booksmooviesnwhisky Reviews

Cinderella Man (2005)

True talent shines from Blatant Sentimentalism

[7/10 · 2 June 2005]

Joe Gould says in the movie 'People are sentimental..", I am sure the crew of this movie is! The story and the screenplay does some very overt attempts at tugging at the heart strings. Succeeds at times. I am not sure if putting subtler dialogs and scenes would have helped. There are some characters that are made fairy tale-ish one dimensional. Like Max Baer or Jimmy Johnston. Or Jimmy Braddock himself.

But that being said, it is an excellent movie. Russel Crowe is brilliant. The helplessness, the power, the integrity he can bring on his face is amazing. Insider, LA Confidential, Gladiator, Beautiful Mind and this one.. he has perfected his nuances. Paul Giamatti is also amazing. He should be getting meatier roles after his last two performances. Craig Bierko pulls a pretty fine Max Baer. Its not hard to imagine his Max Baer as a Hollywood star and a "Clown and a Killer".

Only (a very very tiny) disappointment in acting Renée Zellweger. Don't get me wrong, she is brilliant. I am surprised by how nicely she can pull the jersey accent. She is completely at ease and doesn't look like she's acting except in last few scenes.

All in all, 7/10

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Solid thriller with elements of cold-war spy movies

[8/10 · 23 July 2004]

I liked Bourne Supremacy better than Bourne Identity. Reason being that I loved the book (identity) and hated the way the mellowed the plot by making it a pure hollywood CIA movie. But Supremacy, was much more loosely coupled to its book. And I didnt much like the book anyways.

Its a very fast paced action movie with lots of "new" spy techniques and tactics, and a solid performance by Matt Damon and Brian Cox.

The thing I liked about this movie the most was the return of some of the elements that marked the cold war spy movies. It had a agent gone "rogue",CIA and criminals hunting him down with equal ruthlesness, and after a long time, a Russian Assasin hot on his train, with trademark(of hollywood) stubble and a scowl. It has car chases, fist fights, gadgets everything you need a spy film.

A remarkable thing is the amount darkness in the lead character. He is an assasin and he acts like one. bourne character has been converted to quite a complex character instead of the wronged nice assasin of ludlum books. He kills with cold blood, and cries when he thinks of some times of his life. Same goes for other characters.

All in all, The movie is definitely worth a watch.

Zameen (2003)

Not too bad...

[5/10 · 23 January 2004]

Going by standards of the hindi movies recently made, this wansnt too bad. It started off quite well, but then due to technological overdose got badly messed up.

Devgan is okay. He is what he usually is. Abhishek is better than usual. But frankly none of them look even a tad like Army officers.

Pay It Forward (2000)

Interesting concept but too too corny

[5/10 · 3 January 2004]

Pros : -Interesting concept of Payin in forward -Very Good acting by Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt. Its commendable for these usually charming looking people look so "scre#ed up" and "ugly". -some good music -cameo by James Caviezel

Cons: -Too too corny and overly sentimental theme -Too much of Haley Joel Osment (sp?). I mean he is a good kid and a good actor but they never let him come out of sixth sense fever. He is always hushed up, sad and confused. -Cameo by bon jovi. Come on, man! Do what you do well, sing! leave acting to actors. (Actully he was better than usual in this movie but stil..) -last 15 minutes of absolutely-not-required tears and song. What? Do you have to make us cry? if yes, then hey guys!! you failed!



All in all, it could be a good watch if you like sweet, sentimental movies or are a big time fan of that kid. Or may be you have just fallen in love and whole worlds full of good sweet things for you!

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Shame

[5/10 · 5 November 2003]

such a shame! Why? Why make such a stupid movie out of one of the most brilliant ideas, that hollywood ever had!

Matrix reloaded dragged somewhat but still it was quite enjoyable and somewhat pleantly philosophical. This movie? doesnt have, the beauty of the Action sequences (all you see are some stupid robots dancing), the beauty of the philosophy, the beauty of dialoges. Its more like, LOTR meets matrix meets daredevil meets starwars....

There are some good scenes, but then there are just some.

I used to be a big fan of sequels, now I feel, only sequels should be like that of James Bond movies, which have no connections to each other.

Darna Mana Hai (2003)

A delightfully bizzare story

[7/10 · 8 September 2003]

The movie basically consists of a couple of teens telling each other stories with a story running in the background. I have heard people say the stories where weird,unbelievable and unrealistic. But that is exactly what they were supposed to be! I liked each of them except the last story with Aftaab Shivdasani (he sucks!)!

If you like to read bizzare and dark short stories , you will enjoy the movie.

For once, stars are just characters, and not the USP of the movie.

Jaal: The Trap (2003)

Time Pass

[4/10 · 8 September 2003]

Typical Sunny Deol movie. But some good stunts and photography. For a change he doesnt shout patriotic dialogues. Not a great film in any meaning of the word but better than "The Hero"

Most of the stunts are copied from one English movie or another but then isnt that a routine with our movies. Atleast, they are well executed. And Sunny Deol doesnt fly as he did in "The Hero".

I would recommend this movie on a VHS so that you have the Fast Forward at your command, because the courtship scences suck, bigtime!

3 Deewarein (2003)

Really Good Effort

[8/10 · 24 August 2003]

A really good effort. Great acting and great direction. the climax is somewhat far fetched but anyways the movie is good.

The movie has shades of Shawshank Redemption but its a good movie my its own. It is not a remake (frame to frame copy), as our bollywood directors usually do. Its a poetic descriptoin of the life in Jail, with inclusion of the troubles which come with prison.

People have very nicely put up good points of the movie on this site. I am gonna try and put up soem points I didnt like

One was over-use of English in the prison. Jacky shroff was in his usual over acting, overly stylized self. Many a times, he seemed out of the place. But yes, the poems were quite good.

Second, somehow most of the people in prison looked somewhat overly nice and sophisticated for being in a prison (I say it from what I have read and seen in movies)

**********MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Jacky Shroff's release wasnt very believable. He did stab his wife. So what if she was already dead? It might result in a lesser punishment but not total release.



my rating 8/10

Sleepers (1996)

Excellent

[9/10 · 24 August 2003]

I really liked this movie. Great acting, great direction, great plot!

As another reviewer pointed out, the movie indeed has 3 parts. before,at and after the correction center. All three parts are equaly gripping. Except that the part in the correction center is very dark and disturbing.

Brad Pitt shines in a small role he has. So does Jason Patrick. Hoffman has his ususal confused charisma. Rest of the supporting cast is excellent too. Especially the denizens of hell's kitchen. Kevin Bacon looks realy menacing. But the person who realy shows his caliber again is de niro. He has one of these rare "non-swearing" roles of his. There is a scene where Jason Patric tells the story of the abuses they faced, and the camera focusses on Robert De Niro's face. Only thing changes is his eyes, from sharp and focussed at the first, you see them widening and then you see some trace of tears. Great! This scence reminds me of Omar Shariff standing on a balcony while soldiers start mayhem on the streets, in Dr. Zhivago.

A good care has been taken in getting child stars and adult stars look pretty similar.

Only thing li'll bit out of the place is constant referance to Count of montecristo. The revenge in the book is "sweet lasting revenge" where in this movie its straight shot. But heck! this is real life!

the last night the friends spend together is also really touching.

my rating 9/10.

Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003)

Sucks!

[3/10 · 21 August 2003]

Come on!! For god's sake! IF you cant think of an original idea, atleast make a decent remake!

Only good(being overly generous) thing in this movie is Ajay Devgan. Rest of the cast is idiotic. So is the action. It seems like Ajay Devgan gets a rocket up his butt whenever a bomb explodes nearby!

my rating 3/10. Why three 4 for Devgan's acting + 2 for Neha Dhupia's body + 1 riya sen's exposure + 2 overall things - 6 for Sanjay Kapoor and Arbaaz khan

Die Another Day (2002)

Dissappointing : a bad mishmash of previous movies

[5/10 · 16 June 2003]

I am out and out fan of anything related to James Bond (movies, novels), and I was thoroughly dissappointed with the latest bond movie.

First of all, it is just a cocktail made from old movies. The basic story line is of diamnods are for ever (ofcourse with better graphics).

Then, it looks more like a Rambo/John Woo action movie then a bond film. The action sometimes goes overboard even for a bond movie.

Halle Berry looks HOT, but with all due respect doesnt suit in a bond movie. She looks very tough to be a bond girl. I may sound a male chauvinist here but I would really expect a bond girl persona more like Rosamund Pike then Halle Berry. And no, she doesnt look as hot as ursula andrews, in Dr. No.

Good parts in the movie are *SOME* good one liners, especially from the bad guys, a good start of movie, and pierce brosnan. He is I guess, the best bond after Sean Connery (the original and the best), but he realy needs good storylines.

Cape Fear (1991)

Great, I liked the original better

[6/10 · 14 June 2003]

* Minor Spoilers ahead*

This is indeed a good movie. Scorsese and de niro are a great team and this is one more powerful movie from them. ( After, taxi driver, goodfellas, raging bull...)

Scorsese has tried to port this movie to modern times, by having family conflicts and a typical psychopathic villain(de niro), and he is successful. But I feel the original movie scores over this one.

Though de niro is scary but he has shades of the cliched hollywood psychos. Blood flows like water and there is the typical shout and scream. Where as in the original movie, Robert Mitchum played a much quiter and scarier tormentor. Without any tattoos, with hardly any profanities, and without actully hurting anyone (except the last sequences) he can build an atmosphere or utter fear and discomfort for Gregory peck as well as the audience.

gregory peck was great in the older movie (he is always), but so is Nick Nolte. Actuly, he is somewhat better as he looks more vulnerable than the lanky tough guy that was Gregory Peck.

The Italian Job (2003)

Good Job!

[9/10 · 9 June 2003]

A real cool movie. I have not seen the original, but this ones cool. Good acting, Great stunts.

If you liked heist movies like Ocean's Eleven, you will love this one.

The cast is good and well chosen. Especially the supporting cast( Green, Statham, Deff). Only complain I have is that Ed Norton is wasted. He is a talented actor and should have been given a meatier role.

The Bourne Identity (2002)

If you liked the book, you'll hate the movie

[5/10 · 9 June 2003]

Any one who read/liked the book, will hate the movie. The genius of the plot is gone. It is replaced by a cliched CIA thriller plot.

Pros : * Good acting. Good Action * Very Good first half.

Let Downs:

* Hopeless attempt to port the story to modern time. * Hopeless attempt to change the story line * trying to make Jason Bourne do a spiderman thing!

But if you havent read the book, want to see a decent spy/action flick. This is not a bad option

The Verdict (1982)

Sluggish, lackluster but effective and realistic

[6/10 · 9 June 2003]

You might be disappointed if you expect a on-the-edge-of-your-seat court room drama like "Few Good Men". This movie has a very slow pace.

Nevertheless, Paul Newman is great(as always). And the movie has a definite touch of realism.

Rating as a movie 7.5/10 Rating as entertainment 5/10