Spider-man 3

I saw Spidey 3 the day it was released in the US, some six weeks ago. The only thing I remember from the movie is Peter Parker's singing and dancing act in that NY club, a la Shammi Kapoor. A total waste of time.

A Film by Arvind

Not bad, at least the first half. I liked one particular moment in the climax too, when the scriptwriter..ok, no spoilers.

The story is about a Director-Actor duo who hit the road to plan their next movie together. The director has half a script with him, which he finds interesting. He finds it even more interesting when the script comes alive, as he and his friend travel in their Tata Safari (of course) and pick up a hitchhiker or two (natch).

The pace isn't sustained till the end and the movie just gives up after a couple of hours. Still, worth a watch, at least for its novelty value. Thanks, Jayasankar.

Shrek the Third

A.k.a Shrek the Worst. Doesn't generate a single laugh, not even from my four year old who has been looking forward to this movie ever since she learnt the art of how to look forward to movies from her dad.

My biggest complaint is that Shrek has been reduced to a caricature of himself, a figure who is forced to look upon his own story from the sidelines. Gone is the mean, green fighting machine from the first and second parts.

The movie drags from the beginning to the weary, lazy, slipshod finale. Wish I could find something positive to say. Tough. Sad.

The Lookout

Saw this yesterday night without knowing much about the story. Just remembered it had a pretty high tomatometer rating and the protagonist had a mental disability. The movie was surprisingly good: one of those low budget movies from Miramax with relatively unknown actors - Jeff Daniels was the only face I recognized.

Starts off well, slow buildup and a good, albeit predictable, climax. Nice doses of humour throughout the movie too.

Worth a watch.

Grindhouse

I'm thrilled to bits that I watched Grindhouse in the US, as one full segment: both features and all the three previews. Muahahahaha!

Bloody brilliant.

Planet Terror is the B movie to end all B movies. It's got everything - and I mean everything. Right from the sherrif who won't believe the hero to the rapist who loses his..well, I don't want to spoil the fun for you. And oh, Naveen Andrews has some balls!

Death Proof starts off as another B movie satire, but quickly morphs into a Tarantino flick, which is what you've paid money for anyway. Lots and lots of dialog, a bad ass bad guy, cool chicks and a killer soundtrack. I've become a fan of Sydney Poitier, by the way. And that's no typo.

The Holiday

The Holiday is a heart-wearming tale of two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) who, having been treated un-heart-warmingly by their lovers, decide to exchange homes and find their hearts warmed by Jude Law and Jack Black respectively. Quite heart-warming, really. Especially Kate Winslet in a slinky black dress.

Varalaru

Varalaru stars Ajith, Ajith and Ajith in a complicated saga of emotions, drama and dance. The story goes like this - Ajith is a classical dancer, whose wife-to-be walks out on their wedding date as she finds him effeminate. His mother dies of a heart attack while watching this, so he does the obvious thing: he rapes the girl and proves his manhood.

Girl walks away with tearful mom, delivers two baby boys, Ajith and Ajith. Ajith the father takes one of them, not knowing the existence of the other. He wants to ensure his son grows up normally, and does the obvious thing again: he pretends to be paralysed and spends the rest of his life in a wheel-chair.

Meanwhile, the other Ajith grows up to become a lunatic, hell bent on killing his father. En route, he rapes a woman, attempts to kill a man and generally makes an ass of himself. The third Ajith - ah, forget it. You really don't want to know.

A must watch, of course.