Kylie: The best face of Windows

Kylie On Windows 7 promo Campaign

For the first time Microsoft has done what its competitors have failed to do. It has roped in the service of cute little Kylie to promote their latest product Windows 7. I think this kind of promotion or publicity move is 100 % correct from the marketing point of view.

G-Force

English (U)
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Nicolas Cage, Will Arnett, Bill Nighy
Director: Hoyt Yeatman

A scene from the film ‘G- Force’.The FBI is not convinced about the field operational capabilities of ‘G-Force’  unit – a secret team of three genetically-engineered guinea pigs and a mole.

However, Darwin (voiced by Rockwell) leads Juarez (Cruz), Blaster (Morgan), and tech-wiz Speckles (Cage) to get their due recognition as one of the best US secret service teams when they find out that electronics giant chief executive officer Saber (Nighy) is planning to control consumers by activating a secret chip secretly placed in the company’s appliances over the years.

Walt Disney Pictures’ ‘G-Force’ is perfect for younger children in the age group of 4-12 years.

The plot is simple, animation seamless even in the 2-D format and it has a riotous script which is voiced by a talented cast.

As the film is very clear about its target audience – younger kids – trying to convince young adults or teens to watch this film can be a bit embarrassing since most have seen animals talking and doing gravity-defying stunts and so forth.

But for kids, talking guinea pigs doing James Bond stunts, fartings, sliding down a pipe etc., can be very funny. The tricks employed are simple and predictable, yet they are time-tested to bring smiles on the faces of kids.

‘G-Force’ is a wholesome family entertainer and parents can proudly take their children to watch it without having any second thought.

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Main Aurr Mrs Khanna

[Robert L Sungte]
Deccan Herald
Hindi (U/A)
Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan, Preity Zinta, Bappi Lahiri
Director: Prem Soni

Debutant director Prem Soni’s ‘Main Aurr Mrs Khanna’ is about a married Indian couple in Melbourne trying to fix their relationship hit by financial insecurity of the husband, Samir (Salman). Samir moves to Singapore for a job and tells wife Raina (Kareena) to return to Delhi. However, Raina refuses and with the help of her new- found friends gets a job at the Melbourne airport where she soon becomes the dreamgirl of cafe-boy Aakash (Sohail Khan).

Post intermission: Samir gets a job, returns to claim his wife but finds himself in a threesome love story, as Mrs Khanna has signed a dummy marriage document with Aakash.

The first half moves at a snail’s pace leaving you all the time to admire the boots, jackets and eyelashes of the actors. The second half is no better, save for a few funny lines.

The plot is even weaker. It needs the helping hand of Dino Morea, Preity Zinta and Deepika Padukone. Blame it on the ridiculously updated script Govinda didn’t make it to support Salman. Kareena is also bombastically awful. Salman has to share the burden of lifting the film with brother Sohail but supporting actor Yash Tonk seems better than the Khans and Bhappi Lahiri in the full glory of his gold chains.

Can you find any logical reason for a woman who still manages to get the best of clothes and lipsticks when her relationship is falling apart? For fans, the only savior of ‘Main Aurr Mrs Khanna’ is Salman’s reliable biceps. A dumb movie not worth the ticket price.

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Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[Robert L Sungte, Deccan Herald]

English (U/A)
Cast: Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem
Director: Woody Allen

Best friends Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) are poles apart when it comes to love. Vicky believes she knows what she wants and is doing research on Catalan even as she prepares for her wedding to the man of her dreams Doug (Messina). And Cristina is not sure of what to do after making a 12-minute film. She tries her hand in photography.

But the two friends have one thing in common – they are smitten and seduced by a just-divorced Spanish artist Juan Antonio (Bardem) when on holiday in Barcelona.
Antonio sleeps with both women but he still has a soft corner for his wild and beautiful ex-wife Maria (Cruz). Vicky turns cautious of Antonio, while Cristina follows him to his house. But when Antonio takes Maria in again after she tries to kill herself and after a brief spell of three-some lovemaking, the room begins to turn smaller.

This complicated and high-risk experiment on finding the perfect element in love is certainly one of the best from director Woody Allen’s genre of film-making. Classic film editing styles of fade-ins and fade-outs are incorporated with an appropriately timed voiceover narration.
The film is a witty take on love, lust, and marriage in sunny Barcelona. The stars are beautiful and their performances are naturally good enough for Allen and young adults. Johansson is sweetly innocent while Cruz turns impeccably hot to be forgotten.

‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ is definitely an intelligent film based on the continuous process of learning how to be ‘in love’ and not ‘out of love’.

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Surrogates (Film Review)

Robert L Sungte, Deccan Herald

English(A)
Cast: Bruce Willis, James Cromwell , Ving Rhames
Director: Jonathan Mostow
This sci-fi film is about the dangerous trend of impersonal relationship ushered in by technology. People don’t interact in normal day-to-day activities anymore. They are brainwashed by companies to use their exact look-alike surrogates to maintain their public life while they sit at home.

However, when surrogate creator Dr Lionel Canter’s (Cromwell) son is murdered, things take a new turn. FBI agent Tom Greer (Willis) and his partner are ordered to probe the case. The two agents also use their ‘surries’ to track down the killer but when Tom’s surry is destroyed, the real ‘him’ is forced to venture out of his home to the streets.
The general theme is a fight against surrogate technology led by ‘The Prophet’ (Rhames) and to free humans from its clutches. Using a graphically greenish set-up, director Jonathan Mostow tries hard to bring forth man’s blind acceptance of machines and its dangers. There are some brilliant action sequences in addition to the artistic impression of the surrogate of Bruce Willis’ look.

However, the film lacks a tight plot and twists become predictable after the first half. There are also many rooms that need a little more attention. For instance, the reason behind Tom’s failing relationship with his wife after the death of their son is sapless.

The motivational message that humans need direct and personal relationship is perhaps the only reason that drives this soulless and shallow take on human dependency on technology.

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Inglorious Basterds

[Source: Deccan Herald]

English (A)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Diana Kruger
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Set in the historic year of 1944 when the Second World War was at its final phase, Tarantino’s ‘Inglorious Basterds’ is a classy take on two plots revolving around the attempt to bring down leaders of the Third Reich.

First a band of Jewish American soldiers, ‘the Basterds,’ led by their valiant leader Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) carries out surgical strikes against Nazi troops in France. In the meantime, a lady Jew theatre owner (Melanie Laurent), is approached by a German soldier and actor (Daniel Bruhl) to host the premiere of his propaganda film in Paris. The plot then brings ‘the Basterds’, the Jew lady who is seeking her revenge and the German high command including Hitler under the roof of a theatre for the final showdown.

Far from reality, the film takes larger than life twists with its bizarre and bloody scenes. It is natural for many reviewers to get excited at the mention of Tarantino and his film but those people who have branded the film as “simply hilarious” and “brilliantly striking” are just exaggerating about this rather over-indulgent exercise. The class in movie-making remains intact but at the expense of substance.

Pitt is comparatively good as a fearless strike unit team leader. However, standing taller is Christoph Walltz as SS officer Col Hans Landa. Walltz has the look of a jackal under a sheep’s skin.

However, many Tarantino fans will be disappointed for there is not much morality involved. Ardent followers can expect a toned down version of ‘Pulp Fiction’. Over all, the film could either turn into one of the most boring film from Tarantino’s stable or it could be simply awesome for people enjoying his kind-of-movies.

Source: Deccan Herald