The Top 5 Largest Aircraft in the World

Let’s take a look at top five world’s largest aircrafts up to this day. These immense flying objects really impress!

The first prize goes fairly to Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya which is acknowledged to be the world’s largest plane up to date. The plane made its first flight in 1988, on December 21. This really huge thing was built exceptionally for military purposes, in particular for carrying the Buran orbiter (Russian Space Shuttle). The developers of An-225 aircraft used a base of An-124 and increased sufficiently its engine capacity. 6 engines are used in the An-225 instead of 4 in An-124 as well as twin nail. The aircraft is the heaviest up to date: its maximum takeover weight is more than 640 tons.

Today there is only one An-225 in service.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is the Mozart of football, says Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that watching Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero play is like listening to Mozart.

Pochettino said Spurs would aim to stop Aguero from scoring in their league fixture against City, at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Aguero already has six goals in 2014, and also scored 28 goals, as City clinched the title in 2013-14.

The Spur's boss further elaborated that his side would do what it takes to stop the Argentine from scoring, and also labeled him as the 'best striker in the world'.

Aguero and Yaya Toure, recently scored in the 2-0 win at Aston Villa, to lift City into second spot behind leaders Chelsea. 

Aishwarya is my anchor

Abhishek Bachchan gets candid about work, family and how he feels he will always be in his father's shadow.

Being happy in whatever he does is most important for Abhishek Bachchan. And that's something that comes across in his interview with Niranjan Iyengar on Look Who's Talking.

The actor elaborates, "I was really sad when Khele Hum Jee Jaan Se didn't get the response it deserved. I believed that freedom fighter deserved a better response. At that time, what the film's director Ashutosh Gowariker told me, really hit me. He said, 'Set a goal for yourself and be happy when you achieve it. Be happy when you do your work perfectly. Don't care about the world. You can't lose yourself in quests of pleasing others. It's of no use.' "

"Going back to a happy, healthy family at the end of the day is more important than being successful," says AB Jr. He confesses that he's more like his mother than his father and even acts like her. "I am a people's person like her. I am very outgoing. My dad is a loner. He likes to have us around. He would call us in his study and we used to sit there for hours without saying a word. We were never brought up as star kids. We were any other normal family," he admits.

About his soulmate, Abhishek says they were meant to be. "Aishwarya is like an anchor for me. My parents had always given me the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I was carefree. After marriage and my daughter's arrival, I have become more responsible. She is my buddy, a friend. I can discuss anything with her. Our relationship is not based on her being the Aishwarya Rai or me coming from an illustrious family. It is just about two people falling in love which was organically grown. We shot three films back-to-back for a year at that time. It started during Guru. We were meant to be, it's destiny."

And about his daughter, Abhishek says that, at times, Aaradhya behaves older than him! "She is a very easy, very happy, very loving kid. Aishwarya has to be given the credit for the same. She is always around for Aaradhya. Even when Aishwarya will start working, there won't be any problem as she is very organised. She thinks about everything beforehand. I have only once changed a diaper as Aishwarya is so prompt that she hardly gives anyone else a chance to do anything. I will never do anything that will bring shame to my daughter today or 10 years down the line."

Shyness is a trait that comes easily to him. "I cannot walk into a room alone (restaurants, public spaces). So, the mobile phone is a boon. I pretend that I am on call if I have to be alone in public spaces!"

One has rarely spotted him without a beard. The face fuzz has been a constant feature since he was studying abroad he had long hair and a beard. "I look very innocent and immature without a stubble," he grins.

And no, he is not obsessed about looking good on screen. "I am not a vain person. I am in the wrong profession, I guess. I feel I don't have to look good onscreen all the time. I should look the character," he shares. It's the same about skin show. He feels that one doesn't have to take out his shirt just because he has a good physique. "If it's the need of the character then fine. I give a lot of importance to physicality as it's an important part of getting into character. That is why I had put on a lot of weight for Guru," he says.

What was his most difficult scene, Abhishek said that Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa (KANK) was a challenging film. "Hrishi's character was really difficult. I had to play a man who's innocent like a kid. In a particular scene where I meet Rani (Mukerji) for the first time after we split up and I have to inform her that my dad is dead and hand over his photo. My dad (Amitabh) is playing that character and it's his photo I am holding in my hand. It was most difficult scene of my life. There are few moments in every actor's life where it's more personal than acting. The scene started and I was holding my dad's picture and say that he is dead. After the scene I just broke down and started crying. I was sitting in a corner and Karan came up to me as he understood what I was feeling. He just hugged me as he too was missing his dad. He teared up too; even Rani started crying looking at us. It was too special. Micky (Contractor) took me for a long drive after that where I told I am in love with Aishwarya. We were not dating then."

Abhishek is sensitive to criticism. Ravan, he said, was a very tough film for him both physically and mentally. "Media criticism after the film was disheartening. I lost my confidence after that. There were times when I did not want to go home as I used to feel that I am not worthy of father's name. I am still picking pieces after that. I understand as public figures we are subjected to public scrutiny. But we actors are human beings too with real feelings. One doesn't need to be shown mirror in public on weekly basis."

But this serious side aside, he's a known prankster who loves to fool around and have fun. "I am free-spirited. I have worked on different levels of film-making, so I am comfortable with people on set. I too have lot of inhibitions as an actor. Mingling with others on the set and having fun helps me manage that," he says, adding that it bothers him when people think he is not serious about his work because he is funny.

A Roadmap to the Future of Marketing

Nailed it. That’s what I thought as soon as I saw the image below from MediaPlant’s report sponsored by Microsoft, Dollars, Bits, and Atoms: A Roadmap to the Future of Marketing. It’s a well-thought out and practical look at how technology is evolving to enable more effective marketing strategies. One diagram stood out as we’ve been assisting companies develop their online marketing strategies so I’ve included it below.

Marketing is in a state of transition, driven by changes in technology, demographics, and society. This map visualizes trends identified by industry leaders and experts, showing relationships between technologies and marketing tactics, and where the industry is headed.

I didn’t want to share too much – be sure to read through the entire collection of reports at MediaPlant. MediaPlant is a communications firm specializing in B2B marketing, strategy, and technical development. Author Rob Salkowitz is an internationally recognized author and expert in entrepreneurship, innovation, and the disruptive effects of technology on business. Be sure to read this report and others at MediaPlant.

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood accused of plagiarism

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has been accused of plagiarism in her self-titled biography which was released earlier this week.

According to the author of The Look: Adventures in Rock and Pop Fashion, Paul Gorman, the Birt-born designer has copied numerous passages almost verbatim from the work in her self-titled biography which was released last week, counting 29 instances of plagiarism altogether, reported The Independent.

The book was written in collaboration with historian and biographer Ian Kelly and is also said to include both grammatical and factual errors, including false claims the fashion legend thought up the idea and title for punk rockers, the Sex Pistols' track Sons of Anarchy.

Both the 73-year-old fashion designer and the publishers Pan MacMillan are yet to respond to the accusations surrounding the work through which Ian claimed he was pleased to have finally told the 'truth' about the 'huge-hearted' designer.

The biography follows the life of the fashion legend from her upbringing in rural Derbyshire, her career and her relationships with her husband and business partner Malcolm McLaren, as well as her second marriage to her former student Andreas Kronthal.

The work also features heartfelt letters from Vivienne's close friends - which throughout her life have included Pamela Anderson, Prince Charles, human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabati, models Naomi Campbell and Jerry Hall, Bob Geldof and Julian Assange

Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi clarifies 'Chopping hands' remark, calls it a Hindi idiom

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday said that his 'chopping hands off' comment was not literal, and added that he was using an idiom to say that he would restrict the powers of doctors if they treated patients unfairly. "They should have knowledge about Hindi idioms, chopping off hands means restricting rights. I did not mean literally chopping hands off. By cutting hands, I meant restricting their powers," said Manjhi.

Earlier today, Manjhi had said that he will cut off the hands of those found playing with the lives of the poor, referring to doctors who have been treating those injured in the recent Gandhi Maidan stampede. The Bihar Chief Minister's comment garnered criticism from various political parties with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Siddharth Nath asking the leader to apologize.

"It is unfortunate that the chief minister is making such statements. It is not easy to become a doctor and saying that we will chop their hands is very disappointing. He should apologize of such a thing," Singh said. Thirty-three people lost their lives and several injured in the stampede that took place at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 3 during the Dussehra celebrations.

All the patients are provided free of cost treatment at the PMCH. 

Australian professor suspended over racist email

An Australian professor has been suspended by The University of Sydney for sending racist emails. According to the BBC, Prof Barry Spurr referred to Aboriginal people as "human rubbish tips" and used racist terms to refer to Muslims and Asians in Australia.

The professor of poetry, however, maintains that the emails sent were part of a "whimsical" game, but students are calling for termination of his services. The emails procured by Australian magazine New Matilda, were sent to a lot of people at the university, including officials and academics, between September 2012 and late 2014. Prof Spurr, in his emails, referred to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott an "Abo-lover" - an offensive term for Aborigines - and to Nelson Mandela as a "darky", the report says.

The university said in a statement "racist, sexist or offensive language is not tolerated at the University of Sydney." 

Hoax caller threatens to blow up Jaipur police station

An unidentified person made a hoax call threatening to blow up the Gandhi Nagar police station here, police said on Saturday. "The caller on Friday threatened to blow up the police station in 10 minutes. A thorough checking was done, but no suspicious object was found around the police station," SHO of Gandhi Nagar Bhanwar Lal said on Friday.

"The call was made to the landline number of the police station. The number displayed was from Pakistan. The Anti-Terrorist Squad has been informed about the matter and it is probing the incident," he said. 

Angelina Jolie `totally transformed` for `Maleficent`

Costume designer of 'Maleficent', Justin Smith, has revealed that the entire crew had been struck by Angelina Jolie's complete transformation for the role.

Smith said that the 39-year-old star was very involved during the designing of her iconic and fabulous look for the Disney film, Daily Express reported.

The 'Tomb Raider' actress had been no stranger to controversy or bold creative experiments and 'Maleficent's' spectacular horns were famously a passion project for her. The designer also said that Jolie's children had taken a while to get used to their mother's new look. But then Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne, were equally involved and so was hubby Brad Pitt.

Smith added that Jolie was a very loyal artist and her team shall be very much a family from now on. 

Alexander Wang wants to design sportswear

Designer Alexander Wang wants to design more sportswear.

The 30-year-old fashion designer, who recently unveiled his new active wear-inspired collection for high street label H&M, has revealed he is keen to continue his foray into sportswear and wants to make the styles a more permanent feature in his collections, reported Vogue.

"Approaching active wear was exciting for me as I've always wanted to do it, but having that access to the resources - the factories and the garment mills - was a completely different process to what I usually do," Wang said. "It's a whole new skill set. 

You have to do your due diligence and testing, but it is something that I have so much passion and love for, that I'd love to have a future opportunity to do something like this that is more permanent." 

Dia Mirza Puts A Ring On Sahil Sangha

Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha pose for the photographers at their engagement in Delhi.

Dia Mirza got engaged to her long time beau and business partner Sahil Sangha, in a private ceremony in New Delhi's Chhatarpur Farms on October 17

  Bollywood actress Dia Mirza got engaged to her long time beau and business partner Sahil Sangha, in a private ceremony in New Delhi's Chhatarpur Farms on October 17. The couple will get married on October 18 in the Capital.

 

Dia looked radiant in a blue and gold Anita Dongre lehenga, which she accesorised with matching kundan jewellery, while she interacted with the media joined by her fiance.

 

The ceremony was attended by her family and close friends. Dia is likely to host a lavish reception for her colleagues in Mumbai.

Sahil had proposed to Dia in New York in April this year, after their visit to an award show in Tampa Bay.

 

The duo co-own a production house called Born Free Entertainment, which released its second project Bobby Jasoos earlier this year, featuring actress Vidya Balan in the lead role.

'I'm Still Here': This 113-Year-Old Had to Lie About Her Age to Facebook

At 113, Anna Stoehr is probably the oldest woman in Minnesota, United States. She was born even before her family home had a phone or electric lights. But if you think she is infirm or incapable in any way, you couldn't be more wrong.

Anna's zest for life is heartening and her readiness to embrace modern technology is adorable beyond words. She is learning how to send e-mails, FaceTime and use Facebook.

However, before she could get on to the social networking site, she had to lie about her age. Yup! Since Facebook's year of birth option starts from 1905, Anna, who was born in 1900, had to fake her age to create a profile.

"I'm still here," she wrote in a letter to Facebook.

Unbelievable Kitchen Appliances You'll Love - Part II

I think I just fell in love with technology a little more. 

When gadgets work in tandem with your kitchen needs, it's a match made in technology heaven. 

I tip my hat to the inventors for coming up with these handy devices, considerably decreasing our work load and making life a tad easier. 

If you're worried about handling a gadget, these are simple and klutz-proof and it's safe to say anyone can use them. 

Cooked too much spaghetti as usual? Let that be a thing of the past with a nifty Spaghetti Measurer. It tells you how much Spaghettiis enough for one to four people. 

Another variant is the aptly named 'I Could Eat a Horse' measurer, which does the same job whilst adding a dash of humour. 

Tea for two please. Green tea for Mrs. Sharma and a red one for her husband? Fear not when you have a teapot that holds two different kinds of tea!

Securely stick an iPad to your fridge to listen to music in the kitchen, jot down shopping lists or view a recipe while cooking.

A One-Step Corn Kerneler that removes all the corn kernels in one swift motion!

Take your everyday water up a notch with this flavor-infusing water bottle.

Finally a coffee cup that tells people when it's safe to talk to you in the morning.

Imagine a machine that churns out rotis at will. Just add flour, water and oil to dedicated slots in the Rotimatic machine, and it kneads, rolls and makes rotis automatically! There are also options for oil, thickness and roast levels.

White salt is so 2013. Colored Margarita Salt to the rescue. Pretty colours for pretty drinks.

If you watch what you eat, this Digital Nutrition Scale computes calories, calories from protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates and so much more.

A toaster that not only comes with a message board to write notes on but with the ability to toast the message on the bread itself!

In the unlikely event of you not finishing a bag of chips, this tool re-seals the bag and locks in the flavour and freshness. 

Nevermind the reasons, sometimes you just need a shot glass. This mold makes it all possible by giving you four fully-formed shot glasses made of ice in no time!

Burnt toast no more! All hail the See-Through Toaster.

Moms will love this. Keep an item in the safe, set the timer and the safe won't open till the timer reaches zero. Time to build that much hated practice of self-control, kids. 

Not all of us are lucky enough to have efficient house-help at hand, but we can have the next best thing - smart kitchen gadgets that take the load off. 

These aren't 'save your salary for three months and then some' kind of tools, just simple ones that come with one clear idea to solve the most annoying kitchen problems. 

I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Never-Soggy Cereal Bowl

Get that crunch back: A bowl with separate compartments for milk and cereal, genius!

Desk Microwave Oven

Good things do come in small packages. Warm up your lunch right at your desk using a USB cable. That's right. 

A Plate Clip For Your Wine Glass

Life's good when you're holding a plate full of food and a wine glass at a party, except when a handshake comes your way. Here's to no more awkward juggling and wobbling.

Ramen Spoon and Fork

Spork: A spoon for the broth and a fork for noodles in one!

Spice Book

You can buy, wash, chop, grind and store spices, or you can just tear-and-use them out of a book!

Pineapple Peeler 

Like a lot of other people, if I have to peel and core a pineapple, I'd rather skip eating it altogether. Introducing, this God-sent peeler, which does the job in seconds.  

Chopping Board and Scale

Chop and weigh your veggies at the same time!

Floating Mug

The no-coaster-required coffee mug: I'd buy it just for the design, but it eliminates ugly rings on the table too!

Toasted Selfie

Toast bread with your selfie on it because why not?

Heated Butter Knife

World's first knife that solves the world's biggest problem - cold butter that's impossible to spread on toast.

Egg Yolk Separator

No more sticky, gooey hands, everyone. Sorry, but I have to say- egg-cellent! 

Dumb-Bell Cutlery

Want to lose weight but not prepared to stop eating? Work out with each bite with these 1kg knives & forks and 2kg dessert spoons.  

Knife, Spoon and Fork Pen Covers

Not even a minute to waste? Turn your pen into cutlery in less than three seconds. 

There you have it, folks! So immensely glad that with time, kitchen gadgets are getting more snazzy and cutting edge. Now, the only thing left to do is to wait for them to come out with a Jetsons-style kitchen, ah. 

DSK Motowheels Brings Italian Superbike Brand Benelli to India

DSK Motowheels has already established itself in India with the Hyosung brand and today it announced a technical partnership with one of the oldest bike brand - Benelli - in India.
Benelli is already present in over 30 countries and boasts of racing heritage unmatched by any other brand. The company was looking to enter the Indian market for a long time now and has finally found a partner in DSK Motowheels.
Today, the DSK Benelli India brand showcased 5 bikes which will make their way to the Indian market in the next couple of months. These include the Tornado Naked Tre, TNT 302, TNT 600i, TNT 899 and the TNR 1130 R.

DSK Benelli will set up new dealerships across the country and by the end of this calendar year we will see 8 dealerships and by the end of 2015 that number will go up to 20. All the bikes will take the CKD route to India. Expect the launch of these products within the next couple of months.

It Can Happen to Anyone: Obama's Credit Card Declined

Washington:  Apparently, even the president of the United States can have trouble with his credit card.

Barack Obama on Friday said his card was declined at a New York restaurant he went to while visiting the United Nations.

"I was there during the General Assembly, and my credit card was rejected," Obama said at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he unveiled new measures to stem credit card fraud and identity theft.

"It turned out, I guess I don't use it enough. So they thought there was some fraud going on," he said to laughter, adding "fortunately, Michelle had hers."

The president signed an executive order which adds "chip-and-pin" protection for US government cards and payment terminals, at a time when the financial industry is moving in the same direction.

"I was trying to explain to the waitress, no, I really think that I've been paying my bills," Obama said.

"Even I'm affected by this."

Story First Published: October 18, 2014 02:52 IST    

Banned: Property Tycoon KP Singh, Who Built India's First 'Smart' City

New Delhi: It was, by his own account, a chance encounter with Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister, that turned former soldier Kushal Pal Singh into the man who built a city from nothing and made billions in the process.

Mr Singh was toppled from his spot as India's richest property developer this week, when his company DLF Ltd was hit with an unprecedented three-year ban from capital markets, accused by the regulator of failing to disclose key information at the time of its record-breaking 2007 market listing.

Investors wiped more than Rs. 7000 crore off the indebted company's market value after the decision.

Called a visionary developer, Mr Singh has been among the most influential names in the country of recent decades as the man who built "boom city" Gurgaon and fostered the outsourcing industry - with a little help, he says, from ex-General Electric boss Jack Welch.

To its cheerleaders, Gurgaon, the city he imagined and built 15 miles outside national capital Delhi, is a prototype of where young, upwardly mobile Indians want to live and work. The outsourcing boom has made the city India's third-richest.

"It is India's first smart city," said Rajeev Talwar, executive director at DLF. "Its infrastructure may be creaking ... but there is a new part which supports a new kind of life."

To its detractors, though, Gurgaon is the epitome of the fervid real estate speculation and dysfunctional urban sprawl that threaten India's cities as population booms. Water and power are unreliable, social problems abound and private contractors have had to step in where the police have failed.

Its population ballooned by about three-quarters to 1.5 million people in a decade.

After a decade in power the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, was ousted in this year's general election by Narendra Modi's BJP. Exit polls show that Haryana, which includes Gurgaon, too is set to throw out the Congress in a state election held this week. Results are due Sunday.

Mr Singh has been seen as close to the Gandhi family for years. In his autobiography, he describes how in 1980 he accidentally met Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi's husband and the country's prime minister from 1984 to 1989, when the latter was travelling to Gurgaon and had stopped for water to cool his car's radiator.

Mr Singh, whose family property firm had been pushed out of the capital by strict development laws, says he shared his plan for the dry and desolate Gurgaon region, and his fate was sealed.

In the next few years, Mr Singh - who is even at 82 a sharp dresser with military bearing - acquired 3,500 acres of land in Gurgaon, some of it still undeveloped.

"A salute to the old man to have at that time thought of putting together the entire site and not be tempted to gain by selling parcels of land to other developers," said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultancy that advises DLF.

In 2007, DLF listed in what was then India's largest IPO. The atmosphere at DLF, one employee recalled, was "electric".

Opposition party members and anti-corruption activists have accused DLF of improper land deals with Robert Vadra, the son in law of Sonia Gandhi.

The timing of market regulator Sebi's order this week, two days before the Haryana polls, has strengthened the view that DLF's close ties with the Congress could work against it. DLF and its supporters say they will seek to work with all governments, regardless of political shades.

But even detractors say it is not the end of the road for Mr Singh or DLF. "It is not the end of the road for them. These companies don't disappear," said Prashant Bhushan, a veteran lawyer who has long campaigned against DLF.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2014

Brothers, Both Soldiers, Died at Siachen. 21 Years Later, a Body Found.

New Delhi: The frozen body of a soldier who went missing 21 years ago at the Siachen glacier has been found last Sunday by a group of soldiers patrolling the world's highest battleground - Siachen Glacier. 

Havildar TV Patil, who belonged to Maharashtra, had fallen into a crevasse in February 1993. He was 30. Because of the sub-zero temperatures, his body had not decomposed, said sources, and he was identified by a letter from his family and a medical certificate found in his pocket.

His brother, also a soldier with the Maratha Light Infantry, died in an avalanche in 1987 while posted to the glacier. His body remains unfound.

Sources told NDTV that Havildar Patil, whose body has been found, was trying to collect air-dropped supplies when he moved away from the prescribed path and fell into a crevasse. As others tried to pull him out, his snow gloves slipped off, and he plunged several feet.

In August, the frozen body of Havildar Gaya Prasad from Maharastra had been found at the Siachen Glacier; in 1996, he had fallen into a crevasse there.  

At more than 18,000 feet (5,700 meters) Siachen sees temperatures that can drop as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

A complete guide to all major movies in Australian cinemas now

ADVANCED STYLE (PG)

Having the wherewithal to wear it all, US, 72 min
A delightful documentary about a vibrant fashion movement that has sprung up around a collection of trend-setting elderly women in New York City. At an average age of just under 80, this feisty fashionistas are blissfully oblivious to what the style gurus are hyping as the ‘in thing’ right now. To the Advanced Style gang - whose exploits are chronicled in a popular blog - the more ‘out there’ an outfit can be, the better. There is a inspirational spirit of rebellion at work here that has nothing to do with the manufactured impulses triggered by the global fashion industry. These sisters of a certain age are strictly doing it for themselves. Long may they go on doing so.
***1/2

Doll parts ... Annabelle is not the kind of toy Santa should be handing out. Source: AP

ANNABELLE (MA15+)
Sometime evil will take its doll, US, 98 min
The breakout star of last year’s smash-hit chiller The Conjuring gets her own movie. If you are unfamiliar with her work, let’s just say Annabelle is a creepy-looking vintage doll that just happens to be a paranormally active trouble-magnet for anyone unlucky enough to own her. A basic origin-story premise winds back the clock to 1971, a period where Annabelle was yet to turn pro as a full-on freaker-outer of men, women and children. Especially children. After a slow start, the movie generates a respectable number of scares once the self-arranging furniture and self-slamming doors get going. The production overall only really disappoints when compared to the far-superior The Conjuring. It looks a darn sight cheaper - so much so that it sometime breaks the menacing mood at hand - and definitely lacks the shrewd scripting of its predecessor. **1/2

Growing up ... Ellar Coltrane on the set of Boyhood with director Richard Linklater. Source: Supplied

BOYHOOD (M)
Growing, going, gone., US, 168 min
A coming-of-age movie? Been there, done that. A coming-of-life movie? Now that is something new. Background schematics are what puts this remarkable American production in a genre — and perhaps even a class — all its own. Beginning in 2002, prolific director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Bernie) reconvened the same cast at the same time each year for a few days of shooting. When the project finally wrapped last October, Linklater had captured exactly what he was after: an achingly accurate chronicle of a child in the process of growing up. It should be emphasised that Boyhood is not a documentary. It is a wholly fictional take on the formative years of a typical Texas kid by the name of Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane). We join Mason at the age of 6, and bid him goodbye at 18. Nothing much happens to the lad during this period. Aside from life itself. And as organically filmed by Linklater, that turns out to be really something. Co-stars Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette.
****1/2

Camp classic ... Luke Evans in Dracula Untold Source: Supplied

DRACULA UNTOLD (M)
Look out! He’s stark raving Vlad!, US, 90 min
Most vampire movies are a little camp. By comparison, Dracula Untold is a tent city. This cheesy (and at a zippy running time of 90 minutes) relatively breezy affair reveals how a little-known 15th century Transylvanian prince became the biggest bloodsucker the world has ever seen. Vlad the Impaler (played by Welsh heart-throb Luke Evans) starts out proceedings as a right royal family man. He loves his wife (Sarah Gadon), his kid (Art Parkinson) and his homeland. So with all three under threat from marauding Turkish warlords, Vlad accepts an offer to temporarily become a vampire warrior to repel them. All Vlad has to do is avoid drinking human blood for 3 days. What could possibly go wrong with such a simple plan? If you don’t know the answer, you need to get out more often.
**1/2

Mature vengeance ... Denzel Washington tussles with Australia’s Nash Edgerton in The Equalizer. Source: AP

THE EQUALIZER (MA15+)
Muscovites should never attack Washington, US, 132 min
Seems Liam Neeson no longer has the “mature vengeance” demographic all to himself. Denzel Washington wants his cut of the aged-aggression market, and he wants it now. In all honesty, The Equalizer is no better nor worse than the punishing pulp Neeson has been pounding out since the surprise blockbuster success of Taken in 2008. The same underlying principles apply here. Some bonkers badsters (Russians!) have irked our worldly, weary hero (Washington’s character works in the US equivalent of a Bunnings Warehouse!). So this old campaigner is quite within his rights to kill his way up the enemy’s chain of command until the movie ends. Very violent and very long, so best seen by hardline action fans, and best avoided by those who are not.
***

Cold psychological thriller ... Force Majeure. Source: Supplied

FORCE MAJEURE (M)
Everything went white, then everything went wrong, Sweden 118 min
An icy cold psychological drama that will chill you to the bone. A family on holiday at an elite French ski resort is seated at a balcony restaurant table. A mini-avalanche strikes without warning. The mother stays with her children, and braces for the worst. The father grabs his phone and makes a run for it. The fallout from this incident is imperceptible at first, then amplifies in magnitude as those involved try and process what has happened. Driven by well-chosen words and random bursts of emotion, this gripping affair could function equally well as a stage play. However, the role that the setting takes in proceedings is unsettlingly cinematic. A challenging piece of work no-one will be forgetting in a hurry, try as they might.
****

Believe nothing ... Ben Affleck in a scene from film Gone Girl. Source: Supplied

GONE GIRL (MA15+)
A lady vanishes. The mysteries multiply., US, 149 min
Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s sensational 2012 best-seller, this malevolently mischievous movie is one of the best films that will be released in 2014. There is just one proviso to guarantee maximum impact : Gone Girl must be seen ‘cold’. Too much advance knowledge changes the game played here in the wrong way. Nick (Ben Affleck) has arrived home to discover that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared. The front door is ajar. A glass table in the living room is smashed to smithereens. Oddly, Nick doesn’t seem all that flustered. Nevertheless, he calls the cops. Nick’s measured responses to the ensuing investigation (and the finger-pointing fury of a baying US media) form one half of the narrative voice of Gone Girl. The other half comes from Amy herself, via a diary she had been keeping. Under the aggressively deceptive direction of David Fincher (The Social Network), Gone Girl is an entertainingly provocative film, bound to set tongues wagging and minds racing for some time to come.
****1/2

Solid courtroom drama ... Jeremy Strong, Robert Downey Jr and Vincent D’Onofrio in The Judge. Source: Warner

THE JUDGE (M)
A life of sentencing comes to a full stop, US, 141min
There hasn’t been a good, meaty courtroom drama hit the big screen in many years. While The Judge is by no means a classic, it is still presents a solid, enjoyable and engrossing legal stoush that will please traditional devotees of the genre. The great Robert Duvall plays Joseph, a veteran small-town judge facing a murder charge in his own court after a tragic hit-run incident. Joseph cannot recall the accident, and his only chance of beating certain jail time is to reluctantly hand over his defence to his estranged son Hank (Robert Downey Jr.). Ethics are not the calling card of this hotshot Chicago lawyer, who has serious misgivings about both returning home and his father’s culpability. Though overly long, this old-fashioned affair exerts a strong grip thanks to worthy writing and performances. Duvall and Downey Jr. are actors of the highest calibre, and the manner in which they alternately widen and shorten the disconnect between their characters is tremendously involving.
***

Erractic ... Richard (Patrick Brammall) and Rowena (Kate Box) in The Little Death. Source: Supplied

THE LITTLE DEATH (MA15+)
Don’t stare too deeply into demise, Australia, 95 min
The writing-directing debut of Australian actor Josh Lawson (Any Questions for Ben?) is an erratic episodic comedy about just how funny (and much more often, unfunny) a fetish can be. Among the saucy-seedy japes presented for your amusement are such thigh-slappers as mock sexual assault (Lawson himself plays a bloke whose partner keeps hassling him to rape her) and a husband who may or may not be interfering with his nagging wife after he drugs her asleep each evening. Isn’t that just lovely? Some sketchy interludes do have their moments, such as a beautifully performed vignette about a call-centre operator acting as interpreter between a dirty-minded deaf man and a distracted phone-sex practitioner. However, the film as a whole generally follows a line of humour where dysfunction, discomfort and sometimes, even distress, lead only to laughter-free dead ends.
*1/2

Throwaway trifle ... Emma Stone in Woody Allen's romantic drama Magic In The Moonlight. Source: Supplied

MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT (PG)
Sleight difference between a cynic and a psychic, US, 96 min
One of Woody Allen’s finer light comedies of his ‘later’ years. While definitely a throwaway trifle when compared to the writer-director’s 2013 caustic classic Blue Jasmine, the film exudes a mannered, yet carefree charm that is a delight to experience. Colin Firth plays Stanley, a belligerent British magician called to the south of France to investigate a new clairvoyant sensation. Sophie (Emma Stone) seems blessed with a range of psychic powers that make Nostradamus look like a rank amateur. The abiding mystery of Sophie’s gift duels for our attention with Stanley’s slowly intensifying affection for her. While both plot strands border on inexplicable, a carefully controlled chemistry shared by Firth and Stone keeps us wondering in all the right ways.
***

Running man ... Dylan O'Brien in The Maze Runner. Source: AP

THE MAZE RUNNER (M)
One way in, no way out US, 117 min
Imagine, if you can, a latter-day Lord of the Flies fused with a discarded plotline from TV’s Lost. Like the sound of that? Then this is bound to get you in. There will be no escape, either. Not at least until all four entries in author James Dashner’s hit series of young-adult novels are in the can. This punchy first instalment does not waste any time putting its easy-to-follow premise through some serious paces. A tribe of a teenage boys is trapped inside a walled field. Outside is a complex maze that changes configuration every day, and hosts a collection of vicious creatures every night. This is a fascinating set-up that lives up to most of the potential promised. Upon the arrival of the newcomer Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), the entrenched tribal laws are challenged for the first time. While the filmmakers delay any deep exploration of the maze and its sinister, shape-shifting properties, the wait is indeed worth it.
***1/2

Solid local crime flick ... Brendan (Ewan McGregor) and JR (Brenton Thwaites) in Son of a Gun. Source: Supplied

SON OF A GUN (MA15+)
A muffled bang for your buck, Australia 109 min
Best on-screen Australian prison escape ever? There are worse legacies a local movie can leave behind in 2014. While there is more to Son of a Gun than just an audacious breakout sequence - young rising star Brenton Thwaites certainly proves he is an actor going places - it never quite scales the same peak of adrenalised excitement again. Thwaites plays a young crim co-opted by his thuggish prison protector (Ewan McGregor) to repay his debt once he returns to the outside world. After a very striking start, the movie loses its pinpoint aim and begins spraying willy-nilly at some easy and familiar targets. The scripting here isn’t clever enough (Russian mobsters yet again, really?) to keep us caring who might be holding the upper hand as the white lies and black eyes just keep on coming. Co-stars Alicia Vikander.
**1/2

Low joke ratio ... Susan Sarandon and Melissa McCarthy in Tammy. Source: Warner

TAMMY (MA15+)
Laid on thick, spread too thin, US 97 min
A winning support effort in the 2011 smash hit Bridesmaids was the perfect showcase for Melissa McCarthy’s innate ability to appall as she amuses. However, when at the wheel of her own star vehicles (The Heat, Identity Thief), McCarthy seems incapable of finding a way to the funny. If only they made GPS systems for senses of humour. The title role has McCarthy taking her alcoholic granny (Susan Sarandon) on a reckless road trip, where jet-skis will be crashed, livers will be trashed and a father-and-son farmer duo (Gary Cole and Mark Duplass) will be pashed. The joke-to-laugh ratio is low at best, and a flat zero during some ill-advised scenes. *1/2

He is the walrus ... Justin Long Kevin Smith’s bizarre film Tusk Source: Supplied

TUSK (MA15+)
The old man and the sea creature, US, 102 min
Veteran American indie filmmaker Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Clerks) tries his hand at semi-sinister horror with Tusk, a so-so offering where cleverness is often cancelled out by laziness. Justin Long stars as Wallace, a popular US podcaster being held against his will in a shack in rural Canada. His captor is Howard (Michael Parks), a creepy elderly gent who wishes to turn Wallace into a walrus. That is not a misprint. A walrus. Wallace’s slow and agonising transformation from smartass to sea creature is every bit as gross as you might be imagining. Smith attempts to smooth this bumpy, bloody ride by applying his trademark style of wordy, wisenheimer humour. Unfortunately, the jokes are wildly hit and miss.
**1/2

Hard man ... Liam Neeson in A Walk Among the Tombstones Source: Supplied

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES (MA15+)
Fifty shades of grave, US 114 min
Though hard-boiled crime author Lawrence Block has penned a stack of well-received books, the movies are yet to properly make his acquaintance. This disconnect may finally end witha gritty, greyed-out film noir featuring Block’s most enduring creation, lone-wolf New York private eye Matthew Scudder. At this point, it should be mentioned the role of Scudder, a lifelong alcoholic perpetually hovering between recovery and relapse, is played by Liam Neeson. This could be a deal breaker for many potential viewers. For many years, Neeson has been flooding the market with formulaic fare that has positioned him as a mature-age Mr Vengeance. No need to worry here : this very strong thriller is the best thing Neeson has been involved with for ages.
***1/2

Best film of the year so far ... J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller in Whiplash. Source: Supplied

WHIPLASH (MA15+)
The beat goes on. The beaten are forgotten., US, 106 min

Name any movie where a hot talent and a burning ambition are yet to combust. The same question will invariably be asked of the protagonist. Do you have what it takes? This astonishing make-it-or-break-it drama isn’t having any of that. The question it will ask is far more interesting. Do you want back what it took? By the time you get to the extraordinary answer, you will already have experienced one of the best films of this year. A basic plot synopsis does not make Whiplash seem all that inviting. A promising drummer, Andrew (Miles Teller), gains entry to an exclusive music conservatory. His main instructor, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) immediately takes an active interest in Andrew’s development, while also displaying a blatant dislike of the young hopeful. So far, so familiar, huh? Well, Whiplash will soon give you pause to reconsider that position, by virtue of the incisive way it drills down into the cores of these two very different, very motivated characters.