Gisteller

Zombieland Directed by: Ruben Fleischer Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray Rating: 4/5 Review by Zulfi             Zombieland is that post apocalyptic utopian fantasy which delights by the very concept and enthrals by infusing the extra dosage of humour. Zombies are those creatures which for me held no thrill until I watched ‘Shaun of the dead’, which by the way is a great classic and which undoubtedly should have contributed a sliver of inspiration for this movie. Jesse Eisenberg’s character, who is called by his place, Columbus (as are the rest of the small cast) starts by doling out the rules for surviving in the barbaric and survival times of Zombieland. There is a brief narration of ‘zombie’ contagion affecting the population with only a handful of people remaining unaffected and how USA now is officially US of Zombieland. He follows his self propounded rules...

Raman Raghav 2.0 Director : Anurag Kashyap Music : Ram Sampath Cast : Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal, Sobhita Dhoolipala Rating : 2.5/5 - It's all about embracing your inner animal Review By zulfi.  ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’ is a criminal biography of a character and his search for the salvation of not his doings but his own existence. It is undoubtedly the darkest movie from the legendary filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. The movie states at the start that it isn’t based on the real life Mumbai based serial killer of the same name in the 60s, and follows the character in only imitating a certain part of his biography. However, the rest is a completely different psychic take on the protagonist’s life cycle. Raman is in search of that remaining ‘Raghav’, who completes him and he meets him at the most unlikeliest of times.             In a pre title sequence, the movie starts with a scene at a drug peddler’s hovel whe...

            Game of thrones – Battle of Bastards (Spoilers ahead)             Cast: Kit Harrington, Sophie Turner, Kristofer Hivju, Iwan Rheon             Ponderings of the episode             4.5/5 - by Zulfi              When the preceding episode didn’t denote any happenings out there in the north, there was a sense of forecast that the ninth episode was going to be solely about the epic battle between the two mentioned characters. But the weekly presentation began with the events in the south where dragon queen, Daenerys enters the great pyramid like palace of Meereen and discusses political angles of the imminent attacks of Masters’. This is the first time in the whole series, I feel as though the central...

Drishyam Cast: Mohanlal, Meena Written and Directed by Jeethu Joseph Movie analysis by Zulfi (4/5)             The secret to success of ‘whodunits are never whodunits but how-done-its’. Drishyam is an out and out how-done-it and it is a spellbinding one. Rarely has an Indian movie come with such a compact script, which does all the work and takes a little help of excellent performances from the leads. This Malayalam movie directed and written by Jeethu Joseph was made in four other languages and each met with success. The formula for all these movies having worked albeit with mediocre performances from the regional stars was a single dictum followed by the regional makers. The dictum was following the original script as a blueprint for all the translations. There is no other way it could have been written and so crisply explained as is done by Jeethu Joseph.          ...

GRAVITY Cast:  George Clooney, Sandra Bullock Director: Alfonso Cuaron Review by Zulfi (4/5) Alfonso Cuaron's ‘Gravity’ is a visual delight. There are many shots in the movie where you can just freeze the frame and bedeck your hall with that portrait. There is a shot in the movie when Clooney's character says ‘you just can't beat the view’ referring to the resplendent earth with its static eddies of oceans, well demarcated continents and a nice collage of every natural hue known to man. Like the old adage, what you don't have or what you lose, which you desire the most, ‘Gravity’ has that sense of loss in the Clooney's character. It is a temporary loss, as he knows when the mission is complete, he would be back at   home. But how sure are astronauts about going home? Most of them are destined for taking less than half chances. I don't know how much does the advancement of astrophysics and space travel had made them complacent regarding their retu...

The Prestige Movie Analysis- zulfi 4.5/5 Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Rebecca Hall, Scarlette Johansson, Andy Serkis ‘Abracadabra’ The use of this word is mostly associated with disappearance of an object, esp when uttered by magicians. But as Caine’s character would say in ‘Prestige’, making something disappearing isn’t everything. You have to make it appear again. The reappearance is the lawful end to the trick and the answer of how it came from the thin air is the one-million-dollar answer or prestige. As mentioned in the starting prologue, it is the last part and reason of the trick, after the pledge (showing the object) and turn (act). All of us after watching the magic show are enthralled but sincerely hope if we would have known the prestige of the trick. But if we know it, it will cease to amaze us and magicians cease to exist. The sleight of hand has come a long way. From catching bullets with mouth to making national monuments disappear, con...

The Prestige Movie Analysis 4.5/5 Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Rebecca Hall, Scarlette Johansson, Andy Serkis ‘Abracadabra’ The use of this word is mostly associated with disappearance of an object, esp when uttered by magicians. But as Caine’s character would say in ‘Prestige’, making something disappearing isn’t everything. You have to make it appear again. The reappearance is the lawful end to the trick and the answer of how it came from the thin air is the one-million-dollar answer or prestige. As mentioned in the starting prologue, it is the last part and reason of the trick, after the pledge (showing the object) and turn (act). All of us after watching the magic show are enthralled but sincerely hope if we would have known the prestige of the trick. But if we know it, it will cease to amaze us and magicians cease to exist. The sleight of hand has come a long way. From catching bullets with mouth to making national monuments disappear, conjuring ...