Gravity

Thing about taking a hot woman out on a date and having an exciting night to boot, but God forbid you try to have an intelligent conversation with her. Watching Gravity is akin to that. You will be held to the edge of your seat as you watch astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) do calisthenics in space as a result of a satellite upgrade operation gone wrong. Just don't expect much of a story line beyond that.

PS: This might be one film that is actually worth watching in 3D, but prepare to feel a bit motion sick.

Rating: * *

Tampopo

A rough and tumble truck driver decides to give a failing ramen restaurant owner, Tampopo, a helping hand. An ode to the joys of food and cooking, the film gives the spaghetti "western" genre a new meaning literally, except that there are no ranches and gun fighters. Instead, we have noodle soup and an insane obsession to get it right. Throw in some kinky sex and hilarious random bit pieces, and we have a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Just remember to eat during or before the film as it bound to get you hungry.

Rating: * * +

Ju-on: The Grudge

The film opens with a gruesome scene that ensures you are awake and alert. The pace slows down as the attention shifts to a squalid house occupied by an old woman. The house is the location of the ju-on which in Japanese means a curse that takes a life of its own and seeks new victims. The third installment in the series by Takashi Shimizu is split in to inter-connected vignettes, following various individuals and their creepy encounters in the house. The film has a taunt and eerie atmosphere but after a too many shots of a kid painted white causes the initial creepiness to drift away from the viewer. 

Rating: * *

Session 9

A clean crew for hazardous material end up over extending themselves while cleaning up an abandoned mental hospital. A tight group that seems to have been working together for a long time, start to see their relationship fissuring as the pressure mounts. David Caruso seems to have taken a break from solving crimes and does a hand doing a character actor. The film moves along slowly allowing the atmosphere from the film to slowly seep out of the screen. The film is taunt and keeps you engaged, but it fails to deliver fully on its potential.

Rating: * *

A Late Quartet

The long partnership of the Fuge String quartet is coming to a close in their 25th anniversary with their cellist, Peter, being diagnosed with Parkinson's. Peter's imminent exit is almost like melting of the glue that held the group together. Old wounds resurface and egos over flow their cups. Through the unravelling you the viewer will be encaptured by this drama whether you like Western classical music or not. Such is the power of the screen play and acting of all the leads.

Rating : * * * +

Poster from IMP Awards. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

The Whistleblower

Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz), a Nebraska police officer, finds herself far from home working as a peacekeeper for DynCorp International in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina.  But her rose tinted glasses are shattered when an investigation into sex trafficking involving two young girls reveals a malice deep within the UN. A film that focuses on an issue that needs to be brought to the mainstream but fails to pack a punch as it panders to the hero worshipping syndrome that is so popular in the USA.

Rating: * *

A Royal Affair

A king, his queen and the royal physician form the central triangle of this film set in Denmark during the rule of the mentally ill King Christian VII. He is married to Princess Caroline of Great Britain who is a connoisseur of the fine arts and literature but finds many of it banned in the country. Her ensuing frustration with her marriage and the nation finds her in the arms of the royal physician. Dr. Johann Friedrich Struensee is a secret follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and uses his influence to bring about reforms in the country. The ensuing political struggle amidst the affair is the theme of the film which is only mildly engaging.  

Rating: * *

Mama

The 2008 financial crisis drives Jeffery, a banker over the edge. He kills his co-workers, ex-wife and drags his two young daughters to an abandoned cabin with the plan of killing them and committing suicide. The plans go awry as a mysterious entity rescues the girls. The girls are discovered five years later by a search part sponsored by Jeffery's twin brother, Lucas.  Lucas takes the girls back to his home which he shares with his partner Annabel. As the girls try to rehabilitate themselves to regular living, it is evident that they brought something back from the cabin with them. The atmosphere created by the directory shows the evident hand of Guillermo del Toro who is an executive produce of the film. Dark, slow and sudden are the adjectives you can attach to the film, which is one of the better horror films to come out in 2013.

Rating: * * +

Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino tackles the spaghetti western with his usual dark twist by putting a black man as the main protagonist in the wild west. Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a German bounty hunter disguised as a dentist who buys a slave Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him identify three outlaws. In return he promises to teach him the trade and set him free. Django sweetens the pot by adding a request of freedom for his wife who suffers at the hands of an evil plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). With that premise, Tarantino unleashes a whole lot of slick violence and blood in his signature style. For nothing else, this film needs to be watched for Samuel L. Jackson in the role of a nasty Uncle Tom. 

Rating: * * + 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

In the events that launched the Lord of the Rings storyline, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) finds his calm existence shattered by the intrusion of a wizard and thirteen dwarves. Gandalf (Ian McKellen) wants Bilbo to join him and his merry dwarves in the quest of reclaiming the lost city of Erebor from Smaug, the dragon. Unwittingly following their lead, Bilbo finds himself dealing with goblins, elves, orcs, wargs and sorcerers. Featuring the hair raising ride through the goblin tunnels, you are never bored through this film. Then there is the encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and the ring which is the heart of the film. Despite all of this you are left wondering if there is enough meat for The Hobbit to be stretched in to three films... 

Rating: * * +

Looper

It is the year 2044 and Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a "looper" for a crime syndicate. His job is to kill and dispose individuals sent back in time by the syndicate. The film based on this interesting premise has endless possibilities, but the director picks a predictable one where Joe is tasked with killing his own self from the future. Things go wrong and young Joe ends up chasing old Joe (Bruce Willis) around.  In spite of the predictable plot, the film is strangely engaging  and you never once feel like switching off.

Rating: * *