The Danish Girl Movie Review

CAST:Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard

DIRECTION:Tom Hooper

GENRE:Biography

DURATION:1 hour 59 minutes
STORY: When artist Einar Wegener cross dresses as a model for his painter wife Gerda, he stumbles upon his real self - a woman named Lili Elbe. As Lili latches herself to Einar, he dares to undergo the world's first sex-change surgery.

REVIEW: The Danish Girl is the kind of film that leaves by an unsettling feeling. It is almost like the world hasn't evolved since 1926, considering we are still discussing Caityln Jenner's highly publicized sex-change surgery and article 377's relevance in the Indian scenario. How Lili evolves from a clumsy, shy woman into a go-getter is overwhelming.

The story begins with Einar and Gerda, who've been married for six years. Their warm friendship, her lustful power over her man - director Tom Hooper paints a pretty picture. But there are definite signs of his 'other personality' quite early on, as he flirts more with the hem of his wife's dress, than her. Einar's self-discovery is thrilling. When the first time, he dresses as a woman - balancing in heels, caressing the pleats of the dress and kissing a 'romantic' man, he gets a hint of his existential life. From then begins the harrowing struggle as he fights medical experts and undergoes a harrowing experience of making peace with his real identity.

The scene in which Einar strips naked and caresses every fold of his body, hiding this genitals between his legs is heartbreaking. Actor Eddie Redmayne breathes life into the role. The very fact that he is more Lili than Einar just proves that he has got the drift.

But, the story is hardly fair to Gerda, who despite being a mute epitome of strength, is sidelined by the person she loves, beyond what society and reason permits. You wish the film was less conventional in its approach, but it delivers so much that you can barely complain. In keeping with the film's Casablanca line, the last word here has to be - "I've only really liked a handful of characters in my life, and this movie has two of them."

Point Break Movie Review

CAST:Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone, Teresa Palmer, Matias Varela, Delroy Lindo, Nikolai Kinski

DIRECTION:Ericson Core

GENRE:Action

DURATION:1 hour 45 minutes
STORY: Young poly-athlete Utah (Bracey) is keen to become an FBI agent. So, he volunteers to go undercover for the Bureau and nab a group of men who undertake a series of daring heists. They also undertake a series of death-defying tasks known as the Osaki 8, in order to attain a spiritual high, or so they claim.

REVIEW: Although this is a remake of 1991's 'Point Break,' this version often takes off on its own tangent but with a substantially-increased action quotient. And incidentally, it is the action and stunt sequences which together comprise the best aspects of this movie.

Point Break (2015) - Official Movie Review

So, Johnny Utah (Bracey) pleads with Instructor Hall (Lindo) to let him nab the perpetrators of the said heists. Utah outlines his theory about how he expects the men to try and complete the Osaki 8. Utah plans to interdict them when they get ready to attempt their next task. Visually, Utah is more surfer dude than FBI sleuth, always ready to take his shirt off. Then there's the homoerotic vibes between Utah and Bodhi (Ramirez), who turns out to be the head of the group Utah is after. Bodhi also has the habit of spouting neo-hippie philosophy at Utah, whilst perched on a mountaintop, of all places. But when he meets the ditzy Samsara (Palmer), who has the cheesiest lines whenever she does get screen time (she is the sex quotient of the film, with the camera plying over her deep cleavage in lascivious detail) Utah pretty much forgets that he's a man on an FBI mission.

Point Break comes across as a string of admittedly amazing action sequences and sports feats with the rest of the film haphazardly built up around it. The logic of going base jumping and snowboarding to combat climate change is bizarre. One scene will remind you of Fight Club. Another, of The Beach. Ray Winstone, who plays a grizzled agent, could have deserved more screen time. If you bother to watch it at all, treat it like a showreel for extreme sports, as it's pretty unengaging from almost every other angle.

Our Brand Is Crisis Movie Review

CAST:Sandra Bullock, Joaquim de Almeida, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Scoot McNairy

DIRECTION:David Gordon Green

GENRE:Drama

DURATION:1 hour 49 minutes
STORY: Jane (Sandra Bullock) is a disgraced political consultant who is forced to end her sabbatical and strategise the Presidential campaign for Senator Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida). The fact that her arch nemesis Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton) is driving the campaign for another candidate, who happens to be the front-runner, marks her comeback. Turns out, Jane seeks redemption and not victory to prove her mettle. While continuing her battle with depression and a string of OCD's, can she outwit and outplay her sharp opponent, who is always a step ahead. Does she regain her lost glory by resorting to playing dirty or would she rather put her infamous past behind and start afresh?

REVIEW: Though predominantly a political satire, Our Brand Is Crisis also deals with finding and forgiving oneself. It attempts to analyse the conflict that stems from the principles that one must sacrifice to meet professional demands, where deception is the key.

Our Brand Is Crisis - Official Trailer [HD]

You can trust Sandra Bullock to breathe life into a stone or a lackluster script for that matter with her portrayal of girl-next-door vulnerabilities and self-doubt. She can be clumsy, shrewd, eccentric... all at the same time. However, take her away and the film is reduced to being an inconsistent mishmash of comedy and drama, which oscillates between smart and silly, leaning towards the latter. Barring a few tactics, the contest between Jane and Candy seems predominantly juvenile so their efforts to outsmart each don't quite work.

Bullock even flashes her butt to Candy, (as a winning gesture), killing the sensibility of the film. Billy Bob Thornton is terribly wasted. Lack of focus, clarity as far as the film's script and agenda is concerned is a major hindrance.

As a film about a woman embarking on the path of self-discovery, caught between marketing and the media, the film works. As a tale on political one-upmanship, it doesn't.