Friday, August 19, 2005

SAMICO2 Reviews 2

SAMICO2: (Story/Script; Acting; Music; Intangibles;
Cinematography; Overall; 2nd look)

KYA KOOL HAI HUM: 7 (2,1,0,1,1,1,1)

Definitely one of THE funniest films of all time if you are into
slapstick, crass, and sexual humor. What was impressive about
KKHH was that it didn’t try to hide these jokes behind any sort
of deep philosophical storyline but just a comedy of errors that
led to one bizarre mess.

Tusshar and Ritesh Deshmukh are cast perfectly as the bumbling
boys, Isha Kopikkar probably takes the cake as the Bihari
policewoman who looked sizzling, and Anupam Kher does well as
Dr. Screwala.

Apart from the title tune, which was well-picturised, the other
songs served as eye-candy for the front benchers.

If you are in the mood to laugh really loud, then be “Kool” and
watch this. My advice is to keep the subtitles on though since
some of the jokes are very well explained in English.


FANTASTIC FOUR: 5 (1,0,0,1,2,half, half)

The usual comic book caper telling of five scientists who end up
having special powers thanks to a normal mission gone wrong.
Four have some morals and end up having to use those powers
against the fifth who “wants to conquer the world”.

There are a few reasons to watch this:
1- It certainly makes you feel like a kid again
2- Jessica Alba howwwwwwwwwlll
3- The action is fast-paced and the story moves along nicely
4- The film doesn’t drag along
5- Jessica Alba howwwwwwwwwlll (worth mentioning twice, ha ha)


HAZARON KHWAISHEIN AISI: 6 (1,1,0,1,1,1,1)

A brilliant film, but a film only for the purists and history
lovers. Set in India in the mid-seventies, HKA uses the
occurrences of that time frame as a back-drop to the political,
social, emotional, and internal conflicts our three protagonists
are living through.

Kay Kay Menon gives another top-notch performance and the two
newcomers, Shiny Ahuja and Chitra Singh are awesome as well.

Not something children will like and yes the movie does get
monotonous in the second half. Be it the ironic ending,
superlative performances or artsy historic feel to it, HKA is
surely worth a watch on DVD.


WEDDING CRASHERS: 8 (2,1,1,1,1,1,1)

Almost the English version to Kya Kool Hai Hum, but maybe a tad
bit better thanks to some nice editing and even crasser jokes.
Trust me weddings won’t ever be the same.

Owen Wilson pulls of his nonchalant bit to perfection and Vince
Vaughn is funny in most frames as the unwilling friend. The
performances by the supporting cast are good and Will Ferrell’s
surprise entry gives the film the perfect lift when it
threatened to plummet.

Wedding Crashers had surprisingly good music but the director
could have done without the nudity to possibly give the film a
better rating, but then again some of the jokes and scenes make
the nudity seem mild.

Watch this one anywhere you can and be prepared to LAUGH!!!!


SILSILAY: -6 (-2,-1,0,-1,0,-1,-1)

One wonders how a former film critic can make such a bad film.
Not even Shah Rukh Khan’s intermittent cameo could save this
one.

The story of three women in different points of their
relationships with men seems more like a three-part mini-series
than a feature film. Trying, in a poor ending, to tie the
stories together by a car crash doesn’t do much to help the
already failing cause.

The film occasionally threatens to get really good but then
doesn’t disappoint in continuing to be really bad. An extremely
forgettable film


YAKEEN: -1.5 (1,-1,0,half,0,-1,-1)

The first half of Yakeen will surely hold your interest. The
suspense builds up and one anticipates an interesting outcome
but the director ends up exposing it all too soon, and the last
half hour of this 2-hour flick is torture to sit through.

Arjun Rampal is wooden but watchable. Priyanka Chopra is
annoying in the start but apparently she had saved the best of
that for later.
Too many songs interrupt the development of the story early on
and there is a clear disconnect between viewer and story right
from the get-go.

The temptation is here to reveal the story and save everyone
some time, so let me know those who care, and I will.


GUESS WHO: -1.5 (0,0,-half,-half,0,-half,0)

If you have seen the previews of Guess Who you have seen the
best parts of the movie.

Ashton Kutcher has great comic timing and Bernie Mac is
wonderful but too much emphasis is placed on the race card and
eventually with the lingering deep undertone the jokes aren’t
that funny. The genre of the film is not entirely done justice
too and the theme starts to recur.

I suspect Kutcher fans will still see this but I would still
recommend trying to see the 2 minute theatrical preview rather
than the entire film.


DUS: 2.5 (0,0,half,half,1,half,0)

As close to as good action as you would come, but then why did
Dus not score higher?

Despite the star cast, the actors have given mediocre
performances. Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan, Sunil Shetty, and
Esha Deol bore you. Sanjay Dutt and Shilpa Shetty have done
justice to their roles, but they can only do so much.

The editing could have been much better as the film could easily
have been trimmed by 30 minutes.

Dus does have a few things going for it, such as the exciting
opening, and highly technical action sequences. The “twist” in
the end adds some spice but the drawn out final sequence will
have you wishing the film ends and now.
Killing one of the four male leads was not necessary but was
probably done to tug at your heartstrings, and by doing this Dus
falls into a trap so many films succumb to: trying to cross
genres.

If not for the pointless songs within the film, overly exposed
subplots involving annoying side actors and actresses and some
editing, Dus would have been a really good action film that
watched on the big screen would compare well with Hollywood.
Instead we get an average Indian fare, watchable on DVD, with
remote in hand and finger on ffwd.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

SAMICO2 Reviews1

Using the SAMICO2 scale:

SARKAR -10 (2,2,1,1,2,1,1)

Sarkar is one of the best films of 2005 without a doubt. With no songs but a chilling background score this remains both Bachchans’ best performance in years. Having said that watch for Kay Kay Menon give the most superior of all the efforts in the film.

I think the “Hollywood” audiences will really enjoy this one especially if you are into crisply edited, fastpaced action.

Never will “Govinda, Govinda, Govinda” sound the same…


WAR OF THE WORLDS- 5 (1,1,1,0,2,0,0)

For 10 dollars this film will take you from NY to Boston but who really wants to go with a delirious Mr. Cruise and his two kids? Spielberg misses the spot AGAIN!

The movie was very clichéd and somewhat unrealistic.

I would watch this again, if paid to, only for 3 reasons:
1- Dakota Fanning (the cutie who I can’t wait for to turn 21 wink wink)
2- Tim Robbins sensational guest appearance
3- Morgan Freeman’s narration and in tribute to the brilliant storyteller HG Wells was


MR. & MRS. SMITH- 4 (1,1,0,1,1,0,0)

Angelina Jolie is definitely one of the HOTTEST women in the world, and Brad Pitt is a perfect male counterpart. They light up the screen quite a bit but at the end of it all this film remains a forgettable fare.

Some occasional flashes of action brilliance (and I am not talking about the love scenes, lol) but all in all this film brings nothing novel to the table.

Worth a DVD watch if for some on-screen chemistry, and two very BEAUTIFUL people.


CRASH- 1 (1,0,0,0,0,0,0)

Watch Brad Pitt’s SNATCH (2000) and you will see the daddy of Crash! Snatch would have gotten 7 or 8 and Crash was lucky to have gotten 1.



MAIN AISA HI HOON- 4.5 (1,1,1,1,0,half,0)

The second half, Sushmita Sen’s wonderful performance and an interesting end saved this film from much worse. Not really a very bad film but for some reason not that good either. The songs were sweet as was the performance by the child artist.

I would recommend watching it on DVD with remote nearby and box of Kleenex nearer.


WAQT- 1.5 (-1,1,0,1,half,0,0)

Amitabh Bachchan saved this one from really failing. I think WAQT isn’t that bad if you have recently began watching films or else you would have seen something similar many times over.

The movie has a fresh feel to it, and holds true to what it purportedly is, a tear-jerker. But the end could have been predicted from a mile away, and the middle drags on like a really bad date with someone with something stuck between their teeth.

Priyanka Chopra looks stunning, so if you must, borrow the DVD and watch the first 20 minutes and the last 10. The rest is the bad date!


WHITE NOISE- 2 (0,0,0,1,1,0,0)

I expected much better from Michael Keaton. I know I am getting old when I wanted him to don his Batman suit and take this movie by the horns!

White Noise is suspense in the first half more horror in the second, but too much is expected of the viewer to “assume” and “remember” things making this movie more of a chore than entertainment.

Avoidable I would say. Interestingly our TV has been acting very strangely since I saw this. Just thought I sneak that in, wink wink.

SAMICO2 Scale

Dear All,
I know I have not been able to deliver on my promise of regular movie reviews, though I have been watching quite a bit more than I can handle.
So I decided to send brief reviews and a new feature with them.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the SAMICO2 scale !!
Let me explain.
I am going to review movies on the following parameters:
Story/ Script (S) Acting (A) Music/Sound Effects (M) Intangibles (I) Cinematography (C) Overall (O) 2nd Look (2)
Most are self-explanatory, I am including Music and Sound effects since some will be Indian movies, Intangibles will basically be whether the film did justice to its genre, be it comedy, drama, horror etc and 2nd look means whether or not it is worth that.
Now the scaling system.
Story is graded 2, 1, 0, -1, -2
Acting 2, 1, 0, -1, -2
Music 1, 0, -1
Intangibles 1, 0, -1
Cinematography 2, 1, 0, -1, -2
Overall 1, 0, -1
2nd look 1, 0, -1
I have given some of the more important parameters greater range. I have included negative points since some movies are really BAD! So the maximum is 10 and the minimum -10. Theoretically then its a 20 point spread, and so a film that gets a 3 mightn't be necessarily that bad, but it still isn't good.
I will try this system out for a bit, see how it goes.
I do look forward to suggestions and alterations from the mathematically more versed and artistically more inclined.
Regards,
Shobhit