Movie#99 Adv. Lakshmanan Ladies Only (Malayalam- India)

This stars Mukesh, Jagadeesh, Ashokan, Harisree Asokan, Suraj Venjaranmoodu and a lot of others whom I'm familiar with but could not recollect their names. It is clearly a work of heart than a work of brain, I mean, the producers/ producer wanted to make a movie out of passion than a planned one with proper script and casts. Anyway, it turned out to be pretty ok, but not in my 'recommended' category.
It shows the story of Mukesh (all names mentioned will be real names), a divorce lawyer, who will go to any extent to win cases. Even when the lady has only half mind and no clear cut reason to divorce her husband, he would convince her and fabricate proof to get the divorce. The divorced lady will then be recruited to his pickle making factory run by a 'hates other men but not this lawyer' lady. One day, Mukesh gets a call from an anonymous girl who admires him. He falls in love with this girl later but the girl is chased by her previous lover. An incident later, they get married but the girl goes missing the next day. Subsequent story is about how the life of this girl and Mukesh are inter-twined, how Mukesh became such a man as this, who is the girl's ex-lover etc etc.
As I had told you before, the story is good but the script is weak. Meant mainly as a comedy peppered with seriousness, the movie was pretty ok. We could easily make out that the actors were blurting out memorized lines than improvising in the scene. Barring a few veteran actors, all others fail to bring out respective emotions in dialogues.
Considering that many of the big budget movies starring so called super stars, show stereotype roles and stupid story lines, this one is a refresher. Majority of the actors act within their capacity, I think. My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#98 Legend of the Guardians- The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Jackpot! I had read the review in a magazine and the trailer shown on TV reported it as 'from the makers of Happy Feet'. And there is an owlet, Eglantine, which resemble the penguin in Happy Feet.
I should say that animation movies are definitely a better option, if there is a choice, because of the variety of storyline and advances in 'near life-like' visuals. The story is that of two owlets, Kludd and Soren, very different at heart and nature. Both get kidnapped by the Pure Ones clan, who are building an army to takeover the owl kingdom. Soren refuses to join them while Kludd got other ideas. To defeat the Pure Ones, Soren and his friends set out to find the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.
Watching the movie reminded me of the nazis and allies war. The storyline is similar as nazi considered themselves as pure breed and destined to rule over others. The allies (read US) comes from the other side of the sea (read Atlantic Ocean) to war. Even though things are different now, there is a lurking fear that the nazis could be regrouping. Same here too. The visuals of the bad owls are so similar to nazis. Maybe it is my paranoia…
Ok now, I felt very much tickled by the mannerisms and comics of a cute talkative owl, Digger. I find it to be the funniest in this movie. But I guess there are a variety of choices in character for each of the viewers. View it for a happy family movie or a romantic evening. My personal rating is 4.5 out of 5…

Movie#97 Kacheri Aarambam (Tamil- India)

Want to watch an idiotic, childish, implausible and manic depiction of a flimsy story? watch this!
I was hitting my head on the wall for renting this and wasting time. This work of art is such an entertainer that it would make us apathetic to the story, be it comical or romance or serious (huh?) or thrilling or action, unraveling in front of us. Watch it and you would get the feel that it was meant for the illiterate because every action, comedy or supposedly shrewd, had to be narrated so that the viewer could understand. It implicitly shows that the director/ producer does not have basic understanding of the literacy level of the audience or maybe they understood exactly how to make the audience in their locality understand a 'complicated' storyline. The comedian's expressions are so manic. It fails to convey the comicality in anyway.
Ok, the storyline now. Hope you understand what I type because it is very very complicated. A carefree guy, fights with his distressed, hard working and rich father after they discussed about his future, leaves his hometown and comes to Chennai to work for a stupid boss of a smuggled stuff shop for Rs 3000 pm. By fate, he was saved by a sweet and beautiful girl during one of his dazed walks (please note: whenever the girl is shown in the picture, somethings have to drop, for example–  tennis balls, heart shaped red balloons etc etc, –  absurd!). He falls in love with the girl but comes to know that the girl was also wooed by a local millionaire goon. The girl tells her tragic story of befriending the devil (goon) during a dangerous incident one night, and since then regrets that night. The hero devises the world's most ingenious plan (read stupidest) to befriend the goon and manipulates him to give the girl to him. Don't you feel the complication? Watch it to believe it. The fights are so silly and unrealistic and the heroine is just a beautiful commodity to woo in salivating wolves. Hope she was well compensated for such a degrading script.
The positives are just the songs and dance, and fast paced storyline. My personal rating is 1.5 out of 5…

Movie#96 Aagathan (Malayalam- India)

Apparently short, sweet and well executed. I find that malayalam movies and India ODI cricket team are similar, because when both loses credibility and are in the dumps, one performance changes all opinions. I have been beating down malayalam movies in my previous reviews of them and then feel that there could be something after seeing this one.
It stars Dileep, one of the most stereotype performer around, Sathyaraj,  Lal, Innocent, Biju Menon and Charmi
It shows the story of Gautam (Dileep) who has a tragic past but now successful, falling in love while on the quest for justice. The performance is different from his usual role as a comic hero. Here he is shrewd, calculating and decisive. But there is a big flaw in his planning as far as I'm concerned. How can one factor in a girl's love into a plan? Love have to be spontaneous and cannot be planned. Anyway, that is why movies are termed fantasies.
As far as the total movie is concerned, it is well taken. The story does bring forward the frailty of man, which turns him from saviour to monster in seconds. I'm not saying that it is endemic to a single country, just because 'paid news' focus on one side of the story always. In the quest to train humans to ruthless warriors, one forget to teach them humanity and love. It could be that both types of emotions antagonized each other and seconds may decide whether one lives or dies, hence it was better to teach them emotions which could ensure his survival than his opponents'.
The locales of the shoot is simply beautiful. The songs are pleasant and relaxing. It made the travel bug inside me to buzz, to pack and just go somewhere such. My personal rating is 3.5 out of 5…

Movie#95 Sufi Parnaja Katha (Malayalam- India)

A story from a acclaimed director, Priyanandanan. It stars some actors who are not very famous, locally. But with such performance as this, they are bound to be, soon. It has Sharbani Mukherji (actress Rani Mukherji's sister), Thampi Antony, Prakash Bare, Jagathi Sreekumar, Babu Antony, Indrans and Augustian.
It shows a state of Kerala many many years ago. The time when majority of the state is divided by caste and filled with superstitions. I'm not saying that the place had advanced into a forward thinking situation now. Even now, with high educational levels, I'm ashamed to say that superstitions still exist and religious differentiation prevails. Otherwise how does one explain the presence of and exploitation of people, by fake gurus, imams, priests and swamis in Kerala. Ok, coming back to storyline–  a girl is born into a ultra orthodox hindu family with a peculiar horoscope. She grows up into a pretty girl, loved by everyone. By fate (as indicated by horoscope–  I told you about superstitions, right?) she falls in love with a muslim trader. They elope, and she converts to islam to marry her lover. Her hindu gods come calling and she, with the help of her husband, erects a prayer room in her compound. This irritates the orthodox muslims in the locality. Tension arises within family members and also with the society. All this lead to certain expected and some unexpected endings.
My personal rating is 3 out of 5…

Movie#94 Resident Evil- Afterlife

I'm a big fan of Resident Evil series. Seeing this one, I sincerely suggest the franchise to wind up before they destroy all their good deeds. Gosh! what is this?
I find that the director lost what to bring to the theaters in terms of novelty. Maybe because there is no novelty in the storyline,  and he's at his wit's end. So he decided the next best thing, as bollywood movies–  copy. Thus, this became a clip show of Matrix stunts and the creatures/ monsters/ zombies taken from action series, Blade. Also there is another giant zombie, which I'm sure that I have had seen in another movie but could not recollect now. For all those who care and follows this franchise, the gist of the story is the same–  Alice (Milla Jovovich) resumes her quest to destroy The Umbrella Corporation. That's it, short and sweet.
The film salvages some pride from the superb back ground music which I'm sure is a good listen while driving. Other than that, the gore and encounter with creatures keep coming down episode after episode, together with logicality, such as availability of resources to keep moving on a plane and the american way of wastage of resources (fuel for fire and water), even when faced with extinction…lol. For that reason, I think the creatures did a perfect role in balancing out to save world resources. Let me move away from sarcasms now….
The stunts are stunning and the franchise promises to come back again with another episode. So, waiting with my fingers crossed. My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#93 Mummy and Me (Malayalam- India)

Ok, I'm losing my interest in my mother tongue movies. I have had mentioned previously about movies that were so boring and dull but redeemed itself in the last ten to fifteen minutes. Well, this one is just the opposite! It started and progressed with so much promise, only to shoot itself on its leg at the end. What else will I term this absurd ending.
The story theme is fairly ok. It shows the relationship between daughter with mother, at times with her father and brother, infrequently with her childhood friend, and finally with a chat friend on yahoo. Archana Kavi, the Neelathamara star, plays the role of a teenage girl having problem with her mother, Urvashi. The generation gap and the rebellious nature of teen are nicely brought out. Mukesh, is the bread winner of the family and plays refree and mediator in the fights. Their family friends, family of Lalu Alex, comprising of Kunchacko Boban and Shaari as other members, contribute to the problems and happiness of the theme family.
The story fails to bring out the emotional problems underlying the rebellion of the girl. True, there is a song in which the mother's pain is portrayed nicely but teen life is seen through stereotypical eyes, such as dancing in college, enmity with colleagues etc. The middle part of the story is just plain boring. It goes with the dull line as most teen movies. The climax at the end was a shocker. Why do the director want to show the chat friend after it became clear that he had his own plans? This is where the director fails to understand his audience. The ending shows that the director wanted to convey the theme verbally than by acting. He under-estimates his audience as illiterates who would not understand anything. And another stereotypical act which is seen Suresh Gopi's movies is that need to say all dialogues twice, once in english and then in malayalam. So lame!
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#92 Helen

A gem of a movie. It stars Ashley Judd and Goran Visnjic.
The nutshell of the movie is given in a quote shown at the start, which is, “Two and a half years ago, hell came to pay me a surprise visit”– Andrew Solomon.
A working woman succumbs to the illness/ disorder she once had and recovered. She was keeping that secret from her current husband as it destroyed her previous relationship. The story is her suffering and exposing the menacing nature of the illness to the viewers. And Ashley Judd has done it with flying colours. This illness, poorly understood, but almost completely treatable, but need the acceptance of the society for recovery, is now the second most chronic illness reported. Society is to blame for the high rate of mortality through suicide because of the stigma attached to it, which prevent acceptance of treatment. Given that this illness is identical to diabetes and hypertension in terms of treatment duration and life style changes, people readily accept the latter two as 'normal' part of life and not the disorder in question.
Also so wonderfully shown is the helplessness of medical sector to provide adequate care because of the interference of law. It is true that the law was made to prevent abuse and uphold the right of an individual, but too much intrusion, claimed as 'the right', and providing that right to make decisions, back to individuals who already have had lost the ability to make correct judgment because of the illness, is absurd. In the end, the family and the patient suffers while the lawyers claim money and moral high ground. In my opinion, the law is in need of a major tweaking. This is clearly evident in the manner of questions put forth by the patient's lawyer, desperate to exhibit her skill than what is good for the patient, even when patient history suggested risk. Moreover, towards the end, we see that the suffering patient finally accepting that she need treatment. Will the law accept its mistake then?
And few other interesting things to note in the movie are, Helen's (AJ) friendship with another sufferer of such illness, with another type of presentation. She clearly tells her husband that he would not know what she was feeling and she would not blame him for it. Only such sufferers can understand each other. Then it shows the characteristic of dedicated love between a man and a woman. Her husband wait for her recovery, patiently, while fighting against his desire to move on in life. And finally, the movie shows us the dangerous outcome of this illness through an expected act.
I recommend this movie to all who cares to watch true portrayal of a sufferer called Helen. My personal rating is 5 out of 5…

Movie#91 Why did I Get Married Too

A movie that shattered my presumptions. When I took this all black cast (disclaimer: I'm not a racist, I just need a descriptive word), I thought this one would be the same as last one, and everything of this genre. Since I didn't have any choice in any other category or language, I decided to give it a try. Most of the time I avoid such movies because of the stereotypical storyline just like bollywood movies.
The gist of the story is about four couples and their relationships. They are Terry and Dianne, Marc and Angela, Gavin and Patricia and Troy and Sheila, all screen names ofcourse. Since there are too many actors, I decided not to name their real names here. If anyone is interested or is planning to watch this movie, may go to any other review site and get the actors' names. Before I go any further, I shall announce another disclaimer: I'm not a chauvinist. In this paranoid world, before any word is uttered and misunderstood and the probably sued for it, disclaimers help. Terry and Dianne seem a happy couple but there is trouble brewing which Dianne hides and Terry senses. Marc and Angela are a fighting couple because Angela always suspects Marc's fidelity because of his previous history. Gavin and Pat are another couple, in more trouble than the rest because they had endured a tragedy from which Pat never recovered, but found solace in her book publishing, instead of confiding to her partner, Gavin. Troy and Sheila are relatively new couple. Sheila had a troubled marriage and remarried to Troy, and Troy is currently unemployed, and that is causing mental tension. They meet at their vacation retreat from where the story takes off.
With the protection of the disclaimer given above, I shall say that my personal opinion is in three of the above four relationships, ladies are at fault, while in one, where the guy shows too much pride, lady suffers. If this is the situation of marriage at present context/ world, God save us!
My personal rating is 3 out of 5…

Movie#90 Legendary

It stars John Cena, Patricia Clarkson, Devon Graye and Danny Glover.
A sweet and inspirational story of two brothers. The story is that of a boy, who had a wrestling lineage, from his champion elder brother and late champion father, wanted to wrestle against the wish of his mother. This love for sports had taken both the persons away from the family emotionally, and the mother did not want to lose her remaining child. This son also wanted to get in touch with his brother which was also against the wish of mother. How the situation clears up and how a long standing issue between the family members, relating to the death of father and subsequent alienation of the elder son from mother, resolve with reconciliation, and the developing of the boy into a fighter against odds, is the story.
Cena, as usual, has a role with less emotional showing which suit him well. It seems like he is the new Jet Li/ Jackie Chan/ Bruce Lee of hollywood. I meant it in the characteristic of the roles with less emotion and dialogue only, and not with martial arts. The hero boy, plays his role well, first as a brave boy who isn't afraid to stand against bullies, then as dedicated and loving son who can't be swayed by emotional blackmail, as a younger brother to a lost soul and finally as fighter with a never say attitude. The love interest of Devon Graye (real name) is a sweet girl with a comical side.
A soft and sweet movie. Don't miss. My personal rating is 3.5 out of 5…

Movie#89 Paiyaa (Tamil- India)

Another fantasy from India. Since it is well known about majority of the tamil movies, that they do not have a hint of reality in them, I took it. It stars Karthi and Tamanna.
Now, leaving out the 'nil reality' part, the movie as a whole is a good package, I should say. The story is simple. A guy falls in love with a girl at first sight, fate has brought them together in an unavoidable situation. Both of them have their own secret reason, for being in that situation. And in the end, as usual, happy ending. Hey, there is nothing unpredictable to think otherwise, for anyone can guess the ending in such movies. The film has got  a pretty heroine, catchy songs and beautiful locales. It flows with all sorts of emotions, such as, carefree, romance, love, anger, fear, dejection, tension, sadness, satisfaction, you name it, it has it. A complete package!
Now, I shall mention the things you may overlook because if you search for logicality, you will feel extra emotion, not meant by the director, called irritation. The guy in the movie took the part of his carefree attitude a bit too far, in my opinion. His friends are too loyal and loving to bear him like that, with money and support. I understand that fate and coincidences play their part in everyone's life, but in this, coincidental meetings and spotting, are too high. Matters such as money is free flowing for such a broke character. Laws of physics such as time and distance are treated with disdain. And it shows that India has no law. Neck and spine breaking deaths and no arrests!
By overlooking all the above mentioned faults, I really enjoyed the movie. I shall give it a 3 out of 5. It also teaches every budding director around on how to make a fantasy.

Movie#88 Yugapurushan (Malayalam- India)

Life of Sree Narayana guru in reels. Was this movie meant to glorify his pious and dedicated life or was it to show how much his teachings and objectives had since been changed by the so called members (followers) for power and money?
When I started watching this, I had to turn off and contemplate whether I should return it and take a new one. The movie started so pompously showcasing him as a miracle man. We all know what miracles are, especially in the current context of the world. I'm not a communist or aethist but I don't believe that saints who had been approved these days, were miracle makers at all. They are just human beings who cared for their fellow humans with kindness and love, proving that God lives in us than above us. If their teachings or deeds get noticed or followed as it is, that would be blow of death to the religious leaders of current society. Then there would be no bombings, no killings, no political clout, no money for them etc. Hence what do they do?, they make them saints or martyrs, and call their acts of love towards patients with conversion/ dissociation as 'miracles'. So that they can benefit from the 'real' leaders. Well, I guess I'm deviating from the real topic, I shall correct my course. This movie stars a lot of actors and actresses. I guess they all did it as charity work because I'm sure the director would not have had enough money to pay them all, unless the movie was sponsored by Sree Narayana guru Trust. Some of them are, Thalaivasal Vijay, Mammootty, Navya Nair, Jagathy, Kalabhavan Mani (alas! a sensible role), Sai Kumar, Siddique, Babu Anthony, Devan etc. All these actors portray various famous personalities of history. There are also actors portraying Ravindranath Tagore, Chattambi swami, Mahatma Gandhi etc.
Some of guru's teachings or acts were really interesting and should be noticed by all. He wanted to abolish untouchability in the society and noticed that the untouchables were indeed dirty and smell horrible. He asks them to bathe and be clean as a first step to attain freedom. There are instances in which he did not provide 'miracle' food to the needy, instead he showed them entrepreneurship, that is, making a career out of coir sale, and thus take away the hunger. Another deed is that he noticed that how much ever he tried to abolish idol worship, people need a 'god' to pray to and so turned to some other idol, so he places a mirror in the centre and asks them to pray looking at it (You Are The God).
The end is pretty disappointing. He realizes that all the work he did, came to nothing when his Trust reverted back to caste system. It still remains today in Kerala. I'm happy that guru died before he saw what had happened and is happening. They made an idol of him and pray to it, they command political clout and it is now a business. Sad!
My personal rating is 3 out of 5…

Movie#87 Hounddog

There are certain movies which harve magnetic attraction to keep viewers glued till it is over. When it is over, the viewer have no idea why he watched it in the first place. It could be the pure rawness that the movie portrayed which could be easily related to. The storyline could be very simple at times but that relatedness factor keep viewers interested till the end. Maybe this is the factor that made soap serials successful. I'm not saying that this movie was a soap, but it has a charisma on its own. The southern america accent, the filthy life style of the plantation era, the eating habits, the religious ideologies etc make our fascination soar.
It stars Dakota Fanning, Piper Laurie and David Morse. I loved Dakota's Runaways, so when I found another work of her's, I took it. It is one of her earlier works than Runaways. The storyline is simple. She portrays a country girl, living a carefree life, with a irresponsible father, a strict grand mother and 'loves her but confused' aunt. She spends her days with her friend by running around the plantation area, swimming in the pond, mimicking Elvis, whom she is crazy about and catching fireflies. The fascination for Elvis and her desire to meet him, lands her in a horrifying situation. She feels violated and cheated. But with the help of a plantation african-american friend, she pulls her life back through music. She decide to start new with her aunt. The end is interesting. She already knew what danger is there even with a dead rattle snake, but she has to let go of the only thing that was preventing her from leaving that place. So, she commits an act of omission to break the bond. Watch it to feel the emotion.
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…