"The Oxford Murders" dies of poor acting

The Oxford Murders is based on a Novel of the same name by Argentine mathematician Guillermo Martínez. It stars Elijah Wood as Martin, an American grad student who comes to Oxford so that he can study with renowned professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt). However, Martin and Seldom find themselves thrown together when they stumble on the murder of Martin's landlady (Anna Massey) and join forces to try and crack the code.

The movie has very cold overtones throughout the movie and maintains a "bitter" flavor both in terms of the characters & look of the movie. Especially the sharp and bitter Mother-daughter conversations, when the protagonist played by Elijah Wood in introduced, is particularly well written screenplay. The editors have done a good job in keeping the mysteriousness of the story while maintaining the cold outlook of the movie.

But that’s pretty much the only good about the movie. It’s an astonishingly bad movie, as the good subject matter is marred by poor acting especially from the poker face Elijah. The film never really takes off and keeps moving like a pretentious intro to Philosophy 101. The film tries to impress with its erudition but it’s the mathematical concepts which make it slightly interesting, but only very slightly. Infact I liked the first 10 mins of the movie and was looking forward to the rest. The subject matter had a lot of potential but the execution did no justice to the story. To add to it, the script is quite bad and most scenes the actors keep talking gibberish with each other without any conviction. The movie about solving puzzles ends up being one itself.

Bad casting especially for the lead role makes the movie sink with very little trace. Only John Hurt pulls it up a little but bad chemistry amongst actors and a very average script makes it a rather dull movie.  In comparison this one makes Da Vinci code look like a masterpiece :)

Watch it if you want to pass time while sipping on coffee on a dull rainy day.

Rating: 5/10

The King's Speech -it's a film that triumphs

I went for the movie with a fair amount of reluctance. I expected it to be dramatic and aesthetic, but not really engaging. The King’s Speech surprised me and surpassed the expectations I had of the Oscar winning movie.

Casting, Screenplay, Direction and Storytelling – they got all four right.  Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, who play the stammering King George VI and the rather radical speech therapist Lionel Logue respectively, carried the story on their shoulders very efficiently. Every other character did their piece in an unobstructive manner.  The movie in short is about triumph –triumph of an unexpected friendship between the king and his speech therapist, the triumph of king’s voice over his stammer and the triumph of perseverance built into almost every single character.

An ordinary theme such as a king getting over his stammer is garnished with a fine sense of narration and an even better sense of story development. From the mouth of possible clichés, this story blossoms, allowing the two prime characters to come to life. A vulnerable yet haughty king succumbing to the radical and unconventional ways of an irreverent yet capable speech therapist is a predictable story with an unpredictable storytelling method.

By the end of the movie, the king’s and Lionel’s victory becomes important to their viewers, which in itself is a testimony to their splendid performances. It is slow in parts, which allows in a strange way, the time that the story is set to sink in. What comes through without a stutter is the screenplay and timing.  The flowing lines punched in with wit and brilliance takes the crown in the King’s Speech. It’s an excellent film with a fine story. 

Rating : 8.5/10

Michael Clayton - slow buildup to a good end

Michael Clayton was one of those movies that i watched waiting for it to give me brilliant experience and it didn't quite do that. With all the Oscar nominations (and wins) and George clooney, it was supposed to be a movie which would blow you away atleast in my head.

Its named after the protagonist played by George Clooney who plays a "fixer" for a highly successful law firm. He seems to have a reputation of fixing everyone;s problems just not his own. But the conflict arises when the main attorney of the firm has a birth of conscience while defending a mega corporation and even Clayton cannot handle the mess.

But the movie was not particularly remarkable or the one which i would be wowed with. It moved at a slow pace and the buildup to the story was too long to have the effect that the last 15 mins had. Its a kind of role which fits Clooney like a glove but then again we have watched him play such roles before.
It a decently good movie if you decide to stick to it for a while. Maybe its that kind of a movie that would grow on you but then i wasn't that impressed with it the first time.

Rating: 6.5/10

"Rachel Getting Married" is not that much about marriage

It’s a story about a dysfunctional family and the whole drama about the wedding of Kym’s sister- Rachel. Ann Hathaway plays Kym who’s just comes out of Rehab for her sister’s wedding. The whole story revolves around the uneasy situations that are created by unwanted Kym being backed up by her dad and lack of belief in Kyms goodness due to history being a junkie/addict (even their brother’s drowning). It’s a typical scenario of a good child –bad child seen in completely different light.

Its shot in a “blank verse” style (if I can use that for non-poetry media), sometimes loosely stitched scenes and personally I like it. But the shades of discomfort are captured very beautifully and characters dilemma portrayed quite remarkably by the director. Some mundane house situations are woven into a unique drama. There is a scene where Kym realizes she actually inspired a fellow rehab guy to start his life again by her made-up stories, which upsets her sister. This escalates into a situation which eventually makes family open to each other’s point of view and Kym being a misunderstood girl.

Its moments like these and the completely different take on a wedding in a family makes this movie worth watching. However, most characters other than Ann Hathaway’s are not quite convincing esp. the couple who are getting married. It was nominated at the Oscars in 2009 only for best actress role and we know why J

Rating: 7/10

Tangled - A good tangle to be in

Grimm’s fairy tale comes untangled in this Disney animation film, the 50th from the house of Disney. This modern take on Rapunzel is an entertainer. Simply put – it’s clever, it will make you feel good and will make sure that you come out of the theatre smiling. It’s a straight forward story with some great musical interventions. The songs are unfussy like the movie. ‘I have a dream’ is the most hummable piece followed by ‘Mother knows best’.

The story is simple. Rapunzel, the princess is kidnapped from the palace by a witch who yearns eternal youth. While the entire kingdom waits with hope (in this case, lighted lanterns) for the return of their princess, Rapunzel stays locked up in a tall castle with no awareness of the world outside. The turn of events manifest when a charming thief lands up at her place and an engaging bond is formed between them. The events unfold in a very simple way. And quite as expected, has Rapunzel falling in love with the hero of the story.

The length of Rapunzel's hair keeps varying through out the film, which is rather distracting. But it does not take away from the movie. The characters are filled with life, as is every frame in the film which makes a rather predictable story engaging. The songs add life, break the monotony and add to the story building. The imagery is beautiful and tickles the imagination. It’s a warm, fun story, only made better with a fine dose of wit in the screenplay. Tangled is a fine tangle of music, fun and colours. It’s an easy laid back watch for the weekend.

Rating: 7.5/10

7 Khoon Maaf - This crime is unforgivable

The highlight of 7 Khoon Maaf is the song ‘Darling’. The rest of the film is a disappointment. 7 Khoon Maaf is everything you would not associate the maker of engaging movies like Omkara, Maqbool, Kaminey with. Vishal Bhardwaj has created a very uninspiring, rather boring and a definitely loosely packaged movie this time.


The movie is based on the short story by Ruskin Bond, Sussana’s Seven Husbands, a thrilling black comedy. However, the inspired piece is predictable, devoid of thrilling moments and is far from funny. What is a pity is that the potential of the subject is underutilized to an extent that it renders the movie unimaginative. It seemed like a story that didn’t wait to be developed but was delivered in a hurry without weaving the 7 stories into a single one. It failed to bring out the horror or the trauma of an effected mind, or the emotional build of the girl who marries wrong seven times and ends up killing her husbands in order to get out of the bad marriage. Even brilliant actors like Priyanka Chopra, Naseerudin Shah, Konakana Sen Sharma were poorly presented and suffered the whiplash of erratic story telling.


If there is one word I could use to describe this movie, it would be ‘patchy’. From the make up to the acting, to the story telling, if there is one common element, it was the fact that they consistently remained patchy. Neil Nitin Mukesh however deserves a mention for the playing his role, albeit small as Susanna’s first husband with great charm.


No revelations, no surprises, poor storytelling and a patchy delivery turns this movie into a long boring watch and leaves us with no empathy for any of its characters. No Maafi for Vishal Bharadwaj for this movie!
Rating : 3/10

Black Swan is dark and powerful

It’s definitely a dark movie and make no mistake about it, quite disturbing for the most part. But all the things we had already heard about the movie (because of its late release in India) for being thriller/horror movie is something I absolutely disagree with. At the end of the day it was melodrama, although a bit disturbing and uneasy.

The storyline is twisted and quite psycho (for the lack of better word), yet so stunningly shot and fascinating. The audience (who I love to glance at, in movie halls after a scene), was feeling uneasy in most scenes coz the movie makes you feel that ways, with its out and out intense and violent scenes. The best thing about the movie was the performance of Natalie Portman, who plays Nina – the aspiring lead who gets the role of Swan queen in the upcoming dance production. Her portrayal of a silently devious character, who starts to live in figments of her imagination and dark ones at that, is fantastic. Even her eye movements are so convincing that you start feeling sympathy for a character although we can see the dark shades of her.

The last 10 mins of the movie are a slight contrast to the uneasy scenes previously. In these minutes, beautiful photography is combined with superb dance sequences, especially the one where her transformation into black swan is shown by growing wings on her, is simply stunning.

Watch this movie for its 2 best things - Natalie Portman’s acting & original and unpredictable storytelling.

8.5/10

Never Let me go is an unsettling drama

Calling “Never Let me go” a romantic drama would be a misnomer. Its non mushy yet engagingly endearing drama with such a strong storyline that I was impressed by the unraveling of the whole story albeit in very slow paced frames.

The portrayal of a bizarre concept of breeding people to be organ donors and turning it into the story about relationship speaks of fantastic storytelling. Its based on a Kazuo Ishiguro novel but captured quite convincingly on film by Mark Romanek. The usage of little peculiar actions of each of characters and explaining them in the later scenes of the movie is done quite well.

It stars Keira Knightely as one of 3 friends in a love triangle. All three actors act brilliantly but Carey Mulligan ,who plays Kathy, is the most compelling and convincing of the three. It’s the actors who added the life in the film and you should watch it for their performance. It’s a compelling film which will linger in your memory.

Consider this my word of mouth. Go Watch it

A good 7.5/10 from me (the Yin)

127 hours in compelling 2 hrs

I have been waiting for this movie for 3 months now and finally get a chance to see it on a first day first show and a completely instant plan all thanks to Dina

And i was not disappointed... A beautiful portrayal by Danny Boyle of ordeal of Aron Ralston (Real life story) who got stuck in the Grand Canyons... My personal bias and wait for the movie is because its about rock climber and its made by Danny Boyle :) Whats not to like. The movie has everything going for it... Amazing camerawork (shades of quintessential Boyle style - shades of "Millions"), a very convincing and fantastic performance from the lead actor, and a screenplay which captures the essence of the climber's ordeal. Franco in the lead role is so much better than his performances in Spiderman and Danny Boyle tends to have that affect on his actors.

There is no addition to the real story as Boyle sticks to the facts. The beauty of the movie is in its simple scenes and fantastic camerawork. It manages to show the conflicts in the climbers head when he thinks he's going to die but he's still keeps his wits about him. The simple scenes like him cracking a joke about storing and drinking his own pee by saying "That tasted like a bag of piss" or him wanting to masturbate fantasizing about women he met while his hand is crushed below a rock.  The storytelling is so compelling that in some portions the movie, i saw the crowd feel so happy when they show him getting out of the situation when it turns out to be just a dream.

All you outdoor type people, watch it for its main subject and all movie buffs watch is for a compelling and fantastic movie making and performance... Everyone...  GO WATCH it

A very healthy 9/10 tending towards ten

Kites

Anurag Basu’s ‘Kites’, is a classic example of how even extra ordinary hype or for that matter Hrithik Roshan with his Greek God looks, cannot make a film better than it actually is. Boy meets girl with money – Boy meets girl who he loves – Boy and girl act stupid and people around them go crazy. There is a bit of everything in this movie - romance, music, violence, charm, beauty, action, dance – but not a single element strong enough to help the movie through. It is a confused movie that constantly switches genres from romance to action to just portraying a slice of life. This lane changing nature of the film leaves the audience feeling no connect with its characters or the story itself. It’s like constantly adjusting your seat while you are driving at a 100 kph. Is this movie about love, good looks, revenge, action – one would never figure I guess.


Hrithik Roshan’s acting, Barbara Mori’s charm could do only that much for a film that wasn’t going anywhere in the first place. And Kangana’s role seemed to be just playing catalyst for Hrithik to meet his love, in life or after life. And for that matter the whole -wealthy, Casino owning, confused gangster - Grover family was so contrived and lacked authenticity for us to buy the plot. And one thing I want to truly understand is, if a movie is in English mostly, and you also expect people to read English subtitles to understand the Spanish bit… in a country like India, that is a sure shot formula for disaster. Here are the other signs that this movie has failed to make its mark. 1. At the intermission one is convinced that it will take a miracle to revive the plot. 2. When the hero of the film is dying a painful (physical and emotional)death, the audience laughs 3. The first scene which evokes a laugh in the entire movie happens after an hour of the movie, when Hrithik is accidently knocked down by a car door 4. The movie ends on a tragedy and the audience leaves the hall laughing.


Kites, is somewhat beautiful in the way it’s made, but it lacks depth and lure to such an extent that the story and its characters went plummeting, literally and figuratively by the end of the film. The movie is slow and refuses to carry the audience with it. Just like a lonely kite, it makes a solitary journey. Kites for me, is stuck between electric cables of confusion and refuses to take flight.
Rating : 3/10

Raavan... the beautiful one

I saw Raavan much later than the rest of the world and actually came out with different opinion than the rest of the world. It is one of the most spectacularly shot movie I've seen in Indian cinema (after Dev D i guess)

I tried hard but could not call it a bad movie as much as i tried to agree my friends opinion. The storyline was definitely aimlessly drifting and slow for the most part. It would have been a brilliant one if the weaving of the story was more seamless and less drag. As it is the viewers, would know the basic plot of the movie before entering the movie halls.But the endearing crazyness of Raavan;s character was a treat.


I was so glued to the screen due to sheer magic of photography created by Santosh Sivan. Kudos to the creative team and directors of cinematography and photography. The scenes with Aishwarya stuck in the tree after falling from waterfall and her slow drop to the waters was breathtaking and simply beautiful.


Even in the storyline there are patches of brilliance.. and the new take on Ramayan where Raavan doesn't look like a villain to even the Sita character.. 


A couple of things we'd remember from the movie... very well written characters by Ratnam... Abhishek Bachhan's superb acting... Govinda's overacting.. and the unforgettable... absolutely Spectacular photography and just BEAUTIFUL cinematography


As total impact 6.5/10