As Above, So Below

A storyteller has the ability to keep his audience engaged as they listen and explore the imagination of their mind which makes the story vivid and thrilling.

This is the thought which comes to my mind when I think about this movie directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Dowdle and his brother Drew.

Most of the horror movies have the same old story and one can see a pattern in the stories that they can predict the whole story of what’s going to happen next. At least I use to do that.

Recently there has been a different approach to the storytelling of horror movies with a tight script and yes they have the ability to keep you intrigued. Insidious, Insidious Chapter 2 are fine examples of it.

This movie stands apart from the horror movies that you must have watch till now and yes it plays with your imagination as you tried to get grip of the plot as it moves.

It’s the story of Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks), a young alchemy scholar who goes in the search of the Philosopher Stone continuing her Dad’s research.

It takes her from the caves of Iran to Paris wherein they search within the catacombs beneath the city for the stone. It leads to all kinds of events taking place and death of group members one by one.

I must applaud the writers for coming up with such a script that keeps the audience abound. The movie has been shot in a documentary style format and yes it is captured beautifully.

Scarlett was supported by ex-boyfriend George (Ben Feldman), Explorers Papillon (François Civil), his girlfriend Souxie (Marion Lambert), and friend Zed (Ali Marhyar).

Scarlett role played by Perdita does justice to her role and while others have done their job considering there was no meat in their roles.

The movie stands out with its story, documentary style shooting and direction.

This movie can certainly be watched more than once.

It’s a MUST WATCH.

John Wick

I have been waiting for quite a while to watch this movie and finally I did. This was an out and out action movie where words spoke less than bullets.

Keanu Reeves was the one for whom I watched the movie but yes the plot could have a better story.

The movie directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch tells the story of John Wick who had lost his wife and trying to recuperate his life back to normal with a puppy gifted to him by his wife.

A chance encounter with the Russian mafia over his 69 Mustang at a gas station leads to killing of his dog and been badly beaten with the car being taken away for which they had offered price to him but he said no.

It’s revealed that John was the killing machine of the Russian mafia who left his past behind to lead a normal life. The Russia mafia kingpin Viggo Tarasov tries to make amends so that John lets his son live but that was not going to be the case.

It becomes a game of cat and mouse where both try their hands to kill each other. The execution in the first half is slick and yes keeps you glued but it loses its plot when he checks into a hotel that caters exclusive to assassins.

Seriously one could think of many other ways but this was certainly a piece of the puzzle that did not fit. 

Along with that the character of John is shown to roam freely even with the prize on his head and the way he goes for his kill is just too easy.

The script could have been slicker but it fails miserably. The part where the father tells his son hideout does not makes sense. The climax of the movie leaves you with a desire of wanting more but it fails to deliver.

What started out as a slick movie in the beginning fails to remain consistent in the end.

Willam Dafoe has not been fully utilized of his abilities. Keanue does best what he knows.

It’s a one-time watch and it’s okay if you pass over on this one.

PK

Ever eaten pav bhaji on the streets of Bombay?

If yes then ever wonder what makes pav bhaji so special?

If you know the recipe, you also know that it’s a mixture of vegetables with spices that gives it flavor.

In case if you are wondering why I am talking about pav bhaji instead of movie is because the plot reminded me of it.

Too many elements with no head and tail connection and still in the end, gives a feel good movie. That’s PK the movie.

I am wondering about the writers of the movie if they were planning to write a story on alien on earth, a love story, god vs religion or alien and girl from earth love story.

Then again I don’t think it matters as it has been touted as a hit and a majority of the audience seems to consider the movie good overlooking the loop holes and getting caught in the hype.

In Indian movies, the story does not count as long as the movie gives a feel good impression even with a story plot that does not make sense.

A movie by Rajkumar Hirani starring Amir Khan certainly deserves to be of high stature. This one does not make the mark.

The story is about an alien PK (Aamir Khan) who comes to research humans and finds the remote of his spaceship stolen. His search for remote takes him to Delhi and wherein he bumps into Jagat Janini aka Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) who then helps him get his remote and in the process also exposing the godman and making people aware about god and religion.

In the beginning of the movie itself, post the alien lands, the story moves to Anushka and her love story but it get wraps up so quickly in one song that it’s almost blink and miss. Then Anushka moves to Delhi and bumps into Aamir and the actual story begin.

It’s not until the end of the movie that her love story comes alive again. One would wonder why put a love story in the first place if the movie’s theme is going to be on god/religion.

The movie’s first half is completely dominated by Aamir and proves that he is truly class apart.

The second half of the movie lets you down specifically the way the remote was found in the hand of god men. Also the only way to get back the remote was to expose the god man.

It never really shows how and why the godman bought the remote apart from stating that it was delivered from the God. My question is if the locket was a remote then no one tried to fiddle with it considered that it was different.

The movie moves at a pace that keeps you intrigue in the first half and must say the script for certain scenes keeps you hooked till the end.

The movie’s highlight would be Aamir Khan and the witty dialogues that keeps you laughing but this is limited to only certain parts of the movie.

Anushka does pretty well job and Sushant his bit in a small role. Saurabh Shukla shows off his acting prowess as the godman Tapasvi. Boman Irani has been wasted in a minuscule role that does not do justice to him.

The climax of the movie ends with Aamir choosing not to express his love for Anushka. Though she comes to know about his love. She ends up writing a book on him and he comes back again this time with a group for his research.

If you are send on a planet to research, don’t you think there will be someone watching your actions, coordinating and in case of lost, send in a search party. None of which takes place. Intriguing ha?

The best part aliens are always considered to be super intelligent with powers but the alien in theis movie does not come across as one and has only one talent of learning one’s language, thoughts through holding their hands.

The movie draws comparisons with OMG (Oh My God) and I must say OMG fares much better and sends across the message with clarity wherein PK fails.

Would recommend this as a one-time watch and yes watch it for Aamir and Saurabh.