Appearances can be deceiving, both in people and in the arts. Longtime producer and first-time director Marc Turtletaub crafts together a soft, tender story of a middle-aged woman (Kelly Macdonald – Anna Karenina, No Country for Old Men) searching for an identity she didn’t even know she was searching for in the understated, well-executed Puzzle. It’s a movie that, despite its premise and, specifically, its non-descript trailer, gives life to a well-narrated tone that explores each of its five lead characters in a way you would never think that competitive puzzle-building could. I only saw this movie because I was trying to break my record for the number of films I saw in one year. As I approached triple digits, few remained that caught my eye as something I needed to see. However, the 83% critic/78% audience score for Puzzle was enough for me to try the movie, and I needed only to see the first 15 minutes or so to know that this was a movie I would also be reviewing.
Category Archives: Irfan Khan
Jurassic World (2015)
It’s been 12 years since we last saw the Tyrannosaurus Rex tearing up the supposedly revamped dinosaur park in Jurassic Park III. While much better than the 50% rating it earned on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie pretty much signaled the end of the franchise. Gone were Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. There was talk over the last decade to reinvigorate the series, but nothing ever materialized. Then came the move to call this Jurassic World rather than Jurassic Park IV and add all new players to the game. Had this movie been released in 2005 (to continue the pattern of every three years), I think this movie would have stunk. Even with its 2015 release date, it still could have stunk. But it didn’t stink. It wasn’t the original (93% on Rotten Tomatoes and $350 million domestically + another $50 million on re-release in 2013, not to mention the millions it earned overseas and through rentals). However, it was still very, very good. I’ll go as far as to say that if this was the first movie with Jurassic in the name that it would have earned higher than its respectable 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. With over $200 million drawn on opening weekend, it’s likely to smash any of its predecessors at the box office (by contrast, Jurassic Park earned just $50 million in its first weekend). Regardless, I felt that if the movie received a rating of over 65% fresh, it would probably do very well at the ticket office. I didn’t think it would do this good. But I feel like it deserves its positive reviews and its revenue. It was a very entertaining movie and one that I recommend seeing on the big screen.
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The Lunchbox (2014)
“Sometimes, the wrong train will get you to the right station.” These yearning words of wisdom spoken so matter-of-factly by Ila (Nimrat Kaur – One Night With the King), a lonely yet hopeful housewife in Ritesh Batra’s directorial debut, The Lunchbox, quite simply the best movie through the first eight months of 2014. I am uncertain if this movie will be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award. I hope it will be so that more people will know about it. If it is not, I am not sure I would have ever known about it, let alone see it, if not recommended by my friend David. It further reinforces my appreciation for movie recommendations.
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