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: * *