Madagascar 2

After a newsreel recap of how the main characters ended up in Madagascar, the sequel picks up where the first concluded with Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) still stranded but attempting to fly home on the repaired plane the lemurs lived in. As expected, two of the most memorable (for better or worse depending upon your age) elements of the first film are predictably present: the ubiquitous “I Like to Move It” song and the militaristic quartet of penguins. As expected, the filmmakers use the song within the first ten minutes, sung by the four friends as they prepare to leave the island.

Unsurprisingly for a plane repaired by penguins and lemurs with wood and twine, the flight doesn’t quite make it to North America but succeeds in crashing on the African mainland. While the penguins fix the plane with the help of a soon-to-be unionized workforce of chimpanzees, Alex and company end up in the very place ruled by Alex’s dad. For a movie that clocks in just under 90 minutes, there is a ton of plot to go around for each of the four characters. The central story is for Alex to be reunited with his family and then be accepted for who he is, which is an entertainer and not a fighter. This point is driven home regularly as Alex gets beat up in slapstick fashion on a couple of occasions. Due to the manipulation of Makunga, Alex and Zuba’s reunion is short-lived. Overall, this story plays like a less violent and emotional variation on the Lion King’s story of a prodigal son returning. The stakes aren’t as grand for Alex and Zuba compared to Simba, which proves that the filmmakers were focusing on making a lighthearted comedy and not a message film.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is the rare animated sequel that reps a notable improvement on its predecessor in every department. Lively and quite funny without being obnoxious, this follow-up smoothly mixes the original’s New York Zoo escapees with a number of engaging new characters they encounter upon crossing from Madagascar to the mother continent.

Watch the trailer here:

Quantum of Solace

“Quantum of Solace” continues the high octane adventures of James Bond in Casino Royale. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr White who reveals the organisation which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.

Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille, a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene, a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organisation, Quantum.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the worlds most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano. Using his associates in the organisation, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land which is, however, a main source of the South American water supply. In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop Quantum getting its way.

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Valkyrie (2008)

In a country in the grips of evil, in a police state where every move is being watched, in a world where justice and honor have been subverted, a group of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power decide to take action. Based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known.

A proud military man, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out, he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler’s own emergency plan - known as Operation Valkyrie - these men plot to assassinate the dictator and overthrow his Nazi government from the inside.

With everything in place, with the future of the world, the fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, von Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

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Eagle Eye (2008)

At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter’s adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules. After seven years of marriage, Caleb and Catherine Holt have drifted so far apart that Catherine wishes she had never married. Neither one understands the pressures the other faces–he as firefighter and she as the public relations director of a hospital. Regular arguments over jobs, finances, housework, and outside interests have readied them both to move on to something with more sparks.

As the couple prepares to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb¿s father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day experiment he calls ‘[The Love Dare.]‘ Wondering if it’s even worth the effort, Caleb agrees, but more for his father’s sake more than for his marriage. When Caleb discovers the book’s daily challenges are tied into his parents’ newfound faith, his already limited interest is further dampened. While trying to stay true to his promise, Caleb becomes frustrated time and again. He finally asks his father, ‘How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?’

When his father explains that this is the love God shows to us, Caleb makes a life-changing commitment to love God. And–with God’s help–he begins to understand what it means to truly love his wife. But is it too late to fireproof his marriage? His job is to rescue others. Now Caleb Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever–rescuing his wife’s heart.

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Twlight (2008)

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother remarries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn’t expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen, a boy unlike any she’s ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than a mountain lion, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands - and he hasn’t aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he’s immortal. But he doesn’t have fangs, and he doesn’t drink human blood, as Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will they do when Laurent and James, the Cullens’ mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for Bella?

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Eagle Eye (2008)

Butler stars as One Two, a street-smart mobster who has learned to play both sides of the fence, and Wilkinson is playing the lethal head mobster, Lenny Cole, part of London’s old mob regime, which is quickly losing ground to the wealthier foreign mob.

When a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, millions of dollars are up for grabs, and all of London’s criminal underworld wants in on the action. Everyone from a dangerous crime lord to a sexy accountant, a corrupt politician and down-on-their-luck petty thieves conspire, collude and collide with one another in an effort to get rich quick.

Newton acts as One Two’s love interest, Stella, an accountant with ties to the underworld, and Elba acts as Mumbles, One Two’s partner. Bridges is playing Roman, an American trying to break into the music scene in London.

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Harri Puttar (2008)

“He is only a kid…” is something that is heard ever too often. But when a kid displays the valor and wit that is no child’s play and the presence of mind that belies his age, it certainly is no kidding matter. Hari Puttar is the awe-inspiring story of one such kid. Hari Prasad Dhoonda (Zain Khan) or Hari Puttar, as he is fondly called, is a bright 10 year old who has recently moved from India to the U.K. with his parents (Sarika and Zakir Khan). His father, Prof. Dhoonda is assigned to work on a secret project with the Defense Forces at a remote location in the U.K. He has access to confidential information that is stored on a chip and safely kept at his house.

Within days of their arrival in London, Hari’s aunt (Lilette Dubey) and uncle DK (Jackie Shroff) visit the Dhoonda residence with their own as well DK’s boss’ children. Suddenly, the house is filled with the effervescence of no less than ten kids. At this point, everything goes for a spin for Hari Puttar. Not only is he thrown out of his room to accommodate the girls, he is also ragged and ridiculed by all the other kids for being too naïve. Hari Puttar suddenly feels unwanted, undermined, and unappreciated.

To top it, even as DK arranges a vacation for the entire family, one night before they take off, Hari’s mother sends him off to the attic bedroom as a punishment for no big fault of his. As luck would have it, the next morning, the whole family leaves in a tearing hurry, forgetting that they have left something integral behind - Namely Hari and his little cousin Tuk Tuk (Swini Khara). But this realization does not dawn until they are halfway into their journey.

When Hari and Tuk Tuk discover that they have the large house to themselves, they begin to enjoy the sudden freedom.

Meantime, an infamous don, Kali Mirchi, assigns two bumbling burglars (Saurabh Shukla & Vijay Raaz) to steal the secret formula chip from Hari’s house. Hari accidentally discovers the mission of the burglars and is determined to save the secret formula from being exposed.

The so called naïve Hari Puttar embarks on a journey of great adventure and suddenly discovers the self-confidence, creativity and gumption that he did not know he possessed…With his innovative plans , determined wit, and with able support from Tuk Tuk, Hari Puttar manages to not only save the secret chip but also captures the two unsuspecting thugs.

Hari’s mother in the meanwhile, desperate to get back to Hari goes through her own adventure to reach back home… And when she does, she finds that she had left behind a son …and had come back to a little hero.

Watch the trailer here:

Eagle Eye (2008)

George Orwell’s preposterous declaration in 1984 has come true: Big Brother is watching me and you and everyone we know, documenting us on surveillance cameras, capturing our cell phone, Internet, and AT M activity, and tracking our whereabouts as we drive hybrid vehicles outfitted with satellite guidance systems. So Eagle Eye, a brain-squandering thriller starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, and cell phones they insist upon answering, is onto something with its future-is-now premise of ordinary citizens blackmailed by infernal technology. But the movie (which began as a byte of an idea from exec producer Steven Spielberg) is so hysterical in its terrorist subplot and its seizure-inducing action sequences that a pummeled viewer can be excused for texting WTF? to a friend in the middle of the chaos. Especially when the commands come from an unseen female mastermind with the voice of a GPS console reciting driving directions. (Sometimes she flashes additional info via electronic signage — like Steve Martin did for laffs in L.A. Story.)

LaBeouf and Monaghan grimace and run fast as ordinary citizens snared (by ludicrous circumstances) into abetting the enemy; Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson evince similar mood swings as FBI agents. But none is charismatic enough to override the prattlings of Eagle Eye herself, or to jolt us into realizing that this movie actually means to say serious stuff: We can run but we can’t hidee.

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Choke (2008)

When television reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station, a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, where police are responding to blood-curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. When it’s discovered that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown, the CDC quarantines the building, with everyone locked inside. And after the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew’s videotape.

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Munna Bhai MBBS (2003)

Murli Prasad Sharma a.k.a Munna (Sanjay Dutt), is the big-time local thug and has almost everyone working for him. However, Munna has got his parents believing that he is a doctor, and whenever they visit, he has his home turned into a hospital, and his mates acting as patients and doctors. But when Munna’s father visits this time, he wants Munna to marry a childhood friend, who is now a female doctor - Chinki. But Chinki’s father is aware that Munna is not a doctor and is a goon, so he bust Munna in front of his parents. Munna’s Father disowns Munna and Munna challenges himself to become a doctor to show his father he is capable of it. Munna attends medical school, which is run by Chinkis father. Munna wants to irritate Chinki’s Father. Will Munna ever become a doctor and marry Chinki? Will Munna father ever own him again? Can the local Thug become anything more than a local thug.Hari Prasad Sharma (Sunil Dutt) and his wife Parvati (Rohini Hattangadi) come from their village to visit their doctor son, Dr. Murli (Sanjay Dutt) in Bombay, who is the head of a charitable hospital. They are greeted with fanfare and are given a tour of the hospital. Hari and Parvati decide that since Murli is well settled, he should get married. So they arrange a marriage with Dr. J.C. Asthana’s (Boman Irani) daughter, Suman “Chinki” Asthana (Gracy Singh), also a doctor. Hari and Parvati get a shock when Dr. Asthana tells them that their son is a fake, a underworld don, is not qualified to be a doctor