Movies You Watched This Month – January 2014

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12 YEARS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.

The movie is like Django Unchained without the fantasy revenge. The movie is filled with excellent scenes like the one where Solomon finds himself chained and is whipped badly for claiming to be a free man. The scene where a woman and her kids are separated due to their being sold to different slave owners is heart rending. The scene where Solomon starts whipping up the racist carpenter Tibeats is worth rooting for. The scene where Epps asks Solomon to whip Patsey, a female slave, and then starts whipping her himself is the most violent or disturbing scene of the movie.

The movie is pretty faithful to the true story but some small changes have been made. Link. The Mistress Shaw scene which the director invented for the movie looked totally unnecessary. The woman making Solomon pleasure her did not belong in the movie. While the movie is about him being a slave for 12 years it doesn’t feel like that in the movie. It feels like a few months or a year as people around hardly change at all.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is very good as the free man who is kidnapped and sold off as a slave. Michael Fassbender is excellent as the cruel slave owner who is sexually abusing Patsey. He will definitely be nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and he will most probably win. Lupita Nyong’o is excellent as Patsey and she should get nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Sarah Paulson is very good as Epps’s wife who is jealous of her husband’s attention towards Pasty and who herself abuses Patsy. Paul Dano is very good as the racist Tibeats. Benedict Cumberbatch is good as the benevolent slave owner. Brad Pitt has a small cameo as the Canadian who helps Solomon.

Steve McQueen’s direction is very good for the most part except for the flaws mentioned above. The movie will most probably be nominated for Oscars in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. If the movie doesn’t win Oscars in the main categories it will be because of it being similar to Django Unchained which released last year. The movie has a very powerful subject and it does not shy away from showing how horrible slavery was with all the physical and sexual abuse. The movie is recommended only for those who can stomach the violent disturbing scenes.

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190 Comments
  1. cr7 10 years ago

    Good review. I was waiting for the movie for long time .Found a decent print. Will be watching it today or tomorrow. Good prints of so many movies released within a week 😀

  2. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    I had read a fantastic novel on “George Washington Carver” in my childhood in Marathi. The story is with me every moment even now …

    I am not sure if any movie is made from that in part of the world.

    I would like to see if one is there…

    It was a very touching and inspiring story – also the one which is translated well.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

  3. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Ek hota Carver. Definitely a must read.

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      In Marathi it was “Ek Hota Carver” (There was a Carver) – and it was not a mere translation but a full-fledged screenplay with heart. Later on, I read original book in English but that was not a match.

      T
      Fnatastic job by Veena Gavankar.

      Thanks Saurabh !!

      • shan 10 years ago

        Yeah, that was a great book! Do you know if any movies have been made on Carver’s life?

        • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

          No movies, but documentaries are there. But none matches the Book. The book is like classic story and perfect material for a movie.

  4. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    @sputnik

    The above movie/story is nothing if you read Carver. For me its Gandhi (part 2).

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      It is much more than some scenes showing slavery, etc ., it is much more than any scenes in cinema …….. well ………..

      you will know when u read The Carver !!

      George Washington Carver.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Had not heard of him before. His life story is inspiring but I think Solomon’s story is very different to his story. It says Carver was born into slavery but his master raised him as their own kid and he went on to become a successful scientist.

      The movie is about a free Black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery and who had to endure slavery for 12 years. The movie does not show that part but the men who sold him off were never convicted. Also nobody knows how he died/disappeared with different theories as to whether he was killed or kidnapped again.

      • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

        ” It says Carver was born into slavery but his master raised him as their own kid and he went on to become a successful scientist. ”

        I would just say this – thats a half truth.

        read his life story.

        For me he is Gandhi 2. Read more on him pls …

  5. cr7 10 years ago

    About Time – Liked it . Sweet film,very well acted and touching. Didn’t like it as much as I did richard curtis’s previous movie “Love actually”. At some points the emotion looked bit forced . Still one of the better films I’ve seen this year.I am very fond of this genre so that helped too .

  6. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Watched IP Man 2, the sequel to IP Man. This is about IP Man trying to set up a martial arts school and then a fight with a British boxer who challenges the Chinese fighters.

    This one has more action but its more of a regular martial arts movie and is not as good as the first one. The fight scenes on the balancing table were the best scenes of the movie. The fight scenes with the boxer were different and good too. The arrogant British boxer and all those scenes made it look like those typical Bollywood masala movies involving the British. Unlike the first one the IP Man takes quite a bit of pounding from the British boxer in this one.

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      LOL…very honest review.
      I felt the same. Though the fight scenes were really good, the movie does not rise above the normal martial arts movies. The 1st one had a soul..this one does not have.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Thanks.

        You said it best with the line “The 1st one had a soul..this one does not have.”

        • FS 10 years ago

          In IP Man 2 the ring fights is similar to “fearless” movie starring Jet lee… IP man 1 is an excellent movie and that’s why Ip man 2 looks ordinary compared to first part still an entertaining movie.

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      agreed. I think you liked it a lot more than me.May be its the effect of watching the brilliant ipman 1 first but I didnt like any of the action scenes in this one. Too much excessive use of cables and most of the moves were exaggerated. the nemesis of ipman was overweight and he was flying in the air doing acrobats! it looked bad. but my biggest complain with the film is its comical tone and ipmans intent of always going half strength on his opponents. compare it to any scene in ipman 1 particualrly the the 10 man dojo fight in part 1. You could literally feel his anger in it . he was a real badass in that film and fully unleashed. May they intentionally mellowed down his character to make it suitable for larger audience.But it doenst work for me.acually the film starts off promisingly where ipman wants to start his martial arts coaching. I liked all those scenes where he was teaching them the techiques of wing chun punching with the haunting BGM. but the film just goes too soft and light in the later portions of the film unlike part 1 which only got more serious as it progressed.

      the film is well rated on imdb. may be its due to donnie yen. Love his personality. very simply guy but a great actor/fighter. I saw it only bcos of Donnie yen and he was very good here too. I liked the light take on bruce lee in the end and the end credits 😀 will download his special id soon.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        May be because I liked IP Man a lot I was a bit kind to this 🙂

        I think they just made a sequel to ride on the success of the first one. Yes this one had more flying in the air but lesser than some other martial arts movies. Yeah Master Hung was too fat to be doing those acrobatic moves.

        • Ipman 10 years ago

          I dont like action films with comical tone. this is why i dislike most of the jackie chan films as well as jet li OTT action films. I like action films with gritty/intense atmosphere like the bruce lee and Jaa films and ofcourse IPman1. An action star has to be serious and a bad ass and unmerciful. I am happy that the first film of donnie yen that i saw is ipman. he will always have my respect for it 🙂

  7. Ipman 10 years ago

    skimmed through another of my anticipated movies of the year Ninja shadow of a tear starring scott adkins directed by isaac florentine (team of undisputed 3). another film which suffered due to my watching ipman just a day before 😉 i could not enjoy it as much as i should have. this one actualy had pretty good action scenes, much better than the one in ipman 2.scott adkins was great as usual. will see the full film when time permits

  8. Ipman 10 years ago

    finished downloading The Informers. reason? saw a scene from it yday where amber heard was strutting around naked.

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Have seen some scenes (probably the same you are talking about). It was on Netflix instant but it was rated low.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        yes. but the scenes that you may have seen in the clip is all the film has got. there are no additional scenes.I am very sad that no one on tq recommends films on these lines.hithere and sputnik are masters of this genre but they dont recommend anything. Everyone only wants to look intellectual 😀

        • hithere 10 years ago

          Check “Jade”; I believe you must have seen “Trance”.

          • Ipman 10 years ago

            not seen any of them. will chek it

          • hithere 10 years ago

            Saw Paranoia. It has Amber but she can not act. Movie was very average and predictable and took convenient route.

          • hithere 10 years ago

            Also saw Christmas Story. It was recommended to me by colleague for Christmas. They have F* word by a kid, which has been changed to Fudge 🙂 (They also have Son of a bitch). My daughter said Fudge is not a bad word :).

            Normally I read common sense media comments before any such movie.

            ps – Also saw 1997 Nightwatch. Timepass thriller on serial killer.

  9. Ipman 10 years ago

    for those who are not aware of amber heard

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=MWLbS5z0BkQ

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      So Baba’s fantasy is some girl hits him and challenges him on his Karate moves 😛

  10. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Ninth Gate An international search for a rare copy of a demonic tome, “The Nine Gates of the Shadow Kingdom,” brings an unscrupulous book dealer deep into a world of murder, double-dealing and Satanic worship in director Roman Polanski’s gothic mystery.

    Its a supernatural thriller based on Spanish novel El Club Dumas (The Club Dumas). Its on the lines of The Da Vinci Code which came out later. The movie has a very interesting plot with the three books and the engravings but I think it would have been better off if there was no actual supernatural stuff in it.

    Read the IMDB discussions after watching the movie and there is lot of religious discussion going on with metaphors, symbols and so on.

    I am not sure everyone will like the supernatural stuff and specially the ending but I think it is worth watching.

    Johnny Depp was good as usual. Frank Langella was very good as the collector. Emmanuelle Seigner, Lena Olin were good too.

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Saw it yesterday. Kind of indifferent, like your review.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        I watched it yesterday too. Commented after reading all the discussions about the religious metaphors on IMDB today.

  11. Ipman 10 years ago

    Just back from the wolf of wall street. its story is based on autobiography written by jordan belfort. so as is usual with all autobiography, the author will portray himself a hero. Its an entertaining film but a stupid film. Right from the selling techniques of de caprio to the money laundering in swiss banks , everything is too convenient and at times plain stupid.Its supposed to be adark comedy but the tone is OTT. de caprio is good in some scenes and has overacted in a lot of scenes. His scene where he has an excessive effective of a drug is so loud and drags too much its almost irritating.He looks like an overgrown kid with wrinkles. Jonah Hill is also good in some scenes and hammed in many other. Margot robbie plays de caprio’s wife. Looks hot and acts the best among the cast. I am surprised how it has won so many award nominations, May be due to the big names associated.That is how most of the jury around the world works

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      I have seen some articles bashing the movie for its excess and glorification of bad guys.

      In Hollywood when there is a big director involved then the critics reviews are usually good and the movie gets nominated for many awards. The Wolf of Wall Street had only two nominations at Golden Globes though – Best Picture and Best Actor.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        it is never shown how de caprios company managed to sell pennystocks which generated such huge revenues.In this regard, it is same as a badmaash company or any such movie on business. de caprio launders his money by hiding the money in the clothes of his female employees and they are never caught by the custom police at airports. its height of foolishness

        • Bored 10 years ago

          Wolf of Wall Street is way over-rated due to the names involved. Btw, American Hustle is a much better movie.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        some are complaining that they are uncomfortable with the excessive sex scenes and drug intake scenes in it. i found it to be ordinary. its not like the film has great sex scenes or very disturbing drug scenes. its just that the film is nothing beyond it and is just escapist in its treatment

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          But I heard the Indian Censor board deleted all nude/sex scenes.

          • Ipman 10 years ago

            none of the drug intake scenes were edited. there are only 2-3 sex scenes. even though you are watching a censored film, you can get hint when scenes are edited bcos the flow is interrupted. one was edited a bit but you could see margots tits. then there is a scene before climax which was not edited .it was semi nude. i am looking for a dvdscr of it to see if it has any scene which was completely removed from Indian version but i doubt it 😀

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          Check this Parents Guide from IMDB. You will get a hint of what was deleted from the Indian version.

          Link

          • Ipman 10 years ago

            kids stuff. bare breasts, buttocks are not considered “nude”. they have been a part of films since forever.even going by his description,most of them seem to be implied sex scenes rather than anything explicit

    • shan 10 years ago

      Reading the book currently and Belfort hasn’t explained a lot about his trading techniques in the book either. He focuses a lot on how his colleagues were corrupt morons intoxicated by money and power and how he was a smart guy who felt guilty about doing all the bad stuff but nevertheless did it. I guess they didn’t change much in the movie. Plan to watch the movie once I finish the book. Once I do, will comment here about differences and similarities between the book and the movie.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        yes. why wil he write about the trading techniques and give his trading secrets away to other analysts who read it. it was the directors responsibility to do research on this and present it in the film. also belfort wont write anything which makes him look foolish or loser.he will either protray himself as a hero or a cool anti-hero.

      • shan 10 years ago

        Finished the book and saw the movie last weekend. The movie was underwhelming and too stretched. It almost felt gimmicky as compared to the book with too much focus on Jordan and Danny’s lecherous activities. How Jordan gets into the penny-stock market is shown really well in the movie though. Also, most of Leo’s scenes where he has meaningful dialogue are well executed. His acting is fantastic. The overuse of the f-word and its variants spoil a lot of good dialogue and has been put in only to appeal to the typical American audiences. I have noticed that just like Indian audiences laugh out loud at jokes on pee and fart and clap at over the top action scenes, American audiences love it when their protagonists swear and bang on screen. There were at least 15 guys guffawing in the theatre every time Jordan nails a chick or snorts coke. Not sure why it was funny. The direction is surprisingly uninspiring, especially coming from Scorsese, who has done much much better in The Departed and Shutter Island.

        PS: I am seeing too many in India praising this movie like it is the next Godfather. Not sure what scenes were cut in India and how long the movie screened in theatres there is. Would love to hear from someone who saw this in an Indian theatre.

  12. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Enough Said A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter’s impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) – a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems “almost perfect” except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne’s Ex. ENOUGH SAID is a sharp, insightful comedy that humorously explores the mess that often comes with getting involved again.

    Did not like it much. Felt like watching some TV serial or Sitcom. A few lines were funny and a few scenes were good but that’s all. Even some of the funny lines/jokes seem recycled from Seinfeld.

    James Gandolfini was good. Julia Louis Dreyfus has been nominated for a Best Actress at the Golden Globes but I don’t know what was so great about it. She was acting just like her Elaine character from Seinfeld with the only difference being that she is older now. Even her character’s behavior was like Elaine from Seinfeld. Catherine Keener was usual. Eve Hewson who played Albert’s daughter was very pretty. Tracey Fairaway who played Eva’s daughter was ok. Tavi Gevinson who played Chloe was good.

  13. cr7 10 years ago

    @sputnik- whenever I click on any of the recent comments in the sidebar , it is taking me to the post I’m currently on rather than the post where the comment is being made . I’m using chrome 😀

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      I disabled the cache. Try now. If its still doing that clear browser cache and try.

  14. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched The Judgement at Nuremberg . One hell of a movie . Absolutely loved it. Thanks Anupam for the reco .

  15. cr7 10 years ago

    @sputnik- When will u make the post on Best courtroom dramas ?

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      I have been working on all these new changes for the past few weeks. So got sidetracked. Have not watched Judgement at Nuremberg so will try to watch that one too before I make the post.

  16. cr7 10 years ago

    @zacked – So many players injured 🙁 .Do u think arsen will buy someone in this window?So many rumors.A world class striker will seal the league for us . But great win against chickens & still top of the table 😀

  17. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Blue Jasmine After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Alec Baldwin), elegant New York socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves into her sister Ginger’s (Sally Hawkins) modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again.

    Liked the movie. It is a modern day adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire but Woody Allen has not credited the original writer Tennessee Williams. Had tried to watch the Black & White movie A Streetcar Named Desire starring Marlon Brando back in 2000 but I did not like it and found it boring back then.

    Cate Blanchett was excellent as Jasmine. She will definitely be nominated for a Best Actress at the Oscars and has a good chance of winning. Sally Hawkins was very good as her sister. Alec Baldwin was good. Bobby Cannavale and Peter Sarsgaard were ok.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Where have u seen it ? Theater or online ? It was One of my most awaited movie of last year .

    • hithere 10 years ago

      It is a character study. Acting was good in movie. But the movie was slow to the point that you don’t care.

  18. FS 10 years ago

    R Rajkumar – Movie should have ended in first half with the Temple fight as Climax action. Second half is full blown stretch and too much of herogiri that doesn’t suit him. He looked like Srk in many fight scenes and same style of action. In short movie was extremely Entertaining in First half and Extremely boring in the second half.

  19. cr7 10 years ago

    The spectacular Now – I’m very fond of this genre . So have seen quite a few movies of this type . Coming of age teen drama with high school seniors,their troubles,emotional complication . This is no different in term of basic plot . But still it comes across as a very refreshing movie .The film is equally funny,sweet,sad and has a unique depth .And one more plus point is It has relatable characters .Performances were fantastic. Shailene Woodly was good. The boy who played Sutter was terrific . One of the better performance by any actor this year(Yet to see a lot of movies). Recommended for those who have a fondness for this genre .

  20. cr7 10 years ago

    12 years a slave – Very good movie . Agree with your review .Liked the scenes you mentioned . Agree that the mistress Shaw angle was completely unnecessary .

    “While the movie is about him being a slave for 12 years it doesn’t feel like that in the movie. It feels like a few months or a year as people around hardly change at all.”

    Good point .I felt the same.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Thanks @cr7

      I think you will like Breaking Away too if you like coming of age teen drama. Have you seen Wedding Crashers and Safety Not Guaranteed?

  21. cr7 10 years ago

    Yeah,I’ve seen both of them . I was very impressed with Safety Not Guaranteed .It was quite a unique and charming movie . Wedding Crashers was hilarious till a point but got predictable at the end .

    I will definitely watch Breaking Away . Thanks for the reco.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Searched for my comment on Safety Not Guaranteed just now and saw your comment on the movie. You watched it before me and I was recommending the movie to you. LOL 🙂

      Agree Wedding Crashers was hilarious till they split and it became kind of boring and predictable after that. Bradley Cooper was the villain/bad guy in that one and now he is a top star.

      ——————-

      @fearlesssoul,

      I have watched it twice. Its a good funny movie. Its a romantic comedy under the guise of a time travel movie. May be you should give it one more try.

      • shan 10 years ago

        Yeah, Wedding Crashers is really funny to start with and then goes downhill. The chemistry between Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson is really good.

  22. cr7 10 years ago

    Blue Jasmine – This has to be one of the best movies of this year.Its intriguing from first to last frame .I liked the characters.Each one has flaws which make them quite realistic. But the best thing about the movie is Cate Blanchett .Not a Single performance this year is as affecting as Cate Blanchett’s . Her perfection was unreal.

  23. cr7 10 years ago

    Red Dragon– It is the prequel of The Silence of the lambs. Liked it .Very engaging movie . I don’t know why the movie is not very highly rated .Maybe it suffers from the comparison with The silence of the lambs. But as a standalone movie it is a very very good thriller.I am a big fan of both Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton .And they both given tremendous performance . Like the way the cases were solved . The prison scenes with Norton and Hopkins were fantastic. The killer could have been better with more detailing. Liked the ending.

  24. Ipman 10 years ago

    saw fightclub. its about an insomniac who has no life. the twist is like aparichit. its one of the highest rated films on imdb. i dont know how the director interpreted this but i find the whole “fight” argument and its supposed metaphors just overreading.even if the director did intentd it, he could have chosen some other way of presenting his social commentary. naming the film fightclub sounds just an attempt to look cool.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Saw back in 2002 so don’t remember in detail about the “fight club” and the metaphors. Will re-watch it soon.

      Had liked the movie until the twist and did not like the twist. That twist may have been good for its time but has been repeated in so many movies now.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        this is from imdb

        “The fighting serves as a metaphor for the shaking off of the shackles imposed by contemporary society, a means of discovering aspects of one’s self which one would not be exposed to were one to toe the line. Fight Club suggests that society has become so oppressive that to find out anything about themselves, men must do something extreme, like engaging in violent physical combat. In Norton’s argument, the extremity of the fighting is in fact a commentary on the oppressiveness of society: only by doing something extreme can one free oneself. As such, the fighting serves simply as a metaphor for how downtrodden and subjugated men have become in this corporate culture of advertising.”

        https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/faq?ref_=tt_faq_sm#.2.1.21

    • shan 10 years ago

      Loved Fight Club when I saw it a few years ago. The concept itself was very appealing. Not sure how much to read into the characters and the subtext, but it was enjoyable for what it was. Even Black Swan had a similar concept, but that was darker.

  25. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Michael Clayton A law firm brings in its “fixer” to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit.

    Ok movie. For the first 30-40 minutes I could not even understand what was going on. After Tom Wikinson’s death the movie kind of came on track. The ending scene was good. I think the movie had potential to be a very good movie but the screenplay/direction was not good. The story is somewhat similar to movies like The Insider, The Pelican Brief and Erin Brockowich.

    George Clooney was good in his usual classy role. Tom Wilkinson was good in a couple of scenes but he was bad in the crazy scenes. Tilda Swinton was ok. Her expressions were very good in the final scene.

  26. narad_muni 10 years ago

    12 years a slave – Already lot have been said about the movie. My impressions –
    Though the story might be true and the guy deserves praise for writing the book and fighting against slavery, I found nothing inspiring in the movie. Yes, he survived through incredible pain but that was his only option. In the initial part, I felt there should be something inspiring in the movie when he displays his skills to the 1st master. But, after that, the movie kind of became monotonous showing torture ans sufferings. I agree all that might be true but not every true story needs to be made into a movie.
    In spite of all this, its a decent movie but overrated IMO.
    And I agree with sputnik – it did not feel like 12 years, felt like a few months or so..may be a year or 2 at the most.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Agree .It is more disturbing that inspiring . This movie won’t feature in my top 5 of 2013.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Agree with you on this – “I felt there should be something inspiring in the movie when he displays his skills to the 1st master. But, after that, the movie kind of became monotonous showing torture ans sufferings. I agree all that might be true but not every true story needs to be made into a movie. In spite of all this, its a decent movie but overrated IMO.”

      I think the movie is being overpraised because it showed slavery. Its like critics are afraid to call it a ok/decent movie. Since its about how the Whites mistreated the Blacks during slavery they have to be politically correct and praise the movie or else they are racist or insensitive to all the Black suffering. If you read the IMDB discussions its the same thing.

      • narad_muni 10 years ago

        Yeah, understand.

        It will be good to have a thread with best movies of 2013.
        This kind of threads will be very helpful in the future as well when someone wants to refer. Like – top horror movies, top sports movies threads we have @tanqeed. I keep referring to them even now.

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          So you want a thread with best movies of 2013 or Best Movies You watched in 2013 as you and FS suggested some time back? If its best movies of 2013 we will have to wait as there are some movies of 2013 we are still to watch.

          • narad_muni 10 years ago

            Yes, best movies of 2013..Its fine if we have to wait a while

  27. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Have to watch –

    Captain philips
    Wolf of wall street
    blue Jasmine

    Anyone has seen American Hustle and Saving Mr banks?
    Any other recos for 2013 movies?

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      Cr bhai
      torrent ka kya update hai?
      Any gud quality ones available?

    • cr7 10 years ago

      I have seen Saving Mr.Banks . Not as good as I expected but impressive.Has few emotional high points. The main plot is not every interesting but elevated by fantastic performances .All of them are perfect .Emma Thompson was terrific.The girl who played young Emma Thompson was brilliant too. Liked the parallel story her childhood a lot.

      • cr7 10 years ago

        DVDscr of Dallas Buyers club,Her,Wolf of wall street available. Blue Jasmine and Captain Phillips DVDrip is out .

  28. narad_muni 10 years ago

    super Cr bhai ..so Captain philips and Blue Jasmine for this week.

    What is your top 5 of 2013 so far?

    The only 2 movies which I really liked in 2013 so far is Rush and Prisoners.
    yet to watch many though

  29. John Galt 10 years ago

    Blue Jasmine is a strange but awesome movie..The plot and the script of the movie is very mediocre but its Cate Blanchett’s performance that makes it superlative..Woody Allen understands his characters really well..and picks the right actors..

    Awesome.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      “Cate Blanchett’s performance that makes it superlative..Woody Allen understands his characters really well..and picks the right actors..”

      Agreed .

      The plot was nothing great but I found it quite interesting .

  30. Bored 10 years ago

    @Baba – Aare yaar, just becoz Fincher named the movie ‘Fight’ Club does not mean it is an action/fight movie for an action-moving audience. Its a dark comedy and the name itself is an intentional metaphor – apart from the story being absolutely metaphorical.

    Just bcoz hundreds of movie later got ‘inspired’ by the climax does not mean the movie is falsely rated so high by critics.

    Stop paying so much attention to what imdb says 😛 Kuch toh apna bhi dimag use karo!

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      bored – i know its not an action film/fight movie. that is why i never dissected its action scenes.i said the film uses the fights as a metaphor to make a comment on the modern social life.i precisely found this a gimmicky attempt by the director to look cool. you should read david finchers commentary on the film. imdb is infact supporting the metaphors that david first said.On the contrary,I am in disagreement with both the director/critics/imdb.

  31. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Hunt (Jagten) Lucas is rebuilding his life after a bitter divorce: He has a new job and a girlfriend, and is working on his relationship with his teenage son. But an unfounded accusation of pedophilia changes everything as his community turns against him.

    Movie was good and I liked it but I think it could have been much more. While they did show how he was ostracized by everyone they did not even show him being in prison or his case hearing. I know the movie is supposed to be set in a small community where everyone knows everyone but the grocery shopping scenes seemed a bit too much. The movie basically makes the point that one can never get rid of the stigma in cases like this. The movie will frustrate, make you angry and so on.

    The movie is the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards this year and has made it to shortlist of 9 movies. I think it has a good chance of at least being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

    Mads Mikkelsen was excellent as the innocent man who is accused of pedophilia. Annika Wedderkopp was good as the little girl Klara. Thomas Bo Larsen was a bit weird – not sure if it was his acting or just his face. Lasse Fogelstrom was good as the son. Anne Louise Hassing was good as the mother of the little girl. Alexandra Rapaport was ok.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Downloaded this movie . Till now I’ve seen 2-3 danish movies and all had Mads Mikkelsen in the lead . He is a fine actor .

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Yes he is a very good actor. Which are the movies you have seen of his? Have seen A Royal Affair and After the Wedding starring him. Here are my comments on those movies.

        “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.”

        Link

        ———————

        “After the Wedding To save the failing orphanage he runs in India, Danish transplant Jacob Petersen returns to his homeland to meet a self-indulgent businessman named Jørgen who’s offered a generous donation — and represents everything the noble-minded Jacob abhors.

        Movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. It was partly good but way too long. The Indian orphanage angle did not work and looked forced. The father daughter scenes after he finds out that he had a daughter were good.

        Mads Mikkelsen was good. Stine Fischer Christensen who played the daughter was very good. Rest of the cast was decent.”

        Link

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      Again, this is fairly good and engaging movie and the performance by the lead is very good.. But, din’t find it anything special.
      On a different angle, I wondered how the small girl is made to say such words in the movie…

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        I think the second half was not as good as the first. They managed to build it up very well but the resolution of the case and everything was too convenient.

        I saw an IMDB thread where they were discussing the same thing about how the small girl is made to say such words in the movie. I think they made her say some stuff but scenes of others asking her explicit questions to her may have been shot separately.

  32. cr7 10 years ago

    The Secret life of Walter Mitty – Beautiful movie . This is one of those movies where you have to feel what the character feels and it will be a great experience . The moment you try to find logic it will bore you to death.I absolutely loved it. Such a sweet,charming and heartwarming movie. Ben stiller was great as Walter Mitty. But if not anything you’re bound to be mesmerized by the visuals . Some of them are breathtaking . I am quite shocked at the response it got from critics. It even got nominated for razzie awards. maybe its not for all. But i’m sure it has its own set of audience and they will adore the movie.

    • filmygyani 10 years ago

      You know Cr what my friends wife quoted at the end? She said “he made this whole movie just to put his own photo on the magazine cover”, lol.

      • cr7 10 years ago

        LOL Fs .Yeah , it didn’t get good response. I’ve seen people saying it pointless,boring and all that .

  33. sanket porwal 10 years ago

    Yaariyaan review:

    Cast: Himash Kohli, Rakul Preet, Gulshan Grover, Deepti Naval, Nicole Faria, Dev Sharma, Shreyas Pardiwalla.

    Director: Divya Kumar Khosla

    When a new director comes to helm of affairs, he/she tries to invest every ounce of their basics and nuances of the film-making. This is what exactly hampered the smoothness and sensitivity of YAARIYAN which is outdated, wannabe, and uncool. Not that its a boring and intolerable film, but the root of the film is inherited from too many films and yet it suffers on account of failing in putting up even a decent show. The film never sets firmness about in which way it has to go. It is a convoluted plot that further stumbles into a climax, unbelievably mundane, which seems like it lasted for half a day. Yes, that long!

    But as marked earlier, YAARIYAAN is not entirely dumb. It has some genuinely funny moments irrespective of how unoriginal it is. Like the one where the boys emerge impostor in girl’s dress-up so as to convince one of their female friend’s father. These are the buoyant moments that are atleast not harmful in a film which is sentimentally manipulative. Also the light-hearted tone of the film is nicely intact throughout despite you see cheesy hot girls exposing as if there is no tomorrow.

    YAARIYAN’s pace is down in one scene and up in the other one. It never really connects through the characters, thanks to inept writing, but as I pointed it never really bores you to death. The first half is nicely soft and simple and pretty much hooking. Also the songs are wonderfully shot, especially the Abcd song, Sunny Sunny song and the Meri Maa song.

    But the film’s important plot, that contains a stupid challenge, is where the film looks silly the most. The director tries her hand in infusing just about everything in the film, even patriotism that feels artificial, and yet the film doesn’t come out properly with even a single genre.

    Save for some excellent songs that contributes for YAARIYAN’s half the life. The songs have a beautiful feel and pretty much draws your attention. Also the cinematography has to be lauded because it gives a very vibrant look to the film. Although, I wonder if the film had some writers or not! The writing is disgusting and annoying. The director never really turns the film’s fortunes upside down, but she does knows how to extract comical expressions from a cast that is rather frail.

    The lead boy does show some confidence playing the frivolous boy who suddenly transforms to innocence when a big event hurts his life. But he also has a very stereotypical traits that take away from hi character. Rakul Preet decently approaches the role, despite being a very restricted work. Deepti Naval is the best actor of the lot who brings much required vulnerability to the table in a small role. The other heroines does what they have been hired for- look hot!

    Cutting long story short, YAARIYAN is too average a film to call it the “popcorn film”. Some truly funny moments and excellent music may entice you, but the film also packs up lot of superficiality, lot of silliness lot of unintentional fun. Decide for yourself!

    Rating – 2/5

  34. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

    The movie is adapted from a stage play of the same name so most of the movie happens within a house. Liked it but not everyone will like it though. Its a movie aimed more towards the female audience with lot of female characters and their issues. The movie reminded me somewhat of the movie Marvin’s Room with one daughter taking care of parents while the other left. Interestingly that one had Meryl in a role similar to Julia Roberts role in this one.

    Meryl Streep – what an actress. One more excellent performance from her and she will most probably be nominated for another Oscar for Best Actress but won’t be given the award. Its an insult to nominate her and then give the award to someone else. The Oscar for Best Actress award should be called the Meryl Streep Award instead.

    Julia Roberts is excellent in a different role and she will surely be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She also looked older in the movie. Margo Martindale was very good as Meryl’s sister and Julianne Nicholson was good as Ivy. Ewan McGregor was ok in a smaller role. Chris Cooper was very good as usual and excellent in one scene where he lashes out at his wife. Abigail Breslin was ok. Benedict Cumberbatch was good in a small role. Juliette Lewis seemed to be the weakest actress in the movie – did not like her acting. Dermot Mulroney was usual. Sam Shepard was good and so was Misty Upham.

    • shan 10 years ago

      Want to see this one. It is based on a well-known play and had done a scene from it for my finals at acting class couple of years ago. So, some personal attachment to the story as well. 🙂

  35. cr7 10 years ago

    Dallas Buyers Club – Liked it.Its engaging and entertaining .If any movie possesses these two qualities then its a good movie for me . But based on a very powerful true story and backed by some fantastic performances, It could have been better.To be more specific It should have been more emotionally appealing. McConaughey and Leto both were fantastic and deserving winners in golden globes.I felt like I’m watching real people .And that’s the best compliment I can give. This shows what an actor can do if they push themselves .Respect for them .

  36. Ipman 10 years ago

    saw freinds with benefits the other day. its a normal chick flick hw comedy . the chemistry of justin timberlake and mila kunis makes the movie watchable.though there is no explicit nudity but the sex scenes had enough steam

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      liked this quite a bit 😀 Adult Content and some Nudity – NSFW

      https://youtube.com/watch?v=jvUVnmFmuRs

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Liked the conversation during those scenes too. Give a warning at least when you post scenes like that.

      • shan 10 years ago

        Its a routine chick-flick but both Timberlake and Kunis are pretty good and make you sit through the movie. Another movie with similar theme released the same year – No Strings Attached – and it was painful to sit through. The fact that Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman didnt perform as well did not help either.

  37. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    American Hustle A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, American Hustle defies genre, hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes.

    The movie is based on the true story involving the FBI sting operation ABSCAM Movie was ok. Its not as great as all those award nominations suggested. The first half takes a long while to build up the story and it was slow and bored a bit. I think they unnecessarily complicated the first half. The second half is better and the ending kind of makes it up.

    Christian Bale was very good as Irving the conman – this time with a comb over and a paunch. But he totally copied Robert De Niro including his style of talking and accent. Bradley Cooper was good as the impatient FBI agent but his character is irritating though. Amy Adams was ok but I think she was miscast for the role. She is a good actress but not sexy and the cleavage revealing dresses did not suit her. Jennifer Lawrence looked very pretty and was very good initially. She totally stole the show in her scenes with Amy even though she had a much smaller role. Her role and acting later on became very similar to her Silver Linings Playbook one. Jeremy Renner was good but he should have had a bigger role. Robert De Niro was excellent in a 5 minute cameo.

  38. Saurabh 10 years ago

    First half of AH is mostly about these oddball characters and their relationships with each other. David O Russell decided to give these characters more space and sidelined the plot for character development. The second half is mostly about the Hustle. The film was earlier called American Bullshit, but due to objections, the BS was replaced by Hustle.
    For a caper film, I found it quite emotional. Bale and Renner’s friendship was interesting and I felt bad for Renner’s Carmine Polito in the end. The movie is about con artists and FBI agents attempting to entrap government officials. But it also blurs the line between the ‘heroes’ intentions and their ways to accomplish this task. Bradley Cooper’s Richie DiMasso is a hothead and an irritating FBI agent who will go to any length to do this, even if it means hitting his boss and pointing a gun at him. American Hustle is a bit boring in the first half but starts firing all it’s cylinders as it proceeds thanks to a great ensemble cast (especially Bale, Renner, Adams). The only thing I didn’t like was O Russell’s decision to focus on character development rather than the actual Hustle in the first half. Was expecting another Argo when I had read the script last year, but much had changed since then. Also the constant use of songs in the background rather than an original score was a bit jarring. Reminded me of Vicky Donor, where after their marriage there were songs after every 5 minutes.

  39. cr7 10 years ago

    Where is FS ? Usually this thread has most comments from him .

  40. Saurabh 10 years ago

    @sputnik
    The glass breaking story wasn’t inspired or copied from the kid. The real Irving’s (Melvin Weinberg) father did run a window glass business.

    When his father’s window-glass business was on the rocks, a helpful Mel drove around town in a Cadillac, shooting out windows with his slingshot. His father’s business surged. His delinquency as a juvenile eventually evolved into large scale swindles as an adult. -Washington Post

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Its a very old movie so the real Irving could have got inspired from the movie The Kid too. But it could also be mixing some fact with some inspiration from the movie.

      “In the film, when he was a boy, Irving helped his father’s glass installation business by throwing rocks through storefront windows in order to drum up demand. But according to The Sting Man, Robert W. Greene’s telling of Weinberg’s story and the Abscam affair, Weinberg didn’t work for his father until after his first marriage, to a wife named Mary, who had three kids with him. And he was smashing windows because the glass business was heavily corrupt. Companies that bribed the union and cheated customers did well, and it was a union official who asked Weinberg to break the windows of storeowners who patronized nonunion glaziers. Russell’s invention is primal and direct, but Weinberg’s reality has an additional layer of cautionary irony. The corrupt union official’s name, by the way, was Irving.”

      Link

  41. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Watched Shahid
    What a movie! The best of 2013 for me along with Madras Cafe.
    The script based on true events is a masterpiece. Kudos to the makers for taking up such a wonderful topic which should be seen by every Indian.
    The screenplay and direction is fantastic as well – from scene one, you get hooked into Shahid’s life. The real trump card of the movie is the emotional quotient – I experienced the various shades of emotion of Shahid’s character along with him – the pain, the suffering, the determination, the joy, the achievements, his internal conflicts. And lot of credit goes the Rajkumar Yadav for portraying it in the most convincing manner. He is one of the most natural actors among the new ones in Bollywood and he gets totally into the skin of the character. The editing is sharp – the film moves at a nice pace – never letting it drop but not going too fast which allows the viewer to absorb the various emotions of Shahid’s character. Even the background score is nice and soothing and suits the mood of the movie perfectly.
    The only thing which could have been better are the scenes between Shahid and his wife .. those were somewhat cliched and lacked imagination.
    It’s a pity that such a wonderful movie and awesome performance is being totally ignored by the mainstream media and all the various awards. This is the kind of movie which makes us proud and restores faith in Indian cinema.
    MUST WATCH!

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      The song was nice, but I didnt like the following words towards the end n the film – where he was clear in the mission he had in front of him. They should have used different words in lyrics.

      “na hai pata, manzar na disha…”

      Why? because he is sure of his mission by the later half of the film. And this line comes often towards end..

      Beparwah rang ka jaaya
      Chitt laage na
      Main uktaaya

      Haal bayaan
      Ho na haal bayaan
      Hona faqat hai fanaa
      Ranj ke sadke ho gayi jaan
      Dhadkan jaise dhuaan…

  42. Zacked 10 years ago

    @cr7: Yep still on top.. i hope Chelsea drop points against Man Utd to give us some breathing space.. also Man City are looking like a real team with Negredo in beast mode.

    Looks like we are going after Draxler.. most of the fans are thinking that he will be converted to a striker.. Havent seen much of him apart from Youtube videos so no clue.. What do you think?

    Also have you seen Arsenal Legends – Thierry Henry .. watch it, its a must watch..It is on PB.. i wish Arsenal could get a player like him again..

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Agreed . City is the real threat . They have so many aweosme players that even if 2-3 players don’t fire ,It don’t affect them . But I’m very optimistic this season about arsenal .It is so good to see Rosicky,Wislshere playing great . A big fan o both of them . And will surely watch arsenal legends . What a gem of a player henry was! .

      About Draxler, Haven’t seen much of him but I’m sure he is a class player and I want wenger to buy him. .He will be a good player but converting him in to a striker will be a long process . With walcott injured we need a immediate back up .Surprised to see podolski not starting .He should start more often .

      There is anew show aired in HBO .True detective with Matthew McConaughey in lead .Only first episode aired but got overwhelming response . I downloaded Sopranos. Have u seen it ?

      P.S- Do comment here more often 🙂

  43. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Downloaded True Detective. Will post my review within few hours. Love how McConaughey’s career is shaping these days. Also Woody Harrelson has a good range as an actor.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Agree about McConaughey .He is doing some really great roles . Do share your views on True Detective .I downloaded it too . But will wait for the season to end and then start watching . Btw have u seen sherlock season 3 ?

  44. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Wolf of Wall Street Revered filmmaker; Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title – “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Money. Power. Women. Drugs. Temptations were for the taking and the threat of authority was irrelevant. For Jordan and his wolf pack, modesty was quickly deemed overrated and more was never enough.

    The movie started off very well with Jordan selling those penny stocks but it went on and on wanting to be this epic life saga. It was way too long at almost 3 hours. The movie is about excess and it felt like glorification/celebration of the bad guys but then the real Jordan/Danny are not doing that bad either. The sex/orgy scenes at the office seemed too incredulous to be true but turns out that many things in the movie that felt exaggerated were actually true Link or at least true according to Jordan unless he wrote his memoir in a drug induced state 🙂 The drug hallucination scene was horrible – it was so stretched out and annoying. It reminded me of the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which had these drug induced hallucination scenes.

    Cinematography was very good but some of the scenes had such bad CGI like the yacht scene in the storm or the initial helicopter landing scene.

    Leonardo De Caprio was excellent for the most part except in some scenes where he overacted. Jonah Hill totally overacted and he was very annoying. Margot Robbie looked hot and acted really well except the one scene where she throws water at Leo. She for some reason was talking and acting like a African American woman in that scene which was unlike her in the rest of the movie. Matthew McConaughey was excellent in a small cameo. Did not like Jean Dujardin.

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      what did you think of the story? not a word on it. read my old coments.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        I did mention that “it went on and on wanting to be this epic life saga” and that “felt like glorification/celebration of the bad guys” and that “many things in the movie that felt exaggerated were actually true Link or at least true according to Jordan unless he wrote his memoir in a drug induced state”.

        According to the FBI Agent who arrested him

        “Though the movie and Belfort’s memoir might seem like gross exaggerations of the truth, depicting heavy drug use and sexcapades in the office during trading hours, they’re not exaggerations at all says the F.B.I. agent who finally took Belfort into custody, “I tracked this guy for ten years, and everything he wrote is true.”

        The movie is from the villain’s point of view – its based on Jordan’s memoir. It doesn’t even show the other side – the effect of his fraudulent activities on the people who lost their money. Link

        According to the real Danny – “The book…is a distant relative of the truth, and the film is a distant relative of the book.” May be @shan who has read the book can elaborate on whether they added more exaggerated scenes in the movie.

        The scene where Jordan and Danny met looked so stupid with him telling that if he shows his 72000 dollar check he will work for him but it did not happen that way in real and they were actually introduced to each each other by Jordan’s wife.

        I think Jordan himself already exaggerated/embellished his stories Link and Martin Scorsese seems to have exaggerated/embellished the story even more. I mentioned that the drug hallucination scenes reminded me of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and this link says that Jordan tried to write his memoir in the style of the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas writer.

        “Why is Jordan Belfort’s memoir filled with so many exclamations?

        Jordan Belfort attempted to model his writing after Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), who was known for using plenty of exclamation points.”

        The movie is like any other movie on business where they get rich so easily. It did show an early setback when the company that he works for closes on the first day of his becoming a licensed broker. But the movie is more about the excess – the drug/sex escapades, the revelry and money laundering than any serious business.

        Link

        • Ipman 10 years ago

          the movie is stupid.and you are in awe of the golden globe nomination. i remember your venomous comments on rocket singh.you are simply not interested in dissecting the nonsensical triumphs of leo in this. the verbose selling tactic and plain lies that he uses in the first scene (that is suposed to establish his great selling credentials) is lame and embarassingly stupid. no one will blindly believe what a smal time non experinced stock broker has to say about a company just bcos he is hyper and speaking fast, ppl do so much research before investing even 10 rupees.they dont blindly trust a novice. Real life stockbrokers do ten times more and they dont get this kind of business from penny stocks. it was just a silly triumph of the hero shown like in masala films.he used to do money laundering by hiding money in female clothes and it was never caught by police! in my short review,i had alreayd said that films made on autobiographies should be taken with a pinch of salt. but then some amount of logic one expects nonetheless even in fabricated triumphs!

          • Author
            sputnik 10 years ago

            LOL on being in awe of the Golden Globe nomination. I said the movie is too overlong wanting to be a saga and is a glorification of the bad guys and you are acting as if I praised the movie.

            If you think that some salesman with the pitch of being a new honest company doing honest business is going to make it big and somebody is going to give orders based on that you are living in a fool’s paradise.

            Stockbrokers/salesmen lie all the time to sell their stuff. That’s how the real world works. They are thousands of people who do the cold calling and people buy stuff over the phone and the movie is set in the late 80s and 90s. And these are supposed to be penny stocks (not that costly). And when someone is promised of great returns in less time people do get influenced. The plain lies that he used in the first scene did show his great selling credentials though the scene was filmy in the way the customer immediately agreed to buy. What should have been there instead was the customer agreeing to consider investing and show Jordan calling multiple times to him and then finally getting him to invest. But then the director is not really interested in that story – he was just more interested in showing the escapades and the lavish lifestyle.

            “Real life stockbrokers do ten times more and they dont get this kind of business from penny stocks.”

            Jordan was a real life stock broker and he did make it big by selling penny stocks. Read this.

            ‘He taught them his trusted cold-calling technique, the “Kodak pitch.” That is, the first tout is not some obscure over-the-counter issue but a blue chip, often Eastman Kodak. Only after an investor takes the blue-chip bait do Belfort’s brokers pitch the higher-margin garbage. A former Stratton broker recalls Belfort’s motto: “Whip their necks off, don’t let ‘em off the phone.”

            Link

            “The con was that Belfort and Porush would own shares of risky companies that were going public or that they were taking public, and they had their brokers aggressively sell the stock to inflate the price. They would then sell their shares and make a nice profit, and as the stock collapsed, the investors would be left with nothing. Which is exactly what they did when they took the shoe company of Steve Madden, a childhood friend of Porush’s, public. This was called “pump and dump,” and very illegal. They made about $23 million in two hours from the deal, and all three of them, including Madden, went to jail for it.”

            Link

          • Ipman 10 years ago

            this is what i had said about rocket singh

            “Shimit Amin is one of the rare filmmakers who knows how to perfectly mix art with masala.”
            rest i dont need to explain ven if you try to put words into my mouth. one can read here.

            Scene of the Week : Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year

            if you belive customers can be acquired by cold calling and then business empire can be created (as shown in the film) then you are just too gullible and ignorant.i also said that the real belfort wil never give away the real tactics in his books that he used to generate revenue bcos any analyst can read them and use them. these are trade secrets for a reason. it was the job of director to present those scenes logically.

            it is clear now (after you laughable defense of wows) that you were arguing just for the heck of it bcos i called CDI a fairytale as much as RS.

        • shan 10 years ago

          Good review, Sputnik. I felt somewhat similar about the movie, if you have read my earlier comments. Wrt whether the movie exaggerated the story as compared to the book, the answer is absolutely, yes.

          Following are a few differences in the book and the movie off the top of my head :

          1. Movie focused too much on the sex and drugs part. Book talks a lot about drugs and its effects on the decisions Jordan and Danny made, but the sex part is limited to a few lines every now and then, except the part where Jordan’s wife exposes herself to him and it is seen on security camera by the Roccos. The movie pumped the sex aspect to no end, to make it appealing to the young crowd.

          2. The book shows Jordan’s relation with his wife’s aunt to be one of mutual love and admiration. The aunt helps him out knowing he is involved in fraud, simply because she admires him as a person. There is no sexual tension/kiss between them in the book. The movie showed the kiss between them purely for shock impact. Totally unnecessary!

          3. In the book, Jordan wakes up on the flight to Switzerland and finds himself tied to his seat by belts. Then Danny tells him he tried to grope the airhostess and told her he wants to have sex with her. He gets arrested as soon as they land. In the movie, they showed him banging her, and also Danny banging a couple of others, in the air. That is why, when they let him go in the book, it seems believable since he only attempted to molest her. In the film, it is totally unbelievable. Again, added for shock value.

          4. The book spent a chapter on Jordan’s time in rehabilitation center, how we got privileged treatment there too and how he got out. This was an important step of his coming to terms with the realities of life and made his transformation more believable. The movie completely ignored this part.

          5. In the book, Jordan actually leaves Stratton Oakmont and accepts defeat from SEC to avoid legal action. Then, he goes to work for Steve Madden shoes as a CFO and makes them a lot of money via his ideas. With time, his equation with Steve is soured and they become enemies. The movie completely omitted this episode. The movie projected him as a hero who takes the SEC head-on. In reality, after Jordan bowed out, Danny took over and the company shut down within 2 years because of Danny’s poor management skills.

          6. In the book, a lot of footage is given to how Jordan considered his investments via his ratholes (how they inflated stock value via the pump and dump scheme), in Steve Madden shoes as well as in the Swiss banks. The book focuses on his thinking, how he weighed his options and how he had an idea what can go wrong with which venture and how, when it did, he was not surprised, since he had already thought about the outcomes. A lot of time is spent on his conversations with Jean Jacques Saurel as well as a Swiss master forger,who helps him come up with fraudulent documents, who is completely ignored in the film.

          7. In the book, Jordan helps the Depraved Chinaman to setup his own investment firm and then brings about his downfall, because he is of the opinion that if he doesnt bring the Chinaman down, the Chinaman will bring him down in 2 years. This gives an insight into his shrewd business mind and again, was omitted in the film.

          8. The book shows Jordan’s relationship with his little daughter and how spending time with her is the best part of his day. That is why when he tries to run away with her in the end, you know why he is doing it and what it means to him. It also increases the impact of his realization when he realizes he drove his car through the garage door with his beloved daughter in the front seat without a seatbelt (in the movie, he is shown attaching the seatbelt. It may have been to avoid public outcry.)

          9. The movie shows Danny Azoff (real name Danny Porush) as a bumbling, disgusting idiot. In the book, he is shown to be a smart guy who is always under influence of drugs and always thinking about banging chicks, which clouds his judgement in business. Jonah Hill sucked in the movie and completely spoilt the character, but it was more the director and script writer’s fault than his.

          10. In the book, Jordan begins to despise his wife later, because she is always asking him to give up drugs and the bad life, and at the same time, spending loads of his money on buying expensive things. That is what leads to his maniacal behavior where he tears all sofas and chairs and cushions to find a crystal of cocaine. In the movie, they have shown he himself hid the cocaine in the cushion and took it out. In the book, after he has destroyed all sofas and chairs in the living room, his wife finally admits she flushed the cocaine down the toilet so he would stop snorting. This makes him hate her even more.

          11. The movie shows Jordan and his wife breaking up after they have sex for one last time, purely because she isnt happy with him. In the book, she broke up with him long after his investigation was underway and it became clear he will serve jail-time. She isnt shown as a selfish person in the book. Jordan says he found her actions selfish but he understood why she was taking, especially for their kids. And since he has also started despising her, he isnt as affected by her decision in the book.

          12. The book showed Jordan’s warm relationship with his African American maid, his driver and even with the Roccos. It makes him more human and shows there are people in his world who think highly of him in spite of his shortcomings. This is completely omitted in the film.

          Overall, the book focused a lot more on Jordan’s shrewd business mind and his relationships. This made it a warm, believable story, with episodes of craziness. The movie shows him as a rockstar who does drugs all day, bangs chicks all day, makes money all day and has little emotion and is a smartass. This is where the movie failed for me.

          A couple of things that the movie did well : Jordan’s first day at the job and lunch with Mike Hanna (McConaughey) (done as effectively as described in the book) and how Jordan uses his smarts to sell penny stocks (this is not covered in the book at all).

          • Ipman 10 years ago

            thanks for this info. seems a lot of important events were omitted from the film!

          • Author
            sputnik 10 years ago

            Thanks a lot @Shan for your excellent comment elaborating on the differences between the book and the movie.

            Agree with you that the movie focused too much on the sex and drugs part. You nailed it with this point “The movie shows him as a rockstar who does drugs all day, bangs chicks all day, makes money all day and has little emotion and is a smartass.”

            Yeah the sexual tension scene between Jordan and his wife’s aunt was totally unnecessary!

            That airplane scenes looked too exaggerated and I was thinking how did they not deboard them. What about the scene with the FBI agent on the boat? Is that the same in the book? Because it felt exaggerated to me.

            Jordan suddenly wanting the daughter seemed odd since he was shown with her only once before. I thought may be we are supposed to believe that he loved his daughter as all fathers do or that may be he was just being a MCP.

            I liked “Jordan’s first day at the job and lunch with Mike Hanna (McConaughey) (done as effectively as described in the book) and how Jordan uses his smarts to sell penny stocks (this is not covered in the book at all).” too. That’s why I said the movie started very well.

            Based on the differences mentioned by you it seems to me that Martin Scorsese just glamorized his life and made a hero out of Jordan. He removed all things that could have made him look bad/worse – putting his daughter in the car without the seat belt or removing the Chinaman story or showing that he had a head on collision with another car in his drug induced state and a woman having to go to the hospital. He did cooperate with the FBI and rat out his friends but the movie tries to show him as a hero who would not incriminate his friends.

          • shan 10 years ago

            The FBI agent on the boat scene is not there in the book at all. In fact, the book mentions the FBI agent only 3-4 times, when someone tells Jordan that there is an FBI agent hot on his trail and trying to find evidence against him. On hearing this, Jordan finds out a retired FBI agent who unknowingly becomes his mole and keeps him informed what stage the investigation is in. All that was omitted in the movie and a stupid, unbelievable scene on the boat was added by Scorsese!

            There were other simple things in the movie. For eg. Jordan’s driver is an African American who never speaks to him. And for most of the book, every time Jordan sits in the car to go to office, he wishes him and never hears anything back. He always thinks why doesnt this guy ever talk to me? He must hate me, because I make so much money and because of all the girls I bring back to the car and because of all the drugs I do in the car. By the end, when the SEC and FBI investigation against Jordan is common news, when Jordan is being driven away to the airport to escape being arrested again, the driver finally speaks and says “Mr. Belfort, you are the best employer I had. I loved working for you. You always treated me with respect and never made any demands. I have worked for rich people before and they always considered me like a servant, but you always wished me every morning and were always nice to me. The money you paid me ensured my family had a good life. I dont know whether what they say about you in the news in true but I will always be indebted to you.” This makes Jordan realize that what was peanuts for him, was a livelihood for a person and his family. Also, even though he did not think he was being extra nice to the driver, his general upbringing was such that he wished everyone. His relationship with his African American maid is also depicted well in the book. She brings him Qaaludes every morning with breakfast and even though she knows they are bad for him, she has a very motherly attitude towards him. That is why when he tries to escape with his daughter, she is very disappointed and says “Mr. Belfort, you are killing yourself and your family with all the drugs.” Same about his relationship with his secretary. He had walked her down the aisle in her wedding and so they share a special relation. And although she annoys him a lot, she is his best resource in all cases. Quite a few other people are shown in the movie – the kind of people powerful people have as contacts, who can help resolve any situation for them. Like a lawyer, an ex-cop, a contact in SEC, a contact in FBI, a go-to guy who cleans up every mess and handles press etc. Such small aspects made the book very enjoyable and complete for me.

            I find it surprising that a good director like Scorsese has chosen all the excesses from the book and ignored most of the soul. That is why all those overacted scenes of drug overdose ring hollow.

            Forgot to mention one thing – the whole Danny choking and Jordan saving thing is manipulated in the movie. It actually was a guy called Elliot Lavigne who choked in a party at Jordan’s house and he was the President of clothing brand Perry Ellis. Jordan saved him and was heralded as a hero by his friends. He says that was the first time when I actually felt like I had achieved something real. That aspect is omitted in the movie. Also, Elliot is a great mentor for Jordan and helps him a lot during his time at Steve Madden with ideas on how many shoes to produce, how to understock stores and increase craze of the brand, how to release only few supplies so customers are left wanting for more. These tactics were fascinating to know and helped build the logic behind why these guys made the amount of money they made. I mean, even if you are cheating and breaking the law, you have to be really intelligent to be able to exploit it to this extent. Scorsese left the essence of the story out and showed us that Wall Street top guys drink, snort and bang all the time and still make money.

  45. cr7 10 years ago

    In a world – A very simple and uninteresting story but has a unique charm . Worth a watch on a lazy afternoon . The clever humor and natural performance makes it a likable film .

  46. Saurabh 10 years ago

    @Cr7
    Yes I’ve seen Sherlock season 3 and will post detailed reviews for each episode in the coming days. But, in short I’ll say this was another impressive season and although the first episode was a bit dull towards the end, the second one was pretty good. Watson’s character has been greatly developed through this season. The third one was also good culmination of the season, though it lacked the punch of The Reichenbach Fall. The new villain Magnussen was a weak one and Moriarty’s presence(or lack of) is felt throughout the season.

  47. cr7 10 years ago

    Agreed . This season is not the typical SHERLOCK . Emotion and humor was high , lacked mystery element . Nevertheless ,I liked this season .But I want Sherlock to back in it’s usual style next season with ore mystery,more cases . Heard season 4 won’t take so much time as season 3 .

    Looking forward to your detailed review .

  48. saurabh sharma 10 years ago

    @Ipman
    I also second @Sputnik on CDI being more realistic than RocketSingh Salesman of the Year.
    and I actually thought when I watched that movie is how the shopkeeper is giving the hardware part so easily, (if u compare with real life, of course it is like bollywood ),
    2nd when their peon got to know about all this, he joins them(may be there is lil chance, that is possible, though i dnt think it is really possible ),
    and same with manager(it si highly impossible).
    and then the company head returns the company to ranbir, i found that whole scene like a fakeness type…
    I actually wanted to make the comment on the same page on the same day when i read that, but got busy and also was using mobile..

    also I second @sputnik on wows part..

  49. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    @baba-ji,

    You need to read what I write. Belfort created a business empire by defrauding the investors – by pumping up and selling the stocks and inflating the price and selling his share and making the profits while the stocks went down to their previous low prices. He did not become a success by some honest brilliant trade secret. You just want to unnecessarily bring up RS and argue for the heck of it.

    The movie is set in late 80s and early 90s and cold calling was the way marketing was done to strangers.

    “Eight of the 10 brokers profiled in the 1992 book “The Winner’s Circle” got started by cold calling, or pitching stocks and bonds over the phone to strangers. One describes it as “dialing for dollars — that dreary process every broker must endure during the initial stages of his or her career,” according to the book.
    Don’t Call

    “It’s a numbers game,” said Chris Gardner, whose struggle to make it through the training program at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. while homeless and raising a son was the basis for the 2006 movie “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

    “You just sit down and you start making the calls, 200 phone calls a day,” said Gardner, who closed his brokerage Gardner Rich LLC last year and is now a motivational speaker. “That’s not going to be effective anymore. Everything now is done electronically.”

    That’s been made more difficult by the popularity of the National Do Not Call Registry, established by the Federal Trade Commission in 2003. The list has grown to 217.6 million telephone numbers in the U.S., which has a population of about 315 million people, according to the agency’s website. ”

    Link

    • Ipman 10 years ago

      i do read what you copy paste from websites. but i can think beyond it.thats the difference. its called circular trading for your kind information. If you dont know use your fav friend in need – google 😉

      business happens bcos of selling. selling tactic itself is stupid and so the entire argument is nonsensical.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        The copy paste or link stuff is for supporting my argument and any argument can be won only on facts not on what one thinks. Cold Calling was a way stocks were sold and its a fact. Just because you think it did not happen does not mean it did not. I will believe whatever I want to whatever be the truth does not work.

  50. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    @shan,

    Ah that explains it. I was thinking that Jordan was almost incriminating himself with all that bragging about how much money he makes and with his bribery insinuation. Even when they were leaving he was yelling and throwing stuff at them which looked so unbelievable.

    Scenes which showed him being taught “how to understock stores and increase craze of the brand, how to release only few supplies so customers are left wanting for more” would have made it more interesting but Scorsese did not seem interested in showing all that. As you said all he wanted to show was that “Wall Street top guys drink, snort and bang all the time and still make money” just like Rock Stars.

    • shan 10 years ago

      Remembered one more thing from the book that they omitted in the movie. Jordan had a second child – a son and about 12 days after he was delivered, the doctors discovered a hole in his heart. He also got a major, potentially fatal, bacterial infection in those 12 days and Jordan and his wife spent days trying to find the best doctors to treat him. They literally traveled in their chartered plane from hospital to hospital trying to find help. Ultimately, the hole closed as part of a natural healing process and the infection turned out to be not as serious as first diagnosed. During this process, they were both devastated and that is where Jordan first began to question the use of all his wealth if it couldnt save his son. This was another chapter in his life that was instrumental to the final transformation. Showing this would have lent a lot of credibility to his story. Then again, it wasnt glamorous enough and did not fit in with the kickass character they wanted to protray, so how could they show it? 🙂

  51. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Dallas Buyers Club In mid-1980s Texas, electrician Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is stunned to learn that he has AIDS. Though told that he has just 30 days left to live, Woodroof refuses to give in to despair. He seeks out alternative therapies and smuggles unapproved drugs into the U.S. from Mexico. Woodroof joins forces with a fellow AIDS patient (Jared Leto) and begins selling the treatments to the growing number of people who can’t wait for the medical establishment to save them.

    Very good movie. Liked it a lot. Its based on a true story but some things have been changed. Link 1 Link 2 They left out Ron’s sister and daughter from the movie and made the drug AZT and the FDA the villain. Also the characters Rayon and Dr. Eve Saks are based on composites of other real life people.

    Matthew McConaughey is excellent as the homophobic guy who gets AIDS and who starts to smuggle and sell unapproved drugs. His character arc was also very good. He lost a lot of weight for the role and looks emaciated in the movie. He will obviously be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and I think he is going to definitely win the Best Actor award. Jared Leto was excellent as the transgender woman Rayon and I think he is most probably going to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Jennifer Garner was ok as Dr. Eve Saks.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Agreed that its a very good movie . Liked a lot . But i think movie lacked emotional depth . The obvious name comes to my mind after watching it is “Philadelphia” which was a very touching movie .In spite of having the potential ,Dallas buyers couldn’t reach that high . Still this is one of the finest movies of this year . Matthew McConaughey & Jared Leto deserves every award this year .

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        I think it did have emotional depth. The relationship between Ron and Rayon was portrayed really well with Ron initially being homophobic. Also liked the scene where he goes to the Doctor and he is told that he might get a placebo as part of the trial instead of the actual drug. I liked how the movie showed the desperation of the people suffering from AIDS. The scene between Rayon and his father was good too.

        Yes Philadelphia obviously comes to mind with the lead being a AIDS patient but I think that was more a case of a personal fight against discrimination. Here it was more of a fight against the FDA and the club that he ran (though for profit) helped a lot of AIDS patients at that time and made the FDA speed up their trial process for drugs for people with AIDS.

        “He is believed to have helped hundreds, perhaps thousands of Americans, stay alive long enough to benefit from the new drugs. In the process, Woodroof became an improbable hero in the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic.”

        Link

  52. zacked 10 years ago

    Watched the 1st episode of true detective.. was a bit slow going on but the end made it sure that I have to watch the next episode

    Btw have you started watching Person of Interest. . Its one good show

  53. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Saw True Detective. Slow paced and takes some time to find it’s foot. The first episode circles around the two leads solving a ritualistic murder in Louisiana over a course of 17 years. Matthew McConaughey’s Det. Rustin “Rust” Cohle and Woody Harrelson’s Det. Martin Hart are the lead characters. Rust is a sociopath in the vein of Benedict’s Sherlock, while Marty is a normal detective.
    The first episode wasn’t as much about the case as it was about the two leads with different personalities working together. Even though Marty thinks his partner is a weirdo, he’s willing to be friends with him. Even Rust respects Marty when they’re working together. The world shown is bleak and dark. This episode looked more like a setup for a bigger reveal, which may or may not be revealed in the coming episodes. If you loved Se7en, you might like this episode, although the case at hand is somewhat given lesser preference.

  54. cr7 10 years ago

    The Bucket list – This movie has Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman playing the lead roles .I didn’t need any other reason to like the movie . The bonus is it has a extremely touching story too . Worth a watch .

  55. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Juno Facing an unplanned pregnancy while she’s still in high school, quirky teen Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate her unborn baby’s perfect adoptive parents. But the seemingly ideal couple (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) Juno chooses still has some growing up to do. Michael Cera co-stars in this offbeat coming-of-age comedy with an Oscar-winning original screenplay penned by Diablo Cody.

    Did not like it. It tried to make teenage pregnancy look cool. It did not help that the main character was a smart ass teen who speaks like an older adult but did not have the brains/maturity to indulge in safe sex. Her parents being so cool about it looked so odd. Also the movie is supposed to be set in present time but no one is seen using any cell phones and they watch a video cassette.

    Ellen Page was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for this but I did not like her acting. Jason Bateman was ok. Some of the scenes between him and Juno looked borderline wrong like the dance scene. Jennifer Garner was good as the woman who wants to have a child. Michael Cera was usual.

    —————–

    The Hurricane At the zenith of his boxing career, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter finds himself wrongly convicted of a triple homicide and facing life in jail. While in prison, Carter pens his autobiography, which inspires advocates to help prove his innocence.

    This is probably the second or third time I watched it. Had liked it a lot on my first watch but did not like it that much this time. The initial scenes of Lesra with the Canadians were so bad. It looked like amateur stuff with bad acting by the guy who played Lesra. While the movie does say that they fictionalized some of it the true story is entirely different. The movie showed that he won a fight and that the racist Boxing judges declared the White Boxer Joey Giardello as the winner. Joey Giardello sued the filmmakers and they had to settle the lawsuit by paying him lot of money.

    “The case was tried twice, and each time Rubin Carter and John Artis were convicted of the murders. The convictions were set aside each time however, on the grounds that the men didn’t get a fair trial. In the first trial, Alfred Bello, a key witness for the prosecution, changed his story. The state of New Jersey decided not to try them a third time after so much time had passed, and withdrew the indictments against them.” Link

    Denzel Washington was excellent and he was nominated for an Oscar. Vicellous Reon Shannon was very bad as Lesra. Never liked Deborah Kara Unger. She always looks weird to me. Liev Schreiber and John Hannah were ok.

    ————————

    The Talented Mr. Ripley Charming sociopath Tom Ripley maneuvers into the lush life of Dickie, a young heir vacationing in Italy. Hired to persuade Dickie to return to America, Tom embraces Dickie’s posh lifestyle and takes extreme measures to hold onto it.

    Rewatched it after having watched it long time back in 2000. Its based on a 1960 novel of the same name. Its interesting and good in part but the movie drags on for too long.

    Matt Damon was good but its a very creepy character – that of a leech. Gwyneth Paltrow was good. Jude Law was ok. Cate Blanchett was good. Philip Seymour Hoffman was ok.

    • Manish 10 years ago

      I saw juno around the time it released , i found it decent watch .. nothing great not nad either

      • cr7 10 years ago

        I liked Juno a lot .It tackled a very serious issue but kept it really simple.I liked the feel good vibe . And I don’t agree that It tried to make teenage pregnancy as a cool thing .It didn’t encourage teen pregnancy . What it shown is that it is not the end of the world and you can move on with your life. I liked how Juno’s friend and specially family reacted to Juno’s pregnancy and her decision to keep the child .Not a very realistic story but a feel good inspiring one. And as a movie its fun to watch,entertaining and has a beautiful soundtrack .Ellen page was fantastic.

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          It did make teenage pregnancy cool. The parents and everyone is so cool about it. They so easily find the right parents to adopt while the truth is less than 2% of teens place their babies up for adoption. They don’t even run into a few bad prospective adopted parents. In the end she is the same cool school student like she was before. Its like some kid was playing pretend pregnant with something underneath her clothes. The mother goes on a rant against the ultra sound technician because she made a remark against teenage pregnancies which I doubt any one would in that situation.

          “Not a very realistic story but a feel good inspiring one.”

          You are agreeing its not a realistic story but a feel good inspiring one. What is it inspiring? For teenage moms to be cool about it 😉 If you read IMDB threads many have said the same thing that I have said about the movie and Ellen Page’s character.

          • cr7 10 years ago

            I think what they did is not potraying it as a sin but as a mistake . If you think it is cool then be it . I don’t think every teenage girl who seen it wanted to be pregnant ;-). You disliked the things which I liked .Like the parent’s response..I think Juno’s character is inspiring .How she handles the whole issue is pretty brave and mature. I haven’t seen many significant teenage characters like Juno’s .

            “In the end she is the same cool school student like she was before. ”

            That’s the point of the movie.

  56. Ipman 10 years ago

    liked this motivational scene from wows especially the dialogues “pick up the phone and start dialing” part. leo sounds like vince macmahon of wwe 😀

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=k9GR6wvoPOY

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      I am not sure that the scene where Leo pretends to bend the customer and give it to him from behind while he is on the phone is in the book. Either the book or the movie were inspired from similar thing in my favorite stand up comedian George Carlin’s act. Here is the video. Watch from 2:00 min.

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        i didnt like that scene in the film. its a funny scene but a stupid scene just like the rest of scenes where they are pitching the stocks for sale. somewhere i think the filmmaker doesnt want them to be taken seriously as well. they are OTT and way too simplistic

      • Ipman 10 years ago

        i think martin scorcese was inspired a lot from tarantino in the way he wrote many of the scenes. the restaurant scene where leo first forms his team and discusses his plan and everyone gets confused. it looked straight out of his reservoir dogs opening scene. the arguments between he and his wife “dont dutchess” me reminded of “dont jimmy me” from pulp fiction. cudnt find exact scene from wows

        https://youtube.com/watch?v=HHWAq-VAsF4

  57. cr7 10 years ago

    As Good As it Gets – The film is not great by any means . It has so many scenes which look familiar and predictable . But the humor worked and Jack Nicholson is perfect . Movie kind of becomes boring at the end but the first hour is fantastic. Overall It was a pleasure to watch .

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Maybe its because I stopped watching Hollywood movies long back (As they were predictable and regional movies touch lot more topics these days) or mostly because you seen more movies than me.

      This is a great movie by all means.

      A lonely person crying over a dog, (he is taking care of)
      Jack N’s acting, (Can I call him like that?)
      so many scenes…

      And the last scene when he kisses the heroine (helen?) and then says ..”i KNOW i can do it better”

      One of the best movies I have seen ever from Hollywood.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Disagree with you cr7. As Good As It Gets is a great movie. I saw it many years back and loved it. Helen Hunt’s character with her ill son, Jack Nicholson’s obnoxious character and his transformation, Greg Kinnear’s part in the story – it all was good. Loved Jack and Helen in their Oscar winning performances.

      • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

        There you go again, your comment is not visible from outside, Pagination is in reverse way;

        Better change it or disable it for now.

        • cr7 10 years ago

          I was watching this movie with my brother . Halfway through the movie I said to him that this is one of the best movies I’ve seen . And as I mentioned earlier the first hour is fantastic .I had high hopes from the movie and the first hour raised my expectations . But as it was nearing the end ,It got kind of boring & predictable for me .To be more specific , I didn’t like the part of their trip and after that .So maybe I fast forwarded some scenes during that time .Will watch the 2nd half again. The only scene that I liked post their trip is when Jack and Helen hunt goes for dinner and Helen hunt asked Jack to give a compliment .And jack said You make me wanna be a better man .That was a gem .

          • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

            “And jack said You make me wanna be a better man .That was a gem .”

            Was a great scene. True.

            I love this movie’s every scene 🙂

            And especially last kiss is so special…

            “I know I CAN do better”

  58. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    @cr7,

    Portraying as a sin may have happened if it was set in some Catholic setting but they never showed it as a mistake either. Did anybody admonish her for her mistake? None. Its shown so casually – the whole pregnancy, giving the baby away and then going back to school as if nothing ever happened. I don’t think her character was brave or mature. She was just a dumb girl who thinks she is smarter than everyone else.

  59. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Guilt Trip After Andy Brewster invents a fabulous new organic cleaner, he goes on a cross-country road trip to promote it. His mother, Joyce, comes along for the ride but soon discovers that her son has an ulterior motive: fixing her up with a long-lost flame.

    Its a feel good road trip movie but the difference is that this time its about a mother and son. Don’t remember the last time I saw a Hollywood movie about a mother and son. Its nothing great and takes a while to get started but some of the scenes are good like Andy refusing to change the name of his product, the nagging scenes, mother lashing at son scene and his final pitch.

    Seth Rogen was good and Barbra Streisand was very good as the well intentioned nagging mother.

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Liked it. Wouldn’t see in hall but on DVD/online is a decent movie.

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Also saw Prisoners – Good, But probably had high expectations with all glowing reviews. The climax was very filmy in serious movie.
      The Lone Ranger – is long. Liked some parts. It could have been chopped and movie could have been much better.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Had written a review and thought that the screenplay had some flaws/loopholes. Had said that the ending was filmy in my comment too.

        Link

    • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

      Saw this today. Agree its not a greak one but liked it. Mother and Son both actors were good.

      • Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

        Last scene at airport reminded me of Karan Johar movies though. 😀

  60. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Seeking a Friend for the End of the World As an asteroid hurtles toward Earth, a man whose wife has abandoned him spends the planet’s final days on a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. But a lovely neighbor who tags along for the ride complicates his plans.

    Boring, gloomy and depressing movie. Was hoping that it would get better/interesting but except for a brief while (the truck ride and the Friendsy’s restaurant part) the movie never rose from mediocrity. This Is the End which was also about apocalypse was silly but way more fun.

    Steve Carell acted the same way he acts in all his movies – expressionless, deadpan style. Keira Knightley was annoying with her quirky/weird mannerisms and British Accent.

    ——————–

    I Don’t Know How She Does It In this affable yuppie comedy, Kate Reddy is a successful executive, wife and mom whose personal and professional lives hang in precarious balance. When Kate takes on a new job challenge, she and her brood have some serious prioritizing to do.

    Its a time pass comedy. Some of the lines/situations were funny. Sarah Jessica Parker was acting like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City but with her character being a working housewife with kids it felt different. Pierce Brosnan was very good. Greg Kinnear was ok as the husband. Olivia Munn was good as her serious career minded assistant. Seth Meyers was good as her colleague.

  61. cr7 10 years ago

    Walk The Line – Good movie . I’ve seen the extended version .Maybe that’s the reason I found it little lengthy .Didn’t like few portions of the story but This is a true story ,So can’t complain . And this is how true stories are , They are never perfect .Reese Witherspoon looked pretty and acted well . But the true star is Joaquin Phoenix .He has given a remarkable performance as Johny Cash . He is such an amazingly gifted actor. Liked the songs .

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Agree that its a good movie. I had watched the regular version when it came out and even it was a bit lengthy and bored a bit in the middle. Agree with you on Joaquin Phoenix. He was excellent as Johnny Cash.

      Had watched a scene from Her last night and already liked Joaquin’s acting there. Will watch the movie tonight and comment.

  62. cr7 10 years ago

    Anyone seen Inside Llewyn Devis ? Downloading this movie . looked interesting . And Walk the line kind of raised my interest to watch it .Btw Coen brothers are Oscar favorites .Surprised to see no nomination for Inside Llewyn Devis in the main categories .

  63. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    New York, I Love You Some of the world’s most-respected directors align forces to pay tribute to the city of the New York in this unconventional omnibus sister film to 2006’s Paris, Je T’Aime. Broken into short segments, New York, I Love You is comprised of ten films, most choosing to take a down-to-earth approach to the stories of the countless lives lived in the city on a given day.

    The short segments are not separated properly so you don’t know when one ended and another started. A few of them were good or interesting while most of them did not even register.

    The best one had two parts to it. One felt like a spoof of Before Midnight. Ethan Hawke was playing a similar character from that movie trying to get this girl to his apartment. Loved the twist in that one. People who hated Before Midnight will love this whereas those who loved it might not. The second part of it was starring Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn. The dialogues were good and acting specially by Robin Wright Penn was very good. I was kind of expecting the twist and even though it may be cliched or heard before it felt good.

    The old couple celebrating 63rd anniversary one looked cute with their conversation.

    There was one with a kid taking a handicapped girl to a prom. I expected the twist in the middle but it was at the end. It was funny and some will like that part. Its directed by Brett Ratner.

    The most weird short was the one directed by Shekhar Kapur. It was written by Anthony Minghella director of The English Patient and he died before filming. Did not understand that one and according to Shekhar Kapur he made that one because he wanted to understand it by making it 🙂

    There was one with Irfan Khan and Natalie Portman directed by Mira Nair. Natalie Portman plays a Hasidic Jew and I did not know that the woman is not supposed to be touched by any man before marriage. Don’t know why they had to include her bald scene when it had nothing to do with this movie. She went bald for V for Vendetta. The guy who played Natalie Portman’s fiance/husaband dropped out of the movie.

    ———————

    “First he couldn’t hold Natalie Portman’s hand – and now a Williamsburg Hasidic Jew-turned-actor has to give up his chance to hit it big in a Hollywood movie.

    Abe Karpen, 25, a married father of three, was cast as Portman’s husband in “New York I Love You,” a film composed of 12 short stories about love in the five boroughs.

    “I am backing out of the movie,” said Karpen, a kitchen cabinet salesman. “It’s not acceptable in my community. It’s a lot of pressure I am getting. They [the rabbis] didn’t like the idea of a Hasidic guy playing in Hollywood.

    “I have my kids in religious schools and the rabbi called me over yesterday and said in order for me to keep my kids in the school I have to do what they tell me and back out,” Karpen said.

    While news of Karpen’s withdrawal sent waves of disappointment through the movie set, the Hasidic community was up in arms over Karpen’s acting gig – forcing him to flee for the weekend, a friend said.

    “We are very sorry that this has created a problem for him personally and for the community,” said the film’s executive producer, Jan Korbelin.

    “He’s a great ambassador of his faith and it came out of the left field. … This is the last thing this picture should be doing,” Korbelin said. “This film is about love and understanding between different people and communities.”

    Just Wednesday, Karpen was strolling along the Fulton Ferry State Park under the Brooklyn Bridge alongside Portman, 26, who sported a dark head-covering and a coat.

    “They wanted me to hold her hand, but I said ‘no way,'” said Karpen, who proudly stood his ground. “It’s against our religion. You can’t even hold your wife’s hand on the street.”

    Then came the howls of protest about his unorthodox job.

    “This is when I woke up and saw that I made a big mistake. My kids mean everything to me and my community where I live means everything to me,” said Karpen, who comes from a prominent Williamsburg, Brooklyn, family.

    His longtime friend Levi Okunov said the Karpens had to flee the city for the weekend. “The community wants to kill him,” he said.

    Hasidic community activist Isaac Weinberger said Karpen should have known better.

    “We don’t watch television. We don’t go to the movies, so to be in a movie is the worst thing. It’s a shame for any Hasid,” he said.

    Still, despite his troubles, Karpen had nothing but kind words for the film and Portman.

    “She’s the only one I was willing to work with,” Karpen said. “I was shocked that she’s a Hollywood big shot. We talked in Hebrew. … She wants to become more religious.”

    Link

    • shan 10 years ago

      Share your sentiments about the movie. Most of the shorts did not even register. In fact, I cant even recollect most of them now. A couple of them stood out – the one where the husband goes out of the restaurant to smoke and flirts with a lady on the street. The one with the prom was decent too. The first one was okayish.

      Shekhar Kapoor’s story was weird and too indulgent. Did not like Irfan Khan and Natalie’s story at all. It fell flat.

      I usually like anthology films. This one was underwhelming.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        I liked that same husband flirting with a lady on the street one. I mentioned that it had two parts to it and that “The second part of it was starring Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn. The dialogues were good and acting specially by Robin Wright Penn was very good. I was kind of expecting the twist and even though it may be cliched or heard before it felt good.”

  64. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Her Set in the Los Angeles of the slight future, “Her” follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet “Samantha,” a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other.

    Liked it. Its very different and I think this should and will win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. This is a movie which some will like it and many might hate it or find it boring/pretentious or even creepy/weird. Now some of it seemed a bit odd – that people would still be wanting to write personal letters in the future.

    Joaquin Phoenix was excellent and he should have been nominated for a Best Actor at the Oscars. Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chiwetel Ejiofor getting nominated for their performances ahead of him is a joke. Amy Adams was ok. Rooney Mara looked pretty. Olivia Wilde was good in a small cameo. Scarlett Johansson was good as the voice of the operating system.

  65. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    A Guy Thing The morning after his bachelor party, prospective groom Paul Morse awakens next to a pretty girl who’s not his fiancée. Though his memory is unclear, Paul assumes he cheated on his intended and must scramble to keep her from finding out.

    Its a romantic comedy. They took a two line plot and stretched it but some scenes were hilarious. It had some situational, some silly and some gross comedy. The best scenes of the movie were the jokes based on the Guy Code – when Selma Blair calls the store about underwear and another one where she congratulates his friend on the phone for his promotion.

    Jason Lee was ok. Julia Stiles and Selma Blair were good. Rest of the cast was good too.

  66. narad_muni 10 years ago

    American Hustle – Found it long an boring. The emphasis is on the characters rather than the story and drama..am not sure it deserves 10 nominations

    Dallas buyers club – very good movie and superb performances. The subject might not be to everyone’s liking and interest but I liked it. Has good chances of winning the best actor and best supporting actor

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      My views on American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club were similar to yours.

  67. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Dedh ISHQIYA – I did not have very high expectations though I enjoyed the 1st installment. And it totally exceeded my expectations. Abhishek Chaubey is a man to watch out for. He really has lots of fair in storytelling with dark humor in the Guy Ritchie or Tarantino style. The casting is superb and everyone gave very good performances ..Ironically, I felt Madhuri was the weakest of the lot. There are some loopholes in the screenplay but those can be ignored in lieu of the enjoyment offered by the movie. Gr8 start to the year 2014 from Bollywood. Go for it! Rating – 4/5

  68. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    What to Expect When You’re Expecting This star-studded rom-com that takes its name from a bestselling pregnancy “bible” follows the intersecting lives of several couples who hazard the ups and downs of pregnancy and impending parenthood.

    Its a comedy which will be liked more by parents of little kids or about to be parents. A couple of tracks had some drama too. Elizabeth Banks, Ben Falcone and Dennis Quaid track was the most hilarious. Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Anna Kendrick were ok. Elizabeth Banks, Ben Falcone and Dennis Quaid were good. Chris Rock was doing his usual stand up comedy in a track which looked separate from the movie.

  69. cr7 10 years ago

    Jerry Maguire – Good fun movie . Enjoyed it . Cruise acted really well .

  70. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Bullitt (1968)

    Had seen it a long time ago. Saw it again yesterday after many years.

    A slow burn cop action thriller. Tough San Francisco police lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is requested by ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to safeguard a witness over a weekend so that he can give a deposition to a Senate sub-committee about Organized Crime. However, the witness (Felice Orlandi) has stolen $2,000,000 from the Mob in Chicago and the gangsters are hot on his trail and will stop at nothing to get him.

    Steve McQueen is cool as ice in this thrilling police procedural that also happens to contain the arguably greatest car chase ever. Some scenes are mundane and the editing is very loose in the first half but the movie is terrific just because of three things – the acting, the grim and raw treatment and the iconic Ford Mustang GT390 San Fransisco chase scene. The movie is a precursor (and superior) to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry franchise. Steve Mcqueen was the then equivalent of today’s Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt and was dubbed as the ‘King of Cool’. It was his suggestion that Bullitt have less dialogue and let his attitude speak for himself. His scenes with the smooth attorney Walter Chalmers are amazing. Walter’s dialogues and the way he delivers them is just awesome and conveys a sense of calculated professionalism. But there is a lot of ambiguity regarding the character and his intentions.

    The biggest draw for me was the 10 min chase scene where Bullitt first is being chased by two criminals. But soon the hunter becomes the hunted as Bullitt gets behind them. This is a common theme which is repeated many times throughout the movie. The lack of music and the use of Mustang’s distinctive roar highlights he action. I loved this raw chase scene than any of the CGI enhanced, stylized Fast and Furious action scenes. The movie has no plot to speak of. But this paucity is more than compensated for by the three things I mentioned above. Add to it Lalo Schifrin’s Jazz flavoured soundtrack.

    But the star is clearly Steve Mcqueen. He own every scene with just the calm but determined attitude. Bullitt is a man of few words and no matter what, eventually he gets the job done. He kills the villain in the end after a hot pursuit on the airport and that’s what matters. Lurking nearby in the limo is Chalmers, whose reaction is either of anger and disappointment or satisfaction and relief.

  71. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Point Blank (À Bout Portant) Samuel Pierret is a nurse who saves the wrong guy — a thief whose henchmen take Samuel’s pregnant wife hostage to force him to spring their boss from the hospital. Can he evade the cops and the criminal underground and deliver his beloved to safety?

    Its a French action thriller. It was fast paced but had a lot of implausible things. The guy is on a hospital bed about to die when his pipe is removed and then he is completely fine going all around town after receiving an adrenaline shot. The hero hides behind on the other side of a moving train and there is an opening for him to escape from there. He jumps from one building to another. His wife is kidnapped from the kidnappers by the dirty cops and being held at the police station and they try to throw her off a window of the police station. The hero can suddenly arrive at the right spot miraculously.

    Gilles Lellouche and Elena Anaya were ok. Roschdy Zem was good.

  72. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Hunger games: Catching fire

    Enjoyed the movie a lot..its gripping from start to end. Its more political than the 1st part but the treatment is very consistent. I liked the way the relationships are handled. The end seemed a bit hurried up and it seemed the makers were not sure how to end this. But, a very satisfying sequel and 100 times better than Iron Man 3. I am happy that it crossed IM3 to become top grossing movie of 2013 in USA. Well deserved!

  73. hithere 10 years ago

    Fruitvale station – Based on true events in Oakland, CA. It was slow initially but climax is good.

  74. Zacked 10 years ago

    cr7 and FS do u watch Banshee.. finished season 1. lots of violence and a bit of Nudity..

    • cr7 10 years ago

      I’ve seen the first 3 episodes only .Looked entertaining . I heard it had lots of nudity,explicit scenes . So a must watch for me 😛 .

      p.s Dropped two important points last night .Both Arteta and flamini were poor .We”re missing ramsey,wilshere,walcott..Also Podoloski should have started . Btw Hearing news that ramsey is out for six weeks.Hope its not true .Its gonna be a big blow. Only 2 days left, Wenger has to make at least two signings . Looking at the rate our players getting injured It’ll be really hard in coming days. February fixture is very hard . Btw Draxler rumor is at all time high now .Even skysports reported .

  75. cr7 10 years ago

    Escape Plan -Its a good one time watch . Both veteran acted well. I don’t really think they are good actors but their screen presence is still powerful . But Those who have seen prison break may find it amateur in detailing and logic . So set your expectations right before watching it.

  76. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Liberal Arts A speaking engagement brings 35-year-old Jesse back to his college alma mater, where he’s blindsided by nostalgia and a plucky sophomore named Zibby. Newly single and unfulfilled by his job, Jesse finds Zibby pulling him out of his disillusionment.

    Ok movie. Its very leisurely paced and it has a lot of talk/conversation which felt smart at times and pseudo intellectual at other times. There are a couple of scenes in the movie where they are walking in the college campus to and back from a place and they make the same extra walk in the same direction towards the camera 🙂

    Josh Radnor was ok. Elizabeth Olsen was good. Zac Effron was good in a cameo.

    —————-

    Management Jennifer Aniston stars as a traveling art saleswoman who makes the mistake of her life when she has a one-night stand with a dim-witted motel manager who takes to following her all around the country.

    Weird movie. Steve Zahn’s character was creepy and the movie is pretty much about him stalking Jennifer Aniston’s character.

    Jennifer Aniston looked better than her recent movies and was ok. Steve Zahn’s acting reminded me of his character from Saving Silverman. Woody Harrelson was good in a cameo.

    —————-
    Take Me Home Thom is an unlicensed New York cabbie who takes on the fare of his life when a woman asks him to drive her to California to see her ailing father. In classic rom-com style, the chemistry between the two builds as they make their way west.

    Movie had lot of plot holes and implausible things but was watchable. Movie is directed by Sam Jaeger and it stars him and his wife Amber Jaeger. He was good and Amber was ok.

  77. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    I Give It a Year In this romantic comedy, newlyweds Nat and Josh find their marriage beginning to fall apart almost immediately after their fairy tale wedding. The couple seeks the advice of a counselor, but both are also tempted by old and new lovers.

    Its a romantic comedy about a couple who want to divorce. Ok movie but some scenes were hilarious like the digital photo frame scene, the dumb charades scene and the psychologist scene.

    Rose Byrne looked pretty and acted well. Rafe Spall was good as the husband who is annoying. Anna Faris of Scary Movie fame looked old. Simon Baker looked good and acted well. Stephen Merchant was good as the irritating loudmouth friend. Minnie Driver and Jason Flemyng were good.

  78. Ipman 10 years ago

    got a torrent copy of jai ho today. it is hello brother 2 , lousy, low production values, terrible acting, story and songs. skimmed it in 5 mins and deleted it

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