The Back-Up Plan - Review

Story: Jennifer Lopez needs a change in her life. She gives up her high profile corporate job, opens a pet shop, finds a sperm donor, goes in for artificial insemination and is all ready for single motherhood, until she meets Alex O'Loughlin, the cheese farmer with loads of charisma. Has she got the order wrong by becoming pregnant first and finding the man of her dreams later? Tough dilemma!

Movie Review: Sweet, sentimental and harmless fun, this rom-com gently cruises along the usual path of candle-lit romance, bedroom encounters, lover's brawls, passionate re-unions and some humour too, with a support group of single mothers trying to have fun in no-man's land.

Jennifer Lopez thinks she's got her life all neatly planned out with her pet shop, her disabled pet (an adorable dog), her spunky nana and her decision to be a single mother who buys a sperm off the shelf simply because she believes there are no perfect men left. Little does she know that life ain't exactly a bundle of neat plans. All the order in her life goes for a toss when she meets the hunky cheese farmer who sells goat cheese at a neighbourhood farmer's market and proposes to set up shops that sell local food only. Dream man, yes. But would he be ready to play daddy too? Specially when he isn't too sure that he likes kids and the friendly neighbourhood dad describes fatherhood as mostly an awful experience interspersed with some incredible moments.

It may be nothing to rave about, yet, The Back-Up Plan is good while it lasts, with Jennifer Lopez managing to hold your attention with her attempt at motherhood.

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Shrek Forever After - Review

Story: Shrek is bored with domesticity. He hates changing diapers, celebrating his kids' birthdays and settling down to a happily-ever-after life with wife Fiona and his family of three little ogres. So, he decides to go back to his carefree ogre days and signs a contract, bartering away his present life for a picture perfect past, with the evil Rumplestiltskin. But he soon begins to miss his family and wants to get back to the present. Is there a way back....

Movie Review: Midlife crisis, Shrek (Mike Myers)? Yup. Specially when you are forced to rise and shine everyday with the cheery cackle of your brood; when you must burp and feed them and dabble with ogre shit relentlessly; when you must parrot `Ever After' each time wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) mumbles `Happily' on the dinner table; when you can't snooze in your favourite chair because high-spirited friends, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss (Antonio Banderas) want to spent some quality buddy time with you. And more importantly, when you are denied that one single pleasure of yours due to pressing house work: a relaxed mud bath, while the Carpenters blare their popular `Top of the World' number.

So what does our friendly neighbourhood ogre do to get back his roar and stop being a jolly green joke? He signs a contract with the wicked character from the Brothers Grimm, Rumplestiltskin, turns his back to his friends and family, yells on wife Fiona and returns to a time when he wasn't born. This being a time when Donkey was a slave to the witches, Puss was an overweight domestic cat and Fiona was leading a band of rebel ogres to free Far, Far Away land from the misrule of Rumplestiltskin. But it doesn't take long before the green ogre realises he has ended up with a raw deal. Since he hasn't actually been born, the day will end with his end too and he will never be able to return to his family unless he manages to snatch one true kiss with Fiona. Now that ain't an easy task because Fiona is in militant feminist form, too involved in insurgency to focus on romance. How does he convince her about the happily-ever-after that lies ahead....

The popular franchise that made a hero of an anti-hero still retains its quintessential charm, even though an element of deja vu has begun to set in. The voice-overs by Hollywood biggies, Myers, Diaz, Murphy and Banderas, is top class and the 3D immensely electrifying. More than the lead characters, it is Donkey and Puss who fill you with delight and end up as the more colourful characters. Of course Dreamworks' animation is as usual splendid and kaleidoscopic.

Go watch your favourite ogre live out the ugly-is-beautiful revisionist tale, once again. And make you feel good about it

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Remember Me - Review

Story: Robert Pattinson is a rebellious NYU student who's walked out on his rich daddy (Pierce Brosnan) after a family tragedy. He is able to connect only with his younger sister and his roomie and generally drifts through his daily routine, until he meets Emilie de Ravin, another grief-stricken girl who has her own ways with coping with personal loss. Romance blooms, albeit in a bitter sweet way....

Movie Review: Robert Pattinson fans, don't miss this one. The vampire truly comes of age and showcases a bite that doesn't necessarily spring from his fangs. No, this time, it's his tingling portrait of an angst-ridden young New Yorker, who prefers to slum it out rather than live with his rich, successful, yet insensitive dad (Pierce Brosnan) which creates an impact. Gone is Edward Cullen's mere beefcake appeal which is replaced by a moody, enigmatic charisma of a twenty-one year old who's still looking for meaning and motive to anchor his life.

And strangely, he shares a better chemistry here with co-brooder Emilie de Ravin than he does with his human girl friend (Kristen Stewart) in the Twilight series. What begins as a revenge relationship -- Pattinson befriends de Ravin to avenge her cop dad (Chris Cooper) -- gradually transmutes into something infinitely tender and gossamer-like. The duo discover each other slowly, through sundry strange encounters, in the dimly lit streets of New York and the crummy interiors of Pattinson's student apartment. It doesn't take them long to realise that grief and a troubled past isn't the only thing that binds them together. Gradually, they end up soothing out the rough edges in each others lives and rebuild broken bridges with estranged family. If Pattinson manages to re-connect with his abrasive lawyer dad, then de Ravin returns to her overbearing dad (Chris Cooper) who hasn't been able to forgive himself for having failed to protect his wife from a bunch of subway muggers. And then comes the climax!

Set against 9/11, Remember Me is an immensely watchable romance, even as it paints a touching picture of loss and redemption against a violence-scarred backdrop. Raise a toast for RPatz.

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IRON Man 2 - Review

Story: Tony Stark returns as the clangy hero who wants to usher in world peace with his ultimate weapon: the Iron Man armoury (read suit). But things aren't quite right. Our hero's not only got a medical condition, he's also got a new business rival, Sam Rockwell, who wants to steal his copyright and a vengeful Russian scientist, Mickey Rourke, who brandishes Star War-like sabres. Can the girls -- Gwyneth and Scarlett -- help him through this ferrous battle for power?

Movie Review: If Iron Man was introspective, interspersed with high octane action sequences, then Iron Man 2 is completely over the top and no apologies for that. And that's what makes it such great fun. Tony Stark, the eponymous hero, isn't the only person on the edge in this two-hour dhoom-dhadaka. You too seem to be sliding dangerously close to the periphery as you try and keep pace with the mad melee exploding in your face. Oh yes, we know it's totally wild; it's totally make-believe; it's Hollywood hungama unleashed....And that's what it's meant to be. So what the heck! Just sit back and see Mickey Rourke make chutney of all the fast cars in the Grand Prix or Tony Stark create chaos with his special skills in unbridled megalomaniacal shows where he fights entire armies of rival clones. And if that's not enough, there's the delightful Ms Johansson, the new aide in the Stark empire, don the leather suit and do some Keanu Reeves antics, airlifted from The Matrix series. Total paisa vasool stuff!

But please, please don't even bother about plot and credibility. Doesn't matter, even though Ms Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), the new CEO of Stark industries, does try to infuse some order in the chaos and pin down the blabbering Iron Man who seems to be hell bent on an I-Me-Myself mission. The story is just incidental. The action is incremental, as Iron Man 2 gets even more edgy than Robert Downey Jr himself. Although, we do wish Mickey Rourke had more to do than just appear menacing as the maverick Russian who loves his birdie and hates Iron Man more than anything in the world. Also, the Paltrow and Iron Man romance tends to take a back seat in the sequel with the entry of the new femme fatale: the mask-like and mysterious Scarlett Johansson. But once again, this track too doesn't reach its sizzling heights as the new lady remains impervious to Iron Man's charms. Tch Tch!

Nevertheless, the sequel is one hellish and hungama-filled ride into the world of high-octane drama. It may lack the finesse of the first film, but there's enough to keep the adrenalin pumping. Go, join the headbanger's ball!

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I'm single says Emma Watson

Harry Potter star Emma Watson has dismissed reports she's dating Spanish rocker Rafael Cebrian, telling fans she is currently single.

The actress was linked to drummer Cebrian after her split from long-term partner Jay Barrymore in March but the 20-year-old, who is currently studying at the Brown University in Rhode Island, insists Cebrian is just a friend she met at London's Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art (RADA) years ago, reports News of the world.

"I would like to clear it up. Rafael is not my boyfriend. He is a friend. We met at RADA a couple of years ago and he has showed me around university," she said.

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Thai wins top film prize at Cannes

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival for a surreal reincarnation tale, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who plays a terminally-ill hustler in Biutiful by Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, shared the best actor award with Italy's Elio Germano.

And France's Juliette Binoche was named best actress for her role as an unhappy antiques dealer in Certified Copy by Iran's Abbas Kiarostami.

Apichatpong's was a surprise best film winner after critics strongly tipped French director Xavier Beauvois, who took the runner-up Grand Prix for Of Gods and Men, about Catholic monks threatened by Islamists in Algeria.

"This is like another world for me... this is surreal," Apichatpong told a packed festival hall after receiving the Palme d'Or from the head of the festival jury, US film-maker Tim Burton.

The 39-year-old director thanked "the spirits... in Thailand that surrounded us" while making the film, a hypnotic tale featuring a humanoid monkey ghost and a disfigured princess having sex with a catfish.

Frenchman Mathieu Amalric won the best director prize for "On Tour," about a troupe of buxom American stripteasers touring French seaside towns, while South Korean director Lee Chang-Dong's Poetry scooped best screenplay.

Hundreds of celebrity-spotters lined the waterfront around the festival hall ahead tonight's gala ceremony.

Critics have widely pegged this year's edition of the world's biggest film festival as more low-key than usual, with fewer big stars and hit movies.

But the main competition still drew some big names, including three former Palme winners: Britons Mike Leigh and Ken Loach plus Kiarostami.

Five Asian works were competing today, including another South Korean film, The Housemaid.

Cannes had asked Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi to sit on the jury but he was prevented from attending. He has been in jail in Tehran since March, accused by authorities of planning a film against the country's Islamic leaders.

The French government and the festival demanded Panahi's release and the film-maker himself spoke out against his detention in a letter to Cannes organisers.

Controversy also erupted over "Outside the Law", a violent thriller about Algeria's independence struggle which sparked rowdy demonstrations by protestors who accused director Rachid Bouchareb of rewriting history.

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Brittany Murphy's husband found dead at home

LOS ANGELES: The husband of Brittany Murphy was found dead at his Los Angeles home late Sunday, five months after the Hollywood actress died, police said.

The preliminary cause of the death of British screenwriter Simon Monjack is natural causes, police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano said.

"We concluded there no signs of foul play or any criminal activity involved," said Sgt. Alex Ortiz, another police spokesman.

Firefighters responding to an emergency call from a woman at 9:40pm found the 39-year-old Monjack dead at the Hollywood Hills residence, police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano said. Ortiz said he didn't know who called. Monjack and Murphy had shared their home with Murphy's mother, Sharon.

Ortiz said that the Los Angeles Coroner's Office was taking over the investigation because criminal activity had been ruled out, and would provide more details later on the death and circumstances surrounding it.

At his wife's funeral in December, a visibly emotional Monjack talked about their relationship and called her his best friend and soulmate. The two married in 2007. He had said that they had been planning a family and
contemplating a move to New York.

Murphy, best known for her major roles in ``Clueless,'' ``Girl Interrupted,'' and ``8 Mile'' in 2002, died Dec. 20, at age 32 after collapsing in her home. The Los Angeles County coroner's office concluded Murphy's death was accidental, but likely preventable.

Monjack is credited as producer and co-writer of the 2001 film ``Two Days, Nine Lives'' and executive producer of the 2006 ``Factory Girl.''

The coroner's report said that the medications found in her system were consistent with treatment of a cold or respiratory infection. Monjack and Murphy's mother had reported the actress was ill with flu-like symptoms in the days before her death.

An autopsy found no evidence that Murphy abused drugs. Investigators had found numerous prescription medications in her home.

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Pic of the Day - 24th May

In this Monday, May 17, 2010 photo, Lisa, a rescued 700-plus pound Yorkshire pig, lays next to Sansa Collins, resident manager at Sanctuary One, a nonprofit animal sanctuary at Double Oak Farm in the Applegate Valley, Oregon. (Photo: AP)

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