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Review: 'The Grey' is a spellbinding tale

Sat, 26 May 2012 05:56:35 +0530

Watch 'The Grey' if you are a lover of nature and of films that are more soulful than mere survival films.

Tweet Review: 'Men In Black 3', 1st day, 1st show

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:29:19 +0530

Hollywood superstar Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are returning as Agent J and Agent K in 'Men In Black 3'.

Review: 'The Raven' has an inconsistent end

Sun, 20 May 2012 01:57:34 +0530

Films about fiction becoming facts or writers playing detectives are many. But there are few, which do both. As a filmmaker if you wanted to do both, who had better Edgar Allan Poe - the one who invented detective fiction, who is known for his gothic works, who died under mysterious circumstances and whose most famous poem 'The Raven' talks about a lover distraught over the loss of his beloved.

Review: 'What To Expect When You're...' is fun

Sun, 20 May 2012 01:35:00 +0530

The film is based on incidents in the book of the same name - 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'. Despite being cliched and average, the film is brilliant in many ways.

Review: 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark' is scary

Sun, 20 May 2012 01:18:48 +0530

'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark', a remake of a 1-3 TV horror film bearing the same name, manages to do exactly what it's title tells you not to - make you afraid of the dark.

Review: 'Love Lies & Seeta' lacks energy

Fri, 18 May 2012 02:34:27 +0530

Almost every second of the film is filled up with a loud background score that seems jarring to the ear.

Review: It's Jason Statham's show in 'Safe'

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:34:33 +0530

Boaz Yakin's hesitation of breaking out of stereotypes ruins Safe's chances to emerge as a poignant story.

Review: 'The Lucky One' is for teens

Sat, 05 May 2012 05:48:59 +0530

The only ones who will perhaps like the film are teenage girls who have little exposure to better cinema.

Review: 'The Devil Inside', a horrific let down

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:48:04 +0530

Any horror movie buff would spare no expenses to make sure that he/she watched 'The Devil Inside'. The trailer look sufficiently scary, and the fact that 'this is the movie The Vatican did not want us to see', assures that 'The Devil Inside' would get the attention and the box office business. However as the trends showed in the US where it released on January 6 2012 - a big opening ultimately lead to the film completely vanishing from the theatres. Needless to say - so will be the case in India as well. The curiosity and the excitement - the feel of potentially sleepless nights it aroused on the release of the trailer - runs out of steam as the movie progresses and when the end hits you - you pretty much want to ask the director for your money back.

Review: 'Ghost Rider 2' - great action, drab story

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:56:32 +0530

'Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance' is a movie that can be thoroughly enjoyed in 3D. Great action sequences - but terribly drab story. Kicking off perhaps a few years after the first movie of he 'Ghost Rider' franchise - this movie tries to score with the effects and only the effects.

Review: 'LOL' - no laugh, no love

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:54:11 +0530

When a movie begins with an American teenager talking about her high school and walking out in slow-motion, arm in arm with her bffs - one can put their expectations to rest. This flick will have nothing new to offer. 'LOL' follows the American teenage movie norm to the last scene. Teenage heart breaks, drawing hearts with black markers on bathroom doors, hooking up in summer camp, battle of the bands, school trips to Paris, parties, pop and pot. Not necessarily in that order.

Review: 'Contraband' not the best of the heists

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:35:44 +0530

Over the years, Hollwood has had its share of thrilling smuggling heists. 'Contraband' is not one of the better ones. At best, it is mildly exciting, but not the least bit thrilling.

Review: 'Heartbreaker' is predictable

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:46:49 +0530

The 2010 French rom-com 'Heartbreaker' finally reached India with really bad dubbing. All the witty French puns are probably at the bottom of the sea in Monaco and all we are stuck with is a 'done to death' predictable love story. The dubbed version seems to have lost all the wit.

Review: 'A Separation' is rare and brilliant

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:54:29 +0530

'A Separation', an Iranian film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi is a rare, brilliant story of an estranged woman-man relationship which also encompasses universal themes of gender, class, religion and morality.

Review: Bored and 'Chipwrecked' by Chipmunks

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:19:01 +0530

Every once in a while there are these stunning, intelligent, sarcastic animated movies that have the power to entertain any adult. 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked' is clearly not one of them. Directed by Mike Mitchell and written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Ross Bagdasarian and Janice Karman - 'Chipwrecked' is rather boring, it can only decently amuse the kids. Pixar has aced the adult-child comedy, Fox probably doesn't want to try.

'Lion King 3D' a revisit to the masterpiece

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:59:16 +0530

Once there was a lion cub who accidentally got dropped amid sheep and grew up believing and bawling like sheep. One day when a group of lions waylaid him and asked what a lion was doing amid sheep, he shivered for his life and said he was a sheep. They told him he was a lion and asked him to roar, but to no avail.

Masand: 'Faster' is unbelievably silly

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 12:14:18 +0530

Faster is the kind of blood-splattered revenge film that doesn't bother with such niceties as character names.

Masand: 'The Chronicles of...' is for loyal fans

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:39:45 +0530

Third in the series of Narnia films, 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' opens in wartime England.

Masand: 'Due Date' is comedy with warmth

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:41:46 +0530

'Due Date' is structured as your standard comic road-movie. This is the film not to miss this weekend!

Masand: 'Piranha 3D' is a lazy weekend watch

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:45:08 +0530

Very often a title tells you everything you need to know about a film. "Piranha 3D" is that kind of title.

First Cut: 'Hot Tub Time...' is hilarious

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:18:03 +0530

If you enjoy time travel flicks, this one is worth a watch

Masand: The Bounty Hunter, a lazy film

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:00:58 +0530

Jennifer Aniston can be sexy and funny, and we know that because we still watch reruns of Friends. But in The Bounty Hunter in which she stars opposite Gerard Butler, she is neither sexy, nor funny. She's bored.

Masand: 'Date Night', light-hearted film

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:25:46 +0530

Steve Carell and Tina Fey are two of the funniest stars on American television, and their respective sitcoms -- The Office and 30 Rock -- are easily the most popular primetime properties. They've been teamed up in this week's Date Night, a light-hearted but formulaic rom-com that might have benefited from sharper writing.

Masand: Green Zone, an engaging war drama

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:11:16 +0530

Matt Damon and his Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass reunite for action-packed war thriller Green Zone, in which Damon stars as US Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, who after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has been tasked with finding the weapons of mass destruction whose supposed existence triggered off the war. But after repeatedly leading his unit into desperately dangerous locations and coming up short, Miller decides to investigate for himself whether the WMDs ever existed at all.

Masand: The Hurt Locker demands to be seen

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:52:30 +0530

The Hurt Locker, is the best Iraq War movie to come out of Hollywood. Director Kathryn Bigelow chucks aside political commentary for nerve-rattling suspense, and delivers a film that demands to be seen.

Masand: 'Clash of the Titans' delivers on its promise

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:07:58 +0530

Supremely silly but jolly good fun to watch, Clash of the Titans is no history lesson in Greek mythology. It's an unapologetic popcorn movie with awesome fight sequences and monstrous mythical beasts. It's also the kind of campy film in which Liam Neeson plays Greek god Zeus, dressed in a shiny silver suit, whose heavenly abode Mount Olympus is designed as a Las Vegas attraction, and who must keep a straight face while delivering the film's cheesiest yet most memorable line: "Release the Kraken!"

First Cut: Streep's 'Julie & Julia' is fun

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:39:59 +0530

Watching two strong women drive a story is a great experience

First Cut: Mira Nair's 'Amelia' is sketchy

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:36:56 +0530

This Hilary Swank-Richard Gere film is unsatisfactory and dragging

First Cut: 'Gamer' is an okay watch

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:49:48 +0530

Gamer is an out an out action film with no actual base or aim. The film is set in New York, in the near future where mind technology is a popular choice. It begins with Ken Castle (Michael C Hall), the creator of mind technology in the gaming world.