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Showing posts with label English Hollywood film movie review. Show all posts

Sunday, September 28, 2014

#TwoNightStand, English Hollywood Film Movie Review, #JohnsonThomas, Rating: * *

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#TwoNightStand(English) Rating: * * Boring romance starved of imagination and completely unoriginal. #PVRFilms #MilesTeller #AnaleighTipton #JessicaSzohr #ScottMescudi #LevenRambin #MaxNichols

English Film review
Johnson Thomas

Boring, Unoriginal

Film: Two Night Stand
Cast: Miles Teller, Analeigh Tipton, Jessica Szohr, Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, Leven Rambin
Director: Max Nichols

Rating: * *

Running Time: 86 min.

Synopsis:
When a blizzard blows through Manhattan, two strangers (Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton) get snowed in together following a one night stand that they both regret.

Review
Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton star in the debut feature from director Max Nichols (Mike's son), about a couple snowbound after a one-night stand. It’s not a new idea by any standards and especially since his father Mike Nichols postulated similar incidents in the Al Pacino-Michelle Pfeiffer starrer Frankie and Johnny. Even the 1969 romance starring Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow had a similar premise. Max though has modernized the story a bit using the mechanics of the times to get the two lovers together for the first time. It’s a internet hook-up which brings them together for their one-night stand and then they get snow-bound for the second coming.

Mark Hammer making his debut as screenwriter creates some sharp moments only to fritter them away with trite and tired plotting. Max , in his directorial debut can neither enliven nor engage with his narration. There’s really nothing very unique about this offering.

Basically a flimsy plot line with a lot of interim dialogue to save face. Some of it is interesting but the rest is plain dead-boring. The characters have a dim view of life (considering their ages) and insights on human behavior and sex are so flaky and immature, they sound laughable. When certain truths waylay the final act, everything before it appears to have been a castle built on sand. The characters are basically stereotypes –not live enough to make you want to get to know nor feel for them. The actors try their best to be likeable but there’s only so much they can do when all else seems intractable!

Johnsont307@rediffmail.com

Monday, September 22, 2014

#TheMazeRunner, English Hollywood Film Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * *

#TheMazeRunner, English Hollywood Film Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * *

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#TheMazeRunner(English) Rating: * * * Another cinematic adaptation of a successful Young adult novel, this one provides enough thrills, action and tension to keep you glued to your seats!
Yet another cinematic cashing-in of a successful young adult novel, this live game show concept film has sustained adventure and thrills to keep you interested. #UniversalPR #ParagDesai #FoxStar #WesBall #DylanOBrien #KayaScodelario #WillPoulter #JamesDashner

English Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Film: The Maze Runner
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter, Thomas Sangster, Aml Ameen

Director: Wes Ball

Rating: * * *

Running Time: 114 min.

Synopsis:Based on the bestselling novel by James Dashner, this adventure thriller for young adults follows a young boy named Thomas who finds himself trapped within a giant, deadly maze with a group of other kids. While he has no memories of his life prior to the maze, he is plagued by nightmares about a shadowy organization known only as W.C.K.D., and hopes that these fragments of memories will help him discover the secrets of his past and a way to escape

Review:
This uear and the couple of years before it, have seen a surfeit of YA novels turned into films, fueling an upsurge at the box-office. This one has James Dashner’s successful novel to thank for it’s prototypical structure of a manufactured dystopia where Young people( read teenagers) are set-up in a confined space in an effort to examine their intelligence and prowess. We saw the similar set-ups in ‘hunger Games.’ ‘Divergent’ and ‘The Giver’ so there’s really nothing new to it.

There’s opportunity to be had like in the films mentioned earlier, there’s lots of room for tension with a threat perception heightened by monsters of the mechanical-metallic kind. It’s quite a weird world of imagination where youngsters are being experimented on while the oldies control the show in the background. Not much is deduced from this first issue though. Without much of a back story and with piece-meal scientific exposition to support the main thread you would well wonder what all the hullabaloo is about. The entire fulcrum of dramatized events plays out like a live TV game show but because it’s a life and death accoutrement, the tension builds up quite well. Wes ball handles the account telling quite efficiently lending pace and accompanying it with varying excitements.

In that frightening Utopia populated by teenage boys who form their own eerily idyllic society selecting their own leadership and their own rules, which they think will help them achieve a peaceful sense of order. But once Thomas(Dylan O’Brien) shows up in the big rickety freight elevator that’s also loaded with supplies, things begin to get out of hand.

The teenage boys who populate this eerily idyllic society have formed their own leadership and their own rules, and they think they’ve achieved a peaceful sense of order.
Like the others , Thomas has no memory of who he is and no idea how he got there. He is plagued by those nightmares though. He is not allowed to participate in the community activity until he has proven himself within the rules. Alby (Aml Ameen), the first to arrive, is the de facto leader. Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is his impish right-hand man. Gally (Will Poulter) is the muscular bully. Chuck (Blake Cooper) is the wisecracking chubby kid. Minho (Ki Hong Lee) is the head of the runners: boys who dare to enter the treacherous maze to explore the pathways beyond. The arrival of the first girl ever sent up in the elevator, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who seems to know Thomas on sight but can’t recollect the connection. .

No doubt that these set of characters are typical of traditional teen-flick stereotypes.
To add to it you have Patricia Clarkson playing the mastermind, in a minuscule appearance. The end is a little too open ended. You could draw many conclusions but since the sequel is already on the way you may not need to think deeply.

Wes Ball manages a tight, surprise hewn engagement, The film’s sound design manages to add power to the already inveigling atmosphere created. It’s quite startling and effective; and puts you on edge right from the start itself. The camerawork by Enrique Chediak (“127 Hours,” “28 Weeks Later“) catches much of the action in close quarters. Wes Ball may not have had much experience previously-his last film being an animation short ‘Ruin’ which was his calling card for this offer. He and his team handle the visual elements quite aesthetically. Ball and cinematographer Enrique Chediak do well to optimize the picture for large screens without compromising the effects for scenes shot on a smaller scale.Spo all-in-all this one’s a successful entertainer!

Johnsont307@gmail.com

Saturday, September 13, 2014

#QueenHungarianRhapsodyLiveinBudapest86, English Hollywood film movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * * 1/2

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#QueenConcertHungarianRhapsodyLiveInBudapest’86(English) Rating: * * * ½ Nostalgia driven one time show PVRLive release, has apro #FreddieMercury a.k.a #FarrokhBulsara in his element performing his greatest hits(22 in all) in front of Live audiences. Worth a watch for the fans of #Queen(12Sept9pm) #PVRCinemas #AvianMedia #GirishWankhede #JanosZsomnolyai #GeorgeMihaly #RogerTaylor #BrianMay #JohnDeacon #SpikeEdney

English Film Review

Johnson Thomas

Nostalgia driven release!

Film:Queen: Hungarian Rhapsody - Live in Budapest '86

Cast: Freddy Mercury,Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon, Spike Edney

Director: Janos Zsombolyai

Rating: * * * ½

As part of a newly minted launch, PVR Live(Stand-up,comedy,theatre) and recorded(music concerts, ballets), this week has an unusual treat for all ‘Queen’ fans. Apro Freddy Mercury is coming to town at a PVR cinema near you, but only for one showing, Sept 12. 9pm. The much lauded, revered Mercury, comes alive in this his 1986 tour showing of his public concerts in Budapest, Hungary, titled ‘Hungarian Rhapsody-Live in Budapest.’

Though coming much later than it’s International release( the film was released in theatres worldwide on 20 September 2012 while the concert was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Deluxe Editions for the first time on 5 November 2012 worldwide), this one’s a memorable outing for the die-hard Queen fans who crave for just this measure of connectedness with their legendary vocalist. With 22 songs in all, well documented on the tour itinerary and a short documentary to go along with it, this one’s a bounty for sure. One Vision, Tie your Mother Down, In the lap of the Gods…Revisited, Tear it up, A Kind of Magic, Under pressure, Who wants to live for ever, I want to break free, Now I’m here, Love of my live, Is this the world we created, Tutti frutti, Bohemian rhapsody Hammer to fall, Crazy little thing called love,Radio ga-ga, We will rock you, Friends will be friends, We are the champions- all Queens everlasting hits , find space and traction is this new cinema offering alongside a Guitar Solo and a traditional number done especially for the fans from the Eastern Block.

The Wembly concert was undoubtedly ‘Queen’ of all their performances, this one though, has near-equal purchase. Freddie's voice is at it’s peak and his energy levels were unflagging. The band members were also given prominence in this outing. The digital video and audio quality were good too.

The film cuts-away to the four of them periodically, doing interviews, publicity events, and just hanging out. Freddie who was well documented as one who refused to do interviews, is shown to have deigned to set aside his fears and speak up. Which is a surprise. And he reveals a lot when he talks to the interviewer. There are at least three hints from Mercury, in the course of those on-camera interviews where he might well have been admitting to his HIV status and the fact that it prevented him from going all out on tour. When asked if Queen will return to Budapest to play another concert in the future, He comments in the film during the interview portion, "I want to make sure we're healthy to go out on the road again. I don't want to just go out there and do it." And later, Mercury says, "Well, I'll tell you what. If I'm alive, I'll come back." Queen, of course, never did.

This experience is nostalgia driven, and also gains traction from the forcefulness of Freddie Mercury’s performance. It's an event- more than just a mere concert, with some 1986/85 in-studio footage and 1986-era interviews with all four members. 1986 was after all the last year they toured with Mercury - Mercury already was ill at the time. Mercury is undoubted amongst the greatest voices ever in Rock and his band thrived like no other, while he was alive and kicking. After his death the story is altogether different. But that’s not a feature in this film.

Johnsont307@gmail.com