Movies You Watched This Month – May 2015

Official Synopsis
In the near future, Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen its lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage into the unknown. Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

Interstellar is somewhat similar to the movie Contact. Contact was also about someone putting up some wormhole through which the leading character travels. That movie also had a critical plot which involved a father and daughter.

The scene where Cooper and co travel through the wormhole is excellent. The scenes on Miller’s planet with the huge wave is good except for the WTF actions by Anne Hathaway’s character. The scene where they try to dock back on to Endurance is excellent.

As far as the flaws are concerned Ritz already mentioned most of them in a comment and I am just repeating the ones I agree with (in italics) and have added a few lines of my own (bold).

Professor Brand uses a mechanical wheelchair when they have explored the solar system and have intelligent robots. Its just like Sam Worthington using a mechanical wheelchair in Avatar. Brand (Anne Hathaway) trying to collect some device/recorder from a broken spaceship when there is a Gigantic wave coming in sea is another WTF typical illogical character. Her not heeding instructions and causing trouble is just like Sandra Bullock’s character in Gravity not heeding instructions and causing trouble. Whole Matt Damon track is unnecessary. The planet Saturn looked like a picture taken from a book. In the movie none of the people who are on board that spaceship look qualified enough. Their talk and the way they talk about relativity, time travel etc is so stupid and juvenile. And they are explaining these things when they are already aboard the ship.

Cooper’s daughter discovers something in binary format – then writes the equations on the blackboard with a chalk, and then writes then down on the paper – and then throws the paper shouting “Eureka!!!”. Those scenes which are supposed to show her as super smart end up showing her more as a a dumb bimbo. The whole sequence on earth while Cooper is diving in the black-hole is ridiculous – just to create the backdrop. To create the backdrop of how on earth also there is an unrest while Mr Cooper is getting drowned in the blackhole – his daughter is shown setting the farm on fire, there is a fight / quarrel in brother and sister etc etc. All this looked forced and exaggerated and unnecessary. If Nolan wanted to show the unrest on earth , or – rather in his Daughter’s mind – he should have shown in a subtle way.

Cooper is supposed to be one of the best pilots that NASA ever had and they don’t even bother looking or searching for him. When he comes to NASA they decide that they will just let him pilot this great mission all of a sudden. Murph is mad at her father for leaving her and going on a NASA mission but grows up and starts working for NASA. Anne Hathaway wants to go to a planet because of wanting to follow her heart after just saying it has nothing to do with it. Even a potentially good scene where Murph questions her dad if he left her for dying on earth is ruined by showing the scene twice. The movie is fully of corny dialogues.

The Visual effects are excellent for the most part and the movie deserved the Best Visual Effects Oscar that it got. Music by Hans Zimmer is excellent specially in some scenes like the scene where they go through the worm hole or the wave scene or the scene where Jessica Chastain tells it was all a sham or the final docking scene.

Matthew McConaughey was good as Cooper for the most part. Anne Hathaway’s character and her acting was quite annoying. Same with Matt Damon. Jessica Chastain was ok. Bill Irwin was good as the voice of TARS. Michael Caine acted like he usually does in his usual role. John Lithgow was good as the grandfather. Casey Affleck was ok.

Interstellar aspires to be a great science fiction movie about wormholes, black hole and other science related stuff but it succeeds only in parts. It fails more often than it succeeds and when it fails it becomes a corny, cheesy movie.

Nolan should have avoided the cliched “world coming to an end” plot and all the mawkish silly stuff about saving humanity. It could just have been a movie about an astronaut going on a mission leaving his young daughter behind. The movie could still have had the “ghost” stuff. The movie should have ended with Cooper stuck in some other dimension unable to communicate with his daughter and thereby starting the loop of his travel. The Nolan of Memento would have probably done that but Nolan here tries to pander to everyone with a cheesy happy ending. Its a decent science fiction movie better than Gravity but it unfortunately is no masterpiece which it could have been.

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76 Comments
  1. hithere 9 years ago

    Interstellar – I thought it was a masala movie with some some science facts here and there. It was good but over rated.

    Saw Gabbar – It was an average movie.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Nolan’s movies getting overrated has become usual.

      The treatment was not like that of a masala movie but the dialogues and some scenes were more corny than some masala movies.

  2. cr7 9 years ago

    Rahasya– Good thriller . Could have been better . Some scenes were unnecessary .kk menon was good as the detective .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Will check it out.

      There is another movie Nyodda on the Aarushi murder case Produced/written by Vishal Bharadwaj and directed by Meghna Gulzar starring Irfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Tabu.

      • cr7 9 years ago

        The case makes a great topic for movie .Its complicated ,disturbing but extremely interesting .I think bhardawaj’s version going to be much bigger .Rahasya is low budgeted,song-less movie . but a sincere attempt nevertheless.

        • cr7 9 years ago

          I read wiki btw . looks like its loosely based on the case .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Watched Rahasya and agree with you completely.

      It was somewhat TV serialish in parts especially the ending where Kay Kay Menon has everyone in the room and is revealing the actual Whodunit. The Hindu Muslim angle was kind of unnecessary as the Arushi murder case did not have that angle.

      KK Menon was very good as the detective. His eating Akhrot part was inspired from Karam Chand eating Gajjar from the famous TV serial. Performances were good by almost everyone except a couple of characters. Ashwini Khalsekar was bad as Remi and felt miscast. She was reminding of her comic performances from the Golmaal series where she was actually good. Shivkumar Subramaniam’s character’s behavior seemed forced. Tisca Chopra was good except in the final scene. Ashish Vidyarthi was good as the father.

      Thanks for the recco.

  3. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Watched NH 10. Its a movie which is good in parts but is mostly “C grade slasher/Road movie” as @hithere said. I almost stopped watching halfway into the movie but somehow forced myself to complete it. Liked the ending. Almost every rural character was bad or not to be trusted. Anushka ending up right at the antagonist’s house was just unbelievable.

    I hate stupid characters who do all sorts of stupid stuff and bring trouble to themselves and others. Neil Bhoopalam’s character was just like that. Did not like Neil Bhoopalam at all. I guess they couldn’t get anyone else to do that stupid role.

    Anushka was excellent and it was nice to see her in a different role. Its her best performance since Band Baaja Baraat. The only scenes of her I did not like were the stupid slow motion running scenes and the cycling scene. The scene where she smokes in the end was very good. The scene where she turns the tables on her attackers was very good. It kind of gave vicarious pleasure after all the stories of violence against women in real life.

    Darshan Kumaar was excellent as the main bad guy. Deepti Naval was good in a small cameo. The actors who played the other attackers were all good.

    • hithere 9 years ago

      Fully agree with comment. My main issue is that with slight adjustments in screenplay it could have been much better movie. And I don’t like self-serving (character acting stupid) scenes in this genre.

      I liked Rahasya. Some of the characters are clichéd but nonetheless I liked it.

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        Agree that “with slight adjustments in screenplay it could have been much better movie”.

        Yeah “self-serving (character acting stupid) scenes” have become standard in this genre and its hard to empathize or feel sympathy for them.

  4. cr7 9 years ago

    Dum Laga Ke Haisha – Sweet movie . Dialogues and acting couldn’t be an better . Thoroughly enjoyed it . So far the best movie of 2015 for me .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      I tried to watch it a couple of days back but the audio was out of sync. Will try to watch it soon.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Watched Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Excellent movie. It felt so realistic as if one is watching real life. The only thing that felt a bit contrived was the Dum Laga Ke Haisha competition. It felt a bit like the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi dance competition.

      Agree with you that it is “So far the best movie of 2015”.

      Ayushmann Khurrana was excellent as the loser Prem who is forcibly married to a girl he doesn’t even like. His accent was excellent too. Bhumi Pednekar was excellent as the feisty Sandhya. The whole cast – Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Sheeba Chaddha, Alka Amin and the guy who played Prem’s friend were excellent.

      • jj 9 years ago

        I too loved this sweet movie and acting was spot on by every one. Also watched Aankhon Dekhi, again Sanjay Mishra. I have become a fan of him. Dialogues, acting, detailing are amazingly real.

        • Author
          sputnik 9 years ago

          Sanjay Mishra has been good since a very long time. First liked him when he did some commercials for the 1999 World Cup as Apple Singh. Liked him a lot in All the Best too.

  5. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Watched Piku. Good movie. Liked it but its a bit loud at times with all the yelling. Its a simple true to life story about an old and somewhat annoying father being taken care of by his daughter. I was expecting a somewhat bigger purpose or twist in the climax but there isn’t.

    Amitabh is very good as the old cantankerous father who is always obsessed with constipation. Deepika is excellent as the caring daughter who is constantly angry because of her father’s behavior. She is so natural that it doesn’t even feel like she is acting. There are scenes with Irfan where she acts with just her eyes. And Irfan is great as usual. I think I read this line somewhere and its so true. “He takes to any role like a fish to water.”

    • hithere 9 years ago

      Quite liked PIKU. Any day I will prefer Dum Laga..and Piku than the masala dose we regularly get from Bollywood.

      Have been watching Game of Thrones (Started third season). Sometime you wonder there is no difference between movies and TV series in terms of production value in US/UK.

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        Yeah I too would prefer Dum Laga.. and Piku over any masala fare.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Why Irrfan Khan is the Greatest Actor We Have

      In one of the many outbursts of Bhaskor (Amitabh) in Piku, there is a scene where he accuses Rana (Irrfan) for putting his father on ventilator, and how he doesn’t wish to go through so much. Piku which boasts of an understated narrative gives Rana moments of silence while making his eyes remember buried grief. While he slowly walks out of the room, the character slowly walks into you, with the grace of an actor we are privileged to see on our screen.

      Also, consider the recently released but criminally under-distributed, Qissa, where Umber Singh raises his fourth daughter as a son, displaying a fatal conviction. Irrfan playing the father balances his inner turmoil and outer certainty so fiercely that he makes you convinced that in the system of patriarchy, even the man is trapped.

      Or just look at Ashoke Ganguli in The Namesake. Our actors are known for moving in and out of their accent with scant respect for authenticity, but Irrfan moves with a deeply studied Bengali accent and body language, making you live through the character’s fears and doubts with subtle but assured strokes of tenderness.

      Talking about Irrfan Khan, it’s almost impossible not to be overburdened with adjectives. How does he really do it? If we consider his career so far, it’s too apparent that he can play just anything, irrespective of its moral paradigm, an aspect that makes most of our heroes coil up in fear. He acts with an ease as if he inhabits a body that doesn’t really belong to him, he waits for characters to take over his body, and reveal its emotional range through dialogues or measured silences. He shows us that acting is not dressing up; it’s about stripping bare, speaking lines as if they weren’t given in a script but a way to unpack yourself in front of the audience. Without words, his eyes would do just fine.

      The tradition of acting in Hindi cinema which owes its origins to nautanki gharana has over the years evolved into something of a hyper reality. The dramatic devices have always made our world black and white, characters larger than life, and stories hardly life-like, transporting us to a realm of alternative realism. To be fair, it would be unfair to expect actors to rise above the material; which is why we mostly have stars, not actors.

      Dilip Kumar was the first one to wipe out the general lack of insight about human behaviour in our cinema. Balraj Sahni, Naseeruddin Shah and a few others followed his footsteps, and made characters believable on screen. And with Irrfan, perhaps the spring is in full bloom. His range, his diversity, and the fearless thirst to take on anything that offers him something challenging makes him almost invincible among the current crop of actors in Hindi cinema. He stands like the Colossus of Rhodes amongst his peers, the dwarfs. The only actor who perhaps can be equated with Irrfan’s dramatic scope is Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star known to the world for his acting, unlike the action figure exports. Both actors can move from big budget flamboyance to art house mournfulness without missing a step. We know what you are thinking, we are not counting Daniel Day-Lewis here; he is an alien.

      The real pleasure of Piku is watching Irrfan between two stars, acting as the perfect foil. Like his earlier escapades, he is always a character in a story, never a face twicher showing manufactured emotions to elevate the film. He is forever rooted in reality, unbelievably desirable or absolutely despicable, but always attainable.

      https://www.thequint.com/2015/may/13/why-irrfan-khan-is-the-greatest-actor-we-have

    • saurabh 9 years ago

      Piku is great movie and one of the best I have seen recently. Its like river which makes you flow with it. After many months I was completely into the movie and was not able to judge it even after forcing myself. It touches your soul and makes you happy. My status on fb says which I posted just after watching as I couldn’t contain my excitement –
      “When a film forces a movie lover to put down his/her critical lens and keep it aside and makes you a part of it. When It forces you to flow with it and makes you feel the same emotion as its characters, then its must be called a great movie and ‪#‎Piku‬ has been such a movie”

      It was very engaging till end. Whenever Irfaan comes, screen lights up. Deepika was really natural. She is sexy and girl next door too. Amitabh acted very good, though the character could have been turned into caricature but he handled it quite good. Though the character is loud so sometime it feels that he is overacting or he is becoming too loud, but no, I think it was the character. The best part is chemistry between three and the servant too. The chemistry entertains us. Kudos to director and writer. Background music touches your soul which happens rarely. Though it has been inspired from Apu triology as director said. Hero of the movie is Director, writer, all character and BG.

      Here is the link to superb Piku Theme

  6. Anjanpur685Miles 9 years ago

    “Nolan should have avoided the cliched “world coming to an end” plot and all the mawkish silly stuff about saving humanity. It could just have been a movie about an astronaut going on a mission leaving his young daughter behind. The movie could still have had the “ghost” stuff. The movie should have ended with Cooper stuck in some other dimension unable to communicate with his daughter and thereby starting the loop of his travel. The Nolan of Memento would have probably done that but Nolan here tries to pander to everyone with a cheesy happy ending. Its a decent science fiction movie better than Gravity but it unfortunately is no masterpiece which it could have been.”

    very well said. Thanks for quoting me (although it was a random jabber in contrast to ur well thought of comments) .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Thanks.

      Well I had to quote you because you had already articulated all the points that I could think of after watching the movie 🙂

  7. cr7 9 years ago

    Piku- Simple and delightful .Loved it .
    Gabbar- Cheap .

  8. FS 9 years ago

    PIKU – Simple, Delightful with extra ordinary performances from Amitab, Deepika & Irfan. Best film of this year so far.

    Gabbar Is Back – First half was good but lost its pace in second half becoming preachy at the very end.

  9. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Fruitvale Station
    This dramatic rendering of a real-life tragedy recounts the final hours of Oscar Grant, shot by San Francisco transit police on New Year’s Day, 2009.

    Very good movie. Liked it a lot. Its very timely with all the recent incidents of Black men being killed by White cops in the US. The movie starts with the actual video of the shooting. From there even though you know how it ends the movie keeps you engrossed. The good thing with the movie is that it doesn’t show Oscar as a “innocent good guy”.

    The movie is factual for the most part. Did not like the scene with the dog which was manipulative and fake. And there was no need for that created girl character from the grocery store who also ends up on the train and so instrumental in the actual incident.

    Michael B. Jordan was excellent as Oscar, a flawed but human character. Melonie Diaz was very good as his girlfriend. Octavia Spencer was good as his mother. Ariana Neal was good as his daughter.

    Thanks to @hithere for the recco.

    Highly Recommended

  10. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
    In 2001, 28-year-old Dr. Andrew Bagby is found dead in a park in Pennsylvania. He had been shot by his ex-girlfriend, who then fled to Canada, where she was able to walk free on bail, pregnant with Andrew’s child. Andrew’s enraged parents campaign to gain custody of the child and convict their son’s killer. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne pairs this story with home movies and interviews with those who knew Andrew, hoping to give his best friend’s son an opportunity to discover who his dad was.

    Its a documentary which is rated very high (8.6) on IMDB. I read the whole story and it is very tragic. I started watching the documentary but could not watch beyond a few minutes. There are two many quick cuts where many people are talking in quick succession. It was very irritating. At first I though may be its just for the first scene and its showing glimpses of what we will see later in the movie but it wasn’t the case. Read some threads on IMDB and saw others complaining about the same thing.

    If the entire documentary is like that I don’t know how one can watch it without getting a headache or some seizure.

  11. cr7 9 years ago

    I didn’t have any problem with the quick cuts and people talking . So don’t remember if it is like that the whole movie . Watch for half an hour . You’ll get used it . Its an very emotional documentary .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Ok will try to watch again.

      Did you watch it long time back? Had you commented on it before?

      • cr7 9 years ago

        Not long back . 2-3 months I guess . I was so devastated after watching it that I might have forgotten to comment .

  12. cr7 9 years ago

    Kingsman– Vidya’s famous Entertainment,entertainment,entertainment dialogue suits the movie . A fun 2 hr ride . Great cast,good plot,stylish action, unless you hate the genre you’ll enjoy it.

  13. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Watched Tanu Weds Manu Returns. There is not much story/plot in this one and some of it is quite silly/contrived but its very entertaining and hilarious for the most part. There is a attempted honor killing scene out of nowhere. It drags quite a bit in the second half. In the end it becomes the usual regressive “sanctity of marriage” movies that Bollywood has been making since forever.

    Madhavan is good as Manu and basically replays his role from the first one. Kangana is good as Tanu and she basically continues her part from the first one. But its as Kusum that she is excellent. She totally nails the role with her teeth, Haryanvi accent and everything. She makes you feel as if some other actress played that part. Deepak Dobriyal is very good and he is hilarious in some scenes. Jimmy Shergill plays the same part from the first one. The supporting cast is good too.

    Thought of writing a review but there is not much to review. As I said before its entertaining and worth a watch.

    • hithere 9 years ago

      There is nothing worth remembering in the movie but movie is very watchable and entertaining ; it is filled with punches and one-liners. The subject is very serious but handling is very simplistic. But then it is a main stream movie.

    • saurabh sharma 9 years ago

      Liked Tanu Weds Manu returns but in parts loved it and in parts hated it. Initial Part are just ok but Deepak Dobriyal tries to create some laugh but movie looks great once kusum is there except the end. Kangna acted very brilliantly in that and I think she should get all the supporting cast awards. She truly nails that part and it feels that she is way ahead of others in acting, as it looks lil impossible for other heroines to do it. Kususm is best part of TWMR. Otherwise movies is just ok whenever kusum is not there. The last 15-20 min are really frustrating and I felt like to throw my laptop. It has many loopholes and inconsistency like Kusum started roaming around with Manu and Tanu roaming with Law guy(created just to create the drama). Tanu frustrates me in whole movie. But only part where I liked tanu, is when some sad song is playing in BG and tanu is roaming. All in all One time watch. Deepak was also very good in many scenes, particularly I liked the scene where he is saying not to fall in love to Manu. Banno tera swagger lage sexy is very good and Old school girl is also good. Overall nice movie, one time watch. Some parts are best and some parts are really bad.
      I don’t think it deserves any comparison to Piku as Piku is kind of flawless and repeat watch and not contrived. Though Kusum can not be played by Deepika but Kangana will also not look effective as Piku.

  14. FS 9 years ago

    Madmax – What a pathetic movie that goes on and on and on with no end, no objectives, no plot/story. One of the most pathetic and pointless movie that has nothing but a chase and background score that is so loud even a hearing impaired people would walk out.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      hmm… looks like you hated it.

      I did not like the trailer at all. But I was surprised at all the positive reviews and the praise it was getting from everyone I know on twitter.

      • FS 9 years ago

        I did not hate it, it was just worthless movie. Many who hate south indian action movies, implausible stuff are embracing it like something creative marvel.

    • saurabh 9 years ago

      I liked the movie very much and still can see 2nd time. One word that defines the movie for me is Insane or crazy. It don’t have any story as such but i didn’t have any problem with that as action overshadows everything in the movie. In 3d it looked really good, some of the scenes were really great, there were no edge of the seat scene but enough jaw dropping scene. Liked the background score too..

  15. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Madison
    This fact-based drama follows hydroplane boat racer Jim McCormick as he prepares for the 1971 Gold Cup championship, to be hosted in Madison, Ind.

    Its the usual underdog sports movie but this one is pretty depressing and defeatist right until the last 20 minutes or so. Its very cliched with the small town setup and the people and the whole family story and all. The movie also unnecessarily tries to give too much importance to the kid who is also the narrator of the movie. And things start to happen at the end in a very filmy way.

    The movie starts off with “Based on true story” claim but is hardly factual as can be seen from the article below.

    Jim Caviezel was very good as hydroplane boat racer Jim McCormick. The kid was ok but there was no need for any importance for his role. Bruce Dern was ok. Rest of the performances were strictly ok.

    If you are a sports movie fan and if you don’t mind all the liberties taken with the true story then you might like it.

    ————————

    Truth taken for a ride in “Madison”

    “But if you’re looking for the true story of the Miss Madison’s improbable victory, be sure to pour a huge grain of salt on your popcorn as you head into the theater.

    The movie claims to be “based on the inspiring true story” of the Miss Madison’s win in the 1971 Gold Cup, generally regarded as one of the most memorable races in the history of the sport.

    But other than the fact a boat named the Miss Madison won the Gold Cup in 1971 in Madison, Ind., piloted by a driver named Jim McCormick, most of the rest of the movie plays fast and loose with the facts.

    McCormick, portrayed expertly by Mount Vernon native Jim Caviezel, is the central figure of the movie. McCormick is depicted as a resident of Madison, Ind., who decides to stay in town while many others are forced to leave due to a lagging shipping economy. Much of the drama revolves around his decision to get back in the driver’s seat for the race after the driver McCormick has just hired is killed in the race before the Gold Cup.

    None of that is true, other than the part about Madison’s lagging economy. McCormick didn’t live in Madison at the time — though once he won the race, he was regarded as something of an honorary citizen — and actually was a veteran driver who had piloted the Miss Madison since 1969. And the death of a driver is apparently based on an incident that happened to a friend of McCormick’s a few years later.

    Madison as host city

    A key subplot involves the efforts of the city of Madison to host the race. In the movie, the city gets the race only when another site that had won the rights — the Tri-Cities, interestingly — comes up short. Madison’s name is reluctantly drawn out of a hat and the hydro powers-that-be try to convince city officials they aren’t up to conducting the race. But McCormick valiantly pledges to help raise money, and a crusty-but-lovable mayor helps the cause.

    The reality is somewhat different, according to an account written by hydro historian Fred Farley. Madison, which at the time had 13,000 residents, was the only site that submitted its bid on time and got the race with what Farley calls “a smaller-than-usual” bid of $30,000.

    But once Madison’s bid was accepted, apparently all was smooth sailing, and the race was attended by an estimated 110,000 fans.

    The Miss Madison itself is depicted as barely able to float. And it’s true that the Madison — a team that’s still racing on the circuit — has always been a second-division boat, operating with one of the smallest budgets.

    But as Farley has written, the reality is that for that season, the Madison was one of the faster boats on the circuit. It finished second in the first two races of the season, recording the fastest speeds at one of the races, and won the Atomic Cup in the Tri-Cities three weeks after the Gold Cup.

    In the movie version of the championship heat, the Madison inevitably rallies to win on the last lap, something hydro aficionados know rarely happens. The Madison actually took the lead on the first lap and pulled steadily ahead, winning by 16.3 seconds.”

    “For instance, one of the races before the Gold Cup is in Chicago, which has never been a part of the circuit. And a voiceover at the end of the movie by John Mellencamp — portraying McCormick’s son — says he later became an unlimited racer himself, which isn’t true.”

    https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/truth-taken-for-a-ride-in-madison/

  16. Tall Pike 9 years ago

    Yesterday I saw one of the best movie to come out of the last Sundance Film Festival, Dope.

    https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dope_2015/?search=Dope

    In a nutshell it is a coming of age movie. It is about an African American kid raised by a single mother who wants to get out of “The Bottoms”, not via Basketball but via Education. He wants to goto Harvard. In his essay when it comes to answering “Why he wants to go to Harvard?” He ask, “Would you ask me this question if I was not Black ?”.

    The humor is fresh, the issues are current and the movie is entertaining as well as engaging. The three principal kids just bounce off each other’s good acting. This is a triple legged stool with none of its legs missing.

    BTW, Baz Lurhman has signed the lead, Shameik Moore for a TV show premiering this Fall.

    After the movie ended, almost everyone in the audience agreed that this movie has the potential to be a universal hit. I personally think it might even do well overseas (read lot of sex and nudity).

    The movie is coming out mid June. You can catch he trailer here

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Thanks for the recco. Will check it out when it comes on Netflix.

  17. FS 9 years ago

    Tanu Weds Manu – Terribly Awesome, Sheer Magic and Kagna take a bow. She will appear in Top 10 Best Indian Actresses of All Time. Unbelievable performance from her and not a scene or frame, you will find of her, similar or relatable to her other character. Highly entertaining, convincing and magical peerformances from both the Kangana’s. It’s Tanu sheds Manu to wed datto to get Manu to bed Tanu again.

    Game of Thones Season 5 (upto 7 episodee) – All I can say about this series is that it is THE BEST SERIES EVER MADE

    • saurabh 9 years ago

      I really don’t think it is the best series, and 5th season is worst of it. I was getting yawn when I was watching some of the episodes. The 1st and the 7th episode are very good, but others are not good. I don’t find a character to connect now or to follow ..

    • hithere 9 years ago

      you still maintain that or you in shock after yesterday’s finale 🙂

      • cr7 9 years ago

        The last 2 episodes ruined my excitement for this show .I don’t have problem with the disturbing content or deaths but the writing has been very poor this season .More than quality they are relying on Gimmicks.

      • FS 9 years ago

        I have not yet seen the last episode but I figured it out in the last episode itself. I thought either Tyrion or John Snow will die & Sansa stark will kill that Ramsay

        Somehow i was let down as they have shown more of disgust & horrific events than good ones.

  18. jj 9 years ago

    The Descendants – In my watch list for a long long time. Finally managed to watch it and loved it. Loved the way emotional scenes were cut away with picturesque Hawaian locations. Well enacted by Clooney and the chemistry between his daughters was amazing. The guy playing his daughters boyfriend was irritating appropriately. The backdrop, the floral costumes was all a beautiful contrast to the tragedy in the background.

  19. jj 9 years ago

    Nightcrawler – One of the most entertaining films I have seen recently. Excellent direction. But my bad, could not accept the hero being a bad guy. We are used to watch the hero being a good guy, or starts being bad and turns out to be good. Here the protagonist is a bad guy and he gains what he wants being bad. But this still is damn good movie.

  20. FS 9 years ago

    Kingsman – Entertaining movie

  21. FS 9 years ago

    Detective Byomkesh Bakshy – Truly Spectacularly Different

    Very few movies have been path breaking and DBB is one of them. It should be compared to the best of Hollywood movies. The settings, the costumes, the cinematography & the screenplay are Oscar worthy. The movie is very fast paced and if one doesn’t notice things or understand the followings then one will be like the character “Bhuvan Babu’s” son. It’s very amusing to find such movies made in Bollywood. This movie is in totally different league and the very opening scene itself affirms my claim.

    Sushant Singh is Outstanding and the actor who played the character of Dr is brilliant but the main Hero is the director and so is the director Dibaker Banerjee. Take a bow Mr. Banerjee. Take a Bow.

    Yes! The movie is truly Spectacular in its treatment, absolutely different kind of a movie that one has hardly seen in Indian cinema for a very long time and its soul is complete Desi yet Superior in Quality.

    The unraveling of plot, build-up of suspense, twists and the details captured were intriguing, fascinating and engrossing. Overall an OUTSTANDING MOVIE OF THE YEAR. 5/5

    • cr7 9 years ago

      Well written . loved the movie . classy direction by Dibakar.

  22. cr7 9 years ago

    Bangalore Days – – Liked it .Feel good movie .Good performance and music .Bit long though.

    • jj 9 years ago

      It was a good layered feel good movie, but dint like it much. May be I have grown past that age 🙂

  23. FS 9 years ago

    NH 10 – Had skimmed through the movie in about 5 mins and seemed liked the movie should have been contained in 5 minutes length. It could have been an excellent thought provoking short movie and easily have won many awards too. But seems like Director wanted to give an example of how one would ruin something that is “significant” being cocksure of demonstrating that no one would handle this sensitive subject better than anyone. The director just ruined everything with goof ups, mistakes, errors and illogical stuff that were not supposed to be meant for urban audience.
    There were some exceptionally brilliant scenes and all belongs to antagonists. The scenes on restaurant, the man handling scenes in the ‘no man’s land’, the scenes in the end trying to stand and walk were just brilliants. That’s called performance and his expressions were so brilliant that it gave me glimpses of a person swearing in to kill anything if had a chance of survival.

    The director drags and drags like anything, Anushka looks totally different in last 15 minutes and looked like as if she was controlling her smile from the cameras, Actor did pretty well for first 10-20 minutes or so and everything falls apart as soon he tries to show off his mardangi.

    Worst thing were the last climax scenes where everything goes haywire and it appears as if the director didn’t know where to end or how to end the movie. I had the impression of watching the never ending television opera soaps. Cannot give more than 2/5

    • jj 9 years ago

      I left it around 40 mins. The guy playing Anushka’s husband was too dumb to connect with and I was in no mood to watch a violent film. But I absolutely loved this director’s first move ‘Manorama 6 feet under’. So had high expectations.

  24. FS 9 years ago

    Kingsman – Fultoo Masala movie, complete timepass and entertaining. 3/5

  25. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Rosewater
    While in Iran to cover the 2009 elections, journalist Maziar Bahari is detained and brutally interrogated after Iranian forces accuse him of spying.

    This is Jon Stewart’s directorial debut and its a very good debut film. Even though the movie is about Maziar Bahari’s detention its not a depressing movie. There is enough humor in the movie.

    Gael García Bernal was good as Maziar Bahari though its hard to accept him as a Iranian. Kim Bodnia was excellent as the interrogator Javadi. Dimitri Leonidas was good as Davood. Haluk Bilginer was good as Maziar’s father. Shohreh Aghdashloo
    was good as his mother. Golshifteh Farahani looked pretty and was good as his sister Maryam. Claire Foy looked pretty and was good as his wife.

  26. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Sixth Sense
    When a 6-year-old boy inexplicably starts seeing dead people, he lands in the care of a child psychologist who’s determined to uncover the truth.

    Was wanting to re watch this since a long time. Had first watched it when it released in 1999 and liked it a lot back then. The movie still holds up even after knowing the ending. This is definitely Shyamalan’s best and his direction is excellent.

    I think Shyamalan explained the ghost part really well with the explanation – “They only see what they wanna see. They don’t know they’re dead”. The only thing that did not make sense was the other ghosts showing up at Cole’s house as if they knew he could help them.

    Bruce Willis was very good as the psychiatrist Malcolm. Haley Joel Osment was excellent as Cole and deserved the Oscar nomination that he got for Best Supporting Actor. Toni Collette was good as the mother.

    Highly Recommended for anyone who hasn’t seen it till now.

  27. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Best of Me
    Sparks fly between former high school flames when they return home for a funeral, but painful memories may keep them from having a future together.

    The movie is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, the writer of The Notebook. But this is nothing like it. It is such a corny, contrived romantic movie. The story set in 90s looked like some old romantic movie set in 40s or 60s. The abusive father and brothers angle was also pathetic. The casting is horrible – the actors playing the younger parts did not look anything like the older ones.

    Michelle Monaghan was ok in a horrible role. James Marsden, the other hero of The Notebook was ok. Luke Bracey did not look anything like a teenager. Liana Liberato was very pretty.

  28. FS 9 years ago

    Camp X-Ray – not sure how to describe this movie but it really touched me specially the climax scene. Not sure why director wanted audience to sympathize with detainees but they definitely tend to once actress Khristine starts empathezing with the detainee. It was really touching at the end.

    Jurassic World – Enjoyed the movie little more than usual as I was watching it with my kid. She was terrified in between

    Ex-Machina – Liked it very much. Something different than usual movies but its definitely would have been better had it been a series. Low cost, low budget but great visuals & very good concept.

    Cobbler – another good timepass movie.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Thanks for the reccos.

      Was thinking of watching Jurassic World for my kid but then decided against it thinking he might get too scared.

  29. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Columbus Circle
    An agoraphobic Manhattan heiress must deal with a detective and new neighbors after a murder takes place in the apartment next door.

    Its an B grade thriller which could have been much better. There are some twists but one can guess them very easily. The ending was bad.

    Selma Blair was good as the agoraphobic Manhattan heiress. Amy Smart was usual. Kevin Pollak was ok. Giovanni Ribisi was good as the detective in a normal role. He usually plays crazy characters. Jason Lee was good in a negative role.

  30. FS 9 years ago

    Dil Dhadkane Do – One of the best movies of All Time I believe and I had the same or bit more impact on me while watching than during ZMND. The Story has so many layers and so many fantastic performances in it. The confrontation scene between Anil Kapoor and Actress during the Climax scene where Anil Apologizes, it almost brought tears in my eyes. It was such a touchy and realistic scene. Priyanka’s character as well as her performances are something to talk about for a very long time. Only Ranvir and Anushka’s story played the spoilsport in the movie. Rest was FANTASTIC! BRILLIANT!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

    Game Of Thrones Season 5 – Brilliant Season, Loved every bit of it except the most horrific display of cruelty (burning child alive). I stand by my earlier statement that it has to be the best series ever.

    It Follows – In the beginning it was very interesting but suddenly it lost track and became predictable as well as looked stupid in the end.

  31. FS 9 years ago

    True Detective – Very Slow paced and if you don’t have enough patience then you will give up within first two episodes and if you continue you will end up loving it. The progress of the case reminds you of Memories of Murder and Zodiac in between but it has definitely dependent much on the performances than the twists or story line. Highly Recommended!!!

  32. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Amadeus
    A mediocre composer plots devious revenge when his churlish young rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wins immortality with his musical genius. Amadeus is adapted from Peter Shaffer’s stage play Amadeus, which is a highly fictionalized account of the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The movie was nominated for eleven Oscars and won eight including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Mixing.

    Had posted some scenes from the movie before as Scene of the Week.

    Had watched the movie first time back in 2000 or so and wanted to revisit the movie since a very long time. The one I watched back then was the Theatrical version and this time I watched the Director’s cut which is 20 min longer. So its a 3 hr movie. I think except for one important scene the extra length doesn’t really add much to the movie. I think the Theatrical version is the better version.

    I had to forward the operatic singing scenes the first time I watched the movie because of my friends. This time I watched the full movie with those operatic singing scenes. I am not a fan of operatic singing but I still liked most of those scenes. There were a couple of ones which should have been edited out especially one comic opera thing which dragged.

    F. Murray Abraham was excellent and deserved the Oscar that he got for Best Actor. Tom Hulce was excellent as Mozart and he deserved the Oscar nomination that he got for Best Actor. Elizabeth Berridge was very good as Mozart’s wife and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Jeffrey Jones was good as the King. Charles Kay was good too.

    I would recommend the Theatrical Version and skipping over the operatic singing scenes.

  33. FS 9 years ago

    Cinderella 2015 – Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful movie. No matter how much have you read about it in night time stories you will love it more when you watch this movie. Very few might love it and I am one of them. The acting, emotions, settings and performances were SUPERB. Recommended!!!

    The Gunman – Much Much better than the Kingsmen and very Good Action flick. I was amazed to see Sean Penn in such avatar, his body of action and hands-hand fights are very well choreographed and convincingly done to his age. Has he done any other action movies being lead? his intensity expressions were clap worthy. Recommended!!!

    Survivor – Ok – timepass movie. Nothing fun but its ok.

    The Boy Next Door – I had seen similar movie and it is nothing different from it. Same old usual type, not worth it.

  34. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Aviator
    Leonardo DiCaprio portrays eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes, who turned a small fortune into a massive one by building Hollywood and aviation empires. More Info

    Very good movie but its a bit too long at almost 3 hours. It felt like its a cleaner version of The Wolf of Wall Street. The opening scene was a little creepy though with some insinuation of something improper.

    Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent as Howard Hughes who has who all kinds of disorders from OCD to mysophobia, paranoia and so on. His role in The Wolf of Wall Street is in many ways similar to his role from this. Cate Blanchett was good as Katherine Hephurn. Kate Beckinsale was good as Ava Gardner. John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston were all good.

    Highly Recommended

  35. FS 9 years ago

    Descent Part 1 – Very intriguing, tense and thrilling horror movie. Very few horror movies have managed to engage me through out and this is definitely one of them. The screenplay and the flow is amazing. Highly Recommended!!!

    Descent part 2 – Continuation of part 1 and since you’ll know everything about part 1 already, it becomes more predictable yet engrossing to put an excellent end. Recommended!!!

    Full Metal Alchemist – This is another series i have seen after Death Note. there are 45 episodes and it has some moments in every episodes but its not as exciting as Death Note. Still a good one.

    Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood – This has 64 Episodes and story of this deviates from the earlier one. This is not the continuation series but its a different take to the earlier one. after 20 episodes you get totally hooked into it and it accelerates towards a thrilling end. I recommend people to watch this series instead of earlier one. Highly Recommended!!!

    Last King of Scotland – Lovely movie and thanks for recommending this @sputnik. Inspired by real events, a doctor from Scotland gets mixed up with ongoing Uganda’s political killings and bloodshed. Highly recommended!!!

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