Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) is a poor singer looking for success.  When the earnest and naïve young man arrives in a picturesque, canal-centered town, he is quickly befriended by sweet-hearted prostitute, Gulab (Rani Mukherjee), who he charms with his innocence.  As Raj has nowhere to stay, Gulab refers him to the house of the gruff Lilian (Zohra Sehgal), but she doubts that Lilian will let him lodge there.  Lilian is extremely gruff, and tries to toss Raj out, but she’s alone, missing her son, who left 37 years ago to join the army and never returned, and she is charmed by Raj who seems well-suited to fill the need she has for a son.  With a booking at the local tavern and a place to live, Raj is set, but his course is altered when he spots a beautiful woman, Sakina ...

  “Closer” is not a romantic comedy—the concept of romance rarely raises its head and the film is too biting and caustic to be funny, though it’s often witty. The title is somewhat ironic, although not entirely: these four people do get closer, but never close enough. It’s based on Patrick Marber’s 1997 play; his screenplay is as tightly-focused as the play must have been—there are only four characters; no one else even has dialog (other than in passing). It covers four years in the lives of these people, but we see only the beginnings and ends of the love affairs at the center. It’s not as bitter as director Mike Nichol’s earlier “Carnal Knowledge” or as harsh as his debut movie, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”—at the end there’s a hint of a promising future for one character—but is almost as engrossing. Its weakness is a fairly common one for Mike Nichols’ ...

  Despite all the movies I watch, I just don’t get to often enough say, “I just watched a really great movie.” Notice that I didn’t say it was a movie that everyone had to go out and watch. “Catch & Release” probably isn’t for everyone, but for the people who watch it who enjoy a feel-good movie, this Blu-ray disc delivers the goods. The movie starts out in Boulder, Colorado where most of the action takes place. The scene opens with a voice-over by Jennifer Garner at a funeral, which is generally a weird place for a feel-good movie to begin, but the story deepens quickly and picks up speed right out of the gate. Gray (Jennifer Garner) has just lost her husband-to-be in a tragic accident while he was on his bachelor’s party with his friends. Garner has always been a very physical actress when it comes to emotions. She honed ...

  Do you feel the urge to waste 114 minutes of your life? If you answered yes, then “Stomp the Yard” is the film for you. Falling just shy of IMDb’s Bottom 100 (beat out by stiff competition like “Teenwolf Too” and “Thunderpants”), “Stomp the Yard” is as corny and painful as they come. Fulfilling just about every cultural stereotype and screenwriting cliché, the film plays like a tired music video sandwiched between bouts of exhausting melodrama. “Stomp the Yard” explores the world of college step dancing, a highly aggressive and choreographed dance form rooted deep in the history of African-American fraternities/sororities. The film ultimately decides to take itself way too seriously, rousing intermittent fits of awkward laughter which provides the film’s only sense of relief and entertainment. Enter the world of Los Angeles underground dance battles. A hybrid of styles come together, including Krump, breakdancing and hip hop, where teams of dancers square off ...