Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Release Date: 5 August 2011

starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Synopsis: : A single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other — and to the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” The Oscar-winning visual effects team that brought to life the worlds of “Avatar” and “Lord of the Rings” is breaking new ground, creating a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate.

Green Lantern

 

Director: Martin Campbell
Release Date: 17 June 2011
Starring : Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, Temuera Morrison, Jay O. Sanders, Taika Waititi, Jon Tenney
Genre: Action, Adventure

Summary:In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Director: Michael Bay

Release Date: 1 July 2011

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Patrick Dempsey, Alan Tudyk, John Turturro

Genre:Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Summary: Transformers: Dark of the Moon” features Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime. The film centers around the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA, suggesting there was a hidden Transformers role in it all that remains one of the planet’s most dangerous secrets. The villain of the third film will be Shockwave.

I Am Number Four

Director: D.J. Caruso

Release Date: 18 February 2011

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, Callan McAuliffe

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Summary: Three are dead. Who is Number Four? D.J. Caruso (“Eagle Eye,” “Disturbia”) helms an action-packed thriller about an extraordinary teen, John Smith (Alex Pettyfer), who is a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant), John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events—his first love (Dianna Agron), powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

RA. ONE the next level generation

Director: Anubhav Sinha

Producer: Gauri Khan, Shahrukh Khan

Starring : Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami, Kareena Kapoor, Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil

Release Date: 26 October 2011

Genre: Sci-Fi,Action

Language: HIndi

Country: India

Synopopsis:Ra. One (Ra.1) is an upcoming Hindi sci-fi superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film, which features Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal, will be produced under Khan’s production company, Red Chillies Entertainment. According to Khan, “Ra.One” means “Random Access – Version 1.0″.
Production
This film will reportedly have “breathtaking” stunts from Shahrukh Khan. The special effects team is being hired from Hollywood. Khan has already started working out to prepare himself to be able to perform the “daring” stunts for the film. Khan is now set to go flying in the sky to save mankind in this film. At a press conference that welcomed Akon to India, he revealed that his character can “solidify” electricity and that his team was working on making this possible on screen.
Filming
The shooting was originally supposed to begin in Miami, USA, but due to budget concerns this was scrapped. The first phase of filming begun in India in March 2010 and took place till May 2010 in Mumbai’s Film City and Goa. The crew then moved on to London in June 2010 where the filming with the entire starcast took place during July-August and has been completed. In a recent interview, Khan stated that the remaining portions would be completed in India & would require further 6 months of post production. Khan also requested his long time collaborator & director Karan Johar to be present during shoot in London. While they were in London, media reports suggested Johar may have directed some romantic portions of the film; this was later denied by the director. In September 2010, Khan signed Hans Zimmer to compose the background score for the film thus making Ra.One Zimmer’s first Bollywood project.

Inception

When the director of some of the best movies of recent years (The Prestige, Memento, The Dark Knight), makes a movie about dreams (a field of study that the modern science has very little knowledge of) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the best actors to have come up in the past decade, the expectations are incredibly high. Inception,  unsurprisingly surpasses all the expectations that hardcore Nolan fans may have had. It is grand, it is intelligent, and most importantly, it is awesome.
Sample the premise: it is a world where it is possible to invade dreams and steal ideas. The protagonist, Dom Cobb (played by DiCaprio), is the best thief in the business of dream invasion and deception. He has had a troubled past due to separation from his children. He is given a last impossible chance at redemption: inception, meaning he needs to plant an idea instead of stealing one.
With a premise that is as innovative as this, you already have the audience engrossed. All you need to do thereafter is to lead the movie to an impressive conclusion. Nolan does not only manage to do this but he also manages to make the journey to the climax unbelievably enthralling to say the least.
Inception has only one problem: it is very complex. It took Nolan ten years to outline all the nuances of subconscious invasion and inception. So, it is only understandable that it can be really difficult for the audience to catch all these nuances in a 148 minutes watch. His movie requires multiple watches, but since it is exceedingly engaging, you are unlikely to get bored. All the clues to understanding the movie are there in it; your job is to watch it alertly and solve the puzzle.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Balthazar (Cage) is a modern day sorcerer fighting against the forces of evil who are trying to destroy the world (original, I know). Both the evil and good sides are searching for the inheritor of Merlin’s powers, Jay Baruchel.
The simplicity of the story line radiates throughout the whole film. Apart from some pretty decent special effects the dialogue is about as dry as the acting and the amount of plot holes is phenomenal. It’s obvious that the director decided that instead of writing a whole and corresponding script he decided to utilise the old fashioned “I’ll make up a spell to counter that whole idea” so as to avoid explanations.
Perhaps this is a bit harsh for kids film (I hope it’s a kids film..) but I had higher expectations for this film, especially as the ‘Fantasia’ scene was talked up and ended up being sub-par, though it does have some entertainment value to it. I would recommend it as a rainy day holiday film for young teenagers.

The Last Airbender

Movie: The Last Airbender
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: Fantasy, action, adventure
Starring: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Dev Patel
Year: 2010
Origin: USA

Summary: The visual component on which this film mostly relies is let down by the bland acting and horrible script. Tread cautiously when contemplating viewing this film.
A live action film based on the hit animation series, the film follows Aang (Ringer), the element bender with the power to control all four elements; air, water, fire and earth. Aang and his company of friends partake in a journey of knowledge whilst the evil firebenders are in hot pursuit.
Unfortunately this film is about as mundane as a wet towel. The main character Aang is portrayed by one of the worst child actors ever conceived. This is ‘complimented’ with companions who are also horrid on screen – pretty much everyone in this film can’t act. The casting is absolutely dreadful.
The only decent thing in this film is the score, by James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight, Michael Clayton,  Blood Diamond). Epic at times, it is a refreshing oasis while having to sit through the film.  The graphics and audio are quite decent but the visual component of this piece is dragged down by the insipid script.

Avatar (2009)

Information
Directed by James Cameron
Starring : Sam Worthington; Zoe Saldana; Stephen Lang; Michelle Rodriguez; Sigourney Weaver; Joel David Moore; Giovanni Ribisi
Genre : Action ; Adventure ; Science Fiction
Year : 2009

Avatar is set in a spectacular world that pushes the limits of your imagination. Our hero begins an epic adventure that will lead him to fight to save a distant world, a world that will eventually be considered his.
The well known director of Titanic, James Cameron, began designing the film fifteen years ago, at a time when the means to realize his vision did not exist. Today, after about four years of intensive production, AVATAR offers a unique cinematic experience, driven by a whole new wave of special effects. A revolutionary technology invented for the film that leaves its place to the emotional authenticity of the characters, for a total immersion of the viewer into the intensity of the story.
We discover this distant world through the eyes of Jake Sully, a former Marine stuck in a wheelchair. Despite his paralysis, Jake remained a combatant in the depths of his being. He was recruited to go to light years from Earth, on Pandora, where powerful groups are mining a rare mineral used to solve the energy crisis on Earth. Because the atmosphere of Pandora is toxic to humans, they have created the Avatar Program, which allows “drivers” to link their human spirit to an avatar, a biological body remotely controlled, able to survive in this atmosphere lethal. These avatars are hybrids created by crossing genetically human DNA with that of Na’vi, native of Pandora.

THOR- God of Thunder

Marvel Studios expands its film universe with a new type of superhero: THOR. This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe; from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. 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. Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy epic which stars Australian actor Chris Hemsworth as the ancient Norse god, Tom Hiddleston as his chaotic brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, a young woman who befriends Thor on Earth, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor's father and king of Asgard. Expect to see agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., previously seen in ''Iron Man'' to make an appearance, further forshadowing the coming of The Avengers!