where John McClane (Bruce Willis) was also invited to a Christmas party tries to save his wife taken as a hostage by these crooks headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). Bruce starts killing Hans’s men one by one within the premises and successfully manages to call police for help even after all types of communications were cut-off. If you have a marvelous, smashing, terrific “hero” with superlative, topnotch performance and dangerous “villain” with an iniquitous qualities delivering excellent performance, then the movie is sure to be a blockbuster, a classic and that is what Die Hard 1 is.

    Die hard 2 & 4 both are stupid movies even to sit and write a review about the remaining series As if they were made solely to cash in on brand, but Part 3 was good until the climax. The combination of Bruce and Samuel Jackson is good, the initial chase and riddles game were interesting, the way robbery of Gold Reserves executed was excellent but the film had its major flaws especially in action scenes as they were surreal and implausible.

    Chasme Baddoor – Totally pakao movie. Couldn’t hold on till interval and most ridiculous part was they wasted about 20 minutes of first half in flashbacks that were cooked up by the actors of the film. Ali zafar was enacting the character of a Superhero not the normal Bollywood hero at least that was his attitude in the film says. Can’t understand how it turned out to be a clean hit.

    I, Me aur Main – Since Inkaar was critically abused, torn apart, I thought to give a try for this film because I loved Inkaar but unfortunately it didn’t paid off. I wasted my time on something that isn’t worth skimming through, but have to say that Prachi Desai has totally different charm onscreen. I never liked her in her TV serial but whenever she is onscreen now days I am starting to like her 😉

    Paparika – It’s an Animation movie that has similar concept of Matrix and Inception. It is about a device DC Mini (which captures your dreams on video) that is stolen from the laboratory and misused to the extent that it ends up in a situation where dreams and reality starts to merge. Kids, it has some explicit content and I recommend you to watch under parental guidance.

    Parker – Another typical Jason Statham movie where you get to see what you desired from him or his movies. Jennifer Lopez looked stunning when she was made to undress and Emma Booth looked beautiful as well in one of the love making scene. The action, stunts, and Jason’s reflexes were similar to the movies of his past but yet they were entertaining.

    Safe Haven – One girl flees to one of the small town southport in North Carolina where she finds herself safe from the mysterious past and falls in love with the father of two. However, past soon haunts her life even though she is assured of her safety. Liked the movie and it’s a good one time watch. Performances are good; chemistry between the leads is also good with equally intense vicious character of Antagonist.

    Scot Pilgrim v/s the World – Except the main leads and the Gay partner there was nothing in the movie. Horrible fights, bizarre storyline, ridiculous songs made this movie look shitty. Only saving grace was the dialogues of the Gay (room-mate), main leads chemistry and obviously the lead actress beauty. Cr, this time your recommendation was seriously bad.

    Shooter – Liked the movie, though it was predictable from the beginning it had better action than most of the recent times. The visuals were stunning, the Climax scene was good and the actor gave a very good performance.

    The Numbers Station – I think Hollywood should stop making films on CIA, FBI or some of their ridiculous agencies secrete corporations/terminals coz all have similar storyline, similar action and then similar ending. In one and a half hour movie you will see only two people for more than an hour and their pathetic story, their defense to protect the terminal that has been compromised and the tragic life they chose.

    Jolly LLB – Liked the movie and more than the movie I liked Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani’s performances, their conversations and arguments. Saurab Shukla was also entertaining, especially the scene where he gets pissed off from Boman Irani and ordered him to sit quietly. Actually that whole sequence was just brilliant. It was so natural and real. Amrita has 5-10 minute role I guess and had nothing to offer in it. The hawaldar’s act who is put in charge of bodyguard of arshad warsi was not required at all but in parts he was hilarious.

    The Ugly Truth – It’s a rom-com in Bollywood style. Gerad butler is very good, infact excellent as TV anchor in hosting one of the show named “The Ugly Truth”. Kathrine, the producer of the tv show has gone overboard in many scenes but as audience one can feel the chemistry brewing between the two during the course of mentoring Katherine to seduce her neighbor and make him her boyfriend.

    City of Gods – It’s all about drugs, dealers, gangs, successors, basically about bad people who controlled the city in other words city of gods. Based on the true story, the orator of the film is one of the witness to all the chaotic life of Rio de janerio, also grew up in the violent area to become a photographer cum journalist. Last time when I watched this movie, I could not stand for more than 15-20 minutes. This time I continued from where I stopped last time and to my surprise I really liked it very much.

    The taking of Pelham 123 – All this film has is “Talk” under the backdrop of train hijacking and this “talk” between both Travolta and Denzel Washington is worth watching but only on Home DVD and not on Big Screen. If you are expecting any action, romance etc… from this flick then forget and move on.

    Chakravyuh – It’s a pro-naxal film and I didn’t understand what message director wanted to tell the audience or did he really tell the true story of naxals? Arjun is a SP as Aadil Khan who voluntarily opts to be transferred to sensitive area where naxalites ruled. He takes on to himself to beat the shit out of naxalites when approximate 74 of members of police task force were killed in an ambush by naxalites. However things don’t favor Aadil Khan and gets injured in one of traps set by naxalites. Abhay deol known as Kabeer a friend offers help to Aadil by providing him necessary information about each and every move of naxalites by being a part of naxalites. However kabeer comes to know the plight of villagers and poor people surrounding the areas and turns himself totally to Naxals ditching Aadil khan. Performances were good but film was poorly directed or researched. It was film to promote naxals within the country who are killing our jawans. Didn’t like the film and it’s the first film of Abhay that I didn’t like. I had seen part of this film before as well.

    Documentary on World War 2 in color – It’s a documentary on World War 2 in Color containing real footages and images. The footages of those armed personnel’s died during the war, civilian casualties, devastating state of the entire cities, buildings and savaged life of civilians due to the war could only draw sympathies towards the poignant results of the war. It has shown how the World War 2 took place and Hitlers pre-emptive strikes in great details. It is definitely a great watch and worth recommending others.

    Pather Panchali – Watched this movie again with an intention to complete the trilogy from beginning till the end continuously but could not go further than second half of “aparjito”. Started 5 am in the morning and by 9:30 am I was fast asleep. Really loved Pather Panchali but don’t know somehow could not manage to finish off Aparajito (failed in second attempt also as I know sometimes it depends on the mood of a person just like the other day I could not even sit for first 20 mins of City of Gods but now ended up liking it very much )

  33. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched First Knight Lancelot falls in love with Guinevere, who is due to be married to King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

    Movie was bad. Some low level guard declares that the about to be Queen will kiss the winner of a contest and when Gere wins it the King and Queen’s discomfort was funny. King Arthur has such a big castle and one would expect he would have guards all around but the about to be Queen gets kidnapped so easily and when there is a public hearing the villain again appears with his guards so easily.

    Richard Gere initially seemed miscast as Lancelot but he was not bad later on. Julia Ormond was ok. Her explanation/dialogues after found kissing Richard Gere were funny. Don’t know why Sean Connery did that useless role.

    ————

    Watched Morning Glory An upstart television producer accepts the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program with warring co-hosts.

    Movie was ok. It took subtle digs at the whole early morning shows. Some scenes were funny.

    Felt like Rachel McAdams was overacting a bit initially but she was good as the movie progressed. Harrison Ford was good as the egotistical news reporter who thinks a early morning show is beneath him. Diane Keaton was ok.

  34. I.One 11 years ago

    Watched the following movies this week –

    Iron Man 3 – It was an alright movie. Not very good, just good enough to keep one entertained for a one time watcher.

    Die Hard 4 – It was the worst part for me in this series (may be because Bruce’s role was not the center stage of this movie).

    Cube – Strictly OK movie. Climax was a let-down.

    Battleship – A reasonably entertaining movie. Liked the concept and execution was good too.

    Carriers – Thought it would be one good horror movie but damn, it was one of the worst I have seen in this genre.

  35. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Swimming with Sharks A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.

    Movie felt somewhat like a stage play. The movie does not even show what happened in the shooting in the climax and you are just supposed to assume a lot of things.

    Kevin Spacey was very good as the sadistic and abusive boss. His acting and sarcastic dialogues are similar to American Beauty and The Big Kahuna which came out later. Did not like Frank Whaley. He had a weird hairstyle and he was ok as the assistant who puts up with the abusive boss but he was laughable when he was torturing his boss. Michelle Forbes was good. Benicio del Toro has a small cameo and he was stylish – felt like he was copying John Travolta though.

  36. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Changing Lanes The story of what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud.

    Movie was interesting but felt like it could have been better. There were too many things that seemed implausible. It did have a Happy Ending though.

    Ben Affleck was ok. Samuel L. Jackson was good. Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack were good too.

  37. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Unthinkable A psychological thriller centered around a black-ops interrogator and an FBI agent who press a suspect terrorist into divulging the location of three nuclear weapons set to detonate in the U.S.

    Liked the movie. It raised some thought provoking questions – how far one is willing to go with the interrogation of the captured terrorist when there is an imminent attack. Movie can be deemed pro torture.

    Samuel L. Jackson was excellent. Michael Sheen was very good. Carrie-Anne Moss was good too.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Saw it sometime back. Agree it raised some very unsettling questions. As a normal citizen most of us don’t encounter but law enforcement people who are people like us have to deal with it.
      As a society do we allow our personal freedom to be curtailed along with innocent being subjected to third degree or we want people dead with terrorist activities…

  38. Sir 11 years ago

    Insomnia – Watch it just for Al Pachino’s performance. The film is slow paced

    Identity – It’s a thriller but isn’t scary at all. Even the climax was weird.

    Dark Skies – Had better start and was equally good until the Climax. Climax was a big let down. and it could have created more thrills in between than it has.

    Hide and Seek – Loved the performance of the child artist and Robert De neiro. Even i couldn’t guess the climax but then post climax, it was bad.

    Ek Doctor ki Mouth – Brilliant just Brilliant. the character of pankaj kapoor reminds me of my father in law’s hard work and dedication. Highly Recommended

    Nautanki Sala – Very good Entertainment. Songs add up spice to the entertainment.

  39. Manish 11 years ago

    Saw Thuppakki .. Its a Good masala movie , i wd rate it 4/5 ..

    Actually it was more of a axn thriller converted into a masala movie by bringing in romance which has no relation with main plot of the movie , just to lighten up the confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist ..

    remove the faltu ka gaana bajana and romance and u have ur on the edge of the seat axn thriller …

    Vijay is just about decent in comedy and romantic parts , its the serious or action part where he is brilliant and stylish as well

    Vidyut – this is another role where he had to remain serious/intense without too much variation , he is brilliant in it just like he was in force .. But the roles are more or less similar

    There are two three scene that i just loved
    ==> When they kill the terrorists planning 12 bomb attacks
    ==> the Police suicide scene
    ==> the rescue scene fight

    ————————————————————————————————

    there is last fight scene between vijay and vidyut as well , it didnt came that good… .. Screw ARM he shd have reatined Vidyut in Hindi version , it wd have beeen a very good scene with fight between Akki n vidyut

    • Baba 11 years ago

      lets hope the remake has very less of romance/songs. somehow indian filmmakers cant think beyond adding all kinds of masala irrespective of the genre be it thupaaki or even BMB

  40. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Everybody’s Fine, Escape from Alcatraz and The Substitute

    Everybody’s Fine Recent widower Frank Goode goes on a road trip — against his doctor’s orders — to connect with his grown children after all four blow off a planned visit. Along the way, he learns some truths about himself and his kids.

    Liked the movie though parts of it seemed a little off in the American setting and it turns out that it was a remake of an Italian movie.

    Robert De Niro was excellent as the father trying to connect with his children since his wife expired. Drew Barrymore was ok. Kate Beckinsale was good. Sam Rockwell was ok.

    —————-

    Escape from Alcatraz Sent to Alcatraz for life, hardened crook Frank Morris plans his unauthorized departure from the island prison. Enlisting two bank-robber brothers as accomplices, Morris meticulously works out every detail before commencing his daring escape attempt.

    It is based on true events – the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The movie was quite slow paced but there are a lot of similarities with The Shawshank Redemption. The Shawshank Redemption is definitely inspired from this movie and quite a few scenes or plot points are copied from this movie.

    Clint Eastwood was good and rest of the cast was good too.

    ——————

    The Substitute Shale, a battle-scarred mercenary, finds the war has moved closer to home when his girlfriend is attacked by ruthless teenagers. Determined to root out the culprits, Shale goes undercover at a local high school to rid the community of this menace.

    While reading some IMDB threads on Freedom Writers saw some people mention this movie so watched it but this is nothing like that movie. Its a B-grade action flick where so many implausible things happen and which reminded me of that TV serials on AXN TV from the 90s. There are no cops shown in the movie except for the last scene. The hero along with his friends just decides to do everything themselves.

    Tom Berenger was good as the ex Marine pretending to be the teacher. Ernie Hudson was good as the Principal. Diane Venora was bad.

  41. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched What Just Happened? and The Switch

    What Just Happened? A harried film producer juggles a lunatic director, a temperamental actor and an out-of-control production while courting a studio head and dealing with his ex in director Barry Levinson’s witty and poignant exploration of the movie business.

    They were trying to make some funny satire on how Hollywood works but it did not work. Only a couple of scenes were funny – one where the director blasts Hollywood and changes the ending and Robert De Niro imagining beating up the guy who is dating his ex wife.

    Robert De Niro was good. Sean Penn and Bruce Willis were good in small cameos playing themselves. Robin Wright, Catherine Keener and Kristen Stewart were good too.

    —————–

    The Switch Still single and worried about her biological clock, Kassie decides to pursue motherhood with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. But it turns out that the donor isn’t quite as anonymous as she thinks.

    It was a bit different in concept but it dragged like anything and became those usual cliched romantic movies. The kid’s scenes especially the father son similarity scenes were good.

    Jennifer Aniston was playing the same role that she normally plays in most of her movies and the one she played on Friends. Jason Bateman was good. Thomas Robinson who played the kid was cute and acted well. Jeff Goldblum was ok. Juliette Lewis once used to be the main lead or play important roles but don’t know why she did this role.

  42. Sir 11 years ago

    Watched ANGADI THERU 2010 TAMIL FILM – Excellent movie! Outstanding!!! A Gem.

    I had requested some one to start a thread on Regional movies where one can explore the hidden treasures of tamil, kannada, telugu, bengali, marati Gems.

    Its about two friends who flock to Chennai city after getting employed in one of the largest stores of Chennai. This store employs mostly those people who are in need of financial help to get rid of miseries affected due to the death of their father or brother or the dependent breadwinners.

    This film showcases the harsh realities & cruelties of labor that exists in India along with parallel sweet love story between the two working employees. Everything about the movie is excellent from performances-direction-screenplay-songs. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Good idea for the Regional Movies thread.

      I don’t know if you have seen the movies I posted under Regional Cinema. Its harder to find Regional Movies with English subtitles though.

      https://tanqeed.com/tag/regional-cinema/

      • Sir 11 years ago

        Thanks for the link Sputnik. Have seen none from the films you posted and will definitely catch these films listed. Only problem is that i am reluctant to watch old movies, but if they are really interesting then i’l have no problems at all.

        Also, I am not able to find any more good movies and most films that i have been watching recently seems to have repetitive contents, same emotions and dramas, that’s why i thought of watching south indian movies, atleast the songs will be good if not the story.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Marathi movie Ajoba Theatrical Trailer starring Urmila Thanks to CilemaSnob

  43. Sir 11 years ago

    Watched Fast and Furious 6 – Went to watch YJHD but couldn’t get any tickets except late night show at 1:00 am so opted to watch FF6.

    Well I enjoyed it to the core and one of the best masala entertainer. The difference in this part is everything was balanced out to give a perfect blend of entertainment. There were few OTT scenes (which is catching up with almost all big hw movies) but it had good story, good action scenes and best part Comedy which was at display every now and then with wittiest lines at funniest moments.

    Although the climax was let down but more importantly i want to know which airport has such a big run-way?

    Looks like the seventh installment will be at its peak and i would love to see jason statham take the “family” by storm.

  44. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched A Room with a View In this adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel, Lucy travels to Florence with her chaperone in tow. There, she falls for a fellow countryman’s moody son. But like any proper Englishwoman of that era, she must fight her feelings, and it’s a losing battle.

    The movie was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 3 – Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. Movie was ok but it looked like that it deserved the Oscars that it got.

    Helena Bonham Carter was good. Maggie Smith was good and she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Denholm Elliott was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor but could not understand what was so great about it. Julian Sands the lead was ok. Judi Dench had a couple of scenes.

    Daniel Day-Lewis had what was a small role of a snobbish fiance but he was excellent. It showed how he brings so much to even a small role – his whole walk, talk and mannerisms were excellent.

  45. Aditya007 11 years ago

    Just Watched Fast & Furious 6 and After finishing One word in mind ‘ Spectacular ‘. Yes Previous Part of this series wasn’t Good for me , So I went with Less Expectation ,without heard Single review ! We know Last Movies of this series is based on Car Racing and drug supply etc but here in this part it tends to Underworld terrorism with superlative ‘Shaw’ (Luke Evans) ,while Main Lead characters Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker ) have Gone from that petty world , but FBI Agent Hobbs (Johnson) to round
    up Toretto and his crew for back-up, offering them full pardons in exchange for their services, wnich was necessity for both and after that drama had begins ! Movie is basicaly based on London, USA, Spain ! Movie had great background score with High Octan breathtaking action sequences which will You speechless some times , the cinematography is great ,and only Point which movie lagging is the length which us unnecessary specially in Climax ! 7/10

  46. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Hunting Party A young journalist, a seasoned cameraman and a discredited war correspondent set out on a mission to hunt down Bosnia’s most notorious war criminal, known as “the Fox.” but they find themselves in serious jeopardy when they are mistaken as a CIA hit squad.

    The movie starts with the disclaimer that “Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true.” The movie ends with a montage of people and events seen in the movie with words such as ‘really existed’ flashed across the screen. The movie basically makes the point that the US, The United Nations, The European Union, NATO, The Hague are not really searching for the war criminals.

    Movie was part satire, part comedy and part action thriller. While it was watchable and entertaining it somehow did not all come together. The action/comedy bit seemed a bit out of place in a movie dealing with the serious issue of ethnic cleansing. Moreover it seemed a bit incredulous that they were so casually and openly discussing The Fox everywhere.

    Richard Gere was very good as the reporter who loses it. Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg were good too.

  47. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    @abt “Ajoba”

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