Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Directed by	David O. Russell
Produced by	Bruce Cohen Donna Gigliotti
Screenplay by	David O. Russell
Based on	The Silver Linings Playbook  by Matthew Quick
Starring	Bradley Cooper Jennifer Lawrence Robert De Niro Jacki Weaver Anupam Kher Chris Tucker
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Masanobu Takayanagi
Editing by	Jay Cassidy Crispin Struthers
Studio	The Weinstein Company Mirage Enterprises

Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by David O. Russell, adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick.

PLOT 

Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health facility into the care of his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and father Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) after eight months of treatment for bipolar disorder. Pat soon learns that his wife, Nikki, has moved away and his father is out of work and resorting to illegal bookmaking to earn money to start a restaurant. Pat is determined to get his life back on track and reconcile with Nikki, who obtained a restraining order against him after the violent episode that sent him away.

While talking to his court-mandated therapist Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher), Pat explains again why he was hospitalized. Coming home early from his high school teaching job, noticing clothes thrown on the floor and his wedding song—Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour"—playing, he had found Nikki in the shower with another man, who told him he should leave. Enraged, he beat the man nearly to death. Despite this, Pat doesn't believe he needs medication to manage his condition.

At dinner with his friend Ronnie (John Ortiz), he meets Ronnie's sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recent widow who just lost her job. Pat and Tiffany develop an odd friendship through their shared neuroses, and he sees an opportunity to communicate with Nikki through her. Tiffany offers to deliver a letter to Nikki, if in return he will be her partner in an upcoming dance competition. He reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to show Nikki he has changed and become a better man. Tiffany gives Pat a typed reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for a reconciliation between them.

Things go well for Pat until his father asks him to attend a Philadelphia Eagles game he has bet virtually all of his money on, as a "good-luck charm." Pat skips practice with Tiffany to attend the game, but is dragged into a fight with racist thugs attacking his psychiatrist and brother, and is hauled away by police. The Eagles lose the game and Pat Sr. is furious. Tiffany arrives, berates Pat, and points out that the way she "reads the signs," the Eagles do better when she and Pat are together, as they won every game they played on occasions when Pat and Tiffany spent time together. Pat Sr., now convinced that Pat being with Tiffany is actually good luck, makes a parlay with his gambling friend that if the Eagles win their game against the Dallas Cowboys, and if Pat and Tiffany score at least a 5 out of 10 in their dance competition, he will win back double the money he lost on the first bet. Pat is reluctant to participate in the dance contest under those conditions and goes outside, and re-reads Nikki's letter, over and over. Tiffany and Pat's father decide to persuade Pat by telling him that Nikki will be there.

Pat, Tiffany, and everyone else arrive at the competition on the night of the football game. Tiffany is horrified to discover that Nikki is in the audience. Pat finds Tiffany, who has been drinking with a man who was trying to pick her up, and practically hauls her onto the dance floor, where they perform their routine. Before they dance, the Eagles win their game and at the conclusion of their set, they score exactly an average of 5 points.

Pat and Tiffany are elated. Amid cheers from his family and confused looks from the crowd, Pat approaches Nikki and speaks quietly into her ear. Tiffany sees this and storms off. Pat leaves Nikki behind after only a short conversation, intent on finding Tiffany. Pat Sr. informs him that Tiffany left, and tells him that she loves him right now and that it will be a sin if he doesn't reach out to this moment that life has given him. Pat tells his father that he loves him, then chases after Tiffany and tells her he knows she forged Nikki's letter. He confesses he has loved her from the moment he met her but has taken a long time to realize it and they kiss. They become a couple and Pat Sr. opens a restaurant with the money he has won.

TRAILER 

REVIEW 

Every single one of us is at least a little fucked up mentally. Obviously some people have worse conditions than others, but deep down there’s something tweaked within all of us – it’s part of the human experience.  And that’s what makes Silver Linings Playbook, the new movie from writer-director David O. Russell based on the novel by Matthew Quick, such an impressive piece of filmmaking: the lead character is described is an undiagnosed bipolar locked up after a violent attack, but his recovery and the sometimes cockeyed support he gets from his loved ones only exposes the fact that none of us are anything close to what could be described as “normal.” 

The film has a main story – a former teacher named Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental hospital after an eight month stay and tries to win back the affection of his cheating ex-wife (Brea Bee) – but that simple-though-entertaining plot almost fades away in your mind as you watch the fascinating characters who come in and out of Pat's life. Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who meets our hero after he moves back home, is a recently widowed young woman who coped with her distress by having sex with every person in her office. Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), Pat’s father, is not just an obsessive Philadelphia Eagles fan, but also a compulsive gambler with OCD tendencies in his extreme superstitiousness. Ronnie (John Ortiz) is Pat’s best friend who is stuck in a marriage with a woman (Julia Stiles) who bosses him around and has completely shredded his confidence. And not only are these characters beautifully illustrated and crafted with depth and personality, Russell utilizes them to their greatest extent, not only fitting them into the larger story seamlessly, but also providing each of them with a full arc to play with. 

The entire movie is impeccably cast. While Cooper is the film’s greatest surprise – evincing his character’s manic episodes with just the proper amount of panic, fear and stress without ever overplaying his hand – and De Niro is fantastic, it’s Lawrence’s turn that you’ll be talking about as you exit the theater. Tiffany is almost as screwed up as Pat, and the young actress plays her with an engaging aggressiveness that lets her dominate every scene she’s in, whether she’s wildly charging out of the side of the screen while Pat is on a run or shutting down Pat Sr. when he suggests that she is “bad juju” for the Eagles. She’s the fourth grade bully who punches you in the arm and tells you to stop being such a wimp, and though you may bruise and have your feelings hurt you still can’t help the overwhelming crush you have on her. 

Russell does it with more than his pen, as his direction perfectly reflects the film’s themes and tones. Throughout the film he makes a point of having the camera come rushing up to actors until its right in their faces. It’s sometimes disorienting, but it creates an atmosphere for the movie and makes you feel as though you’re watching the story through the eyes of the characters. As he has in previous films like The Fighter and Three Kings he mixes tones brilliantly, able to orchestrate emotions with soft and jagged camera movement – and without ever alienating the audience. 

There’s a thin line to walk in crafting a comedy about mental illness. Going about it in the wrong way could not only result in something insensitive, but also foolish and overdone, with characters waving their arms in the air and running down the street with their pants around their ankles. But Russell is simply too good a filmmaker to let that happen. Thanks to his work Silver Linings Playbook isn’t just a great piece of entertainment filled with appealing, fun characters, but also a film that gets how fucked up we all really are.

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2012, movie, romantic,

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Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012)

Directed by	Bill Condon
Produced by	Wyck Godfrey Karen Rosenfelt Stephenie Meyer
Screenplay by	Melissa Rosenberg Stephenie Meyer
Based on	Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Starring	Kristen Stewart Robert Pattinson Taylor Lautner Mackenzie Foy
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Editing by	Virginia Katz Ian Slater
Studio	Summit Entertainment Temple Hill

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 is a 2012 American romantic fantasy and adventure film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.

PLOT 

Bella awakens from her transformation from human to vampire, not only keenly aware of her new abilities, but also of changes within the coven as Jacob has imprinted on her child, Renesmee. It also appears that Bella's father, Charlie, has been attempting to contact the Cullens for updates on Bella's illness. They intend to tell him she didn't survive, which requires that they move out of Forks, Washington to protect their identities. Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, tells Charlie that his daughter is in fact alive and well, and explains that Bella has had to change in order to survive. He morphs into a wolf, revealing his tribe's shape-shifting power, but does not tell Charlie about vampires, stating that Bella just had to change into something "other".

Several months pass uneventfully, with Carlisle monitoring Renesmee's rapid growth with Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Cullen clan worrying what will become of her with such a rapid growth rate. On an outing in the woods, a bitter Irina sees Renesmee from a distance, and believes her to be an immortal child. Immortal children were those who were frozen in childhood, and because they could not be trained nor restrained, they destroyed entire villages. They were eventually executed, as were the parents who created them, and the creation of such children outlawed. Irina goes to the Volturi to report what she has seen to them.

Alice sees the Volturi and Irina coming to kill the Cullens, and leaves with Jasper the next day, instructing the others to gather as many witnesses as they can that can testify that Renesmee is not an immortal. They must gather the witnesses before the snow covers the ground, because that is when the Volturi will come. The Cullens begin to summon witnesses, such as the Denali family. One of the Denali, Eleazar, later encounters that Bella has a special ability: a powerful mental shield, which she can extend to protect others from mental attacks like those from Jane and Alec, with practice.

As some of their potential witnesses are attacked and prevented from supporting the Cullens, Carlisle and Edward realize they may have to fight the Volturi, despite their desire to avoid this. Some witnesses hesitate, but ultimately agree to stand with them in battle, having realised the Volturi increase the Guard by falsely accusing covens of crimes to gain vampires with gifts.

The Volturi arrive, led by Aro, who is eager to obtain the gifted members of the Cullen coven as part of his guard. Aro is allowed to touch Renesmee, and is convinced that she is not an immortal child. Irina is brought forth and she takes full responsibility of her mistake, leading to her immediate death. Her sisters are tempted into picking a fight, but are restrained. Although the blunder has been settled, Aro still insists that Renesmee may pose a risk in the future. Alice and Jasper appear to attest to the existence of other children like Renesmee, and Alice shows Aro a vision of the future. In the vision, Aro refuses to change his decision and a battle ensues, during which both sides undergo heavy casualties, with most of the Volturi dying. The identifiable major characters who die in the vision are (for the Cullens) Carlisle (killed by Aro), Jasper (killed by Demetri and Felix), Seth (killed by Felix), Leah (sacrificed herself to save Esme) and (for the Volturi) Aro (killed by Bella and Edward), Jane (killed by Sam), Alec (killed by Emmett), Caius (killed by the Denali Coven), Marcus (willingly killed by Vladimir and Stefan), Demetri (killed by Edward) and Felix (unknown if he was killed, possibly by Leah Clearwater). After the vision ends, Alice reveals to Aro that the vision will come to pass if Aro maintains his pursuit of Renesmee. Two more witnesses then arrive: a fully grown vampire-human hybrid and his aunt who have been living peacefully and undetected for 150 years, proving Renesmee is not a threat. (In a change from the novel, his three hybrid half-sisters and the gender differences in vampiric qualities of hybrids are not mentioned) The vampire-human hybrid, whom Jasper and Alice had been searching for, reveals he was fully grown seven years after he was born and hasn't changed since, much to the relief of Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Cullens. Finally realizing Renesmee poses no threat and for the sake of self-preservation, a disgraced Aro orders his guards to retreat but not without giving one final glance to Alice and Bella.

Back at the Cullen home, Alice glimpses into the future, seeing Edward and Bella together with Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee. Edward reads Alice's mind and feels relieved that Renesmee has Jacob to protect her. Alone in the meadow, Bella pushes her mental shield away from her and finally allows Edward a peek into her thoughts. In her mind, she thinks of every precious moment she and Edward shared in their time together, from the first time she saw him to their wedding to the present. As the two share a kiss, their story closes as a book revealing the final line, "And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever."

TRAILER 

REVIEW 

For all the Twilight fans, the film is a treat. For all others, it may not be the best film ever, but is well-made with all the elements of a good film.

The first film in the Twilightseries made Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson immortal, and I am not talking about the characters they play inBreaking Dawn — Part 2, of lovers Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, but as themselves in the hearts of millions of Twilightfans.

After the below-par New Moon, the depressing Eclipse, and the utterly disappointingBreaking Dawn — Part 1, the final film of the Twilight saga is refreshing and ends the series on a high.

For starters, after Bella (Kristen) turns into a vampire, she finally looks happy in this film, an end to her emo days allowing her to act ’normal’. “I was born to be a vampire,” says Bella as she transforms into one and goes from being a weak human to the strongest vampire in the Cullen family, which is proved when she gives Emmett (Kellan Lutz) a run for his money in an arm-wrestling match.

Bella starts getting used to her new life as a vampire and mother. The CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) baby Renesmee looks awkward and reminds one of Chucky from Child’s Play. It’s a relief when Mackenzie Foy starts playing Renesmee.

While the plot stays true to the book in the first half, the film starts on a slow note, then gradually picks up pace with a dash of drama as it moves on. Bella starts getting used to her life as a vampire by hunting, sucking blood, and doing other vampire stuff.

In her role as mother, Bella gets protective about Renesmee and almost kills Jacob when she learns he imprinted on her. For those who don’t know, that’s “a wolf thing”, as Jacob says (a way of choosing a mate for a werewolf).

When all that gets sorted and it seems all is well, the Cullens' estranged cousin Irina sees Renesmee and thinks she is an immortal child and informs the Volturi about it.

The Volturi decide to destroy the Cullens since creating immortal children is against the vampire canon. The Cullens then start to search for witnesses who can prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is half-human and half-vampire. This part of the film, for the first time in the series, has other vampires from around the world shown with different powers. As Jacob says, “There are many red eyes.”

From here, the film drifts away from the book. There is a lot of gore, heads rolling and some beloved characters getting lost in a dramatic sequence or not watch the film to find out the dramatic twist. This well-executed digression from the book makes the viewer, including the 'Twi-hard' fans, sit up and gape in awe and horror.

Kristen Stewart shows emotions just when one thought she couldn't act. She is a surprise package as the vampire-mother who believes in forever. Robert Pattinson, as Edward, is convincing like in the other films. Taylor Lautner’s Jacob has some of the best lines in the film and he successfully makes the audience giggle with his cheeky dialogues. A special mention must be made of Michael Sheen as Aro, leader of the Volturi. He plays the villainous character to the T and is the show-stealer.

For a series that started with a bang, Breaking Dawn — Part 2 ends the Twilight saga on the same note. This film has to be the second best in the series after the first film, Twilight, and brings it to a fitting end.

Twilight fans who liked the not-so-well made films like New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — Part 1 will love this film. But for the rest who are looking to catch a movie this weekend, Breaking Dawn — Part 2 is worth a watch. It may not be the best film ever, but is well-made with all the elements of a good film.

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2012, hollywood, movie, romantic,

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Chennai Express (2013)

Directed by	Rohit Shetty
Produced by	Gauri Khan Ronnie Screwvala Siddharth Roy Kapur
Screenplay by	Yunus Sajawal Robin Bhatt
Story by	K. Subaash
Narrated by	Shahrukh Khan
Starring	Deepika Padukone Shahrukh Khan
Music by	Vishal–Shekhar
Cinematography	Dudley
Editing by	Steven H. Bernard
Studio	Red Chillies Entertainment

Chennai Express is a 2013 Indian romantic action-comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner Red Chillies Entertainment. The film features Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles.

PLOT 

Rahul Mithaiwala (Shahrukh Khan) is a forty-year old bachelor who lives in Mumbai. His parents died in a car accident when he was eight years old and was brought up by grandparents. His grandfather has a sweet-selling chain store – Y.Y. Mithaiwala. Before his birth centenary celebration, two of Rahul's friends suggest a vacation in Goa which he accepts. On the eve of the celebration, his grandfather dies whilst watching a cricket match. His grandmother tells him that his grandfather desired to have his ashes divided into two parts – to be immersed in the Ganges River and Rameswaram respectively. She requests Rahul to go to Rameswaram and immerse them. Rahul reluctantly accepts her request but was also eager to attend the Goa trip. He and his friends thus make plans to dump the ashes at Goa. But, they were forced to change the plan when Rahul's grandmother wanted to personally see him off. This forces him to travel by train; he booked a single ticket on the Chennai Express. He plans to meet his friends at the Kalyan Junction station from where they would travel to Goa by car. Rahul forgets to take his grandfather's ashes on reaching the station and when he comes back to get it, the train started to roll on it's wheels. While trying to step out of the train, he notices a girl (apparently South Indian) running to catch the train. He helps her board the moving train. He then sees four people running behind to catch the train, helps them all to get in and himself misses the platform to get off.

He tries to flirt with the girl assuming she does not know his language. To his surprise, she starts communicating by singing parodies of Hindi film music, so that the others don't understand. Rahul, on her demand, lends his mobile phone so that she can contact her friends but the men with her throw it away from the moving train. He gets annoyed by this, however keeps quiet seeing that they carry weapons and guns along. He informs the ticket examiner about them but they push the man into a lake below the railway bridge. Extremely panicked, Rahul learns that those men were actually kidnapping her and that she is Meenalochni Azhagusundaram (Deepika Padukone) a.k.a. Meenamma. She was trying to flee from a forced marriage to Tangaballi (Nikitin Dheer). Her father Durgeshwara Azhagusundaram (Sathyaraj), is a powerful headman of the Komban Kaum (an anagram of Kumbakonam) in Tamil Nadu. He wants her to marry Tangaballi so that he would assume control of the neighboring village as well.

Meena takes Rahul to her father and introduces him as her lover. Tangaballi challenges Rahul for a duel which he accepts in sign language. On the night of the fight, Rahul escapes with the help of a local Sikh policeman but in the turn of events, ends up in Komban Kaum again. Surrounded by sickle-wielding henchmen of Azhagusundaram, Rahul then pretends to take Meena as hostage and escapes again in her father's favorite car. When the jeep breaks down, they quarrel and go separate ways. But, Rahul not knowing which way to go, comes back to Meena who takes him to the Vidhamba village where a wedding was taking place. Meena lies to the people that they are a married couple who have eloped and needed protection and rest.

The villagers grow fond of the couple and take care of them as long as they stay while Meena realizes that she has fallen in love with Rahul. When Rahul has plans of leaving secretly, Meena does not want to earn the distrust of the affectionate villagers. As he tries to leave, he is caught by Tangaballi but the villagers help them escape again. Meena who persuades him to immerse his grandpa's ashes travels with Rahul to Rameswaram. There they complete the rites and on their way back, Rahul, realizing that he has also fallen for Meena, does not tell her where they're going. He takes Meena back to her father again and tries to make him understand and honor his daughter's wish. He also confesses for the first time that he loves her. Rahul tells Tangaballi and his goons that he has come ready for the fight this time. In the fight that follows, Rahul though severely injured emerges the winner. Meena's father and Tangaballi finally turn over a new leaf and accept that the heart of a common man like Rahul is much bigger than their physical ability and political clout. Azhagusundaram, allows Rahul to marry his daughter, the twist that changed his life forever. When they finally unite, the film leaves a message that love knows no barriers of region or language and that with a strong heart, there is no limit to what a common man can achieve.

TRAILER 

REVIEW 

1. There was a boy, with a dusky complexion and average looks who taught us in the nineties that if you love with the right intensions, you are bound to succeed. He created a belief in true love. He gave an altogether new definition to romance. Shah Rukh, seems to relive those moments of his youth through Chennai Express in which we get fleeting glimpses of his earlier films. 

Chennai Express begins with the famous train sequence of DDLJ and this time it is Deepika who needs the hero's hand. Chennai Express can also be called the 'best of SRK' as its storyline has assimilated the best shots from several of his films.

2. There is another boy, Rohit Shetty. His father was a famous action director of Bollywood. Carrying the same genes, Rohit's inclination towards action was evident in his first film, Zameen. But the film fell flat on the box office and Rohit realized that action alone cannot sell, unless it is tempered with the spice of comedy and drama. This realization led to the making of several chartbusters like Golmaal series, Bol Bachchan and Singham. Chennai Express picks the best of all these films along with Shah Rukh. So there hardly was any loophole left that might have toppled the film.

3. Chennai Express is the story of Rahul who has been entrusted with the task of taking the ashes of his grandfather to Rameshwaram, by his grandmother-his sole surviving family member. Unwilling but not willing to hurt her either, Rahul decideds to go and in the journey meets the runaway Meena Amma who is fleeing to escape an unwanted wedding formalized by her don father meets Rahul in the train and then begins a  saga of running, fighting, running and again fighting and then finally, in Shah Rukh's own words, everything gets all right.

4. Chennai Express uses South Indian words and anecdotes to entertain the north Indian audience for whom it is all Greek and quite funny too. Sometimes the ille-ille becomes boring, but since Rohit always makes an honest and unabashed attempt in making things funny, it does not matter so much.

5. This film has yet again included some timeless music into SRK's list. Piyamani looks ravishing in One-two-three-four and Deepika steals the show in Titli. But the songs are quite a disturbance in the storyline and they look more or less out of place. But then these are the ways of a typical Bollywood masala film!

6. Till now Rohit had confined his locations to just Mumbai and Goa, but in Chennai Express, pristine new locations of South India are presented beautifully.  The rural South India is at its best on camera.

7. Rohit has used everything to add comedy to the film. There is Southern tadka, there is north Indian masala, there are dwarfs and fatsos and there is SRK doing drunken comedy. Rohit knows two things for sure, that he cannot compete with the czars of serious cinema and that the audience spends money on ticket to go home fully entertained and he had taken care of these in Chennai Express.

8. SRK is at his best in romantic scenes. But he gets this opportunity only at the end of the film. He is slightly week in comedy and quite unconvincing in action sequences. But Deepika has mastered the role of Meena. Her chemistry with SRK however is less than perfect.

9. This film has nothing sort of promoted national integration as was earlier shown in promos. Except for SRK's speech to Deepika's father in which he says love knows no boundary, religion or region. But we all know this, isn't it?  

10. If you love mindless comedy, action, drama and romance and if you are willing to remove 'bakwas' word from your dictionary, you must watch this film. Your children are going to love it. Rohit Shetty has made a complete family entertainer.

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bollywood, comedy, movie,

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Iron Man 3 (2013)

Directed by	Shane Black
Produced by	Kevin Feige
Screenplay by	Drew Pearce Shane Black
Based on	Iron Man by Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby
Starring	Robert Downey, Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow Don Cheadle Guy Pearce Rebecca Hall Stephanie Szostak James Badge Dale Jon Favreau Ben Kingsley

Iron Man 3 is a 2013 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

PLOT

Tony Stark recalls a New Years Eve party in 1999 with scientist Maya Hansen, inventor of Extremis—an experimental regenerative treatment intended to allow recovery from crippling injuries. Disabled scientist Aldrich Killian offers them a place in his company Advanced Idea Mechanics, but Stark rejects the offer, humiliating Killian.

Years later, Stark's experiences during the alien invasion of New York are giving him panic attacks. Restless, he has built several dozen Iron Man suits, creating friction with his girlfriend Pepper Potts. Meanwhile, a string of bombings by a terrorist known only as the Mandarin has left intelligence agencies bewildered by a lack of forensic evidence. When Stark Industries security chief Happy Hogan is badly injured in one such attack, Stark overcomes his stupor and issues a televised threat to the Mandarin, who responds by destroying Stark's home with helicopter gunships. Hansen, who came to warn Stark, survives the attack along with Potts. Stark escapes in an Iron Man suit, which his artificial intelligence JARVIS pilots to rural Tennessee, following a flight plan from Stark's investigation into the Mandarin. Stark's experimental armor lacks sufficient power to return to California, and the world believes him dead.

Teaming with Harley, a precocious 10-year-old boy, Stark investigates the remains of a local explosion bearing the hallmarks of a Mandarin attack. He discovers the "bombings" were triggered by soldiers subjected to Extremis, which at this stage of development can cause certain subjects to explosively reject it. After veterans started exploding, their deaths were used to cover up Extremis' flaws by manufacturing a terrorist plot. Stark witnesses Extremis firsthand when Mandarin agents Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin attack him.

With Harley's help, Stark traces the Mandarin to Miami and infiltrates his headquarters using improvised weapons. Inside he discovers the Mandarin is actually a British actor named Trevor Slattery, who claims he is oblivious to the actions carried out in his name. The Mandarin is actually a creation of Killian, who appropriated Hansen's Extremis research as a cure for his own disability and expanded the program to include injured war veterans. After capturing Stark, Killian reveals he is the real Mandarin; he has kidnapped Potts and subjected her to Extremis to gain Stark's aid in fixing Extremis' flaws and thereby saving Potts. Killian kills Hansen when she has a change of heart about the plan.

Killian has also manipulated American intelligence agencies regarding the Mandarin's location, luring James Rhodes—the former War Machine, now re-branded as the Iron Patriot—into a trap to steal the armor. Stark escapes and reunites with Rhodes, discovering that Killian intends to attack President Ellis aboard Air Force One. Remotely controlling his Iron Man armor, Stark saves some surviving passengers and crew but cannot stop Killian from abducting Ellis and destroying Air Force One. They trace Killian to an impounded damaged oil tanker where Killian intends to kill Ellis on live television. The vice president will become a puppet leader, following Killian's orders in exchange for Extremis to cure a little girl's disability.

On the platform, Stark goes to save Potts, and Rhodes saves the president. Stark summons his Iron Man suits, controlled remotely by JARVIS, to provide air support. Rhodes secures the president and takes him to safety, while Stark discovers Potts has survived the Extremis procedure. However, before he can save her, a rig collapses around them and she falls to her apparent death. Stark confronts Killian and traps him in an Iron Man suit that self-destructs, but fails to kill him. Potts, whose Extremis powers allowed her to survive her fall, intervenes and kills Killian.

After the battle, Stark orders JARVIS to remotely destroy each Iron Man suit as a sign of his devotion to Potts. The vice president and Slattery are arrested. With Stark's help, Potts' Extremis effects are stabilized, and Stark undergoes surgery to remove the shrapnel embedded near his heart. He pitches his obsolete chest arc reactor into the sea, musing he will always be Iron Man.

In a present day post-credits scene, Stark wakes up Dr. Bruce Banner, who fell asleep listening at the beginning of Stark's story.

TRAILER

REVIEW

His goal is destroying America, and he bears grudge against it for everything from the killing of the Native Indians to its mis-adventures in the Middle East. He shoots videos wearing dark glasses, against images of explosions, spewing venom and promising death upon America, whose nature he sees best explained through fortune cookies. He promises terror is his middle name. Otherwise, he is called 'The Mandarin'.

By picking this famous super villain from Marvel Comic books and reinventing him thus, highlighting the sheer idiocy of terror as well as the huge impact of it, Iron Man 3 sets just the right tone for this third film in the series.

If the first part was about both Downey Jr and Iron Man finding themselves – and what a piece of serendipity it was, to choose the actor for the role – the second was about pitting him against one as megalomaniac as him to show him the other side of it.

In the third film, Tony Stark (Downey Jr) has apparently made peace with his demons as well as come face to face with gods and aliens (The Avengers). Where does he go from here? That's what this film seeks to explore, when Stark is faced with a global terrorist whose uncertain agenda somehow comes to be centred entirely around him.

He has perfected his gadgetry, has got an ideal computer that talks to him (the aptly named "Jarvis", voiced by Paul Bettany) and now even has multiple metal suits that pick up the signals he is sending out and rush to his rescue. However, far from settled in, Stark is both battling anxiety attacks and an inability to sleep since his big run-in with aliens. These two worlds meet in an encounter between Pepper Potts (Paltrow), who has moved in with him, and an Iron Man suit in an unexpected bedroom scene.

What do the multiple suits mean for a man who has been forever haunted by one question – does the man make the suit, or the suit make the man? Particularly for a man who has never allowed an easy answer to that question? Director Shane Black, better known as the screenwriter of action films such as Lethan Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, taking over from Jon Favreau, handles this conflict well – especially in having the suit literally fly to Stark in pieces, so that at times Downey Jr is half-Stark and half-Iron Man, hurting as much as the latter doesn't in multiple encounters.

The action sequences are spectacular, particularly the destruction of Stark's sea-cliff home and the skydiving scene where Iron Man rescues people who have been thrown off the US President's plane. Stark also gets a chance to be back where he started and to see if he can do it all over again, with the help of a child.

What lets the film down is Pearce as the choice of the villain opposite Downey Jr's undiminished charm offensive. He is pale, puny and unimpressive, plus armed with a technology that is a lot of mumbo jumbo at best – it grows limbs but also fires people up from within, literally -- and saddled with a plan that hardly appears long-distance. Kingsley, on the other hand -- one of the film's hilarious highlights is when he is discovered for who he is -- could have easily filled in those boots.

Iron Man 3 also suffers for having just too many encounters between Stark and Aldrich Killian (Pearce), only consistently showing up the latter's weaknesses, rather than one dramatic and definitive one.

There's very little of that mock un-selfconsciousness and insouciance of the previous Iron Mans in Part 3, but trust Downey Jr to channel this growth of his character without losing basic sight of where it comes from.

It's he who lends this blockbuster its punch, and for now, it is still a heavy punch.

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The Avengers (2012)

Directed by	Joss Whedon
Produced by	Kevin Feige
Screenplay by	Joss Whedon
Story by	Zak Penn Joss Whedon
Based on	The Avengers by Stan Lee Jack Kirby Captain America by Joe Simon Jack Kirby
Starring	Robert Downey, Jr. Chris Evans Mark Ruffalo Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Jeremy Renner Tom Hiddleston Clark Gregg Cobie Smulders Stellan Skarsgård Samuel L. Jackson

Marvel's The Avengers, or simply The Avengers, is a 2012 American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name.

PLOT

The Asgardian Loki encounters the Other, the leader of an extraterrestrial race known as the Chitauri. In exchange for retrieving the Tesseract,² a powerful energy source of unknown potential, the Other promises Loki an army with which he can subjugate Earth.Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and his lieutenant Agent Maria Hill arrive at a remote research facility during an evacuation, where physicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a research team experimenting on the Tesseract. Agent Phil Coulson explains that the object has begun radiating an unusual form of energy. The Tesseract suddenly activates and opens a wormhole, allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki takes the Tesseract and uses his scepter to enslave Selvig and several agents, including Clint Barton, to aid him in his getaway.

In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative". Agent Natasha Romanoff is sent to Calcutta to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner to trace the Tesseract through its gamma radiation emissions. Coulson visits Tony Stark to have him review Selvig's research, and Fury approaches Steve Rogers with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract. In Stuttgart, Barton steals iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power while Loki causes a distraction, leading to a confrontation with Rogers, Stark, and Romanoff that ends with Loki's surrender. While Loki is being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor, his adoptive brother, arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. After a confrontation with Stark and Rogers, Thor agrees to take Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier. There Loki is imprisoned while scientists Banner and Stark attempt to locate the Tesseract.

The Avengers become divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials. As the group argues, Barton and Loki's other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines in flight and causing Banner to transform into the Hulk. Stark and Rogers try to restart the damaged engine, and Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage. Romanoff fights Barton, and knocks him unconscious, breaking Loki's mind control. Loki escapes after killing Coulson and ejecting Thor from the airship, while the Hulk falls to the ground after attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jet. Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that for Loki, simply defeating them will not be enough; he needs to overpower them publicly to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Loki uses the Tesseract, in conjunction with a device Selvig built, to open a wormhole above Stark Tower to the Chitauri fleet in space, launching his invasion.

The Avengers rally in defense of New York City, the wormhole's location, but quickly realize they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend upon Earth. Banner arrives and transforms into the Hulk, and together he, Rogers, Stark, Thor, Barton and Romanoff battle the Chitauri while evacuating civilians. The Hulk finds Loki and beats him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to the wormhole generator, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's scepter can be used to shut down the generator. Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and takes it through the wormhole toward the Chitauri fleet. The missile detonates, destroying the Chitauri mothership and disabling their forces on Earth. Stark's suit runs out of power, and he falls back through the wormhole just as Romanoff closes it. Stark goes into freefall, but the Hulk saves him from crashing to the ground. In the aftermath, Thor returns Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard. Fury expresses confidence that the Avengers will return if and when they are needed.

In the first of two post-credits scenes, the Other confers with his master about the failed attack on Earth and humanity's strength; in the second, the Avengers eat in silence at a shawarma restaurant.

TRAILER

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Thor- God of Thunder

Directed by	Kenneth Branagh
Produced by	Kevin Feige
Screenplay by	Ashley Edward Miller Zack Stentz Don Payne
Story by	J. Michael Straczynski Mark Protosevich
Based on	Thor by Stan Lee Larry Lieber Jack Kirby
Starring	Chris Hemsworth Natalie Portman Tom Hiddleston Stellan Skarsgård Colm Feore Ray Stevenson Idris Elba Kat Dennings Rene Russo Anthony Hopkins

At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

PLOT

In 965 AD, Odin, king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to prevent them from conquering the nine realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.

In the present, Odin's son Thor prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey, accompanied by his brother Loki, childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandraland Hogun. A battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it.

Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy Lewis, and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig, find him. The local populace finds Mjolnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson soon commandeers before forcibly acquiring Jane's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered Mjolnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly constructed but he finds himself unable to lift it, and is captured. With Selvig's help, he is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Jane.

Loki discovers that he is actually Laufey's son, adopted by Odin after the war ended. A weary Odin falls into the deep "Odinsleep" to recover his strength. Loki seizes the throne in Odin's stead and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's rule, attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall, gatekeeper of the Bifröst—the means of traveling between worlds—to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends the Destroyer, a seemingly indestructible automaton, to pursue them and kill Thor. The warriors find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor's sacrifice proves him worthy to wield Mjolnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and enabling him to defeat the Destroyer. Kissing Jane goodbye and vowing to return, he and his fellow Asgardians leave to confront Loki.

In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey, revealing his true plan to use Laufey's attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst Bridge, thus proving himself worthy to his adoptive father. Thor arrives and fights Loki before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction, but Loki allows himself to fall when Odin rejects his pleas for approval. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king; while on Earth, Jane and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard.

In a post-credits scene, Selvig has been taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Nick Fury opens a briefcase and asks him to study a mysterious object, which Fury says may hold untold power. An invisible Loki prompts Selvig to agree, and he does.

TRAILER

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World War Z (Both in English and Hindi)

Directed by	Marc Forster
Produced by	Brad Pitt Dede Gardner Jeremy Kleiner Ian Bryce
Screenplay by	Matthew Michael Carnahan Drew Goddard Damon Lindelof
Story by	Matthew Michael Carnahan J. Michael Straczynski
Based on	World War Z by Max Brooks
Starring	Brad Pitt Mireille Enos James Badge Dale Matthew Fox

World War Z is a 2013 British-American apocalyptic film directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan is based on the 2006 novel of the same nameby Max Brooks. The film stars Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie-like pandemic.

Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the film rights in 2007 and Forster was approached to direct. In 2009, Carnahan was hired to rewrite the script to the film. Filming began in July 2011 in Malta on an estimated $125 million budget, before moving to Glasgow in August 2011 and Budapest in October 2011. Originally set for a December 2012 release, the production suffered some setbacks. In June 2012, the film's release date was pushed back and the crew returned to Budapest for seven weeks of additional shooting. Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the third act, but did not have the time to finish the script and Drew Goddard was hired to rewrite it. The reshoots took place between September and October 2012.

World War Z premiered in London on June 2, 2013, and was chosen to open the 35th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was released on June 21, 2013, in the United States in 2D and RealD 3D. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $540 million on a $190 million budget and receiving generally positive reviews. Furthermore, the video release of this film was on September 17th, 2013 by Paramount Home Video, A sequel was cancelled during the film's troubled filming process, but is now in development once again.

PLOT

Former UN employee Gerry Lane, his wife Karin and their two daughters are in heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is attacked by zombies. As chaos spreads, the Lanes escape to Newark, New Jersey and take refuge in an apartment, home to a couple with a young son, Tommy. UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni—an old friend of Gerry's—sends a helicopter that extracts the Lanes and Tommy to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Atlantic where scientists and military personnel are analyzing the worldwide outbreaks. Dr. Andrew Fassbach posits that the plague is a virus, and that development of a vaccine depends on finding the origin. Gerry reluctantly agrees to help Fassbach find the outbreak's source after it is made clear that he and his family will be removed from the ship if he does not.

Gerry and Fassbach fly to Camp Humphreys, a military base in South Korea, where they are attacked on arrival by zombies. Turning to re-enter the aircraft, Fassbach slips, falls and accidentally discharges his gun, killing himself. After being rescued by the base's surviving personnel, led by Captain Speke, Gerry learns that the infection was introduced to the base by its doctor, who was ultimately incinerated by a soldier with a lame leg whom the infected ignored. A former CIA operative, imprisoned at the base, tells Gerry to go to Jerusalem, where he says a safe zone has been maintained by the Israeli Mossad since before the outbreak's official acknowledgement. As Gerry and his team bike back to their aircraft, zombies attack, kill several soldiers and infect Captain Speke, who commits suicide to prevent himself from turning. Gerry and his pilot escape.

In Jerusalem, Gerry meets Mossad chief Jurgen Warmbrunn, who explains that months earlier, the Mossad had intercepted an Indian military message claiming that Indian troops were fighting the rakshasa, or the "undead". Israel had thereupon quarantined Jerusalem, erecting huge walls around it. Just as Jurgen shows Gerry that Israel is allowing survivors to take refuge in the city, loud celebratory singing from refugees prompts zombies to scale the walls and attack. Jurgen orders some Israeli soldiers to escort Gerry back to his plane. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring a sick old man and an emaciated boy. Soon after, one of Gerry's escorts, a soldier who identifies herself only as "Segen", is bitten on the hand, which Gerry quickly amputates to stop her turning. Gerry and Segen escape on a commercial airliner as Israel is overrun.

Gerry contacts Thierry, and the airliner is diverted to a World Health Organization (WHO) facility in Wales. When a stowaway zombie attacks in mid-air, Gerry uses a grenade to blow the infected out of the aircraft, but this also causes the plane to crash. Gerry is injured, but both he and Segen survive. They proceed to the WHO facility, where Gerry loses consciousness for three days, then explains to the remaining WHO staff a theory he has, based on the people he has seen the zombies ignore: the infected do not bite the seriously injured or terminally ill, since they would be unsuitable hosts for viral reproduction. He suggests that they test this by deliberately infecting somebody with one of the facility's pathogens, but these are in a wing already overrun by zombies. Gerry, Segen and the lead WHO doctor go to get a pathogen, but are separated on the way; Gerry continues to the pathogen vault while Segen and the doctor return to the main building. A zombie corners Gerry inside the vault, prompting him to inject himself with a deadly, but treatable, virus and open the vault, thereby testing his theory. The zombie ignores him, as do those he encounters while returning to the main wing. Everybody rejoices at Gerry's success, and he is successfully inoculated against the virus.

Gerry and his family are reunited in a safe zone at Freeport, Nova Scotia. A "vaccine", derived from deadly pathogens, is developed and issued to troops battling the infected, acting as a kind of camouflage. The vaccine also helps survivors to reach quarantine zones. Human offensives begin against the zombies, and hope is restored. "This isn't the end," Gerry comments, "Not even close. Our war has just begun."

TRAILER

REVIEW

When the zombie movie as we know it first twitched into life, it was a niche concern, with budgets to match. An invasion of a farmhouse was fine, a city block just about doable, but anything bigger had to be relayed via a flickering TV or solemn radio transmission. Flash forward several decades and you have World War Z: a huge-budget summer release, starring one of Hollywood's biggest and handsomest names, that sets out to actually show a worldwide assault by the undead. The result is slick, tense and hangs together fine, far from the disaster many predicted during its tortured birthing. But it's also just a little bit bland and generic. In particular, horror fans jonesing for grand-scale carnage are unlikely to come away entirely satisfied.

The bleak book from which it takes its name and loose outline, by Max ‘son of Mel’ Brooks, zips all over the globe, looking at the horror from a range of perspectives. It has smart things to say about geo-politics. It also has some astounding images, like a submarine being overwhelmed by zombies on an ocean floor, or the US army’s Alamo-like stand against millions of the ghouls. Almost none of this has made it into the film. Instead, we travel around with Gerry (Brad Pitt), a family man who once ran UN operations into countries where normal mortals wouldn't survive a night. With military infrastructures in shambles and entire nations gone radio-silent, he alone must trace the source of the outbreak. That’s right — the fate of humanity lies in the hands of a man called Gerry.

World War Z’s opening salvo is terrific. Apocalyptic blockbusters usually take a while to crank up and tease what's coming, but this launches right into it without a single winking R.E.M. song. By the time you’re munching your first fistful of popcorn, an entire city (Philadelphia) is being overrun. Director Marc Forster plays the sequence beautifully, keeping the monsters virtually unseen and making the chaos unnerving in itself. It’s strong stuff. But it also sets the tone for what to expect in terms of gore, or lack of it. This is a movie in which millions of people die, but barely a drop of blood is seen. As for guts, forget it: these zombies — and the word is used regularly — don’t seem to have an appetite.

They're still scary, though, particularly when they’re swarming across the screen like pissed-off army ants. Simon Pegg and other zombie purists are likely to tut up a storm: these reanimated corpses don’t just run, but leap, clamber and power-slide about with inhuman gusto. It’s undeniably effective to see thousands of them descend upon their prey, all the while screeching like velociraptors and chomping their teeth. (The effects are handled well, though the editing is sometimes over-frenetic.) The shame is that, whether for budgetary reasons or to try to keep things more character-based, this type of vast-scale action is limited to a single set-piece, during the film’s mid-point Israel segment. Considering the movie’s title, it would have been nice to see a lot more war.

Instead, the majority of the run-time sees Pitt and an assortment of sidekicks facing down “Zeke” in a familiar array of bunkers, apartment blocks and labs. While it’s all handled with skill and the actors sell the fear, it feels like a slight gyp, especially when the climax of the movie — which was reshot at great expense — is on a smaller scale than the third act of Shaun Of The Dead. There is also more than one slap-your-forehead moment, like the bit where Gerry, a highly trained covert operative, forgets to put his phone on silent while traversing an infected zone. Silly Gerry.

The whole thing feels like a studio dipping its toe in the water: the wrapping-up line, “This isn’t the end... not even close,” makes it clear that there are plans ahoy for further instalments, should there be public appetite. In the meantime, this just about succeeds on its own merits. Few of the characters are memorable (Mireille Enos has the snooziest part as Mrs. Lane, and Matthew Fox barely registers as a paratrooper), but there’s imagery here that’s genuinely horrifying — not least a plane-set sequence which proves that people who fly economy really do suffer the most.

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