Rajdhani Express (2013) - Thriller

OK – forgive me for watching this – but what to do, I was too curious to see one my favorite tennis star Leander Paes making a movie debut. WOW – What a disaster of the first order this movie is – with no head and tail whatsoever. Trust me – I am not exaggerating in saying this – if you put 4 total strangers from different walks of life in a Rajdhani Express’s 1^st AC compartment and shoot what they do for the first three hours – it will make a better movie than what they made in the name of a Socio Political Drama – My Foot. Yikes!! And what the heck is that punch line – “Rajdhani Express – Point Blank Justice”. This movie in the first place – should have never got made. Ignore it like a plague – Obviously – you have already done that but skip it even if it comes on TV someday which isn’t a remote possibility.

Wreck - It Ralph (2012) - Animation

Another superb animation with a heart – I was glad that it did get an Academy Nomination as well as a fantastic victory, after seeing it last week – I realized – it deserved it big time. I will call it another movie where the Director’s imagination gone wild. When I was a kid (not so long ago) – we brothers used to imagine – how would it look like if we get into one of those game consoles and see for ourselves if these characters that we play with are real? What do they do in their spare time – I mean when no one is playing the game or when the machine is switched off? This is exactly the same thing captured in a superb animation voiced by some of our own favorite actors. No one can beat John C Reily when it comes to this kind of comedy movie and his voice as Wreck It Ralph is simply superb. Wreck It Ralph is actually the bad guy with a heart – who wants to change the whole thing and become a good guy by winning the medal as only good guys win the medal in all the games. What happens next is a superb roller coaster ride of close to two hours with all the characters from a lot of games coming alive and running from one console to another and Ralph in search of his medal which he has to win to prove his point. It’s terrific to see some of your favorite childhood game characters come alive in front of your eyes and makes up for a fantastic thriller cum action cum animation cum drama. It has almost everything in it for everybody. Unfortunately I don’t watch too much of animation these days as my kiddo keeps giving me the doses of animation from time to time (sometimes unwanted) hence I skip on a lot of them but thanked God that I didn’t skip this one and saw it finally. If you like Animations – you are going to Love this one and if you like Thriller cum Action movies – do not miss this at any cost. It’s a definite must watch for all and I will rate it a good 4/5. Not to be missed.

Killer Joe (2011) - Thriller

I simply love the way these Texans talk – that rusty feel is too good. This one was a typical American action cum thriller with one of my favorites Matthew McConaughey (Whose name I always had an issue spelling and pronouncing) at the helm of things as a good bad and ugly guy altogether. It’s a fantastic idea of making quick money to pay debts gone wrong – predictable fare yet engrossing and the way the whole thing is shot is too good, kept me glued throughout. Story of a defunct, bankrupt, crazy family where one member is shittier than the other, one crazy father and a hottie step mom (Gina Gershon) a crackpot teenage sister (Juno Temple) and the main guy – a debt ridden brother (Emile Hirsch). The plan is to kill the real mother who has a $50K insurance policy and the nominee is the little sister, make it look like an accident with the help of a cop and a part time contract killer Joe (Mathew). What happens next is anybody’s guess with everything going wrong – not exactly as per plan leading to a thrilling ending. It’s a good one time watch – a super time pass movie with so much happening. I will definitely rate it as 2.5/5.

Liberal Arts (2012) - Comedy

You should see this movie if you are in mid 30’s (Like me) and in real don’t feel a day older than 19, if you are a hardcore romantic (Like me again), if you love English literature (I love it) – you should never miss this one at any cost. If you checked on all three points – you are going to love it, cheer for the guy, stand up and clap (I guarantee you that). This one takes you back to your college days and gives you exactly the same feeling you get when you visit the city / town from where you have a close connection – remember the feeling you get every time you pass through the school or college you passed out from? That’s exactly what this one does – it’s a magically fantastic movie – Superb! Jesse (Josh Radnor – Director / Screenplay) is a guy in mid 30’s, works for a college, visits his own college after one of his favorite professor Peter (Richard Jenkins) requests him to come over for his retirement dinner to say nice things about him. There he meets 19 years old Zibby (Elizabeth Olson), his professor’s friend’s daughter. Instantly they develop a repo and almost fall for each other, what happens next is a joy ride for audience and how his life changes for good. What I loved about this one is – heart to heart discussion between its leads and rest of the cast – too good and seriously cut out of everyday life. The way they discuss books, authors, lines from famous writings etc is too good to be true. Like his crush on one of the hottest professors of romantics is simply superb – I mean who doesn’t have a crush on a teacher ;) provided you had one hot one in campus. His dilemma in falling in love with a girl half of his age, his interaction with his ex professors and current kids on the campus is simply fantastic. The whole movie is such a breeze of fresh air for me – totally loved it and will definitely keep it for future viewings too. Do not miss this at any cost – you will have a great time.  

Compliance (2012) - Thriller

Another based on true stories movie – a perfect thriller which shocked us big time and made us think there are all kinds of people in this screwed up world. We were actually glued to it throughout the 90 minutes of its running time as the story unfolds – it kept gripping us further with it with every new scene the shock value kept increasing. More then 70 similar cases have been reported in the United States around 30 states where a caller identifying himself as a police officer orders a strip search of a female restaurant cashier who as per the report had stolen money from a customer’s wallet. The restaurant manager tries and verifies the caller who claims to having spoken with restaurant chain’s regional manager. The whole movie is shot with the cop on call asking the manager to try different ways of extracting money out from the girl or disclose where she has hidden. While he goes through her house and is about to arrest her brother for doing drugs and all, she is devastated as her brother is innocent and goes through the turmoil to save herself from being jailed. The torture that she goes through is worse than going through a rape and it shocked us big time with what we saw – imagine this all happened more then 70 times in real life – what pain, anger and frustration these victims must have gone through. How it all ends is more shocking than how it happens. It’s a sort of an eye opener and a damn good psychological thriller where you see some lesser known actors giving priceless expressions – haunting I should say. I am sure we will not be able to forget this one for quite a long time. If you like thriller – chances are – you too are going to go through the same expressions what we felt and a must watch for all as it makes you think and prepare you for any untoward incident of same type happening with any of us. A must watch for all.