Decoding Dan Brown's Inferno

By: Hamza Shafique

Who doesn’t like an engaging mystery thriller and what Robert Langdon series bring to the table is an added element of history and conspiracy. Dan Brown’s fictional world of Robert Langdon is my favorite work in this genre.

Social Connect with Tarana Raja

By: Hamza Shafique 

Josh 97.8 went off air overnight and with that we lost our favorite morning show, Wake Up with Jaggu and Tarana. We recently discovered her and Jaggu’s podcasts through her FB verified page. We contacted Tarana to know what's happening and requested her for our Social Connect segment. We are glad that Tarana agreed and appreciate her positive response.

Phillauri-Movie Review

By: Hamza Shafique
Desi Ratings: 2/5 Star

Directed by: Anshai Lal
Produced by: Anushka Sharma, Kamesh Sharma, Fox Star Studios
Written by: Anvita Dutt
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma, Mehreen Pirzada

I guess Bollywood is not capable to handle different subjects whether it’s Mama’s super Boy in “Flying Jutt” or time traveling mathematician in “Baar Baar Dekho”. Every time there is some unique element in the trailer I get excited and then disappointed. Same happened with “Phillauri”. The idea of a ghost from early 1900s stuck in 2017 and how she gets closure to move on enticed me but honestly I am very disappointed, every element of the film felt amateurish even the acting was inconsistent.

Power Rangers - Short Movie Review

By:Hamza Shafique

Desi Ratings: 3/5 stars

Let’s get our expectation right before we go for Dean Israelite’s Power Rangers. This movie appears to be for Kids and early Teens only. I know there are times when a kid’s film like Harry Porter or Ice Age appeals to grown up audience as well but this might not be the case here, so if you are planning for this film and don’t have kids or any childhood affiliation with Power Rangers franchise I will suggest to leave this one.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - In and Around UAE

By : Hamza Shafique

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in first look seems like a modern fusion of Taj Mahal Agra with Badshahi Mosque Lahore, both built by Mughal rulers.

Food Therapy with Granny's Waffle

By: Hamza Shafique

We thought Granny’s Waffle would be perfect for DDR's ( Dubai Desi Reviews) first post under Food Therapy segment. It's a small café situated on 2^nd floor next to waterfall in Dubai mall.

Social Connect with Kent S. Leung

By: Hamza Shafique
 

We recently noticed Chinese actor Kent S Leung in an upcoming Pakistani Film trailer Chalay Thay Saath (CTS) and thought of him as a perfect celeb to interview for our new segment Social Connect.

Beauty and the Beast - Movie Review

Desi Rating: 3/5 Stars

Directed by: Bill Condon

Screenplay by: Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spiliotopoulos

Produced by: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman

Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Ian Mckellen

Bill Codon’s Beauty and the Beast is an unadulterated live action rendition of 1991 Disney’s Academy Award nominated classic. Who doesn’t know and love these Disney classics. Disney stories are always simple with a strong message and this one is no different.

Beauty and the Beast teaches us, that, compassion, humanity and a good heart are the main criteria to define a
person’s beauty rather than good looks and attractive physical appearance.

Chalay Thay Saath-Trailer Review

Frankly speaking Northern Areas don't impress me any more thanks to the overuse and in some cases misuse in Pakistani movies. It seems like every film maker thinks that sheer beauty of Northern landscape will cover for lack of creativity in their projects.

In the trailer we see friends of Resham (Syra Shehroz) planning a farewell trip for her in Hunza where they pick up a Chinese man played by Kent S Leung. What start as a fun trip soon gets complicated and we see friends who were happily taking selfies earlier, shouting at each other.

Badrinath ki Dulhania - Short Movie Review

Rating: 2/5 Desi Stars
Badrinath ki Dulhania is a good intention film with poor writing and direction. I was not bored neither was I thoroughly entertained. Pace of the film did not drag but still few scenes seemed pointless and unnecessary. Story had a brilliant message but narrative execution was really dull. Film is about a 10th standard pass manchild Badri played by Varun Dhawan falling for career oriented Vaidehi played by Alia Bhatt. Script tells their story along with highlighting important issues like dowry, importance of a career for a women, how men should respect women and also how important finding love is along side career. Story is not new neither complicated and screenplay is very ordinary. I really enjoyed the bus scene where Badri tries to convince Vaidehi to marry him and I was waiting for more scenes like that but there is lack of such situational comic moments in the film.

Logan The Wolverine - Movie Review

Desi Rating : 4/5 stars

Directed by: James Mangold
Produced by: Hutch Parker, Simon Kinberg, Lauren Shuler Donner
Screenplay by: Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green
Story by: James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant, Stephen Merchant

Logan is yet another brilliant film from Marvel universe. It’s not the usual super hero flick where we see high on moral super heroes fighting epic battles with super villains with cities being destroyed, instead Logan takes you to that side of the super hero world which we don’t get to see often. Last time we got something similar, was in “Watchmen” but Logan is much more mature and evolved treatment of the subject. Logan is the third installment in the wolverine series and is inspired from the graphic novel "Old Man Logan", by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Here we see Logan past his prime. Our super hero is no longer in flashy costume and there are no super high tech facilities where half of the people talk in may believe scientific gibberish. For once we see human element of our super human heroes.

March - Playlist

March seems like a good month for movie goers. we have pretty interesting movie releases in almost every genre, which makes it really hard for me to stick to format of 1 film every friday of a month. After carefully reviewing coming soon section of Vox Cinemas UAE and tormenting my self with all sorts of trailers on Youtube, here are the top five picks for five Fridays of March.