3 Iron (2004) - Korean Movie

What a beautiful movie. Kudos to the writer for his unbelievable yet convincing imagination and cheers to the director who shot it in such a way that you just can't help but fall in love with the characters. Imagine all this when there are hardly 10 dialogues in the whole movie with almost no background score barring a few songs which keep playing here and there. The flow of the movie is so nice that you just keep following it as its a little unique and never seen earlier stuff. Imagine a drifter who rides a damn neat BMW bike, goes from door to door hanging take away menu of a restaurant, later comes back in the night and breaks the lock of the house where the menu is still hanging, assuming no one stays there. He will stay in the house as long as he can, cleaning, washing, cooking even repairing the non working items like kids toys, wall clocks, weighing machines, music systems etc. But how long he can keep hopping houses before getting into trouble? He does gets into a mess and comes out of it too. Ending is too good too. Do not miss it - if you like movies with a different story and non cliche ending. I'm sure you will love it too and will not forget for quite a long time.

The very first scene of the movie you have the dude riding his bike and putting those menu's on the doors of a posh neighbourhood at that point I was asking myself - how in the hell he rides a BMW yet he has no home to live in? and with him repairing those complicated things in the movie - its sure that he is highly educated cause how in the world you end up repairing a music system, a wall clock and a weighing machine with your left hand? but its a movie after all so all that can still be accepted isnt it? Beautiful is the way he leads his Nomadic life from one home to another - he wont steal anything or damage anythign rather he will repair the non working items, wash cloths, make his own food, enjoy life, watch TV till the owners arrive and leave silently without their knowledge.

The first house that he lives in - he repairs a toy gun and blows some balloons too with it, later in the movie we see the couple returning from the vacation, are in a furious mood, they argue while the kid picks up the gun and points it at his dad - who in turn yells at him, then he points it at her mom and she says "Yeah, c'mon shoot me, make my day" and Bang! Although its not shown but I am sure she must be pissed big time since the gun was working now. Second house he visits belongs to a Rich guy who has turned his lawn into a little golf practice ground with nets and aiming target too in place. While enjoying his stay in the Rich Man's house unfortunately he doesnt realize that he is being watched by the beaten and abused wife of the rich guy, later in the night when he comes face to face with her - he fleds in the first place but returns realizing her sad condition and shockingly she too joins him as she had seen him take care of the house with passion and playing Golf too, watching TV etc. He gets into a fight with her husband too and beats him up with his own golf balls, takes 4 shots at him from point blank range and they leave him writhing in pain. Their next target is a Boxer's house as you can tell by the photographs on the wall - they have a good time at his place - they get drunk and in the dead of the night the couple returns and the dude gets beaten black and blue :) by the professional Boxer.

Finally, they land in trouble when they visit another house and find the owner dead, lying in a pool of blood, instead of going away - on girls insistence he gives this old man a proper burial. They bury the old man and keep continue to stay at his place and as Old man's son returns with his wife and thinks that they killed his dad. Calls the cops and they both get arrested. While cops interrogate them - they surprisingly tell them nothing. Girls husband comes and takes her away and bribes the cops to keep the guy in prison for as long as they can, taking a revenge on him from their last fight. Even in lock up he shows his creativity with his hiding techniques, keeps bothering the cops all the time with the game he plays with them. He will hide in the small cell in such a way that they wont be able to find him. He develops his own way of walking behind the cops and not letting himself come in their eye sight. Finally, because none of the charges can be proven against him as he stole nothing, gave the dead man a proper burial, Even the Autopsy report reveals that he was dead long before the guy arrived at his place. He was let go by the cops but not before the girl's husband takes his own revenge by hitting him from point blank distance by his golf balls - he too takes 4 shots at him back to back.

The ending is just simply superb. I was thinking that he will be killed behind the bars but no ways! the Director had to let him and live and happily ever after :) - how? You better watch it - I am telling you. Go ahead! Take a look - you are going to love it. We saw it twice already and its hard to get off my head.

Eraserhead (1977) - Horror / Thriller

I have never done drugs like Heroine, Cocaine, Smack or anything but now I seriously know how you feel when you get stoned. After watching this debut movie of David Lynch - it exactly leaves me with the same effect as those drugs will, after a good dose. What you see on screen for about good 90 minutes - leaves you numb by the end and you realize that David Lynch had finally arrived and is going to stay. Now I know why he himself was called a "Genre" in film making.

Hats off to his imagination and capturing it this way. It isn't a horror movie anymore at best a damn good thriller but trust me - it ain't for the weak hearted - don't even try. It has almost no horror moments neither too much of blood or gory either but what you see is - sample this - an extreme close up of a cooked chicken on plate about to be eaten and it starts bleeding with a terrific background score. Some scenes that I will never forget ever: A room heater which makes up for quite a viewing with its shrill noise which keeps going up and down, it gets scary, expressions on protagonists face are priceless, location of the whole movie is mind blowing. Another shot of a premature baby which looks like a cross between some animal and an alien. Dark alleys, Terrific background score and shocking moments leave you stunned. And you imagine - if this is the debut - how would be the upcoming one's ;). Do not miss this - if you love this genre - totally awesome.

Talking to a stranger!

Last night after dinner we decided to take a long drive - and a long drive in the dead of the night means a good 50 KMS drive around town - passing thru the usual SRK's Bungalow (as my daughter and wifey both are a big big fan) - passing thru Sallu's flat on the way to Sea Link - Hit the marine drive and reach home :).

The moment we take a U turn from SRK's bungalow, wifey noticed that one of the lights of his huge building was ON - hence we had to sit on the band stand curb for about good 20 minutes - so she could see if SRK is coming to wave her or something :). We waited and waited and waited but the dude did not come to window hence we moved on and right 200 mtrs from his house is Farhan Akhtar's bungalow - now there were like 30 odd High End cars parked on either side of the road and some kind of party is going on - on the open terrace which was barely visible from the road - what we noticed was - there were atleast good 200+ people scattered on road - shouting - cheering - waving at whoever is visible - wifey quickly jumped out of the car and joined the mob and I was supposed to find a parking spot and join her in the mob :) - I kept going forward and after good 100-150 mtrs - I found a spot and parked the car. The moment I got down - I realize that my kiddo was comfortably sleeping on the back seat :) and to my horror I noticed that both the cell phones were lying on the dash board :D. Wifey lost in mob, cell phones with me, kiddo sleeping on the back seat - what was I supposed to do? enjoy the breeze on bandstand and sit on the bonnet of the car :)

So, as I sat on the bonnet and enjoyed the breeze with "Dire Straits" playing on my car audio - a black and yellow taxi pulls over right behind my car - almost blocking my exit and the guy gets down and comes over to stand right next to my car - enjoying the breeze. I dont mind his parking as I knew that wifey aint coming back for good an hour atleast till she locates some good 5-8 celebrities and with those number of Land Rovers, Porsches, BMWs and Mercs on sight - I knew - its a big party and lots of her favorites would be there.

So, my stranger friend starts very casually as we knew each other for years "Are you seeing what I am seeing?' pointing at those couples cosying on the bandstand benches, some sitting on the shore near water, some hardly visible, a couple of them hiding behind umbrellas as if its going to rain any moment. and I reply "yeah Man! this is a big problem in Mumbai, In Delhi this kindda scene is next to impossible, Cops would have picked them up in no time", noticing his pure hindi with some choicest north Indian cuss words - I added some fuel to fire :). And I realized - its true - this kind of a scene what we see these days in Bandra Reclamation, Joggers Park and in Bandstand is Impossible in Delhi. If I remember correctly I was in Delhi for good 8 years from 1996 till 2004. And I, as well as some of my friends, have been picked up by cops, at least once with our respective girl friends and Cops bloody will call our parents and verify our locations. It was so embarassing getting caught that we decided - its better to hang out in a restaurant or a friends place rather than roaming around on road - driving and getting picked up. THAT - I guess never happens in Mumbai.

And my new friend - starts telling me his horror stories which he goes through everyday on the backseat of his car :) - Amazing were the stories - how these young guns of modern India board a cab and try to do whatever they can in as much time they have to reach the destination. My friend usually screeches his car to a halt and after giving them some peace of their minds - lets them go after taking the fare - he was like "This is my bread and butter and I don't allow people to bloody get cozy in my car, I don't care what they do in other taxis or autos, Not in my car at least". Right then, a radio cab guy parks besides us and a hot chick gets down from the car, as her friend / colleague / whosoever guy, was getting down from the other side of the car - she almost shouts "Do you have a match box? take it from the driver otherwise". My friend is furious now with her attitude and says "I would have slapped that bitch - If I was that guy" and we both laugh out loud on his reaction and them walking over to the water - hand in hand. And another discussion starts - this time the topic of debate is "North Indian Girls Respect their partners more than the Mumbai girls". In flat 20 minutes the couple appears again, board the car, go off. I could see my friends eyes shining ;) - he actually says "I guess they are done, so fast, now they must be gone for some drinks and food before they hit their respective houses". We spoke of almost everything under the sun for good an hour and half, right from the difference in culture, to his driving his cab bare feet, to Indian politics, Marathi Manoos beating north Indians to the changing times, World is ending, Inflation etc etc.

Suddenly, I see my all excited wifey running towards me to tell who all she saw, "Arre, you dont know who all you missed, I saw Shah Rukh, Farhan, Shahid kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and there is this guy with long hair - I guess he was Sajid Khan, Hirhik too is inside but I cudnt see him and I think I saw Priyanka Chopra too". She checks in the car's back seat and finds the kiddo asleep - realizes why I didnt join her and asks me again "What were you doing here sitting alone?" and as I point towards my friend, I realize - he is gone - in no time he vanished - even his car was gone. I don't even know who he was - what was his name - and him leaving us alone politely yet again touched me. The guy just went off.

 We too get in the car and as I hear her exciting voice to find and see so many of her favorite celebrities - we pass thru Sallu's flat and without stopping since the lights were out - we drove over to home and its almost 2.30 AM. A Sunday well spent.

In the land of blood and honey (2011) - Romance / Drama

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut will be such a serious and heart touching movie - I never imagined. And when I saw it - I seriously couldn't believe what I witnessed. Amazing. Rocking. Shocking. I am sure the reality would be way too worse than what we see on screen. I remember those days vaguely as this was one of those chapters of history that we all witnessed LIVE - up close and personal, other than the gulf war and september 11 attacks. Its a must watch for all who love movies based out on reality with enough drama and a damn good love story woven in between. Though they do not claim it to be reality based but its hard not to believe that.

Its a movie with a beautiful start but its tough to say its a beautiful movie. The very first scene you see a beautiful Bosnian Muslim girl dating an Army Man, dancing and all happy. It sets you thinking - anything could go wrong anytime :) and Bang!! There goes off a bomb and the mood of the movie changes in an instant. What you see next is a war torn country and its people struggling to survive. Women are taken over by army as sex slaves and men are killed for no rhyme or reason. While the women are transported to an army base, you see a guy running on the road and next moment you see - he is shot, who was he? Why was he shot? No explanation. Anyone going against the army will be shot without any warning. I really wondered why they killed so many innocent people from their own country? I guess that's what Ms Jolie wanted to point out through the movie.

Fate makes the couple meet again but this time the setting is different. She is a slave and he is working under his father in the army. He tries to save her as much as he could. But you witness the brutality on slaves by his colleagues. The way women are beaten and they do all the cooking, cleaning and everything they could to keep the guys happy. Its shocking to see how they break plates unnecessarily, walk over their hands, thrash and kill them just like that. Life has no value - its so cheap for them - there is no law and order - mind it, this all happened in early 90's when we all were going to school and graduating in our own respective countries.
He finally takes her out of the camp and puts her in an apartment and her life changes for a very brief period of time. He even let's her find out her lost sister who an infant and that's why she was spared from army.

Later its shown that even the kid was brutally thrown from the third floor and was killed. Its so shocking. Yet they survive and unite again. Till his father finds out that he has kept a girl in an apartment. He tells him not to trust that girl and to get rid of her. She again gets raped by a guy who was his dad's man and he kills the same guy in revenge later. So much happens in couple of years of war torn Bosnia and even the ending is so heart wrenching that I actually felt so sad for them. Wished it could all end in a happy note but if only wishes were to come true.

The pain and struggle that these people go through makes you think hard - why is that we just can't live peacefully? What is all that war, struggle and fighting for? Its so painful to see so many innocent people losing everything they ever had in no time at all. And how hard it must be to overcome all that - if you somehow still survive. The figures that they show in the end credits of the movie are shocking too. At least 50000 women were raped and thousands were killed. No count. Its shocking indeed.

Its a must watch for all as I am sure - it does makes us feel that we are indeed living in heaven - in comparison to those who have lived through war affected countries and have survived. So many are still coming to terms with life as we speak and go through our lives. Its a sort of an eye opener for all. Do not miss it - if you like reality based movies.

Battleship (2012) - Action

Another hollywood science fiction with slam bang thank you mam action. This was another mindless action movie in the name of science fiction that you just see for the awesome action sequences and forget about it in no time. Its just been a month and no one is talking about it anymore, that's exactly what I mean. Unfortunately due to time constraints I couldn't check it out while it was in theaters but I'm now glad that I skipped it. Its just about an average one time watch and leaves so many questions unanswered that its now pointless to debate. Go ahead - if you have nothing better to do, pick up a couple of beers and you might enjoy the whole drama.

As usual NASA is looking for a planet with life. They shoot a signal for the same boosted by a satellite. Aliens read the signal and come visit us. As it always happens they land in US of A only. One of their ships crashes with American satellite and crash lands in HongKong for a change. The building crashing shot and ships landing sequence is mindblowing. Totally rocking shot with earth shattering background score. That's the only best thing about the movie - they have shot the action sequences quite well.

Aliens obviously want to kill all the humans and take over the planet. They do look like their cousin's Predators that we met earlier but this time they are a little allergic to sun :). You see, we humans realize anyone's weakness in no time. How the US naval officers fight the aliens with the help of their Japanese counterparts is all the movie is all about. There is another sub plot going on too - about a naval officer and his girl friend (Beautiful Brooklyn Decker) whose primary job is to look gorjus in hot pants and do nothing. She is the daughter of an Admiral (Liam Neeson in a thankless role) he reports too and its funny how he keeps practicing how to ask her hand for marriage from her dad.

Action sequences are shot in a damn good way and totally impressive. Like the first up close and personal shot when Rihanna and Taylor go on board the landed ship and it starts shooting their main ship is simply awesome. I wonder why have they taken Rihanna as the only female navy officer onboard. She is at her fugliest best, although she looks good in her 3 minute music videos but in a full length movie - she is beyond me. But she does have an average screen presence. Funny looking aliens come out of the ship and yeah! They do have some good hand to hand combat scenes too when the humans get thrown, left, right and center. Americans Joining hands with Japanese to defeat the enemies is really good - may be a first in movies :). Their strategy against Aliens and finally fight and outcome is simply stunning.

I wonder how come NASA, White House, Air Force and Pentagon had almost no say in the whole act and its Navy only who takes care of the whole operation single handed with some final moment support with Air Force. Another thing which made me wonder was the taking over of 70 year old war memorial ship in the hour of need by Navy. In no time they get it ready and up and running too with the help of a handful of army navy retirees who take care of it. It even had missiles, bombs and working guns on board too - wow. Simply outstanding. But I guess its all ok being part of an action movie. Given they do win the war in the end - who cares. The high point of the movie is its ending with Aerosmith rocking song in the background and all the guns blaring on Aliens. Do check it once - you may end up liking. Who knows :)

21 Jump Street (2012) - Action Comedy

What a big let down this was in the name of comedy and action that I expected from its awesome trailers. When you have two of the best guys - Channing Tatum and Johan Hill - who have given us so many good movies in the past - Unfortunately they were even executive producers in this one. Jonah hill contributed to Story department too. Still it was such a lacklustre treatment - if you ask me. I kept hoping for something good to happen and the funny moments are far and few between the lousy screenplay. Both of the boys look so disinterested in doing what they were doing on screen. It definitely did not work for me big time. May be I had big expectations from them but when I check the Box Office figures - I am surprised to see - it indeed did a good business.

Its too long - too slow - almost nothing happens - no hot chicks - all the action they show was in the trailer only and the same you see in the end credits - I tell you the end credits are way too good than the whole movie. Even a Cameo by Johny Depp cudnt save it for me. The less said the better about Ice Cube being in the movie. Give it a miss if you like action comedies - this aint any good. But if you already saw - let me know how you like it. Also, It is a surprise hit of the year so far, so you may end up liking it.

Story revolves around two losers in school - one is good in studies and can do nothing better than that. Another one is good in sports but thats all he can do. They both end up in police academy and become buddies. They were different in school like chalk and cheese, never liked each other but here they need each others support. Its hilarious to see them helping each other - Jonah helps him with his grades and studies whereas channing helps him with training activities and finally they both come out winners. Unfortunately for their looks they get posted to their own neighbourhood as undercover cops and the best is their boss, who happens to be a damn good cop - Ice Cube. What happens next is pretty straight and predictable. It does brings smile to your face and makes you happy but you never actually laugh out loud as you expect in any of the action comedies. Their onscreen histrionics are all "been there done that stuff" Unfortunately the chicks that they picked up are neither cute nor hot - that was a big turn off for me. As in this kindda movie you expect those things - Ice Cube being a big bad ass black cop should have been accompanied by some goodlooking black ladies but alas!! he had none.

There are some funny moments - like the one where they clone one of the students phone on which they have a doubt. The whole party setup. Their target is to uncover the gang operating in school selling drugs. They need to remain undercover too hence they do get involved in school activities too but that wasnt funny at all. Jonah Hill taking part in the drama in school was not so funny for me. Although the show in the end was hilarious but by that time I had already lost interest in the same and was just waiting for the end to arrive and uncover the secret - that too wasnt a big shocker as it was pretty lame and predictable. It can at best be an average friday night movie with friends on board while you are couple of beers down. It wasnt to my taste hence I will say thumbs down - Ignore it.

Orphan (2009) - Thriller

When it comes to Thrillers - I am always game. And when you have a thriller with a kid gone berserk - its even better. With two of my favorite characters thrown in - Gorjus Vera Farmiga and Sensual Peter Sarsgaard - No one could stop me from watching this one. ALthough I am little nervous watching a pshychological thriller alone - so I try and watch it in broad day light with curtains close - almost :). What a fantastic movie. One thing I loved about this one is its slow pace and thats why you get deeply involved. It keeps you waiting for something to happen eagerly and when that happens - you are almost shocked and surprised. It almost has no background score for quite some length and when suddenly music comes on - its scary and thrilling both. To hear the dialogues I kept the volume almost at 60/100 and bang - when you have that car almost crashing scene - it was chilling. Its a must watch for all thriller lovers - although a little more then 2 hours is a little long for a thriller but cannot be missed.

The best part about thrillers is - they will have enough scenes with damn good music to chill and thrill you - throughout. This one is no exception. The director lets you guess the next scene and did not let it happen - it happens when you least expect and you are left with a big shock. I so love that. Its story of a young couple, who lose their third child in delivery complications and opt for adoption of a girl. They have no idea from where this girl came and whats her background. They just adopt her as both fall in love with her at the first sight and her good nature convinces them that she will be a perfect companion for their young kids - a boy and a deaf and mute girl. Plus she is a damn good painter too. Right when you think everything is going good, comes the shocker. As you realize with time that something is wrong with the girl. By that time its too late.

The way she handles everybody from her bullying classmates to her brother and little mute sister back home is simply awesome. Almost everybody is at a threat from her. Its totally awesome to watch her thrashing them all and taking her own revenge. The way she starts hitting back and taking revenge with her own ideas. I wont write much in here cause if I do - you are not going to like the movie - I will highly recommend it for all thriller lovers. It has almost no gory moments but lots of chilling, thrilling and killing too ;). Go ahead take a peek and I am sure you will love it. The little psychological games she keeps playing with the whole family is totally awesome. She keeps everybody confusing. Although her brother and younger sister know exactly what she is doing, but they are helpless as they think their parents are never going to belive what she is doing.

One more thing which deserves a mention and why you are so much involved with this one is the way director has handled its characters. You absolutely know what is happening and the confusion between husband and wife. When one starts distrusting the other one and starts taking daughters side - she too takes proper advantage of it. There were moments when I actually wanted to get up and tell Peter to not to trust that girl. It was so funny that my heart went out for him cause I knew he is going to pay for it - yet I couldnt help. Its totally chilling to see what happens next and you feel so sad for them but are totally hooked till the end as you have a hope that everything will fall in right place - will it? You gotta watch out for it. The suspense and the outcome is too good - I was totally bowled over it.

Vicky Donor (2012) - Hindi Movie

I am quite late in watching this one but I guess better late than never. And am I glad I saw it?? Its an excellent subjective movie with so much fun. Specially for those who have any connection with Delhi or North India. Rocking fun. Its based on the concept of Sperm Donation and Infertility. A hilarious take on the life of its protagonist Vicky played by Ayushman Khurana of MTV Roadies fame, who becomes a sperm donor, he was rather forced and convinced into it by a doctor aptly played awesomely by Anu Kapoor. Its a must watch for all drama come comedy lovers. It gives a very important message on the current world scenario and in a very light manner.

Vicky Arora is a happy go lucky guy. Does nothing and is always cursed for the same by his single mother but always appreciated by his granny. Its damn funny to see his mom and granny fight in the morning about everything but chill in the night over drinks :). The daily Delhi life caught in camera made me nostalgic, I could almost tell about all the spots they shot it in - I miss my Delhi days big time. One fine day Doctor Chadha finds Vicky Arora and after a brief background checks he comes to know and convinces him that he belongs to the great Aryan Race :). And then starts their association. He donates his sperm and they make fundoo money by making infertile couples happy.

Vicky meets love of his life in a Bank while opening an account for his mother's beauty parlor. He tries very hard to win the Bengali Beauty and she too finally gives up and soon after lot of hassle bustle between their families, their marriage takes place. Even the marriage ceremony is a laugh riot with various Punjabi and Bengali traditions. Soon after marriage due to medical complications they realize she can never get pregnant. Vicky realizes life has played a joke on him as he is helping people have babies and he himself can't have his own. This breaks them emotionally and when his wife comes to know of his real job - she walks out on him. Lot of drama takes place in between and how he wins her back is the rest of the movie.

Its a little two hours or more but a total fun watch. With a nice message throughout and a great happy ending. A must watch for all as everybody has so much to take home from this. And that's the reason it did wonderful business on box office and was a super hit. Casting is too good. Ayushman as Vicky is perfect and he plays his part quite naturally. The new girl as his girl friend and wife does her part perfectly and is too good in emotional scenes. Both sides parents are a treat to watch but the cake goes to Anu Kapoor who plays Dr Chadha's role in a hilarious manner and is totally lovable. His antics you will remember for quite some time.

Do not miss it at any cost.

Jannat 2 (2012) - Hindi Movie

There are two types of movies: First are the ones - you see them, love them, enjoy, cherish, laugh with them and cry with them. Second are those - you see them, laugh on them, trash them, swore on them and then shred them in your reviews. And then comes the Third types - with Imran Hashmi in them - which you just see and see and gasp "what the heck I just saw" and you move on to better things in life.

Jannat 2 is one of those movies where every character is given freedom by Bhatt brothers - do what you feel like doing, say whatever comes to your mind, run anywhere on any road and we will make it look like a chase. Do not forget to use the cuss words at least a good 80-90 times so the crowd will cheer and feel at home. Couple of idiotic songs with insane lyrics. No one needs to shave. We will make a gorgeous female look yuck. A couple of kissing and love making scenes and Bang!! We will do 50 crore business in no time and then we have satellite rights and music to be sold too.

I am indeed surprise to see the outcome of this movie on the box office but I should not be as there so many other than me who indeed loved it. Its an insane story of a rookie gun seller who buys them from an unknown source and sells them to every tom dick and harry on the road. He commands a damn good knowledge of guns, he can actually read the resume of a gun to you right as you point one at him. Then there is this maverick cop Randeep Hooda, who is behind illegal gun sellers and dealers cause his wife died in a freak shooting incident and guess what - he too was shot in head and the bullet is still stuck in there, that's why he can't sleep and works 24/7 to catch the culprits.

What happens next - you can take a wild guess. Imraan Hashmi falls in love at first sight with a doctor and its laughable to see her too fall in for him - bravo. You've got to see it to believe it. She falls for him cause he gets money to fund her charitable hospital which is on the verge of getting bankrupt :). Where he gets the money is not her concern - Bingo. What an idea. Cat and mouse game betweek cop and Imraan is what the movie is all about. With some yawning chase sequences and drama thrown in between. Another stupid looking Don which doesn't scare you one bit and a top cop who is corrupt. Couple of songs and you have a movie of about more then 2 hrs ready.

Everybody is sleep walking in their respective roles. Am shocked to see Randeep Hooda giving it his best. He is the only one who keeps you entertained. The chick who is actually damn beautiful looks yuck in here and every time she tries to act - it makes you laugh. Less said the better about the support cast and friends wasted in thankless roles. Imran Hashmi walks out of this movies set straight to "Shanghai" which is his next movie. As in trailers he looks exactly how he looks here in this one.

A total waste of time and money.
At best it can be called a drama.
No way an action thriller as they claim it to be.
Ignore it like a plague. 

Ishaqzaade (2012) - Hindi Movie

I simply love those movies which are unpredictable and you are actually shocked to see what happens next. These movies are a must watch on the first week of their release itself - if you really want to enjoy them. Otherwise a whole lot of people like me will give away its unique and surprising things and then you end up giving them below average ratings as nothing shocks you, as it becomes "Yaa, I know, My friend already told me that". Go ahead take a look as you know it is from the same guy who gave us "Do Dooni Chaar" and Wrote "Band Baaja Baarat". Both were damn good movies - totally entertaining. Do not miss it at any cost.

Story is based supposedly in a small town of UP. What you see is actually true account and happens in so many small towns of India, even today. I could actually see the glimpses of our own college days and that's exactly how we wud celebrate a friends marriage, by gun shots in open air. Those bike chases and violence on road is quite entertaining and looks life like. There are so many instances in the movie where you simply gasp and say "Oh Shit". The differences between both the families and their falling in love with each other will remind you of 80's movies. Where the hero will sit on a bench in front of his heroines house for hours. Come rain, come sun shine, he won't move an inch and finally the girl will fall in love too. But everything isn't that hunky dory in the end as there has to be a twist in the tale.

My hardcore movie critic wife surprisingly got the twist before even it happened and I was shocked as she gave me the points too that made her predict and bang!! She was right. I couldn't guess it hence I was in for the shock and then I was swept in their unique love story with a mind blowing twist in the mid and a heart touching ending. You do come out of the auditorium smiling as if you did win the war in the end. There are so many small small things which make you smile. That's typical Habib Faisal stuff and music is equally great. The moment you hear the tune - it reminds you of Dev D and you know its Amit Trivedi in music department. But the songs are really nice and I'm going to humm them for quite a while.

The locations and cinematography is excellent. I totally loved the camera movements. Following a character, moving ahead, coming back, going up and capturing the mood is just excellent. He keeps you involved in the movie. Writing is another good part as so many dialogues make you cheer, laugh, clap and hoot too. No out of the world or cliché lines but the real-time lines as we speak everyday. Its a totally nice movie to watch. Reminded me of my own college days and made me feel good. I'm convinced with the ending too and there cudnt be a better ending than how it ends.

Arjun Kapoor cudnt have asked for a better debut and Parineeta Chopra is damn good. As much I hate her cousin Priyanka who is becoming worse in looks by the day cause of all those lip jobs, nose jobs and what not. Parineeta is simply beautiful and I don't think they require much make up to make her look more beautiful. She is good in expressions and acting, definitely going to go a long way. The support cast is excellent, specially the two dads and Arjun's friends. One of whom we saw sometime back in "Sadda Adda".

Its a must one time watch. You will surely enjoy it.

Tezz (2012): Hindi Movie.

A fantastic comedy and another movie which expects you to keep your brains behind while going to watch it. I can guarantee - you will laugh on everything right from the word "Go". I mean everything is hilarious. I loved Anil Kapoor's best lines "Its my duty" he says that with full emotions at least 3 times. The action scenes and CGI is a lousy attempt and I can definitely write a trilogy of books on them. The best is "Monkey Jump", you see Zayed doing a "Jason Statham" on foot and will give some competition to monkeys. I mean in todays age and time in India - thats the best they can serve us?? Then you have Mohanlal in a thankless role - his monkey jump to save his own life in the last shot had me in splits. I really wonder how he managed that with his body weight. Its a must watch if you love laughing and having good time with friends. I really wonder how they presented the script and idea to Devgan so he agreed to do it.

Priydarshan should stick to do what he does best. Make movies down south or do strictly comedies. Action and serious stuff is not his forte - he should stay away from it. I mean look at the whole idea of this movie. Based on a non immigrants life in UK, who is deported to India since he was working illegally. Although he marries a Citizen but guess what? In a hindu temple and they I think forgot to register it. Laugh Laugh. He is deported and his wifey who loves him so much stays back :). Guess she was waiting for him to get a legal visa and come back. He comes back, but not to meet her in 4 years but to take revenge with the govt and two of his friends help him with all they can to put a bomb on a train and blow it - if they don't get 10 million euros. Awesome idea. Isn't it? What pursues is a hilarious cat and mouse game between cops and these idiots. Ending with a double idiotic ending.

There are so many movies these days which are made with no head and tail. No one bothers about a script. Its actually shot in episodes and edited together to make a movie. Like this one. Three tacky action chase sequences. One item number. One love song. One sad song. A great cop working one extra day after his retirement. A great dedicated railway service manager. Another great cop in a cameo. Shot them all separately and sewn them together haphazardly to make a movie hence the outcome - A Complete DISASTER. 

What a royal waste of time, money and talent. Barring Ajay, Boman and Anil - no one leaves no impression on you. And they all look helpless. Even if you watch it without thinking anything - by the end you realize "what the hell just happened". But it does make you laugh your ass off - big time. I mean take that scene with Ajay meets Sameera first time after he returns to take revenge, she gives him half a dozen phones. Make one call and toss it to the bin :). That white water raft chase scene by Ms Sameera Reddy followed by her dirt bike chase - I guess she must be dreaming of replacing Angelina Jolie in next action movie. Zayed Khan doing a "Jason Statham" on foot chase. His monkey jumps will have you in splits. Bag full of C4 bombs is such a comic sight. They buy it as if they are buying chocolates. I mean he is deported and comes back in 4 years with so much money to buy two bag fulls of C4 :). Wow. Why do you need to settle in UK if you can make that kind of money in India that too in just 4 years.

Another best scene of movie is - when Good Cop Anil realizes that a bag full of C4 is about to blow in 3 seconds - he simply jumps out of the window and saves himself - Bravo!! What a great cop and what an idea. All this while Ajay and his friends were shooting people and bombing trains etc still his wife doesn't know one thing and she is like "he is here to meet us" ROFL. Its a total laugh riot.

Not to be missed - if you like serious comedies.

The Avengers (2012)

A super hero movie is always a delight for any movie freak - how about one with half a dozen of them thrown in together fighting for one cause? That too a two and a half hour long joy ride on 3D. A very dear friend made me doubly happy by buying me those push back reclining seats where you have your own table and blanket too :). Battery powered recliner with a foot rest, so you can set your own angle. I wish they let me live there. NOT TO BE MISSED. Superb movie. Awesome action. You will duck a couple of times and lost the count how many times we all shouted, cheered and clapped like kids.

When it comes to action movies, there is no better than a super hero movie, be it spiderman, superman, ironman, thor, batman, so on so forth. And when you put half a dozen of them in one movie avenging and saving the planet from bad guys and their army - is simply amazing. If I have to pick one favorite - it will be quite a tough task. I will definitely pick up Ironman followed by Hulk followed by Thor. Captain America will show up last in my list and that Black widow will never make it to my list ever. I don't need a glamour quotient in an action movie for sure. Scarlett Johansson was a mere caricature here, dunno why she did it.

Ironman beats everybody hands down in here. I totally love everything about him. The way he walks, talks, jokes - simply mindblowing. One scene which deserves a mention is when he lands on the top of his building and the way his suit is being taken off his body by automatic process by machine and he keeps walking on an open corridor talking to his girl friend - is an amazing sight. I can see this movie twice for that shot only. One hell of an amazingly shot sequence. Second is Hulk. He is located to be in Calcutta (India) and called to help the team beat up Loki and his army who are here to take control of unlimited supply of energy in a cube. Mark Ruffalo is a blessing as New Hulk and he is simply amazing. He has already won our hearts in his last couple of movies and after you see this - I am sure you too will look forward to his upcoming movies.

Jeremy Renner as hawk is amazing too, although he is forced to join the bad guys but when he joins the team back - its simply mind blowing action that he delivers with his automated bow and arrows. Simply stunning camera shots of moving arrows that too on 3D is one hell of a sight. Captain America as per me is plain average. Although he too has got some great action but personally am not a big fan hence didn't enjoy it that much. Thor as usual is damn good. Although as an individual movie I didn't like Thor that much as it was a little too much for me but here, in a small role he is acceptable. I love his magnetic hammer though which he keeps losing and catching again and again.

I guess at least four or more times, I actually ducked to save myself from flying and crashing objects. Like in one sequence when you have a broken wing of air plane is thrown on audiences. And that flying army of Loki, Hawks arrows, Flying ship of SHIELD the organization to which they all report and work with. Sam Jackson gets some of the best lines and watch out for the ending ;). You will know what I'm talking of. Robert Downey too gets some fantastic lines, his facial expressions and timing is simply superb. He is the best of the lot. In the end you actually feel like you never get enough of him.

New York has gone through so many disasters in last one decade in movies that I am sure they have used all corners of the city to the full. Even in this one it looks so run of the mill action. Even when the US govt orders a typical Nuclear Missile to be blown in Manhattan - you just don't show any expression as that's pretty normal for them. One solution to all world problem is a bloody nuclear blast that's such a ROFL stuff.
All in all - its a damn good watch for action lovers and is a definite multiple viewing for movie freaks. Its a nice one time watch for regular cinegoers. And if you love 3D movies - this is the movie of the year. If you ask me personally - I will rate its CGI one notch lower than AVATAR. If Avatar was 4/5 for me - this is definitely a 3/5 and no less.

Do not miss it at any cost.
It deserves a big screen viewing.
You will love it.

The Lucky One (2012)

Another classic case of wrong casting and Boy - what a disaster. Why in the hell someone would pick up Zac Efron of all to play a Marine? Even if he plays a 25 year old, it isn't good enough convincing for me. He remains wooden for the most of the part as if all marines are supposed to be expressionless. His expressions remain same even while he is killing enemies or making love. At times his expressions are like "what am I doing here?" and same is what you think by mid way. Its a classic waste of time and money in the name of a love story.

Give it a royal ignore if you like love stories or the one's with a little drama thrown in between. Its too boring. Starting is so slow and it just drags till the mid way when you really see some conflicts. But before you think of any action taking place, everything falls in right places and everybody is happy before it all ends. You see, director was actually making a feel good movie. I wonder how did it made so much money in Hollywood.

Zac is a marine posted in Iraq. While the war goes on - one fine day he locates a mirror like object at some distance. As he walks to picks it up - a missile lands where he was sitting and everybody else is killed in the freak blast. It was actually a picture of a girl which saves his life. Second time again while he is traveling in a humvy they come across a blast and again he is saved cause he was looking at the picture. So, he decides - if he survives the war - he will go and find the girl and thank her for keeping him alive.

Finally, he comes back home and takes a cross country drive to locate the girl. As he meets her for the first time, she thinks he is there to apply for a job of a dog trainer / cleaner. He happily takes it up thinking he will tell her about the whole story later. Taylor Schilling is beautiful and wears hot pants mostly. Her job is to just look good and smile. She has a background tOo and is a single mother with a young kid. They fall for each other gradually and some tough times later everything falls in place and movie ends on a happy note.

They actually tried too hard to make it a mushy love story but it fails big time to hold your interest. Its so so simple and highly predictable that you actually know what's going to happen next and it does. What does not work for me - is the cast. I had so many expectations from them. Even the drama isn't convincing. I had full sympathy with the guy who plays her husband, as he had to play a villain out of nowhere cause the story goes nowhere without a twist. Its another movie you just see and forget. Its totally misleading to write on the poster - "from the acclaimed author" of "notebook" and "dear john".

A Better Tomorrow (1986): Chinese Movie.

Another fantastic example of "A classic always remains a classic" even after so many remakes, you just can't better it. Made on a meager budget - it was a blockbuster and even today when you see it after 25 years of its making, it doesn't feel one bit old and you remain truly hooked to the edge of your seat throughout the movie. What an experience it was. Found a dubbed version in english - it was a fantastic action thriller. The name "John Woo" is more than enough for any movie buff to watch it and you realize - he is actually the father of modern action movies.

It was made in Hindi by Sanjay Gupta as "Aatish" which indeed shot Sanju baba, Aditya Pancholi and Atul Agnihotri to fame. I so much loved it that its still a part of my collection but after watching the original - respect for Sanjay Gupta has definitely gone down a few notches. How they botched it up for Indian market is unbelievable. The difference between both the movies is - when you see "Aatish" today - you actually end up laughing on half of the movie. And when you see the original - its serious business and action is so genuine and serious that you totally love it, even today. Still Aatish will remain a favorite for its mind blowing action and my all time favorite Sanjay Dutt.

A better tomorrow - is a story of two best friends (Sung and Mark) who work for a gang whose primary business is to print counterfeit dollars. They are both the right and left hand of the boss and very well respected members of the gang. Sung has a younger brother who wants to become a police officer. When he realizes his brother's actual job, he starts hating him and because of him their dad too is killed in a freak incident. Later Sung goes for a deal to Taiwan with a new member of the gang and is double crossed - he lands in jail for 3 years. By the time he comes back, everything has changed. His brother becomes a cop and his friend mark is in rags. The new member who double crossed him is the new boss now.

Sung wants to give up his earlier life of crime and tries to lead a good life by driving a taxi. He wants to win his brother back. He meets his old friend Mark too. Its such a classic scene when they both meet for the first time after he returns from jail that I just cannot put it here in words. It actually touches you deep inside. Sung and Mark are such great friends that they can die for each other and Sung loves his brother so much that he can kill anybody for him. They leave the crime world but the criminals don't spare them that easily. They are actually blackmailed into it and had to come back to a criminals life.

If they do not end it by ending the whole gang - Sung's brother and his girl friends life too are in danger. The action sequence in the ending half hour is simply superb, mind blowing old school action. You have to see it to believe it. Amazing is the word for it. The way hell breaks lose and the way they take their revenge and the final out come is totally heart wrenching. The whole movie in its entirety is an experience on its own - one that you just can't forget for quite a while. Rather you will end up digging its remaining two parts to know what happens next - right the way I am going to do now.

Some scenes which I will remember for quite sometime: When Mark goes alone to take revenge of Sung's arrest with the guy who double crossed them. He hides his guns in flower pots in the corridor and as they start shooting on him - he takes out those hidden guns and shoots them all.
After his release from jail when the two friends meet - the situation in which they were in - mark is a cripple, cleaning cars for a living, Sung is a taxi driver - their meeting is the emotional high of the movie. A scene of a life time.
Final revenge and the result - truly rocking.
Special mention should be made of its fundoo background score which gels so well with the happenings on screen.

Its a must watch for all action and thriller lovers. Its old school action - the one that we all grew up too with machine guns shooting, bombs blowing, lots of blood and gore. Not to be missed at any cost.