Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:46 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Cameron Bright, J.K. Simmons, Maria Bello, David Koechner, Katie Holmes, William Macy
Smoking kills, but Nick Naylor (Eckhart) would beg to differ. He is one man who talks for a living and does he talk! Nick is the Vice President of The Academy of Tobacco Studies which in turn is funded by the conglomerate of tobacco industries. He is the official spokesperson for cigarette manufacturers and smooth talks his way when they are in a mess. Senator Finistirre (Macy) is lobbying against smoking and wants to put a 'poison' sticker on cigarette boxes; call Nick Naylor. BR (Simmons) Nick's boss, is fed up with plummeting sales and wants a new way to increase smoking; ask Nick Naylor. When people keep asking him why he does this job, he smooth talks his way out of it using his own philosophies. After sleeping with Heather (Holmes) a journalist, Nick spills the beans about his job and everyone else concerned with it and soon realises his life is gone for a toss. The initial few moments in the movie are good enough to hold your interest, thanks to J.K. Simmons whose abuses too bring a broad smile to your face. Aaron Eckhart too does a fabulous job at maintaining a constant stream of humour. The movie has some nice humorous dialogues which increases its appeal, but not enough to make you fall off your seat.
Thumbs up: Nice performances, good plot
Thumbs down: More humour would have been preferred
Rating: 7.3/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:11 AM
Genre: Action/Fantasy/Thriller/Romance
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore, Thomas Kretschmann
Cris Johnson (Cage) aka Frank Cadillac is a magician in Vegas. He has the ability to see in the future and times his acts accordingly. The FBI receives a nuclear threat on LA and FBI agent Callie Ferris (Moore) knows about Cris and his rare ability. She starts hunting him down in the hope that he could look in the future and help them locate the bomb. What she doesn't know is that Cris can only look in the future for events that he is personally involved in. Knowing this, Cris doesn't want to work with them and is constantly running away from her. Cris meets Liz (Biel) in a cafe and starts travelling with her. They both end up liking each other but Cris sees the future and realises that he might end up putting her life in danger if she is with him. The movie has a nice plot to it but the initial few minutes are slow. Nicolas Cage as usual does an amazing performance but the fundamentals of the movie still revolves around a regular hostage situation.
Thumbs up: Nice plot, Nicolas cage
Thumbs down: Storyline cant be explored further
Rating: 6.7/10
Action,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
Romance,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:11 AM
Genre: Drama/History/Biography
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhall
A true life story of Port Authority Police Department officers, Will Jimeno (Pena) and John McLoughlin (Cage) who went to the World Trade Centre compound to evacuate the building, only to get trapped under 20 feet of debris when the buildings collapsed. The story of their families and their wives Donna McLoghlin (Bello) and Allison Jimeno (Gyllenhall) and the 20 hour misery that they both went through. Most of the story revolves around John and Will being trapped inside and how they kept each other alive and were the only support they had. This is again one of those movies that needs time before you can start appreciating it. The movie is very emotional, which truly comes out only in the end. Good performance by the entire cast helped the movie to get more acclaim. They movie fixed itself to the story of only two individuals which was probably a let down. Narrating the story of various families, each of whom had to suffer in one way or another could have made the movie more appealing.
Thumbs up: Good performances
Thumbs down: Story has room for improvisation
Rating: 7.2/10
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 7:27 AM
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Starring: Daniel Craig, Kenneth Cranham, Michael Gambon, Jamie Foreman, George Harris, Colm Meaney
XXXX (Craig) heads a gang of London based cocaine dealers. His boss, Jimmy Price (Cranham) wants him to hunt down his associate Eddie Temple's (Gambon) kidnapped daughter. Meanwhile, another drug dealer known as The Duke (Foreman) steals a stockpile of ecstasy pills from a Serbian dealer. Price, wants XXXX to become a middle-man by buying the pills from The Duke and selling them to a buyer. XXXX dosent know that Price is double-crossing him, until Temple comes and enlightens him. Coming from the producer of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the movie showed resemblance to its brothers, sans the humour. The movie has very heavy British accent, which makes it a little difficult for the unfamiliar to grasp. The initial few moments are spent with Craig teaching you the nuances of drug dealing, should you be needing it. The movie has a decent plot but isn't narrated in the best manner. Daniel Craig's presence didn't help to improve the movies appeal either.
Thumbs up: Good plot
Thumbs down: Performance, plot execution
Rating: 6.9/10
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:17 PM
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action/Romance/Drama
Starring: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfieffer, Robert De Niro, Kate Magowan, Mark Strong
A small town named Wall, harbours a human population. The inhabitants of Wall are not permitted to cross the village wall and move to the other side, a magical world known as Stormhold, of which the humans have no knowledge. Tristan's (Cox) father once managed to cross the wall and fell in love with a slave, Una (Magowan). Una gave birth to Thristen and sent him to his father for safe-keeping. An older Tristan makes a promise with Victoria, the village beauty, that if he brings her back a star, she would marry him. Meanwhile, the king of Stormhold is aging and needs to select an heir. The prince that finds the kings medallion will be the heir. The medallion lands on the neck of a star which falls back in Stormhold. The star, Yvaine (Danes) is a young, bright girl with radiant beauty. Septimus (Strong) the last of the surviving princes, learns about the star and is in pursuit for her. Una leaves Tristan a letter which tells him of a way to reach her, but he instead lands up next to the star. Three aging witches need the heart of star if they want to revive their youth. Lamia (Pfieffer), one of the witches, goes on a hunt for the star. Three persons, each with a different motive, want the star for some use or another. The movie has a very slow start and the plot takes some time getting used to. One might like the movie if he/she is a Lord of the Rings fan, although the movie isn't as good.
Thumbs up: Good plot
Thumbs down: Slow start, needs more action and thrills
Rating: 7.6/10
Action,
Adventure,
Drama,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 4:45 AM
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama
Starring: Seann Willian Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch
Wheeler (Scott) and Danny (Rudd) work for Minotaur, an energy drink manufacturing company. They hate their job, which includes visiting schools and convincing kids not to do drugs but drink Minotaur instead, something which is equally harmful. They end up driving the company truck up a statue and assault two police officers, due to which they land up with a jail term. Their only alternative is to do 150 hours of community service at Sturdy Wings, wherein they have to look after kids on weekends when they are lonely. Wheeler is pun in charge of Ronnie (Thompson) a 10-year old African-American with an extra abusive and sexual language. Danny, on the other hand has Augie (Mintz-Plasse) a kid who thinks he is living in a magical world. The movie is a bit boring and Paul Rudd's bored look doesn't do too much to lighten things up either. It lacks jokes and any form of humour that exists, fails to make you laugh.
Thumbs up: Christopher and Bobb'e's performance
Thumbs down: Bad humour, boring
Rating: 5.1/10
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:09 AM
Genre: Fantasy/Comedy/Action/Adventure
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams. Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robbie Williams, Steve Coogan, Cristopher Guest, Alain Chabat, John Bernthal
Larry Daley (Stiller) the night guard the Museum of Natural History, New York left his job to start a company which invents innovative and new useful home devices. He misses the museum and he knows he is not happy. A random visit to his earlier workplace and he sees that the museum is under going a renovation and many of his old friends are going to be replaced by new exhibits. The exhibits would be shipped out to become a part of the federal achieves, Smithsonian, Washington D.C. and that too without the tablet of Ahkmenrah, rendering them lifeless. Capuchin, the monkey, steals the tablet and takes it with him to the Smithsonian. He receives distress calls from Jedediah (Wilson) and decides to head out to D.C. and save his friends. He encounter Kahmunrah (Azaria) the brother of Ahkmunrah who wants to use the tablet to recall his army from the dead and take over the world. Kahmunrah forges an alliance with Ivan the Terrible (Guest) who actually wants to be known as Ivan the Awesome, Napoleon (Chabat) who is very sensitive about his height and Al Capone (Bernthal). Larry meets Ameilia Earhart (Adams), the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and they both have to crack the code for Kahmunrah and save his friends. The movie is much in accord with the earlier one. It's a nice fun watch and the short pieces of humour when you least expect it. Ben Stiller performed amazingly and is well-received.
Thumbs up: Ben Stiller, humour
Thumbs down: Too familiar to the earlier movie
Rating: 7.8/10
Action,
Adventure,
Comedy,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:22 AM
Genre: Crime/Comedy/Action
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Ling Bai, Art Hsu, Efren Ramirez, Joseph Julian Soria
Chev Chelios (Statham) cant just seem to keep his head out of shit. F*** you Chelios is what everyone tells him and he rightly deserves it. The Triad gang leader is aging his bodily parts need replacement. Who other than the great Chev Chelios who managed to survive the deadly Chinese poison. The Triad kidnaps Chev while he is busy falling off a helicopter from the sky. They first transplant his heart with an artificial one which runs on a battery pack which fuels the internal battery which in turn pumps the heart. Next, they want to amputate his penis but Chev escapes and is on the hunt for Johnny Vang (Hsu) who carries his heart in a box. His external battery pack has limited life and in order to recharge his internal batter, he keeps needing shots of electricity. Chev manages to come across a lot of old friends from the previous movie, including Kaylo's twin brother Venus (Ramirez) and his girlfriend-who-thought-he-was-dead-and-now-works-at-a-strip club Eve (Smart) and some enemies. The movie recalls a lot of characters from the previous movie but the story has little association with it. The style of action and comedy is in terms with the earlier version but the story keeps deviating at times to show insignificant clips which try hard to make you laugh. A very typical Jason Statham movie and a good watch if you don't mind some gory action.
Thumbs up: Jason Statham and action sequences
Thumbs down: Similar to Crank in almost all aspects
Rating: 7.5/10
Action,
Comedy,
Crime,
Good Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:51 AM
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama
Starring: Jonathan Benett, Kristinn Cavallari, Jerry Shea, Nestor Aaron Absera, Steve Talley, Kurt Fuller, Nic Nac
Continuing the tradition of his forefathers, Van Wilder the fifth (Benett) comes to Coolidge College. Coolidge has changed drastically in the past few years and is now under military control. Dean Charles Reardon (Fuller) has imposed strict military regulations which includes a ban on partying and drinking. Van Wilder is about to change that. He starts hitting on the dean's right hand officer, Dirk's (Talley) girlfriend, Katilin (Cavallari) and proves it to her that his way of life is much better than Dirk's. The dean still holds a grudge against Van's father and along with Dirk, they want to throw Van out of Coolidge once and for all. Each side try and outdo the other, the dean by his army tactics and Van by throwing one amazing party. The movie title and Van's dog, Ballsack, are the only two things that have been kept in continuation with the previous two movies. Apart from that, all other traces are missing. The movie is a very regular sex-comedy and doesn't boast of being different.
Thumbs up: Good humour, although little
Thumbs down: Repetitive, very regular
Rating: 5.3/10
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:13 AM
Genre: Documentary/Musical
Starring: Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega
The man who invented the 'moon walk', the epitome of all dance forms, the legend, Michael Jackson. For more than a decade, he stayed away from stage performances and his life was marred by controversies. He finally decides to make a public appearance once again at a concert in London in the month of July in 2009. June 2009, preparations for the concert were in full swing and barely weeks before the eventful day, MJ lost his life. It was a tragic day for the world and for the millions of fans who loved his music. A video recording of the rehearsals was being made which was to a part of the concert. That same recording took the form of this movie. The movie is like any other behind the scenes story of an event and doesn't hold any major significance. It perhaps would have been better if it retold the story of MJ's life with all his ups and downs, major concerts, biggest hits etc., instead the movie focused only on the making of the London concert. The movie is a must watch for any die-hard MJ fan, but for anyone else, it is highly avoidable.
Thumbs up: Michael, the legend
Thumbs down: Doesn't include past life
Rating: 6.1/10
Average Movies,
Documentary,
Musical,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:45 AM
Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Thriller
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diana Venora, Amy Brenemman, Mykelti Williamson, Ashley Judd, Danny Trejo
Neil McCauley (De Niro) along with his gang of robbers, which includes Chris (Kilmer) Trejo (Trejo) and Michael (Sizemore) rob $1.6 million in the form of bearer bonds from an armoured truck. Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino) an LAPD homicide detective gets on the tail of McCauley and his group. McCauley and his gang are planning to rob a bank at the risk of getting caught or killed. They have just been double crossed by an accomplice and their position is compromised. It's a do or die situation for McCauley and Vincent and they're both thirsty for each others blood. The movie is a very typical cop story. Complicate the plot, get a good star cast, have an amazing action sequence and watch the ratings rise. The movie doesn't have anything different to offer in terms of its plot which is fundamentally simple but has been complicated due to the excessive use of jargon. It's a very typical and regular movie and I really don't know what the fuss is about.
Thumbs up: Pacino and De Niro as ever, nice action sequences
Thumbs down: Regular run of the mill plot, gets boring at times
Rating: 6.8/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:53 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Allen Covert, Doris Roberts, Nick Swardson, Peter Dante, Shirley Jones, Joel Moore
Alex (Covert) is a video game tester who has just been evicted from his house for not paying his rent. Now homeless, he doesn't have a place to stay and out of desperation he crashes at his grandmothers house. His granny and her two roommates aren't all that bad as Alex had anticipated. They smoke weed, play video games, make out with guys a third of their age and do every possible thing that Alex would want them to do. The movie has no real story and its just about how Alex and his pals along with their new boss Samantha (Cardellini) have a great time together. The movie is definitely funny on more than one occasion which makes it an amazing watch if you have a bunch of freaky friends next to you. A drug peddler with a pet monkey who can do taekwondo, the companies game designer who keeps thinking he is a robot and one amazing party. The movie takes a little time to pick up, but when it does its time smartly invested.
Thumbs up: Humour and performance
Thumbs down: Slow start
Rating: 7.1/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:08 PM
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Science-fiction
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Cristian Bale, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine
There are always three parts to every magic act. The pledge, the turn and finally, the prestige. Robert 'The Great Danton' Angier (Jackman) and Alfred 'The Professor' Borden (Bale) are two rival magicians who once worked together as assistants for another magician. A fatal accident killed Robert's wife for which he blames Alfred. The two spent their entire life battling each other to emerge as the best magician. Alfred has a unique trick known as 'The Transported Man' with which he gains a lot of recognition. Robert attempts to do the same trick but he knows it is not the method that Alfred uses and this loss starts consuming him. He manages to get a unique device constructed by a scientist and is at the peak of his career, when suddenly the act goes wrong and he dies. Alfred is later convicted for murdering Robert Angier and is served the death sentence. The movie has a nice plot, but the first half may leave you a little lost in the story. The plot keeps moving back and forth in time and it takes a while to get a complete grip of it. The movie has a good twist in the end, but not as good as it should have been. There is enough mystery but not enough suspense to compliment it. A more dressed up end would have given the movie a better appeal.
Thumbs up: Plot, casting and performance
Thumbs down: Weak climax, mixed up story
Rating: 7.3/10
Drama,
Good Movies,
Mystery,
Science-fiction,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:17 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure
Starring: Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell
A group of Star Wars fanatics find it hard to move on in life. All they do is waste time and watch their favourite movie for the millionth time. Linus (Marquette) has cancer and has very little time left. Not enough time to wait for the new Star Wars movie to release. In order to give him something to live for, his childhood buddy Eric (Huntington) decides their entire group should do a road trip across the country and break into George Lucas' house to make Linus watch the movie before it releases. Windows (Baruchel) the group geek, wants to meet his online girlfriend and thinks this trip is the perfect chance. Zoe (Bell) loves Windows but cant tell him and Hutch (Fogler) simply wants to get laid. Travelling in Hutch's van aka space ship across the country makes them encounter a whole lot of adventures which includes beating up a gang of Stark Trek fans. The movie is hilarious but misses the point. More humour and playing more on the 'sex factor' would have helped the movie increase its appeal. Its not LOL funny, but funny enough to lighten you up.
Thumbs up: Good plot
Thumbs down: Could have used some 'American Pie' content to improve things
Rating: 5.9/10
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 7:19 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Starring: Kal Penn, Lauren Cohan, Daniel Percival, Anthony Cozens, Holly Davidson
Continuing the tradition of his mentor, Van Wilder, Taj Mahal Badalandabad (Penn) travels to England to teach at Camford University. The college is divided as per houses and each member of the college must support a house. He receives an invite to join the Foxes and Hounds, the most prestigious house on campus, only to be rejected due to a typographical error which supposedly states that he cannot be a member of the house. He vows enmity with the house leader, Pip (Percival) and has a crush for his girlfriend Charolette (Cohan). He lands up being a part of the most disgraced house on campus, Cocks and Bulls and wants to change the way things happen in there. In order to do so, he decides to make the house take part in the Hastings Cup, which is an inter-house tournament and wishes to overthrow the consistent winners, the Foxes and Hounds. The movie is a huge improvement from the previous movie and a big step forward in being much more fun to watch. The jokes are still not good enough, but Kal Penn's performance is enough to keep your attention.
Thumbs up: Kal Penn all the way
Thumbs down: The humour can still be further improved
Rating: 5.9/10
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:20 AM
Genre: Science-fiction/Drama/Thriller
Starring: Matt Lanter, Amanda Walsh, Chuck Shamata, Nicholas Wright
Will Farmer (Lanter) is a computer super-genius, who was simply trying to help his Arabic neighbour by fixing his computer. He stumbles across his neighbours online bank account, which he manages to hack in and discovers thousands of dollars saved in it. His friend Dennis (Wright) persuades him to take some money and gamble it on an online game known as Wargames. Wargames is actually a game run by the US Government. The governments new super computer known as Ripley, believes that if any person can cross level 5 in Wargames, he/she has the necessary intelligence and traits to become a future terrorist and hence should be eliminated. The logic is obviously flawed, but the federal officers don't yet realise it. A wild goose chase begins with officers chasing Will, and ends up involving Annie (Walsh) Will's secret crush and takes the duo to Montreal, Canada. Ripley starts acting irrationally and the government soon realises she herself is a threat to the national security and has to be shut down, something she isn't programmed to do. The movie starts on very shaky grounds but steadily picks up pace. The final climax scene is thrilling, but that is the only piece of excitement the movie can conjure. It seems the movie has been in the making for a bit too many years and by gods grace was put together and made ready for release. The computers voiceovers are terribly annoying, especially Joshua.
Thumbs up: Thrilling climax
Thumbs down: Lousy everything else
Rating: 5.7/10
Average Movies,
Drama,
Science-fiction,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:16 PM
Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Mystery
Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk (voice), James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood
Place: Chicago, Year: 2035. The age of robots has arrived and robots are slaves for humans. Detective Spooner (Smith) despises robots and can never get around to trust them. Dr. Alfred Lenning (Cromwell) is known as the father of the robot. He is found dead in his office building lobby, which the police term as suicide. However, Spooner is not convinced and feels that Dr. Lenning was murdered. Robots are programmed to abide by three laws which all in all are supposed to protect humans at the cost of their own life. Spooner, along with psychologist Dr. Calvin (Moynahan) find Sonny (Tudyk) a robot that has emotions and other traits unknown to robots. He can also choose to ignore any of the three laws as per his wish. Spooner has to follow the trail of crumbs and find Dr. Lenning's killer and the mystery behind Sonny. The movie has a very basic plot and there aren't too many complications to it. Will Smith's entire get up and attitude doesn't suit him or his role and seems to be quite fake. The special effects fall a little short at times, but the movie still remains a good watch. Playing a little bit more on the murder mystery with a few interesting twists would have helped to a greater extent.
Thumbs up: A nice overall entertainment package
Thumbs down: Will Smith's look, weak climax
Rating: 7.4/10
Action,
Good Movies,
Mystery,
Science-fiction,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:12 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Kal Penn, Tara Reid, Daniel Cosgrove
Van Wilder (Reynolds) is in his 7th year at Coolidge College. He is in there not because he consistently fails to pass but because he consistently makes himself fail. He loves staying on campus and everyone loves him for all that he does. From organising parties, helping guys hook up with girls and taking care of ill students, Van does it all. In fact he has so much on his plate, that he actually needs an assistant who turns out to be Taj Mahal Badlaandabad (Penn) whose last name literally means 'big dick land', is an exchange student from India and wants to learn the American way of life. Gwen (Reid) is a journalist, whose editor wants her to do an article on Van and his seven years at college. Van, however, is not going to give his interview so easily and has other things on his mind with Gwen. The movie is quite a lame attempt at being funny. It falls into the category of those movies which tried to do an American Pie but failed miserably. Reynolds looks a bit too out of place to pull of the role and Kal Penn, as usual plays the role of the sex-hungry Indian, a role I guess he is going to fulfill all his life.
Thumbs up: Prefer yawning rather than think this one out
Thumbs down: Plot and humour
Rating: 4.8/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Pathetic Movies,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:15 AM
Genre: Biography/Drama/Romance
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralf Fiennes, Charolette Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell
Based on a true story, the Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes) is without a male heir and it constantly worries him. He marries a young Georgiana (Knightley), whose mother (Rampling) assures the Duke that woman of her family will always conceive a son. Marriage for him, was a deal and in the deal Georgiana is supposed to provide him with a son and be loyal to him. She fails to fulfill the first condition which does not go down will with the Duke. Georgiana has a crush on Charles Grey (Cooper) and wants to end her marriage. The Duke on the other hand, makes Georgiana's only friend his mistress and vows to destroy Charles if she leaves him. The movie in short narrates the story of Georgiana's devastated life and everything else that comes along with it. It is amazing to know that even the British who used to deem themselves as highly civilised, could actually be like this. The movie moves at an annoyingly slow pace which makes the movie feel like its not going to ever end. Not just that, it also gets annoying and boring after a while. I guess that is actually how the movie was meant to be and would be no better if it were otherwise. It's just a simple story with no real end and no real foundation.
Thumbs up: Has a very Victorian look and feel to it
Thumbs down: Drags on endlessly
Rating: 5.2/10
Average Movies,
Biography,
Drama,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:31 PM
Genre: Drama/Romance
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson
Ben Thomas (Smith) is a happily married American citizen. On a fateful night, due to his fault, there was a terrible car accident in which seven lives were lost including his wife's. Repenting the mistake, he decides to redeem his life by saving the life of seven completely strange individuals as an act of forgiveness. He uses his brothers IRS credentials and poses as a federal officer to reach out and help people. In the midst of this, he ends up meeting and falling in love with Emily Posa (Dawson) who is also a heart patient and has very little of her life left. Most of the movie shows the how friendship turns to love between them and finally the commitment. The movie is excruciatingly slow and a bit boring. You don't even know what and why are things happening and the movie is lost for quite some time. Give it time and its true colours show. The only reason to invest two hours is for the end ten minutes which turns the entire plot around also your perception about the movie. No matter how many times you might want to switch to something else, don't do it and you wont regret it. The movie shows what low-life, greedy, selfish, ignorant animals we all are.
Thumbs up: Fantabulous ending
Thumbs down: Everything else is a bore
Rating: 8.6/10
Amazing Movies,
Drama,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:57 PM
Genre: Drama/Romance/Fantasy
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattison, Billy Burke, Cam Gigandet
Bella Swan (Stewart) moves in with her father at Forks, Washington, when she found it difficult to live with her mother in Arizona. A legend lives amongst the native Indian tribe at Forks, that vampires once intruded upon the land who then made a pact with the tribesmen and agreed to maintain peace amongst them. Bella gets acquainted with Edward Cullen (Pattison) and they soon develop a love-hate relationship, alternating between the two as per the circumstance. Bella finds Edward to be a little suspicious and after some researching, realises that he is one of the vampires. In spite of knowing the truth about Edward, Bella cant seem to forget about him and they soon get closer to each other and fall in love. Loving a vampire is dangerous and Bella decides to battle everything, just so that she could be with Edward, her true love. The movie is horribly boring and tortoise slow right from the word go. You might just find yourself counting your yawns to pass the time that you foolishly invested to watch this movie. The vampire story was pushed aside to make way for the love story, where it actually should have been the other way around, much like what we saw in the Underworld series of movies. If you do end up enjoying it, it means that you're either a die hard romance fan or you just wanted a reason to drool over Robert Pattison.
Thumbs up: The girls love Robert Pattison
Thumbs down: Mixed up plot, torturingly boring
Rating: 4.8/10
Drama,
Fantasy,
Pathetic Movies,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 8:40 AM
Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Adventure
Starring: Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy
The very famous Star Trek has entertained us in many forms in the past. Be it on television or in theatres, we can never forget 'the pointy ears guy' or the 'weird looking spaceship'. Multiple planets with life-forms just like ours have been discovered. The planets unite to form a Federation, which is entrusted with the task of maintaining peace amongst all the planets belonging to this union. A wing of the Federation, knows as Starfleet, patrols space and keeps intruders at bay and comes to the rescue of any planet if the need be. A sudden star burst takes place and planet Romula is threatened to be destroyed. Captain Spock (Nimoy) does not manage to reach Romula on time and the planet is destroyed. In order to take revenge from him, a Romulan ship captained by Captain Nero (Bana) vows to destroy the Federation. Both Spock and Nero get caught in a black hole and go back 25 years in time. Jim Kirk (Pine) is an aspiring Starfleet commander on aboard U.S.S Enterprise along with the younger Commander Spock (Quinto). They receive distress signals from planet Vulcan, which they later realise is a trap by Nero and he is on his way to destroy the planet. The story is completely 'out of the world', pun intended, but don't be surprised if you find yourself spending the first thirty minutes puzzled by the fact that your not understanding anything. The script writer must have decided to utilize every word that he could come across in the English dictionary, considering the style of language that he has used. The special effects is a technological breakthrough. Once you get the grip of the story, words like 'warping', 'beaming', 'space shuttle' and the likes, sound like music to your ears.
Thumbs up: Special effects, brilliant plot
Thumbs down: Simpler language would have been appreciated
Rating: 8.8/10
Action,
Adventure,
Amazing Movies,
Science-fiction,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:50 AM
Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro
Two questions, why hijack a New York subway train and why negotiate with a subway dispatcher? Ryder (Travolta) is one pissed man and decides to remove his frustration by hijacking a subway. Walter Garber (Washington) is the unfortunate subway dispatcher on duty at the time of the hijacking. Ryder decides to befriend Walter and insists only on negotiating with him. The rest is predictable. The hijacker demands money, money doesn't come, innocent people killed, money finally comes, hijacker runs away, subway dispatcher turns hero and saves the day. The movie is very typically American from all possible angles. One cant actually put down the movie as bad but you cant give it a round of applause and nominate it for the Oscars either. Usually when it comes to robbery and hijacking, the plots are carefully planned with multiple twists. Here everything was very elementary and the planning was nothing which would actually astound you. Its as simple as taking a gun and shooting it in the air and assuming control of the entire train. Child's play.
Thumbs up: A good overall entertainment package
Thumbs down: Nothing unique, too simple
Rating: 6.9/10
Action,
Crime,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:11 AM
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Action/Comedy
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Mark Strong, Rachel McAdams
Sleek and Suave, that is the impression that Arthur Conon Doyle gave us of his fictitious super-detective, Sherlock Holmes. In Guy Ritchie's version, he is anything but that. Mr. Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his assistant, friend, partner, Dr. Watson (Law) are renowned throughout London for their exemplary investigation techniques. Lord Blackwood (Strong) a so-called sorcerer has taken the lives of five women, by conducting human sacrificing rituals which he feels is necessary to balance society. Blackwood is arrested by Holmes and three months later is hanged to death. To every ones surprise, Lord Blackwood rises from his grave, hail and hearty and continues to conduct his rituals unhindered. The movie is sorely disappointing due to multiple reasons. Holmes has been portrayed as a rugged, body building action hero, who loves more than just one drink a day, something quite far from what everyone has been reading so far in books. The plot too, doesn't have shocking twists like what we have been used to reading. The only climax that you end up looking forward to are the secrets behind Lord Blackwood's magical murders which is perhaps the only exciting bit the movie threw up. What you do get, is typical Guy Ritchie humour. Urban one-liners, which are finely executed by Downey Jr. Its not worth watching if you're looking forward to a fine murder mystery, but go for it if you feel otherwise.
Thumbs up: Robert Downey Jr.
Thumbs down: Except for the name, nothing reminds you of the classic detective
Rating: 6.9/10
Action,
Comedy,
Crime,
Good Movies,
Mystery,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:46 AM
Genre: Crime/Action/Drama
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amole Gupte
Identical twins, like the name goes are supposed to be exact look-alikes of each other. Guddu and Charlie (Kapoor) is one such pair that seems to be alike but are poles apart. Charlie fixes matches at horse races, whereas Guddu does a more decent job of working at an NGO. The brothers utterly despise each other and have taken different paths of life. A pair of corrupt police officers are set to exchange one hundred packets of cocaine with a drug peddler, when co-incidentally they encounter Charlie and his gang and the guitar case with the hidden dope in it, lands in the hands of Charlie. Guddu, on the other hand has impregnated his girlfriend Sweety (Chopra) and is planning to marry her. Sweety's brother, Bhau Bhope (Gupte) is politician and loves his motherland. A cinematic version of our ever famous Raj Thackrey, he despises the fact that his sister loves and wants to marry a non-marathi. A bit too many people come to know about the guitar case and everyone has their eyes on it. From a Bengali bookie, a greedy politician, a hippie drug peddler to corrupt cops, everyone is falling over each other to get to the dope. The movie seemed to be inspired by a lot of Hollywood movies, most of it coming from Snatch. It may be difficult to spot the resemblance, but the basic idea of a worthwhile object and endless people fighting for it was seen before. A good attempt at trying to make something different, but the story lost its pace at vital moments which did not go down too well with audiences. Shahid Kapoor has done a phenomenal piece of performance which was the sole reason for the movies positive appeal.
Thumbs up: Shahid Kapoor, storyline
Thumbs down: Gets slow and out of pace in between
Rating: 7.0/10
Action,
Bollywood,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:03 PM
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Starring: Nathan Lane, Lee Evans
Rudolf Smuntz is a millionaire who has made his money by manufacturing string. With his death, all his assets and properties are transferred to his sons Ernie (Lane) and Lars (Evans). Ernie is a chef whose once famous restaurant has been shut due to contaminated food. Lars was put in charge to run the ailing string factory, whose sales have fallen miserably due to lack of demand. Both having failed to make any reasonable income, decide to move out and live at an old and isolated house which they inherited from their father. The house was in a poor shape and the brothers soon find out that the house was made by the famous French architect, LaRue and is worth millions. They decide to restore the house and auction it and split the income in half. During their restoration process, they come across an unknown resident of the house, a mouse. The mouse is determined to throw the intruders out of his mansion and the brothers want to do precisely the same. The movie at first glance seems to be a laugh riot, but as it progresses you realise you're badly mistaken. The movie tries very hard to get you to laugh and the performance of Lane and Evans isn't too exciting either. The movies humour is based on tried and tested jokes which don't make you laugh anymore. Your kid brother might have a good time but you definitely wont.
Thumbs up: The smart mouse if anything else isn't
Thumbs down: Bad humour, even worse performance
Rating: 4.5/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Pathetic Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 8:02 AM
Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance
Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby
Prior to the release of this movie, each and every one of us had a set perception of Jim Carrey. The stupid, funny and over-dramatic goon who gives you the instinct to pull your hair out, but probably the only guy in the world who can ever carry off such a look. The big relief is that we get to see him in a much sober version of his original self, which has been well received. Carl Allen (Carrey) is a demotivated, isolated and bored dude. He cant muster up the courage to say 'yes' for anything. Be it going out with friends, approving loans for his customers, dating woman or anything else that could probably make his life more interesting. A friend of his introduces him to a self-help group which motivates him to say 'yes' to things rather than saying 'no'. From that day on, he says 'yes' for every opportunity that comes his way, be it giving a homeless guy all his money, going to bed with his almost-eighty years old neighbour, dating Persian women or going for unplanned vacations with Allison (Deschanel) a girl he randomly met and hardly knows. From 'no'body, he soon becomes a 'yes'body and is the most happening man in town. What he doesn't know, is that he ends up saying 'yes' for everything, without weighing the options and takes some decisions he doesn't want to. The movie takes on a different aspect which previous motivational movies have not tread upon. You get a little fed up of watching him say yes to everything that comes by his way and the movie becomes a little repetitive and predictable.
Thumbs up: Jim Carrey in his new avatar
Thumbs down: Predictable and repetitive storyline
Rating: 6.5/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:00 AM
Genre: Crime/Mystery/ThrillerStarring: Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Amy BrennemanCreating a good viable murder mystery is not an easy task at all. Almost everything depends upon the final climax scene. Jack Gramm (Pacino) is a forensic psychiatrist with the FBI and teaches at a Seattle university. He's in the news for testifying against serial killer John Foster, due to which he got the capital punishment. A lot of people believe that Jack falsified evidence and that Foster is innocent. A student of his is found dead in her apartment and all the evidence seem to point towards Jack. Jack is convinced that Foster has an outside associate who has done the job on his orders. At that very moment, Jack starts receiving threatening calls saying that he has only 88 minutes to live. Along with Kim (Witt) his student and secretary Shelly (Brenneman) Jack needs to unravel the mystery if he has to save his life. The initial few moments of the movie are a tad boring and you seem to be a little lost. It takes a while to get things together and the movie sufficiently picks up pace. There is a lot of excitement till the climax scene which does not compliment the story that went by. A better twist in the tale would have been more acceptable and perhaps more appealing. The biggest let-down was the '88 minutes countdown to death' which continuously kept getting prolonged and made the movie lose the entire focus. A one time watch murder mystery but you wont want to come back to it.
Thumbs up: A decent murder mystery story
Thumbs down: Story loses its motive, anti-climaxing end
Rating: 6.2/10
Average Movies,
Crime,
Mystery,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:18 PM
Genre: Action/Adventure/Thriller
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Alison Doody, Ray Marsden, Sidede Onyulo, Gavin Hood, John Standing
A re-make of the 1950 classic of the same name, the movie in turn is an adaptation of H.Rider Haggard's book King Solomon's Mines. The movie is actually a TV miniseries which were put together and was released as a DVD movie. Allan Quatermain (Swayze) is an Englishman, who has fallen in love with Africa and is now a hunter and tracker in the southern part of the dark continent. Dr. Sam Maitland (Standing) is renowned professor, who is in possession of a map which leads to King Solomon's Mines, an underground fortress having priceless jewels. He gets kidnapped by the Kukuani tribe whose king wants the map and key to the mine. He writes to his daughter Elizabeth (Maitland) in England and asks her to bring the map and key to Africa, else the tribesmen would kill him. Elizabeth hires Quatermain and his team to take her and Captain Good (Mardsen) to Africa and free her father. The movie starts off an an interesting note and seems promising. However, somewhere down the line it loses its pace and the movies length seems to haunt you. Going by the name, one would expect something similar to what we had seen in The Mummy, but the movie takes on a very different path and revolves more around surviving in Africa and all the adventures that come with it. A definite watch for someone who likes explorations and adventures else avoidable.
Thumbs up: Action and depiction of Africa
Thumbs down: Length and constant deviation from the main story
Rating: 6.5/10
Action,
Adventure,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 4:42 AM
Genre: Fantasy/Action/Thriller/Adventure/Science-fiction
Starring: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh
The year is 1899. Britain and Germany or on a brink of war, world war some say. This war must be stopped at all costs and the only people who can do it, is the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A notorious criminal who goes by the name Fantom (Roxburgh) is building technologically advanced weapons for any country willing to buy them. The arms race would fuel the world war and eventually destroying mankind. Allan Quatermain (Connery) is a sharp shooting hunter who has been recruited to become a part of the league along with Captain Nemo (Shah), Mina the dracula (Wilson), Skinner the invisible (Curran), Dorain the invincible (Townsend), American secret service agent Tom Sawyer (West) and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Flemyng). A traitor in their midst is revealing all their plans to the Fantom who manages to stay one step ahead of them. The movie boasts of a strong global starcast, however, the story is the regular good v/s evil and each and every twist is highly predictable. The special effects too dont manage to live upto the mark and seem to spoil the show. The movie does have some very interesting bare-fisted fight scenes which will be adored by the action lover but the list of good things ends there. Captain Nemo's ship and car is to die for.
Thumbs up: Fight sequeles
Thumbs down: Special effects and plot
Rating: 5.8/10
Action,
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Fantasy,
Science-fiction,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:02 PM
Genre: Western/Action/Crime/Drama
Starring: Bruce Willis, William Sanderson, Cristopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Bruce Dern, Ned Eisenberg
John Smith (Willis) is a gunslinger who arrives at the town of Jericho, Texas. The town is torn apart my gang wars and all the decent folk have been pushed out, leaving gunslingers who are thirsty for their counterparts blood. One of the gangs are run by the Italians, headed by Strozzi (Eisenberg) and the other is Irish, headed by Doyle (Kelly). John is on his way to Mexico and senses a good opportunity to make some easy money. He plays politics on the entire war by crossing sides and makes himself good money. He passes information of one side to other, without either of them knowing what is happening. The movie has some very good twists in the story which keeps your attention alive. However, if your watching this movie to see some nice western action, then your in the wrong movie. Apart from the location and set, nothing else gives you the western movie feel. Some nice action and a good story.
Thumbs up: Story and the twists within it
Thumbs down: Doesn't give the western movie feel
Rating: 7.0/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Western,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 3:53 AM
Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance
Starring: Bug Hall, Brandan Hardesty, Kevin Horton, Beth Behrs, Melanie Papalia, John Patrick Jordan, Eugene Levy
The American Pie series are infamous for its sexual content and the hilarious jokes. Most of us have watched the earlier series numerous number of times and have laughed. The latest installation in the series, fails to live up to the mark of the previous legends. Rob (Hall), Lube (Hardesty) and Nathan (Horton) are three dudes studying at East Great Falls High. Like every other American Pie movie, the three friends are virgins, who have sworn to get over the shame and become proud men. All their attempts go in vain and when they are just about to lose hope, they find 'The Bible'. Its a book which has been compiled for forty years by students, who reveal the ultimate secret of getting into bed with the opposite sex. The book unfortunately, gets destroyed and the three friends decide to recreate it. The movie follows a story that we have seen before and there is nothing new to look forward to. Stiffler (Jordan) was a consistent character played by various actors in all the previous movies and it was this role that created the entire story. However, this time Stiffler was pushed to a side to make way for other characters, which to an extent spoilt the entire show. The jokes are few, but make an effort to get you to laugh. The movie has nothing new to show and seems like one big drag. If it is sex comedy that your looking for, there are way better movies than this one.
Thumbs up: The few but effective jokes
Thumbs down: Overused story, a shame to the American Pie brand name
Rating: 4.9/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Pathetic Movies,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
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