Welcome to the Punch (2013)

6.5/10

A thrilling film with a decent twist. The film tried to use slow-mo action sequences to set itself from other action films, which was effective. However, this film still kept many cliche gun fights and car chases that somehow ends in the hero surviving the madness.

Bit slow at times but superb performance from James Mcavoy and Mark Strong makes it worthwhile.

State of Play (2003) Mini-Series BBC

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

Looking for an exciting drama/thriller/crime with twists and curve balls?

Plot: A thriller set in London, in which a politician's life becomes increasingly complex as his research assistant is found dead on the London Underground and, in a seemingly unrelated incident, a teenage pickpocket is shot dead.

 State of Play mini-series is probably one of the best mini-drama series I've seen. It was so successful that a movie (by the same name) was made starring Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck. If you're debating to either watch the movie or the series, I would advise you to spend the extra bit of time with the original British series over the film. Here's why:

Even with Crowe and Affleck, the film did not have the same effect as the cast in the series. John Simm and David Morrissey was a better match as Cal and Colin. With guest stars James McAvoy and Bill Nighy, this series does stand apart from its successor.

The 6 episodes mini allotted more time to develop the stories and characters better than the film. When the story is really rich with many characters interwoven, like State of Play a 2 plus hour film just doesn't do it justice.


The only difficulty I found was the heavy accented dialogue, but I did not mind rewatching bits throughout.

I highly recommend this series. It is smart, sophisticated and really explores journalism and politics.  I encourage everyone to open up their minds and give this series a spin. Until you've seen it, I will not talk further about the ending or my thoughts on the 'curve ball'.

Charade (1963)

7.5/10 [recommended]

Twist after twist after twist. It was mysterious whodunit thrill ride that constantly makes you doubt who to believe in.

The movie begins with a death, rolls  the introduction credits followed by a gun pointed at Reggie (Audrey Hepburn). This fast gripping start instantly caught my attention, without revealing too much I will leave you to go see what happens next.
How Reggie meets and becomes very trusting towards a Peter Joshua (cary Grant) was a bit farfetched for me. The relationship started off and became something too quick. However, the dialogue exchange between the two leads are quite witty and funny, strengthening the weaker parts of the film.
If you enjoy action fight scenes and fast paced chase scenes, you'll probably find Charade a bit lacking in these aspects. The one fight scene and chase scene in this film are very slow. Charade depends much on dialogue and the twists for much of its thrill- a very classy and retro way of creating the intense atmosphere.
So do yourself a big favour, grab a bag of chips and some other junk food stuff, curl up and enjoy this film.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

6/10

Flawed storyline but good feel good film for kids.

At times it felt like the film was trying too hard to take many well known myths and turn them real.

Has a few quotable and funny lines, but overall not as humor filled as Monster Inc.

WORLD'S END (2013)

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

What do you get when action, hysterical laughter, quirky to the max, drinking, ass-kicking and boo boo come together? World's End. Let the weird begin

Plot: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

The director/maker of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz is back. This time with World's End. Edger Wright and Simon Pegg, thank you. You two did it right again.


 Cons: the beginning was a bit slow, it was a good 20 minutes into the film before the pace finally picked up. I would have loved more hints at the weirdness earlier in the film, just little oddities of speech.

Pros:

1. I loved the CGI, even though some of the final scenes appeared kind of fake but overall 7.5/10
2. casting is great (esp addition of Martin Freeman and Rosamund Pike) 9/10
3. I really appreciated the witty dialogue as it sometimes required some head work to get the punchlines.
4. It didn't depend on slapstick comedy, or even grotesque rate R references to create the humor.  10/10
5. Many great one-liners that I will be carrying into my daily use,  Boo Boo

Dredd (2012)

7/10

Plot: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO. 

Based on the comic books, Dredd is a guy flick with a ton of violence, shooting, bloody gruesome gore, car chase and armoured hero ass kicking. The only thing missing is a romanic story to tie it all up.

Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban, dominated the screen with a mean and serious growl the entire film. Urban brought more character to Dredd and is much more believable than Stallone in the first Dredd film in 1995. Urban, although I really wanted to see his face, kept the helmet on as Dredd the entire film keeping close to the comic books. The only part of Urban we saw is the lower half of his face, as his eyes were covered by the helmet. Even with most of his face covered, Urban was able to convey many deep emotions during some heart to heart moments with his fellow cast member Olivia Thirlby, who portrayed Judge Anderson. Thirlby, is fantastic, she reminds me of Camilla Belle in Push.

The graphics and visual effects in Dredd at times looked very animated but this worksin favour for the drug induced scenes and the comic book nature of this film. The slow-mo mixed with highly saturated imageries made the film feel like it stepped straight out of the pages of a comic.


If you hate gore and blood, this film is everything you'll hate. The slow colourful scenes of blood splatters and skin tearing scenes can make your skin crawl. Even though this film isn't as nasty as SAW or slasher films, Dredd still embraces similar aspects...just without the horror.

All in all, don't over think it and just enjoy this action flick!

Push (2009)

7/10

Push is a very exciting sci-fi, action, thriller that is definitely worth the watch. It is exciting and gripping, a mixture of Jumper and X-men.

I was quite surprised by how much I liked this film especially after seeing the low rating it received. The film is exciting, action packed and contains certain amount of mystery that makes it quite entertaining.

The cast consisting of Dijimon Hounsou, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans and Camilla Belle are fantastic combination, with a appearance by Joel Gretsch (from V and The 4400).

The setting being in Hong Kong gives this film an interesting appeal. The flashbacks and dream like sequences are well integrated with the sci-fi aspect of the storyline. The cinematography and editing technique is choppy and has certain qualities similar to that of Chungking Express.

Push does have some down sides as its storyline lacks in depth, and there are some loop holes that goes unexplained. Overall, a very entertaining and action filled movie that kept me interested.

If you enjoyed Jumper, X-Men, or Mutant X(TV show) then I would recommend this movie.

Gambit (2012)

7.5/10 [highly recommended]

I stumbled upon this film quite accidentally as I was searching for the superhero "Gambit". My initial excitement that there was a film based on the comic-hero Gambit was quickly shot down when the film turned out to be a comedy/crime about a con by an art curator. HOWEVER, before quickly switching the page I was quickly drawn in by the cast and plot of this film and decided to give this film a shot. Boy, am I glad I did.

TOP NOTCH acting from Colin Firth accompanied by extremely witty dialogue (via the Coen Brothers) and some extremely funny scenarios.

I completely and utterly fell in love with Gambit. I am shocked at the 5.6 rating on IMDB. This film has everything I wanted in a comedy and avoided being crude.

HIGHLY recommended

Pawn (2013)

5.5/10

Great cast but too much coincidence made Pawn weak


For a low budget film, Pawn is succeeded in captivating and grabbing attention with the plot in the first 2 acts. The amazing ensemble (Stephen Lang,Michael Chiklis, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Ray Liotta) also helped strengthen the captivation of Pawn.

Sadly, despite these aspects, Pawn fell short at being completely epic. The film moved a bit too quickly, not allowing you much time to connect with the characters and completely grasping the complicated use of flash-backs, present time and flash-forwards. Pawn felt like it was going uphill in the first 1/3 as everything was coming together, but just before the climax was reached, it felt they ran short on budget and the story began moving fast paced. Dialogue was boarder-line cliche and somewhat entertaining.

--Spoiler below--
One of the biggest disappointment was the use of the character lying in the hospital bed. He played a major role in the entire cafe robbery set up as being 'the mole', but spent most of the film lying half unconscious in the kitchen. His character ends the film describing what went down in the cafe, but was half bleeding to death for a good 50% of the film. This might have been intensional, but being such an important character in the final reveal, I felt no attachment and couldn't relate to him at all.

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The Door (Die Tür) (2009)

7/10

A second chance in life...but comes at a price.

The Door (Die Tur) 2009 is about a successful artist who loses control of his life after his young daughter's death. A chance for a new start appears, but all is not what it seems.

Intriguing idea that is well shot but with some loop holes.

The movie begins in what appears to be an innocent/peaceful residential street, which gives this film a very spooky feeling as it is nothing near innocent. The film's most important event, the death of the child, occurs in the first 10 minutes of the film, which sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic in the lead role as the father, who took his life for granted and wants to redeem himself. Mikkelsen is great playing a role that is fairly dynamic.
There are a few events in the film that brought up more questions than answers, but the overall effect of the film is fairly good as it keeps you pondering. I would recommend you to check it out and judge for yourself.