Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:37 AM
Genre: Animation/Drama/Adventure/Fantasy/Comedy
Starring (voice): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, John Morris, Jim Varney
As kids, we all were fond of one toy that we adored and loved more than our lives. Woody (Hanks) was one such toy that Andy (Morris) just loved. Andy's life would get torn apart if anything happened to Woody, at least that was what everyone thought. Andy's birthday was the best day of Andy's life but the worst for his toys, who come alive when Andy is not around.The toys were always scared that they would get replaced by a new and more attractive toy and thrown in the dump. In comes Buzz Lightyear (Allen) an action figure of a spaceman, who thinks that he is the real Buzz Lightyear and can shoot down aliens with his 'laser' and can actually fly. Buzz becomes Andy's new favourite toy and Woody gets slowly pushed to the sidelines. Woody cannot digest the fact that he is no longer Andy's favourite and hatches to remove Buzz from the toy room. The movie has got brilliant animations for a movie of its era. Its the perfect plot that the doctor ordered and would make any 10-year-old jump with joy. Even though the movie doesn't have any serious humour, it still manages to pull off the plot very well. One of the finest animations ever.
Thumbs up: Entertaining and gripping throughout
Thumbs down: Maybe some more humour if it does any good
Rating: 8.3/10
Adventure,
Amazing Movies,
Animation,
Comedy,
Drama,
Fantasy,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:46 PM
Genre: Crime/Thriller/Drama/Action
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith
Hit man Vincent (Cruise) hijacks a taxi and goes around Los Angeles executing his jobs. The innocent and harmless taxi driver, Max (Foxx) has no choice but to stick with him and do as he says. Vincent has been assigned the task to kill all the witnesses to a criminal charge against his client. LAPD cop, Fanning (Ruffalo) senses the murder trail and follows the leads to get to Vincent and Max. Max encounters one of the most dramatic nights of his life, with a lot of firsts. First time seen a murder, first time used a gun and a lot more. The movie has a lot of philosophical fillers and conversations, which make the movie slightly slow. Perhaps some more action-packed sequences could have made the movie slightly less boring and more entertaining. The movie seems a little bland as if its missing out on something and it just doesn't seem to give a fulfilling experience. Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise put on a good performance but they could have been used in a far better manner. A decent movie but don't be surprised if you find your mind wandering every now and then.
Thumbs up: Cruise and Foxx
Thumbs down: Gets slow in-between
Rating: 6.7/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:06 PM
Genre: Crime/Drama/Action
Starring: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Sofia Coppola, Donal Donnelly
Michael Corleone (Pacino) took over the family business after the death of his father and brother. He has since tried hard to legitimise the business and finally over years of effort has been able to do so. Vincent (Garcia) Sonny's illegitimate son, is introduced to Michael and Michael is impressed with the love and affection Vincent has for him. Vincent starts accompanying Michael on his business trips and becomes his close aide and confidante. In a bid to earn money for the family through legitimate ways, Michael strikes a deal with the corrupt Archibishap Gilday (Donnelly) who controls the Vatican Bank. The Vatican Bank is facing a $700,000,000 debt out of which Michael agrees to pay off $600,000,000 in return for the Vatican's 25% stake in the European real-estate holding company, Immobiliare. A lot of other minor plots adorn the main story including a budding relationship between Mary (Shire), Michael's daughter and Vincent, who ironically are first cousins. The movie gets automatically compared to the earlier movies and sadly, the third installment doesn't have any interesting developments or plot twists to highlight. It's a story which most Godfather fans had predicted would happen. Performances are right up to the mark, exactly where it should be and Al Pacino executes the role of a loving father and an aging man with absolute beauty. It does not have the mafia and crime aspect that the previous movies had but it tries to bring out the possibility of corruption and politics even with the holy Vatican. A fine watch, but not the Godfather that we were used to seeing.
Thumbs up: Al Pacino
Thumbs down: Not a great plot, feels dragged.
Rating: 7.8/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:26 AM
Genre: Romance/Comedy/Drama
Starring: Robin Williams, John Krasinski, Mandy Moore, Josh Flitter
I came across this text message on my phone the other day; define marriage - A bachelors blunder in his enthusiasm to taste the thunder. This movie seems to be tailor made on this joke. Ben (Krasinski) was having a good time with Sadie (Moore) and then decided to take the fateful step, to tie the knot. The moment he proposed to her, he realised he made the biggest mistake of his life. Sadie wanted to get married at the church where her entire family has been getting married and that too by the family priest, Reverend Frank (Williams). Rev. Frank has his own way of doing things and each couple must pass his test if they are to get married. That way, he thinks he can bring down the obscenely high divorce rate. Ben is left with no choice but to take the test, which instead of helping his relation with Sadie, only ends up souring it. There isn't much really to talk about in this movie; the normal couple getting married and then getting second thoughts later on. Performances are not great and the humour is negligible. Robbin Williams tries hard, very hard to make you laugh but the lack of support from any other character makes his performance a complete waste. Good to watch with your newly wed partner (at your own risk of course), avoidable otherwise.
Thumbs up: Robbin Williams
Thumbs down: Bad humour, cliched plot
Rating: 5.9/10
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:45 PM
Genre: Drama/Comedy/Adventure/Romance
Starring: Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore, Raquel Alessi, Molly Stanton, Craig Robinson
Two childhood friends, Eugene (Cregger) and Tucker (Moore) took different paths in life, although they grew up together. Tucker became a Playboy-loving sex-addict and Eugene, the exact opposite. He and his girlfriend Cindi (Alessi) abstained from sex and educated young children about the hazardous consequences of making love. When Cindi cant seem to stay off sex anymore, she gives Eugene an ultimatum but an accident that night sends Eugene into a coma. Four years later when Tucker whacks him with a baseball bat on the head which finally does wake Eugene up, he sees that his entire family has left him, including Cindi, and Tucker is the only person who is still around. So much so, Cindi went ahead to become a Playboy Playmate and later featured as Miss March. Euguene, confused as to why his girlfriend is doing this, goes on a road trip with Tucker across the entire country to attend the Playboy party and finally confront his girlfriend. A lot of movies try to be
American Pie but most of them fail horribly. The movie is not an outright bore, but its not very entertaining either. Lack of any kind of serious humour and good twists, just makes this another random sex-comedy that you would forget immediately after watching it. Watch, forget and go to bed.
Thumbs up: Nothing 'thumbs up' in this one, pretty plain and average.
Thumbs down: Bad humour, plot can be improvised.
Rating: 5.6/10
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
Sex Comedy,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:26 AM
Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Thriller/Mystery
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy
Mind, one of the most complex objects ever known. So complex, that we ourselves don't know the full potential of this amazing creation. Subconsciously, many of us hide our deep, dark and secret memories away in one tiny corner of the brain, not expecting anyone to find it. Cobb (DiCaprio) is an extractor, who goes inside ones memory and digs out and steals that very information that you try to hide. His entire procedure involves the extensive use of dreams. Dreams are randomly created by the brain, a function that he takes over and artificially creates a well-structured dream. Through this dream, he carefully plans a crafty plot by which he gets access to any information he needs. Saito (Watanabe), a Japanese business tycoon wants to do the exact opposite of extraction, inception. If information can be stolen from a dream, he believes it is possible to also plant information via a dream. Robert Fischer (Murphy) is the heir apparent of Saito's rival company and Saito wants him to break off his fathers massive business empire so that he may then control the industry. If Cobb could plant an emotion in Fischer's mind which would make him want to do away with the empire, Cobb would be handsomely rewarded. The movie definitely gains appraisal for putting together such a fantastic plot and not executing it in a cliched manner. The mix of fantasy and reality with the regular back and forth keeps the story alive and going. It does, however, get a little tedious and dragged towards the end when you feel you have had enough of dreaming and want a bit of sane reality. The movie is as heavy as a thousand elephants and don't be surprised if you have a wonderful headache with too much information brimming your brain. It might not appeal to everyone due to its intense nature but a sure-shot watch for the fanatic. Leonardo as always, ensures quality performance that remains consistent to his style throughout. Worth every little penny that you have in your pocket.
Thumbs up: Fabulous plot, plot execution and performances
Thumbs down: Gets a bit too heavy to tolerate towards the end.
Rating: 8.8/10
Action,
Amazing Movies,
Fantasy,
Mystery,
Science-fiction,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:54 PM
Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Fantasy/Adventure
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMohan, Laurence Fishburne (voice)
The four scientist who faced permanent genetic alteration due to exposure to cosmic rays, have become worldwide celebrities. Richard Reeds aka Mr. Fantastic (Gruffudd) is all set to marry Susan Storm aka Invisible Woman (Alba) in what is termed as the wedding of the century. But all is not well when Johnny aka The Human Torch (Evans) and Ben aka The Thing (Chiklis) are upset about Richard's plans to break up the team so that Susan and he could lead a normal life. Disaster strikes when a mysterious Silver Surfer (Fishburne) from outer space creates large cavities inside the Earth's crust. They later learn that a cosmic super power lives on the energy of other other planets and must constantly devour them if it has to survive. Victor (McMohan), the teams old enemy, has been freed by the government in order to aide the Fantastic Four in saving planet Earth. The movie is a definite improvement from part 1, but still has a long way to go before it can be fully appreciated. It's just another regular super-hero movie trying to save the world with the cliched sprinkling of technology and power-hungry villain. Nonetheless, its an entertaining and smooth watch and an easy way to pass some time. Comfortable but nothing extraordinary.
Thumbs up: Good special effects, entertaining
Thumbs down: Cliched outline
Rating: 6.8/10
Action,
Adventure,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
Science-fiction,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:17 AM
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Starring: Steve Martin, Bonni Hunt, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hillary Duff, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin G. Schmidt, Alyson Stoner, Jacob Smith, Liliana Mumy, Morgan York, Forrest Landis, Blake Woodruff, Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman
What is the significance of the number 12? The number of children Tom (Martin) and Kate (Hunt) Baker have. That is an atrociously huge number even for a modern American family, but apart from being a pain like what most of us envision it to be, Tom and Kate love it and are doing just fine. The family lives in the small town of Midland where Tom is a football coach and Kate is a budding author. Tom gets the big break in his life when he gets an offer to coach his dream football team. The only compromise is that the family would have to move to Chicago. The children are not happy moving but are left with no choice. Their eldest daughter, (Perabo) is staying in Chicago with her boyfriend Hank (Kutcher) who is a budding actor. Tom's life starts getting busy and he cant spend time with the family the way he used to. Kate got an offer to get her book published and went on a national book tour. With no mom and dad too busy working, the house becomes one huge mess. The bottom line that the movie gets at is that rather than career and money, happiness and family should be ones goal and priority in life. The movie does well with some good performances and a decent garnishing of humour everywhere. The movie is not an outright comedy, but its a smooth, simple and enjoyable watch with the family. The typical family entertainer and does exactly what it is supposed to do.
Thumbs up: Great family entertainer
Thumbs down: Average plot, could have more humour
Rating: 7.3/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:58 PM
Genre: Crime/Thriller/Action/Drama
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Olivier Rabourdin
A former US spy is living the life of a retiree. Bryan Mills (Neeson) got divorced because his wife felt he gave too much time to work and none to family. He is still attached to his daughter Kim (Grace) who wishes to go to Paris with her friend on a vacation, much to his dislike. He does give her a sanction but with a lot of restrictions and with deep suspicion. His worst fear comes true when Kim and her friend get kidnapped from their apartment by a notorious gang of Albanians. Bryan digs up his old contacts and learns that the Albanians are known for kidnapping and trafficking women internationally who later end up as prostitutes. Bryan also learns that he has 96 hours before he loses Kim forever. Liam Neeson puts on a fabulous show and the movie is a must-watch for adrenaline and action-junkies. The only sad part is that the movie doesn't have any big twist towards the end and the outcome of the movie is quite predictable from the start. A great entertainer and don't expect any fireworks.
Thumbs up: Liam Neeson, fabulous action
Thumbs down: Plot outline is quite plain
Rating: 7.5/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:24 PM
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama
Starring: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce
Four real-estate salesman working for Mitch and Murray are constantly complaining about the bad leads that they get from the head office. Their boss, John Williamson (Spacey) expects them to perform even if the leads are weak, something which the salesman cannot seem to do. An arrogant officer from the head office comes down and shows them the premium leads aka the Glengarry Leads. If they are able to close the normal leads, its only then that they get the Glengarry leads. Veteran real-estate salesman Shelley Levene (Lemmon) tries to bribe John into giving him the leads and in return offers to share his commission. Meanwhile, Ricky Roma (Pacino) is closing a deal with a potential customer James Lingk (Pryce) at a bar and sees himself winning the Cadillac that the company is offering to the best salesman. Dave Ross (Harris) is trying to convince George (Arkin) that they should break into office and steal the leads and sell them to a rival company, although they both are not very serious about doing it. The theft did take place, but the question is, who did it and why? The movie doesn't really have the entire crime and mystery link. Most of the dialogues are small talk that don't add up to the movie story but add a lot of character. The movie focuses on the hardships that salesman face and how tough it gets for them to make ends meet. Performances are fabulous but a more over-whelming climax would have been preferable.
Thumbs up: Performances
Thumbs down: Could have a better climax
Rating: 7.5/10
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Mystery,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 8:14 PM
Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Fantasy
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Kenny Baker, Ahmed Best (voice)
After 16 years, the ever famous
Star Wars series of movies is back. The story goes back in time and shows young Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and the very young Anakin Skywalker (Lloyd) undergoing their Jedi training. There is an intergalactic trade dispute and the Trade Federation has established a trade blockade on the peaceful planet of Naboo. Two Jedi's, Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to resolve the dispute with the Trade Federation. Unkown to them, the evil Sith Lord, Darth Sidious is controlling the Federation and is planning an attack on Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan must now make way to Naboo to warn Queen Amidala (Portman) of Naboo and help save the planet. Little do they know that their journey would make them land on the remote planet of Tatooine where they encounter a young slave boy, Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon believes that Anakin is 'The Chosen One' who would one day bring about balance in the universe and must be trained to become a Jedi. Although the movie has a lot of classic touches from the previous movie, instead of working in its favour, it has given the movie a bad name since the audience who loved the original
Star Wars is not the same 16 years later. The action has vastly improved but the basic plot outline is poor. The movie has some highly engaging moments and plays the role of a good entertainer, but fails to live up to the name of its predecessor. Not for the
Star Wars fanatic but a decent entertainer nonetheless.
Thumbs up: Great entertainer, good actions bits
Thumbs down: Plot lacks twists
Rating: 7.4/10
Action,
Adventure,
Fantasy,
Science-fiction,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:22 PM
Genre: Action/War/Adventure/History
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson
What happens if Oceans Eleven were to become a war movie? Yeah, you got my drift. Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith (Neeson) is the leader of The A-Team, which comprises of four US Army Rangers including him. Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Pack (Cooper), Cpl. Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus (Jackson) and the mentally retarded but ace pilot Captain Murdock (Copley) complete the pack. The A-Team has successfully carried out various special operations over the years and earned a name for themselves. Now posted in Iraq, they are assigned their latest adventure by CIA agent Lynch (Wilson). The Iraqi's are duplicating the US currency and The A-Team has to get hold of the stolen treasury plates which are being used to manufacture the currency. The mission goes bad, the team is double crossed and they all end up in prison. The team now wants to get out of prison, get a clean record and finish the mission they set out to do, only to realise that they have put themselves in a deeper mess than before. The movie is a sure-shot watch for the pure action buffs, with mass destruction adorning the entire movie. The movie has some decent twists and turns and is not the average 'blow-everything-up-and-have-a-lame-ending' sort of movie. A decent plot and some good performances make it the perfect Sunday afternoon watch. For best results, make sure your accompanied with beer and friends.
Thumbs up: Action-packed and blasting all the way
Thumbs down: A bit more focus on plotting and planning can make it more interesting
Rating: 7.8/10
Action,
Adventure,
Good Movies,
War,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:36 PM
Genre: Drama/Romance
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee, Sandra Milo, Rossella Falk
A famous Italian film-maker, Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni) is finding it hard to focus on his new movie. He decides to escape to a spa to open his mind but is followed there by his mistress, Carla (Milo). His producer doesn't want him to take time off and insists on working on the movie asap and decides to bring along the entire crew at Guido's spa. Guido is having a troubled marriage with his wife Luisa (Aimee) who complains that he doesn't have enough time for her and that he never loved her. With a shaky marriage and stress taking the better of him, Guido finds it hard to work on the film which starts making his life even worse. There are a lot of flashbacks, memories and dreams interwoven into reality to bring out a highly abstract and off-beat movie. 46 years later, the movie was re-created under the title of
Nine with a musical feel attached to it.
8� explores a directors life and the hardships that come with it. It is a contemporary movie made in a different era and is very typically European. It was made in an age where creativity, modernisation and innovation ruled which saw a whole lot of thoughts coming together to bring out the most profound ideologies. If its an enigmatic and recondite movie that you are looking for, nothing gets better than this. If its pure entertainment, the movie is a slow path to boredom.
Thumbs up: Amazing concept for a movie of its era
Thumbs down: Does not appeal to every kind of audience
Rating: 7.2/10
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:18 PM
Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure
Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Shaun Toub, Jackson Rathbone, Aasif Mandvi, Cliff Curtis
Why? Is the question that immediately pops into ones mind right after the movie gets over.Why did M. Night Shyamalan even try to create a movie on such a horrible plot? Why did Dev Patel ruin a promising career by attempting such a lame role? There existed four kingdoms on Earth, each belonging to one of the natural elements i.e. Earth, Fire, Water and Air. Each community had Benders, people with power to control their birth element. There was one supreme power, called the Avatar, who could bend all the elements and who maintained balance on Earth. The Avatar goes missing for a hundred years, leaving the Earth in jeopardy. Fire Lord Ozai (Curtis) uses his advanced technology to invade and destroy the remaining kingdoms in order to gain control over Earth. Prince Zuko (Patel) his incapable son, is sent to exile and can only be heir to the throne if he manages to find and capture the Avatar. Katara (Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Rathbone) who belong to the water tribe, find the Avatar and rescue him. The Avatar has not completed his training and must learn how to bend the other elements if he has to restore order on Earth and put an end to the Fire Lord's dominance. The movie actually doesn't have as bad a plot as it seems like, its just that the execution was bad which failed to bring out the true essence of the movie. The dialogues were outright horrible and performances were poor. 3D seemed to be a forced addition so its no worry if you watch it in 2D (if that saves some money then even better). In spite of having a known star cast of Dev Patel, Cliff Curtis and Shaun Toub, their presence failed to do any good to the movie. Pure waste.
Thumbs up: If i try very hard, some action sequences and special effects to an extent
Thumbs down: Cast, plot, dialogues, performances, what am i missing out on?
Rating: 4.9/10
Action,
Adventure,
Fantasy,
Pathetic Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:57 PM
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Drama/Adventure
Starring: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Bill Murray (voice)
The famous lazy, fat cat from the comic strip gets featured on the big screen. Garfield (Murray) loves getting pampered by his owner, Jon (Meyer) and loves bullying all the other pets in the neighbourhood. Sadly, the Garfield on reel is not the same like it is on paper. Jon has a crush on the vet, Liz (Hewitt) whom he has known since high school. On her request he agrees to adopt a dog, Odie, whom Liz says would not survive if he doesn't get proper love and hospitality. Garfield gets jealous of Odie and is jealous of all the attention he is getting. He throws Odie out of the house, who gets lost in the city. A famous pet show anchor, Happy Chapman (Tobolowsky) is looking for a new fresh face for his new show. He loves Odie and his amazing dance moves and decides to get hold of Odie before Jon does. The movie is a huge let down to many of the hardcore Garfield fans who were expecting much more. The plot is very typical for a movie based on pets and the names Garfield and Odie were just seem to have been added to create more hype. The movie doesn't have the kind of character and fun that the comic strips had and one would have wished to see more of the typical Garfield insults and attitude. However, it is made to appeal to an 8-year-old and it might just.
Thumbs up: Would appeal to its target audience i.e. kids
Thumbs down: Cliched plot, lacks Garfield attitude and character
Rating: 5.9/10
Adventure,
Animation,
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:49 PM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White
A workaholic and bossy editor of a New York publishing house is getting deported back to Canada because her visa has expired and a renewal has been refused. Margaret (Bullock) is the typically cold, inhuman and emotionless boss whose mere sight sends all the employees into hiding. Andrew (Reynolds) is her faithful assistant who has been with her for 3 years. It's not because he is the only man on the planet who appreciates her, but because he hopes his hard would promote him to editor one day. Margaret does not want her career tarnished because of her rejected visa and decides to blackmail Andrew into marrying her. Andrew does not want to see three years go down the drain and the editors seat is much too valuable for him to decline. The immigration officer smells a rat and schedules a session where each of them would be questioned about their partners likes and dislikes. Andrew hails from Alaska and his grandmother, Gammy (White) is celebrating her 90th birthday. The two of them decide to go to Alaska and break the news to Andrew's parents. With the interview date coming close, the two of them need to learn more about each other if they both want their respective jobs. It's not easy to get familiar with your heartless boss, least of all fall in love with her; or is it? The entire movie's story flashes in your mind after the first 10 minutes and you know exactly what your in for. Despite such a cliched and predictable plot, the movie still manages to lighten up your mood with a big broad smile plastered on your face for most of the duration. It has a good and decent mix of everything and if only there was a nice twist in the end, the movie would have been time well-spent.
Thumbs up: Nice humour and a nice fun watch
Thumbs down: Predictable plot
Rating: 6.8/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:29 PM
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo
The movie runs two parallel stories, one on Michael Corleone (Pacino) and the other on his father Vito (De Niro) and his entry into the mafia world. After the death of his father and brother, Michael Corleone is now heading the Corleone family business. Frank Pentangeli (Gazzo) who took over Peter Clamenza's territory after his death, is facing some problems with the Rosato Brothers. The Rosato Brothers are backed by Hyman Roth (Starsberg) a Jew who has had good relations with the Corleone family in the past. Michael realises that by interfering, he might lose the trust of Roth, something which he cannot afford to do. After a failed assassination attempt at his life, Michael suspects either the hand of Pentangeli or Roth behind the assassination. The life of his wife and kids are at stake and he needs to do something to ensure his security. The movie goes occasionally back in time to show the upbringing of Vito Corleone and his entry into America. Vito grew up in a neighbourhood where local landlords extorted money from people in order to allow them to run business. Vito saw that many people were regularly harassed by them and decided to put an end to the peoples misery and landlords control. Their end saw the beginning of the Corleone family. From a personal stand point, the second movie feels and looks much better than the previous one. Although it is obscenely long, it still manages to hold the audience attention together and uncovers the dirty happenings of the mafia lords. Performances are by far the best ever with Al Pacino proclaiming himself king of crime movies. The movie expects you to pay close attention to the regular occurrences in the plot and if you lose sync, you might just lose the entire focus of the movie. A compulsory watch if gangsters and henchmen are what your looking for.
Thumbs up: Great plot, fantastic performances. Al Pacino at his best
Thumbs down: Michael Corleone will shoot you down if you try to think about this one.
Rating: 8.8/10
Amazing Movies,
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:05 PM
Genre: Sport/Drama/Biography
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Kathryn Moss, Dakota Goyo
A sports journalist with the Denver Times, Erik Kernan Jr. (Hartnett) is finding it difficult to form a name for himself in the industry. Being the son of a famous radio anchor, he finds it hard to live up to his fathers name and is afraid to lose his job. He comes across a homeless person on the street who calls himself Champ (Jackson) and claims to be a professional boxer. On further probing, Champ reveals to Erik that he is Chicago City's Golden Gloves 147-pound champion, Bob Satterfield. Erik sees this as a big opportunity to write an article of how a once famous boxer has ended up on the streets. The movie is based on a true life incident which many people still claim to be different from what was projected in the movie. Samuel L. Jackson puts on a fantastic performance, something which is expected out of such a role. Yet, the movie is unable to bring out the true essence that it tried to.
The Soloist did a far better job to show case a similar plot 2 years later. A decent movie but it somehow doesn't have any element that you would end up remembering for a long time after watching the movie.
Thumbs up: Good story
Thumbs down: Bad plot execution, lacks feel
Rating: 6.4/10
Average Movies,
Biography,
Drama,
Sports,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:07 PM
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mystery/Romance
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Aaron Yoo
A teenage boy, Kale (LaBeouf) goes under house arrest for assaulting his Spanish professor. With nothing very productive to do, he starts spying on his neighbours from his bedroom window. His spying activities start to become very interesting when he spends most of his time ogling at his hot new neighbour Ashley (Roemer). He also learns that a couple of kids in the neighbourhood are secretly watching porn and that his neighbour, Mr. Turner (Morse) might be hiding something in his garage that he is not supposed to. Kale and Ashley become good friends and he tells her about Mr. Turner and his suspicious movements. Along with Kale's best friend Ronnie (Yoo), the three of them start digging deeper to find out if there indeed is something to hide or not. The saddest part about the entire movie was the constant shift of focus from being a murder mystery to a teenage romance. For a mystery movie too, there aren't any kind of twists or constant new developments with little focus on the investigation of the mystery. The movie does do a decent job in giving you thrills and chills, but that's about it.
Thumbs up: Decent thriller with a good story
Thumbs down: Bad plot execution and doesn't live up to being a murder mystery
Rating: 6.4/10
Average Movies,
Drama,
Mystery,
Romance,
Thriller,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:15 PM
Genre: Drama/Romance/Science-fiction/Mystery
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson
Joel (Carrey) is a man who is upset with life. One fine day he decides to break free from his regular routine and goes to a completely unknown location. He meets Clementine (Winslet) a girl wearing a shocking orange sweatshirt with electric blue hair. Somehow they both think they know each other and become the best of friends right from the very beginning. Just when Joel thought his life got any better, he was in for a rude shock. Dr. Howard (Wilkinson) is a man who erases memories for people so there life becomes better. Memories that are unpleasant or if your finding it very hard to get over your ex-partner, Dr. Howard can help you out. Clementine Kruczynski has erased Joel Barish from her memory. This is one of those movies where one would enjoy the most if you stop reading reviews. The first half of the movie is a big huge mess with things just happening left, right and centre which would make you wonder why you are watching the movie at all. The reason why many people don't like the movie is because realisation hits them late. The level to which someone would appreciate such a piece of art is determined by his/her timely understanding of the plot Trust me, once you do, the movie seems like bliss; never-ending and utterly enjoyable bliss. Jim Carrey, for a change, is not the stupid psycho that we are so used to seeing and for once has proven that he too could carry off a sober role with perfection. Kate Winslet looks much too young for her age and along with Carrey, are able to put on one of the most amazing performances. Watch with your girlfriend / boyfriend / husband / wife snuggled up really close to you.
Thumbs up: Fabulous plot and stupendous acting
Thumbs down: A difficult to understand first half
Rating: 8.5/10
Amazing Movies,
Drama,
Mystery,
Romance,
Science-fiction,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:00 AM
Genre: Drama/Action/War/Romance
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox, Diane Kruger, Peter O'Toole, Rose Byrne, Sean Bean
Troy is a story narrated in the Ilian, an epic poem written by Homer. It narrates the story of the king of Greece, Agamemnon (Cox) whose greed for power sees him capturing various kingdoms around Greece and bringing them under one coalition under his rule. The city of Troy, however, still stands and is the envy of Agamemnon since a long time. The princes of Troy, Paris (Bloom) and Hector (Bana) come to make peace with Agamemnon. Paris falls in love with Helen (Kruger) Agamemnon's brothers wife and takes her back to Troy. This enrages Agamemnon and he announces war on Troy. Achilles (Pitt) is a Greek warrior and hero who defies the rule of Agamemnon. Yet, Achilles and his warriors, known as Myrmidons, are valued and respected and Agamemnon needs them to fight for him. What ensues is a battle between Agamemnon's mighty Greek army and the Trojan's. A war that was fought not for power or land but for the love of one woman. The movie and storyline is very similar to any ancient mythological story, the only difference being that mystical and magical bits from the movie were left out. Action is one part that the movie shines in and displays one of the best sword and shield fight sequences. A smooth easy watch that gets down to the point that doesn't involve too much nonsense.
Thumbs up: Good action
Thumbs down: Slightly lengthy
Rating: 6.9/10
Action,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
War,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:29 PM
Genre: Drama/Mystery
Starring: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber
A young 18-year-old boy has been convicted of murdering his father. He is being tried in court and the jury needs to take the final decision if he should be acquitted or served a death sentence. In order to send him to the chair, the law states that the decision of the jury should be unanimous and if even one juror has a reasonable doubt in his mind, the accused cannot be convicted. The 12 jurors are locked inside a room and given all the time they need to arrive at a conclusion. For 11 jurors the death sentence is but obvious, however, for Juror #8 (Fonda) there is a reasonable doubt in his mind and until that is cleared, a unanimous decision cannot be taken. Within the first 10 minutes when you grab the the essence of the plot, you know your in for a big treat. The greatest marvel of the movie is its simplicity and its closer-to-life replication of an event. The movie carefully includes elements and tiny sub-plots which makes the movie very realistic and practical. Things were made extremely simple and effort was taken on focusing on the most minor points even if it has no relevance to the larger picture. One can actually imagine a jury taking a decision in this fashion and if it weren't as old, it can actually pass of a as hidden camera footage within a jury room. The kind of movie that needs your attention and understanding and one that would leave you overwhelmed right till the end.
Thumbs up: Simple cover, amazing content
Thumbs down: Zilch
Rating: 8.9/10
Amazing Movies,
Drama,
Mystery,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:36 PM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Adventure
Starring: Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger, Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, Jerod Mixon, Chris Cooper, Michael Bowman, Richard Jenkins
A simple and down-to-earth cop belonging to the Rhode Island State Police leads a hard life by taking a lot of shit everyday from people around. From an 8-year-old to an 80-year-old, nobody takes Charlie (Carrey) seriously and he doesn't have the guts to stand up for himself. His wife had an affair with a black midget and left him to take care of three super-intelligent black boys. The daily nonsense kept getting bottled inside him when one fine day the volcano erupted. He developed a rude and violent split personality, caused by Advanced Delusionary Schizophrenia with involuntary Narcissistic rage aka Hank, his other half. One side of his was still the good old Charlie whereas the other side of him is Hank, the man who comes to live when someone throws any kind of nonsense at him. Charlie is asked to escort a prisoner, Irene Waters (Zellweger) to Massena, New York for a hit and run case. When Irene's boyfriend, who runs a shady business and is worried that she might spill the beans on him, tries to kill her, Irene wants Charlie to help her and save her life. Its a cross-country trip with Hank, Charlie and Irene that promises to have you in splits. Its quite obvious that Jim Carrey puts on his ever famous stupid act together to bring out the comedy aspect of this movie. Its only the start and end half an hours that are worth the watch, with the middle part being boring and slow. What truly is exceptional is Charlie's dual personality and the hilarious bit of internal conflict towards the end. The movie has a reasonably good plot, the perfect person for comedy but yet failed to exploit it completely. A nice piece of entertainment that wont disappoint you, provided you can tolerate the Carrey madness.
Thumbs up: Jim Carrey at his best
Thumbs down: Slow and boring during the middle
Rating: 5.6/10
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Comedy,
Drama,
Romance,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:51 PM
Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/Thriller
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek
A cold-hearted American hit man Joe (Cage) follows a set of very strict rules set by himself, which lets him execute his work with near perfection. He is called by a Bangkok gang lord, Surat (Kaljaruek) to execute four jobs for him. Joe hires a pickpocket, Kong (Yamnarm) to be his messenger between him and Surat. Joe tries very hard to stick to his rules but finds himself constantly deviating from them. He breaks his first rule by falling in love with a deaf and mute pharmacy store clerk, Fon (Yeung) who is unaware of his genuine profession. He then breaks his second rule by becoming close friends with Kong and starts training him in weaponry and fighting. He soon realises that breaking his rules is leading to negative consequences but finds himself unable to control them. The movie is noticeably slow and has a very deep and profound feeling to it. Perhaps if it refrained from being so, the movie with its decent plot could have been a much better watch. Nicolas Cage looked too old to execute the role and failed to perform stunts and action sequences with the sort of fluidity that was required. The story of a hit man who flouts his rules and later repents it, is a tried and tested story but yet the movie doesn't make you feel that the plot is entirely predictable. The movie is an English remake of the 1999 Thai film with the same name with the same directors.
Thumbs up: Decent plot with good scope
Thumbs down: Tries to be profound and ends up messing the entire movie
Rating: 5.9/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:46 AM
Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Fantasy
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMohan
The Fantastic Four is a famous comic book series which later got adapted into a movie. Reed Richards (Gruffudd) is an MIT graduate but has failed to make a mark in his career. He and his best friend, Ben Grimm (Chiklis) seeks funding from billionaire Victor von Doom (McMohan) to study cosmic rays in space. Apart from the three of them, Victor also brings along his girlfriend, Sue (Alba) and her brother Johnny (Evans) on to the project. The mission becomes a disaster when Reed misinterprets the timing of the cosmic rays, causing the entire crew to get exposed to them and hence permanently altering their DNA. Reed becomes flexible and elastic, Sue gains invisibility, Johnny can cover himself with fire, Ben becomes a super-strong beast made of stone and Victor's body gets converted into an indestructible alloy. Victor gets thrown out of his company for investing millions into a failed project and out of frustration, seeks revenge from Reed. Reed, meanwhile, is trying to find a cure for everyone by trying to reverse the cosmic exposure. Victor learns of his powers and plots to finish off The Fantastic Four, a name the quad have given themselves. The movie doesn't offer anything special from a perspective of being a super-hero movie and yet manages to be entertaining at the same time. An interesting and easy watch with bits and pieces of everything but nothing innovative.
Thumbs up: Entertaining and good special effects
Thumbs down: Overused plot
Rating: 6.5/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Fantasy,
Science-fiction,
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