Life Etc Etc

Background:  The Second World War and my family go a long way back, members of my family took part in the war on behalf of the British. My grandfather himself had a fortuitous escape when the Japanese bombed  Vizag harbour  and Vizag thermal power plant on April 6th, 1942 . The war and its stories have ever since then, been a source of discussion in my family. Being inquisitive about history, I spent a lot of time trying to know about various facets of the war including watching whatever movies or documentaries I could lay my hands on. However, I have never read or watched anything about Dunkirk until I saw the movie. This was fresh territory for me and I wanted to approach the movie with a clean slate to know more about history ( which I confess wasn't a very bright idea considering how well history is manipulated in movies ). Plot Setting:  It's May 1940,  Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg have all fallen to the German Offensive. France is on its way down and the Britis

How good is the latest Jumanji movie which comes more than two decades after the initial installment with a brand new star cast headed by a very much in-form Dwayne Johnson? Is this is a true-blue Jumanji sequel or is this an official reboot? Is this movie anywhere close to the first one in terms of thrills and chills? I guess we have enough questions to answer now so let's not wait any further and get started off with our movie review for Jumanji 2 (Welcome to the Jungle). Plot: It's 1996 and Jumanji (the evil board game which siphons people in) finds itself buried in the sands of a beach having been thrown into a river at end of the first movie . The strange drum beats emanating from the game attract a passer-by and as luck would have it, he takes the game to his home and his teenage son. A board game doesn't mean much to a kid of the 90's who swiftly casts it aside. Jumanji then transforms itself into a video game. The transformation catches the eye of the teenage

The Plot It's 1973, the Cold War is at it's peak and the war with Vietnam has just ended. William Randa ( John Goodman ) working for the top secret organization ' Monarch ' has pulled all the possible strings to procure government permission for exploring the remote and hitherto untouched ' Skull Island ' in the South Pacific. The goal of the mission - To excavate and unearth the hidden treasures on the island which has so far been inaccessible to all civilized life. Accompanying the scientists on this dangerous expedition are expert forest navigator ex-Capt. James Conrad ( Tom Hiddleston best known as Loki in Thor and The Avengers ), the Sky Devils helicopter squadron led by embattled and disgruntled Lt. Col. Preston Packard ( Samuel L. Jackson ) and truth seeking war photographer Mason Weaver ( Brie Larson ). What dangers await the team on Skull Island? Is Kong a savior or a destroyer? Will anyone escape the island alive? To answer all of these questions.

New Year is upon us and this holiday season is the perfect time to sit back and relax with some exciting movies. Steven Spielberg's   Duel  is one such movie which can pump some life into a sagging evening or a drowsy afternoon. The Plot  Mild mannered and middle aged salesman David Mann ( Dennis Weaver ) is driving on a freeway in the California desert for a business trip. David is essentially non-combative and even his wife complains against his pacifist approach when he doesn't react after one of his acquaintances misbehaves with her. With a sensitive personal situation on hand, all David wants to do is finish the trip and get back home as early as possible. That's until he runs into the Truck. On a narrow two lane freeway the truck completely halts David's momentum. Recognizing that time is running out, David overtakes the truck only for the truck to overtake him again. The cycle repeats and soon the game of overtaking takes a nasty turn when the truck runs

The Plot Stephen Glass ( Hayden Christensen ) is a star reporter at ' The New Republic '. Glass is famous for his entertaining articles and is extremely popular among the 'The New Republic' workforce for his genial and sensitive nature. Sky seems to be the limit for the young Glass who's preparing for a career in law when the first cracks appear . Glass' " Hack Heaven " article attracts an investigation from Forbes  prompting Glass' boss (the Lead Editor of the 'The New Republic')  Charles Lane ( Peter Sarsgaard ) to step in and verify the facts. Lane having been the editor for only a short while has the complex task of unraveling the truth by going after the highly popular Glass. What is the truth? Is Lane after the truth or after Glass? Who wins? Will Lane be able to save the reputation of the magazine? Watch Shattered Glass today to answer all these questions. Shattered Glass 2003 starring Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaar

The Plot On a cold January morning in 2009, Capt. Chesley " Sully " Sullenberger ( Tom Hanks ) commanding US Airways flight 1549 makes an emergency landing on the Hudson River, when the plane he's flying develops sudden engine trouble. The landing saves the lives of all the passengers ( 155 in total ) on board and is hailed as a miracle by the public and media but not everyone is convinced about Sully's tactics. The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) opens up an investigation on Sully and his first officer Jeff Skiles ( Aaron Eckhart ) to probe whether Sully actually considered the alternatives before taking the risk of landing on water. With mounting technical evidence against his decision, will Sully be able to vindicate himself in time before NTSB's judgement ends his career? Is Sully a real genius or someone who is way beyond his prime? Will the miracle of the Hudson River prove to be a major botch? Who is Sully? For the answers to all these que

The Plot Aakash Oberoi ( Amit Sadh ) founder of the Pro Takedown MMA league is desperate to pump some life into his floundering promotion which is on the verge of closing down due to poor viewership. Aakash's father (veteran Parikshit Sahni ) cites the lack of homegrown talent as a reason for the league's failure ( Valid Point! ) and recommends Aakash to bring in Sultan ( Salman Khan ) a former world champion wrestler, to boost audience interest. ( Why not bring in a native MMA fighter instead of a wrestler? ) Aakash traces out Sultan only to find out that Sultan is  a shell of his former self and  is eking out a meager existence. Sultan summarily turns Aakash's offer down. Not one to give up Aakash approaches Sultan's best friend Govind ( Anant Vidhaat Sharma )  who lets him know of Sultan's past. ( Flashback Begins ) Sultan, a carefree bachelor ( Super Stars never age! ) falls madly in love with Aarfa ( Anushka Sharma ) an aspiring wrestler. Sultan immediatel

Independence Day 2: Redundance. No, I didn't get the name wrong, the title exactly describes my opinion of this movie. I didn't want to follow my review of Te3n  with another movie review but I had to pen this entry after watching this ' 20 years in the making '  sequel of ' Independence Day '. 'Independence Day' was one of the favorite movies of my childhood. It was a throwback to the disaster movies of the 70s and was punctuated by fast paced action, colorful characters and a slick screenplay. The icing on the cake was an unbeatable antagonist who always seemed to be one step ahead of the heroes. Independence Day: Resurgence lacks the punch Twenty years on the machismo doesn't look as cool, the tempo doesn't rally and the bravado doesn't impress. A major reason for this is, you have already seen everything showcased in this movie a zillion times before and the movie reeks of cinematic redundance . The plot line is no different f

I always felt the movies which I watched with the least expectations were the ones I liked the most. Te3n once again confirmed my theory. The story of an old man hunting for the individual who cost his granddaughter's life could have been woefully depressing boring us (the audience) with its unending melancholy (Read Talaash ).  But fortunately Te3n's deft screenplay ensures the movie rumbles along at a brisk pace. So here are three things which make Te3n an engaging watch apart from the screenplay (read on there are no spoilers ahead): Te3n The Performances: Amitabh Bachchan , Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan breathe life into their characters. Amitabh plays a feeble old man run down by the scars of time and punctuates his role with a steely resolve. Nawazuddin Siddiqui turns in a restrained performance as a cop turned priest while Vidya oozes toughness as a no non-sense police woman. They say great actors convey emotions through their eyes. Amitabh, Nawazu

Last Friday I finally got to watch the much hyped  Batman v Superman . As a long time follower of both Batman and Superman series of films, I was looking forward to a pulse pounding action adventure which would culminate with a once in a life time battle between two of the most (arguably) endearing protagonists of all time.  Instead I was treated to an insipid tale reeking of melancholy which dragged on for the better part of 3 hours. Now this is not a typical movie review, I wanted to write this piece up from a fan's perspective to address some of the maladies which seem to plague not only this movie but also practically every superhero movie that's coming out these days. So watch out spoilers ahead.   Batman vs Superman: A battle without the fizz <Courtesy: Yulia Matvienko > The first problem with this movie is its title. Yes you heard it right, the title which conjures up images of gigantic confrontations between its two lead players just doesn't live up to

The road to my 25th post had to go through Vera Cruz . Nothing fuels one's imagination quite like a rivalry between two evenly matched foes. As a kid I often wondered who would win if Superman squared off against He-Man and Batman took on Spider-Man. The quest for engaging rivalries and unique match-ups took a life of its own when I discovered sport. Who would win a rematch between Pete Sampras and Roger Federer ? Can Manny Pacquiao KO Floyd Mayweather ?  Will Justin Gatlin ever outrun Usain Bolt ? Whenever a match-up lived up to its potential (See Bibo V/S Kumar ) it became a memory to treasure. Magical rivalries however are not limited to sport and comics alone they have a unique place in movies too. Vera Cruz takes that rivalry to a brand new level by pitting an ultra-aggressive Burt Lancaster against an ice cool Gary Cooper  (both of them incidentally are in the Top 25 actors list of AFI ). But before going into the intricacies of the film we should explore the background

125 years have rolled by since the comic genius, the showman and the master (the epithets will never end) Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin has graced earth and its also the centenary of his " Tramp " character (who first tiptoed into our hearts in the film " Kid Auto Races at Venice "). The timing couldn't have been better for me to pay my tributes to an all time Chaplin classic, The Circus . Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy films were a big part of my childhood and one of the first films I ever remember watching in a theater was another Chaplin classic " The Kid ". But despite watching several of his short films and masterpieces such as Modern Times and The Great Dictator I never knew that Chaplin made a movie called "The Circus" until a few weeks ago(Thank you Romedy for airing the picture and enlightening me). This won't be a typical review. I won't go too much into the plot but I will say this "The Circus"

I am a movie buff and that is understandable considering the fact that I come from a country which by the sheer number of films produced per year is the largest movie industry in the world. From time immemorial movies have strived to captivate the imagination of audience first through movie effects such as Technicolor, Cinemascope ( The Robe - 1953 would be a good example), stereophonic sound then through over the top red carpet premieres, outdoor media and yes of course trailers (I couldn't believe when I found that the first trailers were produced as early as 1913 ). Here's a simple fact movie trailers rank 3rd amongst the most watched videos on the internet after news and user generated content. Movies have always managed to cleverly use both the online and offline media channels to generate interest amongst the moviegoers. When was the last time that you saw a banner or a poster that didn't show the website of the film? Can't remember? I can't too. Movies