The Trailer Says It All

My curiosity about Inside Out increased when my friends kept raving about it. The story revolves around an eleven year old girl and how her behavior changes based on her feelings, mainly fear, anger, disgust, sadness and joy. The voice overs by Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith and Amy Poehler were indeed flawless! The film depicted that you cannot avoid emotions. If you feel sad, you should allow yourself to go through those emotions because sadness will make way for happiness.

It was definitely interesting to see a movie about the inner workings of the human mind. However, it was frustrating that pretty much the entire plot had been revealed in the trailers. There was not much new to see in the actual film. My expectations were too high and I left the theater disappointed.

Disappointed Yet Again!

As expected from the trailer, Anybody Can Dance 2 (ABCD2), starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Prabhu Deva, has no real storyline, just a dance competition. The best way to describe it would be the Bollywood version of the Hollywood Step Up franchise. It was not an exact replica but quite similar. Had the characters been fully developed, the movie could have been more entertaining. But that seems to be the trend in most dance films - perhaps it is intentional? With the jokes seemingly forced, the only saving grace of ABCD2 are a few good dances towards the end.

As much as I love Varun Dhawan, except for Student of the Year (SOTY), I have not been impressed with any of his films much to my disappointment. However, I do appreciate that he is not letting himself be typecast in any one genre. He has had an interesting film career trajectory - he has thus far starred in two romantic comedies: SOTY and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya and an action comedy: Main Tera Hero. He then played a dark role in Badlapur and now he gets to show off his tremendous dancing skills in ABCD2. I hope his next film will not be disappointing as I do think he has a lot of potential as an actor.

Entertaining Despite Flaws!

When I saw the Jurassic World trailer, I was definitely intrigued. Who wouldn't want to see the likeable Chris Pratt on the big screen again after his excellent performance in the Guardians of the Galaxy? Though I was unsure how I would feel about it because I heard mixed reviews, I was still curious given how well it did on the box office during its opening weekend. So I decided to go watch it yesterday night. Much to my surprise, the theater was fully packed even though it was a late show on a Monday night!

Two and a half hours later, as the audience clapped, I left the theater thinking, "Wow - that was pretty awesome!" I will admit the film had flaws. Some of the acting performances were not very impressive including those by Bollywood actor, Irfan Khan, child actor Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson. Though none of the characters were fully developed, the leading actors namely Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard were charming to watch. In addition to the beautiful theme park, which reflected elements of modern technology, I also enjoyed watching the dinosaur fights way more than I expected as the special effects were great!

Given that the story held my interest throughout the duration of the film, it was a fun and entertaining movie in my opinion.

Excellent Screenplay!

Of the three movies I have seen this week, Dil Dhadakne Do may be the best one! I have awaited this Bollywood film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, for quite a while, preparing myself by listening to the awesome soundtrack on a daily basis. I was nervous that it would not meet my expectations because of the mixed reviews I have been reading. However, much to my joy, it exceeded my expectations - I absolutely loved it!

The movie includes an ensemble cast consisting of Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and  Farhan Akhthar among others. All performances especially those of Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah were really good. We definitely need to see more of Shah on the big screen! The credit also goes to the well-written script, which touched on many on-going issues in the South Asian culture including women's equal rights, divorce, familial and societal pressures that children from South Asian families face. I highly recommend this movie!

A Delightful Comedy!

The latest collaboration between actress Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig, #Spy is an action comedy film about a CIA agent's mission to bring down an arms dealer. Just like their previous work together in Bridesmaids and Heat, this movie is hilarious! In addition to McCarthy's excellent comedic timing, it was a delight and very refreshing to see John Statham in a comedy role for the first time. I hope he does more comedies going forward. Other supporting actors including Jude Law, Rose Byrne and Miranda Hart were equally good in their respective roles. With excellent performances, a great soundtrack and beautiful locations, this film is indeed a fun ride!

Not as Epic as the TV show!

Being a big fan of the HBO TV show that portrayed well how most guys truly think, I had high expectations from the movie #Entourage. I will admit it was not as satisfying an experience as I had hoped. However, the film did make me laugh quite a bit with Ari Gold's (Jeremy Piven) epic short-tempered moments and the comical moments that Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) always tends to find himself in. Though it was hard to understand why the makers chose to include so many cameos when some of them seemed completely unnecessary. In my opinion, you do have to be a fan of the TV show to appreciate the movie.