More Movie Reviews

Well, I watched some more movies recently this week. It seems that I have been watching lots of serious kind of movies. Most of them are depressing ones and now I need to change the genre to action-packed or raunchy commedies. Here goes the list in my preferred order:

1. Crash*****(#62 on IMDB's Top 250)
2. Downfall****(#51 on IMDB's Top 250)
3. Layer Cake**
4. Oldboy **(#118 on IMDB's Top 250)
5. Ordinary Decent Criminal
6. Requiem for a Dream(#47 on IMDB's Top 250)

Crash is a an excellent movie and shows how different people of different races in US are linked to each other. Its focus is on racism and humanity together. It will definitely touch you and make you think. The scene in which the locksmith's girl was shot in order to save him from the bullet made me dumbfounded. That was a turning point for me.

Downfall is a german movie based on WWII. Unlike other WW movies which mainly show battlecenes, this one shows the different moods of Hitler in his last few days when he was loosing the war and Red Army was marching over Berlin. Its based on a book by Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary from 1942 to 1945. One dialogue by Hitler which shows his character, goes like:

"Be ruthless. Life doesn't forgive weakness. This so-called humanity is religious drivel. Compassion is an eternal sin. To feel compassion for the weak is a betrayal of nature. The strong can only triumph if the weak are exterminated. Being loyal to this law, I've never had compassion. I've always been ruthless when faced with internal opposition from other races. That's the only way to deal with it".

Requiem for a dream, although rated quite high and critically acclaimed movie, was very depressing for me. Lives of all the four characters are ruined and destroyed in the end by drugs and will leave you with a question, "Why did I watched it ??"

Layer Cake and Ordinary Decent Criminal are good entertainers (crime n commedy) and Oldboy is revenge-based with a real twist, but still kind of depressing.

Mulholland Drive

Another post with a movie review. Yes, I do love watching movies, all thanks to those monthly membership options of Blockbuster, Hollywood Videos etc. Mulholland Drive is a thriller (#228 on IMDB's Top 250 list) directed and written by David Lynch. Based on the dream world of Hollywood and L.A., this movie depicts human psychology in general and the thin line between our imaginary world and the real world. You need to watch it very carefully without missing even a single scene or single shot or even a single dialogue. Then only you would be able to understand it and unlock the mystery (if not, then see it again and even if not after that, ask me). I am sure that if you are able to understand the storyline, then you gonna definitely appreciate it. And yes, if are a big fan of only chick-flicks, hardcore kick-a** movies which dont require any involvement of grey-cells, please dont rent this one. Some good quotes :

1. A man's attitude... a man's attitude goes some ways. The way his life will be.
2. There's sometimes a buggy. How many drivers does a buggy have? (One) So, let's just say I'm driving this buggy. And, if you fix your attitude, you can ride along with me.
3. It is all an illusion...

Run Lola Run

The audio playing in the background of this blog is the OST of one of my favorite movie, Run Lola Run (#133 in IMDB's Top 250). Winner of several awards, this german movie shows one story from three different perspectives, to prove how much fate controls one's life and how much the happenings of our lives are closely associated with so many "what if"s. With only a few dialogues and mostly Lola (Franka Potente aka Marie from The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Identity) running to save her boyfriend, this movie is an interesting watch. I am very much fond of its background score and the main soundtrack "I Believe". So now, I guess you are also listening to it. Care to heed to the lyrics...???? Here you go...I am sure you will like the lyrics equally well.

Malena & Monica

I watched a few movies this weekend and the recommended ones are:

1. Malena (starring beautiful Monica Bellucci) ***
2. Kiss the Girls** (Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd)
3. The Confession* (Ben Kingsley, Alec Baldwin)
4. Under Suspicion *(Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman & Monica Bellucci)

Malena is a very good movie and shows the story of a very beautiful woman in WWII time Italy and a young boy's crush on her. The actress in the lead role is indeed very lovely and beautiful. The moral of the story is: "A beautiful woman cannot live alone in this selfish world governed by physical desires. All she can do is to use her beauty, either willingly or unwillingly." This post will be incomplete without a serious appreciation of her acting and one of her picture.There is one quote from "The Confession", worth mentioning here. It is said by Ben Kingsley, an excellent actor with stern face expressions.
"It is not difficult to do the right thing. It is difficult to know the right thing. Once you know what is right, it is difficult not to do so".

Rest two movies are good ones. Gene Hackman is good as usual in "Under Suspicion". It shows how a person can be victimised by circumstances and be held responsible for some heinous crimes. (If I tell you, whether he really committed them or not, your thrill will be all over)

So, if you have seen these movies or planning to see them soon, feel free to comment here :).

The Untouchables

My liking for mafia/mob movies continues with another post. This time it is "The Untouchables" starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, De Niro and Andy Garcia. Based on a fictional story in the prohibition era Chicago in 1920s, this movie has two real characters Al Capone and Elliot Ness, and rest all is a good work of fiction. Sean Connery got an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The soundtrack is really awesome and was nominated for several awards at that time. Unlike Goodfellas, this is the story about the passion and determination of a Treasury Agent to bring down the kingdom of gangster Al Capone. Some quotes I liked, are:

1. You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone!

2. Never stop, never stop fighting till the fight is done.

3. If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't get it from the barrel, get it off the tree.

Goodfellas

The title of this post alongwith the picture is self-explanatory. Goodfellas is based on the true story of mob people Jimmy Conway and Henry Hill. Its based on the true events in 1960s and 1970s inlcuding the famous Lufthansa Heist. Some more interesting information about goodfellas and wiseguys (the terms used for mob people) can be found here. I liked the three main characters, Henry Hill, Jimmy Conway and offcourse Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci got Oscar for this role). Some good quotes of this movie, which I liked in particluar are:

1. At the age of twelve, my ambition was to become a gangster. To be a wiseguy was better than being President of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world.

2. One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.

3. If you're part of a crew, nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you, doesn't happen that way. There weren't any arguments or curses like in the movies. See, your murders come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who've cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you're at your weakest and most in need of their help.

4. For a second I thought I was dead. But, when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they'd been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead.

It is a must-watch movie and the more you see it, more you will like it. I am gonna buy its DVD and a poster too.

Mangal Pandey: The Rising

Yesterday, I saw the movie Mangal Pandey: The Rising with a promising Bollywood actor in the lead role. There was a great hype about the movie. But I hadn't any great expectations from it. Afterall they were not going to create a history. They were just showing a small but significant event from Indian history. Sadly, I was really very disappointed with it. They tried to glorify the sacrifice of a sepoy Mangal Pandey by adding long senseless song-dance sequences and introducing fictional characters, item-song, mujra and girls with ultra-low cleavages.

There was nothng spectacular about the Aamir Khan's acting or A.R.Rehman's music. It seems that Bollywood still has a long way to go. They might make the largest number of movies but its the quality which matters..eventually..!!!

Question : Why did Mangal Pandey shot himself at the right side of his chest and not left...when he wanted to be a martyr ? Maybe, so that he could be saved by the Brits, hospitalized, operated, court-martialed and then hanged in public to spark the "War of Independence"..!!!