Keanu Reeves is an actor with great talent. Be it Speed or The Matrix, he’s had this ability to emote with the straightest face possible. And his performance in John Wick is no different.
Directed by debutant Chad Stahelski, John Wick is a simple revenge action thriller. In all honesty, the storyline is plain vanilla. But Chad does a great job thanks to some amazing screenplay. The sleek shots are fun to watch on-screen, and though the movie is very predictable, it keeps you engrossed till the end.
Keanu is great in the title role, and totally lives up to the expectations created in the first few minutes of the movie. Michael Nyqvist is perfect as the antagonist who knows he’s gonna lose everything fighting John Wick. Willem Dafoe and others are alright.
Music and background score by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard is pretty neat. The sound effects were really good. Editing by ElÃsabet Ronalds and cinematography by Jonathan Sela are both effective.
Is it worth your time and money??: John Wick is a sleek and stylish thriller with some good acting and crisp screenplay. If you like action films, then this one is a must watch.
Worth mention:The build up to John Wick’s character, simply superb!
You’ve watched superheroes save the day in The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. While Big Hero 6 comes from the same studio which gave us these blockbusters (Marvel), it’s very different from them. While the former two build on action, Big Hero 6 is a cute little movie with its heart at the right place.
Is it worth your time and money??:Absolutely! It’s probably the cutest movie you’ll watch this year. It’s perfect not just for the kids, but families can enjoy it too. Don’t miss it 🙂
Worth mention:The animation and the bonding between Baymax and Hiro. Baymax is the cutest robot ever!
Christopher Nolan you beauty! Where do you get your ideas from, seriously? While everyone else is stuck making movies on Earth, Moon or about Aliens, this guy actually has the audacity to picture interstellar travel. Man, take a bow!
If Inception was beyond your reach, wait till you watch this one. In the distant future, where Earth is almost dead, our protagonist leads a mission to find a habitable planet beyond the Solar System while leaving his young kids behind. Whether he is able to save his family and the human race from extinction is the million dollar question. Scripted and directed by Nolan, the movie is pretty complicated for there’s science and fiction amalgamated together. It starts of terribly slow and it’s not until the first landing that it gets interesting. Nevertheless, Nolan succeeds in setting up a larger than life epic with some intense drama. Direction is absolutely spot on and screenplay is perfect, if only he had a stronger script. The run time could have been trimmed, but again, you’re talking about 100 years in less than 3 hours. From Memento to Interstellar, Christopher Nolan has come a long way, challenging himself with every film and setting the bar higher. What next?
If you thought this movie is all about Nolan, you’re mistaken. Matthew McConaughey is exceptional in the lead role and carries the entire movie on his shoulders. His performance in the scene where he watches his kids messages is outstanding. Anne Hathaway is decent. Jessica Chastain is pretty good, and so is Matt Damon in his brief appearance.
Music by Hans Zimmer is excellent. His score in the scene where the spaceship docks with Endurance is remarkable. Editing by Lee Smith is neat. However, few of the initial scenes could have been trimmed. Cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema is again, beyond praise. The IMAX visuals were magnificent (and I wouldn’t mind watching movie again just for the visuals). Technically, the movie is a treat!
Is it worth your time and money??: Interstellar is not your regular weekend stress-buster movie. It’s one which makes you rattle your brain to make sense (and it still might not). While not a perfect movie on script front, its sheer magnificence makes it a must watch for any movie lover. Add to that some great acting and music, and you have a winner.
Do stay away if you don’t like intense movies which require a lot of thinking and understanding!
Worth mention:Sheer grandeur of the movie. The IMAX scenes were out-of-the-world good!
Is it worth your time and money??:While it’s not a brilliant war film, Fury is a decent entertainer. Plus points are exceptional acting, especially by Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman, and spectacular cinematography. On the downside, the movie is too long and the screenplay could have been better. Give it a shot if you have nothing else to do!
David Fincher has been known to make different kinda movies. Ben Affleck is an actor you can’t get enough of. Them working on an adaptation of a best-selling novel results in one the weirdest movies I’ve ever watched.
The movie starts off as a mystery; a man is in search of his wife who disappeared from their house. It soon turns into a drama about marital issues. Then it turns into a thriller where you’re expecting something unexpected to happen the very next moment. And then, it end so weirdly that you’re left in awe, with mouth wide open, literally. I haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s novel, but boy, that was one hell of a story. David Fincher does a great job of putting it on-screen with just about perfect direction. Add to that some excellent screenplay by Flynn, and the movie is perfect to watch.
Ben Affleck is great as the carefree husband. He has put on a lot of weight for the role and it felt as if the character was written for him; he was that good. Rosamund Pike is absolutely brilliant as his wife, and is actually better than Affleck. Neil Patrick Harris appears briefly as an obsessed boyfriend and is good. Carrie Coon is decent while Kim Dickens comes up with a good act.
Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is haunting yet very subtle. Editing by Kirk Baxter is perfect, and cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth is good. Again, no qualms on technical front.
Is it worth your time and money??:Gone Girl is a weird good film. The problem here isn’t with the acting, direction or screenplay, it’s with the ending for you either like it or you don’t. Of the 150 odd minutes, you’re at the edge of your seat for almost 125. What happens in the next 15-20 minutes is a gamble you ought to take. It all depends on how you handle it. 😀
They might have had their differences in the past, but Farah and SRK do have some great chemistry together; and that comes across on their hat-trick venture Happy New Year!
It’s no new story and like with the recent few movies, you’ve seen it all before. A family is destroyed because of the antagonist, and the family is thirsty for revenge (doesn’t this remind you of Bang Bang??). The family here happens to be a bunch of buddies, who decide to rob a high security vault, aka Ocean Eleven style, to put the villain in trouble. Though it all seems redundant, Farah does a decent job of keeping the film on track without making it boring. There is a lot of richness associated with the movie which gives it a nice look and feel. While direction is pretty neat, the screenplay could have been a better. A movie like this needed to be crisp, and a run time of 180 minutes just bogs you down. Nevertheless, she does a good job altogether for the movie is pretty entertaining. And ya, worth mention are the witty one-liners from old classics (should I be referring them to as classics? :-O)
On acting front, it’s SRK show all the way. And for once (after long), he puts away his stupid antics and comes up with a neat performance. While his body did look good, his face is starting to show age. Deepika comes into the movie one hour through, and does a decent job. I thought she looks over-toned, and would have looked better with some flesh on her belly. Abhishek overacts (like usual); good for him that his character needed over-action. Boman Irani is pretty good as the old chap, while he too seemed to overact on occasions. It’s nice to see Sonu Sood playing a positive role, and he comes up with a good act. However, his intro and first fight were sad and totally unnecessary.
Music by Vishal-Shekhar is could have been way better. But for the title track, everything else is more or less mediocre. Background score by John Stewart Eduri is decent. Editing by Anand Subaya could have been crisper. As already mentioned, the length pulls you down and a few edits seem really necessary. Cinematography by Manush Nandan is neat. Dialogues by Mayur Puri are entertaining. On the downside, you’d expect better dances in a film by a choreographer.
Is it worth your time and money??:The movie is entertaining and you never tend to get bored. The plus points are star cast and lavish sets and locales, while the length and pace play spoil sport. A few edits would make the film more engaging. It’s a good watch nevertheless, but only if you walk in without any pretensions; otherwise, you’d find it to be another run-off-the-mill flashy masala films.
Here’s another restaurant with raving reviews I’ve been wanting to visit for a while. I’ve been told that this place is always busy, especially over the weekends, so I called in on Friday to reserve a table for lunch either for Saturday or Sunday. I was turned down for they were already full. I again called in on Saturday morning and was told the same, but they suggested to try walking in. Taking my chances, I reached AB’s a little after they opened for the day, and was seated in a jiffy at a table for two in between the buffet and the wish grill without any hassle. Surprisingly, the place was full by then itself. The interiors of the restaurant were good, and I was pretty impressed with the overall ambiance of the place.
The initial few minutes were lull, and it took a while for someone to attend to me. After about ten minutes, the griller was placed on my table, and everything was in place for a long meal.
Crispy Corn
First came Crispy Corn. Though they tasted good, I would have preferred them to be hot and more crispy.
Stuffed Mushroom, Cuban Cottage Cheese, and Cuban Grilled Veggies
Then came the grills: Stuffed Mushroom in Tamarillo Sauce, Mama’s Caribbean Cottage Cheese and Cuban Grilled Vegetables. The grilled veggies mostly had peppers with corn on the cob, which tasted decent. The paneer was really soft and tasted yum along with the condiments, especially the mango and chilli sauces.
Yummy Condiments
But the best of the lot happened to be Stuffed Mushrooms. They were perfectly grilled and had the right amount of seasoning to make them delicious. I’ve said this often, but these were some of the best I’ve had in recent while. Yum!!
Blue Curacao
While I hogged on 3-4 skewers of paneer and mushrooms, I was offered a choice of complimentary drink as part of their first anniversary. I chose Blue Curacao Mocktail which turned out to be pretty good.
Falafel in Pita Bread
Then came Falafel with Humus in Pita Pocket. This was a disappointment as the Falafel turned out to be hard, and the pita too wasn’t great. I informed the floor chef about the same, and he got me a hotter one, which turned out to be better, but still not the best.
American Cheesy Potatoes
Next, the final starter of the day’s menu was served: American Cheesy Potato. These turned out to be more or less the same as what I had at Aao Khao a couple of weeks ago; aloo tikkis with spicy cheesy sauce. While the sauce was good, the tikkis weren’t really up to the mark for they were pretty hard and undercooked.
Grilled Pineapple
Apart from the five listed starters, there also happened to be Grilled Pineapple which turned out to be toothsome!
Honey Chilly Fries
Post my feedback about the Falafel and Potatoes, the floor chef offered to serve me some off the menu starters. First came in Honey Chilly Potato Fries which turned out to be pretty good. However, I would have preferred them to be more crispy and spicy.
Crispy Cheese Rolls
Finally, he served me some Crispy Cheese Rolls which turned out to be really good. The paper-thin crust almost melt in my mouth with every bite; yummy!
I hadn’t even started on the main course, but was almost stuffed. After a small break, I headed out to the wish-grill.
Wish-grill VeggiesWish-grill Sauces
At first, I had no clue on what exactly I was supposed to do, but soon understood that I had to choose from the choice of vegetables, rice or noodles, and pick a sauce for them to be tossed/grilled with. I choose some veggies with noodles and Szechuan Basil sauce (which in itself was delectable). I was given a paper coupon, and a few moments later, the dish was served on my table.
Wish-grill
This looked really good, and tasted equally yum. The chef had added some more veggies apart from my choice, but I didn’t really care for it turned out to be a delicious dish! If I weren’t stuffed, I would have liked to try another combination with a different sauce.
After two hours of munching, it was time to head to the buffet. Ironically, I just had a taste everything for my tummy wouldn’t take any more food for the day.
Salad Counter
Though the salad counter looked good, I decided to skip it.
Taco Twist Soup
The Taco Twist Soup looked and sounded good, so decided to give it a shot. It actually tasted very different from regular soups, in a good way.
Buffet Offerings
They had Lahori Paneer, Vegetable Jalfrezi, Corn ka Bharta, Kala Dum Aloo, Rasgulle ki Sabzi and Dal Makhni as part of their Indian offerings. The Paneer tasted very good while the rest were decent. Worth mention is the Rasgulle ki Sabzi which had yummy Rasgullas in a creamy sauce; not what you expect, but it actually turned out to be a pretty good experiment. The Dal also turned out to be delicious. They also had Biryani which was, like in any buffet, mediocre. They had Thai Green Curry which was too thin and lacked flavour. The Butter Naan served along was soft and good.
I couldn’t eat any more, I was done. But wait, I still had to taste the desserts. Why god, why!? 😛
Desserts
They again had a huge offering and I decided to have a taste of everything; all of them turned out to be succulent.
Black-forest Ice-cream
And I ended my laborious meal with a Black Forest ice-cream which was made with loads of nuts; yummilicious!
After three hours, I was done eating. No wonder it’s so difficult to find a table at this place for everyone would just settle down for hours. I ate to my heart’s content after a long time, and how much did it cost? 560 bucks? That’s it, seriously? This is probably the best value for money meal I’ve come across in a long time in Hyderabad. Add to that some personalized service, and you’re in for some pampering. Yes, not all items were great but who cares when most of their huge offering are excellent. It’s a meal worth every penny. Give it a shot if you haven’t yet, and make sure you walk in with a good appetite.
For a foodie meet, dropped in to this small place on Kondapur-GachiBowli road. It’s a small air conditioned, self-service, no seating joint, with pretty neat ambiance. With the kinda food offering, it reminded me of 13 Dhaba, butwith much better atmosphere.
As part of the foodie deal, we were in for a long treat: Cajun Spice Potato, Rajma Chawal, Chole Chawal, Kadi Chawal, Chole Bhature, Amritsari Kulcha, Daal Makhani, Matar Paneer, Roti or Naan, Lassi, Butter Milk, Gulab Jamun, Desi Ghee Jalebi, all for 200 bucks. No, I didn’t eat them all, just tasted a few 😛
Cajun Spice Potatoes
The Cajun Spice Potatoes happened to be Aloo Tikkis served with spicy creamy cheese sauce, and chopped onions. The combination was just perfect, and tasted brilliant. It was one of the best starters I’ve tasted in recent while. I couldn’t stop licking the sauce off my fingers. Yum!
Amritsari Kulcha and CholeAmritsari Kulcha with Dal Makhni and Mutter Paneer
I asked for an Amritsari Kulcha with Mutter Paneer and Dal Makhni. The Kulcha wasn’t really great for there was not much stuffing, and tasted bland. The Mutter Paneer too was kinda sad; the paneer was alright, but the gravy was too tomatoey and lacked enough masala. I had a taste of Chole, which also wasn’t really great. However, the Dal Makhni happened to be delicious for it was creamy and just perfect. A saviour in terms of main course dishes.
Rajma ChawalKadi Chawal
I next asked for a portion of Dal Chawal, which as expected tasted yum. That apart, I had some Rajma Chamwal, which was pretty good. The Kadi Chawal could have been better.
Lassi and Butter Milk
Surprisingly, the Lassi was very thin and tasted average, while the Butter Milk was creamy and thick.
Both the desserts, the Gulab Jamoon and Jelebi were pretty good.
Overall, it was a decent meal. While few items were excellent, others needed a lot of improvement. Bottom line, give this place a try if you’re in this part of the city. I thought it was definitely better than the dhaba along the road; lemme know what you think.
Food: 7.5/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 200/- (as part of the foodie deal)
Place: Olive Bistro
Location: Near Ambedkar University, Jubilee Hills
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner (with a friend)
Olive Bistro has been on my to-go list for a long time now, but there’s never been an occasion to do so. Come Hyderabad Gourmet Week, I finally got the opportunity to visit this place along with a friend. Their special menu looked good and was priced reasonably, so here we were. Our automated reservation was for 7:00 PM on a Sunday evening, but I called and changed it to 9:00 PM. We landed a little early, and were led to a table with my name card, in the closed section of the restaurant without any fuss. The interiors of this section were pretty neat, and the ambiance outside seemed nice (I didn’t explore much).
As part of the Gourmet meal, we were to choose for a starter, main course and a dessert from a fixed list. My friend asked for Farm House Minestrone Soup, Spinach, Olive, Sun-dried Tomato, Corn & Feta Pizza, and Olive’s Signature Bread & Butter Pudding, and I ordered for Cottage Cheese Skewer, Mushroom Fricassee, and Coconut & White Chocolate Panacotta.
Farm House Minestrone
The Minestrone Soup was served in about 10 minutes and tasted pretty good. It was thick, tomatoey and had strong Basil flavour.
Cottage Cheese Skewers
I know that ordering Cottage Cheese Skewers at an Italian restaurant is a crime, but there was no better alternative on the list. Four chunks of marinated cottage cheese were served along with garlic sauce, and while the sauce was yummy, the paneer didn’t really taste great. If it weren’t for the sauce, I don’t think I’d even consider eating them.
Mushroom Fricassee
The Mushroom Fricassee was served a while later, and it looked pretty good. On taste front, it was an absolute delight and exactly the way I wanted it to be – creamy, with tons of mushroom, again with a touch of basil. The sauce though could have been little more thicker.
Spinach, Olive.. Pizza
The pizza, which was served after ages, tasted pretty good. However, I thought the crust was too thin, and I would also have preferred more Feta.
Bread & Butter Pudding
It took another forever for the desserts to be served, and both of them looked mouth-watering good. The pudding, though a little too sweet for my liking, tasted really good along with the peaches and cream.
Coconut and White Chocolate Panacotta
The panacotta tasted absolutely delicious. The coconut flavour was very subtle, and the Mango Jelly served along was perfect.
Overall, it was a pretty good meal. Apart from my starter, everything else tasted decent. However, but for the desserts, nothing was exceptional. And while the ambiance is decent, the service was terribly slow, and I had to keep calling for the stewards over and over even to get some water. For the price you’re paying, you kinda expect everything to be perfect, and that’s where I was disappointed. Nevertheless, if you are willing to excuse such service lapses and have the money to spend, then Olive Bistro could be on your Italian fine dine list.
Place: Deli 9
Location: Road No. 1, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Global, Bakery
Meal: Dinner (with couple of friends)
Deli 9 is currently having a Global Burger and Cheesecake Festival, and few of my vegetarian foodie friends suggested that we drop by to give try their veggie offerings. For some reason, I’ve never visited Deli 9 thus far cos I’ve perceived it as a high-priced cafe for the rich folks, an opinion I formed ages ago after one visit to Fusion 9. Back then, this was one of the only expensive deli’s in town, but given that you spend 300-400 for a Burger at any other restaurant in town today, it doesn’t look so bad after all. So here we were at the Banjara Hills outlet which has pretty good ambiance.
While waiting for our fellow foodies to arrive, a couple of us ordered Crusty Garlic Foccacia with Cheese, and four pieces of cheesy garlic bread were served in about 10 minutes.
Garlic Foccacia with Cheese
These happened to be the best garlic bread I’ve had in the recent past for the bread was perfectly baked and had the right amount of garlic and cheese. If this was anything to go by, we were in for an amazing meal.
Once everyone arrived, we ordered one each of their veggie offerings for the Burger festival – a Veggie 9 Burger, Japanese Ramen Burger and a Lebanon Chickpeas Burger. It took forever for the burgers to be served but we weren’t really complaining. Each burger was served along with exactly six Potato Wedges. I was hoping some kinda dipping sauce or salad, but there was none.
Veggie 9 Burger
The Veggie 9 Burger had a decent patty sandwiched between multi-grain bread, with some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and a slice of cheese. The patty was good, however, it was kinda dry and didn’t seem really fresh. While it wasn’t the best burger, it wasn’t a bad bet.
The Chickpea burger had a patty served in between burnt pita bread along with hummus and finely shredded lettuce. Apart from being burnt on one side, the pita bread was really soggy and tasted terrible. The hummus too had no flavour and was more like a chutney. The biggest disappointment of the evening thus far!
And ya, the potato wedges were among the worst ever for they were dripping oil and had no flavour or seasoning – they were deep-fried potato pieces, period.
Now come the best part of our meal – the cheesecakes. They had 9 different offerings but none seemed appealing. We decided to share a Nutella Cheesecake and a Lemon Cheesecake.
Nutella Cheesecake
First off, the Nutella Cheesecake didn’t look like a cheesecake. It was more like a gooey brownie and tasted exactly like that. Why call it a cheesecake, I’ll never understand. It was too sweet for my liking (because of the Nutella), and overall an average piece of cake.
Lemon Set Cheesecake
The Lemon Cheesecake happened to be a piece of rubber and disgrace on the name of cheesecake. Hoping that it had gone stale and that was the reason it tasted bad, I informed the waiter about the same. In response, I was told that it was supposed to be like that for it was a set cheesecake. Brilliant. I actually can’t believe that they serve something so terrible for 150 bucks, and have an excuse for it. It was taken back when I complained about the taste; I was hoping for a replacement, but there was none.
A meal which actually started of pretty well turned out to be a disaster with every item. Forget the burgers, if a place serves this kinda cheesecakes during a supposed festival, then there’s something terribly wrong. The Burgers too weren’t anything special and spending 195 bucks for each of them while the regular one was available for 115 is purely our mistake. The service too was exceedingly slow. A meet at the adjacent Karachi Bakery would have been more fruitful (and pocket friendly).
The festival is still on if you’d like to experience it (till October 30). Good luck!
