Director: Shafi Uddin Shafi
Story: Saikat Nasir
Cast: Mahiya Mahi, Shipan Mitra, Ahmed Sharif, Danny Sidak
Strength: Story
Weakness: Action sequences, Acting, Special Effects
Rating: 2/5
Plot: The story centers on the character Big Brother, a female gang enforcer, who tries to change her ways after some personal experiences.
Review: The movie starts with underworld king Golden Gulzar (Ahmed Sharif) being arrested by the police because of a false case made against him by DJ, leader of his rival gang.
This is when Golden Gulzar's child, Big Brother (Mahiya Mahi) comes into action by saving his men. But normal operations for Golden Gulzar's men become difficult because of police involvement. Golden Gulzar, in order to avoid police attention, appoints one of his trustworthy members from out of town to carry out his extortions. This doesn't go well as DJ kills this man and throws him at the train tracks.
While all this is going on, Rana (Shipan Mitra) sees Big Brother, whose name is revealed to be Kajol, in action and falls in love with her. He proposes his feelings to her only to be rejected and slapped to make an example. Not taking the rejections well, he heads for the tracks to commit suicide. While there, he hears a phone ring and discovers that the phone is beside a dead body. When he picked up the phone, he was asked to pick up the extortion money. After collecting the money, he got several more calls, all of which involved money pickup. With all this money, he starts a charity for young unemployed people. Later in the film, it's shown that Kajol is not Gulzar's biological child. She originally came with her sister from Dhaka, but her sister got kidnapped by some thugs. That's when Gulzar discovered her and adopted her. When she finds her sister, she is asked by her sister to leave her current life and get married, as a last request as her sister will soon die as a result of cancer. Taking her advice, she decides to get married to Rana.
This movie is almost a typical Bangla Cinema. The premise of the movie is ok. The director also made some good calls in terms of location choosing for songs. However, some subpar performances such as Shipan Mitra's bad acting do let the movie down a bit. In all honesty, this movie's main attraction is Mahiya Mahi and not much else.
Reviewed by Abdullah Al Amin (Rubel)
***
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
Writers: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner
Stars: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill
Strength: Story, originality within an overused concept
Weakness: Acting and direction
Runtime: 98 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot: Barry is a talented mechanic and family man whose life is torn apart on the eve of a zombie apocalypse. His sister, Brooke, is kidnapped by a sinister team of gas-mask wearing soldiers & experimented on by a psychotic doctor. While Brooke plans her escape Barry goes out on the road to find her & teams up with Benny, a fellow survivor - together they must arm themselves and prepare to battle their way through hordes of flesh-eating monsters in a harsh Australian bushland.
Review: Wyrmwood is an Aussie take on the popular Zombie apocalypse genre. But it's done with a few original twists thrown in. Zombies invade the Australian Outback in this brain-splattered, Mad Max-meets-the-undead thrill ride. When an apocalyptic event turns everyone around Barry-including his wife and daughter-into marauding zombies, he arms himself to the teeth, soups up his car, and hits the road in order to rescue his sister from a deranged, disco-dancing mad doctor. It's a very down to earth production that incorporates a lot of very Australian cultural elements. Mateship (Australian for friendship), plain talking, a love of beer, fast customized vehicles and the handyman, "can do" attitude, are elements frequently employed in this film. Bianca Bradey gives a good performance, but Jay Gallagher as the lead character does not pull his weight as well. The zombie action is reasonable and the story line is engaging, but Wyrmwood is, however, somewhat let down by failed attempts at humour, stunted character development and no real direction, in terms of where the story is supposed to lead us. The end result is a rather disjointed, unimpressive film, that leaves you feeling it should have delivered more. Watch it if you love gore-filled zombie films and have time for some brainless fun.
Reviewed by Mohammad Haque
***
CLASSIC REVIEW
Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Alex Haley, Malcolm X
Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo
Runtime: 202 minutes
Plot: Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Review: Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" is one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the whole sweep of an American life that began in sorrow and bottomed out on the streets and in prison before its hero reinvented
himself.
During the initial stages of the film, he was known as "Detroit Red," and ran with a fast crowd. Arrested and convicted, he was sentenced to prison. It was the best thing that happened to Red, who fell into the orbit of the Black Muslim movement of Elijah Muhammad and learned self-respect.
The movie then follows Malcolm as he sheds his last name and becomes a fiery street-corner preacher who quickly rises until he is the most charismatic figure in the Black Muslims, teaching that whites are the devil and that blacks must become independent and self-sufficient.
But there was still another conversion ahead; during a pilgrimage to Mecca, he was embraced by Muslims of many colors and returned to America convinced that there were good people of peace in all races. Not long after, in 1965, he was assassinated - probably by members of the Muslim sect he had broken with.
Spike Lee has told the story of this man's story in an extraordinary fashion.
Denzel Washington stands at the center of the film, in a performance of enormous breadth. He never seems to be trying for an effect, and yet he is always convincing.
Many would expect that Malcolm X would be a slightly angry film. However, this film is not an assault but an explanation. It deliberately addresses all races in its audience. Everyone will see a Malcolm X whose experiences and motives make him understandable and finally heroic.
