Category: Reviews

Latest Movie Reviews

Waze : A new way to travel

Recently, a friend suggested Waze app while traveling. I remember seeing ads about Waze, but never looked in to it. This time I decided to try it out.

Waze is a mobile app which can be downloaded in App Store or Google Play. What it basically does is navigate your drive from place A to place B. It is just like a GPS or google maps. In addition to the navigation, Waze is driven by community. Other drivers or ‘wazers’ will help you reach your destination without much disturbances. Other wazers will post a road block, object on road, vehicle stopped on shoulder, reroute, construction zones, traffic delays, and most importantly Cops! Yes, your fellow drivers will post any thing they observe during the drive and you can get alerts while you are driving. How cool is that! You can like or dislike a post. You have to be a wazer in order to post an event. You can view other posts and comments even if you are not logged in as a wazer.

If you are a member, the app shows fellow wazers and the speed with which they are driving. Track other wazers along your drive and bump them. We even got few honks from other wazers on our drive! How cool is that. I mean there is no more privacy in your own car and in your pleasant trip! 🙂 If you have bored teenager or preteen, this app could come quite handy to engage the kids. They might help you with the directions and as well as any upcoming police vehicles. Remember, the app consumes a lot of mobile data. So, keep that in mind. However, this app replaces all other devices on your drive such as the GPS, Police scanner, radio, and so on. Waze app even has commentary by your favorite artist. If you are visiting a city with major events, the Waze app will give you live updates, traffic rerouting, marathon routes, and so on.

If you discovered the Waze app recently or you are a long time wazer, let me know what your thoughts on that! Happy Wazing, Wazers!

Fan Review

Shah Rukh In and As Fan is another evidence of the actor’s peak acting skills. The makeup and cinematography made the double role blend naturally but Shah Rukh’s action proved the negative role also is correct. 🙂 Only to his fans though!

With the technology, information is being transmitted at the finger tips before an event actually happened. Social media has made private lives public for common people. For celebrities who are under constant vigilance of the paparazzi, there is no more privacy. Stalking of celebrities are a common news now. Pictures of extreme private nature are being freely transmitted on the web. People getting in to the properties of famous actors, booking rooms adjacent to theirs, hacking in to social media accounts, emails, and so on are similar examples.

This situation has been showcased in the movie Fan. Shah Rukh is a famous actor in the movie and his fan is madly worshiping the hero since childhood. The craze continues in to adolescence and adulthood. Similarity in facial features adds to already possessive behavior. The fan imitates the actor in all walks of life and is often encouraged by the annual acting competitions held locally. Finally, the fan decides to meet the actor and sets off to visit him. However, the actor is having thousands of visitors everyday and is unaware of the fan’s behavior. People at that stage are used to the fan behavior but the actor is unprepared for this particular fan.

Situations turn worse and the fan is neglected by the actor. Fan takes actor’s professional rivalries as his own an ends up beating up the actors rival. There are viral YouTube videos about the incidents. However, this behavior is not encouraged by the actor and warns the fan to stay away from him. I think this was handled in a subtle manner. Most cases, immediately there would be police complaints and or security concerns. Now, the fan takes the matter very seriously and starts attacking the actor posing as his impostor. People start criticizing the actor for the impostor’s actions and the actor sees the issue.

The actor tries to handle it in a different manner by teaching the fan a lesson. But at the end the fan dies by committing suicide post shuffle and dialog exchange. The actor still kinds of remembers the fan whenever he sees the deluge of his fans. The ego and power establishing nature of the star has been shot very well and Shah Rukh is a natural. The craze and madness of the fan are acted out very well by of course our own Shah Rukh again.

I think the movie is depiction of stalking in real life as well. The never-ending trolling of people online and in person. The unnecessary imaginations and attachments lead to one situation or the other. One wise person said – “Love is another form of stalking”, which is true. But, love is suppose to set the other person free and like them no matter what. The relationship (if any?) which is shared between a fan and actor has been exaggerated in the movie. After all, it is just a story. Shah Rukh makes all the bad roles he acted such as in Baazigar and Dar look correct according to the character’s perspective. Similarly, Fan is also showing the same case subjectively.

Also, notice that there are no songs and no major female lead actors in the movie. You are all set to become Shah Rukh’s fans after watching the movie. Let me know what you think! 🙂

iOS 8

OK, so Apple announced in their new WWDC that they’d be releasing a new software update for iOS devices. That’s right. iOS 8 was just announced in WWDC 2014 in San Fran’s Moscone West. They had said that there would lots of improvements that are on the same iOS 7 interface. Apple also announced their new “Continuity” feature, which allows you work on a device, then if you want to work on an another one, you can just click the app and it will launch, but it will allow you keep working on as normal as possible and as smooth as possible. Apple also says that this will work on any device working on iOS 8 or for computers, OS X Yosemite.

As for changes, Apple announced a new Enterprise feature, which allows businesses to configure their Apple devices to their liking to distribute to their employees. As I watched this being announced, I realized that this part of the Developer conference got the most applause. I was surprised.

Well, this concludes this blog. If you have any questions, follow me on twitter at @PierceWrightp81.iOS 8

Papa’s Hot Doggeria

One day, I was on the Interwebs, (Internet)and I came across a website called hoodamath.com, and I found a game called Papa’s Hot Doggeria. I tried it out, and before I knew it, I found myself playing for the last three hours. All I could say was, “Wow this game is addicting! I should write a blog on this!” So here I am.

This game is super addicting. I recommend this game if you are a person who likes to waste their time. No, seriously. I’m not kidding. It will waste your time, in a good way. I promise you’ll have fun. In fact I’ll bet five bucks to a guy who always wins. Yep, I’m that confident.In case you’re wondering, this is not one game. In fact, it’s a whole series of games. The series is called “Papa Louie”.

This game is also very flexible. Let’s say that you want to upgrade your lobby. You can always visit the shop and buy new stuff, like wallpapers and tables and even new clothes for your avatar. This one of the reasons why I think that this one of the reasons this game is addicting.

Another reason I like this game is that it has great graphics. It looks like a game that could easily be on a console. Uh-huh. It’s that good. Plus it never has bugs. It never freezes, never has anything wrong with it. How do I know? I have a great internet connection, so it never does anything listed above.

I hope this review was  helpful. If so, follow me on twitter on @PierceWrightp81.

Finally, here is the link to the game and the start page.

http://www.hoodamath.com/games/papashotdoggeria.html

Papa's Hot Doggeria
Papa’s Hot Doggeria

 

Happy Wheels

So, last night, I was messing round on the Internet (ya know, Chrome Games, Computer Games, Research,) and I found this one game called Happy Wheels. I was really curious, hearing from my friends that it was a awesomesauce game. (awesomesauce is a way of saying that it is very cool) So I downloaded it.In less than 15 minutes I was addicted. The only time I would stop is to either take a bathroom break or to eat. I recommend this game to anyone who has a really good, solid, computer but does not have anything but work to do on it. This game is also a great time-passer. 1 hour will go by like 15 minutes.

I kind of ad libed here, but here is a pros and cons list:

         Pros:                                                              

  • very addicting
  • great soundtrack
  • educational (on what not to do)
  • fun
  • gives you second chances
  • has easy and hard levels

 

Cons:

  • bloody
  • rated 10+
  • educational (on what not to do)
  • very addicting
  • gory
  • has very little mercy

Now, I made this blog to share a game that I like personally. Please do not take it like I’m comparing, oh, I don’t know, Team Fortress 2 to Happy Wheels.This is my opinion and my recommendation , not my comparison.

To top it all off, here is a picture of the title screen.happy-wheels-09-700x388

Vizio Tablet

The eight inch tablet from Vizio has good display and widgets but is limited in audio and browsing capabilities. The WiFi tablet costs around $200 and has all the basic requirements of a tablet with many android apps.

Here are the good aspects of VTAB1008:

  1. 8 inch LED LCD display with capacitative touch buttons and screen resolution of 1024×768
  2. Front facing camera for chatting and taking pictures
  3. Inbuilt television remote and bluetooth
  4. 32GB maximum storage with 4GB built in storage
  5. Can be connected to a TV, headset, SD Card, and USB
  6. Weighs 1.5 pounds
  7. Battery life up to 10hours
  8. Bottom menu bar

Here are the not so good aspects I observed:

  1. Heavy and bulky appearance
  2. No horizontal panning
  3. Maximum volume is low
  4. Sensitive buttons get pressed unnecessarily
  5. Browser closes abruptly
  6. Camera is not good for pictures
  7. Web browsing is not that comfortable
With affordable cost, the Vizio tablet provides basic requirements of a portable device. It is a good choice for starters. You need to download additional apps to reduce the lag. 🙂

 

 

 

Dookudu Movie Review

Prince Mahesh babu’s Dookudu overwhelms worldwide audience with impeccable performance, music, dances, dialouges,  sentiment, and unlimited comedy. The movie is a major hit setting up all time records for the hero as well as the director Srinu Vaitla.

Story

Dookudu has a family bondness sentiment. Ajay’s (Mahesh) father Shankar anna (Prakash Raj) dedicates his life to the poor people in the slums of Hyderabad. He is liked by many people and worshipped for his social service. Shankar anna and his friends get attacked by his enemies and looses his life.

Ajay relocates to Mumbai where he grows up with his aunt’s family. He becomes a police officer and works with a group of efficient team in tackling mafia in Mumbai. Ajay proves to be fearless and daring in his job and catches big criminals. In the process, he captures one of close associates of Nayak (Sonu Sood), the biggest of mafia leaders. Nayak kills his own associate while in police custody and hence Ajay’s team gets suspended.

Ajay and his team travel to Istanbul to track the criminals. He meets Prashanthi (Samantha) who travelled to Istanbul to attend a fashion competition. He falls in love with her who in turn seems to be uninterested in him. He first tries to impress her with his charm but fails to get her attention.

The story then takes multiple turns and the audience realizes that Shankar anna is alive but has weak heart and cannot handle sudden bad news. So, Ajay pretends that everything is normal and rwquests all his relatives to act normal. He pretends to be an MLA as his father wanted him. In the midst of all the make up, he plans funny events which are hillarious. Further, he also tries to track people who attacked his father and also the mafia leaders. The rest of the story is how Ajay tries to balance his love, career, personal vengeance, and family responsibilities.

Review

The reality show comedy by Brahmanandam, the old hero episode by MS Narayana, and the cool guy by Dharma varapu are a major highlights among other comedians. All the comedians and artists are well blend in to the story without any major bumps. Fights are a must in Mahesh’s movie and are matching the expectations. Whenever there is a fist fight, the audience can see a lightning effect or a fire at the contact. Music by Thamman is different though the lyrics are not catchy in all the songs. The item song by Parvathi Melton and the title song are the ones which are instantly likeable. The main villain, the gorgeous Sonu Sood was downgraded to an old person lest he would dominate the hero. 🙂

‘Mind lo fix aite, blind ga doosukellipota’, ‘Nee kosam wait cheyyataniki emaina fans anukuntunnava, Poleeece’, and other local slangs are never heard in the recent past. Prince Mahesh babu and Samantha’s costumes are good and rich. The locations of songs in Istanbul, Germany, Mumbai, and Hyderabad are good and different. While some are arguing that there is nothing new in the movie, the entire movie creates a magic and needs a second chance. Overall, the movie is a major hit for Mahesh and a mega blockbuster until the next one. 🙂

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 2

The final series of the Harry Potter, Deathly Hollows Part 2 takes the viewers in to a emotional turmoil and tense ear situations. The movie is crossing all box-office records world wide. The grown up Harry makes extreme sacrifices for saving the Hogwarts and killing his life-time enemy. Many thought he would die in the movie. He did die and came back to life for performing his duties. 🙂

Harry Potter must destroy all the powers of Lord Voldemort acquired in the past. The cup, tiara, elder wand and Nagini are his important powers apart from the vast number of death eaters. Harry, Hermoine, and Weasley set out for searching for the powers. They discover the cup in the vault for which they gain entry with the help of a Goblin.

Next, the three reach Hogwarts to search for the tiara. The dead help them in finding the tiara in the secret hiding place of the Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Voldemort plans attack on the Hogwarts with all his death eaters and evil powers. The professors at the Hogwarts secure the college with certain powers which may not be enough to stop Voldemort, but certainly will slow him down.

In the course of destroying the cup and the tiara, Harry uncovers many secrets about his life and why he is able to see what Voldemort id doing and intends to do. He sets to sacrifice his powers and life in order to kill Lord Voldemort, but magically gets back to life and attacks Voldemort. Hermoine, Weasley, and Neville kill Nagini thus weakening the poers of Voldemort. In the end of a long war, Voldemort dies.

Harry secures the elder wand thinking that the “Wand chooses the Wizard”, but decides to destroy it though its power can make him invincible. Harry and Ginny, Hermoine and Weasley chose to lead a normal life and they send their children to Hogwarts once they grow up. Harry advises his son to choose house which suits him the best. 🙂

The epic finale says that everything ends here but there is still scope for future editions. Maybe J.K.Rowling would not write more books, but many fan fiction series have already published on the internet by fans. If you are disappointed that the story ends here, you may write your own!

The movie will mesmerize you with the plot and the graphics. You will be fascinated by how the little boy is determined and performed for his and common good. Make sure to watch it in 3D and watch it twice to enjoy Harry again. 🙂

Cars 2: Ka-Ching

For all the fans of Lighting McQueen, Cars 2 offers a great entertainment with best pal Mater playing a key role. Cars 2 by Disney Pixar is fun to watch and the humor by the tow truck is engaging. The only thing lacking in the movie is people. 🙂

Story

After winning the piston cup Lighting McQueen plans to take rest for a while in Radiator Springs along with his friends and team members. He plans special days with Sally, but to his despair, his friend Mater joins him everywhere. Although Lighting McQueen appreciates Mater’s friendship, he does not like Mater meddling in his own affairs.

a new entrepreneur designing alternate fuel plans to organize a World Grand Prix and invites major cars in the world to join the race. Lighting McQueen joins the race and this time plans to take Mater along with other team members to the races. The funny old Mater with his natural gestures adds humor and embarrassment to their trip.

While on the tour, mysterious accidents happen with the new fuel and all the participating cars start exploding one by one. The mystery behind these accidents gets the top spies to work. The spies mistake Mater for one of the agents and involve him in the operations. Good Mater thinks that its all part of a dating scheme and joins the game. The rest of the story is how Mater helps solve the case through his wit and wisdom.

Review

The movie casts cars in all the roles including the Queen of England! As the team has to travel world wide, popular locations in Japan, Russia, Italy, France are good. The animations and scenes are engaging and the screenplay is well planned. You would not feel bored but continue laughing with the comedy by Mater.

The sequences, situations, and locations seem so real that one may forget it is involving only cars. Kudos to the Pixar’s animation team for capturing the expressions of the cars just like real people. Overall, you will fall in love with the Mater and Lighting McQueen once again in Cars 2. 🙂

Teen Maar: Movie Review

Teen Maar starring Pawan Kalyan and Trisha is another love story from a confused youth who is unable to decide his present and future. The movie fails to capture the audience as well as Pawan Kalyan’s acting talents to the fullest. Poor storyline and boring comedy are a major drawback for the film. You may watch it if you are a loyal fan of the Chiru’s family and get bored at your own risk. 🙂

Story

Pawan Kalyan plays the dual role of Michael Velayudum and Arjun Palwai (Funny names though). Arjun Palwai is the youth in past and Michael Velayudum is a youth in the modern ages. Arjun Palwai falls in love with a girl Vasumati. He follows and sticks to her faithfully while trying to win her. He believes that dating does not matter if they both love each other. Despite Vasumati’s family opposition and other differences, he succeeds in winning the girl at the end.

In contrast, Michael Velayudum is an upcoming youth who has high career aspirations and flexible life goals. He is good at flirting with women and dating them. He meets a girl named Meera and spends couple of years with her. Once she decides to relocate to another place, he breaks up with her as the long distance relationship would not work for him. Later, while he is dating another girl, he realizes that he misses Meera.

Meanwhile, Meera decides to get married another man in India. Michael Velayudum gets hurt to lose Meera and after her marriage he realizes that he indeed loves her and misses her. He decides to reconcile their relationship and discovers that Meera too broke the marriage as she missed him too. Finally, they both realize that they cannot live apart and decide to commit their lives to each other. (duh!)

Review

The main drawback of the movie is the story or lack of it. Mani Sharma’s music fails to capture the audience nor the comedy by the hero. Trisha and Pawan Kalyan have put up weight but have been shown gracefully. Pawan Kalyan is indeed a feast to watch in both the roles of Michael Velayudum and Arjun Palwai.

The locations of Varanasi, Madras, Australia, and Mauritius have some good scenes. The movie resembles many past movies including the recent ‘Orange’ or Pawan Kalyan’s own ‘Badri’. While watching the movie, the audience will hope that some good may come up at the end but will get disappointed by the predictability throughout. Everything about the movie is plain and predictable and so if you have high expectations due to the star cast, you will be frustrated. 🙂

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I have heard about the movie with the title but have recently read the novel by renowned writer Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is all about relationships and feelings between man and woman. The author narrates stories of young women striving to get married and get settled in life. Jane Austen is a master of writing and in this novel she describes the pride we see in self and others and the prejudice we form because of it.

Jane Austen

Jane Austen is an English writer who lived from 1775 to 1817. Jane had a passion for writing though she had not much formal education. She was part of a large middle class family in England.  Her writings were hidden for most of her life, but are now well known worldwide.

The quotes from her works, the stories, the letters, and the novels are popular in literary world. Her work has been a topic of interest for most literary students. The Jane Austen Society of North America organizes an essay contest for literary students every year and rewards their work.

Jane Austen is the author of six novels, on which many movies and television episodes have been made:

  1. Sense and Sensibility
  2. Pride and Prejudice
  3. Emma
  4. Persuasion
  5. Mansfield Park
  6. Northanger Abbey
Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is the story of young women in a middle class family of England. The main character Elizabeth is the second of five sisters Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty, Mary, and Lydia. Elizabeth is close to her her eldest sister and her father Mr. Bennet. During that period, the primary goal of every house was to find suitable matches for their young daughters and marry them off. Unlike her younger sisters, Elizabeth was in no hurry for attracting capable young men in her community and getting married.

Jane, Lizzy’s elder sister and Mr. Bingley, the new visitor of Netherfield meet at a ball and hope to see each other more often. Elizabeth eventually meets Mr. Darcy who is a friend of Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy is perceived as unsocial and a proud man with no minimum courtesies towards women. He owns rich estates and business though. While misunderstandings seperate the two couples, the rest of the story is how the couples end up in marriage.

Review

The story progresses slowly and nothing much happens. But, the reader gets trapped in the narration and may want to complete the novel at once. How Mr. Darcy is perceived in the beginning and how Lizzy’s hatred turns in to love is so gradual and natural. The pride of a person and the prejudices people form entirely can be changed at any time. The sweet smiling faces which we see daily may not be the real nice ones. In contrast, the uncivilized ones may turn up as great humanitarians.

The incidents and consequences narrated back in 1800s are common even now and happening in modern world. The feelings are true in current sitations and can be applied in our lives as well. The social, moral, and economic conditions are similar to the modern world and gives us a feeling that things have not changed much during the last two hundred years. 🙂

Further, the love stories of the novel again suggest that lovers do not mind the social statuses in choosing their partners. The emotions of a father in giving away a daugther in marriage and the anxiety of a mother in finding a suitable match for her daughter is so relevant.
The female characters in the novel were not much educated but acquire knowledge and gain wisdom through reading, observation, and social interaction. The beautiful description of the country side, the elegance of the houses, and the never ending thought processes of the characters capture the readers.

Pride and Prejudice is a must read and if possible to be cherished and passed on to the future generations. 🙂

Movie Review: Gnomeo and Juliet

Based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Gnomeo and Juliet is a love story but with a happy ending. The music is composed and directed by the great Elton John. A funny animation movie and has a 3D version too. 🙂

Gnomes

Gnomeo and Juliet is an animation movie in which real characters action is converted in to three dimensional characters. The voice over and music is added and they sound like real people. 🙂 Gnomeo and Juliet is about Gnomes and a funny love story. Gnomes are fictious creatures. They are mischievous and live underground. Several literatures in the past such as the Harry Potter and other stories have referred to the Gnomes.

Story

In this movie, the Gnomes live in the back yards of two adjacent houses. One is a red house which accommodates the red gnomes. The other is a blue house, which accommodates  the blue gnomes. Due to the apparent rivalry between the neighbors, the gnomes too end up fighting with each other. The hero, ‘Gnomeo’ is a young blue gnome, whereas the heroine, ‘Juliet’ is a red gnome.

Gnomeo is the leader of the blue gnomes and takes care of his garden apart from frequent lawn mover races with the red gnomes. Juliet is the only daughter of the red gnome’s leader and apparently pampered a lot. They both meet in an unexpected encounter and voila, they fall in love at the very first sight. Later, they realize that they being the professional rivals, are not supposed to meet each other. The rest of the story is all about how the hero and heroine face the further difficulties and succeed in their love story.

Review

The producers took eleven years to make this movie. The characters are apt and the music is highlight of the movie. Original scores by Elton John are catchy and melodious. Comedy by the crane, frog, mushroom, and the gnomes is hilarious. The story and the narration is engaging and the adults get totally engrossed in the movie along with the children. 🙂

Watch it in 3D for a better experience and let me know how you felt about the love story during the Valentines Day weekend.  🙂

Ragada: Move Review

Featuring Nagarjuna as a tough fighter, Ragada may entertain his fans but too many negative roles, fights, and murders make the movie dragging. With Anushka and Priya mani in other lead roles, Ragada is a time pass to watch movie when you have nothing else to do. 🙂

Story

Nagarjuna plays the role of Satya Reddy, who is an orphan. He is loyal to the family which brought him up. He grows up to be a tough and arrogant man. Nagarjuna’s mother runs a free hospital in Kadapa for poor people which was donated in the past. The son of the donor turns up to a corrupt politician and wants Nagarjuna’s mother to vouch for him during politics. When she refuses to do so, he threatens to take back the hospital and kill her. Hence, Nagarjuna pledges to earn crores of money to save the hospital which his mother works for.

Nagarjuna reaches Hyderabad in his thirst for earning money. He gets in the middle of a gang fight and saves a person. The opposite gang now in turn try to kill him and his family members.  They succeed in killing Nagarjuna’s mother and the rest of the story is how he avenges his revenge on those who killed his mother.

Review

To watch Nagarjuna in a tough role is a feast. Anushka is a total flop in this movie except for a couple of songs. National award winner Priyamani looks cute and does justice for her role in a typical and innocent Brahmin girl. The comedy by the hero and Brahmanandam are assets for the movie. The fights are sometimes tiring and you wonder how a single person can throw hundreds of people kicking in the air. This of course happens only in Telugu movies. 🙂

Though some songs are catchy, the continuous murders and never ending gun fires leave a headache for the audience. There are too many villains who are difficult to track. The climax is predictable and funny. Many killings in the movie is a  minus point apart from its bad ending. If you are a fan of Nagarjuna, you will not be disappointed and will be glad to find  him good looking and handsome in the movie. The hero’s phrase, ‘Kalisoste Cheruggada, Eduroste Ragada’ is funny to repeat! 🙂

Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu: Movie Review

Disney’s first South Indian production, ‘Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu’, does meet the graphics standards. But, the movie does not meet the expectations of viewers. Starring Siddharth and Shruthi Hassan apart from Manchu Lakshmi, the movie is a bit close to disaster. 🙂

Story

The story of Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu reminds us of the childhood ‘Chandamama’ stories. Evil and dark vampire Ilendri,  played by Manchu Lakshmi wants to capture death by torturing people and involving black magic. In the process, she captures men and directs them to kill ordinary people. She aims to gain immortality by killing the divine child, Moksha (Harshitha) who is protected by Yodha – hero Siddharth.

Siddharth is blind warrior who lives in the same ashrama as Moksha. He was blinded in a fight in the past and is rescued by the Swami of the ashrama. He is an able fighter despite his blindness and is upset as he lost his dear girl friend, Shruthi Hassan. In fact, Shruthi Hassan was captured by Ilendri to drink her blood whenever needed. the story is all about Ilendri tries to kill Moksha and how the hero rescues her by killing Ilendri. The hero meanwhile gets back his eye sight and his girl friend.

Review

The graphics and scenes are capturing. Some scenes seem natural but so artificial at the same time. The comedy, screenplay, narration, action sequences, and direction is so predictable that you may want to quit watching it in between. Some scenes and dialogues are obscene and inaccurate for young audiences. Some scenes such as the evil vampire in the bathtub and the poking of heroes’ eyes are scary.

The blind hero is a negative aspect for the story. You always wonder how is he going to rescue the little girl and the heroine if he cannot see. The hero being blinded for the most of part of the story was not a good idea. The songs are not that catchy and are mostly out of context. You may feel that you like it in the beginning, but as the story progresses, you get tired of the blind hero and the vampire attacks. Though the three main roles acted their part well, the story is not good and capturing at all. 🙂

TRON Legacy – Movie Review

The latest science fiction, TRON Legacy manages to meet the expectations but is incomprehensible for normal viewers. 🙂 The video game development, the ‘grid’, and the action sequences make it a good movie, but at times TRON Legacy leaves you clueless.

TRON Legacy is a sequel to the 1982 version of TRON. The latest movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski and casts Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund in the main roles. The Walt Disney movie has couple of good animations and action sequences but overall, the movie has a moderate rating.

In TRON Legacy, the CEO of ENCOM and a video game designer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappears suddenly and leads to many rumors. His parents and son are clueless about him and hope that he might return. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) grows up and becomes the CEO of ENCOM, though not willing to take up the entire responsibility of his duties. However, he tries to maintain his father’s ideals by keeping the software open to general public which is against the interests of the company’s board members.

Sam Flynn gets the keys to the gaming arcade which his father used to maintain when he worked at ENCOM. Sam explores the ‘Flynn’s’ arcade and finds a unique computer which his father operated in the past. He logges in to the machine by trying out different credentials and eventually ends up in landing the ‘grid’, that is in side the gaming program. 🙂

Till now everything seems to be normal. Hereafter, the imaginary world of programs-as-humans and users begins. Next, Sam is captured by the people there and is thrown in to multiple challenges. He is unaware of the reason behind the attacks, but still hopes to find his father in the grid. The main villain, Clu (also Jeff Bridges) puts Sam in another Light Cycle attack. When Sam starts bleeding, other programs in the fight realize that Sam is user.

Quorra (Olivia Wilde) rescues Sam and takes him to another remote place where he meets his father. Kevin Flynn narrates that he entered the grid and was captured by Clu and cannot enter the portal as Clu is trying to capture his disc and destroy the world. The rest of the movie is how Quorra, Kevin, and Sam try to reach the portal by fighting Clu. At the end, Kevin dies while reintegrating with Clu. Sam and Quorra enter the real world and Sam agrees to take his role as CEO of ENCOM.

The bike action sequences are worth watching but the movie is boring at times. If you like the ‘Matrix’, ‘Inception, ‘Surrogates’, and so on, you might like TRON Legacy too. 🙂

Movie Review: Orange

If the movie is directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar, it has to be different. Orange is in deed different and entertaining, but at times leaves you puzzled what the actual point is.

Ram Charan Teja and Genelia take the lead roles in Orange. Brahmanandam, Prabhu, Manjula play other crucial roles. The rest of the actors include  junior cast and some popular television actors. The hero is a Graffiti artist uncertain of his career and love and is occupied with his own self interests.  He has a history of breaking up with past girl friends just because he cannot commit to them. The hero argues that too much commitment limits his freedom and bounds him in to certain restrictions. At the same time, he wants to be true and does not want to lie.


On the other hand the heroine is a common bubbly student who is crazy about falling in love and having boy friends. She is influenced by the love marriages in her family and chases her college mates in pursuit of love. The hero meets heroine and falls in love with her. He then follows and tries to convince the heroine to love him although he cannot commit his love for her. The heroine in turn refuses him for not committing. The entire story is about convincing from both sides.

The movie is mostly screened in Sydney, Australia. Some of the scenes are shot in Mumbai. The music by Harris Jayraj does meets the expectations and the songs are catchy. Apt comedy by the comedians and the heroine is timed and blended in the story. There are a couple of action sequences and fights. The hero and heroine look so tired that we can see their bulged eyes and improper make up in most of the scenes. Ram Charan looks like a common student but has put on a lot of weight. His dances were good though.

The director highlighted that ladies harass men to change and sacrifice their long term habits and friends. He stresses that men have to undergo a lot in a relationship and have to lie to satisfy spouse or girl friend. But, he forgot to mention that the opposite is also true and has been happening since ages. I think it is true in both the cases and in any relationship change and adjustment are mandatory to gain faith and happiness. 🙂

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part I

The movie version of J.K. Rowling’s seventh book,  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, is very engaging and sometimes scary too. I was trapped by the emotions and amazing storytelling in the movie. This fantasy epic is entertaining and has earned $235 million so far.

Past

Harry Potter is a wizard whose parents were killed by Lord Voldemort when he was a  baby. Then, his true identity is hidden and was moved to his relatives, who were Muggles, that is non-wizards. When Harry was eleven, he gets an admission in to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the school, Harry meets his friends and learns new wizard skills. As he grows up, Harry encounters through different challenges and in turn masters newer skills and expertise.


Award winning author, Joanne Kathleen Rowling, captures the audience with her writing. The books so far are:

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The fiction takes you to the different worlds yet it seems natural and connected.

Present

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is the continuation of the Harry Potter’s series. The last movie ended with the death of Dumbledore, the senior guide at the school. The three main characters Harry, Hermione, and Ron are grown up now and are exposed to greater dangers of the death. The teenage wizards are cute to watch and are more emotional now.

The movie starts with Lord Voldemort meeting with all his evil assistants. He intends to destroy Harry and attacks Harry in different situations. Meanwhile, the three friends set up on solving a mystery about a locket which Dumbledore left to Harry in his will. In the journey of solving the mystery, Ron gets hurt. While recovering from the injury, he starts suspecting Harry and Hermione. They encounter mysterious symbols which lead to the Deathly Hollows!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows has brilliant screenplay and the locations are engaging. The story moves on slowly, which is why I understood most part of it. 🙂 Some parts of the story I think are copied from different myths and epics of the world. Some scenes such as the snake attack and the underwater capture are scary. The kissing scenes are inappropriate for young audiences and unnecessary too. The suspense builds up so you may want to buy the book and know what happens next. 🙂

The release of the movie and the book are synchronized nowadays to increase the curiosity! If you go to the midnight show on the day of release, you can see all the teens and children dressed as the characters from the movie. 🙂 The movie ends abruptly leading to the Part II in July, 2011.

Disney Magic Show – iWireless Center

The Disney’s magic show at the iwireless center was a hit among the children but the adults did not like it much though. May be the show is good for toddlers as even the seven year olds can guess what is happening behind the magic. The show was not as good as the other ones of the Disney’s such as last year’s Disney on Ice. 🙂

Disney’s Magic Show at the iWireless center last friday started at 6.30 pm. The commentators participated in the magic show and were good. The characters Mickey, Minnie, Donald duck, Goofy, Aladdin, Snow white, Jasmine, Cindrella and other team members worked very hard to make the show a success. The commitment of the staff in entertaining the audience was commendable. The team coordinated well and performed the tricks.


The magic tricks included locked rings, vanishing things, flying objects, changing objects among others. The best one I thought was when the performers put two girls in separate boxes. Then, swapped them in the boxes, cut them in to half and then even the dresses of the girls swapped too!

They let two children from the audience participate in the magic show and it was engaging.  Occasionally, the audience had to shout  ‘Abracadabra’  to let the magic work. The Disney characters were fun to watch. 🙂

The iWireless center offers group discounts for a group of 20 or more. This time due to security concerns none of the food items from outside were allowed inside including water! The store had a collection of Disney’s characters and accessories. Some of the children took pictures with the Disney’s characters after the show. Overall, the show was money consuming along with a bit of entertainment. 🙂

Movie Review – Brindavanam

Brindavanam is a over hyped movie with songs and fights merged in to a senseless story and is a pure waste of time and money. 🙂 The star cast is capable enough but I thought they are wasted in this movie.

Brindavanam is a story about two college girls. One of the girls lands in to a trouble of early marriage. So, her friend lets her boy friend to go as her friend’s lover. The story is all about hoe the hero saves the family woes of the heroine. Meanwhile, he falls in love with the second heroine as well as continues the friendship with the first one.


Totally the story is baseless and is weaved with unnecessary emotions, dances and fights along with needless comedy. The movie is a total waste of money and time of the makers as well as the viewers. It is one of the worst movies I watched in the recent past. 🙂

Movie Review – Robot

Superstar Rajinikanth starring ‘Robot’ met its expectations with winning combination of director Shankar, beautiful Aishwarya Rai and melodiful A.R.Rahman. The movie is a pure entertainer along with stunning graphics and cute Chitti, the Robot.

Rajinikanth plays a scientist who invents a super robot which can perform several mechanical tasks along with dancing and fighting. His senior, played by Danny Dengzonpa, becomes jealous of him and wants to steal the technology to use it for destructive purposes.


The Robot, called Chitti, also played by Rajinikanth, performs super tasks which are sometimes funny and some times lead to disasters in the story. To overcome the shortcomings of a mechanical robot, the scientist induces feelings in to the robot. The senior scientist takes advantage of the disasters caused by Chitti and tries to manipulate the robot. The Robot, meanwhile, after being induced feelings like human beings, falls in love with Aiswarya Rai, who is the girlfriend of Rajinikanth. Finally, the story is all about how the original scientist overpowers Chitti robot and saves the people.

Overall, the songs and super graphics were commendable. The action of Rajinikanth in both scientist role and as the robot are superb. Director Shankar has a social message for the future generations to develop sophisticated machines but not to entirely depend on them for survival. The movie is a must watch for all the fun loving and graphic loving viewers. 🙂