#Wild #BestFilms(Released)thisWeek20thFeb2015#EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *1/2

#Wild #BestFilms(Released)thisWeek20thFeb2015#EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #rating: * * *1/2

#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview20thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas

              

#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview20thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas

 

#Badlapur(Hindi) Rating: * * * #SriramRaghavan tries to steer clear from the Bollywood norm and manages to fashion an interesting enough exploration of revenge. Heavily borrowed moments from the TV drama ‘Dexter’ and conscious and obvious effort to steer clear of clichés and stereotypes makes this a note-worthy effort but the lack of tension, studied tone and the heavily indulgent showboat editing make it less than entertaining. The neo-noir cinematographic texture does lend it substance and deliberately stylised performances by #NawazuddinSiddiqui #VarunDhawan #RadhikaApte #VinayPathak #HumaQuereshi #YamiGautam #DivyaDutta adds to the interest! #UniversalCommunications #ParagDesai #VarunDhawan #SriramRaghavan #TSeries #MaddockFilms #ErosEntertainment #DineshVijan

                                                                                            

#SomeTimes (Cineplay,English) Rating: * * *1/2 #SubodhMaskara & #NanditaDas’s latest venture #CinePlay that’s slotted to hit the VOD sector is a series of entertaining plays captured on camera for a wider viewing audience. #Sometimes , the latest play in the series, written by #AdhirBhat and Directed by talented #AkarshKhurana is a vividly entertaining experience. A confluence of solid writing, tight direction and superb performances, this one makes you sit up and take notice. Be prepared to rush to the theatres for the next showing...! #RomaPerieraTalwar #AnishaSenguptaYanger #TurningPointBrandConsulting

#Qissa(Punjabi/Subtitled) Rating: * * * * Multiple award winning Indo-German Production #Qissa is a Stunningly eloquent and intense dramatic engagement. #AnupSingh’s Superb direction, brilliantly structured screenplay combined with unforgettable performances by #TilottamaShome #IrrfanKhan #TiscaChopra #RasikaDuggal make this a never-to-be-missed experience. It’s been a long time since #NFDC came up with a winner..this is it! #VikramjitRoy #HemaUpadhyay #EverydayMedia #1HPR

#Monsoon(Hindi) Rating: * A coming of age tale that lacks distinction and direction. School boy crush on an older woman has been treaded on before with much better finesse and refinement. This one just bludgeons through a set-piece story in order to score on sidey, risque entertainment! #MahendraDhariwal #JitenderGulati #SuzadIqbalKhan #SrishtiSharma #Sudhanshu #Shawar Ali #VijaySingh #RajaGulati

#Wild(English) Rating: * * *1/2 Based on the memoirs of #CherylStrayed, this exploration of the self through a wild adventure trek, a #ReeseWitherspoon topliner, is not as intense or dramatic a road movie as it could have been. Director #JeanMarcVallee tends to be a little more wordy(Voiceover) than visually descriptive(fleeting flashbacks) and that makes all the difference in the experience. #ParagDesai #UniversalCommunications #FoxStar #LauraDern #GabyHoffmann

#Whiplash(English) Rating: * * * * Director-writer #DamienChazelle’s low-budget film, about the development of a top-notch musician(Drummer), shot in just 19 days, devotes itself to the cruelty infused dynamic of the relationship between a music teacher and his student. It has all the tension and intensity of a top-notch thriller. Simmons as Fletcher and Miles Teller as Andy are fantastic.#Whiplash is riveting.  #HardlyAnonymous #UniversalPictures #PVR

English film review

Johnson Thomas

Tame adventure

Film: Wild

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffmann

Director: Jean-Marc Vallee

Rating: * * * ½

Runtime: 115 mins

Synopsis:

Based on a memoir by Cheryl Strayed, about her lone, self-searching adventure en-route the Pacific Quest Trail, this Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern top-liner has not much of a story to tell. Witherspoon gets the author backed role essaying Cheryl Strayed, who troubled by a recent past, decides to go off alone on the difficult trail-which few have completed.

Review:

For Strayed, grief stricken by the death of her mother and confidant(Laura Dern), getting on to the trail all by herself is a challenge- the slumming experience is a degree of difficulty that she has never had to come across in her life. With a voice over that tells you almost everything that transpires, it’s not much of an experience, though. The flashbacks into the recent past make it interesting but nothing really eventful happens on the trail and Strayed’s main challenge is in going the distance rather than overcoming the wild inhabitants of the trail. Jean-Marc Vallee doesn’t do much with the subject matter. His modus for telling the experience is both voice denoted as well as visual. So a lot of it is suggested rather than experienced.

Vallée and screenwriter Nick Hornby use  flashbacks and voiceover a little too liberally. When Witherspoon as Strayed claims she is ready to collapse, you don’t get the feel of it. She still looks de-glam yes, but a little too prettified to make the cut.  Even when she is shown walking through the baking heat of the California tundra, you don’t get to feel or see her exhaustion.  The flashbacks, spliced in-between the adventure, take us back to Strayed's childhood, giving us a picture of her mother who  remained positive in the face of several hardships including spousal abuse, desperate times while bringing up two young children and a fatal illness. her mother’s death takes Strayed off the straight and narrow into heroin and promiscuity despite being in a marriage. It’s only after the divorce papers are signed that Strayed, freed of all encumbrances, decides to go it alone on the trail in order to get in touch with her old, true self. And we hear it too. it’s obvious that redemption is her goal but at no point do we get to feel either her pain or the achievement of her goal.

It’s not much of a moral lesson either. One really can’t expect to get rid of such monumental baggage as hurting those who loved and stood by you, just by taking a hike-even if it’s through the wilderness. the film , like the book comes across as self-obsessed and unremitting. There’s nothing in here that can get a positive emotive response out of an audience. The pseudo-feminist agenda here doesn’t do anyone proud either!

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