Back to watching loads of movies :)

On the weekends I catch at least 3 movies.

What is interesting is that I have started watching a lot more international films thanks to World Movies and NDTV Lumiere. It still bugs me that I have to read the 'dialogues' but it's a small price to pay for some really good movies.

Done with 2 movies today itself already and got 2 more lined up for tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get back to putting down a few reviews in the next few weeks :)

But totallyyyy realized what a movie buff I am and how I dislike people who don't like the movies.

The Ugly Truth

My Recommendation : Worth 1 watch.


The story is nothing original but the treatment of the film is done nicely. It's hilarious certain places. I expected it to be very average but the funny moments made it well worth the watch.


I expected Katherine Heigl to be very average but she did a good job (for some reason she's a TV actress in my mind but surprisingly seems to pull off these solo lead roles fairly well). Though she mostly likely is going to get typecast this way I feel.

Haven't seen Gerald Butler before this. He was pretty good too.


Director : Robert Luketic
Cast : Katherine Heigl
Gerald Butler
Eric Winter
Bree Turner

Watched a lot of movies recently

Some were brilliant. Some were so so.

1. Untraceable
2. Eagle Eye
3. Lucky By Chance
4. Central Station
5. Casablanca
   
6. Harry Potter 1 and 2
7. Memento
8. Man on the Moon
9. Straight
10. Revelation Road

And a bunch more. Not going to write reviews about them. Though I would recommend Eagle Eye, Untraceable, Central Station (it's a Brazilian movie) and Memento.

Pink Panther 2

Recommendation - If you love slap stick comedy, a must watch.

I totally enjoyed the movie. Some scenes were just super hilarious.

Aishwaria Rai had lots of screen time but not much to do in terms of acting. She didn't even look as good as she usually looks. Some how I always find she carries of Indian outfits way better than any western wear.

Steve Martin was brilliant (as usual).

I haven't seen Part 1 which a lot of people have told me is better than Part 2. Have never seen the original movies either. But after watching Pink Panther 2 I am going to definitely get the movies and watch them.

Director : Harald Zwart
Producer : Robert Simonds
Cast : Steve Martin
Andy Garcia
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Jean Reno
Alfred Molina
Emily Mortimer

Many movies :)

Seen a bunch of movies since the last time I posted. Might write reviews later.

Dev D
Kung Fu Panda
Gone Baby Gone

Yes Man

Recommendation: Worth a watch (especially if you are a Jim Carrey fan)



The movie is typical Jim Carrey. But on the whole it had more than a few good laughs here and there. What struck me the most though was what if everyone became a 'Yes' man/woman - what if everybody 'chose life', how different would their life be?

Don't want to put in any spoilers so won't say much but the most hilarious scene is with the old lady.

Go check it out if you haven't already.


Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Jim Carrey
Zooey Deschanel
Bradley Cooper

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

Recommendation: Don't bother with this one.



I still can't comprehend why this movie got some great reviews. I didn't like the movie at all. Maybe it's because I am not from the North of India....I don't know.

Abhay Deol was alright. He does have a certain charm. I didn't get all the double and triple roles being played by certain actors. It would only make sense to me if that was done to either 1) Give more screen time to the actors 2) Save money by getting more characters played by the same actors.

Totally love the theme song of the movie but that's the only thing I loved about the movie.

I seriously wonder if Ronnie Screwvala just has way too much money. Seriously thinking that Dev D is going to be way too 'hutke' also.

Give it a miss. Watch something else instead.


Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Abhay Deol
Paresh Rawal
Neetu Chandra

Madagascar : Escape 2 Africa

Recommendation - A must watch.



Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is just totally brilliant. The first half at least. Totally hilarious. Second half was a little too sentimental but it doesn't get boring.

The animation was totally fabulous (as expected).

The penguins and King Julien are brilliant as always. Hehe this time the monkeys are too.

It's definitely worth a watch.


Voices of -
Ben Stiller (Alex)
Chris Rock (Marty)
David Schwimmer (Melman)
Jada Pinkett Smith (Gloria)

Dasvidaniya

Recommendation: Worth a watch but not necessarily in a theatre.


Won't reveal the story or anything in case some hasn't heard it yet. Dasvidaniya is 'Goodbye' in Russian.

The success of the movie goes to show that you can have a simple story/concept and you can have 'real life like' characters and still make a hit movie. You don't need huge sets, big celebrities, big budgets etc. Just need to present your story in a fashion that will touch people either emotionally or philosophically.

The movie is apparently 'inspired' by a Hollywood film. Haven't seen the English one so I'm not sure.

The movie is slow or at least I felt it being that way. I mean sure there need to be moment when nothing is really happening on the screen so that the emotion or thought sinks in (into the mind of the audience) but these stops were done at the right points.

The cast did a good job.


Director: Shashant Shah
Cast: Vinay Pathak
Rajat Kapoor
Neha Dhupia
Gaurav Gera

Sarkar Raj

Recommendation: Worth a watch.



The movie was not half as bad as I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed it. Of course it was slow and the cinematography (or that's what I think it is called-basically movement of the camera) is terrible - but that is typical of a Ram Gopal Varma film.

Abhishek was very good. I think the whole dark brooding character suits his personality. I know people like him in comedy but I think these sort of roles are better for him.

Aishwarya Rai looked really good.

Don't know if this story was a rip off of some other movie/book but I liked it. The end was a little too predictable.

Didn't like some of the dialogues and also didn't like the presentation of some of the dialogues.

But over all it was a good watch.



Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Fashion

Recommendation : Worth a watch



Maybe many people might not agree but I liked the movie (at least over all). Yes it was a little slow and wasn't as much 'fun' as a Madhur Bhandarkar movie usually is but I was quite satisfied with it over all.

While the film does lack dirt and filth (as most Madhur Bhandarkar movies have), the message in this also is quite subtle about what the industry is like. Which I found a little odd, especially after promos of 'You will lose more than just your morals'. It wasn't as dark as I expected it to be.

Oh and there has to be a note about Priyanka Chopra because she was absolutely fantastic. I am not a huge fan of hers and also thought she would have been wrong for the movie but she was outstanding. Not only did she look very good (in most places) but she acted quite well too.

Arjun Bajwa was quite good too :) Kangna Ranaut and Mugdha Godse weren't bad either. Arbaz Khan also did a decent job.

I only wish they had edited it a little better (read more) so that it didn't feel so long.


Director : Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast : Priyanka Chopra
Kangna Ranaut
Mugdha Godse
Arjan Bajwa
Arbaz Khan


P.S. Ronnie Screwvala is producing A LOT of films.

P.S.S - First time I have caught a First Day First Show of a film :) It was fun.

Phoonk

Recommendation : Don't bother at allllll


Well when it comes to scary, this movie is shows how scary it is to have money get wasted (on it) so easily. Okay there are some scenes where you might jump with a start but that's normal in any movie that is silent for a few seconds and then blasts some noise at you.

The only good thing in the movie was the kid. She didn't just look cute but even acted well. But even she isn't that good that you should go out and watch the movie.

Director : Ram Gopal Verma
Cast : Ahsaas Channa
Sudeep
Amruta Khanvilkar

A Wednesday

Totally Brilliant Movie. A must watch.

Not at all typical. Fast paced (though some scenes were a little too stretched). There is only one questions that ruins the experience - they don't mention how the 'common man' gets so smart.

Director: Neeraj Pandey
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah
Anupam Kher
Jimmy Shergill
Aamir Bashir

Welcome to Sajjanpur

Recommendation : If you want to watch a movie with a strong story, give this a miss. If you want to watch a movie that gives you a perspective you wouldn't have, watch it.


The movie had a lot of interesting characters and a lot of interesting mini-incidents but lacks a strong story line.

Shreyas Talpade as usual was quite good. His character of a letter writer seems unusual but apparently the movie was inspired but a person who did letter writing for some village folk.

It was interesting to sit and watch what a village life seems like. From the dirty politics to the blind rituals. Some of the movie was not understandable because of the language that was spoken in the film which was very annoying. And for the thinking audience, few things obviously don't make sense because the way the scenes are portrayed.

Some scenes were very funny. The songs were terrible and totally useless. Everyones acting was fantastic. The rural setting was nicely done.

If the story was crafted a little better, the movie would have been a lot better.

Do check it out if you want to see something different.

Director : Shyam Benegal
Cast : Shreyas Talpade
Amrita Rao
Divya Dutta
Rajeshwari Sachdev
Ila Arun

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Recommendation : If you are into love stories and stuff, you better watch it.


I know the whole country seems to have gone crazy about this movie. I thought it was okay. Bearable. Mainly because I don't like sappy movies. And yes this wasn't super sappy but still the only romantic movies I can watch are - City of Angels, Run Away Bride and Just Like Heaven.

Genelia D'Souza can't speak Hindi for nuts. Imran Khan wasn't bad. He did seem a little awkward in some scenes but over all he was quite good.

I remember a friend saying - Oh I loved the movie, it reminded me of my college days. You know the hanging out, calling each other names.... Well my college days were quite different so needless to say I didn't feel the connect. But anyways it was not too bad a movie, so go watch it.


Director : Abbas Tyrewala
Cast : Imran Khan
Genelia D'Souza
Prateik Babbar
Sugandha Garg
Manjari Fadnis

Arjan Bajwa

He is soon to be seen in Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion.

He has done a few movies before but I never noticed him before mainly cause his movies weren't blockbuster type movies.

Bottom line - I think he looks really good :)

And I think if he does a good job in this movie, he might go places.

Hancock

Recommendation : Not your typical super-hero movie but worth a watch.


Less of a guy which extra ordinary powers saving the earth and more about his inability to do think in spite of being super human.

The special effects were nice. Loved them. The movie was a little too sappy for my liking but at least not as bad as Spider-Man being all tongue twisted about his lady love or whatever.

Charlize Theron I must admit looked really good.

Love the scene when Will Smith goes in to save the lady cop. Pretty funny.

Director : Peter Berg
Cast : Will Smith
Charlize Theron
Jason Bateman

Movie Ratings and Reviews

I think your expectations before you watch a movie has a lot to do with how you feel about the movie after you are done.

At least that is the case with me. If I am told a movie is great, and I feel it's not great, I actually don't think it's good but rather that it is average at best.

Similarly with movies I think I will hate, I actually end up enjoying them to some extent if they are tolerable.