Bombay Cinephile

The only movie releasing this week

My Mom's New Boyfriend

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Meg Ryan, Colin Hanks, Selma Blair

Direction: George Gallo Read More!

Monsters vs Aliens

Maybe multiplex-movie producers strike is a good thing – I probably wouldn’t have gone for Monsters vs. Aliens if things had been normal – it seemed more like a kiddie flick. And as I have consistently proven over the year on this blog, I can be quite erroneous in my assumptions !! You should definitely catch this one – with or without kids !!

It’s a DreamWorks animation (makers of Shrek and Kungfu Panda) and its in 3D !! The fact that its 3D is one of the better kept secrets about the movie – I had no clue about it till I walked into the movie. But it does give it that extra fun – things keep whizzing towards you. But even without the 3D coolness – it is still a very enjoyable movie.

Not much of a storyline. Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) is happily counting minutes till her marriage, when she happens to get hit by a mysterious meteorite and grows 50ft in size. The government locks her away deeming her a public hazard and Susan discovers that she is not the only 'monster' around – there are others locked in the ‘monster’ jail – who become her new friends. And when an Alien robot lands on the earth, the president takes a call to use the monsters to fight the robot. What happens next is for you to watch

The simplistic storyline is more than compensated by the humour and the comic characters. Each of the other monsters – Dr Cockroach, The Missing Link and BOB are hilarious as well as adorable. The wit is intelligent and BOB especially is the one to watch out. You could say it’s a funnier version of Kung Fu Panda – less cuteness and more jokes.

So take some time out from IPL matches and watch Monsters vs. Aliens this week …

Moves to look out for this week

Chowrasta - Crossroads of Love

Cast: Atul Kulkarni, Rupa Ganguly, Victor Bannerjee

Direction: Anjan Dutta

Monsters vs. Aliens

Cast (voices) : Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan, Kiefer Sutherland

Direction: Rob Letterman & Conrad Vernon

Dashavatar
(Hindi dubbing of Tamil original Dasavatharam)

Cast: Kamal Hassan (10), Asin, Mallika Sherawat

Direction: K.S. Ravikumar
Read More!

Confessions of a Shopalcoholic

Lack of new movies for the last two weeks meant that we are forced to watch movies which we would normally have passed by. Confessions of a Shopalcoholic was released two weeks back, but I watched it only yesterday. Not that it’s a particularly horrible movie – it is a typical chick flick – a romantic comedy. Just similar to the two hundred or so movies before it - but a nice feel-good movie all the same.

So the baseline for this movie is – if you have other things to do in this weekend, you can give Confessions of a Shopalcoholic a miss – you wont lose anything. However if you don’t have anything else to do (and dont mind watching a romantic comedy), then go for it. It will put you in a pleasant mood as happy-ending movies generally do.

The story - it is just a outer frame for the love story to develop. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is a fashion-label-obsessed, compulsive shopper. Soon she has run up mindboggling credit card bills. She changes jobs and finds herself in a journalist role in a financial magazine. And somehow, her articles dealing with personal finance from a shopping angle strike a chord with the audience. The love angle comes in the form of her editor Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy). What happens next doesn’t need much brainwork.

Performances are good all round – Isla Fisher has the right balance of cuteness and spunk to carry this role. The rest of the cast do not make a big impression, but do not appear out of place either. The script doesn’t lag much and there are no unnecessary songs. In short, there isn’t much wrong with the movie – but nothing remarkable either. So there you have it …

Fast & Furious

Apologies to everyone for not posting in a while - had gone home for a week. But then couldnt have been at a better time - since there are no new movies being released :)

Although confusingly titled, this is actually the 4th iteration of the Fast & Furious franchise – and dare say, they have finally gotten their act together. Most of the people I know (including myself) kinda enjoyed the original, but were totally put off by the sequels. This one gets back to the original formula with the original cast – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez – and has a semblance of a story line to link together the car chases.

Talking of which, Fast and Furious opens with a cool truck heist scene that sets the furious tone – Dom (Vin Diesel) & Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) along with a new crew are hijacking trucks for a living in the Dominican Republic. But almost immediately, actions moves back to California, where Letty gets murdered by a drug lord – and Dom swears revenge on her grave. Meanwhile Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) is back in the FBI on the trail of the same drug lord. So its but natural that their paths cross …

Dom and O’Connor continue off from the original movie – their interaction has the same combative yet humourous undertones. Vin Diesel delivers his punchlines with the same stoic face – but then you don’t goto this movie for the acting, do you ? You watch this movie for the races. Thankfully, director Justin Lin knows just how to – the races are superbly picturized, with that sensation of high speed all pervasive. The tunnel sequences, with its claustrophobic dimensions, add to the excitement and each of the car chases keep you on the edge of your seat.

The script nicely balances the car scenes with the story – and it feels more an action thriller rather than just a car video game – till the climax scene, where logic takes the back seat and its all engines revving and tires burning. I am rather partial to cars and bikes, so I really enjoyed the movie but I can say with confidence that anyone who found the original Fast and Furious an ok timepass would be pleasantly surprised with this one.