A castle for Christmas

"A castle for Christmas"

Watched English movie A castle for Christmas. 

This film is directed by Mary Lambert. Written by Kim Beyer-Johnson and others. Produced by Brook Shields and others. Music by Jeff Rona. Cinematography Michael Coulter. The film stars Brook Shields, Cary Elwes, Vanessa Grasse, Ando Osho, Eilidh Loan, Suanne Braun, Mark Fleischmann, Lee Ross, Stephen Oswald, Joe McKay and guest appearance by Drew Barrymore. The film runs for 1 hour 38 minutes and was released in 2021. I watched it on Netflix on 26th Nov 2021 (the release date) with Aditi.

Brooke is a bestselling author. She has recently undergone a messy divorce. She has also killed a popular character from her book series and it has caused a uproar and scandal. To escape from all of it she decides to take a trip to Scotland, where her family originally comes from. She wants to visit Dun Dunbar castle, where her ancestors worked.

In Scotland, she meets a group who call themselves "The knitters" and a handsome handy man. On a whim she decides to buy the castle that's up for sale but can't see the 12th Duke of Dunbar eye-to-eye. A difficult situation ensues. 

Who's this owner? Why can't the Duke and Brooke stand each other? Will there be romance with the handy man? Will she strike real friendship? Will the stay inspire her to write again?

Brooke acts well but she neither looks beautiful nor elegant. She looks severe. Nothing like her old self. Carry does well as the handsome hunk. The knitters provide necessary support to Brooke. Others play their part. 

What makes this movie stand out is the Scottish accent. After listening to the American accent for so long, it comes as a welcome change. Add to it the Scottish atmosphere and countryside. Cinematography is good. It's Christmas time. Scotland is beautiful, snow covered countryside and vibrant colours of village look beautiful.

It's a Christmas movie. A time when magic happens. So it's easy to guess what magic happens and how it ends. It's basically a feel good movie. We watched it on the day it was released. 

Watch if you like Christmas movies, but don't expect beautiful Brooke Shields. 

Dhamaka (धमाका)

"Dhamaka (धमाका)"

Watched Hindi movie Dhamaka. 

This film is directed by Ram Madhvani. Written by Puneet Sharma & Ram Madhvani. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Amita Madhvani & Ram Madhvanir. Music by Vishal Khurana. Cinematography Manu Anand. The film stars Kartik Aryan, Mrunal Thakur, Amruta Subhash, Sohum Majumdar, Aeklavya, Vikas Kumar, Vishwajit Pradhan, Priya Tandon, Anuj Gurwara, Aishwarya Chaudhary. The film runs for 1 hour 44 minutes and was released in Nov 2021. I watched it on Netflix on 26th Nov 2021 with Aditi.

Kartik Aaryan, currently demoted from prime time anchor to radio jockey, gets a call from a person who blasts a bomb on sea link. The terrorist will talk only to Kartik. He claims to be one of the workers whose friends lost life while repairing the sea link. He wants apology from minister. 

This movie exposes the ugly side of news industry where drama rules the roost and TRP is the only yard stick. Real news and truth don't matter. What's right is immaterial. Emotions are only for exploitation.

Kartik gives a good performance. He portrays the insincere as well as sincere side well. Mrunal does well in a small role and is assigned as guest artist. Amruta plays Aryan's boss and ruthless media personality. Vikas looks like a cop. Others don't have any meaningful role. 

Cinematography could have been much better. Cinematographer had a good opportunity with blast on a bridge, bridge falling, car falling, blast on a high rise, sniper etc. But the Cinematography is basic, like a low budget movie. 

A number of things are not rational, most of it being the destruction of Aryan's studio where, after blast, the table is overturned, furniture is destroyed, building is damaged but telephone remains on cradle, chord is not severed, camera remains functional etc.

It's a thriller. Director doesn't let his grip loose and keeps the adrenaline rushing. He is aided by decent story and good acting. He keeps the audience engaged. The movie builds up nicely and then suddenly crashes due to ending. Ending is the worst part of this movie. Why does Kartik take that action? It is completely in contrast with previous scene between him and Mrunal. What was the director trying to convey? Or did he run out of ideas to conclude the movie?

Director is probably trying to convey that life doesn't give you a second chance, but is it true?

Recommend watching

Lovehard

"Lovehard"

Watched English film "Lovehard". This film is directed by Hernán Jiménez. Produced by McG, Mary Viola. Written by Danny Mackey, Rebecca Ewing. Cinematography by Shane Hurlbut. Music by Mark Orton. The film stars Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Lang, James Satio, Rebecca Staab, Takayo Fischer, Harry Schum Jr., Darian Martin & Darren Barnet. This film was released on 5th Nov 2021 (1 week ago). It runs for about 1 hour 45 minutes. I watched in on Netflix on 12 Nov 2021.

Natalie dates online and finding that they are all dishonest, never being successful. In her day job, she writes a column of her disastrous dates. One day she connects with Josh, a dashing guy who loves poetry, who is gentle, considerate. In short, her Mr. Perfect. After 4 weeks of online romance. One day she decides to surprise him by visiting him for Christmas. There is a surprise alright, but it's Natalie who's surprised. The handsome hulk turns out to be a chubby, bespectacled, 30 years old Chinese guy. 

What's Natalie's reaction? Why did Josh do it? Does the handsome hulk exist? What will Natalie do?

Well, it's a Christmas movie. A feel good movie. So you know how it ends. What matters is what happens in between and how it happens. 

The story is predictable. Presence of the handsome guy, whose photo Josh uses fir online profile, makes the things little interesting. That also encourages Natalie to stay on. It gives opportunity of self discovery to Josh and Natalie. There is just enough drama to spice up the things, but it's not over-done. 

Nina acts well and so does Jimmy. Their chemistry is good. Takayo provides unexpected humor. Harry's character is turned into a caricature, some more work was needed. Director does well and remains in control. The movie slows down a little bit in the middle but eventually recovers.

It's Christmas time. A little romance, a little humor, some emotions and a happy ending. Why would one not feel good?

A feel good Christmas movie worth watching. 

Sooryavanshi (सूर्यवंशी)

"Sooryavanshi (सूर्यवंशी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Sooryavanshi (सूर्यवंशी". This movie is directed by Rohit Shetty. Produced by Reliance entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Dharma Productions and Cape of good films. Story by Rohit Shetty. Screenplay by Yunus Sajawal. Music Tanishk Bagchi, Lijo George, Chetas, JAM8. Cinematography Jomon T. John. It stars Akshy Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Vivan Bhatena, Nikitin Dheer, Gulshan Grover, Jackie Shroff, Haelin Shastri, Javed Jafri, Abhimanyu Singh, Kumud Mishra, Rajendra Gupta. Guest appearance Ajay Devgan and Ranveer Singh. The film runs for 2 hours 25 minutes and was released on 5th Nov 2021. I watched the movie in theater with Aditi,  Mihika, Dada, Thangaokar family, Kamble family and Sambhaji family on 6th Nov 2021.

Veer Sooryavanshi (Akshay) is an ATS officer. A Pakistani terrorist (Jackie) and an Indian terrorist (Kumud) who ran away to Pakistan after causing 1993 Mumbai blasts, activate 40 sleeper cells in India and retrieve 600kg RDX that was buried in 1993 in India. Akshay has to foil the terrorist plot. 

It's a Rohit Shetty movie.  So it has the customary grand entries, bunch of vehicles on the move, exploding and tumbling cars, jumping over buildings, superb action, destruction of property, high speed car chases etc. This time there are a lot of choppers too. Add to it situational comedy, slapstick comedy and comedy fighting. There is Hindu Muslim unity and also the customary song while credits roll by at the end. 

Akshay forgets names of his near and dear ones (including his wife) and calls them by rediculous names like kide, garbhavati, malaria, hernia etc. Its overdone. 

Akshay's name is Veer. But Katrina and others call Akshay Soorya, whereas Sooryavanshi is his surname, not name. Singham had same issue.

Akshay looks old. Javed Jaffri has got a decent role after a long time. Ajay Devgan has a grand entry with spinning car. He evades RPG like a fly. Katrina can't speak Hindi and needs to start acting. There is a scene of police officers wife (she's a Marathi actress, but don't remember her name) and Katrina after the death of a policeman. It's a study in contrast. Marathi actress acts naturally, with ease and there is almost no expression on Katrina's face. But it's Ranveer Singh who steals the show with his guest appearance. He is good. His comedy timing is impeccable and dialogues are witty. 

 

One wonders why no bullet hits 3 heroes and why villains manage to jump in front of bullets fired by the heroes. But one mustn't ask such questions. After all it's a Rohit Shetty movie. There is one mistake. When the villain wraps bomb around Katrina, he shows a trigger that he threatens to press. This was the mistake. A dead man's trigger is not one to be pressed but one to be released. With dead man's trigger bomb blast happens even if the trigger person is killed, hence the name. How did Rohit miss it?

The movie is not good. There isn't enough comedy, not enough story, not enough seriousness, not enough drama. As a result it has become insipid. It doesn't capture the imagination of audience. It becomes somewhat interesting after entry of Singham and Simba. Rohit had no choice but to bring them to hold the movie together. Without them this movie was a flop. 

At the end of the movie there is a preamble for next movie. A Singham sequel. I hope there is no Sooryavanshi sequel ever. 

Give it a miss. If you buy tickets, consider it your donation to film industry

Bleeding Steel

"Bleeding Steel"

Watched English movie Bleeding Steel. 

This film is directed by Leo Zhang. Written by Leo Zhang, Erica Xia-Hou, Siwei Cui. Produced by Heyi Pictures, Perfect Village Entertainment. Music by Fei Peng. Cinematography Tony Cheung. The film stars Jackie Chan, Nana Ou-Yang, Show Lo, Tess Haubrich, Callan Mulvey, Erica Xia-Hou. The film runs for 1 hour 50 minutes and was released in 2017. I watched it on OSN on 13th Aug 2021.

Officer Jacky is going to meet his dying daughter when duty calls and he is asked to escort and protect a bio scientist from one of scientist's own creations. A fight. A blast. 13 years time leap. Australia. A young girl.A father, who can't reveal their relationship. A boy who has fallen for the girl. Return of bio creation. Desperate father's fight. 

Well the story is based on the theme that this scientist has created a metallic heart and self regenerating genes. Hence bleeding Steel.  Rest is all action. 

It's a Jackie Chan film, so the action has to be good. This time it's on top of Sydney opera house, in a futuristic flying plane, on the road, in Chinatown, in the night, during the day. In short everywhere. However action is not as good as Jackie Chan movies. 

Main component of the story is revealed in snippets through flash backs. But the story is weak, very weak. There are a lot of holes and illogical things. Let's just say it's not the film's forte. 

Jackie is good. Now his age shows. Nana is sweet. Show its ok, but looks much older than Nana. Tess, Callan and Erica (who is also the writer) play the supporting role. 

Not what you expect from Jackie Chan.

Give it a miss.