How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

After loving Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, here I came across his more mainstream Hollywood appearance (MI:3 was a short role)... which is quite nice even though it doesn't quite come upto the mark of the previous ones I've mentioned.

Sidney Young (Simon Pegg) is a celebrity journalist in London for a small start-up magazine, and it's his "style" to project celebrities negatively. He catches the eye of the editor of a famous New York based magazine Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) and he's soon on the way to America. Here he finds that his unorthodox approach to journalism is labelled "unprofessional" and he never ceases to offend people with his antics and views. He shares an unlikely friendship with a colleague at work Alison (Kirsten Dunst) and he's also got to deal with an ambitious coworker Maddox (Danny Huston) who is always there to harrass him. Besides, Maddox has secured the deal to cover Sophie Maes (Megan Fox) which Sidney so dearly wanted. And things get worse for him... so how does it work out till we reach the scene where Sidney gets to share a table with Sophie at an awards gala?

Simon Pegg is funny, though much of the humour has been... well, "mainstream-ised" and a little exaggerated. The story isn't bad either, though some parts could have been done away with (and that could've gotten the movie's rating down to PG maybe) The relation between Sidney and Alison and how it changes as the movie goes on is nice. Megan Fox is put in for the "hot" factor and she doesn't have any problem with the role. Infact, the movie publicity included a mock trailer for "Teresa", the movie for which Sophie Maes receives the award. Overall, an entertaining watch...

• Approx Runtime: 1:45
• Genre: Comedy/Romance/Film/Celebrity
• Acting 7
• Story 7
• Soundtrack/Score 7
• Cinematography 6.5
• Overall 7

Notable Mentions/Quotes:

• Interesting casting
• Based on a book of the same name by Toby Young, but more fictionalised
• The relation between Alison and Sidney and how it develops is quite likeable

Orphan

Katherine (Vera Farmiga) is a woman who has not yet recovered from the mental pain of losing her baby. Besides, she's had other problems including drinking, losing her teaching job (and possibly not being faithful to her husband) Anyway... she now has a happy family consisting of her husband, son and daughter (who's deaf) and a nice, big house to live in too! Thats when Katherine gets the idea of adopting a girl to replace her lost child. They visit an orphanage and happens across a girl, Esther, who seems to be innocent and talented. She is also smart beyond her years and woos them into adopting her with her impeccable manners - including her dressing style which she will not abandon. She forges a good relation with almost everyone even exerting a great influence on the deaf girl. But as time progresses, problems start appearing wherever she is and Katherine gets suspicious. She gets down to investigate the girl's history following a hint from the orphanage. But she starts getting doubted by her husband, who thinks her former problems are reappearing. And she also has to face open hostility from the girl - who is suprisingly mature for her age and a smart adversary.

The movie is set in a snowy American town and the cold winter is a perfect setting for the movie. The "Russian" orphan is a good choice and shifts effortlessly from charming to creepy. Vera Farmiga (The Departed, Up in the Air) is also good as the mother. The film could be categorised as more of a thriller than a horror, and has a pretty decent ending.

• Approx Runtime: 2:00
• Genre: Thriller/Horror/Adoption/Family/Drama
• Acting 7.5
• Story 7
• Soundtrack/Score 6
• Cinematography 7
• Overall 7.5

Notable Mentions/Quotes:

• Nice acting by the cast
• Ending has what is possibly a homage to Leonardo di Caprio, one of the producers
• (After Esther seeing her in a compromising position with her husband) Katherine: When grownups love each other very, very much... they want to show each other that lovel they want to express it...
  Esther: I know. They f___

Paranormal Activity

We have here another horror movie inspired by The Blair Witch Project, Rec, Cloverfield, etc. i. e. the handicam point of view. The movie starts of with the (usual) note thanking the local Police Department for sharing the footage from their archives. The protagonists here are a couple, Micah and Katie. Katie has had a history of being frequented by spirits, and she hears noises and other strange phenomenon wherever she goes. Her boyfriend, Micah, meanwhile is a sceptic and gets a high end camera to document everything that happens around the house - specially at night. He tries his best to "provoke" the spirits into making an "appearance" much to the disgust of Katie, and even employing an "Ouija" board - all of which give results. The film documents a number of nights over a month, with phenomena occurring getting stranger by the day (probably because Micah constantly challenges the spirits to show itself?!)

The movie from what I'd heard had mixed reviews, some deeming it the scariest, others boasting it didn't scare them at all. It definitely tries to create an eerie atmosphere, with the wierd vaccuum we "hear" in the background. Acting is decent, the thrills aren't over-dramatic too... But what disappointed me a little was the "fade in/fade out" between certain scenes; it kind of switches off from the "raw" handicam feel. Probably they could have had an alternative? Talking of "handicam" feel - this one is much easier on the eyes and never lets us feel dizzy unlike, say, The Blair Witch Project. Ending is okay, though not great... Will the couple have the same fate as the leads in other such movies?! Guess... or watch! Though I would not rate this movie over Rec (which was way creepier!), it is still worth a watch at night while all alone!

• Approx Runtime: 1:30
• Genre: Horror/Handicam
• Acting 6.5
• Story 7
• Soundtrack/Score 6
• Cinematography 6.5
• Overall 6.5

Notable Mentions/Quotes:

• "Handicam" movie
• 2 main actors + 2 supporting = just 4 actors in all!
• Movie couple share their real life names

Snatch

Snatch is a movie revolving around an unlicensed boxing promoter Turkish (Jason Statham), a gypsy Mickey (Brad Pitt), a criminal don Brick Top... and a load of other interesting characters who get drawn in. Turkish (also the narrator) wants his boxing business to flourish so he sends his assistant and his boxer to a gypsy camp to get a caravan. The deal with the gypsies go wrong and then things start going worse. Meanwhile, an enormous diamond has been stolen in Antwerp, and news spreads among the people who matter about its transit via London. Two small time robbers, Vince and Sol, are entrusted with the task of stealing the diamond... who bungle in their job and provide us with hilarious moments. With things going wrong on all fronts, the two incidents come crashing on...

The film though set in London doesn't offer much glimpses of the city. But the story is very interestingly written, and with more than a little dose of humour - from the mishaps which seem to happen to almost everyone, Vince and Sol, the dog, Franky Four Fingers (Benicio del Toro), etc etc. I liked the acting of Brick Top... he was quite good as the sarcastic, sadistic match fixing don... every one else does a decent job. We also have a wide range of accents... the American character makes a very interesting statement on this ("I thought the country (England) spawned the f*cking language but nobody seems to speak it"). Here, Mickey's "pikey" accent is quite irritating (which is intentional I guess), and it gets difficult without subtitles. In short, its all about gangsters and robbers making a mess and we laughing off!

• Approx Runtime: 1:30
• Genre: Comedy/British/Gangster/Mob
• Acting 8
• Story 9
• Soundtrack/Score 8
• Cinematography 7
• Overall 7.5

Notable Mentions/Quotes:

• The British humour (which I love so much!)
• The accents
• The characters
• Lots of funny quotes - There's one by Vinnie Jones to Vince and Sol which is hilarious in the context!

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Thought of watching Vol. 2 next after watching Vol. 1... Can't consider it a sequel as such, because the movie was intended to be one - which is a good thing because almost all the elements of Vol. 1 are retained. But it doesn't get any less interesting than the previous one.

We get a better look at the person in the title - Bill (David Carradine) - in fact, his face is revealed only in this edition. The film starts off with The Bride driving a car to where Bill is, announcing her intent (for the sake of people watching Vol. 2 first). Again we have chapters, this time shedding more light into what actually transpired at the wedding chapel, and the relation between Bill and the Bride. We have a face-off with Budd (Michael Madsen), Bill's brother, and Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah)... and a flashback into the Bride's training in advanced Kung Fu techniques in China. The movie has lesser action compared to the previous one, but has a good story, which doesn't create any lack of interest. Again, we have smart, short dialogues. The ending leaves us guessing a bit, whether the Bride becomes emotional and wavers from her objective.

• Approx Runtime: 1:50
• Genre: Action/Sequel/Revenge
• Acting 8.5
• Story 8.5
• Soundtrack/Score 8.5
• Cinematography 8
• Overall 8.5

Notable Mentions/Quotes:

• Nice start - could pass off as a good teaser too!
• Good sequel with a Decent ending - some elements probably leaving space for a sequel (Kill Bill Vol. 3 is being considered, by the way)
• "That woman deserves her revenge" - oft said in both the movies

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill is a tale of revenge by a woman who is called "The Bride" (Uma Thurman)... The Bride and the small wedding pary are targeted by Bill's assassin squad at a wedding chapel. But the Bride somehow survives to be left in a coma for 4 years. And after she does wake up, she goes on a killing rampage, leaving no one who had a part in her tragedy - starting with an abusive hospital nurse.

The movie is organised into Chapters... with Chapters detailing The Bride's killing of Verita Green (Vivica Fox), her escape from the hospital, her acquisition of the sword, O Ren Ishii's (Lucy Liu) rise to power, The Bride moving to Tokyo to face O Ren Ishii, etc. The fights are well coordinated, but the blood is perhaps too much for some people. The fight at the end with the Crazy 88, O Ren Ishii's personal army is in black and white perhaps to minimise the effect of blood - it is literally a blood fest. Dialogues are smart and to the point. The scenes and locales are cool too - moving from America to O Ren Ishii's den in Japan. Quentin Tarantino as usual pays homage to a number of old westerns and other action movies (many of which I'm unaware of!), example being The Bride's yellow outfit - a tribute to Bruce Lee's outfit in a movie of his. There are also Tarantino's usual trademarks like bare feet and cereal. Overall, a treat to any action fan!

• Approx Runtime: 1:30
• Genre: Action/Homage/Revenge/Gore
• Acting 8.5
• Story 8
• Soundtrack/Score 9
• Cinematography 8.5
• Overall 9

Notable Mentions:

• Animated chapter dedicated to O Ren Ishii is great!
• The Bride vs. Gogo and other fights
• Style and Panache!
• Less "F"s considering a Tarantino movie ;)
• The whistling tune of Elle Driver... addictive! (as for a number of other tunes)
• "When fortune smiles on something as ugly and violent as revenge, there's proof like no other, that not only does God exist, you're doing his will."

The First Post

This is a blog specifically to "review" movies I've watched... Reviews and ratings may (will!) vary based on my tastes and my mood at the time of watching too! So in some rare cases, you might get disappointed on watching a movie which I've given a good rating and vice versa.

About my kind of movies... I particularly like thrillers (specially the ones with the twist endings), horror, war movies, smart comedies, certain dramas... any movie with a difference is good! The movie doesn't have to have a great pace; I also enjoy those slow moving films which sort of immerses you in it. I also take a liking to movies with a good score/soundtrack, locale and cinematography.

I'll try to give a brief story outline followed by the ratings and notable points in the movie. And if possible a pic too :)

Moreover, ratings are my personal opinion, and I might "normalise" ratings over time :)