The video game has 12 million subscribers and not a single one of them could have asked for another director for this movie adaptation. But guess what, contrary to the expectations, Duncan Jones birthed a disaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhFMIRuHAL4 Based on the video game franchise, Warcraft is set in Azeroth and tells the story of humans (including dwarves, imps and various other mythical creatures in the fringes) in conflict with beasts; orcs to be precise. The former party is exposed to the threat of colonisation and the latter fears extinction. The orcs are able to enter the human world via a dark portal and that is when sh** hits the fan. But hey, worry not, we have Garona (Paula Patton) to save the day... or at least she tries. Garona is half orc and half human – I have no idea why! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Paula Patton as Garona.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar and Paula Patton as Garona.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Garona is the mediator and she tries to avert the foreseeable war between humans and orcs by bringing their respective chieftains together for negotiation: the human King Llane and the orc leader Durotan. But things don’t go as planned. There’s a warlock, insane extent of 3D action, magic missiles, axes, griffins etcetera etcetera and the end! Regardless, it was nice of her to make an effort to settle down the immigration anxiety. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Travis Fimmel
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The movie critics are having a field day by bashing Warcraft and honestly I don’t blame them. Keeping in mind my enduring love for the video game and not sounding vicious – the only good thing about Warcraft is that it’s not boring. It kept me hooked as all the while I was trying to make sense of all those senseless twists, weird fantasy names and CGI monsters. The concept of the movie was all over the place and to what extent the characters and the setting were adapted from the game was unclear. In other words, the conversion of this virtual world to the cinema screen was one epic failure. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Robert Kazinsky.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Robert Kazinsky
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Travis Fimmel
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Whisking computer graphics with ponderous costumes was perhaps a foul recipe for Warcraft. The director, Duncan Jones, wasn’t on the right track while planning the movie. What was shown in the movie and what players experience in the game were poles apart. The movie does not translate the story through its characters. But I honestly enjoyed the orcs’ peculiar sense of style, their aesthetics and appearance. They’re shown more like intelligent ogres, with tiny heads, tusk-like teeth and giant hands with fingers the size of human limbs. These beasts are adorned with quirky accessories including dreadlocks, piercings, hides, furs and not just bones but entire animal skins and skeletons. One beast has skulls of a rhinoceros as shoulder pads, another has piercings through his tusks. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Robert Kazinsky
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Toby Kebbell
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Toby Kebbell and Robert Kazinsky
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] Aficionados of the Warcraft game franchise will have a hard time recognising the characters mainly because there are just too many of them! Numerous characters and subplots are bound to confuse viewers, especially those who don’t know much about Warcraft. Moreover, the dialogues are timeworn and as if it wasn’t bad enough, the delivery and action scenes are way below average.  Turning a video game into a movie is a skill that requires meticulous implementation. Every inch of every detail needs to be carefully kept in mind. As much as I enjoyed how the orcs looked, I felt they lacked something. And that was the biggest disappointment for me. The orcs in the movie were way different than the video game; to the point of being unrecognisable. The beasts were not as bada** in the cinematic version. They did not remotely exhibit the savage, cold-blooded brute barbarianism that I was expecting to see. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Toby Kebbell
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Furthermore, the movie was haphazard. Jumbled up subplots slowing down the momentum of the story made me honestly wonder if video games should be converted to movies at all! Viewers who have played Warcraft may still be able to extract some sense out of the mayhem happening in the story however, I feel sorrier for the non-Warcraft players. There is quite a possibility, they would turn suicidal after 120 minutes of torture by Duncan Jones. But I would say that Travis Fimmel and Ben Schnetzer gave a passable performance. Nothing to write home about though. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] Warcraft: The Beginning was godawful but I won't be surprised if more sequels will follow, for there are a dozen levels of the World of Warcraft (WoW) game. But I hope, wish and pray that next time they are made by a different director. It is such a tragedy that after Moon (2005) and time-travel masterpiece Source Code (2011), Duncan Jones would create such a catastrophe that would potentially drag his directorial career in a downward spiral. All in all, those who have experienced the multiplayer online role-playing game will strongly disapprove of Warcraft: The Beginning.

Why am I not even surprised? I mean, when was the last time we saw a Hollywood flick with A-Listers trying to aspire for cinematic brilliance? The only thing these studios are currently interested in is making a quick buck and that invariably happens to be at the expense of the intelligent viewer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr_nGAbFkmk For starters, Money Monster tries to concoct a unique genre blend by marrying ‘hostage-thriller’ with ‘Wall Street drama’ which is intriguing to begin with. But regrettably, it turns out to be the worst of both. On the former, it’s no Dog Day Afternoon (1975). And as far as the latter is concerned, Money Monster is not even a patch on its last year counterpart The Big Short (2015), which coincidentally was the last time I personally enjoyed a Tinseltown fare chock-full of leading actors. Speaking of which, George Clooney, one of the foremost performers of the current generation, plays Lee Gates – a smug and maverick television personality who offers get-rich-quick tips for those seeking a quick fortune on his financial analysis TV show, Money Monster. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] George Clooney in Money Monster (2016)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] But when one of his recommendations loses millions overnight, one of the stock crash victims Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) invades his show and takes him hostage, strapping a bomb to his chest and demanding answers from those responsible. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] George Clooney and Jack O'Connell in Money Monster (2016)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Watching from the side-lines, by way of the control room, is the tough and resourceful producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), who while trying to keep things calm is also actively seeking a solution that would rescue the situation. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Julia Roberts, Carsey Walker Jr., and Jim Warden in Money Monster (2016)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Director Jodie Foster, a star in her own right, has worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver (1976), Jonathan Demme  in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and  David Fincher in Panic Room (2002) and yet in spite of being given a smart premise she so infuriatingly fails to create even a fraction of the suspense that her mentors are celebrated for. Foster, it seems, just can’t generate the requisite tension, despite the intrigue and mystery built into the setup. Though the movie unravels in real time, it’s oddly devoid of tension. It does not matter how many times Kyle waves his gun in the air and threatens to detonate the place with a bomb, because we never truly sense Lee’s life being in danger. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jodie Foster and Jack O'Connell in Money Monster (2016)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The film furiously but bewilderingly alters between different tones. One minute it’s a sombre piece of social commentary, the next it’s a tense action thriller. And then, possibly, a work of satire. It’s hard to watch this movie with consistent emotions. Being a screenwriting teacher, I get it that provoking unpredictable reactions out of the audience is a desirable trait for your screenplay to parade, but evidently not if you are laughing when you are supposed to feel tensed and vice versa. Jodie Foster’s drama yanks the viewers in way too many directions at once to ever be really sure. As a satire on the media, it has hints of both Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy (1982) and Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976), but it shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as the pair – it’s that deficient. Now if you really plan on watching a recent movie that makes the right points about the financial crisis while still working as an effective cinematic experience, you’ve got plenty of options, like the aforementioned The Big Short (2015) and Margin Call (2011). One of Money Monster’s greatest flaws is its miscasting of Clooney as a supposedly unlikable character in the beginning who gradually gains more sympathy as the movie progresses; (a) he is George - Mr eternally good guy - Clooney, (b) he can’t pull off a negative character, even if it’s just being an egotistical schmuck for a little while and (c) the transformation was simply too flimsy. Roberts, meanwhile, is just plain boring in a role that literally any actress could have played just as well. Long story short, Money Monster is not a worthwhile investment of your time and would surely leave you feeling short-changed. [poll id="583"]

How is it even possible that you go watch a movie with zero expectations, but yet walk out of it feeling utterly let down. And that my friends, is precisely the kind of feat the third instalment of the Housefull series managed to pull off. Promoted as a rib-tickling screwball comedy, the only reaction Housefull 3 got out of yours truly was that of head-scratching. It surely must be a record of some sorts making a 145 minutes long comedy where not a single joke lands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlZM9kuqw38 So in between all the failed attempts at humour, there is this laughably ridiculous plot where you have got three greedy men who hope to strike it lucky in life by marrying wealthy women. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abhishek Bachchan), Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Now these rich lasses all happen to be offspring of an affluent Gujju businessman in London, Batuk Patel (Boman Irani). Now this Batuk chap doesn’t want to marry off his three supposedly sansakri (cultured) daughters – Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati (Jacqueline Fernandez, Lisa Haydon and Nargis Fakhri respectively) – because of some ludicrous curse that spells doom for the family. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Boman Irani
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Lisa Haydon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nargis Fakhri.
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] But there is more to the girls than meets their papa’s eyes and that amongst other things is to have a boyfriend each. A footballer called Sandy (Akshay Kumar), a rapper called Bunty (Abhishek Bachchan) and a car racer called Teddy (Riteish Deshmukh). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Akshay Kumar
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] The boys do manage to gain entry to the girls’ mansion but by playing crippled, mute and blind. But there is another twist to this already dreadfully twisted fare when there is a shuffle in role playing. The crippled has to turn blind, the one playing mute has to become crippled and the blindness faking guy now plays mute, because of a big baddie, Urja Nagre (Jackie Shroff) to whom their girlfriends’ dad owes a king’s ransom. What follows is some more senselessness to an already absurd premise. The jokes that form the basis for the Housefull 3 script have shamelessly been picked up from WhatsApp groups and Facebook memes, but the worst part is that the filmmakers weren’t even competent enough to copy the better ones. Oh, and it took three people to write this movie. Three people. Yes THREE! That is three fully formed human beings, with Rajan Agarwal credited as the Additional Screenwriter completing the troika along with the director and the writer duo of Sajid-Farhad. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Housefull 3 Official Facebook[/caption] Now, put any three people in a room for a few hours, let alone individuals who are actually paid big bucks to write and chances are at least one of them will come up with at least one usable joke. Hell, put three monkeys in a room and you are likely to get one funny gag at the very least. And yet this never happened once during the scripting of Housefull 3. A hundred and forty-five minutes and not one good punchline! How is this even humanly possible? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Riteish Deshmukh, Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan.
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] A 10-year-old equipped with a WhatsApp enabled smartphone would have written a more humorous script than the trio! No one would go looking for logic in the Housefull franchise but motivating madness and sublime stupidity is definitely worth demanding. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Riteish Deshmukh
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] A lot of people would find cracking jokes at the expense of physically challenged, different coloured etc. tasteless and crass of which there are aplenty in this particular fare. I admit I am not that overtly sensitive, but what I am is someone who simply won’t put up with an extremely lame sense of humour, something that this movie brazenly throws at us. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abhishek Bachchan and Nargis Fakhri
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Did they really expect us to laugh at this juvenile attempt at comedy where three silly girls are inanely translating English phrases into Hindi; ‘Hang out’ becoming “latakte hain”, “Naukri neeche” meaning ‘Calm down’ and “Paal-pos ke oopar ja” translating into ‘Grow up’! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abhishek Bachchan.
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Then there is Ritesh Deshmukh’s character Teddy who keeps mixing words because of the persistent slip of the tongue – wife turns into tawaif (courtesan), virodh (dissent) becomes nirodh (condom) and jawab (answer) converts to julaab (laxative). Even kids will find this brand of hilarity babyish. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Lisa Haydon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nargis Fakhri
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Akshay Kumar
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Akshay Kumar is known for his impeccable comic timing. But there is a thin line between acting and loud acting and his character’s split personality act which takes cue from Fight Club’s Edward Norton goes overboard and is just plain obnoxious. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Akshay Kumar
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Riteish Deshmukh has only played this kind of comic role for the millionth time while Abhishek Bachchan is just awkward [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Riteish Deshmukh and Boman Irani
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abhishek Bachchan
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] The ladies, Jacqueline Fernandez, Lisa Haydon and Nargis Fakhri have nothing to add but to look pretty and act dumb. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez and Lisa Haydon.
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Boman Irani once again wears a bad wig and is donning an accent whereas Jackie Shroff’s character displays more personality than the rest of the cast put together, wish there was more of him. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Boman Irani.
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jackie Shroff
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Housefull 3 is simply a joke of a film where the joke isn’t even funny. It is so unfunny that there should probably be a law against seeing it. The penalty: seeing it again. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Nargis Fakhri and Abhishek Bachchan
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] And if you are still hell-bent on watching this woeful Housefull, check into one of your WhatsApp groups instead. You would find it more cheerful!  [poll id="592"]

Since the project of a Ghostbusters reboot with an all-female cast was announced in 2015, fans were highly critical and vocal about it. In March 2016, the first trailer was released and it quickly became the ‘most disliked trailer’ in the history of YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ugHP-yZXw While many fans of the original claim that the quality of the trailer is nowhere near the wit and charm of the first Ghostbusters (1984), an internet war still wages on whether the trailer is disliked due its quality or hidden misogyny behind the criticism. [poll id="597"] The film stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Ghostbusters (2016) is directed by Paul Feig. [poll id="598"] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Kristen Wiig[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Leslie Jones[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Melissa McCarthy
Photo: Hopper Stone - Columbia Pictures[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Kate McKinnon
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption]

Now You See Me: The Second Act is a 2016 American heist movie directed by Jon M Chu of the Step Up series. In this movie, the quartet known fittingly by their stage name, Four Horsemen, are on the run after pulling off a robbery in a casino in Paris.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqU8CLwbPg These gifted Las Vegas illusionists played by actors Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan (substituting Isla Fisher from the prequel) must now expose the immoral and corrupt practices of a tech tycoon Walter Mabry played by Daniel Radcliffe. Walter is pressurising them to steal a device so powerful that it is capable of manipulating and controlling all the computers in the world and can decrypt any computer program on earth. A bit too farfetched, right? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Eisenberg, and Dave Franco.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] When talking about The Second Act, it would be best not to look for logic in the plot but rather concentrate on the magic tricks (misdirection, mostly) and the cast performances. This movie is more ambitious than its prequel in every way; every single stunt and act is grander and more spectacular, thanks to CGI effects. However, the mystery and wow element in it does not match the expectations that its prequel had generated, thus it may serve as disappointing. Don’t get me wrong! It’s there, but less in comparison. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Woody Harrelson.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The movie’s pace is also much slower. It takes time to unfold, introduce new characters and set the stage for the movie’s action and magical sequences. Kudos to the acting prowess of the antagonist of the movie – Radcliffe delivers a commendable performance that is part comedic and part megalomaniacal, but fully entertaining. He does not waste his allocated screen time and makes each scene count. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Daniel Radcliffe.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] One of the movie’s subplots is that of revenge. Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) swears a vendetta against Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). But this revenge spree becomes so convoluted and overly complicated that at one point you can’t help but think that the movie would’ve been better off without this added story line. However, Freeman and Ruffalo reprised their roles splendidly as their performances are only second to none. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Morgan Freeman
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Mark Ruffalo.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] If one wishes to enjoy this particular movie, they must put logic aside. After all, when we witness a magic trick, we subconsciously know that there is some kind of deception that we haven’t yet figured out and the same principle applies here.  This movie is far from perfect and coherent in its narrative, but it is a fun diversion that you will enjoy with your friends and family. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Eisenberg, and Dave Franco.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] I would have preferred the movie without that CGI overkill. It’s too in your face. But just when you think that this is getting out of hand and entering the realms of fantasy, the director manages to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat in order to keep the audience hooked. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Eisenberg, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, and Dave Franco.
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Now You See Me 2 tries to fit itself into the same category of acclaimed theft movies such as Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Ocean’s Twelve (2004), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) and The Italian Job (2003), but ends up falling short in comparison to these cinematic masterpieces. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Watch this movie for its fun yet logic defying magical acts, the glittery casino life of Macau and well-choreographed action sequences.  [poll id="607"]

Remember how Tony Montana cursed and swore his way into our collective hearts back in the day. I distinctly recall how being an impressionable young teen, watching Scarface (1983) was a life altering experience. Al Pacino playing a cool-ass Cuban gangster had such a profane… ooops!.. profound effect on my susceptible neurons, that I even contemplated becoming a full-time goon (just don’t tell my dad). Anyways, since the aforementioned idea was just a little far-fetched, I settled for the next cool thing by becoming a lean mean cuss machine! (Being a proud Punjabi certainly had a sway). And ever since that fateful day, yours truly is notoriously known for being the pottiest mouth in the East. Now being such a cussword aficionado, I have always found lack of profanities in mainstream Indian cinema a tad upsetting, not to mention highly unnatural too. And then just like that, along came Gangs of Wasseypur with its expletive ridden script and I was over the proverbial moon. To me personally, there is just something orgasmic about celluloid swearing, if done in one’s native tongue. So, naturally, when the uncut version of Udta Punjab, with all its swearputation preceding it, was leaked online, there was no way I was treating my ears to anything else this weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy9CIpYETs8 And surely, much to my delight it was a gaali-galore and then some! But what it wasn’t, was an entirely effective cinematic piece on the menace of drugs. Once you get past the shock value of hearing Punjabi swear words  on screen repeatedly, you will realise Udta Punjab does not fly as high as its western predecessors. [poll id="618"] There is an effectual way of telling tales about the horrors of substance abuse, an approach that movies like Trainspotting (1996), Traffic (2000) and Requiem for a Dream (2000) have so successfully made use of. But having said that, Udta Punjab is still a creditable fare from an industry that is constantly maturing artistically. Four parallel tracks, that of a nameless Bihari migrant farmhand (Alia Bhatt), a Punjabi rockstar Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a Sikh cop Sartaj (Diljit Dosanjh) and a doctor moonlighting as journalist, Dr Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan) play to the backdrop of a dystopic vision of a state that was once India’s bread basket. The quartet follow a three line narco-terror narrative where we are plunged into a frenetically vicious world of rock ‘n’ roll, coke (chitta powder) snorting and  chemical cocktail injecting. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Udta Punjab takes flight without wasting a second… literally! Somewhere on the Indo-Pak border, we see a heroin pouch being hurled by a discus thrower across a barbed fence. The package worth a huge sum accidentally lands in Jane Doe’s feet who proceeds to steal it when greed gets the better of her. After failing at an attempt to make a fast buck by selling the cache, the peasant girl is captured by the local mafia who go on to make a druggie and sex slave out of her. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Batt
Photo: Udta Punjab Facebook Official[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Meanwhile, Tommy Singh, an accidental rockstar known for his abuse-filled songs, and his drug-fuelled lifestyle is forced to re-evaluate his life when police in their zest to show ‘cop power’ put him behind bars for substance abuse. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Instagram[/caption] Sartaj Singh on the other hand is a corrupt cop, who is quite happy to turn a blind eye to the drug traffic, till one day it comes too close home. When his younger brother gets hospitalised due to drug overdose, it serves as an eye-opener and he decides to take action. Enter Preet, a doctor who becomes Sartaj’s ally in his battle against narco trade. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Diljit Dosanjh
Photo: Udta Punjab Facebook Official[/caption] What happens when the quadruple converge at critical points in their lives is what forms the rest of the story. Udta Punjab is not just a movie about war against drugs, against political and systemic complicity but also against one’s own self. Expletives fly thick and fast as the action shifts from one protagonist to another. After the unnerving Haider (2014), Shahid Kapoor with his toned and heavily tattooed torso, looks just about perfect for his part as the mercurial Tommy Singh aka Gabru. With all the on-stage swag and the off-stage hysterics, Shahid has nailed the role physically. However it’s what goes on inside of him that we don’t really see enough of, and where he should have done better. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Instagram[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Complementing Shahid’s character quirkiness notably is Alia with her own peculiar act as a Bihari field labourer turned junkie in a totally deglamourised and feral avatar. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Alia is completely out of her comfort zone in a role like this one and yet, she manages to leave a mark. There are instances when her Bihari accent falters, but the way she channels the pain and the incredible strength of a young woman stuck in a hell-hole is undeniably commendable. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Punjabi cinema’s heartthrob Diljit Dosanjh, in his first role in a Bollywood film is nuanced and carries his ambiguous morality with ease. His effortless boy-next-door charms infuse a certain earthiness to a narrative that’s trying to stick close to its Punjabi roots. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Diljit Dosanjh
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] The drop in acting, sadly, was Kareena Kapoor as she gives a vanilla performance as a doctor running a rehab centre. Dr Preet, is an embodiment of righteousness and hence too perfect to be true. Even though her character was written shoddily, she should still be expected to act slightly mature in certain scenes, considering she is an industry veteran now. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Kareena Kapoor
Photo: Udta Punjab Facebook Official[/caption] One of the things that Udta Punjab can truly boast off is the dialogues, replete with all the expletive-loaded lingo. The lines mostly in Punjabi are earthy and rooted in the soil, which add to the authenticity of the story and the characters that inhabit it. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] The movie is filled with its fair share of flaws too. The curse of the second half strikes and with utter devastation! Whatever hooks you pre-interval (and a lot does), it completely fails to grip you in the second half as the plot turns intermittently farcical and ultimately makes a mockery of the concerns it set out to raise. It is as if a completely different director has taken over post-intermission and the film completely unravels, with its Achilles’ heel proving to be the inexplicable inclusion of forced romantic sub-plots. The cop-doc lovey dovey track as well as the tenuous bond between Tommy and the nameless Bihari chick do seem entirely out of place. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Diljit Dosanjh and Kareena Kapoor
Photo: Twitter[/caption] Also, in order to put Kareena’s star power to some use, she is turned into a sleuth, where she and her cop companion bizarrely spy around a shady factory, tracking down the bad guys. Cheesy Bollywood at its finest! Tommy Singh’s reasons for redemption and later his intent to save Alia’s character are not very convincing either. Furthermore, the director is not able to execute and balance the trippy black humour of the writing to the dark themes in the film. This is especially apparent in the climax, which is the lousiest sequence in the film and comes as a huge let down. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shahid Kapoor
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alia Bhatt
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Plus, the film is just too damn long. It loses steam towards the end and a little snipping during the indulgent and sluggish latter half could’ve surely saved the story. Post-interval faults aside, Udta Punjab is uncompromised cinema, something you rarely get to see from B-Town. The film does manage to take the desi audience on a flight like never before. So like drugs, let’s all join in cursing conventional archaic Bollywood: Potboilers Di Maa Di! [poll id="619"]

‘Some men just want to watch the world burn.’

“Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just …‘do’ things!” – The Joker

“Sabko kisi na kisi ko maarna hota hai. Koi dange ki aad mein apni bhadas nikalta hai to koi wardi ki aad mein to koi Syria jaa ke. Mai logo ko maarta hun kyunki mujhe maarna hai. Mujhe isi mein mazaa aata hai.” – Ramanna (We all have this innate tendency to kill, but unlike others who need an excuse and slay in the name of riots, uniform or religion, I have the courage to murder intentionally. I do it because I want to, and unashamedly without any apologetic pretext!)

I remember the hype that Step Up (2006) brought with it when it was first released. For dance lovers and enthusiasts, this was a fresh wave of cinematic representation where new and unorthodox dancing styles were given centre-stage on mainstream media. Before this, the only hits this genre had managed to bring included musicals like Grease (1978) and Dirty Dancing (1987) or conventional dance movies like Save the Last Dance (2001) and Shall We Dance (2004). Of course, the Step Up trilogy further paved way for hits like Magic Mike (2012) and Black Swan (2010) which, though different in terms of storyline, dealt with core issues which dancers face personally and professionally. These films also made people more accepting of non-traditional dancing styles. Many people were able to pursue their dancing careers with new zeal and vigour because of the inspiration these movies gave them. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise for me when I came across the trailer of Dance Kahani – an upcoming dance-themed Pakistani movie. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Dance Kahan Official Website[/caption] Directed by Omar Hassan, the entertainment-packed film is set to release on August 5, 2016. It follows the struggles of dancers in Pakistan, the stigma associated with this field, the issues professionals face from home and outside, and the general lack of encouragement that they come across from all walks of life. The idea that dancing isn’t a lucrative profession fuels the general plotline here, which keeps a British-born girl as its protagonist who wants to establish her name as a successful dance professional. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Dance Kahan Official Website[/caption] While Pakistani film-goers have been exposed to this genre from movies made across the border – like Aaja Nachle (2006) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) – watching such a movie made at home would definitely be a different experience. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Brandsynario[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Dance Kahani Blog[/caption] The trailer for the movie doesn’t show much in terms of the actors present or the larger storyline. The dance sequences in the trailer show finesse and technique; however, the few dialogues that have been portrayed in it lack passion and experience. This probably means that the actors have more command over their dancing than acting and this might make the movie somewhat weak at the box office. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Brandsynario[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Nizzy in Dance Kahani played by Madeleine Hanna.
Photo: Dance Kahani Blog[/caption] But since it’s the first attempt at venturing into a new genre of film-making, perhaps audiences will be kinder in reviewing it and give it a thumbs-up for effort and originality. One can only wait until August to find out what the fate of Dance Kahani, and the future of dance-themed movies in Pakistan, will be. So far, I am excited to be treading into the unknown.

“Didn’t I promise you fireworks?” Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) asked his son after crashing the alien ship in Independence Day (1996) where he fought against the aliens with Jeff Goldblum.

 “I know this isn’t a conventional love story. I know there are all sorts of reasons I shouldn’t even be saying what I am. But I love you. I do. I knew it. And I think you might even love me a little bit.” - Jojo Moyes, Me Before You

“True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.”

“Two people who shouldn’t have met, and who didn’t like each other much when they did, but who found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other.”

All right let’s get this straight right from the onset, Finding Dory is, by Pixar’s sky-scraping standards, an ordinary sequel. But that’s the thing with this famed animation film studio, even their average is better than most of the supposedly superior stuff done by – save for Studio Ghibli – other similar genre production counterparts. (Let’s just pretend that their Cars franchise does not exist). The latest transoceanic quest from the house of Pixar is a family comedy about, well, family. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JNLwlcPBPI Finding Dory starts off with a glimpse into the childhood of everyone’s favourite forgetful Blue Tang. Now Baby Dory (Sloane Murray) because of her congenital inability to retain memories has a set of caringly protective parents (Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) who constantly try to ensure that their daughter is not held back in life because of her disability. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Disney[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: HDPictures[/caption] But then Dory ends up getting lost and due to her ‘short-term memory loss’ condition, she is unable to find her way back home. The story then flash forwards to the timeline a year after Finding Nemo (2003) when Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) starts to recover recollections of her kin and along with Marlin (Albert Brooks), and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) sets off on an adventure to reunite with them. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: moviewallpapers.com[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Rappler[/caption] Thirteen years after the prequel where we saw a comic-relief sidekick accompanying a neurotic father clownfish on a search mission to find his missing son, we now see Dory elevate into the role of the protagonist herself, trying to track down her own Blue Tang clan. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: acqua.pt[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: moviesroom.com[/caption] Assisted by a lot of favourites from the 2003 animated hit, Dory’s nautical odyssey is powerful, relatable and poignant. While there’s always a slight danger of a popular secondary character overstaying their welcome whenever they are handed the proverbial reins in a spin-off, but, to Dory’s credit the second instalment, despite not being a total heart-warmer as the original classic, still manages to tug at your heart strings. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: hitfix.com[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Yahoo[/caption] Visually, Finding Dory is an underwater eye-candy. It’s colourful, bright, and clear but there is a powerful sense of ‘been there-done that’, owing a lot to its predecessor’s novel visual palette being simulated here, that stops it from being the best that Pixar has to offer. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Pixar WIkia[/caption] Like last year’s Inside Out (2015), Wall E (2008) and The Toy Story Trilogy, the finest Pixar films effectively work on two levels simultaneously; one for kids, one for adults. Finding Dory is slanted predominantly towards children. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: SCreenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: mediabrewpub.com[/caption] The narrative is not as multi-layered as your typical Pixar offering. It resorts to videogame-inspired action sequences to drive the plot forward which in turn fails to offer a rich profound experience to your above-than-average grown-up viewer. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: moviepilot.de[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: icloudpicture.com[/caption] Another key strength of the studio is its originality which automatically and unfortunately misses out when you are working in a follow-up territory. There is always this annoying sense of mild déjà vu which holds a sequel back unless you are The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Dark Knight (2008) or Pixar’s very own Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: hdwallpapers.com[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: zonarosa.co[/caption] Ellen DeGeneres who is voicing the titular character is a major reason why the film works. Her nervous energy and infectious scepticism is one of the reasons why Dory is one of the most beloved characters in the Pixaverse. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: inverse.com[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: iamag.co[/caption] The movie failed to catch me hook, line and sinker, but whether you are reeled in this marine mission, is a question only you can answer by diving in. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: examiner.com[/caption] [poll id="638"]

You could very well yap out those stimulatingly fervent lines like Sly Stallone from any of the Rocky’s instalments. Good on ya for mastering all there is to learn about martial arts by simply watching Mr Miyagi mentor The Karate Kid (1984).  Or perhaps, you are now effectively able to roll with the heaviest of punches – thanks to Russell Crowe’s James Braddock from Cinderella Man (2005). It doesn’t frikkin matter how many classic underdog movies you have watched in your lifetime, because Sultan is unlike any other sports drama that you would ever have witnessed.

“Why?” you ask naively. I blurt out ‘Bhai!’, condescendingly!

What do you get when you mix Toy Story, arguably the greatest animated movie ever, with talking canines? Voila! I present you with the latest animated venture from Illumination Entertainment, The Secret Life of Pets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-80SGWfEjM Proceedings start off with the likeable terrier Max (Louis CK), his neighbour Gidget (Jenny Slate), and the finicky fat cat Chloe (Lake Bell). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gidget (Jenny Slate)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The narrative kicks into gear when Max’s owner, brings home a new pooch for Max to be buds with – the oversized and hairy Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Seeing him as a rival for his owner’s affection, Max plans to get rid of the intruder. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Max (Louis CK), Duke (Eric Stonestreet), and Katie (Ellie Kemper)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [poll id="641"] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Duke (Eric Stonestreet), Katie (Ellie Kemper) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] This turf war leads to the main adventure where the dog duo gets lost and end up with an underground group of abandoned animals headed by an evil bunny named Snowball (Kevin Hart). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Snowball (Kevin Hart)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Snowball (Kevin Hart)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Snowball (Kevin Hart)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Meanwhile, the little lapdog, Gidget, who’s in love with Max, initiates a mission with fellow pooches to find him once she realises he’s not home. The rest of the movie consists of Max and Duke trying to get home before Snowball and his gang finish them off. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gidget (Jenny Slate) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] The studio behind Minions (2015), is no Pixar, so if you are expecting another Woody and Buzz Lightyear type of adventure substituted by domesticated animals, you are in for a rude awakening. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell), Gidget (Jenny Slate), Tiberius (Albert Brooks), Mel (Bobby Moynihan), Buddy (Hannibal Buress)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gidget (Jenny Slate) and Tiberius (Albert Brooks)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The Secret Life of Pets is fun, but it’s not clever. The children might have a great deal of fun and this might in turn make you all glad and happy, but don’t even bother if you are an adult without kids to accompany you. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell), Gidget (Jenny Slate) and Buddy (Hannibal Buress)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gidget (Jenny Slate) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The animated feature draws on the universal experience of pet ownership to draw out warm and fuzzy feelings amongst all of us, but the film lacks that strong emotional punch of a Pixar production. There’s nothing much going on below the surface, neither emotionally nor thematically and all of it is just superficially funny. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell), Max (Louis CK) and Mel (Bobby Moynihan)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Snowball (Kevin Hart) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] My chief gripe with The Secret Life of Pets is how they have taken such an intriguing premise, even if it’s a Toy Story rip-off, and turned it into an average fare with all the absurd cartoony sequences. The film’s biggest crime is how it wastes the opportunity to provide insight into, well, the secret life of pets. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Katie (Ellie Kemper) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell), Gidget (Jenny Slate), Tiberius (Albert Brooks), Mel (Bobby Moynihan), Buddy (Hannibal Buress)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [poll id="642"] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chloe (Lake Bell) and Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Even the best comical parts are already known, if one has managed to watch one of its extended trailers on YouTube. As for voice-acting, it was actually a pleasant surprise hearing stand-up comic CK’s signature dry wit coming out of a cute cartoon pup. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Max (Louis CK)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Duke (Eric Stonestreet)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Visually, pets don’t really score high on the “shock and awe” scale. They aren’t bad but there is nothing to write home about either. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Buddy (Hannibal Buress)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Mel (Bobby Moynihan)
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Yes, it pretty much lifts off the plot from Toy Story, but if you’re going to copy something off, copy off the best and while far from a classic, this is the kind of movie that parents dream of – something that will make them not fall asleep while keeping the wee ones happy. [poll id="643"]

I can’t say I walked into The Legend of Tarzan with particularly high expectations. And that wasn’t only due to the fact that the character of Tarzan simply does not appeal to me, or because of the character’s highly unsuccessful, nearly a century old on-screen track record. But also because, I feel the character and story is an out-dated relic of the past that should have been forgotten, when its author Edgar Rice Burroughs passed away in 1950. But knowing Hollywood and its primal penchant for rebooting and rehashing anything and everything that has the capability of making even a little money, I’m not surprised we have this tedious and utterly insipid live-action rehash of Tarzan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj7ty6sViiU Alexander Skarsgård stars as Tarzan, now known by his real name John Clayton, who at the beginning of the film is a distinguished lord living in London and married to Jane (Margot Robbie). The film is more of a sequel to the original Tarzan story, and for those who are unaware of the backstory, the film attempts to half-tell it in snippets of flashbacks. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård and Samuel L Jackson
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Since the events of the original story, Clayton has become something of a celebrity, however during that time, political unrest has occurred in Africa, exacerbated by King Leopold of Belgium, who’s claimed Congo and then ran up loads of debt. Clayton, who grew up in the Congo, is persuaded to visit George Washington Williams (Samuel L Jackson) and was told that there’s an underground slave trade emerging. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Samuel L Jackson
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] Which means it’s time for Tarzan to go back to the jungle and do some vine-swinging, gorilla-wrestling and lion-snuggling before the film hits us over the head with its hackneyed sub-plot about colonialism and slavery in the 19^th century, led by Christoph Waltz playing the evil colonialist slave trader version of his Oscar-winning character Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds (2009). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Christoph Waltz
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The ‘been there, seen that’ feeling is definitely there – apart from being highly predictable – The Legend of Tarzan also happens to be an utterly dull and life-less affair. In the age of gritty and self-serious Hollywood blockbusters, it’s no surprise that this movie tried to do the same, which actually robbed it of the one quality that could have made it even slightly redeeming – joy. It’s just too dour to be actually enjoyed. And the film’s few attempts to feel grounded in reality are hampered by the woefully unremarkable special-effects because neither the backdrop nor any of the digital ostriches, digital gorillas, and digital lions look real. Even the action sequences have absolutely no heft, which is disappointing considering it’s directed by David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films and showed great prowess with special effects sequences with those films. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Djimon Hounsou
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie, Casper Crump
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Djimon Hounsou
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Djimon Hounsou
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The film also seems hell-bent on using the same slow-motion pause effect for nearly every action sequence until it becomes a complete overkill. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie and Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie and Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] I suppose you can give the actors some credit for trying, even if most of them are there just to cash their pay check. Samuel L Jackson seems to be having some fun and is actually the film’s only source of little levity, Margot Robbie really tries her best as Jane but is unfortunately held back by the script she has been given to work with and Christoph Waltz definitely seems more in sync than he was in Spectre (2015) – even if his erudite, smooth-talking villain with a European accent routine is close to becoming a gimmick. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] What doesn’t work however, is Alexander Skarsgård’s stone-faced, bland and staggeringly one-dimensional portrayal of Tarzan, who despite nailing the physicality of the character, does little more than act with his abs. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Samuel L Jackson and Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] It’s debatable exactly how much of that is his fault, which brings me to my biggest problem with this movie – it’s just poorly written. Neither Tarzan nor any of the other characters have any real characterisation to them. The film’s political aspect stemming from its subplot about colonialism feels far too forced, while the storytelling feels clunky and predictable and more like a patchwork of lazy exposition and bad dialogue. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Samuel L Jackson, Alexander Skarsgård, Mens-Sana Tamakloe, Osy Ikhile, Antony Acheampong
Photo: IMDb[/caption] I’m not sure whether to blame the filmmakers for making this or the studio for green-lighting it, because at the end of the day, I don’t see how you can make a good Tarzan movie without it being silly and corny, or maybe even a good Tarzan movie, period. It is primarily one of the reasons why it’s better to perhaps leave it alone instead. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Djimon Hounsou and Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The movie is too dour and political for the kids, too juvenile for adults, The Legend of Tarzan represents a woefully misguided step by Hollywood to reinvent the character for the 21^st century.  It may be some time before we see Tarzan swinging through trees again. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Alexander Skarsgård
Photo: IMDb[/caption]

Who is not aware of Jamal Shah’s potential? He is amongst the most creative minds of Pakistan. Shah was involved in cross-border projects back in the 80’s and 90’s. Revenge of the Worthless is Shah’s directorial debut in the Pakistani film industry. This time Shah made his comeback with a highly potent cast including veteran actors Firdaus Jamal and Ayub Khoso. Having said that, there are many things the movie has to offer to its viewers. [embed width "620"]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dk1qz_revenge-of-the-worthless-official-trailer-hd_shortfilms[/embed] The plot of Revenge of the Worthless is based on the 2009 Swat insurgency. It shares the story of an upright progressive man Zarak Khan (Jamal Shah), a boy named Gulalai (Abdul Raheem) who is abandoned by his father due to his sexual orientation, a folk artist Shabana (Maira Khan) who preaches the message of love and harmony, and a man called Janaan (Imran Tareen) who lost his family in extremist attacks. The movie reveals how the lives of these characters are intertwined and affected by the Taliban and extremists in Swat. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jamal Shah
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abdul Raheem
Photo: Facebook[/caption] In spite of having an ensemble cast of renowned actors playing strong roles, overall, the movie misses the mark. Firdaus Jamal and Ayub Khoso stand out – but only to a certain extent. They could have taken the characters to an entirely new level if their roles were written in a better manner. I’d blame the feeble script for this bit of inadequacy. Jamal Shah is average. There are scenes where, as an actor, he could have done very well but, unfortunately, was unsuccessful at making an impact. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Ayub Khoso as Ameer Qudrat-Ullah
Photo: Facebook[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Ayub Khoso and Zubair Achakzai
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Maira Khan overacts in most of the scenes; she falls terribly short in the diction department, and she could have done her homework more effectively to play Shabana’s character. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Iram Rehman, Shehar Bano and Emel Karakose
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Facebook[/caption] Shamil Khan was given limited screen-time, but what ruined his performance was the shabbily written dialogue that drastically reduced his margin to perform well. On the other hand, Imran Tareen looked promising and he has the potential of doing justice to a role, provided he makes the right choices when he’s offered different characters. Abdul Raheem manages to portray his character as required. Noor Bukhari in a cameo was a waste. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Shamyl Khan and Maira Khan
Photo: Facebook[/caption] Another let down in the fare is that it seems as though the actors worked half-heartedly during the shooting. There’s not a single performance to lookout for. The music is mediocre. The only saving grace of the movie are its action sequences and that too, to a certain extent. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Firdaus Jamal
Photo: Facebook[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jamal Shah and Emel Karakose
Photo: IMDb[/caption]

It looks like Jamal Shah made this film solely for himself. The narrative had many hiccups and editing was haphazard at some points. However, the cinematography is good. As a package, Revenge of the Worthless is in fact worthless as it creates no impact whatsoever. It is a below-average film, and quite a disappointing one from the old-timers who have put it together. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Asif Shah
Photo: Facebook[/caption]

‘Baaz choozay pe jhapta, use utha le gaya. Kahaani sacchi lagti hai magar acchi nahi lagti. Baaz pe palat waar hua, kahaani sacchi nahi lagti magar acchi lagti hai.’

“When a bird of prey”, he says, “pounces upon a hatchling, the story sounds real but it isn’t stirring enough. “But when the ill-fated ‘chooza strikes back at the ‘baaz’, that is when the proceedings get rousing,” he asserts, “regardless of how incredulous the fable might sound.”

After the disappointing Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), many people believed the future of the Star Trek franchise was in danger. Not from a financial stand-point, but rather a creative one. And let’s face it, for all its excitement “Into Darkness” did feel very much like a sub-par remake of the far better 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. There was a general consensus among most fans that the series was beginning to forget its roots, which were essentially about exploring space and spreading peace throughout the galaxy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVD32rnzOw There was even more disappointment among the fan base when Fast & Furious director Justin Lin took over the helm from JJ Abrams, with the general opinion now being that the new Trek series was deviating so far from its roots that this was just going to be a Fast and Furious movie in space. The detractors can rest easy because that is not the case at all. In fact, Star Trek Beyond is not only a welcome return to roots for the franchise, but also the only film in the saga so far, with a spirit closest to the original series. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Anton Yelchin and Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Anton Yelchin and Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] Set after the events of Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond finds the Enterprise and its crew in the third year of their five year mission. However, things get awry when the crew answer a mysterious distress call in deep space; unaware that they are being lured into a trap set up by Krall (Idris Elba ), a fearsome alien tyrant intent on recovering an ancient artefact in the possession of the Enterprise and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Idris Elba and Justin Lin
Photo: Jaimie Trueblood / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella in
Photo: IMDb[/caption] What’s great about Star Trek Beyond is that it has a great energy to it that was sorely missing the last time around. The story definitely feels more self-contained and at this point in the series, the characters are fleshed out well enough, which means no time needs to be wasted on character development. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, and Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] Writers Simon Pegg (who also plays Montgomery Scott) and Doug Jung are both fans of the series, which is probably why they are able to craft a script that stays so true to the original. And Pegg’s collaborations with Edgar Wright prove his talent at comedy, something he puts to good use here as well, infusing the film with enough humour and light-heartedness to make it a joyful experience as well. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Simon Pegg and Deep Roy
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, and Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] But ultimately, it’s both Pegg and Jung’s efforts to go back to Star Trek’s core ideas of exploring space, unity, peace and the power of the human spirit that make this film both compelling and infuse it with some genuine emotional heft. The character interactions have never been better, especially those between Bones (Karl Urban) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) which are particularly humorous. And for the first time, all the characters are given something to do and the film isn’t focusing on just Kirk and Spock. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, and Sofia Boutella
Photo: Paramount Pictures.[/caption] I think director Justin Lin coming on board really helps the film as well. He has a unique visual style and his ability to craft great action sequences – something he admittedly picked up on during his time with the Fast and Furious franchise – help elevate the film significantly. Though, there are a couple of times when it’s hard to fathom exactly what is going on, for the most part he’s able to deliver some exciting set-pieces, including a particularly superb one that plays to the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Deep Roy
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The performances all work as well, with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto both reprising their roles rather well, and showing a keen sense of comfort with their respective characters. Sofia Boutella and Idris Elba are also great additions. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Sofia Boutella
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Sofia Boutella
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] Boutella is less in the movie than the trailers advertised, but Elba proves to be quite possibly the best villain in the franchise’s history playing the ruthless Krall. His motivations and the general ideas driving him make sense. And the fact that he challenges the very ideals of unity that the Starfleet stands for makes him a uniquely interesting villain. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Idris Elba and Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Sofia Boutella
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Chris Pine
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] However, the standout for me was Karl Urban as Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy who has gradually become the moral centre of this franchise. His one-liners are great, but his words of support to Kirk and naturalistic chemistry with both Pine and Quinto make his performance even better. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Karl Urban
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Zachary Quinto
Photo: Kimberley French / Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Zachary Quinto and Anton Yelchin
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Star Trek Beyond feels like an extended episode of the original series. At the start of the movie you even hear Kirk say how things have gotten “episodic”. But believe me, it is a good thing because in between that extended episode, Pegg, Jung and director Justin Lin are able to sandwich a slick piece of summer blockbuster entertainment as well. In the barren desert of summer 2016 blockbusters, this feels like an oasis. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Sofia Boutella and Chris Pine
Photo: Paramount Pictures.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Joe Taslim
Photo: IMDb[/caption]

For the past couple of days, I simply can’t stop tossing and turning in my bed. You know what keeps me up? Pale skull-like expressions and a grotesque smiling face, the stuff your most terrible nightmares are made of! But far from being scared, to be perfectly honest, these nocturnal images have psyched me up for the imminent arrival of a sociopath supreme. With just four days left until the release of Suicide Squad (2016), the thought that lingers in my head and keeps me away from slumber-land is; will Jared Leto’s joker be as psychotically impressive as Heath Ledger’s in The Dark Night (2008)? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] We kind of know the kind of Joker we will see in Suicide Squad and I also expect 2016 joker to have a different touch of eccentricity – you see, there has to be something distinct to tell the jokers of 2008 and 2016 apart, not to mention the belated inevitable comparison that will be drawn to the Harlequin of Hate from the 89’s Batman. Though personally, I’m a die-hard fan of Heath’s act from The Dark Knight, but who in their right minds would want to see the same Joker twice in a different setting? Not me! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie and Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Leto has big jester shoes to fill (pun intended) playing the Clown Prince of Crime, and I have accepted that as far as he is concerned, this onetime Oscar winner is on a suicide mission with his version of the Ace of Knaves in Suicide Squad. Movie acting is always a case of ‘you win some, you lose some’, but if you are performing one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time, there is a huge chance that if things go awry, you would be losing out on more than most. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] In the film’s trailer, Leto is a very nostalgic reminder of Batman’s arch-nemesis of yore. He too loves to punish his enemies in the most morbid of ways. He doesn’t just want to ‘kill’ them, he just wants to ‘hurt’ them really really bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHFF4qcGj6c But what’s actually got me bouncing off the walls is that this time around, we have the maid of mischief, Harley Quinn, in tandem with The Joker, and boy does she look as unashamedly menacing as her deranged partner in crime! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX8HNgx4JEg [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto, Common, Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The cupid of crime was missing in The Dark Night (2008), but we are yet to find out whether the audience will reserve the same fervour for this dynamite of a combo, the same way they did for Heath Ledger’s solo act in Nolan’s modern-day masterpiece? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Jared Leto and Margot Robbie
Photo: IMDb[/caption] As for the rest of the baddies comprising the squad, I don’t really give a flying frick, well that is until I have actually seen the movie to form a fair opinion. But for now, all anyone can think of is the Joker, and I for one simply cannot wait for him to show me his quirky toys. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Will Smith, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Margot Robbie, Karen Fukuhara
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: IMDb[/caption] [poll id="660"]

Jason Bourne (2016) is the fifth instalment in the Bourne film franchise and also the direct sequel to the much acclaimed The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). It is based on the popular novel of the same name written by Robert Ludlum and is directed by Paul Greengrass, who has directed several other Bourne films in the past. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4gJsKZvqE4 Matt Damon returns in the titular role as Jason Bourne, who is a former black-ops CIA operative cum assassin on the run. He is also suffering from amnesia and long term memory loss. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: IMDb[/caption] Jason Bourne is a modern thriller movie, set against a contemporary backdrop of the world we live in, under constant vigilance of the state’s surveillance, wiretaps, hacks and leaks. A world where individuals like Edward Snowden can change the face of modern cyber warfare and security with literally a click of a proverbial button. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: Jason Bourne Official Website[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Tommy Lee Jones and Ato Essandoh
Photo: Jason Bourne Official Website[/caption] Jason Bourne, the character, takes a page or two from Snowden’s playbook, and leaks highly sensitive and classified material online for the world to see. Two ideas were whisked together to create the theme for this movie: good old traditional action sequences including close quarter fighting action scenes fused with cyber corporate-government espionage. It is how these two ideas were thrown together in a perfect balance that makes this action thriller more engrossing in comparison to its predecessors or even contemporaries. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: IMDb[/caption] The premise of the movie revolves around Bourne revealing himself. He is seen seeking the support of his former associate cum romantic interest collaborator Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) to whistle-blow à la Snowden, the contents relating to project Treadstone (Bourne’s own brainwashing assassin program) and other similar black-ops shady projects being conducted online. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Vincent Cassel
Photo: Jason Bourne Official Website[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Vincent Cassel
Photo: Jason Bourne Official Website[/caption] The signature “shaky cam” style that has now become synonymous with Paul Greengrass has returned in all its glory, added with sharp and craftily edited action sequences that keep the audiences on the edges of their seat. It is fast-paced, but not to the point of getting confusing or puzzling for the moviegoers to understand what is going on on-screen. In fact, it’s this visceral and raw feel to Bourne movies which is seldom seen in these sorts of genre based movies, that lends a feel of being authentic and this movie is no different. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon and Julia Stiles
Photo: Jason Bourne Facebook Official[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: Jason Bourne Official Website[/caption] It is Matt Damon again, who delivers a strong performance in his titular role as the rogue spy Jason Bourne, despite delivering only 45 lines of dialogue during the entire movie – yet he shines and excels in his role. After doing all of the Bourne movies except one, he has practically grown in this role. Despite not having many dialogues at his disposal, he has used his body language and expressions instead to deliver a performance second to none. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: Screenshot[/caption] Other actors that also deserve praise are Tommy Lee Jones playing the shrewd yet stern CIA director Robert Dewey, Riz Ahmed who is a Silicon Valley billionaire Aaron Kallor running a Facebook-esque social media platform named Deep Dream. He apparently seems to be in alliance with the CIA, while giving them sensitive information such as users’ private profiles, data mining aid and committing a breach of privacy in the process. He has delivered a good performance despite his limited on-screen time. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Tommy Lee Jones and Alicia Vikander
Photo: IMDb[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Matt Damon
Photo: IMDb[/caption]

The forgettable franchise spinoff in 2012, ironically named, The Bourne Legacy, which starred Jeremy Renner, was more of a miss than a hit. With Matt Damon at the helm, this movie, however, is worthy of carrying the Bourne legacy forward. I would highly recommend this film.   [poll id="661"]

Remember, back when we were kids, how darkness used to scare the living daylights out of virtually all of us. Few phobias are more common across the broad spectrum of humanity than nyctophobia and first time director David F Sandberg has exploited this most primal of human anxieties to turn darkness itself into a coldblooded antagonist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LiKKFZyhRU But, somehow, instead of frightening the heck out of you, for most of its running-time, Lights Out just makes you annoyed with the dark. [poll id="667"] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman.
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] The movie started life as a three-minute short film which was a viral hit. This ‘stretching of the premise’ is clearly evident by how 78 out of the admittedly lean 81 minutes are infuriatingly tedious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjjfBbmgEH4 After the death of his father, at the hands of a shadowy silhouette named Diana, that’s mysteriously linked to his mother Sophie (Maria Bello), little Martin (Gabriel Bateman) seeks help from his estranged older stepsister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) when he begins to be terrorised by a foul spirit that only appears when the lights are out. The commitment-averse sibling who herself was previously haunted by the ghoul, along with a boyfriend moves in with the stepmom to help her regain her mental strength and save them all from the murky apparition. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer, Alexander DiPersia, Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Maria Bello, Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] What follows is amateurish exposition—the past explained by conveniently discovered audiotapes and photos. There was a reason why Lights Out, the short film, became such a global hit. Like any successful visual piece from the horror genre, it had the ability to get under your skin. The expanded version on the other hand is so repetitively frustrating that it makes you want to crawl out of your hide. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] The narrative is kind of vague in the way that despite plenty of background info, you are never quite able to figure out ‘why is Diana doing whatever the hell she is doing’. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] To look all smart and deep, the filmmaker has also thrown in a mishmash of clichéd family themes and conflicts that are delivered to us through appalling dialogue. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] It does have a couple of fine ‘BOO!’ moments, but only if you are someone who counts an idiot unexpectedly blowing an air horn close to your ears as a good jump-scare. Lights Out is filled with cookie-cutter cheap scares that we’ve all seen only a million times before. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Maria Bello
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] The lead female duo are both decent actors but they are simply unable to rise above the run of the mill material. The low-budget horror is riding on the clout of producer James Wan, who is a big name in this particular genre with Insidious, The Conjuring and Saw franchises to his credit. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] But while the aforementioned flicks did well based on the fact that they were a throwback to old school lo-fi fright wringers, this one would only be able to terrify tweens. It’s a starter-shocker. No one else will need to sleep with the lights on. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gabriel Bateman
Photo: Warner Bros[/caption] [poll id="666"]