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

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

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

Malena (2000)

Genre: Drama/Romance/Historical Event

Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Pietro Notarianni

When a ravishing, young damsel enters the heart of thousands of men, young and old across entire Sicily, she indeed must have been something. Malena Scordia (Bellucci) is a goddess, who walks down the streets with every head turning, every nose picking up her smell, every set of male eyes visually undressing her and every set of female eyes visually beating and scarring her. Even though every man would die for her love, a young 12-year-old Renato Amoroso (Sulfaro) shows that he loves her and not lusts her like everyone else. He secretly watches her every move, watches her dress, her cook, her walk, her cry, her laugh and wishes with every passing day that he walk up to her but never has the courage to do so. With Mussolini announcing war against Britain and France, Malena's husband has gone to war to fight for Italy. With her husband away, the men become wolves and when they learn of his death they all became monsters. The movie fantastically portrays how society creates a demon and then blames the demon in the end for becoming one. It is a fabulous story of a young boy who learns of manhood and a young woman, learning the hardships of being far too beautiful. The movie is exquisite and very European, develops well and keeps you gripped for a very long time. Not too long, compact and brilliant and just what the doctor ordered for.

Thumbs up: Gorgeous Bellucci who does a lot without speaking a lot

Thumbs down: Nothing specific

Rating: 8.1/10

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Drama

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen

Black Mamba (Thurman), still has some unfinished business to do. Ever since the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad opened fire at her wedding rehersal, Black Mamba aka The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo has sworn to hunt and kill each and every one of the squad members. Having fulfilled 2 of the 5 targets in  Vol. 1, Kiddo has her eyes squarely set on Budd aka Sidewinder (Madsen), Bill's younger brother, Elle Driver aka California Mountain Snake (Hannah) and of course, Bill aka Snake Charmer (Carradine). Bill was once Beatrix's lover and she was pregnant with his child when Bill and the rest of the squad killed her, or at least that is what they thought they did. Although Bill and Kiddo are emotionally attached to each other, Bill still tried to kill her and the Black Mamba is going to find out why. The reason why we loved the earlier movie is because of the phenomenal action that was presented. Heads rolling, blood spurting and the raw fight scenes made this movie a visual treat for fans. Sadly though, the second movie does not tread the same path as the first one and tries to be more sober and simple with a larger focus on dramatic sequences. Although some might hail the toned down action, I personally preferred the slashing Hanzo sword dripping in blood with a severed hand squirming in a corner.

Thumbs up: Very gripping and a good entertainer

Thumbs down: Toned down action and more drama results in a slightly slower movie than the earlier one

Rating: 7.8/10

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 (2012)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadda, Pankaj Tripathi, Raj Kumar Yadav, Zeishan Quadri, Piyush Mishra, Jameel Khan, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Satya Anand, Vineet Kumar

The murderous filth and slime of gangs and street lords is never ending. In continuation to Part I , Sardar Khan was seen being murdered by Sultan Qureshi (Tripathi) who in-turn was hired by Sardar Khan's arch rival, Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia) to do the job. Swearing revenge for murdering his father and grandfather, Sardar's elder son, Danish (Kumar) plans revenge but fails and is killed. It's now up to Sardar's second son, Faizal (Siddique) to win back his family's pride by taking revenge on Ramadhir and his associates who have wiped out half his family. The pot-head that he is, Faizal's mother and rest of the family have little hope from him that he would actually do something. Definite (Quadri) is Faizal's half-brother, born to Sardar's second wife, Durga. Definite too wants a share in the family business and decides to help his half-brother in his quest to wipe out Ramadhir and his henchmen. The movie treads on paths similar to that of The Godfather, where the family boss is killed and the younger son is forced to join the family business and uphold the family name. Even though the movie was shot in continuation and was intended for a one part release, there is a stark difference between the two parts. Part 2 has less humour and the occasional sarcastic line to make you laugh and has for more gunshots and blood than the previous movie. Manoj Bajpai's presence in the previous part added some form of character to the movie which part 2 seemed to lack. The missing presence of a prominent lead actor is a bold move by the makers but somehow left behind a huge hap. The movie in all, is a crazy mix of slang Indian abuses, raw action and cunning crime plotting. It may not be as phenomenal as its predecessor, but its still highly enjoyable.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Gets a bit stretched, lack of strong lead performer

Rating: 8.0/10

The Dark Knight (2008)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Crime/Drama

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

Its amazing how the performance of a single person can cast such a huge effect on the entire movie. The Joker (Ledger) is a psychotic villain at Gotham who seemingly does random acts of death and destruction without any certain motive. The Batman (Bale) is Gotham's vigilante who has managed to keep the cities streets more or less clean from what it previously was. Harvey Dent (Eckhart) is the new DA and has infused stringent measures that have kept the mobs illegal money at bay. The mob bosses are worried cause they cannot get their money out of the city and The Joker offers his services as a cure. He wants The Batman to remove his mask and if he doesn't, one person will be killed everyday. The Joker was a man who never planned anything, who went with the flow and did whatever he felt like. His only ambition was to show that the good may not be all that good and they can come down to the levels of the bad. The movie is a fabulous improvement from the previous movie and Heath Ledger (RIP) has put on, what I believe, the best performance anyone has ever done in any movie. The lunacy and sheer craziness that his performance brings out, completes the movie and shows the true Joker the way he was created to be. The movie is nowhere near being a superhero movie and is very typically Nolan in a lot of ways. Respect for the movie and Ledger would remain always.

Thumbs up: Heath Ledger and only Heath Ledger

Thumbs down: Nothing

Rating: 9.0/10

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Science-fiction

Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard

The third installment of an epic series by an epic director needs to be epic; and it is. The Batman (Bale) takes the fall for Harvey Dent's murder, and for eight years stays off the streets of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne is now a cripple and has invested a fortune in developing a sustainable source of renewable energy. When he learns that the reactor's core can be converted to become a nuclear weapon, he shuts down the project and hence millions of dollars of Wayne Enterprises gets permanently locked onto the project, leaving the company in the red. A cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Hathaway), performs a job where she lifts Bruce Wayne's finger prints and sells it to Bruce's rival. Unknown to Selina, her act triggers a sequence of evens where a terrorist by name of Bane (Hardy) intends to take down Bruce Wayne, The Batman and all of Gotham City for good. Superficially, the movie is still the tried and tested good winning against the evil unlike the more un-conventional approach that the earlier movies took. The biggest let-down of the movie was Bane and his character's inability to live up to the reputation of The Joker. The Dark Knight's core reason for succeeding was The Joker, nothing more and nothing less. No doubt the movie was a brilliant work of art, but minus The Joker and it all turns bland. Bane, was the more conventional villain who is strong and muscular, has a stereotypical behaviour and belief and can be associated with any modern criminal. He is far too conventional and a tad uninteresting. The first half took its own sweat time in establishing the plot and foundation which made the movie slow and a bit boring. The second half picks up pace dramatically to end in a superior climax. Although the climax is impressive, it can still be counted as predictable and not what the audience might have expected. The movie definitely packs a whole lot of punch and entertainment but no aspect of it shines out and can be termed as outstanding. Too predictable and conventional in a lot of ways, but don't get me wrong; its still a treat!

Thumbs up: Powerful and a strong second half

Thumbs down: Stretched first half, nothing exceptional to pin-point or praise

Rating: 8.5

Michael Clayton (2007)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack

Michael (Clooney), an attorney at a prestigious New York law firm, Kenner, Bach & Ledeen, and has managed to create a niche for himself where he specialises in 'fixing' problems. Finding legal loopholes, exploiting situations, using connections and worming the client out of a situation, in short. U-North is an agricultural products manufacturing company that is facing a class action suit and is being represented by Aurthur (Wilkinson), Michael's colleague and good friend. When Aurthur starts removing his clothes in the middle of a hearing, everyone at U-North and Kenner, Bach & Ledeen are very worried. Michael is sent to fix the problem who learns of Aurthurs bipolar disorder and the fact that he has been off medication for a very long time. Karen Crowder (Swinton), the general counsel at U- North, gets hold of Aurthur's possessions and is shocked to learn that since the past three years he has been building a case against U-North rather for U-North. The movie has a beautifully sculpted story whose every moment is gripping. Sure, there was a point where things felt slow and dragged, but that was just for a very few moments until the movie rapidly picks up pace. A good complicated plot, fabulous acting by Mr. Clooney and a marvelous execution job makes this a brilliant movie to watch and debate with others, hours after it is over.

Thumbs up: George Clooney, story line

Thumbs down: Some few slow moments, everyone may not like the 'not-so-simple-to-understand' story

Rating: 8.2/10

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Musical

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell

The genre listed above is a big personal turn-off. People frolicking around, singing and dancing with the added melodramatic romance scenes is simply not my cup of tea. The fact that this movie turned out to be far more enjoyable than I had imagined, speaks a lot for itself. Set in the year of 1927, when movies were still silent and the new trend of 'talking pictures' was classified by many to be a passing trend that doesn't hold any water. Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Hagen) are a hugely successful on-screen duo who have created many famous romantic saga's. Don is a noted dancer, singer and performer whereas Lina has nothing but attractive looks. Her shrill and squeaky voice makes her a misfit for a talking picture but at the same time the studio management has a contract with her on which they cannot go back on. Kathy Selden (Reynolds) is a theatre artist who knows the challenges when it comes to acting while talking and believes that actors in movies are not true actors at all. When Don and Kathy meet at a party, they are both at disagreement over each others thoughts about acting but still find a connection between themselves which makes them fall in love. The movie is filled with energetic performances, mostly danced and sung by Gene Kelly himself. The overdose of music may not go down very well with many, like me, but there are still a few select performances where the moves are marvelous and anybody would appreciate it. Singing and dancing apart, the movie beautifully showcases the evolution of movies and the hilarious challenges that directors, producers and actors had to face alike. A good entertainer where one can easily skip the singing and dancing and move on with the movie.

Thumbs up: Good humour by O'Connor, fabulous song sequences

Thumbs down: Too many songs for the average person to enjoy

Rating: 8.0/10

Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/History

Starring: Manoj Bajpai, Jaideep Ahlawat, Richa Chadda, Reema Sen, Piyush Mishra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vipin Sharma, Pankaj Tripathi, Syed Khan, Jameel Khan

India's rural gangs and dacoits are a ruthless lot. Anurag Kashyap's latest venture traces the story of the coal mafia in the past century. Wasseypur is a small town in Erstwhile West Bengal, later a part of Bihar and now Jharkand. Soon after independence, the coal mines were distributed amongst businessman and a group of such mines came under the control of Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia). Ramadir recruits Shahid Khan (Ahlawat) to become his henchman and recruit workers to work in the mines. When Ramadir learns of Shahid's secret desire of controlling the mines for himself, he decides to eliminate him. Shahid's brother, Farhan (Mishra) escapes Wasseypur with Shahid's son, Sardar Khan to nearby Dhanbad. Years later, Sardar (Bajpai) grows up and vows to get rid of Ramadir once and for all, but not kill him, but to torture him and make suffer, bit by bit. The movie is raw and ruthless with a unique melange of motormouth characters, guns, swords, blood and loads of sarcastic humour. If some scenes can make you wince then there are an equal number of scenes that would give you a hearty life. The movie is made in two parts which were shot together but would release in a span of a few months. The biggest flaw in the movie is its endless and slow story that takes a yawning amount of time to evolve and move on. With an almost three hour run-time, the movie is not an easy watch and audiences are warned to brace themselves for a time of their life.

Thumbs up: Brilliant performances across the board, amazing humour and a great crime story

Thumbs down: Very slow to evolve

Rating: 8.2/10

Kill Bill: Vol.1 (2003)

Genre: Action/Drama/Crime

Starring:Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivika A. Fox, Julie Dreyfus, Sonny Chiba

Long story short, an attempted murder victim is out to hunt her assassins down. Short story long, The Bride aka Black Mamba (Thurman) was a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who was targeted by its members during her wedding reception. A blood bath occurred where everyone was presumed dead, including The Bride who got a bullet through her head. Surprisingly, the bullet does not kill her but puts her into an indefinite coma and she wakes up 4 years later. Black Mamba is now thirsty for revenge and O-Ren Ishii aka Cottonmouth (Liu) is target #1 and Vernita Green aka Jeannie Bell aka Copperhead (Fox) is target #2. The movie is very typical of Tarantino's style and character in every way. The subtle sarcasm and humour looming in the background that does not come out in your face but stays there simply adds to the movie's brilliance. The action is an all-and-out blood bath so stay away if you cant see the swish of a samurai sword and the head rolling on the floor with a red geyser emitting from the neck spraying itself all over the room. The random anime segments and the sudden black and white scenes with its non-chronological order add to the entertainment value of this amazing watch.

Thumbs up: Fabulous action, great film-making and Uma Thurman

Thumbs down: A slightly weak start, very slightly weak

Rating: 8.5/10

Udaan (2010)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Rajat Barmecha, Aayan Boradia, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor

A story of the life of Rohit (Barmecha) a teenage boy who was removed from his school due to misbehaviour. His mother died when he was young and was brought up by his father, a man whose face he hasn't seen in the past 8 years he spent at school. Bhairav Singh (Roy) fits the precise definition of a cold-hearted father. He demands to be called 'sir' at all times, would beat and abuse Rohit if he overrules any of his decisions, squashed all his hopes of becoming a writer and forced him to study engineering amongst many others. Rohit also met his half-brother, Arjun (Boradia) someone whose existence he was never aware of and also someone who goes through the same ordeal as Rohit but at a far younger age than him. The movie shows a family where the elders are orthodox and expect the household to be run as a prison camp and not as family. The words love never existed and shall never exist and the only thing that would be present is respect and silence. The movie excels with stupendous performances, especially from the child actors with Ronit Roy being an exact replication of the character. The movie is slow, which is inherent for its genre, but is recommended to all and an amazing watch.

Thumbs up: Acting

Thumbs down: A bit slow, single-story

Rating: 8.0/10

Hugo (2011)

Genre: Drama/Biography/Mystery/Adventure

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emily Mortimer

A legendary film maker appraises another legend from a different era. Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) is an orphan whose father was a clock maker and a highly intelligent man. His father found a decaying automaton, a unique robot that has the unheard ability to write during the time period the movie is set in. After his fathers death, Hugo worked towards fixing the automaton and regularly stole parts from a toy store which was run by George Melies (Kingsley). Hugo eventually gets caught in the act and George discovers a notebook in his pocket which has Hugo's fathers machine drawings along with the automatons blue print. George confiscates the book without giving any reason, much to the disappointment of Hugo. Hugo befriends George's grand daughter, Isabelle (Moretz) who come together to solve the mystery behind the automaton, George's behaviour and Hugo's father. The movie is a brilliant work of art that can keep you stumped, awed and entertained for a very long time. It takes you back in time to the very first movies of human-kind to show the magic and bizarreness that it carried with it during that time.The climax and the mystery steadily builds up to take shape which eventually unleashes to the audience's satisfaction. The only downside of the movie is its speed. Its slow to start and gets a tad disappointing around the half-way mark but the eventual mystery is still gripping enough to keep you enticed right till the very end. An outstanding work of art that is true to the reputation of Martin Scorsese and a must-watch for all.

Thumbs up: Brilliant story, very enticing

Thumbs down: Slow at times

Rating: 8.9/10

Kahaani (2012)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui,

Good performances, an enticing storyline and a superb climax is just what the doctor ordered to make a good movie. Vidya Bagchi (Balan) arrives in Kolkata from London to look for her husband who mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. Her husband, Arnab, came for an assignment to Kolkata and suddenly stopped answering telephone calls and any form of communication. A local police officer Rana (Parambrata Chatterjee) agrees to help her in her quest to seek her husband. The hotel in which she claimed her husband was staying in denied him ever checking in along with the National Data Centre (NDC) the company in which he was supposed to have been working for. Suddenly Arnab Bagchi does not exist and nobody, right from his parents address, school records, professional records do not seem to match the claims made by Vidya. What does emerge is Arnab's uncanny resemblance with Milind Damji, a man with a shady past and an obscure link with Arnab. Vidya realises that in order to get Arnab, she must find Milind but Khan (Siddiqui) the commander-in-chief of the NDC warns her to step out of it or she might lose her life. The movie is very gripping and keeps you wondering and glued to your seat right till the very end. No matter how many theories you might cook up half-way through the movie, it would all go for a toss once the climax is out. The only low points was the forced romance in a true Bollywood style, which thankfully was without any unnecessary song sequences. The movie is beautifully shot against the backdrop of the Bengali festival of Durga Pooja which adds power and aggression to the movie and a huge scoop of character. Vidya Balan has shined once more with some superb acting and has definitely made a mark for herself in the industry, if The Dirty Picture hasn't already done that.

Thumbs up: Astounding performances, gripping plot

Thumbs down: Climax might seem a bit far-fetched to few, forced romance scenes.

Rating: 8.5/10

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Danny DeVito, William Redfield, Christopher Lloyd, Will Sampson

Define 'A true, epic, American drama movie?', Answer; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. If there ever can be an example to show how the most simplest of story lines can be made into something very interesting, then nothing can be a better example than this movie. Randle McMurphy (Nicholson) a mentally unstable criminal, apprehended for raping a minor is sent to a mental institution for evaluation. He does not appear to or behave in any manner that might suggest he suffers from an illness but needs to undergo treatment nonetheless. His ward is run by the strict Nurse Ratched (Fletcher) who rules rather than runs the ward like a queen and the patients her subjects. She shows indifference towards their pain and emotion and forces them to take unpleasant medication. McMurphy, being less crazy than the rest, realises the nurse's nature and tries to take steps to make his ward members' life better. From gambling with cigarettes, taking bets on escaping, hijacking the bus for a fishing trip and watching baseball on a television that is switched off, McMurphy does it all much to the displeasure of the nurse. The movie is known worldwide for being one of the few movies to have won all major Academy Awards and rightly so. The performances were outstanding, the plot is extremely simple but executed with finesse. It shows how a rapist, branded insane, could do things that even educated and sane individuals could not; he brought them joy. The movie might seem to trudge along with no objective, but believe me its worth all the effort at the very end. This blog celebrates 500 reviews with this movie. A fitting choice I must say.

Thumbs up: Outstanding in every aspect

Thumbs down: 5 major Academy Awards; this section shouldn't exist for this movie

Rating: 8.8/10

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Genre: Drama/Crime

Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, Bruce Willis

There is something about Tarantino's movies that is unsaid. There is a deeper insight, a test of patience, ironic humour, characters that don't add any value to the story and a simplicity within complexity that make his movies so outstanding. The movie revolves around the everyday lives of a handful of individuals with no relevance to each other who merely cross paths for a few minutes in the plot. Vincent Vega (Travolta) a hit man along with his associate Lance (Jackson) need to recover a briefcase filled with gold from their bosses partner. Marsellus Wallace (Rhames) a local gangster hires Butch (Willis) a boxer to go down in a pre-decided boxing match. Vega wants to go out for dinner with Wallace's wife Mia (Thurman) and denies any affection for her but simply enjoys the company. Most of the movie focuses on the finer aspects of each of their lives with subtle humour. The movie oozes of Tarantino's style in and out and much of the movies character was re-used whilst making Inglorious Basterds. Typical to Tarantino, the movie does not follow any chronological sequence and hence one needs time and patience to understand and fully appreciate the cinematic brilliance.

Thumbs up: Samuel L. Jackson and everything else

Thumbs down: Long, slow and stretched

Rating: 8.5/10

Agneepath (2012)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri

A remake of the 1990 blockbuster starring Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar attempts a remake of the original made by his father. Johar, more known for his melodramatic and housewife-ish movies, had created a type-casted genre for himself and its no wonder that critics received the movie with apprehension prior to its release. Loaded violence, street crime and raw aggression is the last thing that anyone would associate Johar with and he has successfully managed to live up to the original movie's reputation. I haven't personally seen the original but word has it that the remake is different in many aspects and reaping largest-ever box office collections in India is certain proof. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Roshan) was brought up by his father to be noble and wise and not give in to filth and greed of the streets. His father was wrongly framed and killed tortuously in broad daylight by Kancha Cheena (Dutt) the local gangster of the village of Mandwa. Seething with anger and vowing revenge, a young Vijay arrives on the beaches of Mumbai, ready to start a new life. He gets sucked into street crime and joins hands with Rauf Lala (Kapoor) a human-trafficker, Mumbai's largest drug lord and Kancha's enemy. Here he meets his love Kaali (Chopra) and befriends a police officer who agrees to help him take down Kancha once and for all. The movie has power and bucket-loads of aggression in every passing moment which gives you regular andrenaline rushes. Sure, there are up and downs but that is a part and parcel of making a commercial Bollywood movie. The unwanted dance sequences are slow and the family drama is like the garnishing on food; unwanted but still makes it look good. Roshan and company have put on a fabulous show and Dutt has fulfilled the role of an over-the-top villain with finesse. The movie has superbly incorporated religion, aggression, power and drama in its backdrop to make it highly entertaining and worth the 3 hours it demands. Yes loads of scenes can be simply sliced away to make it faster and better, but that's Bollywood!

Thumbs up: Performance, the character that the movie presents itself with

Thumbs down: Slow and unwanted scenes break the flow

Rating: 8.3/10

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Rob Lowe, Seth Green, Verne Troyer, Mindy Sterling

James Bond, oops, Austin Powers (Myers) returns once again but the element that makes him the man that he is, has gone missing. Austin Powers has lost his mojo, Austin Powers has lost his libido, Austin Powers has lost his manhood and hence Austin Powers cannot shag! That is very bad news for Mr. Powers and even worse news for the ladies. Dr. Evil (Myers) sent his secret agent, Fat Bastard (Myers) back to 1969 to steal Mr. Powers' man-ly elements whilst he remained frozen during that time. Powers in the year 1999 suddenly realises that something from within him is gone missing and soon learns of Evil's theft in the past. He too decides to go back to 1969 to get his vital organs back in order and also prevent Dr. Evil from bringing down Washington D.C. with a laser beam perched atop the Moon. Along with his oh-so-sexy accomplice, Felicity Shagwell (Graham), Powers must save the world and bring himself back to the ladies. If you think Mike Myers outdid himself with his dual roles of Evil and Powers, he just raised the bar with a third performance of Fat Bastard. The entertainment quotient of the series is ever increasing with the humour, satire and jokes being fabulous and fun. The abrupt ending of Miss Kensington from the previous movie and the absence of Mrs. Kensington in 1969 seems out of place, but who cares really?

Thumbs up: Mike Myers as always

Thumbs down: Awkward plot line

Rating: 7.5/10

Chinatown (1974)

Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama/Thriller

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Fayne Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez

A classic, multiple award winning and well-renowned movie, Chinatown is based upon the murder of Hollis Mulwray, an engineer at the Los Angeles water department. The government wants to build a dam to provide water to the city which Mulwray is against building. His wife Evelyn Mulwray hires private investigator J.J. 'Jack' Gittes (Nicholson) to investigate on her husbands affair with another woman. Jack unveils the affair and plasters it across newspapers and subsequently Holwray is found dead near a reservoir with Gittes suspecting it to be murder. With a case of mistaken identities and a huge puzzle that just does not add up, Gittes needs to get to the bottom of Mulwray's murder. SPOILER ALERT, the following lines are concerned with the movies climax. The movie progresses in a superb manner, gaining a lot of attention to the point that you are itching to know how the plot unveils. The biggest let down is the final climax which does not come open as any other murder mystery would. Its quite dramatic, different from the approach of the greater part of the movie and personally I don't think it suits the character of Gittes. It does not believe in a happy ending and may not appeal to all, at least not to me. For once perhaps if the movie followed a more conventional approach it might have been better but at the same time lets not forget all the accolades the movie has garnered and assume that it is right in its own part. Jack Nicholson has delivered in an amazing manner and the movie constantly reminds one of the famous Perry Mason series of murder mystery novels and the movie, along with Gittes' character, seem to be inspired from there although there is no official confirmation of it. The best bet you got for a murder mystery with the film noir feel to it.

Thumbs up: Jack Nicholson, amazing plot and mystery

Thumbs down: Unconventional climax contrary to the movies approach

Rating: 8.0/10