The Adjustment Bureau

Movie Name: The Adjustment Bureau
Genre: Romance, Drama, Slice of life
Language: English

I am die-hard fan of Matt Damon. I was waiting for this movie with great enthusiasm. The plot made a impression that movie will have some good action plot. I liked Matt in Bourne series and I was expecting the same with this movie also.

The story follows a person who is running for the senator seat but on the last moment loses due to some scandal he caused in his youth. On the same day he meets up with a girl who lefts a great impression on him. Later he is captured by some people who tells him that he cannot be with the girl. They are mysterious organization with great powers who adjust people’s life according to Chairman’s plan, so the movie name “Adjustment Bureau”. Then story forwards to 3 more years. He meets the girl again, falls in love. But later leaves her alone for the fear of girl’s future as threatened by Adjustment Bureau. Story again forwards 11 months. This time our hero fights against all odds to get the girl of his dreams. The story ends with a happy note. The movie reminded me about the greater power which plans for our life. We sometimes call it fate, destiny or God. The movie is all about how one can try his hardest to change his fate and even the supreme power will help him to attain the same.

Once again Matt has impressed me with his great acting skills. He is so natural in expressing different emotions. The leading lady, Emily Blunt is gracious in her role. Her scene where she is performing on stage is great. The strong point of the movie is story line. It makes you keep wondering about the events that may happen. Supernatural element is also available in the movie which makes it different from other action movie. The movie can easily be categorized as drama because it is not depicting fight with some enemy; it is depicting fight with destiny to fulfill one’s dream. The locations and picturisation are good. Camera work is impressive when showing the chase scene near the climax. I will recommend this movie as it carries hope to the individual and asks you to leave your inhibitions and fight against all odds to make your own path in the life.

My ratings are 4.0/5.0

Rango

Movie Name: Rango
Genre: Action, Drama, Animation
Language: English

I like Johnny Depp and all his different roles. I love animation movies. So “Rango” was like heavenly movie for me. And the greatest part was that it did not disappoint me a bit.

The plot follows the journey of a unnamed lizard who is left on a highway on dessert due to an accident. He travels to a village named Dirt in search of its destiny. There he gets his name “Rango” and becomes local hero and sheriff of the town by the sheer stroke of luck. The down is suffering from water shortage as somebody is stealing water. Rest of the movie follows Rango’s plight to find the thief of water and bring the prosperity back to the town.

The story is interesting and the animation amazing. On top of all this Depp’s exceptional voice has put life in the character Rango. Rango is not typical, out of the mill hero material. He is selfish, boastful and liar. But when the time of self-realization comes, he shows all the qualities of a true hero. The setup of Dirt town and its inhabitants is far different from Disney’s good looking characters. Yet the movies are funny and catchy. The sound effects are great. The movie may not interest younger kids but it will surely be liked by teenagers and adults alike. I will recommend the movie if you like goofiness of Depp, combined with some excellent animation movie.

My ratings are 4.5/5.0

Paul

Movie Name: Paul
Genre: Action, Drama, Comedy, Sci-fi
Language: English

I was not specifically looking for this movie as already various movies are available about aliens. But I made a decision to watch the movie due to the story writes Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I liked the story and the movie way more than other alien movies.

The movie is about two comic enthusiasts from England who travels to USA to visit Comic-con and travel across to the sites which are associated with aliens, such as Area 51. They meet “Paul”, a hitchhiking alien who was captured by human in 1950 in the way. He asks them to take him to some distinct place. Some government agents are following Paul to capture him. The whole movie is about chase to detain Paul. In the way they meet with variety of people, a father daughter duo who believes aliens are devil, some goofy agents, a woman who lived all her life proving existence of alien life. The movie reminds you E.T. but in the modern setting with much experience of human interactions. Paul smokes, curses and makes you laugh. He is an alien yet has all the human feelings of friendship, trust and loyalty. Paul makes you to fell in love with him instantly.

The acting is authentic by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But the highlight of the movie is alien “Paul”. Seth Rogen has done brilliant voice acting work as Paul. The locations and set-up are authentic and characters funny. Story is great with some good direction. The movie stands firmly against so many other fantasy movie released recently. If you are fed up with low lying aliens or anti human aliens than go watch this movie. It gives a different take on the alien hypothesis. The movie is funny and witty. It is a great comic drama.

My ratings are 4.0/5.0

Source Code

Movie Name: Source Code
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-fi
Language: English

Recently Jake Gyllenhaal has done some impressive work in the movies. Source Code can also be cited as one of them. The movie is all about his performance.

The story is about an Army captain who wakes up in a train to Chicago. He is in someone else body and after some time the train is destroyed in a bomb blast. Our hero wakes up again in some close bunker type of place where he is informed about some Army project “Source Code” which helps him to live as another person’s last 8 minutes of life which died in a bomb blast. The government is trying to find the bomber with the project to avoid another blast as the first one was just an indication. In due course, hero learns that he is also dead and being used in the project as his mind is still functioning. Rest of the movie is about various trips to the past and living the same moments again to find the bomber. During the mission hero falls in love with a fellow passenger and gains the will to live on. The movie ends with a happy note with a different explanation for future – present - past analogy.

The movie reminds me “Déjà vu” where Denzal Washingon tries the same with similar machine. The freshness is achieved as Jake can relive only the last 8 minutes of some person’s life. So he tries to utilize the same in various ways. The story is bounding but a bit difficult to grasp even for science fiction fans. The cinematography is great. Jake has emerged as excellent actor with the movie. There is nothing much to do for other actors. The movie is short and interesting but not entirely innovative, yet a must for science fiction fans.

My ratings are 3.5/5.0

Seconds Apart

Movie Name: Seconds Apart
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Language: English

I was just checking the new releases when I came across this movie. I watched it for a change despite the fact that I am not much passionate about horror/ thriller films.

The story revolves around twin brother Seth and Jonah. They live with their loving and caring parents. Unknown to others, they have psychic abilities and use that power to make people suicide and video graph the dying experience. One detective who has lost his wife in a fire incident suspects the brothers. The differences between brothers become evident when one of them fells for his school mate. The other one (Seth) is not able to grasp the loneliness and tries his best to separate them. The movie ends when both the brothers are happy experiencing their own death after facing the truth about their birth and life.

The story is captivating but somehow the characters and not well developed. Orlando Jones who is portraying the detective shares more screen space without any usage of the screen time in development of plot. Entin brothers, Gary and Edmund have done well but I personally liked Gary Entin in the role of Seth. He is possessive, aggressive and lonely which is depicted well by Gary with expressions. The music and scenes are impressionable. It was a good thriller with fresh storyline. There are not much special effects used as fear is developed with the plot in the mind of viewers. It is a good watch but not for weak hearted people.

My ratings are 3.0/5.0

X Men - First Class

Movie Name: X Men - First Class
Genre: Action, Drama
Language: English

I was waiting for this movie from the time I heard about it. I am avid fan of X-Men franchise, so I went to watch it on the day it was released. It was once again great fun watching X Men movie.

This time story begins from the points where various child mutants start to find their powers. Two of them are Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. The two of them are born on different continents in different conditions. One (Erik) is held hostage by Nazi camp for experimenting his magnetic powers while the other (Charles) enjoys a life of affluence. The movie follows the life of the two persons who meet and befriends. They later become estrange due to differences of opinions. Erik feels that humanity will never accept mutants while Charles wants to live with humans in harmony. There are some other mutants also which are divided among two different teams (against humans and with humans). The end of the movie marks the beginning of X Men. This movie is a must for X Men fans as it gives you more insight about the greatest mutants of all time Professor X (Charles) and Magneto (Erik).

The story is great and so as the acting. James McAvory and Michael Fassbender have done excellent work portraying young Charles and Erik. James has displayed the calmness of Professor X and Eric has displayed the aggression of Magneto. Kevin Bacon has done remarkable well as main antagonist Sebastian Shaw despite the difference in physical appearance to the comic character. Other actors have also done well. The story never fell apart despite the various tracks going on parallel. The background music was good. The most important aspect was action sequences. The movie will not fall under pure action category but the action scenes are good and the locations are genuine. The movie has intertwined history with fiction in such a way that it has become realistic. I am not with the belief that this one was the best among X Men movies, yet I believe that it has again created a standard for the next movie in the series. It does not dwell upon action sequences only, the strength of the movie is acting and the character portrayal. It will rank top among action drama movies. This is a must for all movie fans whether one is fan of X Men o not.

My ratings are 4.0/5.0

A Little Thing Called Love

Movie Name: A Little Thing Called Love
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Language: Thai

I like Asian movies and I am fond of Romantic Comedy genre. So this movie was like a little gate to short lived happiness for me.

The story is about is girl in high school who is not very beautiful or intelligent. She falls for the hottest guy in the school and tries to improve herself to get his attention. She succeeds in improving her looks, academics and extra-curricular activities but still not able to get the boy to love her back. Then there is entry of another boy who woos the girl. The story ends on a happy note but with some delay. The story is pretty predictable and cliché. Yet it is funny and enjoyable in its own course.

The music was okay, nothing great as expected from such movie. As I watched it with subtitles I cannot comment much on dialogues. But there were not many dramatic ones so the movie maintained realistic tone. The acting was good by the protagonist girl played by Pimchanok. She successfully displayed the plight of a girl who is not pretty and competing against the popular girls to gain attention of her loved one. Mario has done okay as he had nothing much to express except looking good. No one else has done any spectacular work. This movie does not give you anything new but if you like light romantic movie with some comic elements; you can give it a try.

My ratings are 3.0/5.0