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Hindi Movie Review: Karma

2012-02-10T07:40:00.000-08:00

This movie starring Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah was released in 1986 and was a moderate hit at that time. The movie follows the theme of the legendary movie Sholay. Dilip Kumar plays the role of a compassionate jailer, Anupam Kher plays notorious terrorist commander Dr. Deng who gets arrested and placed the former's jail. In one of the interactions Dilip Kumar slaps Dr. Deng and earns his enemity. An angry Dr. Deng organizes his terrorist group and massacres the entire jail residents and Dilip Kumar's family.

In response Dilip Kumar decides to take revenge and he picks up three convicts in jail and trains them into fighting machines. Together they destroy Dr. Deng's empire and camps and eliminate him. Thus eliminating all the threats to India. This is one of the formula movies of Bollywood. Three heroes, two heroines, a villain and supporting actor. Five songs, couple of attempted rape scenes, etc. It is worth watching once and does definitely inflame passions for the country.

Kannada Movie Review: Mylari

2012-02-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

Complete family entertainer from Shivanna!

I have said in this blog and elsewhere time and again that since the early 2000s the quality of Sandalwood movies has significantly improved. There is some real meat in the story, there are great and truly hummable songs without any double meaning. Then of course the acting and direction seems to have matured. Then of course there are a brood of imported heroines from other states who are vying for top spot in Sandalwood. All this means good entertainment for the average cine-goer in Karnataka. Hopefully now Kannadigas will start watching Kannada movies instead of patronizing other language movies.

Anyway coming to this movie, the central character Mylari (Shivrajkumar) is the older son of a rural farmer. He is not interested in studies and his father has to continuously coax, threaten, beat, plead with him to go to school. On the contrary his younger brother is a brilliant student who is doing great in school. This of course leads to discrimination from father and illtreatment of the older son. Then there is Anitha the heroine who is the village headman's daughter. She goes to the same school as Mylari and both of them are in love from childhood but neither has the courage to express it. So Mylari does the best he can, he writes his feelings in the form of poetry, and prose literature and becomes a great poet. His father of course doesn't appreciate it.

Finally one day Mylari comes to know that Anitha is getting engaged to someone else and takes the step to express his love. This leads to lot of complications and results in getting him thrown out of the house. He ends up in Bangalore and there starts the real saga. He hooks up with his old friend who has become a famous journalist in Bangalore. The latter gets him a job as a journalist/ writer and then the trouble starts. As a press reporter Mylari breaks some important stories against prominent political figures. The political leader threatens Mylari's friend and since nothing comes out of it he eliminates the entire family.

An enraged Mylari goes on a killing spree and eliminates the politician and his henchmen. Then he is arrested and sentenced to death by hanging. The entire story is said as a flash back. It is definitely worth watching and can be watched with the whole family. There are some real touching scenes in the movies, that have been excellently executed by the main actors.

Kannada Movie Review: Buddhivanta

2012-02-04T06:44:00.001-08:00

Laughter Riot

Upendra starrer Buddhivanta (2008) is a movie in which Upendra has lucidly executed his role. The movie starts off with several people coming to lodge complaints with the police against one individual who has cheated their sisters off the money by entering into a fake marriage with them. When they compare the pictures of the complainant all of them have the same picture. The police are convinced that they are dealing with the same person who is masquareding as different individuals and taking the people for a ride. They are hot on pursuit for this individual. There is a bus accident and all the passengers are admitted into the hospital, when police come to investigate they find the culprit among the injured. The police arrest the accused and present him to court.

The rest of the movie is a courtroom drama with Upendra the hero effectively arguing his case against all the women. The judge played by Lakshmi has pretty much no role except to sit there and watch. The heroine Pooja Gandhi also doesn't have much role except for running behind Upendra like a mad woman. Towards the end of the movie it is revealed who Upendra really is and why he went into disguise and what he hoped to achieve by doing what he did.

I would say this is a complete family entertainer with a generous dose of comedy included. It is totally watchable once.

One month into the New Year

2012-01-31T16:57:00.001-08:00

It has been one month since the 2012 started and I have not been able to start reading any new book. The only books I have been looking at are the voluminous college textbooks. The books while full of knowledge are tailored to specific groups of people hoping to or pursuing a career in those fields. When I look at the academic rigor of this semester I don't think I will be able to read any book outside the curriculum of my school. I hope I will be able to catch a movie or two occasionally and post a review soon. Movies don't take that much involvement and it is over in a short period of time, usually less than 2 hrs. Even when I watch bollywood movies I shorten by fast forwarding the song n dance sequences and unnecessary fight scenes. This way I can cut short a 3 hr movie to less than 2 hrs. It is kind of time when I have to work long and hard and play short and hard. Look out for more movie reviews during the first quarter of this year.

Hindi Movie Review: Haqeekat

2012-01-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

Haqeekat, starring Ajay Devgan, and Tabbu in the lead role with Amrish Puri, Johnny Lever and a group of villain actors is one of those typical bollywood potboilers. Shiva (Ajay Devgan) is an orphan who owes his gratitude to the local underworld don for having raised him. The Don is assigned the task of eliminating the Chief minister of the state by his competitor and quite expectedly Shiva is asked to execute it. Things go wrong and the Chief Minister survives and police start searching for Shiva.

Fearing for his life his boss sends him off to Mumbai and tells him that he will be known as Ajay in future. The actual story begins here. Ajay starts living in Mrs. David's home as a paying guest. Tabbu lives in the same apartment and one day some local hooligans attempt to rape her. Ajay saves her from them and love blossoms between the two. Later it is revealed that Tabbu is a widow and her sister-in-law prevents her from meeting Ajay. Amrish Puri the assistant commissioner of police intervenes and marries the love birds.

Ajay decides to go straight and give up the life of crime and opens up a car garage. Just when things seem to be settling down his past catches up with him. His former boss comes looking for him and asks him to return to the underworld. Ajay refuses and says he is now turned a new leaf and doesn't want a life of crime. His boss reveals that Ajay is the one responsible for the death of Tabbu's first husband and this leads to marital discord.

The next turn of events make the bulk of the story and it involves another attempt to assassinate the chief minister. How Ajay successfully eliminates his enemies and regains his love is interesting to watch. There are many loopholes in the story but that is quite expected I guess, it is after all movie showbiz.

It is worth watching once if you are an Ajay Devgan fan... I love the scene when Amrish Puri refuses to accept a bribe from the local politician. That is by far one of the best scenes in the movie.

Hindi Movie Review: Chal Chala Chal

2012-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

Govinda Stars in Sentimental Idealist's story

This movie is the story of what would happen to an idealistic person in India - he would be oppressed, dominated and cheated by everyone he comes across. Govinda plays the role of the youngest son of Om Puri who is a retired school headmaster. Om Puri owns a beautiful bungalow in the heart of Mumbai which is sought after by several builders and real estate developers. Being idealistic young man Govinda is emotionally attached to the home where he believes the memories of his late mother are present. Govinda has two sisters who live with him with their families in the same family bungalow. Though well settled his brothers-in-law want to sell the house and get the cash. They don't attach any emotional significance to the home.

Om Puri is fighting a legal battle with the school he was employed at for his pension and retirement benefits. The opposition lawyer is none other than his own son-in-law who is bent to save the school the money. Finally the court orders the school to give Om Puri some property to the value of his retirement benefits and they end up with a broken down bus which Govinda decides to restore and deploy on the road to earn livelihood. His bus conductor flees with the collection of a whole month and not wanting to trouble the conductor's parents Govinda decides not to lodge a police complaint. This leads to further complications.

There is a namesake heroine in the movie who doesn't have much role. The part could well have been eliminated but I guess Indian movie makers are still obsessed with the idea that without a heroine it is impossible to make a movie work. The rest of the story focuses on the tussle between the driver, conductor and owner of the bus and how the union gets involved. At each juncture Govinda displays an amazing humanity and continues to pardon those who cheat him. Finally he decides enough is enough when members of the workers union decide to vandalize the bus. There is one final fight and a court drama before the end of the movie.

This movie reinforces the message that if one is an idealist, he/ she has no place in the corrupt dog-eat-dog Indian society.

Book Review: The Offensive Internet

2012-01-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

I read a major part of this book over the winter break. When internet exploded during the decade of 1990s it was fascinating and presented a whole new world to everyone. Specially to people like me struggling students in the third world India. Now decades later the internet is slowly and surely becoming extremely offensive. Internet is everywhere and everything about everyone seems to be online. There has been no discretion about what should and should not be posted on the internet. It is free so everyone wants to post everything over there.

Then there are those who hide behind the cloak of anonymity and post offensive stuff about people, religion, communities, laws, countries, and everything possible. The internet has become the breeding ground for illegal, unethical, and offensive behavior by people who would otherwise be law abiding and quiet citizens of the world.

This book focuses on the perils of having an unhindered internet. This kind of research that focuses on the baneful effects of the internet is perhaps first of its kind. This is one of the few volumes that I have come across that focuses on the abuses and malpractices that are possible because of the anonymity, freedom from litigation, and lack of accountability that the internet provides. The essays featured in the book are all written from scholars of law, philosophy, technology, and other humanistic fields. This concept of the book is more like how to control/ curb the frontier spirit that once upon a time resulted in the conquering, and subsequent elimination of native American tribes and formation of this country. I wonder how much of a real effect this book will have on the establishment, but it sure provides a great starting point.

Sankranti Greetings

2012-01-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Last week was Makara Sankranti or Pongal festival in India and across the world. I would like to recall a song in Kannada Movie Halli Meshtru in which the hero and heroine sing a duet on the occasion of this festival. This song only shows the enjoyment and fun aspect of the festival in rural Karnataka. The spiritual and learning aspect has been completely ignored.

Saradara Kannada Movie Review

2012-01-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

Kannada film industry seems to be getting more and more mature. The films are getting better and there is a distinctively different storyline in many of the movies I have watched. I don't know whether the movies are being remade from other languages or they are originally conceptualized for Sandalwood. Saradara, starring Darshan is a movie with a difference. The storyline is well narrated and it upholds the traditional Indian values of family, marriage and how things work in rural India.

Darshan plays the hero with Srinivasa Murthy, Lokesh and Tara rendering excellent support for the storyline. Maada (Darshan) is an orphan whose mother would have given him to the temple priest and breathed her last. He is raised by the village and he works for the village headman. The village headman's daughter falls in love with Maada and then the twist happens. The twist that leads to several things, more and more sadness, sorrow and grief for Maada.

Throughout the movie the importance of respecting elders, and parents is emphasized. This is much like Darshan's previous movies he seems to be taking up movies in which respect to elders is the subtle message. I guess it comes right in time when young people are abandoning their parents in favor of career and other pressing priorities. I do hope the film industry continues to get better and the social message affects today's youngsters.

Kannada Movie Review: Chandu

2012-01-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Kannada film industry went through a transformation with the advent of younger (now older) stars such as Ramesh, Sudeep, Darshan, Puneeth Rajkumar, and others. One of the initial movies of Sudeep is Chandu, a romantic love story with several twists, a little bit of action. This movie helped establish Sudeep as a hero in Sandalwood - Kannada film industry.

Anyway the story of this movie is pretty straight forward. Sudeep is a n angry young man living in Hyderabad, he beats up the local don and his brother and during the street fight is when he encounters the heroine for the first time. His parents fearing for his life send him to Bangalore to live with his sister, whose house is incidentally next to a ladies hostel, where the heroine lives.

Invariably both of them end up in the same college, become friends and later lovers. A small altercation leads to the lovers fighting and getting separated. The rest of the movie shows how each of them behave and finally marry each other. The movie highlights Sudeep's performance as a carefree young man with a romantic heart and a short-tempered, and stubborn heroine who finally caves in and marries him.

In short it is a highly entertaining movie totally family friendly. It is more than ten years old so you will have to find the movie in a DVD format or online on Youtube.

Movie Review: The Eight Legged Freaks

2012-01-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I had watched part of this movie several years ago in India and had forgotten about it. Out of the blue I somehow remembered the movie about larger than life spiders and searched for it on Youtube and found it. So now I can say that I have watched the complete movie The Eight Legged Freaks.

The movie takes places in a small mining town in American heartland. A chemical spill leads the local creek getting polluted. Close at hand is the home-cum-laboratory of spider researcher Mike. The spiders consume insects from the creek, caught by mike and grow into disproportionate sizes. They first eat the scientist himself and start attacking life in the town. Cats, dogs, chicken and other small animals begin to disappear and the people of the town are perplexed. One day the phone lines go dead and the spiders attack the town killing and eating everything moving people, cattle, even cars. Nothing and no one is spared.

How the town reacts and how they get over the spider menace forms the rest of the story. There are small sidelines which deal with the deputy sheriff's family. How her teenage daughter and geeky young son handle the situation. Her estranged lover returns and they how they make up and get together again. There are some interesting off road motorcycle riding scenes. It is definitely worth watching and a completely family movie at that.

Movie Review: Fatal Desire

2012-01-05T23:26:00.000-08:00

What happens when a beautiful woman is stalked by two men, one handsome and reckless, another creative, and business savvy? Who does she choose to be with? What is the outcome of such a love triangle? Is there really love or just plain convenience and lust? These are the questions that come to one's mind when you watch this movie. Directed by Roberto Schlosser, Fatal Desire is a 100-minute romantic thriller with a dash of erotica, starring Wendy Guess (Sue), Pierre Perea (Rick) and Jordan Williams (Ben).

Ben is a movie producer on whose sets a stuntwoman is killed on sets and he is facing charges of negligence. Ben has other problems, his trophy wife Sue - beautiful and sexy - is having an affair. Ben sets a private detective to follow her and get evidence. Meanwhile Rick the man who Sue is cheating with devises a plan to eliminate Ben and make it look like an accident. This way their obstacles will be cleared and they also get to collect the $2 million Ben's life insurance money. Initially hesitant, Sue agrees and the duo execute the plan. Something goes horribly wrong and Sue is being stalked by a stranger on a big motorcycle.

The end of the movie is quite surprising and goes on to show how a manipulative, and beautiful woman can get away with everything and emerge winner. I'd recommend this movie to adults and older teens. It is definitely not a family movie.

Kannada Movie Review: Indra

2012-01-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

I have started watching Kannada movies only after moving to the US. I could say that I started watching movies itself after moving here, because when I was in India every minute of my free time was spent reading about adventure travel or participating in outdoor activities. So my movie reviews may not come across as professional but just the opinion of viewers.

Indra features Darshan and Namitha in lead roles and it is the story of an educated individual who would have given up his white collar career to become a rowdy following the brutal killing of his entire family. The movie starts off with the killing of an industrialist in Mumbai close to the Gateway of India and immediately scene shifts to the Agrahara (Brahmin's colony) in SriRangapatna town in Karnataka. Indra (Darshan) is the focus in both settings. In Mumbai he is the killer and in SriRangapatna he comes to Rama Shastri's home seeking employment as a clerk in the temple.

Indra's good nature and silent demeanor captures the hearts of Rama Shastri's family members and the neighbors. Time passes on and one day Indra hears about the release of rowdy sheeter Cat Rama from the jail. This becomes the turning point of the movie when Indra murders Cat Rama in cold blood in full view of Rama Shastri. Then there is a dramatic scene in front of the Shastri residence when Indra's background is explained and shown as flash back.

The rest of the movie is how Indra eliminates all the bad elements of the state and emerges victorious. The movie deserves one time viewing and nothing more. There is no role for the heroine, her role could have as well been eliminated. Songs are totally unnecessary in this movie. The movie can be watched with family except small children who would be better off without watching all that blood and gore.

Happy New Year 2012

2011-12-31T22:50:00.001-08:00

Hoping this new year will be an entertaining and knowledge achieving one. Happy New Year to all of you.

New Year Forecast

2011-12-30T23:45:00.001-08:00

Wish you all a very Happy New Year 2012

I have been reviewing movies, and books on this blog, and you my readers have been enthusiastic about them. I must admit that 2011 was a year of movie reviews on this blog. There was a little extra focus on movies that one could watch for free on youtube. I watched a whole bunch of non-mainstream and indi movies last year. I watched several Indian language movies too - Hindi and Kannada to be precise.

This is a short blogpost to let you know what to expect next year. My first resolution is to post at least one book review every month, this will put pressure on me to read one new book every month. Then I will post at least one new movie review every month, i.e. I will make sure I watch at least one new movie every month. I will try and post one review every week, either movie or book.

If you have movie/ book suggestions for this blog feel free to leave a comment about the same.

Movie Review: Bad Reputation

2011-12-28T21:52:00.001-08:00

High School is the age when children are undergoing transformation into adults. This is the time when students indulge in lots of reckless behavior, sexual experimentation, rebellious outbursts, etc. In the United States the High School years are held in high esteem by most people. While most people come out of high school happy and hopeful, a few unfortunate individuals suffer the brunt of bullying, exploitation, date rapes, etc and are damaged for life. The movie Bad Reputation is the story of one such girl who is wronged and branded as the 'high school slut' by peers. She embraces the Bad Reputation, transforms herself into a flirty, bold dressing individual and takes revenge on those who had wronged her.

Meet Michelle, a shy high school student who has been a nobody at her school. One day the most popular guy in school, Aaron invites her to a party at his home. She attends the party where the host Aaron is attracted by her looks. He gets her completely drunk and takes her to his room in a weakened state and rapes her. His friends Jake and Steve help him in holding her down and guarding the door. Michelle passes out and the when she comes to she is tied up to a tree in the yard and everyone is calling her a slut who slept with the three guys. Aaron's girlfriend is specially mad at Michelle for attempting to steal her boyfriend.

The next day when Michelle gets to school there is graffiti all over calling her a slut and all kinds of demeaning names. She goes to the school counsellor in a bid to get some support, but he makes a pass at her too. Michelle's depression makes her mad and she decides to embrace her new found Bad Reputation and take revenge on the people who destroyed her life.

This is not a family movie, definitely not for children under 15, at the same time a must watch for parents and high school kids. The movie convey's a social message about high school and how things go very very wrong when alcohol, and drugs are involved in unrestrained parties.

Movie Review: The Lucky Texan

2011-12-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

I am an unapologetic fan of western movies - of course only the ones in which the conflict is between White people and I totally abhor those films in which Native Americans are portrayed as wild, cruel and uncultured people. Anyway when one thinks of western movies the first name that comes up is undoubtedly John Wayne. I have watched several of his movies including Big Jake, The Red River, among others.

The Lucky Texan is a movie that deals with the gold rush and how unscrupulous businessmen tried to usurp property of gullible individuals in the recent past in the United States. The protagonists in this movie are Jerry Mason effectively played by John Wayne and Jake Benson (George Gabby Hayes) who are partners in the gold mining operation. They have been able to keep their mining site a secret from everyone in the town. They want to extract as much gold as possible before they stake a claim on the mine so the area remains a secret.

Then there are two businessmen in the town who also have an eye on Jake Benson's ranch and are interested in knowing where the gold strike has happened. Meanwhile Jake's grand daughter comes to live with him from New York and life begins to get complicated. The businessmen follow Jake and try to kill him and steal his gold and then use some fraudulent documents to claim the ranch. Things take an ugly turn from here on but the end is funny court scene which has to be watched.

This movie is not one of the best of John Wayne's but it is definitely one that cemented his acting career. He is at his formative years as an actor and definitely has an appealing screen presence. It is available free to watch on Youtube, go ahead and enjoy it.

Movie Review: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

2011-12-24T00:38:00.000-08:00

Cover of Deuce Bigalow - European Gigolo

This is one laughing circus of a movie. Set in Amsterdam the movie features the old favorites Rob Scheineder (Deuce Bigalow) and Eddie Griffin (T.J the Pimp). Duece is a former Gigalow who has gotten into research about fish and is living a quiet life in Los Angeles. Out of the blue he gets a call from his former Pimp TJ who is operating in Amsterdam to come and work for him. A sudden turn of events make him decide to go to Amsterdam and there things are quite different.

Drugs, and prostitution are legal and everyone seems to be in the trade. There is a university to train young men to become gigolos and there is an association to protect their rights. Male prostitutes aka gigolos pay taxes and have insurance. Just when everything is cozy and nice, a serial killer starts murdering gigolos one at a time. The association is worried, cops are after the killer.

TJ gets framed as the murderer and now it is upto Deuce to prove his innocence and secure release. The next part of the movie is fraught with hilarious scenes, one liners and other jokes. It is an R rated movie so I wouldn't advise watching with kids. Adults can watch this movie and enjoy the comedy. There is not much nudity so don't worry about getting embarrassed.

It is available free on Youtube, so you may as well take advantage of it.

Movie Review: Caught Up!

2011-12-21T23:02:00.001-08:00

B-Grade Hollywood Action Movie

Caught up is a movie about how one can get stuck and fall into bad times even when the intentions are good. This is the story of Daryl Allen, a former drug peddler who is out of jail, living with mom. He has decided to go straight and do everything legal from now on. He comes to know that his girlfriend is pregnant with his child which makes him all the more motivated to turn a new leaf.

He wants to start a classy club and run an honest business. He is short of money, his friend who is still in drug peddling business promises to help him and asks him to drive to the bank so he can withdraw the money. Daryl believes him and they head to the bank. The friend steps in to get the money while Daryl relaxes in the car. The next thing we see is a lot of shooting and Daryl's friend comes running with the money chased by the bank's security guard. Quite predictably there is a car chase which ends in his friend getting killed and Daryl being arrested for bank robbery. He is sentenced to 5 years in jail.

when Daryl gets out of jail after 5 years. things have changed. His mother has passed on, his girlfriend has moved on and married someone, and much as he tries he can't find a job. On top of all this there the probationary officer breathing down his neck, keeping track of everything he is doing. Meanwhile Daryl bumps into Vanessa, a look-alike of his former girlfriend and gets attracted to her. As he is leaving he coffee shop with Vanessa a gunman shoots at them and Daryl is scared. He thinks it is someone after Vanessa and confronts her for the truth. She says it is her former boyfriend how is psychotic and she is out of the relationship.

Vanessa helps Daryl find a job as a limousine driver with one of her friends. The limo service is a shady operation which offers high-priced taxi service for people to exchange goods such as drugs, contraband, etc. The gunman is still after them and Daryl doesn't understand why? Later Vanessa reveals that she is in possession of a very valuable diamond that belonged to her former boyfriend and that is why he is after her.

Things begin to heat up after this. There is conspiracy, treachery and action all packed in the last 20 mins of the movie. It is a movie that the directors and team hoped it would hit off with all the action, but it simply doesn't have what it takes to become a hit. So I would say it is worth watching once but not worth searching for it. You can find it on Youtube's movie channel and watch it there for FREE.

Movie Review: Kissing Cousins

2011-12-20T21:08:00.001-08:00

Funny Movie misrepresents Indian culture

This is one of those ABCD movies (American Born Confused Desi) that tries to depict Indian youth as completely accultured in England and America. Meet Amir lives in Los Angeles, works as a heart breaker, his job is to deliver messages of breakups to partners who have been dumped by their significant other. Basically men and women who doesn't have the courage/ heart to tell their partners their intention to end the relationship use him to deliver their message. He lives alone, watches porn every night, doesn't believe in lasting relationships, and goes on with his life. He best buddies are Tucker and Charlie who are in relationships and Bridget who is the former's sister and single.

Charlie meets Tina and decides to get married. It has been agreed for several that Amir is going to be the best man but while making plans Charlie and Tina decide that Tucker should be the best man because he has more positive "relationship karma". Amir is disappointed and outraged by the sudden change of plans. He goes home for the Thanksgiving holiday and notices that things have changed. His room has been rented, his sister is married to an African-American and is expecting, his father has a best buddy who is 15 yr old and Amir has no place to sleep other than the sofa. He meets his cousin Zara after a gap of 20 years. Zara lives in London and is in the US for a holiday.

After the holiday Zara travels with him to LA and she starts presenting herself as Amir's girlfriend in front of his friends. Everybody believes this and what follows is a fairly comical turn of events and Amir is once again given the mantle of the Best Man in Charlie's wedding. Things take sudden twist at this point. I wont reveal the end and spoil the climax.

While the movie is pretty entertaining, there are several factual errors and gaps in the story. First off, the names of the main characters Amir and Zara are Muslim names. Second Amir's mother appears like a Hindu. They celebrate all Christian festivals such as Thanksgiving and Christmas rather than Diwali which takes place around the same time as former. There is no indication that these people have converted to Christianity or otherwise. The film makers have made a cultural mess out of this family and its portrayal. I wish film makers were a little more culturally attuned before they start making movies of this sort.

Movie Review: Hot Fuzz

2011-12-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

What happens when a hot shot police constable is transferred from London Metro area to a small sleepy village on promotion? His life goes crazy trying to enforce law and he finds out that the sleepy village is indeed not so, there is something going on and a secret society is bent upon murdering everyone who is not in with their agenda. Meet Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) who is the best policeman in London, he is so good that his colleagues are being questioned about their efficiency. They conspire and get him transferred to a small village out in the country on a promotion as a Sargent. He protests but he has to go.

Once there he is paired with a new recruit who is more interested in eating that anything else. The village community seems to be peaceful and there is no crime at all. Sargent Angel is not convinced, his gut feeling tells him something is amiss. Then there are a series of murders starting with an actor and then a local businessman and then the city newspaper editor. Sargent Angel is working on the case and there seems to be no leads whatsoever.

The motive and murderer's identity remains a mystery till the end. The mystery is good but it is the comedy that is the hallmark of this film. I'd recommend it to everyone, it is a complete family entertainer so you can watch it with your kids and parents and everyone.

Movie Review: The Mechanic

2011-12-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Action Packed Corporate Gangster Movie

I love action movies of all kinds - Western, Military, War, Police, Crime - you name it and I will watch it. However I don't like endless gore and blood on the screen. Watching explosions, gun fights and fist cuffs are fine but then when these get meaningless the movie clearly doesn't have a story but is trying to appeal to the primitive sense of humans.

Anyway I chanced upon this movie The Mechanic at the college library and picked it up so I can pass some time during the break. The Mechanic features Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop and Ben Foster as Steve and Donald Sutherland as Harry as the main characters. Arthur is a professional hit man who is hired to eliminate high profile individuals across the world. The movie begins with Arthur eliminating a drug lord.

Arthur's mentor cum friend Harry is the main conduit man who is one of the bosses in the enterprise that eliminates people. Harry is disappointed with his son Steve and confides that with Arthur. There is a small twist at this time Harry is murdered. Steve wants revenge and so Arthur trains him to become a killer. Now both are on the pursuit of the target - Harry's killer. From here on there is a load of violence, car chases, fist fights, etc. The end is rather different. Watch it and you will not be disappointed.

Movie Review: 17 Again

2011-12-10T18:29:00.001-08:00

American culture glorifies youth so much that most people are obsessed with their high school years. I wouldn't blame them because high school is something that one either hates or loves. This movie kinda glorifies the high school experience once again and how decisions made at that time will go on to shape the rest of an individual's life. The story centers around Mike O' Donnell who has been thrown out of his house by his wife, his teenaged children don't want to have anything to do with him and at work he is passed up for a promotion.

Back up a few years Mike was the high school basket ball pro who was all set to go to college. On the evening he was supposed to play the match that would get him a scholarship to go to college he comes to know his girlfriend is pregnant. He throws it all away and settles down with this wife to raise a family. But deep within he harbors a sense of loss, a feeling that he would been someone else, done something else if his girlfriend now wife had not gotten pregnant. This feeling leads to angst and gets him to the brink of divorce.

There is a divine intervention at this point in his life and he is transformed into a 17 year old. He goes back to the same school that his children go to and then starts the fun. He becomes the coolest kid at school and changes the lives of his son and daughter and finally reclaims the love of his life - his estranged wife. The whole process is riddled with comedy and high school fun. The story and theme could have been handled much better but this movie is ok... not too bad. Worth watching once.

Expendables - Movie Review

2011-12-06T12:38:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to watch this movie ever since it was being promoted couple of years ago. I am a big fan of Stallone so I will like his movies even though they might have bombed at the box office. Anyway this movie was being promoted for its mega action star cast and also the presence of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you are expecting all these mega action stars to work shoulder to shoulder, forget it. Willis and Schwarzenegger only appear in one short scene, suited and booted in a church. Absolutely no action for them.

Anyways the movie is about Stallone (Barney Ross) and his band of mercenaries who would do anything for money or so they say. Everyone rides a fancy motorcycle, choppers, sports, crotch rockets, etc. They charge millions of $$$s for their jobs and generally lead a low profile but comfortable lives. They are approached by one Mr. Church (Willis) who wants them to travel to the island of Vilena in South America and eliminate the military dictator.

Naturally Barney wants to go and recon the area before taking up the job. Once on the island they are met with the beautiful Sandra who shows them around and they get into trouble with the soldiers. Later it is revealed that Sandra is none other than the General's daughter. There is an American businessman who is trying to cultivate cocaine and transport it back to the States to be sold on the street and make billions of $$$s.Smelling something fishy Barney refuses the job but the memory of the girl continues to haunt him. So he decides to go and then all hell breaks loose.

One thing I don't understand about this movie is that though Barney lives in US of A, there are no cops in the streets they roam around. Nobody turns up when a bunch of assassins surround Barney and his friend shooting on city streets. Where are the cops??? The other day my car stalled at an intersection and there was a cop within 15 mins there. Strangely this movie doesn't show any American police, I wonder why.

When I see such movies I get the feeling that Hollywood is slowly but surely getting its inspiration from Bollywood or other Indian film industries. There are too many gaping holes in the plot to go unnoticed.....

It is an entertainer nevertheless, watch it once if you can get hold of the DVD free, like I did from the library.

Happy Karnataka Rajyotsava

2011-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia
Wishing all my readers a very happy Kannada Rajyotsava 2011. November 1st is the day when the great state of Karnataka was formed as a part of the Union of India. I have been reviewing several Kannada movies that I have mostly watched after coming to the US. Kannada film industry has really transformed into a creative hub and recently there have been a slew of different and original stories, accompanied by excellent screenplay and photography too.

Keep visiting this blog to see reviews of more Kannada movies soon. I bid farewell for now with the familiar saying "Siri Kannadam Gelge"