Margin Call (2011)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Asif Mandvi, Stanley Tucci

The 2008 banking financial crisis, shook the entire world and brought almost everything to a standstill. Re-enacting the crisis and how it all began, Eric Dale (Tucci) is a manager in the risk management department who gets laid off by the management. Eric was working on a document which he has not been able to complete. He hands over the final to one of his juniors, Peter Sullivan (Quinto) and asks him 'to be careful' without telling him what it is about. When Peter explorers the file he realises that the file reveals the current volatility in the firms mortgage backed securities that will soon exceed its historical volatility levels in these positions. Due to this, if the firms asset values were to fall by 25%, the firm would lose more money than its market capitalisation. The rest of the movie is a 12 hour madness where everyone in the company goes into panic mode and braces for the harshest outcome. The movie is more or less an accurate depiction of what exactly happened and how each of these firms reacted and responded to this crisis. It is a very thrilling and gripping watch and its something that can keep you glued to it for a long time. The only downside is the financial jargon which everyone may not understand and hence many may not exactly enjoy it. An exceptional movie with an exceptional cast.

Thumbs up: Fabulous watch and very good performances

Thumbs down: Needs a bit of simplification of the issue

Rating: 7.6/10

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama/Musical

Starring: Amanda Syfried, Meryl Streep, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Rachel McDowall, Ashley Lily, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper

Musicals are annoying, very annoying, at least for me. And when you have a song every 5 minutes it can get very annoying. Sophie (Seyfried) is getting married. Sophie lives with her mother, Donna (Streep) off a Greek island. Sophie does not know who her father is since Donna slept with 3 men around the same time. In order to find out, Sophie discreetly invites Harry (Firth), Sam (Brosnan) and Bill (Skarsgard), her 3 possible fathers to her wedding without informing Donna. When they do turn up, Donna is reeling under a shock and Sophie is trying to determine who her father is. Harry, Sam and Bill don't know that one of them could be the father of Sophie and everything turns out to be one big mess. The movie is entertaining and there is no doubt about that. The endless songs are extremely annoying and can give you enough reason to not watch the movie anymore. For someone who hates songs in movies, this one is the ultimate torture. If songs are your thing, coupled with ideal summer destinations and a sprinkling of romance, then this movie kills it in every way.

Thumbs up: Good wholesome entertainer

Thumbs down: Far too many songs

Rating: 6.7/10å

Jolly LLB (2013)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Crime

Starring: Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Amrita Rao, Saurabh Shukla

The usual rags to riches story of young lawyer. Jagdish Tyagi aka Jolly (Warsi) is a small-time lawyer who has decided to leave his town of Meerut and try to make it big in Delhi. However, life in Delhi is not much better for him and he is still looking for that big break that would take him ahead in his career. Rahul Dewan, a youth belonging to an extremely rich family, accidentally runs over some homeless people when he is driving under the influence of alcohol in the dead of the night. Rahul's father has asked Advocate Rajpal (Irani) to defend his son and ensure victory. Rajpal decides to manipulate witnesses and destroy evidence so that his client may win. Jolly, suspects foul play and files a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Dewan and Rajpal and challenges the verdict to allow Rahul Dewan to walk scot-free. The movie is a low budget entertainer and does not try to be anything else. Everyone is very aware of the outcome of the movie and how exactly it would roll out, but yet it manages to entertain on a lot of fronts. Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani make a fabulous pair who keep you laughing and entertained till quite some time. Worth that one watch but not beyond it.

Thumbs up: Great entertainer

Thumbs down: Does not offer anything exceptional

Rating: 7.0/10

Chaos (2005)

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Jason Statham, Ryan Phillepe, Wesley Snipes, Henry Czerny, Justine Waddell, Nicholas Lea

Whenever the words, 'Jason Statham' appear in the cast of any movie, you know exactly what to expect; action and loads of it. Police Detective, Quentin Connors (Statham) has been suspended for killing a kidnapper and an innocent victim. When a bank robbery takes place and all the employees and customers of the bank taken hostage, the robbers ask for Quentin Connors to do the negotiation. Connors finds his suspension revoked and back in the line of duty. Lorenz (Snipes) the man who headed the robbery, escaped and the police need to get cracking on apprehending the suspects and try and understand why the robbers didn't actually rob anything from the bank. Connors' partner, the young Shane Dekker (Phillepe) realises that Lorenz is inspired from the Chaos Theory and is following patterns from it. The movie has a good mystery which keeps you entertained for quite a bit. The story develops well and you keep expecting a good, sensible climax to finish off the movie on a high note. Sadly though, the movie does end on a high climax but it is extremely unrealistic. Many pieces just don't make sense and the entire crime seems very outlandish and extremely bizarre to actually pull off. Had the crime be more logical and realistic, the movie would be very entertaining to watch, but now it is just plain stupid.

Thumbs up: Good mystery plot

Thumbs down: The actual crime is unreal and lot of loose ends go unexplained.

Rating: 6.1/10

The Spy Next Door (2010)

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama/Comedy

Starring: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, Alina Foley, Magnus Scheving, Billy Ray Cyrus, George Lopez

An agent from the Chinese Intelligence has been loaned to the CIA for a secret operation. Bob Ho (Chan) is in pursuit of a Russian criminal, Anton Poldark (Scheving) who is trying to get his hands on a top secret chemical that destroys oil. Bob has taken a liking for his next door neighbor, Gillian (Valletta) but her 3 kids hate him. Gillian refuses to marry him unless her children accept him, which they don't seem to be working towards. When Gillian needs to leave town for a family emergency, Bob takes over her house in an attempt to make the kids like him. However, babysitting is not as easy and simple as Bob expected it to be and he has his work cut out. One expects Chan to deliver to a certain extent when he is starring in a movie. The mix of action and comedy is what makes his movies entertaining. This movie did have a decent amount of Jackie Chan action, but was missing the comedy. The movie is a big drag and comes across as the usual family drama where there is a happy ending for everyone.

Thumbs up: Jackie Chan's action scenes

Thumbs down: Very conventional and boring

Rating: 5.5/10

Bandidas (2006)

 

Genre: Western/Action/Comedy/Crime

Starring: Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Steve Zahn, Dwight Yoakam

During the end of the 19th century, large American corporations wanted a share of undeveloped Mexico. One such American land lord, Tyler Jackson (Yoakam) had his eyes on the Mexican countryside and wanted to forge a deal for their development. Maria Alvarez (Cruz) the daughter of a small-time farmer, witnessed her fathers murder by Jackson and his men. Sara Sandoval (Hayek) the daughter of a Mexican landlord and a well-educated girl from Europe, saw her father being murdered by Jackson in order to take over all his land deals. Both the girls decide to unite and rob all the banks that are held by Jackson and use that money to help the people of Mexico. The movies story line has defined the movies entertainment value; nothing. The movie in itself is quite rubbish and comes across as the casual entertainer. By showing two Latina beauties doing action scenes with deep cleavages, the movie tries to gain audience attention but fails miserably. A very average watch.

Thumbs up: Is decent enough to kill time with

Thumbs down: Not very exciting

Rating: 5.5/10

The Sting (1973)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan, Robert Earl Jones

There are con movies and then there is this. A movie which has perfection, realism and a great suspense is the almost perfect recipe for a good con movie. Johnny Hooker (Redford) is a small-time crook who plays cons, along with his other team members, at unsuspecting people. One such victim was a man belonging to Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw) who was a New York mob boss. Luther Coleman (Jones) one of the respected team members of Hookers group, tells Hooker about Henry Gondorff (Newman), the notorious con-artist, whom Hooker should join. When Lonnegan gets wind of the con, he murders Luther and starts hunting down the rest. Hooker runs for his life and meets Henry who decides to pull of one big con on Lonnegan, once and for all. The movie is outstanding and is the definition of how to keep things real. You don't see over-the-top action, unrealistic ideas or overtly dramatic moments. Everything is simple and real and that is what defines this movie. If you think the Oceans movies were good, wait till you watch this.

Thumbs up: Supremely wonderful and very realistic

Thumbs down: A bit too hard to grasp and follow

Rating: 7.8/10

The Hot Chick (2002)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Rob Schneider, Anna Faris, Matthew Lawrence, Rachel McAdams

So how many movies have you seen where a girl becomes a guy and a guy becomes a girl? Many, right? Well this movie is no different and is just like the rest. Jessica (McAdams) is a an arrogant teenager who loves hanging out with her girlfriends. One day she steals a pair of voodoo earrings from a store which in turn out to have super powers. The earrings, if worn by 2 different people, would ensure that their bodies get exchanged but the soul remains the same. Jessica's body gets exchanged with a low-life criminal (Schneider) who manages to find one of the missing earrings. Jessica now needs to live in a mans body and needs to convince her friends of her story and take their help in finding her true body back. The movie is a load of utter trash and is not even remotely funny. The only funny bit is watching Schneider in being a girl, not cause its funny but because he makes a fool of himself.

Thumbs up: Zip-zero

Thumbs down: Nothing great, average in everything

Rating: 4.2/10

I Think I Love My Wife (2007)

Genre: Romance/Drama/Comedy

Starring: Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi

Every married man goes through a mid-life crisis at least once. The moment they start ogling at other women, when their wife is not pretty anymore and when their life is a complete bore. Richard Cooper (Rock) is the man in question at the moment. His wife Brenda (Torres) is not interested in making love to him anymore and he is getting increasingly frustrated. He does not want to cheat on her by going to someone else and wishes something would happen that would improve his life. Nikki Tru (Washington) walks into his life one day. Nikki is Richard's best friends ex-girlfriend who decided to pay Richard a visit for old times' sake. Richard gets drawn into Nikki with her curvaceous body and seductive looks and the two quickly become good friends. It's only when things go a bit too far and Richard's personal as well as professional life start getting compromised, things start looking bad, very bad. The movie is a very typical black comedy movie with the usual mix of comedy and romance. There is absolutely nothing special about it and the only saving grace is Chris Rock. At least his presence gives you a reason to watch the entire movie, otherwise it is a whole load of trash.

Thumbs up: Chris Rock is the only saving grace

Thumbs down: Far too plain and simple, boring and dragged

Rating: 5.0/10

The Matrix (1999)

Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Keanu Reaves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong

What if the world that we live in isn't true? What if you were told that what see today is all artificial and not true? The Matrix is a computer software that the machines developed when they started taking over planet Earth. Humans could no longer walk free but were cultivated and grown like plants and the energy of the human body is what kept the machines running. What we see today is an artificial world, something like a dream where nothing is true and everything is just another computer program. Mr. Thomas Anderson aka Neo (Reaves) is a computer programmer and a hacker by hobby. He learns of the existence of The Matrix but does not know what it is. A group of people have managed to free themselves from The Matrix and live in the real world. Trinity (Moss) tells Neo that if he wants to learn what The Matrix is, he should meet their leader, Morpheus (Fishburne). Morpheus thinks that Neo is The One, the person that would get rid of the machines and liberate the human race once more. He needs to convince Neo to join them, train them and find out if he truly is The One. The movie is remarkable for ushering a new era of special effects. The infamous 'Bullet Time' effect has been introduced in movie making by this very movie. The movie is an excellence of cinema and draws the line between the movies of the '90's and the movies of the new millennium. The only drawback in the movie was the slightly ridiculous and over-the-top action which is actually something that most people would enjoy. A spectacular watch and something that you can enjoy over and over again.

Thumbs up: Fabulous acting, stunning special effects

Thumbs down: Some action bits were a bit too exaggerated

Rating: 8.5/10

Carjacked (2011)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Adventure/Action/Thriller

Starring: Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff, Connor Hill

Since we have all heard and read about hijacks, lets learn a bit about this movie called Carjacked. Lorraine Burton (Bello) is a recent divorcee who is fighting for her divorce and is utterly broke. Whilst driving around one night with her son in the car, Roy (Dorff) sneaks into a car at a fuel station and orders her to drive his way. Roy is a bank robber who needs to get to a rendezvous point with the rest of his fellow robbers. Over the course of the journey, Lorraine and Roy start getting to know each other better and Roy reveals to her that they have to driver for quite some time. Although Roy starts trusting Lorraine, she tries multiple times in getting help or escaping from Roy. The movie has a very simple and straight-forward plot line with no parallel plots or any twists or turns. The movie is a drag and quite a bore in most places. The unending conversations between Lorraine and Roy is a nightmare to watch. The only saving grace is the last half an hour which has the final escape scenes which is sprinkled with some decent action. A highly avoidable watch and cannot be recommended for any aspect whatsoever.

Thumbs up: Nothing whatsoever

Thumbs down: Very boring and dragged

Rating: 5.5/10

Bulitt (1968)

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Starring: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Simon Oakland

A true-blue cop movie from the '60s, Lt. Frank Bulitt (McQueen) is assigned the task to protect a Johnny Ross, a key witness in an upcoming trial on organised crime. Ross arrives on a Friday with the hearing scheduled on Monday. Since Ross is a runaway from the crime syndicate, Walter Chalmers (Vaughn) wants Ross alive by Monday and has entrusted Bulitt this task. Ross gets murdered in his hotel room on Saturday night which does not make Chalmers very happy. Bulitt starts investigating the murders to understand who exactly is Ross, why does Chalmers want him so badly and why was he murdered. The first thing that stands out in the movie is epic car chase. The 10-minute chase has gone down in history as the best car chase ever in any movie made. The sole reason why this movie became a huge success is solely down to Steve McQueen in a Ford Mustang GT Fastback, chasing 2 bad guys in a Dodge Charger. The movie not only made McQueen famous but also made the Mustang a very desirable car. The murder mystery is the second best thing about the movie which comes across as extremely real and very life-like. In fact, most of the movie is extremely realistic which is why this is loved so much. You don't have loud background scores screaming in the background during any of the action sequences. Hence, you feel as if you are actually part of the scene and can hear every engine note, tyre screech, footstep and gunshot that is being fired. An exceptional movie for a typical police mystery but at the same time, not something where you should expect too much.

Thumbs up: The most worshipped car chasing sequence ever made

Thumbs down: A more thrilling suspense was missing

Rating: 7.2/10