New York : by Kabir Khan

New York is a sensitive portrayal of the lives of Asian community post 9/11 in the big apple and director Kabir Khan gets the due credit for it.

Story begins with the interrogation scenes between Neil and Irffan Khan (reprising his role as a cop a la' Slumdog , please don't typecast you self .. it would be a waste of talent ! )

The tet-e-tet between the two leads the audience into a flash back when Neil joins the NYSU as a graduate student.

The first half has its moments like the Chess Match between John and Neil , the Junoon song and Neil breaking down upon heartbreak.

The last half an hour before the break , brings the real drama into the flick with Irffan's motives come to fore , and Neil's predicament.

The post-interval gives you the insight into the plight of the Muslims post 9/11 and John just takes the cake with big big cherry on top... he has come of age ...

Neil playing Omar has done a remarkable job and I have been a fan since Johhny Gaddar.

Climax , gives you a feel of a Hollywood production , with superlative edge-of-the-seat execution.

All in all , Kabir Khan brings out a great storyline , churning incredible performances and perfect message.

Rating : 3.0 /5.0

Special Mention : Awesome Cinematography blew me away , New York never seen before.

Training Day : by Antoine Fuqua

Training Day is a story of a novice cop who is given a day to learn the tricks of busting up Narcotics Racket in LA.

Ethan Hawke plays Jake , the amateur LAPD cop and Denzel Washington plays Alonzo Harris , the weirdo Narcotics Detective.

Alonzo is entrusted with the job to impart training to Jake for a day and this forms the boundaries of the film.

The director has shot pretty authentic stuff ranging from the street brawls of LA to niggers & pimps dirtying the streets with drugs and booze.

The movie itself tends to linger along with no particular direction. Ethan Hawke does his best to play the confused nascent cop who has just given parking tickets past 9 months of his duty.

Denzel has put in a sterling performance and the oscar was truly deserved.

Apart from the performances , the film didn't impress me much in terms of the screenplay and the objective behind the storyline.

Strictly for Denzel fans ....

Rating : 2.5 / 5.0

Monsters , Inc. : by Peter Docter

Pixar has always amazed me with their animation histrinoics , and I was surprised to miss Monsters, Inc earlier in 2001.

Luckily got hold of the rip and was instantly spellbound....

Monsters, Inc. is about this big enterprise , having monsters as its employees , with the vision of sapping as much energy as they can for the town of Monstrapolis.

The mechanism to do so is the USP of the movie. The Monsters scare children and collect their screams to the generate the power.

The concept simply blew me away , Pixar has proven it time and again.

The characterization is as always is unique and spot on. The milieu and the animation lends the backbone of the flick.

Mike Wazowski & James P. Sullivan (the top scarer of Monsters, Inc.) make an adorable pair and bring the house down on many instances in the movie.

"We scare because We care" .... Go for it .....

P.S : But for me the best pixar animation movie still is "Wall-E" till I get to see the

Peter Docter's next " UP " and I am eager to catch it soon.

Rating : 4.5 / 5.0