Supe’s back! In a treatment worthy of an icon, the Man of Steel makes a terrific comeback under the assured direction of Bryan Singer.

Superman has been away for five years, and Earth has moved on in his absence including his love interest Lois Lane. Things are not looking up for the man in tights on the professional front either as his arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, has been out of prison, and has been brewing a nasty broth.
Though the film has been mounted on a lavish scale boasting of impressive visual and technical effects, it is at heart about Superman and his lady love. Lois who is now a mother to a 5 year old, is seeing her assistant editor and has a Pulitzer on an article on why Earth doesn’t need Superman anymore - she is mega pissed. Supe’s gotta cope not only with saving the world on a daily basis, and Lois’ anger directed at him, but also with his paternal feelings for her son.

First things first, why you should see this film: Brandon Routh is a major find, and his expressive face bears a striking resemblance and is a tribute to the late Christopher Reeves. A relative unknown till now, he carries the film on his capable shoulders.
Kevin Spacey, reprising the role made famous by Gene Hackman, is terrific as Lex Luthor and strikes a fine balance between his light hearted self and harbouring a dark hatred against Superman.
James Marsden as Richard White, deserves special mention for richly layering his performance with emotional depth and maturity, as Lois’ love interest who has the unenviable task of being Superman’s competition.

Now the cons: As Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth simply doesn’t cut it as someone whom Superman would pine for. She is a major washout.
The second sore apsect is the finale. In comparison to the rest of the film, the climax is a dull and melodramatic affair with bits of religious symbolism thrown in for good measure. Wonder what went wrong? The film loses a star rating due to the weak climax.

Bryan Singer, who previously cut his teeth with the first two X-men affairs, is an excellent choice to helm the return of an icon. Barring the feeble climax, the film holds your attention for it’s 2 plus hours duration. Singer’s love for Richard Donner’s Superman is reflected not only in his choice for Routh, but also in his decision to include the original Superman Soundtrack, the original layout of the title credits and resurrecting a dead Marlon Brando by editing in his footage from the original.

On a concluding note, I’d love to see Routh as the famous Man of Steel again. Perhaps Chris Nolan should take the reigns the next time round.

Lois Lane: “Will I see you, around?”.
Superman: “I’ll always be around, Lois”.
That folks is music to my ears!

Running Time: 154 mins.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense action violence.
Cast: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey & Parker Posey.
Director: Bryan Singer

Remember, Remember, the fifth of November….
Well, I stand guilty of bad-mouthing the Wachowskis after their attempts at insulting the movie-goer’s intelligence with the Matrix sequels (for me, mentally the original stands isolated from the sequels). And I will not indulge in a shouting-match with the die-hards who have formulated their own theory about the wonders of the Matrix Universe. But now, would I love to shake the hands of the Wachowskis & James McTeigue for this courageous endeavour. Not only have the Wachowskis bankrolled this project, but also have penned the screenplay based on the comic book by Alan Moore. And I am sure the studios must not have been thrilled with whole idea of a terrorist anti-hero as a central figure, going by the poor publicity alloted for the film. It takes mucho cojones to stand behind such a solid effort.
The plot: Set in the none too distant future, the world lays wasted, and the only stable government is that of Britain (that more or less resembles the Nazi regime with little bits borrowed from the setup in Equilibrium). Enter the eloquent and revolutionary V, who stages a series of anarchic events, that rattles the stiff upper lips. A fascinatingly complex character, V recites poetry with aplomb, is handy with swords & daggers (makes Zorro look tired), and has a secret agenda all of his own. Always behind a Guy Fawkes mask, he is brought to life with an amazing insight by the dependable Hugo Weaving, who uses his body language and vocal modulations to convey V’s mercurial personality and emotions. Natalie Portman plays a telly reporter who becomes a reluctant ally to V, and Stephen Rea plays a weary copper hot on V’s trails. The film has been shot in dark tones, except when the sequences shift to V’s lair, where they burst into vibrant colours. The action pieces, though not as frequent as I would’ve preferred are well executed, with a special nod to the balletic climax sequence. The film is littered with capable performances, right from Weaving, Portman down to the briefly appearing Stephen Fry.
It is sad that a gem that comes our way much too rarely, is not appreciated enough.

Running Time: 131 mins.
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and some language.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt, Stephen Fry
Directed by: James McTeigue

Doctor, Doctor..Doctor Beat, Won’t you help me Doctor Beat?

…And a more beat & disheveled looking doctor you can’t find on the telly. He’s rude, crude but a genius of a dude. Somewhat of a Gil Grissom if he was in ER with a tongue worthy of Jack Nicholson’s in AS GOOD AS IT GETS. He walks with a cane, doesn’t shave, is emotionally crippled, has caustic platitudes for everyone, makes you feel like crap, rebels against the system, is lazy & likes watching day-time medical soaps (coz it’s informative) - would you want him handling your case? I would.

So what’s up with HOUSE: SEASON1? Well, every episode deals with cases that are simply stupefying to the medical community, and are solved by House and his team of able medical investigators. Yep - you heard it right - investigators. They actually go through/break into patient’s residence for clues to what might have brought about their condition.
You have the morally straight, in your face Dr. Foreman(a token Epps), the idolizing and intelligent Dr. Cameron (Morrison) and the doubt-no-House Dr. Chase (Spencer) as his team members. Then there’s Dr. Cuddy (Edelstein), the hospital administrator and House’s boss. They have a regular exchange of verbal assaults (there’s also some sparks). Lastly, there’s the understanding Dr. Wilson (Leonard), who believe it or not, is the closest thing to being House’s best friend.

This show gives you a CSI deja vu, in the most pleasant way. It has a dynamic lead (House & Grissom should get-together), excellent writing, interesting cases, a bunch of misfits for a team, some nasty guest roles (Chi Mc Bride), a romantic angle between House and the only female member in his team, and loads of humour. But the series is nothing without the terrific Hugh Laurie (damn those Emmys for ignoring his performance), and the worthy David Shore as the series creator. In telly medical thrillers (a new genre, I guess), this is As Good As It Gets.

Season: 1
Episode: 22
Cast: Hugh Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard, Lisa Edelstien, Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison & Jesse Spencer.

First of all, nothing can recreate the magic of FRIENDS - you have to keep that in mind. FRIENDS owes it’s tube immortality to the group dynamics of 6 quirky people. Take one out (the less talented one), and you’ve got a major work on your hands trying to spin a successful series around that character. There’s only so many times “how you doin” can be funny. So what to do? - you surround that character with talented scenery-chewing regulars, with a side helping of bosom valleys. And that’s how JOEY survives the competition.

In the first season - you find JOEY (Matt Le Blanc) flying off to the movie-capital of the world. His sister (the terrific Drea De Matteo) arranges for a place for him. She comes packaged with a teenaged son (Paulo Costanzo) who’s a bit of lovable geek. Joey’s got an agent (the riotous Jennifer Coolidge), a neighbour (the unfunny Andrea Anders) and other semi-regulars like the Tom Arnold-channeling Ben Falcone (who’s actually quite affable).

The Pros - as with FRIENDS, any situation that threatens to get sappy, get’s jerked back with a comedic pull. No moment should get serious is the order of the day. Excellent choice in guest stars like Lucy Liu (who plays an OCD-afflicted TV Executive producer) elevate the series in it’s funny moments. David Schwimmer, Andy Weyman & Gary Halvorson helmed episodes rock (wish if Schwimmer had popped in front of the lens too).

Cons - Kevin Bright shouldn’t direct any episodes - he sucks. The jokes fall flat, and the punch lines are left without support.
Jokes with incestous undertones - not cool.
The constant display of cleavage (including those of Jennifer Coolidge) numbs the senses. It’s needlessly distracting. If it was one character (Drea De Matteo), it would have been okay, but a serious number of actresses flashing ‘em (although I love cleavage) in a comedy series is kinda off-putting. How many times did you see Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston or Courtney Cox letting you take a generous peep down their cups? Exactly.

All in all - JOEY’s good for a few chuckles, but after watching the first season - you do tend to ask yourself, “So, how you doin?”.

Season: One
Episodes : 24 in all
Cast: Matt Le Blanc, Paulo Costanzo, Drea De Matteo

Starred one time

Jerry Bruckheimer (him of obscenely expensive movies) & Gore Verbinski return with the second installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (a la The Matrix). So you can imagine my apprehension as I sat “me” back down on “de” cineplex seat (sequels are normally obligatory projects).

Going by the effort in Pirates 2, I am defintely waiting for the third with abated breath. Jerry “Blockbuster” Bruckheimer has spared no expense whatsoever in the production department, and at certain times feels like Pirates 2 is thumbing down other blockbusters (one with a big ape comes to mind).

Majority of the cast from the first outing are back again to indulge in some major swashbuckling. Johnny Depp is deliciously in form as buccanneer-bar-scruples Capt. Jack Sparrow. So is the babe-licious Keira Knightley as Elizabeth. Olando Bloom shares less screen time than his earlier excursion as Will (what a success-graph does to major players, huh?). But it’s all good - we also have a new villain - Davy Jones. Now don’t let that Dickensian name fool you - this one’s a SFX-laden octupus-on-a-human-head thingy, and it’s got crab-claws for hands. Played by Bill Nighy (whose eyes & voice are the only give-aways), it’s absolutely a gross thing to behold.

The plot as such deals with Elizabeth being held hostage, and Will being asked to seek out Sparrow to obtain his compass. Sparrow, on the other hand is already on his way to seeking out a key that opens a chest, and that key dangles on Davy Jones neck, who commandeers a ship with an equally SFX-laden crew, and is in control of a gigantic creature called the Kraken (crikey!) that annihilates any offending sea-vessel…also, he doesn’t like Jack Sparrow (something about a blood debt). And then of course, you have cannibals, a creepy black magic woman of the marshes (Sparrow’s ex - he didn’t call her back), and plenty of adventures to make this 2-plus hour epic pass off easily. Of course, it all ends on a cliffhanger since it paves the way for the third instalment. 
If you liked Curse of the Black Pearl, you are gonna equally love Dead Man’s Chest. Now - where’s that rum!

Duration: 145 mins.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley

Director: Gore Verbinski

This 2006 adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem (which was a box-office hit in Canada), stars Gerard Butler and Ingvar Sigurdsson as the titular characters respectively. Set in around 500 a.d., it tells of the great king of Daneland (Stellan Skarsgard), who kills a troll, but let’s go of the son. The son grows up to be the vengeful and powerful Grendel, who terrorises the king and his men. Tales of the troll’s brutality reach the shores of Geatland, and the Geat king sends in his most revered hero Beowulf and a cheery bunch to put an end to Grendel’s reign of terror.

The film may not appeal to all, especially the raving mad purists, who may object to the cinematic liberties undertaken by it’s skillful director Sturla Gunnarsson. Aided by able performances (Gerard Butler, leading the pack), and arresting visuals, it simplifies (do I hear, “how outrageous!”) the epic tale for modern consumption, in an entertaining fashion. Issues of loyalty, tolerance and faith are interwoven skillfully in this tale of hate and redemption. Characters are well-fleshed, with special mention to the conflicted Beowulf. Did I mention it has healthy doses of humour too?

Runtime: 103 mins. Director: Sturla Gunnarsson Cast: Gerard Butler, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Stellan Skarsgard. MPAA RATING: R-for violence, language and some sexuality.