Need For Speed (2014) - Action / Thriller

I had no hopes of catching this one up on big screen since it was already in its second week in theaters and we missed the only show on Saturday evening by a whisker as couldn’t make it on time. Since the day I saw Aaron Paul’s interview with Top Gear guys on the show – the makers claimed that they didn’t use any CGI for this one rather employed practical effects, which required the cast to receive extensive driving lessons. Missing this would’ve been a crime for me, finally saw the only show today and trust me – watching a movie on Monday afternoon is double fun. What more could I ask for in a movie which starts with a Shelby Mustang racing at the top speed, moves on to three Koenigsegg Ageras racing and killing one of the guys, sending the hero to jail and setting up a revenge story for us down the line. I would have cared about a story in this one but to my shock and surprise – they indeed had one and a good one at that so much so that I could actually connect with it as well. The whole cross country road trip from NYC to SFO was so much fun that the whole auditorium which was almost full was in splits. Action no doubt is brilliant and I actually mean BRILLIANT, I loved the way these beauties sounded and the way they have shot it all unfortunately they did use some CGI – they may or may not agree but one could tell with the way they were banging cars but other than those little things it makes up for a super fine action thriller – a movie which shouldn’t be missed on big screen. Imagine the end of the movie – I guess its almost a 10-15 minute long race sequence with cars like a Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Mclaren P1, Bugatti Veyron and two more (Missing those names). I myself am a big big Mustang fan and totally loved the way it ends with the couple driving away in one, I’ve definitely gotta give it a damn good 4/5 and will wait for its BlueRay to get released. Totally recommend to all action / thriller lovers – if your idea of fun is car racing with minimal CGI with some good story – don’t miss this one.

Ankhon Dekhi (2014) - Comedy

Rajat Kapoor is one of those few guys of Bollywood that you can definitely trust blindly – may be when he is a part of a project or the best is when he is at the helm of things. Like the movie in subject – the moment I realized he has written as well as directed this one – I had my hopes and expectations at exactly the right place and he didn’t disappoint me rather made me way too happy. WOW! What an amazing movie this one turns out to be – it actually made me “Time Travel” and sent me 3 decades back to my hometown where every mohalla (neighborhood) had its own “Bauji” or “Ammaji” as we used to call them, without whom none of the decisions will be made and who will be a very important part of society, may it be for people to meet them just like that over gossip, evening tea or time pass. Sanjay Mishra who had been a part of movie industry for so long – finally gets his due in the form of a full fledge movie and what an amazing way he pulls it – superb! Kudos to Rajat Kapoor, his team, his circle of friends in the industry (Almost every one of them has a cameo of some sort). It’s a roller coaster ride of a middle aged man “Bauji” (Outstandingly played by Sanjay Mishra), who suddenly wakes up to his own theory that what he sees is the reality and not what he hears from someone’s mouth. How that theory changes his life upside down or we can call it – messes his life up is the movie all about. But the way it’s all done is hilarious, loving, emotional, inspiring, heartening and a lot of other things that you will surely feel if you watch it. Not for one moment the story feels unconvincing or not even one single character which feels out of place – almost everyone is an important part and makes a great impression too. But the movie belongs to two brothers and their family, at times it made me feel that I was watching my own family drama, location is fantastic and almost feels so damn real that I just can’t explain that in words – you’ve got to see it to believe it. I am sure if not all – almost a majority of us would have lived in a house like that at some point or the other. It’s a must watch for all cinema lovers – may not do well from commercial aspect but will definitely be remembered for a long time and I am surely up for a couple of more viewings. I will give it a damn good 4/5 with two thumbs up recommendation for all.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) - Horror

A typical American done to death topic – this one is the 5^th movie from the series again shot in its entirety by a handheld camera which one of the leads of the movie actually buys it in the movie in $200. After watching a dozen of the similar movies which fail to scare me one bit I can definitely certify that almost every second American is an adventurous guy who knows (if not) at least tries to confront a kind of a spirit or a ghost and will definitely screw his own life in quest to capture them in a camera. This one has no story, no chills, no thrills and it’s so goddamn long in length that I actually was yawning throughout its length as it was predictable like anything. By the time the guy gets some idiotic superpowers and they incorporate some crappy CGI with trademark Paranormal Activity background – I had lost all interest in it and was waiting for it to end abruptly yet again – so they could make another movie after it (And that’s exactly how it all ends). To make this movie all they needed is some good for nothing kids (and a chick of course) with a handy cam, roaming around neighborhood, looking for a ghost right below their apartment. Paranormal Activity is another series which kept going down on quality with almost every new movie they made, first one was good, even the second one was worth a watch but after that they started sucking big time and this is how it all going to end now – I guess in a couple of years they will make some 2-3 more movies to finish it off, I am definitely giving it a way below average 1/5 for some special effects and going to ignore the any new releases in upcoming years. Give it a miss and you will miss nothing.

Amour & Turbulences (2013) - Romance / Comedy

 

One of the best things that I like rather love about movies from foreign lands is that neither I have any clue as to what they have in store for me nor any expectations. And when they turn out to be based on a situation like this one is – two complete opposite strangers meet on an international flight and as I expected that they will fall in for each other by the time they land – I got proven wrong yet again as they actually had a past and were separated for quite a while before they meet again. One of them is going for a job interview from NY to Paris and the other is about to get married the very next day. What works big time in the favor of the movie is that the subject is ripe with so many situations, confusions; laugh out loud moments, engaging storytelling, predictable outcomes, beautiful leads and amazing support cast (not for the first time that I saw a movie of this sort – I am sure I have seen at least two movies from Hollywood with exactly same plot). Ludivine Sagnier as Julie is simply amazing (And stunning) and so was Nicolas Bedos aptly cast as Antoine the Casanova who just couldn’t stick to the same girl more than two weeks at a stretch. What happens when he decides that he has actually fallen for Julie and wants to make it work. How situations go out of hands and the utter chaos that follows to a fantastic finale is simply amazing – if not outstanding it at least makes up for a light hearted comedy that I just couldn’t help but fall in love with. The way story moves forwards and I totally loved the way they walk in from one scene to another – that was something very creative and amazingly shot out stuff. I also loved the support cast – people around them in flight who are totally hooked to the story right like us audience. I will definitely rate it a good 3.5/5 and will recommend to those who like light hearted romantic comedies – go ahead watch it and you will surely like it.

300 Rise of an Empire (2014) - War / Fantasy

Another sequel or prequel or whatever you call this crappy movie – becomes a classic example of how a movie shouldn’t be made in the first place. This totally spoils the taste of 300 and the memory of the fantastic movie I ever had engraved in my mind forever. Disaster of the first order – it is such a boring, lousy and yawn inducing movie that’s very hard to review – all they did actually shot and show is three days of war and tried their level best to match the standard of first movie with more blood, action, drama and even sex (One Topless shot of a female and another fantastically aggressive sex scene with Eva Green) even then it fails big time to impress. I was surprised that even with the runtime of hardly 102 minutes – it wasn’t able to engage me one bit. 100 or more look alikes (at least physically) of Gerard Butler too don’t help much in doing 1/10^th magic of Zack Snyder’s 300. Although it can be called out an out Eva Green movie – as it’s an author backed character and she truly shines in the negative character unfortunately that’s the only saving grace of the movie, otherwise nothing else works in the favor of the movie. I am going to go with a 1/5 rating and that one too is only for Eva’s outstanding performance. Give it a miss if you haven’t seen it yet as it is definitely going to spoil the taste of 300 but if you haven’t seen (300) you may give it a shot. I am going to pick up the Gerard Butler movie this weekend to format this disasters memory from my mind for sure.