ROBOCOP

Director: José Padilha
Writers: Joshua Zetumer, Edward Neumeier
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton
Runtime: 117 Minutes
Strength: Strong visuals and action scenes, impressive art direction
Weakness: Forced attempt at creating emotional depth
Showbiz rating: 3.5/5
Plot: In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop - is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.
Review: Set in the near future and directed by Brazilian Jose Padilha, in the RoboCop, the safety of the American people depends on the idea of the nation's streets being policed by robotic drones, which comes to pass when heroic Detroit cop Alex Murphy is devastatingly injured in a hit by a crime overlord, and rebuilt as a robot by scientist Dr Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman). Norton's principled intentions are undermined by scheming industrialist Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton, who has apparently assured Kinnaman that the RoboCop outfit is a 'sissy suit'. Fans of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 film will probably not approve of this Robocop having such human emotions, and, Novak apart, the satirical wit of the original is mostly lacking. But there is plenty of crowd-pleasing action, for the right kind of crowd, and most of the audience who is looking for some solid gunfight and stunt-oriented entertainment will love this movie. For those seeking more depth, some existential questions about what makes us human, if no convincing answers.

Reviewed by Mohammad Haque

***

RAJOTTO

Direction: Iftakar Chowdhury
Cast: Sakib Khan, Bobby, Probir Mitro
Runtime: 150 minutes
Strength: Cinematography
Weakness: Conventional plot, unnecessarily lengthy
Showbiz Rating: 2/5
Plot: Somrat (Sakib Khan) is a hired gangster who fights for establishing authority in the underworld. In the meantime, he meets Rihanna (Bobby) and falls in love. His identity is apparently unknown to the world and Somrat is unwilling to disclose his real identity.
Review: Somrat is an underworld gangster fighting to crush the walls of other hoodlums. He is to be hired for squeezing the syndicate of terrorists with his muscle power. He goes on fighting with injustice and terrorism to establish his own authority - like a one man army. While he fights the terrorists, the stylish and glamorous Rihanna comes to help him out and to avenge the rape of her sister. Finally, we find out that Somrat is actually a CID officer working undercover.
Having a conventional plot and storyline, Rajotto is a movie unveiling the chaos and injustice of our society. The story revolves round the central characters Somrat and Rihanna. The cinematography, Bobby's glamorous presence on screen are strong points of the movie, as are its item songs considering the cinema going crowd of Bangladesh. The music has also attracted the attention of Bangladeshi youth. The song 'Joyboti Konnar Mon' and 'Tomake Valobashi' are two that stood out.
Apart from the conventional movie plot and storyline, the movie Rajotto is very similar to the Indian movie 'Wanted', starring Salman Khan. Anyone who has seen the movie 'Wanted' would immediately infer that Sakib is a law enforcement officer. Also, the attempt to make the item songs somewhat similar to Indian item songs was evident. Sakib Khan's fans will enjoy the movie undoubtedly, but for those waiting for Bangladesh to come up with new and refreshing stories and unique presentations of those stories, this is probably not going to be an enjoying watch.

Reviewed by Mohammad Zahidul Islam 

***

BAD EDUCATION

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Written: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho and Lluís Homar
Runtime: 105 minutes
Strength: Story, script, cast and direction
Weakness: High expectations from the director, which fell through
Showbiz Rating: 4/5
Plot: A young film director is looking for his next project when he receives the unexpected visit of an actor looking for work. The actor claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love. Ángel Andrade, has brought with him a short story titled "The Visit" hoping that Enrique would be interested in making a film out of it giving him the starring role.
Review: Bad Education is not one of Almadovar's best works – it is not as powerful as his others films, such as, Talk to Her, nor is it as extravagantly emotional as All About My Mother, but it is absorbing and playful and sensuous as only this director can be. It's certainly another seductive performance from one of Europe's most distinctive and popular film-makers.
"Nothing is less erotic than an actor looking for work," says Enrique sourly after his first meeting with Ignacio, and this acrid and unsentimental truth shines a light on its implied opposite: nothing is more erotic than an actor in work, an actor passionately inhabiting his part, reveling in both authenticity and artifice. Bad Education is about the pleasure of acting, role-playing and fantasy and the way these things can be used as wish-fulfilment, as a way of journeying back in time and conquering the demons of the past, and the present.
Bad Education shows how the act of memory can be a sort of cine-autobiography, in which our past appears as a portfolio of dramatised scenes lit up in our head, and the way we mentally direct these scenes - how we write, photograph, edit and cast them - are all governed by the need to control how painful they can be and to come to terms with the fact that the past can never be changed. Bad Education is bizarre, florid, perplexing and far-fetched, but absorbing and weirdly moving, too.

Reviewed by Broti Rahman