Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Film Review: The Martian




Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Aksel Hennie
Run-time: 2h 24m

Plot:During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/)

According to movie: loved the movie; it was fantastic! The set and setting looked amazing, and the involvement of people in the movie was great - as in, everyone seemed to play an important part. Matt Damon did a fantastic role, and I think one of the characters who really stood out was Jessica Chastain as Commander Lewis. 5/5 According to book: the movie really paled in comparison to the book - I expected a lot more action - more so because everything in the movie was in a condensed form, I felt like they missed out so many important or exciting parts. The book was much more thrilling, naturally, and I think I actually felt my emotions shoot all over the place, not knowing what would happen next. I did not like the fact that they changed Venkat Kapoor, or that they made Annie kinder. I would have preferred Mark to be more sarcastic and rude(ly funny), and I did not expect Matt Damon to fit the role of Watney, but I think he did a good job. I did not expect Jessica Chastain to make a good commander Lewis, but I think she was really good! In fact, the best of all the astronauts. I also think Martinez/ and Johansson/Kate Mara had good parts, but seriously, what even were Sebastian Stan and Vogel's parts? They disappointed me a lot. At least Vogel had some substance to his part as he participated in something. It felt like Sebastian Stan did nothing, and this is terrible because he is a really good actor and he could have played Beck really well. Finally, in the last scene, I do not like the fact that they almost completely changed everything, and I don't understand why they couldn't have just stuck to the original - why did they have to make Commander Lewis in the centre of attention? She doesn't have to prove anything! Her authority and quick thinking were more than enough, but maybe I feel this way because I've read the book and felt like she had done enough for Mark and the writers don't have show as if she has to prove her worth or something to the audience. However, overall, I really did like the movie, even though as a book reader, it is a little difficult to not keep comparing the book to the movie, but I need to remind myself - what can I really expect!? 3/5 because of changing parts and not giving enough importance to other people's parts.-Shifa

After reading the book, I thought- although many great parts were omitted- the movie was successful in capturing the essence of the book, even though they didn't/weren't able to include all the details. Furthermore, I felt that Ridley Scott made the movie intelligent and kept the space jargon and elements intact, yet made it easy for a vaster majority of audience to understand and enjoy.As a movie on its own, The Martian is shot wonderfully. The CGI is fantastic and the authenticity of details related to space travel is there. Ridley Scott keeps the movie consistently entertaining. However, I don't think the relationship between Beck and Johanssen was very plausible, because it wasn't developed that well.
So, an overall rating: 9.5/10
-Safa


Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Film Review: Dheepan


(Source: Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dheepan)





Starring: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby





Run-Time: 1h 55m


Plot:
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
(Source: IMDb- http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4082068/)


The trailer (of this movie) was very interesting, intense and capturing. However, it was a bit misleading with the storyline.
The acting was really something; the movie flowed really well and the whole affair was a quite engrossing. But, towards the climax, I was confused why the events unfolded in the way that they did and it was also unclear on how the protagonists, despite the circumstances, were able to settle. 
In all, the movie was a interesting but quite heavy, and not really my cup of tea. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Friday, 15 January 2016

Film Review: The 5th Wave

(Source: Moviepilot.com- http://moviepilot.com/posts/3544372)


Starring: Chloe Grace-Mortez, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe
Run-Time: 1h 25m

Plot:
Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.


Characters not as I imagined (as usual) but irregardless of their looks, even their attitudes weren't right. Some characters weren't even introduced properly and so there is quite a lot of confusion. Sentiment of a lot of things was lost; emotions were diluted.

The scenes were changed too much and that just alters the dynamics- of well, everything!- and makes it the same old thing. Also, when they change/shorten the scenes, they end up missing out vital parts, which creates many plot-holes and errors.

One thing that really peeved me off was how some important revelations in the story were revealed in the most nonchalant way.I felt like the whole movie was a Wikipedia summary (of the book). Extremely disappointed. 

((Apologies if this seems like a half-hearted attempt at a review, but I was not impressed))

Rating- 4/10


Thursday, 26 November 2015

Film Review: Bridge Of Spies


Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Austin Stowell
Run-time: 2h 21m

Plot:
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

I think the movie started out brilliantly. It started with the scene that made you wonder what was happening, so you were hooked from the first moment.
The movie was a serious one, but the well-timed jokes were excellent. At first, I expected it to be a dramatic-sort of movie - much like many others, where the would base the story around the war or certain events of the war, but this concentrated more on the "technical" side of the war; things that happened in the background. It took me a moment to realise that since the movie was inspired/based on true events, it couldn't have (and shouldn't have) been over-dramatic. This was one of the reasons why I thought that the movie felt very real (you realise that things from your history books are ACTUAL things that have happened).
I especially love when they make movies or shows showing under-appreciated events or people during the war times because in history lessons, you never actually learn about them apart from the events that we usually hear about. When you see success stories (or even failed stories, for that matter) during these times, it makes you realise that these are ACTUAL people and ACTUAL events.
Though the movie seemed quite long, it was really shot well and Tom Hanks, once again, played his role incredibly! (I'm not biased towards Tom Hanks, okay! :3)
-Shifa


We went in to the cinema expecting a brilliant film because of such a killer cast (not to be biased, but especially Tom Hanks!). But what we got was so much more!
I absolutely loved this film and I think it's so important because it addresses some very necessary, important and basic humanity requirements. I already knew halfway through the film that it was going to be an incredible one. 
Furthermore, I really like war movies/books because we have studied about it (the World Wars and the Cold War) in school and so, it's close to my heart. Also, this film was like Goodnight Mister Tom (novel by Michelle Magorian) in the sense that it was set in the war time, but didn't actually revolve around it all that heavily, and this made me like the movie even more. 
Lastly, I don't even have to mention this, but the acting was absolutely brilliant. I must however mention one point: they didn't give us a feel of Russian/German lawyers and their side of the story.
All in all, a brilliantly shot film. 
-Safa

Rating: 10/10

Film Review: The Last Witch Hunter


Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie
Run-time: 1h 46m

Plot:
The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history.
(Source: IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618442/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

The movie was shot well and there was a pretty impressive ensemble of the cast. However, the movie was just drenched in clichés and was extremely predictable right from the main character's personality and personal loss, down to the "surprise" betrayal.

The CGI was pretty great and, of course, Vin Diesel and Michael Caine were lovely, but unfortunately neither Caine nor Diesel's cool factor mask the enormous bright red gash of clichés that were bleeding throughout the movie. 

Rating- 5/10

Sunday, 11 October 2015

Collective Summer Book Haul!

During the summer holidays (and even before that!) we had ordered so many books from Amazon.in and had them delivered to our address in India. So, while we were holidaying in India, we were able to receive/collect them; it was glorious to see such a huge stack of books piling up on our shelf! So, this is a collective book haul post of the books we bought from the beginning of the year up until September (and still counting :p). But we didn't stop with just books that we had ordered, we also had to go and buy some more! So, here is a post deicated to ALL the books we've brought back from India (from this Summer Holiday):

March-April (2015)


Book Details:
(Top to Bottom):
  1. The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield
  2. Elizabeth Is Missing- Emma Healey
  3. Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi
  4. Second Life- SJ Watson
  5. The Girl On the Train- Paula Hawkins


June (2015)


Book Details:
(Top to Bottom):
  1. 365 Days Of Wonder- R.J. Palacio
  2. The Sandman- Lars Kepler
  3. Strangers On A Train- Patricia Highsmith
  4. Naked- Kevin Brooks
  5. Thirteen- Tom Hoyle
  6. Muder Most Unladylike- Robin Stevens
  7. Rooftoppers- Katherine Rundell
  8. One Step Too Far- Tina Seskis
  9. All The Bright Places- Jennifer Niven

July-August



Book Details:
(Anti-Clockwise from the top):

  1. The Mysterious Benedict Society (Box-Set)- Trenton Lee Stewart
  2. Death Note- Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata
  3. Room- Emma Donoghue
  4. Prince Of Fools- Mark Lawrence
  5. I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend- Core Harrison
  6. Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend- Cora Harrison
  7. Pretties- Scott Westerfeld
  8. Uglies- Scott Westerfeld
  9. Frankenstein (Book 3): Dead Or Alive- Dean Koontz
  10. Here, There Be Dragons- James A. Owen
  11. The Wonder Journal- R.J. Palacio
  12. The Divergent Trilogy- Veronica Roth


September (2015)



Book Details:


    (Anti-Clockwise from the top):
    1. Les Misérables- Victor Hugo
    2. Goosebumps~Most Wanted (Special Edition): Zombie Halloween (#1)- R.L. Stine
    3. Goosebumps~Most Wanted: Planet Of The Lawn Gnomes (#1)- R.L. Stine
    4. Tell Me No Lies- Malorie Blackman
    5. Diary Of A Wimpy Vampire- Tim Collins
    6. Labyrinth- Kate Mosse
    7. Superman: Last Son Of Krypton- Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, Adam Kubert & Gary Frank
    8. Superman: Secret Origin- Geoff Johns, Gary Frank & Jon Sibal
    9. The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien
    10. Fortunately, The Milk- Neil Gaiman
    11. Confessions Of Georgia Nicolson (Book 10): "Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?"- Louise Rennison
    12. Confessions Of Georgia Nicolson (Book 8): "Luuurve Is A Many Trousered Thing"- Louise Rennison
    13. Thora- Gillian Johnson
    14. Kiss- Jacqueline Wilson
    15. The Worry Website- Jacqueline Wilson

    So, totally, we lugged 41 books back to Dubai, and we CANNOT wait to read all of them! We just hope we can resist buying anymore books till we finish these off... but we can't make any promises!

    Have you guys read any of these? Or do you wants us to do a book review of any particular one? Please do let us know in the comments!

    You can even have a look at our Youtube video for a better look at the covers, here:
    We hope that this post was helpful to you and wish you a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!

    Salam | Peace!

    Wednesday, 30 September 2015

    Book Review: The Bunker Diary ~Kevin Brooks



    This book is about a boy named Linus who is kidnapped and put into a bunker with a few other people. Linus keeps a diary of what happens in the bunker and we live it through his perspective.

    We bought this book towards the end of last year and the first person to read it was me (Safa). I finished reading the book in a few days because it was written in a very intriguing and thrilling manner. however, the ending of the book really shocked me and I was pretty much crushed; the book was constantly on my mind and it really did make me feel a little depressed.

    The next person who got trapped into the net (despite many warnings from me) was Shifa. She also thoroughly enjoyed the writing style of the book and she finished the book in a few hours (which was one sitting)! But, then, she also understood the gravity of my words, but by then it was too late. *Dramatic music*

    We're very sorry to any Kevin Brooks fans and the Carnegie Medal committee, but we don't recommend this book.

    On our Rate-O-Meter, we rate this as:
    Highly NOT Recommended.

    If you have any thoughts or answers to the questions:
    -Why was this book written?
    -What was the meaning of this book?
    -Why did such events occur?
    Please, we urge you- with the utmost urgency- to let us know in the comments below.

    If you would like to buy this book (to prank someone or despite our aforementioned cautions, please do so at your own risk!), you can click here:
    You can also check out our review on YouTube, here:

    We're sorry for such a sad review, but we wish you a day that is filled with happiness and ice cream!
    Salam|Peace!