Movie memories, by Siraj Syed—Brokeback Mountain (2005): Rough terrain, smooth ride Friendship between the two protagonists of Brokeback Mountain turns to a homosexual relationship that survives their respective conventional marriages and fatherhoods. Director Ang Lee tackles this taboo theme, placed in the Wyoming of half a century ago, and treats it with old-world unravelling, at a gentle pace and accompanied by slow background score. The dialogue is highly accentuated and mumbled, wh...

Colossal, Review by Siraj Syed: Loss all Colossal loses big on two counts: It appears to have several allegorical, illusionary hidden agendas, and it goes about framing them in minimalistic, over-simplified montage. There is always a grave risk in making a socio-political commentary using metaphors like video games and giant monsters/robots, and the risk involves alienating (pun intended) both classes of audiences—the superhero aficionados, and the intelligentsia film-goers. Colossal no...

The Intern, Review: Good turn A 30-something Internet start-up founder finds a soul-mate in a 70-something company ‘intern’. So, what does she do? Get involved with him romantically? Banish the thought. She is looking for a CEO to run the company more efficiently, and the old man has been a marketing manager. So, what does she do? Promote him to CEO? No way. She finds that her house-husband is cheating on her. So, all hell breaks loose? Not a chance. The Intern carefully avoids al...

Interstellar, Review-- Gravity of the situation: Galactic Wormhole or Earthy Dust-bowl?   Mainly based on the scientific theories of Kip Thorne, Interstellar is a film that Steven Spielberg was to direct, and took about nine earthly years to land on planet IMAX (probably the last one to be shot on IMAX 15/70 format), courtesy spaceships Warner and Paramount. Thorne is an American Caltech physicist theoretical physicist who has written academic books on general relativity, colla...

By Maria Esteves - February 25, 2013 The 85th Oscar Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) for outstanding film achievements of 2012 hosted by Seth MacFarlane commenced Sunday, February 24, 2013, 8:00pm ET at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood & Highland Center, California, and aired live with 40 million  viewers worldwide. The Oscars celebrated James Bond 007 50th Anniversary with two James Bond theme performances by Dame Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger...

The next Batman installment, “The Dark Knight Rises,” will feature Hathaway as Catwoman. Hathaway rose to prominence largely featuring in Disney teen comedies. Hardy has been cast as “Bane,” who will likely be the chief bad guy in the film. It will be the final within the series from director Nolan. He won’t be getting any more unsecured loans to produce more films. Post resource - Anne Hathaway confirmed as Catwoman in the Dark Knight Rises by MoneyBlogNewz. Ann Hathaway hired ...

By Maria Esteves – January 26, 2011 The 83rd Academy Award Nominations were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) President Tom Sherak and 2009 Academy Award winner for supporting actress Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. The King's Speech, directed by Tom Hooper received twelve Oscar nominations including best picture, best director, best actor, and best supporting actor. True Grit, directed...

By Maria Esteves - February 2, 2010 The 82nd Academy Awards nominations were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. AVATAR, directed by James Cameron and THE HURT LOCKER, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Cameron's ex-wife) picked up nine Oscar nominations including best picture and best director. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony presented by AMPAS for outstanding film achieve...