The covers of The Capitalist Unconscious, Munich Airport and The Room are beyond imagination.
1. The Capitalist Unconscious
2. Munich Airport
3. Satin Island
4. Weathering
5. The Room
6. The Utopia of Rules
7. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
8. The Seven Good Years
9. Generation
10. Syriza: Inside the Labyrinth
Some of 2015 movie posters have been amazing, especially our superhero movie posters!
Frankly 2014 had better posters than 2015.
10. The Martian
9. Dope
8. The End of the Tour
7. Avengers: Age of Ultron
6. Macbeth
5. Raiders
4. Spectre
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service
2. Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter
1. Ant-Man
2013 had a lot of picturesque covers, but 2014 has gone miles ahead and the covers have designs never imagined before. Some covers are so beautiful that you will definitely judge the book by its cover!
1. My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
2. Amnesia by Peter Carey
3. All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
4. Infidelities by Kirsty Gunn
5. Your Face in Mine by Jess Row
6. Euphoria by Lily King
7. Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
8. Half Bad by Sally Green
9. The Iceland by Sakutaro Hagiwara
10. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Crime will always be the most dominating genre in any library. There are so many murderers out there who we want to be psychos, and so many detectives who should also be psychos. The unraveling of a mystery and the unmasking of a character still remain the most dramatic moments for us.
1. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
2. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
3.The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
4. The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly
5. The Son by Jo Nesbo
6. The Secret Place by Tana French
7. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
8. The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
9. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
10. Mean Streak by Sandra Brown
The world of books comes with a wide range of genres and if you like a lot of them you are hellbound to read over 50 books in a year. Some of the voracious readers read over a hundred. In a tumultuous world we mostly relish fiction. Unimaginable crimes and captivating fantasies are bestsellers everywhere. Some fall for the romances while some take refuge and inspiration from the non-fictions.
1. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
2. Station Eleven by Emily Mandel
3. The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
5. Mr. Mercedes by Stephne King
6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
7. Euphoria by Lily King
8. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
9. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
10. No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald
Posters are witnessing a stiff competition as it has become an uphill task to make something different and likeable. The use of graphic posters has increased with almost every film coming up with one for itself. Interstellar and Godzilla have had notable posters in 2014.
1. Interstellar
2. Godzilla
3. The Amazing Spiderman 2
4. The Babadook
5. The Quiet Ones
6. Gone Girl
7. Inherent Vice
8. Big Hero 6
9. The Purge: Anarchy
10. Dracula Untold
2014 was a year anticipated for the inception of film franchises, sci-fis and most of them turned out to be superb. Interstellar, Gone Girl and Guardians of the Galaxy delivered more than anyone expected.
1. Interstellar
Interstellar is Christopher Nolan’s best as a writer and easily the best original screenplay of 2014. This space odyssey about the survival of the human race has its unexpected twists and theories making it the most accomplished film of the year with Mathew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain delivering supreme performances.
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
They are all back together and the fun of all X-Men movies is summed up into this extravaganza. X-Men: Days of Future Past is a meticulous display of taut writing and scintillating performances. This feature film exceeds your massive expectations by reasons only known to its makers.
3. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
The final chapter of the Hobbit series is the best fantasy movie of the year. Bilbo Baggin’s journey back again to the Shire from Erebor is not as easy as it seemed. Armies of Dwarves, Elves, Men and Orcs clash for the wealth of the mountain.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is the biggest surprise of 2014. No one expected it to be a huge success. Despite its mediocre star cast and trailers the film turned out to be an absolute entertainer.
5. Gone Girl
David Fincher’s Gone Girl was the most difficult film to be successfully made. The mystery of a missing wife on her anniversary turns out to be a nightmare. Rosamund Pyke and Ben Affleck give Oscar winning performances.
6.Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This is the first Captain America film after his brief introduction as The First Avenger and shared screen space in The Avengers. Cap 2 is a heavy duty action film in which Steve Rogers faces his old pal with the help of Agent Romanoff.
7. Transformers: Age of Extinction
This is kind of a semi-reboot to the Transformers franchise. Michael Bay gets Mark Walberg to play the lead in Age of Extinction where Autobots are hunted down until the rise of Optimus Prime.
8. The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay – Part 1
Mocking Jay – Part 1 is the set up for the ultimate finale next year. A lot does not happen in it but it is enough to captivate you for its running time. Jennifer Lawrence grows as an actor with every film.
9. The Lego Movie
Innovation is exemplified in Phil Lordand Christopher Miller’s animation laugh riot. A simpleton guy is handed the reins of the Lego universe to save it.
10. The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner emerges as a stunning surprise unlike the herd of YA tryouts since Twilight and The Hunger Games. It’s a story about a bunch of boys trapped in a maze filled with death.
Make a TV series about Batman sans Batman and there will still be a plethora of fans who will fantasize about it. This year’s most anticipated series Fox’s Gotham premiered this fall. Created by The Mentalist‘s Bruno Heller, Gotham is a pretext for celebrating Batman. It is like the Transformers sequels that you will watch no matter what you hear about them.
The pilot is more of an extended teaser to a lot of characters. Just like Christopher Nolan had his Batman Begins in his The Dark Knight trilogy, Gotham will have its own Riddler Rocks, Ivy’s Inception etc. The pilot starts with a little Seline Kyle’s Catwoman jumping rooftops to end up witnessing the murders of mugged Thomas and Martha Wayne alongside Bruce Wayne. The series has new joinee James Gorden as its protagonist played by Ben McKenzie. Jim is paired with Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) who is one of the many contacts of crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Doman) in the police department. Jim and Harvey are assigned to the Wayne murders, which Harvey is reluctant to take but Jim ends up promising justice to the bereaved child. Jada Pinkett Smith plays Fish Mooney, a mob leader, conspiring to overthrow her boss Falcone. Sean Pertwee is the new Alfred Pennyworth and is way different than that of Michael Caine. Jim is engaged to Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) although nothing substantial is revealed about their relationship.
The episode gives feelers of the upcoming Batman villains. A cherubic introvert girl Ivy is heartbroken when her father is used as bait for the Wayne murders by the GPD. Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) is a forensic experts having a knack of talking in riddles. The character who steals the episode is Oswald Cobblepot. Played by Robin Lord Taylor, Oswald is Mooney’s minion and is mocked as “Penguin” for his appearance. Penguin can be Gotham’s Joker as Robin plays him as if he was born for it. Gotham is an attractive idea but what keeps us wondering is how these characters will form a commendable story without the capped crusader.
Everyone postulated that the fate of the adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult hit book The Maze Runner will not be a merry one. But the film emerges as a stunning surprise unlike the herd of YA tryouts since Twilight and The Hunger Games. The Maze Runner springs an anomaly because of it’s focus on the don’ts rather than the do’s of YA adaptations.
The Maze Runner starts downright with a memory-less Dylan O’Brien heading up in a cage into a grassy arena called the Glade led by Alby (Aml Ameen). The Glade is surrounded on all sides by 100 feet tall walls concealing the former in the center of a giant maze. The walls of the Glade are open throughout the day for the boyland to explore the ever-changing maze. During the night the walls remain closed but the maze is raided by bio-mechanical creatures called Grievers who sting the Gladers to death. The Glade is a structured system with rules for its survival consisting of Runners to navigate the maze, Builders, Medics and Chefs. Thomas Brodie-Sangster (of Game of Thrones fame) plays Newt, Alby’s substitute, and Blake Cooper plays the youngest Glader and brings out the comic moments in the film. Will Poulter (We’re the Millers) plays dominant bully Gally. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) remembers only his name in a day just like every other boy. Things go awry when Thomas goes rogue breaking every code of the Glade and manages to survive a night inside the maze. Suddenly a sex ratio springs with a advent of a girl Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) who is the last person to be sent to the Glade. Thomas’ antics lead to guys getting stung in the day and the doors remaining ajar in the night for the invasion of Grievers, leaving them with no choice but to escape through the maze.
First-time director Wes Ball, previously just a visual effects expert, was handed reins of this films based on an 8-minute CGI fim. Ball pulls off a more than commendable job with a $34 million budget. He keeps character development at bay and keeps the plot ticking, albeit he does take his sweet time in showing us the maze. The visual effects are laudable. The screenplay is watertight knowing its direction to climax which has its own climax. Ball also extracts supreme performances from every young actor. The Maze Runner is a must watch for the young adult genre and is easily comparable to The Hunger Games.
Crime is the most realistic a genre can get. If you like the ongoing obsession called True Detective, just dump this review and run to a theater to watch the Scott Frank’s deceitful craft A Walk Among the Tombstones, based upon Lawrence Block’s 1992 novel of the same title. Liam Neeson plays illegal private detective Matthew Scudder assigned a reluctant case of a barbarous gay couple who kidnap a drug trafficker Kenny Kristo’s beautiful wife. Kenny pays the ransom only to be served with wrapped severed body parts of his wife, deeming the killers nothing less than psychos who turn out to serial.
Tombstones is unlike Taken and the stint of films Neeson had after that. He is a solo protagonist but not the predictable character that will end the film with all being well. The best part is that the serial murders have nothing to do with Scudder’s personal life. He is never the target. He won’t directly care about his unavoidable teen sidekick TJ (Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley), but he is resourceful when it comes to work sans his gun. The film gives a rush of Taken in a telephone conversation involving Scudder dominating the villain, but that’s all. Scudder is a serious persona with a wry humor and his chemistry with TJ is amusing.
Writer-director Scott Frank is a reviver for this desperately needed cinema. He derives influences from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Steven Splielberg’s Munich for this one. Tombstones hardly wavers from its prime plot. There is no scene singly specifying any personal aspect of any character, not even that of the serial killers. He has kept the film gory in a passive manner instead of visual ranting. Also you never what you might be shown next. The film has brilliant performances from other lesser known actors. The depiction of Brooklyn in 1999 is artistic. The film comes off more as a surprise from Neeson’s side. Let’s just hope this is a start to a film series!
AKASH PATIL 