Two line Reviews - #73

Movie: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (2009)



Claps:

• This one was less of action,but more of substance giving answers to questions from the past - A gripping account.
• The concepts of Memory safe, soul safe were ingenious.
• The introduction of a likable character in Prof.Slughorn.

Blips:

• Draco Malfoy, in spite of being given a substantial role at last, is reduced to a dummy at the end.

Overall Score: 9.0/10

Two line Reviews - #72

Movie: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (2007)



Claps:

• Directors keep changing, yet the saga doesn't change drastically in this part too.
• Despite Potter having lost cuteness to age, the aura of his still shows its presence.
• Dumbledore gets his due finally,in this part.

Blips:

• A relatively weaker plot.

Overall Score: 8.9/10

Two line Reviews - #71

Movie: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (2005)



Claps:

• Magic,thrills,games,humor & suspense - All in the right mix and that makes this eclipse the first 3 parts in terms of entertainment offered.
• The Potter-Voldemort confrontation towards the end-was worth the wait.
• Nice little twist- not easy to predict.

Blips:

• Nothing much.

Overall Score: 9.2/10

Two line Reviews - #70

Movie: Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)



Claps:

• Pluses from the earlier versions carry over.
• Eye-pleasing outdoor locations & Buckbeak.
• The time turner climax portion.
• An unpredictable twist.

Blips:

• A predictable twist.
• The absence of Mr.youknowwho.

Overall Score: 9.1/10

Two line Reviews - #69

Movie: Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2002)



Claps:

• More spells,bigger sets & an intense plot make this go one step bigger than HP1.
• The tempo that the precursor Dobby sets and the way it is carried forward till the end.
• The twists and the thrills in the climax in the chamber.

Blips:

• The trio seem to roam about anywhere anytime with nobody questioning them.
• Irritating characterisation of Prof.Lockhart.

Overall Score: 8.9/10

Two line Reviews - #68

Movie: Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone (2001)



Claps:

• The cute,adorable Daniel Radcliffe with inquisitive eyes as Harry potter steals the show accompanied by Ron & Hermione.
• Gargantuan sets & good graphics work.
• Brilliant creative imagination. Especially the Chess, Quidditch league sequences.

Blips:

• Some of the characters are introduced but don't have a big part to play.
• Terrible bias shown by the profs towards the Gryffindors. Pity two other teams who don't even get into the picture.

Overall Score: 8.8/10

Two line Reviews - #67

Movie: boy A (2007)



Claps:

• British English films do not get as much attention as American ones and here's another example. A very good watch this,on a person released from a juvenile establishment & how he leads life under a different name.
• Andrew Garfield displays the 'unexposed to society' vulnerability superbly.
• The intertwined screenplay is apt for this story and fits very well.
• A Very good climax.

Blips:

• The spoilt kids could have had much more screen time.
• The death of Philip wasn't explained well.

Overall Score - 9.0/10

Two line Reviews - #66

Movie: Edge of Darkness (2010)



Claps:

• A pulsating action film concerning a father-daughter duo on the lines of Liam Neeson's Taken. Only here the daughter is killed and not kidnapped.
• The calm demeanor  Mel Gibson displays while in pursuit of his daughter's killers.
• The shuddering 'spur of a moment' scenes that come and go & the pop-kid scenes.

Blips:

• Gibson breaches through securities at will. Too much for a normal policeman considering the kind of people he is shown to be in want of.

Overall Score - 8.9/10

Happy Birthday Roger!

As the hard-court season gets underway, look who's celebrating his birthday.

Last year,when everyone had written you off, you made the mother of all comebacks lifting French and Wimbledon in succession and giving birth to twin babies! The first two feats were heavily inspiring ones for me & the last - a sheer delight for us fans.

After a glorious start with the Australian Open title this year, your unimaginable streaks seem to have started coming to their ends- finally. They had to,someday! So no qualms with that. But being just 1 day short of the record 287 weeks at the top is definitely a huge slip. I wish you get that one week atop someday this year or early next year.

Happy Birthday Roger Federer. Wishing you all success in the coming hard-court season as I seek some much-needed inspiration from you when I am all at sea now. Go on for 17 and 18 and 19 and that 287!! If you deserved being on top of the world for 286 weeks and 6 days, you definitely deserve that 1 day.

Two line Reviews - #65

Movie: Dead Man Walking (1995)



Claps:

• The unmistakable 'counsel of hope & redemption' relationship between Sister Helen & Poncelet.
• The performance of Sean Penn,a young Sean Penn - that too the last 20 minutes where he confesses and fears death.
• The scenes with the family on the electric chair day.

Blips:

• Show of a detail account of the kind of rubbish Poncelet had grown on to become would have been better.
• It is shown that the prosecutors are given a private live viewing of the execution of a criminal - If that is how the system really works, there is nothing more psycho than that!

Overall Score - 9.0/10