My Review - World's Greatest Dad

This was probably my first Robin Williams movie. Ahh I know. Sad. I always thought of him as a funny guy. But this recommendation for the 2009's 'World's Greatest Dad' from Mihir Fadnavis introduced me to a number of things - Robin Williams, the serious actor, Bobcat Goldthwait, the cult movie maker and a whole new style of Black Comedy. 


Williams stars as Lance Clayton, a single father and high school English teacher. A kind of softish guy, who has his own dreams of becoming a successful writer. His son, Kyle, a 15 year old sex-obsessed sociopath, hates him and repulses every attempt made by his father to bond with him. Kyle only has one friend, Andrew, who spends his evenings at the Clayton house due to some issues at home(parents again). Andrew admires Lance for what he is what he is trying to be even as Kyle does not leave any opportunity to demean his Dad.


Lance's life is torn apart one fine evening when he discovers that Kyle has accidentally killed himself while ....emmm.......masturbating. To avoid embarrasment, he disguises the death as a suicide along with a (suicide)note that he writes himself. The unexpected twist that the story takes from here gives Lance whatever he has ever wanted in life, until it starts to suffocate him. 

Williams gives a brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT performance as Lance Clayton. They way he portrays his loneliness, hesitation and love for his hostile under-achieving son is absolutely spot on. Refreshing story, perfect screenplay, apt dialogues and some fine performances by the entire cast make for a great watch. 


Hats off to Bobcat Goldthwait for the brilliant direction!!! 5 stars and a Must See rating on this one. 

4 reasons why Love, Sex or Dhokha is a cult film!

It is. A cult film. In case you have not seen it yet. Go check it out. Now to the hows and the whys.

Reason number 1 – The “characterless” Characters

Remember the last time you saw a Bollywood film, and you said – Arre yaar, aisa kahan hota hai? Or Shit yaar, Aise thodi hota hai!!! Whatever happens in LSD, actually aisa hi hota hai. Right from Shruti’s father(hypocrite and horny), to the girls in the dept store(one the silent types and the other the loudspeaker), from the item girl(willing to be exploited) to the pop star Lukki Local(waiting to exploit), from the TV producer(will do anything for TRPs) to the journalist(trying hard not to compromise on his ethics).

Reason number 2 – The Analogies

If you did not get the analogies here they are in the following order

‘Love ‘ Story – Nitish Katara Case
‘Sex’ Story – N number of MMS videos on youtube.
‘Dhokha’ Story – Replace Lukki Local with our very own Mika and the item girl with Rakhi Sawant. Put in a 24 hour Hindi news Channel and the picture completes.

Reason number 3 – The Acting

Need less to say, the nameless actors play their parts with great conviction and earthiness, right from Meter Down(guard), the actress’ father, both the girls in the dept store, the journalist, his boss, the item girl and the king of Pop – Lukki Local. Lukki Local takes the cake with his Punjabi accented English and his mannerisms. An actor to watch out for!

Reason number 4 – The Connection(s)

Dibakar Bannerjee does treat his audience with respect. All three stories are connected and only when the end credits roll the viewer realizes what happened when and where. In a space of 90 minutes, Dibakar Bannerjee weaves a tale of Love, Hypocrisy, Greed, Voyeurism, Jealousy and exploitation, all as seen through the invention we know as the camera.

A smashing film that gets the DESIBLAB 5 stars.

P.S. - I have not mentioned the sex scene coz it's not a sex scene. just like any MMS, it's shot as a private moment between two people.

My Review - Up in the Air

After a long time, comes a comedy which is as serious as it is funny; as painful as it is insightful. It has some of the best one liners, some wittiest on screen conversations and some of the smartest women characters you wud have seen on screen in a long time.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a high flying executive whose job is to travel all over the US to fire people. For Ryan, firing is not about company policy or financial restructuring. Its an art. And art he turns it into, advising 50 yr olds on how to restart their careers all over again and how to do something they really really wanted to do(a Hollywood obsession). He does all this while pursuing his ultimate goal - frequent flyer miles. In between all of this, he gets into a casual relationship with Alex(played by the very sexy Vera Farmiga) and has to coach Natalie(Anna Kendrick). The movie mainly is about how these two relationships affect his attitude and thinking.

George Clooney fits the role to a T and does a remarkable job while charming you with his usual 'sexiest man alive' smile. Kendrick is lovable as the confused Natalie and Vera Farmiga is perfecto as the sexy Alex. The writing and dialogues are absolutely mindblowing. Sample this

" I am not racist. I just stereotype."

"There has never been a worse time for America. This is our moment."

"I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. You are an escape. You're a break from our normal lives. You're a parenthesis. "

I loved the ending where some laid off employees remark to the camera that if you have your family with you, you can battle almost everything and anything!

An intelligent and emotionally stimulating film. Must watch for our recessionary times! Highly recommended!

My Review - My Cousin Vinny

No one recommended this 1993 courtroom drama to me. Or suggested. Or Praised. I had never heard of it or maybe I had heard but then I thought "Joe Pesci with Marisa Tomei...not worth it man".

I managed to catch this one on Star Movies yesterday and found it to be well L O L. My Cousin Vinny is about Vinny(Pesci), who travels to Alabama along with his girlfriend Mona Lisa(Tomei), to defend his cousin(played by "The Karate Kid") and a friend who are wrongly accused of a murder. Vinny is not your usual lawyer. He is someone who has zero trial experience having taken six years and six attempts to become one. He fumbles, mumbles, fails to get enough sleep, fights with his girlfriend, lies to the judge and does every damn thing possible to defend his cousin.

While Pesci plays his character to a T and Tomei is brilliant as the sexy Mona Lisa Vito(she got an Oscar for this one), it's the writing and the courtroom sparring between Vinny and the prosecution lawyer that are the movie's highlights.

Not many films get the DESIBLAB 5 stars. This is one of them. Don't miss it!

Rotten Tomatoes Rating : 89%

What I learnt from Kung Fu Panda!

This very cute and very very inspiring film does not need a review. It is a must see film and a must have DVD. I don't know if its just the state I am in where the lessons from the film seem to be very apt and bang-on-target. While Rashmi Bansal and some other bloggers have come out with their own Management Lessons from Kung Fu Panda, here is what I learnt from this very 'awsome' movie.

1. There are no accidents... : What is is meant to be and how it was destined to be. Do not regret.
2. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present : Learn from the past. Do plan for the future but live in the present. I loved this line. Absolutely!!!
3. No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach : If a young boy is destined to be a scriptwriter/storyteller/director he will be one. He can't become a doctor. On a different note, if a young boy is meant to redefine music through algorithms, then no point forcing him to go to Indian Idol.
4. There is no secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup : To make something special, you just have to believe it's special. Love this thought! Totally!
5. Hollywood not only makes great movies, they make the movies with the best messages too : The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, A Beautiful Mind, Rocky, Little Miss Sunshine, Crash, Spiderman 1 & 2. Need I say more.

The only film which I give 5 stars. Highly recommended!!!