Straight: Movie Reviews
The comedy classic, Straight, directed by Parvathi Balagopalan released on March 20, 2009 under the banner of iDream Productions. The movie is produced by Charlotte Wonther and Shripal Morakhia and its soulful and catchy lyrics are given by none other than Subrat Sinha and the tunes go well under the direction of the music director Sagar Desai. The star cast of the movie is very much selective and taken up the cream of the crop. The cast includes Vinay Pathak, Daman Baggan, Rasik Dave, Siddhartha Makkar, Gul Panag, Achla Sachdev, Anuj Chaudhary and Ketaki Dave.
Straight is a story based on an Indian Vinay, (Pinu) who lives in London and is the owner of a posh restaurant Gaylord. One of factors which is a cause of his inferiority complex in spite of his name and wealth is his virginity till date. This introvert guy is often laughed upon by friends. Here enters his loving bro Rajat who is really fond of his funny attitude and helps him to cope up with the situation. Read more
The Edge of Heaven- A mélange of emotions
The movie “the Edge of Heaven” is an unusual deft story written and directed by Faith Akin. This dramatic movie is actually a German movie with original title “Auf der anderen Seite“. The film won the Prix Au Scenerio award in very renowned Cannes film fetival and also it has been shown in several international film festivals. The achievement of 18 wins and 6 nominations makes it enough worthy to be a must watch movie. Cast of the movie includes Nurgül Yesilçay, Baki Davrak, Tuncel Kurtiz, Hanna Schygulla, Patrycia Ziolkowska and Nursel Kose. 
The story starts with a guy, Nejat, a German professor and his father who falls in love with a prostitute, Yeter. This love affair is not acceptable to his son. Later on, he comes to know the true heart of her and falls in love with her. However, this affection separates him from his father. After the death of Yeter, he decides to go to Istanbul where Yeter’s daughter Ayten is studying, in order to help her in university studies. But, he is unknown of the fact that political activist, Ayten, is already in Germany in search of her mother, who she thinks is a shoemaker. There she meets Lotte, a German student, who falls in love with the beautiful Turkish woman. After that under different circumstances and twists, Ayeten gets imprisoned and finally meets Nejat.
The Edge of Heaven is a very beautifully structured sentimental story of six people, who keep on rotating in between Germany and Turkey. This 122 minutes movie can be watched with English subtitles as well. The Dolby digital sound effect and extravagant performance of all the artists makes it a super hit and must watch for everyone.
Transporter 3: A sequel must for action lovers
The third and the brand new series of ‘Transporter’ has been one of the most anticipated movies of the season. This sequel is written by Luc Besson and Olivier Megaton has directed it. It’s a true action movie. The movie casts Jason Stathom, Francois Berleand, Natalya Rudakova, Justin Rodgers Hall, Eriq Ebouaney, Robert Knepper and David Atrakchi. Movie lovers, who are not in a mood to check out comedy and drama, can experience real action with Transporter 3.
The story of the movie is quite comprehensible. Frank Martin, a personal driver, has to transport Ukrainian minister’s daughter, Valentina. She is kidnapped by an American, Johnson. But, Martin and Valentina are bound with the car because if they will go more than 75 feet far away from the car, the bomb tied on their wrist will blast.
The Euro-danse-pop-style music may soothe your ears and the stupefying action of Jason Stathom would knock your socks off. The fights in Transporter 3 are filmed with shaky camera effects.
Transporter 3 has done a business of $45.5 million worldwide. This film, produced by Europa corp, is of total 1 hour 43 minutes and filled with excessive violence. If you are fond of aggressive and violent movies, then you shouldn’t miss out on this fantastic movie. The stunts and special effects needed some more attention.
The viewer may not find anything refreshing in movie, but still to complete the series one should definitely check out Transporter 3 to discover whether Frank Martin succeeds in delivering Valentina to her home or they fall in love? Overall, the movie is good and worth spending time and money. So without wasting any time, buy a ticket for you and your loved ones.
Yes Man: One word can transform the whole world
Yes Man is a brilliant American comedy movie directed by Peyton reed. The movie was released worldwide on December 19, 2008 and is based on true story. It is an outstanding humoristic movie written by Nicholas Stoller casting Jim Carrey, the award-winning actor for his excellent comedy and drama. The star cast of the Warner Bros. Pictures bannered movie includes Jim Carrey as Carl Allen, Zooey Deshanel as Allison, Bradley Cooper as Peter, John Michael Higgins as Nick and Rhys Darby as Norman.
The story of “Yes Man” can be described in just one sentence that three letters “Y E S” can change your life. A guy (Carl Allen) challenges himself that he would say “Yes” to every opportunity coming in his life for the whole year. This little decision brings such funny circumstances in his life and he meet up the love of his life. The events that happened with him after his decision not to say “No” to anything make him discover a new Allen in himself. His decision leads him to learn scooter driving, photography teaching, Korean language and rock band playing. Everything starts turning good around him. His boss become friendly and all his miseries start to fade away. Jim Carrey’s funny facial expressions and gestures would make you laugh till the end of the film.
The film features an original soundtrack, Munchausen by Proxy. The bungee jumping stunt and lots of twists emerging in the movie will be liked by the viewers.
The movie hasn’t received so many critics and has opened on the box office with $18.3 million in first weekend. Jim Carrey has done full justice with his character and the movie of 104 minutes is worth watching. Get your tickets book today itself before you miss the chance of watching this flick.
The Day the Earth Stood Still: A warning from out of space
‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ is an amazing science fiction movie, which shows the destructive nature of humanity and its rigidness. The film is a remake of an old flick, which was released in 1951. This movie hit the worldwide theaters on December 12 2008. This mind-provoking movie is directed by Scott Derrickson. Its script is done by David Scarpe and stars Michael Rennie as klaatu, Patricia Neal as Helen Benson and Hugh Marlowe as Tom Stevens. The film, produced by Earth Canada Productions, Dune Entertainment and 3 Arts Entertainment, is doing good business on box office.
The story revolves around Klaatu and his robot GORT. Michael Rennie has played the role of Klaatu, which is an alien creature. His motive is to save the human genre by warning the nations worldwide against the global crisis. He meets the very renowned scientist Dr. Helen Benson, who refuses his request to address the representatives of the nations. Finally, Klaatu has to sacrifice himself for the sake of humanity in order to stop the severe devastation of GORT, which is a humanoid robot.
The flying saucer in the film seems to be original and heavy utilization of Theremin has given excellent sound effect that would keep you stick with your seat till the end of the movie. Till now, The Day the Earth Stood Still has rocked the US box office by doing a business of $48,366,989. This 1hour 50 minutes movie would tend you to think the bitter veracity of humanity.
Even after receiving all the critics, the movie has done a commendable job contrary to what was predicted. ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ is a movie that is must watch for thriller and adventure movie lovers.
In the Name of the King: Rise and fight
‘In the Name of the King’ is a fantasy film connected with Dungeon siege video games. The movie is directed by Uwe Bolt, produced by Brightlight Pictures and 20th Century Fox has taken the distribution overseas. This startling movie was released on January 11, 2008. The very famous Jason Stathom has played the role of farmer and Leelee Sobieski has appeared as Muriella. Other star cast is John Rhys-Davies as Merick, Ron Perlman as Norick and Claire Forlani as Solana.
The film is of 127 minutes of duration and packed with enough quality scenes that would not let you leave your seat even in interval. The thrilling adventure of ‘In the Name of the King’ is the real charm of the movie.
The movie is about how an ordinary man (farmer) becomes a fighter due to the odd circumstances he faced in his life. When Farmer’s wife and his son go out from village, the village is attacked by creatures called Krugs and they kill farmer’s son and imprisoned her wife. However, with the help of his neighbor after fighting millions of battles, he succeeds in rescuing her wife.
The sound quality of In the Name of the King movie is impressive. This to hour movie contains unending action, dark magic, fabulous battles and fantasy characters.
Other then action and thriller, the best part of the movie is the very beautiful lady, Claire Forlani, the farmer’s wife, who is looking ravishing with her medieval feminine looks. The movie has stirred the box office by doing a business of $4,535,117. It received very negative reviews from critic, but in spite of that it was liked by the viewers.
So if you haven’t watched the movie yet, then you should do that as it is not to be missed!
Burn After Reading: Screwball comedy of errors
Outlandish plot and clever thriller of ‘Burn After Reading’ proves to be another comeback of the Coen Brothers, the makers of masterpieces like ‘No country for Old men’ and ‘Farqo’. The producers, directors and even the screenwriters of the movie are the Coen brothers themselves. The stars in this flick are George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simpsons and David Rasche. It was released on August 27 2008 in Unites States and on October 17 2008 in UK. The distribution rights of the movie are held by Focus Features, while it was produced by Working Title Films.
‘Burn After Reading’ begins with the hatching of a blackmail plan by two employees of the health club when unknowingly a disc having very important and crucial government information lands in their hands. Craving for the plastic surgery and needing ample funds to support it are the main objectives of these co-workers. Getting the task is quite simple. All they need to do is locate who the owner is! But, they never had the clue that the statistics are financial figures rather than the classified secrets, which have been stolen from the CIA analyst. Although on the contrary, it only serves to be a planned move initiated by his wife, who wants to desperately get free and marry her long time boyfriend, a sex addict. The pace changes when the CIA analyst knows what the exact mess all around him is!
This screwball comedy has everyone under suspicious and questions. The intricate plots is bustling with definite jokes and in a very enigmatic manner, the larger than life characters are portrayed with simplicity and humour. The film has scored well at the box office, getting 4 out of 5 stars. It has also been rates as one of the top ten movies this year by the National Board Seminar.
So, get assaulted by the screwball black comedy of errors of ‘Burn After Reading’.
President is Coming: A theatrical yet engrossing trip
Directorial debut of Kunaal Roy Kapoor, “President is coming”, has released in India on January 10. The movie is produced by industry stalwart Rohan Sippy and has a motley of wannabe stars headed by the vivacious and extraordinarily talented Konkana Sen Sharma.
President is Coming is about the 2006 trip of the American President, George W. Bush, and how amongst his many diplomatic rendezvous’, he is also slated to meet a person selected as the changing face of India. Judges decide over the fortunes of the six contestants, which are motley of writer cum activist, stock market prodigy, IT geek, voice and accent trainer and a political upstart.
Script from Anuvab Pal is quite a novel one and does not try to transcend into that “look-at -me-I-am-classy” thing. The characters are quintessentially Indian and ‘President is Coming’ does not take them into a geographical warp of not belonging to anywhere else. Kunaal Direction of Kunal Kapoor, in spite of this being his first attempt in entertainment world, seems on the bullet and he extracts exact bit of acting skills required of his performers.
It’s too early to say how President is Coming would trade, but then doing business alongside Shahrukh’s Rab ne… and Aamir’s Ghazni is no mean thing either. Presently, it doesn’t seem that UK and US offices have much warmed to it. While that remains to be seen, one thing is for sure that the movie would be like a gust of fresh idea to the viewers.
Overall, President is Coming scores high due to being integrally Indian, while it has been able to demonstrate the show stealer that resides in everyone, its theatric bent and play-like style is not going too well with the critics.
Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma , Shernaz Patel , Ira Dubey, Vivek Gomber, Rohit Seth, Satchit Puranik
Written by: Anuvab Pal
Director: Kunaal Roy Kapur
Producer: Rohan Sippy , Keshav Prakash , Hussain Shaikh
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa- A funny and funky sequel
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a nice adventurous animation movie that kids from across the globe have been waiting for a longtime. The film is a sequel of 2005 film Madagascar written by Etan Cohen and directed by Eric Darnell. It is produced by Dreamworks Animation Film and was released on November 7, 2008. The interesting characters of the movie are Alex (Lion), Gloria (hippo), Marty (Zebra) and Melman (Giraffe).
What else can be more relaxing than a cartoon film with so many funny characters? The story starts with the four principle characters, Alex, Gloria, Marty and Melman, make a crash landing in a game reserve of Africa during an adventure journey. Here, they found their own species. This coincidence makes Alex meet his long lost father. Marty meets lots of Zebras and Gloria falls in love with a Hippo that make Melman feel jealous. Now, it is up to you to discover whether Africa is the better place for those four then Central Park, which is their actual home.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa revolves around the theme of togetherness and friendship. The funny dialogues and expressions of cartoon characters are absolutely amusing. The colors of the movie are rich and you can observe its wonderful cinematography quite clearly. The team hired has succeeded in giving a perfect look of the African wild life in the movie.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has been nominated twice and doing a great business of $342,837,394 worldwide, since its release.
So in this confusing world, if you are tired of watching the action, romantic and dramatic movies, just give Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa a try. For kids, it is must see. So go and get your tickets booked for you and your kids in a theatre showing the movie near you.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year- Another romantic high school musical
The High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a romantic comedy and third sequel of High school musical film. The film is produced by Bill Bordon and directed by Kenny Ortega. The star cast of the movie includes Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.
Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) can’t even think of separation, as they love each other a lot. However, the end of their college session is a problem. They express their fears, love and emotions through a spring musical performance. They are very confused that how they are going to keep alive their romance when they have to fulfill their dreams at the same time. After that whatever happens in their life and finally what destiny decides for this sweet couple, you have to watch the movie to know all that.
The unbeatable dance performance of star cast and well-choreographed dance numbers of High School Musical 3: Senior Year would not let you move from your seat. The writer and director has succeeded in maintaining the relation among all three parts of High School Musical. This Disney creation has enough drama, comedy and romance elements that one can’t even think of missing out on this film. The teacher student relationship and college atmosphere is very well shown in the movie. There is so much to explore, like fabulous dance, trendy costumes and rocking sound tracks.
This musical film is rocking has stirred the box office in the very first week itself by earning $42 million in North America and $40 million abroad.
The movie is of quite short duration, only 100 minutes and the matchless music quality and chemistry of the couple has made it a blockbuster. So without wasting any time get the tickets for you and your special someone and get back to your college memories.