Runner Runner

Story: A brilliant Princeton math student attempts to rescue his broke bank account by risking all in an online poker game. After he's cheated of his last cent, he flies to Costa Rica to sort things out with the owner of that gambling website.

Review: You've seen thrillers that are intricate, detailed and unfold at their own pace, allowing the viewer an immersive experience. Runner Runner isn't quite like that. It's a breezy film that runs breathlessly from start to finish, pretty much as the movie title suggests it does.

Richie (Timberlake) is a razor-sharp Poker hand who can't resist a good deal. He loses everything one night even as his pals watch disbelievingly. When he reaches gambling haven Costa Rica, he meets the uber-smooth, louche and nefarious gambling tycoon and villain Ivan (Affleck), who predictably enough, takes Richie under his wing, and throws wads of dollar bills his way every now and then as rewards.

One of those rewards is also a chance to sleep with his oomphy and curvaceous (even if somewhat vacuous) moll, Rebecca (Arterton), whom Richie begins to lustfully eye almost as soon as he becomes a part of Ivan's Clicquot-swilling clique.

So swayed is Richie that it takes a sudden intervention from FBI Agent Shavers (Mackie) to forcefully let Richie know about the rot in Ivan's Caribbean Empire of Sin. Soon, Richie gets to know what the old adage 'never trust a gambler' means.

Affleck is at ease in his role and has some good lines. It's pretty apparent that Timberlake channels more than a few stylistic touches and mannerisms from some of his recent roles. Early on in the movie, Furman shifts focus from Poker to something else. Arterton's Rebecca seems comfortable with being the eye-candy and is every part the bombshell, a much-needed counterpoint in this casino boogie of a movie, otherwise full of tumbling dice and dirty deals in broad daylight.

Elysium

Story: Set in 2154, the film gives us a grim view of the future, where the poor live on an over-populated, ruined earth, the rich on a luxurious space station. Can one man bring about a change?

Review: Mutants, superheroes, aliens, gadgets...while Hollywood fancies fiction that's more escapist, Neill Blomkamp, in his inimitable style, gives us a dark science fiction thriller that's relevant to present-day society and existing social and economic inequality.

Blomkamp's splendid vision merges facts and fiction to give us a grim view of the future (the year is 2154), when earth is over-populated and ruined. The gap between rich and poor couldn't be more evident. With crime and the disease rate on a high, the planet is no longer fit for human habitation. The rich relocate to a man-made space station 'Elysium', which exclusively offers them luxury and high-tech medical facilities.

In order to preserve their lifestyle, immortality and longevity, they ensure that the poor gain no access to Elysium. Max ( Matt Damon), an ordinary factory worker, gets exposed to a severe dose of radiation that can only be cured on Elysium. He has five days to live. Can he get there?

No matter how gripping, Elysium is no match for Blomkamp's hard-hitting 'District 9'. Scenes of the protagonist Max running around, trying to get help from the thugs featured here, become repetitive. The villains (Jodie Foster as Elysium's cold and conniving protector and Sharlto Copley as a sleeper agent) are one-dimensional.

However, what works in the film's favour is the director's satirical intent. There's a scene where a factory owner asks his employee to cover his mouth while talking. Fearing he might catch an infection, he orders, "Don't breathe on me." It's this acute portrayal of the mindset of the 'heartless rich' that grips you.

The premise is thought-provoking with the whole 'degradation of human life' theme deeply affecting your psyche. Aerial shots of over-populated earth might even remind you of Mumbai.

Elysium is like a warning of a disturbing future that we can all see coming.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Story: The film follows Clary ( Lily Collins), a young girl who discovers that she actually belongs to the clan of shadowhunters, angelic warriors who kill demons. Can she protect the world from evil forces?

Review: Clary's primary agenda, however, is to search for her missing mother. While doing so, she is constantly shielded by a fellow shadowhunter Lace (Jamie Campbell Bower), who needs her for a mission of his own. While Clary finds the flirtatious Lace's expertise at combat and insensitivity attractive, it's her best friend Simon ( Robert Sheehan) who secretly harbours feelings for her. Who gets Clary and the reason behind her mother's disappearance form the plot.
Twilight became a tween sensation and The Mortal Instruments follows in its footsteps. The film is the first part of a formulaic fantasy series, strictly catering to younger audiences. Also based on a book, set in modern times, MI draws heavily from the Twilight franchise as it too centers around a young girl, non-human characters (vampires/werevolves) and a love triangle.

While the latter has better action in terms of canvas and execution, Twilight scores higher when it comes to romance. We must say MI has a better protagonist than Twilight, as much to our relief, Clary isn't self-destructive like Bella.

On the flip side, while MI has all the right ingredients to appeal to a young crowd, including smart one-liners, the story-telling is highly unimaginative. There is no tension between characters, nor is the conflict between them sufficiently established. The negative characters seem way too ordinary to make an impact and after a while, the chase seems tedious.

It's the fight scenes that lift the film above mediocre, followed by the presence of Brit actor Jamie Campbell Bower. The former model has the looks, attitude and charisma to compete with heart-throb Robert Pattinson, aka Edward Cullen, and make teen girls go weak in the knees.

If you fancy action-fantasies like Underworld, Twilight, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, you might like this one.

Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters

Story: Poseidon's son Percy sets off with his friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece - the only thing that can save their world from destruction. But along their way, they must face many obstacles.

Review: At the utopian fun-house otherwise known as Camp Half-Blood, life for Percy Jackson (Lerman) and his ilk is groovy. But he gets a not-so-welcome surprise one day when introduced to his half-brother Tyson ( Douglas Smith). To add to his shock (but not awe), Tyson is a cyclops! Soon enough, their idyll is shattered when they are attacked by what can be best described as a rampaging, mechanical bull. The bull manages to breach their shield. The shield was supported by a magical tree created by Zeus when his daughter Thalia Grace (Kwiatkowski), who met her maker after a bloody battle went wrong, was poisoned.

After the bull is turned to scrap metal, the perpetrator is found to be Luke Castellan (Abel), a rather angry young lad sporting a sulky expression like a kid does when denied his dinner. Luke, for no particular reason, wants to turn Mount Olympus into rubble. But the flaxen haired Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario) keeps having brainwaves throughout the film. When she isn't having brainwaves, she seems to love to hug Percy, presumably to boost his confidence levels and harden his resolve, which often wanes.

She realizes that only the Golden Fleece can restore the tree to health and in doing so, save all of them too. But the camp's boozy director, aptly named Dionysus (Tucci), sends the God of War's daughter, the impossibly bitchy Clarisse La Rue (LevenRambin), to find it instead. Not to be outdone, Percy gathers his gang - Annabeth, Tyson and Grover Underwood (Jackson) - to locate the Golden Fleece on his own.

The best thing about this predictable film is undoubtedly the special effects. For want of anything better, Sea of Monsters is a mishmash of various similar films in this genre and a passable potpourri of Greek mythology retold with a contemporary veneer.

We're the Millers

Story: Can a small-time drug dealer manage to smuggle an enormous supply of marijuana into the US from Mexico with the help of a fake wife and two pretend kids?

Review: Small-time drug dealer David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) must cross the US-Mexico border to smuggle a major drug consignment, clear debts and make things right with drug lord Brad (Ed Helms). David comes up with a plan to fulfill his dangerous mission.

To appear harmless, he pretends to be part of a happy American family on vacation to Mexico. He hires Rose, the stripper (Jennifer Aniston), to be his wife and two teenagers (Will Poulter, Emma Roberts) to be his children. Can the fake family pull off the unfamiliar task?

If outrageous, politically incorrect, sleazy or, to be specific, 'genital jokes' offend you, We're the Millers may not amuse you. However, if you are not a holier-than-thou type and find plenty of adult humour hilarious, there's enough madness in the film to keep you entertained.

In spite of a predictable story (we all know the fake family will end up functioning as a real family eventually), what makes the movie work is the spectacular comic timing and performances of the lead actors. They lend just the right amount of chutzpah to their bizarre roles. The madcap characters don't get mushy at the drop of a hat which is hugely refreshing. What also clicks is the balance the story manages to maintain between heart- warming emotions and dirtiness.

Jennifer Aniston shuttles between motherly and sultry with utmost ease. Men are bound to drool over her in an elaborate stripping scene. Jason Sudeikis gets his rude act right. Will Poulter is adorable as the 'virgin' nice boy while Emma Roberts blends in perfectly as the wild child.

We're the Millers is a predictable but funny road trip movie that's loaded with sexual expletives. In spite of the occasional silliness, it does make you laugh.

Riddick

Story: Hunt for the intergalactic convict 'Riddick', who can see in the dark, continues in this third installment of the sci-fi series.

Review: The film captures exploits of Riddick ( Vin Diesel), after he is deceived and left for dead on an obscure planet full of alien predators. All he knows about his existence is the fact that he's not on Furya. To add to his woes, he is also being chased by bounty hunters, who want him dead. The tough guy's fight for survival forms the story.

Do the antics of a lone Riddick marooned on a hostile planet manage to hold your interest? It does to a certain extent, especially in the opening scenes, where you see Riddick playing a deadly hide-and-seek with the murderous creatures. However, eventually, the storyline ends up free-floating as if lost in space, just like its lead character. After a while, the killings and order of events start looking monotonous, making the film seem more of a low-budget slasher movie than a sci-fi thriller.

Those who like horror might like the gore - chopping of heads and bodies but the profanities hurled at women, homosexuals are a bit unsettling, even given the context and genre of the film.

Riddick solely relies on the bald & beefy Diesel's macho appearance and deep-raspy voice. No effort has gone into penning a substantial screenplay or making the visual effects look better. Dark visuals of barren, lifeless planet fail to create the desired impact. Nothing really instills fear.

We wonder if even fans of the franchise, had high expectations from this sequel, given the mediocrity of the previous film (The Chronicles of Riddick). Everything about the film looks as artificial as the glowing-eyes of its central character, barring the cool bikes.

One Direction: This Is Us

Story: A chronicle about life both on and off the road of the biggest boy band around today, this documentary combines concert footage with the stories of One Direction's rise to fame.

Review: The idea behind this film follows a now-familiar trend. A group tastes almost instant success, the money rolls in and a little while later comes a movie for the fans to lap up while the band's still hot.

Only this time, it's a bit odd that Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me fame), who has a reputation for his critical views about various aspects of popular culture, was roped in to document this saccharine-sweet group's super-sized success.

One Direction (put together by Simon Cowell) is probably the only group that was buoyed to fame thanks to their Twitter following. While they aren't exceptional dancers or song-writers, what they can do quite well is to harmonize nicely with each other's voices. While the behind-the-scenes footage gives fans a window into their off-stage personalities, their banter about the nature of fame is lengthy and the film does not devote enough time to their singing prowess, which is what they're best at.

Although they are shown performing in stadiums (most of their hits, including What Makes You Beautiful and Live While We're Young) from Tokyo to Mexico City, the film focuses on the peripherals such as the joking around, interspersed with sentimental situations, like Zayn buying his parents a new home and getting teary-eyed. They visit their old employers and appear - at least on camera - not to take their success too seriously. The next step would be for Spurlock to place halos above their heads.

Zayn, Niall, Liam, Harry and Louis are talented guys no doubt and so, the film had potential. Spurlock could have painted a truly gripping, well-rounded picture of a band touring exhaustively - the good along with the temper flares, egos, insecurities that make them human rather than showing them as saints.

Grown Ups 2

Story: The first day of summer in Lenny's hometown has him, Eric, Chris and David up to all manner of shenanigans that are anything but grown up!

Review: Lenny (Sandler) has given up his job and along with his wife Roxanne (Hayek) and kids, moves back to his hometown. You get a taste of what's in store for the rest of the movie with a cascade of inexplicable events that unfold. Take, for example, when Lenny and Roxanne wake up and find, for no reason whatsoever, a deer in their bedroom, munching on Roxanne's sexy lingerie. There follows a long sequence of how they manage to get the deer out of their house.

Photogallery
Story: The first day of summer in Lenny's hometown has him, Eric, Chris and David up to all manner of shenanigans that are anything but grown up!

Review: Lenny (Sandler) has given up his job and along with his wife Roxanne (Hayek) and kids, moves back to his hometown. You get a taste of what's in store for the rest of the movie with a cascade of inexplicable events that unfold. Take, for example, when Lenny and Roxanne wake up and find, for no reason whatsoever, a deer in their bedroom, munching on Roxanne's sexy lingerie. There follows a long sequence of how they manage to get the deer out of their house.
Best Reader's Review



If you have seen Grown-ups-1 and liked it then you may give this a try. But don't expect t...Read more Tarun Agarwal (Delhi) 18/09/2013 at 05:33 PM
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Cut to pal Kurt (Rock) and wife Deanne (Rudolph) for a nonsensical breakfast scene. Higgins (Spade) has a visit from a son he didn't know he had while Eric (James), well, he's just busy trying to perfect the art of burping, sneezing and passing wind at the same time - a technique he calls 'burpsharting'. From here, the movie seems largely improvised, like the scene where the wives bump and grind with gratuitous cleavage shots for a very unconventional aerobics class. Or, the time they haul Eric to a lake for a swimming session, stumble on to a college party and are ragged. In this scene, Taylor Lautner steals the show.

Apart from family values and sticking by your friends, scriptwriters Sandler, Herlihy and Wolf speak about a healthy appreciation for the curvaceous female form. You're not going to watch this film looking for finesse.

There are Sandler movies with far better laughs. In fact, it's a little hard to describe this film as anything more than a bunch of grown men acting like dorks and in the process, attempting to wrangle a few gags out of situations that seem like a home video stretched to feature film length. The only thought that this film might provoke is to make you wonder what Sandler and gang were thinking when they made this.

2 Guns

Story: A US Naval Intelligence officer and a DEA agent go undercover to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel. However, things go awry when their cover is blown. Now forced to work together and abandoned by their agencies, will they escape the resulting mess with their heads intact?

Review: There have been all manner of buddy-cop films over the years, with various motifs. Colors had a rookie cop with a seasoned LAPD officer, Rush Hour saw the Orient paired with the Occident, Tango & Cash saw a suave cop with a ragged partner, K-9 even had a cop teamed up with a dog while Starsky & Hutch had two goofballs. 2 Guns couldn't be a more literal title - Marcus 'Stig' Stigman (Wahlberg) packs a 9mm automatic and Robert 'Bobby' Trench (Washington) slings a .44 magnum.

The action unfolds along the US-Mexico border where the two attempt to set up drug lord Papi Greco (Olmos) by going under the radar. They rob a bank and are almost successful, but are shocked to find that the paper trail leads to some dead-ends. And while they were once the pursuers, Trench and Stigman find out that they're now the pursued.

The plot gets a bit more complex from here, as you wonder whether the camaraderie they share will fall apart. As events unfold, they realize they have been double-crossed by the very people they least expected it from. Trench and Washington have their rivalry and are wary of each other but bear a healthy respect for the other in a tight spot. And bickering aside, when push comes to shove, they could count on each having the other's back.

What sets this film apart from standard buddy-cop fare is that the enemy is in their midst and not some larger-than-life despot demanding a ransom the size of a small country's GDP. Earl (Paxton) is convincing as a villain. And Wahlberg's swagger is impressive, as is the movie.

The Family

Story: Former Mafia boss Giovanni Manzoni (De Niro) and family are relocated to a nondescript town in Normandy as part of an FBI Witness Protection Program. With their changed identities and a new life, will they be able to adapt and keep the past from catching up.

Review: There's a code, the Omerta included, that you'll find critical to most Mafia films - loyalty, keeping your friends close, your enemies closer and so on. But there's also that bit about not bringing matters about the mean streets home to discuss at the dinner table. Meaning, keeping 'work' and home as separate entities. However, the Manzoni family has everyone in on the violence. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and Giovanni and Maggie's (Pfeiffer) kids Belle (Agron) and Warren (D'Leo) inherit their dad's habit for mafioso-grade violence too.

Across the Atlantic from their native Brooklyn, they could very well be on another planet. Maggie finds the French obsession with cream as a cooking ingredient distasteful and Giovanni (renamed 'Fred' by the Feds) finds his French neighbours too prying and full of Continental arrogance.

The comedy, however, ends here and matters become serious. The local priest shuns Maggie from the Church after she confesses their past, Fred soon starts killing and breaking the bones of anyone who gives him a hard time and Warren is expelled from school after charges of corruption, smuggling and drugs pile up; in essence, a mini Mafia.

And their past, like the proverbial wolf that's always at the door, is never too far behind despite the grave and unsmiling Agent Stansfield's ( Tommy Lee Jones, whose face looks craggier than a mountainside) best attempts to keep their cover from blowing.

It's a little-known fact that Pfeiffer had failed the audition to star opposite De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull. She's managed it after 30 years and for a movie as good as this, it was totally worth it.

Rush

Story: Rush chronicles the famous rivalry between Formula One's two fiercely competitive drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, during the 1976 season. Lauda's near-fatal crash and relationship with Hunt forms the story.

Review: It's easy to glamourise a film based on Formula One racing, given the nature of the sport - extreme speed, adrenaline rush, roaring engines, champagne, hot Pit girls, playboy racers and sexy F1 cars. On the other hand, it's also convenient to deglamourise a 'sports biopic' by giving it a documentary treatment.

Ron Howard doesn't succumb to either. His splendid execution strikes the right balance to give us a film that is visually stunning, moving, nail-bitingly intense and heroically entertaining, just like a Formula One Grand Prix.

While the sport is much safer today than it was in the '70's, what has stayed constant is the rivalry between drivers. So was the case with the notorious British playboy racer James Hunt ( Chris Hemsworth) and his brilliant, methodical Austrian opponent Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). The film revolves around their contrasting ideologies and their battle for the 1976 world championship. Their passion for victory pushes them to breaking point.

You get to witness the tumultuous lives of these drivers, on and off the track. Also, the film doesn't merely state facts in an episodic manner. The story-telling lends depth to the characters, leaving you emotionally invested in them. You feel their fear, regrets, insecurities and vulnerability.

What adds to the film's brilliance is its astounding cinematography, be it the wheel-to-wheel, rain-soaked racing or crash scenes. Performances are supremely authentic as well. Both Hemsworth and Bruhl play their parts with utmost perfection. Background score creates the psychological tension required.

If you are a F1 fan, you must know that Rush starts from the pole position, maintains its momentum and makes it to the chequered flag for a grand podium finish. Long after it's over, you don't think about death, danger, victory or rivalry. You remember two champions who didn't race for a living but lived because they loved racing.

Prisoners

Story: The Dover and Birch families meet for a Thanksgiving dinner, after which their six-year-old daughters Anna and Joy go for a walk. They don't return. The occupant of a van parked outside is the immediate suspect. Keller Dover (Jackman) then embarks on his own manic search for the girls.

Review: Keller is a religious man whose motto is to 'be prepared'. Accordingly, his basement is stocked up for an apocalypse and the lines on his face show that he's known struggle all his life. Alex Jones (Dano) is the occupant of the dilapidated van parked outside their home and after the girls go missing, Keller's gut instinct that Alex is behind the abduction turns him into a man obsessed with breaking Alex.
Investigating the case, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) is tattooed, brooding, speaks little but is firm. His only sign of emotion is a nervous facial tic. He has never lost a case before but this one tests his mettle to breaking point. His performance builds with quiet intensity. After a round of questioning, Alex, who seems to have the cognitive ability of a small child, is released. Nancy and Franklin Birch (Davis, Howard) believe in Loki's efforts but are mired in grief. As the search goes on and hope begins to dim, Keller descends into his own heart of darkness and his wife Grace (Bello) slips into a sedative haze.

The violence isn't glamourised, but looks as real as possible and therefore, sometimes disturbing. Most visual cues are suggested, but are never overt. Villeneuve's meticulous vision and cinematographer Roger Deakins' lustrous palette of greys, blacks and overcast skies set up an ominous mood, aided superbly by Johann Johannsson's music.

A film with many emotional components, the visceral panic, desperation and helplessness any parent would feel when their children are abducted, forms its bedrock. Each watershed point takes its own time to build. This ensures that you will want to pay attention to the details that makes  Prisoners so enjoyable.

Gambit

Story: A frustrated English art curator Harry Deane (Firth) tries to get one up over his boss by conning him into buying a fake painting worth millions. As part of the ruse, Harry enlists the help of his assistant and a feisty Texan lady.

Review: While billed as a remake of a 1966 movie starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, this film seems a very distant, though modern facsimile of the former. Life is difficult for Harry because his boss, a millionaire mogul called Lionel Shabandar (Rickman, sharp as ever), tends to make his bumbling minion feel like an idiot. What Harry does know a lot about, however, is art. He can tell a Rembrandt from a Monet with just a glance and a very good fake from the real McCoy.

Deciding to con his boss, Harry isolates Monet's 'Haystacks' (thought to be lost in the aftermath of Nazi-occupied Europe in World War II) and enlists his trusty assistant, The Major (Courtenay) to forge a copy of the same. As part of the ruse, Texan cowgirl P.J. (Diaz), in whose grandma's (Leachman) house the fake Monet hangs, is flown down to England to meet, charm and seal the deal with Shabandar for the rare canvas.

P.J. seems to embody almost every aspect of a Texan parody available. But enough is telegraphed in a film of this sort, and things can and will unravel. As Shabandar and P.J. develop their own chemistry, Harry's plan seems to fizzle. And what Harry doesn't know is that as a final insulting coup de grace, Shabandar plans to fire him and replace him with German art appraiser Zaidenweber (Tucci).

Rickman and Firth fit their roles like a glove while Diaz with the Texan chic, yee-hawing in Central London, is a bit silly. However, Hoffman uses London as a backdrop rather nicely. And the Coen Brothers' (screenplay) stamp is more than evident. This is a fairly standard heist comedy, but is loaded with just enough silly humour and charm to make it a pleasant ride.

Runner Runner

Story: A brilliant Princeton math student attempts to rescue his broke bank account by risking all in an online poker game. After he's cheated of his last cent, he flies to Costa Rica to sort things out with the owner of that gambling website.

Review: You've seen thrillers that are intricate, detailed and unfold at their own pace, allowing the viewer an immersive experience. Runner Runner isn't quite like that. It's a breezy film that runs breathlessly from start to finish, pretty much as the movie title suggests it does.

Richie (Timberlake) is a razor-sharp Poker hand who can't resist a good deal. He loses everything one night even as his pals watch disbelievingly. When he reaches gambling haven Costa Rica, he meets the uber-smooth, louche and nefarious gambling tycoon and villain Ivan (Affleck), who predictably enough, takes Richie under his wing, and throws wads of dollar bills his way every now and then as rewards.

One of those rewards is also a chance to sleep with his oomphy and curvaceous (even if somewhat vacuous) moll, Rebecca (Arterton), whom Richie begins to lustfully eye almost as soon as he becomes a part of Ivan's Clicquot-swilling clique.

So swayed is Richie that it takes a sudden intervention from FBI Agent Shavers (Mackie) to forcefully let Richie know about the rot in Ivan's Caribbean Empire of Sin. Soon, Richie gets to know what the old adage 'never trust a gambler' means.

Affleck is at ease in his role and has some good lines. It's pretty apparent that Timberlake channels more than a few stylistic touches and mannerisms from some of his recent roles. Early on in the movie, Furman shifts focus from Poker to something else. Arterton's Rebecca seems comfortable with being the eye-candy and is every part the bombshell, a much-needed counterpoint in this casino boogie of a movie, otherwise full of tumbling dice and dirty deals in broad daylight.

Diana

Story: Dodi Al-Fayed was not the only one. This film is about the love-struck Princess of Wales' last real-life love affair with a Pakistani heart surgeon.

Review: Except for getting Princess Diana's iconic hairdo, outfits and head tilts right, Diana, the biopic fails to recreate the magic of the 'queen of hearts'. While she was loved for her style, concern for the helpless and unabashed speeches, her personal life invited unwanted media attention. Not one to follow the rulebook, her biopic fails to replicate the massive curiosity and intrigue she evoked during her tumultuous lifetime and death in 1997.

The film is based on her real-life relationship with a Pakistani heart surgeon, Hasnat Khan ( Naveen Andrews), whom she met two years before her death. The lesser known love affair disappoints, since it makes the film look like any other mediocre, run-of-the-mill romantic drama.

As a result, the immensely talented Naomi Watts too keeps slipping in and out of her larger-than-life character, making it hard for us to remember that we are watching a biopic on Diana in the first place. It's a pity that of all the Diana stories, the director chose to adapt this one for the big screen.

Unfortunately, the story-telling is as dull as the story. Dialogues fall flat. Sluggish pace and predictable confrontations make matters worse. Diana cooks, plays the piano, wears a wig, cleans her beau's room and does the dishes. This is all you get to see for over two hours. Her interaction and confessions with her acupuncturist would have made for a better story.

Surprisingly, the royal family members are kept off-screen. William and Harry barely make an appearance. This makes the on-screen Diana look too self-absorbed and detached from her children. Her falling for Hasnat (love at first sight) looks unconvincing and so does her on-off depression. The filmmaker however manages to touch your heart when you see the princess reaching out to the underprivileged.

If you are fine with seeing Diana as the 'needy' woman solely looking for love, living in suffocating secrecy, you may like the film. If you expect to revisit the aura of mystery surrounding her, you will be disappointed.

Gravity 3D

Story: After a space mission goes awry, astronauts drift into space, losing not only their sense of direction, but also hope for survival.

Review: Do you regret not taking enough risks in life? Do you often envy those who take the road less travelled? Do you wish you could escape your mundane life and fly into the sky like a free bird to touch the moon and the stars?

In case you do, Gravity will change the way you think. It will alter your perception of beauty, fear and freedom. If you wonder how a docu-style film centered on a single character (Sandra Bullock) floating through deep space can be this gripping, the answer lies in Gravity's awe-inspiring technical excellence.

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron deserves a standing ovation for his film is a visual masterpiece. You know you have watched a film of this caliber when you keep asking yourself throughout, 'How did they do it'! The four and a half years of production work pay off, as you can tell every frame is painstakingly made.

Tense, unnerving and arresting, every scene of the psychological thriller gives you gooseflesh. The spectacular special effects make you feel like you are a part of the film. For instance, every time Bullock takes a long, deep breath, you can feel yourself doing the same. That's the impact of Gravity. It's an experience. A game-changer of sorts, the film is bound to revolutionise special effects in movies.

Having said that, Alfonso Cuaron doesn't let technology overpower the story, which is essentially an emotional journey of its lead character. That sense of detail for things goes beyond technology and this is what we liked the most about the film.

George Clooney manages to charm you once again, but it's Sandra Bullock who puts on the performance of her career. The haunting eeriness of dark space has been impeccably portrayed. The background score is equally fear-inducing and manages to maintain the tension created.

Cuaron keeps his film as realistic as it can get. No melodrama, no far-fetched stylised action scenes or convenient plot twists. The film stays unpredictable till the end.

To sum it up, there are films and then there's Gravity. For an edge-of-the-seat-rollercoaster-ride experience, watch it only in IMAX 3D.

Note: You may not like this movie if taut and realistic space films are not your cup of tea.

About Time

Story: Tim (Gleeson) gets clued onto a family secret - all the gents in the house have the ability to travel through time! He then goes about using this power to sort out various wrongs in his life and win over his lady love.

Review: With a movie title that couldn't possibly be more literal, About Time features an amalgamation of love and philosophy. From the director with a filmography including Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Bridget Jones's Diary, you could safely come to the conclusion that Curtis could spin out another romcom blindfolded. He manages to move beyond flightiness and stops just short of being maudlin or mawkish.

Tim's dad (Nighy) reveals the time-travelling secret to junior one day. Forget about quantum physics and those lifelong labours of Stephen Hawking and his ilk; apparently, all it takes to time-travel is to close your eyes, clench your fists and focus really hard.

Not one to waste such a phenomenal gift, Tim is certainly a man with his priorities in order. Forgetting about everything else, he decides to focus on romance in general, Mary (McAdams) in particular, and use his new time-travelling trick to set right certain wrongs.

Mary is a bit airy. She has her faults but attempts to be endearing. Indeed, Tim and she share an easy chemistry. Gleeson is no Hugh Grant, but McAdams is a highlight in this film. The film is inexplicably long but the genuinely funny jokes that pepper the plot save the film from plodding into a sentimental soup.

There is a strong idealistic streak running through About Time. After all, which one of us wouldn't want to go back in the years and change certain things? What if we had said the right thing at the right time to him or her...or perhaps avoided that misunderstanding? Wouldn't that relationship have worked out?

Ultimately, the message is simple and visceral enough to have crossover appeal. Give it a shot if romantic comedies float your boat.

Escape Plan

Story: Ray Breslin has written the book (literally) on structural security. His job is to pose as a prisoner and then escape from that jail, in order to alert the authorities to its security flaws. The last job he accepts is to break out of an ultra-secure facility, whose location is secret. Once inside, Breslin realizes he must work with fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer in order to escape.

Review: After a successful breakout from a high-security lockup, Breslin's business partner Lester Clark (D'Onofrio) then convinces him to accept one last job offered to them by the CIA because of the large payout guaranteed to them. Accordingly, Breslin and work-mates Hush (50 Cent) and Abigail (Ryan) head to a rendezvous point in New Orleans. Things quickly take a different turn.

Like lumbering man-mountains, Breslin (Stallone) and Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger) harness some serious brain-muscle to go with the testosterone-powered brawn. Hafstrom (known for his horror flicks) gives each of the main characters clearly-defined attributes. Breslin never loses his cool. Rottmayer is unpredictable. The evil warden Hobbs (Caviezel) looks calm, unflappable and collects butterflies, but you get the feeling that inside, he's a raving psychopath. Dr Emil Kaikev (Sam Neill) is the prison doctor whose critical sense of conscience injects some much-needed pathos into the proceedings.

Arnie and Sly are synonymous with action films. Even though both, The Governator and the Italian Stallion are a tad worn around the edges, the two of them serve up some unfussy meat-and-potatoes fare. The script avoids cheesy lines but Schwarzenegger does have some memorable ones, like "You hit like a vegetarian".

Their biceps and forearms are as thick as hams, but the ammunition expenditure and fight scenes are scaled back. The pace does, however, go into higher gear during the second half. The characters fit to a tee, except for 50 Cent, incongruously miscast as a computer nerd! The action is routine but the way they plan the escape is interesting and inspired. These guys may be old, but they sure know their chops and can still deal the dice, old-school style.

ENDER'S GAME -- "Mazer Rackham's Run" -- 2013

In the near future, a hostile alien race have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham, all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin, a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite.

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distiguising himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

Captain Phillips

Plot: Captain Phillips is based on the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips, and the Somali pirate captain, Muse, who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

Director:     Paul Greengrass
Producer:    Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca
Genre:         Thriller,  Biography,  Crime