Gangster Squad [2013]

Language - English
Director - Ruben Fleischer
Run Time - 1 hour, 53 minutes
Genre - Crime/Drama

Ruben Fleischer's film noir-esque movie promises a lot, but fails to deliver. Even with a first rate cast of wonderful actors such as Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie and Emma Stone, the film fails miserably. That too, Emma Stone has been used just as an eye candy in the movie, it seems. A dismal waste of her talent. The problem is the director relies on the sole talent of the actors to deliver a non-existent story. In a gangster movie, one would expect emotion, excitement, tragedy; but this movie moves in a perpendicular line where one expects ups and downs.

Also, the movie moves at such a fast pace, there's hardly a moment to sit back, and look at where the storyline is progressing. The lack of strong dialogues also hurt the movie. Even right after seeing the movie, I cannot recall a single noteworthy dialogue.

Sean Penn portrays Mickey Cohen, the infamous L.A. Gangster of the 1940's, and the rest of the cast make up the Gangster Squad, a wily bunch of cops, working outside the law to return peace to the streets of Los Angeles. So Cohen has build up an empire as the king of L.A, with judges, police and the press all endorsing his brand of terror. Enter Sgt. John O'Maara, the quintessential hero, who is all for fighting the good fight. But as he cannot fight alone, he gathers a bunch of misfits, who then become to be known as the 'Gangster Squad'. Watch to see how the Gangster take on Cohen, and his army.

Add to that, the abysmal usage of special effects in some scenes, especially where fire is involved. There were effects used for scenes which had no need of them frankly.
Giving this film a miss would not hurt much

My Rating - 6.2/10

The Fault In Our Stars [2014]

Language - English
Director - Josh Boone
Run Time - 2 hours, 6 minutes
Genre - Drama/Romance

There is a dearth of movies which are able to move you emotionally. The Fault in Our Stars is one of them. This heartbreaking tale leaves you with goosebumps/tears. Josh Boone, the director of another brilliant movie, 'Stuck in Love', strikes the right chord yet again. Many a times, New York best sellers adapted into movies fail miserably, but the writers have worked magically to create a masterpiece for us. Add to that the brilliant chemistry of our two protagonists of the movie Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, and the perfect soundtrack [which included some of my favourite artists], makes this movie perfect.

There is never a dull moment in the movie, and the melancholic tone of the film is supplemented well with joyous moments and pleasant quips; my favourite dialogue of the movie being 'You see, we may not look like much but between the three of us we have five legs, four eyes and two and a half working pairs of lungs but we also have two dozen eggs so if I were you, I would go back inside'. My insides were aching of laughter. This film manages to be heartbreaking, yet heartwarming at the same time.

The movie starts off with the introduction of  Hazel Grace Lancaster [Woodley], who is apparently suffering from depression, according to her parents and doctor, which leads her to attend support meetings for  her cancer [thyroid] . She initially detests them, until she meets one Augustus Waters [Elgort] there, and it is an attraction from both parties at the first site. Augustus, or Gus is another cancer patient who had suffered through osteosarcoma which led him to lose his left leg. Gus is able to pry Hazel out from her depressive state, and hereby a romantic journey begins which includes a trip to Amsterdam sponsored by the Make-a wish-foundation to meet with Peter Van Houten, who is the author of Hazel's favourite book.

Other than emotionally draining us, the movie illustrates the struggles of cancer patients and Hazel and Gus' actions are to be looked as a motivation for any struggling person. One might call it unreal and not showing the true pain, but according to me, it does cover the pain part pretty convincingly.

Apart from all this, the supporting actors - Laura Dern, Nat Wolff and Williem Dafoe as Frannie Lancaster, Issac and Peter Van Houten have acted brilliantly, and provide depth to the film.

A must watch for everyone. A lovely film.
My Rating - 8.2/10

The Great Gatsby [2013]

Language - English
Director - Baz Luhrmann
Run Time - 2 hours, 23 minutes
Genre - Drama

Woah. Baz Luhrmann treats you to a extravaganza. Were the parties in the 1920's really this great? Then I would not mind travelling in the past. Even though the plot of the movie is not that strong, you will definitely be fascinated by the sets and the costumes. Some of the best cinematography I've seen. People might call it style over substance, but to me Lurhmann made the best attempt to attract an audience to a story set over almost a century back.

The weak plot is overlooked by the brilliant performance of the cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the finest actors of our generation, and he so brilliantly portrays the protagonist, the charismatic and dynamic Jay Gatsby. The acting of Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan is also laudable. I've always considered them both to be outstanding, but under-rated actors. Same cannot be said about Tobey Maguire. As Nick Carraway, the narrator of the movie, he is an utter dissapointment. Casting someone else, would have definitely made a positive change to the movie.

The movie starts off with Nick Carraway [Tobey] being shown with his doctor, who is helping Nick get over his alcoholism. From there we jump to a flashback, onto New York in 1922, where it all started. Nick has moved to New York to pursue a job as a bond salesman, where his neighbor is none other than the mysterious 'Great Gatsby' who throws lavish parties year round but no one has even seen him. Nick's has a cousin named Daisy, who is married to her rich and deceitful husband [note:Isla Fisher]. Long story short, Daisy and Jay were once in love, and intend to be together again. We have the saga in form of this movie.

The buildup of the movie is quite good, with the mysterious persona of Jay Gatsby, but once we get to REAL story, there's nothing much left in the plot, and it goes downhill from there. The actors hold the movie together.

The soundtrack of the film is also marvelous, with tracks from Beyonce, Jay-Z, Lana Del Ray, Florence Wench and Amy Wnehouse, among others. The song Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray is one of the best songs by her ever.

Watch this movie, to admire the cinematography, sets and the costumes; and/or if you're a fan of DiCaprio, Edgerton and Mulligan. Isla Fisher could have been provided by more screen time.

My Rating - 7/10

Dawn of The Planet of Apes [2014]

Language - English
Director - Matt Reeves
Run Time - 2 hours, 10 mins
Genre - Action/Drama

Dawn of the Planet of Apes is a very serious movie. If you're looking for a movie to relax and watch, you must skip this one. This is one of the reasons why it fails too. Rise of the Planet of Apes had its lively moments, but this movie goes on a single serious tone which is laden with action  to the brim. Too much of anything spoils everything, and here, the overdose of action makes  you feel jaded at the end of two hours, which is anyways a long run time.

I really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of Apes, and was expecting a much better sequel. Director Matt Reeves was a dissapointment. I do not understand why would the studio changed the director, when the first movie was quite a success. I admit the movie was made very well, with great special effects, but the story was quite predictable, and a tad bit stretched. Also, I feel that there should have been more screen presence of the humans, which would make the audience feel more connected.

This movie continues from the events of the first movie, where the apes have settled in a colony just outside of San Francisco, whereas human population has declined drastically by a worldwide virus.
The apes, who are led by Caesar believe humans to be extinct till one day a jeep arrives into their territory and a member of the clan is shot. We find out that some humans were immune to the virus and have settled in a small portion of San Francisco. Neither species trust each other and the Caesar warns the  humans to stay off the apes' territory. But the humans need electricity, and the only way of getting that is in the jungle, via the working of a dam.

The movie displays trust, betrayal, rebellion and lots of other drama in the two hours. Watch it to know which species emerges on top.

I would say this movie was good, not great. And that is just because the plot was a bit predictable and it was slightly stretched. Casual movie goers should refrain.

My Rating - 7/10

The Shining [1980]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Or a homicidal boy.
Stanley Kubrick shows his talent again in this amazing movie. It would not have been such a stunning film, had it not been for the master, Jack Nicholson with his portrayal of Jack Torrance. Stanley Kubrick has brought goosebumps to the audience with his brutal scenes, and one would remember the two girls for all his/her life.

This movie is one of the few movies that has managed to scare as well as make me thrilled to know what would happen next. Although the climax was a bit disappointing to me. But as I have not read  the book and its an adaptation, so it may well be following the book exactly. To me, it should have been more informative.

Also, Shelley Duvall [Wendy] was a weak link in the movie. Her acting was very sub-par when you compare it to Jack Nicholson or even Danny Loyd [Danny]. The cinematography was exemplary, hats off to Mr. Kubrick. I must also laud the background score which was done by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind. The score is one of the most important factors when you look at a horror/thriller movie.

The movie basically follows the Jack Torrance taking a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel as it gets closed for winters. Throughout the days, strange things are witnessed by each of the family members. Is the hotel haunted? Watch Stanley Kubrick create an orgy of psychological terror.

A classic by a classic filmmaker. My Rating - 8.2/10

Ender's Game [2013]

Language - English
Director - Gavin Hood
Run Time - 1 hour, 54 minutes
Genre - Action/Sci-Fi

Ender's Game is a good movie.It stops at that. It is not good enough to be called a great movie. The acting as well as the action is good. What lacks in this movie is drama. This movie picks up the story line straight up from the book and that is where it fails. The film moves in a linear manner with no major rising or falling action, which are among the arcs of a dramatic structure.

In the already over worn-out theme of 'Battle against space invaders', yes the movie is away from the stereotypical movies, but it lacks the capability to make the audience captivated. Reiterating as mentioned earlier, the movie lacks drama and thus fails to keep the audience engrossed or captivated. The major problem with it is that it starts at a fast pace and the same pace keeps on being followed throughout the movie. Even the introduction to the scenario set in the movie is very hushed.

As far as acting goes, Ender Wiggin, played by the young Asa Butterfield does a marvelous job. I feel the rest of the characters were under utilised. Even acclaimed actors like Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley were not upto their high standards in the movie.

The movie is set in the future, where humanity is training to defend itself against yet another attack from an alien race called 'Formics' who has attacked on Earth 50 years back. Enter smart, sharp, talented and rebellious cadet Ender Wiggin who is among the top candidates at the academy. From there on, he gets promoted further and further, facing many hardships and scrutiny till he is ready to lead the battle the Formics. Therein, he discovers some long hidden truths and secrets which leads to a  good conclusion, also giving a chance for a further continuity.

Again, I would say, the film could be so much more had they not stuck to he exact story of the book. A good movie nonetheless. One could watch it if there's nothing else in store.

My Rating - 6.8/10