The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Katniss Everdeen makes her way back to screen after the disastrous end to the Quarter Quell. She finds herself deep beneath the ground in District 13th with the rebels. Advised by the rebel President Coin and cajoled by her friends and advisers, she reluctantly agrees to become the face of the revolution. Thanks to being a movie you are spared the whiny inner dialog of Ms. Everdeen. But the movie makes up for that with its boring pacing and uneventful screenplay. A book that easily could have fit in a single movie is dragged across two films with no real reason other than greed. The only saving grace is that you got to see Philip Seymour Hoffman one more time.

Rating:: * +

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Empire of the sun

Christian Bale's finest performance, arguably, thus far - in his debut film as a 13 year old. To put a 13 year old through every scene of a film, through a range of emotions that even the best would struggle with and essentially carry a movie of scale, needs balls. Steven Spielberg manages to do so in 1987 - and with some fine photography & direction. 

Christian Bale plays Jim Graham, a young British boy who has grown up in the Shanghai expat bubble scene as WWII enters its end game. Loses his parents through a tragic turn of events and spends the next 4 years more than surviving through all kinds of John Malkovich type hooligans. 

Outstanding.

Rating: * * * +

The Flowers of War

Possibly the first Zhang Yimou movie that I have watched fully. "Possibly" because I think I headed for the exit while watching Hero or House of Flying Daggers. This unfortunately was a similar experience. Only thing that kept me going through this melodramatic, yet dumbed down, tragic story of WWII Nanking was to watch Christian Bale. Which was ore the disappointing - blame the fucking director.

Rating: * +

The Midnight After

The Chinese title's literal translation is "That midnight, I got on a red public light bus that headed from Mong Kok to Tai Po" and is based on a web novel called "Lost on a Red Mini Bus to Taipo". Given the titles one should expect to be in for a bizarre journey and you will not be disappointed. Seventeen passengers clamber on a bus which delivers them in to a post apocalyptic Hong Kong. Unsure as to what the hell is going on, you quickly get involved with characters as they try to unravel the situation they are in. You are treated to some over the top horror laced comedy that leaves you cringing and laughing. But as the final destination comes closer you realize that the plot is quite empty and disappointing. Or it is going to take some doing to get on the same wavelength as Fruit Chan.

Rating: * *

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You, the Living

Another one of those many vignettes films that are thrown together with a hope a central theme emerges. Few of the shorts are connected but as a whole they seem disparate as the director strides towards the overarching message which is the banality of human existence. Some of them are funny but with a hint of tragedy. There is a self centered middle aged woman, a disillusioned psychiatrist, an enamored rock star fan and a saxophone player to name a few of the inhabitants of this movie. Some interesting techniques are used where the actors speak directly to the camera like in a documentary as they relate their fears and dreams. As much as one would technically want to rave about this movie, the fact that it does not engage you fully just leaves you with a feeling of despondency. 

Rating: * +

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Liar's Dice

A slow drawn out road movie that features a young mother, Kamal, and her daughter Manya, traveling to Shimla from their village called Chitkul in search of her husband. Enroute they meet Nawazuddin, a roughneck of dubious character who acts as their escort. A multi-layered film exploring the tense man woman relationship in rural India with a socio-political backdrop. Brilliant acting again by Mr. Siddiqui and a fine performance by Ms. Thapa. Directed by Geethu Mohandas of Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare fame, the movie is India's entry in to the 2015 Oscars. For a change a movie of quality has been picked. 

Rating: * * +

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Curse of the Golden Flower

An entirely fictional historical drama set in a court of a Chinese king is the target of Zhang Yimou's extravagance. At the time of release it was the most expensive Chinese film to be ever made, with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li appraising the lead roles. A highly melodramatic story that features a royal family, incest and intrigue. But the plot is so obvious that the only thing that keeps you watching is the ethereal beauty of Gong Li and the elaborate costumes and sets. The only reason to subject yourself to this movie is if you are stuck on a plane with nothing to read.

Rating: * *

Poster via Wikipedia.

Breathless

Watching this movie can leave you breathless, as you follow Sang-Hoon and his violent temper. He is a loan shark with a tendency to beat people up at the slightest provocation. But as you venture in to his life you find a troubled man with goodness buried deep down inside. His past has filled him with so much darkness that for any kindness to bubble up is also disguised by some roughness. Another well done Korean drama that explores child abuse while flirting with loan sharking. Yes, only the Koreans could have come up with that combination.

Rating: * * +

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We Are What We Are

The film starts with a lady struggling in a torrential down pour. The dull weather sets the tone for this moody drama and its eeriness seeps off the screen. You are shown the lives of a strange family that seems to be harboring a secret in a small town in the US. The pace is slow as the director counts on the atmosphere to keep you hooked. It does, except Netflix gave away the plot in the description. I wonder if my rating would have been higher had I seen it without reading the badly written synopsis.

Rating: * *

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Bangalore Days

The lives of three cousins in Bangalore is the focus of this film. Kuttan lives in the big city, but his heart is back in his Kerala village. Arjun is the black sheep of the family working as mechanic and bike racer. Then there is Divya, a happy go lucky soul, who is newly wed to a brooding workaholic. Their loves, trials and tribulations are chronicled in a well nuanced manner by director Anjali Menon. However trying to draw out the tale of three couples made the film longer than it should have been. A scope reduction with a less cliqued climax would have definitely made for better viewing.

Rating: * *

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Import/Export

Two parallel lives are shown in this movie. Olga struggles to support herself and her baby working as a nurse in Ukraine. When internet pornography does not help with the bills she leaves for Austria to work as a maid. Pauli is a young security guard in Austria, who is in debt to everyone and has little going for him. A job installing video game machines finds him in Ukraine. The camera weaves back and forth between their lives in a sort of bored haze. There are some moments of promise, but they are quickly extinguished.

Rating: * +

Gone Girl

Its official. Ben Affleck is the Ravi Shastri of Hollywood - overachieving and overrated at the same time. Credit where its due and all, but who gives a fuck. David Fincher digs deep, as always, to tell us the best-selling, diabolical story of Nick & Amy in a super smooth and engaging manner.

Rating: * * +

Gangs of Wasseypur

 

Was reminded of this * * * * movie when I saw Nawazuddin Siddiqui in The LunchBox recently. Plucked seemingly out of nowhere, NS plays Faizal Khan to perfection - a shadowy, chillum-smoking character who reluctantly transforms to become the lynchpin of one of the gangs involved in a bloody multi-generational tussle. GoW, the finest hour of Anurag Khashyap's career thus far, in a way is also a study of the evolution of India from independence to "modern" day. Outstanding soundtrack. And a brilliant cast of nobodies.

Rating: * * * *

Haider

Vishal Bhardwaj has always delivered impressive films - Omkara and Maqbool being good examples. The unfortunate bit about Haider is the choice of Shahid Kapoor as the main lead. Schooled in the Shah Rukh Khan school of acting, the film eventually succumbs to junior SK's theatrics. Despite the odds, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon along with some spectacular Srinagar footage keep the interest going. 

Rating: * *

Lucy

Lucy is forced in to becoming a drug mule that sees her turning in to something way nastier. The drug pouch that is shoved in to her intestines leaks in to her blood stream and makes her neurons fire between pathways undiscovered in the human brain. In the background you have a professor lecturing about the untapped power of the human brain while Lucy starts to kick ass. Unfortunately, neither Mr. Freeman's voice or Ms. Johansson's pyrotechnics saves this film from the shit pile. 

Rating: * +

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Ploy

A Thai-American couple, Dang and Wit, checks into a Bangkok hotel after a long flight from the US. A death brings the two back to their homeland after many years. Jetlag has captured Dang while Wit falls prey to restlessness.Wit's entry to the hotel coffee shop introduces us to the other characters in the movie. The movie languidly wanders over the state of the couple's marriage while cutting to some bizarre disconnected sex scenes. One of Mr. Ratanaruang's earlier films that shows his silent promise.

Rating: * *

Poster via Wikipedia.

Edge of Tomorrow

Director Doug Liman hit upon this original idea of making a movie that resembles a video game where you have no control over the players. He then roped in Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt to play the leads and lend sex appeal. For two hours you watch Tom die, live, die again at different points as he tries to stop an alien race from annihilating the human race. Unfortunately, you are not given an option of playing as an alien.

Rating: *

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Finding Fanny

Reminsicent of this fim, 'Finding Fanny' is about a dysfunctional group of friends, family & an artist who undertake a road journey across Goa in search of a long lost love. A robust cast with the best of the past (Pankaj Kapur standing out) and a couple of the young brigade. A decent addition to director Homi Adjani's resume but the general cuteness kills any edge - of the kind we saw in his earlier film. Yes, they are very different films. Nevertheless.

Rating: * * +

Divergent

Every once in a while it is important to check on your prejudices. Watching 'Divergent' was just that. Reassured me that it is perfectly rationale to avoid the realty game show type, hormone filled adventure genre.

Rating: * +

The Fifth Estate

Julian Assange & his WikiLeaks escapades had caught my attention at the time and still does in a way - what happens when the Ecuadorian Embassy's lease runs out in London? 

Anyway, I knew that the movie based on his one-time partner's Daniel Domscheit-Berg book, would portray only one side of the story. What had me more worried was having to sit through Benedict Cumberbatch's wierd ass Assange hairdo. In this instance, the general anti-hype helped me. Cumberbatch showed that he has the temparement to step into different kinds of roles. I got more than what I bargained for.

Rating: * * +

The Angel's Share

The film opens with a drunk man talking to a loudspeaker on a train platform. One after the other you are introduced to the main players of the film including the lead, Robbie, who are all charged with petty crimes of some sort. Community service introduces the lot to the vast world single malt scotches. Robbie in particular takes a liking in a connoisseur fashion. In the foreground to this is Robbie's issues with his girlfriend's overbearing family who think he is a piece of shit. Throw in a heist to this mix and you are left with a comedy that does not leave you in splits, but is definitely good for a chuckle or two.

Rating: * *

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2 States

It had all the smugness that I had seen before. And the sense of nauseousness still prevails. Well, thats not what 2 states is about. It is about 2 young MBA students, from 2 different states, who fall in love and find that their respective parents don't seem to agree. Based on a true story, this trite can safely be ignored.

Rating: * +

Nowhere Boy

Aaron-Taylor Johnson does a reasonable job as young John Lennon in this film, which has very little about The Beatles. Yes, there is a Paul here and a George there - but it is pretty much about a young boy who is torn between his foster mother Aunt Mimi and his real mum Julia, who had abandoned him early on. And with no father figure in sight. It kind of adds up when you know how he treated women in his young adult life and possibly explains the Yoko Ono adventure. Nowhere Boy ends up being an accomplished ~90 min backstory of a mega star. Worth a watch only if you are interested in John Lennon.

Rating: * * +

Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel's cosmic mishmash of a superhero team makes it way to the big screen. The comic books are known to be a little meandering with a host of characters and plot lines. This of course had to be simplified to make things fit in a 2 hour time frame. What you have then is an action packed slug fest that brings a team of an earthling, a tree, an assassin, a rodent and a green thug chasing after an orb whose fate will seal the future of the galaxy. Lots of 80s music and cheesy humor makes the film pleasant, but the Bollywood like melodrama wears on you after a while. Do watch it if you are a faithful Marvel fan for the sake of completion otherwise give it a miss.

Rating: * *

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Metroland

I read the Julian Barnes novel in early 2000. And that was after I had picked up the Mark Knopfler soundtrack the previous year. Both captured the spirit of the times and ore enjoyed them. Recently, for no particular reason, I found myself googling for Mark Knopfler soundtrack movies and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was Christian Bale that played the lead in the film. 

The movie didn't disappoint at all and captured the 'Metroland present' vs the 'Paris past' divide, the central theme of the story, very well. Christian Bale was effortless as Chris and managed to climb up to the same level as Mark & Julian. Possibly, a notch higher.

Rating: ***

A Most Wanted Man

Intricate, deliberate and a plot that takes its time - all the hallmarks of a Le Carre adapted film. Inevitably, Philip Seymour Hoffman takes centre stage. Everything about Gunther Bachmann - a heavyset, heavy drinking, heavy smoking, heavy betrayed German intelligence officer who runs an underground intelligence team in Hamburg - yearns for PSH.  The film, as it is with Le Carre's recent novels, is more about personalities than a scintilating plot. 'A most wanted man' finishes off with a scene that is eerily close to reality. Gunther parks the car, gets out, shuts the door, walks off the screen, we see cars driving by and as one expectingly waits, the credits roll.

Rating: * * +

Neram

Mathew is a young man in love facing bad times. In spite of being an enterprising young computer engineer he has no job. The debt he owes the vicious gangster Vatti Raja for his sister's wedding is due. To make things worse his would be father-in-law is on his heels. Throw in his girlfriend running away from home into the mix and you have a spicy plot with lots of laughs. Given that there is an inspector named Ukkan Tinto (mallus will get the joke) shows that the humor is subtle and there is none of the over the top noisy raillery that is the wont these days. The director has taken many pages out of the Tarantino handbook and it is refreshing to see new film techniques showing up in Malayalam cinema. Let this be a warm welcome to Mr. Alphonse Putharen whom I hope has some good times ahead of him.

Rating: * * +

Poster via Wikipedia.

Ustad Hotel

Young privileged Gulf boy's dreams of being a chef in London with a white woman for a wife are shattered by his father who wants him to settle down with a good Indian woman and run a 5 star hotel. The boy rebels and ends up working for his estranged grandfather at Ustad Hotel, a dingy seaside biriyani restaurant. A film that engages you for the first 30 minutes starts to loosen its grip as it meanders down a cloying melodramatic path that makes you want to throw up at the television.

Rating: * +

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Quartet

The film is Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut as he drags a West End play onto the big screen. It centers around an old age home (as we would call it in India) populated by retired musicians. The plot centers around Reg, Wilf and Cissy who were part of a famous quartet. The home is falling on tough times that they hope to recoup from the sale of tickets to the yearly gala. But death and lack of participation is posing a problem. This is when Jean Horton, the last member and Reg's ex-wife arrives on the scene. Sparks fly and old people quarrel like children as the film proceeds down often visited paths.

The only bit of interest is that most of the supporting cast in the retirement home are played by actual retired musicians. There was an apparent dispute in the music circles over this film and The Late Quartet given the latter is all played by actors and their musical talents are minimal. While I agree Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman might not look natural with a string instrument but damn can they act. This film in spite of all the real musicians makes one wish Mr. Hoffman kept to acting and left this to be a West End play.

Rating: * +

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Breakfast with Hunter

A documentaric glimpse into his days of Hollywood fame. But not one that showcases his originality unfortunately. Lots of footage of his toy boys/girls, the likes of Johnny Depp & Johnny Cusack and various others, reading his works with the Hunter smugly reminiscing. But as the words are read, and as he speaks of his writing, one realises that the beauty lies in his writing. Like good butter chicken -  unobtrusive but immensely involving. Making me wanting to read more. The film was made before his goodnight speech:

Football season is over

No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt.

He was in control apparently. One will never know. 

Owl's farm, one of the cool things that one learns from the movie, is the centre for art appreciation these days.

Rating: * * +

Drishyam

Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is a self made man running a cable service in an obscure town in Kerala. His wife and two kids lovingly fight against his frugality and age old ways. Other than his family the only thing Georgekutty cares about his movies. He spends every waking minute getting a tan from his television and going so far as to making life decisions based on movie plots. It is in this simple life that an unwelcome guest arrives as a form of complication and danger. What starts off as a family drama morphs in to a thriller albeit a predictable one. But given the recent history of Mohanlal films this is like a blast from the past and shows us that the man has not lost his skill. Give him a good director and a decent script he can still hold his old Kireedum on his head with pride.

Rating: * * +

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Mon-Rak Transistor

Pan is simple minded country boy whose love for music and pursuit of fame finds himself AWOL from both his wife and the Thai army. There is not much else to say about the sparse storyline of this film which is a blend of comedy, musical, romance and crime thriller. One of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang earlier efforts where it is obvious that his art needs honing. I guess one has to go through the process of making movies such as these before you end up with something original and timeless.

Rating: * * 

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Snowpiercer

Global warming was imminent and humans in their infinite wisdom decided to fix things. The result is a sudden ice age and the only escape is being on a self sufficient train that runs endlessly on a round the world trip. Even in these close confines of a train, a class system arises and there is the inevitable revolt. The film evoked critical response regarding how this a reflection of current society and class division. However, the point is lost of people that there is nothing original in this route and is a topic revisited over and over again. And if you sit through to the end, you will definitely be reminded of Omelas if you have read it. In fact, if you haven't read it go pick up a copy and ignore the film.

Rating: * +

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Five Easy Pieces

Jack Nicholson's coming out movie in 1970. One can sense that with that kind of presence it was inevitable that he would go on to other spectacular (that movie in my book, btw, is a * * * +) performances. Enjoyed the film as it drifted everywhere to tell us a story of a nowhere man. Which was pretty much the call of the times, I reckon, if you were an aspiring filmaker. Does well to convey the coldness of a person who is intent on searching for nothing amongst humans.  

Here is Jack turning on his charm.

Rating: * * +

Breaking Bad

I was late on this one. I first heard about this series only last September as I witnessed frenetic activity on the twitter timeline about the upcoming series finale. Once I began on episode 1, it was easy becoming a junkie. Blitzkrieged through the rest of the 5 seasons in 5 weeks.

This Vince Gilligan production is as close to perfection as Richmal Crompton's Just William series of books and the British TV series 'Jeeves and Wooster' were to me. At the outset, the hook for me was the underground crystal meth operation spearheaded by an unlikely pair of underdogs - Walter White (WW) & Jesse Pinkman. Gradually it became much more than that. It was like I had shaved my head, grew a french beard and decided to switch on a bomb - a Heisenberg whirlpool that unwittingly took in many others in for a ride as well. All for the family, not.  

All of the surrounding characters were brilliantly scripted and casted - a big factor in the success of the show in my opinion. Each one of the characters had enough depth to spin off a series entirely on their own. 

After watching the entire season, I have browsed through quite a few reviews and interviews. Much of it has been about the bewilderment about viewers rooting for Walter White despite his evilness. Frankly, it is not the first time an anti-hero character in a movie/TV series has proven popular.  At some level, everybody wants to be bad because of all the 'injustices' that one has had to endure. The urge to take on the establishment / society is something again, I reckon, a lot of people would relate to.

What really was cool was the depiction of the inner workings of a crystal meth empire. Which is no different from managing any other business. For instance, there were insights into: (a) strategising - both micro and macro from Saul Bellow-DEA-WW-Gus Fring; (b) managing operational efficiencies from WW-Mike-The man who makes them disappear; (c) people management skills - grooming talent, empowering nobodies, sidelining competition and (d) money laundering from Saul-Skyler.

While searching for stuff to read about the show, I came across an entire series of interviews by Rolling Stone with most of the cast in the run up to the final episode. Some of the ones I found interesting were the one with Giancarlo Esposito 'Gus Fring' (The ending I want is to see is his head on a pike) and Dean Norris 'Hank' (Is Hank the only major character in this show who hasn't broken bad? Absolutely). The others also should be checked out. 

I also discovered some great music through the 60 odd episodes - painstakingly shazamed my way to a playlist of 15 odd songs. While David Porter's original score does immense work in the subconscious, here are few songs that stood out - in chronological order: TV On The Radio's DLZ (lead singer being Tunde Adebimpe), The Be Good Tanyas' Waiting around to die and Gnarls Barkley's Who's gonna save my soul.


Rating: * * * *

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes starts off 10 years later showing Ceaser ruling his clans of apes peacefully in Muir Woods amidst the decimation of the human race by the ALZ-113 virus. A chance encounter by couple of the young apes with a human survivor rekindles the contact between the two species and reignites the buried hatred among some of the apes. All the humans want is access to a dam that is in the land occupied by the apes. All the apes want is to be left in peace. But politics and personal gain apparently exists everywhere, even among apes showcasing they indeed were our forefathers. A slightly sad turn to what was shaping to be a promising franchise.

Rating: * *

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes poster Via Wikipedia.

Like Father, Like Son

High up in their residential tower, overlooking other Tokyo towers, Ryoto and Midorino are working purposefully towards planning their six year old's life. Until they realise that there was a mistake at the hospital 6 years ago and Keita was never their child. The hospital puts them in touch with the other family who has their 'real' child. Should they exchange? Why? Why not? But it did raise a few related questions that I should be mindful of in the future: nature vs nurture, blood vs emotion, piano classes vs loafing. 

Apparently dealing with parenting, family issues / misplaced, dead children seems to be director Hirokazu Kore-eda's speciality and does a decent job of tugging at your heart. Unfortunately, it is through a bunch of steroteypical characters and a plot that focusses on simplicity.

Rating: * * 

The Grandmaster

Wong Kar-wai's take on the life of Wing Chun master and Bruce Lee's guru Ip Man. It chronicles his early life in Foshan and his flight to Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion. Tony Leung plays the martial artist maestro with his usual relaxed ease. But other than for that and the brilliant cinematography, the film has very little to warrant an addition to Wong Kar-wai's list of masterpieces. The director has definitely lost his touch and his retirement would be welcomed by his fans.

Rating: * *

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Cloud Atlas

Reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas left me thinking that this is one book that meanders all over the place and could never make a coherent film. The Wachowski siblings of course proved me wrong.

In 1849, a young lawyer has a brush with slavery and is dying of a mysterious illness on ship while harbouring an escaped slave. In 1936 a young composer is slaving away under an arrogant maestro while composing his own masterpiece. San Francisco in the 1973 sees a journalist trying to unearth a conspiracy. Present day London finds a publisher running away from gangsters in the most amusing fashion. A futuristic Seoul in 2144 shows a genetic clone discovering that she is human. And then there is the really far away time set in a post apocalyptic time. A film set over multitude timescapes that has been stiched together to make a coherent whole. 

Rating: * * +

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X-Men: Days of Future Past

The world of the present sees a dark place for mutants. Robot Sentinels roam the planet rooting the holder of the mutant genes out and sending them to meet their maker. Any humans harboring them are dispatched too. This situation has brought Professor Xavier and Magneto together as they struggle to hold off the robot enemies. The solution that is forced upon them is to send Wolverine back in time to try and fix the root of the problem. Time travel is treated differently here as it is more like sending someones memory back in time. And it kind of makes sense. The past sees a very different Professor and Magneto with Beast in tow. Jeniffer Lawerence takes on the role of Mystique and kicks some ass. A fun watch in what arguably could be the best film of the X-Men series.

Rating: * * +

Godzilla

The iconic Japanese monster is back at its rampaging best in this American avatar of the king of monsters. It starts from the point of view of the actor who actually drew me to the film. Bryan "I am the danger" Cranston plays Dr. Joe Brody who is caught up in the terrifying destruction of the power plant that he oversees. Soon it flows to his son and family while the back story about the creature and its predators are filled in. Storyline is simple. Monsters converge on to San Francisco and destruction ensues as we watch in awe. The original allegory of Godzilla to nuclear weapons / US and rest of the world, give way to a correlation between arrogant humans and disregarded nature. That alone could have sustained this film, but the director had to pander to the masses and introduce a human angle. Blank that out and you are left with one of the better reincarnations of this franchise.

Rating: * * + 

Missing

Another film in the endless parade of South Korean thrillers, sees a supposed feeble old man in the outskirts of a sleepy South Korean town picking up young beautiful women as his pets. The only difference being that he treats his dogs and chickens with way more empathy. More torture horror than thriller, the film's production quality is on the lower side but the atmosphere created by the director does keep you taunt and guessing.

Rating: * * 

Big Fan

Paul Aufeiro is a full time parking garage attendant, but his real job is that of a hardcore New York Giants fan.  He goes the full distance for the team, tailgating at the stadium during games and calling into talkshows to defend his team. He does all this while living with his mother and jerking off in silence giving you the sense he is a loser with a misplaced unrequited love. This is brought to the forefront when he is assaulted in a club by his favorite player. It throws his life into a loop as he finds himself struggling to deal with his team's downturn thanks to the incident. A tragic comedy that makes you question and wonder about the mental health of rabid sport fans all around the world.

Rating: * * +

The Lunchbox

Saajan Fernandes (Irfan Khan) is gearing up for retirement from his sleepy accounting job from a firm that is stuck in the past. Mourning his dead wife, he starts wading into the mists of after work life. This is when he finds a new spice entering his life through the lunchbox delivered by the famous Mumbai dabbawala service. The service that prides itself for never making a delivery error, ends up giving Saajan the lovely cooking of Ila who is a struggling housewife  yearning for the love of her disinterested husband. 

Interwined in this story is Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), Sajan's replacement at the firm, who starts off as an irritant to everyone but slowly makes his way to the viewer's heart. That sort of acting is hard to come by these days and Mr. Siddiqui's talent needs to be nurtured and given more exposure. Then there is Ila's invisible neighbor whose voice conveys so much more than what some actors convey with their faces. Throw in another appendage from the past; handwritten letters, and you have a romantic film that reminds one of Wong Kar Wai during his better days. 

Rating: * * * + 

Life of Pi

Yann Martel's worldwide bestseller is awoken by Ang Lee in this mega blockbuster. Pi Patel and his phantasmagoric struggle on a raft with a Bengal tiger are retold in great CGI glory. As in the book you are left with the decision to see if the story as told is true or was it Pi's way of coping with what he had to do to survive. 

Rating: * *

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Dr. Watson and Mr. Holmes are reunited in this film... oh wait that is not the case until further reincarnations of the characters. The Unexpected Journey of Bilbo Baggins continues in Peter Jackson's next installment of The Hobbit. If you were left wondering at the end of the first film how Mr. Jackson was going to drag this out into three films, the movie does provide you with the answer. Other than that and the introduction of Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, the film serve no other purpose as it acts as a boring bridge to the grand finale of the battle against the dragon. Throw in some unnecessary twists to the plot by the director, we are left with a rather staid, head scratcher of a film. But if one could suspend their knowledge of the Tolkien novel, you could force yourself to be slightly entertained by the movie.

Rating: * *

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Two years have passed since the events in The Avengers and Captain America finds himself adjusting to the 21st century as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Things are turned topsy turvy when Nick Fury is brutally attacked and Steve Rogers finds himself with no one he can trust. But the real action begins with a whisper from the past that comes attacking him in the form of the Soviet hitman called the Winter Soldier. Thankfully the cloying American propaganda that was a huge part of the first Captain America movie has taken a back seat and you are left with a good vs evil superhero flick. Marvel unleashes another sidekick and they have picked well in choosing the Falcon. Throw in some hot red headed action in the form of Natasha Romanov and you have yourself a fine escape from reality for a couple of hours.

Rating: * * +

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is back with the symmetry of his frames, still camera and arrestingly strange characters. In his latest masterpiece, the story is centered around an old hotel that lingers on in the cloud of its prestigious past or I should say around that of its concierge. The movie starts off as a simple retelling of the legendary concierge's past that soon becomes part murder mystery, part prison break, part thriller and full on fun ride. Manifested with big name actors and actresses playing their bit and lead roles that they only would for Mr. Anderson, you are left marveling at this genius who makes complexity so simple. Or is it the other way around... 

Rating: * * *

Innocent Blood

James Park leads a quiet life as a forensic lecturer at a university far removed from his life of an undercover detective. The quietness is disturbed when his past comes screaming back and his son is  kidnapped by an apparent psycho. The usual detective - psycho cat and mouse game ensue but nothing in the film draws you in. The dialogues are almost funny even when trying to be bone chilling and when you hear laughter at the theater during a film like this, you know that the scriptwriter needs to find a new job. All the viewer can do is wait for freedom from the induced boredom. 

Rating: *

Great Gatsby

Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, yet again makes it way to the screen. The old story is retold of young Nick Carraway's tryst with high society during a New York summer. The vehicle into this flamboyant party land is his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is young, suave and sophisticated and Nick falls under his spell. But soon cracks appear as an obsession comes to light. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role with a constant tinge of nervousness and hysteria that does quite match Gatsbys of the past. That takes a lot away from the film but if you are a connoisseur of the era like my partner is, the sets will not disappoint. According to her the film captures the spirit of the era very well. However sets can only take you so far.

Rating: * *