Chef Review

It is a well-known fact that moviegoers can be a finicky bunch at times, and movie studios are forever in search of that holy grail of movie formula that will guarantee a box office success every time. What is supposed to be a sureproof move to reap in box office gold (Johnny Depp + Disney franchise = Pirates of the Caribbean-like box office plunder) can very easily end up as a bust (See: Disney's The Lone Ranger). What is supposed to look like business as usual can end up hitting the big jackpot in a huge and unexpected way. (See: Frozen and its billion-dollar plus worldwide gross)

I like to think that in the case of movies like Chef, we moviegoers can be easy to please as well. Give us good food, good music and a halfway-decent story, and we will walk out of the movie theater feeling so good that we are hard pressed to nitpick about a movie we know is clearly far from perfect. Instead we would be more than happy to spread positive word-of-mouth about it and encourage fellow movie lovers to go enjoy this cheerful flick, which can be a tremendous box office boost for an independently produced and distributed movie like Chef. (see The Blind Side and how positive word of mouth made it such a commercial success)

Like I said, the movie is hardly perfect. Some of the more clearly unrealistic parts of the movie include: a food critic who actually announces his visit to a restaurant he is planning to review (Most established food critics do not do that because they want to base their review an authentic dining experience instead of an experience especially catered to elicit a good review); Carl, as winningly played by Jon Favreau, actually having a rich ex-wife Inez, beautifully played by Sofia Vergara, who has a rich ex-husband Marvin, who, in a scene-stealing role by Robert Downey Jr, is available to help Carl out when things go south; A work colleague who is all too ready and willing to give up a job he just got promoted to in order to continue working with Carl; A hot sometime girlfriend for Carl in the shape of a sultry Scarlett Johannson who just seems to exist in the movie solely to slightly spice things up sexually and give Carl very life-affirming advice to pursue his dreams. All these hardly help the movie earn any real street food cred.

It is also not difficult to see how the food journey Carl goes through in the movie can very easily stand in for Favreau's real-life movie career in Hollywood. Favreau, having first successfully established himself in Hollywood with commercially and critically successfully movies such as Elf, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, failed with the critically panned and commercially unsuccessful Western-Science Fiction crossover Cowboys and Aliens. Now, having been slightly burned by Hollywood, Favreau is returning to his indie roots with Chef.

Chef does tread a rather well-worn and overly-familiar road in its storyline rather than try to be daring and break out of its well-established mold, which feels somewhat contradictory in a movie about a chef who doesn't want to keep on cooking the same creatively-unchallenging dishes and instead wants to keep things fresh by experimenting on something new and different.

However, there is real heart behind the movie, and the deliciously scrumptious and luscious scenes of food being lovingly cooked and eaten ("Food porn!" I whispered excitedly to my movie companion at one point in the movie, causing the lady beside me who overheard what I said to burst into laughter), all accompanied by catchy jazzy music, will make you happy enough to groove along for this food truck ride, no matter the slightly bumpy ride.

My verdict: Take a break from all those superhero movies you've been going to for the last month, and go see this charming little food comedy instead. It will cleanse your palate for the action-heavy summer movie schedule that is just a few school bell rings away.

4 out of 5 stars for me.

Belle Short Review

Belle is indeed beautiful to look at in a Jane Austen period-piece sort of way, but viewers would be left disappointed by how the movie squanders much of the potential it could have achieved with its source material. While Gugu Mbatha-Raw shines as the titular character, oftentimes the script does not give her enough to do and she ends up giving one too many wide-eyed puppy-dog stares throughout the entire movie. Instead, the movie chooses to rely on the clunky pronouncements of love interest John Davinier, played by Sam Reid, to inject a dose of social consciousness to its narrative, which falls utterly short despite the movie's best intentions. Given that the movie is told mostly from Belle's viewpoint, it does feels slightly odd and rather sexist that the movie's main comic relief comes from Penelope Wilton as her spinster aunt. The presence of Matthew Goode as Belle's father, Sir John Lindsay, is keenly missed as soon as he leaves the picture. However, it is Tom Wilkinson, bringing a certain gravitas in his nuanced performance as William Murray, the Lord Chief Justice of England, who provides the balance that this movie sorely needs. 3/5 stars for me.

To find out more about the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the little that is known to us from history, you can check out this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2618656/Portrait-mystery-lady-The-incredible-story-18th-century-painting-inspired-new-movie.html

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Short Review

As unnecessary as it is lucrative, even the wonderful chemistry between Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy is not enough to save this sequel, with its over-bloated, disjointed narrative and overabundance of characters. 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars for me.

Neighbors Short Review

Neighbor's plot is incoherent and lackluster but then again what frat movie has or even need a coherent decent plot to work? Most of the frat humor didn't come across as funny to me since I am not really a fan of frat humor or frat movies in general, but there were really some nice laugh-out-loud moments even for non-frat fans, so it is still somewhat worth seeing. 3/5 stars for me.

Transcendence Movie Review

Transcendence is the directorial debut of long-time cinematographer Wally Pfister, whose list of credits include Inception, Moneyball and The Dark Knight trilogy. The movie premise is an interesting one but unfortunately the script doesn't seem to know where to go with it, leaving us with a half-baked movie with a third act that was both baffling and a disappointing letdown.

Two and a half out of five stars for me.

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Released So Far

1. The Avengers (92%)



2. Iron Man (93%)



3. Captain America: The First Avenger (79%)



4. Thor: The Dark World (65%)



5. Thor (77%)



6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (89%)



7. The Incredible Hulk (67%)



8. Iron Man 3 (78%)



9. Iron Man 2 (73%)



The percentages listed in paranthesis are the scores these movies earned on the movie aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Short Review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was subversive alright, but its subversiveness doesn't really help to elevate the movie much. There was too much wham bang explosion as well, causing me to reach my action saturation point well before the end of the movie. It's better than Iron Man 3 though, which is not saying a lot since I hated Iron Man 3 and found it awful. I was never bored during the movie but nor was I fully engaged either. And the Winter Soldier in the movie title felt more like a subplot than anything else. I'd recommend waiting for the DVD release to watch it. 2 and a half out of 5 stars for me.

Short Movie Review: Cuban Fury

Cuban Fury starring Nick Frost is a delightful little British film. The storyline was hardly original or inspired, but it was funny in parts and I love British humor, so I had a good time. 3 out of 5 stars.

Divergent Short Movie Review

It's a not-bad movie adaptation of a YA book, but it's not great either. Shades of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games abound, but the movie is infused with neither the wonder of the Harry Potter universe nor the sense of urgency and tension of the Hunger Games.

2 and a half out of 5 stars for me.

Short Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

As madcap and whimsical as only a Wes Anderson film can be, this is a lovely, lovely little indie film. Not quite as good as Moonrise Kingdom but still delightful in its own right.

Three and a half out of five stars for me.

Short Movie Review: Need For Speed: Even an episode of Top Gear has a better script and plot than this shoddy video game film adaptation

Just watched one of the worst movies ever. Seriously the scriptwriter needs to be taken out and shot. Even an episode of Top Gear has a better script and plot than Need For Speed. If you have any discerning taste at all please don't go see this movie. 0.5 out of 5 stars.