ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA (2011) - HINDI

           ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA directed and written by ZOYA AKHTAR was one of the most anticipated movie of the year. The film starred HRITHIK ROSHAN and KATRINA KAIF in the lead along with FARHAN AKHTAR and ABHAY DEOL who played prominent roles in the film.

          ABHAY DEOL(KABIR) is about to get married. KABIR's friends are FARHAN(IMRAN) and HRITHIK(ARJUN). The trio had planned that if any of them is getting married, they would go for a bachelor's trip to where they will visit three different places with each having a surprise for the rest in one location. So the three musketeers ARJUN, KABIR and IMRAN visit SPAIN for KABIR's bachelor trip. It is in this trip, the trio befriends KATRINA KAIF (Laila) and they together explore the beauty of SPAIN with some romances and various other drama happening to the trio in the trip.

         HRITHIK plays the role of a stock broker(ARJUN) who has a great thirst for money. Arjun is not so good at relationships as he sees money as his first goal and his job as the only means to earn so much money by the age of 40 and retire by age of 40. But FARHAN's character is completely different from arjun. Farhan(Imran) is a painter cum writer who seeks to meet his dad who left him and his mom some 20 years ago. Imran does not have a great deal for money, but he is very much interested in women. He is so good at enchanting women such that in the past he made the girl who was about to marry Arjun to become his girlfriend. Thus Arjun and Imran dont do well with each other because of this issue. ABHAY(KABIR) plays the role of a calm, cool guy who tries to please his Fiance who doesnt trust him and thinks that he is weak at women. Katrina plays the role of Laila, a trainer who trains people in deep sea diving as her summer vaccation job and spends her vaccation in spain to enjoy the beauty of SPAIN.

        The shots taken in spain were really awesome. Everything you would like to know about spain is shown in the film like Bull Fight, TOMATINA festival, etc. The funny fights between IMRAN and ARJUN added flavour to the film. The scenic beauty along with the romance of HRITHIK and KATRINA was a treat. I loved this film. Its a good film to pass time. To sum it up the film depicts the problems of the three friends have in their life and provides you a panoramic view on whether are they capable of overcoming it to achieve the goals of their life and lead a successful life.

MY RATING - 7.3/10

DEAD SILENCE (2007)

              DEAD SILENCE is a horror film which uses the traditional plots of ghost stories which involve "VOO-DOO", "PUPPETS" etc. But still I liked the brilliance of the writer for providing a good horror movie with not much bloody gore scenes. The film stars RYAN KWANTAN in the lead.

             JAMIE ASHEN(RYAN KWANTAN) and ELLA are newly married couple who are about to start their married life in a newly rented apartment. They receive a parcel with no sender's identity. They oen it to find a Puppet/Doll. Seeing the doll, makes ELLA and JAMIE to remember the age old ghost story of their town RAVENS FAIR. The ghost myth of the town is based upon a ventriloquist named MARY SHAW. It is believed that she haunts the ones who scream seeing her in their nightmares.

             On the same day when the couple find the puppet, JAMIE returns home to find his wife being murdered. He becomes the prime suspect of investigation. The investigation is lead by DONNIE WAHLBERG (Det. LIPTON). LIPTON firmly believes that JAMIE had killed his wife and so goes out on a mission to put JAMIE behind the bars. On the other hand JAMIE seeks to find the truth about the puppet. LIPTON does not believe in the folktale of MARY SHAW and so the mouths of the citizens of RAVEN CLAW but not their hearts as they believe that "HER NAME MUST NOT BE TOLD".

             The picturisations of MARY SHAW as the ghost was good. But the crappy part of the film is near the climax where the movie looks as if they sought to finish the movie in a hurry-burry. The gore part of the movie are the dead bodies and the tougue that comes out of MARY SHAW. As all ghost stories have, this film also has a good twist in the climax. Overall the film was really good except for a few minutes of crappy screenplay near the end.

           Both RYAN KWANTAN and DONNIE WAHLBERG suited their roles and did s great work in the film. The atmosphere in the movie suited the plot very good and also the dull color effect throughout the movie was good. I loved the climax  and the way the story was built and portrayed. After a long a good horror movie to watch.

MY RATING - 6.6/10

AFI's 10 Top 10

AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Various actors and directors, among them Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Roman Polanski, and Jane Fonda, discussed their admiration for and personal contributions to the films cited. A list of 500 films were nominated from which the final 100 were chosen.


To view the list of films in each genre click the respective names

GENRE: 

Animation

 

Fantasy

 

Gangster

 

Science Fiction

 

Western

 

Sports

 

Mystery

 

Romantic Comedy

 

Courtroom Drama

 

Epic

MERE BROTHER KE DULHAN (2011) - HINDI

I saw this movie at CINEPOLIS in Bangalore today. The theatre was very good and the movie was excellent. It was a perfect recipe for the day. MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN starring IMRAN KHAN, KATRINA KAIF and ALI ZAFAR.

The story begins with the break up between ALI ZAFAR(luv) and Piyali in London. Luv plans to become married before the christmas and calls his brother IMRAN KHAN(Kush) to find him a lady love in India. Kush and his friends do many work out many plans to find a bride for LUV. Finally KUSH finds KATRINA, he and his family decide she is the one. Katrina plays the role of Dimple, a bubbly, charming and an open attitude character. As LUV arrives from London only a week before the marriage, KUSH and DIMPLE spend time with each other and get to know each other better and better such that they fall in love. As this plot could be easily derived from the 3 minutes trailer which is telecasted every 15 minutes in every channel, I have just given you an outline of the plot.
The rest of the story deals with who pairs with whom. The entire movie is full of comedy. Although the movie is full of fun, the entire plot seems to have the traditional, age old and used plot lines. After a few minutes into the movie, most scenes can guessed and the story seems to have taken inspirations from many recent movies like JAB WE MET, MANMADHAN AMBU(Tamil) and many more. The songs are good and they have been nicely picturised. The songs placed at right moments in the film. I loved the intro song "Mere brother ki dulhan" and Kat's song "Dhunki".

One of the best thing to happen to this film is KATRINA. Katrina was really hot in this movie. The role of DIMPLE, a modern, bubbly and sexy character really suited her. I loved seeing katrina in this movie. Although the story line was very much predictable, it was the comedy sequence which keeps flowing on keeps you enjoying the movie rather concentrating on the overused plot line of Bollywood. But still I dont understand why many films use the same overused plots.

I recommend my readers to watch the movie atleast once.

My RATING is 7/10.

ENTRAPMENT(1999)

The film starring SEAN CONNERY and CATHERINE ZETA JONES was released in the year 1999. It premiered alongside of many great films such as FIGHT CLUB, AMERICAN BEAUTY, THE MATRIX- the summer blockbuster of the year and failed to be in the first league.

Due to the incident of an highly protected Art theft, Catherine Zeta Jones(Virginia Baker), an insurance agent goes undercover to join the league of an aging Master Art thief, Frank MacDougal (Connery). The plot then goes very intriguing as both the parties try to con each other. The way they con each other is expertly depicted. It is the only thing in the film that keeps you at the edge of the seat.

The direction of the scenes in which the duo train were superb and also the stunts performed in the film was very good and directed really well. The screenplay could have been made more intriguing. The sequence where they prepare to overcome the laser protection to steal to the mask and also the finale of their theft were excellently acted and portrayed. Although the chemistry was good between the two, their love affair scenes could have been given less attraction.

Finally the plot hangs on to find who conned whom and who succeeded. Sir Sean Connery performed the role with its utmost perfection. The way he delivered the dialogues were so perfect and kept me really interested in the conversations. With his experience in the industry, it looked as if he did the role effortlessly where as the rest of the crew could have put in a lot of effort.

My favourite quote:
Cathy: I said this is called entrapment.
Connery: No, actually it's called blackmail. Entrapment is what cops do to thieves.


The verdict is the movie is worth to watch it once at the least for the performance of Sir Sean Connery.

My Rating - 6.2/10.

American History X (1998)

Director: Tony Kaye

Writer: David McKenna

Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong and Beverly D'Angelo

My Review:

            American History X is one the best films I have ever seen. I would rate it the 2^nd best film of 1998 with only Roberto Benigini’s “Life is Beautiful above it of all the films that were released in that year. The film portrayed the life of Derek Vinyard, a racist and the leader of a gang of skinhead. Derek is arrested for murdering three men and is paroled after 3 years. Danny Vinyard, the younger brother of Derek is strongly influenced by his brother’s behavior. The life of Derek is brought to us through the words of Danny in his work called American History X.

            Edward Norton gave a great performance in the lead as Derek Vinyard. This performance fetched him an Oscar nomination for the Best Actor in the lead role. In this Oscar race, he was beaten by Roberto Benigini. I would rate this performance as the second best performance of the five that were nominated and the best was eventually crowned.  The role of Danny Vinyard was portrayed by Edward Furlong, who played the famous role of John Connor in The Terminator series. Furlong was the best pick for that role. The debutant director Tony Kaye directed only this feature film so far in his career apart from a number of documentaries. I personally believe the movie lovers have missed Tony Kaye for the past 12 years.

My Review: 8.8/10

The Last Samurai (2003)

 Director: Edward Zwick

Writers: John Logan (story), John Logan (screenplay)

Stars: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe and Billy Connolly

My Review:

            This film is one of my favorite films which starred Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. The Last Samurai is one of the few American films that portray the beauty of the Japanese culture. The plot of the film happens in 1870’s when the long American civil war had just got over. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is an American civil war veteran who is hired by some Americans who wish to sell gun powders to the Japanese Emperor. But this westernization of the Imperial army has been condemned by the Samurai Warriors who are devoted to the sacred dynasty. Nathan Algren is hired to train the first set of combat soldiers in firearms and lead them in the attack against the Samurai Warriors. Samurai Warriors are led by Samurai Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a legend who is feared by everyone in Japan. Algren admires the Samurai tradition and their skills in fighting. The film narrates a story similar to that of 300 but in a different style.

            The performance of Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto was outstanding and it fetched him an Oscar Nomination. Tom Cruise also delivered a good performance as a lonely American in the midst of a number of Japanese. The drama in the film was beautifully portrayed by Edward Zwick. The background score composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer, added flavor to the film. The sounds and the scenarios were really awesome. The way the story was narrated and the climax sequences were the best. To sum it up, a good film from the bag of Edward Zwick with Ken Watanabe gaining prominence in the Hollywood.

My Rating: 7.9/10

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Writers: Peter Morgan (screenplay), Jeremy Brock (screenplay)

Stars: James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker and Gillian Anderson

My Review:

                The last king of Scotland is a film based on a novel written on the same name as that of the film by Giles Foden. This film stars Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin and James McAvoy as Dr. Nicholas Garrigan respectively. This film interweaves fiction with the historic past. This film depicts the brutality of Idi Amin, President of Uganda 1971-79 with the help of a fictional Character Dr. Nicholas Garrigan. Nicholas Garrigan who has just been qualified to practice medicine travels to Uganda to perform clinical duty and for adventure. There he befriends Idi Amin, a military commander who overthrows the president of Uganda and brings the country under his dictatorship.

                As the story moves on, the true face of Idi Amin is revealed to Dr. Garrigan. What does Dr. Garrigan confront is the rest of the film. Whitaker portrayed the role of Idi Amin, brainless brute as a Humorous person with pumped adrenaline which I liked very much. Both Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy have delivered their best performances. Their performances were praised by the critics all over the world. Whitaker for his role of Idi Amin claimed all the prestigious awards for acting- The Academy award, The Golden Globes, BAFTA and the SAG award. Kerry Washington’s performance was also good in the film.

                Kevin MacDonald made his directorial debut at the big screen in this film. He has taken a number of documentaries but this one took him to the next level of direction. The screenplay adapted in the film was good.  

My Review: 7.6/10

Crank (2006)

Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Writers: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Stars: Jason Statham, Amy Smart and Carlos Sanz

My Review:

                Crank is a cent percent pure action film. This film stars Jason Statham as Chev Chelios who is a professional assassin. Chelios is injected with a poison by the villain Verona which is going to kill him in hours. Chelios comes to know of this and urges the issue to his doc friend Miles. Miles asks Chelios to keep his adrenaline in an upper level to survive. Chelios with the help of his girlfriend Eve tries to stay alive and seeks Verona at the same time to kill him.

                Action in this film takes the vantage point. Every minute you can hope for a fight scene to come out of nowhere. Jason Statham who is known for his performances in Lock Stock and Two Smokin Barrels, Transporter series and The Bank Job has given action pumped performance in this film. The stunts and the climax of the film were the best parts of the film. The MPAA has given the rating R for the film for Sexuality, Nudity and Drug use. The film was a blockbuster hit in America and is rated above 7/10 in IMDB which is quite a feat for an action film.

My Rating: 7.2/10

The Condemned (2007)

Director: Scott Wiper

Writers: Scott Wiper (screenplay), Rob Hedden (screenplay)

Stars: Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones and Nathan Jones

My Review:

            The Condemned is film based on the plot of the famous series Survivor but with extremely dangerous rules and special contenders. A wealthy television producer purchases 10 convicts who are condemned to live on this planet and are awaiting their death penalty. One of them is Jack Conrad (Stone Cold Steve Austin), a ex-US military personal lost in mission is a death row inmate in a corrupt prison. Now the ten convicts are dropped in an island with a rigged anklet in their leg and are asked to kill each other. The only one who survives after 24 hours will have his death penalty revoked.

            The film is full of action and the stunts were really good. Stone Cold Steve Austin was great as an action hero. His fighting scenes were best. My personal best scene is where he takes on a giant psychopath. The screenplay was good. Overall a nice action film to watch

My Rating: 6.2/10