X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

 

 

VERDICT – 3/5

 

 

PROS –
1) The Villain & its mythology
2) Kickass Opening sequence
3) Justice done with all characters with ample amount of screen-time (which includes Wolverine’s short & effective cameo)
4) Boss fight
5) Just like the previous film, Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver stole the show
6) Best superhero movie of 2016 so far; better than both “Civil War” & “Dawn Of Justice”.

 

 

CONS –
1) “The Erik Lehnsherr Conundrum” : the storyline is revolving around the same plot from the past 3 movies.
2) Honestly, Oscar Isaac can’t be identified in the movie. Why not make a 100 % CGI character? Why studios are wasting money on actors when the make-up & CGI will overshadow every possible expression of the actor.

 

 

QUOTE –
“Charles Xavier: Thank you for letting me in.”

OMG: Oh My God! (2012)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

Verdict – 4/5

 

Pros –

1) Story : out of the box and fresh
2) Paresh Rawal as lead actor
3) Mithun Chakraborty as Leeladhar

 
Cons –

1) Over-acting

Quote –
‘Logo se unka dharm kabhi mat cheenna, warna log tumhe apna dharm bana lenge’

Rashomon (1950)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 1

Verdict – 5/5

Pros –
1) Story: the cornerstone of the movie
2) Cinematography: Vintage Akira
3) Toshiro Mifune as Tajōmaru, the bandit
4) A story of morality, humanity & conflict.
5) One of the most influential story-line in world cinema.

 

Cons –
n/a

Quote –
“Commoner: I even heard that the demon living here in Rashômon fled in fear of the ferocity of man.”

Dial M for Murder (1954)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

Verdict – 4/5

 

Pros –

1) A reverse thriller with multiple plot-twists
2) Great cast especially Ray Milland as Tony Wendice
3) It’s perfect “stage” thriller.

 
Cons –

 

n/a

Quote –
“Mark Halliday: In stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don’t… always.”

Observe and Report (2009)

STORY – 0
DIRECTOR – 0
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 0

 

VERDICT – 2/5

 

PROS –
1) The movie started like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)  and ended like Taxi Driver (1976).
2) Very dark-themed at some time
3) “When I Paint My Masterpiece” by The Band,”Brain” by The Action
4) Anna Faris as Brandi.

 

CONS –
1) The story is trying to run 2 personalities of Seth Rogen at the same time.
2) Aziz Ansari: subplot wasted.

 

QUOTE –
“Ronnie Barnhardt: The world has no use for another scared man. Right now, the world needs a fucking hero.”

Ex Machina (2015)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 1

Verdict – 5/5

 
Pros –

1) Solid story with several plot-twists.
2) Climax : Caleb locked-in and Ava abandoning him is very cliffhanger “Twilight Zone” ending.
3) Visual effects.
4) Highly influential Sci-Fi story.

 

Cons –

1) Weak 3rd Act : Death of Nathan.

 

 

Quote –
Nathan: You are dead center of the greatest scientific event in the history of man.

Caleb: If you’ve created a conscious machine, it’s not the history of man. That’s the history of gods.

Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016)

STORY – 0
DIRECTOR – 0
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

Verdict – 1/5

 

Pros –

1) It’s a Nawazuddin Show : nothing more , nothing less

 

Cons –

1) Brainchild of Anurag Kashyap’s sheer frustration after the failure of Bombay Velvet.
2) Forced analogy of Raman & Raghav
3) This movie is a cakewalk for both Anurag & Nawaz.If this movie would have came 10 years ago,it would’ve been called a brave project but not after “Gangs Of Wasseypur”.

 

Quote –

“Bade police waale ki aankh mein aankh daalke baat karne ka mazaa hi zabardast hota hai”

Quiz Show (1994)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

Verdict – 4/5

 

 

Pros –

 

1) John Turturro as Herb Stempel : effortless execution : one of his best role
2) Revealing true face of “show business”.
3) Paul Scofield & Ralph Fiennes : father-son subplot : Brilliant scene at family gathering quoting Shakespeare and summarizing the movie plot.
4) Final Courtroom scene

 

Cons –

 

n/a

 

 

Quote –

Mark Van Doren: It was a goddamn quiz show, Charlie.
Charles Van Doren: An ill-favored thing, sir…
Mark Van Doren: This is not the time to play games!
Charles Van Doren: At mine own, it was mine!
Mark Van Doren: Your name is mine!

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 0

Verdict – 4/5

 

Pros –

1) Demonic Nun figure, Valak : scariest creature created in recent years in any horror film
2) The thrills : unlike the prequel , this is full of scary moments from start to end.
3) The doubt of all this being a Prank

 
Cons –

1) Franka Potente : anyone noticed her ?

Quote –
“Help me! It won’t let me go!”

Where to Invade Next (2015)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

VERDICT – 3/4

 

PROS –
1) Good Watch and very informative
2) Berlin Wall reference
3) Covered many social issues : Labor rights / education policy / Work-life balance / drug policy / Prison policy / Women rights
4) Revealing how all these ideas originated from the USA
5) Post-Credit Scene: Hammer.Chisel.Down

 

CONS –
n/a

 

QUOTE –
“I read an interesting article about the average time an American spends watching the Kardashian show. Why do you spend your time for this? You invented the most powerful weapon in the world–it’s Internet, guys. Use it the right way.”