#RickiAndTheFlash #EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas Rating: * * *
#RickiAndTheFlash #EnglishHollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas Rating: * * *
PicksAndPiquesSnippetFilmReview28thAug2015 #JohnsonThomas
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#PicksAndPiquesSnippetFilmReview28thAug2015
#JohnsonThomas
#Phantom(Hindi) Rating: * * ½ Aiming for #Ludlum effect but settling on nondescript. #KabirKhan’s #BajrangiBhaijaan aimed to gather in the critical and resentful while this next potential blockbuster turns jingoism into onscreen reality in order to tap into patriotic sentiment against terrorists being harbored by an enemy state. Based on post 26/11 encounters with the masterminds of the attack, as fictionally evinced by SHussainZaidi’s novel #MumbaiAvengers, this one goes for adequately referenced predicative spy thrills, a slight whiff of romance and of course nationalistic sentiment( a la #DDay).The choppy pace and ineffective action make this sentiment driven exercise nowhere close to stinging. Even so the resultant experience is a fairly decent one- and that’s about it! #KabirKhan #SaifAliKhan #KatrinaKaif #DenzilSmith #KaizaadKotwal #MohbanooKotwalMody #SohailaKapur #MohammadZeeshanAyyub #RajeshTailang #SpicePR #SajidNadiadwala #SiddharthRoyKapur #DisneyUTV
Runtime:136 mins
#BaankeyKiCrazyBaraat(Hindi) Rating: * ½ it’s crazy alright but nowhere close to entertaining. A rag-tag cast of decent actors repeat their standard tropes in order to stay in the public eye- but it’s definitely not an elevating sight or experience. #RajpalYadav is insufferable here but #SatyajeetDubey does a fairly decent job in a double role though. #HemaUpadhyay #1HMedia #SatyajeetDubey #SanjayMishra #AijazKhan #TiaBajpai #RakeshBedi #RaajpalYadav #VijayRaaz #AMFeelGoodFilms #AnitaMani Runtime: 124 mins
#Chehere(Hindi) Rating: * * ½ Intriguing retro-filmi, Period theatrics set in the UK, embedded in an ineffectual whodunit with obvious referencing from #AgathaChristie’s famed novels. Essentially knotty affairs, old fashioned theatrics & hidden secrets get exposed here but the manufactured run-ins with ill-gotten gains of stardom while interesting, is not very sustainable for the entire runtime. #AaryaBabbar #HrishitaBhatt #ManishaKoirala & #DivyaDutta make it fairly worthwhile though. #WasimSiddiqui #FameMedia #ManishaKoirala #JackieShroff #HrishitaBhatt #GulshanGrover #AaryaBabbar #DivyaDutta #RakeshBedi #BobBrahmbhatt #GeetaVij #RohitKaushik Runtime: 120 mins
#KaunKitneyPaaniMein(Hindi) Rating: * * * A cautionary tale that seeks to use life-sustaining water as the cement to forge unity amongst the diverse castes and classes in a remote Principality plagued by drought, this #NilaMadhabPanda( #IAmKalam) film fails to make the hard-earned lessons worthwhile. Noble intentions get lost in the morass of indistinctive posturing. It could have been a stinging satire on the misuse of natural resources but it just doesn’t get ticking. #SaurabhShukla’s ignoble performance makes it fairly meaty though. #NilaMadhabPanda #ParullGossain #KunalKapoor #SaurabhShukla #RadhikaApte #GushanGrover #OneDropFoundation #EleaanoraImagesPvtLtd Runtime:112 mins
#GauraiyaCrimeNeverEnds (Hindi) Rating: * * gritty but distasteful. Overburdened by cuss words & exploitative nudity, this unsavory account of Harijan-woes plagued by dacoits & police who s’exploit & indiscriminately misuse draconian laws (216A) to suppress their justifiable angst, doesn’t allow for any attachment- other than the obvious ones! #SantoshRaj #BRFilmsVision #BhojrajGuneja #RajeshHans #ShivRajoria #SunderShetty #ShakeelHashmi #BigCurtainsMediaPvtLtd Runtime: 109 mins
#TheManFromUNCLE (English) Rating: * * * ½ Charmingly spliced old fashioned spy thriller trading it’s thrills on inspiration from an ancient TV super successful TV series. Typically #GuyRitchie in narration, this one does get a little flaky in development but the suave, stylish appearances and the exuberant antiquated charm of the three principal leads makes up for it in good measure. #ArmieHammer #HenryCavill #AliciaVikander #WarnerBros #AnkitAgarwal #HughGrant
#ElizabethDebicki
Runtime:116 mins
#RickiAndTheFlash(English) Rating: * * * One for the fans- Three-time #AcademyAward® winner #MerylStreep breaks the mold yet again with an exuberant non-traditional performance as a hard-rocking singer/guitarist who revisits her estranged family ( which includes her real life daughter #MammieGummer as her on screen daughter going through a painful break-up) in the hope of making it right with them. Director #JonathanDemme & fellow #AcademyAward®-winning screenwriter #DiabloCody may not be in their element here but they still manage to juice the return-of-the-prodigal story for some uplifting comedy & drama. The film is also loaded with music and live performance, with Streep doing the honors as Ricki, a guitar toting second rung rocker who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom. #SonyPictures #AnjaliMalhotra #DiabloCody #MamieGummer #RickSpringfield Runtime:101 mins
#NoEscape(English))Rating: * * ½ A couple and their two daughters relocate to Asia, only to find themselves caught in the middle of a coup. The ‘strangers in a strange land’ premise is effective enough as a precursor of ‘alienated’ thrills but the effect is not that happening even if 80-90 mins of the runtime is devoted to escape. The setup is swift and the escalation of trouble is quite meaty but the reasoning is suspect here.There’s no validation either. The lack of political context is a killer #JohnErickDowdle #OwenWilson #PierceBrosnan #LakeBell #SterlingJerins #ClaireGeare #PierceBrosnan #SahajakBoonthanakit
#SaileshPathak #TOPEntertainment Runtime:103 mins
#BestFilmsReleasedthisWeek28thAug2015 #JohnsonThomas
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#RickiAndTheFlash(English) Rating: * * * One for the fans- Three-time #AcademyAward® winner #MerylStreep breaks the mold yet again with an exuberant non-traditional performance as a hard-rocking singer/guitarist who revisits her estranged family ( which includes her real life daughter #MammieGummer as her on screen daughter going through a painful break-up) in the hope of making it right with them. Director #JonathanDemme & fellow #AcademyAward®-winning screenwriter #DiabloCody may not be in their element here but they still manage to juice the return-of-the-prodigal story for some uplifting comedy & drama. The film is also loaded with music and live performance, with Streep doing the honors as Ricki, a guitar toting second rung rocker who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom. #SonyPictures #AnjaliMalhotra #DiabloCody #MamieGummer #RickSpringfield Runtime:101 mins
#KaunKitneyPaaniMein(Hindi) Rating: * * * A cautionary tale that seeks to use life-sustaining water as the cement to forge unity amongst the diverse castes and classes in a remote Odisha Principality plagued by drought, this #NilaMadhabPanda( #IAmKalam) film fails to make the hard-earned lessons worthwhile. Noble intentions get lost in the morass of indistinctive posturing. It could have been a stinging satire on the misuse of natural resources but it just doesn’t get ticking. #SaurabhShukla’s ignoble performance makes it fairly meaty though. #NilaMadhabPanda #ParullGossain #KunalKapoor #SaurabhShukla #RadhikaApte #GushanGrover #OneDropFoundation #EleaanoraImagesPvtLtd Runtime:112 mins
English Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Flashy but lacks Depth
Film: Ricki and the Flash
Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline,
Director: Jonathan Demme
Rating: * * *
Runtime: 101 mins
Synopsis:
Three-time Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep takes on a whole new gig – a hard-rocking singer/guitarist – for Oscar®-winning director Jonathan Demme and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody in the uplifting comedy Ricki and the Flash. In a film loaded with music and live performance, Streep is Ricki/Linda a sixtyish rock singer/guitar heroine who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom, currently fronting a house band ‘Ricki and The Flash’ but is now being forced to take a relook at her familial responsibilities by her ex-husband(Kevin Kline), following a suicide attempt by their daughter (real daughter Mamie Gammer). Rick Springfield, takes on the role of a Flash member in love with Ricki; and with her other two children Josh (Sebastian Stan), and Adam (Nick Westrate), she appears to be on a sticky wicket.
Review:
A considerable amount of talent was assembled to make this musical but there’s not very much to show for it other than a few uplifting moments and plenty of song and music serenading the return-of-the-prodigal storyline. Ricki/Linda is unapologetic and strives to explain her point of view regarding the past and acceptance does take some time in the coming.
Jonathan Demme while making it all very entertaining doesn’t appear to have got the handle on balance here. Most of the narrative is lush with songs from the 60’s and 70’s- all live performances by Streep and her collective. It’s definitely not in league with Demme’s own dark and edgy cinema , the highlights of which were ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Philadelphia.’ Even Diablo Cody , who wrote the script , doesn’t appear to have her stinging irreverent wit sharpened up a la Oscar winner ‘Juno.’ And that’s really the pity here. Meryl Streep, while putting on a solid competent show doesn’t really get the chance to bite into the role the way she normally would. So the experienced theatrics is very superficial. You never get involved in the story as much- and that’s also because the director spends way too much time establishing Ricki’s career highlights and inserting an impromptu love life alongside. Cody’s zingers don’t hit the mark either. So meaningfulness of the project other than a the surprise casting of real life daughter Mammie Gammer as reel life daughter going through a crisis doesn’t work as much as the novelty value on the face of it. That’s not to take away from Mamie Gammer’s performance which is subtle and appears quite in league with her mother’s legendary skills.
The supporting cast is merely adequate. And if you thought Kevin Kline and Streep together again on screen after ‘Sophie’s Choice’ would spell magic, then you would be wrong. This one doesn’t have any sparks just some diffused interpersonal drama that never really rises to the occasion that the casting and tech credits demand.
Johnson Thomas
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