Mad Detective

Mad Detective aka Sun Taam is directed by Johnnie To and Wai ka-Fai. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai team up after nearly four years to direct this brilliant Psychological Crime Thriller. The story of this movie is cleverly scripted and it has been stylishly shot and executed.

The movie revolves around a schizophrenic cop Bun(Ching Wan Lau), who was forcibly removed from the force after he presented his severed ear as gift to the Police Chief. Bun claims to have the ability to see the Inner Personalities of the people. Inspector Ho(Andy On) brings him out of retirement to investigate the case of Wong, a fellow cop who has been missing for over 18 months now and his gun has been used in three armed robberies.

Bun's primary suspect is Wong's former partner Chi-Wai(Ka Tung Lam) who has seven different inner personalities. The directors manages to keep the viewers on the edge of their seat with their expertly crafted storyline. It keeps the viewers guessing what will happen next.

One cannot relate himself with the lead character of this film, his behaviors may seem funny but later you can sense the sadness in him. Bun's method of investigating is really unorthodox, he puts himself in the place of the victim and try to connect with their inner personalities to find out what happened. Sometimes it may be difficult for the audience to differentiate the reality from fiction especially when you have eight actors playing a single character.

Nevertheless the movie has been Stylishly shot with a brilliant screenplay, Masterfully edited and the entire cast gives us a brilliant performance. The soundtrack of the movie is an added bonus, it manages to keep the eerie feel throughout the movie. The final scene of the movie is confusing at first but later gives us a clear picture. It has been brilliantly shot.

This movie has a creative script that is original. The directors Johnnie To and Wai ka-Fai give us an astounding psychological thriller in which everything works out. I am sure that in the near future there will an Hollywood director who will remake this movie in English and spoil the spirit of this film. In the end this is one of best thrillers from Asia in the recent past and it is Simply Superb!!

My Rating: 4.5/5

The Expendables

The Expendables is without question the most anticipated movie of the summer of 2010. The movie is directed by Sylvester Stallone. Its cast is a who's who of established action film stars of the previous three decades. Even though the previews gave away the cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger, it still gave us just another reason to stand in line for this movie.

The Expendables describes a team of what could be considered mercenaries, or bounty hunters. They go on high-risk missions, guns in hand, and pick up the money owed to them at the end of the day. Their main mission in this movie is initially to overthrow a South American dictator in the fictional nation of Vilena. Eventually, they find that the real enemy is ex-CIA agent James Munroe (Eric Roberts) aided by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and a whole army of guerrilla soldiers.

This movie is full of action sequences, all of which are fun to watch. There are also some scenes involving knives (particularly ones thrown by Jason Statham) that even made me flinch. Although there are plenty of scenes involving knives and big guns, there are some great sequences involving hand-to-hand combat. You definitely don't want to take a bathroom break when 5'6 Jet Li takes on 6'4 Dolph Lundgren. There's also a fight scene between Steve Austin and Randy Couture that will satisfy both UFC and WWE fans.

Of course the scene everyone was talking about was the Stallone, Schwarzenegger & Willis scene. Which was one of the funniest parts of the movie. Their attempt to put each other down while out manning each other worked brilliantly and Willis threatening Stallone alone is worth the ticket price.

Everything about this movie is top notch. Right from the direction to the sets, its stunning. The screenplay is impeccable & the cinematography couldn't get better. The visuals are delightful. The music score is exceptional. Even though it is a slow movie, the pace seems very fast. The editing also is so well done. The dialogues are perfect, used in a really vulgar tone. The story is set in & around Equatorial Brazil. The locations shown are ideal.

The Expendables is the kind of film that enchants and enthralls. The bone-chilling, and all-the-other-adjectives-that-can-be-used kind of movie that's just replete with thrills. In the end this is one of best B-Movies that I have seen in a long time.

My Rating: 4/5

Exam

The movie Exam is a low budget british psychological thriller directed by Stuart Hazeldine. It was a thrill,a psychological mystery that i personally love as i am a big fan of movies that make you think! There's a famous saying in Greek, it goes,"If you want someone to hate you,make them think!". So some people might not like this movie as it does make people think.

The mystery-shrouded story of a job application process, Exam introduces us to eight candidates herded into a room to sit before a blank sheet each and provide the one answer necessary to get the position. The ensuing eighty minutes consist of the candidates desperately trying to discover the question they are required to answer and struggling to work together despite the uncertainty of who they can trust. With a very gradual and slow start, Exam gives us time to meet our characters, examine the story they play a part in, and formulate an early impression of what is going on. By the time things get going, we are fully versed in the world immediately before us, though the deeper mysteries lie as yet unawakened.

Exam is a gem of a film. This low budget psychological thriller is very clever, incredibly entertaining and the production values are all far better then you would expect from such an unknown film. It's tense, mysterious and has a great atmosphere, and more importantly it stimulates your brain. It's impossible to not get caught up in the story and try to figure out just what the hell is actually going on. It couldn't be more engaging. 

The aren't any known actors in the cast but their performances are not to be taken lightly. But what really made the film work was undeniably, the impeccable direction. In the end, Exam is a great low-budget thriller that puts many Hollywood blockbusters to shame. Definitely worth seeing and I'll be sure to check Stuart Hazeldine's next project after such a promising debut.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Kick-Ass

Saw the movie Kick-Ass directed by Matthew Vaughn this week. It has been a long time since I had endorphins pumping through my body after watching a movie but Kick-Ass did exactly that.Anyone who has ever wished to be a superhero, pretended to fly, super punch, turn invisible or just plain kick some ass but knew you never could...here's the movie for you!


Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a typical New York teenager, who is a comic-book fan, and not in any particular group in High School. He is ignored by girls, including Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca), the girl he fancies. Dave however fantasises about what it would be like to be a superhero and he makes an effort to make it happen. After his first attempt at vigilante justice Dave ends up having a big accident and his nerve endings are damage. But this gives him a high pain threshold and after being videotaped fighting three men at once Dave becomes a internet sensation and his alter-ego, Kick-Ass is born. But Dave as Kick-Ass gets in over his head when he meets two real heroes, Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), and his young girl Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), a brilliant martial artist and skilled assassin. Big Daddy sets out to bring down the crime lord Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), taking down his organisation from the bottom up. As Kick-Ass Dave is brought into their violence world. As well as these superhero actives Dave has to hide his identity, whilst using his fame in the internet age to help people out through Myspace. He also finally get's Katie's attentions, but for all the wrong reasons.


The acting from the entire cast was spectacular, but the one who stole the show for me was Chloe Moretz as the Hit-Girl - the incredibly volatile young superhero with a penchant for explicit language, which will surely propel her into the realms of stardom.


This is a top-notch directing by Matthew Vaughn. This movie will definitely make him one of the most sought after directors in the Hollywood. The way handled the action sequences was really incredible. There were some really impressive action sequences in this movie. The only other movie IMO that had these many incredible action sequences was Kill Bill. 


Kick-Ass is definitely a welcome addition to the realm of the comic-book movies. I had a blast watching this movie, I hope that you will too.In the end, Kick-Ass is not perfect, and it will not cater to everyone's tastes, but it is easily one of the most fun films of 2010.


My Rating: 4.5/5

Inception

This is the film that I have been dying to watch this year. Saw the movie this afternoon. Inception is directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who gave us an Epic Blockbuster last year in the form of The Dark Knight and the man who questioned our intelligence in the form of Memento, now has given us a perfect blend of these two movies.(This review may contain SPOILERS).

The theme of the movie is about a group of people who navigate their way through the mind of the people and steal their secrets in the dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of the most skillful extractor Don Cobb, a fugitive who is longing to meet his children back home and is often troubled by the memories of his dead wife Mal Cobb(Marion Cotillard) whom he supposedly murdered. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as his long-time right-hand man Arthur.

But this latest mission is different- a Business tycoon Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants him to plant an idea (hence termed inception) within a rival's (Cillian Murphy) mind in order that he will break up his ailing father's business empire after he takes over. Cobb agrees to this dangerous mission as Saito promises that if Cobb succeeds, he will wipe Cobb's slate clean so he is allowed to return to the United States to see his children. So Cobb begins assembling his team- the architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), the forger Earnes (Tom Hardy) and the chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao)- think of it like a heist, only much more complicated.

The First half of the movie explains the audience about the rules of the game that the team plays. And the second half is where the test begins for the viewers.There are some jaw-dropping actions sequences and some heart winning sentimental scenes. The entire cast of the movie has done an excellent job on their part, the best performances came from DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.(Though DiCaprio's role is pretty similar to the one he played in Shutter Island).

This movie engages the audience and takes them to whole new world. I have never seen the audience get engaged so much for an English movie here at Chennai. But to really enjoy this movie the audience has to earn their right. The screenplay was exceptional especially in the second half where we go into a dream into a dream into a dream into a dream. The Music by Hans Zimmer is the Icing On The Cake.

Although there are some visual similarities to the anime Paprika, Inception is one of the best Original stories that I have seen in a long time. A Masterpiece by Nolan. In the end those who watch this movie would definitely go into the Limbo state.

Don: "Dreams feel real while we're in them, it's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange."

My Rating: 5/5

A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa, Hongryeon)

Yesterday at midnight I started to watch the Korean Horror Flick, A Tale of Two Sisters. The movie was going good but then after some time I got spooked and I turned off the monitor and went to bed. Then I watched the rest of the flick this afternoon.

The structure of this film is easily the most tightly constructed in the history of cinema. I can think of no other film where something vitally important occurs every other minute. Quite literally, Director Ji-woon Kim seems to have made a movie that practically taunts the viewer to dissect it on the most detailed of levels. A seemingly insignificant object may be shown – a rack of dresses, two diaries, a drop of blood emanating from a floor crack, a bottle of pills, etc. – but upon meticulous inspection turns out to be so much more – a clue that helps to make sense of that particular scene (or perhaps the movie in total), which almost always contributes a stirring reflection upon the psychological concepts that lurk in the background until the viewer's intelligence prompts them to spring to the forefront. Such an event might occur a handful of times during any other movie, but in A Tale of Two Sisters such events occur in such a rapid-fire, relentless fashion that the viewer must watch the film in a perpetual state of alertness, lest they miss something important. In other words, the content level of this film is enough to easily fill a dozen other films.

The direction is incredibly good, and the acting is stunning, with the step-mother in particular incredibly good swinging from one mood style to another in the film. The large house adds eeriness, and there are enough points in the film where you will jump out of your seat. This film to me clearly shows why Korean cinema is possibly the best most original in the world at the moment. You simply don't get anything like this in the Western World, sadly,and really i can see it being influential on film makers around the world in the next decade. This definitely is a must watch horror flick.

My Rating: 3.5/5 

Harry Brown

This morning I sat down and watched a British Flick Harry Brown directed by Daniel Barber. This movie is an well crafted thriller with some extraordinary performances. The director has taken a serious issue in his hand and he has done a great job in sending the message.

Michael Caine stars as Harry Brown, a  decorated ex-Serviceman who everyday watches the world unfold from his flat in a downtrodden London estate. He observes the increasingly senseless violence committed by the young gang members of the estate and the open-handed nature of the drug dealers without any action being taken towards those who are constantly flouting the law in his community. However when his wife passes away, and his best-friend Leonard played by David Bradley is killed after confronting the young men who spend each day terrorizing him to the point of retribution, Brown decides with nothing left to live for, to take the law into his own hands and delivers some excessively violent vigilante revenge.

The opening sequence of the moive where a mobile footage of two young gang members harassing a woman in the park and eventually shoot her without provocation and falling prey to an oncoming truck sets the tone to the film. From there on the cinematography by Martin Ruhe and the direction by Barber really sets the pace for a splendid thriller.

Sir Michael Caine gives a breath-taking emotional performance as the 'pensioner' who decides to take the law into his own hands. I think that his performance in this flick certainly deserves an OSCAR. Emily Mortimer starring as Detective Frampton also gives us an excellent performance. In the end this is an awesome movie and a must watch for everyone.

My Rating: 4/5 

Public Enemies

Today I saw the flick Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann. This movie is a biography of John Dillinger, a falmboyant criminal who robbed banks in the early 1930's and he had a huge fan base. This movie shows us the overview about the final years of John Dillinger.

Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, the famous bank robber.Christian Bale stars as Melvin Purvis, the Federal agent who is assigned to go after Dillinger. Director Michael Mann didn't concentrate enough on the Character Development of Dillinger. The movie didn't really portray 'Who Dillinger Was'. But rather focused on 'What Dillinger did in his final years'. There were many changes done to the real event. i.e for instance  Dillinger wasn't the last one to die in his group, I belive that it was 'Baby Face' Nelson.

The acting from the stars in the main cast were really good, especially the performance of Stephen Graham starring as 'Baby Face' Nelson was superb!!

In the end this is a mediocre film but the thing that is most fascinating about this film is the costumes and sets. The men and women behind these really outdid themselves and created a very authentic view of 1930s Chicago. This aspect of the film alone makes it worth seeing! Every costume and set seems to have been made with the utmost attention to detail, and the final result is very pleasing to the eye.

My Rating: 3/5 

Orphan

I saw this flick the night before yesterday and I was really surprised by this flick. The flick Orphan directed by Jaume Collet-Serra is very disturbing at times and is pretty gruesome. The movie in a whole is an excellent flick and this is one of the scariest flicks of all time according to me.

The flicks is about the story of Esther played by Isabelle Fuhrman, a 9-year old who is adopted by Kate and John Coleman played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard. The decision that they made because of the stillborn birth of their third child.

Esther quickly bonds with Max played by Aryana Engineer, the deaf daughter of the couple but is resented by their son Daniel played by Jimmy Bennett. She charms the Colemans with her artistic flair and her personality. But Kate realises that there is more going on with Esther than meets the eye. Whenever an accident occurs Esther seems to be around. So the rest of the plot remains in Kate finding Esther's secret.

Isabelle Fuhrman gave an excellent performance in this flick. Since the plot of the flick revolves around Esther, her performance will be the key for the movie's success. But damn did she come out with flying colors with her performance in this flick. I would definitely be surprised if she didn't grow up into one of the Hollywood's premiere stars.

In the end this flick will be a great one for those who enjoy horror/thriller flicks.

My Rating: 4/5

North by Northwest (A Classic Thriller)

Yesterday night I saw the film North By Northwest, one of the classic thrillers by Alfred Hitchcock. This is the first time I am seeing this movie. Even though I haven't seen many Hitchcock films, I think I can boldly say that this is one of his best flicks of all time. And now this film is added into my favorite flicks of all time.

Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent George Kaplan by a group of foreign spies and gets kidnapped. When he tries to find out whats going on, he is framed for a murder and he sets out on a cross country run to survive and to find the real George Kaplan. Along the way he meets adventure, danger and beauty in the name of Eve Kendall played by Eva Marie Saint. However when he finds the truth, he is drawn towards a final showdown with the dangerous Phillip Vandamm played by James Mason.

Cary Grant's performance in this flick is simply awesome. One definitely falls in love wtih him or deeply envies him. He carried out his debonair manner throughout the film. Jessie Royce Landis stars as Clara Thornhill, mother of Roger also done a great job.

The Screenplay by Ernest Lehman sets this film to be a classic thriller that it is. The Music by Bernard Herrmann adds an aditional falvour to the scenes. My favorite scenes in this film are The Crop duster chase Scene and The Auction Scene. Another plus for the film was the clever and witty dialouges. Let me quote one of my favorite dialouges in this flick. This happens in the dining car of the train.

Roger: The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.
Eve: What makes you think you have to conceal it?
Roger:  She might find the idea objectionable.
Eve: Then again, she might not.

All in all this film is a must watch flick. It has something for everyone within it: a little comedy, a little romance, great snappy dialogue and more action than any other action movie. I had a great time watching this flick. I am sure that you guys will also have an amazing time if you watch this flick.

My Rating: 4.5/5