Snug Madness

Some of us know Seth MacFarlane. For those who don't, he's the guy who made Family Guy. We remember the controversially nasty sitcom Family Guy (one of my favourites, and one of the funniest sitcoms ever made) - about a dysfunctional family, with a rambling father, a near-sensible mother, two out-of-place kids, a crazy infant with sinister plans to take over the earth and a talking dog.

So, what should we expect from Seth when he decides to make a full-length motion film? A complete comic caper, complete with swearing and high-frequency sexual innuendo. And that is what he delivers. Well, almost.

8-year John makes a wish - that his teddy bear should come to life, and the next morning, it so does, and becomes a sensation. 27 years later, John and Ted are still inseparable, leading an "irresponsible" lifestyle, with too much partying and pot in it. John's girlfriend Lori, stating the fact that John's getting nowhere in life cause of Ted, makes John move Ted out of their place. The issues that follow this split, and what happens to the bromance between Ted and John, is the rest of the story.

Mark Wahlberg, as the 35-year old boy still stuck to his teddybear delivers a performance of class. Hell, he was a Golden Globe nominee for The Fighter, he's acted under Scorcese, he should be able to pull this off. The vivacious Mila Kunis, bingo. But the real star here is Seth MacFarlane, as the voice and action of the pot-smoking, girl-banging, heart-of-gold, wastrel celebrity Ted.

So, again, ted is everything you'd expect from Seth - funny, in manner of vulgarity, obscenity, and controversy. Come on, it's rated R, it's bound to have all that in it. Line after line, he goes around taking digs, celebrity after celebrity. Sure, the movie's sort of usual, too predictable. It's no Inception, but nevertheless, this movie can make you gasp, snigger, and laugh out loud.  Additional spikes, come in the form of cameos, by 'Flash Gordon' Sam Jones, Ryan Reynolds and Norah Jones(minor spoiler, sorry). This is classic Seth MacFarlane, and thus, this is a worthy watch.

Aditya Baskaran

Hot Delivery!

Firstly, I would like to appreciate Karthik Subburaj, as a fellow Thalaivar fan, for his Rajinikanth innuendo.

Pizza, starring Vijay Sethupathy, Remya Nambeesan, 'Aadukalam' Naren, J.Jayakumar, Karuna, Pooja, Simha and several others, is the story of how things go haywire during one specific delivery for a pizza-delivery boy, at a supernatural scale.

While there is a slight foreign-cinema touch to the movie, 'Pizza' is a refreshing attempt, which keeps us glued to our screens through the runtime. While there are certain spaces of drag in the movie, it is well compensated by the successive pace of the movie, and the twist-filled screenplay. It has been long since such a daft horror/thriller made its way to Tamil audiences, and  'Pizza' comes in at a grand time.

Yet again, and I seem to be repeating this statement several times in my reviews, this movie, while housing an exceptionally interesting storyline, rides on the performances of its cast. Vijay Sethupathy, from the acclaimed 'Thenmerkku Paruvakatru' and the recent 'Sundarapandiyan', has developed into an actor of mettle, and his performance is commendable indeed. Remya Nambeesan, 'Aadukalam' Naren, Jayakumar, Karuna, Pooja, Simha, the weird old modern-saint, everyone fit into their role, and casting has been huge support to this movie, as the 'stars' look as natural as possible.

Gopi Amarnath's cinematography, and Leo John Paul's editing, work hand-in-hand to produce a wonderful finish, and a crisp runtime. Interesting camera-handling has helped in producing the scary-eerie effect to an optimal level, and kudos to that.

Now, the music. Santhosh Narayanan is the find of the future. Looking past the fact that Beethoven made an appearance somewhere in the background, his album, and BGM have been impressive, and his rich sense of music is bound to take him places. My personal favorite from the album would be 'Mogathirai' (Magic, by vocalist Pradeep Vijay), and the use of songs in the film are also perfectly in co-ordination with the movie's pace.

Karthik Subburaj has struck gold with his debut, as he brings out an entertaining, appealing thriller that is definitely worth your money. Thirukumaran Entertainments has carved a niche for itself by bringing to screen rather unique movies. While Atta Kathi might have been lukewarm, Pizza's out hot and filling.

Aditya Baskaran

The Queen Is Back.

What happens to a legendary heroine, who once ruled over Indian cinema, when she takes a 14-year break from the silver screen?

Absolutely nothing. And that is what English Vinglish is here to prove. English Vinglish, is the story of Sashi, an Indian housewife, mistreated by her family due to her lack of knowledge in English, whose journey to New York gives her a lesson both in life and in English. The story is an exact honest portrayal of The Indian Wife, and the hardships she faces on a daily basis, within her own small world, and kudos to Gauri Shinde for scripting such an original character. The story, in itself, is a complete fuzzbucket, a warm family entertainer, with completely no dampeners, and with the rise of variety in cinema, it has turned rare today, to find such complete family films.

Sridevi, is simply wonderful. It is on her back that this film rides, and she puts most of today's actors to complete shame with such an amazing comeback performance. Yet again, it is another movie that captivates you, simply because of being a powerhouse of performances. The cast - Mehdi Nabou, as the French admirer of Sashi, Adil Hussain, as the husband, Sulabha Deshpande as the mother-in-law, Sujatha Kumar as the sister, Priya Anand as Sashi's lovely niece, Navika Kotia, as the ignorant daughter, Shivansh Kotia as the sweet son, Rajeev Raveendhran as the funny Tamilian Rama, each and every member of the cast deserve mention as they have performed their roles to the optimum. While Laxman Utekar's cinematography and Amit Trivedi's music aren't exactly extraordinary, Hemanti Sarkar's taut editing keeps the movie to a crisp, enjoyable runtime.

While the Tamil version is nevertheless a dub of the Hindi one, it is Ajith's cameo that brings you the Tamil cinema feel. Ajith, is simply marvelous in his guest performance, in his short screen time, he still manages to make deep impact.

Gauri Shinde, has brought to screen a wonderful film, and she's struck gold with her debut. R.Balki, must be one happy producer, and one happy husband. Sridevi makes you laugh, she makes you cry and she carries you along with her, in this warm story, which is definitely worth a watch.

Aditya Baskaran