Movie Review: Drive Angry 3D

I’ve spent a large percentage of my life - sometimes in the foyers of cinemas, though often within the walls of my own brain - defending Nicholas Cage, making the argument that he’s one of cinemas greatest living talents. “Consider his performance in Leaving Las Vegas or Bad Lieutenant” I propose, more often than not atop the buzz of people pretending to be bees. “Yes he’s been in some bad films too - but that’s what happens when you’re forced to fund your addiction to buying supposed relics from King Arthur’s kingdom!”More buzzing, more bees, often some laughter. Ah Nicholas, you really don’t make it easy for yourself.

Drive Angry is not a film I imagine I will ever be using in providing a defense of Cage’s thespian chops. In it, Cage plays lowlife John Milton, a (predictably angry) man driving from Colorado to Louisiana in order to stop a religious cult from sacrificing his grandchild to the devil. Directed by Patrick Lussier, it contains a scene where Cage shoots dead six members of said cult whilst drinking Jack Daniels and having sex with a cocktail waitress. It is the sort of scene - and indeed film - that Quentin Tarantino would adore, if only it wasn’t so shiny and new.

Drive Angry is trash. Filthy, sticky, gnawed on by rats trash. But it’s also one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in a cinema so far this year.

Because here’s the thing; despite my arguments outlined prior, Cage fans like myself have long accepted the actor will most likely never get the respect his talents deserve. Judging by his recent roles, you’d imagine he’s come to terms with this too (three months into the year he’s already stared in Season Of The Witch – a film in which he has a row with a wolf - next up is something called, gulp, The Hungry Rabbit Jumps). But the reason Cage fans keep coming back isn’t just to pay of that suit of medieval chainmail he just bought…

No, we come back because there is nobody who makes being an actor look more fun than Nicholas Cage. Even at his most pay-cheque happy, his shear mania for dressing up in a character’s skin is infectious, and while I can name you many bad movies on his CV, I’d struggle to name you a dull one. Drive Angry is neither of the above. It is puerile, tasteless and it makes Machete look like The Pianist. But while it’s never going to validate my claim for Cage’s acting genius, it does everything to substantiate my follow up claim: that Nicholas Cage is Hollywood’s most fun. Go on, admit it. You want to see it. Me? I’m already getting giddy about Drive Angrier…

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Drive Angry 3D – Movie Review

This is among the guiltiest of cinematic pleasures, pure unadulterated trash wrapped in a well-made package. It’s trash that’s so trashy that it achieves a kind of greatness.

Our favorite eccentric Nic Cage is beautifully cast as Milton, Hell’s bounty hunter. Sidekick Amber Heard is perfect Noir pin-up girl Piper, trashy mouthed, pouty and quick with a gun. They join forces to hunt down a backwoods preacher responsible for killing Milton’s daughter and kidnapping his infant granddaughter.

They tool around in a cool vintage car loaded with Milton’s vintage weaponry and set off for a little rage on the road.

Piper is keen to go along with Milton. She’s lost her job at the coffee shop for talking back to her handsy boss while trying to feed a poor family. Her thug boyfriend played by co-writer Todd Farmer, beats her and always promises more. Milton notices him slam her to the ground and intervenes in unforgettable fashion with help from an air conditioner.

And he and Piper make for the woods in that revved up grandpa car where much of the action takes place.

Piper finds she is comfortable and safe around Milton. She’s understandably allergic to men, but her connection with him is intuitively solid. They form a father daughter bond. There’s no romantic connection between them. The writers carefully give them other, age appropriate lovers, a conservative choice in light of the stars’ 23 year age difference.

Out of the blue and from a cool car, steps The Accountant (William Fichtner), dressed to the nines, as supremely poised as a GQ model, suddenly transported into Outback USA, smelling not of men’s fragrance but threat. He is there to collect a bill. And he is neither patient nor kind. Watch for a sensational sequence in which The Accountant and the ex-boyfriend mix things up. And I mean way up.

The Preacher (Billy Burke) is evil incarnate. He’s ornery, blood thirsty, runs a kind of coven of followers unencumbered by conscience to slow him down; after all, he’s planning a satanic sacrifice of Milton’s granddaughter. He beckons his gun crazy acolytes with a long, finely pointed fingernail.

The stunts fight scenes and special effects are extraordinary. Milton blasts it out with several gunslingers while a naked woman clings to his body … you want to rub your eyes and ask if you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing. It’s that kind of movie experience, strange, mad, bad and dangerous to know.

One of the films strengths is its colorful secondary cast of toothless hillbillies and hicks, devil worshippers and truck stop owners. It’s a strange world of the B movie sort in the wilds of Louisiana, thick with smoke and superstition, swamps and dusty roads, a perfect depiction of a cinematic time and place that whips us in the face with its force.

Regarding 3D, it heightens much of the picture but in the end isn’t crucial. The key to Drive Angry is its unforgettable characters and that crazy, upside down world that holds life and death so closely together. Drive Angry is for the thick-skinned.

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Movie Review: Unknown

What if “Bourne Identity” was blended with “Taken?” That concoction is “Unknown.” “Taken” was a sleeper hit a couple of years ago and one of the more memorable movies that year. It also made Liam Neeson (“A-Team,” “The Next Three Days“) a bonafide action star.

Neeson reprises his role as a one-man force. This time, instead of crossing continents to find his kidnapped daughter, he’s in search for the truth to recover his lost identity.

Neeson is Dr. Martin Harris, a university botanist arriving in a snowy Berlin from the United States with his wife, Elizabeth (January Jones), to attend a summit. The summit is funded by Prince Shada (Mido Hamada) and features Professor Bressler (Sebastian Koch) as a keynote speaker. The goal of the summit is to rid the world of hunger and through research the professor has evidently discovered genetically modified corn that can grow in any climate.

Upon arrival at the hotel, Martin realizes that he has left his briefcase at the airport. While his wife is checking in at the lobby, he takes a cab back to the airport to retrieve it. A car accident sends the cab reeling into the river. Whilst his life is saved by the courageous driver, ‘Gina’ (Diane Kruger), Martin has no idea that he’s about to embark on the ride of his life.

Lying at the hospital in a coma for four days without any identification, no one has visited Martin. While it’s a blur of images, he remembers his name and bits and pieces about his life.

After he’s prematurely discharged from the hospital at his insistence, Martin goes back to the hotel. To his shock, no one recognizes him, including his wife. Furthermore, someone else has taken his place as “Dr. Harris.” Predictably, Martin is hauled out by the police. At the station, when the online profile of Dr. Harris comes up, it’s the picture of that other man. When he asks to contact a colleague and old friend, Rodney Cole (Frank Langella) back in the States, the call is greeted by a voicemail. Later at the university, Martin is met with Professor Bressler and “Dr. Harris.”

Martin goes on to track the cab driver in hopes that she could help him with any details. An illegal immigrant who initially refuses to have anything to do with him, Gina soon sympathizes with him and becomes embroiled in his quest. Compared to bland Jones, Kruger is not bland and she gets the benefit of speaking in her native German tongue, but I don’t buy her as a super-skilled driver.

Thinking he’s probably lost his mind, he returns to the hospital for further treatments. He knows something isn’t right but can’t put his finger on it. His sense of being followed proves to be true when a mysterious man tries to kill him. Although things are actually better now he’s convinced that he’s not going out of his mind.

At the recommendation of the nurse (Eva Lobau) who cares for him at the hospital, he talks to Ernst Jurgen (Bruno Ganz), a former Stasi officer who specializes in finding missing identities. Meanwhile, assailants continue to pursue Martin.

Chaos soon follows. Brawls and shootouts. Car chases and crashes. More deaths. When Rodney arrives in Berlin and meets Martin, all is not well. But finally, revelations…topped with explosions.

It’s hard to overlook the oversized plot holes. In 21st century Berlin, why would Martin not even attempt to log on to his professional and personal e-mail accounts, and contact anyone else in the States? Why would he not insist the police take his fingerprints? Because then there wouldn’t be a story. Lastly, it’s not easy to surpass suspension of disbelief concerning our protagonist and his actions in the end.

“Unknown” is a twisty thriller with an ending of “The Sixth Sense” (M. Night Shyamalan) proportion. Preposterous? Sure. But within the larger movie universe, I can accept the purported reality. It’s just too entertaining not to.

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Movie review: 'Immigration Tango'

In writer-director David Burton Morris' inept "Immigration Tango," set in sunny Miami Beach, two couples switch partners to avoid an imminent deportation. It might have been a premise for an effective romantic comedy that pointed up the plight of undocumented immigrants, but Morris and his co-writers aren't up to the task.

Elika Portnoy plays Elena, a Russian whose visa is about to run out; her Colombian lover Carlos (Carlos Leon) is facing a similar problem. So Mike (McCaleb Burnett), the fiancé of Elena's best friend, Betty (Ashley Wolfe), agrees to marry her in order for her to be able to remain in the country.

The four principals are attractive and capable, and their characters are drawn with verve and definition. Carlos is a live wire, a chef who dreams of owning his own restaurant. Betty is an ambitious law student with a forceful personality that doesn't exactly mesh with the gentle-natured Mike, an English literature grad student who seems to have been stretching out the completion of his dissertation for years. Elena does appreciate Mike's love of poetry.

Unfortunately, Morris sends the quartet to visit Mike's wealthy parents, who are such crass bigots they are impossible to find amusing, and the film fails to gain any momentum. Eventually, "Immigration Tango" throws away what little credibility it has in going for a finish of total improbability and silliness.

"Immigration Tango." MPAA rating: R for language and some sexual content. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. Playing at Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex, Santa Monica; AMC Burbank Town Center 8, Burbank; AMC 30 at the Block, Orange.

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Movie review: 'Immigration Tango'

In writer-director David Burton Morris' inept "Immigration Tango," set in sunny Miami Beach, two couples switch partners to avoid an imminent deportation. It might have been a premise for an effective romantic comedy that pointed up the plight of undocumented immigrants, but Morris and his co-writers aren't up to the task.

Elika Portnoy plays Elena, a Russian whose visa is about to run out; her Colombian lover Carlos (Carlos Leon) is facing a similar problem. So Mike (McCaleb Burnett), the fiancé of Elena's best friend, Betty (Ashley Wolfe), agrees to marry her in order for her to be able to remain in the country.

The four principals are attractive and capable, and their characters are drawn with verve and definition. Carlos is a live wire, a chef who dreams of owning his own restaurant. Betty is an ambitious law student with a forceful personality that doesn't exactly mesh with the gentle-natured Mike, an English literature grad student who seems to have been stretching out the completion of his dissertation for years. Elena does appreciate Mike's love of poetry.

Unfortunately, Morris sends the quartet to visit Mike's wealthy parents, who are such crass bigots they are impossible to find amusing, and the film fails to gain any momentum. Eventually, "Immigration Tango" throws away what little credibility it has in going for a finish of total improbability and silliness.

"Immigration Tango." MPAA rating: R for language and some sexual content. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. Playing at Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex, Santa Monica; AMC Burbank Town Center 8, Burbank; AMC 30 at the Block, Orange.

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Movie review: The Eagle

‘The Eagle’ ~ a story of myth, legend & courage... In Roman-ruled Britain in 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion of close to 5,000 men in the mountains of Scotland, a young centurion named Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the missing Ninth Legion.

Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia, which are familiar to Esca. To survive, the tables are turned as the slave becomes the master when they journey through savage tribes and hostile environments’, as Marcus is driven to make peace with his father's memory to retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth Legion.

Believable performances by the cast and a visually pleasing cinematic presentation, ‘The Eagle’ makes for a good look at the essence of courage and honor, while we’re transported to a time of myths and legends. A nice change of pace as it takes its time to develop the characters and let the story unfold…

Starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, István Göz, Bence Gerö, Denis O'Hare, Paul Ritter, Zsolt László, Julian Lewis Jones, Aladár Laklóth, James Hayes, and Donald Sutherland. Focus Features release. Rated PG-13 for battle sequences and some are disturbing images. Runtime-114 minutes.

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Patiala House: A single that could have been a boundary

One thing I will say for Nikhil Advani’s “Patiala House”. It touches upon a subject that a lot of Indians will identify with — parents who think they know what’s best for their children and children straining against the leash to break out.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Udaan” explored that theme beautifully, and director Advani tries to combine it with another thing Indians can identify with — cricket. Unfortunately, he populates the story with so many things that the main story is lost amid Punjabi wedding sequences, slapstick comedy and an insipid romance.

Akshay Kumar plays Pargat Singh Kahlon, a fast bowler living in Southall, London. Pargat’s father (Rishi Kapoor) nips his cricketing career in the bud because he doesn’t want his son playing cricket for England. Senior Kahlon has been so scarred by racist attacks on his community that he hates “goras” and doesn’t want anyone in his family to have anything to do with them — so much so that he threatens to kill himself if his son plays for England. That doesn’t stop him from leaving London though, something that isn’t quite explained in the film and comes across as a major weakness in the plot.

So Pargat spends his days looking morose, running a grocery shop and his night practising cricket. Also, he gets guilt trips from his entire extended family, who all have ambitions but cannot follow them because the eldest son hasn’t. When the entire England cricket team is sacked and a whole new team is to be built, Pargat’s neighbour, who also happens to be a national selector, convinces him to try out for the team, but he refuses. Enter Simran, an over-chirpy wannabe actress who convinces him and his whole family that they must rebel against the patriach and follow their own dreams.

“Patiala House” does have the germ of a compelling story in there somewhere, as well as some genuine moments, but these are few and far between. Advani couldn’t resist the temptation to make this a masala film and ends up diluting his main premise. The rest of the cast isn’t too impressive, and the plot has too many holes to hold true. You will have to suspend disbelief several times to actually believe what’s happening on the screen. How does a bowler who hasn’t played for any club get into the England cricket team? How, in this day and age, can Rishi Kapoor’s character not know that his son is playing for England in spite of live TV, the internet and phones? And why does cricketer Nasser Hussain (playing himself) attempt to speak Hindi?

Akshay Kumar, however, does redeem himself a bit — he is restrained and efficient as the protagonist, even if he doesn’t take the character to another level. It’s a huge change from the avatar we have seen him in in recent times.

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Movie Review: The Eagle (of the 9th)

Director Kevin MacDonald’s follows director Domenic Sena’s Season Of The Witch by about a month, both films displaying sword fighting, four years after Zack Snyder’s 300 brought the blood fests into vogue. While Season Of The Witch is an intriguing paean to the Hammer Films / American International Pictures of the 1960s (especially Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe movies), The Eagle sports multiple intriguing plots that push veteran actors Donald Sutherland and Denis O’Hare way into the background, and a not-so-thinly veiled homosexual undercurrent between the master, Roman soldier Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) and his British slave, Esca (Jamie Bell). Telling the story set in 135 A.D. with these two enemies building a deep friendship and devotion is less blatant but more intense than Brokeback Mountain. Perhaps because Jake Gyllenhall’s Jack Twist and Heath Ledger’s Ennis Del Mar didn’t come with Uncle Donald Sutherland.

purchasing one to attend to the other Gyllenhall/Twist’s passive role couldn’t overcome Ledger/Del Mar’s self-hatred. Though the musical score in both films feels rather similar, Esca and Aquila have no problem reversing their roles and letting their love/hate relationship sort itself out. “He will slit your throat the minute you’re alone” Sutherland as Uncle Aquila warns. Uncle was a little off the mark. When Channing Tatum looks up and says “Esca, what’s happening?” only to hear “Get on your knees”, well…the fact that these fellows keep their clothing on through most of the last three-quarters of the flick indicates that the historical fiction flick has its own mission beyond the gratuitous violence of 300 and the Goth/horror that takes over in Season of the Witch. “You’re my slave”, Jamie Bell tells Channing Tatum. “Do as I did for you, and you’ll survive.”

Based on writer Rosemary Sutcliffe’s 1954 children’s book, The Eagle of the Ninth, and set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, the quest to go beyond Hadrian’s Wall feels a bit like the original Star Trek as it set out for the “undiscovered country.” Luckily for filmgoers, and for the actors involved, the beautifully filmed epic keeps your attention for the full two hours. The battle scenes are exciting and the younger actors get opportunities the script doesn’t afford the older veterans.

Thirty-one year old Channing Tatum is on the cusp of movie superstardom and the choice of an historical epic works better as a career move than his truncated role in The Dilemma (a film that would have benefited from an expansion of his cavalier “Zip” character). Jamie Bell also gets a platform to bring his talents to a wider audience, and though it’s difficult to imagine life nineteen hundred years ago at least the filmmakers strive to keep the tone somewhat authentic. Season Of The Witch didn’t even try to get the language to transport you back. And where the memorable line in Brokeback Mountain was “I wish I knew how to quit you”, the telling moment here is when Tatum looks up at Bell and says “I thought I lost you.” Actor Jake Hamilton interviewed both actors and called it a “bromance”, but there’s more to it than that and the reviews already initiated could spawn a series of YouTube reinventions of The Eagle that could give it an entirely new life on the web. Macho twenty-somethings will find the battle scenes inviting, but there’s no denying the gay audience is going to view the chemistry of the Channing/Bell pairing in a way that will make this a cult hit, whether or not it clicks at the mainstream box office.

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Gaganam - Movie Review

Director Radha Mohan has chosen a hijack drama this time, the delicate emotions of passengers of the plane and the delay of bureaucracy in dealing with the terrorists and how the passengers are saved. Read on for Gaganam review.

Story:
A flight from Chennai to Delhi gets hijacked within five minutes of its take off from Hyderabad. The hijackers wanted to take the plane to Rawalpindi in Pakistan, but the pilots insist on an emergency landing due to the mistake of one of the hijackers ,who spoiled one of the engines of the plane. So, the plane makes an emergency landing at Tirupati on the grounds of technical snag.4HOME$

However, after its landing, the authorities come to know that the plane is hijacked. Then, the top officials of the government, like secretary to government, police authorities and NSG commandos reach the airport. There are married couple, unmarried youth, elderly people, a politician, an astrologer, a Christian father, and a child who is operated upon for a heart surgery. They are returning to Pakistan. As the trauma continues, one of the passengers gets killed by the hijackers, who demand that the government release a notorious terrorist called Yousuf Khan and Rs 100 crore money. Central Cabinet discusses the issue for about two days even as the trauma of the passengers continues. The NSG chief Ravindra (Nagarjuna) pleads for a commando operation but the authorities refuse. Finally, a decision was taken to release Yousuf Khan. However, while bringing Yousuf Khan to Tirupati, the truck stuck by an avalanche and he dies in that accident. With no option to handover Yousuf Khan, the authorities give permission to Ravindra to take up a commando operation.
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Meanwhile, a television scribe (Harshavardhan) with over enthusiasm sneaks into the airport as a police officer and shoots the flight picture. He comes to know that Yousuf Khan met with an accident and calls up the studio and leaks the information. So, the hijackers demand to see Yousuf Khan alive. Then Ravindra uses his mind and brings a film artiste, a director (Brahmanandam) and a make-up man, who recreated a similar scene in a recent film. With the help of the director, he shoots a clipping and transmits to the hijackers that he is alive but is in hospital. What happens next should be seen on-screen.


Highlights:
Radha Mohan's ability is clearly visible on the screen and has made the film worth watching. He has not concentrated on action but he has highlighted the mindset of passengers. Nagarjuna too has not gone overboard at any time. He has dominated certain scenes and makes the audiences involve in the film and has given a feel that they are watching a real life incident. Dr Bharat Reddy, Prakash Raj, Melkote and others has given their best in the film. The way how the present day channels are complicating certain incidents with their attitude to increase their TRP ratings are perfectly portrayed through Harshavardhan’s character. Brahmanandam gives a relief with his comedy. Poonam Kaur is apt as an airhostess, while Sanakhan is good as a passenger. Cinematographer KV Guhan needs should be complimented for capturing the emotions of the artistes and the art director should also be patted for erecting a plane set in Ramoji Film City, replicating the interior of a plane exactly. Umerji Anuradha has penned good dialogues for the film and the typical conversation of bureaucrats and passengers has helped the film-maker to drag the passengers into the movie and immerse in the movie. The incidents that touch the hearts of audiences is a doctor’s attitude to treat a terrorist, when he falls sick and one of the terrorists talk to a child in the plane with so much love.

Lapses:
The first half deals with the emotions and the attitude of the bureaucrats in getting a nod from the government and how delayed decisions would be taken in a tense situation. The film appears a little nagging and boring because the audiences continue to expect a big action scenes but the film continues to roll without any such incident. The interval twist gives a shock to the audiences. However, the film picks up pace in the second half. But for a little stretched first half, the entire film is worth watching.

Remarks:
You can watch the film for production values, camerawork, Nagarjuna and Prakash Raj’s performance and the drama run by the director in a perfect way. It is a really must watch film. Though, there is no heroine, no duets and other songs, the audiences would get a feel of watching a good movie and they would admit such films should not have such routine commercial elements.

Cast: Nagarjuna, Prakash Raj, Brahmanandam, Dr Bharat Reddy, Charan, Iqbal, Harshavardhan, Raviprakash, Sanakhan, Poonam Kaur, Srilakshmi, Melkote, Baby Samreen Sultana, Prithvi and others
Credits: Dialogues – Umerji Anuradha, Cinematography – KV Guhan, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Kishore TE, Online Editing – Mehek Gupta, Background score – Praveen Mani, Presenter – Smt Anita, Producer – Raju, Story, screenplay and direction – Radha Mohan.

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Movie Review: Brighton Rock

It takes a brave man to remake the Boulting Brothers post-war adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1938 novel. Released in 1947, and staring Richard Attenborough as 17-year-old thug Pinkie Brown, the film is as iconic as any of the era. A story as grim as the grime washed in on the towns pebble beach, it was so notorious on release that the Daily Mirror critic who reviewed the film concluded his review by stating “this film should not be shown”. A brave remake then - or maybe just stupid.

In truth it’s a bit of both, which is a more balanced review than most that have encompassed the recent backlash to Rowan Joffe’s remake. It’s easy to see reviewers misgivings, The American’s scriptwriters take on the tale isn’t without its revisions; the narrative is now set in 1964, well on the runway to the death penalty being rescinded, and now set against the backdrop of youth in revolt – Mods, Rockers, all that. Joffe also plays up the original religious symbolism of Greene’s novel, often described as the authors first “truly Catholic work”. It fits snuggly with Martin Phipps old-fashioned orchestral score.

Where Joffe’s interpretation of the source material might be deemed stupid is in his stylistic tweaks. Culturally and politically 1964 was a more different time than 1947 was to 1938, and the shoehorning in of Mods and Rockers is an unsatisfying (the unkind would say contrived) addition to the narrative. It means the new film loses some of the danger of the earlier outing, and sometimes the montages of moody young men on scooters veer a little too close to a promo short for some awful Britpop band. But there’s still enough here to make a case for a brave, perhaps even inspired reimagining.

Pinkie, played by Sam Riley, is left well enough alone to be as good a antihero as Attenborough’s take on the young gangster, yet the Control actors subtle brushstrokes craft a character maybe more realized than his prior incarnation. It’s best explained via a scene lifted straight from the novel, in which Pinkie is seen courting Rose (the ably cast Andrea Riseborough, who works wonders in navigating her characters descent from naive teagirl to moll). During their first date he cruelly pinches her arm. She tells him if he likes it, he can continue. It’s the look of consternation on his face that perfectly embodies Greene’s intended message. Is cruelty something we’re born with, or are we free to choose?

Alongside a rich, best of British cast (Andy Serkis as Mr Colleoni, John Hurt as Phil Corkery, Helen Mirren as Ida), it’s these new insights that did most to endear Joffe’s film to me. On the basis of those aforementioned reviews, they may repel many others. Such are the hazards in embroaching beloved source material; you’re not just tinkering with original works but its audience’s personal experience. Yet it’s unlikely this will be the last take on Brighton Rock; it’s interesting that Joffe’s ending is the one Greene originally intended for the 1947 film.

Few would say Joffe’s take is the definite version of Greene’s classic, but perhaps that fact suggests that somewhere between the two lays an adaption that’s getting close to being so. Give it a few years, and fans may well become appalled at a remake all over again. In varying ways to the original, Pinkie will always repel.

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The Roommate Movie Review

The Roommate Movie Reviews are in, as well as the box office numbers for the thriller’s opening weekend. Earning an estimated figure of $15 million, Minka Kelly of Friday Night Lights and Gossip Girls’ Leighton Meester play college roommates in this latest flick from director Christian E. Christiansen.

And if you liked Single White Female, BSCReview.Com says that’s exactly what you’ll get when you watch this “tired carbon copy of that movie, and there is nothing original, likable, or even frightening about it.”

Movie reviews also criticized Kelly and Meester’s acting abilities, or lack there of, in the horror film. The low ratings for the actresses could have been due to a less than stellar dialogue or The Roommate’s “scotch tape or crossed fingers approach” to film making. Several sites did however commend the five to ten minute appearance of Nina Dobrev of Vampire Diaries who played the role of Maria.

And just like the movie, unfortunately the movie reviews continue to get worse. According to Shockya.Com, the movie “is a massive failure.” Good points were also made when it came to a weak plot, The Roommate “doesn’t bother suggesting the neediness or desire that leads Meester to attach herself to Kelly, stated the A.V. Club.

All in all, a weak storyline, some bad acting and terrible dialogue is the general consensus across the board when it comes to The Roommate movie reviews. Did you catch the thriller in theaters this weekend? Is it as bad as critics say? Give us your personal reviews below and tell us what you think!

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Kaboom movie review

This is a teen movie and, while it's possible that that specific age group might find it mildly entertaining, it's really nothing more than a superficial romp with a bunch of students who imagine there's a conspiracy as a result of taking too many illegal chemicals on a regular basis.

Smith (Thomas Dekker), who believes he is gay, is a freshman at college and is about to celebrate his nineteenth birthday. He is haunted by dreams which include some people he knows, and some he doesn't. He spends a lot of time with his lesbian best friend Stella (Haley Bennett) and when his dreams go up a notch, it's her he confides in.



This film begins with quite a lot of humor. The tone is light, quirky and really quite entertaining, However, all this changes about thirty minutes in when it becomes dark and melodramatic, involving a storyline about Smith's father that is too serious for what has come before.

This change in tone continues for the rest of the film, hopping back and fore between fun and the dramatic, making it difficult to enjoy either.

Most of the humor is delivered by Smith's best friend, Stella, who is unerringly sarcastic. When Smith confides in her that he has had sex with a woman, and he thinks he might not be gay, her response is scathingly sarcastic.

"Just because you randomly stick it in a girl doesn't mean anything beyond the fact that you need to monitor your drinking". If this had been Stella's story and she had been allowed to deliver her acerbic wit throughout, it would have been an exhilarating experience.

The producers bumph on this film claim it is a sci-fi story centered on the sexual awakening of a group of college students, but if these kids spend any more time in bed, they'll never make it to class.

As for the sci-fi element, presumably this is a reference to the characters who dress up as pigs, in which case the producers must be smoking the same stuff as the students because, where I come from, pigs can't fly.

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Movie Review: Yeh Saali Zindagi

Story : Arun (Irrfan Khan) and Kuldeep (Arunoday Singh), two gangsters commit the biggest blunder. They get their love life entangled with their criminal misdemeanours. End result? A guns and roses story where everybody gets enmeshed in a dangerous web of fraud, treachery and kidnapping. Can anybody break the vicious circle?

Movie Review : Sudhir Mishra ain't no stranger to gangster rap. He has already proved his prowess at tackling Bollywood's favourite theme in an earlier cult thriller, Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, where love exploded against the violent backdrop of the Mumbai underworld. This time, emotions go ballistic in the seamy alleys and shady suburbs of Delhi's underbelly. And yes, the backdrop simply takes your breath away. Mishra's canvas -- and cinematographer (Sachin Kumar Krishnan) -- captures the Capital and it's alluring adjuncts with love and caress, creating stunning visuals of a city that's tranquil in turmoil.

But the picturesque visuals are just one part of the story. More important is the story itself. Mishra's script not only keeps you entertained with its umpteen twists and turns, it also pays due respect to the intelligence of the viewer. Like Kaminey, Yeh Saali Zindagi too expects the viewer to shake off his lethargy, catch the stray dialogue, understand the intonations and figure out the nuances of a screenplay that doesn't believe in spilling all the beans, all at once. The crime thriller unfolds as a narration by lead player, Irrfan Khan, a gangster who works for shady Saurabh Shukla but loses his heart to crooner, Chitrangda. It's a one-sided, totally irrational love affair that not only creates a storm in his ordered life but catapults him towards doom. Equally messed up and running on a parallel track is henchman Arunoday Singh's life, which oscillates between passionate encounters with harried wife, Aditi Rao Hyadri and double-edged dealings with two gangster brothers, Yashpal Sharma and Prashant Narayanan. Add to this a corrupt cop, Sushant Singh, and you have an entire circus of crooks trying to hoodwink each other for the final picking.

It does sound a bit confusing but if you're alert and attentive, you're going to love this merry-go-round. Specially since the ensemble cast breathes fire and passion in their performances. If Irrfan Khan leads the pack with his individual charisma, then Arunoday Singh isn't a step behind with his maverick charms. Both Chitrangda and Aditi too are mercurial with their moves, while Saurabh Shukla's archetypal Delhi-fixer act is fun to watch. Of course, it's hard to ignore another important facet of the film: the music. Swanand Kirkire's lyrics and Nishat Khan's music is not only a constant refrain, it adds leverage too.

Dark, devious and different, Yeh Saali Zindagi is brain-and-brawn drama. Wish the Censor hadn't beeped so much.

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Film Review: Dressed

David Swajeski's documentary Dressed focuses on young Laotian-American designer Nary Manivong as he prepares for his first big fashion show in New York City, while presenting a quick overview of the fashion industry today and the challenges it presents to the armies of ambitious aspirants dreaming of having their own successful label.

For many of these aspirants, a definite reality check is offered by a number of Swajeski's fashion-insider interview subjects. Particularly informative and well-versed is Lynn Yeager, who, with her abbreviated Louise Brooks bob and pixie-clown makeup, is one of the scene's foremost visual eccentrics. A fashionista in the truest sense of the word, she observes that the glamorous rock/movie-star-like fantasy of being a designer is just that, a fantasy, in "a very cutthroat, back-stabby, weird little business" that demands unrelenting hard work and "is very jinx-y," where highly talented designers fail while well-connected mediocrities stay in business. It can all come down to the "success" that happens when you get that dreamed-of (but impossible) order from Saks Fifth Avenue for 1,000 pairs of a trouser you made from the end of a bolt of material you found on 14th Street. "Being a butcher would be more glamorous," she avers.

For Manivong, these challenges are multiplied given his background, from a homeless teenager in Columbus, Ohio, to his ongoing New York struggles with finance and gaining recognition in an already overpopulated industry. To finance his collection, he works two jobs and lives rent-free through the kindness of a friend who lets him crash at her place. As the clock ticks down to showtime, he is faced with horrendous problems, like the venue for his show—which is costing him double what he had envisioned—cancelling him at the last minute and his manufacturer refusing to release his garments until they are paid for in toto. It's a real hair-raiser, with a happy ending when his high-school principal, who always believed in him (and cites the sober fact of the paucity of students graduating these days, especially without proper family structure), comes through with the money.

Manivong has evidently gone on to further success and his story is an inspiring one, but Swajeski lingers too artfully long on pensive close-ups of his handsome face while recounting his struggle, and after a while the themes of the hardships of the business and the necessity of believing in yourself become repetitive. And not all of the industry experts interviewed are as trenchant as Yeager, although designer Nanette Lepore is bracingly realistic about the success she has managed to attain.

Early on, we see Manivong perusing the Internet for trends which will inform his design sensibility, which gave me a rather sinking feeling about how such "necessary" awareness of a commercial point of view can stifle real creativity. This is brought home when his collection is finally viewed, as it is decidedly underwhelming in terms of line and color, at once too respectively derivative and unappetizing. Swajeski's busy camerawork here, offering only long shots and quickly intercut close-ups of the garments which avert close study, almost seems complicit in an attempt to camouflage these weaknesses.

Over the end credits, we are shown Manivong's progress over a couple of years to the present time, as he celebrates with no less than Tommy Hilfiger, a designer who represents everything one can say about commerce over talent. Manivong's most recent work appears to be more interesting, but unfortunately we only get a flash of it.

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127 Hours - movie review

One Friday in April, 2003, Aron Ralston raced home from work, gathered his gear, jumped in his truck and fled the city. Nothing particularly unusual about this: Ralston was just another weekend warrior driven to escape civilisation, exchanging man-made canyons for the real thing. As usual Aron didn't tell anyone where he was going – that would defeat the purpose of his flight. The plan: biking, hiking and climbing exploration in the Blue John Canyon, a portion of the sprawling and ancient network within Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Things didn’t exactly work out that way, but they rarely do in extraordinary tales of human endeavour. As such survivalist stories go, Ralston’s ranks up there with best.

A carefree, 27-year old adrenaline junkie, Ralston was something of a loner, happy to forgo family and society for the most part in favour of the pursuit of his other interests, specifically weekends just like this. Nothing particularly out of ordinary, the world is full of such singular people. Very few though face so profoundly a life and death situation as to question what would they would do if faced with the unthinkable? Is the will to live programmed into our DNA?

These are central concerns of 127 Hours, Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Ralston’s own memoir Between A Rock And A Hard Place. It is the first time Boyle has taken on screenwriting duties, sharing credit with Simon Beaufoy who wrote Slumdog Millionaire. Indeed, 127 Hours shares much with the Oscar-winning shaggy dog story: A.R. Rahman returns to score original music, so too cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. As a result, the stylistic fingerprints of Slumdog spill over in 127 Hours, yet there is more to it than this and one can’t help but think of Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust For Life’ playing over a certain Scottish film about heroin addicts. No doubt, there are thematic parallels to be drawn.

Boyle draws visual comparisons to help us make the transition. From the crowded allyways of Bombay, 127 Hours wildly energetic, split-screen opening introduces us to all the crowded hotspots of the world, people everywhere going about their business. Instead of Iggy Pop it’s Free Blood (‘Never Hear Surf Music Again’), lyrics wondering out loud: “There must be some kind of chemical / makes us different from the animals.”

Walking talking Gatorade advert Ralston (James Franco) hits the road overnight, sleeping in his truck so to use every moment of sunlight Saturday has to offer. Freewheeling toward his destiny he meets a couple of girls and shows them a good time, canyon style, before making off. They’re stunned by the experience as we are. Then fate plays its card, or in this case a boulder that, as Ralston observes, waited millions of years for him to come along.

Twenty minutes into the film, cue title. It’s a brilliant quip by Boyle, recognising everything before is merely prologue.

So how do you turn a story about a guy with one arm trapped against the wall at the bottom of a cravasse into a movie? First things first, you get James Franco to play the guy. The actor-daytime soap star-poet-academic-model is at his charmismatic best here, never out-acting the story or script. Understated, empathetic and completely magnetic as he explores the range of mental states Ralston experiences during his five-day internment. Franco has talent in spades and has never been better than he is here.

Equal to the task is Boyle and his collaborators who are never afraid to turn this seemingly limited cinematic canvas into something pyrotechnic. The result is profoundly life-affirming, cliché though that may be. It doesn’t come cheap, you have to earn it as an auroma of sickening anticipation builts and builds until the moment you walked into the cinema fearing finally arrives. No matter how sweaty or faint it makes you, think yourself lucky it wasn’t you who had to snap your own forearm and cut your synaptic nerve with a pair of pliers.

Ralston makes use of everything at his disposal to survive: rope, plastic bags, precious water reserves, a video camera to record his thoughts, and, of course, that multitool. Likewise, Boyle uses every storytelling device from flashbacks to hallucinations to explore a man in this very particular moment of self-discovery. It’s impossible to truly appreciate what Ralston endured. Alone, knowing no-one knew where he was, that his absence wouldn’t even be noticed until he was long dead – such things likely never leave you.

If life and how we live it is defined by the choices we make, then 127 Hours represents a moment of Darwinism personified and Danny Boyle a filmmaker with his finger pressed firmly against the pulse of human potential.

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