Role Models

Danny and Wheeler (Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott) are two salesmen who trash a company truck on an energy-drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 service hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn’t look half bad.

Surrounded by annoying do-gooders, Danny struggles with his every neurotic impulse to guide Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) through the trials of becoming a man. Unfortunately, the guy just dumped by his girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) has only sarcasm to offer a bashful 16-year-old obsessed with medieval role play.

Meanwhile, charming Wheeler tries to trade in an addiction to partying and women to assist a fifth-grader named Ronnie (Bobb’e Thompson) redirect his foul-mouthed ways. It would probably help if Ronnie’s new role model wasn’t an overgrown adolescent whose idea of quality time includes keggers in Venice Beach.

Once the center’s ex-con director (Jane Lynch) gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to their charges. And if they can just make it through probation without getting thrown in jail, the world’s worst role models will prove that, sometimes, it takes a village idiot to raise a child.

Watch the trailer here:

Yuvraaj

‘Yuvvraaj’ tells the story of three brothers whose lives are changed by one gorgeous woman.

Music binds love, says the punchline of this multi-starrer from Bollywood’s proverbial showman Subhash Ghai .

Written, produced and directed by Ghai, ‘Yuvvraaj’ stars Salman Khan , Katrina Kaif , Anil Kapoor and Zayed Khan in main roles.

‘Yuvvraaj’ is a musical story of a fragmented family of three brothers. The trio – Devan Yuvvraaj (Salman Khan), Gyanesh (Anil Kapoor) and Danny (Zayed Khan) – fight and play games with each other to inherit their father’s wealth.

The story takes a curve with the coming of Anushka (Katrina Kaif) into the lives of the three brothers. Anushka is a cellist who believes music has much greater power than just to entertain its listeners.

Anushka explain to Devan, Gyanesh and Danny the power of relationships over the power of money by using music to bind the love between them.

Katrina Kaif actually learnt to play a few melodies on the cello for her part in the film. Though she couldn’t obviously get a free hand on the

instrument (it takes years of practice to do so) she did learn to play the theme melody of ‘Yuvvraaj’ on the cello.

In ‘Yuvvraaj’, Salman’s character is that of a musician who goes through three phases of transformation in life. In the first phase, Salman is a young musician dressed in jackets and jeans. Then he becomes a rebel. In the third phase, Salman’s character matures and mellows down.

In the film, Anil Kapoor’s character dresses elegantly and wears as many as 20 different broaches with different attires. Anil also wears a lot of expensive cashmeres, tweeds and has a very Edwardian look.

Zayed Khan’s character in the film is a sort of a gambler. So to prepare for his role, Zayed actually went to a casino in Austria while the film was being shot there.

Apart from the main stars, ‘Yuvvraaj’ also stars Mithun Chakraborty , Boman Irani and Aushima Sawhney in small roles.

‘Yuvvraaj’ also has American actor Jacob ‘Coby’ Hadas making his Bollywood debut in a small role.

Watch the trailer here:

Bolt

“Bolt” is breezier as a road movie, watching the group cross the country on their way to Los Angeles, with Mittens giving Bolt pointers on primary pooch pleasures, such as begging for food and car riding smell opportunities. The performances lend the movie an interesting spin, as Travolta and Cyrus are the only real stars of the movie. The rest of the cast is made up of character actors (including Greg Germann, Diedrich Bader, and James Lipton) cast more for vocal quality than star power. It’s a nice change of pace, especially with the likes of Walton, who puts his heart into interpreting Rhino’s Bolt fan spasms and plastic-ball-encased heroism, gorging on slapstick to become the film’s comedic highlight and the lone character not burdened with an irritatingly gloomy backstory to overcome.

More admiration for “Bolt” is revealed with the film’s soundtrack, employing Jenny Lewis (a musical performer of staggering serenity and crushing grace) to provide a mid-movie montage with a bouncy, folksy song entitled “Barking at the Moon.” Further surprise arrives at the end credits, with John Travolta returning to his “Let Her In” musical roots to duet with Cyrus on the tune “I Thought I Lost You.”

Filled with explosive canine derring-do, gorgeous animation with a pleasing fixation on Midwest panoramas, and a hilarious psychotic hamster rolling around stealing laughs, it’s easy to appreciate “Bolt” as a nontoxic entry in the CG-animation sweepstakes. Perhaps the film isn’t endowed with a glop of Pixar preciousness, but “Bolt” gets by on a heady froth of charisma and a few surprises where it counts the most.

Watch the trailer here:

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.

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 :

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.

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:

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

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: