Stolen (2012) - Action

Another run of the mill action movie which proves yet again that these ageing stars need to read the script first before signing and putting another dud against their almost finished career. I know those are some real harsh words written by me but unfortunately being a big big fan of Nicholas Cage for so many years – my heart cries to see him in back to back similar movies again and again and again – C’mon man, stop signing these craps. It’s such a cliché plot and had such a “been there done that a million times” feel to it that I could almost predict the very next scene without any problem. Heist gone wrong, a partner taking revenge, kidnapping of a family member, another theft to pay the ransom, take FBI for a joy ride, rob a bank, kill the bad guy and live happily ever after. WTF! No point discussing it any further – it’s another movie which should have never seen the day light unfortunately it does and sinks without a trace. Nicholas had a tuff time shooting for it and that’s visible in the scenes as he simply couldn’t run – looks so tired throughout and I am totally bored of seeing movie after movie which prove that a tom dick and harry thief of US is smarter than FBI guys – it’s a cake walk for him to solve a kidnapping case in like 12 straight hours without any help from anybody – Bingo! If you haven’t seen it – don’t even think about it and if you did already – please let me know your thoughts on the same. My rating 1/5. Ignore big time.

Bernie (2012) - Black Comedy

Bernie was termed as most under appreciated film of 2012 and I know why it was because half the people who like Jack Black (just like me) couldn’t imagine him in this kind of a role. He does put a smile on your face but it’s hard to connect with the character, hence the out come. And I am surprised to know that it’s based on a true story, even some of the characters played themselves in the movie – now that’s something fundoo. Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is a small town mortician who does his job with sheer perfection – you’ve got to see the introduction as how he does it all – fabulous job. He becomes a good friend of recently widowed super rich Marjorie (Shirley Maclaine) and how they become the talk of the town because of their escapades is movie all about plus the tragic ending of their story and the movie. Mostly the movie didn’t work for me because I expected it to be a comedy movie with Jack in it – it is indeed a black comedy but again as I said – I hardly had a connect with it fortunately the Texas connection works for me as I already mentioned earlier – I kindda like a movie with Texan background anyways because of the unique way they talk and do things, still this was a big turn off. I won’t even call it an average one time watch as I was totally bored of it by the time it ends, skip it – if you haven’t seen it but if you are a big Jack Black fan – might as well give it a shot. I will rate it 2/5 for sure.

Mai (2013) - Drama

Not every movie is made to entertain the audience but some are made to show them the mirror too and I will call this one as based on the true stories of more then a million households all across the world. This is another movie in the series of the likes of “Baghban” and others based on children and parent relationship. Made by a debutant Director and a fantastic Debut for India’s one of the favorite singers Asha Bhosle at the age of 79, this turns out to be a damn good movie made on the subject. The day I came to know of its making – I knew what will be its fate on the box office but had seriously high hopes from the three leads including Asha Bhosle as Mai, Padmini Kolhapure as her daughter and Ram Kapoor as her son in law, Superb casting. The story is totally apt as per today’s time and I am sure a lot of us would have gone through the same dilemma one time or other. Mai is a mother of four – three daughters and one son, stays with her son who wants to get rid of her in pretext of going to USA and couldn’t take her along as medical cost is too high for her age. As fate had it – her responsibility comes to her eldest daughter who is in fulltime job and has a teenage daughter to take care, with a not so cordial husband. What happen next are anybody’s guess – predictable yet heart wrenching drama with Asha Bhosle doing a superb job – she is simply fantastic and too good in the role of Mai – she moved us big time with her expressions and with someone who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. I will recommend it big time as it’s a great eye opener and a fundoo lesson in learning. It’s a must watch and a definite 3/5 from me. Do not miss it.

Zila Ghaziabad (2013) - Thriller

Zila Ghaziabad – the so called based on true story of 80’s and 90’s is such a bad movie that it creates another example in “how not to make a movie” – Oh My God. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it in full – somehow with that kind of casting – how can movies like these get made. I am sure the Director of this movie saw movies like “Omkara” and latest “Rowdy Rathore” – jumbled it up with a Gangwar in the background. Rope in some idle sitting stars from Bollywood and put them all in one movie. I mean the delight on Vivek Oberoi’s face is something you should watch out for – he simply couldn’t stop smiling, even in the serious scenes his expressions were like “See I got a movie, finally” that too with Sanju Baba and Arshad Warsi in it. Finally someone made a movie with Sanjay Dutt doing “Rohit Shetty” stunts – throwing people around like match sticks, why should only Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan have all the fun, he too can do the same and do it in style. Not one but they had to do two item numbers to keep the audiences glued and trust me – none of them works, barring the title track – there is nothing much you take home once you walk out of the theater. The less said about their acting the better – it totally confuses you with what is the purpose of this movie? it doesn’t entertain you one bit, has no message whatsoever and what it shows isn’t even true – the exaggeration is way too over board then how it all would have happened. I wasn’t even hopeful of a miracle in this one but couldn’t ignore it for sure with two of my favorites in one, hence the outcome. Ignore if you haven’t seen it – there is nothing that you are missing. At best I will rate it 1/5 and a total mess.

Red Dawn (2012) - War

Another remake bites dust and what a bit turn off this one turns out to be – I guess this guy Chris Hemsworth is beyond me – so far I am not able to like any of his movies, dunno why, although I am too easy to please type guy – yet he fails to impress me. This one too is a remake of a movie with the same name made in 1984 with one of my all time favorite star Patrick Swayze at the helm of things and was called as bloodiest movie of its own time. Now considering years – in 1984 – Russia invading USA can still be accepted but how about Korea invading USA that too in 2012 – sounds like highly impossible idea and the best part is the control of whole war fare is in a brief case – so to win the war against them all you’ve got to do is get that briefcase and blow it off – simple. Whosoever came out with that idea should be praised big time and should be held responsible for this disaster. A bunch of losers who couldn’t even win a football match are supposed to fight against the Korean Army and how they do it all is there to see in the movie – lead by Chris “The Thor” Hemsworth. Starts well but then in the initial half hour it starts to fall flat and I almost dozed somewhere mid way to end. If you like thrillers give it a miss rather I would rather recommend get the original and enjoy it again. A total let down.