Chef (2014)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Adventure

Starring: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, EmJay Anthony

Chef's are those people who have chased their passion and made it into a career. Very few career opportunities provide for it and working in a kitchen is about living this passion. Chef Carl Casper (Favreau) is a widely celebrated chef who works for an upmarket L.A. restaurant. When a noted food critic arrives to rate the restaurant, the restaurant owner throws his menu out and forces him to cook the regular dishes. This leads to a disaster, a negative review, Casper venting out his frustration on Twitter, Casper going viral, Casper loses his job and now he has nothing left in his life to live for. Casper's son, Percy (Anthony) looks up to his father a lot but Casper does little to keep him happy. When Casper's ex-wife persuades him to join Percy and her for a vacation to Miami, Casper agrees so that he could spend more time with his son. Miami does good for him where he realises that he needs to bounce back somehow and with the help of his sous-chef, Martin (Leguizamo) and Percy, they manage to put together a food truck that would travel from Miami to L.A., whipping all kinds of good food. The movie is a complete delight for those who love food and everything about it. The manner in which Jon Fraveau executes the lead role is utterly phenomenal to the extent that he could come across as a professional cook. The father-son chemistry is nice, the subtle mixture of social media within the entire movie is an added touch of reality and the humour is not laugh out loud or slapstick but enough to make you enjoy it. An extremely uplifting and positive movie to watch, but don't go with an empty stomach.

Thumbs up: Jon Favreau and the amazing story line

Thumbs down: Gets a bit slow and repetitive somewhere near the half-way mark

Rating: 7.8/10

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (3D) (2014)

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure/Action/Fantasy

Starring (voice): Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Kit Harington, Djimon Hounsou

In a direct continuation to the previous movie, Hiccup (Baruchel) has managed to bring peace between his village and the dragons. Dragons and humans now continue to live in harmony but this peace only exists in his village and their are still dragons and humans at war elsewhere. Stoick the Vast (Butler) the Viking chief is adamant on making Hiccup, his son, the next chief, a past that Hiccup is reluctant to take up. On one dragon flying expedition with his friends, Hiccup discovers a huge formation of ice and encounters Eret (Harington) a dragon trapper. Eret traps dragons in the sky and sells them to his master, Drago Bludvist (Hounsou). Drago intends to capture every dragon possible and with the help of the Alpha dragon, a colossal beast to him all dragons must answer to, he shall rule the world. This movie tries to take home the hidden message of peace between animals and humans and succeeds in doing so. The brilliant animation along with a fun story makes this movie a good watch for the average ten-year-old. Attention to detail like the slight stubble that a coming of age Hiccup is growing is fact that DreamWorks understands the need for detailing. The only apparent drawback is the second half of the story where it seems too much happened in too less a time. Perhaps the showdown with Drago could have been juice for a part 3 but I guess the makers didn't want to take that route. There is no strong connection to the previous movie but a few finer aspects do have a link. All-in-all, a good entertainer but adults can get easily bored.

Thumbs up: Great animation

Thumbs down: Needs a more over whelming story

Rating: 6.5/10

Amistad (2014)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography

Starring: Morgan Freema, Matthew McConaughey, Nigel Hawthrone, Djimon Hounsou, David Paymer, Peter Postlewaite, Chiwetel Ejiofor

In the 19th century, slave trade has been abolished in the United States and only those born on plantations are deemed as slaves. Kidnapping or purchasing Africans from Africa and selling them is now termed to be illegal. A Spanish vessel called La Amistad witnessed a slave uprising with the slaves taking control of the ship. They let the ship owners survive, believing that they will take them back to Africa. The ship instead gets found by the US Navy and is taken into custody. The slaves, led by Cinque (Hounsou) demand for their freedom and return to Sierra Leone, something which the Spanish government is refuting on the grounds that the ship and it's cargo belongs to Spain and USA has got no jurisdiction over it. Social activist Lewis Tappan (Paymer) and Theodore Joadson (Freeman) wish to give justice to the slaves and request a property attorney, Roger Baldwin (McConaughey) to help him represent the slaves in court. The current president of The United States, Martin van Buren is facing pressure from the Spanish government along with the southern states to not let the slaves go free. If they do, the south states would go to war with the north and eventually lead to a civil war. A movie from the renowned Steven Spielberg, it has a lot riding on it. It very accurately showcases American politics, slavery and the build up to the civil war. The movie is far too straight forward and lacks elements to add some form of entertainment or to make it more interesting. It is a pure legal battle with a glorified vision of USA which tries to project American politicians and bureaucrat as catalysts towards elimination of slavery. Some pieces of information were missing and were left to the audiences imagination like the argument of the district attorney and the change of heart of the corrupt judge. These missing elements pieced together along with some tweaks in the story line could have gone a long way in making this movie more enjoyable. A good court-battle movie that deserved to be better.

Thumbs up: Fabulous acting, especially by Djimon Hounsou

Thumbs down: Could be more interesting

Rating: 7.7/10

The Lego Movie (2014)

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure/Science-fiction

Starring (voice): Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Bay, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman

The animated movie industry has moved by leaps and bounds in making more realistic, accurate, sharp and high-definition movies. Various styles, methods and designs have been used over the years but somehow the Lego movies have always mesmerized audiences. Emmet (Pratt) is an average joe and a construction worker who believes he is extremely happy with life. A wizard by the name of Virtuvirus (Freeman) attempts to save a weapon called as The Kragle from the evil Lord Business (Ferrell) who wants to take over the world. There lives a prophecy where a Master Builder would find The Kragle and restore peace to the world and thus eliminating Business for good. Eight and a half years later, Emett, the construction worker, finds The Kragle and thus fulfills the prophecy to save the world. This movie is clearly a 'love it' or 'hate it' by judging the quality of it's humour. Most of the movie is based on ridiculous, immature, pointless and slapstick comedy that might fail to entertain a lot of the audience. On the other hand, many people, like me, might love this sort of humour and send you rolling over the floor. From a unicorn/kitty hybrid creature that lives in Cloud Cuckoo Land in Middle Zealand and only smiles, a cop with a bipolar disorder, an annoying astronaut who loves building spaceships and Batman who only builds in black and sometimes very dark grey, this movie is an ultimate riot. The animation is another feature that is quite visually stunning. The entire city within the movie is made out of Lego. There is not a single visual element that is not made from Lego blocks and this feature being different from other conventional animated movies, makes it even more unique.

Thumbs up: Great humour, fabulous animation

Thumbs down: Humour may not be for all

Rating: 8.0/10

RoboCop 2 (1990)

Genre: Action/Crime/Science-fiction

Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy, Felton Perry, Tom Noonan, Willard E. Pugh, Gabriel Damon

In continuation to the previous movie, OCP wants the Detroit government to default on their payments so that the entire city can be privatised and comes under the control of OCP. The OCP is trying hard to replace the police force with machines which forces the police to go on a strike, leaving the entire city of Detroit open to crime. With failed experiments, Dr. Juliette Faxx (Bauer) proposes to once again try the original version of RoboCop (Weller) but with improvements. Kane (Noonan) is a criminal who has formulated a new drug called Nuke. With Nuke causing a pandemonium in Detroit, RoboCop is trying hard to curb it and bring an end to it. The sole reason why the first movie worked well is because of its ingenious plot line. The second movie is a mere extension of the first one, with nothing extra added on to it. A very typical cop-chases-criminal story is what ensues along with a highly predictable outcome. Some upgradation to RoboCop as a character to keep interest alive was necessary that was highly missed in the movie. A good action movie and nothing more.

Thumbs up: Decent action entertainer

Thumbs down: Lacks innovation in the story

Rating: 6.3/10

Jurassic Park (1993)

Genre: Adventure/Action/Thriller/Science-fiction

Starring: Same Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mozzello, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs were the undisputed rulers of Earth. Growing up to humongous proportions, these reptiles were the kings of land, air and water and were completely unstoppable. A climatic catastrophe saw an end to their era and ever since, humans have always been fascinated with them. John Hammon (Attenborough) is a billionaire who has done what no one else had imagined was possible, he has bought dinosaurs back to life. He has built a theme park called Jurassic Park on an island off the coast of Costa Rica, however, some life threatening incidents to park workers has brought about the question of public safety on the park. Hammond's investors demand for a safety approval from various experts. Enter Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) a paleontologist, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern) a paleobotanist and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) a mathematician and chaos theorist.The trio are entrusted with the task of surveying the park and certify it safe to open to the public. The movie is unique in it's story and the treatment that has been given to it. The special effects and animations that have been given to the dinosaurs are path-breaking considering the time-frame when the movie was made. Although the story could be a little off-beaten and not too conventional, it is still an exceptional and gripping movie to enjoy.

Thumbs up: Great special effects

Thumbs down: Perhaps a more unconventional story

Rating: 7.5/10

Tower Heist (2011)

Genre: Crime/Comedy/Mystery/Action

Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe

In a luxury high-rise apartment building in downtown New York called The Tower, Josh (Stiller) is the general manager of the building and is doing a pretty good job for what he is supposed to do. The Tower's owner, Mr. Arthur Shaw (Alda) who is also an investment banker, is fond of Josh and recognises his efforts. When one unfortunate morning, Josh witnesses a kidnapping of Arthur Shaw and decides to chase him down. Apparently, Shaw was not being kidnapped but was trying to escape after being declared bankrupt. The Tower's employees had unknowingly contributed their retirement money to Mr. Shaw to invest and some had even knowingly given him all their life savings. Josh realised three things. He was responsible in some way for the employees to lose their money; Mr. Shaw is far too smart to lose all his money; He still has a lot of money in his penthouse apartment in The Tower's top floor. Along with a team, Josh decides to put his knowledge of his workplace to test by breaking in to Mr. Shaw's penthouse and finding that money. Many con and robbery movies either have a predictable plot or a plot that is far too unrealistic to ever happen. This movie uses simplicity and a good story to make a reasonably entertaining movie that most would enjoy. It does not have the conventional twists and climaxes and tries to be different. Eddie Murphy is a good addition to add the humour but had their been more of his trademark slapstick comedy, I am sure it would have been a brilliant time-killer.

Thumbs up: Good story

Thumbs down: More of Eddie Murphy needed

Rating: 7.0/10

Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure

Starring (voice): Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Peter Dinklage, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Chris Wedge

Scrat (Wedge) is his non-stop pursuit of acorns ends up causing the breakup of Pangea and hence making the continents drift into their current positions. Manny (Romano) and Ellie's (Latifah) daughter, Peaches (Palmer) is a teenage Mammoth who is not happy with her father being over-protective about her and is yearning for some freedom and responsibility. When the ground breaks below their feet, Manny along with his friends Diego (Leary) and Sid (Leguizamo) get separated from the heard and are floating away on a piece of ice. They are also unknowingly accompanied by Sid's annoying grandmother, Granny (Sykes). The four need to get back to the mainland and rescue their family and friends from destruction but not before Captain Gutt (Dinklage) a pirate that wishes to ruin everything for them. The Ice Age movie have always been about showcasing how life on Earth progressed millions of years ago and the latest one talks about how current day continents took shape. The movie has light humour, not the kinds that would make you roll over with laughter, but decent enough for a child to enjoy. The biggest downside of the movie is the absolute lack of creativity and outright humour. Scrat has stopped being funny, characters are becoming more and more redundant and have a lesser role to play in the overall movie. From a pure critical standpoint, it is a complete washout but from a pure entertainment role, the movie does it's job well.

Thumbs up: A good family entertainer

Thumbs down: Story lacks innovation

Rating: 6.3/10

Shrink (2009)

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Pell James, Keke Palmer, Jesse Plemons, Dallas Roberts, Mark Webber, Robbin Williams

A celebrated L.A. psychotherapist, Dr. Henry Carter (Spacey) has a long list of celebrities as his clients that talk to him about the crisis in their lives. Henry became famous after writing a self-help book and has earned a reputation for himself. However, Henry is still reeling under a crisis of his own which has taken him to smoking marijuana every now and then and drinking himself to sleep. Patrick (Roberts) is a film-maker who is narcissistic and an extreme level of germ phobia. Jack (Williams) is a veteran actor who is addicted to sex, something which he agrees to, and addicted to alcohol, something which he does not agree to. Kate (Burrows) is an actress in her mid-thirties whose rock star husband is extremely self-centered and is cheating on her. Jemma (Palmer) is a teenager from a not-so affluent family who has been referred to Henry by his father. Jeremy (Webber) is a lose friend of Henry's who has been struggling to write a good movie script for a very long time. All these stories constantly cross with each other and the movie wonderfully displays the issues of influential L.A. residents. Sadly, the movie simply focuses on the lives of Henry's patients and does not explore too much beyond it. The culmination is a nice happy feeling where everyone goes home satisfied, far too predictable for a movie of it's sorts. A very interesting movie with a simple story.

Thumbs up: Good inter-twining of stories

Thumbs down: Climax could have been better

Rating: 7.2/10

Blade (1998)

Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Thriller

Starring: Welsey Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Arly Jover

Hidden away from the human world, vampires thrive in the underworld and live their own secret life away from everyone else. The vampire elders have been in control of their species for a long time and prefer this way of life. Deacon Frost (Dorff) is half-breed vampire whose parties and eccentric lifestyle have made him notorious with the vampire elders because it attracts too much human attention. And not just human attention but Blade's (Snipes) attention in particular. Blade is a rare mix between a vampire and a human where he has earned all the vampires' strength and none of their weaknesses. Blade despises the vampire breed and vows to take them all down. Along with his good friend and scientist Whistler (Kristofferson), the duo constantly research on new innovative ways to kill the vampires and strengthen Blade as much as possible. The movie is quite similar to Underworld in a lot of ways, except for the fact that this one is simply focused on vampires and does not take any other species into account. It is a three part movie so there is more to the story in next few installments. A pure blood-gushing action movie, it entertains in the manner it is supposed to. If you have seen Underworld then the story may not seem to be all that unique and interesting, but in isolation it comes across a decent movie that the action-fanatic would enjoy.

Thumbs up: Good action

Thumbs down: Too similar to Underworld, rigid acting

Rating: 6.8/10