Movies You Watched This Month – November 2014

boyhood Official Synopsis:
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It’s impossible to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey.

The movie has some very good scenes like the scene where they first move to a different place and the scene where the little kids watch their parents have an argument. The scenes with the first step dad are good but his sudden transformation from a professor to a violent alcoholic seemed contrived. The scenes with the second step dad had the feeling of deja vu because it is similar to the first step dad plot. The scenes with the real father and the conversations or advice were the best part of the movie.

As the synopsis says this movie has been shot with the same actors over a period of 12 years. So we see Mason grow from a 5 year old to a 17 year old in the movie. We see the elder sister, the mother and the father also grow over these 12 years. Now this is the unique thing about this movie. But does this make it a great movie? Does the movie have a great story to tell? Absolutely not. Its like taking someone’s home videos and turning them into a movie.

There is no subtext of 1 year later or so on when the characters grow from one scene to another. One has to just guess from the changed appearances that a year has passed by. There is no context as to why a particular scene is there. The movie never really focuses on anything in detail and in the end many of the scenes seem superficial. The movie is 2 hrs and 45 minutes long and it goes on and on and one begins to wonder what exactly is the point of the movie. Nothing life changing or nothing major happens. And in the end there is some pseudo babble pretending to be something profound.

Ellar Coltrane is very good as the lead character Mason. Ethan Hawke is good as the father and there is some good character development with his character. Patricia Arquette is very good as the mother. Lorelei Linklater is ok as the sister. Marco Perella is good as the alcoholic step dad. Zoe Graham looked very pretty as Sheena.

This is one more overrated movie from Richard Linklater, the director of the overrated Before Sunrise. Now shooting the movie with the same actors over a period of 12 years may be the novelty when it comes to movies but TV serials and sitcoms have already done it many times. And the TV show The Wonder Years which ran from the late 80s to the early 90s already did this with the very same concept. It had the lead character grow from a 12 year old to a 17 year old over the course of the show and it was about his growing up experiences. And that show was set in the late 60s to early 70s. So it had some great historical events like the Vietnam War, the moon landing and so on as the backdrop. Richard Linklater tries to bring in the Iraq war and some Bush bashing and pro Democrat talk but it feels contrived and fake.

The Wonder Years is a way better depiction of growing up and Boyhood feels like just a mediocre movie version of it. Anyone who is planning to watch this movie should instead watch The Wonder Years which is one of the best TV shows ever. Only people who have not watched the TV show The Wonder Years will think of Boyhood as anything great.

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98 Comments
  1. Baba 9 years ago

    when are you going to see holiday, bang bang, hny and kick?

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      I will watch Holiday soon as it is in Netflix. Don’t know about others.

      • Baba 9 years ago

        everything is available on torrent 😀 before watching holiday, i suggest you watch thupakki. then you will like holiday more. also after waching the other films i mentioned, you will like it more

        • Author
          sputnik 9 years ago

          I don’t use torrents. Thupakki is probably on netflix too. If it is I will try to watch it too.

      • hithere 9 years ago

        I don’t know why army angle was there in Holiday. The guy could have been simple intelligence officer.

        • Baba 9 years ago

          yes they could have shown him as some IB agent. sonaskhis role and the entire romance track should have been elminated

          • hithere 9 years ago

            Yes. It could have been 1.5-2 hour tight thriller.

  2. cr7 9 years ago

    Tried to watch Boyhood couple of times . But got bored . I’m not a fan of Linklater . Except school of rock didn’t like any of his films . Boyhood looks more like the before sunrise series which i found extremely boring .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Glad you don’t like the Before Sunrise series 🙂

      Boyhood has a 99% rating at rotten tomatoes and a IMDB rating of 8.6. But I think the positive reviews are just because he took 12 years to make the movie with the same cast. Even on IMDb there are lot of threads calling the movie overrated.

      I liked School of Rock a lot when I saw it few years ago. I am going to watch it again soon.

      Have you seen Bernie starring Jack Black? I liked that one too by Linklater. Here is my comment on the movie. Link

  3. Baba 9 years ago

    saw warrior. contrary to what i had heard, the film isnt really about MMA. its about the equation that two sons share with their father and each other. i didnt like tom hardy as bane in tdkr but i loved him in this. he is a great actor. also his apperance, his attitude was perfect. he looked like a real mma fighter. joel edgerton as brandon was good too. the film is very subtle. the fights are chroeographed well but doesnt leave you awestruck. they are par for the course.

    regarding its indian remake directed by karan malhotra, i think his casting is right. akshay has been chosen to play brandons role who relies on brazilian jujitsu for submissions while tom hardy character wins by brute force, not technique. vidyut jamwal as tom hardy , using only strength and not his technqiue, wont look good. i think siddharth malhotra isnt a bad choice except that he is too lean for this. his appearance is not menacing enough. hrithik would have been a good choice with his physique and height. the biggest challenge for KM will be how will he adapt the MMA angle to indian context. MMA in US is huge but not in India.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Yeah it isn’t about MMA per se but MMA championship forms a major part of the movie.

      This was my comment about the movie.

      “Saw Warrior and liked it. Tom Hardy was excellent and Joel Edgerton was decent. Fight scenes were exciting. Liked the whole family angle in the movie. Liked the scene of the first fight where the wife is restless waiting for the call. One thing I did not like was that they took rooting for the underdog to a whole new level. The underdog keeps getting pounded but he still wins. I wished that part was handled better.”

      Movies You Watched This Month – November 2012

      With Vidyut “They had a chance to make the fights better than the original as both Akshay and Vidyut have martial arts training.” Link

      I think Sunny of 90s would have been perfect for Tom Hardy’s role the way it was in the original – angry guy who wins by brute force.

      • Baba 9 years ago

        what do you think about adapting the MMA angle to india? will it work? also the movie lacks entertainment value. i mean the film is too subtle for our audiences and even the fight scenes do not have entertainment quotient. warrior was a flop film. looks like karan malhotra is fascinated to remake flop films 😀

        • Author
          sputnik 9 years ago

          They will make it some underground fighting championship. I think the movie should work because it also has the family angle.

          Yeah Warrior was a flop but it got good reviews and has a good rating on IMDB.

          Karan Malhotra is a good choice for this remake and I am looking forward to this movie.

          • Baba 9 years ago

            if they make it an underground fighting championship, then the fighting style will be freestlye instead of MMA.that means a possiblity of slo-mo crappy wirework action. but considering karan malhotra’s sensiblities in agneepath, chances are action will be not be very bad. it might be raw action. akshay will do well as brandon. i have some doubts about sidharth malhotra after ek villian, he was struggling to carry a short tempered gangster role and he has a similar role here

  4. cr7 9 years ago

    Watched Rise of the planet of the apes & Dawn of the planet of the apes .Definitely one of the most interesting summer blockbuster franchise .Its highly engrossing and somewhat intelligent . The pace dips here and there . But both movies has excellent action . This franchise has exceeded my expectation and I’m really looking forward to the next part .

  5. cr7 9 years ago

    Premature– Another Hollywood attempt to recreate american pie .The film got one step ahead and mixed it with groundhog day’s reliving the same day again concept . But unfortunately in term of humor It couldn’t reach the level of either movie. Time pass movie .Performances were decent .Kate Findley looked lovely . Overall Predictable but watchable .

    20 ANS D’ÉCART – A short and simple romantic comedy . Had nothing new to offer but fairly entertaining. The actress was pretty and acted well.

  6. cr7 9 years ago

    Started watching a new show called Forever . Watched first 7 episodes and looks good till now . The premise is very interesting . Synopsis from IMDB , “A 200-year-old man works in the New York City Morgue trying to find a key to unlock the curse of his immortality.” . They could have done more with this plot . But makers have chosen a safe path instead .Turned it into a murder investigation drama .The investigation part is a mix of castle & Sherlock .Personally I don’t like castle . So the investigations are underwhelming sometime .But overall the show is intriguing and has huge potential .Looking forward to upcoming episodes .

    • shezad 9 years ago

      thats look interesting
      will se it at the end of the season

  7. shezad 9 years ago

    interstellar : i was afraid that maybe this will be the first nolan film wich will be boring

    and the first 30 minutes were very slow , but till the end the movie is better and better

    very difficult subject , some dialogues also are very difficult to understand ( even with french subtitles )

    its a nolan movie for sure , and once again an orginal script
    the last 30 minutes are high class

    for me its still inception > interstellar

  8. cr7 9 years ago

    Ghost Town- Delightful film .I like Gervais a lot as comedian .But he really impressed me as an actor here . The jokes were sometime mediocre but Gervais’s comic timing never failed . There was no attempt to overdo or get in to details .They kept the plot very simple . Enjoyed it.

  9. Zacked 9 years ago

    Yes Interstellar was too slow at the start and even i couldnt get many dialogues (are you in UAE/Dubai). .

    At one point i thought of walking out.. it was that slow and boring at the start.. but i am glad i didnt.. after the Journey starts it keeps on getting interesting. The finale is top notch and almost all the questions the viewers ask are tied..

    @cr7 how r u.. long time.. u started watching Person of Interest?

    • cr7 9 years ago

      I’m fine . How are you ? Watched 2 seasons of POI .Quite interesting .Its like a perfect masala show 😛 .It has everything .Good action,bit of comedy,emotion and cool dialogues .Loved the performance of both leads . And I heard it gets better in season 3 & 4 . Wil start season 3 soon .

      OT: Disappointed with Arsenal season so far. And most frustrating is the whole world knows we needed a CB & CDM except Wenger.He has lost it. But Alexis is a beast .One of the best signings of Wenger .

      • cr7 9 years ago

        Btw have u watched Utopia ? Its an a British conspiracy thriller .Not very popular but excellent show .Dark,violent and highly engrossing . The DOP and BGM are top nothc .Most visually stunning show I’ve seen . Fincher is remaking it for HBO . But I would highly recommend the original . Its a shame that the show got cancelled after 2nd season. Its short ,only six episodes per season . Do give it a try ?

        Are you following any new show ? Gotham ?

  10. jj 9 years ago

    #Interstellar – Nolan never ceases to amaze. Interstellar is his most ambitious as well as emotional film yet. Think there was a conscious effort from him to outdo Inception in terms of scale, but must admit its way short of Inception.
    Matthew McConaughey was good esp the farewell scene to his daughter, its shot well and a powerful BGM helps. Hans Zimmers BGM is very good but silence is also used in some scenes really well.
    The Matt Damon sequence was bit too long for me and dint help the running time, its almost 160 mins.
    Also things like who placed the wormhole and concept of 5D is not explained well. Its just referred as ‘they’ placed it. May be I can appreciate it better on a repeat watch like most of Nolan movies.
    Overall an outstanding movie, but fell slightly short of high expectations.

    • shezad 9 years ago

      it is not esay to make your next film to inception better than this one.

      i will maybe re watch it tomorow in french language this time

      with what they show in their trailer the expectation were not sky hight ( they could have been made it ( the trailer ) in a way to have out of world expectation

      nolan film for me : inception >dark kinght > le prestige > memento > dark kinght rises > interstellar > batman begin > insomnia

      and batman begin is easily a 4/5 , even insomnia is very good

      have seen all this only one time , except inception,
      maybe will have to see them all for a final classification

      • jj 9 years ago

        Another thing I dint find right was Cooper was explained about wormhole in between the expedition. True, it was for the audience to understand the concept of wormhole, but it should have been done way ahead in the movie.
        For me the equation is Inception>Prestige>Dark Knight=Batman Begins>Interstellar>Memento>Insomnia>Dark Knight Rises>The Following

    • AAP 9 years ago

      I don’t think it is more emotional more than Batman or Prestige or Memento etc.

      “Also things like who placed the wormhole and concept of 5D is not explained well. Its just referred as ‘they’ placed it. May be I can appreciate it better on a repeat watch like most of Nolan movies.”

      I think the wormhole thing is well known thing. 5D cant be exaplained by any scientist so how Nolan can explain it?
      The thing abt “they” placed it was the only Nolan like thing (mysterious, open to questions) in an otherwise spoon-fed movie.

      Matt Daemon sequence was stupid and unnecessary.

  11. AAP 9 years ago

    I am avoiding reading anything on Interstellar. Watching it tomm.

  12. jj 9 years ago

    Boyhood is in my watchlist. I liked his Before Sunrise series. The long shots and near to life conversations etc. I dint like Linklater’s much acclaimed Dazed and Confused though.

    • jj 9 years ago

      Hi Sputnik, Have you watched 7up series? Is the wonder years similiar to it? Havent heard of it before.

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        No I have not watched 7 up series. Just heard of it for the first time. Wonder Years doesn’t seem similar to it. It used to come on Star Plus around 4/4:30 pm every day back in the 90s.

  13. jj 9 years ago

    Happy New Year – I had to see this one :(. Pathetic. Only some bits with Deepika was watchable. If its a comedy film atleast the jokes has to be good, dint find anything funny.

    • Baba 9 years ago

      i think srk was the only one tolerable in HNY. he was surprisingly subtle in the whole circus that farah had created. whatever the film has grossed is due to srk and only srk

  14. AAP 9 years ago

    Interstellar – slow pace was not the problem for me, neither was loopholes and logic, but the spoon-feeding was. First Nolan movie where I found him to be too simplistic and spoon-feeding the audience too much.

    There are way too many loopholes and at times Nolan is too lazy (like that Prof Brand using mechanical wheelchair at times when they have such a progress in space technology and robots. Prof Brand didnt actually get elder till he dies – he is of same age) The movie is has typical american space movie thing – people fighting and killing each other when they are not on earth. I dont think people will behave in that way , even in Apollo 13 and countless american movies characters act whimsically and illogical manner.

    “Saving the humanity” is most WTF thing about this movie. If that thing is removed – it is a good fantasy. Saving the humanity is forced and unnecessary angle and Nolan keeps repeating that again and again throught the movie.

    6 / 10 (Could have been 9 . 5 points of them for only imagining and bold attempt. Minus 3 points for Saving humanity and spoon-feeding. )

    • AAP 9 years ago

      And yes, the movie has quite bad VFX/special effects. Very childish actually. Even by current new-age Bollywood standards.

      • Baba 9 years ago

        ““Saving the humanity” is most WTF thing about this movie. ”

        not just this movie, this is the worst thing about any movie. i hate this theme in sci fi films

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      The mechanical wheelchair thing was in Avatar too. These scifi movies are set in the future where everything is so advanced but apparently they are still using mechanical wheelchairs when automatic wheelchairs have become so common at least here in the US.

      • shezad 9 years ago

        in fact in interstellar it looks like its a futur but not an adavanced futur : from car to plates to table to clothes ect… only thing that is advanced is nasa and army at some point of history

  15. AAP 9 years ago

    Some nitpicking on this fantasy called Interstellar:
    Actually there no need to give spoilers for this movie , but still, let me put out a note..

    spoilers ahead
    -> the Matt Daemon track – the planet looks like 40s,50s studio shoot – so fake
    -> Mr Brandy looks same age through-out the movie when all other ppl are growing up/getting older.
    -> Mr Brandy uses mechanical wheelchair when they have explored the solar system , have intelligent robots.
    -> The story is set in future or past – its mysterious. If its future, then the car and house of Mr Cooper is so old fashioned.
    -> People fighting each other and killing on another planet/outer space. Typical american wtf.
    -> Ms Brand trying to collect some device/recorder from a broken spaceship when there is a Gigantic wave coming in sea. Another wtf american typical illogical character.
    -> Matt Daemon trying trying to kill Cooper ..infact whole Matt Daemon track is unnecessary.
    -> The ending 20-30 minutes – poor CGI/VFX – whatever it is called.
    -> The Saturn looked like a picture taken from a book. Pathetic special effects.
    -> Its a fantasy I know, I dont want to pinpoint the loopholes – but still, when you are talking about time travel, relativity and quantum physics , how abt a bit of how Human heart/body will survive a wormhole travel/blackhole travel!?! (esp at the light speed)
    -> Cooper cries through his nose – well i didn’t like it; especially on big screen 😛
    -> In this movie none of the ppl who are on-board on that spaceship look qualified enough. Their talk and the way they talk abt relativity, time travel etc is so stupid and juvenile.
    -> 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!!!” . And we think our Bollywood movies are way too simplistic!!
    -> 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 drawned 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.
    -> The biggest WTF of them all is – SAVING THE FUCKING HUMANITY thing which goes on through-out the movie. Without that it would have been a better fantasy ignoring all the stupid physics and biology etc.

    A fantasy about time-travel, relativity, Blackholes and wormholes, our existence; and most importantly how it all comes together in our little life…our attachment to our near and dear ones!

    end of spoilers

    End of comment

    • Baba 9 years ago

      looks like a very good analysis of the movie. .will come back to your comment after seeing the film this weekend.I have not seen it but some of the points you raised sound very persuasive especially this – “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!!!” . And we think our Bollywood movies are way too simplistic!!”

    • Baba 9 years ago

      if possible write a full blown review for interstellar ritz. its my request. if you want i will write a positive review for PK in return 😉

      • AAP 9 years ago

        Lol, no I am not interested in reviewing this overlong fantasy.

        • Baba 9 years ago

          well wait for my pk review now 😛 you wrote some 4-5 comments on interstellar, you could have clubbed them into a single post . thats it. i like reading to the point reviews and your post would have been that.

    • Anjanpur685Miles 9 years ago

      Interstellar is not only pretentious but also very arrogant. Nolan thinks Human race is of utmost importance and the soul purpose of “they” putting the wormhole in our solar system was to save humans. Dead father talks to his daughter , traverses back in time etc. I was hoping it will end up like The Sixth Sense – a dream of some kind which will make it less arrogant – but it didn’t.

      • Baba 9 years ago

        whenever a nolan film releases everyone just does this bhed chal where they pretend they liked it without understanding a lot of things so that no one questions their intellect. i liked how you have pinpointed faults in the movie when everyone is busy singing praises and a lot of your points sound convincing to me.

        • AAP 9 years ago

          Thanks Baba

          • Baba 9 years ago

            i wil watch it this sat or sun hopefuly. i might post a review if i really like it or hate it. and since you are not reviweing it, i am going to copy some of your points and post them as mine and i wil get 500+ views 😀

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        The “Dead father talks to his daughter” part seems similar to the scifi movie Contact starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. I think some reviews also mentioned that Interstellar borrows some things from Contact. I liked that movie a lot because it was also about Science and Religion.

    • Baba 9 years ago

      ritz i had shared your review on fb. rex was pissed off and he gave a counter argument 😀

      Soumya Dhar Ok lemme take them one by one :-
      1) The matt damon track or ideally it should be called matt damon’s planet or dr. mann’s planet. What was so 40 or 50’s about the planet ?? just because the visuals was not exploding with colors & VFX ala james cameron movie doesnt mean its cheap . Try to understand the topography & nature of the planet . The planet had frozen icy clouds with no surface …only abyss … which they represented perfectly on screen ….if you still have nitpicks …tell me how could they improve it ??
      2) First of all there are no dr brandy in the movie ….there are two dr. brands ….father & daughter. Neway regarding micheal caines age . yes they didnt go overboard in the prosthetic department but there were clear signs of aging throughout the face….depends upon ones observation.
      3) Scientific evolution came to halt after government ceased their funding in most scientific outlets (including NASA) that wasnt helping in agriculture . So engineers weren’t in demand at that point of time & everybody (almost) was into farming only . So there were no more new discoveries made beyond a certain period of time. The scientific accomplishments on interstellar’s re-imagined earth is not so far ahead than ours actually …. except they have mastered traveling within the solar system & cryogenic sleep . TARS might be possible in about 10-15 yrs down the line. so we are not far way actually other than warp drives. The scientific achievements are mostly related to space travel, as we dont really get a chance to scope into other fields of science. BTW, out of all things u were bothered about a rudimentary “wheelchair ” ??
      4) The movie is set in future ….though i dont think any specific time was mentioned but going by the scientific advancements we see in movie maybe 50 yrs from now .
      5) LOL , people can fight anywhere when they have conflict in interests specially with a life threatening situation . Yes even NASA astronauts is not beyond that basic human emotion. Yes one can argue with the presentation but not the intent.
      6) Yes it was a mistake from Anne hathaway’s character as Cooper instigated later but she was trying to retrieve information/ data of that planet like any theoretical scientist will do but she wasnt particularly practical enuff maybe cause of field exposure . It was her first space expedition & again this has nothing about being american ….its human nature to do mistakes.
      7) The Matt Damon subplot might seem unnecessary in the grand scheme of things …but they had to visit his planet nevertheless going by his data (even though faked) & hathaway messing up on miller’s planet reaffirmed the need of visiting the planet…. so going to dr mann’s planet seemed like an logical progression .The character on the other hand could have been treated better but the subplot was not completely unnecessary. Yes there were few aspects of the subplot that cud have been improved.
      8) The CGI/ VFX in the end was very realistic & was true to its plot & nature of the film. This isnt supposed to be typical HW VFX extravaganza. One should not go in with wrong expectations . Maybe with the 2nd viewing it will be become more clear to you what nolan was trying to achieve.
      9) Finally a logical nitpick …. yes a human body cant survive a wormhole or black hole. One can travel through a wormhole (which is not proven yet ) in a spacecraft. but in a black hole it isnt just possible as the space craft will be teared apart. Its a sheer feat that cooper even managed to cross event horizon. cooper shud have been stretched out while entering the event horizon (point of no return) & his body shud have been disintegrated to the point of singularity because of the immense gravitational pull but there is also Einstein Rosen bridge theory where one might escape a black hole through a wormhole leading to a white hole but its all too convenient & made possible bcause of the intervention of the 5th dimensional beings. Its all very hypothetical as no one has been near to black hole able to experience it. But i guess it was important to bring the movie back to a full circle.
      10) I can only LOL about this
      11) I disagree but it is strictly upto ones interpretation of the characters. How do u suppose scientists brainstorm each other on a space mission ?? I didnt find any fault in it.
      12) I explained it before in this post . nothing bollywoodish about this.
      13) Whats wrong with human trying to save humans ?? Isnt that the first priority for all unless u are an alien & not human.

    • Baba 9 years ago

      saw interstellar in imax ritz. it takes suspension of disbelief into a whole new ridiculous level.its like an operatic drama than a sci fi film. i agree with each and every word of your review. for me the worst scene was where cooper sees Murphy’s childhood bedroom and speaks with her as the “ghost” from her childhood and sends codes through the seconds hand of the clock to save “humanity”. i coudl not care about the film beyond that point. rest about mat damon, the vfx, story, etc everything you have said quite well. dont need to repeat. rex is a clown who is just a nolan fan defending this stupid fantasy

  16. zacked 9 years ago

    PoI season 3 is damn good. I have watched 4 episodes of season 4 as well. Its really really entertaining.

    Finished watching 2 seasons of Arrow. 3rd has just started. If you don’t mind cheesiness that comes with superhero movies and TV shows you should give it a try.

    Started Orphan Black yesterday. Only watched one episode and liked it.

    On Arsenal, yep really really disappointing start. Should have gone for a CB and CDM, not sure why he didn’t. Would have been one of the best summer transfer windows in ages. Think Wenger will go, even after the FA cup win fans are still on his back and i think he will quit end of season if he doesn’t win a trophy. Though if he buys a CB and a CDM in January we will still have time to save the season. Looks like Chelsea will run with the league at the moment. I am just hoping they lose a game somewhere in between as calling Chelsea invincible will be really cringe-worthy. Happy with all the signings made by Wenger, Alexis (Beast mode), Debuchy ( Too bad he got injured), Welbeck (Good pace, just need to be more mobile and learn hold up play), Chambers (nice young talent, though a bit raw). Just wished he had addressed those 2 positions and we would have been set.

    • cr7 9 years ago

      Will star POI season 3 soon. I tried Arrow but didn’t like it .So stopped watching after 1st season . Seen orphan black season 1 . Great concept,great performance but a bit rushed .

      On Arsenal- I can’t trust Wenger anymore .What he has done for the club is amazing . But He has not adapted. His tactics are outdated and he hardly change. In spite of not winning anything I always admired Wenger for our free flowing style of play . but even that is missing this season.

  17. AAP 9 years ago

    Gone Girl – Awesome movie. Gripping. Ben Afflect is good but loved Rosamund Pike. Her acting reminded me of Louise Fletcher’s acting in One flew over cuckoo’s nest. The characters are different but she conveys so much through her eyes – her cunning ways and its chilling to see her here.

  18. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    This was a article in Slate about what’s wrong with the science of Interstellar but the author has now admitted that he was wrong about some of it.

    Interstellar Science
    What the movie gets wrong and really wrong about black holes, relativity, plot, and dialogue.

    Follow-Up: Interstellar Mea Culpa

    And from what I read on twitter its because of this excellent scientific article by Dr. Ikjyot Singh Kohli debunking those critical articles.

    Link

    • cr7 9 years ago

      I have not seen the movie yet .So not reading anything related to it . But here Neil de grass tyson’s short science review of Interstellar .He is one of the most influential astrophysicist of current generation and the host of the excellent show “Cosmos”
      https://www.salon.com/2014/11/10/neil_degrasse_tyson_gives_interstellar_a_surprise_science_review/

      Also Dr kohli’s blog has been a point of discussion on sm .And more people seem to agree with him . Phil Plait, the guy who wrote “what’s wrong with interstellar” commented on Dr Kohli’s blog and admitted mistake .

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        I have not seen the movie yet either. I read most of the article and it does seem well researched with all the mathematical equations. Yeah I read that Phil Plait commented on his blog and wrote that mea culpa article later.

        I have had Cosmos in my Netflix queue for a long time. I need to start watching it. Neil deGrasse Tyson had bashed Gravity for his scientific inaccuracy on twitter.

        https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/neil-degrasse-tyson-trolled-gravity-on-twitter

        • cr7 9 years ago

          Cosmos is great .I mean if u like this kind of stuff you’ll enjoy .Visuals are stunning and very well explained in details like a story .So it never gets boring. And Neil Degrass Tyson is like a rock star among nerds 😛 .

          • Author
            sputnik 9 years ago

            I thought it was a two hour documentary and was about to watch it but then found out it was a series so put it on the back burner 🙂 Now that you say it is great will start watching soon.

            Have you watched the American version of The Office? Initially I did not like it and thought it was weird. But on the second try I started watching episodes from the middle of the series and ended up liking it a lot and have now watched the whole series. It did get stretched and somewhat annoying in the later parts of the series. Steve Carell left and then they had different bosses and all of them (Ed Helms, James Spader, Kathy Bates) were annoying.

          • Author
            sputnik 9 years ago

            Started watching Cosmos. Liked the first episode. Its a bit scifi-sh and yeah the visuals are stunning. Neil Degrass Tyson’s narration is good.

  19. shezad 9 years ago

    saw interstellar a second time, and i really enjoy it , even more than the first time.

    with first viewving i found the first 30 min boring, but in second viewving this start was really good ( bcz i already knew the end )

    all in all a great movie

    • Baba 9 years ago

      what did you love in interstellar ? can you be a more specific?

      • shezad 9 years ago

        its a film that take ur full attention , so with its long running time, u r really “in ” the film

        as a fan of nolan film, saab se ziada to mujeh iss film ki thrilling passand ahi , liken app ko abhi nahi bata sakta, film deikh lein pehle

        doosri cheez, how the outside earth part have been filmed with a great background music

        emotion in 2-3 scene is also great : the father daughter on earth, the excahnge of message ect…

        • Baba 9 years ago

          very weak reasons for liking a film. did you like tdk?

          • shezad 9 years ago

            of course.

          • Baba 9 years ago

            what was the best thing you liked about tdk which seprates it from the rest of superhero films made in hw or any other industry?

  20. shezad 9 years ago

    i have seen tdk ( fully ) only one time,
    and when i was going to see it in cinema, at that time i dont knwo who is nolan ect… , and i was not in mood to see a batman movie, only some frien want to see it ang went with them

    so first thing why i really liked it, was that it really surprise me

    and second thing is, and this the answer to ur second question also, the joker part of the film

    the character of joker is the main thing that make me love this film

    this is after that i saw batman begins

    will see it very soon, will tell you if i still like it same or not

    for me there is no comparision of this batman series and an iron man or avenger or even man of steel

    • Baba 9 years ago

      for me , the biggest reason why i liked batman begins and tdk is bcos the superhero in both the films is not a superhero. he is a human. he has no superpowers like superman or spiderman. he is just a guy trained in ninjutsu. so what makes him a superhero? its his philosophy in life which makes him one. that is the best aspect i liked about both the films. the tdk series is not about vfx or gloss. its a film which has got the concept of superhero right.no film can atleast wow me just for vfx and effects. vfx which wows you today will make you laugh tomorrow. so that cant be a reason ever for liking a film.

      most of whom i have talked or read talking highly of interstellar are only saying how it is a great visual treat etc. these are weak reaosns. you said i am reading too much into ritz review. its bcos he has been very specific in his problems with the film and i find his views more convincing than the half baked positive comments from others.

  21. shezad 9 years ago

    saw rowdy rathor : good movie, but the climax was poor

    special 26 : really enjoy it , griiping movie, havent seen jimmy shergil beeing an akshay’s man

    every one have played very well

    race 2 : poor movie, poor action, poor twist ( most of them very predictable )

    • Baba 9 years ago

      yes i didnnt like climax of rr too. i also didnt like akshay as rowdy. s26 was one of the bets of 2013. race 2 i find enjoyable as a guilty pleasure. they just copy pasted everything from race 1. action was bad in climax but there was one parkour chase seqeunce which was excellent

  22. shezad 9 years ago

    i was really surprised by special 26. my brother was telling me to see this one, but tought it would a boring low class film.
    really one of the best bollywood film i see in recent time

    this film should have done a lot better at box office

    saw also two poor hollywood movies : the experiment : some people in need of money , applied for a experiment of being put in a false jail,with some of them palying prisonners and other playing guardian.
    ths film could have been passable but the end of the film is horrible

    the purge 2 : havent really liked the first part, but this one is also poor, only gun firing nothing else

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Special 26 was one of the best movies of last year. There was extensive discussion on the movie here in these posts.

      Special 26 Movie Review by Sputnik

      My issues with Special 26

      And here is my comment on The Experiment. It is very disturbing to watch and yeah the ending was bad.

      “The movie’s plot is inspired from the famous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. Movie was very engrossing but also very disturbing. Its basically a study of how power can corrupt people.

      Adrien Brody was very good. Forest Whitaker was excellent as the crazy psychotic guy acting as the prison guard. At one point in the movie I wanted Adrien Brody’s character to hit him – this is the second time I have hated a character so much after Nurse Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

      https://tanqeed.com/movies-you-watched-this-month-november-2013/comment-page-2/#comment-131957

  23. cr7 9 years ago

    Babel– Its a different movie .4 intriguing movies connected in a stylish manner .But ended in a unsatisfying note.At the end I didn’t really understand what was the point of the movie. Loved the cinematography .The Korean story has to be the most mysterious one and to be honest I didn’t get it exactly .

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      I watched Babel back in 2006 or so and I did not like it. Some of it was very disturbing. It was Japanese not Korean story 🙂 I don’t remember the details of it but I think she was lonely and depressed.

      You can try to watch Amores Perros by the same director. Here is my comment on it.

      “Just finished watching the Mexican movie Amores Perros. The movie has three interconnected stories. Liked the first one a lot and that was the major part of the movie. Second one was a bit annoying. Third one was a bit slow paced. All three stories have dogs as integral characters and these are supposed to resemble their masters. Liked this movie much more than Babel by the same director. Background Music by Gustavo Santaolalla was excellent especially in some scenes.”

      https://tanqeed.com/movies-you-watched-this-month-1/comment-page-1/#comment-55950

      • cr7 9 years ago

        My mistake 🙂 It was evident that the Japanese girl was depressed,lonely.But I just thought she must have some dark secrets. Maybe about her mother,relationship with her father.Her story didn’t look very straight .It was kinda ambiguous .Agree about the disturbing part .Some really weird scenes.

        I think sad,depressing and disturbing is Inaritu’s kind of movie .Had watched his Biutiful & liked it .Really looking forward to Birdman . One of my most awaited movies of this year.

        • Author
          sputnik 9 years ago

          “I think sad,depressing and disturbing is Inaritu’s kind of movie”

          Agree. I started watching 21 Grams but put it off for later because it was “sad,depressing and disturbing”.

          I have had Biutiful since a long time in my queue but haven’t watched it because its subtitled. Will watch it soon.

  24. shezad 9 years ago

    Talash: start well, not loosing time, direct in the main story. But aster thak film become very boring and atoi the end i dont really understand the purpose of the film.
    I dont understand why kareena need amir khan.
    Amir khan have actes well specially in comparison tout what i saw in the trailer of dhoom3 and pk

  25. cr7 9 years ago

    United 93 – Fantastic film . I think making real time movies is extremely difficult . Often they could be a mess . But united 93 was so well structured and amazing detailed in narrative.Its fast paced,highly engrossing ,very well edited .Greengrass has proven to be a master of this genre .Loved captain phillips and the two bourne movies he has done.

  26. Baba 9 years ago

    interstellar is running riot in imax theatres in mumbai. absolutely no tickets available for tmrw. but non-imax theatres is a washout. very interesting scenario 😀

  27. Baba 9 years ago

    The science in interstellar for time dilation is laughable.

    “A lack of gravity is the main cause for these intense alterations. Gravity is one of the most important forces at work on Earth, and it plays an immense role in the majority of our bodily systems. Take the muscles, for example. Older peoples’ muscles tend to shrink and atrophy as they age and become less mobile. Astronauts’ muscles react in a similar way because they are barely used. That’s why astronauts in space for extended periods of time use special exercise machines to help mitigate this effect.” https://science.howstuffworks.com/humans-age-in-space.htm

  28. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Domestic Disturbance
    A recovering alcoholic is skeptical of his son’s claim that his new stepfather is a killer — but soon begins to sense the boy is telling the truth.

    The movie started off somewhat ok but the climax was completely bad. It felt as if someone asked them to wrap up the movie.

    John Travolta was ok but he had a almost useless role. Vince Vaughn was good in a negative role.
    Teri Polo was ok but her character was very unbelievable. Matt O’Leary was good as the son. Steve Buscemi was good.

  29. alfa.one 9 years ago

    Ganga- Jamuna – Very nice movie. I understand it was ghost directed by Dilip Kumar. Deewar was based on this film.

    Upkar – Another good film from Manoj kumar.

    • Author
      sputnik 9 years ago

      Have not seen Ganga Jamuna or Mother India but isn’t Ganga Jamuna itself similar to Mother India?

      Have not seen Upkar in a long time but remember it liking it as a kid when I watched it on DD.

      • alfa.one 9 years ago

        Ya basis of the story of Ganga-Jamuna and Mother India were same but changed the character from Female to male in Ganga-Jamuna. Acting wise both Nargis and Dilip Kumar were outstanding. In fact the climax scenes of Ganga Jamuna were copied by Amitabh Bachchan in Adalat.

        Upkar seen on Tv and liked it. A very nice story and direction.

  30. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Loser
    A sad sack college student labeled a loser finds consolation with a quirky classmate. But can he win her away from the professor she’s sleeping with?

    Its the usual college teen romantic comedy but it was not that funny. It was ok.

    Jason Biggs was good in the lead role of the good guy who is considered a loser by his roommates. Mena Suvari looked very different/ordinary in the early parts of the movie unlike how pretty she usually looks in American Beauty/American Pie series. Greg Kinnear was good as the professor who is Mena’s boyfriend.

  31. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Double Indemnity
    A smitten insurance man plots the perfect murder with his femme fatale client: staging her husband’s “accidental” death to collect on the insurance.

    Excellent movie. Its a 1944 Black & White movie but is still engrossing. No wonder its considered a classic. Billy Wilder’s direction was excellent and the dialogues were brilliant. The movie was nominated for 7 Oscars but it did not win any.

    Fred MacMurray was excellent in the lead role. Barbara Stanwyck was excellent too as the Femme fatale. Edward G. Robinson was absolutely brilliant as the claims adjuster. Its a shame that he was not even nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant performance.

  32. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Apostle
    When a Pentecostal preacher learns of his wife’s affair, he puts the other man in a coma and flees for Louisiana, where he begins a new congregation.

    Did not understand the point of the movie. We are shown a preacher who is admittedly a womanizer who attacks his wife’s lover and then flees from the law. He starts a new congregation and there are lot of scenes of his building the new church and preaching on radio and in church and the end is as expected. The preaching scenes are similar to what come on those evangelical TV channels and sometimes are very funny/ridiculous.

    The movie is directed by Robert Duvall himself. Robert Duvall was excellent as the preacher with a dark side. He was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor at the 1998 Oscars. Farrah Fawcett was ok as his wife in a small role. Billy Bob Thornton was very good in a small confrontational role. Others were good too.

  33. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Manchurian Candidate
    Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco’s doubts deepen, Shaw’s political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

    Had watched this movie in theater when it released back in 2004 and liked it. Revisited the movie after a long time. Its a very good political thriller. Its a remake of the 1962 movie of the same name adapted to a modern setting.

    Denzel Washington was very good as usual. Meryl Streep was excellent as usual. Liev Schreiber was excellent as Meryl’s son Sergeant Raymond Shaw. Jon Voight, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright were good too.

    Recommended

  34. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    The Debt
    A former Mossad intelligence agent is forced to relive her unsuccessful pursuit of a Nazi war criminal when the fugitive reemerges 30 years later.

    The flashback or the mission part of the movie was very good and that was the best part of the movie. The jump in timeline with different actors playing the same roles was unnecessary. They could have jumped in the timeline to a few years later and finished off the unfinished job.

    Sam Worthington’s older character’s last scene did not make any sense at all. Jessica Chastain’s character is shown to be excellent in Krav Maga but she so stupidly gets attacked by the bad guy. Not only that her older character gets attacked by the same guy who is even more old now in the same stupid fashion.

    Sam Worthington was good. Jessica Chastain was very good. Helen Mirren was ok. Tom Wilkinson was usual. Jesper Christensen was excellent as the bad guy. Marton Csokas was good.

    Thanks to @hithere for the recco.

    • Baba 9 years ago

      “Jessica Chastain’s character is shown to be excellent in Krav Maga but she so stupidly gets attacked by the bad guy”

      are there any good fight scenes in the film?

      • Author
        sputnik 9 years ago

        There are some good fight scenes where they are training among themselves and one during the actual kidnap and one where they are trying to take the Nazi criminal on a train. But they are very brief in length.

        The movie unnecessarily ages them and there is some drama with old actors which I think ruined the movie. If they had aged them some 10-15 years they still would have been relatively young and it would have made for a good action thriller.

        The movie is not based on any real incidents or any real people.

        Thanks for the excellent video of Avivit Cohen. She is awesome.

    • Baba 9 years ago

      check this video of Avivit Cohen, a female israeli army officer who is krav maga expert. she featured in one episode of Fight quest. was jessica chastain character based on her?

  35. Author
    sputnik 9 years ago

    Reds
    This Oscar-winning epic follows American communist journalist John Reed, his lover Louise Bryant and their allies after the Bolshevik Revolution.

    The movie won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Maureen Stapleton), Best Cinematography and Best Director. It was nominated for 12 Oscars.

    Did not like the movie much. It was good in parts but it was way too long at 3 hr 15 min. The movie felt like a wannabe Doctor Zhivago which was also about the Russian revolution. It had some unnecessary drama and love story.

    The movie has interviews with the real life witnesses who knew John and Louise. But those interviews did not enhance the movie. It made it feel like a documentary. When Harry Met Sally reused this same thing and I think it worked better in that movie.

    Warren Beatty was excellent as John Reed and he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. Diane Keaton was also very good and she was nominated for Best Actress. Jack Nicholson was good in a small role and he also was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Maureen Stapleton was very good and she won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

  36. cr7 9 years ago

    Flipped- Its a beautifully told story of first love .Not perfect but sweet movie .

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