Topic: Tom's Alphabet Marathon Reviews

[Tom]

As everyone seems to do their reviews in separate threats, I will do it, too.

The first review will be a repost from the other thread. Jimmy, you can link to this one instead.

[Tom]

Title: Karan Arjun
Year: 1995
Director: Rakesh Roshan
Rating: PG
Length: 175 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78
Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Shahrukh Khan
Salman Khan
Kajol
Ranjeet
Rakhee
Amrish Puri


Plot:
Rakesh Roshan's KARAN ARJUN is about faith & reincarnation. Durga's (Rakhee) sons, Karan (Salman Khan) & Arjun (Shahrukh Khan) are murdered by Dhurjan Singh (Amrish Puri). When Durga's pleas to bring Karan Arjun back to life are heard by the Goddess Kali, the two brothers are reborn in different families. Karan as Ajay, grows up to be a boxer & goes to work for Saxena (Ranjeet), Dhurjan Singh's partner in crime. Arjun as Vijay, grows up tp work with horses and falls in love with Sonia (Kajol), Saxena's daughter and Dhurjan Singh's soon to be daughter-in-law. By divine intervention Ajay & Vijay realize they are Karan Arjun, and return to their mother Durga in 'Malakhera' to take revenge upon Dhurjan Singh. Will Karan & Arjun succeed this time in defeating Dhurjan Singh?

Awards:

Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Actor Award	Salman Khan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Director Award	Rakesh Roshan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Music Director Award	Rajesh Roshan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress Award	Raakhee
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Villain Award	Amrish Puri

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Music Videos
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

I have bought this movie because it completes my collection of SRK/Kajol movies (I think). The plot is very similar to Om Shanti Om, a recent SRK movie. Also here someone is killed and is reborn to take revenge some thirty years later. Only here it was brothers instead of one man. And this movie is much more brutal. The revenge consists of killing all of the villains involved. About a third of the movie consists of fist fights, and another third consists of songs, which were not bad, but sadly without subtitles. I think they would have had interesting lyrics.
I noticed something, which was done a lot an earlier Bollywood movie (this one being 15 years old is one of my oldest): Blatantly taking something from a Hollywood movie. Here it was the Terminator theme, which was playing a lot in some of the fight scenes.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: The New Guy
Year: 2002
Director: Ed Decter
Rating: PG-13
Length: 88 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85, Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
DJ Qualls
Eliza Dushku
Zooey Deschanel
Jerod Mixon

Plot:
THE NEW GUY is a fresh and wildly hilarious comedy starring DJ Qualls (Road Trip), Eliza Dushku (Bring It On), Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous), Lyle Lovett (The Opposite of Sex) and Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother). Ed Decter, co-writer of the comedy hit There's Something About Mary, makes his directorial debut in the laugh-out-loud funniest comedy of the year!

Terminally nerdy Dizzy Harrison (Qualls) is routinely laughed at, ridiculed and picked on. His senior year is nothing but an exercise in pain and torture. So Dizzy decides to change his luck. After purposely getting expelled from school, he enrolls in a rival high school with a new look, a new story and a completely new attitude. Now, the former dud becomes a major stud and finds himself the big man on campus - complete with girls, popularity and more girls! But when his past resurfaces and threatens to expose the real Dizzy, he must rise to the occasion to show the world exactly what he's all about!

Awards:

Anatomy Awards

2003

Won

Best Bikini Scene

Eliza Dushku

Extras:
Music Videos
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I haven't watched this one in a long while. It is in my collection because of Eliza Dushku. Even though it somewhat fun movie and has a nice premise, I remembered it being a little better. Eliza Dushku's role is rather small. I would preferred to have seen a little more of her. Though we saw her in various Bikini models in one montage scene which is totally unrelated to the plot.
But it was very nice to see Zooey Deschanel here.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: Clerks.
Year: 1994
Director: Kevin Smith
Rating: 18A
Length: 92 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Trivia

Stars:
Brian O'Halloran
Jeff Anderson
Marilyn Ghigliotti
Lisa Spoonhauer
Jason Mewes

Plot:
The movie that started it all... In two versions, including the Extended Cut that you've never seen!

Miramax Home Entertainment is proud to present this amazing three-disc collector's set that includes two versions of the original indie classic, a killer, brand-new 90-minute documentary - "Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks" - and more never-before-seen bonus material than you shake a salsa shark at!

Awards:

AFI	1994	Nominated	100 Years... 100 Laughs (2000)
Independent Spirit Awards	1995	Nominated	Best Debut Performance	Jeff Anderson
Independent Spirit Awards	1995	Nominated	Best First Feature	Kevin Smith; Scott Mosier
Independent Spirit Awards	1995	Nominated	Best First Screenplay	Kevin Smith

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Commentary
DVD-ROM Content
Featurettes
Music Videos
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

Still a great movie to watch. I just love all the scenes with Randal in it. His "Return of the Jedi" rant or his ordering of porn videos are hilarious. Imagine Kevin Smith would have played this role as originally planned. I think it wouldn't have been half as fun.
And the bonus feature "The Flying Car": Simply Great!


Rating:

[Tom]

Jimmy, you can replace the link of my "Clerks" review with this one. Thanks

[Tom]

I had visitors and they wanted to watch "Iron Man". This covers my "I" now.
My old review can be found here.

[Tom]

Title: Zatoichi
Year: 2003
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Rating: 18
Length: 116 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.85
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Takeshi Kitano
Tadanobu Asano

Plot:
This thrilling tale of swordplay and adventure from cult filmmaker Takeshi Kitano (Hana-Bi) is packed with brilliantly choreographed action scenes and riotous humour. "Beat" Takeshi plays the blind wanderer Zatoichi, whose humble façade masks his prodigious skills as a master swordsman, gifted with a lightning fast draw and strokes of breathtaking precision. When he arrives in a remote mountain town whose people are being terrorised by the ruthless Ginzo gang and their mighty samurai ronin Hattori (Tadanobu Asano), Zatoichi's path is set for many violent confrontations.

Awards:
Extras:
Featurettes
Interviews
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I had some fun watching this movie. It is a little slow at times. Takeshi Kitano ("Battle Royale") did a good job as Zatoichi and as the director of this movie. It is very similar to Ichi, the sequel. Though I remember I enjoyed the subplot and the supporting cast in that one more than in this one.

Rating:

[Najemikon]

Tip for you, Tom. I really enjoyed this version of Zatoichi because it was so much faster paced than Kitano's other work. I have a feeling you wouldn't get into them, should the thought ever cross your mind...

He does very deep and psychological film-making, which is frankly, boring! Zatoichi was as close to a genre film as he is likely to get.

This doesn't apply to films he didn't write/direct, by the way. Battle Royale is all kinds of awesome.

[Tom]

The only other movie I saw which Kitano directed was Hana-Bi. My review can be found here.

[Tom]

You can find my short review of "All Over Me" here. It accounts for my "A".

[Tom]

Title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge
Year: 2002
Director: Kunal Kohli
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 145 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German

Stars:
Hrithik Roshan
Rani Mukherjee
Kareena Kapoor
Satish Shah
Kiran Kumar

Plot:
What would you do if the one you loved was actually not the one you loved? What would you do if your best friend was in love with the one you love? What would you do if you knew your best friends are sacrificing their love for you?

Meet Raj (Hrithik Roshan), Pooja (Rani Mukherji) and Tina (Kareena Kapoor) - three best friends thrown into situations that time, letters, love and separation have created for them.

A friendship that starts off in the picturesque, hilly town of Shimla and ends or rather continues in London. Much like Raj, Pooja and Tina, traditional in their values, yet modern in their approach and outlook to life.

Friendship, the beginning of every relationship, ends in love. And love, well, it can only have two endings - a happy and a sad one - or can there be a third ending for these three friends?

MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE! Is a story of three friends who truly know the meaning of the word 'Dosti'!

MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE! has music by Rahul Sharma, lyrics by (late) Anand Bakshi, cinematography by Gopal Shah, choreography by Ahmed Khan and art direction by Sharmishtha Roy.

Awards:
Extras:
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

This time around I really liked the movie. The last time I said that I liked the first half, but not the second as I felt that Hrithik Roshan's character was too much of a jerk there. Even though I still feel a little like that, I can see why he would be like that. And he even comes to realize it himself at the end and apologizes.
I enjoyed all of the songs in this one. There is even a medley sung which includes 18 famous Bollywood songs. I even recognized a few.
I also grow to like Kareena Kapoor as an actress.

Rating:

[Tom]

Title: Galaxy Quest
Year: 1999
Director: Dean Parisot
Rating: PG
Length: 102 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Other: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Tim Allen
Sigourney Weaver
Alan Rickman
Tony Shalhoub
Sam Rockwell

Plot:
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector – "Commander Peter Quincy Taggart" (TIM ALLEN), "Lt. Tawny Madison" (SIGOURNEY WEAVER) and "Dr. Lazarus" (ALAN RICKMAN) – set off on thrilling and often dangerous missions in space...and then their series was canceled!

Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beamed up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director and no clue, the actors must turn in the perfomances of their lives in this hilarious adventure Jeffrey Lyons (NBC-TV) calls "The funniest, wittiest comedy of the year."

Awards:

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	2000	Nominated	Favorite Actor - Comedy	Tim Allen
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	2000	Nominated	Favorite Actress - Comedy	Sigourney Weaver
Casting Society of America Awards	2000	Nominated	Best Casting for Feature Film – Comedy	Debra Zane
Hugo Award	2000	Won	Dramatic Presentation
Saturn	1999	Won	Best Actor	Tim Allen
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Actress	Sigourney Weaver
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Costumes	Albert Wolsky
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Director	Dean Parisot
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Makeup	Stan Winston, Hallie D'Amore, Ve Neill
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Music	David Newman
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Justin Long
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Special Effects	Stan Winston, Bill George, Kim Bromley, Robert Stadd
Saturn	1999	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor	Alan Rickman
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Nominated	Film - Choice Comedy

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Production Notes
Scene Access
Thermian Language Audio Track
Trailers

My Thoughts:

This is a great sci-fi comedy parodying Star Trek and its fandom in a loving way. I loved this movie since I first saw it in the cinema. It was one of the first Region 1 DVDs I have bought since the German DVD was delayed at the time and I couldn't wait to see it again.
Tim Allen is a great Shatner parody. Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars' Keith Mars) will always be Mathesar for me. Tony Shalhoub, besides his role as "Monk", I always remember as Tech Sgt. Kwan.
I recognized another familiar face this time around: Dwight Schrute from "The Office" is one of the Thermians in the beginning of the movie.

Rating:

[Tom]

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008/India) IMDb | Wikipedia Alive, Rapid Eye Movies (Germany) Director: Aditya Chopra Writing: Aditya Chopra (Story By), Aditya Chopra (Screenwriter) Length: 164 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: German

Stars:
Shahrukh Khan as Surinder/Raj
Anushka Sharma as Taani
Vinay Pathak as Bobby
Singers
* Sonu Nigaam as (voice)
* Sukhwinder Singh as (voice)

Plot:
You might have a love story to tell?

Maybe not! How can an ordinary man have a breathtaking, goose flesh igniting, awe inspiring love story of all things to tell?

But guess what - love does not differentiate between the ordinary and exceptional, the uninteresting and interesting, the unattractive and attractive. Because love knows no distinction. It can happen to anyone and once it does it engulfs us into it completely and gives us those miraculous experiences that only love can yield.

This is what happened to Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan) - a simple, clean hearted, honest man working for Punjab Power, leading a humdrum life, when he meets his total opposite and finds love in the flamboyant, fun-loving, vivacious - Taani (Anushka Sharma) for whom the whole world is her canvas and she paints her own life with the colours of rainbow all until unforeseen circumstances changes it all and brings them together.

What follows is a journey filled with laughter, tears, joy, pain, music, dance and a lot of love. A journey that makes us believe that there is an extraordinary love story in every ordinary jodi.

Awards:
Won:

Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Male Playback Award ("Haule Haule": Sukhwinder Singh)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Scene of the Year

Nominated:

Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Actor Award (Shah Rukh Khan)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Actress Award (Anushka Sharma)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Director Award (Aditya Chopra)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Female Playback Award ("Dance Pe Chance": Sunidhi Chauhan)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Lyricist Award ("Haule Haule": Jaideep Sahni)
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards (2009)		Best Supporting Actor Award (Vinay Pathak)

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Interviews
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I had the urge to watch this movie again. This is slowly becoming one of my favorite movies. Everything just fits in this film. It has a great love story, great music, great choreography and wonderful chemistry between the cast. It is really a feel good movie. It is nice that I can still encounter movies which I can enjoy again and again. As a matter of fact I had to keep myself from watching it again multiple times, because I kept saying to myself, that I have to watch some movies on my unwatched pile instead of the same movie over and over again. As a matter of fact I kicked off another unwatched movie in my Alphabet marathon list, just to be able to watch this one now.

It is another Shah Rukh Khan (star)/ Aditya Chopra (writer/producer/director) collaboration. Those mostly are above average Bollywood movies. This one is no exception. I really enjoyed it. Newcomer Anushka Sharma also was a joy as Taani.
Quiet and meek Surinder takes on the task of disguising himself as the hyper and fun Raj to cheer up his new wife after a tragedy.
Many scenes are reminiscent of superhero movies where Surinder and has alter ego Raj are concerned.

As I said, I really enjoyed the music in this one. There was not a song which I didn't like. Also the score is very fitting.
I have had made a listing of the songs here and how they work together with the story.

Rating:

[Tom]

Jimmy, you can replace my existing review with this one. Thanks!

[Tom]

Title: Ever After
Year: 1998
Director: Andy Tennant
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 116 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German, Spanish

Stars:
Drew Barrymore
Anjelica Huston
Dougray Scott
Patrick Godfrey
Megan Dodds

Plot:
Once upon a time...

'a dazzling rendering of the Cinderella story' (The Washington Post) brought new life to an age-old legend and made us believe in the strongest magic of all: the power of the human heart. Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston star in this enchanting adventure about having the courage to make your dreams come true.

A 'modern' young woman of the 16th century, Danielle (Barrymore) is as independent and wise as she is beautiful and kind. Against remarkable odds, she stands up to her scheming stepmother (Huston) and works miracles on the lives of everyone around her, including the crown prince of France (Dougray Scott)!

Now you can relive this captivating contemporary retelling of the classic fairy tale. No matter what you're looking for, 'action, romance, adventure...'Ever After' delivers it all!' (ABC-TV)

Awards:

AFI	1998	Nominated	100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Won	Favorite Actress - Drama/Romance	Drew Barrymore
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Nominated	Favorite Male Newcomer	Dougray Scott
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	1999	Won	Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama/Romance	Anjelica Huston
Satellite Awards	1999	Nominated	Best Costume Design	Jenny Beavan
Saturn	1998	Won	Best Actress	Drew Barrymore
Saturn	1998	Won	Best Costumes	Jenny Beaven
Saturn	1998	Nominated	Best Music	George Fenton
Saturn	1998	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Anjelica Huston
Teen Choice Awards	1999	Nominated	Film - Choice Breakout Performance	Dougray Scott
Teen Choice Awards	1999	Nominated	Film - Choice Drama

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

One of my all-time favorite movies! Definately my favorite Cinderella adaption. I loved this movie since I first saw it in the theatres. It made me a fan of Drew Barrymore.
It is a take on the Cinderalla story without any mystical help of a fairy godmother and such (if you do not count Da Vinci as a godmother).
Also nice to see that it is not Prince Henry who saves Danielle at the last moment, but that she saved herself. Her expression on her face when he comes for her rescue is a "What are YOU doing here?!"

Rating: