Movie Review: Begin Again: by Suneeva R. Patadi

With Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley in the lead, “Begin Again” makes for easy-breezy entertainment.

Dan (Ruffalo) is a cash-strapped, always drunk, music director who is desperate to find a musical discovery that will restore his status in the industry and give him a reason to pull his life back together.

His savior ends up being Gretta (Keira Knightley), a British singer-songwriter introduced at an open-mike night after her rock star American boyfriend cheats on her while leaving her to fend for herself in the city of New York. Being an intuitive artiste, she spontaneously inspires the song and performs hours later.

“Begin Again” is aptly named since it, indeed, recounts the same day over again in its opening sequences before Gretta and Dan meet after her performance. First, it is told from Dan’s point of view as his haphazard behavior negatively affects all he encounters, especially his neglected teenage daughter. Then we witness Gretta’s version, as she learns that her boyfriend has cheated on her for the past five years. How? By listening to the lyrics of his new song.

From there, Dan and Gretta decide to make a demo album all on their own, along with some funding, courtesy of Ceelo Green, who owes a debt to Dan for his career. The movie is all about integrity and simplicity. A must watch for those who like the offbeat genre.

Movie Review: IT : by Shashwat Pathak

IT is based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel of the same name. It is a horror flick based in the period of the original novel. The story revolves around a group of kids and an ancient creature terrorizing the town. As the story progresses, the group of kids realize that they are all in fact running from the same creature and must band together to stop it. More than a horror story, IT is about adulthood, facing your fears and growing up. Make no mistake, all the horror elements are here and are well executed but they often take a back seat to the growth that these individual characters experience.

IT starts relatively slow and takes some time to pick up pace. All the events happening in the beginning appear to be random and can confuse the viewer but they do form a coherent story by the end. My only gripe with the movie is the initial pacing as it felt a little disorienting. The movie does not shy away from showing adult content on the screen. Blood, sexism, racism, oppression, paranoia and other difficult-to-handle topics are covered relatively well in the movie.  It is refreshing to see a horror movie which retains the elements of a clichéd horror movie while innovating with character development and multiple layers of storytelling.

Bill Skarsgard performs exceptionally well as IT. Every scene with him is entertaining and terrifying at the same time. The rest of the cast is also memorable for their roles and their characters leave a lasting effect on the viewer. The IT is a must watch for any horror fan and easily worth your time.

Movie Review : Get Out : by Suparnika Das

Get Out is a twisted and entertaining horror-satire on the subject of race. This masterpiece is a perfect blend of anxiety and tension, executed in a beautiful way. The horror in the movie is handled in layers by Jordan Peele, who had previously worked in comedies.

The film starts with a scene where a black person gets kidnapped in the dead of the night by a masked person.

The scene switches to portray the loving relationship between Chris, a 26 year old black man, played by Daniel Kaluuya and his white girlfriend Rose, played by Allison Williams. Rose makes plans to take Chris to her ancestral home to meet her wealthy and liberal parents Dean and Missy Armitage, played by Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener, a surgeon and psychotherapist, respectively. Though initially reluctant, Chris is left with no choice but to give in to Rose’s proposal. On their arrival to Rose’s home, Chris is uncomfortable with the fact that though Rose’s parents were impeccably progressive, but had black housekeeping staffs named Georgina and Walter, who seemed to behave oddly on his arrival. On the dinner table, the discomforting comments on black community by Dean, Missy and Rose’s brother Jeremy makes Chris uncomfortable.

It so happens that the couple’s visit coincides with a huge family gathering in their estate. Things grows more and more uncomfortable and unsettling when the only black guest attacks Chris, screaming on his face ‘Get Out’, on being secretly clicked by Chris’s mobile camera. Chris calls up his best friend Rod Williams, played by LilRel Howery, only to raise his suspicions.  Chris decides to return with Rose to the city, unknown of the fact about what awaits for him in the seemingly perfect house. The adrenaline rush speeds up when Chris gets to know about the darkest truth about the Armitage family.

The film portrays horror and satire in layers accompanied by the uncanny music scores, songs and Toby Oliver’s brilliant cinematography. The story-line as concocted by Jordan Peele has echoes of the real world, which was frightening.

In a nutshell, Get Out is a must watch for people who are inclined towards horror, mystery and satires.

Movie Review: The Imitation Game – by Prachi Patel

Like many geniuses, Alan Turing was not without eccentricities. He used to chain his mug at work to a radiator to prevent it from being stolen. This eccentric man was the one who broke the ENIGMA. He was Mathematician, Logician, Wartime Code-breaker and father of Computer Science. A great British Hero. If he was such a genius, why wasn’t he much known to the people until a movie based on him was released?

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and directed by Morten Tyldum , The Imitation Game is loosely based on the biography of Alan Turing : The Enigma by Andrew  Hodges. The movie depicts the journey of Alan Turing in cracking Nazi Germany’s naval Enigma code which helped the allies win the 2^nd world war. The “action” here is Turing tinkering with his machine. Or simply thinking — which, as Cumberbatch portrays it, is adventure of the highest order. The narrative starts off as a mystery in 1951 with a detective investigating a burglary at Turing’s home where, strangely, nothing was stolen. Eventually, the plot flashes back to 1928 and shifts into a heart-breaking love story as a teen Turing, a brutally bullied school-boy prodigy, chastely falls for a fellow classmate named Christopher. It became known to some of his peers and eventually the world that Alan Turing had actively adopted a homosexual lifestyle. Even when he’s arrested for his homosexual contacts, he invites a questioning inspector to play the Imitation Game with him and reveals for the first time, apparently, his role in the war.

“Am I a war hero?” Turing asks. “Or am I a criminal?”

The Imitation Game asks us the same question. And in doing so can be quite challenging. It’s easy for us to embrace certain convictions when there is no face involved, no person we must look in the eye. It’s easy to hold to the truth that homosexuality is a sin when we don’t know such a sinner.

The Imitation Game asks us to get to know one—a sinner, a homosexual, a war hero. Propelled by a remarkable performance by Benedict Cumberbatch, we keenly feel Turing’s “abnormality” as he goes through life, how different he feels, how alienated. We hurt for him. And we are, on some level, appalled by the treatment he receives.

Is he a war hero? Emphatically yes, and we should rightly celebrate his work and achievements. The societal peace most of us live in the midst of, right along with the machine.

Was he a criminal? We do not need to nor should we honor or embrace everything about Turing. His choices. He actions. But the movie reminds us that we should not hesitate to embrace Turing himself—to not just value him as an exceptional mind or courageous war hero, but to greet him as a fallen creature just like us.

The Imitation Game is a well-made, well-acted, thought-provoking film. Certainly its subject matter makes it a difficult one, and its snide dismissals of God don’t help. But there’s value here, especially in the urgent reminders that we don’t have to choose solely between hero and criminal.

Movie Review: Pursuit of Happyness – by Suneeva R. Patadi & Shreya Gaddamanugu

We are going to join today a father and son on their journey towards “Pursuit Of Happyness”

This masterpiece is based on the true story of Chris Gardner. The role of Gardner is portrayed brilliantly by versatile actor Will Smith. Gardner is a bone density salesman who goes out of his way to make ends meet, while struggling to support his wife and child. Gardner’s son is played by Will Smith’s son Jaden smith, who bagged his first big role through this film. As the situation goes from bad to worse, Gardner’s wife abandons him and the child. Whilst fighting against all odds to make a proper living, Gardner encounters a well-dressed man driving a Ferrari and happens to ask the man two right questions that changes his life. This marks the real beginning of the journey for Happyness, only to realize at the end that happiness is a myth.

His financial situation forces them to move out and constantly search for a place to live while attempting to get hired on an unpaid internship at a stock brokerage firm. The film’s director Gabriele Muccino has managed to lock and load this movie in people’s hearts and minds. Gardner is a character with flaws which makes us relate to him. This movie sets a stage for Will Smith as a serious actor. His son Jaden is a delight to watch

After a lot of struggle, sleepless nights, empty stomach and teary eyes, Gardner finally bags the job and turns his life from rags to riches.

Together Gardner and his son tell us a gripping, emotional story which has more downs than ups. It really depicts what happens to the best of us although we may be as hardworking as others.

Pursuit of Happyness is a highly inspirational, emotional, non-linear film which makes into category of must watch!