Trevorrow’s hold on the proceedings is firm and it helps that the visual effects are absolutely first-rate. As the movie hurtles towards a massive climax that becomes a chance for at least one raptor to display admirable acting chops, it redeems itself and ends up becoming the best among the sequels in this franchise. However, in its effort to pay tribute, it misses out on the vital human touch that made ‘Jurassic Park’ one of the most enduring blockbusters in Hollywood history.

‘Hamari…’ is a ham-fest that wallows in the kind of melodrama that Hindi cinema left behind a while ago, only shot with such lens flare much wow. It is difficult to see actors of Balan and Rao’s stature plod through a script that’s this clichéd and take it seriously, resulting in career-worst performances from both of them.

As in the first movie, the biggest problem with ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ is the complete lack of insight into what makes the lead pair — or anyone, really — fall in love with each other. According to the film, Manu is an intelligent, sensible guy, but his actions defy logic. By the time the proceedings roll towards an end, the film is firmly from his point-of-view, and both Kanganas exist only to show that there are basically two kinds of women: hysterical and self-centered; and sober and self-sacrificial.

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is a rare action movie in today’s times in that that it looks and feels like the product of a fully realised vision. It possesses the vital ingredient missing in most CGI-laden summer blockbusters: a sense of clockwork synchronicity between its various departments. The cinematography, costumes, make-up, background score, and action sequences don’t come across as disparate elements fighting individually for the viewer’s attention — they work as one unit to serve the script and that alone.

Piku is a movie that urges one to approach life with healthy amounts of levity. It isn’t perfect, sure, but it achieves the unique distinction of being a crowd-pleaser while spending a considerable amount of screen-time talking about Things You Don’t Talk About, Ever.

Sadly, Ekkees is a film that was filled with potential but is undone by its flaws – much like the system it attempts to satirise.

If we get a movie better than Haider in the remainder of 2014, let’s count this as a really good year. At this point, the chances of that happening don’t seem likely.

Mardaani is a better commercial film than most and Sarkar’s best film since Parineeta. However, if there is one solid reason to watch this movie, it’s Bhasin’s Walter-White-as-played-by-Seth-Green act. The young actor, who was impressive even in his brief appearance in One By Two earlier this year, seems like a talent to watch out for. Next time, hopefully, he’ll have more meat to chew on.

Amit Sahni…, on the other hand, is a movie that never really had any ambition to begin with. A standard story of a typically yuppie investment banker (Das as an awkward version of himself) is looking for love based on a list he made in college after a bad break-up. It appears to be a painful rehash of familiar plot-lines from sitcoms like Seinfeld, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and more.

Andy Serkis is God.
That’s it. Those four words up there are pretty much all you need to hear in terms of a reason to go watch Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes in theatres.