Wolf Of Wall Street – “MONEYtards” gets high, party hard and pass out!

Here is the 71-year-old beast, back again with yet another masterpiece, delivering the modern day goodfellas kind of gangster (Stock Brokers) story. This movie will make you laugh in every single opportunity and at last will make you feel guilty for what you did and its undoubtedly Scorsese’s best work after The Departed.

Debauchery has never been captured so sharply on screen, and The Wolf is few minutes short of three hour long drunk story, it’s a mix of cautionary that’s spectacular and equally repulsive.

Jordan Belfort character is highly unlikely and hilarious at some instances. When the story unfolds, you find it hard to believe them and feel it over the top. But it is real and the amount of excess and overindulgence that Wall Street honchos engage in is ridiculous. Show those guys this film and they’ll clap and cheer at Belfort’s wrongdoings.

Leo has delivered one of his career best performances, I have a strong belief that he is a great dramatic actor, but his insane comic timing was a treat to watch. He has played the role just like any hotshot top level Wall Street Banker.

Take the special performances from Boiler Room(2000), multiply by thousand and that’s still less awesome, when compared to Leonardo Diacaprio’s portrayal as Jordan Belfort. There is this ten minute long sequence, where Jonah and leo intake lemon ludes( A special kind in Ludes). When it hits, Leo can't get his stability to walk, then decides to crawl back to the car, drive all the way back home out of all his wits and then suddenly watches Popeye eating spinach. He suddenly will feel the adrenaline rush and snorts some cocaine to get back to his senses. This scene will hold a special place in the filmmaking schools in the following decades on “how to deliver an insane badass performance”.  As always the Leo-Scorsese team is a treat to watch, we should be privileged to be alive during this era. 

Jonah Hill, is showing  high maturity with every single film. He has delivered another stunning performance along with a short yet powerful cameo’s from a dozen of actors like McConaughey, Jean Djuradin and many other stalwarts delivering their badass charm to the movie. 

The outrage over explicit sex content and glorified drug use is bullshit. It is not a misogynist movie, portrayal of misogynist stuff is never a defense of misogyny and drugs, but if you enjoy the stuff happening on screen then the joke is on you. If you continue to say so, it is a sin that you have never really got the concept of Scorsese movies. Scorsese made sure, Belfort is not going to be victimized for the drug trap and he also made sure that the movie disregards his behavior. He was portrayed as a narcist individual wiling to do all the badass things. 

Belfort was greedy with money, drugs and sex and Scorsese offered the movie everything that Belfort aspired for and gets into more bizarre scenarios for a breathtaking roller coaster ride. Most of the scenes where long, with high energy levels in an ecstatic mode throwing us shock in every turn, that you could never move your eyeballs.  It is a must watch movie, to know how the Belfort kind of retards gets out with a minor punishment, while the normal criminal with much less charges ends up in prison and rot till death.

Rating: 4/5

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Gravity - Go watch it in 3D!

Gravity starts just like any other space movie and then comes this extraordinary fifteen minute single shot, where the camera pans between two astronauts. It starts from outside with the astronaut outer view and goes into the helmet of the astronaut and gives us a glimpse of the UI and seamlessly pops out and this transition conveniently proves the stand point of the movie, “In space nobody can hear you scream”. 

Alfonso Cuaron is back behind the camera from Children of men, after seven long excruciating years, this time with a vengeance to entertain the crap out of you. Not sure why this movie is termed as sci-fi, as there is no fiction involved here. It’s a masterpiece science-horror movie, with no alien stuff involved but a more real intelligent disaster. Imagine 127 Hours in space, with more visceral, moving, immersive and yeah add 3D(For once 3D is worthy here and the movie deserves it). Technically its an astonishing achievement, this will be the only film that I would go back to watch in 3D in IMAX again. Also for once, the movie’s filming techniques would be as interesting as the film.

So what’s different in Gravity given that there have been other films about astronauts stranded in space? For one, Cuaron is a deadly filmmaker, a shaman. He absolutely nails the staging and pacing of the film, making it a 90 minute tense, dizzying, breathless experience. The detailing, the digital effects work and the long, uncut takes will divorce your jaw from the rest of your face. It’s not just one of the great CGI films of the decade but one of the five greatest uses of CGI in the history of cinema. When James Cameron was fawning over the film, he wasn’t kidding - Cuaron, Lubezski and their special effects team really have crafted something extraordinary here.

Apart from using groundbreaking technology like an LED box that’d change filmmaking as we know it, Gravity has a ‘believable’ disaster plot and a heroine who is quite different from the stock scream queens that you expect from Hollywood. She is smart, she has a reason to make us root for her, and more importantly, she’s heroic rather than corny, ping ponging between her primal urge to survive the disaster and her existential wish to stop trying. Sandra Bullock is terrific here, always convincing, despite the green screen around her, holding the film on her own in the vast emptiness of space.

There are some scientific fallacies in Gravity but laws of science can’t be questioned anymore seeing as Sandra Bullock broke them - she probably went around the space time continuum and aged backwards, because she looks 30 despite being 50. Except for Clooney’s wisecracks the lines (written by Cuaron’s son Jonas) are mostly pedestrian and simplistic, but not grating. One thing that I actually found problematic was a scene where the heroine’s weakest moment has a man saving her – it’s a tiny nitpick but it’s a little jarring to see a strong female protagonist being rescued by the hero in a film built around a strong independent female.

Regardless, all flaws of Gravity become infinitely smaller the bigger the screen you watch it on. In IMAX the film is perfect, utterly faultless. Cuaron clearly takes inspiration from video games with POV shots of Bullock’s character shuttling from one space station to another. One first person sequence where she changes her space suits and heads out to repair the damaged station is straight out of Dead Space. If this movie makes money, it’d have the potential for Hollywood to invest a bit more into smart original movies than shameless 3D cash grabs. If you’re interested in that kind of a future, you should buy your tickets right about now.

Rating : 4/5

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Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaya -First on Net Review - A Santhanam & Powerstar show all the way!!!

Just got back from the premiere show of Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaya, here in Melbourne. After a long time back here to review a Tamil movie. Happy for that, will try to be regular from now on. KLTA directed by Manikandan & Santhanam debuts as a producer with his own production company Handmade Films with this movie. Santhanam, Powerstar Dr Srinivasan, Sethu plays the lead role, Vishaka plays the female lead and the movie has an ensemble comedian star cast with VTV Ganesh, Kovai Sarala, Manohar and guest appearances from Gowtham Menon & Simbu. The movie being distributed by Udhayanidhi Stalin and the whole unit have built up an ample expectation level, which might in turn hurt the movie. Music by Thaman was average, but the only thing which people need from this film is entertainment from Santhanam and Powerstar if they can deliver that then the movie will be a hit. Let's see what's in store for us.

What's it about?
As rumored the film is a remake of the yesteryear classical "Indru Poi Nalai Va" directed by Bhagyaraj, three youths(Powerstar!) trying to woo a girl next door. They do all sorts of gimmicks to get into the house of the heroine. Santhanam will learn music from VTV Ganesh, Powerstar will learn dance from Vishaka's dad and Sethu will be a personal assistant(Malligai saman vangara paiyan) for Kovai Sarala. Then the united friends will get into quarrel on who will love the girl and finally who will impress her is the story. Santhanam has made sure that he will have a package of comedians who can bring down the house. He has done that perfectly in this film.

What's good?
Powerstar Srinivasan as a comedian is a big plus, Santhanam as usual had his pet VTV Ganesh and his iconic witty one liners are available all over the film. Both Powerstar and Santhanam had done a wonderful job. Almost Powerstar has done his real life character in this movie, so it's easy for him I hope (all those over buildups).  Sethu debutante has done a decent role. Vishaka looks bubbly, okayish role and she has done her part.  VTV Ganesh, Kovai Sarala and Vishaka's dad all did their part in their way.

What's not?
Since the film is a remake there is nothing new in this movie, same old story and same old characters. Little changes in the last. The film could have been trimmed a bit more, the songs make the movie lengthier. Nobody could manage to engage the audience during the songs and songs were not a hit among people which will make it a tiring watch.

Final word
Overall a decent family watchable movie for the festive season, with lots of fun. This will be a big break for Powerstar. As usual Santhanam rocked with his dialogues which will keep you engaged throughout the movie. If you are expecting a story, then this not your movie. If you want to be happy for three hours, then this will be your perfect choice. For Santhanam and Powerstar fans, this film is a delight for you!

Rating : 3/5

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EEGA - Naan E roller coaster revenge by a housefly

South India's top commercial director SS Rajamouli's most ambitious project Eega is out at a record 1200 theatres across the world. Nani plays the main lead (Technically it's the rebirth of Nani as the housefly which is the lead character), Samantha plays the female lead and Sudeep plays the most important role as a Villain. Keeravani has done the music and Senthil is the cameraman.

What's the story?
Nani playing the eternal lover boy and Samantha will secretly adores Naani like what happens in most south movies these days. Sudeep gets mad when he gets to know that Samantha, the girl he admires, is in love with Naani. He goes on to kill Nani. Then unfolds the real battle -- the rebirth of Naani as a housefly and how he takes revenge on Sudeep. The names of Sudeep and Naani were retained in the movie, while it's Bindhu for Sam. 

The positives
The bonding between Naani and Sam was great. Sudeep has given a once-in-a-lifetime performance. If one-half of the film is for kids, then the other half is for adults -- its Rajamouli’s master blend that has packed all the elements so well. The background music will just woo you. The CG work by Makuta team was extraordinary, specially the scene where Sudeep blackmails Naani by Sam was shot brilliantly. Cameraman Senthil deserves a special mention here. Overall, the film keeps you engrossed for most of the time. 

The negatives
The film is a bit lengthy, sometimes you might feel that it is for the kids. 

Final word
It’s Sudeep, Sudeep and Sudeep all the way. A must watch revenge story - it will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Rating: 3.5/5

Official review links:
In.com: http://www.in.com/news/entertainment/eega-is-roller-coaster-ride-50112537-in-1.html

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Krishnaveni Panchaalai : Nothing big..!!!

Krishnaveni Panchaalai a story about a cotton factory as the name suggests. Dhanapal Padmanabahn debuts as director, N.R. Raghunathan scores the music. Hemachandran(as Kathir) and Nandhana(as Poongothai) play the lead. Renuka plays the mother role of Poongothai. Film is produced by Minveli Media Works. 


Film starts off with a flashback back in 1950’s, where Rajeev Krishna( S/O Krishnaveni Cotton Mill founder) went to UK for his higher education, where he falls in love with a girl and he marries her. His father’s self-demise will compel him to return to India, to take over the mill. Then the film travels to 1980’s, where the mill will be running good, employees will be happy. There are a lot of love pairs in between, Kathir and Poongothai are one such pair. Furthermore, Kathir will help in arranging a run-away marriage for Poongothai's elder sister and his friend. Renuka takes revenge for this marriage and will mix poison for her own elder daughter. On the other hand, a tussle happens between mill employees and owner regarding bonus, which extends to a strike for 300 days. How Poongothai gets to know the truth of her sister's killing, how she joins with Kathir and what happened to Krishnaveni Cotton Mill is the rest of the story.


What works?
The film has an intriguing story. History and love were mixed in right proportions. Casting was perfect except for a few characters. It is evident that a lot of ground work has been made in properties inside mill, and the attendance card puncher deserves a special note. Performance by Renuka was damn good, both in the interval and in the final stages. Lead pair Hema Chandran and Nandhana gave a decent performance. Rajeev Krishnan was the perfect choice for a mill owner.


What not?
Having a decent story and pleasant actors to emote the film missed out in execution, it could also have had a better screenplay. Managers in the mill react too much and in the initial scenes it was irritating at one point. Songs are spoilers; it doesn’t have a good music and many were placed at the wrong time.


Final word: It’s a good attempt. If you are free, you can give it a try, nothing big.


Rating: 2.5/5

Official Review Links:
In.com: http://www.in.com/news/entertainment/review-krishnaveni-panchaalai-50095829-in-1.html

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Adhinayakadu - Give it a miss..!!!

A picture depicting three get ups of Balakrishna from the film. (Image credits: Mustimusiq)

After watching this film, you're certain that Balakrishna was again looking to star in a film that was similar to 'Simha', his previous hit. Only this time, he has done a triple role playing Bobby the son, Rama Krishna Prasad the father and Harish Chandra Prasad the grandfather. Lakshmi Rai and Saloni have played the female leads. The film is directed by Paruchuri Murali, while the story, screenplay and dialogues are by Parchuri Murali. Kalyani Malik takes care of the music and the cinematography is by Surender Reddy. 

What's it about?
Harish Chandra is the leader of the Rayalaseema clan. He dies suddenly but the reason behind his death remains unknown. There's also a character called Bobby, a killing machine, who learns about his family's background and decides to return to his village. On his way home he finds Lakshmi Rai and falls in love with her. The film then follows Harish Chandra stories and reveals why Bobby was separated from his family.

What's good? 
The much-hyped character of Harish Chandra is fairly fleshed out. Jayasudha has also done a fair job. Brahmanandham was a relief, but his role could have been crisper.

What's not?
The film doesn't have a good story; neither does it have a proper screenplay. The film tries to attract all of Balayya's fans, continues on the romance-comedy track and finally ends up feeling like a family drama – a total hodgepodge. Both the director and the writer seem to be confused about how to take the story forward. They didn't know where to start and where to end. Bobby's costumes were also bad.

What to do? 
Give it a miss and wait for Balayya's next film.

My Rating: 2/5

Read my official reviews below:
in.com : http://www.in.com/news/currentafairs/give-adhinayakudu-a-miss-50085422-in-1.html

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Raatinam – A realistic rural love story.

Once again, a realistic love story from a set of fresh talents. Director K.S. Thngasamy debuts as a director and an actor, he plays the role of hero’s brother. Furthermore, the lead pair, Lagubaran as Jeyam and Swathi as Dhanam, debuts as well. Manu Ramesan has scored the music and cinematography by Raju Sundar.The film even before its release has been selected for German International Film Festival, so lets first congratulate the whole team for this achievement.


Story:
A love story between Dhanam, a school girl and Jeyam, a happy-go-lucky guy, who accompanies his brother in family construction business. If  Jeyam’s family has a political background, on the flip side, Dhanam’s family had powerful government employees like Port trust chairman  and Public prosecutor her dad and uncle respectively. They both fall in love, and they plan for an outing to Thiruchendur and guess what? They get caught by the police. Things get bitter after that, two families try to stop the outrage, but it grows bigger, and they go for third man settlement, where  politics and ego plays the spoilsport. How Jeyam and Dhanam manage to solve the problems and what happens to them is the rest of the story.

What works?
Casting was perfect, the biggest plus is neither the boy had manly looks, nor the girl had angelic attraction. They look like one of us, which helps us to resonate with the film easily. Though there are many new faces, the director had made sure that everyone has given a decent performance to name a few, Jeyam’s friends, Director  K.S. Thangasamy himself as brother and Dhanam’s uncle. Picturisation of songs is good, "Asathum alagu" is the pick of the album. The unexpected twists and turns make the film an interesting fare and set it apart from the clichéd films.


What not?
Story has nothing new. It is the same love story.  Even good picturisation couldn’t enhance few songs; they come as speed breakers,  except for “Asathum alagu." Few amateurish acting in the first half, but since it's, a debut movie for many it is negligible.


Final word: A good one-time watch with a riveting climax, you can give it a try.


Rating: 3/5

Official Review Links:


Moviecrow.com :  http://www.moviecrow.com/News/942/raattinam-review
in.com : http://www.in.com/news/entertainment/rattinam-is-a-realistic-rural-love-story-50000020-in-1.html

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Gabbar Singh - Paisa Vasool

Image credits: 123andhra.com

Pawan Kalyan is back with a bang in "Gabbar Singh," a remake of Salman Khan's super hit film Dabangg and directed by Harish Shankar. Despite massive expectations, there were also a number of negative vibes surrounding the movie from the beginning. Whenever Pawan Kalyan takes up a police story, it has been a flop. Shruthi Hassan enacting the lady love of Gabbar Singh is yet to register a hit in Telugu and also considered unlucky. Dabangg's Tamil remake Osthi was a disaster. Against all these odds, Pawan Kalyan has delivered the much-needed mass film, which his fans have been longing for more than a decade.

What’s the story?
Nagineedu plays the role of Pawan Kalyan's father and he doesn’t like his first born at all because he is his step son. This leads to a dispute between Pawan and his father and as a result Pawan will leave his family and after some years he will return as a cop. Suhasini plays the role of Pawan's mother. Arbaaz Khan plays the role of the villain. Pawan will stop Arbazz's bank robbery and other illegal activities and Arbaaz will train his guns on him. Shruthi plays a role of a fancy store shop keeper along with Gayathri (Appu of 'Happy days' fame). Pawan as usual will fall for Shruthi. How he marries Shruthi and he how tackles Arbazz Khan is what the film deals with next. It's not a scene by scene remake; instead, many subplots from Dabangg have been removed and converted into a straight-forward hero-villain clash.

What works?
Pawan Kalyan has given a powerful one-man show. His characterization, mannerisms, dance movements and especially the dialogues were tailor-made to please his fans. Pawan and Suhasini's bond was portrayed well. The editing by Gowtham Raju was good. Pawan’s performance masks out almost all the negatives in the film.

What doesn’t work?
Screenplay and story in the second half is slow. The director could've concentrated a bit more in this area. Second half is less energetic, when compared to the first half. Since Pawan Kalyan's role was portrayed powerfully, Arbazz seems to be powerless and climax looks like it is completed in a hurry. The cinematography by Jayanan Vincent had a lot of mistakes -- many shots were out of focus, especially in the introduction scenes. The continuity is lost in many places.

Final word: It’s a treat for Pawan Kalyan fans after a long time and for others it’s a one-time Paisa Vasool Movie. 

Rating : 3/5

Official Review Links:in.com :  http://www.in.com/news/entertainment/gabbar-singh-is-paisa-vasool-23030998-in-1.html

Moviecrow.com : http://www.moviecrow.com/News/926/gabbar-singh-telugu-movie-review

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Vazhkku enn 18/9- A Gutsy Classical movie - Highly recommended

Balaji Shakthivel the man who made "Kadhal," which is one of the reasons for the transition in Kollywood, is back with a bang. Vazhakku enn 18/9 is produced by UTV and Lingusamy's Tirupathi brothers. All the lead characters are debutantes, famous Guitarist Prasanna debuts as music Director. It's a film which is low only in budget; every other aspect of the movie is very high.

Cast:
Two male lead's Sri as Velu and Mithun as Dinesh, female leads are Urmila Mahanta as Jothi and Manisha Yadav as Aarthi. A pivotal role was played by Muthuraman(Kumaravel). He plays a role of a cop. Chinnasamy play's the role of Velu's friend.

Story:
Velu is a guy from a poor village family,  due to the debts he indulges for a work in north India, where the owner's cruelty extends to the peak, who doesn't reveal the information about velu's parent's death, for the sake of business. Tragic hits Velu after two months, afterwards he returns to Chennai. Subsequently, velu will work for a road side eatery, famously called as "Kaiyendhi Bhavan" in Tamil Nadu. Velu will fall in love with Jothi but failed to express his love to her. Jothi works as a servant maid along with her mother, who is a widow. Jothi works for Aarthi's apartment. Aarthi is a common school goer from a middle-class family. Dinesh the creepy guy lives upstairs in the same apartment. He is a rich spoil brat, son of a principal who once had a bad background with a minister. Dinesh follows Aarthi and acts decent to make her fall in his trap, he and his friends takes some secret videos with women and share within them, and Aarthi is the latest victim for Dinesh. Finally, how Aarthi finds it, how is Velu and Jothi linked with these and what really happened to Jothi is the story.

Film starts off with an investigation by Kumaravel on Jothi's case, who was being admitted in an intensive fire burn care unit at a hospital. Jothi's mom doubts on Velu and as the police investigates, Velu reveals his own background and his one side love on Jothi, with that first-half ends. Aarthi comes in voluntarily to police to inform about Dinesh and his obscene character. Finally, Dinesh will be called and what happens next is the rest with a gritty climax.

What works:
Everything has worked for the film. Casting was perfect all the five main characters were realistic. Kumaravel's characterization was distinct and fluctuating between good and bad, which was awesome. The biggest plus for the film is it throughout stays realistic and unpredictable. Prasanna had just two songs, but he has done it in a new way, without background music heavily backed by lyric from Na.Muthukumar. Costumes; slang  and location were tuned to perfection. Story had a lot of twists and leaves you awestruck when the movie ends. In addition, the film is crispier, which is exactly  115 minutes, which is a huge plus.  A spellbinding work by Balaji Shakthivel, he has not just touched a lot of stories; he has stabbed our heart without any clue. He needs a standing ovation for taking Tamil cinema to a different level.  

What doesn't?
This field should be blank, because the story will fill all the gaps left, but here it is to name a few. Velu's father dubbing was non-sink in some areas, nothing else.

Final word: A Gutsy Classical movie with spellbinding performance -Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5

My review in Moviecrow.com, click the link to read it.

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