I couldn’t stop smiling, nor the tears from falling

by Amira 

Kai Po Che (meaning a triumphant yell in Gujarati) is simply beautiful, down to earth and beautiful, sensational and beautiful, bringing lots of stories together and beautiful. Read more

Comics, sci-fi, fantasy... childish stuff?

by Hilath

I have quite a few friends who are turned off by comics, science fiction and fantasy. Though I am not a hardcore comic fan (my family was too poor to afford me such luxury during my childhood), I've always enjoyed it and always make sure, even if I miss out the "serious artsy stuff", that I always catch up on movies like Spider-Man, Ender's Game and Lord of the Rings.

Today I finally had a talk with a Maldivian friend of mine who I can safely assume is a hardcore comic fan and from the conversation I had with him, I realized that, in fact, these anti-comic people are really the not-so-mature ones because things like parables/allegories/metaphors seem lost on them and therefore they treat the comic genre as childish. Read more

NOAH – blasphemy or Aronofsky’s ultimate consciousness-raiser on derangement?

REVIEW by Ilyasau Ismail / Oevaru 

(Read review in Dhivehi)

OMG. Aronofsky’s ‪#‎Noah‬ (3 out of 5 stars) indeed is better than the book.

I didn’t enjoy the movie personally although I was stunned by the visual effects in 3D.

But there is the possibility of this film becoming a unique masterpiece from a gifted director and that this film may become a catalyst for a revolutionary cultural phenomenon that will spark eternal debate. Read more

After “Titanic”, “Pompeii”?

REVIEW by Mariyam Raina

As Bollywood lovers, we found “Titanic” quite “Hindi” and wondered back then whether this was the reason why the film broke box office records when it came out in 1997. Read more

After Earth: What makes a movie bad?

REVIEW by Ilyasau Ismail

I have to seriously wonder about it as I watched ‘After Earth’ today, three days after it won three Razzie awards, and surprisingly, I found it a pleasant entertaining engagement instead. Read more

Ingenuity makes all 'entertaining' difference between WHITE HOUSE DOWN and OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

REVIEW by Hilath

Not surprisingly, Fuqua has even outdone Emmerich in staging action more dramatically; the way the black hawks fall are perhaps more dramatically staged than Ridley Scott's Oscar-nominated BLACK HAWK DOWN on the failed American attack on Somalia terrorists in Mogadishu. While Scott had less technology in 2001, nevertheless the creative way Fuqua staged the falling of the black hawks is still impressive although he had the technology last year. I guess this is a basic difference why I found TITANIC's singular sinking more impressive at a time of no such visual effects in 1997 than PEARL HARBOR's multiple vessel sinking at the time when such visual effects were available in 2001.

I particularly liked the series of fist fights (perhaps due to the slick editing?) and if I had any doubts why Fuqua did not employ a heart throb like Channing Tatum to sell the movie, I have to say his choice of Gerard Butler is great - given his ability not only to act better but also emerge as a great action hero, too.

Other things that differ between the two movies is that, unlike Tatum, Butler is as brutal as the terrorists as he murders them in cold blood - and reminded me of Orson Scott Card's Ender who makes sure that the enemy "gets the message" and does not rise to create trouble again.

Both Emmerich and Fuqua's movies have children and though Fuqua does not give a lead role to the presidential son but only uses him to set a turning point in the movie, Emmerich's heroic daughter of Tatum seems given a heroic role in order to please a children and adolescent audience - who are usually fans of Emmerich's films like INDEPENDENCE DAY and GODZILLA.
Perhaps Fuqua emerges the winner in this 'presidential' race (is it a coincidence that the two rival films on an attack on the White House came out in the same year?) due to the more dark and engaging - not to mention - brutal story that is appropriate for such a concept. However, I only say this because Fuqua's story is more entertaining because in both films' cases, I've wondered how an attack on the White House can be carried, because in the TV anchor's words in Fuqua's movie, the White House is indeed the "most protected place on earth".

And this is where I found both movies' plots implausible though Fuqua's is more entertaining due to the way the terrorists are shown to use advanced technology - including sonar that prevents missile attacks. (A commentator to the above YouTube trailer comparison says we should not take these two movies seriously and says Fuqua is guilty of doing this in service of pure entertainment).

Though the United States was not anticipating that such an attack like September 11 can happen, I am sure after that it must be now prepared and therefore, the White House cannot be as easily attacked as both films show. But I still think that if there is a full scale World War 3, the US can be attacked like in PEARL HARBOR, even though at the time, as director Michael Bay said, Americans were "innocent and naive" and therefore was not expecting an attack by the Japanese in World War 2.

A psychological re-awakening

REVIEW BY HILATH

The unfilmable finally filmed. You can count on only auteurs like Oscar-winning director Ang Lee to make a film out of a book that most say cannot be turned into a movie!

Not only because of the film's awesome photography and production design (which both won Oscars) which I have to say is the best visuals I ever saw since James Cameron's Avatar (and not just because of its 3D which unfortunately I was not able to catch because Sri Lankan cinemas did not screen it), I loved how the visuals become complementary to the narrative. Read more

Interesting introduction to astral projection...

REVIEW BY HILATH

INSIDIOUS was an interesting introduction to the concept of astral projection but predictably, perhaps because the film is coming from the makers of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and SAW, they took the part of the horror factor to entertain audiences. Not that I mind. The tagline 'It's not the house that is haunted but their son' is quite catchy, I might add, which first led me to decide to watch the movie because I am not much into horror movies but here was a film that at least do not blame an old house for a haunting :-) I particularly like the production design - the gloomy environment of the demon world. I am told INSIDIOUS 2 is also quite interesting and hope to catch it soon.

What exactly it takes to get there

REVIEW BY ADEEL SAEED

The story of the legendary athlete, ‘Milkha Singh’, ‘the flying Sikh’, demonstrated in the movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ can just be perfect example of what it takes to become success in life. More particularly for this addition of my blog, what it really takes to be an industry leader in business. Read more

So it snowed

REVIEW BY HILATH

The visually elaborate SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, in re-telling the story, seems to have lost more than its way in the woods, as towards the end, I am not sure exactly by the kiss of which one of the two men she woke up and whether, with Kristen Stewart around, we are headed once again towards another TWILIGHT love triangle.

Saving grace

REVIEW BY HILATH

CONAN THE (latest) BARBARIAN film had only one grace: the scene where little Conan holds onto the iron hot chains to save his father even when his hands get scalded -- without even seeming to feel the pain. I once spent 10 days at the hospital looking after a close friend all by myself and it was only later I realized that I hadn't slept at all during those 10 days and didn't even realize it because I didn't feel tired at all. That's why I think such kind of emotional attachments (love?) are dangerous because they take its toll on us without us even being able to realize it -- or worse, rather than being appreciated, taken the wrong meaning of just because I happen to be what I am. So how did the story end? He relapsed again and accused me that I was only taking care of him because all I ever wanted was to get into his pants somehow. So unfair. I hope I never fall in love again.