The road to Oscars… (Best Picture Nominee 1/9)
LION : Movie Review.

This is based upon a true story of a boy who got lost and his journey from his home to Calcutta all the way to Australia and his path back home.
It’s difficult to rate and review such movies objectively. The subject matter is so moving that such movie automatically tend to get higher ratings regardless of their actually quality.
But in this case this film is rather well made and very heart warming. The direction is top notch without too much melodrama or over the top scenes. All the characters have been kept as real as possible and close in resemblance to their real life counter parts.
Some people might have issue with a foreign film showing the poverty of India, but since this is a true story and what happened, was also real, its fine to show the reality without glamorizing it. It takes a certain courage to show such a simple story shot so well without adding useless drama.
Dev Patel’s acting is indeed Oscar (nomination) worthy. Though his chances are winning are slim, at least he is now an Oscar nominated actor.

Rating: 9/10. Definitely worth a watch for all sorts of audiences. Not much of action or drama in here, it’s a real life story portrayed in a simple yet effective manner.

The road to Oscars… (Best Picture Nomination 2/9)

Hidden Figures Movie Review

This is a story about the colored women in NASA who made a whole lot of difference minus very little acknowledgement for their roles in the 1960’s space program.
The racism prevalent in the 1960s America is the major focus in this film and seeing by the reviews, comments and criticism facing this film in 2016-17, it seems like that Racism is alive and well. Which is what makes this ALL the more important. It shows how racial segregation used to work back then and how unfair it all was.
Despite this situation, the story mainly follows 3 very brilliant women who slowly rise through the ranks and make something of themselves.

Its directly pretty well, with lots of context given to the film so that NON-Americans (such as we at Film Pickle) can quickly get the mood of the times and the sexist attitude towards women.
But other than the racism and sexism this movie is ALSO about NASA and the early days of space race. So it’s a bit comparable to the documentary series – From the Earth to the Moon – but with more of these women in focus.

Story and Plot wise, if you know about the US space program or have any interest in Space, this film is quite interesting. Even if you don’t understand math (I personally don’t get math at all) this movie is broken down and explained for the layman.

The performances are pretty good all over but none of them stand out as exceptional. Every role is done well and works fine.

Rating: 9/10. If you like movies about the Space race, or highlighting racial segregation or just biopics about accomplished but unknown people, this movie is highly recommended.

Resident Evil 6: The Final Chapter 2017 Movie Review

So the resident Evil series of movies play fast and loose with its own story and history, stuff gets retconned all the time and plot points are changed over and over. But they are very enjoyable to fans of the zombie genre. Lots of action, lots of blood and gore…
So after 5 movies we come to the so called 6th and Final Chapter. If this film does well (which it isn’t) it might get more sequels or a TV show. If it flops, then this is the last movie. Which is fine, 6 movies are quite enough.

So if you are a fan of the franchise, is this movie worth a watch? Absolutely, it brings the whole story around and concludes it pretty much. If you have NEVER seen a Resident Evil film, this movie has almost nothing to offer to a new comer. That’s pretty much how it is…

Direction: its better made than part 3,4 and 5 for sure, the series had veered away from its gritty tone to being over CGI fests in part 4 and especially 5. But this film looks like a mad max film, which is a good thing. The gritty and realistic, non CGI monster in every corner works well for the film. So the series original director and husband of the lead star is back in the director’s chair and this time he hasn’t messed it up. The pacing is good; it doesn’t slow down like it did in the previous two installments.

Acting/Performances: The acting has gotten a bit better over the years, the series staple is to look like an A Grade Horror with almost B grade acting, thankfully this film has very little of the cheesy lines and hollow one liners so the acting is bit better. The series star milla jovovich has matured quite a bit and seems more believable as the tortured heroine ‘Alice’. Ali Larter is back as Claire redfield and she does a decent enough job.

Story/Plot: The plot is now retconned big time and it kind of smashes up the previous movie’s amazing setup. One might call it a partial reboot too, but the series is never that coherent any which ways. So ignoring the plot and story is the best way to enjoy all the action on screen.

Overall : The film is a bit too dark at times and the fast cutting doesn’t gel well with the 3D. this wasn’t shot in 3D for sure.

Rating : 6/10. A Watchable last film in the franchise. Zombie fans and Resident Evil fans will like it, newcomers to this franchise need to see the previous films to understand what’s going on.

The Oscars countdown continues with Hell or High Water Movie Review
(Best Film Nominee 3/9)

Two brothers, who are robbing banks in west Texas are being chased by two Rangers.

This is the premise of the film, but it doesn’t adequately describe the experience of watching this film. The locations, the cinematography and the feel of the film is something unique.
Though, being a non-American, I feel a lot of its charm is lost to the worldwide audience. Maybe this hits home even better for the people who live in the southern part of America. Despite this, its easy to see why this film was nominated for an Oscar.

The film is a slow burn sort of film and there is not much of action or drama in it, just a simple story told in a simple yet effective way.
So the question is, should you see it?

The answer is… a resounding YES. This movie is definitely worth a watch.

See it for the damn good performances by all the 4 principal characters. Especially Jeff Bridges who gives one of his career best performance in this film, not to mention Ben Foster who has come a LONG way from playing angel in X-men 3… he should have gotten an Oscar nod!

Also see it for the way the film is crafted and the tense anticipation of how things will unfold. Who will win and who will lose in this cat and mouse game of cops and robbers.

Without giving away the ending, or any spoilers, the film serves as commentary on the state of affairs with bank loans, the common man stuck in between loans and banks and the law and order situation.

Rating: 8.5/10.
Must watch for audiences who like films such a No country for old men or Burn After Reading (though not as quirky) or Fargo. This is NOT an action film though, it’s a slow burn crime drama without any extra melodrama.

JOLLY L.L.B 2 Movie Review :

The premise of the film is a lowly lawyer working as an assistant for a famous lawyer is faced with life changing decisions and an complicated case which no one else will take.

Courtroom drama / lawyer films and TV shows have always been part of my favorite genre, from Boston Legal to Pink I like to see every single one of them. But these days this genre of movie has become too similar. First half the good lawyer will appear to lose, then he will gain an upper hand, then the opposition will somehow demean that, then again he is about to lose, finally at the last possible second he will pull out some googly and win the case! Sounds familiar?

This film too offers nothing new in that regard…

Plot / Story: The movie’s plot is realistic enough, conveys the premise well and sets up the events adequately. But apart from a few scenes, it has no zing. Its not tense or crackling like PINK or over blown like Damini. It’s just there, plain and normal.

Direction: This is where both the part 1 and part 2 completely fail. This guy is NOT a good director. Somehow the scene which need to have impact often fall flat or are just shot weirdly and seem like a parody. It’s not unwatchable, but it’s nothing like the tense Special 26 or Rustom which was electrifying. A courtroom drama REALLY needs to have that extra factor.

Acting : Akshay Kumar is FLAWLESS and spot on. He doesn’t miss a single beat. He has grown big time as an actor and now is easily one of India’s best leading actors. His lawyer opponent Anu Kapoor is also PAR excellence, the best parts of the film is the two of them sparring. But that’s just a few scenes. Saurabh Sukla plays an eccentric judge who is presumably reprising his role from the first part. He is also rather good. But despite these 3 stellar performances, somehow the film isn’t very tightly wound
.
The film’s main events are revealed too early and there is no air of mystery to what happened and why. In that regards PINK got it right, they didn’t show the main events till the end keeping the audience wondering who did what and what REALLY took place…

Rating : 6/10. If you LOVE lawyer/courtroom dramas, you might like this one. If you are an Akki fan, you will also like this film.

I didn’t dislike the film, but it didn’t punch hard enough in its dialogs and scene until the VERY end. The climax was already revealed in the trailers so even that lost its punch!

Mild Spoilers ahead :

P.S : Why the heck is this movie called State VS Jolly LLB 2, in the film its one private firm vs jolly. the police dept abandons the tainted officer in question!

P.P.S : In the first scene, the mic Jolly is speaking into has NO WIRES connected to it! its like a internet meme waiting to happen!

Post Oscars Movie Review :
Manchester By The Sea Movie Review :

This movie is about an uncle and his nephew coming to terms with the death of a loved one and the new reality facing them.
This movie is a slow burn drama and although there is nothing wrong with that, somehow the movie meanders it way through the script before finally coming to a meandering and ultimately unfulfilling ending.

The performance of Casey Affleck won him an Oscar and good as his performance is, it’s obvious why this role was written for Matt Damon. He would have been PERFECT in the role, but Casey is the one who got the benefit of the role. His sullen act of a depressed and introverted man is flawless but it is not compelling.
This movie is performance driven and rests on the way the acting is done, the rest of the film, the cinematography, the editing, the story itself are a bit lack lustre and not much happens overall.

So what this film only if you like slow movies which are a bit depressive and ultimately don’t really drive home a point or leave the viewer thinking.

Rating: My Rating of this film would be a 6/10. It’s not unwatchable or overly pretentious, but it’s no masterpiece either.

P.S : the scene featured on the poster is the ONLY scene this actress has any acting in it, her role is basically just this 1 scene and she got an oscar nomination for it! what the heck!

Best Picture Winner At the Oscars.
Movie Review :

This is a coming of age movie about a young black boy growing up in Miami.
This movie had a LOT of potential, I am sure this film is very close to the director’s heart, but the film in and of itself is boring and rather meandering and ultimately fails to make a single impact or point

This is Oscar bait at its basic. The Oscars got called out for including the LGBT or Black community last year and now lo and behold, a Black LGBT based film…

Just like Boyhood, this film sort of goes nowhere and ends without any rhyme or reason or Closure or payoff on ANY of the plot points raised in the film.

One important character, played by Mahershala Ali (Who won an OSCAR for his acting) simply disappears mid film and it is up to audience to understand if he got killed or what the heck happened to that character.

So as far as films go, this one is not worth a watch. The subject of the main character who is a repressed homosexual is sensitively handled but the story and plot needs to have more substance than JUST that ONE fact covering the whole movie! After a while it feels like, OK this guy is Gay and he is repressed about it, NOW WHAT? Move on with the story, or show something meaningful! Even the ending is sudden and meaningless in lots of ways.

Rating: 5.5/10. Its slow, the first part is sort of watchable then it gets boring and not really worth a watch. Not even wroth a watch after winning the best picture Oscar!

P.s: Someone might say, YOU NEVER faced these issues, so this film seems boring to you... Well I never faced being a gangster either, but Goodfellas didn't seem boring, or even Boyhood didn't feel SO boring... or pointless! A GOOD film is a GOOD film regardless of how its made! So moonlight for me just wasnt a good film !

Kaabil Movie Review :
I saw Raees yesterday and today Kaabil, I will not compare the two as they are different genre and emotions…
Kaabil is about a blind guy Rohan who find loves and then when due to events beyond his control, his love is lost and he plans revenge.
I had ZERO expectations from Sanjay Gupta, he is not a bad director, but he over did Jazbaa and Zinda was barely ok, but under the tutelage of Rakesh Roshan he has made his best film yet. The credit goes to Senior Roshan for honing Sanjay gupta’s film making and producing a truly moving revenge drama.
Let’s start with the acting, Hrithik has been phoning it in since Bang Bang and his mohenjodaro damaged his reputation and market value, but Kaabil is one of his best till date. He is amazing in the film. This must be his second best role after Koi Mil Gaya, narrowly edging out kaho naa pyaar hai. He is convincing as the blind yet quite capable Rohan.
Yami Gautam has lost some weight and she is very good in her role, she is lovely and charming and it is easy to fall in sync with this adorable blind couple. They sell their romance and the chemistry is there between the leads without being sleazy or lusty. It’s the kind of romance which can only be found in FilmKraft’s productions and it works rather well. Its been a while since the heroine is the eye candy of the film and yet genuine enough that you feel for her.
Fortunately, (mild spoilers till end of para.) Once she passes away, she doesn’t disappear from the movie and comes on screen as Rohan’s imagination and it keep the film’s plot focused and reminds the audience of Rohan’s loss.
Coming to the plot and story, it’s a been there, done that sort of plot, we have seen Ghajini by Aamr khan and scores of such films, but what sets this film apart is how realistically and logically things are setup, which even surprised me, a jaded film goer who can predict every plot turns and twists and even surprised me a few times! So kudos to the writers.
Dialog is crackling throughout, lots and lots of punchlines, the villain has excellent lines, you just LOVE to hate such a fellow, he doesn’t do anything overtly villainous or evil, but he is SO despicable you will hate him, but also feel happy to see them get beaten up! The dialogs work in a big way to make this film very memorable. Especially hrithik’s “tu ayega na” dialog. Not just as a punch line but as a plot line, so Hrithik’s character is SURE that this guy will show up. Otherwise the plot won’t move ahead.
Lastly but very importantly the music, songs and background score. Rajesh roshan has given a very remixed 90’s feel to the songs, he is a bit old fashioned but it works rather well in this film, the background score REALLY picks up the film especially the Kaabil theme tune, used in romance, revenge and drama sends shivers in its depth and power! Without this music the film wont have half the impact it has…
Now for the conclusion: This film was simply amazing. The impact every scene of drama has, it led to claps, cheers and hoots. The way the story unfolds, it doesn’t let go of the audience for even a second. I was simply amazing how simple yet effective it was. The story, acting, dialogs and score all came together to make you FEEL the character’s pain and need for revenge.
Rating : 8/10. This film is simply superb, an good and effective love story turned revenge drama which avoids all the clichés and doesn’t over do it and keeps it simple, real and effective. MUST watch in the theaters
P.S : A special shout out to my singer buddy Jubin Nautiyal, his voice lends so much to this film, by god what an amazing rendition of the title track, the pain of the character comes out in the voice. Kudos sir. Keep it up!

SRK plays the title character in Raees who is a bootlegger and a smuggler and always one step ahead of the law.

I always try to talk about positives before the negatives, but in this film, there are VERY few positives.
Other than the 60s to 70s setting and the introduction scene of nawazuddin, there wasn’t much good or innovative in this film.

SRK as always is consistent in the film, he doesn’t give bad performances, he was good even in RA.One, so no complains about his acting as such. Some of the dialogs, (already made famous by the trailers) are a bit punchy, but they end in the first half, no good catchy dialogs in the rest of the film.

So moving on to the negatives,
The movie is supposed to be set in the 60 or 70s, the cars and technology show it such, but mahira khan’s intro scene has 1987’s Mr. India’s song in it. Then later in the film kala phattar is being played in the background. So bloody decide if this is the 90s or 70s or purposely ageless?

OK, the setting doesn’t matter to most audiences, but such immersion was achieved in special 26, Rustom, Parineeta etc. So why not now in 2017? Then there are the super duper moronic stunts and action scenes, possibly choreographed by a 5-year-old with no understanding of physics or logic. If this was a super-hero film, all is forgiven, but this isn’t Captain America, it’s a gritty realistic cinema.

Now we come to the waste of time songs, of which there are not that many, but every song slows the film and drags it down. Except the Laila mein Laila, which does serve a plot point in the film and is the only entertaining song in the whole film.

Coming to the story and plot, this film is ALL over the place, it cannot decide if the story is about a smuggler, the cop, their clash or a Jeffrey archer type story of a poor boy growing rich! Instead of character growth, you get stagnation, Raees as a character is the same from a child till the end… no progression at all… same goes for every other character in the film, they remain the same from their introduction till the end of the film.
The let-down here is the direction, this same film could have been amazing and riveting, but the director doesn’t know how to create moments or scenes or have any impact at all!

Long story short, I won’t recommend this film, if you are nostalgic about gangster cinema, re-watch D company, once upon a time in Mumbai (part 1) or even the original Don. This film bored me to tears in the last 35 minutes of predictability and cliché…

Rating : 4.5/10. SRK is good in the film, one or two good scenes. Overall it’s an inconsistent snooze fest.

The critics have really lambasted this film to no end. Being a fan of the series since 2007 it was inevitable that I would have to check out this one.
I had gone in expecting a rather mediocre cinema and for the first 35 mins I got a rather flat movie. The scenes set in the present are rather lame. Lacking of dramatic impact or any tension. But after the first flash back the film improves a wee bit. But still they have intercut the present and past during combat and that’s jarring and unimaginative. They get a lot of the franchises hallmarks right so it’s not an abomination to the core concept. In fact, the core concept of Templars vs assassins is not diluted or destroyed. Which should be a relief to all the fans.
The acting is very mediocre as the film is written and shot very mediocre. The dialogs are lacking impact and bland. Most of the film is filled with dead eyed stares of tertiary characters.
But in the past scenes and second half the film is not bad. It’s not total junk but a better director could have taken this really high.
Rating: 5.5/10. Fans will sort of like it. It’s worth watching once for the love of the series of games.