Enough Said (2013) Rating 3.5/5

Love at any age is fascinating and heartwarming. But doing a movie as beautiful as this involving over the middle aged adults is tough. But this movie proves that for a movie to be close to heart all it need is a simple story with a beautiful script and actors that makes you forget that you’re watching a movie.

Eva and Albert are both divorced parents with teenage daughters. At one fine evening they find each other at a party. Later on they discover that they like each other a lot and hope of a relationship touches the horizon. But Eva starts to doubt her relationship with Albert after she coincidently discovers that one of her close client is connected to Albert. And this connection surprises her so much that Eva loses her balance in the relationship which turns things in to grey.

Enough Said is a perfect example of how people react to things what they hear from others. Sometimes opinions matters a lot and they matter too much we forget to see the true picture. In Eva’s case she starts to doubt her relationship with Albert even though he seems to be the perfect person she have being looking for. And sometimes doubts eats in to relationships so much that they can turn in to ugly mistakes soon. The most moving part of the movie for me is this truth. There is no one perfect for anyone but a lasting relationship is always about compromising and seeing beyond your own expectations.

And finally performances by Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Gandolfini is so warm that you feel everything they feel. And with the untimely death of Gandolfini it’s difficult to smile even at the hopeful end of Enough Said. Such great actor and we will forever miss his performances.

Escape Plan (2013) Rating 2.5/5

Stallone or Arnold both are not Oscar type actors. Neither the movies they appear in right from the start. But for the good of the movie industry and the fans alike they make movies that sell. Escape Plan is one of those and the main reason its working is teaming up of the big names. And within the first 15 minutes it presents an interesting plot and grabs the viewer. Towards the ending it is not as pleasing as the beginning but you will hang in there.

Ray Breslin (Stallone) works for a security company and his job is breaking out of prisons. I know it sounds crazy but that’s what he does for a living. And now he is given an assignment to break out of the most high tech and top security prison called ‘The Tomb’ which he himself has no idea where it’s located. Once inside Ray realize that things are quite different to what he has signed up for and the only positive sigh in it is his newly found acquaintance Emil (Arnold) who is equally eager to get out. 

There are no flaws in the flow of the movie. It’s longer than a usual pop corn action flick but it goes good. And as most action thrillers the story depends on coincidences that’s always in favor of the good guys. And excessive and hard to believe knowledge about everything from the leading roles including engineering, architecture, motor mechanism, operating a ship, physics and what not. Knowing that these types of things that make plots like this possible, better not take anything serious. And everyone walks home and lives happily ever after. The end.

Europa Report (2013) Rating 3/5

This movie may not be having a genuine plot nor it’s made with a thumping big budget and it’s moving at a quite a slow phase. But it has enough juice to keep you glued to it with a very limited boring studio set and characters that has more similarities than being exceptionally different as we see in most movies.

When Europa the first manned mission take off from earth with a crew of 5 in order to find life in one of the moons of Jupiter everything’s seems to be right on track. And after travelling for millions of kilo meters the ship suddenly lose all contact with earth. And when the transmission is restored Earth finds out that Europa has seeing things that no man has ever seeing before.

Europa Report is a very limited movie. It has little controlled environment to move about and no room for drama in acting as per the script. There are neither special relationships nor a lot of character development as well.  And being a science fiction the language is not so digestible as well sometimes. Some of those lines make you conclude that there is something really bad going on or some of these things happening is not really happening. But in between all this as a movie it stands out fine. Its stick to the brains and keeps the viewer guessing for the next move. And up to the end it works strong doing that.

Byzantium (2012) Rating 2.5/5

Vampires have gone from scary to sexy all of a sudden and wonder where the fans flipped out. And when a vampire movie is more dependent on other things than hot blood and darkness of the night it looses lot of potential. And for that a strong plot is mandatory. What went wrong with this one are the weak blood part and the compelling story line to fill the blanks.

16 year old Eleanor and Clara who is mother and daughter are vampires in a world where only male vampires exist. And they are in constant movement due to the order is chasing them for decades to fix the damage done to the code. Clara who is ambitious and vicious goes to extremes to keep their identity hidden while Eleanor is fighting an internal battle of survival. She is carrying a heavy burden which is her own life story and longing to express it to someone. And finally she meets a boy and it brings dramatic changes for her and Clara’s lives.

The production quality of Byzantium is very good. It’s a beauty to see as scene after scene there is some elegance unwrap. And it does have a certain emotional depth to it when it comes to the love that Clara has for her daughter and her constant struggle for survival. There is a story that backs this up to a good level as well. But all in all this is neither a strong thriller, horror nor a drama. It falls in middle of everything.

Stoker (2013) Rating 2.5

Rating this movie was somewhat a difficult thing. In one hand it had beautiful cinematography, generous acting and very expressing style of storytelling. On the other hand it’s missing something. Probably it’s the plot that seems to be untrustworthy. The movie tries so hard to prove something but I didn’t fall for it. 

When young India’s father dies from a tragic accident, her never before known uncle comes to live with the family. Her mother who is feeble and an emotional wreck seem to have found some solace in him by India finds his motives peculiar. As time passes India develops a strange connection towards her uncle and even she seems to be trying to solve a puzzle. 

As I mentioned before what made me watch this throughout was the acting and cinematography. This plot has lot of potential. But I lost faith in the plot somewhere down the line. And after that I was just staring at the beautiful things on the screen. But overall as a thriller it does a decent job. Especially in the way it unfolds from start to end and then back to the start.

Captain Phillips (2013) Rating 4/5

Suspenseful, thrilling and emotionally breaking is just the beginning to explain this piece of movie. It’s definitely one of the best adventure dramas made in recent years that based on true events and people. And once you get in to this you will mutter to yourself that these things do happen off screen as well. It is so good that you might want to remember this as fiction.

This is the story of a US owned cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009 where the pirate activity around that region was at a peak. The story evolve around Captain Phillips who was in charge of the vessel and the events that took place from the point the ship sailed off from Oman heading to Mombasa Africa. Soon the ship was boarded by pirates amidst the defense techniques used by the ship’s crew and Captain Phillips ends up being a hostage. 

I can remember reading this story back in 2009 where it had created a great deal of news around the globe as US ships were seldom the target of Somali pirates. When I started watching this I knew most of the detail of the rescue operation and how it had ended. But with all that knowledge this movie blew me off my seat. It’s simply a scene to scene nail bitingly intense powerfully gripping movie that makes the viewer taste some salt water on their faces. 

I believe that there is two major factors working together to make Captain Phillips what it is, Director Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks. Paul has a reputation for making movies that’s intense such as Bourne Ultimatum and Tom is known for acting in movies that simply does not fail. And this mixture has created a ticking time bomb of a movie this time and it sure is one of the best of year 2013.

The World’s End (2013) Rating 3/5

When Simon Pegg and Nick Frost come together in a movie it means only one thing. It will make your laughing organs go nuts! It’s not hard to derive at this conclusion if you have seeing Shaun of the Dead (2004) Hot Fuzz (2007) and Paul (2011). They were all brilliantly funny and have different yet very enjoyable plots to them. And The World’s End is nothing less.

Here five childhood friends, four are well established in their lives by the age of 40 but one still struggling to escape the teenage fantasies living a failure get together to finish an unfinished drinking marathon back in their home town. While moving from one pub to the other evoking old memories they experience something quite unusual and scary. From this point on wards they have to choose between the drinking marathon and the marathon to save their lives. But still one guy finds it hard to choose between priorities. And you can guess who.

This is an apocalyptic comedy. At one point it reminds me of This is the End (2013) which was another fine comedy where set of friends realize that the world is coming to and end while they were having a blast at a party. And this also has its creepy yet fine twist to the whole plot coming your way when you least expect it. However from the flow of the story even without this twist it would have being equally entertaining. And when speaking about the plot it’s impractical and dumb no doubt. But strangely impractical and dumb is what makes this whole movie works and its pretty good.

By no means this a not a masterpiece but when it comes to the ample number of empty and baseless comedies we see these days this one is worth the time spent. It relieves you out of stupid adult jokes and nudity that most comedies rely on and gives you something different to laugh about. Good job Edgar Wright.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) Rating 2.5/5

I have never seeing the TV show but I like this character. It’s played really well by Steve Coogan and sometimes it takes a while to catch up with his witty lines. And there are plenty of things to laugh about in this one.

Alan is a famous local radio jockey who works in a radio station which is taken over by a large group. With all the reshaping, re organizing and cutting chopping of the new shape he and his veteran buddies sense that man power cut is inevitable. While all this drama Alan finds himself in an unexpected situation leading to laying off one of his buddies Pat Farrell. Things get even weird when Pat decides to take revenge from the people who fired him and Alan gets caught in the middle of a crazy jam.

Though the plot sounds like a real serious one it is not really. And everything sums up to a big laugh and most of the time it is better than average. If you’re looking to enjoy a light weight comedy on a lazy weekend this movie can do justice to that thought. But beyond that it is just ordinary.

Before Midnight (2013) Rating 4/5

If you ask me a direct question to explain the plot of this movie I might become numb. Seriously comparing with most of the romantic movies out there this one has no story at all. But if that’s so how can this be so appealing can be your next question. For that I have a simple answer. For anyone who has fallen in love with the right person even though you may or may not be living with that person right now Before Midnight will be speaking even a bit of your story. And for some it maybe because this reminds them about the first 2 installments of this movie Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004) but in my case I vaguely remember both. So my review on this is purely based to what I have seeing in this and this only.

Before Midnight is the far continuation of the story of Jesse and Celine after they met 9 years back in Paris. Keeping that detail aside they are now happily married and having twin daughters and this time they are in Greece for a vacation. So the story begins. As I mentioned before this sums up the whole story but the real beauty and the story of this movie is in the script and that script is fantastic. And this must be having a million dialogues in it. As when there is some kind of a silence hit the screen you start to wonder where the hell all that talking went. True some of the time these lengthy conversations are boring and seem rather irrelevant but the good thing they won’t let you give up the movie. There is something that makes you hang on to it. Maybe because those dialogues are true to life and heart felt.

The main characters are beautifully portrayed by Ethan Hawk and Julie Delpy whiles the cinematography and the atmospheric mood of Greece takes you on a vacation. You get to walk along some of the scenic country side and medieval type architecture without a sweat. And in the middle of all that you feel love in the air. This is a movie that you can experience. Watch it.

Kick Ass 2 (2013) Rating 2/5

I can remember the first installment of Kick Ass was certainly kick ass. But wonder what really happened to this one. Seems like it had run out of juice and struggled to make a mile on fumes.

This time Kick Ass joins a costumed super hero wannabe gang while the Hit Girl takes a side story. And the Red Mist decides to go all super evil changing his name to something that you can’t say in public the motherf… er!! While both the good and the bad teaming up making their own good and evil gangs the war is set.

As the plot itself seems mundane and ridiculously predictable only minor elements makes this movie watchable. One for sure is the Kick Ass effect which is thankfully to the previous movie. Definitely in this one there is no such effect. Secondly, the viewer’s expectation of the plot turning in to something more interesting. But it never happens. So everyone is left out with a few kicks and some colorful costumes with handful of witty lines. Good to watch if you’re really bored and has nothing else to do.

Tokyo Story (1953) (Japan) Rating 4/5

When parents are concerned they have only two expectations from their children. For them to be successful than the parents ever were and for them to look after the parents in time of need in their latter part of the life. But many parents left hopeless in both these expectations which sometimes make you wonder who is to be blamed. Is it the parents struggle to make children successful that ultimately leave them lonely at the end? Tokyo Story is a beautiful movie that speaks of this painful truth in a slow but steady phase. And truly it is artistic cinema.

The plot of this movie has neither twists nor shortcuts. There is an old couple from a rural part of Japan coming to visit their successfully well set children in Tokyo for a holiday. However though the children finds the parents visit a joy they struggle to make time to spend for them. And the story evolves showing how the children passing their parents from house to house and parents naturally feeling the burden they put on the children.

As I mentioned earlier this movie is beautiful in its own way though what it speaks about is not joyful. There are moments you actually feel good seeing the happy faces of the old parents knowing that their children has done better. But in the back of their mind they swallow the sadness they feel knowing that the treatment they got in Tokyo is not what they expected. Isn't that what all parents do? Not complain but understand each time their children turn their blind eye to something. This is what makes Tokyo Story a beautiful warm movie about parents and children. Though it doesn't give you anything fresh or extraordinary it will make you feel something that you can take away from it.

Rush (2013) Rating 4.5/5

“Men love women… but men love cars more”. Gentlemen start your engines to witness the greatest sports movie that the world has seeing so far about fast cars and rivalry sportsmanship. To be honest I never expected Rush to be this adrenaline pumping and magnificent. What I had in mind was cars, speed and some historical facts lined up to become a watchable story. But here I’m blown away by this sheer fantastic movie that packs everything that a good sports movie should have. From very start to the end it is nothing but a lightning speed drive that will put you in a formula 1 coma.

To begin with any serious petrol head is obsessed with F1 no doubt. And this movie brings out the best of the sport plus a very powerful true story of the famous rivalry on track between English born sexy James Hunt and the Austrian hard headed disciplined and ambitious Niki Lauda. The story starts in early 70s where they both meet for the first time in F3 with low profiles and low budgets and the sparks of rivalry appears after a head to head battle on the track that ends with Lauda on the dirt. But soon they both ends up driving for big teams in the big F1 cars and the burning desire to defeat one another fuels them to go to extremes. And the story unfolds their true spirits and the strong will to become the champion defeating the rest and most importantly their key rivals that puts a whole spin to the movie beyond the cars and speed brings in.

While all the drama happens between these two the movie profoundly creates a beautiful atmosphere with brilliant cinematography and powerful score by Hans Zimmer that brings the viewer to the race track like never before. As I recall the last time I was this impressed by something related to F1 was after watching Senna which is a documentary. But Rush brings the whole sport to the viewer so up close that you actually feel the tension corner after corner when the race is on. And you realize that there is a chill running down your spine and you’re not even holding a steering wheel. Now that’s what I call movie making. Rush puts you in a place that so distant but makes it so familiar.

Beautiful performances by Chris Hemsworth (Proving he is something than a super hero character with a hammer)  and Daniel Brühl  alongside the over the top directing of Ron Howard, Rush is one hell of a ride that you should not miss. Bravo!!