Captain Philips

Captain Phillips is a 2013 American action thriller directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. The film is a biopic of merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips, who was taken hostage by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean during the Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009 led by Abduwali Muse.
The screenplay by Billy Ray is based upon the book, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea (2010), by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca.^[3] It was released on October 11, 2013,^[4] and had its premiere when shown at the 2013 New York Film Festival.^[5]

 

 

 

So last weekend, Le Hubby and I popped in to watch Captain Philips at the movies.

It took me this long to write a review on it because I'm still trying to fathom the whole purpose of the movie. Is it supposed to be a part of its cinematic charm the way it confuses viewers into thinking there are many hidden euphemisms? Were we supposed to have orgasmic epiphanies as the credits roll up?

 

Basically, the whole story revolves around the hostage taking of some Somali pirates of the eponymous Captain Philips. Although one would expect there were supposed to be many facets to that single incidence, the whole development of the story was either too weak or vague that unless you consciously make up storylines in your head, it really will remain empty. Your head, that is.

I know though that I have to throw a special mention out there to the actor who played "Muse" (pronounced as Mossa), his acting was so devoid of any hint of ACTING that is was either realistic or just plain stodgy. I'd like to say realistic.

 

If it was food, I'd call it bland.

 

PLOT: www.wikipedia.org

IMAGES: www.google.com



Boss

Boss is an 2013 Bollywood action masala film directed by Anthony D'Souza. The film was produced by Cape of Good Films & Ashwin Varde Productions and features Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Shiv Pandit, Aditi Rao Hydari and Ronit Roy in lead roles. It is apparently a remake ofMalayalam film Pokkiri Raja starring Mammotty, Prithviraj and Shriya Saran.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an unbiased text of the movie's plot, so here's my 2 cents rolled into it.
I like the movie, in fact I love it.
Don't ever mind the garbage complaints and criticisms you hear from people around you regarding Indian Movies. First of all, when one ventures into the realm of Bollywood, one should expect that these movies have a certain "flair". You don't go to the cinema to watch BOSS and expect to see THE GODFATHER. Do you go into the cinema knowing you are watching Akshay Kumar and then expecting to see Robert De Niro? (Or whoever else for that matter)

All in all, the story was incredible. It deals with bonds shared by siblings, a father's pride in his son (or lack thereof) and the family we make along the journey we call life. It is also a tale of a modern day Robin Hood, speckled with a few comedic jiggles here and there.
P.S: I did cry 3 times during the movie, and laughed like a maniac throughout.
There is also a few bonus dance numbers with certain guest appearances that will tickle your funny bones.



MOVIE PLOT: www.wikipedia.com

IMAGES: images.google.ae

Escape Plan

Escape Plan^[6][7] (formerly known as Exit Plan and The Tomb) is a 2013 action thriller film starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, andJim Caviezel.^[8] Escape Plan is directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, and is written by Miles Chapman (screenplay) and Jason Keller(rewrite). The film follows Stallone's character Ray Breslin, a structural engineer who is incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, aided in his escape by his cellmate Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzenegger).

(Pssst! Isn't that the guy who played Jesus in "Passion of the Christ"?)

What would you expect when you bring together Arnie and Sly? 

Of course, nothing less than an action packed fiesta with cheesy one liners peppered here and there, complimented by some awkward one-second-too-long facial expressions.

Overall, the movie piqued my interest right from the beginning. I already started playing my mental guessing game internally 30 seconds into the movie. The storyline itself is pretty interesting, and scarily real enough for the human mind to entertain. 

There are just some parts of the story that seemed too good to be true and will often entice a "Seriously, what were you thinking!?" Reaction from most of the audience.

For example, I'd like to think that nobody as smart as Ray Breslin, what with breaking out of prisons for a decade or so, would willingly delve into a so called "project" where all his safety protocols are thrown out the window. Surely, with all his intellectual prowess, he must have known that the risks out weigh any of the rewards promised to him. On top of that, even if he has a personal crusade that pushes him into this line of work, no sufficient air time was given to show his personal struggle and inner torture concerning this matter.

Lastly, if the whole idea was to make Ray Breslin disappear, and the idea of doing so is harder  to maintain but has the same effect with killing him instead, why not settle for the latter? Not enough explanation was given on why he needed to be kept alive when the whole purpose was to just make him disappear anyway.

MOVIE PLOT: www.wikipedia.com

IMAGES: images.google.ae