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Reviews
DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection (2010)
Came for Shazam, stayed for the rest.
DCEU brings out their first live-action Shazam! movie next year, and having watched a couple of animated movies on the said character, I wanted to know more. So I headed over to watching the first short of this showcase, and no doubt it was good. A proper origin with satisfactory story, starring Black Adam as the villain and Superman as a supporting character, Superman/Shazam! Return of Black Adam short was worth the watch. I only wish they made this into a feature-length animated movie.
Because of the first one, I lingered on to watch the remaining movies as well. Surprisingly, my favorite among them as The Spectre, a character I was totally unknown to, with Jonah Hex coming a close second. Both of these crossed my expectations in ways I never imagined, although you might need some info on Jonah Hex beforehand as no background is provided for him. (That doesn't mean you should watch the bad live-action version; watching a few episodes of Legends of Tomorrow where he features should suffice.)
The Green Arrow and Catwoman shorts weren't bad, but not as good compared to the other three. (Shout out to Neil McDonough who voiced Green Arrow / Oliver Queen in this short, and also played his nemesis Damien Darhk in the live action TV series, Arrow.)
All of these shorts were good, but if I were to rank them, it would be in the following order.
1. The Spectre
2. Jonah Hex
3. Superman/Shazam! Return of Black Adam
4. Catwoman
5. Green Arrow
I hope you enjoy this.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)
The finest movie so far in his career starring Salman Khan
Gone are the days when movies starring Salman Khan used to be script-less and only for the sake of "masala" entertainment. "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is the best movie of his entire stay in Bollywood so far. At least among the movies I've seen.
"Bajrangi Bhaijaan" comprises all the elements that should be in a quality movie. A superb storyline finds the protagonist, Shahida (Harshaali Malhotra), mute, traveling to Delhi, India for her treatment, getting off the train when she's about to head back to her home, Pakistan, to help a sheep stuck somewhere beside the halted train she was on. As soon as she's helped the animal out, the train begins to whistle and start moving. A fragile little six-year- old child, she fails to get on the train on time. The absence of Shahida is brought to notice to her mother only when she wakes up when the train has already traveled quite some distance. By that time, it was already too late. Shahida was alone in the darkness and she couldn't even cry for help.
The next morning she meets this man, Pawan Chaturvedi, a selfless follower of Lord Hanuman, who was fondly called "Bajrangi". Pawan interacts with this girl, gets emotionally attached to her, and is determined to get her back to home on all costs. But none of it would be easy. Travel to Pakistan was put a hold to for a month and the only way our "Bajrangi" could get our Pakistani friend back to her home was crossing the border illegally. What follows is a string of incidents that leaves the audience jaw- dropped. The pains Pawan had to bear just so he could get his dumb friend - he named her "Munni" as she could not say her actual name - is set to leave an impression on the viewers.
Pawan meets Chand Nawab, a Pakistani reporter, played brilliantly by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, before attempting to cross border, who agrees to help them. Impeccable performances put forth by Nawazuddin and Salman was surprisingly easily overshadowed by the débutante Harshali Malhotra, who, right from the beginning till the end, effortlessly managed to deliver all the expressions even the some of the A- listers of Bollywood fail to do - without nearly speaking a word! Kareena Kapoor was accurate in the otherwise limited screen space she got. Kabir Khan, the director, definitely managed to higher up his standard by a large margin since his lukewarm "Ek Tha Tiger".
And the climax of the movie! Oh God, the climax! I do not want to spoil anything but it will certainly leave you speechless. For you won't have anything to say - you'll be busy taking care of something else with your face. You'll know what I mean when you watch the movie. Just an advice to the female audience - do not put a lot of makeup on your face before going to watch this film. (I can already guess you can make out what I'm trying to say.)
The Social Network (2010)
Fincher proves why Facebook is and will always be without par.
David Fincher is back with yet again a tale blended with emotions, drama, tensions, and what movies of hype like this lack mostly - a story.
Based on Ben Mezrich's autobiographical book, "The Accidental Billionaires", the movie portrays the life and struggle of the CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. We are adequately exposed in parts of this movie the genius Zuckerberg bears; one can specially not forget the scene in which the Harvard Professor asks his question to the entire class to which Mark walks away, spluttering the answer all the way and the Professor just has to say, "that is correct."
"The Social Network" is loaded with fine performances, delightful narration with crisp dialogues, well-timed sequences, and a genius script. The movie is breathtakingly fast and one has to constantly keep his concentration focused at the film in order to keep the pace, which is one of the best aspects of the movie. The film has sufficient supply of good acting, with Jesse Eisenberg as the leading man. He does his job - playing and portraying Mark Zuckerberg - and he does it with utmost zeal, doing full justice to the role assigned to him. It is no surprise to the audience why he won the Oscar nomination; rather it is surprising why he did not get it. Andrew Garfield plays the role of Mark Zuckerberg's best friend-turned-foe-and-then-friends-again-at-the-end-of-the-day Eduardo Staverin, and perhaps David Fincher could never have found a role better for him. The role fits him and he fits the role perfectly. The "technically broke" "zillionaire" founder of Napster, Sean Parker, is played by Justin Timberlake. Timberlake is good with the role, and he delivers it effortlessly. (Remember the scene in which he instructs Eisenberg to say, "Sean Parker says, 'F**k you!'"?)
The sequences of the movie grasp you from the commencement of the movie when Mark gets a break-up from his girlfriend till the end in which the non-disclosure agreements are signed and the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is sending a Friend Request to her on Facebook and is constantly refreshing the page to see if she's accepted it. In between, there is a lot of drama and thrill and you just can't miss this one. It is one of the best movies ever made in Hollywood, arguably. Flawless and pleasing. It simply proves why Fincher is, and will always be, without par.