Fond Memories of a Sheikh

Fond Memories of A Sheikh

He might not have been a royal elder in Arabian tribes and cultures, but Farooq Sheikh in the sense of his world was definitely veteran acting royalty. 

A face and champion of Indian Independent Cinema. 

Sheikh recently passed away, due to a heart attack in Dubai at the age of 65 on the 28th of December 2013. 

A man who truly alongside countless others of course, too Hindi cinema by storm during its mainstream lull (the 80's) and gave meaning to the 'act' in actor. 

Most people wont know him, he wasn't your run of the mill superstar rather he was that coal among fake shining gems, who worked himself hard and turned into a bright Diamond. Shining, flawless and unbeatable in whatever it is he did. 

Farroq Sheikh will be really missed on my side. So lets take a trip through (my) memory lane to celebrate...

The Actor, The Legend and The Sheikh

Tintin's Top Ten: Bollywood Movies to Watch out for in 2014

TinTin's Top Ten

Bollywood Movies to Watch out for in 2014

I really liked doing last years top ten feature on the best of Bollywood in 2012. So I decided to expand this so called feature this year with different grouping relating to both the best, the worst and the most anticipated.

2013 is the 100th year of Bollywood, its been a good year but couldn't really live to the expectations that the movies of 2012 had generated. Lets hope that 2014 knocks it out of the park as the beginner for the next century of Hindi cinema. So on that note, here are my ten anticipated films for next year. 

100 years of Hindi Cinema, 100 best Modern Bollywood Performances

 

100 Years of Bollywood

100 Best Modern Performances

So this one's a lazy blog post...I felt like just putting out the Top 100 Bollywood performances of modern times (2000-2012) over here...this is just a list, if I do ever analyze any of these roles then I will make a link here. So for now its just a list, even then I would compel you to check out these films just because of these performances. 

It was hard to get 100 out of this list but I tried so if you find that I might have missed something out feel free to comment. Remember this list is just from 2000-2012 performances. 

Reel Reviews: Hobbit size Analysis

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Reel Reviews

So I'm feeling a bit lazy, so I've decided that I will just do short reviews for both of the Hobbit films that have released. 

So why am I reviewing the first Hobbit film?

Well the first Hobbit film was the first film that reviewed on my blog, of course I had reviewed films previously. In fact I watch a lot of films and critically analyze them in my head (I wish I could switch that off), for some special films like adaptations of lovable things (The Hobbit and Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy) I may end up reviewing in a biased or sold by hype frame. Plus I cannot seem to easily put my thoughts into words. Not to mention that I've gotten slightly better at doing that in the past year.

These big factors influenced me to try review the Hobbit Unexpected Journey after I re-watched it. Obviously I've also been exposed to a lot of criticism for the movie ever since its release, as such some influences of that might seep in. Take this re-review with a grain of salt, but even then it's definitely not a 9/10 like I said last time

So onwards we go...

100 years, 100 Movies: My favorite Bollywood films Part 1

100 Years, 100 Movies: My Favorite Bollywood Films

Part 1

With Bollywood completing its 100 years of cinema this year, I thought my blog should celebrate this milestone achievement of the second most popular cinematic industry in the world (it might even be the most popular in some cases). Of course I celebrate this as my 100th post on the first year anniversary of my blog.

So with that I decided to write up a post on my favorite Hindi films numbering to of course a hundred. Before I do that though let me lay out a few ground rules;

1) The selection process for my favorite 100 was very difficult, I may not have gotten it perfectly right for myself but still this is the 100 I ended up with. In this case I also decided not to fully rank these hundred. Meaning while they will be numbered 100-1, the films are not in ranking order and are just grouped randomly as such.

2) These are my favorite 100 films, not anybody else. This means that the selections are of my opinion and in no way should deter or disgust anyone else. These are also not the 'Best' 100 films in Bollywood, I haven't watched every Bollywood film to rank the best. While I  adore the likes of Guru Dutt's 'Pyaasa' and 'Kaggaz ke Phool', they list on best films but I don't enjoy them that much.

3) I haven't included films from the year 2013 as it is still in progress. At the end of the year the films from 2013 will have their own feature, still they will not be updated to this list. 

Once again fair warning, these films are not ranked in any order from least to most favorite or vice versa. These films are just numbered 100-1 for the sake of it. But they are my 100 favorite films.  Enjoy!

Reel Reviews: Thor-The Dark World

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Reel Reviews

 

Movie: Thor-The Dark World

 

Release Date: 8th November 2013

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje as Algrim the Strong/Kurse,  Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard as Eric Selvig, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun, Zachary Levi as Fandral, Jamie Alexander as Sif, Clive Russell as Tyr, Alice Krige as Eir, Rene Russo as Frigga, Chris Evans as Captain America with Benicio Del Toro as The Collector and Anthony Hopkins as Odin

Genre: Comic Book

Score: 7.6/10

Pros:-An out and out hilarious second act weaved in with great dramatic development and action, the third act has a uniquely odd climatic fight scene

          -The writers utilize the Marvel brand of comedy to terrific effect         

          -Dialogue tries its best not to feed information to the audience when need be

          -Loki's redemption character arc is played out terrifically, the ambiguous twist at the end just makes It that much better

          -Alan Taylor brings a certain amount of his flavor to the film, he directs it with interesting and thoughtful visual aesthetic

          -Most of the performances are great, however Tom Hiddleston is head and shoulders above the rest

          -The VFX is stunning, the costume and set design's blend well with the VFX aspects of the film

Cons:-The first act takes a while to get going

           -The film has a by the numbers plot, with certain plot points and characters just dropped due to this it isn't particularly memorable

           -Character writing in the film seems sloppy, where Thor begins with some depth he ends up just being the bland hero with no character arc. Jane has same traits, but for most of it is a damsel in distress . Malekith is a bland villain, he isn't explored enough.  

           -While the comedy is great, the film is tonally all over the place 

           -Even though it has that gritty Taylor vibe, eventually the film feels like a factory made production. Alan Taylor doesn't seem to have been allowed a clear artistic vision of his own

 

Best Scene: The extended sequence on Svartalfheim, Thor and Loki pull a fast one on the villains and audience but fail. Eventually a massive fight ensues with Loki redeeming himself by 'sacrificing' himself for Thor.  

Best Performance: Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Best Dialogue: "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?"-Loki
"I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."-Thor

Coolest Comic Book Reference:The Aether along with the Tesseract is revealed to be an Infinity Stone. In the comics there are the Infinity Gems, which when placed on the Infinity Gauntlet gives the wielder unlimited power. This is the object Thanos (big purple guy) seeks.

Reel Reviews: Thor

Magneto's Movies

Reel Reviews

The release of Thor: The Dark World means that its time to review the first film in the Thor franchise, Directed by Kenneth Branagh; Thor was probably the most riskiest property that Marvel Studios brought out on its road to The Avengers. The film however went onto become a blockbuster, and made stars out of talented actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. 

Movie: Thor

 

Release Date: 6th May 2011

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard as Eric Selvig, Colm Feore as Laufey, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Ray Stevenson as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano as Hogun, Joshua Dallas as Fandral, Jamie Alexander as Sif, Rene Russo as Frigga, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Maximiliano Hernandez as Agent Sitwell, Dakota Goyo as Young Thor, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye with Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and Anthony Hopkins as Odin

Genre: Comic Book

Score: 7.5/10

Pros:-The scripts fish out of water type comedy is hilarious and makes the slow first and second acts entertaining

          -Loki's descent to villainy is written good

          -Branagh brings a terrific Shakespearean flare to his work, it sits perfectly alongside the comic book elements as well as the Norse Mythology

          -The multiple references to the universe, cohesively ties the film well

          -All round the performances are spectacular, Hemsworth handles himself well as a lead where as Hiddleston is a revelation far outshining his more accomplished co-stars

          -The visualized concept of Asgard, Jotunheim and characters is great

Cons:-The film follows some base tropes for an origin hero, just the situation is tad different

           -Thor humility character arc is developed too fast, where as his romance with Jane and the two actors chemistry is non existent

           -Supporting fan favorite comic book characters aren't developed enough and are generically wasted

           -The action sequences apart from Thor's hammer aren't really special, the final fight is a bit off a disappointment

Best Scene: When Loki finds about his true parentage, his confrontation with Odin is spectacular. Hiddleston brings his A game against a talented thespian like Hopkins, and far outshines him. 

Best Performance: Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Best Dialogue: "Loki, this is madness?"-Thor

"Is it madness? Is it? IS IT? I don't know what happened on Earth to make you so soft! Don't tell me it was that woman?... Oh, it was. Well maybe, when we're done here, I'll pay her a visit myself"-Loki

Coolest Comic Book Reference: Thor is given the alias of Doctor Donald Blake when he is one Earth, in the comics when he is banished to Earth Thor adopts the identity of Donald Blake.