ahegde3149 Reviews

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

Slow and steady

[6/10 · 6 January 2022]

When I saw we were going to have another series about Boba taking over the throne in Tatooine, I felt it was just another cashgrab opportunity for Disney. After watching the pilot, I felt I was wrong. Even though most of it looks similar to The Mandalorian, the sets, the themes and the action, but the character exploration of Boba is the standout. It succeeds in the portrayal of Boba as this raw, brutal yet a just warrior. I liked the tone being slow, allowing room to focus on the character. Adding on, Ludwig's music takes it to another level. Jon Favreau has returned with a bang and I am all aboard the hype.

ABCD (Any Body Can Dance) (2013)

Just for dance lovers

[4/10 · 4 July 2015]

To begin I would like to appreciate Remo for his effort and bringing the Bollywood audience something new. I know this is much like the Hollywood "Step Up" flicks of which I am not much of a fan and I don't think I am fan of this one either. The only thing enjoyable here are the dance sequences and music, minus that we have a fill of poor acting, screenplay and dialogues. The story clichéd and predictable. The cheap 3D usage with all those pointing sticks and pipes was evident even if I saw it in 2D. Overall, if you ignore the elements of good film and just focus on the dancing you will have a good time. I mean, even I enjoyed watching the Prabhudeva light up the screen with his wacky moves! and Remo's choreography is always fantastic. Still, I cannot say ABCD is a good film.

RATING: [2/5]

Any Body Can Dance 2 (2015)

And here we dance again.

[4/10 · 4 July 2015]

ABCD 2 suffers from the same flaws of the first film. Poor screenplay and overlong run time of 2 and half hours. This one has advantages of star names of Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor. While both of them shine in their respective roles and their dance is mind blowing as well, the major problem is the script is wafer thin and screenplay is totally predictable. The climax is overdrawn and clichéd. The story of typical underdogs shining in big competition is nothing new so is the couple of local Indians getting amused and doing goofy things in foreign land. This one is not a continuation of the first film and more of rehash. The choreography and camera work plus the visuals are great but it offers nothing new. Watch it only if you are hardcore fan of first film and dance lover.

RATING: [2/5]

Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015)

Flawed and overly melodramatic

[2/10 · 4 July 2015]

Hamari Adhuri Kahaani is a film that makes the audience suffer as much as its characters. Its a distressing experience which you will either sleep through or it will end up inducing a headache. The story of a miserable love triangle with cringe-worthy dialogues and monotonous characters is what we are missing in Bollywood, isn't it great! The sad looking drama is pretentiously boring and synthetic. Instead of feeling sympathetic towards the characters I felt like laughing thinking how exaggerated the emotions were. What is more painful, is that it wastes the talents of some really good actors. Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi try their best but couldn't save this sunken ship. Rajkumar Rao was the best and convinces us with the sick character he plays. The only silver lining in this drivel was the title track sung beautifully by Arijit Singh and it induces more emotions than the film itself. Without that song the climax wouldn't have been heartfelt and much better than the rest of the film. I think one should just jump to the last 20 minutes skipping the rest of the film and having a much emotionally satisfying experience. Complete waste of time.

RATING: [1/5]

Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)

A memorable cruise trip

[7/10 · 4 July 2015]

Zoya Akhtar's film tackle human relations with great sensitivity and they are so vibrant that you end up liking it even if there are flaws. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is one of my Bollywood favourites. While 'Dil Dhadkane Do' falls short of that level of greatness, it certainly is a memorable and enjoyable ride. When the millionaire Mehra couples invite their family and friends over a cruise to celebrate their 30th anniversary, the love & trust between friends, families and partners are all put to test. Filled with gossips between different egos, misfits of high class families with grand celebrations. Plus the secret business plotting among them is hilarious at times. But with a 170 minutes run-time the scripts hits rough patches and things may feel like a drag. The story is also mostly predictable, but there are many moments which will come as a surprise. Thanks to fine performances by the prolific cast that does justice to the vivid characters. My favourites were Shefali Shah as the caring and withstanding Mrs. Mehra and Ranveer Singh as an appealing and son of Mehras who is struggling with his life goals. Ranveer and Anushka on screen chemistry is simply dazzling and one of the highlights if the film. But one thing that steals the show is Aamir Khan's voice-over as the youngest member of Mehra family, Pluto the dog! The scenes where human relations are narrated through the eyes of Pluto really stole the show. The music was energetic, set and costumes extravagant and the camera captures the cruise and Turkish locales gorgeously. Despite the shortcomings, Dil Dhadkane Do is one cruise trip that shouldn't be missed.

RATING: [3.5/5]

Tanu Weds Manu (2011)

Starts well but goes downhill quickly

[3/10 · 4 July 2015]

The best part of Tanu Weds Manu is the fun quirky interactions between its charming lead pair of R Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut. Both of them give fine performances without which it would have been difficult to sit through this overdrawn affair. It starts of well when Tanu and Manu first cross road but later falters and becomes a clichéd love triangle melodrama. The second half is extremely boring. It also had it too many vibes of 'Jab We Met' which is one of my favorite Bollywood rom-coms. The overdrawn climax doesn't help it either. I just saw this film so that I could see the sequel, but after watching the sequel ( which also was not so great) I felt it was unnecessary. Only reason to watch it would be for performances of Madhavan and Kangana. That's all.

RATING: [1.5/5]

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015)

Muddled yet fun ride with obnoxious script and ending

[4/10 · 4 July 2015]

Tanu Weds Manu: Returns is set 4 years after the marriage of Tanu and Manu and they don't seem to be satisfied at all. Manu is put into insane asylum after a tense marriage counseling which actually insane. Then Manu comes back to her home in India and just fools around with random men. Tanu is completely dis-likable in this film and her behavior is completely incoherent which is one of the main reason I don't like this film much and the ending as well which badly hated. The humor is witty and clever but the story is absolute nonsense and ridiculous drama which meanders for two hours. Ranaut also plays a Haraynvi athlete Kusum in a double role whose character is much more likable and is the saving grace of the film. Tanu Weds Manu: Returns is funny at times but that's all it has got. The story is insane, characters are obnoxious and the ending very poor.

RATING: [2/5]

Taken 3 (2014)

It Ends Here. Hope it stays that way!

[2/10 · 3 July 2015]

Taken 3 is an extremely forgettable film and for it already ended back in Taken 2 even if tagline here says "It Ends Here". Hope they stick with that and don't come with more of this utter nonsense. While Taken 2 was no great film but at least it had some enjoyable action. This one unfortunately fails even in that department. The action is way to choppy with too many cuts which almost induces headache. The editing and direction is horrendous. None of the action felt like having any continuity and it's way too hard to figure what on earth is happening? The story is no good either. Firstly no one gets Taken here but that's okay as they try something different. But the problem is how badly they execute the different approach. The plot line surrounding Stuart is completely absurd. Also it spends way too much time in first half with the relationship between the characters in the first half when we already know them very well. The almost 2 hours run time feels much longer and couldn't wait for it to end. Even Liam Neeson looked so uninterested that his presence didn't have the charm of the first 2 films. The cheesy dialogues from boring one-dimensional characters, disastrous action sequences and a below-par act by Neeson makes Taken 3 a complete disaster. Please end it here, I beg.

RATING: [1/5]

Taken 2 (2012)

A step down from first film, but not horrible

[5/10 · 3 July 2015]

Taken 2 is no where near the first film. Its filled with inconsistencies and silly clichéd situation which don't make any sense at all. Yet somehow, I felt it was an somewhat satisfactory experience thanks to the powerhouse Liam Neeson and some good action. The families of all the Albanian human-traffickers killed by Brian in first film are very angry and are now seeking revenge. This time they try to capture Brian along with his ex-wife Lenore and daughter Kim. But they are successful in capturing only Brian and Lenore. Kim escapes with guidance from her father over his secret cell-phone(which by the looked silly and unrealistic). Now its Kim's job to locate them and then along with her dad kill the bad guys! I liked the way Brian deduces his location with his skills and also didn't mind Kim given the role of savior. Even if on the whole the story maybe rehash of first one, its a bit dynamic in its approach. Liam Neeson is bad-ass as in the first film and action sequences are good again (except the car chases). He is enough reason to give the film some credits. It is still filled with insanely silly things such as Kim learning to drive a gear-shift car out of nowhere or when the bad guys not even torturing Brian or Lenore after kidnapping them. Great Revenge! There is not even person guarding Brian despite knowing the kind of skills he posses and thus he left alone to easily plan his escape. Cool! Taken 2 has its fill of stupidities, yet there were many things I liked. I liked the way they extended the father-daughter relationship and made Kim make up for her rather passive role in first film. The story may be predictably silly at times but I couldn't resist wanting to watch Neeson kick some ass. Taken 2 is an obvious step down from first film but considering kind of horrible sequels we are getting these days in the action genre, it is not so bad. And after watching the Taken 3 recently, Taken 2 feels like an excellent film.

RATING: [2.5/5]

Taken (I) (2008)

Probably one of the best action-thrillers

[8/10 · 3 July 2015]

Remove Liam Neeson's mind-blowing performance, this film would have been just another generic action thriller. Neeson completely defines this film and is exceedingly likable as a loving father who becomes a merciless killing machine when his daughter is kidnapped by human- traffickers. This may be typical save the kidnapped girl story, but the way it gives edge-of-seat thrills combined with well-oiled action its becomes highly engaging. The sharp dialogues with Neeson's deep voice add to the package. Who wouldn't like Neeson's "I will find you and I will kill you" dialogue? And the action sequence when he finally finds the bad guys is simply mind blowing. Another of my favorite scenes is when he makes his old friend realize that he has been sitting on desk so long that he has forgotten the difference between a loaded and an empty gun. The plot remains intensely focused on the father's pursuit to find his daughter without floating into unnecessary sub-plots. The only relevant and important characters where the father and daughter, and their relation is well established in first 20 minutes giving room for the audience to invest their emotions. The film also portrays the horrors of human-trafficking giving enough reason for rooting Neeson's character to find and kill all those bad guys. With well choreographed action, engaging soundtrack and slick camera work with power-packed Neeson Taken is a ride not to be missed. I have watched it 5 times now and it was exciting each time. I still remember the first time I saw it about 4 years ago and how it totally blew my mind!

RATING: [4/5]

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

Tedious and bland CGI-fest

[3/10 · 2 July 2015]

Director Ridley Scott has lost his touch. Among his recent works only Prometheus was appreciable. With Exodus: Gods and Kings he offers nothing more than monotonous uninteresting characters void of any passion plus a poor script which doesn't do any justice to the epicness of the tale being told. Only thing appreciable is the eye-candy visuals and the high profile cast. The plagues loaded with CGI were done quite nicely. Actually the cast with names like Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul ,etc all are wasted with characters which pop- up once in 30 minutes just to show they are in the film. The character development is poor and characters themselves pretty much one-dimensional. Christian Bale tries his best to bring something out of the paper-thin Moses but it doesn't work. After the stern monotonic "I am" child god I completely lost my faith. All we have is flat story telling lacking interest. The 2 and half hour run time is an abomination and makes it utterly tiring experience. By the time it reach the last wave-sequence I just didn't care about anything happening.

RATING: [1.5/5]

Unbroken (I) (2014)

Emotionally inspiring but misses the mark

[5/10 · 2 July 2015]

Unbroken is an inspiring biopic of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini whose wartime experience during WWII is a story worth telling. Technically the film was strong with solid cinematography and seamless use of CGI. The same is not true with the screenplay though. It fails to provide enough character depth and development so that we could completely feel their motivation. We get to see the different events in Zamperini's life but they felt discontinuous and the swapping between his childhood life didn't work well. Also it needed better and more season actors. I am not saying Jack O'Connell or Domhnall Gleeson were not good, but they lacked the impact. There were still many good things in the film, the starting aerial sequence was amazing, the survival at ocean was good but bit too dragged and same can said about the Japanese prison camp. That is the problem, the film simply drags on with its torture at the prison rather. The ending part of the story which is displayed in credits was much more interesting and deserved screen time. The soundtrack was elevating and camera work was great. Unbroken gave me mixed feelings, but I would suggest to watch it solely for unbroken Louis Zamperini. His story is truly inspirational. If you can take it, you can make it.

RATING: [2.5/5]

Inherent Vice (2014)

Confusing mess

[3/10 · 2 July 2015]

The story of Inherent Vice has so many subplots, characters and so much detail that even if you watch it with utmost attention you will not be able to grasp many things. All that convoluted story line and bizarre characters made it look like a complete mess for me. I didn't feel for any of characters, I felt like so what's point of all this. Since it fails to invest you in its story, the dialogue and the interactions felt completely dry. Also it drags on almost 2 and half hours. This was my first Paul Thomas Anderson film and maybe his directorial style isn't my taste. I haven't read the book also. Anyways I may give it another try later as many are suggesting it becomes better on multiple viewing. But for casual viewers who have not read the book this is one big confusing mess for sure.

RATING: [1.5/5]

Into the Woods (2014)

Interesting but felt a bit rushed in the third act

[6/10 · 1 July 2015]

I had neither heard about Into the Woods before nor I am a big fan of musicals. I found the intertwining of the fairy tales of Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel quite interesting. But these are not your happy ending fairy tales, it is more dark and depressing for kids. The 4 stories are combined when a baker(James Cordon) and his wife(Emily Blunt) are sent on quest by a Witch(Meryl Streep) so that a spell which made them not have children could be lifted. There are quite many characters here and I feel the film gives enough focus to each one in its apt 2 hours run time. I found the songs quite good and lyrical. Agony, The Last Midnight and Moments in the Woods are my favorites. For the first 2 acts the film is not so dark and depressing, but the last act was kind of complex and not so cheerful. I felt it was a bit rushed towards the end in the way different characters end up at one place. Also I felt Rapunzel's story line was abruptly ended. Anyways I think it tried to say real life is no fairy tale and bad things do happen. The special effect, production design and make-up, hair styling all were great and made it an immersing musical experience. Speaking of the cast, Meryl Streep was awesome as usual, Emily Blunt and James Cordon put up an honest act and Anna Kendrick was good as Cinderella. Johnny Depp didn't shine much in a tiny role as the wolf. Overall, I liked Into The Woods and found it unique plus intriguing. If you are not much into musicals I suggest not to bother about this one, otherwise I feel it was a good enough film.

RATING: [3/5]

Seventh Son (I) (2014)

Simply awful fantasy adventure

[2/10 · 1 July 2015]

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. Recently the best we have been getting in fantasy is sadly The Hobbit series which unfortunately is not even remotely close to the epic feel of TLOTR series. Dracula Untold was an interesting outing but unfortunately it had its own flaws. Seventh Son is not only a poor fantasy film but its simply an awful film. I had not expected some great story but this film fails to entertain even with its visual dazzle. Actually I found the CGI and action pretty weak. The dragon like creatures, man with 4 hands and what not all looked so fake. Even the production and set design felt so cheap and B-grade. The story simply tries join the dots of the various action sequences and entirely predictable. There are quite many characters here and script rather focuses on filler action than the proper development of the characters. The strong cast with likes of Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, etc. all wasted. Kit Harrington aka Jon Snow is also there but his character is killed off in 5 minutes. Wish he had played the lead instead of the blank Ben Barnes The pacing is pathetically rushed and editing is terrible. All in all it was ridiculously bad. It had lot of fantasy elements to which could have utilized considering the source material but it fails miserably. Clichéd, boring, ridiculous, poorly acted,edited and written. Totally avoidable.

RATING: [1/5]

Still Alice (2014)

Heartbreaking

[7/10 · 1 July 2015]

Still Alice is an aching portrayal of how a lifetime disease completely destroys the life of a person and tests the people around. Alice (Julianne Moore) is highly successful linguistic professor who is intelligent and loving. She has recently turned 50 and is married to John (Alec Baldwin) and has three children. When Alice is diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer's which is rare at her age, the family is left devastated. Moreover the form of the disease is rare and also genetically inheritable. Alzheimer's disease slowly degrades the functionalities of victim's brain, if you don't know. At start, Alice can't remember a difficult word during one of her linguistics lecture but towards the end she cant even remember who she is or her family. Still Alice captures this transformation subtly and its an emotional experience. Whatever happens Alice remains as strong as possible and faces the problems with support of her family. Definitely the biggest credit goes to Julianne Moore, whose performance was pivotal in connecting with Alice. She very well deserved her first Oscar. The scene where Alice gives a speech to other Alzheimer's patients was touching and motivating. Also Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart were notably good as ever supportive husband of Alice and her youngest child Lydia. Alice and Lydia have a kind of special bond and the film exploits it very nicely. The soundtrack was gentle and soulfully good plus the cinematography was beautiful. But I felt the story missed many opportunities to strike the chords harder and was predictable many times. Would have been better I feel if more screen time was provided to rest of the family (esp. the children). Anyways, Still Alice stays strongly focused on Alice and boosted by a memorable performance by Julianne Moore it becomes am immersing experience. Its sad, heartbreaking and human. If you don't have much idea about Alzheimer's disease I suggest you must not miss this one!

RATING: [3.5/5]

The Water Diviner (2014)

Heartfelt story of fatherhood

[6/10 · 27 June 2015]

The Water Diviner is a heartfelt story of a father searching for his sons who went missing during war. Joshua Connor (Russel Crowe) is an Australian farmer whom the title addresses being the one able to find water beneath any land surface. His three sons are speculated dead in the 1915's Battle of Gallipoli, Turkey but no bodies are located or facts are known. Connor decides to go to Turkey to find out fate of his sons as a promise to his wife who commits suicide losing all hope. After reaching Turkey he finds a nice lodge run by Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) in Constatinople. They slowly start getting to close to each and the romantic side of the story is quite predictable. Apart from that we have a Turkish Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) who for reasons unknown tries to help Connor with his search.

I felt the film was strong with the drama and emotions, also the depiction of intense war scenes made it more engaging. There were many back and forth shifts and flashbacks which may put you off but the screenplay doesn't lose its flow. Some of the flashbacks of Joshua with his sons were heartwarming. The camera work with the Turkish locale and music was simply beautiful! I just wished they didn't dwell that much into romance aspect or they could have made it more authentic. Anyways Olga Kurylenko looked nice. Narrative was straightforward and a few scenes here and there felt clichéd. Despite all that, Russel Crowe gives a master performance carrying the weight of the film on his shoulders all the way with his quest for his sons. The times when the script focused on that it was really good, the rest not so much. Overall, it was a good enough film based on war-drama and fatherhood.

RATING: [3/5]

It Follows (2014)

It may be slow, but it is not dumb

[7/10 · 27 June 2015]

It Follows is like a breath of fresh air in the horror genre. First of all the premise is quite unorthodox and interesting. Secondly it provides a fine blend of psychological horror along with a few jump scares as well. The somewhat ambiguous approach of the film though may face a divided response. The horror element here is something which is referred to only as "it" and "it" follows only one target person at a time. A person becomes a target through sexual encounter with a person who is currently a target. Thus one can pass the curse of "it" to a person by having sex with that person. Interesting right? There isn't much light shed into the origin of "it" but as the film goes on we learn slowly about the functioning of "it" but never its origin. The ending is ambiguous and didn't work so well for me this time but considering most of the film relies on ambiguity(ie.how the audience interprets) the ending is fine.

It Follows is a slow burning film, so have patience and let the plot and suspense build up. The best aspect I felt was the haunting soundtrack and the strong cinematography. It totally establishes the gloomy atmosphere. The script could have revealed a bit more about "it" but some open ends are fine for me (might not be for all). There were many loose ends I felt. There may not be any popular faces still the acting was quite believable for an horror film.Another similar recent horror movie comes to mind is "The Babadook". Both of these are thought provoking Psychological horror films unlike the rehashed, unoriginal, jumpy and predictably bland horror films we are getting these days. If you liked "The Babadook" I suggest you don't miss this one. It has its flaws but I would appreciate it for its originality. If you were totally sucked into the film's atmosphere and story then for days you will feel like checking around if someone is following when you are alone. This low budget indie film I believe will be a cult horror classic.

Rating: [3.5/5]

Big Eyes (I) (2014)

Thoughtful biopic with excellent performances

[7/10 · 23 June 2015]

Big Eyes is divergent from Tim Burton's dark Gothic themed film. Its more colorful and charismatic. Big Eyes follows the true story set in 1950-60s of the painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) whose infamous paintings had the peculiar Big-Eyed Children in them. But for many years she painted quietly under the shadow of her greedy husband Walter Keane (Christopher Waltz) who claimed credit for all her works through his showmanship. Big Eyes portrays the transformation of Walter from a jolly supportive husband into a nasty money-hungry rascal blinded by fame. Christopher Waltz is always entertaining to watch and he delivers another fine performance as Walter. The heart of the film of course is Amy Adam's heartfelt portrayal of the timid yet strong-willed Margaret. She won the Golden Globe for it and weirdly not even a nomination from the Academy! Margaret says she paints the eyes big as she believes eyes are windows to the soul and those paintings really felt achingly soulful. Margaret had put her soul into her paintings and Walter made mockery of it all. The films also provides an insight into the difficult and hard choices people make to ensure a good livelihood for their children. The screenplay handles the transformation of Walter and captures the desperate situation of Margaret subtly. The set design and photography was beautiful and also the music was lovely. The beautiful opening credits and the track captured my attention straight away from first frame. Tim Burton's talent and the grace of its two excellent lead actors propels Big Eyes even further despite its simple straightforward narrative. If it had been trimmed a bit in the final act the result would have been better. Also I felt hard to believe that it was never found out for so many years the origin of paintings despite Walter failing to justify himself on many occasions. Anyways, Big Eyes was a pleasant surprise and a refreshing experience with fabulous acting. Worth a watch.

RATING:[3.5/5]

Mr. Turner (2014)

Well that was a truly frustrating experience

[2/10 · 23 June 2015]

I had not much information about Mr. Turner apart from the fact that he is a famous painter. Felt it would be an interesting biopic about his painting and personal life. What I experienced was a two and half hour of complete frustration and boredom. Moreover Mr. Turner was an extremely annoying and unpleasant character. We simply see him visit some random places meeting lot of characters, none of which I felt like caring about. It all felt aimless and pointless. The conversations were overly sophisticated and many times it was hard for me to decipher what they were speaking even with the subtitles on. There are few scenes here and there (like the prism experiment and some other scenes where they talk about our mysteriously magnificent universe) which were quite great but they were scattered in the bloated run time. As Turner moves through various stages of his life there is barely any consistency and his Grunts become more and more annoying before an abruptly ridiculous ending. The only highlight in this humdrum was the fantastic cinematography capturing some breathtaking views of landscapes Turner painted. Also the production design was great so were the costumes. The academy award nominated score however was unpleasantly strange plus creepy at times. It was mostly the redundant theme track played all along. I maybe all wrong as there may be a different perspective of watching this film but as a casual viewer this completely sucked. I think the biggest problem was I wasn't able to connect the main character of Turner at any level at any point of the film and when such a thing happens you can barely expect to enjoy a biopic.

RATING: [1/5]

Chappie (2015)

Not quite good considering its sci-fi from Blomkamp

[4/10 · 19 June 2015]

I must admit Chappie was honestly disappointing. It had great potential to subtly touch upon its ideals like Blomkamp's earlier two films (Disctrict 9 and Elysium both good sci-fi films). But unfortunately Chappie is degraded by some of its ridiculous characters and acting (talking about you Ninja and Yolandi) plus the narrative was seldom coherent. I was kind of excited to see what role Hugh Jackman had, but again his character was seriously under- developed and felt like one of typical one-dimensional bad guys. Despite all that I will say, Chappie is okay on some level because of its pleasing central character Chappie, an AI Robot having a baby's mind at the beginning but learning very fast. It's enjoyable at the start with Chappie's curiosity about the world around , but later it becomes a drag and too clichéd. In the climax it all boils down to mundane and predictable action. The ending felt senseless and far from being realistic. Neill Blomkamp kind of continues with his District 9 comfort zone with his Jo'burg setting and similar visuals. Hans Zimmer's music I believe was huge positive and the only memorable thing about this film. Its enjoyable if you like mindless-transformers like action drama, the music and Chappie's character held me in there. But it was quite disappointing though as sci-fi film. Expected much better from Neill Blomkamp.

RATING: [2/5]

Ex Machina (2014)

Subtle and suspenseful with enough food for thought.

[8/10 · 4 June 2015]

Something about Ex Machina completely engrossed me into it. The 108 minutes smoothly passed away despite the slow-burning nature of its screenplay. Writer and debut director Alex Garland explores numerous ideals related to humanity with a seemingly basic premise and setup. A.I. Robots in movies is nothing new but Garland's visions here are not something you would be able to see if you just scratch the surface.

A young nerdy programmer Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) receives a mail that he has won some big coding contest. We see that his face is being unknowingly scanned by his webcam and phone cam. As the prize he gets to spend a week at his company's (Blue Book) CEO's place, which is a luxurious estate amidst beautiful mountains. CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac) tells Caleb its not a home but more of a research facility. The facility is modern and sleek, the rooms have no window and you have instant claustrophobic feel about it. Nathan tells Caleb is here to perform Turing Test on his creation, Ava (Alicia Vikander) an incredibly advanced A.I. Robot who looks lifelike with skin on her face . Caleb is as stunned as we are watching Ava. She is able replicate human-like behavior with extreme precision and even can perform lie-detection based on micro-expression on our faces!! She is charming as well and we see Caleb & Ava growing fond of each as they interact every day as part of the test. Everything is monitored by Nathan through CCTV cameras. Things seem smooth until one day Ava tells Caleb not to trust Nathan when cameras are shut by power cut. From here on the story takes an unpredictable turn, there is no clue who is right and who is wrong or who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist.

The film explores various concepts such the meaning of consciousness and self-awareness, it questions your ethical viewpoint and blurs effectively the line between the human mind and AI. Are AIs truly the next stage of human evolution? Is singularity possible? It explores in these regions in great depth at the same time leaves some things open for interpretation. Adding to it, the film is also a suspenseful psychological thriller where you think every character is not what he/she seems to. And there are only 3 main characters here, all in the claustrophobic setting of the estate. The scene where Caleb cuts his hand to check if himself is a robot was really intense and frightening. There is also one hilarious out-of-the-box dance sequence giving a brief break from the freakish atmosphere. The soundtrack mostly of piano is haunting and beautiful at the same time. The music sets up requisite atmosphere and tone perfectly. The camera work is simply beautiful, be it the external landscape or the sleek interior shots. The production design and special effects are also impressive considering the low-budget of the film.

At the end, cannot forget the 3 actors who did a great job. Alicia Vikander I feel nails every expression as the AI Robot and captures your attention in every scene she is present. Domhall as the lonely nerd and Oscar as the alcoholic genius were great too. Debut director Alex Garland shows immense potential and I am very much looking forward towards his next work. Overall, Ex Machina I believe is treat for all the true science-fiction fans and also those who like slow-burning atmospheric thrillers. There is not much superficial robot action here as it is not sci-fi action film. Its a film driven by ideas not by action. Hope you keep that in mind. If you want a movie deeply rooted towards the ideals of AI, Ex Machina is not to be missed. It was intriguing, thoughtful, tense and beautiful in its own way. Absolutely loved it!

RATING: [4/5]

Paddington (2014)

Heart-warming plus hilarious!

[7/10 · 4 June 2015]

Paddington is an endearing and heartwarming fun for all ages. The story and the premise may feel simplistic and childish. Yet it offers enough excitement with a beautiful mix of slapstick humor and analogy on modern society. The main character, the marmalade-loving Peruvian bear 'Paddington' is sent to London by his Aunt after an earthquake hits their home. There is something more to these bears - they talk! These bears were discovered by an British explorer many years ago who told them they were always welcome in London. But now in the modern day when Paddington finally arrives in London hardly finds anyone welcoming him at a busy train station. Finally, some kind generous family (Browns) help talking him to their home temporarily so that they can find an appropriate place for him later. As expected, the humor is composed of how Paddington, a bear tries to fit in the modern human setting and the end is obviously going to be predictable. Still the charm and innocence of the CGI- bear keeps you hooked. The set-design was splendid and well-detailed reminding of Wes Anderson's work. The subtle take on human behavior is clearly evident. I really loved the sequence where Paddington gauges the characters in the Brown family one by one. You could easily relate to the life-like characterization. It would have been great if the story had not followed the conventional path in the second half (which is quite weak compared to the fresh first-half). The predictable goofy-action climax was quite disappointing. But, overall Paddington was great fun and entertainment. Not only that, you will learn a thing or two from the extremely adorable bear.

RATING: [3.5/5]

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)

Fabulously crafted detective drama!

[7/10 · 4 June 2015]

Director Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is not only a treat to detective story lovers but also a finely-crafted film. The highlight undoubtedly the focus on detail in production and set design beautifully recreating the Calcutta of 1940s. Fantastic camera-work and direction makes it a really engrossing experience. The acting is also marvelous, really appreciate Sushant Singh Rajput shining with this unconventional role. The rest of cast is great as well especially Neeraj Kabi as Dr. Guha. Compared to all of it, the screenplay is slightly weak being a bit too overdrawn. Still it keeps you guessing till the end what exactly is happening. You will be made to think till the simply breathtaking climax! Really worth a watch for the detective movie fans.

RATING: [3.5/5]

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

Good enough fun once again!

[6/10 · 4 June 2015]

I am quite surprised that this sequel is actually quite hilarious and probably even better than the original! Horrible Bosses was a fun adventure of 3 friends fed-up of their bosses planning to murder them. Now, not having a job anymore they decide to start a business of their own. Here they cross roads with CEO of a prolific firm played by Christopher Waltz and his son played by Chris Pine. There is a lot plot development here compared to the first one and the story drives the humor and not the other way around. There are good enough number of laughs just as the first but I feel this one slightly overstays and meanders in the second half. The new support cast of Waltz and Pine were impressive. My favorite though is still Jamie Foxx who returns the hilarious MF Jones. Recommended if you liked the first one.

RATING: [3/5]