Fantastic 4 Rise of the Silver Surfer - Good fun.

Genre : Superhero

Rating : 5.5 / 10

For all those who like super heroes and fantasy films, this is worth a watch. The first film was also almost like this , a timepass fare. The story is good, the execution is great. You can always count on the special effects to be great and this movie doesnt dissapoint. Also, it has a quirky funny tinge to it, with the banter between The Thing and Human Torch.

The story is like this: An alien , SILVER SURFER comes to EARTH with a mission to prepare it to be destroyed by its Master. He causes great ecological imbalances throughout the world through his Drilling jobs towards the core of the earth. Meanwhile, one such incidence of a storm spoils Mr.Fantastic and Invisible Woman's marriage! Then Mr. Fantastic is recruited by the US defense force to create a machine to track this Silver Surfer who has immense power. Also, due to some imbalances , somehow by the grace of the Devil!!! - Victor Von Doom - who was frozen in the first movie - gets up from his encaged slumber. He comes back with a mission to team up with Siver Surfer and rule the world. God knows how he manages to get all his stuff back and then convinces the US defense commander to beleive that he is better than Mr. Fantastic and god knows why does the commander always think the fanatastic four are freaks and should be kept out. Anyways, Mr. Fantastic finds out a way to dismantel the Surfer from the source of his incredible power and save the world. Victor Von Doom has different plans which leads to a rather tame ending. And yes the deadly duo, do get married eventualy!

The spoilers are that the film doesnt have enuff action sequences and some twists are too predictable. Also, when I go to a super hero movie, I want the bad guys to be really really bad with no room for compassion for anything and then the super hero should thrash him silly!!it doesnt happen here.Biggest dissapointment is they somehow make the biggest star in the film "JESSICA ALBA" look bad!!! But, the execution of all the sequences are top class. What I love about these films is not the story, its just how the conceptualise things which are impossible in this real world and make them amazingly real in reel. I suggest if you have to see this film, watch it on big screen. Its good fun. Enjoy.

In Good Company

Ed: Originally posted on March 22, 2005 - here.

Wonder If any of you have ever heard of this Movie; nice one! I just chanced upon it on the Movie Server and thought why not!! But it really turned out to be a fantastic flick ... and had a great message in it ... what's more is that what it said is what I myself have been feeling for the past few days. Here's the link

http://www.ingoodcompanymovie.com/

Its about this 52 year old salesman Dan Foreman(Dennis Quad) who works for a sports magazine but suddenly finds himself demoted and being 'bossed' over by a 26 year old Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) when the magazine is taken over by a another company. At first this new exec is all booming with ideas about the company's new 'synergy' strategy. 'Synergy' is shown as some shitty management jargon which is far from the company's real-life business. While during the movie Dan has to lay off his old buddies while not agreeing with the company's new policies and has a hard time; the end makes things different. Dan cracks a big account by making a wonderous sales pitch ignoring the 'synergy' and selling just his magazine!!

And when Dan and Carter are coming back form this deal Carter realizes that Dan is able to make his sales pitch not because he has some management jargon or big marketing funda with him but just because Dan believes in his stuff!!

Carter: "I... You actually believe in this stuff huh!"
Dan: "Of course I do - why else do you think would I do it!"

Finally the company is sold back to its old owners and Dan is the Boss again while Carter looses his new fangled corporate job. Dan offers Carter a job as his assistant. And this is what Carter tells him - "Well Dan! I really appreciate that....but I don't know what I want to do with my life, I know that I want it to mean something to me as this thing means something to you!"

That's a lesson buddy!! I too am a firm believer in the fact that one succeeds doing what he/she loves and believes in; not because some B-School or some management guru gives a new potion or a new strategy which we have mugged up by heart. Business runs on courage, confidence and passion!! And no strategy can substitute for them.

New M.B.A.'s (like me?) who think that they can do great business for any company that pays them a fat paycheck are greatly mistaken! Probably an uneducated Gujju like Dhirubhai was much better at creating wealth than a whole lot of us who do little more than get a fat paycheck and deliver lots of BS in return for it to our company . . .

All MBA's reading this stuff!! Think! Think Hard!! Are you doing what you love to do? And are you delivering value - real value; no jargon - to your company?? If not!! Find out the bug that itches you the most and get bitten by it!! Do what you believe in - I am sure you'll do it much better than something that you don't !

Disclaimer: I don't mean to say that an MBA is no good at all - in fact you can scroll down a few posts to check out 'MBA Helps!'. And mind you, all big corporates need MBAs to run their business. But mere education without understanding and most importantly 'belief' in the business will lead us nowhere!

Wild Strawberries - Poignant

This is the first and only Ingmar Bergman movie I have seen and you can see why he commands such great respect in the world of films. This movie is in Swedish. It was made in 1957 and is one of the showcase films of that era.

The story is about this old man called Proffesor Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom - whos a veteran Swedish Director himself - he is just amazing). The movie starts with a nightmare. Proffesor Isak sees his own death. He wakes up sweating and immediately starts packing for his journey. He is supposed to go to Lund from Stockholm to get an honourary degree from Lund University. He is an impossible man, who everyone fear. He's also alone. He travles with his daughter in law who loathes him. During the journey he meets a quarreling couple, a girl travelling with her fiance and another guy who loves him. They tag along. Prof. Isak in between goes to his childhood home and also to meet his mother.

During the relationships he dreams and hallucinates about many incidents in his life. His introspection brings him happiness and grief. He dreams of the girl he loved, about his wife and defining moments in his life. I think he wonders what if something was different. How his life would have turned out. This sour old man at the twilight of his life looks back and wonders if its too late to change. In the fellow passengers he sees his life. He realises how he had pushed everyone in his life away from himself. Even his wife.

Bergman uses his camera like a palette and in that black and white motion picture you can almost see colour. This movie is not for everyone, certainly not for the masses. The picturisation gives it a weird dreamy look and the black and white hues give it a haunting one. I enjoyed this film, but more than that it somehow told me that there much more in life than to achieve self set goals and how lonely do you get when you are so self centred. You can call it an ART film, coz Bergman works like an artist.

Don - revisited - lackluster but not stale

Don ko remake karna naamumkin nahi, but mushkil zaroor hai....

Let me start by saying it's not a bad fare at all. In fact you would only feel let down because you would keep comparing this film with the original. And that's bound to happen. For me even more so, because I saw the original and the duplicate on the same day.

Shahrukh tries his best, but fails to emulate Amitabh's suave, sophisticated panache. In fact his proclivity to overact consumes him. Shahrukh looks horrible as well - except the long shots. DON from the cold, calm, composed character is converted to a hyperactive, over-expressive and devilish character, which breaks the traditional mould of a DON. I don't mean to imply it is bad, but it just doesn't suit a DON. It suits more a BAD-MAN ala Gulshan Grover, with the hangover of BOND, James Bond.

About the handling of story, I am a disappointed with one of my favourite Directors - Farhan Akhtar. He has definitely not done justice to the story. In fact in some cases he hasn't explained what is happening in the story and a person who wouldn't have seen the old film would be lost. Farhan relies on the old fare completely. Yes, it is shot very stylishly but all characters except the DON are underplayed.

Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal would feel let down because they would have expected a little more when they would have signed the film. MAIN HOON DON song and amazing AAJ KI RAAT, are 2 show stealers. The 2 re-mixes are strictly OK.

The problem with the old DON was that it was full of clichés (but that was the norm of the era) and the new DON is that it fails because it tries to make those clichés - real. Yes, it has to fall back on super-human and flamboyant stunts but that's understandable.

CRIMSON TIDE

This movie is related to US Submarine activities during a period of instability in Russia. This Hollywood submarine movie is starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackmann. This movie is directed by Tony Scott.

The plot of movie reflects the overall view of the actions of US submarine against the Russia during a period of instability in Russia. These actions are regarding the launch of Nuclear Missile against the Russia. Here Denzy had very good and strategic knowledge of the US military, but no practical experience. He had been selected as the XO by the captain ‘Hackmann’ of the US Nuclear strategic missile submarine (Sorry, I forgot the name of the same). Then during the sea voyage, some problem occurs with radio and message doesn’t get confirmed.. msg was all about the launch of nuclear missile……..a big conundrum…………XO goes against Captain’s Decision…………Mess……….Fight………Attack……..Blow…..…Mutiny charged……..Fight ………Missile on the verge of Launch………Stopped…………Saved Billions of lives……A very good Flow….. Don’t Miss it…

It rokz..… Believe me it’s a very good movie, and the action by Denzy and his acting is fantastic. This is the best movie to reload the fundamentals of Organization Behavior. You will get to see application of power, politics, chain of command, team work and trade off between lots of unfortunate conditions. Direction is awesome, whole movie is awesome. This movie shows that coupling of strategic thinking and practical experience can yield best output; single should not be glorified. This movie is full of the management fundamentals.

So watch this movie.. Fully recommended to all and especially to management grads…..... I do not believe in rating the film on one's own perspective.. sorry for that...Cheersss!!!!!

Turtles Can Fly -- Powerful - A must see

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Starring: Soran Ebrahim, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Avaz Latif, and Hiresh Feysal Rahman

Stunning, Brilliant, Moving is how many have described this movie and now I have joined their league. Its an Iraq-Iran co-production made by Iranian Director Bahman Ghobadi. Few movies actually can delight and disturb you at the same time, and this movie does just that. If you havent had a taste of international movies yet, this would be a great place to start.

Set at the Turkey border of Iraq - Kurdistan, this movie traces the path of a village cum refugee camp from a few days before the American invasion of Iraq, to the ultimate fall of Saddam Hussain. Its got nothing to do with the actual war, yet everything to do with it! This is a story of the children of that place. There is a child leader called Satellite whose a cable guy. He is called Satellite because he is famous for installing satellites in villages. He is kind of a contractor. He has a whole bunch of children - localites as well as refugees, for whom he finds contractual labour everyday. This labour is majorly defussing LandMines in peoples fields - laid down by American, Iraqi, Russians etc and then sell them to the arms dealer. He is a fair leader and takes great care of the other kids. He setups up a satellite in the village for the elders to watch all the banned channels and news channels - to get information on the impending war. Satellite falls in love with a small girl - a refugee who stays with her brother - whos lost both his hands when his parents were killed and his house was burnt down by militants. They also have an infant with them, which everyone believes to be their younger brother. The girl seems to be in perpetual mental torment. Satellite does his best to impress her thorughout the film, but she just wants to run away from the place. The Brother takes care of both of them even though he has a disability.

What happens when Americans invade Iraq? what is the condition of the people in the village during the war and the aftermath? what is the past of the girl and the infant? what happens to all these characters as the story unravels into one disturbing and powerful drama? These are the questions you would have to find out by actually watching this amazing film.

The child actors do such an amazing job that you start living their life, while watching this film. The cinematography and the screen play is of the highest order. The story is novel and the narration is brilliant. You are moved by not only the story, but also by the setting. What seems to be routine life to the children, would seem deplorable to you.

I recommend it to everyone. Its a must watch - it would certainly open your eyes to the gems that are made in other parts of the world.

Casino royale... Back to the Basics...

Rating : 6 / 10
In Brief:
Actions good, when there is action that is!!! the first chase scene is simply out of this world.. great work!
Bonds good, daniel craig looks good at times and ugly at others.. but is the most macho bond yet... good acting.. thumbs up.. he fits perfectly and is at ease...
bond girls.. first one mind blowing and short lived, the other one(eva green) great looking and a good match for mr.bond...
The plot is confusing and the movie is long..
sometimes it picks up pace, but most of the times just saunters away...
gadjets are minimal...
the vilians are good, n mean and are out to terrorize the world..
Bond is vulnerable and fights with his fists...
overall.. its a good film about 5 and half stars and half extra for daniel craig, who fits the bill...
but i still am not sure he is as good as pierce brosnan, who bought suave and sophistication to the character..
maybe craig is more the realistic, macho and vulnerable bond.. but bond is supposed to be superhuman n shud do unimaginable stunts, with loads of gadgets... Maybe they wanted to reinvent Bond and go back to the basics, but they shudnt tinker too much with his persona.. hope he comes back next time..

well, i suggest u watch this one.. bcos after all bond is bond.. and this movie did rock the box office.

final verdict... like the martini bond orders...this bond film is on the rocks.. it leaves u shaken but not stirred..
that bitter taste remains... eagerly awaiting the next film...

Iqbal - get a dream foryourself

IQBAL

RATING: *** 1/2 outta 5

What does one expect form a low-budget movie from Nagesh Kukunoor. Nothingmore than critical acclaim, some accolades from a certain A class audience.Well, what you get from Iqbal is much more. You'll see why..

Iqbal is the story of a young deaf-mute boy (Shreyas) from a village in South India. It is about Iqbal's dreams. Yes, for a change, this is not a hard-hitting and real life cinema. It is fantasy shown in a different light. Unlike big banner fantasies where things seem improbable, this one is fantastically woven in a thread of emotions,hapiness and dreams. Before one jumps into conclusions, Iqbal is not a sad,depressing movie. It is refreshing, feel-good cinema at its best.

Now back to the story. Iqbal stays with his parents and his sister. His dad,Anwar(well portrayed by Anand Bannerjee of Munnabhai fame) is a poor farmer,who has a strong dislike for cricket. He believes that interest in such sports brings about laziness and a lax working environment amongst Indians which affects the economy and the fate of millions of farmers(He's correct,ain't he!!!!!). Her wife(Dunno her name, but still very a very commendableactor), sister(Shweta, brilliant) and son Iqbal,however, are die-hard cricket fans and share Iqbal's dreams of donning the Indian cap as a premier fast bowler.

Iqbal faces a lotta problems both at home and outside. Firstly, he has to deal with the bureaucracy and red-tapism in the form of his coach,Guruji(Girish Karnad) at the academy, resulting in his removal from theacademy. Next, he finds an aging, drunkard Naseerudin Shah, who once played Ranji cricket. He wants Naseer to mentor him and help him in pursuing hisdreams. Naseer rehabilitates, coaches Iqbal and gets him a place in the Andhra team for Ranji, must against the wil of his father. Now, starts his real test. But, as people say, opportunity knocks only once and make thefullest of it, Iqbal takes Andhra team from doldrums to glory and wins himself the Indian cap. A simple yet a very well made movie.

About the characters: Shreyas is the show-stealer. You feel like laughing,crying, celebrating with him. A perfect example of actions being louder than words. The brother sister chemistry between Iqbal and his sis are eye-candy and adorable. Naseer, once again proves his mettle, questioning openly as to why is he ignored/restricted to lesser roles in the Bollywood circuit. This performance by him is of the highest calibre. Also, I think actresses from the industry must take a leaf out of the young Shweta in acting. This child artiste(not exactly achild artiste after you see the way she delivers dialogues) is surely making waves which will take her places. Girish Karnad marks his return on a sober note.

All in all, everyone has played his/her part exceedingly well. ALso, aspecial mention for Suhash Ghai, who has made the wisest decision of hislife in producing Iqbal. But Kukunoor is the man behind this success. His unique style of thinking is purely reflected in this movie. One expects alotta hullaballo and sympathy for a deaf-mute boy(ala BLACK), none of whichis shown in the movie. ALso, the fact that Iqbal comes from a minority community and hence some communism, inclination, partiality could have been exploited. But Kukunoor sticks to the basics and gets his priorities right.As against other arty, small-budget capers, he avoids using the Queen's language and rigtly too, since it would have effaced the pastoral settingsto a large extent. ALso,the versatility of the man is reflected in Iqbal.After a series of light-hearted Hyd Blues and a serious 3 Deewarein, Iqbal brings the best of both worlds.

GO watch Iqbal, enjoy the movie, enjoy the game, get a dream foryourself!!!!

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom -Kachra, Get my Broom!

Rating: 2 outta 10.

Yeah,,, Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom, Stinking Kachra ( Garbage), Get my Broom! Its a mind numbing, torturous film and Shaad Ali has totally lost it. Thank god its just for 2 hours, but what a long time that seems. I remembered that famous line from a song, Poocho naa kaise maine rain bitaayi, jug jug jaise ek pal beeta !!!

Ok so the plot is like this. Abhishek urf Ricky meets Preity urf Alvira at a railway station. They have come there to receive someone, but the train is late. Both of them sit on the same table and start a conversation. Both fabricate their love stories to kill time and the first hour langours along with their over the top and ridiculously pathetic stories. By the time the train comes, both have fallen in love with each other, but the problem is both lie to each other that they are engaged, by choice. In the second half, they find a way to meet each other and bore the audience to death. Yes, in the end, the misunderstandings are eliminated and they live happily ever after.

I interviewed Shaad Ali in my nightmare yesterday after watching the movie:

Viru: Shaad have you completely lost it?

Shaad: Yes, definitely. I lost my screws at the railway station.

Viru: Why was Amitabh and the title song inserted at every possible juncture in the movie?

Shaad: I had no script, how the hell was the movie supposed to run for 2 hours?

Viru: Why was everyone acting like crazy people (Abhishek over the top, Preity like a dumbo, Bobby like a moron)?

Shaad: Dunno why? I had told them all to be natural, thats it! Yeah, I did ask them to mimic me somtimes.

Viru: Who did the pityful choreography?

Shaad: Whats choreography?

Viru: And what about the forced, juvenile comedy dialogues? Who wrote them?

Shaad: My son ofcourse. I am mighty proud of him. After all juggling 3rd standard studies and writing dialogues is tough work.

Viru: What about the music? Only one good song and that also after having such good music directors like Shankar , Ehsaan, loy?

Shaad: I dont know whats wrong with songs, I love them.After all I did pay them 5 rupees each and did promise them first copy of this films DVD to them. Not to mention free trail show tickets.

Viru: Finally, did you enjoy making this film? Coz I sure didnt watching it!!!

Shaad: Yes, I had a blast of my life. If I die tomm, I would be satisfied.

Viru: Why tomm? Kal ka kaam aaj karo... And then I picked up the REEL of this movie and pounded his head with it.

S.Y.S - save your souls and stay away from the theaters while this flick is on. Coz maybe one day u wont have an alternative and be tempted to eat the forbidden apple!

KANK - the disaster

Rating : 2 and half / 10 - for the songs.(MITWA)

What 'K'indd'A' 'N'onsensical 'K'rap???

Ok, the title may have set the mood. So I would like to change it. Lets start with something positive about this 3:30 hour torture. OK, lets start. It's coming. Wait 2 minutes. There has to be something. No wait, yes. Oops no. Nothing. Maybe later when I do get it from the recesses of my benevolence. I would like to ask Karan Johar why did he make this film? How long does his script run normally? These are very relevant questions when you see that every emotion, every scene, every dialogue seems to be picked up from 2 of his earlier movies and directly placed into the movie. I think his script would have been 2 sentences long maximum and then he must have just watched his earlier films. He has actually put in more effort in deciding color combinations for costumes. In almost every scene you see a person wearing Black and red and costumes matching each other, the walls of the rooms, the table, the building,the trees etc etc. Onto the movie.

From the initial 15 minutes you gather that this film is all about lecture and to elicit Karan's deep insight into relationships. You almost puke when Shahrukh (overacting in every scene – damn frustrated) sits with Rani on a bench and starts giving lecture 5 minutes before Rani's wedding. You cannot fathom the reason for Rani marrying Abhishek in the first place. If she has so many doubts why does she agree? The reason for this is the same old sob story of poor girl being raised up by Abhishek's father; I think you would have put 2 and 2 together. Maybe she is desperate. Yeah definitely. But then she refuses to respond to any of Abhishek's advances in the whole film. Dunno whats her problem dude. So back to the bench, Shahrukh himself married and a successful football player reads Rani's inner feelings instantaneously and gives her the usual Mumbo-Jumbo about Love. SRK should be given a noble price for spreading LOVE and constipated expressions.!!!

Priety is SRK's successful wife, leading a Women's Magazine. Now, from the start you can't understand why the hell did SRK marry Priety and have a kid when he doesn't care about them at all. His injury is justification enough for him to go out philandering and having an illicit relationship with Rani, who in turn god knows why, is intent on betraying Abhishek who is an ideal husband. So SRK and Rani start flirting around and also keep their respective spouses interested!!! To cut a long story short, they reveal their affair to their spouses after a night of Love on their respective marriage anniversaries and after being caught by Amitabh, Abhishek's father, which leads to his death :( sob sob. Yeah, you have no clue why when they make love, conveniently Priety and Abhishek are celebrating their respective anniversaries in a pub with their friends!!! Please let me know if you find out. Now, they are kicked out and they sacrifice their love and tell each other that their spouses have accepted them!! How dumb.

Again in the last scene you think why would Priety, who uptill the last scene hates the guts of SRK, suddenly thinks that Rani should go get her love!! It's beyond common sense, comprehension and me too. Yeah, you also get to see SRK again hobbling towards a train while Rani runs to catch up with him. Yeah, how original naa? And unbelievably they find each other and live happily ever after. Half of the movie is shot in and around the train station. You start thinking whether SRK is a T.C. when the film nears the interval.

Its one thing to make a film of 3:30 hours, but its totally different when it turns out to be utter crap. The audience actually laughs at all the plastic emotions and over the top acting. Towards the end people are so bored they clap when SRK is slapped. I have finally remembered some good stuff :)

The songs are good, topped by the amazing Mitwa (but you hope you were actually hearing it on a radio or your I-pods.) Another lovely part is the amazing babes Amitabh roams around with. Yeah that's about it. I for one am ruing the fact that I have wasted 90 RS of my mothers hard earned money in the revenue of this Nonsensical, farcical fare. I would like to sue KARAN for mental torture. I think I am not the same person I was before this movie.

I suggest get a soft copy, Burn it on a VCD, take it to Karan Johars house and actually burn the VCD in front of him. That would be some great fun with the Movie!

Salaam Namaste - More like Goodbye Daa!!

Rating : 3/10 - (1) Awesome locales (2) For the amazing sandwich and delicious caramel porpcorn.(3)Brilliant Javed
And yeah I forgot, Jugal Hansraj exists in the movie too!!! I take ½ back
Rating : 2 1/2 outta 10

"Salaam Namaste to all ", the radio booms. A beaming Preity : a medical student .India and ghar se faraar ladki ( urf Umber), hosts this "Mera Bharat Mahaan" radio show first thing in the Australian morning. She speaks in Hindi; her audience is Indian, but plays non-Hindi music! Yeah, there is also this special guest who's interviewed every morning (Yawn .. at 7). Saif : learning architecture for fathers sake and a Cooker!!,,oops Chef at a Nick of time Restaurant for His own sake (Urf Nikhil Arora oops Nick ), flaunts his superman underwear, hates people who refer to him as Nikhil arora and generally hates marriage, kids , commitment and anything that ties him up; You know , the wanna have fun whole life types!!! To get on with it, Nick is called as a special guest to this radio show and conveniently is found sleeping in his Undy, while Preity announces his name on her radio show. Her Malayali or Tamilian, some sort of Southy variety nincompoop boss informs her that Nick is not coming. And then starts this supposedly funny Character assassination, mental harassment of Nick on the show, by Humber( Her southy boss calls her that!!!).

Well, so long, so boring!! Then starts their story where they meet, greet, dance, get drunk, fall in love, propose to stay together, shift together in separate rooms, shift together in same room and become one!!! Soon enough they become three and Nick with his no Commitment kaa Bhongaa, splits the relationship. Which seems neither too painful to Umber nor to the Nanga-punga Nick. And then if you have seen "Nine months" its better you split, or you would witness the murder -- no murder's too subtle!! You would witness the brutal public assassination of a very sweet and funny Hugh Grant movie.

The setting is beautiful Australia. But what you get is a Beer without any fizz. In fact a Beer that's not even teensi weensi bit good. The director "whoever" cooks up a khichdi with vibrant colours and burns it. Even the songs fail to impress (except one song- My dil goes hmmmm). When you see the movie you try to wonder what is more irriating:
1) Saif's semi nude antics
2) Or his bawdy clothes
3) Or Preity's screaming
4) Or her dance with a bloated abdomen
5) Or the lack of sensitivity or soul or creativity in the film
6) Or the Radio company owner's blabber
7) Or Saif's own boss's accent
8) Or the forcible attempts on comedy.
9) Or the waste of Arshad Warsi ( in a subdued role)
10) Or the 'attempted' funny fights between Saif and Preity
11) Or the nonsensical try to jerk a tear or 2 from the audience's eyes
12) Or the plot and the very idea of making this film.

With regard to the performances: Saif hams his way to nudity!! The shallow character building doesn't help either.Preity tries to infuse some sensitivity, but fails due to the complete lack of it in the script itself. Arshad Warsi is wasted. Javed jaffery rocks in his cameo with his hilarious hinglish.

All in all, a waste of your time and hard earned money. Seriously, if you had high hopes, wrap them in a polythene and burn it. Don't throw it in the gutters haan, this might cause just another 26/7 !!! I wasn't surprised to see that this films grossed more than probably Iqbal, Hazaar Khawishein aisi combined.Standing ovation for the Indian audience!!! We like the glittering wrapping more than the gutless, vacuum filled interior. So, carry on if you think I am shallow!!!
Maybe its time to grow up and appreciate good cinema rather than such candy coated crap…..

Salaam Namaste, huh!!!More like Aadam,khushaamdid,Alvida,Goodbye n good riddance!!!

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

While downloading this movie from the hub network, my mind was occupied with very beautiful scenes of movie; obviously those were dreamed things because of title of movie- as at that moment I didn't know anything about the movie. However when I watched this movie, I found it other way round. I was startled as movie started, as there was nothing what I was expecting out of it; but there are lots of things that detest you from unwinding your seat belts. This movie is nothing but the autobiography of Dr John Nash. (Which I came to know later)

This movie is very interesting in the first half, but as it moves on it goes somewhat weird, if and only if you didn’t follow the previous part, so keep your eyes, ears and brains active while watching the movie. Certainly, it roles on the monotonous back so it becomes quite cumbersome to watch but don’t let your nerves loose; it’s a good movie.

This is a real story of a mathematician from US studying at Princeton University, Dr John Nash. This movie’s starting part shows the approach of his study since his college days. This guy used to work heavily on mathematics, for each and every thing he tried to go through mathematics. He said, “Classes will dull your mind & destroy the potential of authentic creativity”. (Please make a note of it). He had been focused on the governing dynamics throughout his career. He was so engrossed with his work that he got alienated from his fellows, as he always thought that their dances and sport can be cause for his distraction from experiments and studies, socially estranged. He wanted to publish the paper of his original idea, not the one which is already there. But he ends up doing work on Economics, through governing dynamics. To find the answer for how he ends up in economics, his authentic creativity, watch the movie.

Middle part of the movie is quite sluggish, so bear with that. Dr. Nash- believer in numbers, equations and logic; gets the Nobel Prize in 1994 (most coveted honor on this earth) for his theories. During his speech, at the prize ceremony, he gives credit to his lady-love (wife) and says that love is the only equation which is mysterious for him.

He is the man who came up with “Non-cooperative Game Theory”. This theory helped to develop equilibrium in non-cooperative environment; where amongst the players nobody knows what will be the outcome as there is no explicit or implicit binding between the players and their strategies. John has shown that under such constraints there is at least one possible static outcome. This theory is now known as “Nash Equilibrium” His theories have influenced global trade relations, national labor relations and even breakthroughs in evolutionary biology.

Watch this movie; only if you like this review.

The Train

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sayali Bhagat, Geeta Basra, Aseem Merchant

The Train is just another Indian movie which revolves around two things to catch the audience for the full length of the movie; emotions and skin. The Train, is a rip-off of the Clive Owen-Jennifer Aniston thriller Derailed. Emraan Hashmi is married to Sayali Bhagat and also has a daughter who is suffering from Diabetes since birth and needs to have a kidney transplant. The search for suitable donor is on and that requires more than a million.

Emraan works for an advertising agency in Thailand and is losing out control on his job. His assistant Charlie is the only character who got light moments in the film though for 2 minutes in totality. The movie starts as usual with a hot scene of in bathroom.

Emraan on his way to his once meets Geeta Basra in a train. Emraan who was losing out with his wife got a friend and Geeta also claims to be alone as her husband is busy in his work and is normally out of town. Then starts their love story, which in a short while moved to Emraan’s favorite act Kissing and then they search for a hotel for the night. Just as they were in the room a person (Aseem Merchant) came to rob them, and on taking their wallets he found that they were not husband wife and so he beats up Emraan and then raped Geeta.

Then begins the procedure of blackmailing and extortion. Geeta do not want this story to reach to her husband and so they did not complained to police. The film now revolves around how every move of Emraan to get rid of Aseem goes against him only. The blackmailer took Rs One Million (yes Rupees in Thailand) which Emraan and Sayali have saved for their daughter.

Although the movie follows the blueprint of the original film, it does so, at an almost snail-like pace, killing the audience slowly. The movie becomes so predictable that we 6 friends were watching it and each of knew what’s next.

Though I personally felt that newcomer Sayali Bhagat deserved a better movie to start with but Geeta Basra was more focused on make up then acting. Emraan is again good only for kissing which he does with both the actress in this movie.

2/10 (Skip it)

Scent of a Woman - Blows u away....

Rating: 9/10

If you want a detailed review of the movie and want to know its story, please go to Taru's Review of this movie posted earlier. http://moviereviewsanddiscussions.blogspot.com/2007/06/scent-of-woman.html

I will just put my reflections on the movie that is peerless. I have given it a 9 RATING, just because I live in the hope that I cud see a better movie. I watched it last night after reading Taru's review on the movie and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Taru for recommending this movie. Its gone straight to the top bracket of my Best Movie list.

I just wanted to see a glimse of this movie yesterday at night, but once I got a whiff of the movie I was transfixed. The movie from it's title seems to be a romantic story, but its nothing like that. Its about this Blind Old Wretched Man, who is a retired Lieutanant Colonel played by AL PACINO, who can sense a woman by her scent. Its about fulfilling his final wishes before he dies( he plans to blow his brains out after Living like a king over the weekend). But unfortunately he finds a Caretaker - a preparatory school student (Chris O'Donnell), who cares. I wont say much about the story, because I am practically begging you to see it!

Al Pacino got an Oscar for this performance, but I would say it was worth many more. Its absolutely unbelievable how realistic his performance is. And the character he plays is of an essentric, hard-ass, dirty talking, wretched old man, whos arrogant and difficult to talk to. This guys favourite thing in this world is a WOMAN and a distant second is a Ferari! Chris O'Donnell is endearing aswell, as a boy with a poor background and a boy with a clean conscience and intergrity.

There are 2 or 3 scenes in this movie which will have you spell bound - The attempted suiside and the finale. I bet this movie will be one of your most cherished ones. So grab it asap. Its a must watch

Life in a Metro

Hindi, Drama, 2007

Well, the movie is about Life in a Metropolitan city but it looks like it’s a life in a train because even the editor was so confused that he did not know whose love story to show when, as story was riding in so many coaches.

The movie is full of love stories; and there were so many that even script writer cannot count. Though I will not say that such things do not happen in India. But yes it was too much exaggerated version of everything. The film fails to show the psychology of single woman or that of a married lady who is not satisfied with her husband.

The movie starts with Konkana Sen and Irfan Khan, the very first scene embraces every male out there in the theater especially those who came with a female; it was totally unwanted for when camera moved towards the Body of Konkana Sen. Though there were some light moments in the movie because of these two and trust me if the script would have focused around these two with only 90 minutes movieor so, it would have been a great movie to watch for.

The very next scene is that of Shilpa Shetty and Shiney Ahuja; though both are smart and they really looked great together but the story failed to explain the relationship between the two and nowhere was this mentioned that why Shiney a married man wants to go to Dubai for a job with Shilpa, a married lady.

Then comes the embarrassing scene number two, when 2 unknown artists are indulged in bed with lots of groan and then comments from the neighbor’s wife to her husband, and then starts a trail of how relationships are made in Big Cities. Lots and lots of extra-marital relationships.

The movie showcases some good things in the form of relationship between Konkana and Irfan. The duo of Shiney and Shilpa has also done some justice to the film. But the love story between Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali was shown as a chaste one initially but when an intrinsic scene between the two came up the movie lost out totally on moral grounds.

Kanghna Raunat has still a long way to go before taking such roles which require lot of emotions. Her cute face was not helping her in any way.
The music of the film is perhaps only good thing for the movie, the three guys popping up every now and then with their songs keep the rhythm going.

All in all it is a movie which has very little to boast of, the story was missing, the concept was missing. Though some individual performances helped the people to stick to their seats.
Don’t watch it with your parents or even girlfriend or wife, if you do not want to get embarrassed.

Rating 3/10

Ocean's Thirteen - Good, Clean Fun.

Rating: 6 / 10

This 6 rating is for OK types story, the fundu start cast, the style and execution of the movie by the director and the subtle humour. The plus point of this movie is that this movie stays true to the whole series. The underlying theme, the characters, the jokes, the style remains the same.

But, Alas the plot and the execution of the theft is not as intriguing and exciting as the first movie. Even the 2nd movie had a more interesting plot.In this movie the director depends more on style and jokes, because the plot is very simple, straightforward and predictable.

As you all know AL PACINO comes into the already glittering star-cast. But truly speaking, any other actor would have done, because he is not given a beefy role. Instead, he is the meekest of all the adversaries of Mr.Ocean(George Clooney) till date. He is conned and tricked quiet easily. Clooney and Pitt are cool as always, delivering one liners with panache. The others are cool aswell.

The plot is like this. Al Pacino does a partnership with One of the Ocean's eleven(old guy) and then tricks him out of the deal, after usurping his land. The Old guy gets a heart attack. The other 10 gather and they plan the revenge. And one by one they infiltrate Al's Casino and destroy his Opening Night and his EGO. They do it quiet easily, that's the sad part.

Overall, its worth a watch at the big screen. So go without big expectations and you will enjoy.

BRAVEHEART

Braveheart is an American 1995 historical action/drama produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the title role. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Randall Wallace (who also wrote the screenplay), Gibson portrays the historic Scottish figure of William Wallace who becomes the figurehead of the First War of Scottish Independence, opposed by Edward I of England (Patrick McGoohan) and abetted by Edward's daughter-in-law Princess Isabelle (Sophie Marceau) and the heir-apparent to the Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce (Angus MacFadyen).
I saw this movie around eight years back. I was having tyfoid at that time and was not able to prepare for my engineering entrance exams. In such a miserable condition, I lost all hope. But, one day by chance I saw this movie on TV. There were only handful of farmers of Scotland with no proper arms, against the full army of England. Inspite of all the odds Scots won under the leadership of William Wallace. I was so much inspired that I thought, if handful of farmers can beat the army of 50,000, then I can get the admission in one of the best colleges. And I simply got up and started studying back with increased enthusiasm and efficiency.

The best line I picked from the movie is “Your heart is born free!! Have the courage to follow it!!” . This movie is still the inspiration for me.

The movie is action packed, taking us back to 13th century. The battle of Stirling gives the first platform to William Wallace to become leader of Scotish rebellion against Britishers. While watching this scene, one can notice the oratory skills, convincing power, wit, shrewdness, planning and fighting skills of Wallace. The battle of Falkirk marks the downfall of Wallace and his following. But, along with downfall his fame spreads like fire and he becomes legend for centuries to come.

I will recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in history, action and dialogue delivery.

Shooter - Old Fashioned Timepass

Rating: 5 /10

Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg. Well, I dont think most of you must have heard aboutthe movie. When I was in Mumbai I did not bother to see this film in the theater, but this week it was released in Chennai, so I went over yesterday and I must say it was Total timepass, fultoo paisa vasool, though nothing special-unique.

It has no hi-fi gizmos, no animation, no techno-gimmickery; Just plain and simple, old fashion gun-bomb action. Yeah, that what makles it different in this era. Its the Rocky 1:First Blood Types, where the hero is chased by everyone, untill hero fights back and kills them all!

Mark Wahlberg is a shooter (for the US army) and can blow a head from about 2 miles away. He is an expert and he is sent on a covert operation in Africa. He does his job, but is left to fend for himself as the US forces leave him behind. He gets back and leaves the force, feeling betrayed and also, his friend(whos his watcher) dies in the mission. After a few years, some people from the government come in and tell him that someone is planning to assasinate the president. If he could plan out , How a shooter could pull off this job from 2miles away, they could get this guy. He falls prey to this Government Conspiracy and his plan is used top assasinate the president. Does the president die? What happens next? Well, he is chased by the whole of US force as he is blamed for the death. Now, he has to make a plan and take revenge for this elaborate set up. And he does that with style and aplomb.

Its a timepass fare which is entertaining. Mark Wahlberg, Micheal Pena and Danny Glover make a terrific trio and carry the movie on their shoulders. The director has done us all a great favor by going back to the gun weilding, bomb exploding machoism. Enjoy if you get a soft copy.

Euro Trip

Hey guys, excuse me for reviewing a bit old movies. This movie was released in FEB 2004. This movie goes on the same line like Van Wilder, What Woman Wants or Boat Trip; but cannot match any one. Director had made an attempt to incorporate best possible romantic comedy, however casting suits the character in best possible way. It’s just one and half hour movie, but if you are interested to watch then don’t buy DVD, get the pirated copy- that’s what it deserves.

It starts with college convocation ceremony, here we are introduced to college kids, who are striving to find mate for their life (may be because of lust or very unlikely love). Here hero (Scott Thomas) gets a clean chit from his babe (Fiona) and ends up loosing his college babe. Then comedy (so called) comes all the way to entertain you, nice scenes, indeed. Scott finds himself in mess…., meanwhile get in touch with one cyber friend (Mika). Duo gets tuned in very perfectly…, so they plan to visit. But again to the dismay of Scott, he makes mistake and considers Mika as a male and end up in disaster. First half of movie was really on good track, but second half couldn’t convince my mind.

Then Scott decides to come down to Berlin, Mika’s place. He gets accompanied by his friend Cooper and two other during the journey. Next part of the movie starts with journey from America to Berlin. During their journey they go through lots of ups and downs and all these things are blended with amazing casting, comedy and scenes. Because of some constraints they travel throughout the Europe to get down at Berlin. That’s why the name to movie is “EuroTrip”.

The last scene in Rome at Vatican City doesn’t worth watching; don’t miss it….. This movie finds the different jokes related to different countries and region in all best possible perspectives, but fails miserably. At some point director had pulled the things, but you cannot digest it; you need to gulp it… You will face lots of worthless sex japes one after other without any break, so have something while watching the movie (if you don’t have any other movie to watch)…So it’s in your hand, whether to watch it or not.

Scent of a Woman

There are two things that speak it all for the movie - 1. its name and 2. Al Pacino. Still I am making this effort to write a review about it! God knows why. May be because there need not be a reason for EVERYTHING you do in life. Or may be ‘because-I-want-to’ is reason enough. That’s what Al Pacino's character in this movie inspired me to do. So, I don’t care if all those visiting this page have already seen the movie, I would still write the review because I want to.

There are two people who make the movie revolve around them – Charlie (Chris O’Donnell) and Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino). Charlie is this poor boy studying in a school and wishing to get a scholarship. He comes across a situation in his life where he has to choose between two things. One is giving up on his friends to get the scholarship as promised by a professor and the other is – not doing that.

Charlie also wants some part-time work during the thanksgiving so he can have enough money to go home by the time Christmas arrives. He gets the work of an aide to a retired army officer, who is blind. The man is as quick-tempered as one can be. The man is Colonel Frank Slade. Charlie accompanies him to New York, not by choice of course. They travel business class, ride in a limousine, stay in a 5-star hotel and drink Jack Daniels. On thanks giving, they both go to or rather Charlie is taken to Colonel’s brother’s place. But it seems they are not very welcome there. There is a heated argument between Colonel and his brother’s son - Randy and it is here where Charlie comes to know how colonel lost his sight. What Randy tells is full of spite for Colonel, but one gets a fair picture. Here’s how, in Randy’s words – ‘Colonel was earmarked for promotion, but he likes to spit in everybody’s eye, so he was passed over. One day colonel and one of his friends were doing a grenade juggling act, after a local breakfast of fine drinks. One grenade got away and boom it went. The friend came out unscathed but Frank lost his sight.’ (I apologize for euphemizing the incident as told by Randy, because I want those who haven’t seen the movie to see it and feel the same fervor I did after hearing it.)

They both come back and Colonel tells Charlie the reason for his New York trip -
1. dine in an expensive restaurant, 2. make love to a terrific woman and 3. blow his head off with his army pistol. The name of the movie in fact derives from here when colonel says there’s nothing like the scent of a woman, and second comes, a distant one though, a Ferrari. They are in a restaurant when the scent tells him of a fine woman’s presence nearby, with whom he tangos all his worries away. (The tango itself is so captivating that many a times I have played the movie only to watch the dance.)

The next day colonel would not budge from his bed. Charlie had never seen him so low on energy and spirits. So he had to bribe him on a Ferrari ride to get him out. Colonel gets to drive it also. It is fun, the way he drives at 70 miles per hour and the way he talks the police officer into letting them go without a ticket. They come back and colonel is low again. He asks Charlie to get an aspirin and a pack of MonteCristo no.1 for him. Charlie goes but he has a strange feeling so he comes back halfway. He sees colonel dressed in his military uniform with the gun in his hand, ready to kill himself. It takes Charlie some fighting and some talking to stop colonel from doing so. Colonel asks him one reason why he should still be living, Charlie gives him two.

At school, the dean calls a meeting of the disciplinary committee to address the issue concerning the identity of some pranksters that was known only by Charlie and one of his rich-father’s-son friends. While the friend cowered under his father’s image, Charlie did what his conscience told him to. He kept the friends’ word even after the other friend gave it away. The authorities are mad at Charlie and are about to expel him when colonel Slade comes and opens their eyes to the fact that by expelling Charlie they are actually discouraging children from listening to their conscience. Well.. what can I say about the speech he delivers, only that its as compelling as my mom’s pep-talk to me… :)

So junta, go for this movie… satisfaction guaranteed. Besides that you get to watch one of the best actors giving one of his best performances.

You've Got Mail

Hey guys, since last couple of weeks I had been addicted to watch movies. This is the first summer in my life which I have been enjoying a lot by watching movies.

So here I am making an attempt to brief about the movie "You've Got Mail". While downloading this movie I was quite ambiguous with the name of movie. However I am very clear with it now. This movie was released in DEC 1998, a bit old but good one to see at least once.

This movie starts with conversation through mail of two individuals. These two individual didn't know each other and the fact that they have shown is that they are not discussing anything personal on mail; personal means name, profession, and family. Tom hanks (Joe Fox) and Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly) are two main characters who keeps the movie rolling. Here Kathleen owns the book store, inherited from her mom. On the other hand Fox plans to start new book store just opposite to former one. The latter one is big super book store and obviously it attracts the customers of Kathleen's store.

Meanwhile it affected the business of Kathleen, so she was very embarrassed with the problem. Duo had been shown mailing each other throughout the movie. They met each other but they didn't aware that whom they met is the same individual with whom they chat and mail. They mail each and everything happened with them and asks for solution from each other. Although they were enemy of each other in their business, Fox provides a problem solution and boosts her to stand up against the problem and face it with courage and so she does.

At one point they decide to meet but before meeting Fox come to know that the individual whom he had been mailing for long is nothing but Kathleen, so he didn't turn up as an opposite mailer but visits her as a Fox. However at the end she finds running her store as a fruitless activity, so she closes her store and fixes her mind with the anger for Fox; as if he ruined her life. Meanwhile both of them break up with their mates. After this Fox realizes that she is the best fit for him and he is in love with her and likely Kathleen feels; but still she is not aware that the dreamt individual is Fox. Now here comes the climax point, wherein Fox looks for the space in Kathleen's life, even though he knew that she hates him. Eventually his mail hits her inbox and they meet each other and hug...

This all justifies the tagline of the movie “Someone you pass on the street may already be the love of your life”

Movie is a bit monotonous but it makes you to be at your sit till it ends, that’s something special about this movie.

Gore unleashed !!!! - The Ordeal ...

Its been 6 months since I watched 'The Ordeal'.I am sure you haven't heard about this movie..There are couple of reasons ...One. Its a Belgian movie ...Two.You are weak hearted...Please leave this blog right away if you can't tolerate gore ..The gore depicted here however surpasses the one depicted in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ( A popular teen slasher) and other movies such as Hostel,IKWYDLS and likes..

Getting to the point...Did I like the movie ? No. I loved it...And not because I am a sickminded psycho but for the very reason that there is hardly any blood or scary faces in it ...A perfect lesson for the Bagdis and the Ramsays who churn out bucolic crap under the garb of horror movies....I watched it with subtitles and it still made a hell of an impact on me and my roomies who screwed me left right and centre when I brought that Belgian DVD.....

The Ordeal begins in an orthodox style where a musician who is supposed to perform on a Christmas eve leaves for Brussels in his car....He passes through a jungle and lo and behold ..His car breaks down....There starts the story although I won't disclose it completely.....A guy name Boris comes to find his goat....He offers the protagonist a shelter in an inn situated in a nearby village .....The protagonist yields and goes with Boris to meet the inn owner ....Bartel....The protagonist is happy and sleeps only to wake up next day to find his car completely thrashed ....Being very upset,he starts going to the village only to find people doing the unmentionable to a pig...Please dont abuse me ....This was not depicted graphically but the impact shown on protagonoists face was out of the world....These kind of things start happening and he starts to know the reality.......

If I disclose anything else...that will surely dilute your experience of watching this movie ......

My Recommendation : No glitzy actors, No Songs , No Swiss Alps...But a deep impact if you love horror movies....Do watch it ...if you can tolerate it ....After reading the excerpt if you are irritated .....don't dare to think of watching this movie...

***** I am not sure whether you will find a DVD of this movie in India ..

Shootout at Lokhandwala - Utter Crap!

Overall Rating : 2.5 / 10

Dear friends, sorry for being about a week late, but God was actually trying hard for me to miss this movie. You know, he always wants good for me, but I screwed it all up by going to the cinema on a weekday!

To say that the movie is bad, will be an understatment. Waste of good god-damn reels! And to think that it has got half the movie industry in it is an even bigger disgrace. Apoorva Lakhia has tried to out do his best work yet "Mumbai se Aaya mera Dost" but has failed. He could touch those lows, but god knows he tried.

Let me berate the movie now.

1) Direction : I would give him 5/5 on my Egg-O-meter for the mindless script, appaling screenplay and disgusting casting. (Tushar kapoor as a gun-weilding goon inflicting terror is not the worst goof up)

2) Songs : Thank god there were only 3 songs, because they were utter non-sense and yeah, this must be probably Ganesh's worst choreographed film in a long time.

3) Acting : Sanjay Dutt and Viviek play characters they are comfortable with. Nothing special to write about. Suneil shetty, Amitabh Bachchan, Arbaaz Khan are over the top. The other goons try hard to ape Mumbai Bhai's but fail miserably.Not at all convincing. They just over do the Bhai thing. Nobody acts like that. What was Diya Mirza doing as a reporter? They could have taken any Make-up Girl and she would have been more convincing. Special Mention for Tusshar Kapoor - He is hillarious guys. Simply hillarious. Imagine he sitting beside Suneil shetty and saying "Poora Bench Andar Daal Dunga" hahahahaha It was one of the most amazing scenes in History of cinema!

4) Dialogues: The less I talk about it the better.

5) Screenplay : Probably the worst of all. One shot the goons are threatening the heros and suddenly they are sitting in a bar enjoying Bar Dancer's pelvic thrusts!

And there is some mystery involved in the film aswell. Who the hell does Suniel shetty keep calling? Is it Sanjay Dutt's wife? That would explain the mindless divorce scene. And yeah one more, where do the Sardar's come in? Why? What was the need for bringing them in when they had no connection with the gangsters? Maybe to give Abhisheik Bachchan a cameo, so that they could add them to the promos!

People had told me that this film is OK. I can't understand how. This sentence is as Exaggerated
as the Strut of Viviek Oberoi, as the Mumbhaiya Lingo used, as the Gung Ho scenes. The film is Utter Crap. Don't agree???

Shud have been named Stay Outta Lokhandwala!

Pirates of the Carribean 3- At last ENDS!!!

Overall Rating : 5 /10


Frankly speaking, Pirates of the Carribean - At Worlds End is too long and boring. The first half nearly puts you to sleep with its drowzy pace. Though the second half is engaging, but overall this franchise turns to be the most dissapointing one of the lot. This is again in terms of the anticipation it had built.

The movie starts where the second movie ended, with everybody setting out to rescue Jack Sparrow from the worlds end. So they set out to get him back, wherein their actual motive is getting a pendant which Sparrow has to complete 9 elements possessed by 9 Pirate Captains( I hope its 9, I have already forgotten!!!). This is needed to set free the "Octopuss Head" villian's girlfriend and unleash havoc on the British. The story is long and winding and in between I gave up actually trying the understand what was happening. The plot is how to foil the British plan of total PIRATE annihilation, to get the "heart kept in the small chest" of our Octupuss head villian and get Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley married. Thats the basic pretext for making this long winding movie.

There are several problems with the movie. A long and confusing story line, a plethora of unwanted characters, an indecent proclivity of the director to extract humour from each and every scene and a lack of proper editing. Though it does has its pluses : Johnny Depp ( though sometimes you do feel they are trying too hard to get those laughs) , the background score is amazing, the special effects are truely spectacular and the final battle sequence is also engaging. But the director should have been more careful of not complicating the plot too much and not making a dish which he himself would find hard to swallow.

Go to the screens only if you are a die-hard fan of this franchise, Johnny depp or you have nothing else to do. The second half is definitely worth a watch.