Stoker (2013)

[beautiful yet thrilling]

Stoker (2013)

IMDB- 7.4

RottenTomatoes- 67%

RJG Rating- 95

After her father's death ,his brother Charlie ,comes to stay with India and her mother.

Starring- Mia Wasikowska,Matthew Goode,Nicole Kidman

Director- Chan-wook Park

The movie is powered by some excellent performances.First we have ,Mia Wasikowska.Stoker is not only her best performances to date ,but also one of the best of 2013.The whole movie is largely dependent on the performances of the actors, and Mia does her best in the weirdish type role.Mathew Goode plays Uncle Charlie ,and this is another strong acting you can expect from the movie.He plays the mysterious role perfectly with enough charisma.Nicole Kidman ,who is the more famous one amongst the entire movie ,only manages to do an okay job.

The story is a slow and mysterious thriller.Its fresh and will keep you guessing at all points.Rather than being a complete horror / thriller movie that most movies of this genre try to become ,Stoker instead relies on closely telling the story of the lead character ,India (Mia W).The way the story unfolds is also quite interesting.You would be expecting something else but Stoker still manages to twist stuff up.I was surprised to know that it was written by Wentworth Miller (lead actor from Prison Break).Its certainly any excellent start for him as a writer.

Direction by Park Chan-wook (most notable for his movie Oldboy) ,is excellent.He has tried the whole vampire concept with his earlier movie Thirst ,but Stoker cannot be categorized under that genre although it resembles it too closely.Park brings the best out of his cast and gives Stoker a beautiful style of presentation.Its pace is slow but quite steady.The movies intensity rises with each minute and the final portion was quite shocking. 

Overall ,Stoker isnt for casual viewers ,nor for those who are expecting a horror movie either.Its easily one of the best movies of this year.

Acting- 4.5/5

Story- 4.5/5

Direction- 5/5

Drama- 5/5

Thriller- 4.5/5

Tauriel from Hobbit 2

Official pic of Tauriel ,played by Evangeline Lilly.Tauriel is an elvish character (like Legolas ) , but does not appear in the original book.She was created by Peter Jackson just for the Hobbit movies.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)

[a cliche ridden movie]

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)

IMDB- 6.9

RJG Rating- 35

4 friends take a trip to Manali ,where each learn about each other.

Starring- Deepika Padukone,Ranbir Kapoor,Aditya Roy Kapoor,Kalki Koechlin

Director- Ayan Mukherjee

Ranbir goes over the top playing a sort of casanova character.His character is pretty uneven and mainly its the scripts fault.Deepika Padukone plays a sort of different character for once.But again it isnt anything worthwhile.Kalki plays her usual type of role ,shes good at it.Aditya Roy does a good job too.

The story is downright cliched.Theres no other word for this type movie.From the start itself its cheesy.Theres a deep lack of creativity in the story.You can predict stuff miles away.Character development is poor.The story is written solely to support Ranbir's character.Changes in Deepika's characters happen overnight.The only part which was worth watching was the flashback scenes of Kabir and his family.

Direction by Ayan is a major letdown.His earlier work Wake Up Sid was fresh and featured one of Ranbir's best work.But with YJHD ,he resorts to the ideas that were tried out by almost every romantic movie in Bollywood.YJHD is a watered down version Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.On top of it the melodrama makes certain scenes unbearable.

Songs are injected into the movie for no reason.The soundtrack used is not even fitting for the movie.Throughout the first half ,music from various cartoons are used.Why its done ,is unintelligible.It lowers the standards the movie is trying to convey.On the bright side ,the songs were good.

Overall YJHD has nothing new to offer ,except some over used jokes and melodrama.

Acting- 2/5

Story- 1/5

Direction- 1.5/5

Romance- 2.5/5

Drama- 3/5

Fast & Furious 6 (Furious 6) (2013)

[non stop action]

Fast & Furious 6 (Furious 6) (2013)

IMDB- 7.7

RottenTomatoes- 72%

RJG Rating- 85

Dom and his crew sre recruited by Hobb, to track down a criminal by the name of Owen Shah.

Starring- Vin Diesel,Paul Walker,Dwayne Rock Johnson,Luke Evans

Director- Justin Lin

The entire cast is brought back and that itself lends some magic into F6.Dwayne Rock continues to be a fantastic action superstar.Vin Diesel is amazing as well.Michelle Rodriguez was good.Gina Carano excelled in the action sequences.Paul Walker and the rest of the cast were good.Luke Evans as Shah was not a kickass villain, but compared to past villains of the franchise ,he is relatively better.

The Fast & furious movies arent the type in which you can expect mindblowing stories.For an action movie ,F6 had a decent story although its a bit thin.Most of the plot points were just excuses to deliver action scenes.Comparatively the story isnt as tight as Fast 5 or the first F&F ,but its still an engaging ride.The middle portion is loose and a bit of plothole is formed once a twist is revealed towards the end.Theres a nice blend between the comedy and drama as well.The humour manages to keep the audience from getting buzzed out from the action and the drama.

Direction by Justin Lin was great.He found the formula for this franchise with Fast Five ,and for F6 he maximizes them to the point that they are just on the edge of being over the top.The pacing is fast but still there were some scenes that could have been cut out due to its lack of importance.But the movie is absolute fun for the fans of the series.

Action scenes were just amazing.From start to finish its back to back action ,and they did save the best for the last! The plane sequence is bound to leave you amazed.The fight scenes were powerful and its a treat to watch the Rock battle it out! The comedy was surprisingly good throughout the movie.On the downside ,killing off characters is turning into a bit of a cliche ,and some romantic dialogues could have been shortened.

Overall ,Furious 6 is another excellent addition to the F&F series.A must watch for fans and action junkies!

Acting- 3.5/5

Story- 3/5

Direction- 4/5

Action- 5/5

Comedy- 4/5

Furious slips but holds off new release

Furious slips but holds off new release
[May31-Jun2]

#1- Fast & Furious 6 slipped by a large 65% ,to make $34.5million on its second weekend.With this F6 has made $480million worldwide ,and is $120million short of overtaking Fast5.

#2- Now You See Me made $28million which was upto studio expectations.The movie stars some of Hollywood's finest actors such as Jesse Eisenberg ,Morgan Freeman,Woody Harrelson,Michael Caine along with others.But even with such talent ,the movie failed to please the critics.The movie scored only 43% ,with critics saying that the director failed to extract anything from the already weak story.

Made from a budget of $75million ,the movie's success now mainly depends on its overseas collection.

#3- After Earth was another example of wasted talent.After Earth flopped hard with just $27million.With a budget of $130million AE is turning out into a big disaster.After Earth panned by critics ,scoring just 12%.This is director Shyamalan's second worst score after his previous attempt ,Airbender (6%) ,while its Will Smith's lowest scoring movie in his almost 30year career.After Earth's main issue seems to be its slow pace and poor direction.

#4- Star Trek Into Darkness suffered another steep fall as it made just $16.4million in its 3rd week.With this the movie has currently made a gross total of $328million which is somewhat par to that of its predecessor.

#5- Epic also made $16.4million.The animated kids adventure movie has so far made $150million thus safely making up its budget of $100million.

2013 Top 5

#5-G.I. Joe: Retaliation -$359million

#4-Fast & Furious 6- $480million

#3-Oz The Great and Powerful -$490million

#2-The Croods -$569million

#1-Iron Man 3 -$1.180 billion (#5 on all time grossing list)

The latest entry into Top 5 was Fast Furious 6 ,which has enough power to boost even further up the list to #3 by this week.

This week we have a comedy and a horror-thriller.Both are uninteresting so not gonna choose any.

1-The Purge-Starring Ethan Hawke ,the movie has a strange concept.The movie is about a day on which everyone can do whatever crime they want to do.The trailer was interesting but the concept is too weak.Initial reviews give it 63%

2-The Internship brings the Wedding Crashers team ,Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn together.Its about two unemployed guys who compete against each other at an internship.

Mendes back for Bond

There had been much speculation about who the next director for James Bond would be.At one stage it was rumored it would be Nolan (TDK,Inception) ,even Nicolas (Drive) was considered.But finally ,Sam Mendes was brought back.

Sam Mendes directed James Bond 23 aka Skyfall (the 8th highest grossing movie of all time) ,and its being said Mendes is a lock for not only James Bond 24 ,but also for James Bond 25!

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BIGGIES OF JUNE

5 BIGGIES OF JUNE

MAY packed in 7 anticipated movies out of which only 3 pleased the critics while making money (IronMan3,StarTrek2,FastFurious6).

JUNE has less number of anticipated movies ,but chances of scoring more great movies are high! This is the End & World War z has already been getting good reviews.White House Down is a wildcard and most likely to make money while being panned by critics.But the 2 biggest draws are Pixar's MONSTERS UNIVERSITY and Nolan's MAN OF STEEL directed by Snyder (300).Are you ready for JUNE ?

Here is my early analysis on the 5 anticipated movies of JUNE 2013.

This Is The End- JUN12

story-A group of friends unite after the world starts under going a series of apocalyptic events.

+ Star studded comedians ,James Franco ,Jonah Hill ,Seth Rogen and more star in this action comedy movie.The real life friendship between the cast will be a major high point for This Is The End.The movie is reaping great initial reviews,some say its the best comedy of 2013 so far.

- Seth Rogen isnt very consistent.While most hit the mark ,many have failed terribly too.The comedy might not connect with majority.

Man of Steel- JUN14

story-A reboot of the Superman franchise,takes a more realistic take on his origin.

+ Reboot of one of the biggest superheroes,Superman.Man of Steel has a strong backbone.Story by Goyer and produced by Nolan ,Man Of Steel carries Dark Knight's goodwill.

- Zack Snyder is a good director ,but his last widely appreciated movie was 2007's 300.Watchmen was excellent but the hype killed it ,The Owls of GaHoole and Sucker Punch were big time fails.Will his style of direction help MOS ?

Monsters University- JUN21

story-The story of how Sully & Mike met ,10 years before th events of Monsters Inc.(animation)

+ PIXAR ! The animation studio has brought about multiple animated classics and this is the sequel to one of their earlier classics.

- Being a sequel to a classic carries a lot of weight.And Pixar hasnt made a classic since 2010's Toy Story 3.Cars 2 was horrible and Brave too kiddish ,can Monsters University break the bad run?

World War Z- JUN21

story-A UN employee travels around the world trying to stop the Zombie virus.

+ Brad Pitt & Running Zombies ! whats there not to like !This is an adaptation of the novel of the same name.The movie has been getting good initial reviews!

- The movie going over budget ($200million +) ,re-writes ,delays ,re-shoots could have made the movie

White House Down- JUN28

story- after a group take over the White House ,a Secret Service Agent must rescue the President.

+ Stars Channing Tatum & Jamie Foxx who are both on a good run.

- its directed by Roland Emmerich ,who is known more for his liking of destruction rather than a good story.

Kai Po Che! (2013)

[a heart touching movie]

Kai Po Che! (2013)

IMDB- 7.7

RJG Rating- 100

The story of 3 best friends during the years of 2000

Starring- Raj Kumar, Sushant Singh ,Amit Sadh

Director- Abhishek Kapoor

The cast are newcomers to the movie world ,but they definitely did a much better job than the present day actors. All 3 shared the screen space and had equal importance.The bonding between the lead actors were excellent and really made the movie a fulfilling experience.The supporting cast were great too.

The story for Kai Po Che is based on the hit Indian novel ,3 Mistakes of My Life written by Chetan Bhagat.The movie follows the novel faithfully but made necessary changes for the movie.The story is beautiful and captures the tale of friendship beautifully.Its story is tight and effortlessly manages to convey the lives of all 3 friends.

Abhishek once again does a brilliant job.After his Rock On ,he once again delivers a bittersweet tale of friendship.Every single scene is directed perfectly.His choice of actors were spot on.The music for KPC is another strong pillar.The songs are sweet and actually manages to not only progress the tale but also carries a heavy dose of emotions which are central to the story.Its been a long time since ive seen such a wise song usage.

Overall ,Kai Po Che is a gem for Indian cinema.A must watch!

Acting -5/5

Story- 5/5

Direction- 5/5

Drama- 5/5

This Is the End!

New Trailer & 6 Character Posters for This Is the End!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcYwH2hiaXE

This is the End is about 6 real life movie stars/friends who have to survive as the world around them crumbles.The movie has been getting initial good reviews.

Pirates OTC 5

After making a BILLION Dollars at the box office with its 4th movie , Pirates of the Caribbean 5 was already on the cards.But considering the 4th was the WORST movie of the series ,a new director was being hunted for.Today Disney has said that the new directors would be Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg.Never heard of them before?
They are the directors of the Norweign movie Kon-Tiki ,which had got a nomination for Best Foreign Film at this years Oscars.Considering Kon Tiki was about an adventure in the oceans ,i think the duo are very suitable to take up the directing duties of POTC5.

Watchmen (2009)

[a unique superhero movie]

Watchmen (2009)

IMDB- 7.6

RottenTomatoes- 64%

RJG Ratings- 90

Rorschach,a vigilante ,starts an investigation after the death of a fellow vigilante.

Starring- Malin Akerman,Billy Crudup,Matthew Goode,Jackie Earle,Jeffrey Dean,Patrick Wilson

Director- Zack Snyder

The cast werent too well known actors back in 2009.But yet they give a good performance.Jackie Earle as Rorschach was my favorite.Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl2)& Jeffrey (Comedian) were great too.The best thing about Watchmen is that its a tale of 6 heroes ,and all of them have got a considerable amount of screentime and importance.This is mostly due to the excellent adaptation and good casting.

The story for Watchmen is a direct adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel.Watchmen has been considered for years as one of the greatest comic/graphic novel.It was widely considered to unfilmable till Snyder's attempt.The main issue here is the powerful story structure of the comic ,which is hard to limit in the time scope of a standard movie length.Plus the symbolism in the comic was a hard to follow.

Yet even with such challenges ,the movie is one heck of an adaptation.The story is just as dark as the comics and just as intense.It paints a picture of the bleary world the story of Watchmen is set in (alternative 1980's).Its a complex story but its well adapted.

In my opinion ,Watchmen is Zack Snyder's Best Work as of (May 2013).His level of commitment and faithful nature to the original comics is noteworthy.He does his best to mold the movie into the likes of the "unfilmable comic".The end result might not stand upto the comic book ,but we are talking about one of the greatest comic books of all time.

As a movie ,Watchmen is an extremely unique take on superheroes.Its a multiple genre movie ,and its pacing is even.It doesnt rush off but instead takes its time to build up the various plotlines of each character.Its not a normal superhero movie where you expect huge action sequences to pop up every now and then.On the surface its a detective movie ,but as i previously said its a multi layered movie.

The visual effects have been used moderately.Like Zack's previous attempt ,300 ,Watchmen's beauty is tripled with his choice of visual effects.Although Zack has done his best to make Watchmen a movie for all ,most casual viewers wont be satisfied.

Overall ,Watchmen isnt a popcorn flick.Its more of a study on the minds of vigilantes and 'cause and effect' of various actions.

Acting- 4/5

Story- 4.5/5

Direction- 4.5/5

Action- 4.5/5

Drama- 5/5

Suspense- 4/5

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

[death of a franchise]

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) 

IMDB- 5.5

RottenTomatoes- 15%

RJG Ratings- 15

John McClane travels to Russia to get his son out of trouble.

Starring- Bruce Willis,Jai Courtney

Director- John Moore

Bruce Willis is wasted in this movie.By wasted i mean he himself knows this movie sucks.He utters puny dialogues which have no fire and are a pale imitations of his once witty dialogues from the old Die Hard movies.Jai Courtney who plays the son ,isnt too great either.Both prove to be dull and boring.The supporting cast are useless too.

The story for Die Hard5 ,is dull.There are couple of twists at the end ,but till then its just boring.The movie can be cut into 3 long action sequences.The car chase ,the ballroom shootout ,and the Chernobyl site explosions.Add some talking ,and some random half baked villainous idea ,and the result is Die Hard 5.

Direction is poor.All the previous Die Hards were exciting ,but staying awake through Die Hard 5 is a challenge.The pacing of the movie tries to be fast ,but the action is predictable.The poor acting of the cast doesnt help things either.

Overall Die Hard 5 finally marks the death of the 80's franchise.Give this a miss.

Acting- 1/5

Story- 1/5

Direction- 0.5/5

Action- 2.5/5

Fast Furious rips apart Hangover

Fast Furious rips apart Hangover
[May 24-26]

#1-It was thought to be a tight match between the two franchises ,but on day 1 itself ,it was clear who would emerge as the winner.Fast & Furious 6 made a brilliant $98.5million ,which is a series record (Fast 5 made $86million).This is one of the rare franchises that actually continues to grow with each installment.In 2011 ,Fast 5 shocked critics by scoring a solid 78%. Although it was never expected that F&F 6 could do the same ,the 6th installment scored 72%!

(For an action movie about cars that previously scored 52,36,35,27 ,this is certainly a great improvement).

Critics were pleased with Fast 6's action and humour.This is also Dwayne Rock's 4th HIT OF 2013! (Pain & Gain,Snitch ,GI Joe2 were the others).Rock has been on a powerful streak and certainly his midas touch is still strong!

Fast Furious 6 is a big hit overseas too ,making $177million for an overall gross of $275million ,thus safely crossing its budget of $160million.

#2-Hangover 3 crashed landed with just $42million ,which is the lowest debut for the Hangover series.The public seemed to have learnt their lesson after 2011's horrible Hangover2.

Hangover 3 was no better ,scoring just 21%.The movie reduced its comedy and instead turned into an action thriller movie.But this change was still of no use ,as the movie was still garbage.The movie has made a worldwide gross of $73million of its budget of $103million.

#3-Star Trek Into Darkness had an expected fall ,but still managed a healthy $38million.But the sequel is falling behind its 2009 predecessor.Star Trek has so far managed to make $249million worldwide.

#4-Epic ,the 3rd animated movie of 2013 ,made an average opening of $34million.It has been receiving average reviews ,with most saying its a predictable movie and mostly aimed for kids ,and the only good point is its animation.Epic has made $77million of its $100million budget ,and it looks good enough to recover its budget.

#5-IronMan3 continued its weekly descent ,as it managed to make $19.5million.But the movie's powerful start has boosted it off into a great height.Making domestically $367million and $774million overseas ,IM3 has made $1.142billion making it the 5th highest grossing movie of ALL TIME.Its next target is Harry Potter 7 Part2( $1.341billion).

2013 Top 5

#5-A Good Day to Die Hard -$303million

#4-G.I. Joe: Retaliation -$358million

#3-Oz The Great and Powerful -$489million

#2-The Croods -$562million

#1-Iron Man 3 -$1.142 billion (#5 on all time grossing list)

Next week ,its the battle between 2 not so great directors ,aiming for redemption.

First my earlier analysis on the 2:

Now You See Me- MAY 31

story- 4 magicians conduct a bank robbery using the audience members.

+ a good concept.Cast includes Jesse Eisenberg & Woody Harrelson,and other A-list actors.

- director Louis Leterrier has a poor history in film making.Out of 5 ,only Incredible Hulk has been remotely good.And based on the trailers ,this could turn out to be a cliched ride.

After Earth-MAY 31

story-1000 years after the people have left Earth ,a father and son duo land on Earth after an accident.

+ Real life father & son ,Will & Jaden Smith act in this,and they have yet to disappoint.The visuals looks great too ,and the concept is strong.

- Director M Night Shyamalan has not made a good movie since 2002's Signs.After a series of flop movies ,hes now considered one of the worst directors.After Earth will suffer if badly if the movie disappoints even in the slightest.

My pick is--------AFTER EARTH! Mostly its just because we have Will Smith.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

[one of the most the cheesiest and lamest movies of 2013]

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

IMDB- 6.8

RottenTomatoes- 59%

RJG Ratings- 15

Oscar ,a magician, is transported to the land of Oz ,where hes mistaken for a prophesied Wizard

Starring- James Franco,Mila Kunis,Michelle Williams,Rachel Weisz

Director- Sam Raimi

James Franco does an okay job.He gives his usual performance.Nothing great nor noteworthy ,just a walk through role.Mila Kunis gives one of her worst performances of her career.She was utterly lame in the first half and turned even worse in the second half.Be it the cheesy dialogues or the poor makeup ,or the irritating laugh ,Mila screwed this up.She was a wrong choice for this role.Rachel Weisz does a standard evil witch role ,and Michelle Williams does the cliched good queen role.There is no innovative ideas here.The chemistry is zero between James,Mila and Michelle.Zach Braff voicing the flying monkey was the only one worth watching.

The first 30min ,Oscars life in Kansas ,was good ,but what followed next was just plain rubbish.The story is so cliched and cheesy it gets unbearable after a point.It easy to notice that the story is made along the way to fit the background visual effects.Plotholes are numerous and the etire movie reminded me ,of the equally disastrous Alice in Wonderland.But even Alice had some logic within it.The characters for Oz is poorly drawn up.Especially Mila's role.The finale battle climax ,was again stupid and corny.Another irritating thing was how much they tried to make it kid friendly.If this movie was meant for kids below 8 ,well its excusable ,but otherwise its an insult to people who actually know what a story is.

Direction by Sam is poor.Other than the first 30min ,which was in black and white ,the rest was garbage.The entire movie was made with one objective....make a movie about a CGI filled world.Thats all.Very disappointed with Sam.Even for a kid friendly movie ,the movie uses plenty of scare tactics.As with usual Raimi movies ,its the "ugly face pops out of nowhere and screams" type.This was done just to show that this is still a 3D movie.

The visual effects were beautiful.Thats the only plus point for Oz.

Overall ,kids below 8 may enjoy the movie.Oz is a cheesy movie ,give it a miss.

Acting- 1/5

Story- 0.5/5

Direction- 1/5

Action- 3/5

Visual Effects- 4/5

Romance- 2/5

Drama- 1.5/5

Mama (2013)

[a wasted horror movie]

Mama (2013)

IMDB- 6.3

RottenTomatoes- 66%

RJG Ratings- 45

2 abandoned sisters are reunited with their uncle.But things go wrong as it seems they might have brought someone with them.

Starring- Jessica Chastain

Director- Andrés Muschietti

Mama is led by Jessica Chastain ,who is on a streak of excellent performances.And she doesnt break it with Mama.Jessica's performance holds center stage even though shes playing a cliched role.The kids do an okay job.They dont connect too well with the audience.Other than these 3 ,the rest of the cast do an okay job as well.

The concept of Mama isnt too unique.A spirit protecting kids ,killing people is a formula that has been tried multiple times.The story tries to keep an air of freshness in the first half but it all collapses in the second.The second half is filled with cliches and plot holes.No thoughts are given to even rectify the most obvious plotholes.Scenes such as where a doctor goes to investigate a haunted house in the middle of the night with a flash camera is as predictable as the sunrise.The climax gets even more unbearable as it tries to wrap all the horror with a 'feel good' ending ,which really ruins the horror aspect .

Direction is below average.The second half is riddled with issues.The scare tactics were the cheap ,"pop up out of the corner and scream" type.The movie is based on a scary clip of 2 children finding a ghost in their house.This scene is adapted directly into the movie ,without bothering to apply any logic behind it.The actions of the girls now dont make any sense because in the movie they are sort of friends with the ghost.

Overall Mama had potential ,but loses it entirely in the second half.Give it a watch if you are a horror fan and have nothing else to do.

Acting- 2.5/5

Story- 2/5

Direction- 1.5/5

Horror- 3/5

Drama- 2/5