Reviews

I got to see this at a select preview. I had seen the original many many years ago, so I vaguely recalled the plot when I sat down to view this. The entire movie was very engaging and I could follow the story development without any problem. Excellent sound track, heightens the desired effects. Excellent acting by Ryan Gosling, who goes through a whole range of emotions, ups and downs, surprises and shocks. Very tight script and full of intrigue. Some might argue very dark portrayal, but that is the idea. Very realistic depictions of the landscape, brilliant CGI work all through the movie.

Highly recommended as a science fictional potential look at a future of society.

Went to see this title, as I was quite aware of a bit about the title, although many folks may not even be aware of the history of the British Empire and the reign of Empress Victoria. The makers have taken quite a few liberties, but overall the movie has been well made.

Judi Dench does a fantastic job of Queen Victoria and the entire UK court intrigue is well constructed and shown. Ali Fazal has also done a very creditable job playing the subservient agent of the empire.

The attitudes of both the British and their subjects has been correctly typed. Nice location shoots, the interactions between Abdul and the Queen did feel right.

If you are fan of historical depictions, recommended.

I went into this movie on the day it was released in North America, watched it on the big screen, with an open mind. Not since "Lagaan" and "Chak De India", have we had a decent sports-oriented Indian movie, which evokes a great deal of joy, pride and satisfaction. Happily this movie does that job and remains true to the title (despite several folks thinking it was incomplete). We get to see how this sports icon of India, grows up as a child in a province which discourages sports as means of making a living, the numerous struggles to gain acceptance, the subtle behind the scenes machinations, political maneuvers, highs and lows, extreme disappointment and despair, the almost drowning like sensation of feeling trapped as a misfit in the stagnant existence and finally summing up the courage to break free.

I also loved the touch of non-cricket/non-sports related history of the main characters, no spoilers here, but the director has done a decent job of capturing the emotional hits taken along the journey of life. Very stoic responses to many of the roller coasters, several of the folks you meet along the way dispensing philosophical metaphors. The women cast in the movie did a very good job, played their roles and made it very believable. The support of the true childhood friends, the small town sights, sounds and smells was well done. If there is a slight flaw it was the use of computer graphic/video imagery where they superimpose the actor's face on the real video clips, came across as very amateurish or were too obvious. The director was able to coax out of all the cast the characteristic trait of deference and demeanor one sees in that part of the world, gave it an authentic feel.

A worth while watch for all Indian sports lovers and families as well.

I went in to see this movie without any bias or pre-conceived notions, so I do feel qualified to share my review. Not having read or even being aware of the DC Comics version, I did not know what to expect. I liked the movie as it had a lot of good action from the get go, so the 2 hours passed quickly. The movie helped build up the story giving each of the major characters a build up. It did feel like a little bit of 'Ghostbuster' but only fleetingly so.

Critics may have panned the movie, but I enjoyed it. Lots of color, good CGI, did not feel fake. The sound effects were very good. The language and script, screenplay were alright for this sort of genre. Plenty of light direct humor, nothing too cerebral. Plenty of trippy and whacky badass characters to satisfy even the folks who wish for balance and gender diversity. A few parts did seem puzzling, but you can enjoy the movie nonetheless.

The movie - based on the book "Man Into Woman", a diary kept by one of the first person to go thru a trans-gender experience, dictate the pace of the whole movie. Both Alicia and Eddie give excellent performances, bringing to the surface their emotions and tragic gut wrenching journey of their feelings. It does however capture the essence of the times (1920s Europe) of how society viewed this and the utter lack of knowledge of the medical establishment at the time. I did not expect much from the movie and was pleasantly surprised by the crisp editing, transitions, and attention paid to era details.

Worth a watch just to appreciate the tough times in the early days. The movie does have good closure towards the end, even if it is a bit tragic.

Since real science gets very little public exposure in any positive way, anticipation was high that this would help deliver that. While it made a credible attempt, I was rather disappointed at the lack of balanced credit. To the average public citizen it came across as largely the work of a few visionaries and one particular experiment - ATLAS. There were several others who did major yeoman like efforts and that is why I gave it only 6 stars. The human stories were particularly good, perseverance despite the adversity, it could have easily done it without the expletives as well. While it is a documentary and did a fantastic job of chronologically growing with the major real life characters, it failed to acknowledge numerous labs and institutions, along the way who were much more than mere influencers. But definitely worthwhile, hope the next generation of the story raises the bar.

Often many an unenlightened fan dismisses the notion of a documentary as being boring, especially one to do with racing. "Au contra-ire" my skeptical friend, I heartily recommend this to you, for it has all the ingredients of a regular movie - excitement, passion, true events, story of individuals willing to go past the edge, push the envelope and draw us into their piercing journey. One gets to learn about many of the sports legends, their views and how major events have shaped it. We get brief lessons into the history of F1 and for any fan - as well as newbie to the sport - this is mandatory knowledge and helps us appreciate to a high degree the ultimate of man & machine together and what they face.

When I usually go to see movies which cover a past period of time, I take the trouble of not reading too much about the background or skipping the book it is based on, so that I may judge the product purely on its merits and the strengths of the entire production crew that went into it's making. It pleases me to share with you that "In Secret" ranks as one such fine effort, right from the beginning it transports you to the mid-1800s era of rural France, and tells us the story of little Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen). This effort has good production values, for not even a single moment does your attention drift away from the development of the characters, seeing them grow up, make the ties binding to the extent that Therese clearly suffers from the over bearing domination of her mother-in-law, played brilliantly by Jessica Lange. She gives the entire movie a continuation of the thread for the story, at times you feel her looks, demeanor and restrained but piercing performance, towards the end, are very absorbing. Hats off to the casting crew for making the right call here, she was born to play this role.

I wish to thank my fellow cinema mates - Isabelle and Lisa (you know who you are!) - for sharing their insights with me post the viewing. Correct use of lighting does give this piece the right feel of the suffocating & dreary lower working class Paris conditions, the same dark focus and clever use of perspective subtly nudge the viewer into feeling very tense as the story of betrayal develops. The very same way the characters demons grow, speaks to the way all of them absorb the souls of the players and share them with us flawlessly. As my fellow cinema watchers also shared with me, this movie is not for everyone, and only serious lovers of subtle simple but powerful period stories will appreciate this work. I suspect they are also right in anticipating that we may see many more French literary pieces coming to life on the big screen in the next few years. I give this movie an 8 star rating, simply because I appreciated every frame contributing to the telling of the story, no wasted effort or superfluous diversions whatsoever.

I saw it and tried to post a comment on the official facebook timeline, but somehow it got lost.... Anyways here goes my review: RUSH has got to be one of the best made sports movies for 2013, no question about it. Without revealing any spoilers here -it gets the highest rating for telling a great story and delivering it with style, very reflective of the period. Special effects were limited but tastefully done. Ron Howard did a masterful job. The two actors made the characters very believable and come to life just as one expected them. the pace was very gripping (pun intended!) and all of the supporting cast were excellent. Caution on the language and bits of nudity for those who may think of taking the young ones along for the experience. Enjoyed the whole movie, lots of witty dialog and the whole theater erupted in a standing ovation at the end. I guess that says it all.

More of a documentary on a forgotten singer from Benares (aka Varanasi). Coming form the ancient tradition of 'tawaif' (sort of like a courtesan) but these were skilled in the arts of music, song and literature.

Bound by ancients ties of remaining true to one's house of style and training, they represent the fading of the practice of learning by observing and practicing under the tutelage of a master - a mode of apprenticeship in which one basically willed away one's early life to the dedication of mastering the art. Once such singer - Rasoolan Bai - sang using the local city dialect.