50/50 (2011)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Biography

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

A lot of movies have been made with people having various diseases, problems and disorders and this movie does not chose to be very different. Based on a true life story, Adam Lerner (Gordon-Levitt) has a tumour in his spine which has turned cancerous. He has a 50% chance of survival and this sudden news seems to have hit him very hard. Most of the movie focuses on the ups and downs with Adam and him trying to cope with the cancer. From a mother who feels left out, a girlfriend who is two-timing him, a friend who is using him as a bait to get women and a psychiatrist who has no previous experience, Adam's life does not become any easy but it only gets harder. The movie does not throw up anything exceptional in terms of Adam trying to deal with his illness and is very normal and predictable. The movie might be worth that one watch, but then again it might not be. Leaving the story out, the movie is perfect in all other aspects but its simply the uneventful plot line that becomes a bit of a damper.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: A very predictable and obvious story

Rating: 6.5/10

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Average Movies, Biography, Comedy, Drama, Romance,

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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi, Arya Babbar

Vishal Bharadwaj has a distinct style of his own that makes his movies different from the rest of the lot. Usually set in rural India, unique story lines, sarcastic humour and rowdy abuses; that is what Bharadwaj is all about. Mr. Harry Mandola (Kapoor) is an extremely rich land lord living in the village of Mandola in Harayana, India. His dreams of setting up an automobile factory near the village, is not as simple as he thought when the villagers refuse in transferring their lands to him. However, Mr. Mandola actually has a bigger problem then simply acquiring land, and that is his alcohol problem. 4 pegs of his favourite drink is all that he needs to become a completely different person, so much so, he even led a protest outside his own house against himself. To counter this problem, he hires Hukkum Sigh Matru (Khan) a well-educated driver and servant who is in charge of preventing him from getting too drunk.Chaudhari Devi (Azmi) is the local politician who has vested interests in the land deal and Mandola and his wealth. She strategically wants her son, Badal (Babbar) to marry Mandola's daughter Bijlee (Sharma) so that she may inherit all of Mandola's wealth when he eventually passes away. Pankaj Kapur puts on a fabulous performance of a drunk Mandola, of a stern Mandola and of a frightened Mandola with so much of ease and simplicity. The movie has got good performances but the songs get a bit too much after a point. The movie too is not up to the expectations that you would have of Bharadwaj but nonetheless, the movie is definitely worth it to hear Pankaj Kapur's drunk antics and the regular 'Bhencho-Bhencho'.

Thumbs up: Fabulous Kapur and the rest of the cast

Thumbs down: A bit long and too many songs

Rating: 7.3/10

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Bollywood, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Romance,

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Lincoln (2012)

Genre: Drama/Historical Event/Biography

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) is one of the most respected President's in the history of United States politics. This respect is not futile, but something that he has earned due to the work that he did. During his second term as President, the American Civil War between the southern states and the northern states was raging and there was mounting political pressure to end the war and bring peace. Lincoln, on the other hand, was strongly of the favour to bring about the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution which would prohibit slavery of any kind. This amendment would not only boost public sentiment for the Republican Party but also ensure that the war ends. However, in order to pass the bill, a 2/3 majority is needed in the house and currently Lincoln is falling short of 20 votes. He must procure these votes from the opposition and at the same time battle with his fellow party-men who are against the bill and eventually create history. The sole reason why the movie succeeded was due to the efforts of and only one person, Daniel Day-Lewis. His phenomenal performance of Lincoln is by far one of the best one might have ever seen and he might even be able to put the real Lincoln to shame. The movie wonderfully shows Lincoln to be not only concerned and thoughtful but also shrewd and cunning, the makings of a true politician. The biggest let down of the movie is the first half, which is slow and very dragged. A load of political jargon and verbose dialogues plague the first one hour which makes the movie a difficult and boring watch. Since the first impression is weak, the better next hour can get easily discarded by the audience as being the same, but it thankfully isn't. The movie picks up smoothly and delivers a composed climax which isn't very over-the-top and isn't too blunt either. A great movie to watch about a great man, but just keep some patience.

Thumbs up: Daniel Day-Lewis

Thumbs down: Unsimplified and verbose dialogues, a bit dragged first half

Rating: 7.1/10

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Biography, Drama, Good Movies, Historical Event,

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Life of Pi (3D) (2012)

Genre: Adventure/Drama

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Adil Hussain

Based on a novel with the same name, Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi (Sharma) is  16-year old boy who lives with his family in Pondicherry, India. His father, Santosh Patel (Hussain) runs a zoo and Pi has grown up amongst animals. Due to a change in the political environment, his father chose to relocate to Canada and sell all the animals in USA, a decision that Pi was against but could do nothing. The cargo ship on which Pi, his family and all the animals are housed upon, sinks in the middle of the Pacific and Pi is the only survivor on a lifeboat. For company, Pi has a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger who goes by the name of Richard Parker. Living on a boat in the middle of a vast ocean with an animal who has every desire to eat you, Pi finds himself in a very difficult situation and realises that he would become Richard Parkers dinner very soon if he doesn't do something about it. The movie is very enchanting and has a mystical aspect attached to it. It talks about god, animals and the wonders of faith and determination. The 3D effects of the movie is stunning and the animations done on all the animals are extremely life-like and very hard to imagine that its actually all digital. Although the movie does get a bit slow in the middle, the movie is still very entertaining with a lot of hidden meanings and aspects attached to it that not everyone would be able to fully grasp or understand the meaning of. Worth a watch, especially in 3D.

Thumbs up: Awesome 3D, very enchanting story

Thumbs down: A bit slow in the middle

Rating: 7.8/10

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Adventure, Drama, Good Movies,

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