Johnny English Reborn

Intro

The funniest man alive is back in a sequel to Johnny English. Rowan Atkinson is a can of slapstick, satire and absurdly funny facial expressions all put together for mass consumption. The can has been carefully preserved for many a years, for us common folk to consume once in a while- on sick days or such days when we feel horribly low. If Atkinson cannot make you laugh, then no one can. 

Synopsis

The bungling secret agent is back and will now have to fight a mysterious assassin organization called the vortex. Not only has he recovered and learnt from a horrible mistake he committed in Mozambique, but he also has stronger balls from training with the Tibetian monks. 

Good 

Its a funny movie that will make even conservative pricks laugh out in childish joy. This man can make you laugh by controlling his facial muscles and making them twitch like never done or seen before. Now those of you who are wondering, if this is is a tribute to Mr.Atkinson or a review for Johnny English Reborn beware. It is impossible to separate the man from his movies for he is in every frame (not technically verified) every dialogue and every laughter or the heart attack resulting from it.


The plot points are very good and this movie does not solely depend on Mr.Atkinson's god given talents (If you have watched his satirical sketches then devil given talents). This movie's story, though far from being legendary, keeps a good pace and accommodates the legendary comedian's antics very well indeed.  

Bad

The ending as rather bad. Not going to give it away, but after working meticulously on the script the script writer has slacked majorly when it came to writing the last few scenes.


And the movie was only 80% as funny as the 1st part. The sequel failed to exceed the first one by about half a mile.

Ugly 


The ugliness of human nature is revealed in this movie as we laugh at another's misery. My mom always resented 'Tom and Jerry' for the same reason. But she did not stop her children from watching the cartoon and neither did she prevent herself from laughing out loud. Atkinson head locks two old women (in different scenes) and hits them repeatedly on the head with a food tray. One of the women is the Queen of England herself. He mistook them for a Chinese assassin who is an old lady in disguise. You can see why this can be very funny. Hysterically even...


Perhaps a more seasoned psychologist can throw light on this phenomenon.

Marks- 7/10. Rowan Atkinson, Rowan Atkinson, Rowan Atkinson (the bottom line goes on like this...)

Contagion- Not that contagious

Intro

It is a Soderbergh film. Traffic and Syriana type, not the Ocean 11, 12 type.

Synopsis

MEV-1 Virus versus all of humankind. The virus spreads and mutates...the WHO and the CDC look for ways to contain, quarantine and vaccinate the world's population. We don't want to lose 1 % of our population like in 1918 when the Spanish flu ate 3% of us.

Good 

It is another Soderbergh film. I could have finished this part of the review with that line, but I will say more in another small paragraph which follows...

Incredibly well researched but very simply put... This is a docu- drama of sorts for every one. I for one feel well educated about how a pandemic starts and spreads. What is an R-0 (R-Nought)? How do diseases cross borders. And how do these new viruses get formed. The thrifty editing and no nonsense story progression keeps the audience well engaged, though in an indifferent way.... Which takes us to the next section.   

Bad

I will not stop short of calling the script boring by saying the following-

• The different plot lines don't connect
• Some parts of the script are rather forgettable and not needed - for instance Gwyneth Paltrow cheating on her husband Matt Damon
• The parts of the whole do not sink in and causes indifference even as a million people die on screen - for instance after the movie was done, a friend asked me if Kate Winslet was dead or alive at the end of the whole thing

Ugly

This pandemic thing is real- I have a friend who worked in a government hospital when the whole swine flu thing broke out and she told me how one of the doctors had died during the whole thing. I worried for her own safety a lot and I can only imagine the mental agony she must have had dealing with - indifferent nurses, dying colleagues, personal safety, dying people and public anger.

Watch this movie if you want to educate yourself stay home if you want entertainment. 

Marks- 6/10. A Soderbergh movie which is not as good as Traffic.  

Delhi Belly- Rib Tickling

Intro

Delhi Belly is rib tickling... I still laugh thinking about some of the jokes in this movie.

Synopsis

Diamonds are flown in from abroad and an air-hostess (Shenaz) unwittingly hands it over to her fiance (Imran) who makes an attempt to deliver it to the smugglers. The diamonds transform- 'Yeh toh tatti hai!' (still laughing). Shit happens in this movie, quiet literally.

Good 

The entire line of guys at the urinals, after the movie, were still laughing... Its well made, good use of the medium and though it reminds you a lot of modern day english sitcom... it is still pure genius. The songs are short, the action sequences long and comedy spontaneously hilariously dirty. The characters are very real and you will hate them as much as you love them... 

Bad

This is one of those good attention to details films. I will need to watch it 5 more times (which I intent to do at the soonest) to find anything remotely bad. Perhaps not philosophical enough and if there were layers I could not find it.

Ugly

There are many things ugly about this movie. All this comes in pure hindsight- was laughing too much to think beyond the next second of the film. I can imagine that the incredibly dirtiness inherent in the film will be humorous to only a niche albeit a huge niche in the world population. Please do not watch if you are below 18 or if you are a conservative prick or if you don't like silly, toilet, profane, slapstick humour. Also I read somewhere that the women are treated badly in this movie. And now in hindsight (eyesrolling) I realise that the portrayals of the 'bad girl,' 'noisy girl' and 'heartbreak girl' varieties was indeed stereotypical, but what the hell- Its still funny.

Marks- 8/10. I am going to end this review exactly the way that I started it. Delhi Belly- Rib tickling!