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Movie Review: Dabangg - The Big Bang!

Film Review: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008)

Thank You Movie Review

Review of Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin is a 2004 drama about the convergent lives of two boys: one searching for closure, while the other searches for the truth. The film touches on multiple issues, including homosexuality, abuse and prostitution, but comes off as more illustrative than preachy.

Brian Lackey is an brainy college student who is haunted by continual nosebleeds and nightmares of a troubled past he cannot wholly recall. Hours of his memory are lost without explanation with the last moment he can detail being sitting on the bench of a little league baseball game. He is found by his older sister, hours later, in the basement of his house, bleeding from the nose. Through the years, he has concluded that this and the following occurrences are the result of alien abductions, devoting much of his time to validating this claim.

Neil McCormick is a homosexual prostitute scarred by the sexual relationship with his Coach the summer he played little league. Neil confides his secrets in his childhood friend Wendy, who has loved Neil for quite some time; however, when describing him, she says, "Where normal people have a heart, Neil McCormick has a bottomless black hole. And if you don't watch out, you can fall in and get lost forever." Neil moves with Wendy to New York where he is confronted with the dangers of prostitution and AIDS, as the film takes place in the early '90s.

The film's plot is brilliant and completely enthralling taking twists and turns leaving the audience to come to conclusions, then second guessing them. These conclusions range vastly from Neil being an alien to Brian being mentally ill. This is made possible by the convincing performances of Joseph Gorden-Levitt (Neil), Brady Corbet (Brian) and Riley McGuire (Wendy). Jeffery Licon's portrayal of a friend of the three, Eric, is also worth mentioning.

A number of scenes in this film are rather difficult to watch, not because they are of poor production quality; rather, they are gritily realistic in depicting social taboos. The pain felt is derived from a sympathy toward the misfortunes of many of the characters, the majority of which is directed at Neil. While the film depicts Neil as a homosexual from birth, his relationship with the Coach steered his future career decisions.

The film's commentary on the aforementioned social taboos are more academic than opinionated. Rather than producing a moral statement on these topics, the film demonstrates the manor in which individuals handle and are affected by these traumatic events; the audience is left to come to a conclusion of their own.

Director Gregg Araki should also be mentioned, if anything, for producing a truly noteworthy film that is leaps and bounds ahead of his other works thus far. It's easy to see the powerful direction in the film which leads one to believe that Araki has great potential.

The film leaves the audience with an emotionally disturbed feeling, somewhere between sympathy and anger. While this emotion is not always desired, it comes along with a feeling of closure to this wonderful film.

Rating: 8/10

3 Idiots Review

At the heart of it 3 Idiots is a fun-filled ride that two friends, Raju and Farhaan, undertake to find a missing college mate. But 3 Idiots isn't merely about this journey; it's about a bigger adventure called life.

The film starts with Raju and Farhaan getting a call informing them that Rancho, who went missing 10 years ago, has been located. They reach their college only to find out that Chatur Ramalingam, a fellow student they troubled, has orchestrated this meeting.

10 years ago Rancho or Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad had challenged the boundaries that define the life of an engineering student. Rancho was a smart student who enjoyed the process of learning rather than just mugging up like Chatur who was Dean Viru Sahastrabudhhe's (also called Virus) blue-eyed boy.

Rancho not only helps Raju and Farhaan find their true calling but also wins over Virus. On their graduation day when everyone's celebrating Rancho slips away forever. No one knows his whereabouts not even the girl he loved, Pia who happens to be the Dean's daughter.

Now 10 years later Chatur, a very successful entrepreneur and businessman, wants to settle a bet he made with Rancho that he is better. Raju, Farhaan not only find Pia but kidnap her from her own wedding and along with Chatur set out to locate Rancho...

To put it simply 3 Idiots is just the kind of film you go to the cinemas for. While one shares the enthusiasm of millions of viewers who have been thronging to the cinema halls to catch this latest from Rajkumar Hirani, 3 Idiots does have its flaws.

This isn't a rehash of the Munnabhai series but isn't too far off from it as well. The first interaction between Rancho and the Dean; how Rancho touches just about every living and non-living thing in and around the campus is a little too familiar with the ways of Murali, the friendly neighbourhood Munnabhai.

The context of the film, the dismal state of our education system and how we are missing out on the real joys of learning is highlighted throughout the film just like the first installment of Munnabhai.

But that isn't some thing that mars 3 Idiots. Neither does its length hamper the proceedings. The film is a tad too long, some scenes and situations immediately after the interval could have been avoided but having said that the film more than rises from its shortcomings.

This is largely thanks to an efficient screenplay that uses Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone as a springboard but follows its own path and of course, the performances.

The leading actors--Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and Kareena Kapoor all are in top-notch form. Its fun to watch Boman Irani outdo Munnabhai MBBS...

But the film works mainly thanks to Aamir Khan. The chameleon of an actor slips easily into the character of a 22 year old engineering student by underplaying as if his life depended on it. He uplifts the film by allowing his co-stars, a la Rang De Basanti, to take centrestage at regular intervals thereby making 3 Idiots succeed as an ensemble. Kareena Kapoor enjoys wonderful chemistry with Aamir Khan and delivers.

3 Idiots might be a humour-filled film but in truth Hirani presents a very dark picture of this day and age. This is a film where students succumb to pressure, a film where society doesn't easily forgive people who follow their heart; parents stop short of nothing when it comes to pushing their children. However like Munnabhai MBBS Rajkumar Hirani uses humour effectively to put across some harsh truth.

Review of Televisions The Gates

From the opening scene at the local baseball game in the 2010 remake of the 1973 horror flick The Crazies I was hooked. Not being a great lover of zombies in general I was very leery of this movie but was pleasantly surprised by the great acting and emotions the main characters gave to the film. I actually had chill bumps when Sherriff David Dutton played by Timothy Olyphant had to gun down Rory the town drunk when he carried a shotgun onto the crowded baseball field.

Far from being the gore fest that I expected, the movie actually had a plot and poignant scenes that at times brought tears to my eyes. The biggest standing out in my mind being the scene where Rory's family held a shotgun to the sheriff's pregnant wife Judy Dutton's, played by Radha Mitchell, head to right the wrongs done them.

As the town goes berserk and it's once peaceful citizens turn on each other the main characters figure out that the town water supply has been contaminated by a crashed plane filled with toxins. As Judy, the Sheriff and his deputy fight to stay alive the military descends, hell bent on concealing the evidence of its screw up and destroying the town.

There were a few tense moments and some chills as a crazed man dragging a pitch fork through the hospital where Judy, Becca and others were strapped to tables by the military slowly and methodically killed them one by one.

But in my opinion the movie was stolen by Joe Anderson who played Deputy Russell Clank. His performance as the good, country cop gone insane was creepy but tear inspiring at the same time. From the opening scene where he is with the sheriff at the ball field until the scene where he sacrifices himself so that the Dutton's can get away I was hooked. His talent and the passion he brought to the role brought tears to viewer's eyes more than once during the movie.

For a remake and a zombie remake at that, I really enjoyed The Crazies. It was well paced and the actors did a terrific job of bringing the story to life. For from being a mindless horror fest, this movie was well thought out and directed. I would give it five stars and recommend it to anyone who likes horror without needless gore. Also keep an eye out for Joe Anderson; this is a talent to watch. All in all this is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. I would recommend it to anyone.

'Love and Other Drugs' Review

Even though it used the same card - the love relationship between a healthy person and a really sick one, Love And Other Drugs knew how to focus in the first half on humor, on the natural beauty of the characters.

I actually loved the connection between the main characters; the actors Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hathway identifying themselves very well with Jamie and Maggie, the real beauty of Anne's nudity (they looked like a real couple, not carrying that there somewhere is a camera or hiding their bodies). What I also loved was the director's idea (Edward Zwick) who made a big fun of the pharmaceuticals companies and their "fight" for promoting drugs through pens, free samples and a lot of "ass kissing."

In this kind of competition goes Jamie, an extremely talented young man when it comes to persuasion, and he is working for a company named Pfizer. His job is to promote an antidepressant which is supposed to compete with the rival, Prozac, and to take it's place. In this process, Jamie tries everything he knows (using his charm, flirting with the nurses, bribe to the doctors, even stealing from the competition's shelf) and meanwhile, in full "work" process, he meets Maggie, a young 26 year old woman who suffers from Parkinson's.

Between the two starts a relation based on sex and having fun but things start to change when Jamie falls in love with her.

After the first part when the spectator watches Maggie's nudity and he smiles, comes the second part where we can see a sentimental Jamie, a Jamie fallen in love with Maggie, a Maggie who doesn't want him around her anymore because she knows she will take over his life and the "passion" will become "obligation."

Along the relationship between these two, the movie also presents the 1996 hysteria, concerning the launching of the Viagra (phenomena). The magnitude of this drug is not surprising, but what really is surprising is people using it even if they wouldn't need it.

Love And Other Drugs reminds me of many other similar movies (A Walk to Remember, Sweet November, The Notebook) but it doesn't look so disappointing as the others, meaning the trespass from fun and sex to drama and serious matters is really good.

The characters evolve, from those who enjoy those 15 minutes of euphoria to those who are aware that life is more than that, even the opposite - a road paved with suffering.

Love And Other Drugs is the kind of movie which succeeds to thrill you with it's humor in the first part. The sexual romanticism is as good the humor but the fact that the beginning's passion is getting lost somewhere in the middle makes the movie's potential go really low.

Anyway, if you need a shot of romanticism, humor and some drama, don't avoid this movie. And even if you might be tired of all that, I'm pretty sure you'll find something to like about this movie (the actors, the eccentric character not in this description, the sex scenes, etc.).

Breakout Kings S01E03 - The Bagman Review

Stop reading now if you haven't seen the 3rd episode of the Breakout Kings, because you won't want to spoil this episode by reading about it first.

It looks like the rumours were right. Prison Break star Robert Knepper Aka T-bag did make an appearance and I must admit it was awesome to see him back playing his once infamous role. What made this episode amazing was that we got to see more of the killer side of T-bag that we didn't see on Prison Break partly because of Michael Scofield being able to control the monster.

Right from the go we are taken back to Fox River and we see T-Bag back in jail after the Fox River days. This time it is clear to see this T-bag is different from the schemer that we had become used to, this T-bag is a much more ruthless killer. At the beginning of the episode T-bag is put into a transportation vehicle but within minutes T-bag takes out the 2 prison guards transporting him without any hesitance.

From the beginning it's not clear if T-bag just wants to get out of prison and go on the run again or if he is on a mission. As the episode progresses we see that T-bag is in fact on a goal induced mission that has him seeking revenge upon those who sexually assaulted his mother in a retirement facility.

Now I've always liked the character of T-bag and for some sick reason I have always wanted him to get away with his crimes, however this time it seemed like his quest was to get revenge upon those who did wrong upon his family which i'm sure many of us viewers can relate too, however I think US Marshal Charlie Duchamp summed it up the best when he asked "what about the innocents he killed along the way" this line in my opinion shows that T-bag does have a heart but he can turn into a monster when things need to get done. My point is further enforced when T-bag says to his mom "I can't join you in heaven, but you enjoy it for the both of us."

The final few minutes of this episode however is where the show really got interesting. This is when Lloyd gets the chance to sit down with T-bag to analyse him. T-bag goes on a huge rant to Lloyd asking him what makes him worth being a "case study" and Lloyd calmly responds that there's nothing special about T-Bag and that he is simply a broken machine. To which T-Bag replies once Lloyd has left the room "no shit."

T-Bag confirms that he has always known that he was broken and Lloyd confirming this created a perfect ending to the character that is T-bag.

Overall this episode was amazing, being a huge prison break fan and a fan of Robert Knepper meant that I loved every second of "The Bag Man".

Nadunisi Naaygal Review

Nadunisi Naaygal has a well-intended message on Child Abuse although the message stays detached from the rest of the film. Scenes of violence, murder and sex witnessed early in childhood creates an emotional dependency in Veera with the woman who rescues him from his father. The promiscuous father puts the kid through orgies, sexually abusing him to make him a serial killer and psychopath. From the 1960's "Psycho" directed by Alfred Hitchcock to the Anthony Hopkins starrer "The Silence of The Lambs", Gautham Menon's "Nadunisi Naaygal" has all of them.

Veera enacts the role of a 13 year old guy which does not look like what is said. The wig can fly off his head at any time, if wind blows on his face. From there on, he goes on to grow butchering girls for which Veera is not the most responsible for. The painful silence of no background music but proper rerecording of sounds engage without the conspicuousness of the absence of the BGM. Live sounding dialogues strain your ears to bleeding putting you in an inability to distinguish English dialogues from Tamil.

Nadunisi Naaygal is definitely not a rural delight but the metros will embrace the film for its stylish making and classy approach. Gautham Menon does sell and his directorial finesse which borrows only creative aspects from popular movies to transmute them in his style attracts and yet the director does portray women with adherence to the likeability of women. He has tried to conceal the fact that the film titillate with subliminal and sexually suggestive content and has come up trumps in doing so.

Veera shuttles between Narcissism and Inverted Narcissism of satisfying his urges and the desires of Meenakshi Amma whose fate is revealed at the end. It is symbolically revealed in the middle when she suffers burn injuries after Veera sets her husband ablaze. Nadunisi Naaygal is far from Bharathi Raja's Sigappu Rojakkal but is quite close to "The Silence of the Lambs" in terms of Meenakshi Amma's desire to knit the hair of young girls. This also has something unrevealed till the end.

The emotional dependency then turns out to be an emotional interdependency between the two pivotal characters - Veera and Meenakshi Amma. One fine moment of the film is when the director creates a 'no way out' for Sameera Reddy when Veera is beaten by her. When she attempts to escape, a completely new set of enemies confront her which is one of class in writing. With a shorter length and with releasing in lesser theaters, the hitherto unseen aspects of Indian filmmaking can generate prospects for the film to release in more centers.

Even then, the inspirations are evident which has happened from 'Psycho' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' predominantly and a slew of other films of the contemporary period. From the 'Psycho' to 'Anniyan', 'Nadunisi Naaygal' has all which is also based on a real life story. The leitmotiv of the film on 'Child Abuse' is overshadowed by the psychopathic tendencies of the film.

The climax is altogether riveting with unseen production values, designs and dark, handheld and candid cinematography of Manoj Paramahamsa. When Veera is shot by Sameera Reddy, it almost looks like a deliberate "The Silence of the Lambs". Nadunisi Naaygal is not suitable for women as well as children and saying it is not at all suitable is more apt, since it captivates you with disturbing images, blood and gruesome murders. This disclaimer ought to be issued prior since it cannot accommodate children at any cost.

EMI Review - Watch at Your Own Risk

The biggest let down of EMI is the sinking feeling that the film carries right from the word go. The flawed screenplay wastes so much time just setting up the predictable premise that you give up on the film even before it really takes off. The second half is so disjointed that it looks like some other film altogether.

The film or at least the idea behind it would have been to depict how monthly installments can cause havoc in one's life. Four people (a flashy DJ, a married white collared man, a single mother and a retired father) take loans and aren't able to pay it off. The task of recovering goes to an agency run by a goon, Sattar Bhai. Just like the people he is chasing Sattar's life is also at a turning point. Rather than just going about his business he ends up solving their problems and everything ends 'happy-happy'.

Didn't anyone notice the incomplete story or rather the lack of it? EMI tries to skate on thin ice like episodes which are strung together albeit unconvincingly by some shoddy acting. All the characters are soulless cardboard cutouts of 'common' people.

Everyone puts in a half-baked effort besides Urmila Matondkar. She is very convincing as the young widowed single mother at least initially but somewhere down the line we see her more with her lawyer friend gallivanting from police station to court to even night clubs without a minute's worry for her little daughter!

A stiff Sanjay Dutt runs through Sattar Bhai as if Munnabhai reported for shooting. Rampal is so slow and pathetic that you might end up feeling as if you were being forced to sit through some kindergarten play!

Actually it's not that actors are to be blamed as the script doesn't give them anything to chew on. Sample the bad writing-Arjun Rampal is a DJ who goes to meet the top man of a music company and throws more attitude than Jim Morrison. And then the top man asks him to 'show' his talent and lo and behold the DJ sings! We then see all the lives transforming over a song and by the end of it the DJ is a superstar! Everything in the film is resolved (one never really noticed things going wrong) through mere pep talk and that too by a goon who now wants to become a politician. So he starts 'respecting' people to get respect in return.

Don't even go anywhere near!

EMI Rating: 1/5

EMI Director: Saurabh Kabra

EMI Genre(s): Family Entertainer

EMI Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Urmila Matondkar, Arjun Rampal, Ashish Choudhary, Daya Shankar Pandey, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Malaika Arora Khan, Manoj Joshi, Neha Uberoi, Pushkar Jog