Wednesday 26 November 2014




Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park (1993), Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond.

Director:

 Colin Trevorrow

Writers:

 Michael Crichton (characters), Derek Connolly

Stars:

 Chris Pratt, Judy Greer, Ty Simpkins

Release Date:

 12 June 2015

Did you know?
The film's original title was "Jurassic Park: Extinction"


Thanks IMDB

Monday 13 October 2014



Critic's Rating: 
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., Kris Kristofferson, Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Ashley Judd
Direction: Charles Martin Smith
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 47 minutes
Avg Readers Rating: 
Story: After Winter's companion dolphin passes away due to old age, the team of marine experts at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (who had earlier rescued and rehabilitated Winter in Dolphin Tale) try to find her another dolphin companion before they lose custody of her to another facility that can offer Winter better care. 

Review: Finding a new companion for Winter is a high-priority task for the folks at Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA), because dolphins are social creatures and get depressed when in isolation, leading to all sorts of health problems.

Aquarium head Dr Clay Haskett (Connick Jr) and the teenaged Sawyer (Gamble), who had bonded with the bottle-nosed dolphin in the first movie, are aware of this. Sawyer, incidentally, is now established as an instructor at the aquarium. Dr Clay faces added pressure from the aquarium's investors because, being the star attraction, Winter is their money-spinner. Clearly, no one is happy with the prospect of letting go of Winter.

In another development, Sawyer is also offered an important study programme that would involve him being at sea for a period of time and thus separated from his beloved Winter. He cannot go until a new companion is found for the depressed dolphin.

Meanwhile, an injured dolphin is found and everyone - Clay's daughter Hazel (Zuehlsdorff) included - hopes this new addition to the aquarium will bond well with Winter. But the new entrant, appropriately named Hope, does not warm up to Winter because of the latter's prosthetic tail. So, Dr Cameron McCarthy (Freeman) designs an even more natural-looking appendage which does the trick.

What is appreciable about the film is that Smith makes no attempt at giving the dolphins an anthropomorphic treatment. While the plot can feature some overly emotional parts, this is by and large a tale gently told with sensitivity as well as the benefit of some serious research having gone into the behaviour of these intelligent creatures.

Featuring a few beautiful scenes that will probably warm the heart of the most hardened cynic, Dolphin Tale 2 makes for some wholesome family fare.

Tuesday 25 February 2014





Critic's Rating:  4/5



Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Scarlett Johansson (voice)
Direction: Spike Jonze
Genre: Romance
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
 
Story: Sometime in the future, a lonely writer falls in love with his operating system. Can this bizarre relationship work?

Review: Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) writes love letters for others through a website called beautifulhandwrittenletters.com. Ironically, his personal life is anything but beautiful. On the verge of getting a divorce, sad and perpetually self-analysing, Theodore shuts himself away in his house to avoid contact with the outside world. The only social activity he indulges in is commuting to work every day and occasionally interacting with neighbour Amy (Amy Adams). Theodore is not cynical though. He just doesn't know what he wants from life, people and relationships anymore.
 
The writer's life takes an unexpected turn when he begins to find solace in the voice of his new computer operating system Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Heartfelt conversation with Samantha, fills the void in his life, making him fall in love with 'Her'!

In spite of its futuristic setting, the concept is alarmingly real and there lies its brilliance. Given our addiction to technology, Iphones and Siri already, it won't be long before we do consider having a relationship with our gadgets! Thought-provoking, funny yet melancholic, the tragedy of an urban life is as much a theme of Her as is the satirical take on love in a digital age.

Scarlett Johansson's sensual voice and spontaneity makes up for her physical absence, while Rooney Mara and Amy Adams are effective in their cameos. However, the film belongs to Joaquin Phoenix, who has mastered the art of portraying troubled characters. His eyes speak a thousand words and the moustache lends his hostile character that much required mystique. Heartbreak or no heartbreak, you can identify with his character and inability to express.

Witty dialogues, stimulating cinematography and a soulful background score are major assets of the film as well. Her is riveting, unconventional but not an insane love story. If you are reading this review on your smart phone, you might already be in a relationship with it!
 

Friday 21 February 2014




Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Dimitri Leonidas, Bob Balaban
Direction: George Clooney
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 1 minute
Rating: 3/5
 
Story: A group of art experts cobbled together by Frank Stokes are authorized by Franklin Roosevelt to go across Nazi-occupied Europe and locate thousands of artworks that the Nazis have stolen for a 'Fuhrer Museum'.

Review: Based on a true story, The Monuments Men is immediately reminiscent of old school Hollywood films also set in World War II. The last war where there was a clear cut right and wrong, principles were noble and objectives clear. This one deals with a subject that has taken decades to appear on the big screen - the story about all the art that the Nazis robbed from occupied countries, which represented about a thousand years of human culture. The 15th century Ghent Altarpiece becomes symbolic of their quest.

The museum directors, curators and art historians whom Stokes (Clooney, based on the real-life Monument Man George Stokes) rounds up are woefully out of shape. But they certainly know their Rodin from a Rubens. So, after coughing, panting, wheezing and struggling through basic training, they land in Normandy, break up into dyads and set about tracking down art from a comprehensive list.

James Granger (Damon) meets Claire Simone (Blanchett) who worked in Paris's Jeu De Paume museum before it was looted by the Nazis. She, albeit reluctantly at first, helps Granger by giving him a comprehensive art inventory list, so the men know where to look. Richard Campbell (Murray) and Preston Savitz (Balaban) share some poignant moments that reflect on the nature of war, while Jean Claude Clairmont (Dujardin) and Walter Garfield (Goodman) are often hilarious. And at regular points, we are reminded about the nobility of their cause by the square-jawed Stokes.

The film itself looks terrific, thanks to cinematographer Phedon Papamichael's mostly German locations and a misty, retro-looking palette. Unfortunately, the multiple scenarios make the story-telling a bit unbalanced at times. What overcomes this weakness is the fact that the film makes a profound point in a subtle way - that the Fuhrer's ambitions if left unchecked would have been world-altering, in the most unsettling of ways.

Thursday 20 February 2014






Cast: Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris
Direction: Paul W. S. Anderson
Genre: Action
Duration: 1 hour 44 minutes
Story: Set in 79 AD, Pompeii is a rich girl/poor boy-style romance served up with heaps of bloody gladiatorial action and of course, Mount Vesuvius, which erupts in a curtain of molten magma.

Review: As a young boy, Milo (Harington) sees his parents killed by a Roman general Corvis (Sutherland) as the Romans suppress a Celt uprising. He is then taken into captivity and grows up to become an expert gladiator, fuelled by hatred for the Romans. His skills impress his masters and he gets a chance to fight in the amphitheatre of Pompeii during the Vinalia festival.Along the way, he meets Cassia (Browning), the daughter of a wealthy businessman Lucretius (Harris) and his elegant wife Aurelia (Moss), and the two become a veritable Romeo and Juliet of ancient Rome.

This displeases the visiting Senator Corvis, who fancies Cassia but despite his rank, air of entitlement and imperious lines, has the charm of a doorknob. Unsurprisingly, Cassia is repelled by him straight into the arms of Milo, who also befriends the man-mountain of a gladiator, Atticus (Adewale). Atticus, due to be freed after one last death match, begins to help out the already capable Milo during combat and reminds him to keep his eye on the prize - Cassia. So, they fight for freedom and love respectively.

Anderson cleverly cuts to the increasingly ominous rumblings of Mount Vesuvius whenever the story is in danger of dragging, to re-focus on the movie's focal point. You will notice the inevitable parallels with Gladiator and Game of Thrones and the script is often rudimentary ("My name is Milo. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" or "You looked at him. Did you see his muscles?"). But that is par for the course because brutish gladiators are meant to fight and kill, not speak flowing prose in the King's English.

The love story itself is forgettable and cheesy. But that is only incidental compared to what you can watch this movie for - its fight scenes and cataclysmic climax, both produced and recreated in good detail.

Sunday 16 February 2014







Cast: Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jessica Brown Findlay
Direction: Akiva Goldsman
Genre: Romance
Duration: 1 hour 58 minutes


Story: Based on Mark Halprin's 1983 novel by the same name, Winter's Tale makes us want to believe in miracles and eternal love that transcends time and space.

Review: In spite of the escapist theme and a beautiful snow-clad setting, the time-travelling romance seems ineffective as you have demons, a magical white horse and much more barging into the story, making it all look more ludicrous than fascinating. However, diehard fans of mushy love stories may still like the film, given the 'feel-good' execution.

Coming to the plot, the story spans across centuries. Set in a mythical New York, it all starts in 1895 when orphaned thief Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a wealthy young woman dying of consumption. However, Peter is being chased by crime boss Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), who is actually a demon in the service of Lucifer (Will Smith). A magical white horse whisks Peter away, every time he faces trouble but in return, can Peter become the guardian angel of Beverly and rescue her from the clutches of death?

While the setting, cinematography, background score, outfits, imagery, everything is ideal for a 'magical love story', the adaptation is way too convoluted and unconvincing. It all looks beautiful but you don't feel for the characters or their love, which is a big drawback for a romantic fantasy. Barring Jennifer Connelly's cameo, even performances are mediocre. The two lead actors have no chemistry.

Colin Farrell survives for some 100 years to 'find and fulfill the purpose' of his immortality but you fail to find the purpose of this never-ending love story. Russell Crowe hams while Will Smith embarrasses himself by taking up the role. Farrell sports a funny hairstyle but acts well. Jessica Brown Findlay looks gorgeous but has nothing much to contribute.

If you dream about Colin Farrell, you might like this one, otherwise read a Jane Austen novel instead.

Thursday 13 February 2014




About This Game

The world is in chaos. The air is thick with tension and the smoke of burnt villages. The fearsome Empire of Nilfgaard has struck again, ravaging the hapless Northern Kingdoms. The once-mighty who tried to use Geralt for their own gain are now gone. In these uncertain times, no one can say what fortune holds in store, who will bring peace to the world and who will cause it only misery. But a force darker and deadlier emerges. The petty men and women commanding tin-plated armies fail to understand that their conflict is child’s play compared to the Wild Hunt, the otherworldly threat which now looms. These ghastly spectral riders have for ages plagued humankind, bringing misery to the world. Yet this time the Wild Hunt seeks one person in particular: the one individual Destiny itself bestowed upon Geralt, the one soul Geralt considers kin.
The climactic third game in the fantasy RPG series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a unique combination of a non-linear story and an open world -- a character-driven, non-linear story experience focused on player choice, tactical combat and a rich, living environment. This world is populated with intelligent inhabitants and animated by new mechanics that make it a dynamic, living, breathing place. As players travel the world, witnessing many a sunrise or sunset, enduring torrential rains or sweltering heat, they see predators hunting their prey, villages defending themselves against monsters, lovers meeting by moonlight. The new in-game economy system varies the price of goods based on surrounding conditions or their place of origin, encouraging players to seek out through hunting and collecting items that are in demand. With a re-envisioned approach to the narrative, the game will be accessible to both newcomers and old time fans, and a tutorial eases players into the game. Combat has been redesigned in order to combine traditional RPG elements with the speed and precision of a dedicated fighting game. All of these gameplay features are integrated into a robust RPG system at the heart of the game.
Release Date: TBA 2014
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: CD Projekt