JUPITER ASCENDING
Directors: The Wachowskis
Writers: The Wachowskis
Stars: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean
Strength: Effects, action and story
Weakness: Script, confusing presentation
Runtime: 127 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5
Writers: The Wachowskis
Stars: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean
Strength: Effects, action and story
Weakness: Script, confusing presentation
Runtime: 127 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot: Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to
the cold reality of a job cleaning other people's houses and an endless
run of bad breaks. Only when a genetically engineered ex-military
hunter, arrives on Earth does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has
been waiting for her all along.
Review: Jupiter Ascending is a full-on action flick which you might enjoy during the show, but will soon forget. It is a story of a seemingly insignificant individual, in this case Jupiter Jones (Kunis), suddenly thrust into a much larger and complicated universe than her day-to-day as a maid. As fate would have it, she happens to be the reincarnation of the matriarch of an extremely powerful dynasty that controls a vast industrial empire in the galaxy. The Wachowskis have created an incredibly elaborate alternate universe that is equally rich in scope and potential, but they fail to generate the depth to their characters. The scope is too ambitious for a single movie and too much happens too fast for people to start caring about the characters. Caine Wise (Tatum) was fun to watch. He plays Jupiter's brawny half-man, half-werewolf warrior-protector who zips through widescreen panoramas on jet-propelled boots, rescuing her over and over, duking it out with winged demons and sickly humanoid "Keepers" as spaceships crash through asteroid belts and skyscrapers, and explosions rumble and flash, and a symphony brass section topped by a quasi-mystical choir shrieks in your ears. Jupiter keeps falling and falling and falling and Caine keeps soaring in, Superman-style, to scoop her up in his arms. The problem is that the film fails to find a new or even halfway distinctive way to express itself. For all its noise and color, "Jupiter Ascending" looks, sounds and moves too much like every other sci-fi or fantasy adventure you've seen in the aftermath of the "Matrix" and "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies and "Star Wars" prequels. So if you are in the mood for another sci-fi which looks and feel cool, but doesn't offer anything new, then Jupiter Ascending is worth watching.
Reviewed by Mohammad Haque
Review: Jupiter Ascending is a full-on action flick which you might enjoy during the show, but will soon forget. It is a story of a seemingly insignificant individual, in this case Jupiter Jones (Kunis), suddenly thrust into a much larger and complicated universe than her day-to-day as a maid. As fate would have it, she happens to be the reincarnation of the matriarch of an extremely powerful dynasty that controls a vast industrial empire in the galaxy. The Wachowskis have created an incredibly elaborate alternate universe that is equally rich in scope and potential, but they fail to generate the depth to their characters. The scope is too ambitious for a single movie and too much happens too fast for people to start caring about the characters. Caine Wise (Tatum) was fun to watch. He plays Jupiter's brawny half-man, half-werewolf warrior-protector who zips through widescreen panoramas on jet-propelled boots, rescuing her over and over, duking it out with winged demons and sickly humanoid "Keepers" as spaceships crash through asteroid belts and skyscrapers, and explosions rumble and flash, and a symphony brass section topped by a quasi-mystical choir shrieks in your ears. Jupiter keeps falling and falling and falling and Caine keeps soaring in, Superman-style, to scoop her up in his arms. The problem is that the film fails to find a new or even halfway distinctive way to express itself. For all its noise and color, "Jupiter Ascending" looks, sounds and moves too much like every other sci-fi or fantasy adventure you've seen in the aftermath of the "Matrix" and "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies and "Star Wars" prequels. So if you are in the mood for another sci-fi which looks and feel cool, but doesn't offer anything new, then Jupiter Ascending is worth watching.
Reviewed by Mohammad Haque
***
ZERO DEGREE (2015)
Director & Story: Animesh Aich
Cast: Mahfuz Ahmed, Joya Ahsan, Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee, Iresh Zaker
Strength: Cinematography, unique story
Weakness: Story-telling
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Mahfuz Ahmed, Joya Ahsan, Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee, Iresh Zaker
Strength: Cinematography, unique story
Weakness: Story-telling
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot: The story tells the tale of a man and woman, wronged by their loved ones and their society, and their plans to exact revenge.
Review: Amit (Mahfuz Ahmed) and Nira (Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee) is a happily married couple residing in Dhaka. Nira goes to Singapore on an official trip leaving Amit and their son behind but doesn't come back. After a few days, Amit gets a message that she is leaving him and their son to get married to Mushfiq. Coupled with their son's tragic death in a car accident, Amit breaks down mentally and is later sent to Mental Hospital. Meanwhile, Saniya, (Jaya Ahsan) the only daughter of a powerful village monarch chief Patowari, runs away from home after seeing how he misuses his power to forcefully marry beautiful women and murder them later on. While attempting suicide, she is rescued by Wahid, with whom, she builds a physical relationship. She soon finds out that Wahid is involved in human trafficking and before she can take any action, she is sold. Later on, Saniya gets repetitively raped and tortured before she ends up in the same Hospital as Amit. Amit and Saniya get to know each other and discuss the events that led them there. Soon after, they decide to take revenge on those that wronged them, namely Nira and Wahid. This path leads them to becoming merciless killers.
The cinematography deserves a special note as it was wonderful to say the least. Also some of the more complicated effects such as car accidents have been done in a way that's much fresher than most Bengali cinemas. Also, the soundtrack has been given much thought by the director as it feels like it meshes well with the movie. However, this movie also shows what's wrong with Bangladeshi cinema – story telling. Expectations were high with Animesh Aich at the helm, but unfortunately expectations weren't met with this film. Otherwise, everything else was good and audiences may still enjoy the film as long as they don't have their expectations as high as we did.
Review: Amit (Mahfuz Ahmed) and Nira (Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee) is a happily married couple residing in Dhaka. Nira goes to Singapore on an official trip leaving Amit and their son behind but doesn't come back. After a few days, Amit gets a message that she is leaving him and their son to get married to Mushfiq. Coupled with their son's tragic death in a car accident, Amit breaks down mentally and is later sent to Mental Hospital. Meanwhile, Saniya, (Jaya Ahsan) the only daughter of a powerful village monarch chief Patowari, runs away from home after seeing how he misuses his power to forcefully marry beautiful women and murder them later on. While attempting suicide, she is rescued by Wahid, with whom, she builds a physical relationship. She soon finds out that Wahid is involved in human trafficking and before she can take any action, she is sold. Later on, Saniya gets repetitively raped and tortured before she ends up in the same Hospital as Amit. Amit and Saniya get to know each other and discuss the events that led them there. Soon after, they decide to take revenge on those that wronged them, namely Nira and Wahid. This path leads them to becoming merciless killers.
The cinematography deserves a special note as it was wonderful to say the least. Also some of the more complicated effects such as car accidents have been done in a way that's much fresher than most Bengali cinemas. Also, the soundtrack has been given much thought by the director as it feels like it meshes well with the movie. However, this movie also shows what's wrong with Bangladeshi cinema – story telling. Expectations were high with Animesh Aich at the helm, but unfortunately expectations weren't met with this film. Otherwise, everything else was good and audiences may still enjoy the film as long as they don't have their expectations as high as we did.
CLASSIC REVIEW
BIG (1988)
Director: Penny Marshall
Writers: Gary Ross, Anne Spielberg
Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
Runtime: 104 minutes
Writers: Gary Ross, Anne Spielberg
Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
Runtime: 104 minutes
Plot: When a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body.
Review: Big came out of nowhere during the summer of 1988 and captured universal raves. More than two decades later, despite indications of dating, it remains a popular motion picture. The film is emotionally honest and almost never crass - two things that differentiate it from its contemporaries, which included Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, and 18 Again.
Eager to impress the school beauty, Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin asks a carnival wishing machine if he can be “big”. Next morning he wakes up as Tom Hanks. Of course there are minor problems like he can no longer get into his jeans and his Mom doesn't recognize him, thinking he is the abductor of her son. Only his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) realizes that inside the lanky adult is a frightened child.
Big came at a time in Tom Hanks' career when he was transforming from a mostly comedic actor whose range was questioned into his position as this generation's Jimmy Stewart. The range and likeability that would serve him well in pictures like Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan is in evidence here. The movie also sports a solid supporting cast aside from Hanks such as David Moscow, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, and John Heard.
Although Big is generally lighthearted, it rarely plays for stupid laughs. There are a few of these, but the film avoids sacrificing character integrity for the cheap guffaw and as a result, Big was a pleasure to watch in 1988 and it's no less enjoyable today. As fish out of water stories go, this is one of the best there is.
Review: Big came out of nowhere during the summer of 1988 and captured universal raves. More than two decades later, despite indications of dating, it remains a popular motion picture. The film is emotionally honest and almost never crass - two things that differentiate it from its contemporaries, which included Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, and 18 Again.
Eager to impress the school beauty, Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin asks a carnival wishing machine if he can be “big”. Next morning he wakes up as Tom Hanks. Of course there are minor problems like he can no longer get into his jeans and his Mom doesn't recognize him, thinking he is the abductor of her son. Only his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) realizes that inside the lanky adult is a frightened child.
Big came at a time in Tom Hanks' career when he was transforming from a mostly comedic actor whose range was questioned into his position as this generation's Jimmy Stewart. The range and likeability that would serve him well in pictures like Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan is in evidence here. The movie also sports a solid supporting cast aside from Hanks such as David Moscow, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, and John Heard.
Although Big is generally lighthearted, it rarely plays for stupid laughs. There are a few of these, but the film avoids sacrificing character integrity for the cheap guffaw and as a result, Big was a pleasure to watch in 1988 and it's no less enjoyable today. As fish out of water stories go, this is one of the best there is.
