J.Edgar [Views]

Directed by Clint Eastwood 

Imdb Link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1616195/

Do I kill everything that I love ?

I had no idea about who J.Edgar was, so this film was more like a history lesson I was taking. Only thing I expected was, the history would be shown with a good engaging screenplay, which wasn't the case!

The story is about J.Edgar rise to fame in FBI, and the truths associated with his rise, the arrests that he never does, and his personal life that is always kept secret.

Leonardo Di Caprio portrays J.Edgar quite well, except for the accent he has that reminds me of his old performances at times. Especially the sequences when he has a well established bureau of his own. The make up is really bad for the old life portrayal of J.Edgar as well as Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). I didn't like Armie much in totality, the same guy who was effective as Winklevoss in Social Network.

The film begins with Edgar asking the typist to write on his life, as he narrates everything. The whole story henceby, we view are from Edgar's point of view. The problem arises that we never get too involved into the main plot, instead what catches our eye is the relationship between Edgar & Tolson, and Edgar & his mother. The screenplay uses too many flashbacks and coming back to present, disturbing the effect a particular sequence was having. For instance, the kidnapping of a child plot starts on a good note, but when its given a break and later we see the case solved... it makes more or less no impact.

Few sequences worth mentioning are, Edgar taking Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) for a date at a library and proposing her with a sudden kiss, which he declines. Its probably the only time where we see Edgar having such interest in girls. Then, the scene where Edgar and Tolson get into a fight resulting in a kiss by Tolson. And, the one where truth of Edgar is revealed. Also, the scene where the problem in speech for Edgar arises again due to his inability to dance with womean, and his mother asks him to stand in front of mirror and then speak lines.

Some questions are left unanswered, like was Edgar homosexual ? Why he used to not go for arrests himself, why he used to be so confused, and away from facts ? Edgar always found himself incomplete, just like that painting he always sees while going to visit President at his place. He never accepted Tolson completely, even though he always admitted that he can't manage his life without his support with him all the time. He made Gandy his forever secretary, whom he proposed once.. and she was just so loyal to him all the time.


Overall, J.Edgar is a decent watch, its a film that could had been much better with a better narrative that emphasized more on Edgar's professional rise, highs and lows.. Still, for Leonardo performance its a watchable film, though nothing award worthy...

Good Night Good Morning [Views]

Directed by Sudhish Kamath

Imdb Link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740745/

I don't think we have to take love out of one person to give it to another. Love is a bottomless glass.

This film either is inspired from 'Before Sunrise' or I see it that way.. Whatever it is or not, the concept this time is little different, the strangers have a never ending conversation on phone, not in person.

Two strangers Turiya (Manu Narayan) and Moira (Seema Rahmani) happen to meet at a pub on New Year's eve. Turiya leaves without any conversation with his friends, on a car journey to Philadelphia. He decides to randomly call the same girl. Moira at first isn't keen to talk with a random stranger on phone, but feeling bored and having nothing to do, she thinks of trying him out. And hence the conversation on phone between the two leads begin that continues till the end of the film..

The impressive thing for me in this film was, how well the screenplay and narration is kept, because here you are gonna depend mainly on a phone conversation happening between the leads. There are just two locales available, one the girl's hotel room and other the boy with his buddies in car. Also, the film is filmed mainly in black and white, with very few coloured sequences.

The talks of Turiya and Moria starts from random flirting, goes to each other's personal information, pasts of theirs.. Their conversation talks almost everything about Love, Relationships and Life. There is a splendid spoof on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai too.

Also, the fictional stories both characters speak during the conversation are brilliantly visualised. Then, the conversation among the buddies or that photo taking act, helps the viewers get a breather from the split screen talks on phone between the leads.

My fav scenes would be, one where Moira talks about her opinion on relationships as a whole.. and the one where Turiya asks her to flush something out. Also, the geek sequence was humurous.

Writing is very good, its real, humourous and connectable easily. Dialogues are a major plus in the film, because the film is dependant on the conversations mainly, and they are very well written. Direction by Sudhish Kamath is top-notch, I like that he kept the climax way it is.. and not the other one he uploaded on youtube. Editing is good, the fact that its a short film helps otherwise the split-screen narration would had become tough to engage people for a longer period.

Both Manu Narayan and Seema Rahmani were excellent in their performances, had they faltered the film wont had worked because the split screen narration meant a lot of close up scenes, and hence the expressions mattered. Also, they both have good screen presence especially Manu who at times reminded me of Abhishek bachchan in appearance.. Vasanth and Raja Sen were fine as supporting characters, they hardly had much to do in film, except for 3-4 dialogue scenes.


Overall, Good Night Good Morning works for me.. for the reason that it talks about so much without preaching, its more like two people telling their opinions on the most common things that are part of everyone's life. It makes you think, think and have a answer to the same questions Turiya and Moira ask each other on phone, and when a film does that.. its likely that it has hit the right note..

Underworld Awakening [Views]

Directed by : Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein

Imdb Link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1496025/

My heart is not cold. It's broken.

Apart from the stunts, and to certain extent, the climax.. there's nothing much that I enjoyed in this film. Plus, the fact that vampire films I have never intended to watch, this was first of kind for me, and expectedly it didn't impress me.

The story is of Selene (Kate Beckinsale) who is trying to survive against the humans after her, Michael (her love) and her child Eve. She comes to know that she and her daughter are the subjects being treated upon by a doctor whose interest lies in something else.

There are some thrilling moments, and I like scenes between Selene and Eve. Selene's escape from hospital, the action sequence where Eve is taken for healing and the climax are some of the best portions in the film. Also, some good 3d sequences, for a change.

Screenplay is weak, Editing is fine. Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein's direction isn't convincing.

Among performances, Kate Beckinsale shines in a very good performance. India Eisley is nice in a small role. Rest supporting cast are decent.


Overall, Underworld Awakening is a below average film.. watchable for Kate at best.

North by Northwest [Views]

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125

Roger : What's wrong with men like me ? 
Eve : They don't believe in marriage. 
Roger : I've been married twice. 
Eve : See what I mean ? 

Only my 2nd Hitchcock film after 'Rear Window', and how much I ended up loving this film.....

Roger O Thornhill (Cary Grant) works as a executive at a advertising agency, who is mistakenly kidnapped by a group of people thinking he is the government agent. They assume he is 'Kremlin', a person who doesn't exist.  Roger manages to escape, but in order to find the truth about Kremlin, he lands himself into numerous problems, to such a extent that the police is also after him now.

The screenplay is terrific, just what a thriller requires with perfect dose of humour, romance and drama. I specially loved the humour in the dialogues, so well written. Editing was very good.Then, hitchcock's direction was supreme.. special reference to two sequences especially, one where he zooms in to the close up of Roger when the group of people come to kidnap him. And the other one, crop duster sequence.. notice that scene where we are made to view the scene through the point of view of Roger, for some 2-3 mins, just like him we are made to see the empty roads and no one around, to get that frustrated and what the fuck! feeling. And, when finally a person comes, a wide shot shown with Roger looking at him, hoping for a wave, then with little doubt he finally goes to talk. Superb scene that was!

Also, the scenes between Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) and Roger were so romantic, specially the whole train sequence had the blend of romance and seduction to a certain extent. Clara Thornhill (Jessie Royce Landis) as the mother of Roger was superb in small supporting role, those expressions through her eyes were so funny, first in court sequence with 'Ha!' and then the lift scene 'You gentleman aren't really trying to kill my son, are you?'.

James Mason as Philip and Martin Landau as Leonard, gave fine performances. Cary Grant was splended in the lead role, the style, pose and the way he delivers the dialogues, special mention to that drunk scene driving car.. classic expressions on his face! Also, the bidding scene.. loved that to the core.

Overall, North by Northwest is a wonderful film, especially if you love thrillers. It keeps you interested till pretty much the final shot of the film!

Doctor Zhivago [Views]

A flashback told by Zhivago's brother Yevgraf (Alec Guiness), who is in search of his niece. He believes no one could find the worth of Zhivago (Omar Sharif) while he was alive. We see few scenes from Zhivago's young life, a very long shot of Zhivago looking at the dead body of his mother, who is getting cremated. 

Zhivago is good at poetry, which is loved by his wife but the real inspiration comes when he meets his 2nd love Lara (Julie Christie). Lara is exploited by her step father Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), so much that she tries to kill him but fails in her shooting. 

The film is set in the backdrop of 1st World war and a russian revolution, how the life of Zhivago gets affected, he tries to balance between both his wife and the love of Lara. While Lara who initially loved Pasha (Tom Courtenary) changed ways with Zhivago, since the time they got seperated during a fight sequence. Zhivago who is a doctor, comes as a aid to the injured people, with Lara helping as a nurse, the time where the love starts to blossom between Zhivago and Lara but they dont get physical since Lara feels that would spoil Zhivago's image. 

Cinematography is excellent, be it that rain sequence when Zhivago is a kid, or the one where he is on a horse coming back from meeting Lara, or the beautiful garden Zhivago and his wife create outside their new house. 

What makes the film emotionally moving, is the love shared by Zhivago and Lara, nothing exceptional though but in the context of the film and the times they meet, it makes it special. Plus, the chemistry between them is really good. Special mention to the scene where Zhivago and Yevgraf meets for 1st time, no dialogues shared. 

I like the climax dialogue 'Ahh.. then its a gift'. The background score is good, especially during scenes involving lots of action (not fights). 

Only problem I find in film is, its way too long, over 3 hours. Could had edited it a bit, though those long and silent moments at places makes the film beautiful only, so not really hard feelings.

Overall, Doctor Zhivago is a film especially aimed for movie buffs only, a good one time watch for sure. 

Arthur Christmas [Views]

After Puss in the Boots, this is 2nd animation film that I loved a lot. The writing is so good and creative, they presented Christmas in such a funny and loving way, with lots of emotions too. The screenplay is very good. Arthur has the job of reading mails sent by ppl to Santa, and he replies back to them. His father's brother Steve handles the technical department of North Pole, to check if all the people got their gifts from the Santa (his dad).

Unfortunately, Santa forgets to send gift to 1 person, a glitch by mistake. The girl he misses was to get a cycle. Steve and Santa both decide to ignore, as its a .0000000025 % they missed out. But, Arthur can't see a girl sad on Christmas Day, and with the help of his grandpa Santa, he goes there to deliver the gift himself.

I loved the role of Elves a lot, cute and so hillarious like the conversations it has with grandpa during plane sequences or it wraps a cycle in climax, also the opening sequence that is full of such elves.

Plus, the sequence where Arthur lets Steve, his dad Santa and grandpa Santa to watch the girl see her present, to see her happiness which mostly they never did. For them it was a day that ends the moment they kept the present at their places, and just went away.

The 3d yet again dissappointed me, hardly anything worth having it. My fav characters were Arthur, his mom and elves. The technical place setup was very well done.

Overall, Arthur Christmas was a good fun film, should be seen atleast once if you like animation films.

Movie Analysis : Players

Charlie (Amitah Bachchan) gets a team of good players, Ronnie (Bobby Deol) who is a magician, Riya (Bipasha Basu) a thief, Bilal (Sikandar Kher) good in explosives, Sunny (Omi Vaidya) deals with make overs and Spider (Neil Nitin Mukesh) a hacker. The mission is to steal gold from a train going to Russia. 

It's a Abbas Mastaan film, hence you expect that there would be a certain someone who would betray Charlie in the plan. There are 2 sequences where intentionally a gora is made to obey indian traditions or sing indian songs, a way to bring humour into the film as per the director. Silly! 

In a thriller, its important that there are good twists and turns, and the end isn't easily guessable or the other way around, its not easy to guess how the exeuction would take place. The reason Players fails is, one, some of the twists don't surprise you as you guessed them correctly, and second, the performances lacks the firepower or screen presence to keep you interested in a 2 hr 40 mins long film. 

The twist after succeeding in getting gold, is the best of all. Other than that, the small car sequence is good one, and so is the climax gold one. Dialogues are average not well written. Editing is okay. Screenplay was predictable.

Music is good, and used pretty much as per requirement of the narration of the story. Jhoom jhoom female version filmed on Sonam and Neil was the best of all, and so was yeh ladki hai naadaan. Unfortunately, the screenplay had no place for dil yeh beqarar song, which was the best one in entire album.

Abhishek Bachchan may had enacted his role sincerely, yet the lack of his screen presence lets the film suffer especially when you have Omi Vaidya, Sikandar Kher and Bobby Deol as three supporting actors. 

Omi Vaidya does have few good moments in the film, which in itself is a victory for him who is just repeating himself ever since 3 Idiots. Sikandar Kher and Bobby Deol have small roles, with not much significance.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is the best of all the actors, though he is let down with weak punchlines. Sonam Kapoor looks wonderful, and to a certain extent is likeable in the film.. her acting is still bad but atleast you can manage to see her this time around. She was wonderful in that dance no with Neil Nitin Mukesh.

Bipasha Basu role had no freshness, seen her in similar roles too often.. infact she reminded a lot of Race, just that she was with other person this time around. She was definately apt for the film, but could had swapped roles with Sonam probably.

A interview said that Vinod Khanna is gonna be seen in a film after long because this script appealed to him, Really ? The 1st sequence with those funny looking inspectors was enough to tell what a stupid role he said Yes to!


Overall, Players turns out to be a below average film due to weak screenplay and actors who couldn't bring the kind of style this thriller required to have.


Verdict : Below Average