Mean Girls (2004)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 3/5

 

 

PROS –
1) High school newcomer is welcomed by the top clique of popular girls called the Plastics. But when she fall in love for the queen bee’s ex-BF, she found herself caught in their mean web.
2) A teen-comedy for high schoolers.
3) Rajiv Surendra as Kevin Gnapoor, the over confident maths geek and amateur rapper.
4) Rachel McAdams as Regina George, the primary antagonist. A role for the ages.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Cady: You know I couldn’t invite you. I had to pretend to be plastic.
Janis: Hey, buddy, you’re not pretending anymore. You’re plastic. Cold, shiny, hard plastic.

Lakshya (2004)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 5/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Story of an rich aimless boy from Delhi who joins the Indian Army and transforms himself into a soldier.
2) The first half is coming-of-age rom-com while the second half is total war drama.
3) The film’s soundtrack composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar.
4) The rock-climbing scene and the BGM.
5) The Amrish Puri cameo.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
“Romi tum hamesha kehti thi na ki meri zindagi mein koi lakshya nahi, yaad hai.. yaad hai.. who hai mera lakshya”

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

 

STORY – 0

DIRECTOR – 1

ACTOR – 1

MUSIC – 0

CULT – 0

 

 

 

 

 

VERDICT – 2/5

 

 

 

PROS – 

1) Story of an orphan boy who escapes from a scouting camp to unite with his pen pal and love interest, a girl with aggressive tendencies.

2) A Wes Anderson movie in it’s full glory – as always!

3) Great ensemble.

4) Coming-of-age movie with absurdist shades of Oliver Twist, and Harold and Maude (1971).

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONS – 

1) An ordinary story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

QUOTE –

Suzy: I always wished I was an orphan. Most of my favorite characters are. I think your lives are more special.

Sam: I love you, but you don’t know what you’re talking about.

 

 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) A mischievous boy’s (Tom Sawyer) life is turned upside down when one night he and his vagrant friend (Huckleberry Finn) witness a murder in the graveyard.
2) Mark Twain’s classic characters are brought to life in a well-made movie.
3) Decent production value and supporting cast.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Aunt Polly: Tom might even be President someday. If they don’t hang him first.

Oliver Twist (1948)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) The story of a high-born orphan kid who faces violence, cruelty at the hands of parish workhouse authorities, criminal gangs, and finally saved by his grandfather.
2) This timeless 1838 story by Charles Dickens has elements and characters that can be seen in stories and movies all across the world.
3) David Leans’ direction is aided with superb performances from Robert Newton as Bill Sykes and Alec Guinness as Fagin.
4) The climax is aptly grand. The entire town of London along with the Police arriving to catch the gang and rescue the child.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Mr. Brownlow: The law assumes that your wife acts under your direction.
Mr. Bumble: If the law supposes that, then the law is a ass, a idiot! If that’s the eye of the law, then the law is a bachelor. And the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience.

The Basketball Diaries (1995)

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

 

 

VERDICT – 5/5

 

 

PROS –
1) The decline and fall of 3 drug-addicted mischievous high-school basketball players from an impoverished family background. This movie explores how drug addiction ruined their life.
2) A must watch coming-of-age movie for all teenagers. This movie will ensure kids stay away from drugs.
3) Raw and realistic screenplay, fascinating cinematography.
4) Interesting track-listing. The drug induced basketball match with “Riders On The Storm” was nicely executed.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Jim: Know this. There’s different types of users of junk. You got your rich dilettante square-ass who dabbles now and then and always has enough money to run off to the Riviera if he feels he’s fucking around to the danger point. Street junkies hate these pricks, but they’re always suckers, and their money makes them tolerable. Then you got your upper-middle-class Westchester preppies… same as the others, basically. What they’re good for is opening their mommy and daddy’s eyes to this social virus and putting pressure on the government to do something about it. Then there’s us street kids. Start fucking around very young, 13 or so. We think we all got it under control and won’t get strung out. This rarely works. I’m living proof. But in the end, you just got to see the junk as another 9-to-5 gig. The hours are just a bit more inclined to shadows.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

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

 

VERDICT – 2/5

 

 
PROS –
1) Last day of school with different groups of teenagers in 1976. A single day/night hang-out movie with seniors, juniors, freshmen, losers, intellectuals, dope-heads, bullies, and pushovers. We all can relate to any of these characters back in school.
2) A good mix-tape with popular tracks of the 1970s.

 

 

CONS –
1) It’s a vague documentary about the 1970s American school culture. There is no plot or conclusion. This is somewhere between a John Hughes and Judd Apatow production. We have better movies with similar theme.

 

 
QUOTE –
Don’t let your mouth write a check your butt can’t cash.

Cobra Kai (Season 1)

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

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 
PROS –
1) The redemption of Johnny Lawrence. It’s mind-blowing how the tables are turned now.
2) Assembling the original cast of a 34-year-old movie is in itself an accomplishment.
3) The show chose to be comedy-drama rather than being an overly-brooding story of a former-bully.
4) 30 minutes running time for an episode is just what we need to avoid unnecessary sub-plots and built-ups.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

QUOTE –
Johnny: “You can leave your asthma and your peanut allergies and all that other made-up bullshit outside.”

The Karate Kid (1984)

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

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 
PROS –
1) The story is formulaic, the climax is predictable but the movie is still a good watch especially for young-adult audiences
2) Pat Morita’s performance as Mr. Miyagi is the role of a lifetime.

 

 
CONS –
1) For a karate themed movie, the action is quite underwhelming.

 
QUOTE –
Daniel: I’m not by myself. I’m with you.
Miyagi: To make honey, young bee need young flower, not old prune.

The Goonies (1985)

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

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 
PROS –
1) Pirate treasure, a secret map, a lost ship of a one-eyed dead pirate, booby traps, a “Ma Barker” kind of criminal gang and a group of mischievous kids hell-bent for an adventure. An ultimate adventure movie written by Steven Spielberg.
2) The delightful & memorable cast of young actors.

 
CONS –
1) No doubt the movie is influential but it targets a certain age group. This movie is supposed to be watched at a certain age.

 

 
QUOTE –
Andy: I can’t tell… if it’s an “A sharp” or if it’s a “B flat”!
Mikey: Heh, if you hit the wrong note, we’ll all “B flat!”