May 18, 2007
I had high expectations for this movie and how it turned out is gonna make up the rest of this post. At the start of the movie, we have Peter Parker reveling in the adulation shown by the citizens of New York for the super hero that he is.
Meanwhile, Harry wants to avenge his father’s death. Things don’t seem to get right between Peter and MJ. There is an escaped convict who lands up in a particle physics lab and gets transformed into the Sandman. Some black icky substance from space gets hooked onto Peter making him turn into a black Spiderman and making him an arrogant snob whenever he sports it. There’s also this photographer Eddie, who wants to take revenge on Peter for making him lose his job. Wait, I forgot to tell you about the love triangle involving Gwen.
The good thing about the movie is the special effects. A couple of action scenes are terrific. The guy who comes as the French restaurant owner steals the show as does Peter’s employer. The bad thing about it is, well, there are lots of them. Quite a number of villains some of whom appear out of thin air , a wafer thin storyline, a really long one at that as well and too many plot lines.
Spiderman was fantastic and Spiderman 2 upped the ante even though it was a sequel by outclassing the first part. This movie doesn’t even picture anywhere close to them. If you are a die hard Spiderman freak, you might probably like it.
Popularity: 12%
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April 16, 2007
This is one movie which should just be watched without going through any review. Infact, this is not going to be another review, for the same reason.
The movie is based loosely on the events that happen in the life of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, played by Forest Whitaker, as seen by his personal physician, Dr. Garrigan. James McAvoy as Whitaker’s doctor is excellent but is clearly overshadowed by the latter.
I came out of the theater wondering what hit me. Whitaker is nothing but phenomenal. To say he is charismatic would be an understatement. It is only befitting that Whitaker won the Best Actor award this year at the Oscars.
In short, one of the best movies to have come out in 2007 so far.
Popularity: 7%
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April 3, 2007
This is another movie that I watched last weekend a day after Little Miss Sunshine.This is also a good one just like Little Miss Sunshine and has been handled really well though I personally liked the latter better than this.
It is about the experiences of an Indian brought up in America who wants to fit into the American way of living while his parents want him to espouse Indian values. Kal Penn plays the role of Gogol who is named so by his father (Irfan Khan) after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. He doesn’t like the name one bit as it lands him into embarrassment but is not able to change it, after it becomes his official name. I don’t want to go into how the movie proceeds after this as it is best left for you to watch it.
Irfan Khan is amazing as the dad trying to cope up with his son’s Americanism and his wife played Tabu is equally moving. Kal Penn is the surprise package in the movie. I didn’t know he could handle serious roles this effectively.
The film does have its shortcomings. It progresses a bit too slowly towards the end and you start wondering if it’ll end at all. Moreover, it kinda ends abruptly leaving you speculating. In spite of all this, this should be a movie that is not to be missed.
An interesting trivia is that the Kal Penn, just like his character in this movie, changed his name from Kalpen Modi to Kal Penn as he wasn’t getting many offers initially due to his name.
Popularity: 8%
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April 1, 2007
I managed to watch this movie finally today. I had been toying with the idea of watching a late night show of this movie on a weekday last week but I wasn’t able to do it and I am glad I didn’t miss out on this one. The plot is about a dysfunctional family’s trip to a beauty pageant and the way it has been told is refreshingly different.
The initial sequence where each of the family members is introduced is amusing, be it the mother of two Toni Collette, the brother Steve Carell, the husband Greg Kinnear, the Grandpa Alan Arkin or the little girl Abigail Breslin. The family take a road trip to California so that Olive can participate in a beauty pageant. Somewhere on the way, they suffer a serious setback and how they overcome it and get together as a family forms the rest of the story.
The biggest asset of the movie is that everyone has performed their roles perfectly. A special mention goes out to Abigail Breslin and Steve Carell for their stellar performances. Abigail justifies her academy award nomination. I almost flipped out when all of them dance on stage together towards the end.
Do watch this one and you won’t come out disappointed.
Popularity: 6%
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This is the personal blog of Shriram who digs travel, music, movies, trains and tea.
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