tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316430532024-10-04T20:39:02.726-07:00Negatives, LensNo nonsense snobbish movie reviews. We take no responsibility for the trauma caused by viewing movies based on our recommendations.wenerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16326045017665188823noreply@blogger.comBlogger1055125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-31582705615266210342015-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:002016-04-10T13:25:56.418-07:00A Serious Man
A snowy night in a European town and an introduction to a dybbuk is how the movie begins. You are then plunged into the sorry life of Larry Gopnik, who is a physicist struggling for tenure while in the middle of divorce proceedings. There are quirky scenarios typical of a Coen brothers film like that of Larry dealing with a Chinese student who could be bribing him. Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-2010342209250576372015-11-25T22:01:00.000-08:002016-04-10T13:04:35.362-07:00Sin City: A Dame to Kill for
The original Sin City was a brilliant film that stunningly brought to life the neo-noir graphic novel series of the same name by Frank Miller. So when the follow up was released by the same directorial duo the assumption was that it would continue in the same vein. The film in many ways does do that by reappraising most of the original cast. Miller has thrown in a few stories from Vol 2 andRama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-44314656253556924892015-11-01T12:32:00.000-08:002016-04-10T12:37:44.057-07:00Beasts of No Nation
A film meant to be a powerful telling of the wars in Africa and how it is ravaging the youth there. A time meant for the children to be educated instead is spent learning how to become a killing machine. Throw in Idris Alba to play the lead role of a commandant of a guerrilla, one expects a dark and gripping tale. However the story of young Abu who is throw apart from his family by war Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-59927180452416258412015-10-12T23:30:00.000-07:002016-02-13T19:11:47.853-08:00The Assassin
Hsaio-hsien Hou tackles a wuxia tale in his latest offering that centers around an assassin, who targets corrupt government officials. Interestingly her orders are given by a woman monk. When mercy creeps into her and she wavers from her role she is sent off an assignment closer to her heart. In spite of being based on a wuxia story which is usually simple and action packed, Hou twists it Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-90661437169078374112015-09-26T23:00:00.000-07:002016-02-13T19:00:55.612-08:00Sicario
The movie opens with Agent Kate Mercer, a up and coming straight laced FBI agent, finding a horde corpses when raiding a den of kidnappers. The ensuing explosion points at something more than a kidnapping den. She is then drafted into a CIA / DoD task force investigating the event. Part of this team is Alejandro Gillick (Benicio Del Toro) whose identity and allegiance all seem very Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-20637557996732176652015-09-23T23:16:00.001-07:002015-11-08T14:08:33.100-08:00The Informant
Mark Whitacre was a high flying executive at Archer Daniels Midland, when he decides to blow the whistle on the company's nefarious price fixing of lysine, an additive used in the livestock industry. He teams up with the FBI and walks around wearing a wire and surreptitiously filming secret meetings. But the pressure of leading a double life starts to show as his character starts to fray at Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-56994310666686268142015-08-22T22:02:00.000-07:002015-10-24T22:14:54.293-07:00Interstellar
There are some movies that are hard to review. It doesn't mean that such movies are of high quality. It is just that writing about it can reveal too much and take away from the pleasure if the movie was one for the ages. This is one such movie and I will do my best not give too much away about this one.
The Earth is ravaged by blight and humanity's hope for survival looks bleak. It is Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-65990773454368993412015-08-15T23:41:00.000-07:002015-09-27T12:41:32.011-07:00Fantastic Four
Marvel's Fantastic Four franchise is given a reboot in this latest installment. The story starts from ground zero with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm being tweener friends working on crazy science projects. They are discovered by Professor Franklin Storm and you are introduced to his kids, Sue and Johnny. Throw Victor von Doom and an experiment gone wrong into the mix and you are left with the Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-29664400085482994792015-07-25T23:46:00.000-07:002015-08-23T19:01:01.612-07:00OMG - Oh My God!
Kanji Lalji Mehta is an atheist who owns an antique store in Mumbai. When an earthquake hits the city, it leaves his store in shambles and.the
"Act of God" clauses leaves his insurance claim in the dust. Mr. Mehta then decides to file a law suite against God which causes an uproar in the city and drags a few prominent God men and woman in to the court. A satirical comedy that makes fun of Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-32936599674713964502015-07-24T23:43:00.000-07:002015-08-08T19:39:21.449-07:00Birdman
Riggan Thompson used to rule the film industry as Birdman but since then has done little of note. Now he is trying to rekindle his acting career by adapting a Raymond Carver play to Broadway. The movie chronicles this process through dress rehearsals and opening night. The acting is top notch with Michael Keaton and Edward Norton grabbing most of the limelight. Alejandro González Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-43819364496049477542015-06-14T05:23:00.001-07:002015-06-14T05:25:42.706-07:00Ida
Ida, a catholic nun on the verge of taking her vows, discovers her Jewish history and life outside of the convent. Which in post-war Poland, might not seem to be any more aspirational than whats within the four walls of her convent. Between the past and the present, Ida needs to make her choice for the future. Sparse in dialogue, colour and motion, Ida manages to say a great deal - like in wenerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16326045017665188823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-17150483390844017302015-06-13T21:24:00.000-07:002015-08-08T18:04:28.115-07:00Avengers: Age of Ultron
This installment in the Marvelverse starts with Team Avengers raiding a Hydra base and being introduced to Quicksilver and Wanda Maximoff. The mission is successful in that they are reunited with Loki's scepter. Stark and Banner discover artificial intelligence buried in it and use it to come up with a global defense program. The program comes to life and decides rightly that humans are the Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-89774750872151026912015-05-02T23:15:00.000-07:002015-05-03T11:21:07.873-07:00The World of Kanako
Take darkness and make it darker must have been the intent of director Tetsuya Nakashima with this morbid film. Akihiro Fujishima is a former detective who has issues to put it mildly. When his ex-wife calls him frantically about their teenage daughter, Kanako, who seems to be missing, he dives in with a kind of mad relish that leaves you cringing. The film is a rush of flash backs and Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-26822328032731009732015-04-18T16:54:00.000-07:002015-05-03T10:54:08.589-07:00Thor: The Dark World
Loki is locked up and Thor with is warrior friends are forging a peace across the nine realms following the rebuilding of the Bifrost after the previous debacle. But the calm is not allowed to build as Dark Elves, who are thought to be obliterated eons ago are re-awoken by an unwitting Earthling. You are then treated to some heavy CGI magic and loads of hammer wielding Thor action resultingRama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-44707969685082854642015-04-15T23:06:00.006-07:002015-04-15T23:06:57.559-07:00Taxidermia
You follow three generations of Hungarian men during the course of this movie. A penis obsessed military orderly to a speed eating champion and culminating with a carcass stuffer. The story is supposedly a cross between horror and comedy that hides a sociopolitical retelling of Hungarian history. The history bit is very hard to glean and it is more akin to a morbid "turn away from the Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-55114726257310595552015-04-11T07:06:00.004-07:002015-04-11T07:11:37.523-07:00Unlucky Plaza
Slowly and steadily, Nek Nek (a.k.a Ken Kwek) has obviously been fine tuning his movie writing / making abilities - delivering this super smooth production of a dog day afternoon in Singapore as a Filipino restaurant owner driven to his wits end, contemplates his end game with a bunch of atypical (or not) Singaporean characters. Realisation hits Onassis that they are all trapped, in this wenerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16326045017665188823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-61035429203351269392015-04-05T23:36:00.000-07:002015-04-26T16:50:44.038-07:00Boyhood
A coming of age story of young Mason Jr whose mother flits from one messed up partner to another dragging the young boy and sister along. Take The Wonder Years, convert the Arnold family in to a dysfunctional one with a single mother, shoot it over ten years with the actors aging gradually and you will end up with this movie. However the Tv series had a certain depth and charm to it that isRama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-81310329960656148162015-04-04T23:21:00.000-07:002015-04-15T22:59:05.546-07:00Killing Them Softly
When a couple of buffoons hold up a high stakes underworld card game, it is predictable how it would end. The mob puts a highly paid hitman to set right the situation. And when you have cast that includes Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini, you except even this simple storyline to pack a punch. However you are left with an insipid journey that turges towards the inevitable end.
Rating: * +
Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-4280427817163936852015-04-03T23:57:00.000-07:002015-04-05T13:11:09.493-07:00The Thieves
An all ensemble cast forms the backbone of this heist film which was the top grossing South Korea film in 2012. The target of the theft is a diamond owned by a top Chinese mobster in Macao. Two teams from China and South Korea, with intertwined pasts and romances, join forces to pull it off. It is very obvious that the film has been heavily influenced by the Ocean's Eleven seriesRama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-82912060284326737482015-03-15T23:13:00.000-07:002015-04-05T12:39:39.476-07:00Special 26
One of the biggest cons in Indian history is the inspiration for this film. Couple that with the director, Neeraj Pandey, being of the A Wednesday pedigree the expectations were very high for this film. As the movie opens to a CBI raid at a politician's palace, you are riveted to the screen. Akshay Kumar and Manoj Bajpai square off as robber and cop, and the setup is complete. Then the Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-23311667029248702202015-03-14T23:10:00.000-07:002015-03-15T13:11:51.287-07:00Hollow
A woman jumps off a bridge and a young girl drowns in the same river. A week later the young girl's corpse is found and magically reanimated. She of course is possessed and things start going bump at night and even the day. The director tries to use the horror genre to show us the underbelly of prostitution and human trafficking in Vietnam and is all over the place. When you add people Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-34303063980124724192015-03-13T23:00:00.000-07:002015-03-15T13:01:06.967-07:00Partners In Crime
The dead body of a school girl from a wealthy family is discovered by three of her school mates on a rainy evening. The boys with widely varying personalities find themselves bonding over the incident as they start hunting around for clues to her demise. Initially the it felt like a coming of age film turning in to detective noir, but you soon realize the director is taking us somewhere moreRama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-46380497809603590692015-02-26T23:43:00.000-08:002015-03-02T20:04:25.714-08:00A Touch of Sin
What does a man do when he is teetering on the edge of his breaking point as he fights the injustice around him? Does he stoically fight on or just go berserk? This kind of scenario is what the film opens to and forms just one section of it. It eerily reminds one of Edmond but as the other sections unfold you realize Zhang Ke is as usual a filming a commentary on the social climate in Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-11970646287301945672015-02-18T20:39:00.000-08:002015-02-27T10:42:03.250-08:00Entre Nos
The stereotype of Colombian women falling for men who treat them badly continues in this movie. Mariana and her kids are abandoned by her husband soon after they immigrate to New York city. Stranded in a foreign city and unable to speak English, she struggles to make ends meet. The film shows a dispassionate view of the situation while highlighting Mariana's grit to persevere. There Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31643053.post-21931418514306104322015-02-08T23:01:00.000-08:002015-02-15T18:22:16.566-08:00Headshot
Detective noir cloaked in the gloom of smoldering cigarette butts and damsels in distress are the backdrop for this film. The movie opens with a hit going wrong for hitman, Tul, as he finds his life literally turned upside down. As Tul tries to come to grips with his inverted vision, you are introduced to his "normal" past life. In a stupor you are slowly immersed in to his life as a film Rama Ramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17188744082063158213noreply@blogger.com0