The Hitman's Bodyguard is a film directed by Patrick Hughes. I actually had no expectations while watching the film because of the Rotten Tomatoes' reviews. Then some of my friends happen to watch this film and said the film was quite entertaining, which increased my interest into watching this film. And after watching it, I can say that their statement was definitely true.

Plot: Micheal Byers has to protect his former enemy hit-man Darius Kincaid from the assassins of Vladisav Dukhovich.

Story and Direction: Patrick Hughes is infamous for directing Expendables 3 (which I personally didn't like). But Patrick has definitely improved from that time. And this film is a very definite proof of that. This film makes me remember my favorite genre of action-comedy films of the 80's which has suddenly gone lost. The chemistry between Kincaid and Byers is the one to watch out for. From their first meeting only, the film was a laugh riot. The action scenes are good. I was very impressed by most of the stunt work. As for flaws in this film, there is basically nothing new. I mean that, it doesn't have it's own unique identity. And some of the VFX in this film actually looked fake. Which kind of irritates me a bit. And also, we have the villain who basically does nothing. He just sits behind a chair and gives orders. But with these flaws, also I found it quite an enjoyable watch.

Acting: Ryan Reynolds was great as the bodyguard. In each scene, you are with his character. Sam Jackson was par excellence. When he enters any scene, he basically just kills it. Each time a profanity used to come out of his mouth, I was bursting out of laughter. Gary Oldman was not used much in this film. But for how much screen presence was given to him, I liked it. Salma Hayek was another one of the highlights of this film. I was liking her presence in the film. Elodie Yung was just OK.

Favorite Scene: The scene where Kincaid tells how he met his wife. I mean the slow music, Sam Jackson's expressions and Salma Hayek's aggressive-ness were all to look out in this scene.

Verdict: The film is a very enjoyable watch like I just said. If you go into this film expecting you will get something out of this world, please do avoid it. This film is a stress-buster.

I am going with a 7.5/10

Kong Skull Island is a film directed by Jordan Vogt Roberts. Now i have only seen the 2005 King Kong version. And from just the trailers, I guessed that it would be actually a sin to compare that film with this film. But I wasn't entirely disappointed either with the film. Yes, it has some flaws but it is a good film.

Plot: Billy Randa leads a team of people into the uncharted area of Skull Island.

Story and direction: I judged this film being independent of the other King Kong films that have been out. The story basically has nothing new to it. The film heavily relied on VFX to tell the story which I think is not good. Also the emotional content of the film is very much missing. The most part of the film has been concentrating on action. Action is OK, but there should be something to make you glue to that screen of yours. At times, it kept me glued. But at times, not. Even some of the characters are not built properly. Like Weaver's character. I don't understand why a photographer needed to go on this expedition. And when you are running for your life you will click photos!!! Come on, be serious. Even Conrad wasn't portrayed well in terms of character. Now since I watched this as an action film, I wasn't much disappointed. At the end, this was basically a franchise building film since we have a post credit sequence too for the upcoming films in the MonsterVerse.

Acting: Tom Hiddleston was the macho person in the entire group. Loved him. Brie Larson had nothing much to do which was disappointing. Sam Jackson was being himself. I had a shock from John Reily. He delivered some what a good performance. John Goodman was good too.

Favorite Scene: The climatic battle between Kong and the lizard type creature was awesome. My jaw dropped in that scene. The VFX too was excellent in that scene.

Verdict: Do watch this as a pure action film. It is not the best King Kong film (of course) but not even that bad too.

I am giving it a 7.5/10.

This is one of the most early film's of Charlie Chaplin (the one that is nit written-directed by him). I saw this film just because of one reason: Charlie Chaplin. I had seen all of his later works like The Kid, The Circus, Modern Times and many more. So I actually wanted to see what he was before these films.

Plot: A stranger dupes Tillie to marriage in an attempt to steal all her money.

Story and Direction: There are many instances now-a-days of duping people just because of their money. But at that time (we are talking of some 100 years back), this topic was something unique and cinema was just growing. Normally this topic of duping has a very dramatic genre, but here comedy and sarcasm is used to deal with it. Which I liked quite a lot. The film although of only some 80 minutes made me laugh a lot. The slapstick comedy in this film was not too overboard (as it is mostly done in some films). It was just perfect.

Acting: Charlie Chaplin although had somewhat a different role in this film (not the usual tramp), I still enjoyed him. But he doesn't have the main role. It is Tillie's role that was the main one. She also generated many laughs (mostly because of her overweight looking character). I don't know whether the overweight thing was a script demand or something that happened but it was quite funny. Even the Mabel character was good.

Favorite Scene: The scene that was my favorite would come in the climax where Tillie decides to shoot the stranger because he had betrayed her. Here I was laughing so much that tears started to come out of my eyes.

Verdict: A very good effort by the makers and especially Charlie Chaplin to bring out a film like this. I would give it one number less just because I have seen Charlie Chaplin do more great wonders than he did in this film.

So I give this film a 9/10.

Plot: 3 RAW Agents and a Criminal team up to bring back India's most wanted man back to India. Are they successful? Writing: Nikhil Advani (best known for his only good film 'Kal Ho Naa Ho') makes a very successful attempt on this spy film. The story has absolutely no flaws. The things that RAW agents go through are very nicely shown.

Acting: All of the actors ranging from Rishi Kapoor to Irrfan, Huma Qureshi to Arjun Rampal, Chandan Roy to Akash Dahiya have given great performances.

Action: Not much scenes of action. But yes not over the top. Decent action.

Songs: Not great. Could have been a song less film. Alvida is a good song.

Favorite scene: Rishi Kapoor's last dialogue after being caught.

Verdict: A must watch for all spy thriller lovers like me. Still I give it a full 10/10.

Padmaavat is a film co-written and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The trailers of the film looked very awesome and I was quite eager to see the film.But due to the so called delays I felt that this film will never see the light of the day. Finally, seeing it I was relieved and I can say that the movie-goer in me was satisfied.

Plot: Alauddin Khilji decides to raid the kingdom of Chittor after hearing about the beauty of Rawal Ratan Singh's second wife, Rani Padmavati.

Story and direction: From a story standpoint, if we observe the film, it is very staright-forward. So hats off to the makers to bring this poem to life on the big screen. Yes there are a lot of creative liberties taken with the film, but for most of the time they got stuck with me. The production design and the grandeur of the film is beyond imagination. Every scene looked awesome. Also the cinematography for the film was great. All the colors and textures used to make the scenes look real were impeccable. Now to the faults. The character development for me was very weak. Although the Rajputs looked great in their outfits nad armor, I felt that there was a need to enforce the Rajputana dialect a little more. Also, I do felt that the horror for Khilji's character ofr certain scenes were a little less. The VFX of certain scenes looked very fake. The climatic action scene didn't feel real too. Also there are certain scnes in the film, where you feel that was this even necessary. Some scnes were quite predictable too. The runtime too was a major issue. Had the film been a little small in length, I would have appreciated it more.

Performances: Ranveer Singh was the star of the film. With what he was given, he excelled beautifully. Deepika Padukone brought finesse with her character and she went on to prove why she is a great actress of current times. Many People had issues with Shahid's character. But for me, it was perfect. The way he embodied the Rajput king was like no other. A special mention to Jim Sarbh. He was perfect for Malik Gafur's character.

Music: Sanjay Leela Bhansali composes the songs and Sanchit Balhara the BGM. The songs are like fillers for me. Yes, they were good and melodious but they did nothing to move the story forward. 'Binte Dil' was the track of the film for me and again proved why Arijit Singh is beyond any appreciation. The BGM at some scenes felt very loud to the years and quite repetitive to Bajirao Mastani.

Favorite Scene: It would be the scene where Rawal ratan and Alauddin meet in Rawal's palace and eat food and play chess together. The stern-ness of Rawal and the scary-ness of Khilji is what made the scene enjoyable to me.

Verdict: Sanjay Leela Bhansali yet agian proves that he is a director with great vision. If the drama was toned down a bit and the film was made shorter, the film would have been a masterpiece for me.

I am going with 7.5/10.

Vikram Vedha is a film written and directed by Pushkar-Gayatri. I haeard about this film for quite some time and the tariler too had intrigued me. Finally when I got time, I decided to watch this film. And I can say with fiull confidence that this is the best Tamil Film I have sen in quite a long time.

Plot: Vikram, a ruthless cop faces an equally ruthless gangster named Vedha.

Story and Direction: This film is not your regular cop drama. There is much more to this film. This film questions as to what we do see and perceive, is that actually the truth. It also questions whether the decisons made are morally right or wrong. The characters of this film also interest you a lot. Although Vikram is a person who shows himself as an honest cop is shown doing some things that question his honesty. On the other hand, we have Vedha, who although is a gansgter but still we have a soft corner for him. Sometimes you do feel that Vedha may be right although he adopts wrong ways to prove his point. Also the characters that are supporting like Vedha's family and gang members and rivals and Vikrams' family and co-workers provide an edge to this masterpiece. Never in the film I felt a dull moment, which is very rare in today's world. Also the plot twists introduced in this film don't seem out of place or dropped in just at random,. It do feels very organic and natural. Kudos to the director duo to bring us an engaging police drama in an era where police officers are no less than superheroes. The cinematography is awesome. The colors used in the film give it a neo-noir look. Th stunt sequences also are natural and never feel fake.

Performances: R Madhavan time and again just ups his ante. He just goes on to prove that with a right script an actor can work wonders. Its for the first time I am watching Vijay Sethupathi. And I was floored. From his entry till the climax, he just ruled the screen. It was a s if I was watching a real gangster. He balanced the young and old looks with ease. Sharddha Srinath provided great support to Maddy's character. Kathir and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar were impressive too in their roles. The rest of the police cast delivered an earnest performance.

Music: Sam CS composes the BGM and songs for the film.While the songs are great and faultless, The BGM is equally engaging and impressive. He has quite a long way to go. The song "Tasakku Tasakku" was my favorite. The song's tune is still fresh in my mind.

Favorite Scene: It would be Vedha's entry scene and his subsequent surrender. The way this particular scene was shot and the performances of the actor was what impressed me a lot.

Verdict: With full certainity I can say that this is the best that 2017 had to offer in Tamil Cinema. If you are into crime dramas, this film is tailor made for you. If this film gets a sequel, I will be fully excited. Thanks a lot Pushkar-Gayatri.

This masterpiece gets a well deserved 10/10.

Qarib Qarib Singlle is a film co-written and directed by Tanuja Chandra. The trailers looked promising and I was looking forward for this. Finally, when this film was a Tata Sky exclusive, I grabbed the chance of watching this film. And I can say, I am satisfied.

Plot: Jaya meets Yogi using a dating app and they both decide to go on a trip yo meet the ex-girlfriends of Yogi.

Story and direction; The film just focusses on 2 characters for most of the run-time: Jaya And Yogi. While Jaya is shown as a person who is quite hard on the outside but broken and lonely on the inside; Yogi is a person who is very much joyous no matter what the situation is. Normally when you have very limited characters in your story it becomes very difficult as you have to concentrate on those few characters and just make them so impressive that it leaves an impression in the audience's minds. This film is a perfect example of great character work. You seem to just get invested in our lead characters. Also the characters that appear throughout as supporting never feel out of place. Never for a second do you feel disinterested for the leading people of the story. The film is shot in various locations and it looks very much awesome on screen. Also a technique of breaking the fourth wall is used in this film (maybe a first for a hindi film), which was great. The jokes were so natural, it never felt forced like any other rom-com film. But the film has flaws. After a great first half, the film just meanders in the second half and there was a sudden shift in the tone of the film which distracted me quite a lot. Also the film has very few wide angle shots. I know that this is not an action film where there is a necessity of that. But still. This film is being made to be seen on the big screen. It feels kind of irritating to see the close up on the actors faces every time.

Performances: Irrfan time and again proves that why he is regarded as the best actor of this country. The ease with which he carries his roles is impressive to watch. Parvathy does an impressive job for a first timer. She gave quite tough competition to the seasoned Irrfan. Neha Dhupia was also good in the role she got. Rest others were impressive too.

Music: This film again uses the multiple music direction technique. But in the rarest of rare cases, this film has quite great songs that add to the narrative of the film. 'Jaane De' was my favorite track of the film.

Favorite Scene: It would be the first meeting between Jaya and Yogi. The quirky-ness is what made this scene stand out for me.

Verdict: Even with the flaws, the film is a decent watch. I had a great time with this film. Its quite sad that these films don't get the recognition they deserve.Please huys do support films like these.

I am going with an 8/10.

The Post is a film directed by Steven Spielberg. I honestly didn't hear this film up until October. The trailer for this film intrigued me and I decided that I must give it a watch when available. After having watched the film, I can say that this is a decent film if not great or excellent.

Plot: Chronicles the publishing of The Pentagon Papers in the Washington Post newspaper in the early 70s.

Story and direction: Spielberg actually put this film into production while working on the film Ready Player One, due this March. He has been successful with his experimentation back in 93 when he handled productions of Schindler's List and Jurassic Park. Never during the whole runtime of this film the film felt rushed. But I do feel the writing was OK. The first half hour or so if this film didn't get me invested. But after that the film catches up and kept my interest going on. A film came back in 2015 called Spotlight which was somewhat of the same genre. So I kept going back to Spotlight for comparisons unintentionally which I consider a much superior film than The Post. Also some of the characterization for this film feels left off especially Kay Graham's character. On the technical front, John Williams produces a fantastic score as always. And it felt like we are living in the 70's era.

Performances: Meryl Streep was good with what she was given but she can do better. Tom Hanks was awesome. he seemed to be the captain of this ship. Bob Odenkirk was also great. Bruce Greenwood excelled in his performance. Matthew Rhys delivered an earnest performance too. Sarah Paulson, carrie Coon and Alliosn Brie were great additions to the cast.

I would say that I couldn't pinpoint on a particular scene and say that this was the scene of the film.

Verdict: Spielberg has definitely given better films than this. But I would say that you can give this film a watch. You will not feel your time to be watsed.

I am going with a 7.5/10.

Darkest Hour is a film directed by Joe wright. At first when I watched the trailer for this film, I was impressed seeing Gary Oldman. He was almost unrecognizable. And after the film festivals said that he was the top choice for Best Actor, I felt that I should give this film a watch. Finally, After watching this film I can say that everyone was right.

Plot: During he early 1940's Winston Churchill is elected as prime minister of UK much to the dismay of many people.

Story and direction: Let me say very frankly that I had doubts regarding this film since the very initial reviews for this film in IMDB were not that good. But after the film released the my faith in this film got restored. Yes the film has faults in certain places but I can still say that it is a decent watch. The film starts off quite nicely. We can feel the tension that is mounting on screen. Then we immediately shift to Churchill and his life. The portrayal of him was what made much of the film. Also the characters surrounding his personal life were good in their own way. The characters of the parliament were captivating. Kudos to the makeup and production design team. The atmosphere of the 1940 was very well maintained. Also the photography. It was spectacular. It never felt superficial. I felt like I was living during that era. The story started off great initially. But after an hour or so the pace seems to be a bit uneven. But again during the scenes towards the climax the pace is regained. Also the film felt quite cliched from the political perspective like people not liking Churchill, deciding for no confidence vote, etc...

Performances: Gary Oldman deserves a standing ovation and all the praise he is getting. That first scene in his bedroom where he is with a cigar, wine and English breakfast sealed his fate. I mean after some four hour makeup, who can maintain a diction like that? Kudos to him. Kristin Scott Thomas was great too as Churchill's caring and supportive wife. Lily James' role although was limited but she was impressive. She continues to prove that she is a great actress. Ben Mendelsohn was also good as the King.Ronald Pickup and Stephen Dillane were equally significant in their roles.

Favorite Scene: Many would say the speech scenes were great. And it would be a very easy statement just for anyone since they are meant to create impact. But for me it would be the scene in the London Underground with the commoners. I didn't kind of expect that scene. But still the sense of responsibility towards the people and knowing what the people want is what attarcted me to this particular scene.

Verdict: Even with its flaws, this film is a intense and applaudable in its own way. Joe wright very meticulously interweaved this film. Although the film is titled Darkest Hour, I would say that my 2 hours were well spent.

I am going with an 8.5/10.

It is a film directed by Andy Muschetti. I remember watching the trailer when it launched and I was scared to hell. So my expectations for this film were quite huge. After watching this film, I can say that this film is horror at its best.

Plot; Bill and his friends decide to spend the summer investigating about Bill's missing brother, Georgie.

Story and direction: From the first scene itself, the mood gets set. It signified that the ride is not for the faint hearted. Never for a moment I felt that there were jump scares. And when there was a scare I literally had goosebumps, The story also was quite good. I liked the approach to separate the film into 2 chapters: One of the children and other for the adult part. This allowed for the story to be streamlined and focused. The characters, especially the Losers' club, were interesting. Each one of them had a kind of backstory that could be related to. The way this film handles and highlights issues related to children was impressive. The production design for the town of Derry was spot on. The makeup and VFX was amazing. It was as if I was looking at a real creepy clown. But the film had some issues for me. I felt the supposed love angle between Ben-Beverly-Bill was forced into the screenplay. Also the kid that starts cursing every second was very irritatting. I know that this film is R rated, but seriously to have a kid of 12-13 cursing is little bit overboard.

Performances: Bill Skarsgard nailed it as Pennywise. He looked crepy each and every second he appeared on screen. He emoted the character of the psychotic clown effortlesly. Jaeden Lieberher was great as Bill. Finn Wolfhard had already impressed me in Stranger Things, he continues to impress here too.Jeremy Taylor was quite cute looking to the eyes but he too delivered an earnest performance. Spohia Lillis was also impressive as Beverly. Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jack Dylan Grazer all delivered awesome performanances.

Favorite Scene: It woule be the one where the kids go to Bill's home to see the town plan of Derry on a projector. But then Eddie doesn't feel well and tells Bill to stop his presentation. And suddenly just out of nowhere the projector changes slides on its own and then Pennywise appears in the slieds and then leaps out of the slides. The mood, tension and scare factor was what made this scene stand out from the rest for me.

Verdict: For those who think you will see a Stranger Things (which I love btw) on film, you are absolutely wrong. This film is way different both thematically and tonally from the famous series. I loved It and can't wait for the second part.

I am going with a 9/10.