Flags of our Fathers (2006)

Genre: War/Action/Drama/History/Biography

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, Neal McDonough, Thomas McCarthy

Can a single photograph change the course of world events? Not likely, but for US Marines Ira Hayes (Beach), Rene Gagnon (Bradford) and John Bradley (Phillepe) it certainly did. Set in WWII, USA is launching an attack on Japan and needs to capture the island of Iwo Jima. Most of the movie narrates the occurrences on the island and gradual advancement of the troops. The marines planted the US flag atop a mountain on the island and a photograph taken at the correct time reached the mainland and the press in no time. Three marines who survived from those that planted the flag were recalled back to USA to market war bonds in the effort to fund the countries war efforts. The US treasury was empty and dollar had lost any value it ever had. The country cannot borrow anymore and hence is trying to sell bonds to the citizens and hopes that the photograph along with the presence of the three marine officers would aid the sale. The movie comes from Clint Eastwood and anyone familiar with his recent movies would quickly identify the style to be very similar to its other movies. The movie is a directors delight and has a lot of appeal and insight. It smartly weaves multiple plot lines together without making a mess and keeping audience attention intact. One of the better war movies of this age and a superb watch.

Thumbs up: Phenomenal direction and acting

Thumbs down: The story lacks variation and seems to show the same thing over and over again

Rating: 7.6/10

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Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Martin Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Alexander Siddig

Recounting the heavily fictionalised tale of Balian of Ibelin (Bloom) a French blacksmith who journeys to Jerusalem after meeting his estranged father. He forgives his fathers mistakes and in return is knighted by him just before he dies. Balian arrives in Jerusalem at the court of King Baldwin IV(Norton) and serves the king just like his father would. Jerusalem being the holy city for both Muslims and Christians, it was subject to heavy war with both sides trying to gain control over it. King Baldwin does not believe in anti-Muslim killings and hence does not support the Knights Templar that kills Muslims mercilessly and hence peace prevails. The Kings sister Sybilla (Green) is married to Guy de Lusignan (Csokas) who is waiting for the leprosy stricken King to succumb and hence become king of Jerusalem and kill all the Muslims. The movie recounts the true incidents that took place during the Crusades of the 12th century and recalls the story of Balian of Ibelin although it may not be historically accurate. Coming from the stable of Ridley Scott, the very man that gave us Gladiator and American Gangster, the movie is a very big let down. There is no visible plot for quite a bit and the plot development is slow and boring. Edward Norton's performance was a waste especially since he was forever behind a mask. Orlando Bloom failed to live up to the expectations of creating an exciting movie and story in general was extremely immature and predictable. A very typical medieval heroism movie that probably should never have been made.

Thumbs up: Nothing exceptionally stands out

Thumbs down: Orlando Bloom, story and execution

Rating: 6.3/10

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The Three Musketeers (3D)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/History/Romance

Starring: Matthew Macfayden, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Gabriella Wilde, Mads Mikkelsen, Freddie Fox, Juno Temple

Based on the famous French novel, the story is set in 17th century France which was then under the reign of King Louis XIII (Fox). The kings Three Musketeers, Athos (Macfayden), Porthos (Stevenson) and Aramis (Evans) serve the king and serve France. A young country lad D'Artagnan (Lerman) is anxious to join the Musketeers and comes to Paris. He meets his mentors and they are impressed with his skills who soon become friends. Milady (Jovovich) Athos' ex-wife who earlier betrayed him, is hired by the Duke of Buckingham (Bloom) and the French Cardinal Richelieu (Waltz) to steal Queen Anne's (Temple) diamonds from Paris and bring it to Buckingham. The Queen is framed with having an affair with Buckingham and when the King gets word of it, he is enraged and orders the Queen to wear the diamonds to the ball in five days, if she fails to wear them then Buckingham and the Queen's fate would be sealed. The novel has been made into a movie a countless number of times with this movie being the latest so far. The movie in general is nothing to write home about with action and performances being mediocre. The visual effects though are quite nice with the 3D effect being very life like. An average entertainer that could have been far better if the plot and action was moulded in a more different manner.

Thumbs up: 3D experience

Thumbs down: Average action and plot

Rating: 6.5/10

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The Lost City (2005)

Genre: History/Action/Romance/Drama

Starring: Andy Garcia, Enrique Murciano, Nestor Carbonell, Tomas Millian, Jsu Garcia, Ines Sastre, Richard Bradford, Bill Murray

Batista, the dictator of Cuba was hated by his people for the lack of freedom and his never-ending oppression. Federico (Milian) is a highly respected university professor who has brought up his three sons with strict virtues and good ideologies. He wants to use constitutional means to remove Batista from power and make Cuba a democracy. His son Ricardo (Murciano) does not agree with his democratic future and becomes a Communist by joining hands with Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia). His second son Luis (Carbonell) joins the democratic revolution who attempts to storm into the Presidential Palace and kill Batista but gets killed in the shootout. His third son Fico (Andy Garcia) owns a nightclub who loves dance and music and simply wants to make a peaceful living. Fico promised Luis that he would look after his wife Aurora (Sastre) should anything happen to him and upon insisting from his mother, he starts spending time with her only to fall in love. The movie reflects the love between Fico and Aurora against the hard times of Cuban dictatorship and eventual Communism by Fidel Castro. It picks up on a good note but the consequent developments are slow and at times become a bore. Romance and drama movies tend to be slow and the long pointless conversations only add to the dragged outline of the plot. Certain performances are commendable especially the unnecessary character of The Writer (Murray) who has no name who simply appears where Fico is and adds the tinge of humour to the movie. Nothing special, just a history lesson with a romance.

Thumbs up: Bill Murray and other performances

Thumbs down: Slow and dragged

Rating: 6.4/10

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Hors la Loi (2010)

Genre: Crime/History/Action/Drama

Starring: Jamel Debouzze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan, Sabrina Seyvecou

English title: Outside the Law. Like most modern countries in Africa and Asia, Algeria too was a colony of a European Empire and in this case, it was France. The Algerians were made to fight in World War II against Germany and soon after the war ended, a revolution for independence ensued. Three Algerian brothers were forced to leave their motherland and start a new life, each in their own direction. Said (Debouzze) the youngest, was an entrepreneur and wanted to become a boxing manager and did not believe in the revolution. Making money was his only ambition, be it by hook or by crook. Abdelkader (Bouajila) was the second eldest and the revolutionist who started his own political party that would fight against the French and gain freedom. Messaoud (Zem) the eldest, served the French Army, got tired of war and left it to join Abdelkader and his fight for freedom. The characters portrayed by the brothers are not true and only the backdrop of the Algerian struggle is historically accurate. The performances executed are exceptional and exactly what one would expect from such a movie. The only flaw in an otherwise decent movie is its over-stretched and slow developing plot which perhaps if faster, would have made the movie far more entertaining.

Thumbs up: Exceptional performances, great adaptation

Thumbs down: Stretched and slow-developing plot

Rating: 7.0/10

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King Arthur (2004)

Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Adventure

Starring: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Keira Knightly, Stephen Dillaine, Stellan Skarsgard

King Arthur (Owen) was a legendary hero that served the cause of the Britons. The genuineness of Arthur is unknown with many people attributing it to be based on the story of other unknown heroes. The Roman Empire covered most of Europe and stretched till Hadrian's Wall, a border that divides modern England and Scotland. This wall is guarded by Arthur and his elite knights with rumours having that they have never lost a battle. The knights are Roman by birth and loyal to Rome and are due to receive their freedom from active military service when Rome suddenly backs out on its initial agreement and orders Arthur and his knights to undertake one last perilous journey, north of the wall and rescue an important Roman family from being captured by the invading Saxons. The Saxons, headed by Cerdic (Skarsgard) were a barbaric tribe who wish to denounce the Romans out of their land. The knights reluctantly agree to undertake the mission in order to win their much awaited freedom. On the face of it, the plot looks much like any other medieval war movie of good being victorious over evil. The lines and dialogues are very typically over-dramatic, almost Shakespearean which makes the movie a tad boring and annoying. True that might have been the prevailing language and style used but its over-emphasis and extra usage is what makes it annoying. Nothing exceptional in this one but nothing too bad either.

Thumbs up: Good gripping climaxes and war scenes

Thumbs down: Boring dialogues and lines

Rating: 6.9/10

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The Devil's Double (2011)

Genre: Action/Crime/History/Biography/War/Drama

Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast

Every world-renowned leader had to look after his own life and the best way to do so was to have body doubles. Exact twins right up to every small feature in order to deceive assassins. Uday Saddam Hussein (Cooper), the son of the Iraqi dictator too created body doubles to save his own precious life. Latif Yahia (Cooper) an Iraqi soldier and Uday's classmate back in school was forced to accept the proposition to become Uday's double. Uday Hussein was perhaps the most arrogant, shameless, immature and perverted person in all of Iraq. He kept multiple women as servants and slept with whomsoever he wished, regularly shot and killed people simply for the fun of it and raped and murdered school girls because he fancied doing it. Sarrab (Sagneir) one of Uday's whores, took a fancy for Latif and they both together shared their hatred for Uday and his behaviour. The movie solely stands on Dominic Cooper and his astounding, perfect and fine piece of acting. He fulfills two roles out of which one role is to play the part of learning how to play the other role. Its just what the doctor ordered for, my bet for at least one Oscar nominee this year.

Thumbs up: Dominic Cooper

Thumbs down: Story could be slightly more vibrant, its just too simple

Rating: 8.2/10

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Inside Job (2010)

Genre: History/Biography

Starring: Matt Damon (voice)

The 2008 global financial meltdown rocked the entire foundation of the human civilisation. Millions lost their jobs and their life savings overnight. How can such a huge disaster occur without any prior warning or anyone knowing about it? Inside Job looks into the development of the sub-prime crisis and its eventual impact on humanity. Greed for money and power ensured that corporate big-wigs could corrupt the United States political system into making money for self-gain at the cost of social development. The movie brings out how foolish decisions taken by Wall Street and Washington took the world to where it now stands. The movie has boldly shown the people responsible behind it and their indifferent behaviour before and after the crisis. The only flaw to the movie is the financial jargon which makes it hard for a non-finance person to understand. However, if the movie did go into the intricacies of all these definitions, the movie would be endless and would lose its objective. Hence this movie might only appeal to the understanding of the well-versed and those individuals would realise the full potential of it. Apart from the jargon, the movie correctly brings out how careless and near-sighted all the corporate heads of Wall Street are and the only point on their agenda is to make money for themselves. A great movie that shows the lengths and breadth of the sub-prime crisis.

Thumbs up: Bold display of all facts and figures

Thumbs down: Too much financial jargon

Rating: 7.1/10

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The Good Shepherd (2006)

Genre: History/Drama/Crime/Thriller

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie,Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, John Turturro, William Hurt

The CIA has been the US Governments primary agency for intelligence and counter-intelligence activities for many years. The agency was founded as the OSS during World War II to collect information on Nazi troop movement. The agency continued in the Cold War period to gather data on Russian spies and movements and this movie intends to narrate the birth of this very agency. Edward Wilson (Damon) a Yale graduate is approached by the FBI to spy on his poetry professor whom they suspect to be a Nazi spy. He slowly climbs the secret services ladder and is soon asked to head the OSS and gather intelligence on Nazi troop movement. He is forced to marry his friends sister Margaret (Jolie) whom he slept with and impregnated although he loves with deaf girl Laura (Blanchard). The movie is loosely based on the CIA's inception with many primary person being depicted by other characters. The biggest flaw of the movie is its length which leads to a stretched story and subsequently becomes boring. Performances are decent and at times the movie does manage to pick up tempo which gets lost quite quickly. The multiple side-plots do not got down very well either and focusing on the main story would have been a far better idea.

Thumbs up: Great foundation story

Thumbs down: Long, stretched and boring

Rating: 6.1/10

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Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Genre: War/Drama/History/Action/Crime

Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kevyn Major Howard, Arliss Howard, R. Lee Ermey

A group of young boys decide to take the boldest decision of their life, to join the US Marine Corps. Their drill instructor Gny. Sgt. Hartman (Ermey) has sworn to make their life as miserable as he could. he recruits get names according to their nature and behaviour. The funny person was called Pvt. Joker (Modine), the fat person was called Pvt. Pyle (Baldwin) and so on. The movie is more or less narrated with the perspective of Pvt. Joker and his experiences during military training and the subsequent deployment in Vietnam. He became a war correspondent for the army by interviewing soldiers and covering stories from the battle field. The journalists craved to pull the trigger of their guns at least once in battle and when the time finally came, everybody wished it never did. The movie does not have any objective or something in particular to bring out from the movie. Its a simple narration of a soldiers life from scratch till war. The performances in the movie were good and well supported. Although this movie cannot be classified as an outright comedy, it has the satire and hidden humour that would definitely bring out those unintentional giggles. Although the movie more or less tries to focus on overcoming your fears, the end of objective may not be clear to all. Perhaps a more structured and objective plot might have helped in the movie reaching out to a wider audience. Nonetheless, a great war movie.

Thumbs up: Brilliant acting

Thumbs down: Plot is a simple narration

Rating: 7.8/10

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Ben-Hur (1959)

Genre: Drama/Romance/History/Biography/Adventure

Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Jack Hawkins

The tales of Jesus Christ, infused with the story of the Jewish Prince, Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) who got betrayed by his Roman childhood friend Messala (Boyd) for Judah supported the Jewish cause over the Roman one. Judah and his family, his sister Tirza (O'Donnell) and mother Miriam (Scott) were sent to the gallows by Messala to rot and die. Judah, in all his determination, vows to return and take Messala's life. He then gets thrown in a journey of slavery and travel to make his way back to Jerusalem where he once again encounters Messala and decides to stub the Roman arrogance once and for all. The movie is well renowned and popular, however, the entire storyline, in isolation, is quite simple and nothing out of the ordinary. Friendship that turned sour and revenge that was sworn. The attribute that made the movie better was the Roman-Jewish setup along with the background of Jesus Christ. Although the movie proclaims to be the tale of Jesus Christ, there is very little of him which majorly comes only toward the end. The movie is a lovely watch, with some very phenomenal performances. The movie has a unique blend of film noir along with some more contemporary performances which makes it even better.

Thumbs up: Great performances, good plot outline

Thumbs down: Stretched and long

Rating: 7.7/10

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Freedom Writers (2007)

Genre: Drama/Biogrpahy/History

Starring: Hillary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez, Mario, Jason Finn

The 1992 Los Angeles riots and gang wars created a deeper racist divide amongst people than it already was. The city got divided into territories and young teenagers who should be in school were instead carrying guns and were thirsty for the blood of rival gang members. Erin Gruwell (Swank) is newly appointed English teacher at the Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. The school was once a very prestigious institute which has now been downgraded because of the recent integration. Teenagers who come from criminal backgrounds and from juvenile jails are forced to attend school or face going back to prison. Erin realises that teaching them is not as easy as she thought it would be, especially when the students are not interested in learning from her and fights break out every now and then. The head of department Margaret Campbell (Staunton) refuses to allocate school resources to her because she thinks it would be a waste and the students would get nothing out of it. Gruwell goes against the tide to give her students a better life and teach them beyond what she set out to teach in the classroom. Hillary Swank has always been known to put on a fabulous performance and this movie is no different. Along with a very good support cast, the movie shines out tremendously and keeps you gripped in your seat for a very long time. A highly recommended watch for everyone.

Thumbs up: Brilliant performances

Thumbs down: Flawless

Rating: 8.4/10

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The Kings Speech (2010)

 

Genre: Biography/History/Drama

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce

Britain, 1925, King George V is on his death-bed and the evaluation of the heirs begins. David, The Prince of Wales (Pearce) is the obvious choice for the throne since he is the elder brother. However, David has never involved himself in assisting his father in kingdom administration and has hence learnt nothing. He wishes to marry an American socialite who is twice divorced, an act prohibited for the king. Prince Albert (Firth) David's younger brother is more suitable for the throne but the only thorn being that he suffers from a stammering problem. With the growth of wireless radio technology, speeches given by the king are becoming more often and if the king cant talk, he cant be king. Princess Elizabeth (Carter) Prince Albert's wife, introduces him to a speech therapist Lionel Logue (Rush) whose unconventional and crazy methods of therapy don't go down well with the Prince. However, after much convincing Logue becomes the Prince's speech therapist who helps him in perfecting his speech and be made ready to become king. Its not everyday that a movie that seems to have a bland and uninspiring outlook manages to entice audiences to such a level. Colin Firth puts on a marvelous performance, something which everybody cant do for such a difficult role. A very gripping and inspiring story and each and every one of those Academy Awards was well-deserved.

Thumbs up: Colin Firth and other performances

Thumbs down: None

Rating: 8.4/10

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The Social Network (2010)

Genre: Biography/Drama/History

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield

The Facebook movie was a movie that 500 million people were anticipating. Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) the worlds youngest billionaire who created Facebook, did not have an easy life as most people imagined. After breaking up with his girlfriend one night, and half drunk, Mark hacked into the Harvard servers sitting in his dorm room and created a website which would allow students to rate which of the two girls they think is more hot. The website became a rage, the Harvard servers crashed and Mark faced disciplinary action. The twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Hammer) along with their friend Divya Narendra (Minghella) told Mark about their idea of creating a social networking website exclusively for the Harvard network. Mark stole their idea and created thefacebook.com. He got financial assistance from his rich friend Eduardo (Garfield) who become company CFO and together they got thefacebook.com to become a campus success. Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and Plaxo, became interested in Mark's concept and started unofficially advising Facebook, much to the ire of Eduardo. Mark started making too many enemies and before he knew it, Eduardo Saverin and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were suing Mark Zuckerberg. Jesse Eisenberg seemed to the most appropriate person to play Zuckerberg's role, primarily due to his physical presence. Zuckerberg has mostly been portrayed as a human robot, emotionless, ruthless and highly focused. The only downside of the movie was the very abrupt ending. Most of the movie focused on the lawsuits that Zuckerberg faced and the rest of the story get narrated via the hearings. Perhaps if the movie had a more management angle to it, talking about hurdles and the slow and steady development of Facebook, the movie might have been better. But then again, this idea might be biased due to my association with business management. A highly motivating movie and a must-watch.

Thumbs up: Jesse Eisenberg

Thumbs down: Abrupt end

Rating: 8.0/10

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Robin Hood (2010)

Genre: War/Action/Adventure/Drama/History

Starring: Russell Crowe, Kate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, William Hurt

The story of Robin Hood, the outlaw who takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Robin Longstride (Crowe) was an ace archer serving King Richard the Lionheart during his crusade to conquer Europe. Robin agreed to help a dying knight, Sir Robert Loxley of Nottingham and agreed to deliver his sword to his father. With the death of King Richard, John (Isaac) his evil brother, became King of England. Robin broke his acquaintance with the King due to his unfair rule and travelled north with a group of like-minded soldiers to Nottingham. Sir Walter Loxley (Sydow) Robert's father, requested Robin to stay back as his son so that his land does not get forfeited by the crown. Much to the disappointment of Marion (Blanchett) Robert's wife, Robin had to be her husband. Coming from the stable of Ridley Scott, the movie had high expectations but sadly failed to replicate the success of Gladiator. Russell Crowe left no stone unturned in delivering an outstanding performance. The only chink in the armour is that Robin Hood is conceived to be much younger than what the movie potrays him to be. The movie focuses on the life of Robin Hood before he actually became popular for 'taking from the rich and giving to the poor'. A great entertainer with some fine moments with a vast scope for improvement.

Thumbs up: Performances

Thumbs down: Needed a strong climax

Rating: 7.9/10

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Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Genre: Biography/Drama/Crime/History/War

Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Desmond Dube

The 1994 genocide of Rwanda rocked the world where close to 1 million people were brutally killed and murdered. The people of Rwanda and divided in two tribes, Hutu and Tutsi. Rebel breaks out in the African country after the murder of the Rwandan President. Hutu soldiers scamper across the streets hunting down and killing Tutsi civilians. Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) is the manager of the super-luxurious hotel, des Milles Collines. He bribes influential people by serving them good alcohol in hopes to get associated with influential people who could be of use to him during difficult times. Paul is Hutu whereas his wife Tatiana (Okonedo) is Tutsi. He manages to placate the soldiers that come on his doorstep by bribing them and gets his family and neighbours to the hotel. He struggles to take in as many refugees as he can, to ensure their security, to keep the hotel running equivalent to its standards, to look after the safety of his family and be the strength of each and every person who has come to him for help. The movie can be said to be the African Schindler's List and has more or less a similar plot. Don Cheadle has put on a fine piece of acting which makes the movie a classy watch. Brilliant depiction of the genocide which brings out the misery in which so many people are living and how unconcerned the west is to peoples misery. Deserves a five-star applause.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Could have had better plot execution

Rating: 8.2/10

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Apollo 13 (1995)

Genre: Drama/History/Adventure/Biography

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris

NASA had launched an Apollo Space Programme where multiple missions would be sent on the moon. Apollo 13 was the third Apollo mission intended to land on the moon. Jim Lovell (Hanks) was appointed flight commander along with Ken Mattingly (Sinise) as Command Module Pilot and Fred W. Haise (Paxton) as Lunar Module Pilot. Ken Mattingly was feared to have contracted measles and was dropped off the list just a week before take-off. His replacement, Jack Swigert (Bacon) was appointed just 3 days before take-off. The mission turned out to be a catastrophe when the oxygen tank leaked en route to the moon and had to be turned back towards Earth. The movie is the typical American movie which glorifies American achievements. Good performances by Tom Hanks and Ed Harris go in favour of the movie, but the lack of any excitement makes this movie a drag to watch. Predictable climaxes and anti-climaxes don't go very far in helping either. A decent entertainer but nothing much beyond that.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: Un-exciting and lacks the entertainment factor

Rating: 7.3/10

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Gangs of New York (2002)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/History

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reily

New York, the city of fantasies and the headquarters of huge corporates. 1864, New York was not even close to what we now know it to be. It's streets were run by gangsters and the city was divided into tribes and territories. One such gang, headed by Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting (Day-Lewis) spearheaded the rights of the natives, white people born and brought up in America. They rallied against all immigrants, especially the Irish, who swarmed into New York by the thousands. 'Priest' Vallon, the leader of the Irish immigrants was slayed by Bill while fighting for his people. 16 years later, Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio) returns to those very same streets and swore revenge against Bill. A lot of things had changed in the streets and a lot of people's loyalties had shifted. Amsterdam plotted to gain the trust and loyalty of Bill and eventually avenge the death of his father. The movie is plagued with fantabulous performances. Leonardo puts on his usual stunning performance but Daniel Day-Lewis went over the top and put on a show worthy to the character and to his reputation. The movie gives a very raw feel about what New York was ages ago and how different it is today. A movie with stellar performances and would have been much better only if it were slightly shorter.

Thumbs up: Great performances

Thumbs down: A bit too long

Rating: 7.8/10

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Ramchand Pakistani (2008)

Genre: Drama/Biography/History

Starring: Nandita Das, Rashid Farooqi, Syed Fazal Hussain, Navaid Jabbar, Maria Wasti

In 2002 after alleged Pakistani terrorists stormed into the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, tensions between the two countries arose. The Indo-Pak border is dotted with small Dalit-Hindu villages. Shankar (Farooqi) was one such farmer cum teacher residing in one of these villages with his wife Champa (Das) and mischievious son Ramchand (Hassain). Ramchand gets upset when his parents forced him to go to school and aimlessly wanders around and unknowingly crosses the border. His father sees him from a distance and chases him and both get apprehended by the Indian Army for illegal border crossing. Ramchand and Shankar get held up in prison indefinitely. Over the years, Ramchand becomes a prison favourite and most of the inmates and guards take a fonding for him. The movie is the very typical low-budget film made by a director from a third-world country which gained a lot of appreciation and awards in various European film festivals. Once you get hold of the plot in the first 20 minutes, you know exactly what you are in for and what the final outcome is going to be. The movie is a good attempt but gets slow and dragged with no constant fresh developments and seems monotonous after a while. A good movie in the eyes of a movie critic, but can be a bore for the average audience. Based on a true life story.

Thumbs up: Great performances

Thumbs down: Slow and slightly boring after a while

Rating: 7.0/10

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The A-Team (2010)

Genre: Action/War/Adventure/History

Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson

What happens if Oceans Eleven were to become a war movie? Yeah, you get my drift. Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith (Neeson) is the leader of The A-Team, which comprises of four US Army Rangers including him. Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Pack (Cooper), Cpl. Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus (Jackson) and the mentally retarded but ace pilot Captain Murdock (Copley) complete the pack. The A-Team has successfully carried out various special operations over the years and earned a name for themselves. Now posted in Iraq, they are assigned their latest adventure by the CIA agent Lynch (Wilson). The Iraq's are duplicated US currency and The A-Team has to get hold of the stolen treasure plates which are being used to manufacture the currency. The team gets double-crossed on their assignment and faceman's ex-flame, Charisa Sosa (Biel) court-martials them for carrying out an unauthorised mission. After being sentenced to prison, Lynch offers a proposal where he would get them out of prison if they complete their previous assignment and in return promises them a clean record and full reinstatement. The team agrees, only to realise that they have got themselves in a deeper mess than before. The movie is a sure-shot watch for the pure action buffs, with mass destruction adorning the entire movie. The movie has some decent twists and turns and is not your average action movie. A decent plot and some good performances make it the perfect Sunday afternoon watch. For best results, make sure your accompanied with beer and friends.

Thumbs up: Action-packed and blasting all the way

Thumbs down: A bit more focus on plotting and planning can make it more interesting

Rating: 7.8/10

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