Devil (2010/I)

Typical Shyamalan movie with all the elements of his past films in it - the twist ending, the supernatural element, people searching for a reason to live, a lesson to be learned in the end, bla bla 

Terrible characters and dialogue and scenes added to simply pad out a story that could warrant a full length presentation. It is quite obvious that this film is just another example of Hollywood rushing out substandard fare to earn a quick buck..

The movie started out better than i expected,and then went downhill quickly. This was not nearly as good as I was expecting it to be may be i over expected. Shyamalan again disappoints me after 'The Last Airbender' 

I am not a HUGE horror film buff but in my opinion this movie falls more under sci-fi than anything

In short, life is too short to waste precious minutes watching this.

My rating : 5/10

Attack On Leningrad (2009)

Another war movie focusing on the invading German army into the Soviet Union in the second world war. Its a story about getting trapped ( like rats) about the survival (at any cost) about the courage ( total patriotism )

What i liked most about the movie is Screenplay. Its not like any other war movie where you see boom-boom ....bang-bang from beginning till end but its a perfect mixture of emotions, conflicts, confusion & patriotism. There were many scenes which will haunt me for the rest of my life

It raises the questions about human agony & wastage of human life during the war. Movie focuses on the view of the war from a different angle - city dwellers instead of soldiers at the killing field 

My rating 7.5/10 ( looses points because it lack historical accuracy in many instances)

Hitler in Colour (2005)

What a documentary i tell you. Complete visual & info feast. I recommend this to all those who were always curious about Hitler but never knew how to start knowing him. It would be surely a wonderful start. Ppl who do start yucking by the name of history may reconsider their likes & dislikes after watching this documentary.

Narration by Brain Cox is a perfect salt in the documentary.


My rating : 8/10

Guzaarish (2010)

The movie deals with many hypothesis about the right to die....i dint like this movie at all...there is a paralysed man , a beautiful nurse and 'close-up' ad boy and there is so much and this so much is 'nothing at all'

Copied idea, indianised version = Bakwaas non-appealing movie. 

The other day i mentioned to one of my friends that there is an original spanish version (The Salted Sea) of this movie and while watching this hindi version i realised that this movie is total copy of emotional blockbuster of 1981 "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" This movie was total senti & it really appeals to you and make you feel the pain of paralysis & it does convince you the act of euthenesia is the need of time & it has to be decided case to case unlike our Indian copy which wil bore you to death. 


'few notable changes' what our Bhansali sir made compared to the original version:

Hirithik Roshan is magician whearas the original guy was a sculpture 

Here, paralysed man talks abt the sexy legs of Aiswarya rai & in original version the sculpture praises the breast 

The whole hindi movie looked like a set or a stage drama.... i guess its time that Bhansali learns from his past mistake of 'Saawariya' and better realise that the Indian audience is yet not ready for his "stage show/ opera" kinda movies and little originality will b much more appericiated from the director of his stature.

My rating 2/10 ( only for the cleavage show for 2 hrs...that was the only freshness in the movie )

Highly recommened : Whose Life Is It Anyway (original Guzaarish )
IMBD Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083326/

Adaptation (2002)

'Adaptation' is a movie which focuses all about failures. Depending on your mood at the time of viewing, this film can range from being refreshing, amusing, hilarious, to even just plain boring. It's a great piece of art, but you really do have to be in the right mood for it. The movie had a very intriguing idea, a strong cast and the director’s  genuine efforts.

Nicholas Cage is at the emotional core of the film. If his performance doesn't resonate, the film doesn't work.  Cage was excellent. And that the script really gives him some wonderful, challenging material to work with.

Plot is engaging-both visually and story-wise but again I must admit only a story is told. If it touched you like it did me, then this is art. The musical score is uplifting with very little tension in the movie… Movie starts out like an interesting movie, about the interesting characters that are creative people…. the storytelling is original, so you think this might be a good movie about the relationship between reality, movies, and literature…. but the movie is just a trick, the themes are mentioned but not explored, and in a whole this movie has nothing really interesting to say…Movie is too lengthy, with tedious mess of depressing scenes….Toward the end it fails to keep its promise as i couldn’t decided if the ending of the movie made any sense…this may be due to story writer’s confusion, laziness, hurry or lack of talent to give a finishing touch. Finally this so called master piece turns out to be nothing but 100% artificial, commercially-calculated cinematic art movie. I assure you if I take away Nicholas Cage and ignore the fact that Meryl Streep acted in it, this movie would not be so popular


Bottom line: 


While some people would disregard this movie as empty and pointless, I’d argue that that is exactly the point. It’s about the emptiness that is rendered into our lives by failure and our craving for overcoming them. Love it or hate it, this is cinema in its purest and most unpretentious form. And definitely not something you’d like to watch for a visual treat. I wasn't very impressed by the film the first time I saw it, but there is something about it that is quite haunting. Parts of it stay in the memory….it may linger upon you for way longer than you can comprehend. Especially recommended for those who like highly original and intelligent cinema which the regular society cannot digest! This movie is unwatchable for the average movie goer. It is of no interest and of no intellectual value whatsoever as this film seems to be made only for the critics, not for average moviegoers. The writing is great (except the ending part), but the actual film is dreadful… to be `politically correct' highly recommended for the members who are giving serious thoughts about writing or are into writing & for rest, nothing much cerebral 

My rating: 7 /10 ( all grades for the freshness & nothing else)

25th Hour (2002)

25th Hour is a smartly written, well-acted, character-driven drama that belongs to aftermath of 9/11 era...movie illustrates the complexity of human relationships among friends, lovers, and family.... I personally liked the conversation & screenplay of the ending segment wher Edward Norton & his father (Brain Cox) drives in the car...totally mind-blowing scene ...screenplay at its best 

The movie was beautifilly shot with scenes of New York post 9/11. Ed Norton and Barry Pepper gave good performances given the material they had to work with. Basically 'all style, no substance' kinda movie with few scattered refreshing cinematic moments... Ed Norton who has a strong presence on the screen, once again proved his versatility as an actor... i can assure you, you may find few glimpse of his " FIGHT CLUB" kinda performance in this movie...especially mirror rant scene ( famous as 'The 'F**k You' scene) he has when he's staring in the mirror is just excellent...It does remind me of Amitabh Bacchan's mirror scene from 'Amar Akber Anthony'...IMO, very few actors who could make this scene work to the degree of the impact that Norton & Big B achieved.

The whole movie appeared to me like a chain of unrelated, unimportant scenes.. leading up to a pointless ending...It is slowly paced for no apparent reason other than self-indulgence and is confusingly shot and edited....movie is long but not overlong...Movie is jus one man show wher monologue by Ed Norton reminds or at least gives you the feel of 'Fight Club' movie

Final verdict: 

As this movie is all about choices and consequences... the film refrain itself from asking questions, it jus presents images and ideas, and leaves you to draw your own conclusions. Even though movie is slow paced, if you want to see something intelligent & thought provoking this is your movie.

my rating : 7/10 ( I wanted to like this movie  ... may be 2nd time watch wil improve the score)

Crash (1996)

‘Crash' is a sexually explicit bizarre kind of film wher fetish over vehicular collisions is beautifully captured on the camera but if you are expecting this movie to be an evening's erotic entertainment, you are going to be disappointed 

Those of you who can digest director Cronenberg's weird ideas and screenplays without getting constipated ....then this is your cup of tea. Director also claimed that the entire film was shot within a half hour of his house in Toronto, Canada...  no wonder 

Basically plot focuses on human ‘emotions’..oops sorry human ‘conditions’ and how they are affected by our choice of technology...here, in the movie… people behave in a very abnormal fashion, seemingly without anyone else noticing.... there are no motives or background to propel their actions, they simply follow the path which feeds the void within

Performances by lead actors are flawless... flawless in their avoidance of 'emotions' . I really dropped my jaw looking at the continuous stream of sex acts and the car crashes which are, very effectively shot, but the film is just too sterile, too clinical to disturb.... i mean there is no salt in it....kuch feekha feekha sa lagtha hain

Bottom line:

 Movie doesn't even make it as a soft porn flick... instead it's a sophisticated 'maybe porn, but not art….may be art but not porn…or jus artistic porn' kinda movie.. endlessly treading the same path and never getting anywhere. IMO, if Cronenberg has a point to make, he doesn't state it with any clarity... all he lets the audience do is observe, denied even the opportunity to share the seriously deviated human behaviours. 

A real disappointment from Cronenberg! I used to like his films, but this one is making me pee blood..but still i must say, above all, a brave attempt to explore an almost un-bearable subject – the death of affect and our unconscious desire for violence…

This movi is not for every one.. do view it with an opened mind expectin gore, strong language, nudity and homo-sexuality

My rating 6.5/10 ( my grades are heavily influenced by soft porn in the movie   )

Nick of Time (1995)

I liked the movie but i wished i could have watched this movie  before the release of SRK starring 'Baadshaa'.... Our bollywood is total remake of this movie plot. I din't even feel like writing anything abt the movie as my mood is blown off .... it really pisses me off whenever i come across some good 'non-indian' movie n after watching it for few min i bang my head realizing that i have already seen this movie 'somewher' 

What a waste!!! I jus wish why cant our ppl b original if not creative...Such a big loosers they are...They really cheat the viewers. IMO, atleast they can give due credits to the 'original' plot writer of the 'original' movie...

Abt the movie:

 Even after realizing that i know the whole plot of the movie, this movie was sufficiently packed with enough thrill ( of course without any suspense) to glue me till the end... Johnny Depp's one of the finest performances...I am jealous of all those lucky guys who did not watch 'Baadshaa' and on the very same basis i recommend this movie but for all those unlucky movie freaks (like me) who had already lost 2 1/2hrs of their life by watching that hindi movie ...AVOID IT AT ALL THE COST (Unless u r gr8 fan of Johnny Depp n believes that watching him act itself is more than watching a movie)

My rating
1) (if at all i could have seen this movi b4 'bad'shaa) 7/10
2) but for now :  4/10 ( all 4 for JD's performance)

Invictus (2009)

Invictus is neither a biographical film nor a complete sports film... It's a sports drama twined around the political career of Nelson Mandela but watching `INVICTUS' is certainly an educational experience... i must admit i knew little of Nelson Mandela before watching this film...n after watching this movie i can jus say it is one of the most influential, positive, and empowering movies I've  watched in the recent times..

Eastwood's beautiful n admirable attempt to shows how sports can unify people. In single line Invictus is a movie about dark days of South African country in 1990s when racial tension between the whites and blacks was quite dominant.

Coming to the plot, as this movie is semi-biopic and biopics are (obviously) based on facts, so nothing creative to applaud about the plot but i would rather appreciate the screenplay of the movie. IMO whenever plot got less scope to build n if screenplay is badly written then movie will surly see its doomsday at the box office.

Some scenes in the movie are actually inspiring, but that's more because of Freeman and not the script.

Talking about the cast...it is very strong... Morgan Freeman gives a fine performance wonderfully recasting Nelson Mandela's wonderful facial expressions, gestures, physical style and speech pattern...Matt Demon is equally good. Weighing movie in terms of emotional quotient, it does dig very deep. One understands how Mandela changes the mood of his country . The scenes--some of which are extraordinary, some are powerful, intense and suspenseful too ( ok, at least little suspense was felt...LOL) --but few scenes i found were self-contained, they don't link up emotionally with one another.... resulting is a 'cinematic slide show'....yawn ...yawn.

However, the movie does glamourize Mandela, it does make of him as a flawless 'larger-than-life' hero, but again for many countless reasons, the film is greatly in debt to Morgan Freeman. If it weren't for his engaging and powerful performance then this film would be very bland for the majority. He makes a charismatic leading man and it is difficult to imagine that anyone else could have done a better job with this role - or that the film would have worked without him.

Final verdict: 

All things considered, "Invictus" is a very good film that provides some intriguing insight into the motivations of a 20th century’s worldwide icon of freedom and reconciliation.

My rating : 8/10

{P.S: I am huge fan of Clint Eastwood….readers discretions is adviced…LOL)

Moon (2009)

Its a slow (not very slow though) sci-fi movie which is low on budget, high on human emotions...i must say this movie aptly shows that films do not need a high budget in order to be good ( guys guys guys i am calling this movie just good n not superb)

Plot of the movie is 'quite fresh' where you will only be watching one man (Sam Rockwell) for an hour and a half. The plot is subtly delivered.... It does not require words to deliver its bleak message.... of course pacing is slow, which gives viewers time to enter the mind of Sam Rockwell, to be him and to feel his pain... his isolation and loneliness...i must say it is hard to pull what he did n believe it guys he did it perfectly.

Movie content is very strong ...I agree it is painful to watch at times, but to me at least, that's because the actor and the director managed to immerse me in the character...landscapes of the moon are awesome to watch... background music is appealing n goes with the mood of the movie.

Final verdict:


I can't really say that I liked the film because this isn't a movie you finish watching n say oh yea!!! 'that was wonderful!'...& at the same time movie is not bad either so i can jus take the liberty of writing that many movie freaks would not be able to handle this but for the few (hardcore sci-fi fanatics) who can (I think) it really 'delivers'.

My rating 7/10 

Salt (2010)

Not more than a typical popcorn flick, but I would say that I am not disappointed...I loved this movie mostly because a woman was the lead ;).... its entertaining...no doubt about it...its nice on the eye {Thanks to her beauty.. no wonder Angie got sexiest lips on this planet ;)

I even heard from my friends that first this role of 'Edwin Salt' was offered to Tom Cruise but i am glad he opted out as its pretty obvious ;)...this movie is 'all style and no substance' but again you can't complain on this aspect as most action films are similar on this scale....Coming to the core of the movie.....its just a little dumb, very expensive action movie with absolutely no character depth...film is filled with narrow escapes, close calls and tons of gun violence... But, hey, that's what spy movies are all about. Isn't it ? A trip to the loo will mean that you're more likely to miss a couple of explosions...gun shots... Jolie's  new hair wig color...n few of her sexy looks rather than a couple of plot twists...LOL
For mindless high-impact entertainment you probably won't need to look any further than this one ...but i can assure you its not as mindless as movies like 'A-Team & Losers'..(God only knows how i survived even after watching them)

Coming to the movie script...it was OK considering the genre but nothing out-standing. As I said earlier, all were certainly 'little' above average, but nothing exceptional but IMO, in future(if this movie got one) if the script n plot are pumped with little more adrenaline i am sure it has got the potential of turning into a decent female James Bond series

As far as Jolie , I do like her (i am sure by now its pretty obvious..LOL) but I did not see such great acting here {who cares am damned wit her lips n looks ;)}unless you think great acting is the ability to jump around with weired kinda  hair wigs but she was not a bad choice for this either; considering jodie foster is too old for such roles ;)


I don't wanna say that you shouldn't watch this film, it's decent if you need to kill two hours of your time n esp if you are fan of angie, but it doesn't change the fact that the film is only enjoyable only if you switch your brain off otherwise it will badly affect the fun!

My rating 6.5/10
(most part of my rating is influenced by my AJ's fanaticism in me)

Frequency (2000)

A sci-fi movie with zero special effects,an impressive story, efficient plot , original screenplay, top notched acting (by Dennis Quaid) with unsatisfied or i must say typical ' bollywood type faltu' ending...

Basically a time travel film decorated with few sci-fi elements revolving round the murder mystery...

Usage of two simultaneous plots (primary plot being present and the secondary somewhere in 1960s) with two climaxes which keeps the viewer on the edge... very refreshing screenplay talents on display... 


After initial 30 min or so movie start becoming complex and at times difficult to understand but still, to me it appeared quite an intelligent effort plan.

See this film with an open mind as to what was going to happen, i didn't expect anything amazing to happen n i came across this brilliance of cinema making...Again a word of caution, for all the 'Einsteins' who are reading my review, plz do not watch this movie as a 'time travel physicist' jus keep your mind open and let movie create the magic with its wonderful screenplay.

Finally, i leave the discovery of the film open to anyone who is planning to watch it , without me creating any unnecessary hypes.

My rating 9.5/10

Bottom line : Worth your sitting!!!