White House Down (2013) - Action

After watching “Olympus Has Fallen” last week – I actually gave myself a couple of days before picking up this one as they are back to back same stuff (I thought) but this one turns out to be a better movie and as comparisons are inevitable anyways. Fortunately I like Gerard Butler who starred the previous one but I actually love Jamie Foxx more I guess hence this one was a superb time pass with some real good one liners and comic scenes. White House Down actually talks a lot about American politics, White House and gives a lot of information what I expected in Olympus Has Fallen but that one turns out to be a non stop action movie right from the first till the very last frame. This one has limited action but a lot happening all around – it actually gives quite a good guided tour of White House to the audience and that guy who plays the guide was very funny – it’s all run of the mill stuff from an American Movie standards – same old thing of getting hold of their nuclear devices and planning to blow off the enemies, asking some million dollars and an airplane to escape. But the way it all is done is something I liked – Channing Tatum in lead as a DC Cop going for an interview to the White House for Secret Service position takes his daughter along for a guided tour. His interview is over right at the start when he finds his X girl friend (Maggie Gyllenhal) is in charge of the same– how he qualifies for the same in next couple of hours is something you should watch the movie for – by saving the President (Jamie Foxx). How ironical it is that Jamie Foxx played the character of a slave (Django Unchained) in his last movie and what he becomes next is - President of United States. Their comic timing is excellent and they share a damn good chemistry too. Again the movie is a little too long – I guess they should have trimmed it by another 15-20 minutes easily but again that’s the point why it works for me. I will definitely give it a good 3/5 and will call it a superb time pass.

Mud (2012) - Drama

Matthew McConaughey is one guy that there is something about him and the way he plays a character is something that I totally love – fortunately he doesn’t disappoint me with this one – even wifey ended up liking the movie with me. This particular character of a situational criminal on a run is something which is a cake walk for him, he looks so comfortable in the role that I was confused if its Mud the character we are watching or is it Matthew McConaughey J - Fantastic movie about two kids who find a boat hanging on a tree in a small island on Mississippi river, they realize someone is living in the boat, turns out to be this guy Mud whose a local and is back to pick his girl friend before escaping finally. How it all goes wrong and then falls in place is the rest of the story. It has so much going on throughout the movie that it kept us glued – unfortunately we had to take a break in between but when we started it back – both of us were totally hooked to it and so keen to what happens next, will he be able to save his girl friend or is she going to ditch him, what happens to the kids? Since they are helping a criminal being chased by bounty hunters and thugs for something he did. How these two kool kids help him is simply amazing and they have their own stories going on as well. I guess Reese Witherspoon as Mud’s girl friend is wasted – any other chick could have done a similar job as my expectations soared seeing her name and unfortunately she didn’t have much to do anyways. Although Michael Shannon in a positive role was something I totally loved after a long time. If you like dramas – chances are – you will love this one and even otherwise it’s a great time pass if nothing else. I will definitely go with a good 3/5 with two thumbs up.

Lootera (2013) - Period Drama

The day I came to know that Vikramaditya Motwane is making “Lootera” with Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha in lead – I thought it’s going to be a disaster for he has surely picked up a wrong leading lady for the role. His debut movie was super awesome “Udaan” which was totally loved by public and critics. It’s amazing how he proved my prediction go wrong and I regret skipping it on big screen even after getting high recommendation from some trusted friends. WOW! I must say what a fantastic movie which starts on a very low profile and subtle note and kept me hooked till the very end and even the finale left me with a solid lump in the throat feeling – I was having my lunch and almost couldn’t finish it as it was such an overwhelming feeling. Although it’s partially inspired by “O Henry’s story – the last leaf” which we all have read in our school English reader – I am sure of that. Still it works big time on screen, superb is the way both the leads pulled off their characters – I had my full trust on Ranveer Singh but Sonakshi totally shocked and surprised me with her expressions, body language and what not. Even the story is so simple yet damn good that we were engrossed from the very first scene and it keeps throwing one card after another and the Director keeps the trump card for superb ending – by the time we realized where it’s going – we were already there and then there was no looking back. This should be another one of the best love stories told in its own subtle way by any bollywood movie and as it almost gave me a feeling that this movie may be called as today’s generations “QSQT” it had that impact on me. I guess the expectations from the Director for his next movies will be doubled now as he has surely bettered his own previous work by two folds this time, it’s as engaging as was “Udaan” and I will definitely rate it one notch higher for sure. My ratings – a damn good 4/5 with two thumbs up – I am definitely looking forward to the original DVD and will keep it in my collection for future viewings. A must watch – just in case you missed it earlier like I did.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) - BioPic

As expected by the trailers, promos, discussions and effort put in by not only Farhan Akhtar but the whole team – it turns out to be an excellent movie and no ways you can be sure of its length – not even for one moment it gives you an opportunity to think of anything but totally keeps you engrossed to the narrative. Hats off to the makers – my faith on Rakesh Mehra for giving us superb meaningful movies, restored back with a bang. Right from the very first scene of the movie with Milkha Singh holding his head high representing India at the Olympics – its breathtaking to say the least. Farhan Akhtar’s hard work is totally visible so much so that – I had to keep on reminding myself that it isn’t a “Farhan Akhtar Production” and he is just acting in a movie, even the use of Electric Guitar in the background is so much FA style. Milkha Singh was and will always remain one of India’s favorite sports figure and I guess anyone born three decades back already knows a lot about him and for the rest of the generations – this movie will do the needful and what a way to tell his heartening story. This became another rare movie made this year which made me go breathless multiple times, teary eyed, wide eyed, happy, cheerful, we laughed even with the stale jokes just for the way they were told, clapped, cheered and lived a life time of one of the legends in a little more than three hours. Every race is shot in such a way that it slides you down to the edge of your seat, you want him to win every time and he actually does that in style too, barring the very first one which sends a shockwave throughout the audience – even when we knew whats going to happen – it is indeed shocking and followed by the story why it happened and how he knocks it off and becomes a winner again. Superb movie – haven’t seen a better Biopic yet – this one will definitely be called one of the best Indian Cinema ever made. Almost everybody does fantastic justice to their respective roles, even the songs are placed in such a way that they take the story forward and don’t work like a hindrance of any sort. Four minutes training shots in Laddakh are totally breathtaking and worth all the money. It is out an out a Farhan Akhtar movie and his hard works are visible in every frame, this guy is definitely going a long distance and he deserves all the accolades, Respect! I will definitely give it a damn good 4/5 and with two thumps up. A must watch for all, not to be missed at any cost – regretted not taking my kiddo for the same – will take her along as we plan to watch it again this weekend. It’s a great learning for all.

Deewana Main Deewana (2013) - Thriller

Govinda and Priyanka Chopra’s movie which I guess was made some 10 years ago but never released was finally released couple of weeks back. Actually the Writer and Director (Legendry KC Bokadia) were super confused from the very start. It starts as a romantic movie with “love at first sight” thing, one twist makes it a crackpot lovers story and finally it becomes a murder mystery of sorts but VOILA – even this one has a happy ending as the killer hero goes to jail for 7 years but because of good behavior they let him go early and he lives happily ever after. Oh my god! What a neat concept but one thing we both liked about the movie that Priyanka looked way too good before her surgery barring her horrible side pose. Govinda at his hamming best – I guess everyone involved with movie must be regretting its release for sure and so does the audience.

Sona Spa (2013) - Thriller

I really need to know what was “Makarand Deshpande” smoking when he made this one, WOW what a weird idea – looks like a straight lift from some B Grade foreign movie for sure as I don’t expect him to be so creative to have think of that. Plus you’ve got to google and check the way “Sleep Workers (Girls who sleep for their customers) whose brains are connected” It is one of the most hilarious ways of Syncing two people that was the high point of the movie plus Naseer Saab has precise 30 seconds role in the movie and they keep running the same scene again and again and again. I was expecting some kind of crappy out of the box ending at least but even that didn’t happen as the Director suddenly decides to end it on a happy note where everyone lives happily ever after since their sleep disorders and life problems are solved by someone else sleeping for them – Mind-blowing. Super Crap of first order. Please don’t ask me why I saw it in the first place.

Raanjhanaa (2013) - Romance

One of those movies that we walked in with very high expectations and a made up mind that we are going to love it - come what may. My seven year old kiddo was so much hooked to its promo’s that she didn’t miss even one of them – whatever channel they kept playing it, she even went to the extent of recording one of the promotional videos and kept playing it again and again. Hence we had to see this one with her that too on big screen. First half - is something that flies off in flat 10 minutes and you totally fall in love with the characters - especially super cute Dhanush. Second half is a total disaster - made me think big time - why they had to do what they did with the story and it could have definitely ended on a way too better note than the way it does. Even my daughter was like “I didn’t like the second part as much as the first part was” she meant second half J. Oh my god! It just falls flat, nosedives in the second half, I guess the writers are to be blamed for the same as they should have thought of a better way for the twist especially the ending. I even forgave the makers for taking Sonam Kapoor in lead but I was glad that they were able to extract at least half of what was expected from her. With a very heavy heart I will have to rate it below par at 2/5. It’s still a good one time watch especially for Dhanush's heartfelt performance.

Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013) - Comedy

Why O Why they make movies where one finds it hard to go beyond 20 minutes – disaster of first order with all the Deols in it together, I Guess it’s high time for them to retire and call it a day. Irony is – it became one of those rare movies which is coming on satellite TV before even I could get a print and watch. That was superfast from big screen to small screen and the biggest joke is that one of the channels is showing it like 3 times back to back same day. I hope I don’t switch to that particular channel that day even by mistake. Another bad thing about this movie other than no story, no script, no screenplay – is that it’s some foreign females debut movie too, my full sympathies to the lady in question, hope she gets some other movie to showcase her talent. I am totally sure after seeing the first 20 minutes that Director and his team has put no effort for this one and they decided what they are making over night and shot it as and when they could – hence the output. You don’t need a script or a story or even anything remotely connected to movies to make a mess like this one. Hence No ratings from me – it’s a total waste of time and money.

Shootout At Wadala (2013) - Action Thriller

One of those rare Sanjay Gupta movies – hard to believe that he indeed made this one. Barring two scenes and shockingly one of them is how John rescues Tushaar Kapoor and the Final Encounter – nothing more to remember from this one - full of item numbers (Worst in order and ever seen in one movie). Unfortunately movie is based on a real incident – the so called first encounter in the history of Indian Police Department – dunno how true that can be. Guess the main fun of watching this movie is with someone born in the 1950s – so they could actually confirm if these things really happened and how much out of the movie is fiction. One thing this movie proves yet again is that John can seriously not act – he has very limited expressions throughout the movie and I will call it - one and a half expressions, half is the confused look, second half is angry and remaining half is super angry. I actually had huge expectations from this one as I indeed read some positive reviews when it released and its unbelievable awful movie to watch. Give it a miss even if it comes on some TV Channel shortly. A definite 1/5 that too for the final encounter and some good one liners by Anil Kapoor.

Ankur Arora Murder Case (2013) - Thriller

Superb movie – a must for all movie lovers as it’s based on a true incident which happened not so long ago. One hell of a performance by 5 of the leading actors including supremely talented Kay Kay Menon (Watch out for his last outburst) a famous surgeon who commits a grave mistake and how it takes the life of an innocent child, Tisca Chopra as the single parent of the child is simply superb and I must say a perfect choice for the role, she totally balances out the performance and it never looks out of place, priceless expressions and superb body language, she big time deserves an award for this one. Even the guy who plays her boss and is totally with her throughout the bad times, deserves a mention. Both the Jr Doctors and their hottie lawyer Paoli Dam too do total justice with their respective characters. Do not miss this at any cost. A damn good movie with my ratings of a good 4/5 for sure.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) - Action Thriller

Another average action thriller with beaten to death topic of America / American President in danger, movies like these make me wonder if President of United States is actually that important? Its predictable right from the very start but superb nonstop action – can’t call it a jaw dropping thing but yeah! Run of the mill stuff still it satisfies an action movie lover in totality. Why I had to see this one was because of three reasons (Read the leads), I can never miss a movie with “Morgan Freeman” in it – howsoever role he may have in it, like this one plus “Gerard Butler” – I totally love that guy and am a big fan of “Aron Eckhart” as well. No regrets that I missed it in theaters but I was sure not to miss it on small screen. Although it’s a little too long for two hours – they should have edited it by at least good 15-20 minutes to make it crisper but as long as it’s an action movie – I can surely live with a little longer length. If you haven’t seen it – you aren’t missing anything outstanding but if you like those guys with that kinda plot – check it out – you won’t be disappointed. My ratings a good 2.5/5 and will call it an average time pass.