World War Z (2013)

Genre: Thriller/Adventure/Action/Science-fiction

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Fana Mokoena, Daniella Kertesz

Yes, this is a zombie away. With that out of the way, let us get down to the more important bits. Gerry Lane (Pitt) is a former UN employee who witnesses a Zombie epidemic taking place in the city of Philadelphia. The UN wants him back in order to assist in this Zombie situation and offers his family safety in return for Gerry's help. The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Thierry (Mokoena) tells him about the US base camp in South Korea from where the first news of the epidemic started and asks Gerry to investigate. In spite of being a zombie movie, the movie tries to be very realistic in its zombie approach with a logical explanation for everything. Right from Gerry representing the UN rather than the USA to giving scientific explanations for all developments, it seems to tell us that if the zombie chaos were possible, this is how it would happen. The movie does not live up to the 'Brad Pitt' standards of excellence and seemed like another run-of-the-mill action movie with only every aspect being realistically explained and defined. 

Thumbs up: Great special effects

Thumbs down: Not a Brad Pitt movie

Rating: 6.9/10

Raanjhnaa (2013)

Genre: Drama/Romance/Crime

Starring: Abhay Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Dhanush, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Swara Bhaskar, Shilpi Marwaha

Bollywood has always explored inter-caste romance, love between the rich and the poor, triangle love stories, forgotten love etc. Raanjhanaa tries to be all of the above but yet movie away from the cliches and narrate a sensible story. Kundan (Dhanush) is a young and cheerful lad that resides in Varanasi, India. In his school days, he falls in love with a Muslim girl, Zoya (Kapoor) and tries hard to cajole. When Zoya's family learns that she is romancing a Hindu boy that too in her school-going days, they send her off to Aligarh to pursue her further studies there. Eight years on when Zoya returns to Varanasi, she is unable to recollect who Kundan was whereas Kundan waited for eight long years for her to return and profess his love for her once more. Where Zoya has moved on and fallen in love with Akram (Deol), Kundan is still deeply in love with her and is adamant on marrying her. Don't think that the rest of the movie would be the typical Bollywood that everyone assumes to be because this movie deviates heavily from the traditional course of things. Although the first half is very light and cheerful, the second half starts becoming slow and monotonous which desperately leaves you waiting for something better to occur. Dhanush has done some phenomenal acting and is indeed the show stealer here. The immature small-town boy who runs around in the streets is what he does brilliantly and bring life to the show. A good romance which would have been better had the movie developed in a more entertaining fashion.

Thumbs up: Dhanush and his acting

Thumbs down: A dragged second half

Rating: 7.0/10

Double Identity (2009)

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery/Drama

Starring: Val Kilmer, Izabella Miko, Julian Wadham, Hristo Shopov, Michael Cronin

Whilst working in Chechnya for a global movement called 'Doctors Beyond Borders', Dr. Nicholas Pinter (Kilmer) gets mistaken for a British Secret Service agent who is wanted by the local authorities. His mentor was murdered in his apartment and Pinter is the prime suspect of the murder. Serik (Shopov) is a part of the Russian mafia who too has mistaken Pinter's identity and wants him dead for being someone he actually isn't. Amongst the wild goose chase, Pinter meets Katrine (Miko) who is an undercover agent being Serik's mistress and assists Pinter from evading the chase and escaping from the country, back to USA. The biggest chink in this movies armour is the lack of an understandable plot line. The movie is a jigsaw puzzle that seemed to have been placed incorrectly and you might be left scratching your head and wondering how that even happened. The attempt at making a good spy movie was there but the very bad plot execution put things out of control and, in short, tarnished the entire movie. Highly avoidable and Val Kilmer is the only saving grace amongst all the trash that is called 'a movie'.

Thumbs up: Decent attempt at making a movie

Thumbs down: Horrible plot execution

Rating: 4.9/10

American Pie 2 (2000)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Jason Biggs, Shanon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klien, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Natasha Lyonne, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Chris Owen, Eugene Levy

In continuation to where the previous movie left off, the 5 friends head back to East Great Falls for the summer and plan to head to the lake for the rest of the summer. Jim (Biggs), Kevin (Nicholas), Finch (Thomas), Oz (Owen) and Stiffler (Scott) crash at a massive rented house by the lake. Bringing Stiffler along was a decision they had to make with their heads rather than their heart in order to divide the costs more. What ensues is massive partying, a load of people getting drunk, some getting laid and love blossoming. Vicky (Reid) too comes to the lake and Kevin is stuck in a position where he wants her but also does not want to look desperate and lose her. Nadia (Elizabeth), Jim's crush, is coming to meet him and hints that she wants to have a 'romantic' time with him. Jim, in all his desperation, is trying hard to prepare himself. Finch is awaiting his lady love, Stiffler's mom to arrive at the party and his taken up Tantra to increase his sex drive. Sadly, this movie does not come up with an innovative plot line and sticks to pretty much everyone trying to get lucky with their respective ladies. It is pretty objective-less and does not seem to drive to a point. There also is a missing element of humour that the first movie had which was badly needed in this installment. It is still a watchable and enjoyable movie but it has a lot of scope for improvement.

Thumbs up: Retains the entertainment from the original movie

Thumbs down: Misses out on humour and a sensible story

Rating: 6.7/10

Fantastic Mr.Fox (2009)

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Crime/Adventure/Drama

Starring (voice): George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Eric Chase Anderson, Wallace Wolodarsky, Michael Gambon, William Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guiness

Based on the famous book by Roald Dahl with the same name, the story narrates the life of Mr. Fox (Clooney) who lives life by raiding nearby farms. When he learns of his wife's pregnancy, he decides to quit his hobby in favour of the family and their to-be child. Two years later (Twelve in fox years) Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox (Streep) and their son Ash (Schwartzman) move to a new hole under a tree which is close to the fields of three farmers; Boggis (Hurlstone), Bunce (Guiness) and Bean (Gambon). When Ash's cousin Kristofferson (Anderson) comes over to stay over the weekend, Ash feels insecure when everyone praises him and his capabilities over Ash. With Mr. Fox feeding his family with his nightly jaunts, the farmers are tired of the thefts and decide they need to get rid of Mr.Fox once and for all. The movie is made in stop-motion animation technology which gives it a good childish look and feel. Roald Dahl wrote books for children and the movie too aims to target the same segment with the movie. However, in spite of the movie being made for a younger audience the movie can still be very entertaining to the mature mind too. It is a great wholesome entertainer that people of all ages would enjoy. This is what you call a well-rounded entertaining movie.

Thumbs up: Great animation, good plot execution

Thumbs down: None specifically

Rating: 7.7/10

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Genre: Adventure/Action/Fantasy

Starring: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Bob Sapp

Arnold Schwarzenegger made Conan immortal in his 1982 movie where he portrayed the strong and hefty medieval hero. This movie is not a remake but uses the character of Conan in an entirely different story. Conan (Momoa) is a barbarian whose father was killed in the hands of Khalar Zym, a power-hungry warlord, when he was a child. Conan swears revenge and grows up to become a ruthless hero who fights for the justice of his people. Thousands of years ago a Mask was crafted by some sorcerers that gave the wearer immense dark power. The barbaric clans got together to destroy the mask and disperse its pieces in the far corners of the Earth so that no one may be able to rebuild it. Khalar Zym has managed to accumulate all the pieces and now need to find the descendant of the sorcerers of Achelon in whose veins the pure-blood still runs. Tamara (Nichols) is the last surviving member of this identity who is being hunted down by Khalar Zym. Conan would go to any levels to prevent Khalar from finding her and also aims to avenge his fathers death once and for all. A very typical hero movie is what you would find yourself watching. There is nothing very different, the usual villain who wants global control, a big-bodied invincible hero and the innocent and pretty damsel in distress. The action in the movie is one of its talking points, and although it gets a bit bloody, it still very enjoyable. A decent movie but to be watched only for the action.

Thumbs up : Good action

Thumbs down: Nothing different to offer from other such movies

Rating: 6.4/10

American Pie (1999)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Jason Biggs, Chris Klien, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Alyson Hannigan, Shanon Elizabeth, Tara Reid, Eddie Kay Thomas, Sean William Scott, Eugene Levy, Natasha Lyonne, Mena Suvari, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Owen

The movie that started it all. American Pie has been unofficially accredited with kick-starting the modern sex comedy rage which later saw a whole bunch of movie modelled on similiar lines. The movie narrates the story of a group of high school friends. Kevin (Nicholas), Chris Oz (Klien), Finch (Thomas), Jim (Biggs) and Stiffler (Scott) are all set to go to college but all of them, except Stiffler, are still virgins and they dont want to enter college like this. They make a pact that by prom, they would all manage to lose their virginity and become men. Kevin has a long time girlfriend Vicky (Reid) whom he is trying to seduce but she isnt quite up for it. Oz joins the choir hoping that some of the 'socially ignored' choir girls would take a liking for him. Jim tries his hand at the Czech exchange student, Nadia (Elizabeth). Finch tries to spread rumours about himself and his fake sexual encounters in a bid to generate some interest amongst the ladies. The movie is good fun to watch and is a hilarious comedy. Slapstick and sexual humour plagues the entire movie and makes for a complete wholesome entertainment. A nice one to watch with your buddies with some beer.

Thumbs up: Great entertainment

Thumbs down: Not LOL funny

Rating: 7.3/10

Back to the Future (1985)

Genre: Science-fiction/Adventure/Comedy

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Grispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells

Marty McFly (Fox) is the average American kid who loves skate-boarding, chasing girls and getting late to school. His father keeps getting bullied by his supervisor, Biff (Wilson), his mother is an alcoholic and his elder siblings don't seem to have any aim in life. He has be-friended the local crazy scientist, Dr. Brown (Lloyd) whom the entire town considers to be mentally unstable. Dr. Brown has managed to create a time machine by modifying a DeLorean which needs a speed of 88 mph before it can travel through time and which also uses Plutonium. Dr. Brown had stolen the Plutonium from the Libyans and whilst showing Marty the functioning of the device, the Libyans attack Dr. Brown and Marty manages to escape back in time to the year 1955. Since he was out of Plutonium, Marty could not go back to the actual year and hence needed to find the younger Dr. Brown and take his help in going back to the future. 1955 was the year when Marty's father George (Glover) fell in love with his mother Lorraine (Thompson) but sadly, Lorraine takes a liking towards Marty himself. Marty realises that if he comes in the way of his parents, he might alter the future altogether to the point that he himself would seize to exist. The movie is a hardcore science-fiction movie that is a complete entertainment package. Although the story and developments might come across as being cliched, the movie has some very good twists and a gripping climax to make this movie a wonderful watch. Many sci-fi movies end up looking too cheesy because of bad execution of the 'futuristic technology' but this movie seems to pull it off with ease which looks believable even 27 years later. A brilliant movie and a must-watch.

Thumbs up: Good suspense, great performances

Thumbs down: Nothing at all

Rating: 8.2/10

Just Like Heaven (2005)

Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Waters

Is it possible to fall in love with someone who does not exist? When David (Ruffalo) moves in to a new apartment, he starts hallucinating about Elizabeth (Witherspoon) who keeps claiming the house to be hers. In reality, Elizabeth suffered from a tragic accident and is currently in a coma. Her spirit still lives inside her house and tries to chase away any tenants that try to live there. David recently lost his wife and is trying to get over her but finds it very hard. Elizabeth was far too involved in her work to worry about her personal life and hence she never could enjoy having a partner. David and Elizabeth somehow find a connection between themselves and realise that whatever they have missed or not been able to get over, they have found respite in each other. A very typical movie in most aspects, although the idea of falling in love with a ghost is slightly absurd. Mark Ruffalo seems to be a bit of a misfit and he just does not seem to cut the role of a heart-broken fanatic. Witherspoon tries her best but the movie is average-ish in most areas and not a very desirable watch.

Thumbs up: A decent all-rounder

Thumbs down: Mark Ruffalo was not up to it

Rating: 5.8/10