Check it out Dhoom 3 First Day Box Office Collection.

Dhoom 3 (Hindi) had an outstanding day one collecting around 33 crore nett on day one as per early estimates. The film set opening day records in some circuits while in others it was below either Chennai Express or Ek That Tiger. It has to be noted these films released on Eid and Independence Day respectively while Dhoom 3 released on a normal working day. The film smashed the non holiday opening record by a distance.

The film set new highs in Delhi/UP and East Punjab despite the cold weather though the collections for the Hindi version were lower than Chennai Express in the southern markets due to that film having more local appeal for that region. The film also had a release in Tamil and Telugu and that version would have added around 2.80 crore nett with the Telugu version doing well.

Hindi Version – Rs 33 Crore

Tamil & Telugu – Rs 2.80 Crore

Total  = Rs 36.22 Crore

Dhoom3 Collections outside India

The action thriller has also shattered records in overseas market. The film has started with a bang at overseas box offices too raking in £247,783 (₹2.50 crore) from UK, NZ$ 69,162 (₹35 lakh) from New Zealand and A$ 157,207 (₹86.94 lakh) from Australian box offices.

"Internationally, #Dhoom3 is in Top 5 charts in key markets. UK: No 4, Australia: No 5, New Zealand: No 5. USA yet to compile. HISTORIC,"  according to Trade analyst Adarsh.

 Directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, the film also features Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Uday Chopra and Jackie Shroff in important roles.

Will it beat the 87 crore net three day figure of Chennai Express?

Will it top the list of highest grossing movies list in India??

we just have to wait and watch...............!!! Lets see.

 

The story of Dhoom 3: The film begins with Sahir assisting his father, played by Jackie Shroff. Sahir learns all the tricks from his father. The father (Jackie Shroff) is murdered, or either killed, due to somebody or some incident at the circus. Sahir promises to take revenge.

The film then takes a leap: the young Sahir has now become hot and happening, Aamir Khan. He is working in the same circus his father used to work, and has beautiful gymnast Aaliya (Katrina Kaif) for company.



Sahir is out to rob all the money that’s made by the owners of the circus, and according to him are possibly involved in his father’s death or murder. He is successful in two attempts. Now, enters ACP Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan), along with Ali (Uday Chopra). Their task: nab the master robber!
They know the master robber is Sahir, but do not have any proof. Thus, a trap is laid out to catch him red handed. Now, begins the cat and mouse game. The prime target is to catch Sahir in action.
Will Sahir be caught in the end (like John Abraham in Dhoom), or would be given a chance to start a new life (like Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2); what would happen in end? That’s your task to find out when the film releases!

The stunts look picture perfect, the music is already a hit. The buzz around the film is very high, and like the previous two installments, Dhoom 3 has “Blockbuster” written all over it.
Aamir Khan is paired opposite Katrina Kaif for the first time. Also, Aamir is back with the YRF camp after long time.

Vijay Krishna Acharya, the writer of Dhoom and Dhoom 2 has replaced Sanjay Gadhvi as director. Gadhvi directed the first two franchises of the series.

Dhoom 3 arrives on December 20, 2013.  8 days to go............. :)

While a lot has been said about the sexiest people in Hollywood and the ones most searched for on the internet, a new list has now come out. It is about the most hated people in Hollywood.

A leading Star Magazine conducted a special poll on this one.

Here we go....! 

#1. Gwyneth Paltrow
 
Gwyneth Paltrow, apparently, is the most hated celebrity of 2013. Once again, this is according to Star magazine, and Star ain't never lied about nothing. This isn't a huge shocker; people have hated Gwyneth Paltrow for a long time now, but the demographic that generates the majority of the anger aimed in her direction is a bit of a surprise. To put it bluntly, it's women. Well, women and Soren Bowie, but mostly women.
 
Cluelessly condescending Gwyneth Paltrow believes she can improve the lives of others by telling them how to eat, sleep, groom, even poop. She's a "rich white woman with an eating disorder turned into a branding opportunity," critics say. She tries too hard at acts that should be effortless, like digesting. Tries Too Hard, it should be noted, is a category dominated by females. Male offenders are those who overstep assigned roles, like Ashton Kutcher (No. 2 on the list) striving for tech-world relevance or Justin Bieber (No. 4) trying to rap. 

#2. Ashton Kutcher
 
Ashton Kutcher is an interesting pick. I guess my opinion on the validity of all the hate he gets depends on what it is about him that you hate. Is it Two and a Half Men? If so, I'm with you -- that's a really terrible show. I think holding it against him personally is a little harsh. He doesn't write the show. Still, though, if his current job is your gripe, we are one.


#3. Taylor Swift 



#4. Justin Bieber
 
Fourth most-hated celebrity Justin Bieber, meanwhile, is a paradox of effort. Contrived hairdos and words like swag suggest he tries too hard. But the narrative he sells is about luck against the odds — or, as a critic might put it, success that is unearned. An informal survey I conducted of Bieber haters yielded the following complaints: "conceited teen prick," "drop-crotch pants," "perpetually open mouth," "swag," "swaggy," "squirmy dance move that is like a figure-eight moonwalk," "scrawny but thinks he is big, the kind of guy who watches himself in the mirror at the gym while lifting two-pound weights." His bravado is simultaneously affected (trying too hard) and ineffectual (meaning he needs to try harder).

#5. Kim Kardashian


To conclude, Hating celebrities is obviously a cherished online activity, but why do we do it? Are we projecting anxiety? Attacking symbols? Bullying? To more precisely understand the phenomenon, I considered the most loathsome attributes of each celebrity. I found that each fit into one of three overlapping categories: Tries Too Hard, Doesn't Try Hard Enough, and Crimes Against Other Celebrities. According to these categories mentioned above they are top listed.

While a lot has been said about the sexiest people in Bollywood and the ones most searched for on the internet, a new list has now come out. It is about the most hated people in Bollywood.

A leading Indian newspaper conducted a special poll on this one.

Here we go....! 

Top 1: Himesh Reshammiya 



Though Himesh scored the highest in this poll, it is Ekta Kapoor's hate club which leads with 86,860 members.The second biggest hate club belongs to Himesh with 38,730 members.

2: Rakhi Sawant



Top 3: Ekta Kapoor

 


Top 4: Ram Gopal Varma 



Top 5: Vivek Oberoi
 


Among the cricketers it is most shocking to see the size of M.S. Dhoni's hate club, which has 23,000 members. How come this popular cricketer made it to the hate list? I think People feel his attitude towards cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly was not good.

Last but not the least....! let's talk about Shah Rukh Khan. His hate-love ratio is 1:100. While his hate club has 4000 members, his love group has 400,000! He is the only one with this kind of ratio, beating everyone in Bollywood!

Superstar Upendra's last release Topiwala was getting dubbed into Telugu in a brisk pace. The news, which has emerged from pearl city Hyderabad, made the actor upset as he holds the dubbing rights of the movie.Upendra, who holds both remake and dubbing rights of the movie, is not even aware of the development. It is reported that the actor has decided to take legal action against Kanakapura Srinivas and KP Srikanth, who had produced Topiwala in Kannada.

Speaking to Chitralokha, Upendra said, "I am saddened and upset with what is going on. I have the remake and dubbing rights is one point, but I was not even informed that they are going ahead. Some one from Andhra Pradesh informed me. I am seeking legal advice now and will be issuing legal notices to the concerned parties by tomorrow."Sources said that the dubbed version of Topiwala was titled in Telugu as Swiss Bank Ki Daaredi? Topiwala, which was released in March 2013, was a political satire film. It was written by Upendra and directed by MG Srinivas. Apart from Uppi, it also featured Bhavana, Ranagayana Raghu, Ravishankar, Maithreyi, Vyjayanth Biradar, Raju Talikote, Achyuth Kumar, Mukthi Mohan in the significant roles.

 
We all were shocked when we saw the news of a renowned actor’s death this weekend in a car crash. Yes, sadly, Paul Walker, the Brian from Fast and Furious passed away in an accident on road which claimed his life along with Roger Rodas, who was considered to be an expert driver. The news was not only ironic but it was also tragic. Today we have our take on the Porsche which was being driven by Roger Rodas when the accident took place.

The Carrera GT is considered a dangerous car by a number of experts and has been involved in a number of serious accidents in history. One of them includes the incident at Talladega, where Jay Leno was behind the wheels. A fatal accident took also place at California Speedway and the case was settled for $4.5 million. We have a number of testimonials from experts who all treat this car as a car which demands respect and if you don’t respect it; you’ll pay the ultimate price.

Walter Rohrl is Porsche’s famous test driver and former World Rally Champion. He has gone on the record to state that this is the first car which he has driven and is scared of it. Considering his expertise with cars, this statement alone tells us that Carrera GT requires extraordinary care while being driven and this was confirmed in Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson said; ‘you need to be awake to drive this car fast’. The car was difficult to handle even for Jeremy during the test drive.  While he continued to praise the ride he was quite sure about the fact that this car is dangerous and can be deceptive at high speeds. An owner of Carrera GT who is also an Indy Car driver, Graham Rahal, said that it needs respect. A manager who used to work at Porsche stated that this is the most dangerous car on road.



During the development phase, Walter Rohrl was scared, as mentioned before, and wanted traction control installed on the vehicle. The reason for that was the fact that car’s behavior could not be predicted at high speeds and this was a concern, even for the experienced drivers. Roger Rodas had raced in Pirelli World Challenge series and was a great driver but he could not keep the Carrera in control and the accident claimed his life along with Paul Walker’s. As per experts, you can’t go flat out on this car without any planning, while conditions need to be perfect for you to foot  down the pedal and even then it is scary.

Rohrl recalls that earlier this year, he insisted on testing the car’s performance even during wet weather and said; ‘”I came back into the pits and I was white. I immediately said to the engineers that we need one button for the wet and one button for the dry.’ Rohrl was talking about the need for a traction switch control.



 It is too early to say why the accident occurred but rest assured Paul Walker died doing something that he loved. It may have been a mechanical error, maybe a bad decision by the driver or the Carrera’s overall ‘demand for respect’ that caused the accident – Nevertheless we lost a great actor and celebrity! Rest in peace Paul Walker, you will be missed.

Actor-director Kashinath, who is re-releasing his directorial venture Anubhava for the third time is aiming to do an English movie. The actor is famous for his critically acclaimed movies like Ananathana Avanthara, Chapala Chanigaraya, Love Training and others.Kashinath has come up with the script and awaiting some one to produce it. The actor posted on his micro-blogging site stating that he is aiming to win an Oscar award for the movie. He posted, "I have nurtured a dream of making an English film and bagging an Oscar. I have a script ready which would have universal acceptance. I have put in immense effort to do research before coming up with this script."




Kashinath has introduced many talents to Kannada film industry. Superstar Upendra, director Sunil Kumar Desai, and music composer V Manohar were the eminent personalities of Sandalwood, who were trained by Kashinath.

Kashinath has also revealed that it is an unique script, which has not been done by anyone. He added, "I am sure this is a topic which has never been touched by anyone. I do not have producers to back my idea. Making a movie in Hollywood needs a lot of money."Meanwhile, Kashinath is re-releasing Anubhava on November 29 for the people, who missed Kashinath's flavour.

Lets wait and see whether Kashinath's dream project materializes or not!

 

The blue-eyed boy of Sandalwood, Diganth's Bollywood debut seems to be some how getting delayed for some reason or the other. The actor was supposed to debut with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt's new version of horror flick, 1920, but he has now backed out of the project and Sharman Joshi has replaced him in the film.

At the press meet of his latest Kannada film, Barfi, Diganth confirmed that he is no longer doing the project. He said, "The film was supposed to be shot in April, but it got delayed due to various reasons. Now the film is set to launch in August. I have waited enough and I can't miss my next project with Dinakar Thoogudeepa. I have expressed my inability to act in the film." It is interesting to know that the female lead, Prachi Desai, has also apparently backed out of the film because of the delay. 

Diganth has finally been handed his ticket to Bollywood as shooting for his first Hindi film Sattack, a remake of the Tamil movie Chennai 600028, starts on November 28.
Sattack is based on a game of gully cricket and the life stories of the players. The film is being co-produced by David director Bejoy Nambiar while his associate Yazad is directing the movie.

Shakthi Kapoor's son, Sidhanth Kapoor, is also acting in the movie. The film is directed by Yazad, who has assisted Bejoy in the past. The shoot for this film started earlier this month. Diganth was initially Bejoy's first choice for a role in David(Bollywood movie), but the role eventually went to Neil Nitin Mukesh. In fact, there have been several reports about Diganth's impending Bollywood debut. He and Nidhi Subbaiah were supposed to make their Bollywood debuts together in Jazz, but the film was shelved.

Back home, Diganth is working on a Kodi Ramakrishna film with Ramya. He has also signed another movie "Ondooralli Obba Raja" that will be directed by Dinakar Toogudeepa.

“This industry (Hindi films) feels and looks completely new to me as they follow different pattern from what I have experienced on the sets of Kannada films. I am learning new things and meeting new people. This movie also sees a lot of good new faces with whom I have struck up a good friendship,” says Diganth who recalls his passion for the game as a child and one that took a new shape when he started playing with a season ball in Celebrity Cricket matches. “Now, I am enjoying playing the game in front of the camera,” he adds. Sattack will see Siddanth Kapoor (son of Shakti Kapoor) play Shiva’s character from the original while Diganth will essay Jai’s role.

Rumour has it that he and good friend Aindrita Ray have both shifted base to Mumbai for better prospects.  Contradicting the talk,  Diganth says, “Andy is doing a Bengali film, and I am here. She is busy in Kolkata and I am in Mumbai, more like East and West. So settling in Mumbai is a far away thought. This is a temporary shift for six to seven months because I am shooting for a Hindi film, which usually takes time, and I can’t be travelling up and down Bangalore-Mumbai.”
Of course, he’s missing the food and his pets.

Actor Paul Walker was killed Saturday afternoon in a car crash in Valencia, north of Los Angeles, according to TMZ. He was 40 years old. Walker was in a Porche that spun out of control and crashed, killing the actor in a fiery explosion. The actor’s representation confirmed that he had passed to Variety and other outlets.

Walker’s reps have since stated that he was a passenger in a friend’s car during a charity event for Reach Out Worldwide, and that both were killed in the crash.

Walker had a wonderful reputation amongst other filmmakers and actors, who praised him as a dedicated performer, a kind person, and a generous friend. He used his fame for charitable interests, and was passionate about shark conservation. He was part of the core of the Fast and the Furious series, which built a tremendous fanbase based not only on action, but through themes of family and friendship. Frankly, there’s nothing I can write at this point that doesn’t seem woefully inadequate; Walker’s passing had an immediate and devastating effect on the Hollywood community, and he will be greatly missed.

 

publicist for actor Paul Walker says the star of the “Fast & Furious” movie series has died in a car crash north of Los Angeles. He was 40. Ame Van Iden says Walker died Saturday afternoon.

A statement on Walker’s Facebook page said Walker was a passenger in a friend’s car, and that the crash happened while he was attending a charity event. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department said the crash happened in community of Valencia. The Santa Clarita Signal reports a red Porsche crashed into a light pole and tree and burst into flames.

Walker was working on the latest “Fast & Furious” movie at the time of his death. He also starred in the suspense drama, “Hours”, a movie that is set for release this month. 

When Krantiveera Sangoli Rayanna was under production, the buzz was that the film was being made at an astronomical Rs 29 cr. While this was considered the highest-ever budget for a Kannada film, in recent times, there have been films that were not far behind in terms of production costs.

Films starring A-list heroes like Upendra, Shivarajkumar, Sudeep and Puneeth Rajkumar, among others, require budgets upwards of Rs 10 cr. In fact, Upendra's upcoming film Brahma is reportedly being made at a cost of Rs 20 cr. With producers loosening their purse strings, several questions arise: Is the extra spending justified and is it reflecting in the quality of the product? And, are mega bucks bringing in returns?

Higher spending a must According to Uday Mehta, producer of the recent Sudeep-starrer Bachchan (made at an approx. cost of Rs 11 cr), hiking budgets is justified if you have a star who will ensure a minimum guarantee, on board. "Kannada films are in competition with Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. These films have bigger markets and are made on far more lavish scales than Kannada movies. People tend to watch them and compare, making it imperative for us to up the quality of the films and the opulence seen onscreen. However, there are only a few actors who can pull crowds to theatres and when you are working with them, a filmmaker can take a chance and make big investments," says Uday. Producer Kamar agrees with Uday that bigger spendings are required to up the quality of Kannada cinema. "Even if you have a big star, if audiences are not satisfied with the treatment of the film — glitz, glamour, action, etc., included — they will not see our films," he says.

Script decides budget The intention, adds Uday, is to make good films. "If you have to stand apart from the 100-120 films made in a year, naturally you need to do something extra. But for that, you need to be able to believe in what you are investing. Everything depends on the script. If your foundation is not good, no matter what you do, it will be of no use," he says. Actor Puneeth Rajkumar, whose family has a production house that has made over 70 films, seconds that, saying, "Budgets can be fixed only based on the script. Depending on the story, you factor in costs for varying aspects, be it songs, action sequences, cast, etc. And if filmmakers are willing to spend money on the presentation of the film, it is a welcome move. One of the outcomes of increased spending that I have noticed is that Sandalwood has grown in terms of the technology used."

Big budgets an eyewash? While costs of production have definitely gone up, distributor Prasad believes that budgets are often unnecessarily exaggerated. "Very often, producers claim to have spent double or more of what they have actually invested on a film. How is that possible when the market itself is not that big? The highest business done by a film is not even close to these hyped budgets. Even superhit movies don't do more than `5-6 cr in the first week, and we are in a day and age in which a film's fate is decided in the first weekend. Claims of mega budgets are often an eyewash, intended to create hype when there is no content to back it up. This is not good for the industry," he says. "Most producers make tall claims about the budget to secure better TV rights," says director Kavitha Lankesh, adding, "A lot of the money that they say has been spent, is often behind the scenes and does not reflect onscreen. "

Content is king Spending big money with no content is also not required, points out Kavitha. And the solution, says Prasad, is to ensure that the content of the film is the most important facet. "If a film like Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna was made on a big budget it was because it was a historical and required a certain degree of grandiose. Filmmakers shouldn't have expensive action and song sequences just for the sake of spending money. Smaller films like Simplag Ond Love Story, Charminar and Mynaa have proven that you don't need that. The industry should work towards improving the market by making quality films," he sums up.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has just passed $600 million at the worldwide box office, despite mostly really bad reviews. This is nothing new. Mainstream audiences don’t listen to the critics, and big screen spectacle will almost always win over quality entertainment. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing the movie, not all the bad reviews in the world. It’s an event movie — and I needed to see it for myself. It should be noted that box office should never be looked at as an indication of the mainstream public’s thoughts on a movie (it sold tons of tickets so the mainstream public must’ve loved it) but only an indication of the hype (and in later weeks, possibly word of mouth).
The success of Transformers 2 got me thinking. What is the worst reviewed box office success of all time? Could it be Revenge of the Fallen? Find out what I’ve uncovered after the jump.

What is the worst reviewed highest grossing worldwide release of all time? It’s a tough question.

 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest earned $1,066.2 Million and has a 53% on the Tomato-meter, making it the largest grossing film to be negatively reviewed, but not necessarily the “worst reviewed highest grossing worldwide release of all time”.

But how do you compare Dead Man’s Chest‘s 53% against Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen‘s 19%? I had to invent a formula to rank these releases. What I did was take the Box Office total and divide it by the tomato-meter rating, which gives us a more balanced unit which relates Box Office to the Critical Analysis. It’s not the most scientific or mathematical way of handling this, but for our purposes, it works. The films below are listed in descending order based on the $/% number, and guess what — Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the worst reviewed highest grossing film of
 all time.


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Box Office: $607.7 Million (so far)
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
$/%: 31.9



The Da Vinci Code
Box Office: $758.2 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 24%
$/%: 31.6


Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Box Office: $961 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%
& /%: 21.35



Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Box Office: $1,066.2 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 53%
$/%: 20.11



Shrek The Third
Box Office: $799 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%
$/%: 19

Hancock
Box Office: $624.4 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 39%
$/%: 16



Armageddon
Box Office: $553.7 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%
$/%: 13.8



Meet the Fockers
Box Office: $516.6 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
$/%: 13.6



Angels & Demons
Box Office: $473.2 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
$/%: 12.8




The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Box Office: $618.6 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
$/%: 12.6



The Day After Tomorrow
Box Office: $544.3 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%
$/%: 12.1



Bruce Almighty
Box Office: $484.6 Million
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
$/%: 9.9




Surprises: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are not on the list because they were actually come-what positively reviewed. Menace has a 63% on the Tomato-meter with 97 fresh reviews and 56 rotten. Crystal Skull received high praise from critics, earning 76% on the Tomato-meter with 186 fresh reviews and 58 rotten. Indy 4 is one of the rare occasions where the mainstream public average was actually a lot lower than the critics, with a 6.7 on IMDb. Spider-Man 3 also received some-what favorable reviews with a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Aside: It should be noted that box office should never be looked at as a rating of the mainstream public’s review of a movie. People vote with their dollars before they see the movie, and thus the box office figure can only account for hype and not analytical review. While there is no accurate account of the mainstream public’s opinion on a movie post-viewing, I often use a combination of IMDb’s user rating, Netflix and Flixter ratings as they are the largest accounting of non-critic opinion of a film.

There’s a vast difference between simply making a movie and taking the time to develop a new idea to make a movie about. It’s the difference between franchises releasing a new sequel every year, and the work of Spike Jonze, a filmmaker who up to this point has only made three movies in 15 years. His fourth film, Her, is the director’s first original screenplay. It’s everything you’d hope for from the mad genius who brought to life Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are.

Her is a dramatic sci-fi romance about a man named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his artificially intelligent computer operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). It’s a simple, yet brilliant conceit realized with depth and emotion, two rare traits in mainstream cinema. The depth comes from Jonze’s ideas about technological dependence and loneliness, and the emotion is conveyed as the film raises questions about what it means to love and our capacity to do so. It’s a film that’ll both spark intelligent debate and plenty of tears.

The search for an emotionally fulfilling relationship is one of the few things all humans strive for. Differences develop in how we look for that fulfillment, and with Her, Jonze investigates a new option. What if you could achieve emotional stability on a purely mental level?

Her is set in a futuristic, over-populated Los Angeles. Theodore buys OS 1, a brand-new computer operating system that is artificially intelligent. So, for example, at start-up, the system reads a book in 2 hundredths of a second and names itself Samantha. It can learn, feel, and adapt, yet never assumes physical form. (Jonze gets around this by making computers tiny and accessorized with ear pieces users can wear while walking around.) So when Theodore, who is in the midst of a divorce, meets Samantha, the two become quick friends. Then that becomes something more.

Think about the issues that raises. Do you tell your friends you’re dating a computer? How do you have sex? Can you have sex? How smart is this thing? Do you take it on dates? All these questions and more are considered by Jonze’s brilliant script, which is filled with the kind of philosophical thought usually reserved for much smaller, less flashy movies. But in Jonze’s hands, and in the context of this sprawling and familiar, but definitely futuristicworld, the ideas are easier to digest and ponder.

Eventually, some of these questions become bigger and the movie grows with them. What starts as a boy-meets-computer love story evolves to question the nature of humanity and a person’s capacity for emotion, and whether an artificial intelligence can have those traits. Such thoughts are brought to light with the kind of levity and originality we’ve come to expect from Jonze; they never feel preachy or obvious. The film always feels natural, sweet and relatable.

Credit for that also goes to the actors. Phoenix is awkward and charming. Unlike some of his recent work, though, here he’s sweet, bringing a vulnerable humanity to the character. Supporting turns from Amy Adams and Rooney Mara help propel his journey, and Johansson’s voice work never makes Theodore’s decision seem creepy.

The one, tiny gripe I have about Her is that Jonze raises so many questions, and elicits so many different emotions, it’s hard for the film to cohesively bring them all together. Total closure is obviously not the point in such an ambitious work, but there’s something to be said for a film that can stick the landing. Her is fantastic, but stumbles every so slightly.

That said, Her is the kind of philosophically complex yet narratively straightforward film audiences can enjoy and scholars can study. It works on nearly every single level and I’m dying to see it again, just to let its ideas wash over me one more time.

/Film rating: 8.5 out of 10

Her opens on a limited basis December 18 then expands January 10. Thanks to the AFI Fest presented by Audi for the screening.