This is that Gangster Magnum Opus everyone’s talking about. And if you haven’t laid your eyes upon it, you better do it soon. All because there’s Denzel Washington playing heroine magnet, Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as Detective Ritchie Roberts. And oh btw, Ridley Scott is pulling the strings. Need anymore reason? This goes straight to the Oscars nominations list and SHALL emerge triumphant. Having said that, I’d also like to add, that this is Mr. Scott’s earnest tribute to the crafty art of Gangster mafia movies which Hollywood completely digs. From the Coppola’s Corleones, to the Sopranos to Scorsese’s Goodfellas, “American Gangster” gives you that familiar taste of the gangster movie, but wait, it isn’t that simple. The taste is familiar but at the same time, so very IRRESISTABLY SEDUCTIVE and CRISPY. Some might just term it as Godfather with Black People. I can just pity those ignorant people and hope they get their conscience back.
For the uninitiated this is based on the 1970’s real-life account of kingpin Frank Lucas, who rose from the dark and dirty slums of North Carolina to undermine the cartels of New Jersey with a freakishly innovative way of trading heroine which he discovers while he was watching a news story about the high strength heroin laying out American servicemen in war-zone Vietnam. Lucas flies directly to Bangkok to make a direct deal with the drug makers, thus cutting out every possible middleman in the mafia clan and even guaranteeing a monopoly in the purest product –Blue Magic.
Meanwhile, troubled by a failed marriage and his honesty coming across as a career obstacle in a corrupt world, Detv.Ritchie Roberts emerges as the nemesis of Frank Lucas who is investigating on the emergence of a new market leader , BLUE MAGIC, and is amazed how someone can sell a product almost twice as pure as its nearest competitor at half the price. It takes a long time for the two to face each other, but as the scenes unfold, we experience an inexplicable symmetry between the two and their working minds. Both have absolute dissimilarities, but also have a clear idea of having things done their way.
The settings and the entire dark alley backdrop of 1970s New York just makes me spellbound and I couldn’t have asked for more. Of course, that is what you can expect from Ridley Scott, an ace ad-director of the 1970s era. Many would expect the NY backdrop demands the skyline shot and the skyscrapers. But this is a movie where the action is on the streets, where there are small coffee shops with green windows and clean glass panes. The winter is freezy , and so is the cold death shots that Lucas shoots on the streets. Of course, the immediate comparison with Godfather is inevitable, as Lucas moves his family from North Carolina to New Jersey, to help him run the business. The deaths are as cold blooded as you could expect, and there’s enough of unexpected and unwanted nudity onscreen surrounded with white powder and blue pouches. And for those who complain, there’s not enough Bam-Bam here for a gangster movie, wait till the climax mammoth confrontation.
The typical gangster movie would feature boring dialogues in perfect Italian accent and long silent stares with gleaming eyes. Of course, this is not the case here. The star power of Denzel Washington takes control of the screen as though he reigned it with only his smile and the simple uttering of the words “Mah Man”. It’s been a while now since Al Pacino’s “Scarface” happened. Russell Crowe on the other hand, is the rugged cop, who doesn’t have the power stare working. But yes, even his silliest jokes and nervous appearance makes you wonder, if he is the guy who played Maximus. It’s pure onscreen fire when you see these two collide, face to face. The powerhouse performance by the duo is just so convincing enough to make this a cracking of a movie, but at the end of the day, with no disrespect to the white Oscar Winner, this is Washington’s , through and through. Not only because it is called “American Gangster”, not American Cop, but because he can say “Blue Magic is a brand, like PEPSI” and he makes me believe so.
Not to be missed by people who love good cinema. Now stand up and APPLAUD. Spare me the ratings.

Just when I thought that my Sunday would turn out to be yet another pathetic day in the long week I had, I decided to give a thenga ( it's an Indian PG13 version of the Middle Finger) to the strenuous week and go to the movies all by myself. I had heard all the praise and adulation about the adult, potty-mouthed comedy hit of the summer -Superbad, and I knew what to expect. Only that I also knew, it being released at the cinemas meant skipping,editing of certain vital portions. And I wasn't disappointed by the movie as well my dear Indian censors. Lemme tell you, if you are the kind who gets offended easily by the mere mention of FUCK, go grab a cup of Lemon tea, and watch this movie. You'll be changed for life( as in, you'll start to feel how cool it is , or how relieving it is to prefix,suffix your speech with the F word). Anyway, coming back to Superbad.
Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are best friends who will soon be graduating and going off to different colleges. The mission:Not to arrive at college as virgins. As expected, there is an utter frustration in these main protagonists of being unpopular at High School. Seth is the chubby, curly haired guy, absolutely foul-mouthed and with a clear vision: to be the drunken mistake of Jules! Evan on the other hand is the shy, reserved and has a huge thing about Becca, his high school crush and wants to make things special with her. This is their chance as High School's coming to a close and tonite is "the Jules' party! "(Jules' is Seth's culinary class mate, absolutely hot,cute and perfect ass.Sorry couldn't help mentioning about the tushy!). Of course Seth overheard about it, and asked Jules if she wanted booze for the party as they could get a Fake ID and bring in alcohol for the party;Seth of course hoping to make her get drunk and you know what next. (Let's not get all judgemental about underage drinking, and drunken mistakes and shallow hooking ups. Just enjoy this comedy).
Enter Fogell, aka McLovin' with the Fake ID who saves the day. The Fake ID here is of an organ donor from Hawaii.LOL. Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin' is absolutely brilliant and plays it with the utter geekiness of a high school Bill Gates and with a mouth filled with saliva.He is the THING of the movie, just like Stifler was the THING of American Pie and not Jim. Many would debate it was Stifler's mom,anyway! Writers Seth Rogan( from Knocked Up, and who also con-stars as a rookie cop) and Evan Goldberg have infused the right spirit and perfect dialogues for the movie( I really don't know if it can get more foul-mouthed and funnier than this!). Many would agree that there is so much raunch in it than all the three American Pie movies. The entire raunch factor has been handled in a no -classy way, just because it is a teen flick,if you don't know about sex, how can you be classy eh! LOL.
The best part though(if there is any, coz this one whole huge chunk of cinema's best comedy, for this year at least) is that Dir: Greg Mottola and comedy films capitano: Judd Apatow as producer have somehow managed efficiently to bind all the raunch with an extremely sincere heart, and that is the friendship of Seth and Evan, and the insecurity of losing each other after all these years from childhood to High School.
Who am I kiddin'? That's not the best part. I love the raunch-a-rama more .From the period stains, the booze pukes, sniffin coke, shooting stop signs, random party fights, emptying detergent gallons to fill beer, to just the mere sight of refrigerator filled with golden Beer( sigh!), the utterly eww BJ jokes, and McLovin' telling-I'm in! ,balls to the walls, the list is just endless. Superbad is one big party you wanna be at.Just because it is so chaotic and there is so much booze! Woo hoo. I just wish I could see a sight of a chicken roasted on a barbecue.I love it.I love it . I read somewhere about this caption and it sounds so cool-Superbad is American Pie meets South Park. Beat that! American Park or South Pie? I got a better one (may be). Superbad is SUPERDOPE! Hell Yeah! Miss it and you miss IT.

P.S. Sources inform that there are already T-Shirts available reading: I'm McLovin'

Loins of Punjab Presents is a riot of laughter through and through. Abso-Friggin-Lutely Hilarious. It is a beautiful ensemble piece,yet a very disorganised one jumbled together like a mismatched jigsaw puzzle which only starts taking shape and form as the story unfolds. The pieces here are equally colorful and hilarious in their own way.
To begin with ,the organisers and the title sponsors of the main event . Loins of Punjab is an organisation which has been run by an NRI who made it big in the US by well selling pork loins. They happen to be the title sponsors of a Talent hunt contest (like the many that we see on TV these days, yet very different) and the event management company that handles the event is Bokade Mgmt Company, run by a certain Mr.Bokade who believes Gypsy Kings turn women horny.
The talent hunt is the search for a Desi Idol , the songs would be only in Hindi, and the grand prize is a handsome 25G. The contestants: Preeti Patel & the Patel Squad. Needless to mention here how the Gujjus enjoy their Theplas and self packed Dhoklas EVERYWHERE. They sure know how to have a Good Time and well bargain at that too. Next in Line is a White Guy , Joseph Cohen who loves everything Indian including his girlfriend Opam ( Ayesha Dharkar).
There's also the high society ,stiff upper lip and envious Mrs. Rrita Kapoor ( Shabana Azmi) who wants to win the competition just to win the prize and donate it to some women fundraiser( you know , high society show offs). There's a Business Analyst, Vikram Tejwani (played by the Director Manish Acharya ) who talks in numbers and well his love interest eventually, Sania Rehman who pretends to know Hindi, a guy who got fired for his name being Saddam Hussein, and to top it all, Ajay Naidu as the Turbanotorious B.D.G. , the Bhangra King raplord.
I can just go on praising about this character, but its better to just say , BRILLIANT. B.D.G.s intro happens in a open mic night when he comes up with his partner, with the turban on, and in typical Yo-Hip-Hop-Hustle Style shows some Respecc to his Fols, Mummy-G and Papa-G and begins his rap with Yo-MadaF@#$ and F@#$ U ***. You get it. I was roaring with laughter.
Well, I had not seen any promos of the movie whatsoever and to be frank did not have any sort of expectations with the movie. But well, I was bursting out with laughter in the very first 2 minutes of the movie and it continued till the end credits. To say that the movie was funny would be an understatement.
Debutante Director Manish Acharya has done a very commendable job and dealt with extreme expertise handling the mad cast of the movie and has made every inch of the movie whacky and whackier without resorting to cheap slapstick humor.
I have seen a lot of these Indy-Indie Humor Flicks on ABCDs and NRIs. But this is by far the best.The jokes are a take on post 9-11 America, the ethnic backgrounds that comprise of the brown population of New Jersey, the Gay Fashion Desginers, the Gay-Brown-Bhangra-Pop Guy singing Khoon Kharaaba, the elite Socialites and to top it all how the National Anthem binds us all ,no matter what. I guess I haven't had such a good laugh since Khosla ka Ghosla .Loins of Punjab Presents is a wholesome entertainer, but well do mind the A-Rating. From me its 3.5 stars. BRAVO.

Let me begin with..It was Delicious. Absolutely. Frame to Frame, Edge to Edge. The Master Chefs at PIXAR have done it yet again. Just when I thought how on earth can anyone better the Incredibles or Nemo, they have done it yet again, proving that it is not done yet for PIXAR. Far from it.
To begin with , well ,I loved the short animated feature before the movie and also the preview of the next summer Pixar Release.

Coming back to Ratatouille, it is so heartfelt and sincere, and the emphasis on the characterisation is so honest to the core that you just can't stop applauding the genius of the PIXAR guys, along with enjoying the visual delight of the animated French Delicacies in all their grandeaur.

Initial reactions over a movie which has a Rat as the main protagonist would definitely throw reactions of it being considered as yet nother dosage of slapstick humour that we have grown with and perhaps, been fed too much. But trust me on this, Ratatouille excels as the best G-rated entertainer, the best food movie, and perhaps, one of the best comedies better than most of the PG-13 and R-Rated Teen Flicks filled with skimpily clad bombshells and dumber brains.

Just don't tempt me to reveal the plot. It is awesome. Ok, well what the heck, here it is.

Gusteau is dead, the place has been demoted to three stars (from five) - and the place is lorded over by Skinner (Ian Holm), a diminutive despot who has licensed Gusteau's name for dubious frozen foods.A rat, of course, is less than welcome in the kitchen - except by the ghost of Gusteau.




The details of the animation just make me look at it with my eyes wide open and just wonder in awe. Because everything is so real. From the sauce stained aprons of the Chefs, the Copper Pots, the Mint Garnish,the beads of moisture on the freshly cut vegetables to the matt fur of the rodents, everything is Perfect. The chodeography of a busy restaurant kitchen, to the intense chase scenes on the street of Paris, it has it all.

Just go watch it, absolutely unmissable.Its the perfect Entertainer in a long long time.Written and directed by Brad Bird and displaying the usual meticulousness associated with the Pixar brand, “Ratatouille” is a nearly flawless piece of cinema. It provides the kind of deep, transporting pleasure, at once simple and sophisticated. Spare me the Ratings. This goes beyond that. I would give it a 100.Prepare to be very hungry.

What is up with the movies? Well, the last movie I watched was Die Hard 4.0. It has been two weeks since and I haven't seen any. Faced with the question what the F will I blog,( I really don't care if anyone is reading this or not),I decided upon writing upon the trailers of the movies I missed, wanted to watch and couldn't , or I probably I never wanted to watch,or the ones I watched and never wrote about.

Movies I saw, and didn't write about until now.
To start with POTC-At World's End.

NextUp: Sivaji.The Boss. Aah.I did watch Sivaji, with a Telegu guy who knew elementary Tamil I sure did ruin his movie experience by asking him every 5 mins about the plot.
Well, you really dont need to know Tamil to enjoy Sivaji. Especially, with an audience which starts whistling at the mere sight of Rajni's shoes. The jokes, oh, I couldn't get em, my incapability, but the crowd seemed to love it. Rajni earns hundreds of crores abroad by working as an IT professional ( VISA Power, go get it!). Comes back home to set up a medical college. Bad guy doesnt want him to. Corrupt guys ask more moola.Rajni shows "thenga" (That's the Indian PG Version of the Middle Finger) and sweeps all of them off their feet, in a very unromantic way.His lady love on the other hand wants him to be get Fair and Handsome , or else the relation is over. Tormented Rajni goes in the pool of Multani Mitti, has Papaya facials, puts on Manish Malhotra desinger jackets,and fights the goondas at his ladylove's music store. Throw in some Rahman scores, 20 different hairdos including a bald look,and catchy lines like---Coool, Finisshh...whats not to like or love?

Some of the movies I didn't see and why?
Ck2MK-Chain Khuli Ki Main Khuli. Puhleezzz, I prefer to refer it as the dialogue from Satte pe Satta
The Train-Catch Ya Never,coz, Some Lines should Never be Crossed. Sure, the threshold of the screening room playing the Train.
Premonition-Premo who...????Sandra Bullock. Next please
Fool N Final--Already have downloaded the video Ye Dooriya. So , am good.
Shootout at Lokhandwala - hmm. I wanted to see it, but I got affected by the virus of Vicky Pollard, the symptoms being frequent uttering of " yeah but no but yeah but no but yeah but no..."""""
Red Swastika: When is Mithun Da's next releasing?

Some of the movies I really had to NOT see.

JBJ: When the promos were out, and AB Sr. did a Jack Sparrow on a Bhangra No. by Shankar Ehsaan, with the Yashraj films Banner gleaming below,first reactions were, no matter what, even if its crap, I will go to watch the movie. At Least for the songs. I got the soundtrack, and fell in love with Bol Na Halke Halke, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Friday Came, and my friend called. You are watching this movie over my dead body. I had no other options.
Apne:hehahahahaha..Kutte Kamine...I felt scared..what if the Deols teared the screen open..I mean for God's sake it ain't one..not two, but all three of 'em.
And Sunny Paaji playing Rocky Balboa for Papajee. I think, I'd better settle for Ghayal's DVD.

Aap ka Suroor: I didn't like the spelling mistake. I couldn't believe that a movie of this stature with an actor like Himmesssss could be released with spelling mistakes in its promotional posters.I felt let down.Yeah,on a serious note, primarily because , I ,being a responsible citizen of this nation, wanted to protect my fellow countrymen from the possible torture they call: Aap ka Suroor,the Sequel to the Reaalll Love Storyy.And I have failed to do so. Even after holding myself down and controlling the curiosity I had to watch Himesss on big screen, curiosity got the better of millions of my fellow countrymen,and yes, the sequel is happening. Aaj, khusshh to bahut hoge tum. Himess , you must be proud to have yur pic on me blog. Haayy

Awarapan: The Paki Music Techno Remix didn't work for me this time.BTW, I havent watched Zeher,Wo Lamhe and even Gangster.

Naqaab: Please No. Abbas Mustan are the biggest cost cutters, do you know. I wont watch their movie until they change their attire. They have been wearing the same white shirt, and white pant, I mean the same, since Khiladi was released. The VHS tape of Khiladi has got all the reels demagnetised and Wada Raha plays backwards, Ayesha Jhulka is now on Telebrands, but Abbas Mustan still haven't changed their white dress. Has TIDE sponsored all of their movies?

Bong Connection: Simply because, it isn't getting released in Pune.But I am sure that I'll catch it in Kolkata.


Harry Potter: Bachho ne Sab Tickets le liye. No tickets for me. Boohooo

That is what I would like to call it.Doesn't make sense, but it rhymes!Anyway, going back to the movie,the good thing is it is worth all of the 60 bucks I spent on it on a Saturday morning. But was it worth of me waking up on a Saturday morning , hungry and sleepy, rushing to the multiplex,braving the rain of Pune, which left me drenched .Well to some extent yes,coz it was money's worth. Now that I have started sounding like a baniya, lets just tell you, that this is a movie solely for those who swear by the Masala Hollywood Potboilers, and for those who go to the theatres to watch a piece of magnificent moviemaking, I'd rather recommend them to stay indoors, get hold of a Spielberg DVD instead, and just get cozy with their remote. For others like me, its nostalgia revived and its time to say hello to 'Detective' John McClane(Bruce Willis, did I actually need to mention it),well for the 4th time.
The plot: based upon an article from Wired entitled "A Farewell to Arms"by John Carlin,is as simple as one could be.It's actually about confusing the entire audience about how technology can take a toll of the entire functioning system of a country and how crooked minds ( moles in FBI and hired Russian chamche) can use it to blow up their bank balances.Hmm, sounds quite original.Lost in this digital chaos,is our very analog ,good old McClane who is trying to make sense of it all,with the help of a Hacker,Matt Farell(Justin Long) and fatty accomplice Warlock(Kevin Smith) to save America from the wrath of ex-Fed Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant, last seen in Girl next Door, remember the guy who planned about the shooting of prom video Version ahem.ahem!!!).
Anyway,assisting Gabriel is hot chi(n)ckie Mai Lihn (Maggie Q) who kicks some serious McClane Ass ,kung fu style, while deploying some serious code simultaneously.I never knew geeks( Geeks here do not necessarily mean people who are "Geeks",you know, more like a Techie)could be hot as well.Well, none that I know of. At the end of it, McClane manages to save the day, and after a whooping 2hrs and 40 mins roller coaster ride,McClane survives with a few scratches and a shoulder shot and also manages to find a Techie(won't use Geek this time)future son-in-law .See, who said only Karan Johar said "It's all about loving your family".
The problem: I personally enjoyed every bit of every green dollar spent on this movie. Because it all showed on the screen.Cars banging each other, Old-school, bare-knuckle, wham-Bam sequences, Fighter Planes exploding , our Hero and his sidekick being hunted down in Dark Tunnels, Cars being thrown on them,SUVs on a Lift, Concrete Bridges breaking, Cars bringing down Choppers, and of course John McClane bringing down armies of assasins with just a handgun.
But after a while, it stats getting on you. Simply put, you start drawing parallels between McClane and our very own Mithun Da or Rajnikanth Anna (no offense). It is too much action happening around you, and McClane still manages to survive through each and every obstacle as if hopping through turtles in Super Mario.
And well, not to mention ,the many cliches attached to this genre.The geeks know it all,the villains are supergeniuses and also have been trained in combat fighting, Russians are always bad hackers, carrying MP5s ,no matter what, there is always a good hacker who can encrypt everything up and show an "up-yours" in a decrypted way,Hackers always type on the keyboard very fast and never use their mouse,the FBI is dumb and arrives late, Operating Systems of the Computers have lovely User Friendly interfaces to make even Macs burn with envy et al. But well, perhaps , I am too much complaining.
John McClane is supposed to be like this,and so is Die Hard. The amount of hair on Willis' scalp has seen a downward trend , but the action, the charisma and the power of John McClane has been sailing the skies. The chemistry between the Brute and the Brains in the movie clicked, and well , I do miss the Rupa Banyan Look of John McClane, but I am happy about one thing and that is, the Geeks/Techies have still a way with the ladies... :P
My Rating: 3 on 5

Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer. I don't know who made this movie, except for the fact that Stan Lee has been having cameos in almost all the Superhero Movies lately. Just as I had started getting cozy in my seat , I could see the fast turning of pages of Marvel Comics, and of course the Trademark 20th Century Fox Studios Opening. Okay, I don't need to go that level of detail. The point is, with movies like Fantastic Four, or X-Men or Spiderman, we do not expect Award-winning performances. All we expect is money-worth entertainment and trust me, I got more than just that.

Silver Surfer delivers every bit of it and much more. The plot ain't very complex and any child would be able to predict what would happen next. Something that looks like a meteor is flying all over the world, confounding weather patterns. In Japan, the sea turns to ice, and snow falls over the pyramids in Egypt. Electricity goes out all over Los Angeles, and everywhere this energy ball goes, it creates craters. It's strange enough that people start thinking this might be the end of the world. Come to think of it, that's not a bad guess.Meanwhile, everything is cozy with the Fantastic Four. Mr.Fantastic is about to get married to Elasti-girl(is it?). The Thing is happily engaged to his blind love and the Torch is enjoying the life of a New York bachelor.They are urban dwellers, like all superheroes, and so when Reed and Sue opt for an outdoor wedding, they hold it on a rooftop. Or maybe they do this out of plot convenience.

Before the rings are exchanged, the meteor flies by -- only, on closer look, it's not a meteor. It's a silver man on a silver surfboard, who looks like an Oscar statuette in motion. He has access to a seemingly unstoppable supply of energy, and he's sowing destruction everywhere.The actions involved are definitely noteworthy and enjoyable, and well the transformation is spellbounding and very easy on the eyes. What can I say, the illusion is done!

Von Doom shows up, like someone too mean to die, oozing menace and that very word called "kamina-pan"(English is too fancy a language to have a synonym to it).There are oblique attempts at making the film topical: For example, the Army brings in a torturer to interrogate an alien, because the alien has no "human" rights. Anyway, where was I? Yeah, I was here to praise the movie, so here I go. Its all about popcorn and edge of the seat action sequences. The ones which should be mentioned:battle between the Torch and the Silver Surfer,battle in London, which endangers the Millennium Wheel, to the outer-space scenes,and the ultimate climax in which a creeping darkness threatens to cover the earth.

At 92 mins, its much crispier than the previous average attempt on the Marvel franchise, and of course to a huge extent a better one.Well, to say more, Jessica Alba has definitely stopped doing that thing she did throughout the previous "Fantastic Four" movie. You know, that thing in which she'd speak a line and then look around nervously to see if she'd fooled anybody? Alba doesn't do that anymore. She's just fine now -- and so is the new "Fantastic Four" movie.To say that "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is better than the original isn't enough.

Of course :FF3 would be there. Von Doom isn't gone yet. My rating: * * * / 5