Movie Marathon contd

There were plenty of good and bad flicks I ended up watching this year…both old, new and not so new -

1. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol – This movie rocks more for the cool cars and the locale, the Burj Khalifa than it does for Tom Cruise. The only problem is the bad attempts at humor by introducing Anil Kapoor which didn’t really hit the nail with most of the audience.

2. Agatha Christie’s Poirot – I’ve seen all the movies related to the corresponding titles that I’ve blogged about so far. On the whole, this series takes the cake and the icing too what with a nice blend of subtle humor, interesting plots not to mention the funny Belgian detective picking out murderers left, right and center.

3. Red Riding Hood – An interesting adaption of the classic tale “Little Red Riding Hood”, the film has only 2 shades – the crimson hood of Valerie aka the Red Riding Hood. The movie is watchable so long as you are comfy with keeping you finger on fastfwd most of the time!

4. Insidious – Suggest you watch this film if you are either a fan of horror or have nothing better to watch. I come under the 2nd category…this movie touches upon the nasty things that can happen if you were ever to venture into the spirit world not to mention that thin line that is easily crossable.

5. Gnomeo & Juliet – Contrary to the preconceived notions, its funny to watch a rendition of the classic in the world of garden gnomes. Again pick this if you’ve already seen all the movies in your wish list.

6. The King’s Speech – This piece of historical drama focuses on the life of King George VI, his ascension to throne and his success at overcoming his disability. There is also a subtle lesson in here for parents…don’t push your kids too hard and no comparison between siblings please! Worth watching if you like history.

7. Bridesmaids – A badly made version of The Hangover, the film tries to portray the whole shebang that is associated with the bride and her gang of bridesmaids. It was quite hard to laugh at the poor attempts at humor by the cast and the crew.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Totally worth the money. Jack Sparrow has become a timeless hero with his inane sense of humor not to mention the ever stranger adventures. This time the race against immortality while escaping the dangerous mermaids makes this movie a must watch!

9. Kungfu Panda 2 – If anything this movie taught me, it is to have no expectations what so ever. The movie was a disappointment due to lack of punch and a very predictable climax. If there is ever a sequel to this, I can only hope that it doesn’t turn out like Mowgli’s Adventures.

10. Mr. Popper’s Penguins – Having been forced to watch this movie while flying to Puerto Rico, it was as entertaining as a movie could get on a deserted island with no ship in sight. The penguins were watchable owing to their uniquely queer personalities.

11. Our Idiot Brother – I suppose this was one of the most interesting movies to watch in 2011. The trailer was weak but the movie packed with some bold yet good comedy was worth watching in the theater.

12.  The Muppets – Only the fondness for the yesteryear shows of the muppets could help me endure this dry and humorless movie. A badly baked vegetable lasagna so to speak.

Despite watching some interestingly bland movies this year, I’m ever optimistic when it comes to films and so here’s to hoping for some good entertainment in 2012.

Movie Marathon again

X-Men First Class – This much awaited movie is the mecha prequel for all the X-Men that have been/will be released. If you are following this series then you’d definitely appreciate the heavy background that is projected in this 2 and 1/2 hour film. Magneto, Prof X and Mystique are all there with cameo appearances from Wolverine, one of the most sought-after characters of the Marvel Universe. We are introduced to Emma Frost, Sebastian and Moira Mactaggert in this movie adding to the sleuth of characters we’ve seen previously. It got a bit boring towards the end though what with a possible WWIII averted.

Hangover 2 – Its funnier, nastier and gets better just when you think what’s gonna be so different in this sequel. We watched it in AMC Cinema Suites and it was an awesome experience.

Did you hear about the Morgans – Yes its a very old movie but it is funny as well. The actors have aged but then Hugh Grant looks great as usual with his British humor intact whereas Sarah Jessica Parker seems to have become ancient. Her role looks so cliched and rings bell with Sex and the City so much. Worth watching once.

The Queen – We watched this again and you couldn’t help but be blowed by Helen Mirren’s performance. The movie although slow is pretty powerful showing the flaws of both the Monarchy and the Press alike. Shows how the death of one popular Royal member can affect the entire Nation.

In Good Company – A brilliant movie that touches on the lives of a family and a young hot-shot sales VP during the very tough and touchy times of M&A. While the top management might not show remorse at selling off a company in their portfolio, it does affect the employees who’ve given their best to the company emotionally. Having seen such a situation during my brief stint at a Music Company…I can vouch that this is a definite must-watch.

Carry on Doctor – One of the most popular films of the Carry On series, this 1967 film is hilarious from the start with its crew of bumbling doctors and patients. The patients of the Fodsick ward do keep their doctors perpetually busy and baffled about their literally non-existent ailments.

Crazy Boys of the Game – Yet another 1960s film that is a bundle of comical incidents at a games competition similar to that of Olympics. Its a movie on 4 guys who try to win the competition through all possible means…has a lot of action and less dialogues.

Movie Marathon Q1 2011

While I didn’t watch as many movies as I did last year, I did watch the following few so far in 2011 -

Death at a Funeral – Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence feature in this bold slapstick comedy as siblings who have to deal with the idiosynchrasies of their numerous relatives and friends during their father’s funeral. The funeral turns out to be the most chaotic family get-together ever. Tracy Morgan is at his best in this movie apart from his regular role in NBC’s 30 Rock.

Dhobi Ghat – Aamir Khan is a household name in Indian Cinema, and lately even more popular for his outstanding roles in off-beat movies. But this is one movie that failed to impress due to its directionless story that doesn’t seem to have a point. For most part, the main characters are caught up in their quest to woo each other that the only break is in the form of a monologue video from a total stranger who commits suicide. The story has very little relation to the film title. How pointless can that get!

Road, Movie – Netflix doesn’t offer much of Bollywood masala, so we had to settle with this one. Turned out to be a totally wrong choice though…what with a grumpy young man driving an ancient truck on the desserts of Rajasthan. Enroute to his destination the hero meets up a melley of characters who seem to be kinder and less selfish than him and then they all set out in the blistering heat in search of a mela that never exists. Borders on hallucinations galore!

Titanic II – When people with completely different tastes sit down for a movie, this is one of those off-beat disasters that could pop up. But on a friday night, we just didn’t care. Totally CG-based, this movie has all the blondies that one could ever want to watch in action. The cast including the Captain of the ship look like models off a raunchy magazine who are stuck in this huge ship with no clue of what to say or do. And then the director brings in a fresh new perspective on natural catastrophes that can cause a rather predictable disaster.

Rango – We picked this over Red Riding Hood or whatever the film was called at an AMC Dine-in on a rainy weekend. I seriously wished that we had better movies to watch at that AMC. But then Rango was about this rather annoying Chameleon, that through a careless accident, is stranded in Vegas with a bunch of outlaws. His ego and his quick-witted bragging keeps him alive but for how long! You’d think for an animation, it would end in a hour and half…but oh no! it just dragged on until I almost dozed off!

Gods Must be Crazy 2 – Having never watched this, I found this to be quite funny…not too funny mind you! It was ok for a comedy. And finally there was the psychological thriller, Exam which was quite entertaining given the title.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice is Wonderland is a well known story to everyone. I’ve even watched Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland. But the version that was released in 2010 was the most sinister I’ve seen. Agreed that I’m waaay late in watching the movie but then it isn’t that late either.

The Story? – Alice Kingsleigh is a young woman torn between pursuing her dreams vs accepting an unwanted proposal from a snobbish rich man. Just when it looks like she has no escape, she spots the White Rabbit again following which she lands in Wonderland. Here, Alice encounters her old friends who are torn between deciding whether she’s “the right Alice” or not. She meets Mad Hatter who tells her of her destiny to duel the Jabberwocky to death and while Alice is still struggling in deciding whether its a dream or reality, she is being hunted down by the Red Queen who wants her dead.

Is Alice captured by the Red Queen or does she make it to the castle of the White Queen who will arm her to duel with the dreaded creature forms the rest of the plot. The story might look poncy for a grown up but it seems to go beyond that… the choices that the Queens make about who they choose to be.

The dialogues are quite powerful in this movie, and they bring out these points to the surface while the overall story might appear to be a meaningless fairytale. But then whoever said that fairytales are meant for children. There were always the darker narratives out there that were covered from the general public like the Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.

127 Hours

What constitutes good movie vs a bad one or a obviously stupid one? Isn’t it a rather subjective analysis based on personal preferences as opposed to following the critics’ ratings? Is there a benchmark for rating the movies? Were the critics out of their mind when they rated this movie good? These were precisely my thoughts while watching 127 Hours.

Based on Aaron Ralston’s biography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the story revolves around Ralston’s nightmarish adventure in Robbers Roost, Utah. A seemingly normal trekking turns into a nightmare for survival when Ralston’s hand is trapped by a boulder in a cave vein. His fight for survival is quite interesting as well as disgusting to an extent. Everyone knows that he severs part of his arm as it seems to be his only means to escape and finally reaches civilization.

The part where this movie gets interesting is how Ralston survives. Agreed that people go through nasty things to survive but does it really make sense to show a man cutting his arm off right from breaking his bone to cutting the veins. It maybe a critically acclaimed film, may even win the Oscars but this really doesn’t convey an impactful message like “Freedom Writer’s Diary” did. In fact, it has all the probability of sending out a distorted message.

I certainly didn’t enjoy the movie although it came very highly recommended by my fiancé and his friends. Shouldn’t say this but I was really annoyed with the aforementioned ”friend” by the end of the film. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire was a powerful film that addressed a lot of social issues but this certainly is way too whacky! Marley & Me was so much better!!