Imagine the plight of this planet a couple of decades hence — overpopulated to the extent of being almost uninhabitable, with dwindling resources and unmanageable waste. Scientists have been confounded. But not Hollywood’s filmmakers. Director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor seem to have found the ultimate remedy. The film opens somewhere in the future…
The bear is carnivorous, but it can also be cute and cuddly, as Paddington 2 – following up on its hugely successful earlier instalment of 2014 – tells us over a delightful and rapturous 102 minutes of fun-filled fantasy. The marmalade-loving Paddington Bear (adroitly voiced once again by the talented Ben Wishaw), is now firmly…
The film was almost ready for release when news of Kevin Spacey’s alleged sexual misconduct hit headlines and prompted the studio to beckon the 88-year-old Christopher Plummer – the oldest to win an Academy Award, at 82. The 80-year-old Ridley Scott pulled off a near miracle by refilming Spacey’s scenes (as the multi-billionaire John Paul…
‘Shikar toh sab karte hain lekin Tiger se behtar shikar koi nahi karta.’ This needless allusion here is to wonderboy Avinash Rathore aka Tiger (Salman Khan, as if we didn’t know), who single-handedly, sometimes with the help of a bazooka, knocks off a mini-army in the barren tracts of Abu Dhabi, which is attempted to…
Science-fiction and fantasy films come with their own baggage – they are over-reliant on SFX, the plot is rather predictable, the climax is left open-ended for the studios to cash in on the franchise’s popularity and leaves little scope for an actor to display his/her acting abilities; unless of course, you are a fan of…
It’s the impertinent versus the imperturbable – the cocky versus the cool as cucumber. The 100 minute film braces us for the tennis match of the century – the thrilling five-setter of the 1980 Wimbledon finals in which the upcoming superbrat had threatened to halt the champion’s march to a fifth consecutive title. Shia LaBeouf portrays…
In one of the scenes in the film, Maatun (Urmila Mahanta), promoted from a lowly housemaid position to a responsible post in the office, is the only one who doesn’t arise from her chair to greet her boss, Abhiraj Malhotra (Narendra Jha). That eloquence just about sums up the genre of the film, besides the…
Directed by Bhargav Saikia and officially adapted from a short story by Ruskin Bond, The Black Cat is a quaint 20-minute short children’s fantasy film. Tom Alter, in his last screen appearance, plays the author Ruskin Bond who buys a broomstick from a curio shop. On returning home he experiences strange happenings including a neighbour…
There’s no doubt that Vidya Balan is one of our most accomplished performers, who can emote with her eyes alone. Sulochana (Vidya Balan) affectionately called Sulu by all at home—is a housewife with a basic education. Her domineering elder twin sisters miss no opportunity to berate her, while hubby Ashok Dubey (Manav Kaul) has a…
Who says that road trip movies are the exclusive domain of Hollywood? Prodded on by her friend to have a try at dating websites, Jaya (Malayalam actress Parvathy) pairs up with Yogi (Irrfan Khan) on a trip which takes them across Rishikesh, Rajasthan and Gangtok, culminating in a settled relationship between the two. Jaya is…
Didn’t know moms could be so bad (wish I could have added an emoji)! Just 15 months after ‘Bad Moms’ released last year, comes this Christmas episodic film, with grandmas in tow. And what happens when they descend upon their daughters and grandchildren? Set within a span of a week, the film begins with the…