Max Payne

“Max Payne” - Based on the legendary, hard-hitting interactive video game, (from Rockstar Games), the movie “Max Payne” tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family and partner. Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld. As the mystery deepens, “Max Payne” (Mark Wahlberg) is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal.

Watch the trailer here:

Body of Lies

Body of Lies Movie Synopsis: Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius’ 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence. Although ostensibly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation - and his life - on the line

Watch the trailer here:

A Wednesday

There are some movies which make you stand up and clap. Movies which stand out as examples as to how powerful the medium of Cinema can be. Movies which symbolise our times and go down in the history as cult movies. A Wednesday is one such movie.

Quite frankly, when I woke up this morning, I was not even aware of the existence of such a movie. Since there was no other choice available and since Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah were heading the starcast, I thought of giving it a try (Even though my family was quite skeptical about the movie). By the time we came out of the theatre, we realised that our doubts were quite baseless.

In my father’s words - “Its a long time since I have seen such a meaningful movie.”

I actually jumped out of my skin because I don’t remember the last time he said this about a movie.

The movie traces the events of a Wednesday when Prakash Rathod(played by Anupam Kher), the Mumbai Commissioner of Police gets an an anonymous call demanding the release of four dangerous criminals responsible for bomb blasts across India. The caller (played by Naseeruddin Shah) warns the Commissioner that if the demand was not met, he would be forced to trigger five bombs which he has planted across Mumbai. Prakash Rathod is someone who is not ready to give in so easily to the demands of a fanatic and dispatches a team of his best men to track down the man. The caller is always a step ahead and the Commissioner realises that he cannot put the lives of so many people in jeopardy. He handpicks two of his best men, Jai Singh (played by Aamir Bashir) and Arif Khan (played by Jimmy Shergill) to hand over the four terrorists as demanded. The “Caller” on the other hand is keeping track of the police activities using a news reporter (played by Deepal Shaw) whom he sends after the police.

What the audience gets is a thriller of a dimension which has not been seen in the Indian Cinema since a long time. Its not a conventional Bollywood movie because there is no hero. There is only a cast. Neeraj Pandey should be given a pat on his back for a brilliant screenplay. He does not waste any time in building up the well defined no nonsense plot. He does not slow down the tempo of the movie with meaningless songs or long stretched sequences. The movie has less than 2 hours of running time and is very well edited by Shree Narayan Singh.

Anupam Kher is brilliant in his role as the Commissioner who despite being on his toes because of the threat does not lose the focus. The rest of the cast including Aamir, Jimmy Shergill and Deepal also have very believable roles.

A special word for Nasseruddin Shah. I think he deserves an Oscar for the performance. Its not the loud, over the top performances which we generally identify with. Its crafty and subtle. Yet it leaves an everlasting impact. And don’t miss the climax in which he delivers a set of dialogues which will give you a terrible gooseflesh and tears at the same time. The climax is so unexpected that it would be a good idea to put a tape on the mouth of any person who tries to tell you about it before watching the movie. It will catch you completely unaware.

Don’t miss this movie. I recommend it very strongly.

Watch Trailer Here :

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

A pampered Chihuahua accustomed to the living the good life in glamorous Beverly Hills must reign in her heiress-instincts and rely on the kindness of strangers in order to find her way back home after becoming hopelessly lost in Mexico. Chloe (voice of Drew Barrymore) is a diamond-clad toy dog that favors traveling in her wealthy owner’s purse over frolicking in an open park, and Papi (voice of George Lopez) is the kind of independent pup that she doesn’t afford a second glance. When a vacation mishap leaves Chloe stranded in Mexico, the Chihuahua who doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish must rely on street-smart German Shepherd Delgado (voice of Andy Garcia) to guide her back home before she wanders any further south. Meanwhile, brave Papi races to the border intent on proving his love for Chloe by tracking her down and escorting her home in style. Along the way, Papi is joined by an enthusiastic pack of helpful pooches (voices of Luis Guzman, Placido Domingo and Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo) a pair of concerned humans (Piper Perabo and Manolo Cardona), an anxious iguana (voice of Paul Rodriguez), and a crafty rat (voice of Cheech Marin).

Watch the trailer here:

Flash of Genius (2008)

Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns’ (Greg Kinnear) long battle with the American automobile industry, Flash of Genius tells the tale of one man whose fight to receive recognition for his ingenuity would come at a heavy price. But this determined engineer refused to be silenced, and he took on the corporate titans in a battle that nobody thought he could win. And while paying the toll for refusing to compromise his dignity, this everyday David tried the unthinkable: to bring Goliath to his knees.
The Man and His Dream is one of the most underrated performances of all time, starring one of the most underrated actors of all time in Jeff Bridges. The little guy screwed over by the big corporation genre has never been better. This fall though, Greg Kinnear is going to try his hand at it, by taking on the same people Jeff Bridges did: America’s greedy car manufacturers. Come on, you know they’re evil.

Kinnear is starring in Flash of Genius, the story of the guy who invented the intermittent wipers you now have on your car (and take for granted), only to have them stolen from him by the fat cats at the Ford Motor Company. The film follows him decade after decade as he fights and fails to get Ford to admit the invention was his.

Watch the trailer here:

Igor (2008)

The idea for Igor is actually a pretty creative one. In a country called “Malaria” the people were once happy and prosperous farmers until mysterious clouds covered the land leaving it in permanent darkness. To survive, the country changed industries from farming to evil mad science!!!! Now the celebrities are the best evil mad scientists… and in Malaria if you are born with a hunch back, your name is changed to “Igor” and you become assigned to an evil scientist as their stupid and slow witted assistant. However, one Igor (John Cusack) is actually quite brilliant and dreams of being recognized as the greatest mad scientist in the world… if he can get people to look past the fact that he’s an Igor.
It’s hard not to get attached to Igor. The character himself is the center of the charm of the film. He’s endearing, yet flawed and Cusack’s voice (even though I’m not a huge fan of movie stars doing voice work) seemed to nail who this little guy is.
I know Igor is just a kids movie, but if other kids movies can some up with viable conflicts, limit plot holes and build things towards a solid ending… why can’t this one?
Speaking of being a kids movie… there were a few moments in the film where I thought to myslef “If I were a parent here with my kid, I’d be uncomfortable with some of the stuff in this movie”. There is lots of talk about murder and death and suicide that may be a little too dark for having your 7 year old kid at.

Watch the trailer here:

Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008)

Welcome to Sajjanpur is an upcoming Indian film starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao in the lead roles. It is directed by Shyam Benegal and is his first comedy film. The film revolves about a guy who is one of the few educated young men from Sajjanpur, and who makes his living by writing letters. His ability to write persuasive letters makes him extremely popular with largely the illiterate population of his town. The film is a delightful satirical take on a contemporary Indian village. The film was originally titled Mahadev ka Sajjanpur.
Mahadev is one of the few educated young men from Sajjanpur. His ambition is to be a novelist but finds it easier to make a living by writing letters sitting next to the post office. His ability to write persuasive letters makes him popular with the largely non-literate population of the town. Aware of this power, he soon uses his talent to manipulate people with amusing and sometimes not such amusing results.
With this as the narrative frame, Welcome to Sajjanpur shows in an entertaining, musical and comic way, characters and events that are at once hilarious and poignant. A delightful satirical take on a contemporary Indian village.

Appaloosa (2008)

Set in 1882 in the Old West territory of New Mexico, Appaloosa revolves around city marshal Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy and partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), who have made their reputation as peacekeepers in the lawless towns springing up in the untamed land.

In the small mining community of Appaloosa, a ruthless, powerful rancher named Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) has allowed his band of outlaws to run roughshod over the town. After the cold-blooded murder of Appaloosa’s city marshal, Cole and Hitch are hired to bring the murderer to justice.

While establishing new authority with equal parts grit and guns, Cole and Hitch meet provocative newcomer Allison French (Renée Zellweger), whose unconventional ways threaten to undermine their progress and to destroy the two lawmen’s decade-old partnership.

Watch the trailer here:

Disaster Movie (2008)

In Disaster Movie, the filmmaking team behind the hits Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans this time puts its unique, inimitable stamp on one of the biggest and most bloated movie genres of all time—the disaster film.

Disaster Movie follows the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event—asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works—hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction.

Taking aim at everything and everyone, from Indiana Jones and Iron Man to Amy Winehouse and High School Musical, Disaster Movie lampoons the blockbuster movie, pop culture icons and public figures along the way as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer satirize everything as only they can.

My Best Friend’s Girl (2008)

Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the girl of Dustin’s dreams. But after only five weeks of dating, the love-struck Dustin is coming on so strong that Alexis is forced to slow things down–permanently. Devastated and desperate to get her back, Dustin turns to his best friend, Tank, the rebound specialist. A master at seducing–and offending–women, Tank gets hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives–an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus. But when Tank works his magic on Alexis, he ends up meeting the challenge of a lifetime. Alexis is the first girl who knows how to call his bluff, and Tank soon finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dustin and a strange new attraction to his best friend’s girl.