Men of Honor (2000)

Genre: Drama/Biography

Starring: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis

During the Second World War racism prevailed strongly in America, even within the Armed Forces. Carl Brashear (Gooding Jr.) was of an African-American origin and wanted to join the US Navy. Due to his skin colour, he was always pushed back and life was made difficult for him. He kept his chin high and fought through every obstacle that was thrown along his path. From becoming a regular Navy Seaman, he aspired to become a Navy Diver. He fought through bureaucracy and got inducted in diving school. Master Chief Sunday (De Niro) was the commander in charge of the school and was determined to make Carls life hell. Carl was even more determined to pass Sunday's hell and become a Navy Diver. The movie is high on the motivational factor and shows that what one only needs is the determination and will to do things and not to quit. Robert De Niro's performance is unmatcheable and perhaps no one else could have carried out the role better than him. It was simply a tailor fit. On the other hand Cuba Gooding Jr. was not to be left behind. The duo put on one of the best on-screen performances ever. The movie moves a little slowly at times and you might find yourself losing interest. The only part to watch out for is the end. If that scene cant run a chill down your spine, I don't know what else can. For every person aspiring to do and become something big, this movie is a must watch.

Thumbs up: Performances and 'the twelve steps' scene
Thumbs down: Gets a little slow and uninteresting

Rating: 7.6/10

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Biography, Drama, Good Movies,

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Wanted (2008)

Genre: Action/Thriller/Crime/Science-fiction

Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann

Apart from normal human beings, there is a breed who have the ability to perform and do over-the-top things like deviating the path of a bullet, jumping from one skyscraper to another and the ability to perform stunts which would put Arnie to shame. They call themselves 'The Fraternity'. Wesley Gibson (McAvoy) is a frustrated individual whose leading a very normal life, working as an accountant. He gets kidnapped by Fox (Jolie) and is taken to Sloan (Freeman) the leader of The Fraternity. He learns that his father was once a part of this organisation but was murdered by Cross (Kretschmann). Cross was once a part of the organisation too, but betrayed them and started killing each member one by one. His father was a victim. Since he is son, he has inherited this ability and must train himself and one day take his revenge. The story has an interesting twist towards the end which makes you keep your attention on the movie. 2 hours of nice action-packed thrilling performance is what you will get from the movie. What you wont get is the urge to watch it twice. You may not be able to digest the highly-dramatic and insane stunts, but you will get used to it over time.

Thumbs up: Astounding action
Thumbs down: Slow beginning and very generic

Rating: 6.9/10

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Action, Comedy, Good Movies, Science-fiction, Thriller,

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3 Idiots (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, Omi Vaidya

Aamir Khan has made such a unique mark in bollywood, it is actually said that where Aamir goes, success follows. It's something which Aamir himself has been harping about throughout the movie; excel in something and success follows. Don't chase success, success will chase you. Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad aka Rancho (Khan), Farhan Qureshi (Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Joshi) are three aspiring engineers, studying at the most prestigious engineering institute in India. Rancho is a guy whose good at heart and wishes to challenge the general thinking. Why do we study only for marks and not for knowledge? Why do our grades decide our future and not our brains? Raju, on the other hand, is scared of failure and in spite of having an excellent academic record, cannot keep up in the rat race and starts feeling the pressure. Farhan doesn't want to do engineering and is more interested in wildlife photography. Due to peer pressure, he is forced into doing something he never liked. The movie doesn't have any story as such, its just the daily happenings of three friends. The movie wishes to teach certain fundamental aspects in life, which society has conveniently made us forget and overlook. Do what your heart wants, chase excellence and not success and if anything goes wrong, just put your hand on your heart and say 'all is well' in a typical Indian accent. The movie is must watch for young students and their parents and a definite eye-opener. That said, the movie is not at all philosophical or boring as it may sound, its quite hip, happening and funny and you would find yourself craving for more. The movie characters have some hilariously funny names like Viru Shahastrabuddhe aka Virus (Irani) the college dean and Chatur Ramalingam aka Silencer (Vaidya). The movie is also inspired by the very famous book 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat, but only losely. Aamir, Sharman and Madhavan may look a bit too old to play the role of under-graduate students, but I don't think anyone will mind.

Thumbs up: LOL funny and yet highly educative
Thumbs down: Life-time imprisonment for figuring this one

Rating: 9.2/10

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Amazing Movies, Bollywood, Comedy, Drama, Romance,

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Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

Genre: Crime/Comedy/Drama

Starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Elliot Gould, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Andy Garcia

Continuing the Oceans saga, comes Oceans Thirteen. The Oceans series of movies are quite famous for managing to conjunct crime with comedy which makes it a very entertaining watch. Reuben (Gould) is starting a casino in partnership with Willy Banks (Pacino). Banks manages to throw Reuben out of the partnership and doesn't return his share. Infuriated, Danny Ocean (Clooney) calls his team together which swear revenge against Banks. Falling a little short on funds, they approach their former rival Terry Benedict (Garcia) and ask him to fund him. Banks doom will in turn lead to Terry's win and hence he agrees the deal. What follows is the general planning and strategies and eventually the execution of the plan. The basic idea of a theft hasn't changed throughout the series and watching something similar happening the third time, isn't quite appealing. There weren't any major twists in the story at some point the planning looked a little far-fetched. The movie also lacks the one-liners and the sarcastic humour that the previous versions thrived on. To be watched only if your a die-hard Oceans fan, else it is quite avoidable.

Thumbs up: The George Clooney and Brad Pitt duo look fantastic
Thumbs down: Repititive and unexciting

Rating: 6.7/10

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Comedy, Crime, Drama, Good Movies,

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Paa (2009)

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal

An actor can live at peace when he knows that at the end of his career he has played almost every possible role and there is nothing more for him to achieve in the movie world. Amitabh Bachchan aka Big B is one such great personality who can now stand up to the entire world and pronounce this achievement. Progeria, is a rare genetic disorder wherein a child's physical appearance is 5-6 times his age but is mentally still a child. Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is one such child who has to face the daily hardships of this rare disease. His father is the well known MP Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) who impregnated Vidya (Balan) while they were in college. When Amol refused to marry Vidya, she left him and raised the child. Amol is unaware of Auro, yet co-incidentally their paths of life crossed. Auro being aware that he was his father and Amol being unaware that Auro is his son. The entire make-up and get up of Auro is a landmark achievement for the make up artist and must be commended on it. The movie story per se is quite regular and nothing very different. A diseased child and his hard childhood years. The reason to have a sixty seven year old ageing actor play the role of a young thirteen year old is not quite logical. The only reason is purely a marketing one. Probably if a young child artist was asked to execute the same role, the movie would not have got the respect it has now received. The only respite in the entire story is Amitabh Bachchan and his amazing one-liners. Even on his death bed he vows to make you laugh. The movie is a definite watch for gaining sympathy with the unfortunate children who are born with life-threatening diseases and to laugh at Bachchan Sr. and his child-like jokes.

Thumbs up: Makeup, humour and Amitabh Bachchan
Thumbs down: Pretty average storyline

Rating: 7.6/10

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Bollywood, Comedy, Drama, Good Movies,

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Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009)

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Gauhar Khan, Shahzahn Padmasee, Prem Chopra

Ranbir Kapoor has finally made his mark into bollywood with three reasonably good movies in one year. Harpreet Singh (Kapoor) is your average college graduate, who has just about managed to scrape through his academic life. His life's ambition, is to become a salesman. Not very ambitious one would say but Harpreet had different plans in mind. He joins a computer manufacturing company and joins the sales team. After being ridiculed at work by colleagues and seniors alike, he gets frustrated but decides never to give up. He collects like-minded people from within the organisation and starts a rival company of his own, Rocket Sales Corp. He harps on those aspects which his employer has completely ignored; honesty and service. The movie tries to showcase the daily routine of a regular salesman but at the same time shows that will and determination can take you anywhere. To succeed you don't need a high flying MBA degree, but just simple self-belief in doing something big. The movie is a must watch for business students and MBA-aspirants. The pace of the movie remained consistent throughout, however, there were a lot of areas for improvement. The dialogues did not have the kind of impact that it should have had. The movie did not have anything big to bank on and the unknown star cast has performed brilliantly.

Thumbs up: Good performance by everyone
Thumbs down: Dialogues were a little loose and failed to hold interest

Rating: 7.0/10

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Bollywood, Comedy, Drama, Good Movies,

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Avatar (3D) (2009)

Genre: Adventure/Thriller/Science-fiction/Action

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana (voice), Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang

I always believe that a good movie leads to very clear thoughts. In my case, it leads to a good review. The movie had a lot of hype surrounding it and such movies do not actually live up to peoples expectations. Once in a while there comes a movie which surpasses all barriers and takes the world by storm. Welcome to Avatar. Year 2154, a new planet named Pandora which is like Earth has been discovered. The way of life there, is closely similar to ours. A mineral, unobtanium, is found on Pandora which humans have started mining for their own greed. In order to get the natives, known as Na'vi to co-operate, scientists have made a look-alike body of the Na'vi which can be controlled by the brain signals of a human. Each avatar is synced with the genes of only one person. John Sully (Worthington) is a crippled marine whose twin brother works for this operation. His brother dies, leaving him to be the best person to take control of the avatar, due their similar gene structure. John has to establish communication with the Na'vi's and should try to become one of them. He must convince them to vacate the Hometree, the place where they live which also stands on top of the largest unobtanium mine so that it can be tapped by the humans. John meets Neytiri (Saldana) a Na'vi and falls in love with their world and her and develops a soft corner for the nature that surrounds him. Realising that John is going to fail, the humans want to take the planet by force, much to the disagreement of the scientists. The Na'vi's have to now fight for their right to live on their own planet. Its bows and arrows versus machine guns. Its belief versus ignorance. The sole reason why one must watch the movie is not for its star cast, not for the story and not for the amazing action, but for planet Pandora. The imagination and creativity that has gone into making this beautiful planet is simply breath-taking and unimaginable. The producers have actually created each and every thing from scratch, including the invention of the Na'vi's language and the animals and plants. I don't want to hamper your thoughts by describing them to you, its better you experience it decide for yourself. The movie tactfully displays human greed and intolerance towards nature. We have killed Mother Nature on Earth and we still don't mind doing it elsewhere. Don't wait for stupid dvd-rips, this movie should only be watched in theatres and that too in 3D. For the first time, I might have actually rejoiced in the death and destruction of the human race. To get a little critical, the first one hour may seem a drag, but the slow pace is essential to set the foundation for the thrilling adventure that is to come. There are going to be more Oscars for this one than you can count on your fingers. It's one movie you don't mind bunking your wedding for.

Thumbs up: Planet Pandora and animations
Thumbs down: I wouldn't dare

Rating: 9.0/10

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Action, Adventure, Amazing Movies, Science-fiction, Thriller,

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Flightplan (2005)

Genre: Thriller/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Jadie Foster, Sean Bean, Peter Sarsgaard, Kate Beahen

Kyle Pratt (Foster) is a an aeronautical engineer residing in Berlin, Germany. Her husband dies by falling off the roof and she has to take his body with her to New York to his parents. Kyle is in a terrible condition due to the loss of her husband and her six year old daughter Julia is an even bigger mess. On the flight to New York, Julia goes missing without a trace. The flight passengers dont remember seeing her and the cabin crew deny ever checking her in. Kyle also realises that all proofs of Julia, her bag pack and boadring pass is missing which makes everyone even more suspicious that Julia is a figment of Kyle's imagination. Flight Captain Rich (Bean) manages to find enough evidence to show that Julia died with her husband and Kyle is undergoing a trauma. She is put in custody of Air Marshal Carson (Sarsgaard) and will be arrested on arrival. However, Kyle is convinced that Julia is alive and the whole thing is a huge set-up. On first glance the movie can appear to be quite a bore, which it is for the first 20 minutes. Its only after the kidnapping does the movie pick up interest and pace and feels at home. The movie plot is well formed and interesting gets too slow at times due to which one tends to lose interest.

Thumbs up: Nice plot
Thumbs down: Gets too slow at times

Rating: 6.3/10

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Average Movies, Crime, Mystery, Thriller,

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You Got Served (2004)

Genre: Musical/Drama/Romance

Starring: Omarion Grandberry, Marques Houston, Jennifer Freeman, Christopher Jones, Steve Harvey

David (Omarion) and Elgin (Houston) head a gang which go around competing in street dancing competitions to earn some money. They seem to be unbeatable and when they get challenged by Wade (Jones) an uptown rich youth, they immediately accept without hesitation. Predictably, they lose the competition and when David starts dating Liyah (Freeman) Elgin's sister, their friendship sours. One thing leads to another and the two best friends now don't see eye to eye with each other. When a mega national level dancing competition kicks off, the two friends form their own gang to battle it out for the title. However, they also have to face their previous adversary, Wade and his team. The movie treads on an old and overused 'test of friendship' story and every move is predictable. The movie is a must watch if you want to learn some serious dance movies. One can gain access to a whole amount of insanely amazing hip-hop dance moves which is indeed the only highlight of the otherwise boring movie.

Thumbs up: The dance moves
Thumbs down: Overused story and poor casting

Rating: 3.9/10

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Drama, Musical, Pathetic Movies, Romance,

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The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Genre: Fantasy/Action/Thriller/Adventure/Comedy

Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey

Wilhelm (Damon) and Jacob (Ledger) are known as the brothers Grimm. They travel around French occupied Germany, carrying out exorcism and ridding the villages of evil spirits. The only flaw in this entire operation is that the spirits don't actually exist and its just one huge con game. They have been able to carry out their profession quite successfully until the French government manages to apprehend them. They strike a deal with General Delatombe (Pryce) who agrees to let them go if they solve the 'missing children problem' of the village of Marbaden. However, for the first time the brothers find themselves facing a true curse which they absolutely do not believe in or know how to eliminate. With the help of a huntress Angelica (Headey) who knows the forest inside-out, the brothers desperately try to save the village and at times their own life. The brothers Grimm in reality, were folk tale collectors from Germany in the 18th century. Apart from their names, nothing else is in common with the movie. The movie picks up small snippets of various folk tales that were spun up in Europe during that era like Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel etc. and have included them in the movie. The movie doesn't do too much on the humour front with its limited presence. The story is a little less dramatic but nonetheless, tries quite hard. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger made a good on-screen pair but that did not help too much in improving the movies appeal.

Thumbs up: Encompassing various European folk tales
Thumbs down: Lack of twists in the story

Rating: 6.0/10

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Action, Adventure, Average Movies, Comedy, Fantasy, Thriller,

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Terminator Salvation (2009)

Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Thriller

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood

2018, Judgment Day has come and gone. The Resistance, headed by John Connor (Bale) continues fighting the machines. John's mother Sarah, has left John tapes filled with instructions on what he should do in the future. John needs to find Kyle Reese (Yelchin) who has to go back in time and save his mother and eventually become his father. If Kyle dies then John wont be born and hence the Resistance wont exist. The Resistance also manages to develop a new technique where in they can intercept the machines' communication radio waves and shut down the machines. Marcus Wright (Worthington) was a prisoner who sold his body for medical research. He suddenly finds himself in the future and in a time unknown to him. He finds his way to Connor, only to find that he is a unique hybrid. Half-man and half-machine. The unique thing about the Terminator movies is that each movie follows where the previous one left and yet one can still watch each movie in isolation without worrying about the story. The fourth installment of the series deviates strongly from the conventional story of the previous three movies by not having the another terminator on a man-hunt behind John. The action is no less entertaining than its predecessors but a crazily destructive sequence like the nitrous truck in T2 and crane sequel in T3 was sorely missed in this movie.

Thumbs up: Story and special effects
Thumbs down: Action could be a tad better

Rating: 7.1/10

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Action, Good Movies, Science-fiction, Thriller,

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He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connelly

Love, does not have rules. Desperate single Gigi (Goodwin) with guidance from office colleagues Janie (Connelly) and Beth (Aniston) tries to hook up with a guy by following 'the rules'. She meets a restaurant owner Alex (Long) who throws her rule book out of the window and tells her that if a guy likes you he tells you and if not then he ignores you and there are no rules governing it. Janie is married to her childhood hubby Ben (Cooper) who, unknown to her, feels he has been forced into marriage and starts two-timing her with Anna (Johnson). Beth, on the other hand, has been having a live-in relationship with Neil (Affleck) for a good seven years and yet Neil doesn't feel there is a need to get married. Relationships go for a toss and one huge mess ensues. The movie tries to do another Love Actually but doesn't create the sort of stir that a movie of its scale should have. The star cast is highly impressive but doesn't create the impact that it was capable of. Nothing really in the movie to talk about, worth only a single watch.

Thumbs up: Impressive and interesting star cast
Thumbs down: Doesn't live up to expectations

Rating: 5.8/10

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Average Movies, Comedy, Drama, Romance,

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The Soloist (2009)

Genre: Musical/Drama/Biography

Starring: Jamie Foxx. Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener

A stunning true-life story of Nathaneil Ayers Jr. (Foxx) a schizophrenic homeless who has a rare skill with musical instruments. LA Times reporter Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) bumps into Nathaneil while he is searching the streets for some unique story to write on. After a short story of his life finds itself in the LA Times, the people of Los Angeles start sympathising with him. A very unique relationship is formed between Steve and Nathaneil, which Steve dispises but yet cant do anything about it and wants to continue to help him. Jamie Foxx does a splendid job in the movie. His appearance and execution of the role has brought him into a different league altogether and i wont be suprised if it gets considered for an Oscar. The movie did all the right things but yet did not manage to bring out the sort of emotions that it should have. The movie definitely needs more drama if it needs to create an impact

Thumbs up: Jamie Foxx's Oscar-worthy performance
Thumbs down: Less-dramatic and hence less impactful

Rating: 7.0/10

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Biography, Drama, Good Movies, Musical,

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

Genre: Drama/History/War

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis

Set in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, the movie tells the tale of a high-profile Nazi soldier (Thewlis) and his family life. He is asked to relocate to the German country and is made in-charge of the nearby Jewish prison camp. His son Bruno (Butterfield) feels lost and without any companion, starts wandering. He finds an unknown path from the back of his house which leads directly to the prison camp. He be-friends a young Jewish prisoner of his age, Schmuel (Scanlon) and suddenly his life becomes more interesting. His mind being very immature, he doesn't know what is going on in the camp and why the prisoners are there to begin with. The movie goes on to narrate the horrid story of the war and how Bruno's lack of understanding of things ends up giving him and his family too much trouble than what they had asked for. The movie is slow but not altogether uninteresting. It gives a different side of the misery attached with war.

Thumbs up: Young actors, Butterfield and Scanlon
Thumbs down: Quite slow

Rating: 7.2/10

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Drama, Good Movies, War,

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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Thriller

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken

The machines are steadily taking over Earth. The human race led by John Connors (Stahl) is moments away from victory. In a bid to change the sequence of events, the machines have sent two terminators back in time to kill John but both have failed. In a third attempt, T-X (Loken) an advanced robot is sent to kill John and all his aides so as to prevent their victory in future. A Terminator (Schwarzenegger) is re-programmed and sent back in time by the humans in order to protect John and finish T-X. Skynet is a huge computer-run system which controls all weapons of the United States government. The system gets infected with a virus which steadily spreads throughout the world and threatens to launch nuclear weapons and wipe out mankind , thus bringing forth Judgment Day. John, along with his high-school classmate Kate (Danes) have to stop the machines at all cost. The movie doesn't require the person to have any prior knowledge of the earlier movies, as the movie itself educates the audience about the earlier story. The movie story doesn't actually deviate from the what we have been seeing in the previous two movies and the only addition is the story of the machines coming into power. The movies boasts of powerful action and stunning action sequences which get highlighted by the mere presence of the great Arnold Schwarzenegger. A movie every action fan must watch.

Thumbs up: Action and Arnie
Thumbs down: Repetitive story

Rating: 6.8/10

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Action, Good Movies, Science-fiction, Thriller,

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Speed Racer (2008)

Genre: Sports/Science-fiction/Action/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Roger Allam, Matthew Fox

Based on the very popular Japanese cartoon with the same name, Speed Racer narrates the story of the Racer family for whom racing runs in their blood. Speed (Hirsch) is an aspiring racer and learns to walk on the footsteps of his deceased brother Rex, who died in an accident while racing. Speed starts gaining popularity and is soon offered an alliance with a huge corporate entity headed by Royalton (Allam). Speed and his family decline the offer and Royalton tells him that all Grand Prix races are rigged and Speed would never be a true racer. Speed is approached by Inspector Detector and Racer X (Fox) who want Speed to race at the notorious Cassa Cristo Rally and help Taejo's team win. If that happens then Taejo would reveal vital information required to arrest Royalton and put an end to all rigged races. The movies underpinnings are same as that of the original cartoon and the only difference being is that the movie is based in a world much ahead of ours. The cartoonish and animated effects may be a little weird but its definitely different. The movie is absolutely adrenaline-rushing and you might just find yourself standing up and cheering 'GO SPEED GO!'

Thumbs up: Thrilling action and gripping story
Thumbs down: Part-animation and cartoonish effects may not appeal to everyone

Rating: 7.5/10

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Action, Adventure, Drama, Good Movies, Science-fiction, Sports,

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Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Jason Mewes

The name says it all. Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) are two 'good' friends, who share the same apartment but yet don't share a sexual relationship. Their meagre salaries isn't enough to pay off the house rent. In an act of desperation, the decide to overcome the sexual hurdle between them and make a porno. Love blossoms on the set and they live happily ever after. As you can inadvertently see, the story is quite lame and does little to entertain. The movie doesn't play on either the comedy aspect or the romance part and loosely hangs in the middle. It tries very hard to make you laugh but the jokes fall flat on their faces. How this movie has managed to achieve such high ratings is beyond me. The movie displays some fair amounts of sexuality, but that is not a very convincing reason for its popularity.

Thumbs up: Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks make a goon on-screen couple
Thumbs down: Lame story and even lamer jokes

Rating: 4.8/10

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Comedy, Drama, Pathetic Movies, Romance, Sex Comedy,

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Deep Impact (1998)

Genre: Science-fiction/Drama/Action/Romance

Starring: Tea Leoni, Morgan Freeman, Elijah Wood, Leelee Sobieski, Robert Duvall

This is one of the first movies, to my knowledge that harped about the world coming to an end due to a natural disaster. Leo Biederman (Wood) a young astrologer, discovers a comet zipping through space while star gazing. The comet was said to be the size on New York City and on impacting with Earth, would destroy all life. Jenny Lerner (Leoni) a budding journalist, hits upon a story that the US government along with the Russians is building a space ship which would intercept the comet. All techniques to save the Earth fail and doom is inevitable. The movie goes at a very vague pace, going slow at the parts that are insignificant and rushing through the parts that actually relate to the disaster. The special effects of the movie were quite good, considering the era in which the movie was made. It can actually challenge new movies of today when it comes to special effects clarity. A lot more detailing on the comet and the disaster would have made the movie a more interesting watch, but it instead incorporated typical government conspiracies and law-enforcement agencies, seen in multiple American-made movies. The movie is quite typical and offers nothing different. Highly-avoidable

Thumbs up: Special effects
Thumbs down: Zips through the more relevant parts

Rating: 5.6/10

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Action, Average Movies, Drama, Romance, Science-fiction,

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The Boat That Rocked (2009)

Genre: Drama/Musical/Comedy/Romance

Starring: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Tom Sturridge, Nick Frost, Rhys Ifans, Chris O'Sowd, Rhys Darby

In 1966, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBS) was the only radio station in all of Britain and it only played 45 minutes of music every day. Radio Rock is a fictitious radio station that sprang up which played only rock n roll all day and night. The station was on a boat docked in the North Sea, in international waters in order to prevent being intercepted by the government of UK. Carl (Sturridge) is a young fellow who was sent by his mother to the boat so that his life may improve. 'Marvelous mistake' are the words by Quentin (Nighy) the radio boss. Pirate radio is filled with 8 insane DJ's who live off music day in and day out and have done perhaps the most outrageous things ever. The government, however, is not happy with the success of Radio Rock and forms a new law in order to shut it down. The movie is not actually based on a true life event, although the movie might convince you of their existence. The first half more or less revolves around the daily happenings on the boat with their eventual fall. The movie is slow and a little too long. There would be many occasions for you to laugh at but the movie is still a little unexciting. Not quite good as one would have expected it to be. It is a highly recommended watch for all music fans, especially rock and roll.

Thumbs up: Amazing performances by the entire cast and wonderful depiction
Thumbs down: Slow, a little too long and uneventful

Rating: 6.9/10

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Comedy, Drama, Good Movies, Musical, Romance,

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De Dana Dan (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Paresh Rawal, Sameera Reddy, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Joshi, Chunky Pandey

A standard formula has been set when it comes to hardcore comedy in Indian Cinema. The same cliched star cast, stale overused jokes, pure stupidity, usual mess-ups and foreign locations. De Dana Dan doesn't even try to be slightly different from the lot, in fact a lot of bits and pieces of this movie has been strongly influenced by a previously seen movie Do Knot Disturb. Nitin (Kumar) is very frustrated with his work and his life. He is deeply in love with Anjali (Kaif) but cant marry her cause hes broke. He tries to commit suicide but is saved by courier boy Ram Mishra (Shetty). Ram too has a similar sob story to tell. He loves Manpreet (Reddy) but like Nitin, cant afford to marry her. The duo are contemplating on suicide when they get a sudden brilliant idea of kidnapping Nitin's mistresses beloved dog. The kidnapping happens, but the dog escapes. The police are under the impression that it is Nitin who has been kidnapped and go on a man-hunt. On the other hand, Harbans Chadda (Rawal) is a businessman who is on the verge of going bankrupt. He wants to get his son Nonny (Pandey) married so that he can pay-off his debts with the dowry. His wedding is fixed with Manpreet and is due to take place at a lavish Singapore hotel. A host of other stupid side stories adorn the main story line and when there are too many cooks, the broth is bound to get spoilt. The first half of the movie is pretty much boring and quite slow. It's only when the confusion at the hotel starts happening when you actually feel like laughing. The movie uses overused methods to make you laugh hard which just doesn't work anymore. Not worth wasting a Saturday night.

Thumbs up: The song 'paisa paisa' and Asrani in the Chinese get up
Thumbs down: Unoriginal humour

Rating: 4.9/10

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Bollywood, Comedy, Drama, Pathetic Movies, Romance,

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Leatherheads (2008)

Genre: History/Sports/Drama/Comedy/Romance

Starring: George Clooney, John Krasinski, Renee Zellweger, Jonathan Pryce

Set in the 1920's, World War I has just gotten over. Soldiers from the army have started playing unorganised football since they prefer the game over farming. Carter Rutherford (Krasinski) has all the looks, charm and skill to become a famous football star, which he slowly is. He also holds the reputation of getting an entire German platoon to surrender, for which he is loved by the people. Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) is a famous news reporter working for the Chicago Tribune. Her editor sends her on a field mission where shes supposed to romance Carter and get information out of him to publish in the paper. Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is a local football player whose retirement is overdue since quite some time. He realises the potential of having organised professional football and starts lobbying for it. The movie more or less narrates the revolution that underwent American Football to what it has become today. The movie has a strong story and a good cast but still failed to create an impact. It needs more of drama and the bits of humour thrown randomly in the movie are insignificant.

Thumbs up: Nice piece of history selected to make a movie on
Thumbs down: Quite boring and uneventful

Rating: 5.3/10

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Average Movies, Comedy, Drama, Historical Event, Romance, Sports,

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The Ugly Truth (2009)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance

Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter

This movie reminded me of a famous movie of the past, Hitch. The fundamentals of both the movies are the same. In the latter you have the 'date-doctor' and here you have Mike Chadway (Butler) the host of a local TV show 'The Ugly Truth' who tries to convince people that the way to a mans heart is only true his penis. Abby (Heigl) is a celebrated channel producer and accidentally watches one of Mike's shows. Shes utterly disgusted with his thoughts, but to her misfortune, her boss hires him in a bid to improve the channel ratings. He tries to prove his point by making Abby's next door neighbour fall for her using his methods, but Abby is not convinced. Like every other romance movie, opposites attract and the duo fall for each other. It's nothing different really and its a very plain, old, tried and tested story retold in a not very different manner. Worth one watch, not two.

Thumbs up: Katherine Heigl looks stunning
Thumbs down: Nothing different or unique

Rating: 6.4/10

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Average Movies, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sex Comedy,

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I Love You, Man (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones

Peter (Rudd) and Zooey (Jones) are crazy in love with each other and are all set to get married. Their life is perfect just for one thing. Peter is a girls man and just doesn't have any close male friends. When he overhears a conversation of Zooey's friends pointing out that flaw in him, he feels embarrassed and decides to do something. He starts going out on man-dates in the hope of making some good friends. He meets Sydney (Segel) an in-your-face kind of guy and Peter gets instantly 'attracted' to him. He gets more involved in doing more 'manly' things due to which Peter starts undergoing a manly transformation. The movie is hilarious and laugh out loud all the way. You might just finding yourself spending 2 hours with a broad grin on your face. It might not have the roll-over and fall-off-your-seat laughter but its still fun. Best watched with your lover next to you.

Thumbs up: Segel and Rudd all the way
Thumbs down: Girls would probably want more mushy-mushy romance in it

Rating: 7.4/10

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Comedy, Drama, Good Movies, Romance, Sex Comedy,

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