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Reviews
Mowgli (2018)
Closer to book and inspired from the inspiration of the book.
Okay so, Rudyard Kipling did not sit at edge of the forest and thought oh let me write a story about jungle. His book was based on a real man raised in jungle.
Second thing you don't know is production of this movie started before Disney live action. You're the reason capitalist bullies like Disney win.
Few things this movie did that Disney adaptation (both) did not even come close to.
1. Rescue and adoption of Mowgli by Bagheera and wold pack.
2. Mowgli's training and bond with his pack. Although I liked the motherly bond of Raksha in Favreau version better.
3. Mowgli's encounter with Kaa. The cinematography is astounding and the whole sequence is masterfully done.
4. Action and animal behavior. Yes. As far as realism goes for a movie with talking animals, this movie wins. The argument between Baloo and Bagheera is one of the best scenes in the movie. The way monkeys handle Mowgli in kidnapping is exactly how it would happen. He wouldn't be Mysa-ed to their boss.
5. Capturing Indian essence. The human side of Mowgli, although small was done tastefully.
6. Let's be honest, performance wise, this child actor was leagues ahead of Favreau 's.
People are giving this bad rating because they killed off a character and because omg SURPRISE... man is the villain here. Man has always been the villain when nature and animals are in question. Sport hunting is evil, and that's the message of this movie made clear in the very beginning.
Now, Disney jungle book is its own genre. If you wanna go for a sing along hunky dory version of this story. Go watch Disney. I hope they trample mufasa so bad you all need therapy after that.
If you prefer dark theme and a fresh take on an old classic. This one is 10/10 winner.
House of Cards: Chapter 70 (2018)
I love the low ratings of this season
They have nothing that they can pin point. Ask them if there's a plot hole, or something Claire cannot do because it's not in rule book.
This is getting good and better with every episode. Sadly this is the last season from what I hear but relish the power packed performances by every single cast member. I don't miss him at all by now.
Last but not the least, direction and writing is very very good. Some frames look like they're are shot straight out of some pulitzer prize winner's photograph.
To all, who think this is a feminist propaganda. Sure it is, a female lead with a number of female characters (good and bad) going against her is peak feminist propaganda.
House of Cards: Chapter 66 (2018)
Congratulations America, no one takes your votes seriously
Just go out there and read the comments on YouTube for the trailer of this show. It's filled with naysayers and negative Nancys.
Sure he (who shall not be named) was great with his acting but that doesn't mean Robin Wright was under his shade. With her taking the reigns on this show along with the same terrific cast and writers keep it strong and tight.
You still get great tense moments, you have all the backstabbers two faced parasites each playing their own game and more than anything else the direction and drama is on point.
Only negative I can point out is 'his' death comes out as sudden and abrupt. But true fans will get over it as the creators have trusted them to do so.
Also, no one is saying this so let me be the one, all you low raters are just sexist. Everything is as great as it was but you have a problem with woman replacing man from the lead.
Ozark (2017)
As you expected from a Netflix crime drama
We all know Bateman is a terrific performer but the rest of the cast does equally great. Writing is solid but wouldn't call it air tight. In mid of season two the show tries to make you care for some characters you don't really care about and maybe this worked for other viewers but not for me. Soundtrack and background score is well knit and goes well with the tone. What I love about this show is they try to give an arc to each character no matter how insignificant you think they are. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
Give it a try. Watch an entire season before judging it.
Death Note (2017)
Haven't seen the Anime? Good
Here's the thing with movies adapted from another source (books, foreign film, series, anime). Fans are always going to bicker as if the movie was exclusively made for them. I am one of those viewers who reads the books, loves it but keeps movie/series viewing experience running in parallel line.
Now this isn't any masterpiece but the low rating you're seeing is definitely not what it deserves. This is a good popcorn flick and if you view it as an independent film adapted from some great anime you're really going to enjoy it. The acting is good, style, vfx, tone of the film and editing is really decent. I've had some problem with the choice of soundtrack but that really depends on one's taste.
This is not a spoiler but there are certain choices that were made with the writing that I found was pure dumbness. This movie is 1 hour and 40 minutes long and a good amount of character development was cut down from our lead character and shown to us in a stylized montage. The lead actress's motivation and turning point is never explained. The character of Light's dad is also very unclear. These three major problems in writing are enough to prevent this movie from being in top shelf, thus, unfortunately this will go down as one enjoyable popcorn flick despite the efforts.
Willem Dafoe as Ryuk is excellent. I liked LAkieth Stanfield's acting as well. Others do a decent job too.
I hope people let go the pompous anime bickering and give it a chance.
The Mist (2017)
The Stephen King curse is strong with this one
While I was still mad at Netflix for canceling Sense 8, I thought I would give them a chance to bring me something close to stranger things. The mist was a perfect candidate for that, since I loved the movie.
There are no spoilers in this review and I am not going to ask you to NOT watch it. Sure go right into it.
Acting is passable Characters except for 1 or 2 are clichéd and boring. They completely mist the point of the movie. Relies a lot on jump scares and unnecessary gore like a B horror movie. Side plots are wasted. The editor of this whole series should go back to a good film school.
Now coming to the pros, or more like some reasons to watch if you leave your brains out.
CGI and prosthetics are good. Not GoT level great but good for series. Out of all characters I found the drug addict's story-line slightly interesting and worth following for few episodes. This show is more interesting if you're drunk or high!
IF you were looking for a masterpiece or something worth binge watching and recommending your friends, this isn't it.
Well Stephen, at least they got the movie right.
Person of Interest: B.S.O.D. (2016)
Best season opening.
After crazy amount of delay and sad news about show ending with this season we finally get our dose of thrill ride, and boy was it worth the wait. Let's dissect the first episode of this epic drama/thriller and i will try to give as less spoiler as possible. So consider yourself warned:
The opening starts with a cryptic, chilling shot of the machine team's base of operation. The car is missing, the team along with bear is missing and the place looks like it had been an arena of a conflict. Root opens the chapter taking us back to what happened after they were surrounded with machine in the briefcase in the season four last episode.
Following that is package of action, drama and a few funny one liners. Fusco has a new side mission, Root is being chased and so are Harold and Mr. Reese with the Machine. Their agenda is to reach the subway before the battery of the so called indestructible briefcase dies and decompress the machine's data and setting it free again.
If your heart is not made of stone, the final scene in season 4 where Machine and Harold have heart to heart interaction for the first time we see, made us have major feels. Well it's not the first time they (machine + Harold) have had such conversation and this time we get to witness that epic emotional moment. I say epic a lot.
Will they be able to bring the Machine back to life? Is root safe? Is Mr. Reese still in form? What is Harold's current state of mind? Watch this to get these answers.
However, the most important question - Where is Sameen? is still unanswered.
To all the fans I urge you all to start a campaign by hash tagging #Root4Machine on twitter to revive POI for season 6. Thank you.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
A movie we all need but don't deserve ...
It has been a rough week for DC fans, admit it. Almost every critic hasn't left any stone unturned to capsize this movie. Now before you move on to read this, let me tell you I am neither Marvel or DC fan. I don't read comics (I do read the history and bio of heroes). I am just a guy who loves a great movie.
Now, first things first, Batfleck totally works. I will go up to an extent of saying he's definitely better than Christian Bale. But, there's a difference in both characters. Both of these batmen are from different times and situations they face are totally different. So it's fair to say there will always be Christian Bale and Ben Affleck tussle between fans.
It goes without saying that all Zack Snyder films are a visual treat for audience. Larry Fong (cinematographer of 300 and Watchmen) has done absolutely wonderful job here. This movie isn't dark, by look not content. It's more like grey and it worked well for me. Zack Snyder took his time to re-establish character of Batman (which is completely revamped) which I thought was necessary since a lot has changed in nature of Batman. What most people are complaining about is how messed up this movie is, I don't agree at all. I think every thing was laid out well and tight. Yes there was no breathing room, there wasn't any light, humorous moment for audience to settle or ease in but that's the whole point.
I would explain the story line here without giving you any spoilers. Batman, whose parents died in childhood and is still helming Wayne corporation suffers huge personal loss due to Superman Vs Zod battle. He makes up his mind that a god like figure such as Superman, shouldn't exist and he sets out to straighten it out. Lex Luthor on the other hand has his own evil plan going on parallel to Batman's. Whereas Superman is having his own peril since citizens and government are demanding answers for his actions. The whole plot revolves around one question which is "Whether there should be a Superman?"
The Versus aspect between both heroes isn't just action based but there is a lot of drama involved too. There is hardly 15 minutes of time taken which people are referring to "Justice League Set up". Ben Affleck as Batman is great as I said earlier. Henry Cavill as Superman is same as he was in Man of Steel. Gal Gadot is IMO perfect for this role since she has proved her badassery in Fast and furious series.
Over all, I loved this movie. It is not a mess and definitely not as bad as critics or Marvel fans are saying. Fair warning, this isn't humour filled, brightly lit, CGI filled movie like Marvel. Sure there is CGI and humour but it is subtly added. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered and I give Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 8/10.
Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Review by Film maker
Now People who don't want to see spoilers must read only last paragraph of this review.
First of all never ever relate this movie to Independence day or Signs or any other alien movie. Because truth is most alien invasion movies have same plot. i.e. alien invades (always United States), a few people's stories are shown who are extra brave and among them some douche(s) are there and they all fight together and get victory at the end (some of them die too!)
This movie follows the same plot. First 15-20 minutes are given to character development which few people would find boring because everyone wants aliens to invade and the action to start. Then aliens invade and the intensity picks up every second. There are no Hi-Fi dog fights like star wars or Independence day. But the concept and the motive of alien invasion is quite digestive. Aliens come to conquer our planet for water (which is unique combination of H and O, only found in our planet).
A group of soldiers are given task to rescue survivors from police station in LA and they get caught into battle with aliens, and rest of the story is about how they get out and how they manage to kick alien's ass at the end.
What i liked about this movie is the convincing plot, the new design (never seen before) of alien ships and gadgets. The intense action and emotional sequences. Yup the climax of the movie (i think) is inspired from Matrix Revolution's war with machine sequence. But thats just OK you can say its a co incidence and talking about acting everyone has done a fine job. I wanted to see Michelle Rodrigues's given more important part to do after seeing her acting in S.W.A.T. and Resident Evil. The background score suits the intensity of the film. Some of you might find the runtime of ALMOST 2 hours a bit lengthy, but i think the every scene was necessary so the editor couldn't have done more justice to the film.
Anyways, don't listen to the people who have given this movie low rating(these people find movies like Inception boring he he, u don't believe me? go read their other reviews). Go watch it enjoy it. Savour the intensity of the movie. Have fun with the Gun fights and military action(war type). I give it 8 out of 10. Strongly Recommended for alien invasion and War movie fans.