'V' for Vendetta - Movie 2005

'V' For Vendetta
Rating: 9/10
Director: James Mcteigue
Notable Stars: Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman

The 2005 fantastico has really hit a big time at the hearts of fans as it fascinated the viewer throughout the whole classic. V for Vendetta is a superb classic post world war movie based in England, more specifically London. The movie has depicted some real time events with the fantasy to produce Mr.V

After the World War, England is plagued by a flawed and all the more corrupted system. The Chancellor and other officials have dirtied their hands from unacceptable activities. 'V'(Hugo Weaving) is a man who has a heart wrenching past and he is determined to take revenge from those responsible. He discovers an ally Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) in his pursuit to avenge the dark truth contained in the Larkhil Concentration Camp.

The movie is elegant and acting by every single actor is awesome, every character is of utmost importance for viewers to realize the essence of the objective of V and support from people required for it to be achieved. The famous Guy Fawkes Mask is a truth behind which salvation lies for general public. The graphics and story is worth a watch because actions of a single man can change the opinion of masses if the fight is for Rights and FREEDOM.

Rose of Revenge

Superbad - Movie 2007

Title: Superbad
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Greg Mottola

Highschoolers Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) and Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) are the outcasts of their school. After all of them are invited to a party thrown by Jules (Emma Stone) on the condition that they bring alcohol for the whole party. Seth who has a huge crush on Jules is desperate to complete this task and enlists the help of Fogell who has a dubious fake id.
What follows are, 2 Hours of hilarious and absolutely not family friendly humour that is going to leave you rolling on the ground.
Perhaps the best thing that gives this movie its essence is Michael Cera's acting which has always been top notch and incorruptible, That along with the impeccable abilities of Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
A notable fact about this movie is that the idea for it was created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg when they were 13 years old.
Perhaps one of the best moments in this movie is when Seth tells Evan about an affliction he had as a child (Watch the movie to understand), Along with the scene where Seth sees Fogells fake id.
A truly hilarious and entertaining movie which will live up to its name and set the standards for future comedy films.
For fans of movies like Project X or This is the End, this movie is a must watch

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

The Book Thief - Book 2005

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Young adult Fiction
Rating: 9.5/10

This teary Ballad, Narrated by Death itself tells us the story of a little girl by the name of Liesel Meminger. Set in Nazi Germany, Which as Death mentions was where he was needed most.
Liesel loses her brother to a disease during a train ride to Munich with her mother, Who gives her up for foster care to a very lovable family called the Hubermanns. What follows is the story of Liesel as she starts to love her new home and family, Makes a best friend and as the title indicates, Steals books because only books can provide her with the comfort needed to survive in the hell that was also known as Nazi Germany. We see Liesel as she grows from a little girl to a teenager all the while harbouring a fugitive, Stealing, Reading and showing more sense than some people did in Nazi Germany.
A warning in advance though, This book is not for the faint-hearted because it will make you cry as if the flood gates have been opened, It will make you question whether there is anything known as mercy in this world and after finishing this book you will feel as if all the light and happiness have been sucked from this world, But no pressure.
Truly this book deserves to be held in high esteem among all avid readers because this book has redefined the boundaries and set standards of future writers of young adult books.
Perhaps the best thing about this book is how it proves that there were some good people in Nazi Germany too. People who spoke out against injustice, People who rejected Hitler and his ideas whether openly or secretly. All in all it tells us that light can be found even in the darkest of places.
For each and every one out there, This book has the capacity to amaze you all beyond that which is possible.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

Interstellar - Movie 2014

Interstellar
by Christopher Nolan
9.4/10

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar was another blockbuster movie after his other famous works such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and The Prestige. The Movie is set in the 21st Century portraying the story of Joseph "Coop" Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) an Ex NASA Pilot, who lives with his son, father-in-law and daughter. For a living Coop runs a farm but recently a crop blight has made farming extremely difficult and is a threat to humanity's survival. Coop's daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) thinks there is a ghost in her bedroom as the books in her shelf keep falling mysteriously, one day a pattern is made out of dust in Murph's room and Coop immediately uncovers that this is gravity's work, as the pattern is a binary code for geographical coordinates. Coop and Murph follow the coordinates to a secret NASA facility where they meet Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway). Brand tells Coop about a mysterious wormhole which appeared 48 years ago near Saturn, which opens a pathway to a parallel galaxy with potential habitable planets. A team of 12 Scientists travelled through the wormhole in search of a planet suitable for humans under Dr. Mann (Matt Damon) and only three of them send positive responses regarding planets near a black hole called Gargantua, including Dr. Mann himself. Dr. Brand then invites Cooper to pilot a Spaceship named Endurance and investigate a gravitational theory for propulsion that would bridge people from Earth and as a backup plan the Ship carries 5000 frozen embryos to colonize a habitable planet in order to ensure humanity's survival, to this Cooper agrees.
An insane turn of events take place as Cooper and Amelia take an exhilarating journey to the very core of the universe.
A brilliantly Directed and crafted movie with a very delicate piece of specifics of science and nature, probably one of the best movie's I have ever watched.
Matthew doing some brilliant piece of acting with the delicate character of a father and a scientist and the management of the roles was absolutely awesome.
Anne Hathaway also giving an overwhelming performance.
Hat's off to Nolan for yet another Stunner and creating another masterpiece that will keep you intrigued the whole time.
My favourite scene is when Cooper gets trapped inside the Tesseract.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.
                              

Shawshank Redemption - Movie 1994

Shawshank Redemption
Rating: 9.5/10
Director: Frank Darabont
Notable Stars: Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you the movie about which I can claim that it has done it. Shawshank Redemption has marked itself in the history of Hollywood in good books. Director Frank Darabont and Stars Tim Robbins accompanied by Morgan Freeman have made their presence felt in this Drama/thriller of 1994.

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted for murdering his wife and her new lover in what is known as revenge. He has to serve in jail where he meets Red (Morgan Freeman). The Warden Norton and Captain Hadley are the two throat clenching officers who wont tolerate ill discipline and would take 'any' measures according to circumstances even if they are for 'personal' reasons. As the story proceeds, Andy does not take any interest in friendships but still manages to befriend Red who as they call him in Prison someone who can get things for you. As Andy is an Accountant he becomes an unofficial account manager of the police officers to file tax returns and to help them hide the flaws in their financial statements. This leads to a much much greater role of Andy in the Prison.

The movie is an example of how life can treat you and how much little moments of happiness can mean. The pursuit of Andy to achieve the impossible has shown what a determined man can attain no matter how much time it takes. The movie is pure class with every single character displaying its essence in the story. The librarian and the concept of institutionalize is the saddest part of the story. The dialogue that has tipped off the iceberg is none other than

1967 Parole Hearings Man: You feel you've been rehabilitated?

Ellis Boy "Red" Redding: Rehabilitated. Let's see now. You know, come to think of it, I have no idea what that means.
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, it means you're ready to rejoin society as
Ellis Boy "Red" Redding: I know what you think it means. Me, I think it's a made-up word, a poli- tician's word. A word so young fellas like you can wear a suit and tie and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
1967 Parole Hearings Man: well, are you

Ellis Boy "Red" Redding: Not a day goes by I don't feel regret, and not because I'm in here or because you think I should. I look back on myself the way I was...stupid kid who did that terrible crime...wish I could talk sense to him. Tell him how things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone, this old man is all that's left, and I have to live with that. (beat) Rehabilitated? That's a bullshit word, so you just go on ahead and stamp that form there, sonny, and stop wasting my damn time. Truth is, I don't give a shit.

Reviewed by Najam

The Breakfast Club - Movie 1985

Title: The Breakfast Club
Rating: 9.5/10
Director: John Hughes

One of the most iconic movies of the eighties, The Breakfast Club is truly one of the most refreshing movies you will ever watch.
Filled to the brim with light-hearted comedy this film will never cease to make you laugh no matter how many times you watch it.
Taking place in a stereotypical high school with the stereotypical social classes that can be found in all schools even to this day. This movie tells the story of how five students belonging to different social circles found friendship and love in the strangest of places.
On a crisp Saturday evening five students namely Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) who is the most popular girl in the school, Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) a state level wrestler, Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) a nerdy student, Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) a reclusive outcast and John Bender (Judd Nelson) rebel and a bad boy. Each student has done something bad to deserve detention except Allison who just shows up because she had nothing better to do.
What follows is an hour and a half of light hearted jokes and great bonding moments for all of these different yet alike students who grow closer due to typical problems faced by teenagers, Peer pressure, Abuse and neglect.
This movie will emotionally challenge you as it explores deep into each of the students' lives as they mention their goals and their deepest fears. One of the most funniest moments among many is when all of the students smoke weed in the library (Which as we all know really helps in bonding). Perhaps the best thing about this movie is the acting done by Judd Nelson as he truly lives up to his character with his sassy dialogues and daredevil attitude and I know I say this too often but it remains one of the best on screen performances I have ever seen.
Even 31 years after its release, The Breakfast Club remains a must watch.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

Future Diary - Anime 2011-12

Future Diary
Rating: 8.8/10
Written By Sakai Esuno

The psychological thriller is a super mind boggling tale of a twist of fate of the male protagonist Yukiteru Amano. Future diary is truly a fantasy that won't be understood by many, the lust of Yuno Gasai leads to one heck of an adventure. Romantic relation of both of them is a whole new era of psychological horror.

Yukiteru Amano is a lonely boy who is only involved into himself and tends to update his diary about every single action of his (Did I mention it's on mobile!). The God of time grants him power that his mobile starts to predict his actions beforehand (Future Diary) hence he is aware about his future actions. This is basically a game orchestrated by Deus (God of Time) containing 12 competitors, each competitor is given a different future diary. The competitors have to kill each other with the one surviving being awarded the seat in place of Deus. This is an adventure that is filled with bloodbath and sadness. The show proceeds with Yuno Gasai falling in love with Yukiteru Amano and thus committing herself to protect him at all costs. Yukiteru is shown as a coward and naive child but due to Yuno being at his side, he survives the torment by others but who would be crowned the victor in this tale of Bloodthirsty and psychopathic love? (you will understand these terms once you witness the show yourself).

Overall, the show is absolutely a confusing or rather an obscure one on which a person has to think painstakingly hard to understand WHAT THE HELL REALLY IS HAPPENING. The point at which one has to breathe hard and try to comprehend its twists is..... Every single point of this friggin show. To sum up, if somebody loves the kind of anime with aforementioned qualities then my recommendation is none other than Future Diary. Though the review might be a little misleading but the show was stunning because all of these are qualities from my perspective.

Reviewed By
Najam

Suicide Squad - Movie 2016

Suicide Squad
by David Ayer
6.3/10

Set in the aftermath of Superman's death, Suicide Squad is the story of the most infamous and dangerous criminals who can be used to do something good. Following Superman's death the world has now become a hostile place and people are concerned about the measures taken against the invasion of another Kryptonian or any other Supernatural being for that fact. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles Task Force X under the Argus Programme mainly consisting of : Deadshot (Will Smith) the most lethal marksman in the world, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) a psycho killer and Joker's accomplice, El-Diablo (Jay Hernandez) a fire generating ex-gangster, Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) a hybrid Crocodile/Man, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) a petty thief and Slipknot (Adam Beach) an assassin. The whole squad is placed under Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) who is also currently in a relationship with one of Waller's other captive Dr. June Moon (Cara Delevingne). Dr June is possessed by an evil witch-goddess within her, named Enchantress whose heart is in control of Amanda Waller, one night she tries to confront Waller but instead frees her brother Incubus and they both attack Midway City, which is soon declared as Ground Zero. This is where the Task Force is brought in to terminate the witch and a nano explosive is implanted in each ones neck to avoid anyone from escaping. The whole team is met with a horde of monsters on their way who were turned by Enchantress from civilians. Meanwhile the Joker (Jared Leto) is going crazy in Harley's absence and is ready to do anything to get her back.
Yet another disappointment by DC Comics in producing another pathetic movie after Dawn of Justice (still better).
The main problem here which I find quite disturbing is the choice of the main villain, I mean what good is Deadshot with his guns and Harley with her bat against a Supernatural God, the resources were not very well used by the director in the movie. A poor job by David Ayer.
A lot of praises for Will Smith and Margot Robbie as they both did an outstanding job with both the characters, Deadshots killer style and Harley's psychotic personality. Viola Davis herself best as ever and always gives her character her unique touch.
The other villains seemed not so effective and did a "Ok" job.
The Joker was in very simple words "BAD", Jared Leto did not do a good job with Joker's psychotic and sociopath personality, lets get one thing straight the Joker is not a Gangster or some kind of Underworld Don, he is a lone working individual with a f'd up brain.
The real sorrow is that with all the resources and material a good quality movie was not produced.
My favourite part of the movie is where Deadshot portrays his skills to Waller and says the following line, "Y'all jokers must be crazy".

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

Fury - Movie 2014

Title: Fury
Rating: 8.5/10
Director: David Ayer

Set in the final days of World War 2, Fury tells the story of the crew of an M4 Sherman tank named Fury after the Allies had finally made a breakthrough in Nazi Germany in April 1945.
Wardaddy or Don Collier (Brad Pitt) a veteran commander of a five man tank crew consisting of Driver Gordo or Trini Garcia (Michael Pena), Main gunner Bible or Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Shell loader Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal) and new assistant gunner Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) originally trained to be a clerk typist but assigned as a gunner after the former gunner Red was killed in action.
Perhaps the best World War 2 tank battle movie ever made, Maybe even better than White Tiger 2012.
The Director David Ayer did what nobody was able to do due to the huge undertaking and budget required to make an all original no CGI movie where the tank battles make you feel like you're sitting in an M4 tank yourself.

A moment that is bound to leave you all at the edge of your seats is when the crew of Fury battle a German Tiger tank in an open field, You will also notice a bond forming between all the crew members even Norman who at first is reluctant to relinquish his humanity but then realises that this war does not cater to humanity.
The authenticity and special effects of this movie will cause you to love this spectacular ballad of  2 hours and 14 minutes and really feel the horror of warfare in the summer of 1945.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

Maze Runner - Book Series 2009

The Maze Runner
Rating: 3.8/5
Written By: James Dashner

The Maze Runner is set in Post apocalyptic world where Thomas, the male protagonist in this Young Adult Science Fiction is sent to the glade. The books contain a unique sense of touch from the author James Dashner who truly created the world of MAZE.

Thomas is a kid who has arrived into glade without knowing any purpose and being deprived of his memories where many kids like him are also settled. They are also the victim of this purposeless (so as it seems) arrival into the strange place.
If you ain't scared you ain't human.
Things soon get even more messed up when a girl arrives. This is the first time such thing has happened and to worsen this trail of events she carries a terrible Message.

The books are well written and need to be addressed with due regard and respect. The thrill is superbly maintained throughout. The Next Part "Scorch Trials" gets even more fun and seeks attention at every word. Scorch trials is the best book in this series and is a good example of the fantasy that an author can shape up. As the story proceeds unto the third part "Death Cure", the standard starts to decline of the whole series. The ending especially is considered to be obvious but missed the thrill and was pretty straight forward.
Anyways, I would recommend it to all to read out the series and honestly it will be worth the time.

Reviewed by
Najam

The Dark Knight Rises - Movie 2012

Title: The Dark Knight Rises
Rating : 9/10
Director: Christopher Nolan

Sequel to the award winning film that shook the world, The Dark Knight Rises is the perfect ending to a brilliant trilogy that captivated audiences throughout its whole series and set the standard for future superhero movies.
This movie takes place eight years after Batman's (Christian Bale) disappearance, The city of Gotham is at peace hereby ending the need for the caped crusader. However a new terror is lurking in the sewers of Gotham. A masked terrorist by the name of Bane (Tom Hardy), Filled with ruthless instinct and ferocious strength we see the brutality of his character as he kills without conscience and breaks the Batman, Both physically and mentally. This movie emotionally picks you up as you struggle to cope up with the heaviness of each and every scene especially the one's taking place when Bruce is in prison and battling the demons of his past. This movie also introduces Catwoman (Anne Hathway) in a very interesting new role.

Bane:"Ah, yes... I was wondering what would break first...
[lifts Batman high] Your spirit or your body?

This movie can never hope to achieve the acclaim revieved by its predessecor The Dark Knight but it does create a place of its own in the hall of fame of superhero films.
The best part about this movie is the primary antagonist Bane. Tom Hardy outplayed and outclassed each and everyone except perhaps Heath Ledger who unfortunately could not be in the movie due to his untimely death.
Christopher Nolan ended this trilogy in such a way that it will be really hard for future Batman films to fill the void left by him, Which has been proven due to the recent DC comics movies which have been a total fiasco no matter what people say.
The fight scenes are very well choreographed with the whole mix of martial arts that Batman is famous for except perhaps this time he has met his match.
One might say that this is perhaps the last great superhero movie DC comics will ever produce but nobody knows what the future might bring.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

The Dark Knight - Movie 2008

The Dark Knight
by Christopher Nolan
9.1/10

This Movie is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and is probably one of his best works. The story basically opens with a mob robbery of a bank where The Joker (Heath Ledger) is introduced and he kills all of the thugs and steals away with all the money. Meanwhile Batman (Christian Bale) and James Gordon form an alliance with Harvey Dent (District Attorney) to eliminate crime in Gotham. Bruce Wayne is pretty impressed by Dent's sense of justice and he also is dating Bruce's love, Rachel. All the mob leaders while having a meeting, Joker shows up and proposes to kill the Batman as he is a threat to all and must be annihilated to safeguard the interests of all people, but as the people seem to think this is impossible, insult him and even put a bounty on his head. But The Joker evidently finds another way to control the whole mob. With The Joker going crazy and running hell in Gotham, Bruce tries to figure out his real motivation behind his actions but the Joker is just a sociopath who just wants to watch the world burn.
An interesting showdown between the Joker and Batman is carried out and Bruce must go against his rules to deal with the Joker because it is the only way to reason with him as he himself has no rules.
A Great Movie I must say with a splendid turn of events and superb story line.
Christopher Nolan's Batman has certainly turned out to be a great one and his ideology and actions are very well portrayed. An excellent job.
Christian Bale in my view is the Batman and no one can play the Batman as good as he does, superb acting throughout.
Heath Ledger, well I certainly have no words for this guy, I mean he literally became The Joker and has done a marvellous job by portraying the crazed, sociopath and psychopath character the Joker is. To this day, there has been no better Joker than Ledger.
Michael Caine has also done a brilliant job playing Alfred, Bruce's lifelong partner. friend and servant.
My favourite part of the movie is the part where Batman interrogates the Joker.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

Batman Begins - 2005

Batman Begins

Rating: 8/10

Notable Stars: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Ken Watnabe and Cillian Murphy.

Director: 'The' Christopher Nolan

Batman Begins, A tale that changed the perspective of general public about the DC Comics Superhero Batman.

Christopher Nolan is the supremo behind this superb work. Batman Begins has all the potential to steal the spot lights of All the previous Batman movies may they be animated as well.

The Story is very well structured to shape the beginning of a journey of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). After Bruce Wayne has trained with his Mentor Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who is associated with League of Shadows, Bruce Wayne under the Mask of Batman turns against the true intentions of Henri and embarks on his journey to free crime-ridden Gotham City from the Moral, Ethical and Financial corruption of Scare Crow and League of Shadows. Batman's journey is full of hurdles but he with the help of his faithful servant Alfred manages to fight against the terror organisations that have befallen Gotham City.

The Limelight of the Movie is the Actors that have taken the roles. The Notable Stars that I have aforementioned have made their presence felt in this fiction. The Story is especially a unique one because how the characters of Ra's al Ghul and Scare Crow have been designed, most of all, the character of Batman has been created with depth brings out the most of the story. 

To end, The introduction in Batman Begins is as Befitting as it can get for the great series of

The Dark Knight.

Deception Point - Novel 2001

Deception Point

by Dan Brown

3.8/5

Written by the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code, Deception Point is a techno - thriller set on the eve of US Presidential Elections. Rachel Sexton, daughter of Senator Sexton (Presidential Candidate and most-likely-to-win), who works at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is called upon by the acting President of the US. The President tells Rachel about a massive discovery NASA has made and asks her to verify it, since NASA's integrity is already at stake due to high gross expenditure and low output. Rachel reluctantly agrees and flies to the Milne Ice Shelf, where she meets the team of 5 scientists the President himself has chosen for the task. After analysing the discovery NASA has made, Rachel is shocked to the very bone and knows that this is the perfect break for the President to survive through the elections. Meanwhile, Senator Sexton is doing all he can to condemn the President and make NASA's failure his main stance but he has another thing coming at him and his personal secretary, Gabrielle goes out of the way to find the truth.

A great plot has been set with Rachel and her companion Tom Holland (an oceanographer) surviving through a deadly ploy for their lives and finding out the real truth behind this great game.

The story overall was very well crafted and Dan Brown's usual suspense filled journey.

Dan has certainly done a marvellous job with the book and deserves a lot of credit for the story line and buildup.
The book also provides a lot of information regarding science and NASA which certainly makes it even better.
As always this one also has a great plot twist in the end and will keep u chilled to the bones.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

The Gospel of Loki - Book 2014

Title: The Gospel of Loki
Author: Joanne Harris
Genre: Fantasy, Dark Comedy
Rating: 8/10

Written by the bestselling author of Chocolat, The Gospel of Loki is a very interesting read for all those who are fans of Norse mythology or any type of mythology for that matter.
The Gospel of Loki takes us on an adventure through the eyes and ears of Loki, God of mischief, Also known as The Trickster, Wildfire or simply as Chaos.
This book is narrated by the god of mischief himself as he describes how life in Asgard, The stronghold of the gods was for him. He describes how all the other gods regarded him with suspicion even though he saved them countless times, He tells us about how the gods didn't trust him and how that ultimately led them to their downfall. Subject to Loki's scorn are the gods Odin or the old man as Loki calls him, Thor the Thunderer fierce but stupid, Heimdall the Watcher proud and prickly as well as many others.
Through Loki's narration we live through events that really happened in the stories of norse mythology. From the tale of Thor's hammer to the story of how Ragnarok came to the story of how Loki made Skadi the giantess smile(a must read this one), Loki's humourous and sassy narration will keep you in the foreboding state that is well known among books of Dark comedy.The book might feel a little slow at times but the extremely charismatic character of the god of mischief really levels up with that flaw.
Containing a lot of important life lessons given by our humble narrator Loki. This book is a must read for all those mythology fans out there who want to view these stories through the eyes of the bad guy.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

Theory of Everything - Movie 2014

Theory Of Everything

Rating: 9/10

Notable Stars: Eddie Redmayne and Fellicity Jones

Director: James Marsh

Eddie Redmayne (the oscar guy?Yes) has set the standard of quality and hard work for a Rookie which would not be achieved so easily by others in the near future. Stephen Hawking's character has outdid his real life through the sprinkled state of the art acting in this spectacular biographical Romantic Drama of 2014.

Enough with the boasting, Theory of Everything is a beautifully depicted movie version of Stephen Hawking's life. It starts with a Cambridge University Student who is a future physicist as well, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) falling in love at first site with Jane Wilde (Fellicity Jones). Stephen Hawking discovers that he has Motor Neuron Disease that unfortunately only deteriorates with passing time. The Movie follows with the Scientist discovering theories and Jane's struggle to support her husband in the condition where he is gradually being deprived of the basic body's functions.

The Movie has shown the strength of the relationship between the couple to survive this period. The epic display of acting by the couple has melted the hearts of many. The Suffering and Pain of Stephen Hawking is so realistically portrayed by Eddie Redmayne that they are felt by every single witness of this Drama. It is not so different from a typical Romantic Movie but what gives this piece the edge on the predecessors is its actors have aboslutely outplayed the Norms Of Acting. If Eddie Redmayne hadn't got an oscar for this movie then I don't know whatever would persuade the judges. To conclude my praises for this Heart Touching Story, Please give it a chance and experience the marvel of the journey that Stephen Hawking embarked On.

                                           "A TRIUMPHANT FILM THEY SAID; 

                                                       VERY RIGHTLY SAID"

War Horse - Movie 2011

Title: War Horse
Rating: 8/10
Director: Steven Spielberg

Set in the era of World War 1, This movie tells the story of hope, love and the unbreakable bond of friendship.
Starring in short roles, This movie has many great actors like: Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and Emily Watson among many others.
This movie tells its story through the eyes of a thoroughbred horse (no this is not a Disney movie) named Joey and his unbreakable bond with a boy, Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine). As war starts in Europe, Joey gets bought by the British Army, Who take him away to France to serve as a warhorse. From there on, A journey starts taking Joey through war and worse before He finally reunites with his best friend on a battlefield. 
Truly a very emotional movie with enough scenes to keep you on the verge of tears as you see the horrors of war and the countless dreams it extinguished.
Steven Spielberg did an amazing job, Which is to be expected from an artist of his calibre.

Due to the completely overwhelming scenery and special effects you will have a hard time comprehending the fact that the war to all end all wars was fought for no particular reason at all and in the end it cost the lives of millions of people from around the world while achieving nothing at all. Particularly haunting is the trench charge scene, Which shows machine guns firing and artillery bombs landing just feet away as Albert charges through no mans land to capture the enemys' trenches and perhaps the best thing about this scene is that it all happens with the sound of bagpipes playing in the background. Another great scene is when a British soldier tries to rescue Joey and meets a German soldier and they both work together to save Joey.
A must watch, This movie has the ability to keep you engrossed for its whole duration, Which is pretty rare in a movie of this decade.
This movie is an ode to the brave soldiers who gave their lives and it truly lives up to it.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name



  

The Da Vinci Code - Novel 2003

The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
4.2/5

Another brilliant book by Dan brown featuring one of his favourite character's : Harvard Professor, Robert Langdon. The book opens with the brutal murder of The Louver's (Paris) renowned curator named Jacques Sauniere. The French Police find his body arranged in a symbolic manner and with some random numbers and a baffling riddle written beside him. The police unable to decode Sauniere's message, bring in Robert Langdon (A famous Symbologist) to crack through his code. A cryptologist, Sophie Neveu later joins in with Langdon and they both work together on the investigation. Finding the mysterious truth behind the curator's true identity and discovering a trail leading to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Robert and Sophie get entangled in a series of historical myths and both of them must decipher Sauniere's message which leads to the ancient truth that has been protected from generations while both of them are on the run for their lives or the ancient truth will be lost forever. A great plot has been set by the author while Sophie and Langdon are caught in a deadly race against time and must find out the truth before the people behind the curator's death.
Hats off to Dan Brown on this one, an amazing job done with a very delicate set of events throughout the book. The Da Vinci Code is not only a very good thriller but also a very informative book regarding the history of Da Vinci's works and the Legend regarding Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.
Dan Brown's book's are truly one heck of a ride and the best part is the duration of the book is roughly 24 hours which keeps its readers on their heels and the events proceed at a very fast pace and it is almost irresistible to take your eyes off even for a moment.
Robert Langdon as always at his best with a gifted talent for history and symbols which makes him one of the best code breakers of all time.
I would really recommend this book to new readers if you're looking for an action packed adventurous ride as it will keep you glued and the amazing turn of events after every chapter just makes you want to finish the whole book in a single go.
Like all of my man's books, this one too has a huge plot twist in the end where your eyes literally pop out and the hairs on your body just won't rest.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

Angels and Demons - Book 2000

Rating: 4.3/5
Written By: Dan Brown

The Robert Langdon (#1) is the best selling mystery thriller written in 2000 by Sir Dan Brown (added Sir...just for fun). The Book has truly done a marvelous job in gluing the readers to itself throughout. Angels and Demons is no less than an awesome Book for readers wishing to enjoy a great roller coaster ride with mind boggling turn of events.

The Book is about a murder of a physicist Leonardo Vetra who died under mysterious circumstances. Two things were absolutely flabbergasting about it,
1. The Victim's Chest being branded with an ambigram of Illuminati.
2. A stolen canister containing antimatter (substance that has destructive powers equal to a nuclear weapon).
The facility's director Maximillian Kohler calls Robert Langdon to make something out of this Illuminati related incident. Robert Langdon is the history professor of Harvard University who has an interest in historical events (especially of these kinds). Hence the story begins in a BOOM to grasp the readers attention in a Blood Racing Phenomenon.

After all of that one might wonder why then the book is rated 4.3/5 by the reviewer. The reason is clear and simple, it is known to all those who have read this piece of work. The Facts and Figures are created by Dan Brown, then they are fitted in the sequence of real life events. Now this would certainly confuse or mislead some people but what I intend to mention is even though Dan Brown was able to beautifully pull this stunt off. The point that bugged me was that either he should have used all the accurate and precise facts or had created all of them on his own but should have never mixed em up because then the reader would be unable to distinguish the truth and faked events. Other than this the book has truly accomplished the heights that a reader can demand of.

Reviewed By
Najam

American Sniper - Movie 2014

American Sniper
by Clint Eastwood
8.6/10

This Movie is based on the original life of Chris Kyle and from his book American Sniper : The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S Military History. The story shows a young Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) who is taught by his father to use a rifle, after growing up he becomes a rodeo cowboy and casually lives his life. This is only until he sees a news coverage of the 1988 U.S Embassy bombings and decides to enlist in the Navy, where he successfully qualifies as a U.S Navy SEALS sniper. After some time Chris meets a girl named Taya (Sienna Miller), and deeply falls in love with her and they get married. Chris is sent on his first tour to Iraq in order to capture the Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. During this operation Chris takes down many Jihadists and gradually becomes famous by the name of  "Legend". During this whole period Chris emotionally gets too much involved in the battlefield and doesn't coordinate well enough with his wife even after he comes back home to the birth of a son. Possessed by guilt he takes another tour and faces another sniper who also has a very good eye for his target. Losing a lot of friends hurts Chris deeply and he gets faced by mental trauma.
The Movie further proceeds with Chris getting more and more distant from his family and he himself fighting with all his strength for his lost companions.
Bradley Cooper has certainly did an extremely good job with his delicate role of a strong personality yet emotionally a deep person. The stunts pulled and his acting were without a question superb.
Sienna Miller herself gave an admirable performance of a strong and dedicated wife who will always support and be there for her husband no matter what the circumstances.
The Movie in general was a great one with all the action and delicate story line of which major credit goes to Clint Eastwood who certainly has shown what he is capable of.
My favourite part of the movie is the last scene where Chris takes that breathtaking shot.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

The Hobbit - Book 1937

Title: The Hobbit
Author: J.R.R Tolkien
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 8.5/10

Written by the famous J.R.R Tolkien, This book is the prequel to the Lord of The Rings series.
Set when the Dwarven stronghold of Erebor is conquered by the dragon Smaug the Terrible. The surviving Dwarves become homeless with nowhere else to go.
Gandalf the Grey brings together a team of dwarves to liberate Erebor by slaying Smaug. The ragtag band includes Thorin Oakenshield the King of Erebor, Oin, Gloin, Balin, Dwalin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Fili and Kili.
Gandalf also tricks a very docile hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins into coming with them on this suicide mission.
Written in a very puerile fashion it succeeds in grasping undivided attention through it's extremely interesting plot line and witty humour. It also succeeds in explaining how Bilbo Baggins came by the One Ring.
It explores more of the fictional land of Middle-Earth and gives us a much better insight of the land. As The Lord of the Rings explores west, This book takes us north to The Misty Mountains, Mirkwood, Erebor and Dale.
Even the movie adaptations of this book are extremely good though unnecessarily long.
J.R.R Tolkien blows everyones' minds in the end when he shows a battle involving five armies, Dwarves, Elves, Men, Eagles and Orcs.
This book is very suitable for new readers as it is short and will keep readers interested until the very end. A must read for those who have read Lord of The Rings or other fantasy novels.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

House M.D - TV Series 2004 to 2012

House M.D

Rating: 9/10

Notable Star: Hugh Laurie

Written By: David Shore                                    

Winner of 2 Golden Globes is the Hugh Laurie inspired innovation in TV Drama. Such a different taste of Story with a unique touch of character makes this show absolutely wonderful and distinct. What David Shore did here was the role of Dr.Gregory House which was shaped from the concept of Mr.Holmes and to add to the beauty, Hugh Laurie smoothly fitted in the shoes in what may be described as the only TV Character of His kind.

The Show is based on Medical cases where Dr.Gregory house is an ingenious doctor who specializes in diagnostic Medicine. The crisp of Mr.Holmes is felt when the desperation to solve a medical case is related more to the complexity of the medical situation (illness), henceforth making it a puzzle in the sight of the antisocial eccentric doctor. The team he hires are not only experts but are the ones who dare (Yeah I mean it).

The Show overall is fantastic though sometimes cases are rather boring to watch but still the role of Hugh Laurie keeps me going. The role not only is a genius but a very humorous one as well. House's role is superb but Dr.James Wilson (Robert Sean) who happens to be the Best...ehm Only Friend of Dr.House has done a marvellous job too. Dr.Lisa Cuddy is not only the crush of Dr.House but she is unfortunately also home to his sarcastic and full of irony comments. The Show is worth watching for all, Please don't be confused by the Genre of the show because medical relevance isn't really  required to enjoy and laugh out loud on the role of 2 Golden Globes Winner (just a coincidence).

Reviewed by

Najam

Downfall - Movie 2004

Title: Downfall
Rating: 9.5/10
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Downfall or Der Untergang in German is an Austrian-German historical drama film. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, The award winning director of The Experiment.
Based on a true story, It is set in primarily in the final days of World War 2, Inside the Fuhrerbunker where Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) the secretary of Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz) wakes up due to heavy artillery bombardment by the Russians.
With Hitler in the bunker are his Generals, Alfred Jodl (Christian Redl), Hans Krebs (Rolf Kanies), Wilhelm Burgdorf (Justus von Dohnanyi) and Wilhelm Keitel (Dieter Mann).
It shows Adolf Hitlers final days as he scolds his generals, deals with betrayals and still thinks he can be saved by armies which at this point only exist on paper. None of his generals even dare to tell him that the units he is moving around on the map do not exist. What follows is his stubbornness to not surrender as he forbids even his generals from doing so.

Truly one of the best movies I have ever watched. However as it is a German film all the characters speak German, So I highly recommend watching this movie in German with subtitles for help as the characters in this film truly did a spectacular job and it wouldn't be fair to them if their acting would fall prey to abysmal dubbing.
The best part about this film was Bruno Ganz as he outperformed everyone by playing an extremely complex character such as Adolf Hitler. It truly remains the best on-screen performance I have ever seen.
The best scene which has been the subject of international acclaim is when Hitler is informed by his generals that an attack that Hitler ordered could not take place due to a lack of manpower, This sends Hitler into an uncontrollable fury that makes him denounce his generals, his people and his country.

A very haunting movie that will leave you with goosebumps as you try to cope up with the dark foreboding story of the final days of World War 2 inside the Fuhrerbunker.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

Deadpool - Movie 2016

Deadpool
by Tim Miller
8.8/10


Deadpool is the story of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who is an ex Special Forces Agent, now Working as a mercenary. He meets an escort named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) at a bar and their single night together turns out to be a serious relationship. An year later Wilson is diagnosed with a liver, lung prostate and a brain cancer. An agent from a secret organisation offers to cure Wilson, to which he reluctantly accepts, and leaves Vanessa in the middle of the night. Wilson is taken to a lab where a man named Ajax (Ed Skrein) subjects him to daily torture and finally confines him in an oxygen chamber for a whole night. The chamber does indeed cure him but leaves him devastatingly disfigured, Wilson then destroys the lab and fights Ajax but loses. Wilson, after escaping, makes his life mission to hunt down Ajax and gain vengeance.
To achieve his goal Wilson hides under the name of Deadpool and runs around the city in search of leads to Ajax as a masked vigilante.
Ryan Reynolds did an exceptional job with his character to portray a villain/superhero figure and definitely did remarkable acting, displaying a careless and irresponsible person who has been given exceptional superpowers. Deadpool is indeed Ryan's best work's.
Morena Baccarin on the other hand did a fine job as a courtesan and then transforming into a more major character. Ed Skrein also did an admirable performance as the antagonist, but I really think that both the characters slacked at some places and could have done a better job.
Tim Miller has without a doubt pulled a stunner with such a low budget and limited resources, this one is definitely going to make the books. The other characters like Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colassus were also very well set.
Well Deadpool is an exceptional movie with a great touch of humour throughout the movie and Wade's funny character plus the action and stunts pulled off are also very intriguing. What I personally feel is that the movie sort-of turned out to be quite mainstream where the superhero defeats his enemy in the end and gets the girl, another flaw in the movie were the irrelevant references of DC Comics' characters Batman and Robin, which should not have been made.
My favourite part of the Movie was when Deadpool is only left with 12 bullets and how he marvellously manages to annihilate all the shooters.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

The Lone Survivor - Movie 2013

Rating: 7/10

Notable Star: Mark Wahlberg

Director: Peter Berg

The 2013 Hit Lone Survivor shows a typical love story between Navy Seals and Afghan Taliban. The story is not so special yet there was a distinct touch to it from the director of 35 movies.

Marcus Luttrel (Mark Wahlberg) and his team set out to kill or capture a notorious a Taliban named Ahmed Shah in a village of Afghanistan. The operation consisted of 4 senior Marines. Danny (Emile Hirsch), Murphy (Kitsch) and Axelson (Ben Foster) were the other three partners (or as they were all called Brothers) in this extremely dangerous mission.

The movie was a little lame in the starting but I guess it wasn't that bad because their actions of waiting and designing a plan to commence are justifiable. As the First hour past by, the exchange of fire and Brutal killings kicked off. The scenes felt so realistic yet so unrealistic at the same time. Hero kills so many Terrorists but Terrorists aren't able to bring down a single seal (Ladies and Gentlemen, the traditional fire exchange combat awakens in the midst of the Movie). Axelson receives a headshot without a helmet but still survives whereas Terrorists are awaiting a single headshot and before you know it, they fall upon their doom.

The rating of 7 are owed to Effects, Make Up and Acting. Though I was initially planning on giving it a 6 but the ending (ehm! Befitting ending) forced me to upgrade it a notch. Even though I don't regret watching this movie, it wouldn't be too bad to get my 2 hours back. 

The funniest part of the movie was, 'A single Rocket brought down the Helicopter but 10 couldn't bring down a SINGLE SEAL (That's right people)'

Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice - Movie 2016

Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice
By Zack Snyder
5.9/10

Well the movie is basically set 18 months after Superman's (Henry Cavill) destructive battle with General Zod after which Superman turns out to become a rather controversial figure than a Hero. Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) sees Superman as a threat to humanity and Superman is set on capturing the caped vigilante. While both these men are set to hunt down each other, meanwhile owner of LexCorp : Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) works with a Russian trafficker to import Kryptonite retrieved from the Indian Ocean as a precaution against Kryptonians. While Bruce Wayne tries to sabotage the LexCorp party and extract intel regarding the whereabouts of Kryptonite, he meets Diana Prince (Gal Gadot).
The Movie in general turned out to be a great disaster compared to the hype created for the past whole year. After releasing 3 trailers for one whole year before the movie makes people's expectations go really high and when the Movie was released it was a great disappointment.
I personally think that Ben Affleck couldn't quite fill Batman's shoes and throughout the movie he wasn't able to portray Batman's character and ideology properly, on the other hand Henry Cavill too didn't seem to display Superman's role perfectly. Gal Gadot seemed to do a good job and her chemistry with the character was good as well.
Jesse Eisenberg, well this guy never disappoints and he certainly saved the sinking ship over here with his exuberant acting and giving Luthor a unique touch never seen before. It is just because of him the movie gained some amount of respect.
Zack Snyder has done an extremely poor job with the whole film and somehow he couldn't pull of a stunner over here which was expected.
My favourite part of the movie was when Lex Luthor makes Superman submit to his will and says the following line, "Now God bends to my Will".

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

The Hunger Games - Book Series 2008-2010

Titles: The Hunger Games #1
          Catching Fire #2
          Mockingjay #3
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction
Rating: 5/10

Written by the best selling author of The Underland Chronicles. The Hunger Games is an abysmal read at best.
It takes place in a dystopian world where a tyrannical regime has taken over post-war America. The land has been divided into 12 districts, each with a different social class.
Every district is required by law to provide one male and one female every year to act as tributes, in a competition knows as The Hunger Games.
These "Tributes" would then duke it out, Gladiator style for the pleasure of the masses.
Just like the Colosseum in Rome, The contestants would fight to the death in arenas made especially for this purpose.
Our primary protagonist Katniss Everdeen of district 12, Along with Peeta Mellark  are one of the few unlucky people chosen to participate in the 74th Hunger Games. Peeta and Katniss are forced to work together to survive in the arena and this cultivates into something else really.
For Katniss this book starts with her fighting in an arena and ends with her leading a revolution.
These Books could have been the stepping stone to something great but as is the case with most book series, The story starts to rapidly decay. For me the first book was like a breeze of fresh air, The second book was like rain, A little annoying but nevertheless pleasant, And the third book was like.....well to put it in simpler terms, It was shit. But what really bugs me about this series is that it fails to explain how the world got so messed up in the first place. What little attention it had in the second book was completely lost in the third, not only that but the movie adaptations of this series are an eyesore. I fail to understand why people still like this series as it doesnt have any intersting characters, it has an extremely boring pace and in the end all it crumbles down to is whether Katniss will choose Gale as her boy toy or Peeta, Yes, My friends just like Twilight.
For those people who are fans of dystopian fiction, this realy is one of the only series you might hear about so be smart and read something else.
What little attention it did catch was that the premise of this series was very interesting but sadly it was wasted on a pointless love story.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name
       

Code Geass - Anime 2007-08

Rating: 9/10
Seasons: 2
Genre: Super Natural Drama
Writer: Ichiro Okouchi

The Stir in the Anime World took place when Death Note (Otaku Greatness) was released and little did Fans know what secrets the package carried. After Death note effectively ended in 2006, Code Geass was the magnificent savior in the uncharted territory for the Fans (Otakus!)

So the greatness unveils itself through the creativity of the manga artist in the form of Geass. Geass is a supernatural power that has different uses and it depends upon the user, however he/she wishes to wield it.

The story in the beginning is concerned with the Britain establishing itself as a dominant military nation and starting with the conquest of Japan. Lelouch Lamperouge (Not to mention, he is the greatest Chess Master in the Anime World), exiled prince of Britannia, unfortunately finds himself caught in a crossfire between the nations' armed forces. He is able to escape, however, thanks to the timely appearance of a mysterious girl named C.C., who bestows upon him the Power Of Kings. Under the mask of a vigilante named Zero, he embarks on a Journey to take revenge and close this chapter of Britannia once and for all.

The first season is the block by block construction of the story that is delicately handled and is superbly done. What follows in Season 2 is Greatness and Class at its best. This is the ONLY Anime I have witnessed that surpassed its own standards set in Season 1. The comparison with Death Note is rightly done and I can undoubtedly judge that Death Note and these two Seasons stand on Equal Footing (That's right people).The last episode's concluding 10 minutes are what made this Anime so special and made me regard it equal to Death Note because with Lelouch you never know what will happen next. And the quote that steals the spot light in the last scene

"I AM UNDER A GEASS CALLED PEOPLE'S WISH" (Yes you proved it Lelouch)

How I Met Your Mother - TV Series 2005-2014

Title: How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)
Rating: 8/10
No.of Seasons: 9
Status: Complete

 HIMYM is a show which tells the story of a group of friends living in urban New York(sound familiar?).
It is narrated by the primary protagonist Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) an architect who is telling his children the story of how he met their mother.
What follows is 90 hours of one of the most funniest TV shows you will ever watch, with one liners and jokes that will make you laugh till your stomach hurts.
Accompanying Ted in this ballad are his friends Marshall Erickson (Jason Segel) a lawyer with dreams of becoming a judge, Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) a kindergarten teacher and also Marshall's girlfriend, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) a news reporter stuck in a dead-end job and last but not the least Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) a playboy who has nothing better to do except lie to women to hook up with them.

This show has countless funny moments and it would be impossible to name them all. The best thing about this show is Barney Stinson, Truly Neil Patrick Harris did a flawless job playing this character and it remains one of the best on screen performances I have ever seen.
 However the biggest flaw in this show is that after Season 7 it becomes a stretch although still maintaining its humour.
The ending remains one of the worst endings thoughout TV show history with the creators of this show Carter Bays and Craig Thomas even receiving threats due to the disappointing ending.
However the biggest eyeopener of this show is the fact that it shows a very uncanny resemblance to the famous sitcom Friends (1994-2004). With both shows having in their group a nerdy professor, a couple who eventually get married, a womaniser and the girl whose career matters to her a lot. I will leave it up to you to decide who is who. Also both shows have a specific place they hangout at, in the case of HIMYM a bar and in the case of Friends a coffeehouse.
Even with these flaws the show is very fun to watch and it will make you laugh in your worst moments. A must watch for fans of the TV show Friends.

REVIEWED BY:
Yasir Zafar
First of His Name

The Racketeer - Novel 2012

The Racketeer
By John Grisham
4.0/5

The Novel is a legal thriller portraying the story of Malcolm Bannister (African-American) who is currently serving jail time. Bannister used to serve in the US Marines but then became an Attorney in a small law firm in Virginia, He was caught up in the scandal of a house where corrupt Congressmen used to spend their time under the influence of drugs and underage girls, The FBI had caught Malcolm along with many other people and had charged him under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO) where he was convicted, disbarred and sentenced for 10 years. The book starts with Malcolm halfway through his sentence when a Federal Judge, Judge Facett is found dead, the FBI's investigation goes nowhere and this is where Malcolm takes his chance as he knows the killer's identity, motive to kill and the Judge's hidden secrets. He then trades in this information in return for immediate release and protection.
As the story proceeds Bannister completely plays out the FBI and sets the greatest ploy to spin them off, while he himself goes under the radar and contacts an old cellmate.
Malcolm Bannister in the book is a normal looking person on the outside but has a very good knack for playing games and tricking people.
Well The Racketeer is without a doubt Grisham's best works, as it was one of the best selling books of 2012. The plot created by Grisham over here was very well planned and set as many writers get entangled amongst their own mysteries and loose track in the middle. Well Grisham has probably given this book his unique touch of thrill and mystery, and the other characters in the book were also very carefully placed.
My favourite part in the book was the interrogation of Quinn Rucker by the Feds.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan.

Breaking Bad - TV Show 2008-2013

Rating: 9.5/10
Director: Vince Gilligan

A true masterpiece by Vince Gilligan that unfortunately ended in 2013 was something the world would remember. The Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) led show is the most intriguing fiction story available on the American TV.
The show has won 2 Golden Globes and other 137 wins. The show is Top rated #3 (Though 1st won't have been too bad considering the intense excitement the show stirred in the World).
Source:IMDB. This series is widely acclaimed to be the best TV Series ever and as a fan myself, this is rightly so.

The series kicks off with Walter White being a victim of terminal disease (lung cancer) and the odds of his death being high. He is a high school chemistry teacher and to ensure his family's future, he turns to drugs (methamphetamine to be specific) for money. As he is a chemistry teacher, the cooking part is handled by him pretty professionally and he partners up with none other than Jesse Pinkman for the business.

The events follow with as accuracy and Precision as one can possibly expect from a man made TV Series. The Story is regarded as flawless except one thing that bugged me alot in this show up till season 3 was that even though the story was beautifully crafted but the 'flow was a little slow'. The episode of Fly (Season 3 Episode 10) is like the limit of proportionality of patience. But to be very honest, the following Seasons made up to the mark. Season 4 and 5 are probably the Best 29 episodes one can see in his/her life. Other than story, acting was marvellous which indeed had its part in the TV Show's success. Bryan Cranston was generosly rewarded for his portrayal of the character by Four consecutive Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series Emmy awards. I am a little rating conscious, so my sole reason of starting to watch this show was its rating on IMDB and after witnessing this masterpiece I feel that 9.5/10 (0.5 lost due to slow 3 seasons) is absolutely worth it and I would recommend it to every single soul on Planet Earth to Watch it. The show is undoubtedly an unforgettable one and to top it all off by putting the cherry on the cake:

                    
                        Walter "SAY MY NAME" 
                        Declan "HEISENBERG"
        Walter "YOU ARE GODDAMN RIGHT"

The Devil's Double - Movie 2011

The Devil's Double
by Lee Tamahori
8.4/10

The Movie is based on a true story during the Iran-Iraq war where Latif Yahya (Dominic Cooper), an Iraqi Soldier who is called upon by Saddam Hussein's (Iraqi President) playboy son Uday Hussein (also by Dominic Cooper) in order to become his Fedai (Body Double) who were classmates in school and have great resemblance to each other. At first Latif is reluctant to work for Uday as he is the eldest son of his father and has plans to takeover the family business after him but working for Uday would mean that he leave everything behind and become dead to the rest of the world. Since Uday is a spoiled man who gets whatever he wants, doesn't let go of Latif that easily and makes him work for him rather forcefully. Latif then becomes Uday's brother and carries his place as the double.
Later in the movie Latif working side by side with Uday discovers the dark secrets laying within power and lust, and gets to know the true disgusting nature of Uday. Latif also starts to fall for Uday's paramour Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier) but tries to refrain from her as she is the only one he can't pursue.
Dominic Cooper really outdid himself in this one and handled both the characters very exquisitely with Latif being the sober gentleman and Uday the arrogant and careless person, managing two roles with such different personalities is a pretty complicated task and Dominic has truly displayed his best.
Ludivine Sagnier also did a good job portraying the delicate role as Uday's personal prostitute and some what girlfriend without whom Uday is incomplete and needs her no matter with how many girls he spends time.
The overall direction of the movie was quiet good but the ending looked like it was wrapped up in some kind of haste but this wasn't completely the fault of direction as a big timeline was tried to fit in a span of appox. 2 hrs.
I think the best part of the Movie was Uday's Birthday Party and the events following it.

Reviewed by,
Moiz Khan