Django Unchained (2012)

Quentin Tarantino, arguably the most stylish director of the generation directs a spaghetti western involving slavery with Leonardo Di Caprio, well, that combination can't go wrong by any margin now, can it? Django Unchained delivers, and delivers in a grand style. It's everything you expect a Tarantino movie to be, and much more. It mixes up brilliant action set pieces, a romantic angle and a sparkling chemistry between the two leads- Jamie Foxx as Django and Cristoph Waltz as Doctor King Schultz. Moreover, it also incorporates several sensitive issues like the miserable situation of the black slaves, using stirring and sometimes graphical scenes which make us downright sympathetic to the characters and many a times forces us to think about the inhumanity of humans.

While Tarantino definitely exaggerated things, but who expects a Tarantino-western to be realistic and historically accurate. So questions about authenticity and correct depiction of history would be futile. This film is about a black man's audacious and fantastical revenge story against what seems like the whole society which was brilliantly depicted in this landmark conversation: Dr. King Schultz: "How do you like the bounty hunting business?" Django: "Kill white people and get paid for it? What's not to like?" While dialogues like this have triggered controversies, but helped in giving a certain stylish edge to the story while elevating the movie to a whole new level.

The acting from the ensemble cast was brilliant, especially from Waltz, who brought alive the extraordinary character of a gun slinging righteous dentist to perfection and upped the entertainment quotient of the film to a large extent. Leo had a medium sized role in which he played the bad guy with an attitude and panache quite well and his character grew quite profound and depicted multiple emotions with passing time. 

Now I'll just list the pro's and cons of the film for all the lazy guys like me out there who don't wanna read a whole review in order to decide whether to watch the film or not.

PROs:

1. Peppered with stylist action scenes.

2. Brilliant acting by the cast

3. Awesome dialogues and screenplay

4. Emotional as well as romantic angles.

5. Great soundtrack.

CONs:

1. 165 minutes run-time.

2. Scenes of graphic violence.

3. Historical inaccuracy

4. Exaggeration of characters.

5. Somewhat predictable

Verdict- Highly recommended for lovers of action movies and Tarantino fans. People who flinch at the tiniest of bloodshed should avoid it.

Ruby Sparks (2012)

A "one novel wonder" young writer is suffering from writer's block and keeps seeing a girl in his dreams. Instigated by his shrink he stumbles on the idea of writing a novel about the girl making her a part of his life. Suddenly to his astonishment he finds that girl, in his apartment, in flesh and blood. This movie documents his journey from plain surprise, to a picture perfect love story to several complications and finally rediscovering his love.

This movie deals with the idea of materializing an idea and how the protagonist deals with it, inter-spread with several funny and moving moments. Nobody can be perfect, and nothing in life can be tailor-made, keeping this basic ideology in mind, Jonathan Dayton (the man behind the gem "Little miss sunshine") takes the viewer to a roller coaster ride of emotions and tries to keep our mind off the "impossible" and focus on the human angle.

The acting in the film was quite mediocre from the female lead, Zoe Kahan and she seemed quite irritating at some parts, that maybe intended; but Paul Dano gave a brilliant performance as the emotionally disturbed writer with only his brother as a friend dealing with all the strange events occurring in his life.

Characters coming to life or authors controlling creations in real life has been earlier seen in movies like "stranger than fiction" , "Deconstructing Harry" or "purple rose of cairo". What separates this film from the others is it's inclination towards revealing the vulnerabilities of the characters rather than only fixating on the funny side, which makes this film darker and to be critical a little boring. But if you enjoy a movie just for the emotional drama and a decent story-line, you should give this a watch. 

Wreck It Ralph (2012)

Wreck-It Ralph -- What happens when the bad guy gets tired of being bad and wants to turn the tides and feel appreciated? Wreck it Ralph, the 'villain' in the game "Fix it Felix jr" feels the same and to accomplish the feat he goes from his own game in the arcade to other games and wrecks havoc everywhere. He makes new friends, some enemies and ultimately realizes the truth behind his identity... Amazing animation, full of colors and really cute, this film stirs the nostalgia of old video-games and makes the viewer smile and frown with the characters. Being overtly critical, the story line(not the idea) was a little cliched, but that's what you expect from a Disney animation venture. All in all a really fun film to watch....

Les Miserables (2012)

Les Misérables -- The stage musical based on the Victor Hugo all time classic found a dynamic dimension packed with powerhouse performances by Anne Hathaway , Hugh Jackman Russell Croweand almost the entire cast. Jean Valjean, convicted of stealing a bread is released after 19 years of jail and breaks parole to become the Mayor. Inspector Javert is always at his pursuit and catches up with him several times during the course of the film. Both of them face existential crisis, while trying to establish their true identities and facing their inner demons during those. Set against the backdrop of the political unrest of the French revolution, several emotions mix together in the already overflowing pot and makes this a truly extravagant endeavor.

Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Fantine, A factory worker turned prostitute with an illegitimate daughter takes the emotional quotient to a whole new level and her rendition of "I dreamed a dream" is sure to moisten the eyes of the viewer. She's a definite forerunner in this years academy awards for best supporting actress. 

The idea of everyone speaking in terms of songs may seem strange and the stretching of the last syllable of each sentence even funny those not accustomed to musicals but the style grows on the viewer and soon we notice the emotions behind the words rather the words themselves. All in all this was a grand accomplishment in terms of turning a stage musical into a beautifully photographed and acted movie and deserves all the accolades it's receiving.

Argo(2012)

Argo -- A thrilling caper film set in 1979, where an Exfil expert CIA agent (played by Ben Affleck) tries to rescue 6 American diplomats trapped in Iran in a state of political outrage. The film maintains its brisk pace right from the beginning and sustains an atmosphere of suspense which keeps on increasing as the film progresses. Although the film has been accused of moulding history I felt that it was necessary to keep the drama intact while following a story based on true life. The supporting cast of the film including Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston (breaking bad fame) did an excellent job while Affleck proved it once again that he's a much better director than an actor.

The film's award nomination streak shows once again that Americans are really obsessed with the heroism of their intelligence agencies or the military and in order to satisfy this, unnatural glorification of certain characters was evident during the course of the movie. But all in all it was a good watch, thrilling and surprising the audience at the same time.