MOVIE REVIEW: 'Hereafter'

Famed director Clint Eastwood tries to make a statement about death and what comes next in his latest film, "Hereafter." However, that statement is muddied by a slow-moving plot, and jumping back and forth from three completely separate stories that don't interact until the final minutes of the film.

The first plot follows George (played by Matt Damon), who somehow as a child picked up the ‘gift' of being able to communicate with the dead. Damon is a great actor, showing his range from the "Bourne Identity" movies to the dry, dark comedy "The Informant!" This storyline was easily the most interesting of the three stories, and as a viewer, you definitely wanted to see more of it. George meets a single woman, Melanie (played by Dallas Bryce Howard of "The Village, "Spider-Man 3"), and they had great chemistry. However, I really felt short-changed by how small of a role Howard wound up having here. For that matter, Damon is barely on screen here, too, as he's competing for time with Eastwood's two other live-after-death mini-stories.

A French TV journalist, Marie, has a near-death experience while surviving a tsunami. The footage of the tsunami opens the film, and it is incredibly shot and easily the best part of this entire film. However, Marie's overall storyline was flat and didn't hold my attention. Her storyline also is entirely in French, with subtitles. That didn't bother me at all, but I know that turns off other viewers.

The third plotline here follows Marcus, a young boy who has someone close to him die. Marcus struggles to get past this death. Toward the end of the film, George gives a reading to Marcus. A couple elderly women near me in the theater were weeping heavily during this scene, but I was relatively unmoved. (And I've never been embarrassed to admit when a movie scene makes me cry. I still get misty-eyed every time I see Mandy Moore die in "A Walk To Remember.")

In 2006, the movie "Babel" got nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. "Hereafter" follows the same design as "Babel," as the film jumps from storyline to storyline, before tying them together at the end. If you liked "Babel," chances are you will get into "Hereafter" more than I did. However, I would put "Babel" on a list of the five worst films nominated for best picture over the past 10 years. (And it's worth noting that "Babel" only has a 64 percent approval rating at Rottentomatoes.com, even with its Oscar nomination.)

Eastwood has made some excellent movies in recent years, from "Million Dollar Baby" to "Letters from Iwo Jima" to "Changeling" to "Gran Torino." However, I found last year's "Invictus" (also starring Matt Damon) to be disappointing, and I found the same thing here. Eastwood simply made this too somber, when a film about the hereafter should be a bit more uplifting and hopeful.

Shot on a $50 million budget, "Hereafter" earned $12 million in its first weekend. Top critics at Rottentomatoes.com gave it a solid 64 percent approval rating. However, the overall critical rating at Rottentomatoes.com was a mere 51 approval rating - in other words, barely half gave it a thumbs up. With mediocre reviews coming in, this film might struggle to break even at the box office, even with its big-name director and actor.

Despite the mediocre reviews, I still wouldn't rule this film out for a possible Oscar nomination. A critic who writes an Oscar blog on Entertainment Weekly recently placed it on his list for 10 likely movies to get a slot this year.

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Movie Review: Red

After thrilling times at the last two movies led by Bruce Willis (“Live Free or Die Hard,” “Surrogates”), I was expecting more of the same with “Red” (Retired Extremely Dangerous). While it’s not as preposterously outrageous as “A-Team,” I haven’t had this much brainless fun with a movie since early this summer!

Powered up by an all-star, veteran cast having a rollicking good time, the graphic novel adaptation of “Red” is running wild. Fierily carefree, these retired oldsters could easily beat their younger counterparts by a round of shots and some.

When I saw Bruce Willis stumping for the movie at Comic-Con this year, I was surprised to learn about the Helen Mirren bit. At that time, I never heard of “Red” before (I was there waiting for Angelina Jolie to make an appearance on the “Salt” panel). All doubts were erased when the trailer was shown. With a stern, rifle-totting Mirren looking more than competent to kick butt and her muttering “I kill people, dear,” I was instantly sold.

On the heels of being assailed in his own home in the dark of the night, tough-looking, soft-spoken Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) rushes out to find Sarah Moss (Mary-Louise Parker), an employee of Department of Pension whom he has romantic interest in. Previously he’s been ripping off his checks so that he could call and chat with her, while she’s been chatting him up about foreign travels and romance novels.

Willis does seem like the kind of CIA operative who takes down drug lords, terrorists and governments. Parker is impeccable with her wide-eyed, nutty expressions and comedic timing. There’s a hysterical exchange at her place when the two first meet in person. And the conversation in the car about their “first date” is positively gut-busting. The coolest, singular scene involves Willis stepping out of a spinning car and onto his feet firing.

Together Frank and Sarah drive across the country to find his former CIA buddies; Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) and “Victoria” (Helen Mirren).

With CIA agents William Cooper (Karl Urban) and Cynthia Wilkes (Rebecca Pidgeon) hot on their trails, the team is racing against time to uncover war crimes involving a top-ranking U.S. government official. Richard Dreyfuss makes a cameo as Alexander Dunning, a man with ties to the White House, and his role in the conspiracy becomes clear toward the end.

Willis rocks with his break in-and-out of CIA headquarters and dragged-out fist fights. Malkovich is an absolute riot as the eccentric paranoid Marvin. You’ve never seen an underground compound until you see Marvin’s! Definitely do not call him an “old man” and take it easy with the grenade or bazooka. Freeman, initially seen living in a retirement home, might be the closest one to being a mellow retired agent – although don’t count him out yet (or underestimate his punch!) Armed and dangerous Mirren does her part and fits right in with the boys, all the while connecting with an old flame.

“Red” is the summer blockbuster that we never had… it’s over-the-top, comically combustible ride that we don’t ever want to stop.

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Movie review: 'Gerrymandering'

Writer-director Jeff Reichert gives an arcane political practice a wonky, one-sided close-up in his documentary "Gerrymandering," which refers to the calculated form of congressional redistricting by elected representatives that follows each decade's Census. It's an important if unsexy topic that Reichert attempts to energize with some OK animation and a raft of comments from politicians, legal experts and advocacy group leaders. (One pundit here, clearly reflecting the filmmaker's stance, deems gerrymandering, a term coined in 1812 after the redistricting actions of then-Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, "the most effective form of manipulating elections short of outright fraud.

The movie illustrates how the process skews and literally reshapes elections, often favoring incumbents and majority party candidates, by examining recent redistricting examples in such states as Florida, Texas, Louisiana and New York. But it's California that takes center stage as Reichert revisits the state's 2008 Proposition 11 fight to establish a bipartisan commission to draw district boundaries.

Despite much archival and news footage, along with ample face time from that initiative's most ebullient supporter, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the contest lacks the kind of inherent drama and tension that could have helped quicken the movie's measured pulse.

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Mahesh Kaleja Movie Review

Director Trivikram did his best to make this film (Mahesh Kaleja) to look as exceptional as possible and thrived in his endeavor to a certain extent. Mahesh Babu, in his chocolate looks and latest chic of dialogue delivery did a good job to vibrate the viewers. The effort for uniqueness led to down for the count. The technical aspects of the film such as cinematography, sound, etc. are free of errors. As far as the screenplay is concerned, it was well knitted, yet, with certain hitches. The usual breakers are the music and dance sequences and the devotional song is an exemption. The comedy has its own share nevertheless, in an extra dosage.

The narration hauled more often than not. By and large, Mahesh Kaleja is an entertainer which requires alterations at some particular points. The opening segment of the film wobbles up the viewers for a handful of minutes. The rest all is the unfolding. A taxi driver, though unwilling, ends up in a remote rural community of Rajastan only to be stabbed and manages to get away with death.

The female protagonist, who happens to meet the taxi driver on few occasions at their home city, inadvertently meets him again and travels along with him through out the course. On his journey back home, he finds himself in another parish whose inhabitants await his arrival for their misery to be ended. Back home, he learns that his trip is a part of conspiracy of a rogue industrialist.

Mahesh Babu as the classy taxi driver, with honed up discourse, rendered a fine feat, undeniably. Anushka, as a female lead looked striking and especially is apt with the height of Mahesh Babu. But, she has nothing much to do except to woo the protagonist. Brahmanandam, Ali and Sunil, with their customary humorous means, stimulated the viewers. Prakash Raj, in the role of an ill-famed capitalist, made an impression that he has moved into the skin of the role.

The flawed fractions of the narration are: The antagonist who is capable of killing the high profiled geologist, the dean of a medical college and the defying employees in broad day light, had to conspire to a large extent to kill a taxi driver (just because he is the hero). The botanist (Ali) moves about, with the protagonist as if the former has no other work.

The narration lacked seriousness and the alternatives to the cited flaws could make Mahesh Kaleja a wholesome entertainer. To the degree that the humor is concerned, the directors, rather the writers are in a misconception that only the crude words and phrases generate laughter. The protagonist is made repeatedly to utter the words, 'Nee..', 'Dobbindi' and a lot to mention which are not at all required to create hilarity. The excess violence at the climax is upsetting. The stunts defying laws of gravity are uproarious. Anyways, we enjoy the comic series of Phantom the savior and the stunts of 'Dare Devil' of the western world. So, why couldn't we enjoy with our own heroes?

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Movie Review: Secretariat as Boring as It Looks

Review in a Hurry: The true-life account of the "world's greatest racehorse" deserves better than this bland adaptation from the Disney factory. Worthy of the glue factory? Neigh! Secretariat is probably a safe bet for devoted horse-lovers, but others should pony up for a different flick.

The Bigger Picture: Following in the hoofsteps of Seabiscuit, this underdog horse tale chronicles the amazing journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Wobbly Secretariat stumbles over a number of hurdles, though, notably Mike Rich's generic script, which trots out one cliché after another during its long gallop to the finish line.

Dressed in Mary Tyler Moore outfits and a stiff, Pat Nixon-like wig, Diane Lane portrays Denver housewife and mom Penny Chenery, who takes over her deceased dad's stables in Virginia. Despite her lack of horseracing knowledge, she bucks the male-dominated biz and invests in promising colt Big Red, later renamed Secretariat.

She hires veteran trainer Luicien Laurin (John Malkovich) to whip him into shape, and against all odds, they foster the first three-fer Winner in 25 years.

Hardcore racing fans might be disappointed by the film's focus on Penny's home life and investment woes, with banal family scenes involving her skeptical husband and war-protesting daughter. Plus, the film cuts corners on action sequences, depicting the stallion's mounting fame with a single slo-mo shot—and the penultimate race with stock footage on the Chenerys' TV.

Plus, don't expect any gritty portrait of the racing industry—Secretariat is as edgy as a Kentucky Derby bonnet. Scenes are awash in golden light and underscored with voiceover Bible quotes and gospel music. Holy cow, er, horse.

Lovely Lane rises above the cable-movie feel of the production but gets saddled with so many fist-clenching "we've-got-to-win!" speeches that you half expect her to exclaim, "As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again!"

Not as winning, Malkovich continues his string of over-the-top character roles with a showy turn as the flamboyantly attired crankpot.

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Movie Review: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

The "legend" and "guardian" in the title gives some indication of the heroic and grandiose nature of this animated flick about a brave owl with an Aussie accent.

It pulls the 15 parts of Kathryn Laksy's popular series of children's books into one whizz-bang 3D animation created by the same computer cartoon folk who did the penguin musical Happy Feet, though it's directed by American Zack Snyder, the guy who brought us the bloodbath 300 and who has just been named director of the next Superman movie.

So there are plenty of mid-air battle sequences - just like the man of steel owls can fly and, like Spartans, they know how to rock armour.

But, keeping his young audience in mind, Snyder ensures it's less a gory war and more a feathered fairytale of good vanquishing evil.

Jim Sturgess voices Soren, the naive but heroic owl who believes his dad speaks the truth and that his brother will not betray him, while Kiwi actress Emily Barclay adopts a Nasal twang to voice his accomplice, Gylfie, whose heart goes a-flutter when Soren takes her under his wing.The pair make a lucky escape after being kidnapped by the racist owls who are building an evil parliament that will bring the Hitler-like Metalbeak to power. These baddies have British accents and enslave young owls by turning them "moonblind".

Joined by a lute-playing owl, a joke-reciting owl, and the snake nanny Mrs P, Soren and Gylfie embark on a treacherous flight to find the guardians who live in the gnarly Ga'Hoole tree on a remote island.

Only these legendary good guys can stop Metalbeak's army, and so the battle lines are drawn. While visually impressive, Legend manages to sneak in a few life lessons behind the special effects. And though the story follows a predictable flightpath, there's plenty in the film's animated antics that will have young and old hooting right along.

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Movie Review - Secretariat

I don't often get to write a review of a movie that hasn't even opened yet but I was fortunate to see an advanced showing of "Secretariat". Great theater, cozy seats, very few people to contend with and best yet, a real good movie.

Those who know me best will say what's wrong with you Schuster? That's two straight favorable reviews but after seeing "Social Network" and now "Secretariat" I'm on a movie high. By the way I told you the movies would get better once we turned to Autumn. They certainly couldn't get worse after one of the most miserable summer seasons ever. But whether "Secretariat" came out in Fall, Summer, Winter or Spring, this was one very enjoyable flick. Also, being a Disney production it's a movie for people of all ages.

For those who don't know, Secretariat is known as probably the greatest race horse ever. He was a beautiful big red colt that won the triple crown in 1973. The triple crown is the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes that run consecutively over a period of seven weeks. The Triple Crown has only been won eleven times since 1919. Just twice since Secretariat claimed it, lastly by Affirmed in 1978. However, Secretariat's crown is perhaps the most significant of all, as he decimated his opposition.

Secretariat was owned by Penny (Chenery) Tweedy who took over her family's racing farm after her folks died. There was incredible pressure on her to sell both the farm and the horses but she saw something special in this one horse and decided to risk it all. Tweedy is played by Diane Lane while John Malkovich portrays Lucien Laurin (trainer) who used to dress up in crazy outfits but really knew his trade.Being a Disney production the movie definitely pulls at your heart strings as Tweedy had to deal with saving a farm while juggling her own family (husband and four children.) Lane, like she usually does, pulls off the role perfectly. This is an actress who is now a middle aged woman, but still looks beautiful. Malkovich is so good at whatever diverse role he plays.

Being a sports movie didn't hurt in my eyes, as some of my favorite movies of all time have been sports oriented. "Hoosiers" and "Field of Dreams" area two such examples. This one is just below the class of those, but still incredibly good. Secretariat in real life was a massive winner and so is this movie. I'm giving it a home run - three and a half stars, and recommending you see it when it comes out.

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Real incident ‘Crook’ on Oct 8th

Mohit Suri, the director, says that his forthcoming movie ‘Crook’ is based on real incident. The same is going to release on coming Friday, October 8, 2010. Suri adds that ‘Crook’ is based on a real incident of racial discrimination that occurred while they were shooting in Australia for their another film. The director recalls that one day they had a day off so they went for a party in a pub. But they were not allowed inside as an Indian bouncer told them that there was no space. However, they witnessed that Australians were being allowed to enter. This personal experience helped him in improvising the script of `Crook` a lot, as it deals with racial attacks on Indians in Australia.

The director further says that he didn’t decide to make a movie on the subject after reading reports of discrimination in the media. In fact, he himself went to a store in Australia where the first major racial attack had taken place. He was shocked to learn that an Indian was brutally beaten up there because of his color and religion. Though he is eagerly awaiting ‘Crook’s release, but meanwhile intends to start working on his next film ‘Murder 2’.

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Gubbi – Movie Review

Debutant director Vijay, who has worked under director Prem, has released his debut venture Gubbi. He has done really well in his first attempt and has proved that he is a good director-cum-script writer. He has included all commercial elements and made it complete entertainer.Gubbi is an action-cum-love story. The highlights of the film are Ajith’s performance, Arjun’s music, MR Seenu’s camerawork, novelty in narration, Rangayana Raghu’s comedy and action scenes. The weakness of the film is that several scenes seem to be routine and predictable. Secondly, flash back sequence is bit boring an trimming it could have made the movie more interesting.

The film is a gripping musical love story with an action backdrop. Love plays a very important role in this movie simultaneously friendship is also shown equally. This story is about a first year engineering student named Gautam, who ends up in a problem where his close friends stand by him and solve the big problem he faces.

The director has done wonderful script work and with his logical and credible narration, he really impresses the audience. The film has many unwanted sequences in the first half. The second half is the strength of the film and it is quiet engaging and entertaining.

Gautham, Balu, Badri, Indresh and Ummi are five close friends, who are studying engineering. Gautham (Ajith) meets Ramya (Reema Vora) and becomes her close friend. Later, he comes to know that Ramya is his childhood friend Sahana. When he tries to meet her to tell her the secret, Ramya is seriously injured in a gang war carried out by don Naidu. How Gautham and his friends fight it out with Naidu will form the climax, which will be good to watch on screen.

Although the film has many new faces, Vijay is successful in tapping out wonderful performance from them. Ajith’s acting in Gubbi seems to be more matured when compared to his previous movie Patre Loves Padma. He rocks in both sentimental and action sequences. Reema Vora impresses the pranksters with her smile. As Ambi fan, Rangayana Raghu tickles the funny bones of the viewers. Achuth Kumar, Mico Nagaraj and Petrol Prasanna have also done justice to their roles.

Arjun has composed music for the six songs of the film. Songs like 'Confusion...', Ee Paapi...', Ee Pari Tavaka...' are good to listen. But Arjun has done a blunder by remixing yesteryear song 'Neerinalli Aleya Ungura...' Moreover, the song has been shot as a club song, which is disrespect for RN Jayagopal. Cinematographer MR Seenu has contributed a lot to the film to make it a visual treat. Gubbi is an youthful movie and youths and family audience can enjoy it.

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Robot: Movie Review

For anyone and everyone who has ever complained that Rajnikant's onscreen antics are overblown of heroism, director Shankar this time justifies his larger-than-life screen persona by making him a robot and imbibing him with fanciful superpowers.

Unlike every Rajnikant film where he has a very flamboyant and gimmick-oriented entry, the superstar makes a very casual and unassuming entry in this one. But before you start assuming that Rajni has gone reticent in Robot , director Shankar introduces Rajnikant's prototype in the form of a mechanical andro-humanoid who is the real hero of the film. Post that Shankar starts his blitzkrieg technique of nonstop bombardments of eventful episodes through its runtime and there's no looking back.

Dr Vasi (Rajnikant) is a scientist who has created an andro-humanoid robot named Chitti (Rajnikant again) who is programmed to fight, dance, drive, speak and do everything that humans can. Vasi has designed Chitti with the intention of offering it to the Indian Army as a machine which can fight wars in place of humans and avoid casualties. However his invention is rejected by senior scientist (Danny Dangzongpa) for the machine's inability to understand human emotions.

So Vasi upgrades Chitti's processor and simulates human emotions in it without realizing the implications. With its new acquired human ability, Chitti discovers the feeling of love and falls for Vasi's girlfriend, Sana (Aishwarya Rai). As sentiments of jealousy and revenge corrupt his assessment, he becomes uncontrollably wild and violent, wrecking havoc on the city.

For a pleasant change, director Shankar doesn't delve into his favourite theme of bureaucratic corruption like he has been doing over the years in Sivaji, Anniyan, Nayak, Mudhalvan and Indian . However by means of the mechanical robot, he almost creates a superhuman alter-ego in compelling contrast to the vulnerable scientist, like he did with the split-personality protagonist in Anniyan . And then he makes his superhero so strong that you start idolizing him over his creator, even if it turns endlessly evil. Interestingly through the first half the Robot remains the best buddy of the scientist and very soon in the second half the two are pitted against each other.

Whether it's the storytelling, stunts, special effects or song picturizations, Shankar exactly knows how to keep the audience engaged. The story gets to the point from scene one without straying into unnecessary subplots. The romance between Rajni and Ash is already established and not much screen-time is expended on their love story other than the customary song-n-dance ritual which the director can't do away with. The screenplay has a lot to offer with the major highlights in the first half being an extended fight sequence on a local train and another derived from Spiderman where the Robot rescues humans trapped in fire. And perhaps this would be the only film other than 3 Idiots where a delivery operation on a woman in labour pain earns as much applause from the audience, if not more.

The second half is no short of excitement with a hilarious sequence where the Robot has a negotiation with (believe-it-or-not) mosquitoes and another extended freeway action sequence. The climactic combat where a hundred Rajnikant clones attack, assuming different colossal contours (like in the Hollywood flick Transformers ) is visually mind-blowing. The visual effects take a cue from Hollywood films like Terminator, Spiderman, The Mask, Godzilla and many more but amplify it to gigantic proportions and full-blown sequences.

Shankar used the expertise of Hollywood technicians like Vance Hartwell ( Lord of the Rings ) and Allan B. Holt ( Terminator Salvation, Iron Man 2 ) for makeup, Mary E. Vogt ( Men in Black series) for costume designs, Woo-Ping Yuen ( Kill Bill, Matrix ) as stunt coordinator and Stan Wilson Company ( Avatar, Terminator, Jurassic Park ) for animatronics technology and ensures that the visuals don't look corny or tacky at any instance. And despite the action and effects, the movie never gets too intense and keeps amusing you through its amazing and unusual sense of humour. R. Rathnavelu's cinematography is magnificent, Anthony's editing is flawless and Sabu Cyril's art direction is impressive. The scale at which Shankar mounts his film and the outcome that he achieves is simply unmatchable.

On the downside, the song picturizations, like in any Shankar film, are spectacular but act as major distractions from the plot and even A.R.Rahman's music can't pull you back. Rahman's score is absolutely uninspiring this time and there is no single chartbuster in the entire soundtrack. While the dubbing isn't bad, Swanand Kirkire is so chaste with the Hindi translation of dialogues that at times the dialect sounds heavier than in a normal Hindi film. The pace of the narrative drops intermittently at the start of the second half with the Robot's romance track but soon picks up. And Aishwarya's seduction song in the climax is the most clichéd pretense for the hero to intrude the villain's den.

But all these inconsistencies are overshadowed by Rajni's aura. Not only is Rajnikant a superstar in every sense, he comes up with a superlative act. He immaculately adapts the body-language in the grab of Robot. His action, dance, style, grace and histrionics need no substantiation. You love to watch him as the good-intentioned robot and adore him as much in his villainous act. His vicious laugh reverberates his evil intentions. Aishwarya Rai is supposed to look gorgeous, which she ably does throughout the film. Danny Dangzongpa is able to hold his own in front of Rajnikant which is commendable.

Beyond all the visual extravagance, Shankar succeeds in ending the film with a simple message on how human emotions can manipulate a machine. Thankfully he conveys it effectively without getting preachy, lending a lot of heart to his heady science-fiction. Robot is the flawless combination of biggest superstar and best special effects ever on the Indian screen. Watch it and watch again.

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Movie review: 'Hatchet 2'

If you're not into disembowelment for fun and profit, you may be saying, "'Hatchet II?' Really? Was there a first one?" There was, a 2006 slog through the swamps of amateur filmmaking that has somehow gathered a following. It is the tale of the ghost of the malformed Victor Crowley splattering folks all over a New Orleans fen. The most shocking thing about the sequel is that it's a dramatic improvement.

Or nondramatic. The franchise has embraced its true nature: horror comedy. The film does as much winking at its core constituency as blinking blood out of its eyes. It's loaded with in-jokes and boasts one genuinely funny performance, from Colton Dunn, whose ode to food is a showstopper.

"Hatchet II" doesn't scare but amuses fans with increasingly ridiculous deaths. Whereas the first film concerns a tour boat that runs afoul of Crowley, this time the sole survivor ( Lacey Chabert ringer Danielle Harris) returns with a party of gun-toting yahoos, despite the expedition's leader having just said bullets won't kill the ghost. I wonder how that'll go.

Rising genre figure Adam Green's filmmaking is definitely refining, although the movie still looks to have been shot at the Museum of Natural History. It doesn't make a lick of sense, and the real curse is its painfully repetitive dialogue, but who cares? You don't go to this film for Sorkinesque repartee; you go for the world's longest chainsaw, or equal-opportunity genital mutilations, or very, very long bludgeonings. And here they are, in buckets. "Hatchet II." MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes.

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