TRANSFORMERS - DARK OF THE MOON (2011)

There is little I have to write about the anticipated third installment of the Transformers – Dark of the Moon. Basically it is bigger, flashy, longer, and intense and action packed than the first 2 movies but definitely it’s not better. 

“Transformers” when it came to the big screen back in the day was a real treat. It was a movie which was never before seeing and filled with fantastic visual effects and breathtaking action sequences start to end. But the second installment was a bit disappointing. Too much action and it was long but the plot was not unique. And sadly the third is not so different. And this has way too much action and metal banging but really doesn’t make any sense what so ever when the movie finishes. 

It’s filled with certain people who don’t die under the most extreme situations that you can imagine. And robots which not only transform but cannot really make anything useful other than blowing up buildings and senselessly move here and there. There is nothing scientific about the whole plot and it just roll from one end to the other.

The only aspect I’d applaud is the out of this world visual effects and set creation. They are definitely the only strengths of this flick and without those it’s an utter failure. 

Comparing with the first movie this lacks humor, humanity and the romance as well. Bigger the Transformers gets smaller it becomes of things which really matter. 

My Score 3/5

Genre: Action, Sci Fi, Adventure

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Ehren Kruger

Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Tyrese Gibson

SOMETHING BORROWED (2011)

 Life sometimes is about untold words and lost opportunities. And at times we are given with blesses but we tend to sacrifice them for the sake of others or ignore them simply not knowing how great they are.

“Something Borrowed” is a story like that; about two people who have lost an opportunity of being together once, but find it back in the most awkward time. Discovering that your best friend’s soon to be wedded groom, is the love of your life can be a very uncomfortable moment. Yet Rachel and Dex breaks the known boundaries in the name of love.

This movie is quite romantic indeed. And that’s what you expect from a romantic movie. But what’s special about it is that the plot is creative enough to make you keep guessing about what’s the next move is. And the actors are great and the chemistry runs high. There are no places where the story stalls or becomes boring. It’s a good run throughout. 

My only disappointment is the too perfect ending. And at the end of the day every one solves their issues and becomes happy is kind of a bit unlikely to happen in a story like this. But it does. 

Anyways it’s a light weighted movie which pumps some blood in to your romantic nerves. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama

Director: Luke Greenfield

Writers: Jennie Snyder (screenplay), Emily Giffin (novel)

Stars: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and Colin Egglesfield

THE TREE OF LIFE (2011)

‘Tree of Life’ is completely in the definition is a drama. But it’s not the kind of drama you must have seeing before. It’s a complete new experience in observing a tale of emotion, at times maybe quite difficult to explain it in words as it’s purely fascinating and deeply though provoking. 

When you extract the plot from this whole movie experience it just looks plain, simple and mundane. A family who loses their elder son at the age of 19 is shattered and deeply saddened by the unexpected event.

The loss is viewed in terms of the parents and the second child of the family and the movie represent different time periods of the main even before and way after. And the story flows concentrating the faith the family has put upon god and their views of their faith in times of despair and loss. But more than being a religious movie ‘Tree of Life’ ends up being a true film that touches the mind of the viewer. 

The story telling is extremely creative. The cinematography is totally and completely mind blowing. I cannot recall a movie in recent times which had gone to the extent of being ‘beautiful’ and ‘creative’ in cinematography than this. And the music which is bound from scene to scene will put the viewer in to a trance and it’s almost like a meditation for long minutes. The movie at times flows just like a usual movie with people acting and telling the story. And at times it depicts the characteristics of a documentary from National Geographic with simply extravagant collection of footage from distant corners of the planet earth, and graphical representations of deep space and micro organisms. And you may get to indulge your senses in magical moments when the earth was so young and the dinosaurs roamed it. When you read this it might sound insane. How can all that fit in a movie which has a simple theme of family and loss? You have to watch it to understand. 

All of the above with raw acting makes ‘Tree of Life’ a wonderful movie experience, which comes to presence very rarely with genius visualization of a director like Terrence Malick. 

My Score 4.5/5

Genre: Drama

Director: Terrence Malick

Writer:  Terrence Malick

Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain

HUNGER (2008)

‘Hunger’ tells the story of Bobby Sands, who spends his last 6 weeks of his life in agony doing a hunger strike in an Irish Maze prison. This true story is based upon the events which took place in 1981 in Northern Ireland surrounding the IRA resistance and the government’s brutal effort to destroy it. 

Almost the whole movie is based upon the insides of the prison and the prisoners confined within it. While they call themselves soldiers of a freedom fight the government tags them as terrorists and vigorously punishes them in order to weaken their minds and the freedom movement spreading across the land.

‘Hunger’ is a very painful movie to watch. Even for the most strong hearted some of the scenes can come as a shock. It happens because this is not some fiction or a horror movie based on imagination, but because its real life and real human beings involved. It is quite disturbing to understand and realize the roots of some nations which condemn other nations in the name of human rights, while they themselves have made their problem resolution on violence and crimes against humanity. 

This movie is filled with practically alarming circumstances and unparallel masterful cinematography which will send some of the scenes permanently in to your consciousness.  And it speaks louder without words than any movie which speaks with a larger script. ‘Hunger’ is that much perfect. And when it comes to acting it will just blow you away by its naturalness. Some scenes are so long and uncut you might even feel that your right there seated with those men. 

It is a painful experience to watch, but if you get though you will be wiser about life than you were before.

My score 4/5

Genre: Drama, History, Biography

Director: Steve McQueen

Writers: Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen

Stars: Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw and Brian Milligan

Setup (2011)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SUPER (2011)

‘Super’ is not really super in the sense of super. But it has enough drama and realistic action in order to make it interesting to watch.

The story is about an everyday guy who decides to become a super hero in order to rescue his wife from a local gang. He himself considers him to be a loser and bad looking, suits up and get to the streets to hurt some bad people but he lacks the skills and money. But eventually after some lessons learned from mistakes and finding a suiting side kick, The Crimson Bolt & Boltie starts to do some serious damage.

Though the story sounds a little dumb at some points it’s totally realistic. The viewer can follow it smoothly except for the quite unwanted scenes where some of you might call sick. Especially when it comes to Crimson Bolt’s imagination the movie suddenly turns in to a stupid horror movie like the Scary Movie. I wonder if that’s required. And the crime scenes are quite bloody. 

Overall ‘Super’ tells a story of a man who becomes ambitious and trying to achieve something extraordinary of his own. He is self motivated; self prepared and strive up again when the forces put him down. That itself is a good reason to watch this. 

My Score 3/5

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama

Director: James Gunn

Writer: James Gunn

Stars: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page and Liv Tyler

ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011)

 

 When south London gets attacked by Aliens, a set of teenage gang weapon up to defend their block and save the planet. Sounds a bit too ordinary for an age where lots of movies hit the screen with the alien theme right? 

But ‘Attack the Block’ is somewhat a totally new experience. The critical reason is that the story telling does not involve skilled military personnel, scientists or the government and a heroic star actor. Yes there is an alien invasion and they are nasty. But the whole thing is plain viewed from the perspective of a gang led by a 15 year old kid named Moses. 

Small budget yet creatively crafted its being a nice watch. The plot is quite nice and the whole of it takes place within a span of few hours. Sometimes funny and sometimes scary and gory ‘Attack the Block’ will keep you guessing of what’s next. 

My Score 3/5

Genre: Action, comedy, Sci Fi

Director: Joe Cornish

Writer: Joe Cornish

Stars: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Alex Esmail

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (2011)

Drama and romance comes in different sizes and states in the silver screen, most of the time mundane and filled with scenes which makes little sense. And once in a while there comes a movie which tells the grace of love in an unprecedented manner and ‘Water for Elephants’ is just that.

Sets place in 1930s America surrounding a circus act called Benzini Brothers, this movie tells the story of a young man who accidently comes on the circus train and falls in love with the owners wife. Swiftly flowing with well made cinematography and attention to detail, the viewer is taken back in time without hesitation. And the blossoming love between the two gradually and very steadily gulps the whole plot amongst the wonderful circus life built around a train ride.

Furthermore the movie covers a good deal of lifestyle of the people who were involved in circuses back then. Not only that, how the circuses were run and the role of animals in it as well. Some scenes quite cruel and heart breaking to see especially when it comes to animal training involving a wonderful elephant named Rosie. 

Overall Water for Elephants is one of the movies that touched me and will be in my mind for a long time. And I wish I can say this for lot of movies based on love stories. But sadly I cannot. So this flick is a must watch for anyone who likes to feel love. And the long two hours will pass by without making you bored.

And finally it’s nice to get to know Robert Pattinson out of his glowing vampire skin, and in a role which truly makes some sense. 

My Score 4/5

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Sara Gruen (novel)

Stars: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz

HALL PASS (2011)

Is Hall Pass a good movie? Yeah it is. Is Hall Pass a crap flick? Oh yeah it is!! What????

That’s because it all depends on what you mean by good or crap. Hall Pass is not a master piece. It’s not going to run for Oscars for any category even if there was a category called the best ‘poop scene’! But for some it might make sense as a comedy and for light weight carefree viewing pleasure.

The plot is simple but a bit wicked. Two married men with children get an official off the marriage pass from their wives for seven days. Yep! You heard me right. And the men are set free to do anything within that 7 days and now you can imagine what they will be up to. But the funny thing is when the wife’s starts to get the kick off the marriage as well, and when they also want to have some fun things goes way south! 

Seriously this movie has some sick humor. You will never wanna watch it with the family. Oh yeah keep that in mind. The visuals are not that bad but believe me the words can hurt. 

Apart from that it’s the typical dirty comedy together with hot woman on and off with some funny circumstances including things which are directly or indirectly related to sex. So all you can do it watch it and then forget it if you really have to. 

My score 2.5/5

Genre: Comedy

Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

Writers: Pete Jones (screenplay), Peter Farrelly (screenplay)

Stars: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis and Christina Applegate

WIN WIN (2011)

Here comes something that you can really watch true to your heart and say I liked it. It’s filled with emotion, achievement and most of all unconditional love. When certain people make certain decisions in their life just to make themselves feel a little better, they sometimes do the wrong thing without expecting the worse to happen. But when things turn out to be not so looking good most might back off or put the blame on someone else. But some people take the situation in to their hand and actually do something to correct them and the lives of others involved. “Win Win” is a story of such individual. 

Briefly put Mike is an attorney who is struggling to keep up his practice going with expenses piling up on his home and family. Running out of options and looking for some extra buck he cheats the court and an old helpless man by becoming his guardian with the intention of claiming the guardian commission. But when the old man’s grandson Kyle suddenly shows up on his door step Mike runs out of options once again and agrees to keep the 16 years old at his place. But soon Mike realizes that this young kid who is homeless and running away from his drug addicted mother is a talented wrestler. Mike being the head coach of the small towns wrestling team put Kyle on his team and his family really starts to like him. But soon things turn ugly when Kyle’s mother shows up expecting other benefits.

Win Win has a nice flow in the plot. It never rushes or never lags. It portrays the slow and dull life in the small town and Mike’s internal sensitiveness towards it. The story put the viewer in some kind of a trance and makes them believe that the characters are real and they have real feelings. And when things happen to them the viewer makes it their own. And that’s brilliant movie making.

There is no magic in this flick. It’s just pure humanity and survival. And no doubt Win Win is a win for all just as the name states.

My Score 4/5

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Director: Thomas McCarthy

Writers: Thomas McCarthy (screenplay), Thomas McCarthy (story)

 Stars: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan and Jeffrey Tambor

SENNA (2010)

This documentary covers the unparallel and legendary life and the tragic death of the Brazil born greatest sportsman and the most amazing Formulae one racing driver the world has ever seeing, Ayarton Senna. Starting his driving life from pro carts and winning 3 world championships before his untimely death at the age of 34 in 1994, Senna has done what many would say impossible more than once. 

This film follows Senna’s racing career very closely with ample footage from the past starting from the 80’s including news and TV footage and family videos. And it gives a deep insight to the rivalry he faced from the great French co team mate Allen Prost and the struggle he had to put upon the F1 committee at times where his actions were condemned and resulted in suspension from the track. 

When you dive in to half of this wonderful film, you will start to realize what a wonderful sportsman Senna was on the track and equally or beyond a normal person off the track. Senna was a great patriot who bought laughter to millions of his fans from Brazil, in a time where the country had no hope and engulfed in political instability and poverty. Privately very humble to his beginnings and sometimes shy he donated ample to the benefit of his fellow men. 

Not just a hero in Brazil but Senna soon becomes the most muttered name in the world of racing where at times he is treated like a god more than a super star. Though he cheats death many times and fearlessly believed in the supreme power of god, his life tragically comes to an end at the peak of his career with a fatal crash. As the whole world lies speechless with tears filled in their eyes and memories of the greatest driver they have ever known, Senna’ s life story ends way before anyone expected. 

This documentary is simply touching. And it will touch your deepest corner of the heart not just because it’s a good production but because Senna himself is an eternal flame. 

My score 4.5/5

Genre: Sport, Biography, Documentary

Director: Asif Kapadia

Writer: Manish Pandey

Stars: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Frank Williams

THE BEAVER (2011)

A man who is depressed expresses his true self through a talking puppet doesn’t really sound sane at all. But in The Beaver it works fine and proves effective though the doctors don’t recommend it. 

Walter Black (Mel Gibson) used to be an important man in the workplace and a good father at home until depression took him over. Totally affected by the sickness he wonders about like a sail less ship creating a mockery of himself until one fine day his family tells him goodbye. Troubled and not knowing where to find his life back he decides to end it. But suddenly and unexpectedly a talking Beaver puppet (apparently attached to his own hand) recues him from his misery and put him back in the circle. And the society around him is not prepared to accept his new self immediately. 

‘The Beaver ‘at a glance reminded me of ‘The Lars and the real girl’ (2007). Though the tales are noticeably similar they are totally different at the same time. For sure this is one of the best performances ever by Mel Gibson. I sometimes wondered if to observe Mel or the Beaver when he is talking! Because those two were very well bound together with each word and expression. 

This flick is not boring. It’s quite the heavy drama at times but has its own little laughs too in between. Overall it will quite effectively take you in to a troubled person mind set and make you feel for him. Which I believe is the sole purpose of any good movie should be. Make the viewer to live as someone else for the span of the movie. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Drama

Director: Jodie Foster

Writer: Kyle Killen

Stars: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Anton Yelchin

X-MEN:FIRST CLASS (2011)

As soon as I was done with X-Men: Fist Class my immediate impression was ‘Wow that was awesome’.  The reasons were very simple. It gives totally tolerable answers to how the X-Men came in to play and how all the saga was created from the scratch. And most importantly the history of Charles Xavier and Magneto and the cold war between the humans and the mutants. 

X-Men is one of those amazing comics created by some people with fantastic imagination. And when it comes to movies the creativity and the plotting was equally over the expectation. Each X-Men movie (including the Wolverine) was true movie craftsmanship and never disappointed the crowed who was insanely following it. And the same goes with X-Men: Fist Class no doubt. 

Comparing with the previous X-Men flicks this maybe having less action and CG involved. But when it comes to the story and character development this is richest of the series. That is the reason why I love it the most. Each of the important character is well crafted and presented. Especially the leads Xavier and Magneto. And it filled with dialogues which bring in the true self of mutants and their long future ahead. 

If you’re a serious X-Men fan and want to know how it all began this is a must watch. And if you’re comic fan skipping this one is sin. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Ashley Miller (screenplay), Zack Stentz (screenplay)

Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence

THOR (2011)

Thor is a good looking super hero. Just like Superman he comes from a distant place in the universe. But unlike Superman, Thor brings a war of his own when he arrives. And while he fights bravely and manages to save the world, he finds a lovely human girlfriend as well. And she is quite sweet and prettier than the Superman’s girl Louise! 

Thor belongs to the mystical realm of Asgard. (Rhymes a bit familiar if you have the Lord of the Rings tongue). Though he is this much closer to become the king of Asgard he is expelled by his father due to his mischievous behavior and lands on Earth after traveling via a very colorful beam of light. Here with his unknown stupidity and the well toned bare chest along with some Asgard martial arts he manages to impress a lot of people, including some dumb FBI agents and the girl whom I mentioned before. Then there are some gruesome battles here and there in order to defend earth from the fire breathing iron man kind of machine that comes to destroy him and to save Asgard from his evil brother so on and so forth. 

What’s good about Thor is that it’s a visual extravaganza. Asgard is just one hell of a breathtaking place. Kingdom to be more precise and you must see the palace to see its glory. It looks like musical instrument when I used to play when I was a kid but very much grand scale. And then there is the dark place where the Frost Giants live. Both these realms are well presented in CG and set making. They will blow you away. And then comes the action and the graphics. Pretty awesome they are as well. No doubt I would love to see some action sequences all over again. 

What’s normal about Thor is the plot and acting. Not really a story which impressed me, or the performances. But this is what you always get in a superhero movie. It’s all about the summer and the action and big budgets. Not really about the drama. 

Thor is not the best superhero flick released so far, but it has its own awesome moments. And overall it’s a good watch and worth keeping hopes for the next installment. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director: Kenneth Branaghand

Writers: Ashley Miller (screenplay), Zack Stentz (screenplay)

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman