Source Code – English Movie Review

Uh! Ah! Oops! My God! Wow! etc, etc… You’ll go through such unceasing acclamations as we have loads of surprises, twists and turns in the tale. And at last by the end of show, it’s a grand round of applause. Filmmaker Duncan Jones and Ben Ripley – the masters of new experiment will leave you awestricken. The film faintly reminiscence of Hollywood masterpieces ‘Matrix’, ‘Avatar’ and ‘Inception’, but that has a percentage level of 0.00000009% and there’s nothing to be bothered about it.

Straight off to the synopsis, the film opens with Colter Stevens (Jake), an American army pilot while flying across Afghanistan has a blackout. He finds himself over a moving train in USA and a gorgeous girl Christina (Michelle Monaghan) sitting right before him says, ‘I accept your advise Shaan’ and everything becomes discombobulated for him. Within next 8 minutes, it’s a terrible bomb blast. Within fraction of seconds, he is found inside a box like cabin, where he comes to interact on a video conferencing with a National security Officer (Vera Farminga).

It is revealed that he is processed through ‘Source Code’ program that is about getting into another man’s identity during last 8 minutes of his life. He has to discover, who plotted the bomb in train so that rest of the attacks can be prevented.

He is commuted back and forth between ‘Source Code’ Box and ‘Train’ so as to find out the bomber. The process becomes toilsome as the Colter Steven becomes emotionally bounded with characters and is forced to accept certain harsh truth about him.

Films based on mind games and permutation-combination concepts have been the most favorite flick for the western audiences. What’s so appealing about the film is that you’ll move to edge of seats from the very first minute of the film. Perhaps, you’ll go standing on your toes for most of the sequences involve ‘Goosebumps’ and ‘adrenaline rush’. It’s not an easy job for any of the film crew for their involvement in such projects. The continuities maintained in editing and a brilliant cinematography by Don Burgess are the biggest pluses. Chris Bacon’s symphonic orchestration in background leaves us spellbound.

Revealing much about the film’s narration may become a blatant spoiler. But then, there are few scenes that we cannot stop ourselves from mentioning. Steven’s phone conversation with his dad through a different identity, Vera Farminga’s involvement with the protagonist, the final line of interaction between Jake and Michelle – ‘What would you do if you have less than a minute to live?’ ‘I would make those second count’.

The process of finding the culprit over the train is outstanding as he keeps changing his pattern of style and starts moving faster and smarter than in previous chapter.

Go watch ‘Source Code’, if you were yearning to watch a film of different style that never existed before.

Yes, the Hollywood Kingpins have proved that they are Kings of  New Inventions.

Cast & Crew:

Production: Mark Gordon

Direction: Duncan Jones

Star-Cast: Jake Gyllenhall, Michelle Monoghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Music: Chris Bacon

Cinematography: Don Burgess

Editing: Paul Hirsch

Verdict: Mind-boggling edge-seated thriller. Faster than a roller coaster

Sucker punch – English Movie Review

“Everyone has an angel” is how the story begins. The movie is, just what one might expect, from the man who was responsible for “300” but without any historical weavings. Written by Steve Shibuya and Zack Snyder, directed by the latter, the movie portrays a twenty year old woman’s plight of being put in a mental institution, against her will and making a pitch between reality and fantasy.

Baby doll (Emily Browning), as she is nick named in the movie, is the main protagonist who, after her mother’s death, is forced into the “Lennox house for the mentally insane”, when she accidentally kills her little sister instead of her stepfather. Her stepfather bribes the orderly Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) and makes him forge the signature of the resident Psychiatrist Dr. Vera Gorski(Carla Gugino) so as to lobotomize after five days which would ultimately make her unable to reveal the circumstances of her admission and lose all chances to claim her mother’s fortune.

The story is strung, once Browning arrives in the asylum. She rejects the reality of her plight and weaves a fantasy world in her mind where she dances erotically, thereby changing the asylum in to a brothel, mesmerizing Blue and the rest of the group. At this point, she is in her fantasy world where it is revealed to her that to get her freedom from the asylum, she needs to collect five items which are a Map, Fire, Key, Knife and a mystery item.

This, she tries to procure, with the help of four other girls nicked as Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) who plot to escape from the clutches of Blue. Dr. Vera Gorski is the one who ultimately unravels the mysterious “going on’s” of the asylum by bringing the culprit Blue to his knees.

The music is integral to the movie as this is what is played out by Baby Doll before jumping into her fantasy world every time. The feel of the music is mostly of a “night club” and “total strife” ambience in tune with each other. A lot of the music is rehashed versions of songs by “The Beatles”, “Silver sun Pick ups”, “Led Zeppelin”, “Lords of Acid” and others.

Women in sleazy clothes fighting a horde of soldiers, dragons and monsters with a lot of intensity and well-played out music is the substance of the movie.

It tries to provoke the audience with its full on visual. It basically lacks any substance and as a fantasy in reality it hardly makes any waves. The song “Where is my mind “aptly describes the entire span of the movie. The role of Emily Browning is very impressive and stands out to the core with her attitude and sheerness.

It is a stunner, in the sense that, the visuals do provide an extreme impact but it is advisable to leave your mind at home before you watch this movie.

Cast & Crew:

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish,Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, Oscar Isaac

Director: Zack Snyder

Screenwriter: Steve Shibuya and Zack Snyder

Producers: Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder

Banner: Cruel and Unusual Films

Music: Tyler Bates and Marius De Vries

Editor: William Hoy

Cinematographer: Larry Fong

Verdict: Stunning visuals but a no-brainer

Just Go With It – Movie Review

Hot chicks with perfect bodies and strong one-liners make up the crux of the movie.

Sandler fans will love the hyper standard fare meted out in his movies as it is always infused with high doses of humor, laughable scenes and perfect female forms shown in a thorough manner.

The film is basically a remake of the 1969 film “Cactus Flower”. But, it’s purely an experience of deja vu for the Indian masses or at least the bollywood buffs. The story is pretty recent in the minds of our desi viewers as the 1969 movie was remade in Hindi as “Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya” in 2005, which was a Salman Khan- Sushmita Sen-Katrina Kaif starrer.

A hi-profile plastic surgeon, Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) is duped by a woman, who breaks his heart at the altar and after which; he begins to attract women with the help of his marriage ring.  The only person who is aware of his true story is Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Anniston), his assistant who herself is a divorcee with two children. Then he meets the gorgeous young Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and he believes that he would like to settle down with her. But to convince her, he leads her on with a string of lies which finally leads him to an ultimate realization and true happiness.

The movie is truly hilarious in so many places that one would be in stitches half the time. Nicole Kidman plays her role to the tee as Devlin Adams, college friend of Jennifer Anniston. The constant sparring and rivalry of the two beautiful actresses were well played in the movie. Nicole looks awesome in the movie with a body of a twenty year old. The scene where she shows her butt to the audience is hilarious. As the hula girls on stage in a fancy restaurant, in Hawaii, the two women charmed the pants off the men.

Jennifer is an amazing actress and has played her character of the assistant superbly. Her change from the all-covered, drab, bookish look to hot wife (a lie to lead on Palmer) of Adam makes your jaw go wide open with eye ball pops.

The reel kids of Anniston also play their roles remarkably well. The girl Maggie (Bailee Madison)’s fake British accent and the boy Michael (Griffin Gluck)’s moroseness is in part, their act towards helping Sandler, win the girl’s heart which is played out perfectly by them.

How can one not mention, the man who plays Danny’s cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson) who makes you feel “yuck” in certain scenes especially the one where he helps to revive a sheep supposedly in the throes of death.

The background scores of the movie which also include a mix of various hit numbers (Rihanna, Sting etc) interspersed together are fitting to the emotions played out in the scenes.

The movie has been shot in Los Angeles and Hawaii. One can imagine, what with the well taken cinematography which consists of waterfalls, beaches, hotels, gorgeous scenery and yes, let’s not forget the hot “Baywatch like” women!

Adam Sandler has brought together a beautiful and well matched team in this movie with tailor made parts.

The “in your face” adult comedy makes you laugh so hard and also makes you feel the romance and intenseness of the reel life characters. As finally, true love is claimed and well, supposedly, just supposedly, peace and calm reigns.

Cast & Crew:

Production: Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Prods.

Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson, Brooklyn Decker, Dave Matthews, Bailee Madison, Kevin Nealon, Griffin Gluck

Director: Dennis Dugan

Screenwriters: Allan Loeb, Timothy Dowling, based on Cactus Flower, screenplay by I.A.L. Diamond, stage play by Abe Burrows, based upon a French play by Barillet and Gredy

Producers: Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Heather Parry

Editor: Tom Costain

Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams

Cinematographer: Theo van de Sande

Ceremony – English Movie Review

Written and directed by Max Winkler (son of Henry), Ceremony is littered with nods to and lifts from earlier tales of class-conscious young men seeking love in a world full of phonies. There’s even a character named Esme — a name many viewers will know from J.D. Salinger’s world — and another named Whit, recalling the auteur, Whit Stillman, behind Metropolitan.

Sporadically funny though less effective at selling its melancholy undercurrents, Ceremony, which debuted here at SXSW prior to its April 8 release from Magnolia, could connect with quirk-hungry audiences.

Reminders of Wes Anderson are too numerous to cite, but reverberate loudly in the many affectations and manipulative strategies hero Sam (Michael Angarano) employs while attempting to steal Zoe (Uma Thurman) away on the eve of her wedding.

Crashing Zoe’s exclusive, beachside wedding weekend with his reluctant but eager-to-please buddy Marshall (Reese Thompson), Sam is ridiculous — a kid with swagger borrowed from pulp novels and a moustache only matinee idols should wear. The casting is just uncomfortable enough to succeed: Angarano sells the part about as well as his character convinces Zoe’s boozy brother (Jake Johnson, doing his best Mark Ruffalo act) he’s one of the crowd.

The film works best with the boys in infiltration mode — proposing awkward toasts, blending into the increasingly debauched action and trying to decide what to make of the surprising welcome extended by the groom, Whit (Lee Pace), who seems not only to intuit Sam’s plan but to be unfazed by it.

And why should he be bothered? The movie’s biggest weakness is its inability to convince us that any romantic potential once existed, or ever could, between beautiful, world-wise Zoe and the much younger, nothing-going-for-him Sam. If there’s any chemistry between Angarano and Thurman, it’s that of a goofy kid and an overindulgent aunt; even when the screenplay spells reasons out, we don’t believe them.

That makes it fairly difficult to get viewers too worked up over Sam’s oncoming heartbreak, though we might feel some sympathy after his inevitable fallout with Marshall — who finally admits he’s being exploited and stands up for himself just when Sam needs his support most.

Ceremony’s storytelling difficulties are assuaged somewhat by a soundtrack offering well-chosen pop tunes and additional score by Van Dyke Parks. The score shows restraint even when Winkler paints with a too-broad brush (as with the unbelievably self-aggrandizing documentaries Whit makes in Africa). This along with solid performances keeps the movie afloat even as its protagonist crashes and burns.

Cast & Crew:

Production Company: Nala Films, Polymorphic Pictures

Cast: Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Reece Thompson, Lee Pace, Jake Johnson, Brooke Bloom, Harper Dill, Rebecca Mader

Director-screenwriter: Max Winkler

Producers: Emilio Diez Barroso, Darlene Caamaño Loquet, Polly Johnsen, Matt Spicer

Music: Eric D. Johnson

Editor: Joe Landauer

Source: Hollywoodreporter

Limitless – English Movie Review

Limitless should be so much smarter than it is. The movie is about a down-and-out guy who takes a “smart pill,” then can instantly write a book in four days, learn a language in hours and run rings around lawyers, criminals and financial advisers. He’s a Mega-brain on steroids, a Superman for the Information Age. He is also a comic reflection of a cultural shift in American perceptions of masculinity that is beginning to value a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs more than a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. Alas, the filmmakers don’t use him very smartly.

The protagonist is well played by Bradley Cooper, who performs the transformations with aplomb, yet once the movie turn him into a Mega-brain its makers can’t quite figure out what to do with him: Do we want him to be funny or serious? First the movie puts him through a few financial magic tricks that look like an audition for Wall Street 3. After this, it throws him into a routine paranoid action-thriller. Disappointing.

Not so disappointing, though, that Relativity Media won’t see some smart money heading its way as Cooper goes into overdrive in a performance that makes a script by the estimable Leslie Dixon (Outrageous Fortune) and quirky direction by Neil Burger (The Illusionist) seem better than they are.

A New York author named Eddie Morra (Cooper) is faced with monumental “writer’s block” — i.e., he hasn’t written a single word of a novel long overdue — then gets a sweet goodbye from his long-suffering girlfriend, Lindy (Abbie Cornish). By chance, he runs into his ex-brother-in-law (Johnny Whitworth). Always a slick hustler, this Mephistopheles is pushing a new, unregulated drug called NZT. Naturally, he gives Eddie a sample.

This particular pharmaceutical allows Eddie access to 100 percent of his brain. The movie perhaps overstates the possibilities here by giving the “addict” not only a phenomenal ability to learn and retain data but also a sixth sense that lets him anticipate future events, have knowledge he would not yet possess, a charisma his old self lacked and even newfound martial-arts abilities, the latter from memories of Bruce Lee movies!

Okay, a few exaggerations, but you cut the movie some slack and see how this plays out. The effect apparently wears off in a day, so Eddie gets back with his supplier for more pills. The trouble is the supplier is somewhat indisposed — another client in an even more acute situation has murdered him and tossed his apartment looking for more pills. Fortunately, Eddie is able to find the entire drug stash — interestingly enough, without benefit of a smart pill — enough for many, many months.

In no time, “enhanced Eddie” has dashed off his novel, speaks Italian to a maitre d’, bangs every girl he desires and amasses a fortune playing the stock market. His girlfriend now wants him back and a mega-mogul, Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) — gotta love that name — brings him aboard to mastermind a huge corporate merger.

Burger tries all kinds of visual trickery to imagine the hyper flow of information into a highly receptive brain: When Eddie is writing, letters fall from the ceiling; multiple Eddies are seen performing tasks; flattering light gently bathes Eddie’s face; and, in the most inventive yet strangely unsuccessful gimmick, the camera appears to rush through Manhattan streets, gobbling up blocks within seconds.

Obviously, there are going to be side effects to such persistent and strenuous use of a brain’s synapses. But the movie takes a couple of hard right turns before getting to those side effects. First the author oddly switches careers by becoming the overnight wonder boy of Wall Street, a turn that brings the movie to a near halt with computer day trading, conferences with brokers, meetings with Van Loon and a litany of data and flow charts that stops just short of power-point presentations.

Then gangsters and stalkers begin to shadow Eddie. A Russian goon (Andrew Howard) never feels like the right sort of villain for this kind of movie — and he isn’t — while the stalker turns out a more reliable bad guy but comes into play too late in the movie to be effective.

Police also dog Eddie, whom they suspect of murdering a young model — an element that feels like a desperate attempt to up the suspense ante. The consequence of this obsession with genre material is that potentially fruitful plot elements such as Eddie’s newfound relationship with Libby and his confrontation with an ex-wife (Anna Friel), who suffers from the after-effects of prolonged NZT use, get tossed aside.

Well, filmmakers tell the stories they want to tell, but here those choices compromised the movie by their insistence on sticking to known genre elements rather than letting this Faust tale takes a more natural, uncharted course. Russian gangsters and Wall Street crooks are so tired by now. Furthermore, why would an artist take such a career detour anyway? A hot-shot author throwing off best-sellers every few months and claiming an ungodly celebrity status would not only have been more interesting but more logical to boot.

Cooper does deliver the goods, nonetheless, while Cornish and Friel’s solid work goes underappreciated. There is a glimmer of an interesting character twist in Howard’s goon who becomes shrewder in his criminality when he ingests the smart pill, but this is never fully developed.

In fact, if the filmmakers were so determined to stick with a thriller, why didn’t the writer and goon discover common ground in a rewarding collaboration rather than indulge in a bloody showdown you can see in any number of crude genre movies?

Cinematographer Jo Willems deserves credit for trying to shake things up with an inventive visual plan. Ditto that for Patrizia von Brandenstein’s wide-ranging production design from a miserable Chinatown flat to Mexican Riviera glory homes and a high-security Manhattan loft.

Cast & Crew:

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel, Andrew Howard, Johnny Whitworth, Thomas Arana

Director: Neil Burger

Screenwriter: Leslie Dixon

Producers: Leslie Dixon, Scott Knoopf, Ryan Kavanaugh

Music: Paul Leonard-Morgan

Editor: Noami Geraghty

Source: Hollywoodreporter