Dhoom 2
Sanjay Gadhvi
Dhoom 2 is Bollywood in all its commercial glory. If you try to find any deeper meaning in this movie or hope to be challenged by the plot, you’re in for a long night. You’re better off forgetting about all that and enjoying Dhoom 2 for what it is. The effects-heavy cops-and-robbers movie borrows heavily from Western blockbusters, with more disguises than the Mission Impossible trilogy, more slow-motion than a John Woo marathon, and more complicated thefts than Oceans Eleven through Thirteen. It even has Entrapment’s crack-thief-apprentice-double-agent-heroine, this time played by the incomparable Aishwarya Rai. Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan plays the master thief, and Abhishek Bachchan the brooding, relentless cop. Bollywood fans won’t be disappointed with the star cast, the hip music, the comedy (intentional or not), the elaborate dance sets, and the (gasp!) on-screen kiss. Merchant Ivory fans will leave the theater. And basketball fans will cringe at the worst one-on-one game ever caught on camera. Click on the image to buy now!
 

300
Zack Snyder
I’m going to preface all of this by saying I loved this movie adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic comic book. 300 tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans made their legendary last stand against Xerxes’ Persian horde. While the historical battle has passed into lore as one of the world’s greatest acts of heroism, the movie version blurs the line between dignity and dementia. Leonidas (a star-making role for Gerard Butler) and his ridiculously buff crew often look positively unhinged, and while the soldier-culture of the Spartans is well captured, other elements of their society are not. The silly “dude, I’m not gay, you’re gay!” interchanges in the movie contradict a time and place in which homosexuality was certainly commonplace. And the genetic cross-bred trolls and behemoths thrown against the Spartans are quite unnecessary. So enjoy the spectacle, the seductive, dark mood, and the beautiful, bloody battles … but take it all with a pinch of Spartan salt.
 

Trick 2
Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Trick 2, the second movie adaptation of the hit Japanese TV series, continues the adventures of the oddball pair of Jiro Ueda, a Physics professor and Naoko Yamada, an amateur psychic. As in the series, they join forces to combat fake supernatural phenomena. It’s a typically Japanese creation, with campy special effects, inexpert subtitles, and some amusing slapstick. (The fight scenes, complete with extendable fists, are particularly ridiculous.) The sequel sets the duo against a nefarious “psychic” who has commandeered an island and established a fanatic cult called “God of Box”. To enjoy the movie, you need to have some appreciation for Japanese comedy and culture.