Alien 3 (1992)

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

Verdict – 1/5

 

Pros –

 

1) Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley – badass bald look
2) Lance Henriksen as damaged Bishop – The only worth-watching CGI scene.

 

Cons –

1) 3 Alien movies and still no Weyland-Yutani sub-plot.
2) Wrong set-up.Deserted prison with no sci-fi.Also too long for such a story-line
3) Unlike Aliens, it’s about just 1 alien. The climax of bait-and-chase plan with closing door is disaster.
3) Ripley’s death. Bad CGI & Anti-Climax.

 

 
Quote –

 

 
Ripley: You’ve been in my life so long, I can’t remember anything else.

Aliens (1986)

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

Verdict – 3/5

 

Pros –

1) Solid excution by James Cameron – especially the boss fight with exosuit cargo-loader.
2) PTSD, lone wolf, badass – Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley is the John Rambo of Sci-Fi
3) Bishop’s slaughter scene
4) Mad gun battle sequences

 
Cons –

 

1) Newt – Slowing down the pace though being the only sub-plot
2) Predicatable story-line
Quote –

 

Ripley: Get away from her, you bitch!

Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (2016)

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

VERDICT – 4/5

 

PROS –
1) A story heavily inspired by Agatha Christie thriller The Unexpected Guest – multiple plot twist – till the last minute.
2) Tight screenplay – the devil is in the details.
3) No songs – brave move as per desi standards.

CONS –
N/A

 

QUOTE –
“At least now I can die without any guilt”

Barton Fink (1991)

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

Verdict – 4/5

 

Pros –

1) Michael Lerner as Jack Lipnick – The ruthless hollywood honcho
2) John Goodman as Charlie Meadows – A mythical character
3) A phychological-thriller which is not phychological. The Coen version of “The Tenant“.
4) The hotel being a “character” in the movie
5) Jon Polito as Lou – excellent screen presence.

 
Cons –

n/a

 

Quote –

 

Barton: I’m a writer, you monsters! I create! I create for a living! I’m a creator! I am a creator! This is my uniform! This is how I serve the common man!

Dear Zindagi (2016)

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

Verdict – 1/5

Pros –
1) Shah Rukh Khan as Dr. Jehangir “Jug” Khan: The only reason I watched this film.
2) Nice ensemble

 

Cons –
1) First world people with first world problems repeated on-screen for a zillionth time.
2) Pretentious plot with tasteless quotes which can only impress a teenager. Gauri Shinde trying to be Mira Nair.
3) Too long.

 

Quote –
“Kabhi kabhi hume lagta hai ki zindagi mein kisi goal ko paane ke liye hame mushkil raasta chunna padta hai, and that we should punish ourselves. Lekin kyun? Easy rasta kyun nahi chun sakte? Jabki easy rasta easy hota hai”

 

Oppam (2016)

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

Verdict – 2/5

 

Pros –

1) Mohanlal as the blind protagonist.One of the finest actor of our time.
2) Intermission scene
3) Priyadarshan with a pinch of “Oldboy”

 
Cons –

1) Too long
2) Suspense revealed too early
3) Samuthirakani as Vasu is a miscast.

 

Quote –

“I brought up within me this dark serpent Takshaka”

Doctor Strange (2016)

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

Verdict – 2/5

 

Pros –

 

1) Visual delight
2) Honestly speaking, I was waiting for the post-credit scene the whole time and it wasn’t disappointing.
3) Cloak of Levitation

 
Cons –

 

1) Generic origin story – nominal villain, token boss-fight.
2) They should have brought Thor much before post-credit scene.

 
Quote –

 

The Ancient One: We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them.

Whiplash (2014)

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

Verdict – 5/5

 

Pros –

1) Fighting inner demons, cut-throat competition, peer pressure and jazz.
2) “Million Dollar Baby” with drum-sticks.
3) J. K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher – Though the entire movie label him as the revengeful antagonist,the last scene absolves the character as a true mentor who’ll accept nothing less than the best.

 
Cons –

 
n/a

 
Quote –

 

Terence Fletcher: There are no two words in the English language more harmful than “good job”.

Jolly LLB 2 (2017)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Saurabh Shukla as Justice Sunderlal Tripathi resumed from where he left last time. The courtroom comedy is highly rewatchable.
2) Annu Kapoor as Pramod Mathur delivered the best monologues.  Annu Kapoor deserves a Filmfare for this role.

 

 

CONS –
1) The movie got a strong supporting cast but very little for everyone to contribute. Sanjay Mishra, Avijit Dutt, etc. are wasted.
2) There was no point of replacing Arshad Warsi with Akshay Kumar.
3) Kashmir angle is forcibly added.
4) Huma Qureshi tried to play “Tanu” but not convincing enough.

 

 

QUOTE –
“Mathur: bekaar aadmi kuch kiya kar … kapdey udhed kar siya kar.”

Visaaranai (2015)

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

Verdict – 4/5

Pros –

1) Powerful story. Bare naked reality. A police system where every cop is working on a target to close a case rather solving the crime.
2) Tight screenplay , no loose ends – especially the 1st half.
3) Unemployment / Corruption / Police brutality / language-regional divide / migration – All in 118 minutes.
Cons –

n/a

Quote –
n/a