The Longest Yard (2005)

Genre: Sports/Drama/Comedy

Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, William Fichtner, James Cromwell, Dalip 'The Great Khali' Singh, Nelly, Michael Irvin

Ex-football super star, Paul Crewe (Sandler) is busted for drunk driving and stealing his girlfriends car. Paul was once accused of shaving points off a football game which saw an end to his football career. His jail term has more haters than fans who despise him from day 1 for his football fiasco. The only person supporting him is Caretaker (Rock) who has been ranked as the least threatening prison inmate by the guards. Warden Hazen (Fichtner) wants Crewe to help coach the prison guards' football team who have been consistently losing for the past few years. Crewe advises him to organise a tune-up game against a weak team which would highly motivate them and who better than the inmates themselves? Crewe is assigned to head the inmates team who motivates the inmates by telling them that this is their chance to beat up all the prison guards and that they should join the team. Former football star Nate Scarborough (Reynolds) joins the team as coach along with a host of violent inmates eager to give the prison guards a good thrashing. The movie is definitely a fun watch and is hilarious on more than one occasion. Each and every character in the movie has a definite and unique identity which makes the movie a lot more interesting. A remake of the 1974 film of the same name.

Thumbs up: Amazing characters
Thumbs down: A bit more humour to make it even better

Rating: 7.3/10

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Comedy, Drama, Good Movies, Sports,

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Star Wars (1977)

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

Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guiness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones (voice), Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew

The first of the six Star Wars movies, it narrates the story of the Rebels who have won their first victory over the evil Galactic Empire. Princess Leia (Fisher) learns of the Empires plans of the Death Star, an ultimate machine capable of destroying an entire planet. She sends two droids R2-D2 (Baker) and C-3PO (Daniels) to find a certain Obi-Wan Kanobi (Guiness) and to deliver the information to him. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) stumbles across the droids and helps them locate Kanobi, who turns out to be a good friend of Luke's dead father. They decide to travel across space and get to Princess Leia's father with the information. They hire pilot Han Solo (Ford) and his beast of a sidekick Chewbacca (Mayhew) to take them across space but get captured by the Death Star en route. Luke and Han learn that Princess Leia is a prisoner on the Death Star and set out to rescue her. Meanwhile, Kanobi meets his old pupil Darth Vader (acting by Prowse, voice by Jones) with whom he has a score to settle. The movie has an interesting plot and started a new rage in science-fiction movies during its time. The movies special effects were absolutely amazing for its time and could probably rival movies made 15 years down the line. The action is a tad boring and nobody in the entire movie can seem to shoot a target accurately. It's an all time classic and considering the time period in which it was made the movie excelled in almost everything it did.

Thumbs up: Astounding special effects
Thumbs down: Boring action sequences

Rating: 7.7/10

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

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Clash of the Titans (2010)

 
Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure/Drama

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralf Fiennes, Gemma Arterton

A remake of the 1981 film with the same name, the movie narrates the story of Perseus (Worthington) the illegitimate son of Zeus (Neeson). Zeus created the human species and made them in such a fashion that all the gods lived on human worshipping. All except for Hades (Fiennes) who was tricked by Zeus and was sent to rule the underworld. Humans are angry with the gods and have stopped worshipping them because of which the gods grow weak. In a bid to restore order on Earth, Hades commands the king of Argos to sacrifice his daughter else he would send the Kraken to destroy the city. Perseus holds a grudge with Zeus for killing the family that brought him up. Along with a group of soldiers, he sets out on a quest to find a way to destroy the Kraken and teach the gods a lesson. After watching Percy Jackson quite recently, the story sounds quite similar and the only difference being is that Percy Jackson is set in modern America and not Ancient Greece. The movie does a reasonably fair job which makes the movie watchable but not outright lovable. The Action sequences were not thrilling enough and the plot execution made the movie highly predictable.

Thumbs up: Special Effects
Thumbs down: Average story, action sequences

Rating: 6.5/10

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Action, Adventure, Average Movies, Drama, Fantasy,

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Green Zone (2010)

Genre: War/History/Action/Drama/Thriller

Starring: Matt Damon, Yigal Naor, Brendan Gleeson, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla

Based on the US invasion of Iraq, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) is given the task to search specific locations and look for weapons of mass destruction. Each of the sites he goes to are found empty and he doubts the authenticity of the intel. When he raises the question with his superiors, they don't agree with his theory except for CIA agent Martin Brown (Gleeson). Brown tells him that each of these sites have already been searched months ago and he and his unit are being sent on a wild goose chase. Meanwhile, while searching on another location, Miller is approached by a local named Freddie (Abdalla) who gives them the location of the General of the Iraqi army, Mohammad Al-Rawi (Naor) and some other high ranking Iraqi officials. The US government is divided on the stand that it should take on Iraq. Some want to dissolve the Iraqi army while others want to offer truce and take their help. Miller wants to get behind the entire conspiracy revolving the Iraq war and doesn't want Al-Rawi dead so fast. Coming from the makers of the Bourne series, the movie had a lot of expectations that it did live up to. The movie is not as good as Bourne but its not all that bad either. Matt Damon, as usual, puts on an amazing performance and it would be interesting to see a sequel to this movie.

Thumbs up: Matt Damon and plot
Thumbs down: Story is too simple, maybe something more complex would have helped

Rating: 8.0/10

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Action, Amazing Movies, Drama, Thriller, War,

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Dragonball Evolution (2009)

 
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Starring: Justin Chatwin, Yun-Fat Chow, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung, James Marsters, Joon Park

Two thousand years ago, an evil warlord Piccolo (Marsters) descended upon Earth along with his disciple Ozaru. A group of monks used their powers to confine Piccolo and bring peace on Earth. Piccolo has escaped from his confinement and is accumulating the seven dragonballs, which when brought together will grant the person one wish. His wish is to destroy Earth. Goku (Chatwin) is a fighter whose grandfather has trained him in martial arts. His grandfather hands him one of the dragonballs and tells him to keep it safe. Goku soon learns of Piccolo's escape and must prevent Piccolo from getting hold of the dragonballs. He gets accompanied by Bulma (Rossum) a researcher who was studying a dragonball before it got stolen, Master Roshi (Chow) a martial arts teacher and Yamcha (Park) a bandit thief to accompany him. The movie has used an amalgamation of the most cliched plots ever in a hope to make something different which it sadly does not. Poor performances and not so thrilling action sequences made this movie a damp squid. The action is reminiscent of the Mortal Combat video games, once popular years ago and simply looks out of place. I actually thought that the movie would be in line with the popular anime going by a similar name, but its not.

Thumbs up: Special effects perhaps
Thumbs down: The entire movie

Rating: 4.6/10

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Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Pathetic Movies,

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Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

 
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard

A New York socialite, Holly Golightly (Hepburn) leads a very typical life for a woman of her kind, socialising and fantasising about attaining a lot of wealth and fame and hoping to marry a filthy rich man very soon. She has a new neighbour, Paul Varjak (Peppard) who is an aspiring writer and the two get along very well. Holly finds that Paul looks a lot like her brother Fred and starts calling him Fred. The bond of friendship grows between the two and Holly confesses her love for the jewelry store called Tiffany's and her ambition to marry its owner. Most of the movie talks about the growing friendship between the two and the eventual and unavoidable love. The story, although simple, keeps your attention together and doesn't have the very typical end that you would expect. Its a light and smooth watch that doesn't have too much of melodrama and has a good sprinkling of humour to further lighten things up. Good performances by Hepburn and Peppard that keeps the movie alive. Based on the book by the same title by Truman Capote.

Thumbs up: Simple, sweet and enjoyable
Thumbs down: Nothing in particular

Rating: 7.7/10

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Comedy, Drama, Good Movies, Romance,

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Fighting (2009)

Genre: Drama/Sport/Action

Starring: Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Zulay Henao, Brian J. White

Shawn MacArthur (Tatum) takes on underground street fighting in a bid to make some quick money. Harvey (Howard) was first to spot Shawn and the talent he holds and becomes his agent, getting fights for him. Shawn and Harvey start making good and quick money and Shawn soon becomes popular amongst the street fighting circuit. Shawn falls in love with Zulay (Henao) a girl he once met randomly on the street. The movie has an extremely basic plot of an unknown young lad making the way to the top and becoming rich and famous. Each and every twist in the plot is predictable and most of the dialogues are boring and seem like one big drag. The fights scenes are supposed to be the movies USP, which sadly are not that great either. The entire movie seems to slow at times to keep your attention intact and can get very boring. A complete waste of time and highly avoidable from every angle.

Thumbs up: Only some fight sequences
Thumbs down: Everything else

Rating: 4.9/10

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Action, Drama, Pathetic Movies, Sports,

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The International (2009)

Genre: Drama/Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriler

Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armon Mueller-Stahl, Brian F. O'Bryne, Ulrich Thomsen

The International Bank of Business & Credit (IBBC) has been linked with funding terrorist activities. Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Owen) learns that the bank purchases weapons manufactured in China and sells them to third world countries. Salinger is accompanied by New York District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Watts) who look for ways to bring down the IBBC. Umberto Calvini is only 1 of the two people in the world who supplies missile guidance systems and is also a strong Italian Prime Ministerial candidate. Calvini is assassinated during a political rally, probably by IBBC for refusing to co-operate with them, and Salinger and Whitman realise that anyone who went against the IBBC was either killed or went missing. Spy movies typically need a complex and catchy plot line to keep audience interest alive. A good climax supported with some good acting only makes the recipe better. The movie excels in almost all of these areas with the climax being not as good as one would have wanted. The ending was a little abrupt and could have ended on a slightly better note, but all that said and done, it is a fabulous movie nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Plot and performances
Thumbs down: Slightly better ending

Rating: 8.0/10

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Action, Amazing Movies, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller,

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Monsters vs Aliens

Genre: Animation/Drama/Comedy/Science-fiction/Fantasy

Starring (voice): Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson

Monsters exist on Earth but have been closely kept under wraps by the United States government for 50 years. It is so secret that the President himself doesn't know of its existence and speaking about its location is a federal crime. Susan (Witherspoon) is all set to get married when a meteorite infused with Quantonium hits her and converts her into a giantess and gives her super strength. The government captures her and puts her in a secret facility for monsters. Here, she meets four other monsters, B.O.B (Rogen) a brainless and talkative experimental tomato that was accidentally brought to life, Dr. Cockroach Ph.D (Laurie) a mad scientist that accidentally converted himself into cockroach-human hybrid, The Missing Link (Arnett) an ugly lizard obsessed with building his physique and finally the super-sized Insectosaurus. Gallaxhar (Wilson) is the evil alien who wants to extract the Quantonium from Susan and rule over planet Earth. With no foreseeable solution, the monster facility jailer, General W.R. Monger (Sutherland) sends the monsters out to save planet Earth. The movie looks a little vague and unstructured and the plot seems like a jigsaw puzzle put together forcefully. The basic foundation of secret monsters residing with humans, is a repetition of Men In Black and hence lacks originality.. All that said, the movie makes you laugh on more than one occasion and finally delivers a good overall package, enough to make a nine-year-old roll in laughter.

Thumbs up: Nice humour
Thumbs up: Unstructured plot

Rating: 6.8/10

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Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Good Movies, Science-fiction,

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Fracture (2007)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike, Billy Burke, Cliff Curtis

Ted Crawford (Hopkins) a wealthy businessman, who murders his wife when he learns of her affair with police officer Rob Nunally (Burke). Ted admits to the crime and goes on trial, acting as his own attorney. Willy Beachum (Gosling) is the rising star at the district attorneys office with a 97% success rate, who has been assigned the case before he shifts to a private company. When Ted goes on trial, he proves to court that his confession was taken by Nunally, who was having an affair with his wife and who forced him to sign a false confession, thus making it void. All of a sudden Willy realises that apart from Ted's confession, which is now void, there is no other proof against him with neither a murder weapon nor a motive. Although everyone is sure of Ted's crime, nobody is able to prove it. The movie starts on an interesting note which promises you a good time, sadly the movie doesn't seem to deliver what it promises. Too much time is spent behind hunting for the murder weapon and all other aspects that complete a murder mystery are ignored. Continuously introducing twists in the tale with constant new developments would have made the story far more interesting. That said, the story is not all that bad with good performances and a good climax. A nice movie, but could have been far better.

Thumbs up: Interesting plot
Thumbs down: Could have been much better

Rating: 7.4/10

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Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Mystery, Thriller,

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Showgirls (1995)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Gina Ravera

Las Vegas, the land of opportunities, ambitions and ultimate doom. Thousands of people come here to fulfill their deepest desires and only a handful ever do. Nomi Malone (Berkley) was one such random face in a huge crowd who came to Las Vegas to become a showgirl. Her ego and over-aggressive behaviour wasn't getting her anywhere initially, until Molly (Ravera) came along and offered her some help. She works as a seamstress at Goddess, a dazzling Vegas show at the Stardust hotel and she takes Nomi along. Nomi loves all the glamour and dance and instantly aspires to become a showgirl at the Stardust. The star of the show, Cristal Connors (Gershon), envy's Nomi and her natural talent and the attention she receives from her boyfriend cum entertainment director of the show, Zack (MacLachlan). They develop a love and hate relationship and the usual back-biting ensues. The movie has the very usual rags to riches story with nothing unique or different to offer. A bit too long for a plot of its kind and the absence of twists in the story to break the monotony just makes things worse. The movie does have a huge amount of skin show and nudity, something expected from a movie of its kind, without which it would simply look very artificial. It hopes that all the nudity and sexiness might woo audiences but the attempt falls flat on the face.

Thumbs up: The stars performing tough and very bold scenes
Thumbs down: Long and boring plot

Rating: 5.5/10

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Average Movies, Drama,

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Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Genre: Drama/History/Biography/Crime

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Bay, Amy Adams

USA, 1963, the concept of a cheque payment was relatively new and it attracted a lot of fraudulent cheque depositing practices. Frank Abegnale Jr. (DiCaprio) ran away from home at an early age and slowly learnt the ways of crime. Frank started making fraudulent cheques and encashed them and hence made millions of dollars. He successfully worked as a Pan Am co-pilot, a doctor and a lawyer for many years altogether, all fraudulently. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Hanks) started tracking Frank and his moves in spite of a lot of resentment from his superiors. Carl followed Frank's every step but Frank always managed to elude him each time. The movie doesn't have anything else to talk about apart from a simple cop and criminal and a wild goose chase across the country. The plot outline is interesting but the lack of constant developments along with the stretched plot makes this movie less entertaining than what it could be. More thrills and suspense would have made the movie a lot more interesting, not that it isn't already.

Thumbs up: Tom Hanks and Leonardo, story
Thumbs down: A little stretched

Rating: 7.0/10

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Biography, Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Historical Event,

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Poseidon (2006)

Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure

Starring: Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Jacinda Barrett, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Mia Maestro, Mike Vogel, Jimmy Bennett

The third movie remake of the book, The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico, the story describes a group of people trapped in a sinking ship, trying to make their way out of it. Sounds like Titanic, tries to be like Titanic, but sadly the final outcome isn't Titanic. A new years eve party has been organised on the Poseidon, a massive cruise liner which gets overturned by a tidal wave. Dylan (Lucas) a professional gambler, doesn't believe that he would survive the sinking ship and decides to take things in his own hands. He attempts to make his way out of the ship by himself but gathers too much attention doing so and gets followed by fellow passengers. A single mother Maggie (Barett), her son Conor (Bennett), the ex-mayor of New York, Robert Ramsey (Russell) and Richard Nelson (Dreyfuss) accompany Dylan on the perilous journey to make their way out of the ship. Most of the story revolves around passing one hurdle after another, heart-rendering losses and the final victory. The plot is highly predictable with nothing original or unique to offer. The movie is filled with lesser known actors which put on a reasonably decent performance and becomes the only saving grace in the movie.

Thumbs up: Decent performance by a relatively unknown star cast
Thumbs down: Highly-predictable plot, unoriginal

Rating: 5.9/10

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Action, Adventure, Average Movies, Drama,

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Let's Go To Prison (2006)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Starring: Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Chi McBride

Every convict wants a reason to get as far away from prison as possible, but John (Shepard) cant wait to go back. Ever since he was a young kid, he has been sent to prison quite a few times and each time by the same judge. Finally when he is old enough, he decides to take revenge on the judge, only to learn that he died three days ago. He wants his revenge and so decides to target the judge's son, Nelson Biederman IV (Arnett). Nelson is a spoilt son of a rich father and John manages to frame him and sends him off to prison, but not without going to prison himself. He manages to land up in the same prison as Nelson and intends to make Nelson's life in prison hell. From eating food with condoms and human excreta and getting sold to Barry (McBride) a black gay man for a romantic night, Nelson experiences it all. The movie has a nice story with an interesting concept but lacks outright humour. The plot is unconventional and seems to be well thought out but probably if some more thought was given on making the audience laugh more, the movie would be worth a good watch.

Thumbs up: Nice story
Thumbs down: Not funny enough

Rating: 6.3/10

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Average Movies, Comedy, Drama,

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Frozen River (2008)

Genre: Drama/Crime

Starring: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott

North County, upstate New York. Just a few days to go for Christmas and Ray Eddy (Leo) has enough problems in her life when a new one decides to show up. Her husband abandons the family and takes with him the money she had saved for a new house. When she goes on a hunt for him, she encounters a Mohawk, Lila (Upham) who stole his car while he got on a bus for New York. Lila knows someone who could buy her car but for that she has to illegally cross the border and go to Canada. In order to cross the border, she has to drive over the frozen St. Lawrence River and since they go through an Indian reservation area, they hope to avoid detection. In reality, Lila lures Ray across the border to smuggle people back into the United States. Reluctant to do it at first, she realises that it would be a good way to earn back the money that she had lost for their new house. The movie is very slow and is not the most delightful movie to watch, apart from the climax. It has an interesting end and becomes the only highlight of the movie. Melissa Leo puts on a fantastic and almost real-life performance and is well supported by the entire cast. If its entertainment you want then this movie is not what your looking for, if its a critical sound movie then this one ticks all the right boxes.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances
Thumbs down: Boring and a bit slow plot

Rating: 6.5/10

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Average Movies, Crime, Drama,

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Race to Witch Mountain (2009)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Thriller

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Rob, Alexander Ludwig, Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino, Tom Woodruff Jr.

A UFO crashes on the western coast of the United States and the government is desperately looking for any clues of the aliens within it. The two aliens, Sara (Rob) and Seth (Ludwig) in reality look like normal human children and posses great power. Jack Bruno (Johnson) is a taxi driver in Las Vegas and Sara and Seth hire him to get to an isolated place in the middle of the desert. The children explain to him that their planet is apparently getting destroyed due to environmental degradation and that their government wants to invade Earth to make it their new home. However, the children's parents conducted an experiment on Earth to prove that an invasion on Earth is not necessary and their own planet can be habitable once more. The children have come to Earth in order to obtain the results of the experiment since their parents couldn't come and must get back to their own planet on time if the invasion is to be avoided. However, it is not all that easy for them since an alien warrior known as Siphon (Woodruff Jr.) intends to kill them and make sure that Sara and Seth don't go back home. The movie starts on an interesting plot but doesn't manage to contain that interest till the end., where it gets boring and slow. The lack of highly-destructive action sequences and average performances are partly to blame. Nice movie but could have been much better. A remake of the 1975 movie, Escape to Witch Mountain.

Thumbs up: Decent plot, good start
Thumbs down: Bad ending, average acting

Rating: 5.9/10

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

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9 (2009)

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Drama/Fantasy

Starring (voice): Christopher Plummer, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reiley, Martin Landau

A scientist created a robot known as B.R.A.I.N, which would serve mankind and help it evolve and thus improve society. The machine, however, went against the humans which eventually led to a war of machines versus humans. The scientist realising his mistake, built miniature human-like robots out of cloth known as 'Stitchpunks' and gave each of them a unique number from 1 to 9. Humankind is destroyed and the machines rule over Earth. Each of these 9 Stitchpunks come to life and form an alliance to protect themselves. They are led by 1 (Plummer) the eldest of them all who has been evading the machines and keeping the Stitchpunks safe. 9 (Wood) comes to life and joins the clan. He is not satisfied with 1's defensive approach and wishes to take on a more aggressive role. 2 (Landau) is kidnapped by a machine and 9 is determined to save him. Along with 2's close friend, 5 (Reiley), 9 & 5 set on a quest where they meet a warrior 7 (Connelly) who helps them save 2. In the midst of all this, 9 accidentally brings to life a dangerous machine manufacturing factory which puts the Stichpunks in a worse situation than they were in earlier. The story progresses at a very rapid face for the first half, which is slightly disturbing, but manages to collect itself together and end on a high note. The graphics are superb and are almost life-like which become the high point of the movie. The fundamental plot is nothing new but the entire concept of Stitchpunks is indeed very innovative. A nice watch for all age groups but the lack of humour in bits and pieces was sorely missed.

Thumbs up: Graphics, entertaining watch
Thumbs down: Lack of humour

Rating: 6.9/10

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Action, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Good Movies, Science-fiction,

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Matchstick Men (2003)

Genre: Drama/Crime

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman

A smooth con artist Roy Waller (Cage) has one big problem. He suffers from agoraphobia, mysophobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and a tic disorder and not to mention that he yells 'pygmies' whenever something upsets him. He along with his partner in crime Frank (Rockwell) have been successful so far in what they have been doing. Roy's wife left him 15 years back and he hasn't heard from her since. He doesn't know if he has any children and with the help of his shrink, he manages to meet his only known daughter, Angela (Lohman). He cant get along with Angela initially due to her messy habits but they eventually learn to live with each other. He teaches Angela the tricks of the trade and starts using her for smaller tasks during some of his jobs. The once daughter-father relationship that never existed suddenly comes to life and becomes very strong. Nicolas Cage, needless to say, puts on an amazing performance, something that has now become habitually expected from him. The story gets a tad boring somewhere down the half-way mark but improves later on. It has a nice climax with a good twist, but something even more twisted would have made the movie a more sensational watch. A decent one-time watch con movie but not something entirely fabulous.

Thumbs up: Nicolas Cage
Thumbs down: A bit boring at times

Rating: 6.8/10

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Crime, Drama, Good Movies,

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Open Season 2 (2008)

Genre: Animation/Drama/Comedy/Adventure

Starring (voice): Joel McHale, Mike Epps, Jane Krakowski, Crispin Glover, Cody Cameron, Billly Connolly

Elliot (McHale) and Boog (Epps) are still partners and best friends. Elliot is all set to marry Giselle (Krakowski) but is having last minute butterfly's in his stomach. To begin with, he breaks his huge antlers, and by huge I mean at least three times his flimsy body and they were possibly the only thing he could be proud of. The wild animals have a new domestic addition to the group, Mr. Weenie the dog (Cameron) who has escaped from his owner in a bid to taste freedom. His owner manages to hunt him down and takes him back with her, which becomes an excuse for Elliot to call off the wedding and go on a hunt for Mr. Weenie. It's a crazily hilarious mix up which includes an over-aggressive, foul mouthed and half-foot tall squirrel, McSquizzy (Connolly) along with an evil poodle, Fifi (Glover). The movie doesn't have fall-over-your-seat humour but decent to make it a breeze to watch. The only person who can really make you laugh is the character of McSquizzy which too takes some bit of understanding to get the true meaning. It aims to make your kid brother laugh and it will.

Thumbs up: Fun and smooth to watch
Thumbs down: Not overtly funny

Rating: 7.2/10

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Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Good Movies,

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The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mystery/Science-fiction

Starring: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Kimberly Elise

A remake of the 1962 super-hit with the same name, The Manchurian Candidate retells the story of a 1991 Gulf War hero, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Schreiber) and his troop leader Captain Ben Marco (Washington). More than a decade after the war, Captain Marco is approached by a former colleague who complained of hallucinations, bad dreams and flashbacks of the war. After ignoring him at first, Ben realises that he too has the same symptoms and starts investigating deeper. Captain Marco's investigation reveals that the entire troop was brainwashed and was made to believe a story that never too place. Sergeant Shaw, who was conferred the Medal of Honour for his courageous act during the war, is now running for the post of Vice President of the United States. Raymond hails from a prestigious family who have always been into politics and his mother Eleanor (Streep) is always calling the shots on his behalf. Ben approaches Raymond for help but Raymond doesn't give in to his story as easily. Ben looks like a mentally unstable man to society who is adamant on convincing everyone that there is nothing wrong with him. I haven't seen the original movie and hence a comparison at this point cannot take place. The movie in itself does a good job which was backed by an amazing performance by Denzel Washington. The movie did go a little damp somewhere around the half-way mark but it picked up the pace to deliver an astounding climax which is even more thrilling for someone who hasn't seen the original movie.

Thumbs up: Climax, Denzel Washington
Thumbs down: Weak and slow at some points

Rating: 7.8/10

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Drama, Good Movies, Mystery, Science-fiction, Thriller,

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