Timbuktu (Multilingual - Arabic, French, Bambara, etc.)

Well, it depicts the sad state of affairs in a jihadist place. No smoking, no playing, no music, etc. And there are instances of people going against, and consequences to such people. The movie then shows a simple family thrown into a drastic drama - ending is pretty evident. Seemed like an artistic movie, many scenes seemed superfluous. Yet, the movie won lot of awards - Best Foreign Film and many other bests - editing, director, sound, cinematograpy, screenplay, etc. Personally, it wasn't that great for me.
Rating: Average

Wild Tales (Spanish)

One of the most weirdest movies I have ever seen. In fact, not even sure if it can be called as a movie, because it is just a collection of 6 short stories, which are, as the title depicts, indeed very wild. The imagination has truly run loose and all forms of norms are thrown out! It is lunacy at its best and yet at the same time, thrilling and comical in many aspects. The cinematography, narration, scenes, settings are all superb. Each tale is gripping and so close to normal layman life-story. 
Rating: Good

Unstoppable

Had seen parts of this movie long time ago. But came across this movie again, and saw that it is loosely inspired by true events in 2001 in Ohio. So, got the DVD from local lib and saw the movie from the beginning. It is very gripping from Scene One and very well directed to keep the movie in a tight grip all through. Acting by all cast members is good and so is the dialog - some of which are even true. Nice to watch this kinda thriller movie after a long time. A decade ago, this was one of my fav genre & I used to watch a lot of such flicks!
Rating: Good

Golmaal (2006), Golmaal Returns and Golmaal 3

Jovial, as long as you are in a light-hearted mood. No need to tax your brains a lot, or even use it at times! Some hilarious rib-tickling scenes good for a lazy weekend. All movies are in same vein and almost have same set of characters. Fun stuff! 
Rating: Good

Talvar

Wow, what a movie! Gripping and shocking. Three perspectives of the murder mystery shown in equal measure but the middle one seems the most plausible. However, once caught in the hands of justice and political system, there is no way to know where one ends up. Sad to know the state of affairs for Aarushi's parents on whom the movie is made. Superb acting, narration, direction, casting, screenplay, et al. 
Rating: Must-see

Interstellar

A gripping futuristic movie about outer space journey in order to save the earth. At times, it gets overly complicated to understand. Time, space, gravity all get interlinked in multi-dimensional mode and things start getting all boinky. In Earth, time moves the way we know, but when people in blackholes start interacting with Earth beings - the timeshift becomes tough to understand. Fathers start becoming younger than their own children! So, I myself had some black holes in my mind while I was watching this movie!! But enjoyed it nevertheless and even replayed some scenes as soon as the movie ended, just like how I do usually with Must-see movies. Whoever thought and wrote this script is ultra-imaginative!! Matthew's (the hero) acting is outstanding.
Rating: Good

The Intouchables

Wow, what a movie! And a true story at that. What could have been easily a tear-jerker of a tale has been completely churned out as an out-and-out jovial (and at times, even funnily edge-of-seat) experience and equally narrated/directed so. Whoever can imagine the life of a quadriplegic can be led in such an exciting manner. Whoever can imagine a petty thief and con-man to be the best ever care-giver? The story and the movie - Simply brilliant. Now, waiting to read the book!
Language: French
Rating: Must-see

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

Either it was just me or it was the movie. It seemed the plot was too thick, too many twists, too many characters - and somewhere I lost track and just couldn't keep up with the tale. Also, it seemed dubious to me that a detective who rejected (and got hit) by a customer (during introduction phase) goes to such extents to solve the case on his behalf. Story seemed good with grandiose schemes but the movie itself is very dark - both figuratively and literally. Not the kind that I wanted at the time when I saw it...
Rating: Average

Two Countries

A Malayalam movie after a long time. Thoroughly enjoyable. Awesome direction, humor, dialog, acting, setting, story-line, narration - and pretty much everything else that makes a movie. Some lies, some intertwining love triangles, some mistaken identities, some nice lungi-dances by Canadian men near Niagara Falls (!), typical Kerala scenery and typical Canadian life style - all bundled together to become a definite must-see. 

Hera Pheri

I had seen bits and pieces of this movie before but never in entirety. Finally was able to see it this weekend. Nice, light-hearted comedy. Dialog is rib-tickling at times. Paresh Rawal - his acting and his character in the movie - is awesome. Nice time pass.

Rating: Good

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Light-hearted comedy. Extremely complicated happenings. A twist every 5 minutes. Some happenings too far-fetched for reality. But acting, costumes, direction, narration, dialog (especially since the era is a decade ago), cinematography are all superlative and extremely pleasing. The English language is at its best. Definitely worth a watch.
Rating: Good

Death at a Funeral (2007 UK)

Totally hilarious. Remembered Priyadarshan Bollywood movies. There is a comical twist every 5 minutes up until the very last minute. Enjoyed thoroughly. Super casting, acting, story, etc. 
Rating: Must-see

Black Friday

Another Anurag Kashyap movie but this one was better. Though based on a book, it is excellently acted, directed and photographed. Could have been edited better, some chase scenes were avoidably long. Story itself is shocking. Fact that Tiger Memon is still not caught is jaw-dropping. I was not aware much of the 1993 Bombay blasts (I was a 13-year-old in Bangalore who was more interested in Hardy Boys than local news!) and this movie was an eye-opener. Although movie goes back and forth in time, it is still easy to comprehend & follow. Worth watching.
Rating: Good

Bombay Velvet

Movie is set in 1970s during Mumbai's turn of events. The filming, setting, costume, direction, acting all seemed good (considering the bygone era) but story kind of lost steam - especially when you see the hero blasting away his gun in the middle of a gazillion bullets without even getting a single shot. And then the inevitable ending, which is common to all heroes of the genre of Satya, Company, etc. I mean, all that for what - if there is no ingenius twist in the tale? The biggest shocker of the movie was when I saw the screen splashed with 'Interval' when I really thought we had reached the climax. To sit through rest of the movie was a pain.

Rating: Average

The Jungle Book (2016)

Much hyped, much popular, but seemed very amateurish to me with little or no punch. There are some scare-inducing scenes but for what, I have no idea. Went to a theatre to see this movie, Paavani's second. Ambience was good, but the movie caused a head-ache more than any feel-good. Felt if we had avoided it, we wouldn't have regretted.
Rating: Average

Wild

The movie does good justice to the book. So, if one is not interesting in reading the book, this movie suffices. Except for a few short stories here and there, much of the book is depicted in the movie - including the dialog verbatim. It is well made, with an emotional chord running always in the background. Good acting, good casting. I was hoping more of good scenery of PCT but not much is shown. Worth a watch.
Rating: Good

Mantralaya Mahatme

Felt like seeing a Dr Rajkumar movie since it had been a really long time. Came across this movie. Although knew most of the story, still felt like watching it. Role of Raghavendra Swami superbly enacted by Dr Raj...worth a watch once.
Rating: Average

Shakespeare in Love

An extremely witty and intelligent movie. It is purely fictional and yet so tightly woven into actual happenings of 15th Century that it almost seems real. There is Christopher Marlowe's mysterious death, there is Romeo and Juliet, there is Shakespeare, there is character Voila in Twelfth Night, and so many actual facts. Using all of these, a beautiful script is magically woven into this comically genius movie that is not only entertaining but is almost akin to Romeo & Juliet itself! The creation of that era, the setting, the language, the costume, the casting, the acting, everything...Absolutely brilliant!
Rating: Must-see

Conviction

I had two minds prior to seeing this movie. It seemed like a dark, intense movie with not-so-good casting. But the cover page of the DVD was impelling. The movie turned out to be very good, in fact. The direction & narration seamlessly moved from 1980s to 1990s to 1960s, from MA to NY, from law-school to prison. It was as perfect as it could be. The story itself is a stunner, considering it is a true-story. It is such a pity that the victim spent 16 years of life behind bars just because of a egoistic cop. And such an inspiring act by victim's sister to dedicate her whole life to get her brother out - even at the expense of her own life as a wife and mother. 
Rating: Must-see

Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Well. Good sequel. Story continues in the same vein with same casting for same characters. Slightly better than the prequel in terms of direction & story (Meaning - it didn't go from good to worse). Light humor. Madhavan's character portrayal seems to be like a "stupid idiot" a lot. He hardly talks. And once again, the name gives away the ending anyways. Worth only for total time-pass.
Rating: Average