Simon (James McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer, teams up with a criminal gang to steal a Goya painting worth millions of dollars, but after suffering a blow to the head during the heist he awakens to discover he has no memory of where he hid the painting. When physical threats and torture fail to produce answers, the gang’s leader Frank (Vincent Cassel) hires hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to delve into the darkest recesses of Simon’s psyche. As Elizabeth begins to unravel Simon’s broken subconscious, the lines between truth, suggestion, and deceit begin to blur.
Simon suffering from amnesia and trying to figure out everything part reminds of Memento. The hypnotherapy part where Elizabeth and gang are in his memories reminds of Inception. Elizabeth asking him questions during hypnotherapy is similar to scenes from the movie Under Suspicion.
The movie is very intriguing and interesting up until the climax but then the final twist totally ruins the movie. Spoiler Alert: The movie changes from a heist thriller to one more Sleeping With the Enemy remake.
James McAvoy is very good as Simon. Rosario Dawson is good specially in the hypnotherapy scenes. Vincent Cassel’s character reminds of a character he played before in the movie Derailed. Danny Boyle’s direction is very stylish and the cinematography is very good. Background music is good too.
Tags: Danny Boyle Exclusive James McAvoy Member Reviews Movies You Watched This Month Movies You Watched This Week Reviews Rosario Dawson Trance Vincent Cassel
Looking forward to watch Trance ..
Watched Die Hard 5 this week .. An avg fare ..
I can´t even comment 🙁
Tulmul .. You surely need to get out of that couch of your and hit the theatre 🙂
die hard 5 is pathetic …worst of the series.
The Place Beyond the Pines Ryan Gosling plays Luke, a drifter who makes a living doing motorcycle stunts in a traveling carnival. When he discovers that he has an infant son, he decides he wants to be able to take care of the child. He meets an ex-convict who knows how to rob banks, and learns from him how to pull off heists. His actions cause his life to become intertwined with a police officer named Avery (Bradley Cooper), who chases after him during a robbery.
Movie was slow paced and went on and on. The first part of Ryan being a stunt performer who robs is similar to the movie Drive and what’s ridiculous is that Ryan had starred in that movie too. There he drives a car and here he drives a bike. He suddenly gets shot by Bradley Cooper’s cop character. Then the movie suddenly changes tracks to a corrupt cops track inspired/copied from Serpico starring Al Pacino. Then the movie goes forward by 15 years and becomes about kids of Ryan and Bradley Cooper. Its like watching Awaara – whether the kid of a criminal becomes a criminal.
Bradley Cooper and the Black Guy who is husband of Eva Mendes don’t age at all in these 15 years but Eva Mendes looks old and haggard.
Ryan Gosling was playing the same character he played in Drive. Don’t know why he decided to play the same character again and his sudden death was so disappointing when one expected some confrontation/clash for the rest of the movie between him and Cooper.
Bradley Cooper was good in the initial parts but he did not look like father of a 15/16 year old son. Eva Mendes was ok. Mahershala Ali who played Kofi was good. The young actors who played Ryan and Cooper’s sons were ok.
just been watching stoker. its the opposite of oldboy in almost everything. dull acting, slow dialogues, slow screenplay, dull BGM and lame direction
liked two scenes from stoker:
III. The Duet
This connection between India and Charlie is first revealed during a piano duet. Prior to this scene, India is wary and even hostile toward Charlie. But as India is playing alone, Charlie appears and joins her, and they duel each other in a sweeping music piece. At a crucial point of tension, Charlie reaches around her to play with one hand on the higher register of the piano, placing India in an awkward embrace. While this is happening, the camera focuses on India’s feet as they curl up—a visual euphemism for an orgasmic experience.
IV. The Shower
There is a second portrayal of sexual climax during a shower scene after India’s crush attempts to rape her, only to be strangled to death by Charlie. We assume India’s taking a shower to calm her nerves after such a horrific experience, and she seems to be crying as we see flashbacks of the strangulation, of discovering the corpse of the housekeeper in the basement freezer, and other disturbing images. But we are shocked to discover she is actually pleasuring herself in the shower.
It’s at this point that we see the lines converging. Sexual expression as an adult is tied to her gruesome heritage of violence expressed in her uncle. India is drawn to her uncle because she’s more like him than her mother.
couldnt find shower scene 😀
Baba Ji :3
Lol I liked it though but for entirely diff reasons.
Watched triangle .one hell of a movie. Absolutely loved it . The thing i loved most about the movie is the unpredictable nature.I haven´t seen many movies of this genre that may be one of the reason . Thanks sudeep & suprabh for the recco.
@ Rafsan .. What is this movie all about ?
Syriana – Watched it because of the presence of George Clooney and Matt Damon and really liked it. If you don’t like slow paced movies and realistic movies then please avoid it. It captures the intentions of Oil corporations, Americans interest and politics in Middle East, the status of rulers of few Middle Eastern Countries and power fight to rule the world. George clooney is seen as never before, Matt Damon character has nothing much to offer apart from some lines that are so true to the reality. There are many characters in the film and each makes his/her presence felt. Recommended!!!
Confession of Murder – I think this movies’s basic plot is similar to hindi film “Fox” (starring sunny & arjun rampal) which is offcourse heavily inspired from “A murder of crows”. Film was thrilling and had good moments.
Into the Fire – Korean war movie and it had good first half but second half was far from reality, though it is inspired from real incidents that took place in Korea.
Castaway on the moon – The movie looked interesting in the beginning but turned out lame and stupid later on. He jumps into the river to commit suicide but he doesn’t drown (he doesn’t know swimming) & instead lands up on the shore of the deserted island that is very far from the bridge he jumps. The climax was even more cliched than bollywood romantic movies. The girls part was much more horrible.
Had watched Syriana a few years back and liked it. Good movie which covers everyone from the poor workers to the royal family and Americans.
just back from CE. an avg film.i dont think i have been this bang on a film from its theatrical trailer for any other film.it starts like a movie which seems to be mocking the south films and eventually becomes like a b grade south movie by the end. deepika padukone has given her career best performance.its high time katrina pulls up her socks, pants etc and stop roaming around with ranbir in undergarments.srk is sincere mostly throughout the film but is little OTT sometimes. someone said its his best outing since CDI. not far from true. but thats not bcos he is as good in it. it shows how poor he was from rnbdj to jthj.the climax fight is somewhat bastardized but also a blatant copy of the climax fight of agneepath between kaancha and vijay including even the colour of the clothes everything. overall, its a film that you expect from rohit shetty.
The bar for Rohit Shetty films is low anyways. So looks like people are not hating it. They seem to be finding it ok or average at worst and some are liking it like the families from the public reviews.
@Baba – so rohit shetty strikes again? heard its going to break ETT’s opening day!
Come online?
lets see. i dont think it will break etts final total.
A Moment to Remember (Nae meorisokui jiwoogae) A romance blossoms between a clothing designer and a cautious young man, but because the two have both been hurt in the past, it develops slowly. One is recovering from an affair with a married man. The other has lived his life alienated and alone.
Did not like the movie much. Some scenes were good but it was very slow paced and is basically a chick flick. There were also some unnecessary tracks like the hero’s mother track, hero beating the ex-boyfriend track and too many hero’s architect scenes. The Alzheimer’s doctor also having a wife who died of Alzheimer seemed a bit too filmy.
Performance by the female lead was good. The male lead was ok but looked like he was overacting in emotional scenes. The actress who played hero’s mother was bad and the doctor was bad and irritating.
Kajol suffering from Alzheimer’s in You Me Aur Hum was definitely inspired from this movie.
Liked it a lot. Such a sweet movie .I loved the female lead’s performance. she was too good.Had a huge crush on her(maybe not on her but the character).Overall i found it better than films like the notebook .
“There were also some unnecessary tracks like the hero’s mother track, hero beating the ex-boyfriend track and too many hero’s architect scenes.” agreed
I liked The Notebook a lot. It was better than this movie – it did not have unnecessary tracks and acting was better by everyone including supporting cast.
I loved The Notebook, A moment to remember and Walk to remember a lot and they are my fav romantic movies, also liked everything about these movies including the performances.
Days of Thunder Talented but unproven stock car driver Cole Trickle turns heads on the track. The young hotshot develops a rivalry with a fellow racer that leads to an accident. But with the help of his doctor, Cole just might overcome his injuries — and his fears.
Liked it – a typical feel good sports movie. Its Top Gun with race cars instead and the racing scenes were really good. Its not based on a true story but its characters are based on some real race car drivers and some real incidents are referenced in the movie.
Tom Cruise looked very good and acted very well too. Nicole Kidman looked very pretty. Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and Michael Rooker were very good too.
——————
Also watched Chennai Express. Posted a detailed review.
Just watched and liked it very much. Nicole was gorgeous.
Saw Elysium yesterday. Regular Masala treatment. Thematically very similar to Cloud Atlas but treatment is different (not serious- ZDT and NTS)
The Breakfast Club The athlete (Emilio Estevez), the brain (Anthony Michael Hall), the criminal (Judd Nelson), the princess (Molly Ringwald) and the basket case (Ally Sheedy) break through the social barriers of high school during Saturday detention. The disparate group clashes at first but begin to bond as they reveal their feelings and find a common enemy in their bully principal (Paul Gleason).
The movie is considered to be one of the best movies ever and one of the best high school movies. The whole movie is set in a room where they are in detention and surprisingly nobody supervises them leaving them to do whatever they want. Hated the movie. One more movie where there is a lot of yapping and crazy characters with issues.
Emilio Estevez was ok. Anthony Michael Hall was good as the geeky kid. Judd Nelson looked too old to be a school kid and his character was very irritating. Molly Ringwald was ok. Ally Sheedy was very irritating with her stupid mannerisms.
One of my all time fav movies… There’s no film that comes even a bit close to the charm and the connection of this movie..
The General’s Daughter Respected Army Gen. Joe Campbell is headed for a hero’s retirement — until his daughter is raped and murdered on his military base, and warrant officers and ex-lovers Paul Brenner and Sara Sunhill are given 36 hours to solve the convoluted case.
Good engrossing murder mystery. The suspense was good and I was not able to guess the killer till the end. Movie was about rape within army and how it is pushed under the carpet.
John Travolta was very good and so was Madeleine Stowe. James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Leslie Stefanson were good too. James Woods was excellent as always.
like this movie..
Saw this movie now and really loved it. I couldn’t guess the killer but I was damn right about the main suspect, his associates & fishy thing going on in the chain of hierarchy may be because few days back i had skimmed through a documentary type of movie known as “the Invisible war – 2012” which I am going to finish it off nw. I wonder what other inhumane, unethical and insane activities military personnel’s left to commit?
Thanks for the recommendation Sputnik.
You are welcome.
The Invisible War has been in my queue for so long. Will watch it soon.
Mary and Max – As Cr pointed out, it is one of the love story that you will end up liking it or endorsing it.
Warrior – Watched it again and liked it more this time around
The Great Gatsby – The concept of love story, the sacrifices and the attitude of anything for the “love” is quite similar to bollywood except sleeping outside the marriage. Leo has given one of the finest performance along with Tobey Maguire. Though Amitab is just for a minute, his character is given good importance with good performance by him and it reminds you of him whenever his name is refereed in the film. Overall its a good film
EPIC – Tiny Action flick with bits of romance, comedy and fantastic animation.
The Iceman – Inspired from the true story of a Contract Killer who has killed more than 100 people tht died in 2006 in a prison. It is bit different and has realistic feel in the movie. You won’t feel being bored unless you feel bored of his killing in the film ;). Overall a good watch and fine performances by Micheal Shannon and Ray Liotta.
Chindi Express – Well watched it second time though Got bored on second half through.
In the mood for love – 2000 – Review by Roger Ebert.
They are in the mood for love, but not in the time and place for it. They look at each other with big damp eyes of yearning and sweetness, and go home to sleep by themselves. Adultery has sullied their lives: his wife and her husband are having an affair. “For us to do the same thing,” they agree, “would mean we are no better than they are.” The key word there is “agree.” The fact is, they do not agree. It is simply that neither one has the courage to disagree, and time is passing. He wants to sleep with her and she wants to sleep with him, but they are both bound by the moral stand that each believes the other has taken.
You may disagree with my analysis. You may think one is more reluctant than the other. There is room for speculation, because whole continents of emotions go unexplored in Wong Kar-wai’s “In the Mood for Love,” a lush story of unrequited love that looks the way its songs sound. Many of them are by Nat King Cole, but the instrumental “Green Eyes,” suggesting jealousy, is playing when they figure out why her husband and his wife always seem to be away at the same times.
His name is Mr. Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). Hers is Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk). In the crowded Hong Kong of 1962, they have rented rooms in apartments next to each other. They are not poor; he’s a newspaper reporter, she’s an executive assistant, but there is no space in the crowded city and little room for secrets.
Cheung and Leung are two of the biggest stars in Asia. Their pairing here as unrequited lovers is ironic because of their images as the usual winners in such affairs. This is the kind of story that could be remade by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, although in the Hollywood version, there’d be a happy ending. That would kind of miss the point and release the tension, I think; the thrust of Wong’s film is that paths cross but intentions rarely do. In his other films, like “Chungking Express,” his characters sometimes just barely miss connecting, and here again key things are said in the wrong way at the wrong time. Instead of asking us to identify with this couple, as an American film would, Wong asks us to empathize with them; that is a higher and more complex assignment, with greater rewards.
The movie is physically lush. The deep colors of film noir saturate the scenes: Reds, yellows, browns, deep shadows. One scene opens with only a coil of cigarette smoke, and then reveals its characters. In the hallway outside the two apartments, the camera slides back and forth, emphasizing not their nearness but that there are two apartments, not one.
The most ingenious device in the story is the way Chow and Su play-act imaginary scenes between their cheating spouses. “Do you have a mistress?” she asks, and we think she is asking Chow, but actually she is asking her husband, as played by Chow. There is a slap, not as hard as it would be with a real spouse. They wound themselves with imaginary dialogue in which their cheating partners laugh about them. “I didn’t expect it to hurt so much,” Su says, after one of their imaginary scenarios.
Wong Kar-wai leaves the cheating couple offscreen. Movies about adultery are almost always about the adulterers, but the critic Elvis Mitchell observes that the heroes here are “the characters who are usually the victims in a James M. Cain story.” Their spouses may sin in Singapore, Tokyo or a downtown love hotel, but they will never sin on the screen of this movie, because their adultery is boring and commonplace, while the reticence of Chow and Su elevates their love to a kind of noble perfection.
Their lives are as walled in as their cramped living quarters. They have more money than places to spend it. Still dressed for the office, she dashes out to a crowded alley to buy noodles. Sometimes they meet on the grotty staircase. Often it is raining. Sometimes they simply talk on the sidewalk. Lovers do not notice where they are, do not notice that they repeat themselves. It isn’t repetition, anyway–it’s reassurance. And when you’re holding back and speaking in code, no conversation is boring, because the empty spaces are filled by your desires.
Liked his review the way I liked the film. I would recommend it to everyone. The music plays an important part and very pleasing to ears.
Have seen the movie twice. Liked it more on the re-watch. I think Ritz had recommended the movie.
“Liked In the Mood for Love more this time. Love the soundtrack specially the theme music. ”
Had commented about the theme that plays throughout and Ritz had posted an alternate ending of the movie too.
thanks for the link. its more like an extension of the movie than an alternative ending. Thanks ritz for the clip.
Mother (Madeo) – Korean movie A murder rocks a South Korean town and suspicion quickly falls on a reclusive, mentally challenged — and alibi-free — young man (Bin Won). When an inept public defender botches the boy’s case, his mother (Hye-ja Kim) sets out to prove her son’s innocence. Acclaimed director Joon-ho Bong (Memories of Murder) explores the lengths a mother will go to protect her child in this atmospheric crime thriller.
This movie was in my Netlix queue for so long. Finally watched it now because its about to expire in a couple of days. Movie was slow paced and a bit too long but it was very interesting. The Memories of Murder touch was there.
Agree completely with FS comment from last month’s movie thread (link)
Hye-ja Kim was excellent as the mother. Bin Won was excellent as the mentally challenged son and I would have never known this was the same guy who acted in The Man from Nowhere if it was not for FS comment.
The Invisible War 2012 – Real documentary on Sexually assaulted & raped female US marine corps and its effect on their everyday live, their health and their social life. Being a Superpower nation and most powerful military force in the world, it becomes difficult to digest that about half million female marine corps have been raped or sexually assaulted so far in US Military. You will feel even more disgusted to know that hardly one percent of the victims got justice. Really an eye opening movie with emotions that may haunt you for a while. Highly Recommended!!!
Similarly I would also like to recommend a similar documented movie about US military torture on criminals or suspected terrorist during the war in Afghanistan & Iraq “Taxi To The Dark Side”.
Fukrey – really enjoyed a movie after a long time. Funny situations.
The titles of this movie has good animation so remembered Sputnik’s post.
Completely agree .watched fukrey last month . Enjoyed it a lot . Liked almost everyone but choocha was most hilarious .
choocha was hilarious…..lol:
Being a Dilli wala, really enjoyed Fukrey. The fantasy angle (dream-lottery interpretation) was bit of a downer, but otherwise the only true comedy in the last year or so.
Watched a few this month –
The Hunt – I think its a Danish movie…Its about how a person get ostracised from the society after being accused of sexually abusing a small girl. The movie is very gripping ..totally engaged me…it takes you through an emotional ride with the protagonist. The performances are amazing..may not be everyone’s cup of tea. but Highly recommened.
IMDB link
Full Metal Jacket – I have been watching Kurbricks’s movies recently as he is regarded as one of the best of all time. Some of his movies I have found to be really bizarre. Luckily, full metal jacket was not one of them. The inital portions of the movie were hilarious when the marines undergo training. I wonder who has written the dialogues.. it is an encylopedia of abusing in itself 😀 The later portions become a little boring but the movie does convey a powerful message. Would recommend for people who have some patience to watch this kind of movies.IMDB link
MatchPoint – Woody Allen is another director whose work I am going through currently. The plot is kinda simple..man cheating on a wife blah blah..but the screenplay is fantastic…it holds your attention throughout and engages you totally in the drama. Scarlett Johanson is amazing as the femme-fatal. Go, watch it!
IMDB link
Winter’s bone – Someone recommended it. I also noticed on IMDB that it got nominated for Oscar and also got a very high rating on rotten tomatoes. But I could not sit through the film. It was boring from the word go and even after an hour or so, the story did not move at all..I lost my patience. 😛 IMDB link
That’s all for now…
I will try to be more regular in this thread.
Thanks to sputnik and everyone else here for your contribution..This forum is one of the best for some meaningful discussion about movies. Cheers!
Thanks. Nice to see you here.
Had read about the movie The Hunt and it sounded very interesting. Will try to watch it soon.
Had liked Match Point when I saw it a few years ago.
u r welcom 🙂
Can you or anyone else recommend some of Woody Allen’s films?
Have not seen that many Woody Allen’s movies.
Liked Midnight in Paris but not sure if you will like it. Its about a screenwriter who thinks the 1920s were great and who mysteriously keeps going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.
Liked Vicky Cristina Barcelona mainly for Penelope Cruz’s performance.
Had watched Melinda and Melinda long time back. Don’t remember liking it much.
Have seen Midnight in Paris last year…liked it 🙂
Am looking at some of his past work. Seems to be a great director.
Match Point is a lovely film. I had recommended as well. had downloaded “full metal jacket” but when i was skimming through all i could hear was “Fuck” where ever i moved the cursor. Will watch now after your recommendation.
Also liked Winter’s Bone but its not everyone’s cup of tea. knew many will feel bored.
Have to watch Midnight in Paris as well.
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobaara Shohaib (Akshay Kumar) is the ruling mafia king who takes Aslam (Imran Khan) under his wings and gradually Aslam becomes one of his favorites. Shohaib stumbles upon a young actress Yasmin (Sonakshi Sinha) and is immediately taken in by her freshness, beauty and candor. Slowly, but surely his attraction towards Yasmin goes onto becoming an obsession. This creates a rift between Shoaib and Aslam and results in the ultimate showdown between the mentor & protégé.
Did not like the movie. Would have stopped watching in the first 20 minutes itself but forced myself to watch it. Akshay and Imran keep talking in flowery wannabe one liners. Lame story filled with lame characters. Only scenes I liked were the scene just before the intermission where Akshay kills one of his gang members and the other where Akshay kills Mahesh Manjrekar.
The romantic scenes between Imran and Sonakshi and Akshay and Sonakshi were so bad. Imran teaching Sonakshi English was one stupid comedy scene.
Akshay acted well but 90% of the time his dialogues were so bad. Imran tried to be gangster and he looked so wannabe. He was bad in the romantic scenes too. Sonakshi was such a bimbo/stupid character and she was so irritating. Don’t know why Sonali did that role and why Vidya has a 1 second special appearance. Pitobash plays sidekick again. Mahesh was usual.
didn’t mind it, though I would rate it below average. If you have aversion to 80s stuff then people should avoid it. It has good amount of filmy dialogue delivery (by Akshay). I personally thought the movie has a decent flow and good music. They could have avoided filmy background music and some of the melodramatic dialogue delivery.
ps – I don’t care for acting, if it is not atrocious.
Okay, watched a couple more …
The Cabin in the woods – I am not a big fan of horror movies.. But, somehow decided to watch this one after reading some of the reviews. This movie is different – that’s for sure. I think they attempted a horror satire which might not be very obvious. But leaving aside that, the movie was fairly engrossing. But, I do not understand why you need to show so much blood…its like you really want the viewer to puke rather than being scared. At least, that’s how I felt. I would recommend it though for the engaging screenplay and the underlying satire.
IMDB
The Girl with the dragon tattoo – I am sure most of you must have seen it.
Now, this movie is a thriller, a murder mystery. The story is great, the performances are mindblowing. What I don’t understand is the significance of the title character. I wonder if she was at all needed in the movie. I don’t like the way the girl is engaged in solving the murder mystery and all the unnecessary sex and rape scenes – ind of felt disjointed – I thought those diluted the impact of a taut murder mystery. Again, not a bad movie but left me slightly unsatisfied.IMDB
Wolverine 2: Immensely enjoyed the first half. Exotic locales, and everything that goes with it. Both the Japanese girls were great. But the second half was predictable, and akin to a bad 70s Hindi movie potboiler. Overall good time-pass, I might be in a minority that liked the first part better.
Chennai Express: Much better than what the reviews suggest. Clean, colorful masala film with great novelty in terms of locales and culture shown. One can see the work that must have gone in making this film, and the effort makes it worth it. I liked the second half better, and the songs looked much better on screen as part of the narrative.
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobara- Worst movie I have seen in some time, on big screen that is. Saw it in a small town single screen where the excitement levels were very high (it being the first day), but as the film went on the enthu levels just died. Nothing new in the film- ghisa pita love triangle, that too with an extremely irritating female lead playing an almost insane character. Didn’t take to the dialogues either- some of them were good- but it was like a punch was intended in each and every line spoken- even more than the first part where it worked because of the drama and the story. Audience was laughing at Akki’s dialogue delivery- few scenes his style worked though.
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud When college professor Peter Proud begins to experience flashbacks from a previous incarnation, he is mysteriously drawn to a place he has never been before. Peter becomes romantically drawn to Ann Curtis who was his daughter in previous life. Recognizing the incestuous nature of their relationship, must Mrs. Curtis reveal the terrible secret of the final minutes she shared with her husband in order to keep this man from her daughter?
Shubash Ghai’s Karz is inspired from this movie but have to say Shubash Ghai made a better version which made more sense. Unlike Karz the guy who gets killed in the first life is not a good guy and the ending is different (compared to Karz) which makes the point of his reincarnation ridiculous.
Movie has a B-grade horror feel to it with nude scenes and bad acting. Still the movie was surprisingly intriguing till the end. A couple of scenes were good where his old mother recognizes him (I think Karz had similar scene too) and another where Marcia listens to his screams and runs away. The movie also has borderline incest.
Michael Sarrazin was ok. Margot Kidder was bad. Jennifer O’Neill was ok.
Inside Job
One of the best movie of all time. Not a movie per se, you can consider it as a collection of documentaries but the method was brilliant. The flow of events mentioned was crisp. Matt Demon’s commentary was suitable. 4.5/5
The Conjuring
One of the best horror movie. It has same plot of haunted house but the way it is treated it was exciting. Read a review on IMDB, no nudity, no gore, no bloody scenes, the movie has got R rating just based on scare it gives. 3.5/5
Inside Job is a must watch for Everyone! Provides you with an insight on corruption and Government roles in Financial institutions, its services, regulated markets and its role and the real reason behind the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and many other top financial institutions that took the world into financial crisis. A Must Must Watch and Highly Recommended!!!
Ghanchakkar – Excellent Movie and one of the best of Emran Hashmi. Though I had guessed it right, it fucked my mind so hard that I ended up guessing lot of other things that were alien to its subject. I think the second half is the highlight and very good performances from Vidya & Emran including the supporting cast. Super like and Highly Recommended!!!
Great to see another admirer of Ghankchakkar..Its my most fav nmovie of the year so far.
here’s my mini review from some time back
“Watched Ghanchakkar- What a fine film. A fantastic Thriller with a layer of Dark comedy. Emraan Hashmi delivers his career best performance. Vidya balan is fantastic too. I will not recommend this to anyone who has expectations of a light comedy movie with predictable cliched moments. Its an unconventional film with a dark side to it. The climax is kind of disappointing but still very watchable. Easily Emraan’s best film till date and he owns the show this time.
Not everyone’s cup of tea but a fantastic watch.
8.5 on 10”
I read your review after posting my comment here because I remember reading somewhere “climax is kind of disappointing” and I thought I am the odd one out here who thinks it ended with an Epic Climax.
I did not like the second half much and did not the ending at all. My mini-review of the movie.
“Movie had a interesting premise and it was engrossing for a while but it lost its way. It dragged a lot in the second half and the scenes became repetitive. Was able to correctly guess where the money was pretty early on. Could not believe how Sanju or his wife did not think about that. It had some subtle humor and is a dark comedy. The good thing about the movie was that one is not sure whether Sanju is really suffering from memory problems or if he is faking it and if Vidya’s character is good or lying right until the end. Did not like the unnecessary introduction of a new character at the end. Did not like the ending either.
Emraan was very good as Sanju. Vidya was good but her Punjabi accent came and went. They should have not made her character Punjabi. Rajesh Sharma was good and so was Namit Das.”
I’l stop reading your reviews if you mock such a good film in future Sputnik
I mock a lot of so called good movies 🙂
IMO It had potential to be a good movie but the story went nowhere in the second half and it became boring. It was just repetitive scenes of Emraan forgetting. And the ending should have been better instead of introducing a new character who kills everyone.
It was repetitive coz it had to be repetitive
The Ledge This unusual, character-driven thriller follows young hotel manager Gavin (Charlie Hunnam), who steps out onto a high ledge to commit suicide. World-weary police officer Hollis (Terrence Howard) is assigned to talk him down but is tormented by traumatic issues of his own. The men find themselves debating atheism, faith and the meaning of life, and soon are embroiled in a battle of wills that has each man questioning his commitment to his chosen path.
Was expecting a fast paced thriller but the movie was more slow paced drama – a story about adultery and a debate about religion and atheism.
Charlie Hunnam was very good. Liv Tyler was ok. Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard were good.
Fs,
****SPOILERS****
Actually I liked the fact that emraan’s character had actually forgotten rather than any twist–that was actually EPIC..Also The fact that he sees his wife dying in front of his eyes and couldn’t even recognize his mother’s voice also BRILLIANT…but for me the diappointing part was that unnecessary additional character killing everyone and that the money was with the mother (I had guessed that halfway through the movie).
I also guessed it right but then i also guessed lot of other things as well.
It was necessary to introduce a fourth character because those two could not have killed him or his wife to get the money and also to reveal the man behind the master plan of robbing a bank.
Actually, I think Emraan Hashmi’s performance had a lot to do with the impact of the movie..He played an Amnesiac guy really….really well.
Now You See Me – As from entertainment point of view, it is excellent film. From thriller/suspense pov it has to be on par with “illusionist” but isn’t as good as “Prestige”. Overall falls in between Prestige and illusionist. I think Suprabh also liked it if i am not wrong & he saw it in theatre during its release. Very good and recommended!!!
Watched Iron Man3 in Bluray print – thought my views might change this time but hated more than first time 😛
Yes Fs
NYSM was indeed very entertaining…Their last con was a bit of let down but overall it was really good (the first two cons were fantastic)
I guessed the ending, half way through but it was just one of the guesses..I liked Mark Ruffalo
s performance the most.
I didnt like the illusionist that much… I liked Prestige quite a bit but still it was predictable.
Now You See Me pits an elite FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against “The Four Horsemen”, a super-team of the world’s greatest illusionists. “The Four Horsemen” pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audience while staying one step ahead of the law.
Movie was very entertaining and very good and I almost loved the movie till the ridiculous twist at the end ruined it all. It has got to be one of the worst twists ever. They show him wearing a hoodie doing something else when earlier in the movie he was shown doing something else. Some people mock Special 26 for the twist and then have no problem with this ridiculous twist. Unbelievable – I guess Ghar Ki Murgi Dal Barabar. Agree that the last con was a let down.
Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson were good. Jesse Eisenberg was very good. Isla Fischer and Michael Caine were ok. Mélanie Laurent was gorgeous.
————–
Rewatched Oh My God too.
special 26 – are you targeting me? even while discussing the day of jackal you brought up this special 26 issue isn’t it?
No was not targeting you. I believe you were quite late at watching s26 but there was lot of debate on S26 here and on Facebook.
People were analyzing it as if it was some academic work. There was a whole debate around that same time on FB how people try to find flaws in a Bollywood movie while ignoring similar or even worse flaws in Hollywood movies.
There is a huge discussion on IMDB on it being the worst twist.
Link
he is targetting suprabh and suprabh would know it 😉 the whole argo-s26 debate
Just saw NYSM. Overall, a good entertaining movie. Not on par with The Illusionist and definitely not on on par with The Prestige.
Every move of the Four Horsemen is explained through Freeman’s character. The build-up for the finale was good. The twist would have been good if similar efforts would have been taken to explain why and how the character in question was hiding in plain sight, instead of showing just some flashes.
MyCoccaine was wasted though. His arc was abandoned towards the end. The filmmakers say they deliberately left some loose ends and intend to resolve them in the sequel. This itself shows how the fever of sequels has caught hollywood with standalone films are being turned into franchises.
Jesse Eisenberg just plays Jesse Eisenberg in every movie I guess. Woody Harrelson as always is fantastic. Dave Franco, apart from one action set piece is a bit underused. Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, and Melanie Laurent were fantastic though.
Brian Tyler’s score is brilliant. This has been a good year for him with a great score for Iron Man Three, arguably the best in the franchise.
just back from madras cafe.one of the films of the year so far. brilliant direction.i am not a fan of political thrillers but this has got to be the best in bw.fast paced, excellent casting, good acting and no songs.if you liked 16 december, you will love this. shoochit sircar is one of the talents to look forward to. cant belive he is the same guy who directed the lousy vicky donor
the best thing about the direction is you know what is going to happen in the end and still you are excited to see whats gonna hapen.that is the victory of the director
Agreed. Even though I knew what it going to happen there were enough thrill elements. For direction he still needs to brush up few things:
**Spoilers**
1. Bomb maker interrogation scene. That was spoon feeding and for most part unnecessary scene except that they need to convey they went with bomb which is not detectable.
2. JA’s wife response after getting the letter. I almost laughed on a serious scene.
3. Nargis Fakhri’s conversation from London office. I can not tell you on phone, I need to come and see you. Almost like 80s movie scenes.
4. Some scenes were convenient – Like JA living on Cochin where LTF could reach him easily. JA Abraham’s initial comment – There is conspiracy? I thought there was never a conspiracy. LTF was against ex PM and they wanted to kill.
**end spoilers
In spite of my quibbles, I prefer Madras Café like movies. It is well made for most parts.
@Baba – agreed. Its same in that aspect with Johnny Gaddar where we know upfront who the wrong-doer is but still thrills us till end.
@Hithere – agree on all points (maybe lesser on Bomb maker interrogation which was okish for me)
In addition,
*spoilers*
1. Felt that there was too much justification for name “Madras cafe” – many times showing that photo of rajarajan in front of cafe. When in fact the meeting with foreign nationals was held there and not the main assassination plan by LTA.
2. Was a bit too much pro gandhi family I felt.
Pluses are galore. I really liked the way scene after JA’s wife was killed was handled. Less on melodrama. The film has a great control. It never takes sides. Also liked the way many things are not spoon-fed which is unusual for a BW movie.
*end of spoilers*
Haven’t seen Madras Cafe yet… but what Baba mentioned earlier
“the best thing about the direction is you know what is going to happen in the end and still you are excited to see whats gonna hapen.that is the victory of the director”
This was best implemented in a movie called “The Imposter” last year…One of the best thillers I have ever seen.
Good to see the positive reviews of madras cafe. Looking forward to watching it .
@suprabh – Same here .Haven’t seen Madras cafe yet But completely agree about The Imposter .What baba said was perfectly implemented in imposter . One hell of a film it was.Never felt like a documentary .It was like a perfect thriller movie.
will check the film soon. i have downloaded ff6 after the news of tony jaa starring in ff7 😉 so wil watch it first and then this and some other films on my list
Madras Cafe The best film of the year so far and definitely one of the best political thrillers ever in Indian cinema. Excellent direction by Shoojit Sarcar for the most part. As Baba said the climax was thrilling despite knowing the ending. Thankfully there were no stupid unnecessary songs. Cinematography was very good especially the use of B&W pictures which could be or at least looked like actual pictures from the Lankan Civil War.
Did not like the whole John Abraham narrating to a priest angle. I think that was completely unnecessary. Also they should have cut down on the use of cordless phones – I don’t think they were that common in 80s. Also use of the word Press instead of Media would have been better and they should have shown only DD channel instead of implying modern media channels and TV reporter.
John was very good – his role reminded me of Force though. Nargis was good and they thankfully let her speak in her natural accent. Siddhartha Basu was good as RD. Prakash Belawadi was excellent as Bala. The Tamilian characters and Sri Lankan Tamils all were well cast specially Anna and the ex-PM’s killers.
Good that the movie was not banned by any political party or the govt.
—————
@hithere,
Did not mind the Bomb maker interrogation scene. Actually I thought the informer scene (honeytrap) was too much spoon feeding instead. Scene of John Abraham’s wife receiving the letter was unnecessary. They probably wanted an excuse to show Nargis Fakhri with John again for that need to meet you scene. They did not go the whole way but probably wanted to imply that someone in the Indian govt was involved in the conspiracy to kill the ex-PM.
————
@Anjanpur685Miles,
Agree that the justification for the title of Madras cafe is too tenuous. The movie showed Rajiv as too good – Congress supporters will like it. Agree that the movie did not take sides.
good review sputnik. i am happy you also liked it a lot. agree with the issues you have mentioned too.apart from Bala and anna, dont forget mallya. 😀 i think he looked and acted kickass.almost like a real LTTE member.infact the entire casting of the LTTE is almost masterstroke
Hey there,
I went to see this movie MADRAS CAFE,
its seriously an very average movie, and also There are more Exclusive Celebrity Pictures of the people who were there on the Madras Cafe Premier…….
John Abraham Looked Dashing that day and also in the Movie, Nargis Fakhri was an average actress….
@Sputnik,
On cordless phones and use of word Press I Agree.
Otherwise the setting was pretty authentic late 80s/early 90s – the registration numbers on vehicles.
skimmed through ff6. a bunch of non-actors and wannabe action heroes. i just noticed dwayne johnson is salman khan of hw.its a shame.he was a ex wwe wrestler and still uses cables for just abt anyhting. not expected from him.as some had already told me, it has very less action and even that is OTT especially the dwayne johnson scenes.mostly it has chases.no wonder they had to cast jaa in thier next film to make it interesting. i hope they will have more of action in it. i just found that gina carano did a cameo in blood and bone too 😀
Even i was disappointed with Madras Cafe – maybe u guyz made my expectations too high.
Must say i enjoyed CE much more – even though i am not a masala fan.
Some of the criticism is alright but some of it is bias:
https://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/a-journalists-review-despite-factual-problems-madras-cafe-is-worth-a-watch-1060193.html
The Company Men This indie drama stars Ben Affleck as a successful businessman who comes face-to-face with America’s downsizing epidemic when he loses his job and is forced to take a construction gig.
Good movie about people losing jobs during downsizing of a company and how difficult it is for them to get a good job again. Reminded me of the movie Margin Call which actually came later than this.
Ben Affleck was good as the exec who cannot come to terms with his job loss. Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello were good. Rosemarie DeWitt was good and looked pretty.
Saw it sometime back on Netflix. Liked it but it is rather an unknown movie with such a good cast.
Yes it is surprisingly a unknown movie despite such a good cast. People seem to be having issues with it because it was about high class execs losing jobs. Also read that the movie did not do well at the Boxoffice and did not get good reviews.
Had liked the movie when I first saw it. little slow paced but worth it
sounds interesting. will try to see
The direction was ok, but have serious issues with the casting and hence the acting chops. This maybe more topical, but my fav political thriller still remains Sarfarosh – one of Aamir’s best work in my books.
Madras Cafe: Call it the fast pace and uncompromising direction of Shoojit Sircar or the lack of quality (of such films) in hindi movies– but Madras Cafe is undoubtedly the best film of the year. It doesn’t take sides and rather tells the story from a Raw Agent’s perspective rather than from any political side. Good to see filmmakers being interested in the functioning of secret agencies rather than glorifying them or ridiculing them. Shoojit Sircar delivers exactly what was required of such a film. Fast Pace- No waste of time on any trivial issue, showing the personal life of a RAW agent in the most minimal yet effective way possible (hardly a total of 10 minutes) and showing how things work in covert operations.
John Acts good- perfect for the part. Nargis Fakhri does her part well too… The real hero of the movie is its plot and screenplay.
A very good watch
8 on 10
good to know you liked it 😀
Our estimation of John Abraham is pretty accurate 😀
Btw, I think (and rarely do I think like this)–but Srk would have suited this role quite perfectly.
lol 😉 heres the thing – a john gives money to shoojit sircar to make a madras cafe. an srk gives money to rohit shetty to make CE.enough said
@hithere
****kinda SPOILERS 😉 *****
I think you need to take it easy on the spoon feeding scenes.. Reason: Not because the spoon feeding is justified but you have to understand, where the knowledge-base and movie watching history of Multiplex Indian Audience is (the precise target audience) .. Not everyone is too familiar with political thrillers of the west where the less explanation-less dialog scenes make sense…Even when those guys started their scenes did a lot of explanation too…Moreover a lot of the young urban audience (95%) do not have a clue about how and why the RG assassination took place–all they know is that he died via a human bomb because of some pissed off Srilankans (I think, even here I am over estimating) .. So I believe all the explanations were very well justified. Yes, make such movies for another 10-15 years and make nurture the audience and then we can do away with the explanation scenes.
**Spoilers**
I get your point, but they could have arrived there and extracted the information about plastic bombs. The bomb-maker is a chemical Engineer and lives in Germany and other conversation details were not adding anything useful. Or they could have made it little grim and showed torture to extract the information.
ps – Even I didn’t know about the Chemical Engineer. https://www.cjimagazine.com/archives/cjid678.html?id=536
@Suprabh
“but Srk would have suited this role quite perfectly.”
Is that a compliment to John as an actor or a taunt on SRK 😛
Jokes apart I dont see in which angle you saw SRK here. IMO only other actor suitable for this would have been Emraan Hashmi.
John’s dialogue delivery irritates me, prefer Rampal to this dude.
@Bored
Its quite the opposite for me. Arjun always sounds like making his voice heavy on purpose (like akshay – but akshay is way too mild on the effort compared to arjun) and somehow Arjun looks like he is playing a blind in every movie.
Into the White – Two planes crash; one English other German..Their (Pilots and Gunners) survival tale..Good watch..little slow in some parts. Based on true story.
Good Will Hunting When professors at MIT discover that an aimless young janitor working at the university is also a mathematical genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
Great movie. Watched it for the third time. Had first watched it more than 12 years ago and had re-watched it like 6 years back. The movie was nominated for 9 Oscars and won Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Original Screenplay (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon).
Excellent performances by Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgård, Ben Affleck and Minnie Driver. Did not recognize that Casey Affleck was one of the friends.
Now You See Me
Watched it only because of the recco here. Liked it better than Prestige and not as much as Illusionist. Very interesting. Can’t believe I had missed this one earlier. Read there might a sequel to this. Looking forward to.
Mud
Mathew Mcconaughey acts as a Southerner, convict, who with a help of two teenage boys tries to catch up with his girlfriend Reese Witherspoon. Through the events that follow, the conflicted teenager coming to terms with the adult version of romance. Loved this movie. A bit slow but poignant. Hard to find such films with subtle message in it. A must watch.
Breakfast Club
A film about typical US Highschool stereotypes, made of stereotypes but ends with stereotyped characters breaking the barriers separating each. Could not really connect with the subculture. However, it turned out to be an engrossing watch.
Jack The Giant Slayar
Magic beans, Giants, Enchanted Crown… Perfect family movie. Terrific entertainer. Would definitely show it to my baby when she is ready to watch movies.
Chennai Express
Had reviewed it earlier. However, after second watch I have update that it is definitely a clean entertainer. Yet another safe movie for my child to watch in the future.
Other films I watched that I think do not require any description
Number Station, Erased, Hay Wire — All similar. Average. One time watch.
D-Day – Film that had some interesting plot made into a masala flick with 4 actors representing RAW agents as bunch of jokers. Seriously, why is it difficult to portray the characters of RAW agents, they should watch MUNICH to learn about MOSADS operatives if RAW doesn’t provide enough info on its agents and operations. DDay is nothing but a fiction alien to the factual incidents that portrayed as real, showing time, date and place where the incidents took place.
Only watchable things are Irfan Khan’s Performance (even he fails to act as raw agent), sad romantic song between arjun and shruti hassan (just wonderful) and the final scene of killings of irfan’s family. Rishi was bad as Dawood, instead of serious act he was comical for most of the time.
Madras cafe – Excellent Movie and one of the finest films of recent times. John was bad as RAW agent and fukrey was even worse. Kudos to John for producing such a brilliant flick and excellent direction of Sircar. + and -‘s have already been discussed previously in many different threads hence I’l skip the elaboration part. Highly Recommended!!!
Star Trek Into The Darkness – Never a fan of such films nor have seen any of the films of star wars though have seen star trek and hated it but this one is bearable. Pretty mediocre stuff.
Fukrey – Just a time pass flick and nothing good about the movie except “choocha”. Pulkit is also good and all four characters performed good. The jokes or situational comedy didn’t quite hit the right chord but manages few laughs here and there.
Agree with Rishi’s portrayal. IMO that was weakest or would say didn’t gel with rest of the movie.
Brubaker – Based on true story. Prison Drama. Good Acting and it is good to watch some politics also.
Pheonix,
You found NYSM better than The PRESTIGE & The ILLUSIONIST!!!
Whoaa..! :O
.
Will be watching D-Day soon as the general perception/reaction has been that while it is ‘about good’ but MC is alltogether in a different league.
.
FUKREY was quite a surprise and refreshing in terms of a Comedy Movie set in Delhi(Giving me a recall of KKG, OLLO, VD and DDC – All of which I loved).
A decent, 2-hour watch.
3/5
@baba, I guess paheli,Ashoka, Ra. One nd mnik were producer by srk, ohh ya I m correct.. Oh bt y u forgot, ohh it always happens with SRK.. When he ws malin no masala movies then eveybody ws like he is gone now.. But wen he break records with masala.. Then ohh he dnt do different stuff.. I agree his no masala movies were NT grt especially Ashoka, Ra.one.. Nd mnik nd pheli are NT Madras cafe.. But he tried and at the risk of knowing people may NT accept these movies nd he may loose no. 1 position.. I guess in current time, he is doing the right mixture of masala nd non masala… Just with non masala he produced, he was not lucky.. He himself said “I m bad at script reading.. “
Watched D-day finally… a very very average movie, I don’t understand why some people were going gung-ho about it.
Yes, the plot is interesting and to its credit, the movie is fairly engaging and it doesn’t bore u much.
BUT… the movie was ruined by the msaala-fied trieatment with all the regular bollywood cliches. It’s a matter of the director taking a interesting plot but not having the courage to walk down a different path, which was so much needed. Nikhil Advani should learn a thing or two from Soojit Sircar’s direction of Madras Cafe.
And it is absolutely ridiculous to compare D-day with Madras Cafe – Madras Cafe is at a different level altogether, it’s the kind of cinema we want Bollywood to make going forward whereas D-day is filled with cliche and mediocrity.
Breakfast Club – watched it based on some recommendations in this thread..I think Sup or someone else. The movie was fairly good but I could not connect due to cultural difference or whatever reason. Not recommended for ‘Desi’ people who are not much aware of firangi culture and schooling etc
@phoenix – Now you see me >>>>>>>>>>>> Prestige????????? Really? Have to watch it immediately.
…
Watched Good Will Hunting and absolutely loved it. The story is about a mentally disturbed whizkid who works as a janitor in MIT. One of the professors notices his talent and takes responsibility of him…and takes him to his psychologist friend who helps this kid to provide meaning and direction in life.
Matt Damon nails it as the whiz kid and Robin Williams gives a absolutely stunning performances. The performances and the dialogues take the movie to a different level. Don’t miss it!
While watching the movie, I felt Robin WIlliams deserves as Oscar for this..later I was thrilled to find that he actually won the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role. 🙂
Thanks Sputnik for recommendation
You are welcome. Glad you liked it.
Knight and Day Perpetually unlucky in love, June (Cameron Diaz) becomes intrigued by a mysterious man (Tom Cruise), who unexpectedly drags her into a whirlwind adventure involving devious enemies, life-threatening confrontations and a major discovery that may alter the future of humankind.
Horrible movie. After a while I lost interest completely and did not even care for what was happening. The car chase scenes were horrible and the movie had some really bad vfx.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz both looked old. Tom was trying so hard to be cool and be the star and Cameron Diaz was doing her usual cute thing. Peter Sarsgaard was ok. Don’t know why Paul Dano (There Will be Blood) and Viola Davis (Doubt) took up those useless roles.
Not sure why they are remaking the movie in Hindi. While Hrithik and Katrina may suit the roles and may be it will do well because of them but it will still be a bad movie.
Time to watch Good Will Hunting sometime soon 🙂
One of my most fav movies of all time. Thanks Sputnik for mentioning it in above post. (and reminding me of it )
I love the conversation between the two leads ..especially the one when Robin William’s character tells Matt that his intelligence means nothing if he doesn’t do anything constructive with it/ help others etc…(sitting on a park bench )
Also loved the ending. A perfect movie.
Agreed, GWH is really good. A personal fav of mine too.