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Tees Maar Khan (2010)
Crap
What a pathetic attempt at movie making?
I knew before hand what to expect of a Farah Khan product. But this one surpasses my expectation. And not in a good way.
Nothing about the movie is funny or sensible. The spoofs and the humor do not click. This movie is just plain pathetic low budget flick.
The good part about this movie being low budget is that the marketing and song attraction will definitely generate enough footfalls to recover the distributor's , producer's and investor's money
The problem with this pathetic movie is that it gets way to predictable and boring. You are never excited to know what's in the next frame or next scene. In fact, you cannot wait for the movie to get over with.
I believe that's the worst failure of any movie. If you're neither excited about the 'What's next' nor are you 'enjoying the moment' - that's when the movie fails.
The songs are good - but again - what a waste!
The only thing that is worth watching are: a) Sheela ki lachakti kamar b) Akshaye Khanna is sort of funny c) The first fake shoot scene of a bank robbery with a Vitiligo man pretending to be a Gora
I wish these directors would stop dumping such non-nonsensical farce on the Indian audience. But in order for that to happen we should stop visiting the cinema halls and stop patronizing movies from these non-sense production houses.
Dev.D (2009)
Dev.D (a great fanfare for the new Indian cinema)
Dev.D - Should I watch it?
Loosely based on Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's 1917 Bengali novella Devdas, Kashyap updates Devdas for today's anti-authoritarian times by re-imagining him as a marijuana-using Punjabi guy Dev aka Devendra Singh Dhillon (Abhay Deol) who can't wait to consummate his relationship with his childhood sweetheart Paro aka Parminder (Mahi Gill).
Anurag Kashyap has not adapted Sharatchandra's Devdas. He has set it free from a shackles of old age India and given its characters a new life
For the first time in an adaption of Devdas, has any writer tried to delve into Chandramukhi's past. For the first time does any Indian movie talk so boldly about lust and sexual desires in a relationship and does not apologize about it. It brilliantly deals with our Indian double standards and hypocrisy without spelling it out or throwing it in your face.
For the brave and adventurous movie watcher this movie has a lot to offer - >Brilliant contemporary dialogues, > Well written strong central characters of Dev, Paro & Chanda, > Amit Trivedi's great soundtrack, > Rajeev Ravi's visually captivating cinematography, > Complimenting performances by Abhay (and also Mahi).
But thats about it - It is not that 5-star movie that Nikhat Kazmi bragged it to be nor the 1-star crap as rated by Taran Adarsh. I found this flawed movie very lovable with only a few things that did not work for me - > Chanda's story from the beginning till her return to Delhi was sluggishly slow and boring, > Some of the songs just didn't fit in - I would have loved some silence in the background where the movie gets time to breath or sink in - Anurag didn't have to use all the 18 songs just because Amit created it for him. >
Despite these, I liked the movie at several levels - esp. Creativity & great scene-level execution. Is this better than No Smoking or Black Friday? - Not as per me. Could Anurag have done it better? - Definitely.
Could this story ever have a 5-star execution - May be not.
Sarkar Raj (2008)
Storytelling at its worse...
What was RGV thinking when he released this movie? ...And what were the Bachchans thinking when they signed up for this piece of s**t? There are many things I hated about this movie...
1. Where was the story? Why do these directors and writers take us for fools? Why would they sell us s**t wrapped in chocolate wrappers? You can't just put in smart one-liners in between the background music and serve it as a story. The Ekta Kapoor serials my mom watches are better.
2. What's with the weird camera angles? ...If you have seen RGV's Raat, Bhoot or Kaun, you will know his penchant for using tilted and weird camera angles. But he is so over-done it in this movie that it begins to give you a head-ache after or a while... He's used it all over and in scenes where it doesn't make sense to use it.
Ramu, If you are reading this...Please understand that when the Korean directors use it in their horror movies, it is for a particular impact and not because they don't know how to hold their camera straight.
3. Why did the movie have to end the way it did? The ending was like an episode of CID where Sivaji Satham would tell the who dunnit story. When RGV stoops to Abbas Mastan's level, you know that the fate of Bollywood is downhill and it desperately needs new-age directors and writers with fresh, original and interesting scripts.
4. What a waste of time... If you want to watch a movie on underworld, go watch Satya or Company. Even RGV's Jungle was better. His proteges like Vishram Sawant, Sriram Raghavan and E. Niwas have made way better movies than his current lot of over-ambitious flops.
Go watch Vishram Sawant's Risk or Sriram's Ek Hasina Thi for a paisa wasool experience... Or better still, give up on Bollywood movies for a while.
Klass (2007)
I wonder if I'll ever gather my guts to see this again
Its been a while since I saw a movie that left my guts so unsettled. I have seen several graphic movies about rape, terrorism, cruelty, hatred. Some of them have managed to touch my soul and move me to tears. But none of them prepared me for this movie. The only movie that probably came close to making me feel so horrible was Chandi Bar. This movie will leave you with a lot of anger and hatred.
We have seen the horror of gun possession with minors in movies like Elephant and American History X. But this movie goes beyond irresponsible and erratic use of a gun. This movie projects basic human feelings and the results of mob mentality and repressiveness anger. Most viewers can relate to this movie because they have all experienced school violence, either first hand or otherwise.
About the movie itself, the direction, cinematography and acting are all A-grade. You always feel at the center of each and every scene. This is what the movie does best. It involves you. And when you are done watching it, it will make you think about it and discuss it. It'll make you think of what's wrong with our education system and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening.
It kinda falls into the category of movies which make you lose faith in humanity. Don't get me wrong. We are capable of kindness too. But it is equally true that we humans can be very cruel and we should not ignore this facet of our basic instinct. There are many interventions that could've prevented the ending that the movie projected. But the reason the movie hit me so hard is coz' of the way it ended.
I would definitely recommend this movie to all those movie buffs who aren't afraid of watching movies with serious subjects. Stay away from it immediately before sleep time. This film will leave you so unsettled; you may not be able to sleep for next couple of hours.
As for me, I wonder if I'll ever gather my guts to see this great film again.
Waitress (2007)
Adrienne Shelly would have churned many more beautiful movies like this in future
I just saw this movie last night and thought it would be nice to comment on this movie since I saw another romantic comedy this morning - Dedication and commented on it.
Little did I know that I would end up writing a eulogy instead of short movie review. I had seen Shelly in Trust less than a year ago and thought it was a brilliant movie and this pretty little actress was a perfect match for the character she played.
Last night when I saw this movie I couldn't stop comparing her work to that of Hal. I knew she had learnt the brilliance of projecting complex characters and would make a great many movies to come. And this morning I was depressed to learn of her death.
Coming back to the movie, Keri was graceful in August Rush and she is beautiful in this movie. She is the magic pie maker in a small town stuck in a horrible marriage. I loved the fact that her character gathers the courage to follow her heart without changing her inner self. The characters and the relations are so well written and yet so light hearted.
All the pies in the movie make me wanna go to a pie diner every morning. After the movie I was in the mood for a 'I wanna fall in love' pie.
The characters, the cinematography and the soundtrack - together make a good quirky heart warming experience and not your average too good to be true rom-com flick.
Just like Jena's pie with a heart in the middle, I believe Shelly had her heart in this movie. Every time I watch this I will be reminded of the brilliant artist that she was. I wish she didn't have to go so soon. I'm sure she would have churned many more beautiful movies like this in future.
May her soul rest in peace and her work inspire others.
Dedication (2007)
A Fantastic Debut
I just finished watching this movie and thought I should pen down my thoughts. I would like to add a few disclaimers before recommending it.
For viewers who expect a romantic comedy, this is not your average rom-com genre movie. And for avid movie buffs, this ain't the first attempt of its kind either. This has shades of Trust (1990), Music and Lyrics (2007), As Good as it Gets (1997) and a few others.
But the familiarity worked for me. Also, not knowing what the movie was about did work for me too.
Watch this if you want a romance with quirky and intelligent characterization. Considering, it is both the writer's and the director's debut feature film, it is fantastic.
No Smoking (2007)
Lynchish puzzle on Bollywood screen
For Bollywood movie-goers who haven't seen NO SMOKING, this is my recommendation
This is weird movie. Watch it at your own risk. For those who expect an anti-smoking movie about how to give up smoking...PLEASE DON'T WATCH IT. But if you like any or all of the following movies, DO watch this movie: LostHighway, FWWM, BartonFink, Kafka, Jacob's Ladder.
Movies like Matrix, Spider, Memento, Fight Club, Adaptation-dole out the solution to the puzzle in real time-on the screen which the average viewer can follow. And then... there are movies like NO SMOKING, LOST HIGHWAY, MULHOLLAND DR., FWWM, & INLAND EMPIRE.. which do not give you all the answers. You'll have to figure out the movie in your head after the last frame has played. Instead of showing Langdon follow the clues to crack the code... you will be given the clues to be your own Langdon.
Loosely based on King's Quitter's Inc., NO SMOKING is a story of a man's struggle against his addiction and ego.
***Spoilers Ahead*** This is what you see on the screen... K is an arrogant, self-obsessed, businessman. He chain-smokes probably because of a disturbed childhood... some crap between parents, who keep getting married and divorced. His wife Anjali threatens to leave unless he quits smoking. He is recommended to this rehab program in the slums of Dharavi at a "Prayogshala", where Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bangali threatens severe bodily harm to him and his family for every cigarette that he smokes.
K's arrogance lets all hell loose on him. The BABA's spies are everywhere... (Ram, Shyam, Balram) and K cannot smoke a cigarette without the BABA coming to know about it. K keeps waking up from bizarre nightmares, which have consequences in the real world. K loses his hearing, brother dies in a weird accident/suicide, K loses his fingers (awesome :P), wife is killed & K ends up in the "Prayogshala" where he cannot take a bath until he pays the 1 re that he owes the BABA. In the last scene, we see K recommending this program to his other mate in order get his fingers back.
And here is my take on the film...
K - the arrogant, addicted guy with the not-so-stable childhood and a marriage soon-to-turn into a divorce goes to the "Prayogshala" and that is where the reality ends and nightmares/ hallucinations begin. The "Prayogshala" brainwashes K to-the-extreme,leading him into believing whatever we see on screen.
Here is what Anurag had to say about his movie post the release
"..it is a film about arrogance.. of two kinds..why I made it , the way I made it, the reasons I have never discussed it before.. it is my most personal movie.. I am K.. K's arrogance is the obvious arrogance, that everyone sees everyday.. he smokes..he breathes nicotine.. He says NOBODY tells me what to do.. I breathe cinema.. and forever everyone has been telling me not to make the kind of cinema I do.. NO SMOKING is a tale of an arrogant man and another who is much more arrogant, who lives in his world, where he controls everything and he thinks he is morally superior to any existing humans, he is the kind of man who thrives on minorities and underprivileged, he worships the dictatorial attitude and all he wants from you is to lose your soul and convert
.it,s a tale about an arrogant man's descent into morality.. and the architecture of the moral world is so absurd that it sometimes beats reality.."
"GIVE ME THE LIBERTY TO KNOW, TO UTTER, TO ARGUE FREELY ACCORDING TO MY CONSCIENCE ABOVE ALL LIBERTIES... Since, I do not have the liberty, and I get banned every time I am directly stating my opinions, one has to wage a guerrilla war.. no smoking is my guerrilla war.. and in the end the man loses to the system and the only way he can survive is after having lost his soul (freedom).. everyone expects a good versus evil film, where good wins over evil, where the end sums it up, and all is well at the end.. well it doesn't happen here.. here K doesn't want to, but never comes to know how and when he gave in to the system, but accepts it and starts to do what his own people did to him..why? in order to survive.. why his treatment becomes an incomprehensible nightmare, because it does in real life, I am the living proof. This film is just the treatment the powerful (Baba Bangali) puts K (the man whose allusions are of greatness, seemingly invincible) through to bring him over to his side and manages.. there is nothing more.. "
Here are things I like about the movie.... Great cinematography, the loose inspirations- Quitters Inc., the dwarf (remember Lynch's FWWM), the symbolisms... and of course, this is an important piece of cinema... the first of its kind in Bollywood history.
Here is where I expected more from the movie... Lynch movies like Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr., or INLAND EMPIRE have a lot of shock value, beauty and bizarreness besides the puzzle that is put forward for us. All these elements enhance the entertainment value of the movie and viewers end up loving the movie despite failing to solve the puzzle. Anurag failed in doing this. The script could have used more work... e.g. including elements that would make more meaning on repeated viewings... remember Matrix... Lastly, the background score could have used a lot more work to give the movie a different mood.
To sum it up... Lovers of Gen-X surreal cinema should definitely watch this movie despite its flaws.
Must notice Trivia... BTW... did you notice the transparent imp... that was always around in BABA's basement... ALSO.. did u notice Anurag in the elevator with John... The B/W scenes with laughter track were heavily inspired by Oliver Stone's NBK...
Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2003)
Run of the mill
Lissa Roman (Fawcett), Hollywood's most successful singer-actress hires a private investigator to find out if her husband is cheating on her. Her friend Taylor (Gilbert), an ex-Hollywood actress is cheating on her husband with a wannabe 17-something scriptwriter to get feedback on her script which she wants her movie producer husband Larry to produce. Lissa's co-star friend Kyndra (Givens) is too focused on her looks and career and ignores her teenage daughter Saffron (Kandyse McClure). The movie ends with Lissa's daughter getting kidnapped and rescued. Lissa falls for the knight in shining armor, her security officer Michael Scorsinni (Jack Scalia) and they live happy and divorced ever after.
First of all, the women looked really good in this movie...all five of them... Fawcett, Gilbert, Givens, cutie-pie Kandyse McClure and the newcomer girl Pascale Hutton. Melissa Gilbert's cleavage looks awesome. The plot is pretty good and keeps you interested. The movie on the whole is the run of the mill family drama-comedy-romance.
The only thing that really sucked was none of them knew how to act. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but Farrah Fawcett sucked too. Even the new gal Pascale Hutton acted better than her. Hutton's romantic storyline with that Eric Johnson guy was better than Fawcett's storyline. Melissa Gilbert's was perhaps the most interesting storyline with her hot love affair and her lesbian role offer.
Overall, Catch it if u have 100 minutes to spare. Not bad
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Not funny...Maybe it's a European thing...1/10
I remember seeing this movie as a child but did not remember anything about the movie and now I know why.
Having read great reviews about it and it's status as IMDb's Top 250 movies, I decided to see it again and man was I disappointed. That's the reason I rate this movie 1/10 to bring it's overall rating down.
Before I badmouth the movie, let me tell some good things about it. It is a clever and subtle comedy kinda like "Curb your Enthusiasm" although not half as good. Clever because you might be fooled into thinking it is a real band if you've never heard anything about the movie. It is not your average belly laugh comedies. However, I did smile in some of the scenes like the song Gimme some money, the miniature bread scene, Nigel's stupid stunts and accidents on stage, the HUGE :-) Stonehenge monument and the band getting lost backstage.
Here's what I disliked. I was expecting a COMEDY for crying out loud. And I'm just waiting for a funny moment to arrive. All those stupid gags and dumb jokes and situations are so bland and tedious to watch. It gets too repetitive and uninteresting. I don't know, maybe its a European or American thing but this is not my idea of a funny movie. And what more can I say...even the makers of the movie knew that the jokes were so not funny that all those cameos had to be used...and still, to no good result.
My recommendation...If u want a comedy movie on rock n roll watch "School of Rock". If you want to watch one of Rob Reiner's better movies watch "When Harry Met Sally... ". If you still like to watch a music mockumentary go for "Fear of a Black Hat" (6/10) based on rap music. However, if u still want to watch this movie do not expect a lot. It is just a clever, not so funny movie