Oscars 2012 - Life, Camera Action

Oscar Nominations are out and time to recognize the best movies of the year with Billy Crystal on 26th Feb 2012

Actress in a leading role:

• Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark
• Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Lisbeth Salander
• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe

Actor in a leading role:

• Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
• George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King
• Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
• Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane

Best Supporting Actress:

• Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
• Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote
• Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan Price
• Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page
• Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson

Best Supporting Actor:

• Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
• Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
• Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
• Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields
• Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter

Best Writing - Original Screenplay:

• The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
• Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
• Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
• Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
• A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

  
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay:

• The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash from The Descendants (novel) by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• Hugo – John Logan from The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon from Farragut North by Beau Willimon
• Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin from Moneyball by Michael Lewis
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Best Animated Feature:

• A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• Puss in Boots – Chris Miller
• Rango – Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French – Michaël R. Roskam
• Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar
• In Darkness (Poland) in Polish – Agnieszka Holland
• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French – Philippe Falardeau
• A Separation (Iran) in Persian – Asghar Farhadi

Best Director:

• Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
• Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
• Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne – The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Picture:

• The Artist – Thomas Langmann
• The Descendants – Jim Burke, Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Scott Rudin
• The Help – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan
• Hugo – Graham King and Martin Scorsese
• Midnight in Paris – Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum
• Moneyball – Michael De Luca, Rachel Horowitz, and Brad Pitt
• The Tree of Life – Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill and Bill Pohlad
• War Horse – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy

 Movies with Multiple Nominations:

• 11 nominations: Hugo
• 10 nominations: The Artist
• 6 nominations: Moneyball and War Horse
• 5 nominations: The Descendants and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• 4 nominations: The Help and Midnight in Paris
• 3 nominations: Albert Nobbs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and The Tree of Life
• 2 nominations: A Separation, Bridesmaids, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Iron Lady, and My Week with Marilyn

Meet you all at the Red Carpet at the Kodak Theater

Agneepath - Never Play with Fire

Sitting in the second row from the screen in Cinemax at Infinity mall at Mumbai, all I could think of is that it is a great attempt to make the Indian audience health conscious. Hrithik and Sanju Baba inspiring all men to tone up their muscles just like them, Priyanka teaching all women to shape up their lovely love handles each time she moved her pallu and then the scorching Katrina, the Chikni Chameli, offering the energy booster "The Ultimate Boob shake".

Classics are classics for a reason. They have stood the test of time and any attempt to remake is destined to fail (very few have been successful in remakes like Ocean's eleven (2001)from the earlier Ocean's eleven (1960), Italian Job (2003)from the earlier Italian Job(1969), Thomas Crown Affair (1999) from Thomas Crown Affair(1968) because they redeveloped the scripts with Original ideas). Box office collection alone is not a sign of a good movie. It is not a new story that Bollywood lacks for original ideas and is afraid to spend on original ideas. Karan Malhotra, after being an assistant director to most of Karan Johar's movies, tries his hand to remake the revenge classic "Agneepath". Karan Malhotra's movie still has the influence of Karan Johar's melodrama making the movie a tiresome watch. Karan sticks to the same revenge storyline of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (poora naam) and Kaancha Cheena set in Mandwa and Mumbai.

Music is average by Ajay and Atul Gogavale. Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan have switched places with Shreya delivering the item number Chikni Chameli and Sunidhi singing the romantic song Gun Guna.

Though a copy of Scarface, Amitabh, Master Manjunath (of Stoneboy and Malgudi Days fame),Madhavi, Mithun, Danny and Rohini Hattangadi together with their power-packed dialogues and performances gave Agneepath a cult status. Stand alone performances by Hrithik, Priyanka and Rishi Kapoor (the surprise package) are good, but they fail together due to a dragging storyline. Even the asli Khalnayak, Sanju Baba (who looks more like Shrek dressed in black) had very few punchlines to deliver. But the scorching Katrina Kaif ensures its paisa vasool for you in the chartbuster Chikni Chameli.

It aint that bad, but it aint that good either.Go ahead and watch it once.
Others who donot have patience to watch a 3 hour movie, watch Amiatbh deliver some of the best punchlines of Hindi Cinema in the original "Agneepath"

Think About It: What do you call a remake of a remake?

Coriolanus -Brilliance displayed

Nature Teaches beast to know their friends

                                                             - William Shakespeare

Set in a place which calls itself "Rome", RalphFiennes displays his brilliance as a debutante director bringing alive a revenge tragedy written 400 years ago by William Shakespeare.

Caius Martius, a Patrician General, defeats his enemy Tullus Aufidius, a Volscian General. Martius, a Roman Hero,  is granted the name Coriolanus. To get to the position of Consul, Martius should plead to the public whom he sees in contempt in reality. He is considered as the enemy of the people due to his extreme views and is declared a traitor by the public before they banish him from Rome. Driven by anger Martius joins hands with his sworn enemy Aufidius to take revenge on Rome. All talks to stop the attack on Rome goes in vain till Volumnia, Coriolanus's mother, pleads to stop the act of vengeance. Coriolanus agrees to peace leading to a disagreement with Aufidius and Corialanus is assasinated by Aufidius and his men.

Ralph Fiennes handles both his activities brilliantly as Coriolanus in front of the camera and as a director behind the lens. Ancient English dialogues in a modern setting makes the movie standout. Brilliant performances by Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia, Brian Cox as Menenius and Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius complement the stupendous efforts of Ralph Fiennes.

To treat thy senses thou shalt brush up thy Shakespeare knowledge before thee shalt watch "Coriolanus".

Golden Globe Awards - 2012 (Have you seen the Tourist yet?)

The most difficult task in this world is to make people laugh. But that's a walk in the park for Ricky Gervais, host of 69th Golden Globe Awards at Beverly Hilton Hotel at Los Angeles.

Ricky Gervais comic timing is superb as his comments donot spare even Mel Gibson, Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy. Thanks to Ricky, Kim Kardashian is in news again. In his own words "The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought". 
Kim - We Love you and "everything" about you, so be a sport and enjoy Ricky's jibes on your marriage which lasted only for 72 days (Ricky has sat through longer James Cameron's acceptance speeches than 72 days)

The hall was roaring in laughter when he mentions about his "long vocabulary" and Jodie Foster's "Beaver" (which he claims is not all that bad!). And you know that you are in for treat when he asks Johnny Depp -"Have you seen the Tourist yet?" (I am ROFL).

Watch Ricky at what he does best on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrMGlIE79M


Golden Globe Awards is organized by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association to award the best in Movies and Television Series. And as always the "Quality" was selected over "Popularity" unlike Indian awards.

Winners of 69th Golden Globe Awards

• Best Movie - Drama -The Desendants
• Best Actor (Male)-Drama -George Clooney for The Descendants
• Best Actor (Female)- Drama - Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
• Best Movie -Musical or Comedy - The Artist
• Best Actor (Male)-Musical or Comedy-Jean Dujardin for The Artist
  
• Best Actor (Female)- Musical or Comedy- Michelle Williams for My week with Marilyn
• Best Supporting Actor (Male) -Christopher Plummer for Beginners
• Best Supporting Actor (Female) -Octavia Spencer forThe Help
• Best Director - Martin Scorsese for Hugo
• Best Screenplay - Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
• Best Animation - Adventures of Tintin
• Best Foreign Language Film - A Seperation
• Best Television Series (Drama) - Homeland
• Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy) -Modern Family

Watch this space as all these movies will be reviewed on "The Real Movie Review".

Chaalis Chaurasi - Review

"A group of Donkeys led by a Lion can defeat a group of Lions led by a Donkey".

                                                                                                           - Socrates

It was 2004, I was introduced to Hriday Shetty through "Plan", remake of Hollywood comedy "Suicide Kings", with Dino Morea, Bikram Saluja and Rohit Roy in the lead. With donkeys all around it was perfect setting for a disaster .

Come 2012, Hriday has selected four Lions from the industry into his team. Nasseruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon and Ravi Kishen And Socrates is proven right again.

The van numbered 4084 (Chaalis Chaurasi) is supposedly the main character of the movie (Was it really!). All four characters look as if they jumped right out of Sajid Khan's nonsensical movies, each trying to overdo the other with their buffonery. The foreplay by these four plays at such a slow pace that it could not be enjoyed. Even the two bimbos in two item numbers could not help the disaster in making.

Four friends plan a heist and things go haywire (believe you me everything here went haywire). What could have been an edge of seat thriller is reduced to a farce. Ek Chaalis ki last local had the right amount of comedy, tension and suspense along with with a hint of naughtiness created by Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia. Chaalis Chaurasi lacks everything and is a hotchpotch recipe by Hriday Shetty. The scenes seemed that they would never end. Even though a heist movie, there was never a moment of tension. The comedy scenes would give a tough competition to Sajid Khan's movies which donot make you laugh either.

Donot waste your precious time and money on this. Wait till a Lion leads a pride of Lions.

Movie Calendar - 2012

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Tips for the Year
January

• Chaalis Chauraasi - The Cast is stronng enough to drag you to the theaters. Nasseruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and Ravi Kishen.
• Man on a Ledge - Sam Worthington stands on the ledge and keeps you on the edge of the seats.
• Coriolanus - Imagine if a Spartan and Lord Voldermort were to join hands to make a period movie.
• Haywire - Steven Soderbergh the Genius is Back
• J Edgar - Leonardo Di Caprio tests new waters again and excels.
• Agneepath - Can a cult movie ever be remade. I doubt it, but watch this for sexy Katrina as Chikni Chameli and Priyanka Chopra. 

February:

• Gali Gali Chor Hai - Can Akshay Khanna finally get launched
• Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu - Lets Learn how to screw up a fine script from Hollywood
• Ek Deewana Tha - It was a game changer for Simbu in Tamil version , will it be the same for Prateik Babbar
• Shanghai - Can Dibakar and Abhay say Oye we are Lucky again
• Money Ball - Brad Pitt in a different avatar
• Star Wars - Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace 3D - Exclusively for Star Wars fans
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Though a remake of Swedish Movie, its worth it
• Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance - Added to the list only for Nicolas Cage

March 

• Kahaani - Its Awesome - Vidya Balan is pregnant again and she doesnot know who the father is?
• Agent Vinod - Hope it releases in April
• Blood Money - Kunal trying his best to establish as a dependable actor
• London, Paris, Newyork - Get ready to ROFL with Ali Zafar

April 

• The Pirates - Band of Misfits - Its Salma Hayek all the way
• Titanic 3D - Who doesnot want to watch Kate Winslet in 3D , as a matter of fact I want to watch her in 4D
• Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum - My Kinda movie
• Housefull 2 - Watch this for Bollywood bimbos in skimpy clothes
• Ferrari Ki Sawaari - Sharman - Wishing you the best
• Jannat 2 - Emraan do what you do the best
• Tezz - Copy of "Speed" with Indian Masala

May

• Rock the Shaadi -Dare miss a Abhay deol movie?
• Gangs of Wasseypur - Anurag Kashyap the Genius
• The Avengers - Watch all your super heroes get together for the first time
• MIB - 3 - Never Say Never to Will Smith

June

• Madagascar 3 - Europe's most wanted - Your favorite animals are back
• Talaash - Aamir please make more than one movie a year
• Rowdy Rathore - Will Sonakshi expose as much as Anushka Shetty did in the original Vikramarkudu
• Teri Meri Kahaani - This one to be seen just for Priyanka

July

• The Dark Knight Rises - Chritopher Nolan is God
• Bol Bachchan - Can it match upto the standards of Golmaal (Original)
• Barfii - Will Ileana show her " acting skills" as much as she does in South Movies
• Zila Ghaziabad - Sanju Baba and Arshad are back

August

• The Expendables -2 - Gods of Action Movies , all in one movie
• The Bourne Legacy - Can this work without Matt Damon
• Total Recall - Colin Farell
• Ek Tha Tiger - Watch this for Katrina
• Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai-2 - Will Ileana show her " acting skills" as much as she does in South Movies
• Joker - Hope Shirish has not made a dud like TMK again
• Raaz 3 - Get set to get intimate with Jacqueline and Bipasha

September

• Heroine - Watching Kareena in Size 3 is worth your money
• Finding Nemo - 3D - Exclusively for fans of the original

October

• Department - Ramu cannot go wrong when paired with Big B
• Gangster Squad - Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling give tough competition to Ramu's Department

November

• Race 2 - Donot miss the opportunity of checking out the Girl with Long Legs
• Son of Sardar - OMG! Sonakshi again...well I dont mind
• Khiladi 786 - And OMG! Ileana again....I never did mind
• Matru Ki Bijlee ka Mandola - Vishal Bharadwaj the genius

December

• Dabangg 2 - Will this work without Abhinav Kashyap's stupid script.
• Jism 2 - First Day First Show to check out Sunny (Hott) Leone

 *Check back for updated list

Players (Abbas Mustan..Please stick to the Original script)

"Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal"

                                          - Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs never knew that Bollywood Director Duo Abbas Mustan are neither Good Artists nor Great Artists, yet they Copy and Steal shamelessly from Hollywood hits.

Shamelessly copied from Hollywood:

• Baazigar - A Kiss Before Dying
• Daraar - Sleeping with the enemy
• Baadshah - Nick of time
• Ajnabee - Consenting Adults
• Taarzan the wonder car - Christine
• Humraaz - A Perfect murder
• 36 China Town - Once Upon a Crime
• Aitraaz - Disclosure
• Naqaab - Dot the I
• Race - Goodbye Lover
• Players - Italian Job

First they rip-off an English Blockbuster and then rip apart the complete script and screenplay. Imagine movies with a screwed up storyline and the so called actors who struggle to act and emote. A complete disaster. Only saving grace and some worth to your money are the bimbos in skimpy clothes shaking everything they got on screen for no reason.

I have always been taught not to waste too much money on china ka maal and Abbas Mustan movies. And I say the same to you...

Stop Wasting your hard earned money on duplicate maal. Rent the original and watch the masterpieces.

Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows (An Offer you cannot refuse)

"I'm gonna make him an offer he cannot refuse."

                                                      - Don Vito Corleone

Guy Ritchie offers a treat to the senses which you cannot refuse. Guy Ritchie has prepared a full course meal for all fans hungry for great action suspense thrillers.

Guy Ritchie carved a niche segment and redefined the art of making action-comedy thrillers with "Snatch", "Rock 'n Rolla" and " Lock Stock and Two Smokin' barrels". He is back with a bang and is in full form after a slow start from the first installment of Sherlock Holmes franchisee.A rare phenomena where a sequel is way better than the original and is worthy in all terms. 

Welcome to the world of Guy Ritchie. Tickle your senses with a great mix of a strong storyline, great performances by Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law and an awesome visual treat of London, Paris and Switzerland. And the trademark Guy Ritchie hyper -kinetic action sequences and witty dialogues will just blow your mind away.

The world's best detective with a curse who sees everything returns along with his side kick Dr. Watson. Sherlock and Watson travel across Europe playing the Game of Shadows all the way from London through Paris and through Switzerland to save the continent from a war schemed by the soft spoken evil Professor Moriarty. The chemistry between the ecstatic and psychotic Holmes and Watson makes the whole journey even better and more exciting.

Go on and treat your senses to the sumptuous dose of entertainment.A great way to start the New Year and its worth every dime you spend.


Think About It : Who is better - The creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or the creation -Sherlock Holmes?