#WildCard #EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * *

#WildCard #EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * *

    

#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview6thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas

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#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview6thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas

 

#Shamitabh(Hindi)Rating:  * * * Unusual but not satisfying. #RBalki does yet another ga-ga-set on #AmitabhBachchan, this time giving him a series of repetitive monologues as a tribute to his so-called phenomenal acting prowess. The Advertising guru that Balki is, this film will probably do more for the Bachchan brand than for Bollywood cinema. The film’s concept story with the now expected ‘twist’ is more of a promotional video for Bachchan’s talents than a cinema worth ruminating over. This is basically a showboat for the three main leads that also includes #Dhanush and #AksharaHaasan. Too indulgent and self-congratulatory to be deemed worthy.  #RaindropMedia #ParagDesai #UniversalCommunications #Dhanush #AksharaHaasan #RBalki #AmitabhBachchan #AbhishekBachchan #ErosInternational #MADEntertainment #BalajiMotionPictures #HOPEProductions

 

#JaiJawanJaiKisan(Hindi)Rating:  * ½ poor conceptualization and singular lack of vision deals a death blow to a story that could have become an inspiration for the new generation.  An inglorious  biopic on former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri's glorious life. This film plays out in amateurish, kindergarten playschool fashion with actors parroting lines without any of the essence of it coming through. The lack of inspiration in the telling is quite galling.  #MilanAjmera #AshwaniShukla #AltairMedia #KishanPaliwal #VictoriousEnterprises #SanjayChakraborty #JatinKhurana #OmPuri #PremChopra #RatiAgnihotri #RishiBhutani #AkhileshJain #MadanLalKhurana #PankajDua #SeemaChakrborthy

 

#HumTumDushmanDushman(Hindi) Rating: * Too dysfunctional to be appreciated. Poor craft and zero tension makes this quite a tedious and unremitting experience.  #DollarGroupInternational #IqbalDurrani #MashaalDurrani #TapasPaul #SohiniPaul #MukeshRishi #EhsanKhan #ShahbaazKhan #poojaSaxena #MushtaqKhan #MohanAyyer  

#IAmOffended (English/Hindi) Rating:  * * ½  Topical, timely but not effective. An interesting though lethargic documentary about the growing intolerance against stand-up comic acts in the India. Too casual to be serious. Defiant but not powerful. The funnymen give voice to their angst but fail to turn it into a power stroke. There’s not much humor, wit or energy on display here and that’s a sore point for a documentary that seeks to represent Indian stand-up comediennes’ first major salvo against repression! #JohnnyLever #VirDas #RajuSrivastav #VarunGrover #SanjayRajoura #AditiMittal #SorabhPant #TanmayBhat #GursimranKhamba #AshishShakya #RohanJoshi #RajeevNigam #RajneeshKapoor #PuLaDeshpande #hardlyAnonymous #SaturdayFilms #Love&Faith #VijayalakshmiRajan #MilindDhaimade #JaideepVarma

 

#WildCard(English)Rating: * *  #SimonWest’s meandering remake of the 1987 #BurtReynold action thriller sparks inter-mittent interest at best. Too much of contemplation with mini bursts of action.  #JasonStatham #WilliamGoldman #B4U #VenessaRoy #RelativityMedia #PSLive #SimonWest

 

#TheBoyNextDoor((English) Rating: * *  Gender reversed ‘FatalAttraction’ lacks eroticism and thrills. Poor acting and even poor direction make it quite a damp squib. A burnished #JLo and hunky #RyanGuzman manage to turn on the heat!  #RyanGuzman #JenniferLopez #RobCohen #MoesArt #SarjitaJain #JohnCorbett #SaurabhRathore #UniversalPictures

 

#JupiterAscending(English) Rating: * * ½  #Wachowski charm can do little to make this female antagonist lead sci-fi adventure to hit the right notes. It’s big but not exactly beautiful or exciting. Promises much more than it can deliver.Visually extravagant but conceptually wanting. Spectacular action can’t cover-up the dubiousness of character motivations.   #ChanningTatum #WarnerBros #MilaKunis #WachowskiBros #AnkitAgarwal

 

#MrTurner(English) Rating: * * * ½   Mike Leigh's biography of the landscape painter #JMWTurner is grimly contemplative in expanse yet captivating.  Wonderful performances outstanding cinematography  are high-points of this experience #MikeLeigh #JMWTurner #TimothySpall #RogerAshtonGriffiths #JamieThomasKing #LesleyManville #LeeIngleby #PVR #PriyankaVaswani    #AvianMedia  

 

#Baji (Marathi) Rating: * * * This desi Zorro has a long-winding storyline but manages to spark interest and engagement with credible performances, bone crushing action  and deliberate, gritty story-telling craft. #DarMotionPictures  #ShreyasTalpade #AmrutaKhanvilkar #JitendraJoshi #AffluenceMovies #IndianMagicEyePvtLtd. ‪#‎DeeptiTalpade ‪#‎AmitAhirrao ‪#‎VivekRangachari‪#‎NikhilMahajan ‪#‎SuhrudGodbole ‪#‎SuhrudGodbole#VirtueEntertainment #LatikaChindarkar #BlueDrop #IMEMotionPictures 

English Film review

Johnson Thomas

Too slow for Statham

Film: Wild Card

Cast: Jason Statham, Sofia Vergara, Milo Ventimiglia, Stanley Tucci, Angela Kerecz, Michael Angarano, Anne Heche, Jason Alexander, Hope Davis

Director: Simon West

Rating: * *

Runtime: 92 mins

Synopsis:

This is a remake of the 1987 Burt Reynold action thriller in this Sierra/Affinity production starring Jason Statham as a paid enforcer who goes after a gang leader when a group of thugs beat up a personal friend. William Goldman provides the script adapted from one of his novels, ‘Heat.’

Review

“Wild Card” is not the usual Statham film- it gives him far more opportunity to brood and talk while the action, violent nevertheless are just a few punctuations in an otherwise meandering tale.

With “Wild Card,” screenwriter William Goldman makes a third attempt at telling the story of Nick the “Vegas chaperone.” Goldman wrote the source novel and a 1986 film adaptation starring Burt Reynolds, both of which were called “Heat.” Statham reminds you of Bruce Willis in his prime. Wonder of wonders, here he is as quick to cut a villain down with a quip as he is with a sharp object, and there’s also an affectation that shadows him- one that makes him look a little vulnerable. We never get to know about Nick’s former life ther than through references made by people he associated with during that period-mainly people who helped him out or those that got helped. From the heat he unleashes on his attackers, you can safely assume that he has intimate and assured knowledge of all things violent. Everyone we encounter mentions favors, and how indebted they are to Nick.

The film opens with him drinking in a bar and being obnoxious to a balding guy with a toupee who is trying hard to impress his girlfriend. Later we know that it was an assignment of sorts for him- required him to get beaten up for show as the balding guy was trying to impress Sofia Vergara. The ruse works, and Nick gets $500 for his troubles.

 

We get those fleeting scenes of Corsica which appears to be Nick’s dream destination. The $500 gets him back to the roulette table for a final try of luck but before that an old debt has to be paid and a new client wants some help. Holly (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), an escort who once loved Nick had nursed him out of rock bottom. Now she wants Nick to help her find the man who brutally raped her before his henchmen left her for dead at the hospital. The first series of action hits are connected to the MOB. And that keeps coming up a few more times.

 

There’s another assignment for Nick, and Goldman uses it as a rather sloppy way of tying all his plot threads together. A rich, 23-year old software developer named Cyrus Kinnick (Michael Angarano) wants to pay Nick to teach him how to be brave. Nick is not amused. But once Cyrus lets him escape from the bar by creating a diversion Nick comes round. by then Cyrus has already learnt his lesson and Nick is the richer for it.

 

Show tunes and Drifters version of ‘White Christmas’ are used to give the fight sequences that little extra something. Nick’s weapons of choice are credit cards, spoons, forks and pen knives. And despite the puny nature of the weaponry we are convinced by the sheer artistry of the take and edits

 

When at the tables Statham reeks of a compulsive desperation and director Simon West films the big high stakes gambling sequence with a bit of excitement. Hope Davis plays Nick’s friend and dealer, Cassandra with friendly cautious reserve.

Wild card has many cameos , the reason for which is quite mystifying-especially since none of the cameos really have anything great to do. Statham manages to retain that magnetic quality without much sweat. The film in fact tends to veer around trying to do too many things while saying little about the main thread. Shaky development makes it all so pointless despite the atmospherics. Statham’s action here is of the done before kind. Nothing new. The novel feel to the scripting is also a bad idea. Doesn’t allow for any great attachment. At the end you wonder about the purpose of this exercise?

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