This 4 hour film , was regarded as the most expensive film of that time. The movie takes us to the period of Julius Caesar and his roman empire. As the name of the movie indicate , this takes us in depth to one of the most complex female rulers of all time , Cleopatra ,who won many hearts without even raising a sword just by her celestial beauty, is played by none other than Elizabeth Taylor . A visual extravaganza of yesteryears with costumes , monuments , a film which made 20th Century Fox to go nearly bankrupt . Winner of 4 academy awards including cinematography, art direction , costume and visual effects.
The great Mark Antony’s speech after the assassination of Caesar is not in the film , which came as a surprise to me. Another interesting fact is a resemblance with Jodha Akbar , there is a song and show up of regiments just before the arrival of Jodha( http://youtu.be/YxINX5Y6Fr0 ), there is also a sequence like that in Cleopatra (watch from 1.18.45 in the full movie )
Overall the movie is a must watch just for the hype it created during those days, Mark Antony played by Richard Burton is no where near to the Mark antony of Marlon Brando ( http://youtu.be/7X9C55TkUP8 ) but Rex Harrison did justice to the mighty Caesar.
3.5/5 for the lady who changed the face of the world by her beauty…
Steve Carell and Paul Rudd starrer 40 year old virgin is a comedy movie , where Andy played by Steve Carell is discovered to be a virgin by his fellow workers during dirty talks midst of a poker game.The rest of the film is about how he manages to get into a relation keeping his virginity a secret. Ranked in many Top 100 comedy movies of all time, this film also featured in Top 10 films of 2005 by American Film Institute. Steve Carell gives a cakewalk performance, in a style of his own, so controlled and innocent.
A social satire , with Urvashi in the lead supported by Kunchacko , Saikumar,Nedumudi Venu . Urvashi plays the role of an ambitious mother , who wants her son to be married to a wealthy American girl. All her ambitions are driven by animosity to her brother Nedumudi Venu following her controversial marriage . She discovers politics as a way to celebrity status and a shortcut to her “American girl” goal. Unlike her roles in Mummy and Me and Achuvinte Amma , Urvashi was overdoing her role for most part of the movie. Kunchacko plays the role of Urvashi’s and Saikumar’s son and Nedumudi Venu plays the role of Urvashi’s brother. Bhama is also there in the movie as Kunchacko’s love interest. Movie dealt with a socially relevant theme , but the direction flawed , which ultimately destroyed the viewing pleasure of a social satire.Altogether an “ok” movie , nothing more than that.
2.Dr Seuss The Lorax – 1.5/5 for DrSeuss The Lorax – Disappointed with the repetion of a blockbuster plot…
3.Act of Valor – 2.5/5 for this cliched act of valor.
4.Tower Heist – 3.5/5 for this caper comedy.
5.We bought a Zoo – 3/5 for all animal lovers and this movie.
6.The Hunger Games – 3/5 , a disappointment considering the book.
7.Young Adult – 2.5/5 for this woman who tried to heal her wounds by hurting others.
1.Deool
A nice social sattire, deserves Best film award …A story centered in a village , which attains popularity by the “brains” of some locals , to convert their village to a pilgrim centre… A must see movie for every Indian where every temple town is converted to pilgrim markets…
About Best Actor Girish Kulkarni, nothing extraordinary… he played his role well as an innocent villager… its difficult to compare him with the character Mathews (Mohanlal’s character in Pranayam), I respect jury’s decision , but nobody would have complained if it was given to Mohanlal….
4/5 for this social sattire
2.Dr Seuss The Lorax
Recently more and more animated feature films are drawn into the world of serious themes , from fuel usage in Cars 2 to water in Rango , this movie also deals with a similar plot of conservation of trees and greenary , yes the same theme which was featured in the Pixar blockbuster Wall-E few years ago , so whats the difference? A sloppy screenplay , with boring animation . l loved animation movies when they dealt with more simple themes , like Cars 1 , Finding Nemo ,Toy story those themes were based on human nature and emotions told in a fictional way , but these serious themes make a good teaching tool but scores zero on entertainment scale.
1.5/5 for DrSeuss The Lorax – Disappointed with the repetion of a blockbuster plot…
3.Act of Valor
Movie about the mission of a US SEAL team, to counter terror attacks on US soil , turns out to be a movie that can boost of superior action sequences , similar to Modern Warfare Game missions. But the sad part is apart from the action scenes , the movie takes a cliched path of soldiers family life , and the climax reminded me of Keerthichakra and is far more predictable from scene one. Acting is below par , totally expected as the cast is real navy SEAL officers. As a whole movie is watchable for the deeply planned action sequences and as a tribute to the Navy SEALs…
Tower Heist is a comic heist movie starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, where a group of expelled workers try to rob a fraud businessman. Though the film follows same formula as any heist movie , this is really enjoyable by the performance of the lead cast , particularly Eddie Murphy.
Matt Damon , Scarlett Johansson starrer -We bought a Zoo is a movie inspired from the taking over of Rosemoor Zoo in California by a family. Benjamin Mee played by Matt Damon is a struggling father , who recently lost his wife, in a plan to move to a “new environment” where the memories of his wife will not haunt his life anymore as he wants to take care of his children a 13 year old boy and a 7 year old girl, he decides to buy a 18 acre struggling Zoo. Though the plan at first seemed adventurous and challenging , he encounters trouble both financially as well as emotionally before opening the zoo to the public once again. Though the movie is a cliched family drama , whats refreshing is the father role of Matt Damon , and he handled it nicely .Scarlet as a Zoo keeper who later becomes Matt’s love interest , also did justice to her role. Special mention to the younger daughter , she was sooo cute. Set aside cliches , this movie is a feel good movie for any family to enjoy at weekend.
First of Hunger Games trilogy , other two being Catching Fire and Mockingjay , is a science fiction movie adaptation of the novel by the same name . Set in the future , a country called Panem ruled from a wealthy territory called Capitol , capitol is surrounded by 12 districts , districts are divided based on the resources they possessed , like coal , agriculture. These districts bring wealth to the country , but people living in these districts struggled hard to find a living of their own. Every year Capitol organizes a game called Hunger Game to ”celebrate”(a mode of punishment for the district people) the victory of Capitol against district people’s rebellion , which resulted in the loss of an entire district – District 13. The game is contested between teens from 12-18 years of 12 districts , one boy and girl from each district, taken as a lot in a random way. The game is an all out fight for survival in an arena, till the last one stands. This game is televised and shown as a reality game show all over Panem. The winner will get immunity for life and the district will get year round supply of food .
Katniss is a 16 year old girl from district 12 , who volunteers to participate in the Hunger Game , when her 12 year old sister’s name was taken as lot.The boy who was chosen from district 12 had a secret crush on Katniss , which gets revealed in the pre-game interview. The rest of the movie is how the 24 participants fight it out in the arena to be victorious and how the romance couple from district 12 survive this game of hunger and life.
Though the movie did justice to the novel in bringing the whole story on screen , I have to say the movie failed to excite me , it was lengthy (132 minutes) and the director tried to incorporate everything in the novel scene by scene , which may be a good reading experience but on screen I wanted bit more brisk editing and pace , I think Hunger Games fail in that category. A person who has not read the novel , may not get the complete picture , but still its a good and enjoyable watch because of its content and cast especially Jennifer Lawrence …
This Charlize Theron starrer from the director of “Up in the air” tells the life of a troubled ghostwriter. Marvis the character played by Charlize is a young adult novel writer , who had a very popular college life and her love for a guy was well known. But they got separated and both got married to different people , but Marvis was unwilling to accept the truth of their separation , and her life goes deep into a hole of self made solitude. One day she receives an email from her ex-boyfriend with a pic of his newborn, troubled by this she sets off to get back her ex-boyfriend from his happy family life. Charlize Theron did justice to her role , and this film completely belongs to her. Another character that requires special mention is Patton Oswalt who plays the role of another classmate of Marvis, who lends a helping hand to Marvis when he discovers she is suffering from depression.
2.5/5 for this woman who tried to heal her wounds by hurting others.
Set in the future, In Time is a sci fic thriller where people live only upto 25 years and given a count down of 1 yr after that with which they have to live….people use time , as a monetary unit… like 5 hrs for coffee , 2wks for hotel room, earn time for the work they do …and towns are divided based on the remaining time they have left ..which is shown on their arm in a digital clock format, yes ofcourse they can share time….crazy idea right? Nothing exceptional from the cast , ordinary job from all , Justin Timberlake plays the lead.
2.5/5 low budget sci fic backed by an unusual theme (watch it , forget it…)
2.The Rum Diary
2/5
3.The Help
3.5/5
4.The Three(+1) musketeers
An adventure film , filmy adaptation of the novel by Alexander Dumas tells the story of an young mans journey to join musketeers. Though there are considerable changes in some characters,the plot is similar to the novel.It was released in 3D(I watched a 2D version) , if you enjoy adventure films where always good prevail over evil,this is a fun watch.Apart from the fun and entertainment the film is a complete mess , special effects look terribly awkward , performances match a Television series.The film had all the potential to be a blockbuster if it was packaged well with a better script.But as a whole you will not feel disappointed seeing this.
⅗ for this nice adventure trip
A goof-Type: Factual Mistake
King Louis XIII is shown playing a game of chess with Cardinal Richelieu , during the game when the king of Louis XIII was in check , Cardinal advices him to castle (a move in chess between king and rook) , but this move cannot be made when the king is in check.
I checked IMDb regarding this…but it was not mentioned , so I added this as a suggestion in IMDb..hope it will be added in 10 days as per their mail.
5.War Horse
Directed by Steven Speilberg , film tells the story of the journey and hardships suffered by Devon , an young man from England and a horse Joey,that he raised . During World War 1, both get into war front and travel different paths of hardship to finally unite after war. With no overdose of emotions , this movie is about relations that Joey shares with several masters he encounters in his journey,from a girl in a village to a Major in army he wins respect and love.A well made movie with some good performances from the cast , this will surely touch your heart.I cannot end saying about this movie without mentioning the background score, it was just amazing.Nominated in six different categories in the Academy awards , including best picture , War Horse is a movie that you should not miss.
A thriller starring Sam Worthington, where he plays the role of a cop wrongly sentenced for robbery of diamond.He then embarks on an unusual plan to trap all those involved in accusing him of this.Its not an edge of seat thriller, a plot seen thousand times , only difference is it is set in the 25th floor ledge.An ordinary performance of the lead cast with some boring negotiation sequences , this movie is only for acrophobics who will get enough exposure to get their phobia treated by increasing exposure.
⅖ for this nonthrilling thriller.
7.Hugo
“Once upon a time , I met a boy named Hugo Cabret …he lived in a train station…why did he live in a train station? you might well ask…thats really this film is going to be about…..”
This quote from the movie sums up the what this film is about, a nice film with some extraordinary performances from the cast especially the boy who played Hugo..Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley is easily one of the best films of 2011, is it “the” best? Fighting with Descendants ,Artist,Help…it may lose out but it is a film not to be missed.The art direction in the movie needs special mention , recreating a whole station in Paris Gare Montparnasse is an absolute spectacle . Nominated in 11 different categories in Academy awards including best picture , but my bet is on art direction.
⅘ for Hugo and his automaton
8.Contraband
Yet another “all is well at the end” heist movie starring Walhberg
2.5/5 (avoidable, watchable if you dont get bored seeing this genre)
“if things were easy to find, they wouldn’t be worth finding”
A quote from the movie….same thing with movies , if making a good movie is easy then its not worth making, making a good movie is always tough and requires great work,such a piece of work is this movie . This movie is about a boy’s mind which tries to cop up with the unexpected death of his father in 9/11 disaster. Directed by Stephen Daldry this movie is an novel adaptation of the same name.Thomas Horn who played Oscar the boy needs special mention , he is the heart of this film , he was brilliant in every frame. Nominated in 2 categories for the academy awards including Best picture , I am little disappointed about the fact that academy did not notice this kid’s performance.
Story of a deaf and dumb child failing to realize the joy of life , gets back to life with the help of a teacher who comes to stay at his home.Awarded with national and state best children’s picture for the year 2009 , there is nothing exceptional in this film’s making other than the simplicity of the plot and story telling afterall that is what we want from a movie for children.
⅗ for Naughty Keshu …
11.Midnight in Paris
Even though I am not a big fan of Woody Allen what compelled me to watch this movie is the Best Picture nomination in Academy awards. But unlike most Woody Allen movies I have seen , this one has life in it , some meaningful thought behind the script and screenplay. Starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams , this film is about the rediscovery of oneself . Owen Wilson was good , its a tailor made role for him , he was at ease all the way , and the other actors also diid their part well.What impressed me is the narrative style , though nominated in 4 different categories including Best picture …my bet is on screenplay….
Film is about a team consisting of Prosecutor,Doctor,Commissioner and 7 others and their journey to uncover the murder of a man in the rural areas of Turkey called Anatolia. Film starts with the hunt by this team to find the burial place of the dead man with the help of two suspects.
Each and every minute detail is taken care by the director which makes the movie lengthy and you get the feeling that the subject can very well fit in a short film , but director uses his skill and liberty of feature film to portray each character to depths unimaginable , with each step of solving the murder we get to know each character more precisely .Even after the movie , it will throw us several questions…which the director cunningly left to us to decide and interpret.
This film was Turkey’s official entry to Academy awards , but failed to make it to the final 5. The movie won Grand Prix award for Best picture in Cannes along with awards for screenplay and best film in Asia Pacific Screen awards.
Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds , Safe house deals with yet another story of corrupt CIA agents and other international intel agencies. Only thing that could have saved the movie was scripit and screenplay as this story has been told a million times in Hollywood, but as those departments also failed , even Denzel Washington was unable to save the movie. A loose script with age old story with a usual narrative style put the nail in the coffin for Safe house.
After a gap of 10 years Priyadarshan showed hands with Mohanlal-Mukesh duo to deliver an all out comedy.Hailed as the Master director of slap stick comedy Priyadarshan will not let you complain a bit . Mukesh was at his best in recent times , Mohanlal as always will excel in any role given to him did his part well, but the suprising package came from Bhavana, she did her role complete justice.
A happily married couple meets with an accident , and wife’s memory about marriage is completely erased from her memory because of trauma.The plot may seem similar to few films like 50 First dates and Innale , but the movie is about how the husband wins her heart all over again.The lead pair is Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum , but after seeing the movie you get a feeling that something is terribly wrong atleast I got that feeling….yes its the chemistry between the lead pair. Though Rachel was able to gel into the role , Tatum was a total misfit , he did not look charming in any frame. Tatum looked more like a real fighter for a boxing match than a “fighter” in life trying to win the forgotten love of his own wife, , a guy with more charming look would have carried the movie much better.
2.5/5 for The Vow that does not make you say “wow”
16.Bridesmaids
Kept myself away from woman movies for a long time, but the good reviews of this film made me watch this movie. Ever wondered why we get possessive in friendship , ever felt jealous of someone trying to claim your childhood friend? if yes then this movie will strike you by the head. This movie tells the story of a failing woman in 30’s , who gets the shock of her life when she knows her best childhood friend is going to get married . Coupled with her sorrow in losing a good friend and the new bunch of friends of her drive her crazy along with her own life miseries.The main lead played by Kristen Wiig , who also wrote the script of the film with Annie Mumolo is the pulse of the movie.
Directed by Clint Eastwood…Dicaprio plays the character J Edgar Hoover director and man behind building FBI.Film is a biopic , with some special mention to few cases especially Lindbergh kidnapping commonly described as “the biggest story since the resurrection”… The film also describes Hoover’s personal life (many believe he was homosexual) as he shared intimate relation with his male colleague Clyde Tolson, though at few instances physical relations with females are also mentioned in the film. Path to FBI head was never an easy run for him, ruled by egos he made sure to finish every obstacle in his way be it colleagues or superiors including Presidents , he managed to keep them on his side even through blackmails.
There is nothing exceptional from my favourite actor Dicaprio, I agree … after seeing the movie (unlike so many intellectuals who proclaimed “academy isnt nuts” to give him an academy nomination for this acting, even without seeing the movie)More than acting in the film, the makeup of Old Clyde Tolson irritated me…Nothing to keep you glued to the seat this film can only be seen as a tribute to a person who gave up everything in his life to build the largest and most powerful investigation agency.
3/5 for J Edgar…
The Artist
A silent movie (almost silent , only has bgm) , made in the year 2011
Year 1927 , George Valentin is a celebrity , charismatic superstar who carries that charisma to the world outside movies as well….Peppy Miller an ordinary girl who rises to fame by kissing George during a red carpet event , slowly rises to stardom during the silent movie era….as movie industry emerges from silent to talky era , George loses his stardom to Peppy…George becomes a failure both in movies as well as life in the coming years…but Peppy secretly admires and loves George even during his hardships and extends a helping hand to the godfather who made her famous…eventually realizing her love for him, George steps into talky era of movies along with his love Peppy…THE END
4.5/5 for The Artist
A Separation
B2Sswx_vrWk
Iranian film telling the life of average middle class family and their unexpected trouble with a lower class family . Even though they are divided socially and economically , they are highly religious. This is my first Iranian film, I do not find it any more alien than watching Telugu films with subtitles.One thing that stands out , we will never feel that we are watching a film , its so natural ..About cast from the Alzheimers father to the small child , all were exceptional . If life is a film with hero being our sincerity and villain being circumstances , this film is life…
Starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, film is about an investigation to uncover the mole in the British Secret Service called “Circus”.To me this thriller lacks pace and it thrilled me only in parts..Considering the cast, the film disappointed me..
A political drama directed by George Clooney who also wrote screenplay with 2 other guys plays the role of Morris who is the current governor of PA, also the democratic Presidential candidate.Ryan Gosling plays his junior campaign manager Stephen , who also idolizes Morris but as story unfolds the dirty side of Morris is unrevealed to Stephen in an accidental way…this makes him realize nothing in politics is clean and which transforms him to a new political player from the verge of an absolute breakdown…
Directed by Alexander Payne , descendants deals with a man who begins to cope up with life of raising 2 girls without mother , after his wife suffered a terrible accident and confined to bed just waiting for the right moment to “pull the plug”…Such a simple story told in a simple way is made magical with the performance of the lead crew George Clooney and elder daughter Shailene Woodley…Clooney was just awesome , he was at his best and he carried the character with such command …oooh man now I am really scared about Oscars …will my Leo again lose it ?
4.5/5 for Descendants….watch it for one of the best ever performances of Clooney and such a simple cute film…
The story is about an investigative journalist Blomkvist , who loses a case against Business tycoon Wennerstrom…and get sentenced to 3 months of prison and money which took a heavy toll on him…at that time he is hired by an old business tycoon Henrik Vanger to solve a mystery that has been disturbing his mind for the last 40 years – mystery of a missing family girl named Harriet… Blomkvist is assisted by Salander…hacker cum investigative journalist …the rest of the story is how they uncover the mystery and which inturn help Blomkvist to strike a death blow to Wennerstrom empire….
There are minor differences between the book and film…Cecilia character in the book shares an intimate relation with Blomkvist which in the movie is easily avoided , and in the climax character of Anita is said to have died in an accident where as in the book she provides the vital clue …though none of these takes away any thrill of the movie …yet I feel the movie lacks the mood of the book…
Nothing more than that…Everyone praised this film to max….now let me find some negatives
The plot makes use of so many weakness of malayalis(infact most humans) , women, good old 80′s melody songs , and money … VKP has done his part well , but as manojettan and draku told, Anoop menon is trying to put his views and outlook as words and fill the mouth of his characters with such one liners… Im okay with it , if it fits the character , but without even building a character when such lines are uttered , becomes an irritation , Praveena’s doc character was one such one , just came to the plot and she spilled everything about her and her philosophy to almost a stranger…slightly awkward…
Some praised Jayasurya’s acting skills and even compared it to Mathews (to be frank , i even forgot Jayasurya’s character name) is just ok performance nothing exceptional , when mohanlal lost his hands to communicate(as his body movements are like dancing gives that extra beauty to his acting), jayasurya found it a blessing in disguise , 2 less things to take care while acting…but did well …
Overall a good movie to spend your 1.45 hrs … 3.5/5
The Truman Show [1998]
GYj2m1yVpGU
Watched a movie yesterday , The Truman show starring Jim Carrey , tells the story of a guy who is living on a TV show 24×7 , unknowingly….weird idea right? but executed brillantly…the story is how he understands that the whole life is a live show enjoyed by millions and his efforts to escape from the TV world to reality …
Nominated in 3 categories for oscars : Best original screenpaly, director, best supporting actor….
A film to be seen in this era of reality shows , how mechanical everything is…
The 4th installment of MI series was partially shot on Imax cam , so to completely get the visual extravaganza , i think you really need to see this on an Imax screen , viewing on a 16 inch imax screen at home ( ) really didnt do much justice to the viewing pleasure.About the movie Ethan Hunt circles the world like James Bond to crack nuclear codes in a ” save the world” campaign …. contrary to the old 1960s theme of US Russia rivalry , Ethan Hunt becomes a roadblock in the diplomatic ties of both these countries , so to save the world and maintain good relations between these 2 countries , Ethan becomes part of Ghost protocol …rest of the story is how he cracks the code and help to “save the world”. 30 minutes or so is shot in India in mumbai , bengaleru …where Sun Tv office building is shown.
In a mission to conquer the European drug market after his success in Asian market Don with the help of old enemy Vardhan , plan a robbery in Deushe Cental Bank to get the currency printing plates…though the movie reminds you of so many English movies in bits and pieces, it will never fail to thrill you , charisma of SRK will glue you to the seat , he lives as Don … I will never compare this Don to to the first….
Got ticket reserved with the help of few friends, actually was planning to go with mother for the 2nd show , but reservations got over, so went with those friends.Film started with ever hated title of Mohanlal ‘ Universtar in as ‘…, that gave a negative vibe for me… which was followed with Mohanlal intro song “Kanna neeyo” song …I felt the scenes were little awkward for Lalettan at this age..
Story-The movie falls in revenge category , I will not put this under revenge thriller , rather its is revenge – romance, under backdrop of a robbery gang…Completely predictable storyline..
Cast-Mohanlal is the sole of this film….Cassanovva minus Mohanlal=0,he was brillant as real Cassanovva particularly in the 2nd half ,rest of the cast did a fair job, Shreya looked stunning.
Direction and screenplay- It was a big let down for me, few scenes in the first half reminded me of the movie “Flash”….and lengthy romance scenes packed in the 2nd half of the movie , killed little thrill left in the movie…
Fight Choreography- Another big let down, opening robbery scenes and climax stunts clearly underline where we stand among world cinema.
Songs- I enjoyed the other two songs “Mudharamee mohana” and “Omanichumma vechu” and the crowd response to the pub dance was good contrary to the majority feel of this community…
Theatre response: Amidst howling and silly comments , I think people really loved Cassanovva and his tricks, but as expectations were sky high…it may affect the movie..
Verdict: Go with minimum expectations , as that is impossible for a film we were waiting for 3 years…we will feel slightly disappointed…as 3 years of effort is not seen , though its luxurious visual treat…Somewhere down the lane you may feel Sagar and Cassanovva were not backed by strong storyline..Atleast for me action thrillers are not the genre of Roshan Andrews , it became evident in the romance portion of the movie , he showed great grip on the script in those parts.
Show – 2nd Show Status- >90% (Balcony) middle row seats were all reserved , so sat on the side row
I am not going to give away any story, as the story can be well understood from the trailer itself, Sathyan Anthikad’s movies were not always story oriented after he took the job of script writer , but this film also has the signature mark of Sathyan Anthikad written all over it , from the cast , locations , to climax centered around flashback in Tamil Nadu , you can very well say it is a Sathyan movie even if you have missed the titles.What is so refreshing about the movie is Sathyan once again brought back Lallettan to his backyard, the same old lalettan every malayali love to see over and over again with no complaints. The genius of Sathyan Anthikad is he knows what the family audience want, I heard so many laughters seeing the incidents involving Innocent.I felt there is no point in cutting a movie into 1st half, 2nd half and cilmax, life is a mixture of all, nothing in life is bad or good , its always circumstantial and subjective , the movie ended in the most appropriate way for me.
Coming tho cast…Lalettan as usual looked effortless, Legendary Sheela’s chemistry with lalettan was also good which made mother son duo scenes a treat for the eyes.A standout and unexpected performance came from the boy, he was superb… quoting the words of few girls passing comments about him in the film “he looked like Dhanush”… Songs …to be frank I want Sathyan to be associated with some new talents to bring something fresh … only worth mentioning is Amrithamayi…. Overall a movie tailor made for family viewing…as always Sathyan delivered what he mastered over two decades.
Theater- Changanacherry Anu (Bodyguard replaced it in Abhinaya)
Show- 11.00am
Status: 40-50% (balcony) mostly 15-30 yr old people
Before coming to the movie I had an unpleasant experience to share, I had a little fight with the ticket giving guy in the counter, ticket price is 55 , he wanted the exact amount, I gave 100, he asked me to wait rather rudely , but what made me angry was he was giving change to ladies who came with 500 , I waited for few more guys to give the 10′s an 20′s but he never called me back so I got angry and raised my voice a bit….that spoiled my good mood to see a movie of this nature.
Movie started with the titles as usual but with some memorable quotes about love, what was so pathetic about Anu theater was, most of those quotes were not visible as it went out of screen either due to bad projection or because of slightly smaller screen.
About the 3 pillars of Pranayam- I will start with Anupam Kher , I felt his lip movements were slightly out of sync in the first few scenes, but i did not find any problems with that later,other than that he did his part well, I can imagine how hard it is to convey such diverse emotions especially the divine emotion of love in a langauge he has never used before even though we can say love has no langauge but to emote something without knowledge of language takes a lot of courage and also tremendous skill from director (I still wonder how Nithish Bhardwaj sang “Devanganagal kaiozhinja tharakam” song with such precision in lip movements)
Jayaprada- Who will believe she is not a malayali after seeing the film, she was so superb. And I felt she and the younger Gracy character shared almost identical looks which really gave a better linking to the film.
What to say about our Lalettan, he stole the show , completely subdued character who stands by his wife till the death, who loves her more than anything else in the world and believes he is the greatest lover of her . HE WAS HER MAN…. I am no one to comment on his acting , but I like to comment on few finer moments in the film without giving away any story.He plays the role of a one-sided paralyzed retired professor (diplegic) I have never seen someone acting with facial drooping which is a feature of stroke in an entire movie,he gave that tone to his voice which is peculiar for a person who suffered stroke. In another scene where he is lies in hospital bed in a critical situation , during his talk he picks his nose , so naturally.I do not know whether he will get a state award or national award but this day he WON MY HEART!!(as ever)
Now coming to few important characters, there are actually few characters that will make us notice them even among these legends, one is Anoop Menon , he once again proved he is worth a talent to invest for the future, I felt a sense of realism in his acting from his previous ventures. Another stand out performance is from the grand-daughter of Anupam Kher played by the character Megha, she looks promising.
Songs – Enjoyed every song and the songs were well placed and it fell right in place. “Pattil ee pattil ” and “Kalamozhikali” songs were the best in my opinion as visuals also did justice to those beautiful songs.
Ambiance inside theater- Some young guys around 15-20yrs, booed Mohanlal song , “I am your man” but the majority responded that with huge claps , silencing the boos.
My verdict ****/5
(Do not know whether it will be a commercial hit like Thanmatra but it will steal many hearts)
Planned to see these films even before the Oscar nomination announcement, I was only able to see these only few days back.What to say about these three films,though they depict life at 3 different corners of the world and say 3 different themes….and have just one thing in common….”superb feeling ” after watching the movie.I have ranked them in order in which I enjoyed…so lets start with the last one of the 3
Black swan
Black swan takes us through the mind of ballet dancer Nina who is fighting with herself to get a carrier unlike her mother who got lost in the world of amateur dancing,which puts Nina at great mental turmoil as she sees every other person an obstacle in her way to success.Natalie Portman what to say about this fantastic actor,played one of lifetime roles to at most perfection.
4/5 for Black (and white)swan….
The Fighter
Seriously folks, why was not Christian bale not nominated in best actor category is a question that jumped to my mind after watching Fighter.Christian bale played a cocaine addict brother of Mark Walhberg who coaches him to a professional boxing world champ.
Easily one of the best sports movies of the decade.
4.5/5 for Fighter…
Kings Speech
Kings speech tells the life of George VI and how he cops with the stammer when he becomes king.What is so beautiful about the film is an underlying friendship of king and his speech therapist.Colin firth gave a mesmerizing performance. What happens is he leaves everyone speechless by his stammering speech and unstammering performance
A sure 5 on 5 for Kings speech….
I went with minimum expectations as the expectations were crashed to below zero by some of the mohanlal fans…but i must say the movie is not as bad as they claim , and i found the movie to be ok ….Kandahar is not an action movie by any means, it says about the youth both educated and uneducated their circumstances, new generation greed for money and easy money making policy without hardwork.I really liked the plot where an educated guy goes to become an army man where the other uneducated guy who slips into the world of terrorism and jihad .
Most of the fans criticizing the film, must have gone with expectation of another Major Mahadevan terrorist wipe out operations….but this movie is much more than that…it goes to another level a more emotional level…yes the movie would have been more interesting if the hijack scenes were more ….but its our fault that we expected a hollywood type hijack movie whose budjet used to be atleast 100 times, I think major ravi did justice with the budjet of the movie .
What was so superb about the movie which I felt is the combination scenes of lallettan and amitabh bachan….both gave a their heart into every dialogue they delieverd…Another worth mentioning performance was that of KPAC Lalitha …no words to describe her…I really had my moments of tear…
Coming to the drawbacks…I felt screenplay lacked the flow which keerthichakra enjoyed…feeling all connected with a glue rather than a natural connection…and the most noticable draw back was the lead (ganesh) and the other guy…too amateur to be handed with a characterof this magnitude and depth…I really wanted guys with some acting experience to do both the roles…that would have taken the movie to another level…ofcourse the movie was originally planned with the real “Surya”
Though the movie took off really badly with so many jerks and bumps in the runway…i felt the movie landed perfectly in the hands of two maestros of indian cinema….my rating ….***/5
A story saying how a disease diagnosis inspired from a painting.
The history of medicine is full of interesting stories about the discovery of illnesses. The saga of Angelman’s syndrome is one such story. It was purely by chance that nearly thirty years ago (e.g., circa 1964) three handicapped children were admitted at various times to my children’s ward in England. They had a variety of disabilities and although at first sight they seemed to be suffering from different conditions I felt that there was a common cause for their illness. The diagnosis was purely a clinical one because in spite of technical investigations which today are more refined I was unable to establish scientific proof that the three children all had the same handicap. In view of this I hesitated to write about them in the medical journals. However, when on holiday in Italy I happened to see an oil painting in the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona called . . . a Boy with a Puppet. The boy’s laughing face and the fact that my patients exhibited jerky movements gave me the idea of writing an article about the three children with a title of Puppet Children. It was not a name that pleased all parents but it served as a means of combining the three little patients into a single group. Later the name was changed to Angelman syndrome.
nothing extraordinary… he played his role well as an innocent villager… its difficult to compare him with the character Mathews (Mohanlal’s character in 
) really didnt do much justice to the viewing pleasure.About the movie Ethan Hunt circles the world like James Bond to crack nuclear codes in a ” save the world” campaign …. contrary to the old 1960s theme of US Russia rivalry , Ethan Hunt becomes a roadblock in the diplomatic ties of both these countries , so to save the world and maintain good relations between these 2 countries , Ethan becomes part of Ghost protocol …rest of the story is how he cracks the code and help to “save the world”. 30 minutes or so is shot in India in mumbai , bengaleru …where Sun Tv office building is shown.
Disappointed , Watch it for Mohanlal
