THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (2012)

If you ask me to describe the theme of this movie in one word, its optimism. As Sonny (Dev Patel) says in the movie 'In the end everything is all right, and if its not all right, its not the end', which is less of India and more of a Bollywood theme if you ask me, the movie is about people looking for a new future in a completely unfamiliar land. If we gather a bunch of old folks who feel unwanted in their own home and put them together in a hotel for retired in a far away land, would that turn out to be an interesting story? Well somewhat yes.

Seven British old people with stories of their own travel to India to stay in a hotel called "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", run by Sonny, which is a popular attraction to old and retired people. These seven include Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench), a widow who is selling her house to pay off her husband's debts, Douglas and Jean Ainslie (Bill Nighly and Penelope Wilton), husband and wife who can't afford bungalows, Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) and old racist wanting a hip surgery soon, Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson), a high court judge and the only one among the seven who has lived in and known India and wants to make peace with his past, Norman Cousins (Ronald Pickup), much aged man but still wants to feel young again and Madge Hardcastle (Celie Imrie), a woman with many unsuccessful marriages. They all are surprised to see that hotel is not exactly what they had in mind.

                                                                 Sonny and Evelyn

The whole cast is veterans who are master at their craft. The story is interesting and not great but the good performances somewhat overpower the shortcomings of the story.

My verdict:
Completely performance driven, this is a good movie and i liked it.

Who should watch?
I would say watch it only if you like drama movies with performances that brilliantly reflect true human emotions. But if you do not want to see a bunch of old people crying over their past, present and future, i would say skip it.

Movie info.:
Genre - Drama, Comedy
Director -John Madden
Stars - Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighly, Penelope Wilton, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, Ronald Pickup, Celie Imrie
Country - UK
Language - English, Hindi
Runtime - 124 minutes

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (2012)

Its hard to describe what i exactly felt after watching this one. Its a mixed bag of laughter, heart break, friendship and affection. All of this combined with totally incredible performances its a brilliant story of a troubled boy without a social life and friends. I was blown away by Logan Lerman's performance as Charlie.

Charlie is an introvert and is anxious about making friends at his first day of high school. But soon he makes friends with two seniors Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) and eventually blends into their vivacity. He is enthusiastic about being a writer and Sam suggests him to write about their friendship. Charlie begins to see the world from their eyes and we slowly come to know about these three friends as the story uncovers their life of present and past.

                                                                           The trio

My verdict:
I loved the three characters and the movie is nothing short of phenomenal. Watching the extraordinary performances was not surprising as most of these actors have already proved their worth in their respective previous movies (Emma Watson in "Harry Potter" series and Ezra Miller in "We Need to Talk About Kevin") and this movie is surely a feather in their cap. Logan Lerman's performance is probably one of the finest performance from this year in my opinion.


Who should watch?
Just watch it, no matter what kind of movies you like, this one will surely appeal you.

Movie info.:
Genre - Drama, Romance
Director - Stephen Chbosky
Stars - Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 102 minutes

SINISTER (2012)

This years another horror movie recycled from other movies. But luckily this one actually works. Its worth watching because of its believable performances, story and some good jump scares. The movie makes use of all the tricks and techniques to make you jump out of your seat and succeeds at most of them.

Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), a true-crime writer moves to a new house with his wife and two children in order to write a story on the murders that took place there so as to revive the success of his one hit wonder novel. Some of his last novels were not a success and led to a bad financial condition. In the attic Ellison finds a box with snuff movies made by a killer who had been killing since the 1960s. Ellison starts watching these tapes and one of them is of the murder that took place in his house. He slowly realizes that these are not just any ordinary murders, they are related to something far more terrifying.

                                                  Ellison viewing the tapes of horror

My verdict:
I had a good time watching this one. Its not great, but its scary, just like Insidious.

Who should watch?
Its a decent horror flick for horror fans, but don't expect it to be like Paranormal Activity.

Movie info.:
Genre - Horror, Thriller
Director - Scott Derrickson
Stars - Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransome
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 110 minutes

PITCH PERFECT (2012)

This is an interesting teen comedy and musical. It stars Anna Kendrick and Skylar Astin in the lead roles and they are main reason why i loved it. Its completely fun and entertaining musical and all the girls and guys in the singing-groups were confident and hilarious.

The movie revolves around Beca, a freshman in the Barden University. She wants to be a music producer and has no interest in college but joins on her fathers advice. There she joins an all-girl acappella  group called Bellas who had a pretty bad experience last year in the competition which included defeat from the boys group Treble Makers from the same college. The Bellas' leader Aubrey and Chloe have a rule that no girl can ever date a Treble Maker. The contemporary singing style of Beca clashes with Aubrey's customary style and song selection which produces some tension in the group. Beca also starts hanging out with Jesse, a Treble Maker, which leads to some serious trouble within the group.

                                                                    Jesse and Beca

Its a wonderful movie with toe tapping musical performances and likeable characters. The best performance in my opinion was definitely Anna Kendricks'. There are some extremely funny moments in the movie but not only that, movie also has a good storyline and an engaging cast which sets it apart from the regular teen comedies.

My verdict:
Its engaging, charming and fun-filled musical with energy and excitement. Its hilariously entertaining and everything that regular boring teen movies miss out.

Who should watch?
There is nothing in the movie to dislike. Its filled with charismatic and funny performances so i recommend this to everyone.

Movie info.:
Genre - Comedy, Music
Director - Jason Moore
Stars - Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 112 minutes

KILLER JOE (2012)

Right after this movie ended, the first thing i said was "What the hell did i just watch?". This movie is another surprise from William Friedkin (one of my favorite director). Last time he surprised me with "Bug" and now with this twisted tale of a killer. Its probably the most weird movie i saw this whole year.

Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) who is under a big debt plans to kill his mother and receive her insurance money of fifty thousand dollars whose sole beneficiary is Chris's sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris, his father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) and stepmother Sharla (Gina Gershon) together decide to hire Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a police detective who has a side job of a contract killer. Joe asks for twenty five thousand dollars as his fee but since Chris could only pay after his mother was dead, he agrees with Joe to have him keep Dottie as "retainer" but things don't go as planned.

                                                       Chris, Sharla, Ansel and Dottie

                                                                        Killer Joe

McConaughey as a sadistic killer Joe was perfect and the dark humor and lurid moments are shocking yet entertaining.

My verdict:
This a sick and twisted movie but still it was hard to take my eyes off the screen because it was equally entertaining. Its not a great movie but its different, so you either love it or hate it. In my case i was somewhere near loving it.

Who should watch?
Its filled with gruesome violence, nudity and sexual perversion and its hard to recommend it to someone that easily. Its really about taking a chance, but if you think you can handle it all at once then you might end up liking it.

Movie info.:
Genre - Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director - William Friedkin
Stars - Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 102 minutes

85th Academy Awards (Oscars) Best Foreign Language Film Shortlist Announced

The movies that made it to the January shortlist (Top 9) for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards (Oscars) have been announced:

1. AMOUR - Austria (Michael Haneke)

2. WAR WITCH - Canada ( Kim Nguyen)

3. NO - Chile (Pablo Larrain)

4. A ROYAL AFFAIR - Denmark (Nikolaj Arcel)

5. THE INTOUCHABLES - France (Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano)

6. THE DEEP - Iceland (Baltasar Kormakur)

7. KON-TIKI - Norway (Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg)

8. BEYOND THE HILLS - Romania (Cristian Mungiu)

9. SISTER - Switzerland (Ursula Meier)

What do you think about this shortlist?

FRANKENWEENIE (2012)

Another wonderful stop-motion animated movie this year. Directed by Tim Burton in his familiar fashion, Frankenweenie pays homage to the very old horror classics. It is also a remake to the short film by Tim from 1984 of the same name. Entirely in black and white, the movie is about a boy and his love for the dog who dies accidentally. He decides to bring his dog back to life through science and his innocence and naivety obscures the fact that there is a thin line between the use of good and bad science.

Victor Frankenstein is a young scientist who lives in a town called New Holland. He spends most of his time away from other children of his age, secluded in his attic and working on his inventions. Sparky, his dog and only friend is the one who accompanies him in the attic and when in the backyard he likes to gaze at the pet poodle living in the neighbor's yard. His accidental death leaves Victor heartbroken but when he learns from his science teacher Mr. Rzykruski that dead can be brought back to life with the use of electricity, he sets out to bring back Sparky to life unaware of the consequences.

                                                        Mr. Rzykruski and his class.

My verdict:
This mesmerizing black and white movie has a colorful heart and visual appeal. I loved its manner of storytelling which is sensitive and captivating and its a sheer delight to watch how the story unfolds. Another wonderful animation gift this year.

Who should watch?
This movie has everything to make it a fascinating viewing and has a little surprise in it for everyone. If you have watched previous Tim Burton's stop-motion animation then you probably know what i am talking about. If you didn't like those, then perhaps this wont appeal you either.

Movie info.:
Genre - Animation, Horror
Director - Tim Burton
Stars - Charlie Tahan, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau (voices)
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 87 minutes

Top 15 Animation Movies

Hi guy! Animation movies are something i have admired all my life and here are the top 15 movies that i liked the most:

1. RATATOUILLE (2007) - USA

2. GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (1988) - JAPAN

 3. MARY AND MAX (2009) - AUSTRALIA

4. THE IRON GIANT (1999) - USA

5. CHICKEN RUN (2000) - UK

6. WALLACE AND GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (2005) - UK

7. TOY STORY 2 (1999) - USA

8. PERSEPOLIS (2007) - FRANCE

9. THE INCREDIBLES (2004) - USA

10. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (JAPAN)

11. THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) - JAPAN

12. UP (2009) - USA

13. SHREK (2001) - USA

14. WHISPER OF THE HEART (1995) - JAPAN

15. SHREK 2 (2004) - USA

Please share about your favorite favorite animation movies!

10 TIMER TIL PARADIS (TEDDY BEAR) (2012)

10 Timer Til Paradis ("10 hours to paradise") is a Danish drama film released by the name "Teddy Bear" in English speaking countries. It follows the story of a bodybuilder in his 30s who is in search of true love. But due to his timid nature he finds it hard to date girls. The movie is not only about search of love but also about growing up and finding a life.

Dennis (Kim Kold) is a 38 year old bodybuilder who lives with his mother. His modest and shy nature has made it hard for him to find a girlfriend and with his anxious mother who does not want to part from his son and always keeps reminding of him of his responsibilities towards her has made Dennis's life bound to his home and he is bereft of freedom of living his own life on his own terms. The time when he feels his freedom is when he works out along with a friend in the gym. When his uncle gets married to a Thai girl he met in Thailand, he recommends Dennis also to go to Thailand and search for a girl. When Dennis reaches Thailand he realizes his search for a girl is not easy but he soon finds someone he feels is right for him.

                                                                  Dennis and Toi

My verdict:
The movie is a heart touching story and role of Dennis played by Kim is wonderfully acted. It is very simple yet complex in terms of emotionality. This moving piece of drama shows that love knows no bounds and one can find love anywhere. I was really moved by this movie.

Who should watch?
If you like drama and art movies that like to explore many shades of emotions, watch this movie.

Movie info.:
Genre - Drama
Director - Mads Matthiesen
Stars - Kim Kold, Lamaiporn Hougaard
Country - Denmark
Language - Danish, Thai, English
Runtime - 92 minutes

PARANORMAN (2012)

Paranorman is the second stop motion 3D horror movie from Laika stop motion animation studio (first being Coraline). Coraline (2009) was a fantastic movie and consecutively Laika studio has produced another animated marvel. Paranorman makes use of pretty much the same basic animation technique of Coraline but the story is completely different with a boy named Norman as protagonist.

Norman is a young boy with the ability to see and talk with the dead ghosts and spirits. He is often misunderstood and ignored by his family, especially his father and is bullied at school, mostly by Alvin, a big school bully. While practicing for a school play based on their town's 300 old past about a witch's execution, Norman has a horrifying vision and soon he comes to know from his Uncle, who like Norman can also talk with the dead, that the town is going to be haunted by the witch's curse once again and the dead will rise from their graves. So Norman ventures out on an adventure to stop this along with his sister Courtney, friend Neil and his brother Mitch and the school bully Alvin.

                                                              The adventure troop.

The movie's solid script and humor had me surprised and laughing all the way. I loved each and every character, especially Alvin the bully. I will surely watch it again all over again!

My verdict:
This movie is remarkably voiced and beautifully animated. This years one of the best animated movie.

Who should watch?
This movie is for everyone who likes animation and humor and will entertain people of all ages. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Movie info.:
Genre - Animation, Comedy, Horror, Adventure
Director - Chris Butler, Sam Fell
Stars - Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck (voices)
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 92 minutes

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (2012)

As the name suggests, this movie IS odd. I remember reading a review saying this movie is so sweet it will give you a tooth ache. Well this movie is definitely way too sentimental but it does not mean its miserable. When a child is a little different, either in perspective or appearance, the parents' fear of having their child isolated from the society forces them to push him into blending with the society. But that's not the case with Timothy Green's parents. They are more than proud of Timothy and instead of having him as perfect, they want his childhood to be perfect.

The movie is directed by Peter Hedges (Writer of What's Eating Gilbert Grape). It begins with a married couple, Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim Green (Joel Edgerton), telling their story of how they found Timothy Green (CJ Adams), when they were going through a depression after knowing that they will never be able to become parents. Timothy is a normal young boy with a little difference, he has leaves growing from his ankles. Not only this, he is also very bright and spirited as compared to children of his age. Cindy and Jim take him into their house and start raising him as their own. They hide his leaves with socks but what they can't hide is his cheerful and lively nature which either impresses some or gets him in trouble.

                                                                  The Green family

There is so much wrong with this movie, but it all feels right because the main theme is about parents loving their children no matter what. And it does not matter that this movie deals it with magic and miracles, in fact it was nice to see a movie about parenting from a different outlook.

My verdict:
I liked this sentimental piece of drama and despite being too sweet, the good acting from the leads and the warm touch of the story makes it worth watching.

Who should watch?
If you want to watch an emotional tear jerker with a few good laughs, this is for you. But if you get bored by sentimental movies where things happen easily and happily, better skip it.

Movie info.:
Genre - Drama, Comedy
Director - Peter Hedges
Stars - Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, CJ Adams.
Country -USA
Language - English
Runtime - 105 minutes

CHRONICLE (2012)

This little movie caught my attention after i heard some positive reviews about it and gave it a chance and Whoa! what a surprise it turned out to be. It is a hand held camera found footage type of movie about three guys who find telekinetic powers. They are just normal guys, not like superman, who understands his powers and can control them and knows limits. They are just regular guys with troubles and tribulations of their lives. But this sudden surge of power comes as a test which will determine who will make it and who will break it.

Directed by Josh Trank the movie is about three guys, Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHan), a troubled young college guy suffering from bullying, verbal and physical abuse of his father along with a cancer suffering mother, Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), Andrews cousin and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), Matt's friend and a popular college guy. Fate brings them together at a right time and a right place where they acquire these super powers from an unknown thing and now its time to make their own place and identity in this world, and also to show off the powers! But its said that with power comes responsibility, but if we are neglectful, life takes a toll on itself. We see the whole movie through the eyes of Andrew's camera which he begins to use to record his distressed life life.

                                             The three superheroes, Andrew, Steve and Matt.

This movie is a surprise package. The kind of concept that this movie has could have easily been ruined by a bad direction but the wise choice of of the director for sticking to the original human side made this movie a fascinating adventure film. The performances are also admirable by the three leads especially Dane DeHan who plays the role of an angered and frustrated teenager with brilliance.

My verdict:
I had a great time watching this movie, it has some real original, exciting and nail biting story to offer. I especially loved how despite being a sci-fi, it stuck to reality so well. Its not a sci fi masterpiece but if you want to have a good time watching a nice movie, i say this movie gets the job done!

Who should watch?
I would recommend this movie to everyone!

Movie info.:
Genre - Sci-fi, Adventure, Thriller
Director - Josh Trank
Stars - Dane DeHan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
Country - USA
Language - English
Runtime - 84 minutes

New Trailer: PACIFIC RIM (2013)

Watch the trailer of this amazing sci-fi alien movie PACIFIC RIM coming up in July 2013!

LIFE OF PI (2012)

 

Yann Martel's fantasy novel "Life of Pi", released in 2001, was called as "unfilmable", but Ang Lee has made impossible possible. As i sat in the movie theater wearing my 3D glasses, the movie began and within the very first five minute i had an intuitive feeling that i was going to watch something very profound. And i was not wrong. Life of Pi is based on an Indian boy named Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel (interesting name with an interesting story) who survived for 227 days in the sea after a shipwreck.

Directed by Ang Lee (won oscar for "Brokeback Mountain") the movie begins when Pi (Irrfan Khan) is around in his 40's living in Canada and is approached by a writer who wants to write a novel on his life and also wishes to "find God" from it. Pi narrates him his story beginning from his childhood when he lived in Pondicherry, India, which used to be under the French when the whole India was under British Raj. Pi was named Piscine Molitor by his father after a famous swimming pool in France, but was constantly made fun of due to his name similar to "pissing". He one day decides to change his name to Pi and from that day he becomes as irrational as the value of Pi. After his father's zoo goes broke, his family decides to move to Canada with all the zoo animals but their ship gets wrecked in the sea and the one that survives is Pi with a Bengal tiger in his lifeboat.

                                                    Irrfan Khan as Pi narrating his story.

                                                                Tabu as Pi's mother.

The 3D use in the movie is completely new unlike any movie i have seen before. The most important part in the movie is 3D itself which is not used in the movie to bring out its special effects, but to actually bring out the story which requires a deep visualization. A 16 year old boy lost in sea, on top of that he is in a boat with a tiger who can eat him any minute. There is a scene in the movie when Pi tells his father 'I saw soul in the tiger's eyes', to which his gets angered and shows him the tiger eat a deer mercilessly, proving his point that a tiger is an animal without a soul. Pi many times disagreed to his fathers morals but now, the only survival skills he has left were taught to him by his father. He never finds himself alone in the sea, he sees the tiger not as his enemy but as his "reason to survive", a reason which keeps him aware of himself. The 16 year old Pi is played by Suraj Sharma, a phenomenal actor whose performance had me astounded. The other fascinating thing was the amazing beauty of the sea that was captured on screen. The sea at night looked like a sheet of stars and in the morning like a velvet blue cloth, and the movie boasts of its astonishing camera work and jaw dropping special effects which made this movie one of a kind experience. I think this is one of the most innovative film of the past few years and sure to grab a whole lot of awards and nominations.

My verdict:
This movie was an astounding experience with a brilliant performance, special effects and story. Close to perfection, this movie is probably the most memorable film of this year.

Who should watch?
The movie is a must watch for everyone in 3D. But you can't enjoy this movie if you don't have any patience. If you go and watch 3D movies expecting them to be like The Avengers, then this is probably not a movie for you.

Movie info.:
Genre - Adventure, Drama
Director - Ang Lee
Stars - Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Adil Hussain, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Rafe Spall
Country - USA
Language - English, Tamil, French
Runtime - 127 minutes