The Sane Lunatic

 It's quite common for movies to be made with no plot, a cast of popular actors with loyal fanbases and a big CGI budget. Red Notice is one of those movies. Netflix has been churning out an increasing number of platform-exclusive movies, but it's now harder to find good ones. When they dropped the first trailer for this action-flick starring Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson, I knew I was going to watch it as a fan of the Canadian funnyman. They also showed Gal Gadot as a key character to onboard a slew of horny teens as well. The movie plot is a treasure hunt for an Egyptian artefact, a bejewelled golden egg and part of a set of three, known as Cleopatra's eggs. It explains off the bat that the term Red Notice is the highest wanted level in Interpol, which is a sort of global police agency. The movie then introduces us to a generically-sassy boss lady Inspector Das, played by Ritu Arya, who's chasing one of the best art thieves in the world. She enters the scene accompa...

 Horror film sequels are usually a category to avoid. Most movie-goers give them a wide berth, and for a good reason: they're pretty disappointing, if not absolute shit. I'm glad to say that is not the case with 'A Quiet Place Part 2'. When the first one dropped in 2018 , the sensory experience of 'A Quiet Place' was unlike anything else I'd felt while watching a movie in the cinema. For most of the movie, there was little to no dialogue, and the audience was so engaged, they were scared to make any noise either. The sequel picks up where the first one left off: John Krasinski's character is dead, the family have figured out a way to beat/kill the sound-based monsters, and need to find a new haven. Plus, there's a newborn baby, something notorious for making loud noises at the wrong time. Evelyn Abbot played by Emily Blunt now has to lead her remaining family to safety. Her deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is trying to establish her own ident...

I'd be hard-pressed to name a movie starring Ryan Reynolds as a comical action here that I don't look forward to watching. So, when they teased a movie where this hilarious Canadian heart-throb plays as a self-aware NPC in a GTA-like video game, I was LITERALLY jumping in anticipation. Unfortunately, that first trailer dropped near the end of 2019, right before the pandemic crisis took over. I ended up having to wait 22 months to watch Free Guy, and I can say that the movie did not disappoint. *GAMER LINGO BASICS* Video games where players can explore a large map as they wish are also known as open-world games, like the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series. In these games, you'll encounter well-written AI characters who have preset actions, can react to the environment and have their list of dialogues as well. These characters are called NPCs, i.e., Non-Playable Characters and almost all of them don't have a name if they aren't representing a crucial character in the game...

 Fast and Furious 9 is the latest installment of the most ridiculous action movie franchises of my generation. What started as a movie for lovers of cars and tuners has become a full-fledged action movie franchise that no longer has anything to do with racing. But like me, many fans of the franchise will continue to watch every installment of the FnF series. This was among the list of films that were supposed to be released sooner (early 2020) but eventually hit the screens in the summer of 2021, and I decided it was worth the entry price to experience the film on the big screen. The storylines have become more and more stupid but the stunts have become increasingly fun to watch. It's about the characters, identifying every car that gets driven by them, and just listening to the cacophony of engine revs, explosions and Dominic Toretto saying the word "family". The basic plotline is simple: A tech weapon that poses a global threat in the wrong hands and needs retrieving. S...

This review was supposed to be shared with you all before the launch of the 2021 edition of the official Formula 1 video game. Better late than never I suppose.   To the average person, it's hard to explain why we buy what is essentially the same game every year. For every new season of Formula 1, there is a new game to mirror that season's schedule, cars, driver lineup and tracks. Of course, there are a plethora of improvements and changes to the game with each edition as well. But those are the kind of details you'd only pick up if you played F1 or similar games on the regular. The last F1 video game I played was for the 2014 season. So, stepping into F1 2020 was a big shift in terms of the graphics, the game mechanics and the sheer level of involvement. Platform: PC Input: XBOX 360 Controller Driving aids: Mild traction control, ABS, braking only racing line AI Difficulty Setting: 55 to 69 I played the game almost exclusively in single-player, playing multiple seasons in...

The first time I heard of Cyberpunk 2077 was just before E3 2019. As a casual gamer with no talent for multiplayer (other than racing), I don't follow such events with any serious interest. However, I do love storyline games. So when I saw the trailers and teasers for Cyberpunk 2077 that featured a character that looked a lot like Keanu Reeves, I had to find out more.  A few weeks later, I tuned in to the livestream to witness the moment that went on to become one of the biggest, most breathtaking memes on the internet.  Of course, I was going to buy the game as a Reeves fanboy. At E3 2019, they announced a launch date sometime in April 2020. I was ready to pre-order it months in advance but thought I'd wait it out. In the meantime, I also acquired a decent gaming laptop and decided that I'd rather have the PC experience than play it on PS4. Then COViD struck and the game's launch got pushed to September. Then to November. Finally, the game was available on December 10....

When the Justice League movie came out in 2017, more people were talking about Henry Cavill's photoshopped moustache than the movie itself. That's how soulless the film was, especially at a time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was churning out one hit after another. I saw it in theatres with low expectations and came out entertained but not invested. At the time, I wasn't fully aware of the behind-the-scenes drama in the making of the film: Zack Snyder leaving mid-production due to a disagreement with the studio and the movie being hastily finished by another director. Turns out Mr Snyder had taken his version of the Justice League movie with him when he left the project and bits from it had surfaced online. These bits were like bait to hardcore DC fans who here convinced that Zack's original work was the film they wanted, not what was released in 2017. Well, the fans' campaigning paid off and the HBO Studios decided to release the #SnyderCut. This one is four ho...

Formula 1 is often known as the pinnacle of motorsport. It combines the cutting edge of propulsion systems, aerodynamics and driving ability. Many argue that it is more about the car than the man behind the wheel but that leaves out a lot of contexts. To most, it may seem dull to watch 20 cars do 50-60 laps over 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon but as an F1 fan it's the best way to spend weekend afternoons. It's hard to explain that passion to those who know little about it. That's where Netflix's documentary series, 'Formula 1: Drive To Survive', comes in and they just dropped Season 3. I've watched previous seasons but this is the first time I'm doing a review for it. Each season of the show does a dramatic recount of what happened in the F1 season the year before. What makes the show - also called DTS - entertaining to F1 viewers who already know exactly what happened at the races is the behind the scenes stuff we don't normally get to see but Netfli...

I was supposed to do some rants and reviews in January and the first post for 2021 is coming in the second half of March. Sorry about that. It's a mix of being busy and being lazy. I haven't watched many/any movies in 2021 so far and I've got plenty to rant about. But most rants are about my issues with the regime and this one is particularly vindictive. You never know what might earn you a spot on a watchlist. Still, I thought I'd do a quick rewind of how 2021 has been so far. While I avoid going through most day-to-day media reports, these headline events did happen to catch my attention: U.S. Capitol Riots:- Trump lost his 2020 re-election but in typical orange dickhead fashion, he refuted the results and claimed that it was "stolen" from him. In a brilliant move, he did the ultimate notice-period-screwjob in the first week of January. He held a rally in Washington D.C. and incited his hardcore supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol - the meeting place of th...