My Review : 'Her' is just unusually Sensitive!

By: Thejas on 6:56 PM

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, voice of Scarlett Johansson

Director: Spike Jonz

Once in a while, there comes a film that challenges the very fabric of social life that you have been so accustomed of, and yes, for me Her is one such ground breaking yet poignant movie. Elementally, it is a very human story about our need for connection.

Set in the near future, the film stars Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a sensitive, damaged soul, who has a job composing letters on behalf of people who’re too busy to write to their loved ones. Heartbroken from his wife  having left him, and lonely, Theodore spends his evenings alone in apartment, immersed in videogames. But all that changes when he installs a new operating system in his computer. Voiced with real passion and seduction by the sultry Scarlett Johansson, this artificially intelligent entity calls herself Samantha. She goes from organizing Theodore’s emails  to becoming his confidante, and finally his lover.

The film’s sheer genius lies in the manner in which it takes what’s essentially a sci-fi premise, and adapts it smoothly and convincingly to the ups and downs of a romantic relationship. From the excitement of getting to know each other, to petty arguments, to the pain of drifting apart, Theodore and Samantha takes you on an emotional roller-coaster. 

But the reason this film truly works is because of its closeness to reality. Theodore's unwillingness to to let go of his ex-wife and his emotional attachment with his best friend Amy is portrayed very elegantly. There are still moments are questionable like the few raunchy and detailed love-making scenarios , especially the one with surrogate lover for Samantha, which tends to creep you out, but on deeper analysis , I felt that these are parts which showed the directors perception about the connection between sexual and emotional intimacy . Also the movie tends to fall in a predictable groove after a while. 

Yet these are minor blemishes in an otherwise sublimely original film that is majestic in the sheer emotions it portrays. Phoenix( I was shocked that he wasnt even nominated for the Oscar for this role), as Theodore, has a winning chemistry with Johanson’s Samantha, who is only heard, never seen, (yet is cream of the movie). Amy Adams too puts in an honest performance as his supportive, non-judgmental best friend.

Crisply shot in bright hues this is ultimately a deeply moving film about a romance that feels painfully authentic. It really shows you that real love is much- much more , than how cheesily  it is presented normally in movies.

Rating : 4.25/5

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My Review : Dallas Buyers Club

By: Thejas on 1:44 PM

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto

Why should any one watch Dallas Buyers Club. I give you two reasons : 
  1) Mathew McConauhey 
  2)Jared Leto. 

 For me ,till now, Matthew McConaughey has hardly given us reason to think of him as someone tipped to win an acting Oscar . Franky , I was infuriated when Leonardo DiCaprio did not win an Oscar for his performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, I mean what more can a man do!!But when I saw Dallas Buyers Club I was blown away.


Virtually unrecognizable in the film due to his 45 pound weight loss for the part , McConaughey literally slides into the skin of Ron Woodroof, a rude, narcotic and homophobic Texas cowboy in the mid 1980s, who reacts with typical sheer disgust when he's diagnosed as HIV positive. After doctors give him only 30 days to live, an angry Woodroof becomes determined to prolong his life by any means necessary. Based on true events, the film sees Woodroof set up a business selling these black-market drugs and vitamins to the sick, with the help of transgender drug addict Rayon played excellently by Jared Leto.

The film's best moments are the ones between Woodroof and Rayon, who go from antagonistic business partners to a pair of considerate co-workers committed to a noble cause. Woodroof's own transformation - from a self-absorbed hateful redneck to a determined man of the hope - is the heart of this film, and it's nicely un-sentimental. He sets up the 'Dallas Buyers Club' motivated strictly by profit, but subsequently transforms the enterprise into a sort of symbol against an apathetic medical system and a possibly corrupt pharmaceutical  industry.

Jennifer Garner is well cast as a sympathetic doctor who risks her career to stand by Woodroof in his selfless mission. But the film belongs to McConaughey and Leto . Not particularly likable at the start of the film, he tackles the part with such fearless honesty that you're rooting for him as the cracks in his tough exterior begin to show.

Directed without much fuss by Jean-Marc Valle, this is a poignant yet inspiring film that unfolds like your standard biopic. Yet it's riveting each time McConaughey and Leto  is on screen. Watch it for the powerful and magnificent performances and a heart warming story. 

Rating: 4 /5

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Talaash is Not what you expect it to be!

By: Thejas Krishnan on 8:19 PM

Cast: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shernaz Patel, Rajkumar Yadav, Sheeba Chadha
Director: Reema Kagti

What strikes you most when you start watching Talaash is its credits which includes Dialogues by Farhan Akhtar, story and screen play by Reema kagti and Zoya Akthar, and Anurag Kashyap in Cinematography department. Yet at some place it does seem a let-off, after all its is an Aamir Khan Movie!

Talaash, directed competently by Reema Kagti, opens with a leisurely paced shade of Mumbai after dark. Across  the dirty bars and crampy gullies , camera pokes its head into the backrooms of brothels where prostitutes doll up before heading out to showcase  their wares. Crummy-looking pimps lure prospective clients for their girls, an old destitute woman stares blankly huddled in a streetside corner, even as urchins tap hopefully on taxi windows.What Kagti conveys through Talaash is that this is a living-breathing strata of our society, and these people must matter – they deserve humanity and compassion.

The murder mystery is  kicked off at  the night when a film star drives his car straight into a railing and plunges it into the sea, killing himself. Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) finds himself sucked into the underbelly of the city as he investigates this case that is evidently more complicated than it appears.Himself straining under the burden of guilt since the death of a loved one, Shekhawat immerses himself in the investigation, even as his wife Roshni (Rani Mukherjee) wrestles with depression and loneliness. As the cop spends long nights driving around the city’s darkest corners in search of clues, he’s befriended by a kindly hooker, Rosy (Kareena Kapoor), who helps him uncoil the maze of this case.

Talaash benefits from its crisply written characters and the exceptional actors who play these parts. As Taimur, the limping odd-jobs guy in the brothel, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is terrific, inhabiting the role like a chameleon. Playing Shekhawat’s junior officer, it takes Rajkumar Yadav just one scene – in which he’s merely a spectator with a single line of dialogue – to show what a good actor can bring even to a small part. The same is true of Shernaz Patel who shows up as a kooky psychic, and Sheeba Chadha who appears as a past-her-prime sex worker.

Of the leads, Kareena Kapoor brings both heat and heart to her role, despite the sometimes clunky lines she must mouth. Rani Mukherjee shines as the cop’s desperate wife, investing her performance with an array  of emotions, never once reducing the character to a pathetic caricature. It’s Aamir Khan, in the film’s central role, who not surprisingly leaves the biggest impression. Shekhawat internalizes his emotions for the most part, and Aamir brings volumes of depth to this troubled man…that furrowed brow, the moustache, all adding to this remarkable performance.

But the most disappointing fact is there is not much to the movie. Apart from the initial tremors all the rest is pretty must base lined. It doesn’t feel nearly as tense or urgent as it ought to, and its plot simply isn’t as deliciously complex as it could’ve been. As a result, it’s a very watchable film, but not an unforgettable one.

Talaash is not a bad movie. Sad part is it isnt a much good one too! But watch it for its power performances. Powerful and definitive. 

Rating : 3/5

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Avengers-Its every boys dream...

By: Thejas Krishnan on 7:55 PM

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson Samuel L Jackson ....
Director: Joss Whedon

This is a super hero movie on steroids!!! Its everything you wanted as a kid.

After successfully introducing movie-goers to Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Thor in previous films, the decision to get all these big guns firing as one was brave to say the least…given that each of them inhabits a different space, and comes with his own set of quirks and characteristics. But writer-director Joss Whedon, recognizes that challenge clearly, and uses exactly that to form the basis of his story – in order to come together to fight a common enemy, these superheroes must first sort out their own egos and differences.

The enemy  here  is Loki, the  demi-god who you might remember, was banished from heavens in THOR. The Avengers opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) stealing the Tesseract, a powerful energy source, with which he intends to open a portal to space to summon an alien army to help him enslave all mankind.

In response, Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), director of international peacekeeping agency SHIELD, gathers his best men: billionaire industrialist Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), supersoldier Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans), god of thunder and Loki's brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth), ace scientist and Hulk alter-ego Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), along with slinky Russian spy Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and expert marksman Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Together they must work as a team to fight Loki's world-ending scheme but there's that small matter of fighting amongst each other to resolve first.

Director Joss Whedon have to be credited for more than one reason here. For one, the scenes are properly shot. There are no redundant action sequences or boring dialogue manifestations. The actions are shot with drop dead reality that the X factor that keeps every one to the edge of their seats. He also maintains a cracking pace, switching deftly between spectacular action sequences, and witty interaction scenes between the characters.

Though Robert Downey Jr. gets the Lions Share of punch dialogues, its the Hulk that wins the most applause. The significance is equally divided among its six leads each with their own areas of expertise and no-one feels left out. It is also the sheer brilliance of the director to keep the Humor in every situation through-out the film.

The performances are top-notch across the cast, particularly from Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk far more sympathetically than in the two previous films that starred Eric Bana and Edward Norton as the angry green fellow. Ruffalo nails the almost  relationship between Dr Banner and his alter ego, and delivers plenty spontaneous laughs.

In the end, The Avengers isn't just an ultimate spectacle, but also incredibly smart and surprisingly humorous. The Unexpected moments, both action and humor, will surely glue you to the seats.

Go on.. Full fill your childhood fantasy... :D

Rating : 5/5

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