Kids have always held a fascination for clowns. In celebrated author Stephen King’s 1986 novel, serialised in 1990 and now adapted for the big screen by Argentinian director Andy Muschietti; Pennywise, the Dancing Clown is a macabre supernatural who awakens every 27 years to prey on children. It’s October 1983 and seven-year-old Georgie (Jackson Scott) is…
The title card at the beginning declares the film to be based on a true story. With the Gandhi cap, the prosthetically altered nose, the manner of speech and the intense look, there was going to be little doubt that it wouldn’t be a biopic. But the moot point is – how much of the…
A well-intentioned plot, some none-too-brilliant casting and more than a few gauche movements are what make up The Space Between Us, a film set in the near future. Innovative entrepreneur Nathaniel Shepherd (British veteran Gary Oldman) brings to fruition his long-cherished dream of setting up a human colony in neighbouring planet Mars. The only hiccup…
Akshay Kumar’s voice during the opening disclaimer, that the film is not based on any actual incident, is in total contrast to the 2013 Jolly LL.B. which portrayed the celebrated hit-and-run case in Delhi. The sequel, clearly devised to bank on Akshay’s star-power, has protagonist Jagdishwar Mishra aka Jolly (Akshay) as the 15th legal assistant…
It’s the stuff legends are made of. Though the origins of the Great Wall of China can be traced to prehistoric times, its main portions were erected barely five to six centuries ago to defend against human invaders. Veteran director Yimou Zhang, best known for directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing…
Apart from the lure of lucre, there seems to be little reason for studios investing in the time and effort of sci-fi based fantasy films. In this six instalment — set almost immediately after Retribution — of the video game series, protagonist Alice (Milla Javovich) discovers that an antidote to the T-virus lies hidden in…
If filmmakers had their way, history would be rewritten over and over again. But first, public awareness: a) Add comedy to the genre mentioned above — banal and unwitting comedy. b) There is no yoga, just yo-yo insanity which brings uncontrolled, unintended guffaws to the viewer. The first eight minutes of the film depicts a…
Doshipura in UP is the setting for this Muslim social drama. Middle-aged Raza (Danish Hussain) lives with his bedridden father and extended family. He harbours a guilt – his sister Zahara (Neelima Azeem) had to flee India and settle in Pakistan. A failed marriage and years later, she comes visiting to India. Like scores of…
‘The world’s a f—-d up place’ is the refrain of the four disparate youth who set out on a road trip to the foot of the Himalayas in search of M Cream, a mythical drug. Figs (Imaad Shah), with a ‘Que Sera Sera’ attitude and who perpetually swigs Old Monk straight from the bottle as…
The intense chemistry between Nirmal Kumar (Irrfan Khan) and young lad Rohan Goswami (Vishesh Bansal) paves the way for a – not exactly thrilling, but – fascinating film. Nirmal ingeniously kidnaps Rohan, the son of the Home Minister and demands to identify the perpetrators of the man-made calamity which snuffed out the life of his…
When the crew of USS Enterprise get stranded on a distant and hostile planet — somewhere in the 23rd century — Capt. James Kirk (Chris Pine), Comdr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and company aboard the starship face an unenviable task: that of fleeing the alien terrorists, led by their military commander, the sinister and monstrous Krall…