Warm Bodies-review

Directed by 50/50 Jonathan Levine,the Warm Bodies has Nicholas Hoult(X-Men First Class,A Single  Man),Teresa Palmer(December Boys,I Am Number 4) Analeigh Tipton and Dave Franco.
It had been compared to another Summit Entertainment film,Twilight.Let me assure you that The Warm Bodies are actually very different from Twilight by having likable leads and being humorous in a good way.

In a post apocalyptic world,zombies and  the remaining survivors lives a separate lives.The main character R(Nicholas Hoult),a zombie,doesn't remember his name or any information about himself and spends his whole day searching for food(humans).He has a bit human feelings intact to him(his conscience) .When this feeling leaves him or the  will to change ,he will degrade into a creature called the Boney.One day,while searching for food,R and the other zombies come across a group of human(Analeigh,Teresa and Dave Franco).R who  is fond of eating brains so that he could feel the memory of the person he is eating quickly attacks  Perry(Dave Franco) and starts to eat his brain.By doing so,he absorbs the memory of Perry and his love for Julie(Teresa Palmer).Finding Julie fascinating or attractive(based on Perry's memory) R decides not eat Julie and brings her back to his home.There he tries impress her by being kind to her and starts to fall for her and eventually starting to cure himself.Whether or not the girl reciprocate his feelings forms the crux of the movie.

Jonathan Levine again does a good job in directing the film.In 50/50,he took a serious cancer film and inserted humour in the film and does the same in Warm Bodies.The usage of humour works really well is a fresh take of a film of Zombie genre.

Nicholas Hoult who plays R in the film is awesome.He is perfectly casted in the film.His monologue are  so funny and he gives a charming performance throughout the film.Unlike in Twilight,you actually understand why the girl should fall for the zombie or in other words you find the zombie very likable.
Teresa Palmer  playing the girlfriend role  does an okay job.However her chemistry with Nicholas Hoult is so convincing and believable.

Analeigh Tipton  is very endearing  and funny in the film.I loved her performance in Crazy Stupid Love .She has this likable quality like Emma Stone has.She just need a right script to propel her to stardom.Another standout would be the guy who plays M,R's zombie pal.He had some of the best one liners in the film.

In the end,the fact that this film never takes it too serious  and being a quirky and funny  horror/zombie film,its  definitely a must watch film no matter how much you hate paranormal romance film.

A-

Anna Karenina-review

 Let me start of by saying that I haven't seen the other adaptations of Anna Karenina before.However,I'm a bit familiar with the novel.Joe Wright's adaptation of the Russian's classic is definitely one of the stylish film of 2012.

The story takes place in Russia,where Anna a young mother and a respectable socialite travels to Moscow to save her brother Stiva failing marriage leaving her only son with her old husband Alexi Karenin..There,Anna meets the charming Vronsky and was smitten by his looks and generosity.At first,she tries to resist the temptation but finally succumbs to his advances and begins an affair with the young count.Another parallel storyline is the love story between Kitty who once craves for the attention of Vronsky and Levin ,an old friend of Stiva and a simple man with simple philosophy.The rest of the movie deals on the aftermath of both relationships and the differences of lust and love.

As for the screenplay,the first half is beautifully crafted with elegance while the second half did get a bit slow and lose its momentum .The concept of taking place on the stage was a bit distracting at the beginning but as the film progresses ,you get used to it.I actually enjoy this concept as it has a old feel to it like those days where even the outdoor scenes were shot in a set.Its a refreshing concept and kudos to Joe Wright for taking a risk.The sets and the costumes are magnificent.Without a doubt the best looking film of the year.The score was another plus point.I love all the traditional Russian music and the choreography of the dancing scene is a visual delight.The whole film is done with style.While it does work in most of the scenes for instance the love making scene between Anna and Vronsky,sometimes it does feel a bit too much.For example the scenes where the male characters wear their coats in a flamboyant manner or when they are doing paperwork.Sometimes it feels a bit gimmicky.

As this is a directors film and the concept does not let it actors shine much,although some do deliver decent performances.Keira Knightley as the titular character perfectly embodies all sides of Anna whether its the doting mother,the wife of a older guy,a naive women who is capable of making decisions but incapable of facing its aftermath.She looks gorgeous in the costumes and there were some scenes where she was really good.For instance the suicide scene,the scene of her confessing the affair and of course the race track scene.

Jude Law's performance is the most subtle one in the film but is one of the strongest.Alicia Vikander freshly coming from another period costume drama  portrays the dreamy Kitty well.Its a more feminine role than Caroline in the Royal Affair and her performance grew stronger as her character progresses  that during the second half I was more invested on her rather than Anna.While Aaron Johnson gives a okay performance,I still felt he was a serious miscast.I dont find him 'manly' enough to play Vronsky and for Anna to risk everything for this boy is not convincing enough.

Both  Jude Law and Matthew Macfadden would be a nice Vronsky or even Henry Cavill who would make a masculine handsome Vronsky.Matthew Macfadden as Stiva was a joy to watch.He is so charming throughout the movie that you forget that he is a womaniser.With him ,I get why the women are after him , something I hope to find in Aaron's Vronsky.

In the end,despite it's flaws during the second half,Anna Karenina is beautiful movie with some of the best technical work in a film.

A-

Upside Down-review

Directed by Argentine director Juan Diego Solanas,Upside Down is love story of Adam(Jim Sturgess) and Eden(Kirsten Dunst) that is separated by the social class and gravity. One day,Adam meets Eden in the mountains area where both the upper world and lower world nearly touches.They bond as they grow up and they begins to visit each others world.Due to a unfortunate event,Adam is shot by the officials and Eden loses he memory after a fall.After some time,Adam notices Eden from a commercial and decides to pursue her with gravity being his major obstacle.

The script is the weakest aspect of the film.The universe with two centre of gravity is a fresh idea and I also liked how the love story is inserted but the script definitely needs some polishing.All the 'miraculous' scenes that  is present throughout the film gives this flick a Disney feel.In my opinion,if you are gonna do a film based on a alternate universe,the characters and the events in the film needs to be realistic as possible.The only good thing in the script is that they tried to explain the two gravity universe and the rules relating to it.Thus it is not that confusing .

The CGI in this film are the best features of the film.The whole film is packed(at times it could be too much) with beautiful  effects and could rival The Golden Compass for the best looking film.The scenes in the mountain,the office cubicles and the tango scene would be my favourites as it has a blend of fantasy/futuristic/sci-fi touch to it

As for the performances in the film,Timothy Spall is a delight whenever he is onscreen.Jim Sturgess manages to carry the film with his charming and likable performance while Kirsten Dunst's role was really underwritten.It was basically the 'love interest' type of role and she didn't have much to do.

If you love watching movies in a romance genre with a fantasy touch like Stardust,you would enjoy it.

B

Les Miserables 2012-review

Based on the novel of the same name,Les Miserables is a musical on the plights people faced during the French Revolution in Paris directed by King's Speech  Tom Hooper with a big ensemble cast consisting of Hugh Jackman,Anne Hathawat,Amanda Seyfried,Russell Crowe,Eddie Redmayne and many more.

The film is about a Jean Valjean(Hugh Jackman) a prisoner in parole who cant find a job or a place in the society decides to shed his life as Jean Valjean and start a new life during the French revolution.8 years later he gained some wealth and now is the mayor of the town.With Inspector Javert(Russel Crowe) making his main goal to catch him,Valjean lives in paranoia which made him unaware of the the sacking of Fantine(Anne Hatthaway)a single mother with a sickly child Cossette,who works for him.Unable to get enough money,Fantine eventually becomes a prostitute only after selling her hair and tooth.When Jean Valjean discovers Fantine in this condition and is so sick herself,he promises to take care of her child as his own with Javert hunting him down.Whether Jean Valjean succeed in raising Cossette by not getting caught by Javert with the subplot of the love triangle of Eponine(Samantha Barks),Cossette(Amanda Seyfried) and Marius (Eddie Redmayne) during the peak of the revolution is what the rest movie is all about.

Tom Hooper,who won  the Best Director  for King's Speech deserves all the accolades the film is receiving. His direction style perfectly suited in this film.His affinity to focus on the face of the actors especially during the emotional numbers for instance Anne Hathaways I Dreamed a Dream and Eddie Redmayne 'Empty Chairs and Empty Table' worked brilliantly.

The live singing definitely enhance the performance of the cast.My favourite would number would be 'On My Own' by Samantha Barks, 'I Dreamed A Dream' by Anne Hatthaway, 'A Heart of Full of Love' by Amanda Seyfried,'ABC Café/Red and Black' by  Enjolras and the company and finally 'Do Hear The People Sing' by the entire cast except Marius and Cossette.

Anne Hathaway as Fantine is my favourite in the film.Fantine is a tragic character which symbolises the death of hope and even though only appearing for a short amount of time,the demise of Fantine is beautifully portrayed by Anne Hathaway.Her rendition of 'I Dreamed a Deam' was so haunting that you could physically feel the pain of the character Fantine goes through.It was a honest,raw and intense performance from Hathaway I do strongly believe that she deserves to win the Best Supporting Actress in this year's Academy Award.Another standout was Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean who basically is in every scenes in the film.He brilliantly portrayed the different stages of lives and maturity of Jean Valjean  and it is shocking  that he has not been nominated for an Oscar before.I personally felt his performance in The Prestige was great and deserved a nomination on that particular year but he was 10 times better as Jean Valjean in the film.Another perfect casting as I don't see anyone but Hugh Jackman could pull of this role well on screen.

While I wholeheartedly agree that both Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway gave the best performance of their careers and deserves all the attention they are getting right now,I would also like to mention how equally great is the supporting cast in this film.Starting with Samantha  Barks as the tragic Eponine.I guess its the Broadway background that made her to nail all the subtle emotions with ease and not to forget  her superb vocal abilities.My another favourite would be Aaron Tveit as the heroic Enjolras.I just adore this character and he  really did a good job in portraying this character.He has really lots of intense scenes with other characters and he was brilliant in all of them especially at the climax of the film.Both the kids who plays the younger Cossete and Gavroche was at par with the adults when it comes to singing and the acting  and will definitely make you shed tears(I did).Both Russel Crowe and Amanda Seyfried who plays Javert and Cossette respectively had been getting a lot negative attention for their singing based on the trailers but to be honest their singing was surprisingly good.Russell Crowe singing and portrayal of Javert gets better as the movie progresses and his both solos(especially one at the end) was brilliant.The adult Cossette is a underwritten character but Amanda Seyfried gives a convincing performance  of the soft and demure girl.Her chemistry with Eddie Redmayne and Hugh Jackman was really good and unlike others,I loved her singing in the film.As for Eddie Redmayne performance as Marius, its a  bags of mixed feelings.He was really good in most of the scenes especially his rendition of 'Empty Chairs and Empty Table' which was super emotional.However during some of his earlier scenes I felt his singing was a bit over the top.

The sets are magnificent with the barricade scene being the best and the costume and makeup are astounding.I really loved the subtle makeup that is on Hugh Jackman to age him.The scenes with the prostitutes are another scene where the makeup and costume shines even though its on the extreme side.

In the end,Les Miserables is a beautiful adaptation of the beloved Broadway show packed with some of the strongest performance of the year and by far the best film technically wise.

Contenders for the following categories:

Best Film
Best Director
Best Actor-Hugh Jackman
Best Supporting Actor-Russell Crowe
Best Supporting Actor-Aaron Tveit
Best Supporting Actress-Anne Hatthaway
Best Supporting Actress-Samantha Barks
Best Original Score
Best Art Direction
Best Costume and Designs
Best Hair and Makeups


A

Pitch Perfect-review

With Jason Moore  directing the movie,Pitch Perfect has a brilliant ensemble cast  of Anna Kendrick,Brittany Snow,Rebel Wilson,Anna Camp,Elizabeth Banks and more.

Yes,the plot of the film is so similar to other championship/sports film but it differs in terms of characterisation of the characters.All the characters are well developed with memorable traits whether its the rebel Becca,control freak Aubrey,the nymphomaniac Stacie,the lesbian Cynthia  the quirky and quiet Lily and so on.Even the characters in the opposing teams are well developed.I didn't care much for the romance subplot

Now for the performances in the film, the whole cast are really good.Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy steals all the scene she is in.She cracks up laughter with her sarcastic one liners .You just couldn't get enough of her,she's damn funny.Other highlights would be Hanna Mae Lee,Adam DeVine and Anna Camp who appeared in last year The Help.

The only problem I have with this film is the choices of songs that is sung in the film .Out of all the songs in the world,the songs that appear in the film are very odd and boring.I was expecting  more songs like the 'Starships' cover which  is used for marketing the film where the cast changed a bad song into a nice cover.I loved the cover of Kelly Clarkson's 'Since You Have Been Gone' and Bruno Mars'Just The Way You Are'.Being a musical,I'm really disappointed with the song lists.As for the musical performance,Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow are the best with Anna Camp and Rebel Wilson surprising everyone with their vocals.

In the end,despite being a bad musical,Pitch Perfect make it up with being one of 2012's most funniest movie.

B+

Rust And Bone- review

Directed and written by Jacques Audiard,Rsut and Bone is about a weird relationship between Stephanie(Marion Cotillard),a whale trainer and a self trained boxer Ali(Matthias Schoenaerts)  who is currently unemployed.

After losing her legs in a gruesome accident,Stephanie is feeling depressed and worthless.Her friendship with the tough self absorbed, rough but straightforward  boxer Ali who is also at his lowest point starts to rejuvenate her spirits and improve her life.Ali himself is not perfect.He keeps pushing away everyone who wants to love him.The only person allowed in his life is his son however the nature of their relationship is more of friends or big brother rather than father son.

As for the screenplay,I do find it to be a bit slow.There were many unnecessary parts in this film rather than just focusing on the relationship between Ali and Stephanie and his life with his naive(mentally unstable?) son.For example the robbing scenes.While the elongated scenes worked in Armour,it doesn't work here.The visuals effects looks good and I am amazed at how authentic those scenes with the amputated legs looks like.Brilliant!

Its the performance from the cast that helps to elevate the film.Marion Cotillard beautifully depicts the lows of Stephanie.Its a tough role with physical and metal challenges and Cotillard nails all the emotional scenes with the right amount of vulnerability as the character Stephanie is 'broken' but  is still in denial.One of my favourite scenes of Cotillard would be the scene where Stephanie wants to use the bathroom but unable to do so as she cant reach the bathroom.Not wanting to ask help from Ali,she decides to crawl to the bathroom but only to be discovered by Ali.Another  scene would be when Stephanie decides to return to whale training and communicates to the whale with her hands.These scenes could easily turn into cliched scenes but Jacques Audiard's direction manages to steer from it.While Cotillard is great as usual,I found the star of this film is the Belgium actor Matthias Scoenaerts.His masculine form with his rough body language suits the role perfectly.His character Ali,is a one dimensional character but Matthias's portrayal of the gentle giant is convincing and makes the viewer to root for him even though he is very flawed.Though he should try avoiding these kind of roles to prevent getting stereotyped.

Overall,Rust and Bone is a weak film carried by the strong performances by the leads.

B

The Hobbit- The Unexpected Journey

Let me start off by saying I really didn't enjoy The Hobbit,the novel as it was a bit boring and slow paced  compared LOTR .However,I did have a high expectation for this film as Peter Jackson is helming the project with some of the finest British actors(Martin Freeman,Richard Armitage,Ian Mckellen,Andy Serkis and etc) as the part of the cast with some returning cast from the LOTR trilogy.Thankfully the film did met its hype to some extent

As for the plot, I found it to be a bit dragging  during the first half but manages to be in pace during second half . I find it to be a  repetition of problems the company of dwarfs faced followed by a detailed battle.That's how I felt reading the book.It's basically one obstacles after another.There was a  new subplot introduced in the film regarding the brown wizard and the necromancer.The subplot does successful distract the repetition of the battles and for  those who had read The Hobbit,its something new to look for.The fact this storyline is  funny thanks to the quirky brown wizard maintains the book warm tone throughout the movie.I also enjoyed the back story of the dwarfs especially how Thorin got his name.Those scenes was epic.

As usual,the CGI  are beautiful like any other Peter Jackson films.
The scenes with Gollum,Eagles,trolls,goblins ,Orcs all looks superb and the set designs are magnificent as usual.Its a visual feast.The wargs and  the necromancer were the weakest link of the CGIs.The hair and makeups were also nice but I find it hard to distinguish one dwarf from the another.Everyone looks similar except for fat dwarf with the braided ginger beard.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins is the strongest plus point in the film.His was endearing throughout the film and definitely embodies all sides of the big hearted  sometimes snobbish hobbit.It was a perfect casting and I don't see any actor but Martin Freeman who could do justice for the role.Richard Armitage as Thorin was another favourite of mine.His performance has shades of Aragorn in it but was honest and is spot on with the emotional scenes.I felt the pain of Thorin and his desires to get back his rights thanks to the Peter Jackson script and Richard's brilliant portrayal of the King of Dwarfs. That something I didn't felt when reading the novel.Of course I have to mention Andy Serkis as Smeagol or Gollum.This guy is totally the most underrated actor of our generation.Even Gollum only appears at the end of the film ,both him and Andy Serkis stole all the show.

Howard Shore's musical score definitely set the tone of the film.It was humorous and melancholic both at the same time perfectly depicting the warmth of the shire and the sides of the dwarfs while at the times showcasing the torment of the dwarfs longing for their home.

In conclusion,The Hobbit is one of the rare film where the movie is better than the novel and filled with beautiful scenes for the eyes with some of the warm and funny performances of the year.Of course there were parts that could have been better but overall its a entertaining film.

Possible Oscar contenders for the following categories:

Best Supporting Actor-Andy Serkis
Best Supporting Actor-Richard Armitage
Best Original Score-Howard Shore
Best Costume Design
Best Art Directions
Best Visual Effects
Best Hair and Make-up

B+

Amour 2012-review

I realise that I'm a bit late reviewing this film but the constant praises for this film during this award season made me to check the movie out.

Directed by Michael Haneke(The White Ribbon),Amour(Love) is  about the relationship of an older couple( played by two french veteran Emmanuelle Riva and Jean Louis Tintrignant) on how the bond of this couple is tested when one fell into sick and becomes totally dependant to the other.To be more precise ,its a movie that investigate on how much can you  or will you do  for love.

Retired music teachers Anne and Georges lives a happily and blissful life alone in their posh apartment with their  materialistic adult daughter(Isabelle Huppert) visiting them once in a while.Their peace is interrupted when one morning Anne got a minor stroke and the surgery fixing this condition goes wrong leaves her half paralysed.Now  dependant to her husband  even to perform simple tasks,Anne asks her husband to promise her that he would never admit her into a nursing care home or into the hospital.Their daughter is unsure of her father capability and prefers her mum to be sent to a nursing home despite the protest of her father and this sort of strains their relationship.The fact that Anne  gradually lose the will to live doesn't help too.The rest of the movie explores whether Georges  can keep his promise or will he send her to a home or worse decide to respect her decision of not wanting to live.

Watching Amour,I was constantly reminded of a strong  and devastating scene in last years Love and  Other Drugs starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.It was the scene where Jake Gyllenhaal  was advised  to abandon his Parkinson disease diagnosed girlfriend  when he can by a  old guy whose wife also suffers the same disease as he will soon stop loving his girlfriend if he doesn't leave her and that fact will kill her fast than the disease itself.That notion was prevalent throughout Amour as you see  how both of the couple is affected by this disease.

I have to say that this film has to be the best film I had seen in this year and it contains many strong and powerful scene due to the realistic portrayal by the cast and brilliant directing.I cant stress enough how much I'm impressed by the directing and the screenplay.There were lots of scenes which very slow paced,detailed and  similar repeated throughout the film which brilliantly placed to provoke the audience boredom and when  a character reacts to the scene,the viewers could absolutely understand the plight of these characters.Plus,you have a lots of symbolism throughout the film that beautifully describes the state of mind of both the character such as the pigeon,the closed doors,the art drawings and the state of the untouched piano.The only problem was that the last 10 minutes seems unnecessary and a bit cliched and can be confusing to some extent.

All the praises and awards that Emmanuelle Riva is receiving for this film is definitely well deserved and I strongly believe she deserves more.She played the role of the paralysed Anne so well that if not for the beginning of the film where she walks and talks normally,I would have totally bought that she was truly half paralysed.She spends most of the film on bed  and relying her facial expressions to convey wide range of emotions.I felt Jean Louis Tintrignant who plays the husband Georges was equally if not more exceptional in the film.He basically carried  most of the film by himself and he manages to convey the helpless of Georges,the pain he endures,the love he has for his wife  brilliantly in every scene and all his scenes are pure gems.Two particular scenes made me shed tears for his character

Overall Amour is definitely mind provoking  film with a simple yet relatable and profound plot accompanied with superb performance by the lead.I'm gonna categorised this film under the same category as Blue Valentine,Whistle blower and this year's Compliance.All masterpiece but for only one viewing as the reality is too painful to watch.

Possible contenders for the following category:

Best Foreign Film
Best Director-Michael Haneke
Best Original Screenplay
Best Actor-Jean Louis Tintrignant
Best Actress-Emmanuelle Riva(Top 3 ,possible winner)

A