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The Avengers (2012)
10/10
The Avengers : The Best SuperHero Movie!Need i say more!?
4 May 2012
"Spolier Alert". Don't read further if you feel you don't wanna get your hopes too high. Trust me guys the movie is so freaking awesome any superhero movie fan would be in for a treat! But the least you expect from it, the more you would enjoy and savor each and every 150 minute of this flick!

My hands have been itching to write this review from the moment the end credits rolled on the screen.

To start off, Take a Bow and Applaud Mr Joss Whedon, the Director and Writer of this movie. He has done what countless movie makers couldn't achieve when they attempted to make a super hero movie with the same set of characters and actors. His ensemble of superheroes has more character depth, more action, more story and some effervescently witty dialogues than any of the other solo movies based on the characters of this film. Whedon has come up with a script that's cheeky and breezy, full of witty banter and sly pop-culture shout-outs as well as self-referential humor, one that moves with an infectious energy that (almost) makes you lose track of its two-and-a-half-hour running time.

The hype has been building for years and it couldn't possibly be more deafening at this point. Four years ago around the same time, "Iron Man" arrived in theaters and kicked off a bold, long-term plan (by Hollywood standards, at least) that would see four different Marvel superheroes appear in their own solo movies, then unite in a single film featuring not just all of the previous films' stars, but many of their supporting cast, too.

What's unbelievable, though, is that despite all of the odds against it and the stratospheric expectations heaped upon it, "The Avengers" still manages to not only live up to those expectations, but to exceed them with an epic adventure that's just as impressive as its larger-than-life characters.

For a film that required so many prologues to get to this point, it's surprising how little up-front exposition is required to bring newcomers up to speed with "The Avengers" universe. While the film clearly assumes some familiarity with the main characters and a few basic plot points of the preceding films ("Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Thor," "Iron Man 2," and "Captain America: The First Avenger"), co-writers Joss Whedon and Zak Penn have done a great job of weaving any necessary information into the early portions of the film and making the exposition feel organic.

The premise of "The Avengers" is this: Thor's evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has returned, and he plans to use the Tesseract (the powerful, glowing blue cube last seen in "Captain America") to take over Earth. When Loki proves too powerful for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and S.H.I.E.L.D. to take down on their own, all of the characters from the previous Marvel Studios films team up to defeat Loki and the alien horde helping him.

To be honest on the face of it, the plot does seem to be taken straight out of a comic book, and is laughably old-school in its simplicity, but its genius lies in how this bare-bones narrative foundation allows the film's talented cast and creative team the room to do what they do best.

It's the sort of adventure that comic fans are accustomed to seeing in print, but just like the best comics, "The Avengers" truly shines in how it fills out its narrative skeleton and the area around these tropes with vibrant storytelling, compelling character development, and moments filled with so much heart – and humor – that the entire package stands on its own.

Joss Whedon has pulled off the tricky feat of juggling a large ensemble cast and giving everyone a chance to shine, of balancing splashy set pieces with substantive ideology. Stuff gets blown up real good in beautifully detailed 3-D in "The Avengers" — the area in and around Grand Central Terminal, for example, gets obliterated beyond recognition in an exhausting, climactic battle — but the film as a whole is never a mess from a narrative perspective.

Read more at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.com/2012/05/01/the-avengers- the-best-superhero-movieneed-i-say-more/
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Chronicle (2012)
8/10
Chronicle : A Realistic take on Sci – Fi Action
13 February 2012
Chronicle is an engaging offspring of two very separate genres. Reality based horror / thriller movies and Super Hero's. Never would you have imagined a super hero origins movie being shot with a hand-held camera. They are often related to high octane action sequences and graphics and CGI. Well that thing doesn't change here either but the treatment is creative and thoroughly engaging. If suppose paranormal activity and any super hero movie were to mate, their offspring would have been called "Chronicle".

I think by now the "handheld camera" trick in films is becoming a little stale. Sure, it can help smaller productions and can make some films visually spectacular. However, it seems that it is used in way too many films, usually horror flicks at that. Chronicle, however, is nothing less than a masterpiece at not only the "found footage" style, but is also a brand new way of making a superhero movie, mainly because the people it centers on are far from heroes anyway. They are portrayed as everyday people. People with real problems and psychologies. All the larger than life characters of other sci fi or super hero movie is nowhere to be seen here.

Read the rest of the review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/chronicle-a- realistic-take-on-sci-fi-action/
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1/10
The Darkest Hour – Worst two hours of my Life!
9 January 2012
The aliens are here! The aliens are here! AGAIN!!!

How many times do we have to sit thru aliens carrying out invasions on our planet and? How many times do we have to endure the same retelling again and again and again!!?? What's the point of making such movies!?

Hollywood's fascination with aliens and its fight against the aliens continues in this rather timid and thoroughly immature movie. In the past few years we have seen countless movies like "Battle LA", "Skyline", "War of the Worlds", "Aliens Vs. Cowboys" etc. all having the exact same storyline. All movies follow an approximate 8 to 10 step process.

Step 1) the audience is introduced to a group of friends / Family / Strangers who have just come into contact in a pub, party, or a social function.

Step 2) These set of people are stranded in a city, country. It's not necessary that the city is of their origin.

Step 3) Aliens start attacking with colorful, usually green, blue, red or in this movies case yellow beams of mass destruction.

Step 4) when they start attacking, everyone else other than the lead group fall prey to their heinous attack. The other residents of earth have no chance whatsoever to survive.

Step 5) The army or some military outfit has a unique way to survive the ambush and are calling out to the survivors to reach the location of safety. An un intercepted radio frequency is used to transmit this distress call.

Step 6) The group starts finding ways to reach the location. Along the way, one or two members of the group become collateral damage. And there is a sudden love that re kindles amongst the surviving members of the group.

Step 7) The group somehow manage to understand the actual reason for the aliens invasion of Planet Earth. And no surprises, that the reason can vary from the RICH minerals of earth or the human beings themselves or just that the planet is coming in the way of the aliens trajectory.

Step 8) The group also finds out aliens weakness. And they some how reach the Safe House and tell the whole world how earth can be saved from the aliens! YIPPE!!!

Ohhh…And one other thing, one brave male or female lead, commits an act of bravery by sacrificing his / her life for the group. Touching moments of sorrow follow. And also at the end of the movie the lead pair has to share a Kiss. This demonstrates that all is absolutely well with the world.

There is a unique mystery in this movie which am still not able figure out. For some reason, untold to us, every human being that falls prey to the aliens have their entire body, along with their clothes just evaporate into thin air barring the Shoes! What's with the shoes!?? Are they made of alien prone material? If so why didn't the group wear clothes of exactly that material!? Or was the movie sponsored by Addidas or Rebook or Woodlands! We would soon see shoe commercials having the tag line "Our Shoes can survive an Alien Invasion!!"

Well I guess that about sums up what a frustrating watch this movie was. And for people who haven't watched it know exactly what to expect from the movie. There is an utter lack of imagination on the makers part. The acting is hilarious in the moment of horror and horrifying in the moments of humor.

The movie is senseless and pointless to say the least and there's not one single department to write home about. The 3D is BAD. Worst ever.

Guess movies like these are the reason why aliens stay away from us and refuse to make any contact. Anyone would! Why would they want to waste their intellectual prowess on beings that make and sell such stupid movies in the name of entertainment? So like the aliens, a warning to fellow earthlings "STAY AWAY "!!

Rating:

0 (ZERO)

Read More Reviews on http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com
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9/10
Ides of March – A Dark Political Thriller
8 January 2012
George Clooney is turning out to be one very fine entertainer. He acts well and his direction of the material he chooses is just spot on. The guy surely tries to weave together interesting stories with a unique direction style. His method is laid back and he cares a damn about it. But it sure doesn't fail to entertain the audience. I still feel Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is his most accomplished work but this stands a close second. He is slowly becoming the next Clint Eastwood or Robert Redford of our times.

Ides of March is a political thriller set during the US Presidential elections. Now if you don't know anything about the election process in the US you would be clueless of the proceedings at the start. I was thoroughly confused but slowly everything started making sense and slowly I started enjoying it. With its dark take on the human nature and a satisfyingly twisty plot, makes it one of the most entertaining films ever made about the political process.

Political expediency and intrigue make for fascinating cinema. Fans of this type of cinema recall fondly one of the originals, "All The King's Men", later made into many versions, the last being one where the word 'King's' was replaced by 'President's'. In all the versions of this movie, the rookie campaign manager loses to a smart politician. What if he did not? What if nobody loses and nobody wins either. "The Ides of March" based on a play 'Farragut North' takes up this theme from 'All the King's Men" and explores it to its ruthless ends and means.

Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is the junior campaign manager for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) who's looking to win Ohio to guarantee him a presidential nomination. Stephen is an idealist who works for Mike because he thinks this is the man who can bring change the world needs.

Events unleash that threaten to run Mike down. As things get out of control, as power struggle and political expediency intensifies, Stephen finds himself in the middle of a scandal that he hadn't anticipated and couldn't control? Or can he?

"The Ides of March" is a coming-of-age film of a young idealist in the ruthless world of politics, of losing his virginity and innocence to the intrigue and violence of the political world. The focus is not on politics and the politicians, like in 'All the King's Men" but on the rookie and his reaction to things around him.

Clooney is an expert director with an immaculate sense of timing and subtlety. Standing on the backside of a large American flag, Stephen contemplates his idealism even as the US national anthem plays on. The camera could have cut off, or panned out. But it hauntingly lingers on, silently giving a glance into the mind of this idealist.

In another scene where an important character is to be fired, a man in the car calls him inside for a minute and for that entire minute the camera just focuses on the silent car as the man comes out and the job is done. In a normal scenario, the director would have jumped the minute. Clooney chooses to linger on thus heightening the tension of an important minute.

Many politically charged films, like Clooney's directorial venture "Good Night and Good Luck" or "Syriana" where he acted, attempt to expose political intrigue and thus present the truth. Here, political corruption is almost taken for granted, and it is the corruption of one idealistic individual that becomes the focus.

A stellar cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giammati gives the film an extra character. Ryan Gosling's innocence works well for the film. After Drive, he yet again portrays what a fine actor he is turning out to be. Clooney is his usual self composed and confident of the proceedings and always in control of the scene.

The movie reminds us that there's a big bad world out there, and to survive you have to answer Fire with Fire. Although, not the right thing to do always, it is something you have to live, grow and adapt with. This dark and practical take makes the movie worth a watch.

Read the entire review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/ides-of-march-a- dark-political-thriller/
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