Topic: Tom's Random Reviews

[Tom]

Here is the trailer:

[Tom]

Pyaar Impossible! (2010/India) IMDb | Wikipedia Yash Raj Films Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Jugal Hansraj Writing: Uday Chopra (Story By), Usay Chopra (Screenwriter) Length: 141 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: Arabic, English

Stars:
Uday Chopra as Abhay
Priyanka Chopra as Alisha
Dino Morea as Sidhu/Varun
Anupam Kher as Abhay's Father
Rahul Vohra as C.P.

Plot:
In Ankert University, California, Alisha (Priyanka Chopra) is the name of that dream everyone wished came true. The most beautiful girl on campus, she makes hearts flutter like leaves in the wind. A snap of her fingers and a line of boys, waiting on her every whim. Everybody Loves Alisha!

It is no surprise then that Abhay (Uday Chopra) loves her too. More than his computer programs and MAC stores he thinks of Alisha. Who is Abhay? Abhay is a nerdy, awkward, socially challenged, bespectacled geek of the college who is so far removed from her world that she doesn't even know that people like him actually exist.

This is a love story of impossible proportions, how can a man like Abhay ever hope to be with a woman like Alisha, and therein lies the story...

Abhay has quietly loved Alisha all his life. One day he musters up enough courage to go and express his true feelings to her and realizes that it is never gonna happen. He comes to terms with the fact that Alisha is a Princess and he is just a Geek. That is when their ways eventually part. Later, their paths cross again, as Abhay is busy trying to launch his career. Fate again brings him face to face with the woman of his dreams, Alisha. Will Abhay have the strength to believe in himself and attempt to achieve what he never thought possible?

Will Alisha ever be able to see the man behind those glasses, beyond what her idea of the perfect man is? Is everything fate or can one take destiny in their own hands? Is this possible or just Pyaar Impossible?

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Outtakes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I didn't expect much from this movie. Just a run of the mill romantic comedy. This is what I got and I enjoyed it more than expected. Prinyanka Chopra usually is nothing more than a (really) pretty face but an average actress. But since I saw her in What's Your Rashee I had more respect for her acting abilities. She is now one of those actresses I really enjoy in rom-coms but I still am not sure for other kinds of movies.
I had a little doubt about Uday Chopra in the lead. Before this movie I never really enjoyed his appearences. But he did a good job and it really fit him. Luckily they used his geeky look here very well. Luckily they refrained in this movie to show of his body (like they did in Dhoom 2), which just looks out of place with his geeky head.
I also enjoyed the songs in this one, even though I wouldn't count any of these is classic material.

Rating:

[Tom]

I've got a song from this movie stuck in my head. It's really nothing special but I enjoyed it.

In this sequence, the guy (a geek) bets the girl (the beauty), that she could not hook up at a party, if she dresses like a geek. Of course she is only movie ugly. It's quite unrealistic that she doesn't get any attention at all. "Pyaar Impossible" means "Love impossible".

[Tom]

Moon (2009/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Duncan Jones Writing: Duncan Jones (Story By), Nathan Parker (Writer) Length: 97 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Bahasa, Chinese, English, Hindi, Thai

Stars:
Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell
Kevin Spacey as GERTY (voice)
Dominique McElligott as Tess Bell
Rosie Shaw as Little Eve
Adrienne Shaw as Nanny

Plot:
Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell, Frost/Nixon, Charlie’s Angels) is nearing the completion of his 3-year-long contract with Lunar Industries, mining Earth's primary source of energy on the dark side of the moon. Alone with only the base's vigilant computer Gerty (voiced by Oscar®-winner Kevin Spacey, 1999 Best Actor, American Beauty) as his sole companion, Bell's extended isolation has taken its toll. His only link to the outside world comes via satellite messages from his wife and young daughter. He longs to return home, but a terrible accident on the lunar surface leads to a disturbing discovery that contributes to his growing sense of paranoia and dislocation so many miles away from home.

MOON is an engrossing, intelligent sci-fi thriller that ranks with genre classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Awards:
Won:

BAFTA (2009)		Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (Duncan Jones)
Hugo Award (2010)		Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
National Board of Review Awards, USA (2009)		Spotlight Award (Duncan Jones)

Nominated:

BAFTA (2009)		Outstanding British Film
Scream Awards (2009)		Best Director (Duncan Jones)
Scream Awards (2009)		Best Science Fiction Actor (Sam Rockwell)
Scream Awards (2009)		Best Sci-Fi Movie
Scream Awards (2009)		Best Scream-Play (Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker)

Extras:

• BD-Live
• Bonus Trailers
• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Short Film: Whistle
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

A great slow-paced scifi movie. Sam Rockwell did a great job playing a dual role and no other actors around (except for Kevin Spacey's voice of the HAL like robot).

Rating:

[Tom]

Barsaat: A Sublime Love Story (2005/India) IMDb | Wikipedia Tip Top Video (United Kingdom) Director: Suneel Darshan Writing: K.K. Singh (Screenwriter), Rumi Jaffrey (Screenwriter), Robin Bhatt (Screenwriter), Shyam Goel (Screenwriter), Suneel Darshan (Story By) Length: 137 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Other, Spanish

Stars:
Bobby Deol as Araav
Bipasha Basu as Anna
Priyanka Chopra as Kajal
Gajendra Chauhan
Mahesh Thakur

Plot:
Barsaat is the sublime love story of three young people caught in a vortex of love they have no control over. Their love story is like the rain - unpredictable yet welcome, torrential yet life giving. And however overcast the skies may be there's always the hope of finding a rainbow beyond the clouds.

That's what Arav (Bobby Deol), Anna (Bipasha Basu) and Kajal (Priyanka Chopra) must believe in. For that's what will see them through the stormiest of circumstances ... their belief and faith that sunshine and happiness lie on the other side of the darkest of nights.

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

The basic plot is similar to "Sweet Home Alabama". An engaged guy comes back to his home and meets up again with a female childhood friend who is in love with him.
I bought this because of Priyanka Chopra, who plays the childhood friend. Most of the movie is rather bad. The only time I was enjoying this movie was when Priyanka Chopra was on-screen. This was one of her early roles. Pre-dating her appearance in Krrish - the movie I first knew her from.
One thing which bothered me personally a lot was something rather ridiculous. I know I shouldn't get hung up on this. But my favourite car brand is BMW. I drive one. And it's at home in my area. So it bothered me that BMW was portrayed like it was a small car company in the USA where the main character just happened to have the luck to be employed as designer. And soon after he started working there he got to design the new model, which happened to be the Z4 model. I think it would have been better to use a fictional car company.
Another thing which bothered me is, that the main character was rather unlikable. He got married to the childhood friend after finishing studying (because it was the wish of the grandmother), but he left on the day of the wedding to go to the USA to make it big. There he met another girl, who was interested in him. But he couldn't be bothered with her. But as soon as she got him the job as designer at BMW, he suddenly started to take interest in her, falls in love with her and got engaged.
Back home, where he went to get a divorce from his childhood friend, he couldn't be bothered with her. But as soon he finds out that she is now a successful businesswoman, he suddenly takes interest in her as well.
Okay, the last part you could explain, even though it is not explicitly stated in the movie. You could assume that he started to take her seriously after he finds out that she was not solely pining after him the three years he was away, but took her life actively into her hand and made something out of it. Although this development rather came out of the left field.

Rating:

[Tom]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) Director: Edgar Wright Writing: Bryan Lee O'Malley (Original Material By), Michael Bacall (Screenwriter), Edgar Wright (Screenwriter) Length: 112 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, Trivia

Stars:
Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim
Alison Pill as Kim Pine
Mark Webber as Stephen Stills
Johnny Simmons as Young Neil
Ellen Wong as Knives Chau

Plot:
Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams - literally. But, there's one catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)...he has to meet and defeat her seven evil exes!

From genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) comes the amazing story of one romantic slacker's fight to POWER-UP with love - before it really is GAME OVER!

Extras:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Outtakes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I finally saw this much-hyped movie. I have to admit, that it has great special effects and fun editing. But like the comic, I really couldn't get into it. I have read the first volume of the comic and didn't have the urge to continue buying and reading it. Maybe someday I will.
The movie feels like if you enjoy the comic, you will enjoy this adaption.

Rating:

[Tom]

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia VCL Communications (Germany) Director: Andy Fickman Writing: Kevin Murphy (Screenwriter), Dan Studney (Screenwriter), Kevin Murphy (Original Material By), Dan Studney (Original Material By) Length: 104 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, German

Stars:
Kristen Bell as Mary Lane
Christian Campbell as Jimmy Harper
Neve Campbell as Miss Poppy
Alan Cumming as Lecturer/Goat-Man/FDR
Ana Gasteyer as Mae Coleman

Plot:
Inspired by the legendary 1936 film of the same name, Reefer Madness is a tongue-in-cheek raucous musical comedy about clean-cut kids who fall into a twisted, hilarious downward spiral of reefer, sex and mayhem! A straight-laced high school lecturer (Alan Cumming) seeks to impart his wisdom to frightened parents about the "demon weed" by telling them the frightful tale of two innocent teens. Mary Lane (Kristen Bell) and Jimmy Harper (Christian Campbell), who fall under the spell of the public's enemy #1 and quickly find themselves in a world of evil jazz music, dance and madness. Filled with outrageously funny and musical performances by Neve Campbell, Christian Campbell, Kristen Bell and Steven Weber, Reefer Madness is the feel good event of the year that should not be missed!

Extras:

• Featurettes
• Reefer Madness Orig. Film 1936
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

A nice musical which I can see myself watch again. But so far (after first time viewing) there are no songs which really stood out for me. Mostly the movie seemed like wanting to be another Rocky Horror. Like the first song with Kirsten Bell and Christian Campbell reminded me of the song "Dammit Janet" from Rocky Horror, only not nearly as catching. The story in both is about a nice, innocent, All-American couple who gets seduced to be bad.
Matthias stated a few times that he prefers this over "Repo! The Genetic Opera". I can see that. I also bought that one recently, but I couldn't get into the movie in the first few minutes, so I haven't really watched it yet. With this one I didn't have a problem, even if the songs seemed more like standard musical fare. But who knows. Sometimes musicals need more viewing to really catch on with me.

Rating:

[Tom]

The Expendables (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Lion's Gate Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Sylvester Stallone Writing: David Callaham (Story By), David Callaham (Screenwriter), Sylvester Stallone (Screenwriter) Length: 103 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

Stars:
Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross
Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
Jet Li as Yin Yang
Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
Eric Roberts as James Munroe

Plot:
In this uncut version of the smash hit blockbuster, SYLVESTER STALLONE stars as Barney Ross, leader of The Expendables, a tight-knit team of skilled combat vets turned mercenaries. Hired by a powerful cover operator, the team jets off to a small South American country to overthrow a turhless dictator.

Once there, they find themselves cuaght in a deadly web of deceit and betrayal. Using every weapon at their disposal, they set out to save the innocent and punish the guilty in this blistering action-packed thriller.

Awards:
Nominated:

Golden Raspberry Awards (2010)

Worst Director (Sylvester Stallone)

Extras:

• BD-Live
• Bonus Trailers
• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Outtakes
• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access

My Thoughts:

Except for the short scene with Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger, which had some fun stabs at the actors' careers, I found this movie rather boring. I was expecting more from it.

Rating:

[goodguy]

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005/United States)
...
But so far (after first time viewing) there are no songs which really stood out for me. Mostly the movie seemed like wanting to be another Rocky Horror. Like the first song with Kirsten Bell and Christian Campbell reminded me of the song "Dammit Janet" from Rocky Horror, only not nearly as catching.

I agree that some Rocky Horror songs have more catching tunes, but the lyrics here are much more fun. And as a whole, I find this vastly superior to Rocky Horror (which I do like quite a bit nonetheless).

[Tom]

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Season Two (2009/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Bandai Entertainment (United States) Director: Writing: Length: 350 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: English

Stars:


Plot:
Haruhi continues her search for exciting ways to keep her world from being boring. Unfortunately, for Kyon and the rest of the SOS Brigade, they are forced to go along for the ride. On the night of the Tanabata Star Festival, Kyon is transported back in time by Mikuru Asahina to what may be the source of what led Haruhi to search for aliens, time travelers, and espers.

In the last two weeks of summer vacation, Haruhi leads the brigade on a dizzying list of summer time activities, eventually culminating in the brigade experiencing what they think is deja vu but they're actually re-living the same two weeks of summer over and over again. It's up to Kyon to figure out what's missing to get them out of their endless loop.

As fall rolls around, everyone prepares for the school arts festival, but Haruhi isn't content with their class's survey project. Instead, she hatches her own plan for the SOS Brigade to film and screen their own movie. Step behind the camera to see what went on to create the cinematic "masterpiece" that is The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00.

Extras:

• Audio CD
• Featurettes
• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access
• Textless Opening

My Thoughts:

I finally came around to buying and watching the second season of this series. I already knew all the storylines covered here from the original novels and the manga adaption. This is still a fun series and a good adaption.
They made a strange experiment here though. In the novel and the manga, the story "Endless Eight" is only a few chapters in each. But they made eight anime episodes out of it. This storyline is about a time-loop covering the same two weeks of summer vacation. The characters mostly aren't aware of this. Here in the anime each episode covers one of the loops (in total there were over 15000!). These episodes show the same thing happening with only slight variations. Though no camera angle and some of the outfits stay the same in each episode. This is a risky move which I cannot imagine another series but this immensly popular series doing it. Added to that, the second season was initially shown in Japan alternating with season one episodes. So people had to wait for two weeks to see a new episode and every time they got an episode which seemed like the one they already had seen. I had the luxury to see all episodes in a row and notice all the variations. But I am guessing if you had to wait weeks in-between episodes, they wouldn't have been that noticable. It's even more evil: in the episodes themselves the episode title is not counted. They always only read "Endless Eight".
The last five episodes cover the novel "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya". Here we get to see how the characters were shooting the movie we got to see in season one.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
02	Endless Eight I
03	Endless Eight II
04	Endless Eight III
05	Endless Eight IV
06	Endless Eight V
07	Endless Eight VI
08	Endless Eight VII
09	Endless Eight VIII
10	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya I
11	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya II
12	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya III
13	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya IV
14	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya V

[Tom]

Dance of the Vampires (1967/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (Germany) Director: Roman Polanski Writing: Gerard Brach (Story By), Roman Polanski (Story By), Gerard Brach (Screenwriter), Roman Polanski (Screenwriter) Length: 103 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1, German: Dolby Digital 1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
Jack MacGowran as Professor Abronsius
Roman Polanski as Alfred, his Assistant
Alfie Bass as Shagal, an Innkeeper
Jessie Robins as Rebecca, his Wife
Sharon Tate as Sarah, their Daughter

Plot:
A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.

Extras:

• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I recently saw the stage musical "Tanz der Vampire" (one of the most successful German-language musicals), which is based on this movie. I really enjoyed that musical and even bought the CD. Now, of course, I was also curious to see the movie which served as the source of the plot. I have to admit it was strange for me to see the same story not sung
Even though I enjoyed this comedy. I was a little surprised by this because of the age of it. I thought it would be dated but it still hold up great.

Rating:

[Tom]

For those who are interested to take a peak at the musical, I found a clip on YouTube:


This is from the Hamburg production of the musical. I only have watched the first few minutes so far. I am not sure yet about this production. At first glance it seemed inferior to the current Stuttgart production that I have seen. Also compared to the CD recording of the Vienna production I have heard, it cannot compete. But I will watch it to the end when I have more time.
I really what love to see a DVD release of at least one of the productions though.

[Achim]

I had seen Dance of the Vampires countless times when I was a teenager or so. It is a great film and very funny at that. I won the DVD and while it's been a while since I watched it I think I agree that it held up well.

[Tom]

It Could Happen to You (1994/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Columbia TriStar Home Video (Germany) Director: Andrew Bergman Writing: Jane Anderson (Writer) Length: 97 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
Ann Dowd as Carol
Kay Tong Lim as Sun
Nicolas Cage as Charlie Lang
Bridget Fonda as Yvonne Biasi
Rosie Perez as Muriel Lang

Plot:
Charlie and Muriel Lang have led simple lives - for most of their existance. That's until they win $4 million on the lottery! There is a problem, however. Prior to winning the lottery, Charlie had eaten at a cafe and hadn't been able to tip the waitress. He had promised her, jokingly, that if he won the lottery he'd give her half of it. This is why his wife, Muriel decides to leave him. She doesn't want the waitress to get a cent of their money. Infact she wants all $4 million for herself!

Extras:

• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I always enjoyed this fun little romantic comedy since I first saw it. As far as I remember it was the first Nicolas Cage movie that I had ever seen. I plays a great nice guy. Bridget Fonda is lovely in this movie.

Rating:

[Tom]

Eurotrip (2004/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (Canada) Director: Jeff Schaffer Writing: Alec Berg (Writer), David Mandel (Writer), Jeff Schaffer (Writer) Length: 93 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Scott Mechlowicz as Scott Thomas
Jacob Pitts as Cooper Harris
Kristin Kreuk as Fiona
Cathy Meils as Mrs. Thomas
Nial Iskhakov as Bert

Plot:
Europe will never be the same after Scotty Thomas and his buddies take off for the express to excess! They're hooking up with hot strangers and jamming all the extreme insanity they can into the wildest trip of their lives! No swimsuit, no problem. Let it all hang out 'cause you're diving into the totally wild pleasures of 'Eurotrip' UNRATED!

Awards:
Won:

Anatomy Awards (2005)

Breast Picture (Best movie for nudity)

Nominated:

MTV Movie Awards (2004)		Best Cameo (Matt Damon)
Teen Choice Awards (2004)		Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See

Extras:

• Closed Captioned
• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Outtakes
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

One of the better ones for this kind of movies. Although if you are easily offended by European stereotypes (be it English, German, French or otherwise), then you better avoid this movie.

Rating: