Wall Street (1987)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Hal Holbrook

Wall Street, New York, the home of some of the largest and biggest companies in the world and the centre for countless amount of money. A lot of people come with great ambitions, where some fall and some rise. Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) was one such ambitious stock broker who is trying hard to get to the top. His father Carl (Martin Sheen) works as a foreman at an airline company and is also its union leader. He gets some inside information about the company which could possibly raise its stock price enabling anyone to make a lot of money. He sells the information to Gordon Gekko (Douglas) a Wall Street investor who ultimately hires Bud to be his stock broker. Gekko manages to persuade Bud to dig up inside information illegally using various contacts which enables Gekko to invest in stocks that are sure to climb. Bud is enjoying the perks and the rich life that Gekko is giving him and turns a blind eye to all the warnings given to him by family and friends. The movie has the usual story of a young ambitious man who treads on the wrong path towards success and ultimately has the very predictable climax. The only respite is the entire 'Wall Street feeling' the movie manages to bring out and the fabulous performance put up by Michael Douglas. The movie would definitely appeal to people who deal with money and stocks in their daily lives, but yet sadly does not manage to bring out anything significantly different. A classic movie that displays American greed and lust for power without any fancy fireworks.

Thumbs up: Michael Douglas and other performances

Thumbs down: The normal story of an ambitious man

Rating: 6.8/10

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Crime, Drama, Good Movies,

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He Was A Quiet Man (2007)

Genre: Drama/Crime

Starring: Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, Jameson Jones, William H. Macy

A quiet and introvert office employee, Bob Maconel (Slater) gets pushed around everyday in life by everyone at his office and neighbourhood. He keeps his life to himself and behaves in a slightly manic fashion. He plots on killing some office employees who regularly harrass him and eventually shoot himself, but the exact same task gets executed by another employee, Coleman. Coleman accidentally shoots Vanessa (Cuthbert) assuming her to be someone else. Vanessa was good to Bob and seeing her hurt, he shoots and kills Coleman. Bob becomes the hero and he is no more the lame person that everyone tried to push around. He gets a promotion, good friends, woman and a lot of attention, all for killing a killer. Vanessa survives the shot but is paralyzed and hates her condition. She figured she would be better off if she was dead than alive. The movie is quite slow and is a bit boring during the middle. Its only towards the end that some amount of interest picks up. The movie reflects about the fact that the world is not as easy as it seems and if its only the rich and famous that get any form of attention. An average movie and nothing really fabulous. Watch if you must, else avoid.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: Slow and boring plot

Rating: 6.3/10

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Average Movies, Crime, Drama,

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In Bruges (2008)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Colin Farrel, Clemence Poesy, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jordan Prentice

Assassins are usually known to be cold-hearted and emotionless beings. Two assasins, Ray (Farrel) and Ken (Gleeson) are in Bruges for an assignment. Ken is simply in love with the town with all its churches and history. Ray, on the other hand is grumpy and upset because Bruges is the last place on Earth that he would like to be in and enjoys beaches and woman more than ancient stone structures. The core reason why Ray is actually not in the right mood is because during his last assignment, he accidentally killed a young boy. The thought of the boy dying is haunting his mind and he cant get it out of his head. A shooting of a Dutch movie is taking place in Bruges and Ray gets friendly with Chloe (Poesy) a crew member on the sets and Jimmy (Prentice) a midget who is starring in the movie. The movie brings out the aspect that hit men are not cold assassins as most of us think them to be, but are in fact quite human as anyone else. The best part about the movie is that although it has a very simple plot and layout, multiple side stories help in keeping the interest alive. The primary reason why this movie should figure on your 'must-watch' list are the dialogues. Crisp lines that one should pay extra attention to might just give you a thing or two to laugh at. A well thought and executed movie, worth multiple watches.

Thumbs up: Great lines, fine acting

Thumbs down: Slow start

Rating: 8.4/10

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Amazing Movies, Crime, Drama,

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We Are Family (2010)

Genre: Drama/Romance

Starring: Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Nominath Ginsberg, Aachal Munjal, Diya Sonecha

The Earths depleting environment is a cause of concern for a lot of us. Automobile companies are trying to make more efficient engines, people are trying to conserve energy and Karan Johar is trying to create more water. How? By trying to make you cry more of course. Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Rampal) are leading a happy life with their kids Aleya (Munjal), Ankush (Ginsberg) and Anjali (Sonecha). Maya and Aman have separated but the kids live with Maya. Yet, they are extremely attached to their father and cant imagine a life without him. Shreya (Kapoor) is Aman's girlfriend whom he tries to introduce to the family. The kids hate her cause they think she is stealing their father from them and Maya hates her cause Shreya hates the kids for hating her. Relations start souring amongst all the hate and the once happy family is all set to become the most unhappy family. Boring, sad and depressing are words one can associate with this movie. Performances are sad and weak and a complete washout. Karan Johar has successfully managed to tarnish his reputation by making a movie that might have appealed to the family-centric audience 10 years back but looks heavily out of place in today's world. Yes, you might wet your eyes but not due to heart-rendering emotions but due to boredom which leads to excessive yawning. One more thing, why did he shoot the entire movie in USA when the location has got absolutely no relevance to the plot? A Bollywood remake of Step-Mom.

Thumbs up: Nothing

Thumbs down: Performances, plot, too much of melodrama

Rating: 4.3/10

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Bollywood, Drama, Romance,

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Little Man (2006)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tracy Morgan, Shawn Wayans, Kerry Washington, John Witherspoon

An African-American midget, Calvin (Marlon Wayans) and his partner Percy (Morgan) rob an expensive diamond from a jewelry store. While being pursued by the police, he slips the diamond in a lady's purse and runs away. The lady, Vanessa (Washington) and her fiancee Darryl (Shawn Wayans) are oblivious to the huge priceless diamond they are carrying. In order to get back their diamond, Calvin becomes a baby and is left on Vanessa and Darryl's doorstep. Darryl wants to start a family soon but Vanessa is more concerned about her career.With young baby Calvin in the house, Darryl's wish comes almost true but Calvin plans to bail out of the house the moment he has the diamond in his hand. The movie has a lot of lame humour and is horribly slow. The special effects used to make Marlon Wayans look like a baby is a bad job and his stupid and overdone performances are of no help either. Probably if some jokes were more on the lines of Home Alone the movie might have been a better watch, but it sadly isn't. There are some slightly funny parts but that's about it. Avoid at all cost.

Thumbs up: Zip-zero

Thumbs down: Bad humour, hopeless acting

Rating: 4.9/10

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Comedy, Crime, Drama, Pathetic Movies,

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Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Genre: Biography/Drama/Crime/History/War

Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Desmond Dube

The 1994 genocide of Rwanda rocked the world where close to 1 million people were brutally killed and murdered. The people of Rwanda and divided in two tribes, Hutu and Tutsi. A rebellion breaks out in the African country after the murder of the Rwandan President and Hutu soldiers scamper across the streets hunting down and killing Tutsi civilians. Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is the manager of the super-luxurious hotel, des Milles Collines. He flatters and bribes influential people by serving them good alcohol in hopes to get associated with them and who could be of use to him during difficult times. Paul is Hutu whereas his wife Tatiana (Okonedo) is Tutsi. He manages to placate the soldiers that come on his doorstep by bribing them and gets his family and neighbours to the hotel. He struggles to take in as many refugees as he can, to ensure their security, to keep the hotel running equivalent to its standards, to look after the safety of his family and be the strength of each and every person who has come to him for help. The movie can be said to be the African Schindler's List and has more or less a similar plot. Don Cheadle has put on a fine piece of acting which makes the movie a classy watch. Brilliant depiction of the genocide which brings out the misery in which so many people are living and how unconcerned the west is to peoples misery. Deserves a five-star applause.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Could have had better plot execution

Rating: 8.2/10

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Amazing Movies, Biography, Crime, Drama, Historical Event, War,

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