udarmohit Reviews

Moneyball (2011)

it's more than a gem...............

[28 January 2012]

t has long been said that professional sports are more a game of politics than an actual game. Major League Baseball is not just a game of money, but in "Moneyball" it's a game of numbers versus a game of people. It's callousness at its highest when general managers trade away people as if they're objects with little regard for them or their family. Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland As, seems to take that even further, treating people as if they are only numbers, and yet there was something refreshing and humanistic about the whole thing.

It's 2001 and Oakland has just lost to the New York Yankees in the playoffs, not surprising, seeing as their payroll was 76 Million dollars less. The humour of "Moneyball" starts in the off-season when the team can't afford to keep their top players and Beane and his experienced scouts start tossing around some free agent ideas. One guy is no good because he frequents strip clubs too often, another guy is no good because his girlfriend is ugly, and on down the list they go. But then Beane meets Yale-educated, economics-, mathematics-, and computer-whiz, baseball fan, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). He has no experience and he doesn't know these players. He doesn't know if they stand funny or if they swing ugly. He only knows their stats and their salary.

The Descendants (2011)

one of a kind and one of the bests............

[28 January 2012]

With the multiple narrative threads dealing at a microscopic emotional level - trying hard to come to terms with a cheating spouse where you know you've drawn the shortest possible end of the stick given the state of the other half, and having a teenage daughter who doesn't quite understand you, they provide that grounding to make it easy to identify with Matt King the man who's really quite down on his luck on family matters. The plot threads expand to his near obsession to want to discover with whom his wife has been cheating with, and to bear the brunt of an incessantly sarcastic father-in-law who doesn't take her daughter's comatose state all too kindly.

But it's not all doom, gloom and filled with negative emotions here, as the film does have its fair share of lighter moments courtesy of characters like Alexandra's insensitive loud mouthed friend Sid (Nick Krause) who comes along for the road trip of sorts, though almost always punctuated with that tinge of inevitable sadness in the air. Moments of poetic justice also makes you want to whoop for joy, although you tend to weigh in on these moments and make you think - would you want to maximize benefits for those in your family, or for selfish reasons choose not to remotely reward someone who had done you a great wrong. Such is the tussle and wrangle Matt has to deal with, and makes The Descendants one really topsy- turvy emotional ride, which on one hand one wants to appear magnanimous, while on the other having to suppress the urge to just punch out.

And Clooney deserves his award for making Matt King so believable, junking his glamorous self for something far more affable at first, before the problems start to pile, each with a deadline of its own, and wondering when he would crack under undue pressure, emotionally and physically. Sharing perfect daughter-father relationship chemistry with Clooney is Shailene Woodley who in my opinion is an up and coming young actress to look out for, showcasing a wide range of emotions here, and a scene which I thought brought out her best when her character got broken the news of her mom's condition.

Flypaper (2011)

not so boring ....yet no fun too..........

[28 January 2012]

Patrick Dempsey plays Tripp Kennedy, a savant with a liking for small change. A still hot Ashley Judd plays Kaitlin, a bank teller. But not all is as it seems and as the story progresses the action heats up, the story, and the film, begins to fall apart.

Once the thought "Monk" entered my head I couldn't get rid of it, like one of those annoying songs you get stuck on your internal jukebox. There were couple of laugh out loud moments but those were few and far between and the movie seemed to drag on and on and the holes in the plot got bigger and the script was stretched to cover the holes, mostly with lots of pointless swearing.

Pointless in two respects. Rob Minkoff is no Quentin Tarantino and all the cast added together will never be Samuel L Jackson. The storyline was so vague at times, so off plot, that I got the impression the someone on set shouted "MORE SWEARING" to cover up the rubbish dialogue and acting in pointless scenes which should have been sent to the floor of the edit suite, metaphorically speaking.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

fast pace cinema at best!!!

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, my mind turns two ways: The first half is guns, gunpowder, and gymnastics. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) contend with the salvation of civilization mostly through athletics, aided by director Guy Ritchie's considerable skill with the camera and graphics.

But in the second half, when the duo moves swiftly but intellectually to confront the arch villain Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), my mind is at equilibrium, renewing my love of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original brainy, eccentric sleuth. The chess game is a marvel of strategy, replete with revenge, intrigue, and just plain ingenuity. Director Guy Ritchie's visuals include delightful Downey disguises and lively speed ramping in a forest bombarded by bullets. Hans Zimmer's music leans heavily on the fiddle to lighten the load of a difficult plot.

Watson's marriage, rather than taking away from the romance, adds unexpected color and creativity. So Ritchie has ramped up the intellectual content and at least balanced it with the athletic, which was a strength of his 2009 version, Sherlock Holmes. With Inspector Lastrade just a memory and Holmes's love, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), appearing briefly, we are left to enjoy not so much the interaction of Holmes and Watson but the explosiveness of Holmes and Moriarty.

Friends (1994–2004)

great!!!!!

[8/10 · 11 January 2012]

After seeing every episode of this much loved sitcom i much say that the writers and cast have succeeded in making something that is not only humorous, but also forces you to care about the characters and what happens to them in the future. All six of the friends bring characteristics to the show that make the viewer feel like they know them. Each one of the characters is funny in their own way and due to the shows fast pace there is never a boring episode.

I will say however that towards the end Friends did start to lose what it had but, never the less was still very good. I started watching the show at series five but from then on i was hooked.

I recommend this sitcom to anyone and everyone.

Rizzoli & Isles (2010–2016)

a strange kind of chemistry

[7/10 · 11 January 2012]

It's nice to see the return of Angie Harmon to series television. When she was on Law And Order she was by far my favorite second chair Assistant District Attorney to Sam Waterston. The two women so opposite in temperament and background work well together to solve crime every week, though due to the her job Harmon seems to take the lead. Maybe we'll see more of Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles as things progress.

Probably due to her broad educational background Alexander's character has no discernible Boston accent. Why Harmon's character doesn't is a mystery. She sounds the same as she did on Law And Order, a new ADA whose previous employment on that show was in the Harris County DA's office in Texas where Harmon is from. Maybe she'll work some hard 'A's into her speech patterns in future episodes. Right now the only one in the cast who sounds like Boston is Donnie Wahlberg as her lieutenant and that's where he's from.

The two leads are flushed full dimensional characters and I'm sure we'll see more dimensions as time goes on. TNT has a winner here, I hope the TV watching public thinks so too.

New Girl (2011–2018)

just give it a chance

[10/10 · 11 January 2012]

It's a light hearted, non –serious comedy series that is hit and miss. The more I wanted to enjoy the show the more it seemed to struggle. Throughout the first series there are genuine moments of hilarity that will have you wiping the tears from your eyes. Unfortunately these can become lost in the banal and bland comedy of some of the other scenes. From episode to episode you will find yourself reassessing your opinions on the show and its characters. Daschannel successfully plays between the beauty and the geek in such a natural way we are never sure how to perceive her which also forms the underlying comedic dynamic of the show.

The other characters that share the screen unfortunately sink below par. Damon Wayans Jr's character was a balance between the absurdly arrogant Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and the pessimistic downer that is Mike (Jake M Johnson). But he only features in the opening episode and is soon replaced by Winston (Lamorne Morris) much to our bewilderment. Little in no reference is made to this and Coach is never seen again. Other than very bad test screenings we can only assume that Damon Wayans Jr has jumped ship for bigger fish.

The show is a similar offering that we have seen strewn out over the last few years. We have seen 'Awkward' the high school version, 'Cougar town' the mid-life/divorcée version and here we are offered the middle ground. Out of school, but not yet near marriage the feel of the show is light and quirky with some random but deliberate references. We are often dropped lines concerning recent fashion trends (Jeggings, and 'deep v's') and even the obscure sexual practices that has made the show somewhat of an underground success (For your own education you can look up 'give me the hat' it was certainly new to me) These help keep a youthful sense to the show and keeps the humor aimed towards the twenties demographic.

Suits (2011–2019)

smart and sophisticated

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

SUITS is a lawyer show. Set in New York (captured, by the way, in beautiful cinematic vistas) it focuses on a very successful law firm, managed by Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) who balances the talents of her two top lawyers, the smarmy Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) who is a control freak, and the very brilliant but egotistical Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht). There is a particularly appealing and very bright secretary Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and a beautiful paralegal Rachel (Meghan Markel) and last but certainly not least by any means there is Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) - a young lad who is extremely bright, has a photographic memory, dropped out of college because he took tests for fellow students and got caught, fell into marketing drugs by default for need of money so that he could pursue his dream of being a lawyer, and falls quite by accident into the role of being selected as associate to the brilliant but self absorbed Harvey Spector. This is the team of characters who are destined to provide fascinating sub stories as they interact.

Castle (2009–2016)

magic works!!!!

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

CASTLE wants to be a mix of all three, and fortunately one of the most valuable weapons in its arsenal is the rakish charm of its featured lead actor, former FIREFLY star Nathan Fillion. I can count the number of actors on one hand who can pull off the "charming rascal" vibe in a way that never gets old, and Nathan can do those guys in his sleep. (And probably has.) But he also knows how to modulate them as the occasion warrants, and where in his former role as Captain Mal Reynolds he could definitely play the bad-ass card when needed, here as womanizing bad-boy, party animal and bestselling novelist Rick Castle, he's a whole lot less serious. Bored with the cop character who has been his bread-and-butter for a string of chart-busting crime thrillers, Rick has decided in his latest tome to blow his hero's brains out, thus making a continuance of the series a little difficult to say the least. It wouldn't be a problem if the laid-back Lothario weren't suddenly faced with a major case of writer's block. But inspiration is coming in the most fortuitous if unlikely of ways.

A serial killer has decided to rehash some of the more gruesome deaths from Castle's earlier novels, and it's up to the very attractive (of course!) and no-nonsense detective Kate Beckett (newcomer Stana Katic) to crack the case...which of course will require the assistance of a certain writer of whose books Detective Beckett is a closet fan. But a fan of smart-Aleck guys who like to make very unsubtle passes at her? Not so much. Let the games and one-oneupmanship begin! At first blush, you could easily accuse CASTLE of trying too hard, especially since matched with the seasoned experience of Fillion, the jury was out on Katic's ability to keep up with him in the first few episodes (at least it was for me.) And to enhance its credibility, the pilot even threw in some heavy hitters in guest cameos - James Patterson, no stranger himself to the crime fiction genre, and Stephen J. Cannell, who used to crank out pilots for series just like CASTLE over breakfast.

Bones (2005–2017)

it's all about chemistry

[10/10 · 11 January 2012]

Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is a smart, focused, professional woman whose sensitivities are not so far from the surface that she is hard, or hardened by avoiding them, nor so close to the surface that she is weak, or weakened by them. She is serious, candid and forthright. Her ability to "handle" herself stems from confidence and experience, not tragedy or pathology as is so often the case in TV-land female characters.

Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) could be a hardened, tough guy, stereotypical character. He is not. While we are reminded regularly of his past as a military sniper, the sensitivity he brings to his duties as an FBI agent redeem his past actions, as is his hope. Make no mistake, he is a fierce patriot and proud FBI man, yet his character's motives and motivation are clear and noble. They are never fanatically righteous or overbearingly macho.

These two characters are wonderfully balanced with each other: their approach to life, to their work, to the pursuit of this week's mystery. Their relationship rings true. Through agreements, disagreements and the sense of humor it takes to weather both, Deschanel and Boreanaz always deliver the wry portrayal these two staunchly serious, but genuinely human characters deserve. Each character's work is expertly accomplished and equally important to the solutions they unravel together. As audience, we enjoy their working together. Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth are a great team - as are Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz.

Sherlock (2010–2017)

fast pace and thrilling pace!!!

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

One word to describe this show..'excellent'. A true master piece. I am a huge fan of the original Sherlock Holmes books and TV shows. When I sat down to watch this, at the first glimpse I was a bit disappointed. The show started in a somewhat different way than I imagined. Few minutes later, I found out that the 'difference' I experienced is what makes this series unique and brilliant. The cast is spot on. Couldn't have picked a better guy for Holmes or Lestrade. Yet, Dr. Watson doesn't match the original picture.Who cares hey? The story is full of twists and turns and fascinating to see the techniques of deduction.It has a very strong base. The pace is really amazing. Everything happens so fast and at a thrilling pace that you don't have the time to think about it.

The Good Wife (2009–2016)

really good drama combined with nice script

[7/10 · 11 January 2012]

This show can certainly be relevant with all of the political sexual affair scandals of recent years. As many high profile politicians have been known in recent years to cheat and have affairs on their wives. To name a few you have John Edwards, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and most memorable was Eliot Spitzer who cheated and had an affair with a hooker that's the theme that this new drama "The Good Wife" took a page from and started the book. Only later the pages turn over to new chapters of independence in which new answers and the search for justice is sought.

Anyway it begins set in the windy city of Chicago, Illinois as a state attorney Peter Florrick(played by "Sex and the City" and "Law and Order" star Chris Noth)resigns after it is revealed that he had a sexual affair with a escort an attractive hooker type. This was paid for by state money and bribes so he's even sentenced to prison time and this has destroyed and hurt his loving and faithful wife Alicia(the attractive veteran Julianna Margulies). Talk about a woman scorned and feeling down in the dumps as she has her two children to now raise.

However if you were expecting a weekly series of scandal, sex, and affairs, and political back stabbing this series branches off to another direction. After this Alicia decides to once again go back to working for a Chicago law firm where she tries cases of people who've been hurt and have suffered wrong doing. It's like she's using her anger and hurt to help others as she fights for truth and justice trying to prove the corrupt and special interests are wrong.

The Closer (2005–2012)

brilliant acting......

[8/10 · 11 January 2012]

The Closer is a show which has a fairly realistic portrayal of a working environment; there are relationship dynamics which have evolved over the several seasons and which explore the inter-personal connections made between co-workers as they solve cases. From the beginning episodes where Brenda's staff worked against her, sometimes with the expressed desire for her to fail, to the latest season where they appear to be firmly on her "side" there is an interesting dynamic in showing an intelligent and capable woman as authority-figure and the gradual and sometimes reluctant acceptance of her as the officers she works with see for themselves what she is bringing to the dept.

The show brings a lot of elements of the classic mysteries, and uses clever reveals and intelligence as well as past personal experiences and leaps of intuition in solving crimes. The actors who make up the main cast are all very talented and the writing allows us glimpses into the entire cast, though the show is clearly focused on Brenda. Each episode also allows the viewer to see some of the personal drama without being heavy-handed or too soap-opera, keeping a good balance between the police investigation and the people who are doing the investigation.

I find it interesting, however, that most of the people I know who do not like the show are male and love similar stories where a male in the central authority and does the exact same things that Brenda does to close a case. For someone who likes police drama, with realistic characters who are not always perfect, this is an excellent show to watch. The episodes are well paced, the story lines through the seasons are detailed and have a lot of personal touches for the characters

Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010)

worth watch once

[7/10 · 29 July 2010]

the film does re-open the familiar X-files of Mumbai's most well-known crime story -- the stormy relationship between Haji Mastan and his protégée Dawood Ibrahim, even though it does begin with the mandatory disclaimer of steering clear from real life. But it does it with an elegance and an intensity that keeps you glued to your seats, despite the fact that you know where the drama is headed for. And that's because director Milan Luthria chooses to anchor his film in the emotional heartland rather than dabble with guns and gore. Refreshingly, the film goes low on violence and focuses more on the emotional quotient, throwing light on how Sultan Mirza (an awesome Ajay Devgn) rose to his Shahenshah-esquire status in the underworld and how he tried to tame the roguish new team member, Shoaib Khan (an edgy Emraan Hashmi). Alas, in vain! And here-in lies the dramatic core of Rajat Arora's dynamic script which catapults the two lead characters as a study in contrast. While Sultan is showcased as the archetypal gentleman crook with a strong moral fib re, Shoaib is unprincipled and rotten to the core. Like that Dada of all Dons, Vito Corleone, our Desi Godfather too refuses to do drugs and insists he dabbles only with stuff banned by the law of the land not by his conscience. Shoaib, on the other hand, is game for any and everything -- treachery, infidelity, gang war, bloodshed -- in his unbridled bid for power. Of course, he begins as the trusted acolyte of the man he venerates as God himself (Maine to bhagwan Chan Lia Ha, ab AP insane Chane, he tells the iconic Sultan), but it doesn't take long before he sets his eyes on the wider horizon. Mumbai mere niche Ur main Dukey Ki Tarah up (Mumbai below me while I scale above as smoke), he declares and roller-coasts his way on the road to pure crime and total immorality, ending up as the outlaw who managed to rule the city with remote control. Interestingly, despite presenting Sultan as a larger-than-life figure, the film does manage to keep its moral compass straight and has a seminal sequence which categorically brands all its seemingly heroic characters as criminals, charisma notwithstanding.

Interspersed between this titanic tale of a gang lord and his wannabe are the tender love stories of the two fugitives. Once again, done with a delicate finesse which creates memorable mush on screen as Sultan serenades the actress Rehana (Kangna Ranaut) and Shoaib tries a Bobby with his shy showroom girl Mumtaz (Prachi Desai).

After the innovative and experimental Love Sex Ur Dhoka, producer Ektaa Kapoor once again scores with a complete entertainer which boasts of almost everything: a compelling story, crisp and absolutely state-of-the-art duologue's (Rajat Arora), an artistic period piece ambiance (Aseem Mishra), a lilting music score (Pritam) and some riveting performances. Both Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi breathe fire and brimstone in to their portrayal of the two disparate gangsters and come up with two of the most mesmeric acts of the year, while Kangna Ranaut and Prachi Desai pitch in as perfect and picturesque molls. Add to this an in-ROM ensemble cast which includes principled cop Randeep Hooda and loyal Sultan aide, Naved Ahmad (both are extremely watchable) and you have an entire catwalk of flesh and blood characters in a cinema that is generally peopled with cardboard cut-outs.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai offers you both substance and soul, even as it dabbles with a slice of reality. Don't miss it.