Movie Review: The Intern

When the trailer for this movie was out, I was beyond delighted! Who wouldn't wanna watch Robert De Niro all cute and old??? He looked like the Carl Fredrickson character from the animated movie Up. Those who don't know who Carl is, well, he's the cute grumpy man with the glasses who just decides to convert his house into a hot air balloon for his wife... Could anyone get any sweeter than that??? Well, Robert De Niro looked like the live version of Carl which made the movie even more delightful to watch.

                                                        Get what I'm talking about????

One of the things I loved about the movie was that it was a pleasant movie throughout. It didn't have the usual depressing or serious scenes. And boy has it been ages since I've seen a movie without such cliched scenes!! I felt so good and happy throughout the movie. It definitely is a must watch for people who have been having a bad day...

Well the story is pretty simple. There's Jules Ostin who is played by Anne Hathaway who's the CEO of her startup called About The Fit, an e-commerce site that sells clothes. So, they come out with an outreach program where senior citizens can intern at their firm. That's where Ben Whitaker (played by Robert De Niro) enters the story when he joins About The Fit as an intern. Ben is a widower who is a retired executive from a phone directory company. He has a very monotonous life and he felt he needed to do something engaging at the age of 70 and thus ends up at Jules' firm and unfortunately as her intern.

I'm not spoiling the rest of the story but the movie goes on showing how Jules isn't very comfortable with Ben initially but later bonds with him and they end up becoming good friends. Their friendship is beyond adorable and I was continuously awwwwwwing throughout the movie.

I'm guessing I love the movie because Robert De Niro looks beyond cute in the movie. I'm probably sure you might have got more than a dead giveaway that it might be the only reason why I liked the movie. But the movie is more than about the cuteness of Robert Di Niro. It's a movie you could definitely go with family for and a real feel good movie.

My Rating: 4/5

P.S. But I still stand by the fact that Robert Di Niro was amazing in this movie! Period!

Movie Review: Queen

Hearing mixed reviews on this highly anticipated movie, I decided I might as well check this movie out and boy was it worth a watch!!It's a total fun filled movie and I must say.. Kangana was just out of the world!!

The storyline is pretty simple: Rani (played by Kangana Ranaut) gets dumped by her fiance, Vijay (played by some douchebag, and boy did he do a good job at it..) just the day before their wedding. So the all depressed Rani decides to go for her honeymoon trip which was planned to France and Amsterdam. The story goes on about how she fights through her sadness and meets new people where Vijayalakshmi (played by Lisa Haydon) pops in. And guys... you must go for the movie just for her.. she is totally HOT...Rani has a blast with her and then goes to Amsterdam where she meets more people. There isn't much of a story to the movie but it is really enjoyable.

Kangana has done total justice to Rani. She plays this innocent naive girl from a village who goes to a world nothing like her hometown and I don't think anyone else would have executed the role any better than her. With barely any makeup on, Kangana Ranaut  just looks out of the world pretty. You will just love her by the end of the movie.

It's a feel good movie and it teaches you that no matter what shit happens to you..it's all for a reason..and things work out no matter what. This movie is a must watch for all those girls out there cause all the movie shouts out is "GET OUT THERE!!! FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR LIFE!!"

My rating: 4/5

Movie Review: The LEGO Movie

First of all,  Happy New Year, to all of our readers.

We truly apologize for not keeping this blog updated.

We have no reason besides pure laziness.

We hope to change that soon with our first post of 2014.

What better way than to do a review of the really awesome Lego movie. 

If you have played with Lego bricks as a kid and had tonnes of fun and also got frustrated when someone was making a better model than you and you "accidentally" tripped on it like the Incredible Hulk, you have to have to watch this movie. 

If you haven't  played with Lego, then I just feel really really sad. Your childhood must have sucked. Stop reading, go now like right now and pick up some Lego toys and make funky stuff.  After that, go watch the movie in the theater. 

The story as they say is of a nobody who saved everybody. When they say everybody, they mean everyone, from Shakespeare to Gandalf to Dumbledore to Wonder Woman to Superman.. basically all of the Master Builders. 

A very thoughtful story that will really appeal to the kids as well as the adults. What blew me away was the animation,the funny one liners and the awesome voice over cast.

Morgan Freeman as wizard Vitruvius was awesome. They made a good choice in selecting Morgan. He fits the bill perfectly. 
The funniest was Will Arnett as Batman. The "Untitled Self Portrait" song should be made the official Batman theme song. Do check it out and tell me I'm wrong. Go ahead tell me. 

All in all, this is a feel good movie. When you come out of the movie hall, you will feel that you are special and awesome. By now if you did notice, the over usage of the word "awesome", that's cuz the official song of the movie is called "Everything is awesome" and everything indeed is. :)

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Game Review: Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5)

Less than two weeks ago,Rockstar games launched a follow up for their flagship series,Grand Theft Auto.It took the world by storm,creating record sales within less than a week.I was lucky to pre-order a copy via Fllipkart and got the games two days prior to its release.

For those who didn't watch the trailer,the game revolves around three people;Franklin Clinton-An average grove street homey who works in the vehicle repo business. Michael Townley(De Santa)-A successful bank robber who is retired with real family issues.Trevor Philips-A lunatic businessman specializing in meth and arms.The plot revolves around how they meet and solve each others problems and their ambitions to make it big.Although the number of missions are short(69 to be exact),it will still suck you into it.

First impressions were good.There is a lot of places to be discovered, from traffic infested cities,to desolate mountain tops. GTA 5 boasts of a huge map size,more than their previous games put together,so there's places to be explored if you're bored. Rockstar has also included animals in this game,so you'll never know when a mountain lion will jump on you or when a shark decides if it wants to reenact Jaws.Cars,bikes,boats and planes can be bought online(for those who want their own vehicles),properties ranging from garages to golf courses. Rockstar has really brought everything possible in the real world here.Inclusion of the stock markets,LCN and BAWSAQ(classic Rockstar wordplay) was something out of the blue.So this means that even after you beat the game,there's a lot of things to keep you interested.

The graphics on this game is absolutely stunning.From the protagonist getting wet if its raining,to glares during sunny days,Rockstar has really taken a long step from their previous games.Vehicular detail have been improved,taking styling cues from real-life brands like BMW,Jeep,Audi,Jaguar,Mini and so on.The game also features an option to lower/raise the roofs for convertibles.Also customization makes a return for GTA:San Andreas,so you can trick up your ride to stand out.

The music in the game have been carefully selected to include more of the popular songs of today.Artists from Johnny Cash to Rihanna have been featured to suit all tastes.The games also plays a certain song during some missions to build up the moment,a nice touch.

Combat has been improved,although it took some time for me to get used to it from GTA 4.Guns can be upgraded(Thank God!)The weapons range from gasoline filled jerry cans to rocket launchers,just the thing you need to cause mayhem in the city.Taking cover from shots have been improved and health regenerates to half when the protagonist is stationary.

Missions are specific for each protagonist ,but in some like heists,they join together allowing the player to switch in between.Plenty of side missions for each character to do.Random events can also be interfered by the player,like stopping a robber and to choose whether to return the stolen item or to keep it.

GTA 5 has really improved from the disappointing GTA 4 in almost every way.Cars handle better,friends don't call to hang out while you're busy trying to not get killed,the Internet is more functional,and for the guys…the strip club is gonna blow your mind!They should have put in car dealerships,who buys cars online?But it's definitely a must have game

Rating-9.5/10

This was a guest post by Stevan Thomas, our brother who was held at gunpoint to write this post!!

The Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker Today – Bose Soundlink Mini

Let me start by saying – never judge a product by its brand. Just because it’s an unknown brand does not mean it’s products will be bad, likewise just because a speaker is from Bose does not mean it’s going to be good (but in this case it is).  A quick background - I tend to listen to music on my phone when I’m getting ready for work in the morning as it’s a bit inconvenient powering on the living room speakers. Recently there have been a number of portable Bluetooth speakers entering the market so I was intrigued however they all were rather disappointing for the reasons mentioned below. I soon abandoned the thought of buying one since they were (IMHO) toys. The Soundlink Mini is one that I can, with all confidence say, is not a toy. 

What makes it a ‘great’ speaker, specifically when talking about a portable Bluetooth

speaker segment? Before I answer that let’s talk about the main challenge faced by this segment – Poor sound quality and low volume levels due to small sized speakers. There’s no getting away from this. If you want pocket-sized speakers you have to sacrifice on sound quality. You see most good portable Bluetooth speakers can go loud enough to fill a room however they cannot reproduce base notes and typically sound tinny like a mobile phone speaker, albeit louder. This is because base notes can only be produced by larger woofers/sub-woofers which move a lot more air. You can never truly get reasonable base reproduction on a set of speakers that fit in the palm of your hand … or can you?

Enter the Bose Soundlink Mini – this is one of those rare combinations of great tech, beautiful packaging and stunning performance. Not only can this almost pocket-able speaker easily fill a room with clear, crisp music but it can also hit those low notes. If you are in the market for a portable speaker to take with you on your travels, or friends parties or even take around the house – you owe it to yourself to check-out this device. I’ll be honest, it’s expensive at 200 USD. In India it retails for a bit more at 252 USD (Rs. 16,000). This is twice as much as many Bluetooth speakers in the market however I do feel it’s easily twice as good.

 
A couple of tips with the Soundlink Mini – it has base port at both front and back of the device so I get the best performance if I keep it on the floor near a corner of the room or wall. Keep about 5 inches to a foot of space from the wall for best base performance – depending on the type of music you listen to. Also play with the equalizer settings of your phone to get the best performance out of the Soundlink Mini. I use PowerAmp and I keep tweaking if for different genres. 

Limitations – 

• The Bose Soundlink cannot be used as a speaker phone
• It has a rather limited battery life of 5 hours continuous usage 
• It uses a proprietary charger (no Micro-USB)
• It cannot charge your smartphone (like some other units)
• It has limited controls on the device and no remote
• It’s rather heavy for it’s size because of its powerful magnets (for me this was a good thing but others may disagree) 

Another great alternative is the UE Boom which has none of the above limitations but cannot match the base frequencies of the Bose. 

This is a guest post by Prithvi Raj. To be more precise, all the gadget reviews in future will be done by him. :)

Movie Review: Sandcastle

We were contacted by Ginger Liu from Ginger Media & Entertainment to do a review on this movie.

Sandcastle is the first feature film by well known Indian theatre personality, Shomshuklla Das.

The movie revolves around Sheila, who is an aspiring writer from an upper middle class family in urban India. She has the perfect life, at least to the outside world, married to a very successful man who's able to provide her everything to live a comfortable life. They both have a beautiful daughter.

Sheila finds her life boring and far from perfect. She's tired of being the stereotypical wife, attending to her wifely duties and being a good mother.

She's sick of the routine,being a trophy wife, and lacks a sense of achievement, a condition all too common in urban India.

She comes across Maya, who tells her to build her own sandcastles with her life. Maya tells her to follow her dreams and not be a doormat letting people walk all over her.

Sheila starts writing her book with Maya's help by using her as an inspiration. Maya in turn helps her to stand up for herself.

Sandcastle has been nominated in the London International Film Festival 2013 under the Best Foreign Language Feature Film

Shahana Chatterjee as Sheila has done a commendable job playing the complex role of someone who's got all that she needs and still feels an emptiness.

The movie is an in-depth albeit slow narrative into the life of the modern Indian house wife - her comfortable yet boring and under-stimulated life. The women in urban India can easily relate to the movie.

My only gripe with the movie is that it could have been a bit more fast paced.

My rating: 2.75/5

Movie Review: Madras Cafe

Image courtesy of Wiki

I was barely eight when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Even after more than twenty years, I still recall the pall of gloom that descended on that small, remote town in Arunachal Pradesh. Those days were long before the advent of cable TV. Newspapers usually were dated three days back by the time they reached our sleepy town, so naturally, not much was known about what had transpired at that fateful rally. 

I recall the men, engaged in intense discussions, and the women, fighting to control their tears. What, everyone wondered, could possibly incite the brutal killing of a man that was loved by the entire country.  I was too young to understand political machinations, all I realized was the permanence of death, and that the handsome man we used to see on Doordarshan was no more. 

I remember watching the funeral on TV, the Gandhi siblings putting on a brave, dignified face, as people across the country wept, some openly, others surreptitiously. Since then, numerous people have been arrested, mercy petitions have presented, rejected, and then presented again. Many theories have been floated, debated and dismissed. Perhaps we will never know the truth. But now, here’s a movie that explores the geopolitical events of that age to understand the motivations that ultimately led to the assassination.

Madras Café is directed by Shoojit Sircar, of Vicky Donor fame - and what a contrast this movie is, as compared to his earlier effort. It is stark, gritty and unrelenting. Major Vikram Singh is sent to war torn Jaffna as an undercover agent to help the Indian government achieve the aim of conducting peaceful elections in Sri Lanka. His mission is to encourage an uprising against Anna, who considers himself to be a revolutionary and has built up a massive army named the LTF. 

Madras Cafe Trailer

The rest of the movie deftly combines fact and fiction and takes you through the ideological differences of the two factions, the capitalist approach to the necessity of war, and the triumph of greed over morals. The film underlines how civil war, while being the scourge of any nation, fills the coffers of the big defence and armaments companies.  The heartbreaking images of pain and suffering are haunting. It is implied that while the Indian government is intent on restoring peace, someone in the chain is hand in glove with the corporations, and is providing inside information on troop movements and plans, so the rebels are always a step ahead.

The film moves across Sri Lanka, India and Bangkok, stitching the taut storyline together. A word about the editing - if the first half is well paced, the second half is positively a high speed thrill ride. As the tension builds, the soundtrack is in tandem, adding flair without being intrusive at any point. For a movie to create this kind of suspense while telling the story of a well-known and still remembered tragedy is a triumph of film-making. 

Madras Café is anchored by a superb cast. John Abraham playing the role of Vikram Singh, does full justice to his role, always intense, always restrained, no over the top antics or needless bravado. It was a delight to watch the suave Siddhartha Basu as Robin Dutt, the RAW Chief, while Piyush Pandey was impressive too. For me, the one character that stood out was Bala, an Indian intel officer based in Sri Lanka. Prakash Belawade gets under the skin of the hard drinking, aggressive character and delivers a great performance. SP, another intel officer, also makes an impact, as do the LTF suicide bombers. Their preparation for the assassination is handled realistically, showing the inevitable attack of nerves as the hour looms closer. Nargis Fakhri seemed to be the only weak link, her performance slightly wooden, her role not very well defined. Ruby, Major Vikram Singh’s wife, seems to have been included in the plot as an afterthought, and does not have much screen time or relevance. Also, the flashback style storytelling was unnecessary, as was John Abraham’s disheveled look in those scenes. 

These minor gripes aside, Madras Café made for a riveting watch. Finally, Bollywood has managed to churn out a political thriller that is taut, hard hitting and sensitive at the same time. I would recommend you go catch this movie at the theater. It might be a while before something as good comes along.

My rating: 4.5/5

This is a guest post by Deep Chakraborty who is on the wrong side of thirty, living in the happy denial that all one needs to live a good life is an abundance of books and the opportunity to make music.