!~~~ Hell or heaven for comic fans? ~~~!

I love watching cartoons - I generally prefer the animated variety, but sometimes the ones in real life provide much more entertainment

When a movie on a superhero is made, the obvious audience would be the people who have read the storybook / comic book. But very few superhero movies do ’real’ justice to their fans. The most common ’sin’ committed - if I may use the word - is to chop off parts of the story - or to twist some facts to suit the director. If the story is intact, the animation isn’t surreal because it is ’too detailed’ for the big screen - all this is done in the name of ’appealing’ to the movie going audience.

This is such a downer because while making the movie, they forget one important thing - the target ’audience’ for superhero movies is people who like reading the comic books - it is people who like the attention to details. In ordinary words - they are ’nerds’ like me !

So how does Hellboy fare in my exacting standards? Read on people...... read on !

First things first - I have to confess that I have not read the ’Hellboy’ comic book, but I have read enough comic books to know comic books. And knowing comic books is vital to review a super hero movie because the ’nerd’ in me knows what to look out for in such a movie.

It is the final days of World War II, the Germans and Russians combine modern science and ancient evil and build a machine to open a portal to the ’other’ world to bring forth the destruction of Earth. Ofcourse, if we have Russians and Germans colluding, the Americans can’t be far behind now, can they! The movie opens with a battalion of U.S. soldiers and a scientist/professor traveling together to thwart the evil plan of their enemies. Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who is the American expert on magic and sorcery is at first mocked by the US military who think all this is just mumbo-jumbo. However as they reach the Island in Scotland that houses the device, the young professor is shocked to see Grigori Rasputin. His presence signifies something even more big than what he had anticipated.

Grigori Rasputin is a Russian mystic who plans awaken the Ogdru Jahad - The Seven monstrous Gods of Chaos. Helping him are his aides Ilsa von Haupstein and Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. Karl is a much touted killer in Hitler’s military! This man is seemingly invincible and many attempts to kill him, including shooting him in the head, have been futile. Just before operating the machine, Ilsa is made immortal with everlasting youth and beauty by Rasputin in exchange for eternal servitude.

When the machine starts, the Americans soldiers are awestuck by the spectacle that they witness. Not realising the gravity of the situation, they start whispering and they are found out. A fight erupts just when Rasputin starts to open the portal to the other world! What will happen next?

Will the Americans be able to save the destruction of the Earth at the hands of the evil Rasputin? or will Rasputin succeed in his scheme and be able to awaken the Ogdru Jahad? Does Rasputin have any other vested plans? Who is Karl Ruprecht Kroenen? Is he really invincible? Who is Hellboy and how does he figure in this scheme of things? Watch this movie to know the answers....

What I loved about this movie is that Mexican director Guillermo del Toro has done complete justice to the Dark Horse Comic book - Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola.

What I didn’t like about the movie?
I didn’t like the attempts of the central character at humor and wit ! He is like that guy who tries too much to get the girl of his dreams that his wheels are spinning in place - he generates a lot of smoke without any fire - those of you who have seen the movie will know what I’m talking about... the rest can remember these lines and try to recollect them when they do see the movie :-)

Clearly if every guy in hell has the wit and charm like the hero of our book/movie, I’d say the girls who like guys should start being good - they certainly don’t wanna go to hell, bcoz they’d be bored out of their wits! But then its hell - maybe that is God’s way of punishing them evil girls :D

Why am I recommending a movie whose central character lacks suave? Read the next para !!

The feel that one gets while enjoying the comic book like reading the dialogs in the voice bubbles, reading the narration written at the top to enhance the description of the scene, the various shadows cast by the animators to create suspense and fear, the elaborate attention to various minute details in the plot that the reader can see after reading the comic umpteen number of times, the rich feel of the vibrant colours in the book, various characters like a group of policemen - some big and burly while others a little old with a family background (the ones you feel sad when they are killed), the gruesome creatures that make you cringe and wonder - Can the superhero survive this fearsome invincible thing?

All of these aspects - that make a good comic book have been authentically recreated in the movie without any compromise. I felt like I am reading a comic book on the screen !! For this satiating experience to the nerd in me, I give the director and the animators 10/10 !
If you worship comics and want to see justice being done to your religion, don’t miss this movie !

An important point to note is that none of the actors are well-known celebs. For comic based movies, getting big names in quite unnecessary because besides the actors being covered in a veil of costumes and makeup, the story is the main hero. Almost all the actors in the movie have a biography of similar movies. Full points to Jeremy Zimmermann for casting aptly.

The Art direction in the movie is A+ as are the costumes. It is due to this that the authentic comic book feel has been successfully retained. Full points to Marco Bittner Rosser, Peter Francis and James Hambidge for the Art and to Wendy Partridge for the Costumes.

For a list of complete cast, please see
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/combined

The movie won the 2004 Best Director - Feature Film - Imagen Award and the 2005 Saturn Award for
Best Make-Up. Both were well deserved, IMO.
For other nominations please visit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/awards

my verdict?

For the average movie audience it is a 3 star movie. For someone big on comic books, it is a 4 star movie. For someone who loved to see justice being done to comics in movies, it is a 5 star movie !!
You know who you are...

!! Spike !!

This review was first published here by me.

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Admit it! There is something special about those Adamantium claws that make it really attractive for people of both the sexes, even if it is for different reasons! Right?

If there was one character from X-men that people just didn't get enough of, it has to be Wolverine! Complex, deep, disturbed, torn he was the one who gave the vibe of being on or near the edge! A little more bad and he could easily be on the other side! This edge is what warrants wolverine his own movie!

The movie was already part of a controversy, even before it was released. Rumor had it that it was already leaked online before it was released in the theaters. Fox had to send out memos in the news print to assure the audiences that the "leaked" movie was very different from what will be shown in the theaters. Of course, once the news became public, websites were leery of carrying the movie in fear of a lawsuit!

Not to sound disappointing, but the movie plot did not have enough in it to make it REALLY enjoyable for me. Perhaps I was expecting to see the antics of Wolverine himself, but was surprised by seeing other mutants in the movie. Or perhaps it was that some of the other mutants were a little bit too cool for wolverine! Or perhaps it was that wolverine's brother, the sabertooth mutant had similar powers. Or perhaps there was not one single villain in the movie and he was not that powerful, just cunning? Ok, I'll go with the last excuse.

Having got that out of the way, now I can focus on the positives of the movie.
The one thing worth mentioning is that the action in the movie is really slick! I totally loved it when they slowed down the scene to make it look more exciting than it really is.

Also have to admit that the character of Silverfox (Lynn Collins) kinda grew on me. The director really built that suspense quite well in the movie. Totally believable. Being full bodied (read not skinny), she kinda looks hot! I like her ;-)

Liev Schreiber plays Victor Creed / Sabertooth. He is Logan's brother, with retractable nails instead of knuckle-claws. He has elongated canine teeth that make him look like a badly developed vampire/werewolf. Kinda silly actually!

Danny Houston plays Stryker - cunning to the core, he is quite intelligent. But then,I feel it does not take much intelligence to fool a gullible and confused wolverine, just guts. And Stryker may be cunning, but he does not display the same level of cool cunning as displayed by Magneto in the X-men series.

I liked the character of John Wraith played by Will.I.Am. A mutant, his powers are pretty cool. His character had a slight Morpheus-like feel to it and I liked Morpheus's character much in Matrix.

Other cool mutants in the movie are blob , Gambit, Agent Zero, Deadpool, Bolt. Scott's character was quite weak. Weapon XI was kinda ugly and looked unbeatable, and yet, was easily destroyed.

The character that needs no introduction is, of course, wolverine. Even though the plot is kind of shallow, his character has the maximum screen presence. However, the movie fails to develop an emotional attachment towards its main character. One does not quite feel for the character as he goes through enduring various events in the movie. Perhaps the gruff exterior of the character dis-allows for an emotional connect? Somehow, it didn't quite work for me.

In spite of the negatives, the movie is still very good for a single watch. I also have a feeling that the video game is going to be quite a hit with the fans of the series. Director Gavin Hood has made a decent attempt at the movie, the action being the highlight in the movie. Also, there is enough oh Hugh Jackman in the movie for the ladies to ogle :-) This should make it easy for guys to drag their gals to watch the movie. Just throw in the words "bare chest" and "Hugh Jackman" at 'em and surprise surprise, they might even get ready before you :-)

I give the movie 6.5 / 10 for its slick action, the other mutants and a weakish plot. Enjoyable fare this one is.

This revu is dedicated to Mumble - who does not have a link to his blog on his profile! Can you please update it buddy? We'd like to read what you have to write...

PS: This started out as a double feature, but the Star Trek review got the better of me as I started penning it... Sorry to have made you endure me twice :-)

Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)

When any thing has a cult following, the subject has to be dealt with great care. The director has to not only satisfy the audience, he has to be careful so as to NOT offend the existing fans and he has to do it while showing something "new" to them. When the movie is Star Trek, the burden on the director increases by manifold as many of the fans will pick and discuss each and every minutest thing in great detail. Everything has to be logically perfect and yet it must be cool! If done right, it will easily make such a movie the biggest movie of this weekend! If done wrong, it can easily make it a big flop.




The thing that I liked about watching this particular Star Trek movie is that the movie has a "new movie" feel about it. Its kind of like the "new car" smell you experience in a new car. The tag line of the movie says "The future is here" and the movie lives up to its tag line. The visuals in the movie are very fresh and clean. The surroundings in the spaceship appear to be new and futuristic. You do not get the feeling of "Hey, That thing reminds me of that other movie. Or This scene feels like its from the Matrix."


The new Captain Kirk, played by Chris Pine has been given a "I care a damn" attitude in the movie. Something that is different from the old Captain Kirk that I was used to after watching the television series. Although it is this particular quirk about the movie that might make me want to watch the movie again and therefore it actually works to the movie's advantage if others want to do the same!


Spock! With his odd eyebrows and his seemingly indestructible strength and his high level of intelligence combined with his famous hand-on-the-jugular-maneuver that can instantly render the opposition unconscious, it is but logical it was this character in the Star Trek series that I always wanted to be! Although, I must say that the character played in this movie was not as aspiring, it is perhaps the length of the series that made the Spock of the series way way cooler (its logical, isn't it!)! Played by Zachary Quinto, the Spock of the movie is also cool as he retains all the qualities of the (dare-i-say) original Spock!


Hikaru Sulu is played by John Cho. (the biography of this character is quite interesting.) The reliable helmsman of the most famous star ship in the world! The character in the movie is vulnerable, yet solid enough to feel at home in the Enterprise!


"Beam me up, Scotty!" - Perhaps the most famous dialogue in the era of Star Trek! Played by Simon Pegg, this character is the practical scientist. A little eccentric, but full of ingenuity. In this movie he has a relatively small yet memorable role.


Dr. McCoy. The ship's chief medical officer and a personal friend of James T Kirk. Played by Karl Urban, Dr. McCoy smuggles a renegade Kirk aboard the Enterprise in the movie (revealed only because this is not vital to the plot) and also serves as a bit of a comic relief.


Uhura is the ship's communication officer. Her character is played by Zoe Saldana. Oddly, I thought she was being played by Beyonce in the movie. Logically speaking, the mistake was made by me because Beyonce also had a movie coming out around the same time and there was quite a bit of a resemblance although I did think that the character made Beyonce look skinnier and a little - for the lack of a better word - ugly! I found her bio data quite impressive and her looks unattractive! She has a memorable screen presence in the movie and also serves as a corner of a love angle in the movie.


Of course, as it goes with any action movie, the movie will only be as good as its villain. And the visuals apart, this is perhaps the strongest point in the movie for Nero is real "bad" villain who manages to strike fear in your heart! Ruthless, cold-blooded, calculative, scheming, cunning - he makes bad look cool! Played by Eric Bana, I really liked his characterization a lot even though there is not much time devoted to building it. That may be one of the reasons why I ended up liking his character, because unlike Captain Kirk, the director did not waste any screen time in developing this character. It just unfolded as the story progressed! Efficiently ruthless!
The plot of the movie is simple and yet its complex enough to warrant for a second viewing. There is enough "nerdy details" for a Trekkie to discuss over a few cold beers! Like the creation of an alternate parallel universe caused by the altering of the past by knowledge from the future! A good thing to cause an argument and then discuss "what could have happened" by buying the DVD of the movie.


The only quirk that I had was - even though the cast was international, at least in terms of race, once again the action was centered around the US! It gets a little repetitive to time and again see movie makers show - the world = US - in movies! makes me want to be a little crass and say "Come on - get your head out of your ass! There are other continents too. Its OK to go a little more international. The whole world is a market place now and its for yours to take!" There are other things that I want to discuss too, but it will mean revealing a bit of the plot and hence I refrain for now. And since I have digressed, here is a treat for you...

A visual compa rision of the Old v/s new
Star ship... just for kicks :-) Note that the new star ship is shiner! Also note that many more stars are now visible as this is the age od High Definition :-))

The commendable thing about this Star Trek movie is that the director J.J. Abrams has managed to give it a fresh feel while retaining the original Star Trek flavour in it. I can see it winning awards or at least posing serious competition to the other eagerly awaited flick of this year - T4!

Go watch it! The ship is really cool, the characters are exciting and funny, the action is also cool and the plot is deep. This movie has enough in it to make a Trekkie out of you! And if you do not get converted in the first screening, we'll make sure to get a vulcan sign out of you the second time around :-)) 7.5/10 is my rating! Its really good!

This revu is dedicated to Mumble - who does not have a link to his blog on his profile! Can you please update it buddy? We'd like to read what you have to write...

PS: This started out as a double feature, but the review got the better of me as I started penning it... Sorry to have made you endure me twice :-)

More electrifying than the first! Movie review Crank 2 : High Voltage (2009)

If you liked Crank, you will love Crank 2 or Crank: High Voltage!

Yes people, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have made my favourite movie even better and now its even electrifying-ly funny(pun intended!).

The movie is Rated R for frenetic strong bloody violence throughout, crude and graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language.

The movie is produced by Lakeshore Entertainment and Lionsgate (Lionsgate is the same company that produced the SAW movie series! Exciting bunch of people they are!)

Cast

Jason Statham is Chev Chelios, this time he loses his heart! (not figuratively, but literally!) [Check out the pic]

Dwight Yoakam is Doc Miles, who still has massages from nude ladies and has "Chocolate" for his receptionist. (Any guesses as to why she is called Chocolate?)

Amy Smart is Eve - still blond, but now smarter (lives up to her name, eh!) and savvier (she now has an iPhone) Did I mention she is a stripper?
Corey Haim is Randy - Randy is a pimp, ladies n gentlemen!
[You can see Eve tossing Randy on a car in the pic]

Efren Ramirez is Venus - he is Kaylo's twin brother - also gay with FBT - Full body turrets!

Reno Wilson is Orlando (Again, I forgot who he was... He must still be unimportant!)

Keone Young is Don Kim - a syndicate leader

Art Hsu is Johnny Vang - A guy who is carrying Chev's heart in a ice box! (yep, seriously!)


Ling Bai is Ria - a prostitute saved by Chev who is now smitten by him [Pic on right]

David Carradine is Poon Dong - A 100+ year old mafia honcho who wants Chev's heart and other "well endowed" body parts to keep living his racy lifestyle!

Billy Unger is Young Chev - Watch out for the talk show part in the movie. Its too funny!
Jamie Harris is Talk Show Host and Geri Halliwell is his mom.


Joseph Julian Soria is Chico - A gang .. oh well, see the freaking poster on the left.. lol!

The plot is once again, super simple - Crank 2 starts where Crank left off - Chev falls from a chopper, bounces off a car and lands splat on the street! Before the medics can get to him, he is scooped off the streets (literally with a shovel!). Having survived a deadly Chinese poison - the Beijing cocktail, the gangs want him for his body parts, starting with his heart. So they cut him open n take it and replace it with an artificial 4 chambered battery powered one! (Seen on the left. PS: The heart used in the movie is an actual artificial heart!)

Unfortunately, the heart is designed to sustain the person and is not meant for vigorous, stressful activities! And if you know Chev's lifestyle from Crank, its anything but peaceful! The external battery sustaining the heart is ruined in 10 minutes of him getting it. The internal power only lasts for a short time before the 4 chambered plastic pump would stop. Chev has to keep him self electrically charged by any means necessary to stay alive! The premise has now been set for a lot of weird, shocking, funny moments in the movie!
Oh yes, he also has to retrieve his original heart that has been implanted in Poon Dong after killing a bunch of people while trying to stay alive! no problem at all.. lol!

Like its predecessor, this movie too has its share of unrealistic moments and pushes the 'reality' envelope a lot many times! People who have not watched Crank and who do not know what to expect will find asking themselves "What? How is that possible?". But for the fans of Crank, its all good! Why you ask?

Because this is Crank 2! People going to watch this movie would expect to see something shocking (another attempt at pun), violent, crass and outrageous! They would expect the "in-your-face" outrageous-ness! Without showing these things, the movie would not be fit enough to bear the title of Crank!

********** Warning! Spoilers ahead!!!!!! **********

Here are a few reasons why you should watch this movie!
1. It has Jason Statham in it! The guy simply knows how to entertain! I like his sarcastic dry wit displayed throughout the movie!
2. Random violence!
3. Random nudity!
4. Boob busting moments - A stripper gets shot in the tits and the silicone oozes out of her boobs! Excellent premise for Crank 2 the video game for ones with a twitchy trigger finger!

5. A sex scene on a race track where Eve 'rubs' against Chev to generate static electricity to keep his heart pumping while he is pumping her and a horse jumps over the pair in heat! (How freaking cool is that!) I was LMAO in the movie with the others viewers! (A semi drunk girl even shouted "oh yeah" in the audience! lol)

6. The violence is so big, the directors had to resort to clay-like animation to depict it! It was so freaking cool for me coz it reminded me of the 60's tv show for kids called Giant Robot (It was aired in the 80's on good ol' DoorDarshan!)

7. It has bare chested men of all sizes - tattooed, fat, fit, scrawny, muscular! take your pick and ogle away ladies! (don't miss the tongue and nipple clamp on Chev on yer right) ;-)

8. The titles are in retro-cool 8-bit graphics!

9. There are 2 heart surgeries shown in the movie! A must see for every self respecting wanna be heart surgeon :D

10. It depicts a strike by porn stars. The banners n chants are hilarious!

11. Its a Jason Statham movie and its Crank! Satisfaction guaranteed baby! 'Nuff said!

Watch it and have some cheap thrills and lots of racy, violent, electrifying action! Its a pretty cool movie!

6.5/10 for regular viewers

7/10 for action movie fans

7.5/10 for ones with a quirky sense of humor

8/10 for fans of the series!

Action packed adrenaline pumping movie !! Movie Review: Crank (2006)

When the movie is "Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use", the audience is pretty much forewarned that this movie is not a family drama, right? So whats the point in trying to write a clean revu of a dirty movie. Here is your warning then....

Warning ! This revu is only for adults. It contains crude language along with references to drug use :-) If you cannot handle foul language, better stop reading right now - no sh!t !!

"Crank" is a smelly, yellow form of "meth" that is usually snorted. However, this review is about the movie by the same name and not about the crude form of "crystal meth" used for addiction and for getting high. For news on crystal meth see - http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/drugs/crystalmeth.html

Cast
Jason Statham ... plays Chev Chelios, a professional assassin who gets poisoned and has to keep himself pumped with adrenaline to stay alive

Amy Smart ... plays "Eve", a dumb blond bimbo who is slow in getting things in perspective but good for sex !

Jose Pablo Cantillo ... plays Ricky Verona, a rival of Chev Chelios

Efren Ramirez ... plays Kaylo, a gay-funny-filler-type character in the movie

Dwight Yoakam ... plays Doc Miles, a smart resourceful doctor who fixes up Crazy Chev and likes getting massages from nude ladies

Carlos Sanz ... plays Carlito, a two timing syndicate leader who deals in drugs, guns and prostitution

Reno Wilson ... plays Orlando (I forget who the hell he was.... must be unimportant... )

Edi Gathegi ... plays an Haitian Cabbie driver who gives Chev some Haitian drug made from plants (he refers to Chev as a crack-head and calls the drug "Haitian plant sh*t".... LOL)

Keone Young ... plays Don Kim, another syndicate leader and a rival of Carlito whom Chev is supposed to kill

Valarie Rae Miller ... plays "Chocolate" (yeah.. that's her name). She is Doc Miles’ assistant cum receptionist (pun intended) and is unscrupulous

Yousuf Azami ... plays an Arab Cabbie (he has a scene involving a reference to Al-Quaida that happens so suddenly, its funny)


Written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Produced by - Lakeshore Entertainment, Lions Gate Films, Radical Media and GreeneStreet Films; Crank is a bad-a$$ action packed adrenaline pumping funny movie that will get you high !!


In the plot, the lead character gets poisoned with a Chinese drug called "the Beijing cocktail" that has no antidote. The drug is inhibiting the absorption of adrenaline in his body eventually shutting down his heart and killing him. To stay alive, he has to keep himself pumped with adrenaline. This leads to a series of crazy events as the protagonist tries various means to stay pumped up while trying to stay focused at the same time and extract vengeance on the people who have poisoned him. While this is certainly not a whodunit, I’ll still only say this much about the plot as you’ll want to see and enjoy the rest yourself.

The plot is slick and simple ! No need to use too much brains... This is a movie that you can just sit back and enjoy. However, its not brainless either - It has repeat value !! I have seen it multiple times and it has managed to keep me in splits each time !! That's how a good action movie should be. It should keep you well entertained amidst all the violence and Crank does just that and does it beautifully !! There is not dull moment in the movie. Once you get into its groove and move along, the thrill ride it’ll take you to is spectacular !!

I liked the movie as i’m a fan of Jason Statham. He is like our own Sanjay Dutt (an actor from India) - A cool bad a$$ who is like able !! His movies are crazy, but they are guaranteed not to bore you and the action is cool, humor is dry and sarcastic and the dialogues are even cooler. You will be entertained... period !! Fultoo paisa vasool !!

The movie has its share of goofs and some are very obvious. The lead character gets shot, but is later seen walking normally. While falling from a chopper, he has enough time to call his GF and leave her a message on the answering machine ... (yeah right !!) Point is - This is not a technically perfect movie and you have to take some scenes with a grain of salt. Although existent, the goofs are few and far in between and I still recommend the movie in spite of these goof-ups.

Top 10 reasons why should you watch this movie ?==============================================================
1. There is a car driven thru a shopping mall that winds up sideways on an escalator.
2. There is a sex scene where the protagonist screws his literally Blond girl-friend in a china town with a bunch of teenage school girls watching and cheering him on !
3. There is a lot of drug use in the movie.
4. It has a Nokia phone in it with a really cool ring tone that generally wakes up the lead character after he has passed out while doing his many crazy antics in the movie.
5. It has a lot of gun action and a couple of cool car chase scene.
6. It has 2 hand chopping scenes and one scene where a sewing machine is used on a hand - Tatopoulos Studios has done the special effects just for these two scenes.[note: one of the hand chopping scenes is actually very funny - After chopping the hand from the arm, Chevy tells his side kick - a f@g - "Wanna hold hands ?" and throws the chopped hand at him - Now you tell me people -- to be able to make a joke like that when you are dying - isn't that funny and cool... !!]
7. If you can handle crude language and drug abuse, along with the start to end action, the movie is interspersed with a lot of humor for the audience.
8. If you want to learn how to steal a bike from a cop at a traffic light !
9. If you want to have some cheap but cool fun :-)
10. If you are a Jason Statham fan. Though I must warn you, if you are not, there is a good chance you might become one after watching this movie :-)

Question- Why are you still reading the fcuking revu, punk !! Get your b#tt to the store, pop the dvd and get your adrenaline pumping, but do it after leaving a comment else you’ll get a bullet in your a$$... punk !! - The movie is full of such dialogues n lingo.

Fist published here by me.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Movie Review: The Departed (2006)

One question whose answer remains doubtful in the movie is - Whose baby was it? I put my money on Leo Caprio - whats your take... :-)

The movie is rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material - The review is rated only PG-13 :D

When the stakes are high, Insurance is everything! And when you are a mole for the police in the mafia that already has a mole in the police - you can never have enough insurance!

A quick review of the movie would be that it was released in 2006 and it won 4 Oscars in 2007 for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Editing, Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Writing- Adapted Screenplay. Mark Wahlberg was nominated for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. These awards alone would be reason enough to watch this movie. For a complete list of awards, pls see http://imdb.com/title/tt0407887/awards

Even with a cast like Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga can you be sure the movie will be good? Not unless you have a director like Martin Scorsese putting it all together.

The plot is simple. The Irish Mafia and the Massachusetts State Police both have their moles in each other’s organization. The execution is complex - this is where the movie won its Oscars. The irony shown in the story is superlative - Leonardo Caprio (William M.’Billy’ Costigan Jr.) comes from a crime family that he hates, so its relatively easy for him to penetrate the mafia. hailing from a rich family, he hates his roots so much that he prefers to join the police even if it means leading a life of poverty and hardship. Matt Damon (Det. SSgt. Colin Sullivan) hails from a poor family and since he was a kid, he has been granted numerous favors by the mafia don who treats him like a son - even he joins the police force, but not to serve and protect, but to act as a mole for the Irish crime boss - Played by Jack Nicholson - flamboyant, gutsy, crafty, womanising drug dealer, Frank’s character shows considerable amount of flair that suits his role as an Irish mafia boss. His character is the one to watch out for in the movie - even after so many years, he still has tremendous screen presence and will entertain you in his inimitable style. The casting was perfect as Billy, played by Caprio was cast along side Frank, because Matt Damon certainly could not have played Billy’s character as convincingly and craftily and stood up against a capricious Frank as well as Leonardo did.

But for me, it was Mark Wahlberg as Det. SSgt. Dignam and Martin Sheen as Det. Capt. Oliver Queenan who impressed me much. Together they both played the good cop - bad cop extremely well with Dignam constantly teasing and taunting Billy to keep the fire alive in Billy when he gets tired after living a dual life as a mole. At those times, Queenan plays a father figure in Billy’s life and earns his trust convincingly. Credits to Mr. Scorsese for showing this scene, along with many others, in a few frames that would take 3-4 pages of intense writing for a good author to aptly describe. Indeed, if The Departed were a novel written by a dead author, the writer would be lying peacefully in his grave knowing that justice has been done to the book thru this movie!

All the actors - again, thanks to Scorsese’s direction - get into the skin of their characters, which makes this movie almost like watching a 5 star rated play on the screen. But as this is a movie with opportunities of retakes, it cannot be given 5 stars by me - even though the director is good enough to be compared with other top dogs competing alongside him. I say that because I have seen better directors in Quentin Tarantino and Stanley Kubrik who have managed to satiate the film-freak in me more than Mr. Scorsese did. I cannot help but place The Departed next to Pulp Fiction and it manages go neck to neck with it in terms of entertainment, repeat value and suspense (that in itself is a big compliment to this movie). However, the suspense in The Departed is very tautly managed - I was watching it for the second time, and yet the movie seemed very fresh to me and the ending gave me immense satisfaction - which is why I chose the opening of this review carefully.

The sound editing, the film editing, the screenplay, the casting, the art-direction, the special effects is all top notch - the movie makes all these aspects stand out. The spray of blood shown during executions is very realistic as is the sound of guns being fired during a fight. The "popping" sound of the fire exchange changes when heard thru the police radio - excellent attention to details! Eyes used to convey the lust and lunacy of a mafia boss in a scene was shown extremely well without making the scene gross or showing excessive skin. The craftiness and complexity shown in the only strong female character in the movie was superb (played by Vera Farmiga) - credits to Mr. Scorsese for handling the emotions and the on-screen passion very well and tastefully. The change in the face of a tired and exhausted pill-popping mole Billy is very much noticeable, thanks to the make-up that was done just right.

All in all, this is a brilliant piece of movie making that can be watched over and over every couple of months and it’ll keep entertaining you - but as I had already seen movies like Pulp Fiction and A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrik) that were made ages ago this movie, I cannot give The Departed a 5 star rating - It still gets a stellar rating of 9.8/10 - definitely worth keeping in the collection of all movie connoisseurs!

!! Spike !!

PS: This review is dedicated to my very good friends Lalit (MS id - bildebej) and Ipsi (MS id - ipshonlu) for our Italian discussions that sparked the writing of this review - cheers mates !

Note: This review was originally written by me here. I watched the movie again today and that gave me the perfect opportunity to use my best friends, copy and paste to migrate it to my blog. I'll be moving my stuff from the old site to the blog as and when time permits.

How did Kate Beckinsale help iron my clothes! Movie Review: Underworld (2003)

Dark was the night and eerie was the atmosphere! The moon kept moving in and out of the clouds, its silhouette faintly visible from behind the thin ones. Playing hide and seek with the clouds, it came out from behind a particularly thick one, casting its silver light thru the bedroom window. It was in this brief moonlit moment that I first spotted her. She was standing on the edge of the bed, looking down with a serious expression on her lovely face. The mop of jet black hair cascading from her head was cut short, yet long enough to cover her eyes, which appeared closed. She would have fooled any other man, but not me. I could see that they were ever so slightly open. But it did not matter! With her keen olfactory senses, she could have sensed my presence from miles away! She stood coyly, flashing a lycra clad leg from beneath her long leather coat that was wrapped around her tight body like second skin. She held a gun pointing downwards from her left hand. It was clear she was not here to play.


"Do it!" she commanded. "Its such a boring job!" I replied. "Well, that's only if you're alone. Tonight, I'll be your company when you do it. Open up and pop it in!". Something told me not to argue with a woman holding a gun in her hand. So, I opened the buttons, first one, then the other. One more button and the thing slid out from the slot eager to receive that round shiny thing with a hole in the center. There was a slight purring sound.... (or was a whirring sound?) Another button here and there and we were all locked up n loaded! A faint music played from the speakers as the TV came to life with the menu of "Underworld" displayed on the telly! I pressed play on the dvd remote and I brought out a huge load of clothes to iron. It was going to be a long night ladies n gentlemen, for the movie is 121 minutes long!


Starring Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Kevin Grevioux, Bill Nighy, Underworld (2003) is directed by Len Wiseman. The movie is very cool and I liked that its complex story held my interest for the full 2 hours of playtime. Underworld is a tale of a long standing feud between the vampires and the lycans. The story is not your ordinary blood and gore tale of mindless killing. What makes it intriguing are intertwined plots of double cross and forbidden love.

For any modern day vampire/werewolf tale to hold my interest, the graphics have to be slick. This is where the movie scores its points. The lycans' transition from human form to a werewolf is pretty cool. It is accompanied with screaming n shirking, but its still nicely done for a horror movie. i.e. It is not at all cheesy like the beginning of this write up :D

The use of flashback adds to the mystery of the story. The flashbacks are not irritating, because they play an important part in the overall story. Beckinsale really has a penchant for such movies. She fits the bill perfectly to a T. Looking cool n coy with a deadpan expression on her face, she has the right look to play the part. Be it a vampire slayer Anna in Van Helsing or a vampire, Selene in the Underworld series, she has the right expression and the perfect amount of paleness to play the parts convincingly. She also has the bod to look cool in tight fitting lycra. Her fitness makes the action sequences very much believable on screen! (of course its all fake action and we know it very well, but it still has to look convincing at that moment, right?)

The head vampire Viktor, (played by Bill Nighy) is a particularly powerful character shown in the movie. It would take a lot of ruthlessness, power and intelligence to rule over an entire army of vampires and to keep them all under check. Viktor's character displays that power and intelligence very nicely in the movie.

I also liked the character of Raze in the movie (played by Kevin Grevioux). Raze's character is that of an evolved werewolf. He is a loyal, ruthless killer who can turn into a wolf at will. i.e. He need not wait for the moon to be full to change form. Choosing a big, burly, muscular guy for the part of killer werewolf was very clever as it makes the transition more seamless and yet, interesting.

Lucian, played by Michael Sheen, is another cool werewolf character. His character is vital to the story as it plays an important role in the feud between the lycans and the vampires. His character can pop bullets out of his head while healing. Pretty cool, ain't it!


I give the movie 4/5 because -
A) Its a vampire movie
B) It has good graphics
C) The story is not at all boring. Its a complex tale well told!
D) Kate Beckinsale helped me iron my clothes! How freaking cool is that! muhahahahahahaha !!
(Ok, it was because she looks pretty freakin cool in Lycra! That was just to satisfy the purists!)


Watch it so you can enjoy the 2nd movie Underworld:Evolution (2006). You can even start with the latest in the series - Underworld: Rise of the lycans (2009). Its a prequel to Underworld (2003).

Movie Review - Fast and Furious 4 (2009)

New Model. Original Parts.

The tag line could not be more true for this movie! As big a hit the 1st one was, the 2nd and 3rd parts of this franchise failed to create equally big ripples due to the absence of Vin Diesel!

The poor performance of duex and trois meant that Vin is back for the 4th one! After all, the original is the original

<-- Diesel power Baby! (the BDS does not stand for BAD ASS.. lol)

Fast and Furious 4 completely ignores part 2 and 3. The story picks up from where part 1 left off... (FBI mole Paul Walker, allows Vin to run away). Hiding from the cops, Vin is running his operations in Dominican Republic (Again, an apt place coz Vin's name in the movie is "Dominic".. lolz)

The plot of this movie has gangsters, drugs, cops, chicks and the Cars! The original team of Paul Walker (FBI agent), Diesel (Dominic Torreto), Jordana Brewster (Vin's sister and Paul's GF), Michelle Roderiguez (Vin's GF) are back for this rocking movie! Vin still drives Muscle cars and Walker sticks to driving Imports! The chicks are good eye-candy and they even get behind the wheel once in a while. The best of them is Michelle, coz shes the only one who gets dirty under the hood and also handles herself quite well everywhere else - on top of the car and even on the backside of a truck!

While the plot is quite interesting, it is the car chases that kinda get a bit repetitive! (Yep, I said it!) The best thing about the 1st movie was the exotic car racing that was shown on the screen. When it comes down to that, part 1 certainly comes out on tops among ALL 4 movies. The car sequences in 4 would have worked has the movie come out at the time part-2 was released. The main car chase sequence in part 4 feels very "game-like" and it had a Tokyo-drift-like feel to it (remember the race on the mountain?) This is where the story comes in handy and prevents the movie from being termed as a dud!

The plot, combined with the chemistry, that's carried forward from the original, between Walker, Vin and Jordana is what held my interest in the movie.

<--- (Lock it load it and pop it! Thats done right... FnF style!)

For me, the initial adrenaline rush was over after the first 2 car race sequences and the rest of the sequences had a "game like" feel to them - bad lighting, too much dust n dirt being kicked up (to give them the benefit, the sequence was pictured in a desert), but still... It didn't do it for me.

Perhaps its because between part 1 and part 4, I have watched other movies that have come out with better car sequences! (Death Proof - top 10 best car chases ever! Chicks doing the chasing further adds to the appeal.)... Or perhaps I was tired from a long night and the darkness of the theater was too tempting for my body to resist!

All being said, It was a good movie. Certainly worth a watch, but not worth canceling dinner plans with your date. Thankfully, the friend I went with preferred this movie over a mundane dinner... just one reason why we get along just fine... lol

Rating -

2.5/5 for plain movie goers

3/5 for people who like movies that give them an adrenaline rush!

3.5/5 for fans of the franchise

***********WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD***********

I loved the 1st sequence the most! Vin and Michelle are robbing an oil truck-train. The sequence was picturised in daylight, so the viewer can see the scene a little more clearly and its easy to follow the fast action on screen.

The street race was good and exciting, but the GPS voice was VERY annoying! I get enough of that in real life... movies are suppose to allow me to escape from that!

The tunnel sequence was the most bizarre of the 3 main race sequences. It gave the mountain race sequence of Tokyo Drift a run for its money for being fake! I felt it was included purely for the sake of a movie based video game that might come out in future.

Loved the exchange between Gisele (Gal Gadot) and Vin when she tries to hit on him and he shuns her. The lines might be cheesy, but appear to be tailor made for Vin's delivery... And he delivers them just right.

Vin's car totally rocked! Paul's car sucked towards the end of the movie.... Black and White...? Seriously?? Did the designers run outta ideas or was it the budget? I bet on the latter with the economy tanking .. lol

Movie Review: The Boondock Saints

The movie starts with two brothers in a church where the priest is delivering a sermon.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
[For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.]



The theme of the sermon is the death of a woman who was stabbed to death in broad daylight while onlookers did nothing to prevent it.

"Now we must all fear evil men, but there is another kind of fear which we must fear most. And that is the indifference of good men!"


The priest's words are synonymous with the brother's way of life.


The Irish brothers (Sean Partick + Norman Reedus) are two goofy guys working in a meat factory who like to work hard and have fun. They are out partying in a bar on St. Patrick's day (An Irish holiday), when the Irish bar is forced to be shut down by the Russian mob. The next scene is a crime scene in an alley near the bar.

The investigator of the crime scene is none other than the green goblin.. oops.... Williem DaFoe. He plays a 'cocky' FBI detective who is good at his work and is openly gay - Ever since Spiderman, I have fallen in love with DaFoe's work. He is an actor who makes me feel that he has put in a lot of effort in his work. He portrays complex characters and the roles I like him play are mostly eccentric. But the good part is that he seldom gets repetitive in his work.

The first twist in the tale is when a threatened mob boss hires a vicious killer to go after the brothers. This guy is so violent, he makes Hannibal Lecter look like a Lamb (pun intended)! The killer, II Duce is played by Billy Connolly ->

(Check out the cool assortment of guns he's wearing)

The twists only get better and better in the movie without it being confusing.

The movie's uniqueness lies in the fact that it has become a cult hit thru the DVD route. Its the fans that have made "Boondock Saints" famous. This fact speaks volumes about how good this movie is (7.9/10 on IMDB)

The movie has witty and quotable dialogues, the characters in the movie are built strong and deep in a short time. The director really makes it easy to sympathise with the characters in this violent movie. I loved it because of its a cool brand of justice deliverance - undelayed, vicious, funny and serious at the same time.

This movie simply rocks. It is a cult classic. A uber cool intelligent movie that is NOT made by Quentin Tarantino, but is right up there in the coolness factor - It is written and directed by Troy Duffy. What works for the movie is that the lead characters are two ordinary guys who just go for it in any given situation. The make the best of whats in front of them and are thinking on their feet even when the chips are down! The methods adopted by them may be controversial, but their motive is pious! In this age of red tape, their brand brand of justice deliverance cuts right thru the chase! After all, Justice delayed IS justice denied, so they go for the jugular!

My rating, 8.5/10.... 9.5/10 for the coolness and the innovative way of portraying violence and making it pious!

Be a good fan, buy the DVD!