The Fault in Our Stars #TFIOS Movie Review and Trailer

The Fault In Our Stars Extended Trailer by Stuff We Like

The fault in our stars is an example of how an ordinary story, if acted out reasonably with good production values and advertisement can make an impact on the general audience. The movie with all its hype was frankly a slight disappointment despite the actors being true to their task and delivering whatever the script demanded of them.
TFIOS is a story of two cancer patients and partial survivors falling in love. It is simply a love story aided by the tragic backdrop of terminal illness. The slapstick and in your face dialog between the protagonists is a highlight of the film and the writer has done a good job in giving some memorable lines to the actors to deliver.

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort did a reasonable job but they would not have been my first choice for this movie. Shailene lacked the expression required to make an overwhelming impact. She did an average job, but with the story being very linear and plain, her character demanded an imposing actor in order to lift the uneventful plot up. Ansel again did a satisfactory job, but his character demanded a sparkling, exceptionally good looking actor to really sweep the audience off the ground with his charm and sex appeal, only to leave them crying at his unfortunate state. That, unfortunately Ansel seems incapable of. Willlem Defoe has disappointed me once again with his one tone rhetoric acting and did not do justice to a well-crafted cameo.
The movie overall banks too much on the tragic state of affairs to sentimentally capture the audience. May low-budget independent movies have also banked on tragedy to drive home the advantage and have failed to do so. The reason TFIOS does not fail miserably is the hype and the budget. All in all it is a slightly overrated but still a worth watching flick. Give it a Go!

Rating: 3.5/5

Movie Review: Love And Other Drugs(2010)

Article first published as Movie Review: Love And Other Drugs on Blogcritics.

Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is leading a mediocre life. He is a real hard worker but is always on a look out for shortcuts in life. He is a charming gentleman and believes in living it up. He works in an electronics store, but after awhile is fired. 

His best friend Bruce helps him find a job at a pharmaceutical company. His interpersonal skills helps him excel as a pharamceutical company representative. On a routine visit to a nearby clinic he meets Maggie (Hathaway) for the first time. After a few more accidental encounters, Jamie sees a chance for himself with Maggie. She is an alluring free-spirited girl who does not believe in relationships. On the other hand Jamie also is a carefree person whose ultimate goal always is to satisfy his sexual desires. They embrace each other like lock and key.

With the passage of time Jamie and Maggie who were leading a happy unconcerned life with each other, find themselves in a relationship. Things eventually go their way but then suddenly life takes a huge turn, and they find their love life in lots of trouble.

Love and other Drugs lies somewhere between comedy, romance and drama, but it is mainly a romance. In my view it is a good movie but the story is very patchy and lacks cohesiveness. It seems that somewhere in the middle of the movie, the writer lost the plot.

Hathaway and Cyllenhaal are the real attraction to this movie. There are some very explicit sex scenes with Anne Hathaway; she looks good, and looks prepared for her upcoming Cat-Woman role in Batman. Jake Gyllenhaal is cute as ever and his dorky, nerdy looks are amusing and great to watch. He has also acted reasonably well. 

Although the movie has one foot in the comedy genre and the other in the "soft-porn-of-the-year" genre, I still recommend Love and Other Drugs. It is will not only keep you hooked for two hours but will provide you ultimate entertainment. I rate it 3/5 and you should give it a try!

Let Me In 2010 Review

Article first published as Review: Let Me In ( 2010) on Technorati.

Movie: Let Me In (2010) on DVD/Blu-Ray

Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz and Richard Jenkins

Rating: 4/5

One of the best remakes I have ever seen is the vampire tale presented in Let Me In. A remake of the Swedish film Let the Right One In (2008), Let Me In tells the story of a vampire girl who is twelve years old and has the innocence of a child.

She, however, can only survive on fresh blood and turns into a horrible monster as she smells or sees blood near by. This is a story of a vampire who befriends a human boy and discovers a streak of humanity in her savageness.

It is a story of a lone boy who finds humans to be more savage than a vampire in their way of discrimination and abuse. This is a love story of two twelve-year-olds with extremely contrasting natures, yet strikingly similar loneliness.

Abby (Chloe Moritz) is a vampire who has been twelve for hundreds of years. She moves into a new neighborhood in the house next to Owen (Kodi Smit), a troubled and bullied naive boy who is pushed around by his fellows at the school. They hesitantly become friends and a story that has many beautiful contrasts — coldness vs. warmth, chaos vs. peace, guilt vs. innocence, darkness vs. delicacy, and despair vs. hope — follows. To say more about the film would give away a lot, and so I am all hush hush!

Chloe and Kodi have acted brilliantly and are perhaps the best child artists in Hollywood. I honestly believe that Let Me In is one of the greatest American remakes of all time.

The Resident (2011) Review

Article first published as Review: The Resident (2011) on Technorati.

Movie: The Resident (2011)
Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Hilary Swank and Christopher Lee
Rating: 3.5/5

Many horror flicks come an go and leave no mark on your memory. The Resident is an exception in this regard. It is an unconventional scary film in the sense that unlike Paranormal Activity 2  it does not rely on any supernatural phenomenon to create creepiness and horror.

Although many films are based on human disorders and psychotic anomalies, The Resident is still unique in its treatment of the subject where intimacy, love, sex and obsession are all given equal weight-age.

It is a wonderfully presented film about how you can never be sure of who is monitoring your daily routine at what time with what intentions. It also addresses the fact that many sweet gestures can be interpreted in undesirable ways by seemingly sane people causing them to react insanely and dangerously.

Dr. Juliet Dermer (Hilary Swank) moves to a new apartment and after some days feels that she is not alone in the place. She frequently misses the wakeup alarm and feels that some external influence is causing her to oversleep. She finally finds out that her landlord Max(Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has harbored a passionate and raging obsession for her.

The best feature of the film is its presentation of sexual desires, lust and want. The cinematic presentation of Swank's curves and features is sensual to say the least. The translation of both Juliet's and Max's frustrations is immaculate, where Juliet is shown masturbating in the tub and max is shown perving on her naked body through a peeping hole.

Although I don't consider Hillary Swank (who has also co-produced the film) as a particularly attractive woman I must admit that she has looked impressive without clothes. Her full figured body gives a good explanation of Max's perversion and attraction. She has acted very well as the heart-broken, frustrated doctor who really wants to get it on with her landlord but is confused and finally returns back to her ex.

Not giving much away about the film, I must say that it is quite scary simply because it shows how a seemingly sweet person can have a dark side to him that could be triggered by a misguided gesture.