Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela (2013)

Genre: Action/Romance/Drama

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Richa Chadda, Supriya Pathak, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been known to create movies that are visually very intriguing and are a treat to watch. Use of vibrant colours, dramatic dialogues, powerful dances and soulful singing, his movies have it all and Ram Leela does not try to be any different. A small village in Gujarat, India, has a law of it's own. The village is divided between two clans, the Saneda's and the Rajadi's who have been fighting for years and are always breathing down each others necks. The new generation in these two families comprise of Ram (Singh) from the Saneda clan and Leela (Padukone) from the Rajadi's. Ram and Leela have never actually met since neither have ever been allowed to cross over to the other side of the village. When Ram decides to play a prank by crossing over to the Rajadi side during the festival of Holi, he meets Leela for the first time and experiences love at first sight. The duo get passionately embroiled in each other, fully aware of the others family background but put their love before their family tussle. However, each of their respective families object to their romance, tear them apart and make them the respective clan heads and enter a killing spree. The movie is a colourful and visual delight with astounding costumes, intricate set designs and an overall vibrancy that almost no movie can match. Ranveer and Deepika have done good justice to their roles by playing the rural, loud-mouthed and sarcastic Gujarati and don't seem to be misfits. The only annoying thorn is the sporadic manner in which the movie progresses. Links seem to get connected ages afterwards, plot is broken and at times you are left scratching your head, wondering how that happened. If it wasn't for the unnecessarily long run time and poor manner in which the movie progressed, it would have been a movie to remember. An adaptation of Shakespere's Romeo and Juliet.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances across the board, great set designs

Thumbs down: Long run time, broken story progression

Rating: 6.8/10

King Kong (2005)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction

Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Evan Parke, Jamie Bell, Kyle Chandler

The 1933 King Kong was hailed for it's path breaking technology and went on to become a legend. This movie, is an almost frame by frame remake of the 1933 movie and re-creates using modern technology. Carl Denham (Black) is a struggling movie director who wants to pursue his hunt for Skull Island, a mysterious and undiscovered island, and possibly shoot at the island along with all its strange creatures and natives. Ann Darrow (Watts) is an aspiring actress whom Carl convinces to be a part of the cast after telling her that Jack Driscoll (Brody), a playwright, is writing the script for the movie. Ann is a fan of Jack's work and instantly agrees to come on board and set sail for Skull Island. The crew of the ship are petrified when the learn where Carl intends to take them and narrate horrific stories of Skull Island and the vile creatures that live beyond its high walls. The entire movie relies completely on CGI and special effects with very little of the movie being actually shot at live locations. There are many moments where one can very easily make out the special effects, which for most part of the movie are good, but fall below standards at few occasions. The biggest chink in the movies armour is the unnecessarily long three hour run time. Had this movie been chopped and compressed to a more reasonable time frame, it would have been a far better and interesting watch. The first half can seem a bit dragged but once the movie settles in, the action keeps you glued and becomes far more entertaining.

Thumbs up: Decent special effects

Thumbs down: Extremely long run time

Rating:5.5/10

When Harry met Sally (1989)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

Love is something that can happen to anyone at anytime and with someone you never might have imagined. When Harry (Crystal) hitched a ride with Sally (Ryan) to head to New York to start a new life, they hated each other from the word go. Harry, was the womaniser and had a set of pre-defined rules on the behaviour of men which did not agree with Sally, a lady who keeps her borders well protected. They mentally vowed never to meet again, or so they thought so. Life progressed, they met new partners, bumped into each other occasionally but maintained their distance. What they didn't realise is that them being away actually brought them very close and eventually made them best friends. Although the movie follows the conventional romance story line, is still very different and not like any run of the mill romance-comedy movie. There is a touch of practicality and it is not something that can only remain in books and movies and never to any individual. Brilliant performances by both Crystal and Ryan and they truly had a strong on-screen chemistry to carry off the role. If a comfortable romance movie is what you seek, then this movie delivers but something that is sorely missed is the slightly more frequent appearance of humour.

Thumbs up: Great story and fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Might need some more humour

Rating: 7.0/10

European Vacation (1985)

Genre: Adventure/Comedy/Drama

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, Jason Lively

The Griswold family is back again, and this time they are on an European vacation. When Clark Griswold (Chase) and his family win a trip across Europe via their Pig in a Poke gaming show victory, it was a dream come true, only for Clarke. His son Rusty (Lively) and daughter Audrey (Hill) are not quite keen on the trip but are forced to come along on their parents' insistence. The trip turns out to be a string of unfortunate events. Under-promised hotel accommodations, car accidents, stolen cameras, a dog falling off the Eiffel Tower, Ellen (D'Angelo) being featured in a pornographic movie and a lot more. Sadly though, the movie fails to live up to any humorous expectations and can get quite boring. A stretched story line and nothing interesting to throw up makes the movie fall flat on its face. There seems to be little difference between this movie and the previous one in terms of the storyline. Both of them are based on the same Griswolds having a similar travel experience and with similar catastrophe. The movie fails to live up to the entertainment levels that the previous movie gave us and seems like a bad attempt at recreating the old magic.

Thumbs up: Nothing exceptional

Thumbs down: Bad humour, monotonous

Rating: 5.0/10

Mickey Virus (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Mystery/Action

Starring: Manish Paul, Elli Avram, Manish Choudhary, Varun Badola, Puja Gupta, Nitesh Pandey

Today's youth is extremely tech-savvy and most of them would not get lost within all the technology and gadgets that are floating around these days. Mickey Virus (Paul) is one such techie youngster who, along with his friends, solve IT issues, create viruses, hack into peoples accounts and a lot more for money. ACP Siddharth (Choudhary) of the New Delhi police, gets wind of Mickey and his accomplishments and persuades him to do some good work for the police force and help them round up hackers who are carrying out illegal activities. Mickey and his friends are developing a game called Kung Fu Chameli and ironically, he meets his real life Chameli who resembles her in almost every way. Mickey falls in love with Kamayani (Avram) but he later realises that her love costed him a lot when one fine morning he is charged with murder and money laundering, something he never actually did. The movie tries to target the young guns and toady's lifestyle and mix that with a crime story. Manish Paul is known for his comedy acts and he has skilfully carried them forward to the movie. The plot and movie progression is smooth and linear but what actually gave everything away is the climax. The movie fails to open in an exciting manner, and instead becomes a narration of the entire plot and lands up being one big joke. It was a good attempt with almost everything correct, but the ultimate suspense is what gave this movie away. An interesting watch just for one time, but do not expect too much.

Thumbs up: Good humour

Thumbs down: Bad climax

Rating: 5.5/10

The Book of Eli (2010)

Genre: Adventure/Action/Crime

Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson

With every country in the world having nuclear armament, the next world war has the potential to wipe out almost all of humanity. What happens when this apocalypse takes place? Years after a deadly war destroyed almost the entire human race, Eli (Washington) is a traveler who is looking at heading east where he believes lies some ray of hope. The new generation who is born after the war, is unaware of the world that existed to the extent of not knowing how to read and write. Water is probably one of the most scarce resources and Carnegie (Oldman) is a crooked landlord who has taken control of wells and fresh water pools and is building towns around it. Carnegie is obsessed on finding a book, a book that he says will help him control mankind and eventually take over the world. Conceptually, the movie has a very strong story and builds up suspense in a positive manner. It is engaging and entertains the audience well. The biggest chink in it's armor are the unexplained loose ends and the personification of Eli as a human god. Eli seems to posses skills and talents that are seemingly non-human but still are unexplained for within the movie. Had these lose strings been tied and the movie made more tighter in it's story, it would be a far better movie to watch and enjoy.

Thumbs up: Great story

Thumbs down: Denzel Washington's unexplained character traits

Rating: 6.5/10

Gravity (2013)

Genre: Drama/Science-fiction/Adventure/Thriller

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris (voice)

A team of astronauts are servicing the Hubble Space Telescope and are aboard the space shuttle, Explorer. Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) is the mission specialist and this is her first journey outside the atmosphere. She is accompanied by a veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) who is commanding his final expedition amongst others. A Russian missile strike on one of their defunct satellites leads to a chain reaction of space debris that was orbiting Earth at high speeds. The debris ripped the Explorer apart and killed the crew of Explorer save Matt and Ryan. The duo have also lost contact with NASA and is now up to them to find another satellite and use it to get back to Earth safely. The biggest marvel of this movie is it's accurate depiction of space and life on space. The movie is near perfect in showcasing the visual brilliance of the universe and what lies beyond. Most of the focus of the movie lies with Sandra Bullock and her fight for survival and return to Earth and she has done a very good job at it. The movie adapts a very simple survival story and does not try to complicate things. The finale seemed a bit abrupt and quick and perhaps if the experience of returning to Earth was showcased more, it would have done a better job of ending the movie. A truly exceptional movie and to be simply watched for the sheer brilliant display of our Earth.

Thumbs up: Brilliant visualisations

Thumbs down: The slightly abrupt ending

Rating: 7.8/10