Special Chabbis (2013)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography/Comedy

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam

Based on true incidents, a group of 4 con artists conduct false raids against corrupt politicians and wealthy businessmen, posing as CBI sleuths or Income Tax officers. Since the money is illegal and unaccounted for, these politicians and businessmen do not want to file a police case, fearing negative publicity and people learning about their deeds. The group is led by Ajay Singh (Kumar) along with P.K. Sharma (Kher) and their 2 assistants, Joginder (Sharma) and Iqbal (Kadam). The real CBI gets wind of their false raids and CBI officer Wasim Khan (Bajpayee) is put on the job of hunting them down. Along with the help of Delhi Police Officer Ranveer Singh (Shergill), Khan starts following their every footstep and plans to nab them when they are all set to do one last mega-heist before ultimately retiring. Coming from the makers of A Wednesday the movie promised a lot and delivered pretty much to the expected demands. The only grouse that one can come up with, would be the forced romance plot and the unwanted songs. These two aspects break the otherwise good flow of the movie and can seem annoying. Akshay Kumar has finally delivered a decent movie after a very long time and Anupam Kher was his usual best. The duo get along well and can occasionally deliver the sarcastic humour which is enough to make you smirk. A must watch, at least once.

Thumbs up: Great story, amazing climax

Thumbs down: Unwanted romance and songs

Rating: 7.4/10

Argo (2012)

 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

Race 2 (2013)

Genre: Action/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandes, Ameesha Patel, Anil Kapoor

Bollywood would never die without giving up on trying to make a typical Hollywood movie. What does a typical Hollywood movie comprise of? Fast cars, hot girls, loads of action, high-tech gadgets and a plot that has little relevance or sense. Race 2 has effectively done each and every one of those in the worst possible manner ever. When you have playing cards that have 'thermal sensors that tell reflect on Deepika's sunglasses what cards her opponent has' and sports cars with 'parachutes that automatically trigger if it senses a freefall', you immediately know what an amazing movie this is going to be. The original movie had cars involved in it to a higher degree but it seems that in the second movie the makers were far too involved in showing Deepika and Jacquelines body to bother about the vehicles. Armaan Malik (Abraham) is a million-dollar tycoon who has made his money doing shady dealings. Ranvir Singh (Khan) is a con artist who has an idea for which he needs funding and who better to approach than Armaan himself. Armaan buys the idea not knowing that Ravnir's main motive is to dis-repute him and take revenge from him for murdering his girlfriend. The movie is a joke for the word 'movie' and is a disgraceful attempt at trying to be cool. From gadgets that are simply unimaginative and outlandish, gripping action that was missing throughout and a plot line that was far too twisted to be realistic, the movie is a complete wash. The only reason to watch would be the long-legged women but I am sure that cannot be the sole incentive to ever watch this movie. Avoid!

Thumbs up: Good loads of eye candy

Thumbs down: Horrible everything else

Rating: 4.2/10

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/Mystery

Starring: Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn

Hollywood, L.A. and Vegas, that is what everyone dreams of achieving one day. The flamboyant lifestyle, the money and the riches. However, all that is shining on the surface is always dark on the inside. The movie shows the life of 3 police officers of the LAPD and their involvement with organised crime. Officer Bud White (Crowe) is a plain-clothes officer who fights for crimes against women. A new recruit in the department, Ed Exley (Pearce) is the son of a famous LAPD officer who intends to live up to his fathers reputation. Jack Vincennes (Spacey) works for the anti-narcotics department and is a movie star amongst the cops. He rubs shoulders with film personalities and receives tips from The Hush-Hush magazine for providing information about big celebrity arrests. Ed and Bud cross paths when Ed's testimony against Bud's partner leads to his partners' removal from the department. A violent mass murder takes place at the Nite Owl coffee shop that Ed starts investigating. The investigation starts revealing the filthy under-belly of the LAPD which involves sex, crime, drugs, hookers and money. The movie is a gripping tale of crime and mystery which keeps you entertained and glued till the very last moment. The performances have been fabulous across the board with every character developing a unique personality for themselves. A must-watch if you love a good crime movie set in the rolling '50s.

Thumbs up: Fabulous plot

Thumbs down: An extended run time

Rating: 8.8/10

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi, Arya Babbar

Vishal Bharadwaj has a distinct style of his own that makes his movies different from the rest of the lot. Usually set in rural India, unique story lines, sarcastic humour and rowdy abuses; that is what Bharadwaj is all about. Mr. Harry Mandola (Kapoor) is an extremely rich land lord living in the village of Mandola in Harayana, India. His dreams of setting up an automobile factory near the village, is not as simple as he thought when the villagers refuse in transferring their lands to him. However, Mr. Mandola actually has a bigger problem then simply acquiring land, and that is his alcohol problem. 4 pegs of his favourite drink is all that he needs to become a completely different person, so much so, he even led a protest outside his own house against himself. To counter this problem, he hires Hukkum Sigh Matru (Khan) a well-educated driver and servant who is in charge of preventing him from getting too drunk.Chaudhari Devi (Azmi) is the local politician who has vested interests in the land deal and Mandola and his wealth. She strategically wants her son, Badal (Babbar) to marry Mandola's daughter Bijlee (Sharma) so that she may inherit all of Mandola's wealth when he eventually passes away. Pankaj Kapur puts on a fabulous performance of a drunk Mandola, of a stern Mandola and of a frightened Mandola with so much of ease and simplicity. The movie has got good performances but the songs get a bit too much after a point. The movie too is not up to the expectations that you would have of Bharadwaj but nonetheless, the movie is definitely worth it to hear Pankaj Kapur's drunk antics and the regular 'Bhencho-Bhencho'.

Thumbs up: Fabulous Kapur and the rest of the cast

Thumbs down: A bit long and too many songs

Rating: 7.3/10

Talaash (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

Dabangg 2 (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action/Drama/Romance

Starring: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Vinod Khanna

When a thousand bullets come buzzing towards him, he can dodge everyone of them; when a hundred able-bodied men come charging at him he can put them all on the ground; when his car jumps 30 feet in the air and spins 20 times before crash landing into a pile of junk, he can walk out without a bruise. Ladies and gentleman, I bring to you for the second time, Chulbul Pandey (Khan). The suave and charismatic police inspector is back and this time he has a bigger jurisdiction to handle, the city of Kanpur. A city whose streets are filled with filth, crime and thugs, Chulbul starts cleaning up and when your cleaning such a huge city, there will be people who are not going to like it. Bachcha Bhaiya (Raj) is the local crime lord who is harbouring political ambitions which he intends to win by rigging the elections and thus using this new power to further his interests. But this can never happen if Chulbul Pandey has decided that he will stop Bachcha Bhaiya from achieving this and swears to get rid of him from Kanpur for good. The first movie was epic in its own way, just like how every Salman Khan movie ends up being. However, the second part lacked the humour and stupidity that the earlier movie had that made it interesting. What this movie also doesn't have is a story and thus its just a good guy trying to get rid of the bad one and that's it. Its just too straight forward, not very exciting, not very entertaining and simply, boring.

Thumbs up: Salman Khan. He is probably the only person in the world who can pull off such a role and such a movie

Thumbs down: Far off from part one and seriously lacks the entertainment value.

Rating: 4.9/10

Not Without My Daughter (1991)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography

Starring: Sally Field, Alfred Molina, Sheila Rosenthal, Roshan Seth

An American citizen, Betty (Field) has married an Iranian man, Dr. Mahmoody aka Moody (Molina) and they live a happy life in America with their daughter Mahtob (Rosenthal). Moody hasn't seen his family in Iran since a very long time and they haven't met Betty or Mahtob either. Moody manages to convince Betty to accompany him to Iran with Mahtob and assures her that they would not stay there for long. Whilst staying in Iran, Moody confesses to Betty that he was fired from his job in America on racial grounds and he intends to stay in Iran and look for a job here. Moreover, he wants Betty and Mahtob to live here with him much to the disagreement of both of them. Moody takes advantages of the Islamic laws in Iran and starts physically assaulting Betty each time he disagrees with her and puts her on house arrest and forces her to stay back with him. The movie may not agree with a lot of people simply because of its depiction of Iran and Islam. The movie has very skewed opinions and projects the country as being intolerant towards woman empowerment, supports male domination and extremely strict on religious grounds. The movie is a true life depiction of Betty's life and is based on a book authored by her by the same name. A good movie on technical grounds but an uncomfortable watch otherwise.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: Stereotypical and skewed representation of Islam and Iran

Rating: 6.5/10

This is England (2006)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Joseph Gilgun, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure, Jo Hartley, Andrew Ellis

Set in the 1980's in England, a young boy Shaun (Turgoose) gets constantly bullied at school and cannot accept everyone walking all over him. His recently lost his father who was in the army when England went to war with Argentina over the Falklands. Shaun encounters Woody (Gilgun) who is the leader of a skinhead gang and who takes pity on Shaun and sheilds him from anyone who picks on him. Shaun gradually gets inducted into the gang as its youngest member and seems to be enjoying his new life. Combo (Graham) is an old friend of Woody's who has just recently returned from prison and is also a more senior skinhead member. Combo expresses strong English nationalist views and expresses hatred towards other races that have settled in England and taken jobs that belong to the English people. He wants Woody, his skinhead gang and his friends to come support him to fight against immigrants and make England English once more. The movie craftily narrates the slow evolution of a pre-teen boy and his exposure towards the more darker side of life. It showcases the strong racist hatred that some people still hold and the measures that one can go to in the name of nationalism. A very beautiful movie indeed and a recommended watch.

Thumbs up: Graham's good aggressive performance

Thumbs down: Plot could have gone on for another 30 mintues, seemed incomplete

Rating: 7.5/10

The Italian Job (1969)

Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Raf Vallone

A British thief, Charlie Crocker (Caine) is released from prison and learns that his good friend has been killed by the Italian mafia over the Alps. His friends widowed wife gives Charlie the tapes of a plan that her husband was going to undertake until he got killed by the Mafia. A Turin-based automobile manufacturing company, Fiat, regularly transfers large stash of money from Turin airport to various destinations. The plan is to isolate this convoy in the middle of Turin and steal the stash. For this assignment he needs a gang of people and he breaks into prison to meet his ex-warden, Mr. Bridger (Coward) to ask him to arrange this for him. Mr. Bridger learns that the Chinese are heavily investing in Fiat towards the setting up of a new factory and agrees to help Charlie. The only reason this movie is iconic or has a cult following is for the Mini Cooper cars that are featured in this. The movie is famous amongst car fanatics for displaying an array of fast cars from the '60s and showcasing their raw power and ability. Lamborghini Miura, Aston Martin DB4, Jaguar E-type, Mini Coopers and what not, they all make their own respective appearances winding through the twisted and flat roads of the alps. The only drawback of the movie is the crime itself which seems to be hugely skewed in favour of movies main protagonist. Can you steal a stash of gold from a heavily armed convoy with bats and sticks? Does an armoured truck take 10 tries to smash open a wooden door? And no matter how many times Mr. Crocker manages to shake off the cops in a heavily modified Mini they always seem to come back right on his tail. And what is with the awkward ending? The movie is a love or hate kinds where action and car fans might enjoy it simply since it fulfills their desires but a more average audience would probably shake it off as being nothing very different.

Thumbs up: The beautiful cars!

Thumbs down: Laughable crime plot

Rating: 6.5/10

21 (2008)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Josh Gad

Casino movies seem to have always been loved by the larger audience. The thrill of winning and the emotions of big losses has traditionally gone down well with audiences. The game of Blackjack is largely based on math and fast calculations, apart from just pure luck. An MIT professor, Micky Rosa (Spacey) has trained a team of players who are skilled in calculations and who would play in Blackjack in Vegas every weekend. The idea is to count cards, which is not illegal but simply looked down upon by casinos, and win a whole lot of money. Ben Campbell (Sturgees) is a top-grade MIT student who has got admission in Harvard Med but cannot afford the $300,000 fees. Micky sees a potential player in Ben and manages to convince him to join the team in lure of being able to pay off his Harvard fees. The movie has managed to garner a huge fan following, mostly since it has showcased a lot of casinos and gambling. 21 has a very interesting climax to it but what actually pulls it down is the slow segments that the movie keeps having. The movie is good fun to watch, especially for someone who loves the game. Maybe some more interesting performances and a more consistent plot throughout would have helped in making this movie even better.

Thumbs up: Great story

Thumbs down: Slow segments in-between

Rating: 6.8/10

Ronin (1998)

Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard

A group of people from various backgrounds have come together to perform a high-value crime. Seamus O'Rourke (Pryce) is an Irish terrorist who has employed Deirdre (McElhone) to assemble a team of operatives who can attack a convoy and steal a briefcase. Sam (De Niro) an ex-CIA agent who is on the run is part of the team along with Frenchman Vincent (Reno) and a polish computer specialist Gregor (Skarsgard) amongst others. The contents of the case is never revealed and what ensues for the rest of the movie is an action-packed wild goose chase across France for the briefcase with a lot of twists and turns. The movie is based on a tested storyline but it has a very entertaining second half. The first 30 minutes appear to be slow and dragged but once the action kicks in, its a blast of a movie to watch. The crime or the performances are not something to watch and the only thing that might appeal to the audience is the raw '90s action without any special effects or over-dramatic sequences.A great entertainer and a good one-time watch.

Thumbs up: Fabulous car chases and action sequences

Thumbs down: Un-original crime plot

Rating: 7.0/10

The Mark (2012)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Fantasy

Starring: Craig Sheffer, Eric Roberts, Sonia Couling, Gary Daniels

A security guard of a biometrics facility gets implanted with a unique device with the power to change the world. Chad Turner (Sheffer) must now travel to Berlin from Bangkok along with the chip in order to bring it to safety. In order to ensure Chad's safety, Cooper (Roberts) the head of security of Avanti, the maker of the chip, travels with him from Bangkok to Berlin. A rival company wants to get hold of this chip and hires a hitman, Joseph Pike (Daniels) to trace down the chip and bring it back at any cost. Joseph learns that the chip is traveling with Chad and decides to hijack the aircraft and obtain it.Coming from a Christian movie making company, the movie has a lot of Christianity infused into it and most of it seems to be done rather forcefully. Nowhere in the movie is the consequences of the chip explained, the action is horrible and plot is overall very boring. The unwanted religious preachings that seem to have no connect with the actual movie does not actually add any value to it. The makers seemed to want to drive a point and somehow that objective got built around an action movie storyline. Highly avoidable and only to be watched by the religious.

Thumbs up: Nah

Thumbs down: Lame action, boring, forced Christianity preachings every now and then

Rating: 2.0/10

Skyfall (2012)

Genre: Action/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris

Celebrating 50 years of James Bond on film, Skyfall is the twenty-third movie in the franchisee and Daniel Craig's third. 007 (Bond) is on a mission in Turkey where a mercenary killed several MI6 agents and has stolen a hard drive that contains the information of several NATO operatives who are hiding undercover in various terrorist organisations throughout the world. If this information gets revealed, several operatives would be compromised. When Bond and Eve (Harris) fail to recover the hard drive from the mercenary, M (Dench) comes under political pressure for failing to save the lives of so many agents and is asked to take up voluntary retirement. The MI6 headquarters comes under a terrorist attack which causes further damage to M and her image. 007 was assumed to have been shot dead in Turkey but who actually survives. He enjoys death and decides to retire for good when the troubles back home convince him that he is needed once more. An old, unfit and alcohol addicted James Bond returns to duty with a huge question mark slapped on his head on whether he can continue the job or not. The movie is very different from the usual Bond movies where we are accustomed to seeing Bond romance several beauties, have a gadget loaded car and have blistering action sequences. There was no 'Bond girl' in this movie, there were hardly any awesome gadgets that 007 used and save for the first 20 minutes there was absolutely no other captivating action sequence the movie could bring up. Javier Bardem was a saving grace to some extent but somehow he too does not feel like the right villain that Bond would usually fight. The movie was disappointing and although I haven't seen each and every Bond movie, I will go as far as claiming this to be one of the worst I have come across.

Thumbs up: Good action at the start, shows a different side of Bond

Thumbs down: Does not feel Bond-like. A lot of the necessary Bond elements are missing

Rating: 5.8/10

Batman Returns (1992)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Crime/Fantasy

Starring: Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough

The second movie of the very famous Batman comic series. A deformed baby is born in Gotham city who is thrown away by his parents due to his deformity. The young child gets raised by penguins in the city zoo and lives within the sewers. Years later, this child emerges as the Penguin (DeVito) and announces that he wants to trace back his identity and discover himself. Max Shreck (Walken) is Gotham city's biggest industrialist and wants to install more power plants within the city. Although the city currently generates a surplus, Max is trying to convince investors and the mayor that Gotham would soon need more power and he is investing for the future. In reality, power plant would actually drain power from the cities power grid and this is discovered by Max's secretary, Selina Kyle (Pfeiffer). Selina, originally an introvert, survives a murder attempt by Max and converts herself into the Catwoman and hatches a plan of revenge against Max. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Keaton) smells a rat when The Penguin decides to run for mayor and starts to get down and discover what the actual reason is. The movie is quite similar to the earlier movie with only the villain changing and the addition of The Catwoman. What makes this movie very desirable is Danny DeVito and his fabulous performance of The Penguin. Somehow, Batman's villains have always had good performances, including the new and old versions. The movie is a very normal super-hero entertainer but is worth that entertainment value and is enjoyable.

Thumbs up: Danny DeVito's stupendous performance

Thumbs down: Nothing in particular, its very well rounded

Rating: 7.2/10

Mr. Brooks (2007)

Genre: Thriller/Crime/Drama

Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, Danielle Panabaker

Everybody has some or the other hobby that we all like to regularly practice. The reason why we have a hobby is because it gives us fun, enjoyment and a lot of satisfaction. Mr. Earl Brooks (Costner), the Man of the Year and a successful and rich businessman, too has a hobby that he regularly practices. He loves killing people. He is known as the 'Thumbprint Killer' since he leaves a thumbprint of the victims after the murder. He has no motive, no pattern and has no connection with the victims whatsoever, pure pleasure. Mr. Brooks has abstained from his sadistic hobby for two years by curbing his desires, but his alter-ego and id, Walter (Hurt) keeps playing with his mind and convinces him to return once more. The movie is a sensational thriller that he keeps you glued for a very long time. Although this may not be a true murder mystery or the kind of crime movie that we are generally accustomed to, its still very different and interesting. What the movie lacks are some sensational twists or some eye-popping scenes, which its simple and consistent plot line seems to be missing, Kevin Costner has done a phenomenal performance of a wealthy man with a wicked and dark side and he seems to be tailor made for the role. A great watch but it has scope for improvement.

Thumbs up: Kevin Costner, interesting story

Thumbs down: Lack of good twists and an engaging climax

Rating: 7.6/10

The Girl Next Door (2007)

Genre: Thriller/Drama/Crime

Starring: Daniel Manche, Blythe Auffarth, Blanche Baker, Madeline Taylor, Benjamin Ross Kaplan, Graham Patrick Martin

At times there are some movies that you wonder why anyone would want to make them. The question mark over this movies existence is not based on it being too outrageous but the mere fact that it gets far too disturbing to watch. Set in the '50's, the movie narrates the experiences of a pre-teen boy, David (Manche) and a life-changing incident that he witnessed which changed him forever. Two young girls, Meg (Auffarth) and Susan (Taylor) are sent to live with their Aunt Ruth (Baker) after the loss of their parents in a tragic car accident. Ruth and David are neighbours and David regularly spends time with Ruths' sons and the other boys in the neighborhood. David is immediately attracted towards Meg and so are all the other boys. However, there was a difference between David's attraction, which was friendship and love, and the other boys, which was purely sexual. Ruth saw Susan and Meg as a burden on her and her displeasure towards them led her to severely punish them for every small deed until the intensity of the punishments kept growing to the point of no return. The movie portrays David as being a witness to the incident and although he never agreed with what was happening, he was unable to do anything to prevent it. Although the movie builds on a good foundation, it simply gets extremely disturbing and far too graphic to be a peaceful watch. You would probably wince and turn your head on multiple occasions, so be warned before you watch.

Thumbs up: Good depiction of a single event

Thumbs down: Slow, can get extremely disturbing towards a point

Rating: 5.8/10

Push (2009)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Ming-Na, Cliff Curtis

There have always been movies about another race of human beings on the planet that are unknown to us and posses special powers. What differs within these movies is how outlandish the 'other' human species can be conceived to be. There exists a breed of humans that posses super-human powers and are classified within themselves according to the power they posses. A governmental body to control their kind, called the 'division', is after a suitcase. Everything else in the movie is one big question mark leaving you with a thousand unanswered questions with the biggest one being, why is Nick Grant (Evans) and Cassie (Fanning) even involved in all of this. Although the movie tries to build upon a decent concept and has an above average ending attached to it, most of the story is a complete washout and seems to be glued together in a highly tacky manner. It does a decent job of being a fantasy movie with decent action, but that's all there is to it. Don't try bothering to figure out whats happening cause its not worth it.

Thumbs up: Decent action, a good entertainer

Thumbs down: Horrible story that doesn't make any amount of sense

Rating: 5.6/10

Hera Pheri (2000)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty, Tabu, Gulshan Grover, Om Puri, Asrani, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

The epic movie that permanently changed the face of comedy in Indian cinema and type-casted Paresh Rawal's role as the funny man. Ghanshyam Tiwari aka Shyam (Shetty) has migrated to Mumbai city from his village in pursuit of a certain bank job. His father, who worked at that very bank, passed away years ago in a fire and was promised compensation in the form of a job. Anuradha Panikar's (Tabu) father too passed away in the same manner, and is fighting against Shyam for the same job since only one position is vacant. In search of a house to stay in, he meets Baburao Ganpatrao Apte aka Babu-bhaiya (Rawal), a car garage owner, who agrees to keep him provided he pay rent and do the chores around the house. Raju (Kumar) is another resident at Baburao's house and Shyam and Raju start hating each other the moment they meet. Raju's mother lives at an old age home and he has lied to her that he has a high paying corporate job and is constructing a lavish apartment in downtown Mumbai for them to live in. With all three hungry to get rich and live a lavish life, fortune comes knocking on their door, or rather calling on their phone number. The movie is a cult comic epic and Paresh Rawal has put on, what can probably be termed as, the best ever comic performance in Bollywood cinema. This movie saw all three lead actors becoming comic actors for at least 10 years down the line and even today. Many have tried to replicate the comedy of errors but most have failed. A complete laugh riot and a must watch.

Thumbs up: Superb acting and amazing humour

Thumbs down: Unwanted song sequences

Rating: 8.4/10

Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow (1994)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Adventure/Action/Drama

Starring: Michael Winslow, David Graf, Leslie Easterbrook, George Gaynes, G. W. Bailey, Charlie Schlatter, Christopher Lee, Ron Perlman, Claire Forlani, Greg Berger

With every passing movie, it seems as if this series is just getting even worse. And its not just me, but the facts support this very idea too. The eight movie of the infamous series was the least performing one and the only to not make $1 million. The story is probably a case study of how to make a ridiculously outrageous movie that makes very little sense and can be a very very big bore. An infamous Russian mafia, Konstantine Konali ((Perlman) has developed The Game, a video game which the entire world is addicted to. There is intelligence that he now wishes to modify the game which when played would extract all data from the individuals computer. Konali intends to ensure the game reaches US government computers and steal all the governments secrets. In order to tackle this situation, a team of officers from Comdt. Eric Lassards (Gaynes) academy are being sent to Moscow to apprehend Konali. From what you have now read, it is quite understandable at the tacky nature of the story and the even worse humour and bad plot execution. The movie does not have any bit of 'academy' left in it and is simply the story of a bunch of police officers and their supposedly hilarious adventure. A complete bore and a pure waste of time.

Thumbs up: (blank)

Thumbs down: Story, acting, humour, lack of entertainment, far too unrealistic.... a long list

Rating: 1.8/10