Expendables 3

Expendables 3: An Explosive Borefest

Stallone and his new gang accomplish the impossible - putting us to sleep in the midst of explosions and loud music! hell yeah! Epic borefest this expendables series has become. I think its about time they pack up or invest in a writer-director who can actually redeem them from the retirement club - or rather as it would be now, the retirement and action newbie club. 

i rate it a 5/10 
A strict one time watch for Stallone lovers and for Mel Gibson's performance only.


- Pushkaraj S Shirke

BattlereadyX: New Cellucor Supplement Stack Review: by Pushkaraj...

BattlereadyX: New Cellucor Supplement Stack Review: by Pushkaraj...:

Cellucor is one of my fav brands from the world over. Recently launched in India via Neulife and I had an opportunity to seize the entire stack. So i decided to review these supps for those interested in trying out Cellucor or knowing more about the products that it has brought into the Indian Market.

The Cellucor Supps reviewed here are:

CELLUCOR COR WHEY
CELLUCOR BCAAs
CELLUCOR C4 Preworkout
CELLUCOR ZMA (with Longjack for testosterone support)


Do let me know if you found this review helpful and if you would like me to help you out with such honest and unbiased reviews in the future.
Do Subscribe to my channel and hit Like and Share to spread the word.

Pushkaraj S Shirke
K11 Trained Fitness Consultant
Director, Battleready X

Greats of Movie Cinematography

These movies are legendary for their cinematography. If you love photography or cinamatography, these are movies you should watch over and over again! 

Barry Lyndon (1975)

A War Drama. Cinematography by John Alcott. An Irish Drama set in mid 17th Century, Great Battle Sequences and Pleasing Country sides.

“There was no sets involved all shot in the actual locations, and no Diffusion used at all for all those landscape shots. Those Candle light scenes were shot using Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 made by NASA.” - John Alcott

Schindler’s List (1993)

A War Drama. Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski. Biography of Oskar Schindler, a German Businessman, Contains Great Pre / Post WWII Scenes. The Film was shot in Black and white.

“I wanted to give a timeless feel to it, so the viewer wouldnt be aware when it was shot” - Janusz Kaminski

Amelie (2001)

A Romantic Comedy. Cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel. Story of a Shy waitress, who tries changing the lives of others, which also helps her discover Love.

“I love to Play with the Color palatte, shadow-heavy, Scarce but harsh light, great translucent color quality.” - Bruno Delbonnel

I Saw the Devil (ruined by bollywood as EK VILLIAN)

Monkey Rating: 8/10
personally, subjectively, i would rate this movie a 9/10

genre: crime, drama, thriller, gore, slasher

waddabout: When his pregnant fiancee becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, a secret agent blurs the line between good and evil in his pursuit of revenge.

i say: this is one of my favourite films. it has been ruined in india by a substandard remake by the name of 'ek villian'. i saw the devil is gritty, emotional, realistically and artistically gore filled and psychologically precise. it does not waste any time on unwanted scenes, establishes everything at an apt and rapid pace and tells its story in a nerve wrecking manner that is commendable.

The music in the movie holds the entire film together - storytelling in the absence of dialogues. The cinematography is sharp and gritty, left raw on purpose at times to showcase the animalistic rage filled moments : for eg in the scene where the villian shoots the hero with a shot gun (see trailer). The performances by both the leads are PERFECT. The use of art and props as subtext in the film are brilliant - the fishing rod as a weapon to show catch and release, the angel wings in the car to contrast the devil within, the minimalism in the lead characters house to establish loneliness and so on.

i personally cant get enough of this movie. i ahve watched it 3 times in one week. but i suggest kids and people who cant handle blood and gore do not watch this film. AND PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE BOLLYWOOD REMAKE OF THIS INCREDIBLE FILM.



cheers!
Pushkaraj S Shirke

PS: for more reviews and recommendations: www.youtube.com/filmpickle

Robin Williams: In Memorium - The movies that make him an irreplaceable part of our childhood.

Waking up to the news of Robin Williams passing away was surprisingly saddening for me. Knowing that the real Patch Adams of cinema is no more broke my heart somewhere inside. A man whose movies were my childhood introduction to clean humour and honest, emotional performances. RIP Mr. Williams.
As a remembrance and tribute, we at film pickle ditched a movie review this week and instead discussed the movies that make Robin Williams one of the greatest personalities film has ever known:



Robin Williams, your movies will definitely be watched by my kids too. RIP.
- Pushkaraj S Shirke

Don't become a Bad Trainer - or fall prey to one.

BattlereadyX: Don't become a Bad Trainer - or fall prey to one.: Originally published as 'How to tell when a Trainer Sucks' by Christian Thibaudeau | 08/11/14  ...

The Need and Power of a REDUNDANCY plan

Two Is One and One Is None: How Redundancies Increase Your Antifragility

“Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock. But in just a moment, Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He’ll have a world all to himself…without anyone.”

Guardians of the Galaxy

monkey rating: 9/10
its freakiiing awesome

waddabout: 26 years after being abducted from earth, light years away from earth, a human by the name of Peter Quill finds himself being hunted after discovering an orb that is wanted by Ronan the Accuser, an evil warlord of the galaxy. An unlikely band of thieves and misfits come together on this journey which ends up in a quest to save the save their lives, make a lot of money(credits) and save the galaxy.

i say: what you waiting for??? go watch it!!!! it's one of the best superhero movies to ever come out!
Fast paced, hilarious, action packed, adorable characters, amazing CG, well written - and all that without having characters that have been previously established!!!
As a movie and as a piece of film making, this is a brilliant watch!
Just btw, i call dibs on being rocket the racoon alright!

For the complete and detailed review of how, what and why and more watch the video review:


- Pushkaraj S Shirke

A Serbian Film: The most controversial movie review till date

THE MOST DISTURBING FILM YET MOST BRILLIANT PIECE OF REVOLUTIONARY ART EVER. A DARK REPRESENTATION OF THE LIFE AND GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA. EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.

Monkey rating: 7/10
(coz its too disturbing to give it an honest 8)

Genre: horror, mystery, thriller

Waddabout: A retired porn actor who is struggling to fend for his family is lured into an undisclosed contract to make a new movie that will pay him enough for a lifetime. Only to realize that the movie is not like anything he presumed and he must fight to protect not just himself but also his family and friends from this trap that is fast closing around him.

i say: i have never watched a movie so gruesomely disturbing and yet so artistically perfect at the same time. The only way to see this movie without getting into a moral dilemma is to remember that it is a revolutionary slap on the serbian government and how its treats its people. This movie is the angst of the people put into a film. It depicts how the people are fucked by its government (no pun intended there) and the helplessness of the people in such circumstances.
The acting, casting cinematography, music, script and art direction - and make up too are MIND BLOWING.
That is even more impressive when you consider the fact that this is a movie of a first time director. A feat almost impossible to achieve.

This movie is banned in various countries and that decision is quite controversial, but i must say that i approve of the ban to a certain extent. This movie has really disturbing effects in the mind though it is meant to portray the helplessness of the people of Serbia against its government through its story as a metaphor.

Even reviewing it on video was a difficult task for me. as you can see in the detailed video review below, my uncomfortable is evident - and that's a huge thing considering the fact that not many things have the capability to disturb/shock me:


- Pushkaraj S Shirke

In silence

The rain poured loud on the asbestos roof above as he rushed her indoors and shut the umbrella to get in. He set the umbrella in a bucket to drain and made place for her to sit in the tiny little rustic cottage. It was years since they had met each other. It was a chance meeting on a vacation near a place she knew was his village. He was now a shadow of what he had been then. His vibrancy reduced to trembles, his confidence now painted in undertones, his outspoken gestures now reduced to whispers. She had never seen him like this. 

He ambled though the little makeshift kitchen in his single room abode that was part home and part attic - piled with creaking cupboards from above which peeked old steel trunks. She wondered what a man of his meager means hoards in trunks so large. Her 8 year old daughter had a room bigger than his entire house. Leaks on the walls reeked of moulds and you could hear the rats squeak beneath the walls. But it didn't seem to deter him. He still managed to smile back when her gaze met his eye as he fumbled to pour the tea into tiny steel cups. This was the quietest conversation they had ever had. All she could feel for him is pity, but still somehow there was something about him she could not piece together. 

10 years of being apart, being a successful artist and being married to the man of her dreams, there was still something about this man she couldn't comprehend. She wasn't his to keep and yet there was this tenderness in his eyes towards her. The warmth in his concern for even her smallest discomfort was still the same it was so long ago - as if time had never passed between them. 

She half expected him to hold her and kiss her, but he kept his distance. 

"How does it feel like to finally be an artist?" He asked. "It's great" she replied as if by reflex. But then pondered a little and answered him with bare honesty "it's good." 

She paused a while and he waited patiently for her to continue. 

"I guess I was never a great artist. But it was a dream I had and I chased it. That is what makes me happy."

He sipped at his tea and reminded her with a gesture that hers wa getting cold too. 

Taking a sip, she continued "I don't know if I would have been able to even chase this dream, let alone live it, if It weren't for my first collection that sold out." 

"I remember that one" he said. A nostalgia soaked smile returning to his face. 

"It gave me faith that I could live this far fetched dream of mine - and that's what drove me all the way to where I am today."

The room retired to silence for a while. The rains had gone silent. The trickling water from the roof slowed down to a drip ticking like a metronome into the steel pot below. 

"The rains have stopped. And it's getting late. I must go now." She said half apolegetically. 

He just nodded softly and took te empty cup from her hands and said "it was nice to see you again."

Silence ensued again as she got ready to leave, tying back her hair and folding up her umbrella. 

"Funnily, I haven't been able to trace a single purchaser of my first set of paintings." She said as she pulled her kurti straight and dusted it, ready to leave. He turned away to put the glasses back on the sink. 

"If someday I do, I will go and personally thank each one of them. But I bet it got them the same kind of luck they brought me." A giggle lit her face . 

"You still look as beautiful as you did back then when you smile. You better take care of that smile." He said glancing at her from the mirror before turning towards her with a smile. 

There it was again. That smile that she could never figure out. "I will." She replied without a word spoken, with a nod that suggested an understanding that had never died. 

As she left, the cottage was swallowed by silence once again as it drowned into the night. Only interrupted by the muffled engine roar of the car that drove away. 

That night, the croaks of frogs and the chirps of insects were accompanied by the creak of an old trunk being opened with shaky hands, moist eyes and that incomprehensible soft smile. 

An old trunk full of paintings from an artists first work. 

-Pushkaraj S Shirke

19 Reasons Why Hostel Life is a Priceless Experience

on a trekking trip with hostel friends

Life is a hostel is like a life within a life. It has all the essential lessons, just compacted. And even despite that  philosophical overbearing sense, its quite simply the most incredible, and in my opinion, a must have experience ever. I lived 7 years of my life in a hostel as a kid and life was a mixed bag. But I'm sure everyone who's lived in a hostel at any point in time can relate to agree with these few things that we all experienced.
Read on and tell me if I'm wrong:

1. Friends are a mixed bag. The first friends you make are a 50-50 deal - some fade out quickly, some last the longest.

2. Being homesick is natural, but when you return home, you are surprisingly hostel sick. Just goes to prove that its not the place, but the people that really matter.

3. Vandalism, is a beautiful outlet for anger. Let's leave it at that.

4. Late nights make everything amazing. Even if its just painting the people who are fast asleep.

5. There is a beauty in disobedience. Yes, its good to live by the rules, but bending them is awesomer.

6. Food you cook yourself, with friends, even if it is just Maggi cooked in geyser water, is always the best.

7. Getting into a fight and standing your ground is an adrenaline rush. And the people who stand by you then, are like your own band of brothers, your gangs of New York, your dirty dozen. Even if you lose.

8. Team Spirit is a crazy drug, and you'd do some mad shit on it. only to remember many years later how stupid you were. nonetheless, it would make great stories.

9. Taking on the staff is like your own little revolution. They're the government and you're the people. and it feels good to stick it to them once in a while. oh yeah!

10. Having a mentor you can be honest to, can change your life - while keeping you out of shit you shouldn't be into.

11. Bribery and sneakiness is great, but being awarded 'official permission' feels like invincibility. That walk past the corrupt watchman like you own his ass, is a priceless feeling.

12. REVENGE is beautiful. Nothing beats the feeling of taking down a bully. With friends, or in front of everyone, or even if its alone. It's the one payback you need to make in life. Either in the hostel itself, or out of it.

13. 'Group studies' are a myth we shall all propagate - until our kids spin that one on us.

14. Having the most happening room is as much a gift as it is a curse. Only experience can teach you this.

15. Nothing beats being the best at what you do. And it's great to have people need you to be you.

16. Nobody likes a rat. Nobody remembers the person who blends in with everyone. and Nobody respects a bully. BUT EVERYONE, sooner or later, respects the one who stands up for what is right, stands by a friend in genuine need, and knows that apologising to or forgiving someone who deserves it doesn't make a person any smaller.

17. There is a BARTER for EVERYTHING. Food, clothes, homework, favours, anything and everything. You just need to find the right deal and the correct pitch.

18. Simple joys are priceless pieces. Room hopping, sneaking out pointlessly, listening to a new track on loop, bathroom fights, a Friday menu change, a shared snack, staying awake doing stupid stuff, talking 'life' with a friend, a letter that need not be mailed. You remember these things for life, and they always make you smile, even though they don't cost a thing. That's something you hopefully will always remember through life.

19. You can hate it as much as you want, want to break it down, change the system, even wish the warden dead maybe, but in the end, you only remember the most beautiful parts. and you love and miss it all. And its all so worth it.

Now tell me, Isn't life just the same?

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

LUCY

monkeyrating: 5/10

genre: action, sci-fi

waddabout: a simple girl caught in a drug trafficking racket gets accidentally overdosed on the drug making her capable of her absolute brain potential and turning her into a force of destruction and intelligence beyond human levels.

i say: if you want a case study to watch how an amazing concept can be ruined by bad scriptwriting, watch this movie. and here's why:
1. the story is so linear that you know it all within the first 20-30 mins.
2. there is no antagonist/villian/conflict. LUCY is made into a supreme being and then you just sit back and watch the spectacular effects and action. (watch my video review below for details)
3. the movie doesn't transcend genres as the director thought it does, it just muddles them up in its own overdrugged state of confusion.

PEOPLE MIGHT SAY HOW CAN I CALL THE WRITER OF TAKEN, TRANSPORTER 2 and THE FIFTH ELEMENT a BAD WRITER?
if you notcie, all of these films, he has co-written with Robert Mark Kamen - WHO BTW, is the writer of THE KARATE KID. and is quite a genius. 

what is good in the movie though, are scarlett johansenn's performance, the shift in her body language especially, is quite well done. Its not great acting, but its great considering its coming from scarlett, who otherwise is always just a  pretty face with a gorgeous body in every movie.
What is also great are the visual elements of the movie - where as usual, Luc Besson, is spectacular.
The special effects are incredibly beautiful and the documentary style editing is quite neat in the beginning but really starts getting on your nerves later on.

Skip this one i say. At the most, watch it for free on DVD. don't spend theatre monies on this one.

watch the full video review of why the movie sucked and how it could be salvaged: 


- Pushkaraj S Shirke