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There’s something about Renee Zellweger. Something sweet and so very disarming, she makes a run-of-the-mill rom-com watchable. Ever since stealing our hearts with her girl-next-door goodness in Jerry Macguire, Renee has remained the true blue Ms Congeniality in popcorn cinema. Of course, she’s a mountain of talent too, as amply displayed in Chicago, Cold Mountain and the Bridget Jones series.

Here however, it’s mainly her charisma that wins you over as she brings life to Lucy, the high-heeled alpha woman who re-locates to cold and freezing Minnesota. First, there’s disdain for the small town mentality and then there’s love and longing for the uncluttered, closely knit, clan-nish existence of the Minnesotans that stands out in stark contrast to the I-me-mine credo of Miami. More importantly, she loses her heart to the union leader, enfant terrible Ted (Harry Connick Jr.) who predictably begins the relationship on the wrong note.

Okay, it’s predictable we confess, but it’s as sweet as the tapioca pudding that seems to be the main course in the film. Watch out for some syrupy moments, a mouthful on cut-throat corporate ethics and some fine performances by Renee and her personal assistant, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who tries to set her up with the most eligible bachelor in the provincial town.

source:times of india

Orphan Raizo grows up into a ninja assassin after being trained by a heartless head of a warrior clan. But he turns rogue and swears revenge when the brutality of the master becomes too hard to handle. Review this movie

Andy Wachowski, the younger sibling in the Wachowski Brothers Inc., confesses in an interview: “We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to scr*w with audiences’ expectations.” Larry, the elder, thinks so too. Hence the brothers Wachowski go ahead and make The Matrix series which truly turn Hollywood on its head by redefining the action genre. More importantly, they lay the foundation for their brand of cinema which is based on the quintessential American principle of shock and awe, with action as the core of their narrative.

But hey, it’s not just ordinary action where guns explode and people die, any which way. Nah! Normal is truly boring for the Brothers Wachowski. Remember the gravity and speed defying action cuts of The Matrix series? Ninja Assassin, their latest production too tries to follow a similar formula where heads roll, hands are chopped, blood spurts, wounds are split wide open and hearts are gorged out…All this, without an eye-blink or a sense of extreme. The film’s rated R, so no apologies for the hardcore violence. Also, it’s a ninja story, isn’t it. And ninja’s are supposed to chop and sock their way through life. So go, get what you expect: loads of ninjas, lots of violence, neatly orchestrated martial arts’ sequences and some semblance of a storyline. But no, not The Matrix.

Refreshingly, the film has a heart too. Raizo (played by South Korean pop singer, Rain), an orphan, is adopted by a cruel martial art’s master who heads the Ozunu clan. The clan excels in creating killing machines out of homeless kids by divesting them of all humaneness. Extreme violence and complete heartlessness becomes a way of life for the terrified youngsters who are then supplied as mercenary killers to governments and institutions who want to assassinate anybody. Raizo does grow up to be the best amongst equals, but he goes rogue when the master kills his beloved. He teams up with a forensic researcher in Interpol (Naomie Harris) to set the record straight. And that of course means slicing up all the bad ninjas before setting up the final confrontation with the bad master.

Needless to say, it’s the fight sequences that form the highlight of this film. But the film has its emotional core too as it captures the angst of young Raizo who tries to quell the thundering of his heart in a heartless world. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) the film provides interesting viewing for hardcore action film buffs. Watch out for Karl Walter Lindenlaub’s cinematography which captures the martial arts’ moves in shadowy light, since the Ninja Assassins are mythical, shadowy urban legends who have been killing anyone for 100 pounds of gold over the centuries.

source:times of india

Film: The Rebound
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha
Genre: Romance
Director: Bart Freundlich

Producers: Neil Sacker, Mark Gill, Tim Perell

Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes