Posted by DavoS
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Genre: Crime/Drama/Adventure/Action/Thriller
Starring: Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff, Connor Hill
Since we have all heard and read about hijacks, lets learn a bit about this movie called Carjacked. Lorraine Burton (Bello) is a recent divorcee who is fighting for her divorce and is utterly broke. Whilst driving around one night with her son in the car, Roy (Dorff) sneaks into a car at a fuel station and orders her to drive his way. Roy is a bank robber who needs to get to a rendezvous point with the rest of his fellow robbers. Over the course of the journey, Lorraine and Roy start getting to know each other better and Roy reveals to her that they have to driver for quite some time. Although Roy starts trusting Lorraine, she tries multiple times in getting help or escaping from Roy. The movie has a very simple and straight-forward plot line with no parallel plots or any twists or turns. The movie is a drag and quite a bore in most places. The unending conversations between Lorraine and Roy is a nightmare to watch. The only saving grace is the last half an hour which has the final escape scenes which is sprinkled with some decent action. A highly avoidable watch and cannot be recommended for any aspect whatsoever.
Thumbs up: Nothing whatsoever
Thumbs down: Very boring and dragged
Rating: 5.5/10
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Posted by DavoS
Friday, March 1, 2013
Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriller
Starring: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Simon Oakland
A true-blue cop movie from the '60s, Lt. Frank Bulitt (McQueen) is assigned the task to protect a Johnny Ross, a key witness in an upcoming trial on organised crime. Ross arrives on a Friday with the hearing scheduled on Monday. Since Ross is a runaway from the crime syndicate, Walter Chalmers (Vaughn) wants Ross alive by Monday and has entrusted Bulitt this task. Ross gets murdered in his hotel room on Saturday night which does not make Chalmers very happy. Bulitt starts investigating the murders to understand who exactly is Ross, why does Chalmers want him so badly and why was he murdered. The first thing that stands out in the movie is epic car chase. The 10-minute chase has gone down in history as the best car chase ever in any movie made. The sole reason why this movie became a huge success is solely down to Steve McQueen in a Ford Mustang GT Fastback, chasing 2 bad guys in a Dodge Charger. The movie not only made McQueen famous but also made the Mustang a very desirable car. The murder mystery is the second best thing about the movie which comes across as extremely real and very life-like. In fact, most of the movie is extremely realistic which is why this is loved so much. You don't have loud background scores screaming in the background during any of the action sequences. Hence, you feel as if you are actually part of the scene and can hear every engine note, tyre screech, footstep and gunshot that is being fired. An exceptional movie for a typical police mystery but at the same time, not something where you should expect too much.
Thumbs up: The most worshipped car chasing sequence ever made
Thumbs down: A more thrilling suspense was missing
Rating: 7.2/10
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Posted by DavoS
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Fantasy
Starring: Dennis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue
If you ever have to define the word bizarre, feel free to refer to this movie at all times. Mr. Oscar (Lavant) is a Frenchman who leads a very peculiar life. A day in the life of Mr. Oscar reveals that he lives multiple parallel lives each day. He drives around the city in a white limousine driven by his chauffeur, Celine (Scob) who also doubles up as his assistant and confidant. A banker, an actor, a retard, a criminal, a dying father, a musician and many many more. The reason why this movie is peculiar is because it doesn't quite explain anything in an outright manner but rather beats around the bush quite a bit. Nothing seems to make sense at all and many things are downright absurd. It is the kind of movie that high and mighty critics would love because they managed to 'dig through the layers to comprehend the true meaning of the movie' that average movie-goers cannot. The trailer of this movie can be very misleading into making one believe that the movie could be a visual entertainment, but sadly it is far from that. If it is deep, vague, profound and typically European movies that you are looking for, then this movie delivers. For anything else, look elsewhere.
Thumbs up: Fabulous acting by Dennis Lavant
Thumbs down: Quite boring and doesnt quite make sense
Rating: 6.1/10
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Posted by DavoS
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mystery/Crime
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Yorick van Wageningen, Stellan Skarsgard, Joely Richardson
A journalist belonging to the Millennium magazine is facing legal issues due to an article that he published against a Swedish businessman which may not have accurate references and information. Henrik Vangard (Plummer) is an aging businessman belonging to one of Sweden's largest industrial organisations. He wishes to hire Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) to solve a mystery which has been remained unsolved for almost 40 years. Henrik's beloved niece, Harriet, went missing from the family estate 40 years ago and has never been found since. Nobody knows if she is dead or alive and somehow Henrik feels that Mikael can be of help. In return, he offers a large sum of money and some evidence which would help Mikael get free of his legal troubles that he is currently facing. Lisabeth Slander (Mara) is a computer hacker who has a had a very rough childhood, ranging from sexual abuse and emotional torture. Mikael decides to hire her to assist him in his investigation and help dig up some information. The movie is quite a decent thriller with a gripping mystery. The movie stands out because it is very realistic and practical with no outlandish stunts and super-human skill and intelligence. Rooney Mara's character of Lisabeth particularly stands out due to her dark, Gothic look, mixed with high levels of attention and sharp intelligence. The movie run time is a bit too long (150-odd minutes) and there are patches where the movie gets a bit slow. The mystery and climax is not very exceptional but starts revealing itself bit by bit until you might have figured most of it out yourself before the movie tells you so. Its that dark, spunky, racy movie with a blend of crime, drama, romance and sexuality.
Thumbs up: Amazing performances by Craig and Mara
Thumbs down: A bit too long, realism has taken precedence over entertainment
Rating: 7.5/10
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Posted by DavoS
Friday, February 8, 2013
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Biography
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham, Scoot McNairy, Kerry Bishe, Victor Garber
In 1979, the Shah of Iran was over-thrown by the people for having a very westernised approach, flamboyant life and leading the country towards poverty and famine. Ayatollah Khomeini became the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and subsequently its supreme leader, a position created solely for him. The people of Iran demanded that the Shah be returned to them, who was currently hiding in USA for him to be tried and eventually executed. The US governments refusal saw large protests outside the American embassy which eventually saw a crowd taking over the entire embassy and 52 American citizens were taken hostage. 6 diplomats, of the embassy managed to escape through a back door and took shelter with the Ambassador of Canada (Garber). The revolutionists had learnt of the 6 diplomats and would eventually manage to find out where they are hiding. If they are caught inside the house of the Canadian Ambassador, it would create a politically tense situation for not only USA but also Canada. Hence, due to increasing pressure from the Canadian government, USA needed to either rescue the 6 diplomats or risk a political crisis. CIA operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) is assigned the task of rescuing the 6 without anyone being the wiser. His game plan, to fake a Canadian movie production company who is currently in Iran to look for locations. This movie is one of those regular CIA/FBI run-of-the-mill spy movies and can easily be classified into the 'average' category. The big thing about this movie, due to which it has got the astounding acclaim, is only the climax. The steady build up of the suspense and final outburst towards the end is what is exceptionally gripping and very entertaining this is solely what makes this movie a wonderful watch. It should become a case study on 'How to end a movie with a good climax'.
Thumbs up: Phenomenal build up and the eventual peaking
Thumbs down: A bit slow beginning, can be discarded as any other average movie
Rating: 8.1/10
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Posted by DavoS
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Genre: Crime/Drama/Fantasy/Thriller
Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Nazwazuddin Siddiqui
A mysterious death of a movie star on a sea-side road in Mumbai leads police inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Khan) to investigate and understand what happened and why. On probing further, Surjan finds himself in Mumbai's famous red light district which is teeming with brothels and sex-workers alike. Surjan is having his own set of personal problems in trying to get over his sons death and thus ends up quarreling with his wife, Roshni (Mukerji) much too often. He finds respite in Rosie (Kapoor) a sex-worker who not only gives him some leads in his case but also offers him mental comfort and someone he can talk to. The movie plays upon the mysteries of the mind and the personal vs professional life of a police inspector. Aamir Khan has done his usual outstanding performance with Mukerji being at par with him. The only let down of the movie is the climax which is slightly low-key and not what the audience was expecting. Psychological thrillers are still a relatively new concept for the Indian audience and it be hard to find takers for such a movie. Had the climax been more astounding or twisted, the movie would have been worth the second watch. All that said and done, not a bad movie at all and a decent attempt.
Thumbs up: Aamir Khan and the rest of the star cast
Thumbs down: Not so thrilling climax
Rating: 6.8/10
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