Cinemascope

Making some time finally

2009-11-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

I have been down (with the flu last week and work) but not out.. I have been watching and have watched a lot of movies after my last review which was like almost a year ago but I hope to be regular.. have watched a few good movies off late and I will start putting in my thoughts.. till then.. adios..

Kung-fu Panda kicks ass

2009-01-05T01:17:00.000-08:00

Right from the first scene.. the dreamworks animation with the kung-fu moves made me sit up and I realized that it was not going to be just any other animation movie and I was not wrong.. Kung-fu Panda is all about a noodle eating (and selling cause he works in the noodle shop run by his father, a goose called Ping) panda called Po, who is mistakenly chosen as the next dragon warrior.. Po knows that he is a complete misfit for this and except Master Oogway, nobody ever thinks that he is anywhere close to being a dragon warrior which includes the furious five - Tigress, monkey, mantis, snake and crane and also Oogway's successor Master Shifu. They hurt and insult Po and do everything to make him quit..but Po's chance meeting with Oogway under the peach tree of wisdom makes him to stay on and he becomes resilient.. in the meanwhile, there is Tai Lung, the snow leopard warrior who was once a student of the same school but had to be arrested because of his greed for fame and of course the famed dragon scroll.. Tai Lung somehow manages to escape from Prison guarded by a force of 1000 armed rhino's and heads straight back to fight and take the scroll.. in the meanwhile, Shifu's initial hatred for Po changes to a sense of responsibility after his problem of searching for inner peace is solved by Oogway who then proceeds to heaven handing over the responsibility to Shifu.. Shifu takes it upon himself to somehow train Po and finds out that the greatest motivator for Po is "food".. so he uses food and trains Po.. Po learns well but then in that time the furious five try to stop Tai Lung but are unable to.. he just disables them and heads straight for Shifu.. by that time the dragon scroll has been handed over to Po.. Po opens the scroll and in it is nothing..just a mere reflection..eventually he connects the dots when he asks his father about the secret ingredient to the noodle soup that his dad prepares and has been bragging about and his dad says there is no secret ingredient.. He explains that things become special when people believe them to be special and that is when Po heads back to Shifu.. there Shifu is already being beaten and bruised by an enraged Tai Lung who is not able to find the dragon scroll.. the final showdown between Tai Lung and Po is funny but amazing.. Po, of course, wins the war and even uses the "Wuxi finger hold" on Tai Lung which creates an effect of an atom bomb..literally.. Po is proclaimed master and even the furious five are in agreement.. I have never watched an animation movie with so much excitement for quite sometime.. the last one that I really enjoyed was Finding Nemo..

The animation in this movie is tremendous and of course kudo's to the actors who have lent their voices for all the characters.. Jack Black (remember "School of Rock"?) as Po is just way too good.. and so is everybody else..

Some of my favorite quotes from the movie.. it definitely makes sense to all of us..

Master Oogway to Po: You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

Oogway: One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.

Some funny ones..

Shifu: [after having dragged Po up the mountain and said Panda is trying to cool down] Panda, we do not wash our pits in the Pool of Sacred Tears.
Po: [quickly shakes his hand off] The Pool of-?
Shifu: This is where Oogway unraveled the mysteries of harmony and focus. This is the birth place of kung fu.
[Po is shocked, and it shows a glimpse of Oogway before Shifu jumps up to a giant rock]
Shifu: Do you want to learn kung fu?
Po: Yah!
Shifu: Then I *am* your master!
Po: Okay!
[sniffles]
Shifu: Don't cry.
Po: Okay.
[wipes his nose and smiles]

Po: I just ate, so I'm still digesting, so my kung fu may not be as good as later on.

Watch this one.. this is one hell of a complete family entertainer and I bet you will love it :-)

Animation weekend on my new home theatre system

2009-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

I finally got my new home theatre system after doing a real convincing act with my wife (not sure if she is still ok with it though but the sale is done :-)) and watched two animation movies this week on it.. "Kung fu Panda" and "The incredibles".. I must say I loved watching both of these truly amazing movies.. will be writing about both in my next post..

Seval - typical Hari potboiler

2009-01-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Seval is your typical hari potboiler.. it is set in the pretty village of Sivasailam (Tirunelveli district), again Hari's favorite locale.. the movie begins with a bearded Bharath coming out of the Palamyakotai prison..it reminded me of Karthik coming out of the prison in Varsham 16..dont know why :-) then we again do a rewind of the wayward ways of Bharath (Murugesan) who does not have a care in the world, is happy drinking cheap country liquour and is accompanied by his uncle, thabaal thangavelu (played by who else but vadivel) and creates a ruckus.. his father for one hates him for his careless ways but is never able to change him.. but as they say and atleast show in all tamil movies, the entry of a girl changes even the baddest baddie in to a softie.. and that is exactly what happens to Bharath when he sets his eyes on Parijatham (played by debutante Poonam Bajwa).. Simran as Poonam's sister has not been exploited fully.. it was pretty brave though of Poonam to get her head shaved for the movie.. shows that some traditions are still alive in villages..finally Bharath changes for the better for goes to jail for killing the villain and we come back to the present where he is welcomed back home by his father who finally realizes that his son though way ward is a nice guy by heart.. and of course Poonam's hair is all grown back :-) and she is still waiting for Bharath.. which is quite predictable.. this is a typical typical Hari masala mix with all the elements thrown in..again you can watch it for timepass..

One more post to go..

2008-12-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have yet another post to write about.. Seval.. Seval in tamil is rooster..another typical Hari potboiler..will be blogging about it soon..

Muniyandi vilangiyal moondram aandu - mixed masala curry

2008-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I could not find a better term for this movie other than this.. Thirumurugan, the small screen hit director of one of the longest running soaps on tamil tv, "metti oli" is back with his second directorial venture (after em magan), with this movie..(disclaimer - I will refer to this movie as MVMA as the name is too long to be typed out everytime). MVMA as em magan is again set against a rural backdrop and is the story of muniyandi alias muni, enacted effectively by Bharath, who is a college student.. Bharath's father (played by ponvannan), tries his best to protect his son against getting involved in any kind of violence as he is afraid of loosing him like his first son, who got involved in college politics.. As expected, Bharath falls for Poorna, the local goon's daughter but she turns him down.. an infuriated Bharath, without knowing the background earns his attendance in the bad books of the goon.. in between we have the lecherous Sampath who would do anything to get his hands on the girl he wants.. the role suits Sampath really well and he essays it to perfection.. Vadivelu as a magician does not evoke much laughter.. there could have been more concentration on his role.. Poorna does her role well.. Finally the movie ends on a good note as expected.. and they lived happily ever after :-) on the whole it is a complete masala pot boiler and Thirumurgan has managed to keep the masala spicy and hot..

Watch it purely for time pass :-)

Will be back in a few days..

2008-12-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Been busy with some very early work timings and my yoga therapy classes so have not managed to watch any movies.. I did manage to see a tamil film though "Muniyandi Vilangayil Moondram Aandu" :-) which I shall blog about.. I should be seeing some more movies this weekend so lots to write and will do that soon..till then.. take care and be good when needed :-)

Vaaranam Aayiram

2008-12-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

After the hype and hulla about Vaaranam Aayiram, I got to watch the movie on the day of the release, well as of today, I have watched the movie twice now. Well, to start with, Surya plays a double role. After successfully playing a double role in Perazhagan, this double role is more of a serious one.. Surya as the father is simply too good.. the make up, the body language..he has done a great job.. the movie starts off with Surya the father coughing up blood and then on deathbed.. then you have the Surya the son who is on a special rescue mission as a part of the NSG (yes you heard it right as that word has more relevance to today's scenario) and recounts the special relationship that he shared with his father.. it is more than appropriate to say the number of physical transformations Surya has gone through in this movie and that shows his versitality..as a teenager, he is just too good..as the college going boy he is good too.. the way he tries to woo Sameera.. and then his acting skills came to the fore when he looses Sameera..the scene he cries uncontrollably on the phone to his dad and the reaction by Father Surya was really a scene you should watch out for..Surya as the drug addict was also well potrayed and then the Surya that all (or atleast the girls were waiting for..grrr), the six pack Surya.. over all it was a Surya movie all the way and he has proven again that today in tamil cinema when it comes to versitality, Surya is a fore-runner.

Now, coming to the other characters, Simran as the mother was good, except that her make up (or rather was that no make up?) could have been better.. she looked a lot older than she should have..this is entirely my opinion.. Sameera Reddy was a revelation.. she has got a great height (she is atleast a good few inches taller than Surya) .. great figure and an infectious smile..this should open more doors for her in Kollywood considering the fact that bollywood has done nothing significant to her career.. Ramya's role could have been given more meat.. she is a capable actress and I really liked her job in Polladhavan.. she has got the capability to oomph but this girl can also act..

Now, coming to negatives, the movie could have been clipped (heard it has been now) as there were a few unnecessary scenes in the movie.. this is definitely not a movie for the front benchers..am sure nobody would associate with a son calling his dad "dad".. they would be more used to appa or "naina" :).. no father would call his son "kiddo".. this is a movie for the middle class, upper middle class and up..

On the whole, VA did not pull down the hype it had caused.. this is definitely a landmark movie for Surya as an actor and also for Gautam as a director.. last but not the least.. the songs.. these songs have been playing like forever in my car.. my son's (he is only 3 btw) favorite is the Yethi Yethi song.. though you can kind of connect to some English tunes.. like when Mundinam starts, you can immediately say that the guitar notes are from Faith by George Michael.. but the songs were great and I love them.. sad to note of the parting of ways between Gautam and Harris.. but hopefully they should get back..

On the whole, a good movie, nice watch.. a bit lengthy but watch it for Surya..

Two more new movies I saw

2008-11-21T02:51:00.001-08:00

Iam becoming really lazy and need to update my blog faster.. I saw two movies that I was very eagerly awaiting.. Vaaranam Aayiram and Quantum of Solace.. will be writing about both very very shortly.. till then.. ciao..

Aegan - what is it all about?

2008-11-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

After the stylish Billa, a lot was expected from Ajith's Aegan. After flaunting a stylish look and feel in Aegan, here comes Ajith..he definitely has put on more weight..no six packs..instead there is a single pack :)and a big one..Aegan was widely touted as a copy of the Sharukh Khan flick "Main Hoon Naa" and even if first time director Raju Sundaram, the erstwhile dance master (I think he should stick to his dancing)denied that it was anything but a copy many parts of the movie definitely reminded me of its hindi counterpart in many places. Ajith a.k.a Shiva goes back to college in Ooty as a "student" to find out about Ram Prasad, the once accomplice of the deadly villain, John Chinappa, played by Suman (that wig looked so out of place on him)and then turning an approver as he does not agree with Chinappa's way of handling things. Chinappa is all out to kill Ram Prasad but fails in his attempts to do so. In the meanwhile, Ajith (in mufty) lands in the Ooty college where Chinappa's daughter Pooja (Pia Bajpai of Poi solla porom) is studying as he is sure that the Father and Daughter would definitely meet. There Ajith also finds out that his step-brother (Navdeep of Arinthum Ariyamalum) studies in the same college. The rest of the story is about how Ajith fights John, reunites Ram Prasad with his daughter and how he himself unites with his family.. The movie has a lot of action.. Ajith needs to improve a lot on his comic skills.. some of hanifa's comic scenes were so predictable.. well.. how many times could I give the restroom excuse to go out.. that brings us to Nayanthara.. now this lady definitely needs to start acting instead of posing and showing off her tanned body.. Iam surprised at the way this teacher dresses to work.. anyway.. Nayanthara needs to start doing some serious roles or she cannot survive for long in this industry or the only choice she would have left would be to become an item girl which by the way is also very lucrative:).. showing off your newly tanned body will not take you anywhere.. Suman could have done with out that awful wig.. his look in Sivaji was great.. Jayaram seriously overdoes the comic bits many times.. overall a very average fare.. but well if you are a die-hard "Thala" Ajith fan.. then go and watch it for him.. but leave your brains behind.

Aegan - mindless fare

2008-11-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

I really have a great review to write about Aegan for which I definitely need not rack my brains about but need some time to spend on it..will release the review shortly :-)

Vaaranam Aayiram - not yet released

2008-10-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

Vaaranam Aayiram is not yet released and Iam eagerly awaiting the release.. there was a nice interview last night with Gautham Menon and Surya.. the dude has done some very serious hard work and he does really look like a teenager.. should be fun.. looking forward to the release

Quantum of Solace - Can't wait for it

2008-10-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Iam eagerly awaiting the release of the next edition of the 007.. Quantum of Solace..after watching Casino Royale, I should say I have become a big fan of Daniel Craig, at least as Bond :).. go ahead and get a sneak preview..

Youtube - http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IWdCdK5Hw

Get more information on the movie..behind the scenes, stories, interviews blah blah at the official website - http://www.007.com/

I also heard that this movie is going to be releasing in India first..even before the US release.. yes.. I couldn't believe my ears too. it is releasing 1 whole week before the US release.. Nov 7th is the official release date in India and it is releasing on Nov 14th in the US.

Harold and Kumar - Escape from Guantanamo Bay

2008-10-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here comes the second part of the Harold and Kumar series and Iam sure there are more to come.. except that Iam not sure how well sequels always work.. Iam not thinking about any of the movies that came with sequels because some have worked and some have not.. For eg:- Jurassic Park.. the first part of the series so well and it was a craze but the rest of them were a drab.. but personally I loved the Lord of the Rings series.. it will always be my personal favourite..

Now coming to Harold and Kumar's.. I personally loved the first part.. two guys going after a place for burgers.. the throes they go through.. and how they never let go of the desire to get there.. some parts of the movie were really gross.. definitely not for the weak hearted :))

Kal Penn as Kumar is the dude who wants to be eternally stoned.. and John Cho as Harold Lee puts up all the antics of his friend.. it seemed like at the end of it all he also enjoys it.. the movie starts off where it ended last time.. when Harold and Kumar finish off a horde of burgers and they plan to take off to Amsterdam to meet Harold's neighbour whom he feels hes fallen for..

At the airport they bump into Kumar's ex from college, the pretty Paula Garces, who is engaged to be married to the wealthy and influential Colton, played by Eric Winter.. on the flight to Amsterdam, Kumar cannot control his urge for getting stoned and uses his own little invention, the "smokeless bong" but ultimately gets branded as a terrorist with a bomb and are sent back to Washington where they are shipped to the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay.. they manage to escape out of the prison and make their way to Texas to meet Colton.. who double times them and sends them back to prison.. they manage to jump of the plan and crash into a ranch and surprise surprise, they are face to face with none other than the President of the US, Mr.Bush... that part of the movie is really funny where Bush gets stoned as well.. well doesn't he normally look that way.. but finally they do manage to get out of trouble.. screw up the wedding and also manage to knock out Colton, the damn villain.

All in all a great movie, though some part of the movie are really gross.. there is too much of importance given to weed..especially the scene where Kumar dreams about a threesome with Paula and "weed woman".. ewwww.. that was grossssssss.. but if you are a fan of these dudes then go ahead and watch it with out minding these specific parts of the movie.. not that it forms a major part of the movie :)

Get Smart - Reasonably Smart

2008-10-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well..here comes another parody on spies.. I could think about James Bond here but it is a more satirized version.. Steve Carell (The 40 year old Virgin) is Agent Smart..who's aim is to become a field agent..and his inspiration is none else than Agent 23..played by the classy Dwyane Johnson a.k.a The Rock..He is denied a promotion at work because his chief, played by Alan Arkin thinks he is too valuable for the organization.. but when CONTROL head quarters is attacked by KAOS, the terrorist organization led by Siegfried. Finally Agent Smart is forced to become Agent 86. He teams up with the Agent 99 (the stunning Anne Hathaway) and travels to Russia to infiltrate KAOS's Moscow nuclear weapons factory.. though both Agent 99 and Max do not initially get together as Agent 99 always thinks she is a step ahead of Max, Max impresses her a few times by saving her life..once even from Siegfried's henchman Dalip (Dalip Singa a.ka. the "Great Khali" from the WWE) . The rest of the movie is how they smartly thwart the evil plans of Siegfried together and how finally Agent 99 falls for Max. Steve Carell is impressive as Max.. he shows a mix of emotions with expressions so plastic that you sometimes you feel bad for him.. Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23 is the usual smirky personality that he was identified with in the WWE.. Anne Hathaway as Agent 99 also does her part with elan.. Dalip Singh should talk English..atleast in an English movie.. am not sure if he does not know English though..overall a nice watch..

Past weekend - movies I watched

2008-10-20T01:30:00.001-07:00

Watched two movies this weekend.. Get Smart and Harold and Kumar - Escape from Guantanamo Bay :-).. well as am at work right now and of course have some work to do and have an impending meeting with my boss for which I need to prepare as I dont know what is going to hit me.. I will write in detail later tonight.. till then adios..

Iam back

2008-10-17T23:39:00.001-07:00

I know its been quite a while.. and now that Iam watching a lot and I mean a lot of movies.. I wanted to get back to movie reviews.. in between all the hustle and bustle of work, the crashing markets.. Iam hoping this will give me some change.. temporarily atleast :)

Bommarillu - A feel good love story

2007-05-19T20:49:00.000-07:00
Hey all..sorry for not being around for a long time now..I have seen a lot of movies but for today let me give you the preview for bommarilu as promised.. Bommarilu is a basically a feel good movie..there is no blood, no gore, no extortion..no revenge stories..nawww..its a out and out love story..Bommarilu is the story of how a son who is forced to listen to his father for each and every little thing he does (including selecting a shirt..to the pace at which he eats his food)..and falls for a girl...after his engagement..

Siddharth (boys,rang de basanthi) plays Sidhu..an obidient son of Arvind (Prakash Raj)..everytime his decisions are thwarted by his father..he has his own set of friends to whom he cries his heart out..with a bottle or two of beer of course :-)..he gets engaged to a home bred girl Subbulaxmi..against his wishes but to please his dad..finally after his engagement he falls for Hasini (Genelia)..she agrees to his love..when everything seems fine..hes caught red handed by his dad..he somehow convinces his father that Hasini will stay for seven days in their house so they can see if she will be a good match or not..Hasini wins over everybody but Aravind..she also rejects Sidhu because she says hes not the person she meets outside..she says she cannot live with somebody who has two personalities..it is at this time that Siddharth's acting skills come to the fore..the way he confronts Prakash Raj and blames him for all that he is today..is a good one..well I have not seen many of Siddharth's movies and I should say he is a very capable actor..

Finally..when things seem to fall back into shape..Hasini's father puts in the same condition that Sidhu should spend 7 days in his house..just to see if his daughter has made the right choice..Kota Srinivasa Rao (villain in the tamil movie "Saamy") has done an amazing job..his sense of humor and his timing is too good..Prakash Raj as Aravind is brilliant..I never knew that Prakash Raj could talk telugu so fluently..and his acting is getting better with every movie..am liking this guy..Jayasudha as his wife does a calm and a poised role as a good wife and a concerned mother..I really started liking Genelia..her innocence is sweet..but I dont understand how a girl so innocent can also get serious suddenly..prolly thats how the character was built..

Overall..Bommarillu is a movie you can watch with your entire family..and when I say entire family I seriously mean it..at the end of the movie I just had a good feeling..hope more movies like this are made...finally we all want to have only good memories abt a movie right??

Till my next..take care..and be good..

Cheers
~N~

Sivapathikaram

2007-04-23T20:29:00.000-07:00
Hello All, this is my very own movie review blog and my first review happens to be of a tamil movie.."Sivapathikaram"..this movie is a movie with a message..well when we speak about movie with messages Director Shankar is the person who comes to our mind instantaneously..but yes, this movie has got a great message..and yes it does involve dirty politicians and the games they play..but for once, have any of us thought on what goes on in the mind of a voter..when a person comes to vote, regardless of caste, creed, sect, sex..what is running in his mind? I like the ending message by Vishal, the hero where he compares the yester years to the current day with regards to qualification of people..and says that the required qualification for a politician has never changed since then..well we have had good politicians like Kamaraj who were not educated but had service on their mind..but today's politicians are not only less educated but their motive to join politics is completely different..

Vishal has done his role with ease..its a kind of role he has been playing for sometime now..that of a young man..angry with society or rebelling for a cause but doing it silently..outside he is a cheerful normal person who runs around trees singing love songs with the heroine Mamta Mohandas..again here is a heroine who does not have much to do..the comedy part is played by Ganja karuppu..here its a significant role for him considering he runs the comedy track on his own..Raghuvaran as the retired IAS officer/professor has played a mellow role with maturity..wish there had been more scope for his acting..

What puzzled me the most was the way in which Vishal goes about executing the politicians in public with a knife, sizeable by any proportions..and walks away as if nothing happened and puts the knife away only after walking away abt a km from the crime scene with knife still in hand..wish the director had made those portions more realistic and more exciting..also there is a feeling that the movie ended abruptly when you were expecting a lil something more..

On the whole, Sivapathikaram has a good message but could have been more exciting.. My next review will be about a Telugu movie "Bommarillu"..well if you guys are wondering what am doing with Telugu..after coming here to the US..with the limited choice of movies I get..Iam watching some Telugu movies as well..

Till my next review..have fun and be good...

Cheers
~N~

Movie Reviews

2007-04-17T21:55:00.000-07:00
Hey All..in this blog..I will be exclusively posting reviews of movies I see every week..new or old..I hope you enjoy them..so pick up your bag of popcorn and get set..