monty_lnct Reviews

Mohandas (2009)

I saw this movie on 15th August,the independence day of India and watching this movie made me realize......what kind of freedom we have?.......

[9/10 · 19 August 2010]

India is a very peculiar country where corruption is increasing with development of country, there is a corrupt system working behind every thing.One cannot become a government officer until you have sufficient money to give bribes to officials and ministers,at the end of day your knowledge and education doesn't count, only thing that really matter is money. So it has became a system in which only a corrupt get flourished and honest man left to struggle until one day he also become a part of this system. Now it's roots reached so deep that it has became the acceptable part of society, taking and giving of bribe has became like a ritual which is performed before starting every work like opening shop, getting a tender, getting a government job and even if you have to open a school or orphanage you have to give large amount of bribe.As a result, a poor became more poor and a rich became more rich.

This is an eyeopening drama about the struggle of a honest man Mohandas against the corrupt system spread in modern India. Mohandas who came from a very poor family become educated and after a long struggle he get the job, but he get shocked when he find out that another man was appointed for the post under his name,due to which Mohandas forced to do labor-work to earn living. This movie tells the story of Mohandas' struggle for justice and few other brave peoples who fought for a lost cause.

The most striking thing in the movie was how the character of Mohandas was shown,with the expressions of a defeated man, completely hopeless. Many may found this very inappropriate but this expressions can be seen in youths of India who have lost all hopes. The character name was chosen Mohandas because it was the first name of father of nation Mohandas Karamchandra Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi to make us realize that this country has gone far away to the wrong direction from the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi. Only few people dare to stand against the corruption ,only to get crushed by the system and this is what shown in the movie. This movie doesn't fill us with false hope but instead make us familiar with reality.

The direction of Mazhar Kamran is brilliant and there was not a single moment in the movie where movie deviated from it's purpose (except songs), the storytelling of the movie is excellent that makes the movie very interesting, casting was full of talented actors like Govind Namdeo, Shushank Singh and Nakul Vaid.Story is written by journalist Uday Prakash and it is very clear that a deep research has been done before writing the story.Editing,sound and cinematography of the movie are also remarkable,considering the low budget of movie.The only thing that i can complain about are songs,there was no need to put songs in this movie,they didn't fit in the purpose of the movie.

It is very unfortunate that such brilliant movies are rarely made in India but when they made they remained unnoticed due to the lack of promotion.

Goodbye, Children (1987)

one of the most honest and personal work from a director i have seen,,,,,,

[9/10 · 12 August 2010]

Goodbye children is a very different WW2 movie which is based upon the account of childhood memory of director Louise Malle.This movie is different from any other WW2 era movie as it is not as much dark, emotional,dramatic and eventful as other WW2 movies but still very powerful and moving.

The story is set in Nazi occupied France.The main character is a boy Julien Quentin who with his elder brother is sent to a catholic boarding school on the country side.There he became friend with a new student Jean Bonnet who is a Jew and hiding from Nazis under false identity.Julien find out the secret about Jean and the whole movie is based upon their life in the boarding school and how friendship developed between them.The ending of the movie is not very dramatic or emotional but leaves a great impact on us because of the personal touch of director.

As the movie is based upon the childhood memory of Louise Malle,the feeling of how much the movie and the character of Julien is personal to the director is clearly visible in the movie (which is the greatest achievement of the movie) and this feeling involved the audience deeply in the movie.Because of this deep involvement the outcome of the ending of the movie filled the audience with a sense of guilt which the director(or Julien)feel about it's little mistake which is done unintentionally and cannot be corrected but it's burden can be reduce by sharing it with others and the Louise Malle succeeded in this this task completely.

This movie is almost technically flawless and have everything for which i love European art cinema.The excellent cinematography of the movie turn the ordinary scenes with simple dialogues into a memorable scene. The camera work of the movie is outstanding for example,the tracking shot of Julien running in forest,it is short in length but it is one of the best tracking shot i have ever seen in my life.The movie based on brilliant plot with dramatic depth get perfect treatment from it's editing and camera work.

I think this movie is the most suitable WW2 movie to show to children because this movie gives a view of holocaust era from the eye of a small boy without being much dark and violent.

I just watched this movie twice in last 24 hours and i am giving this movie 9.5 of 10,and this movie goes at 59th position in my favorite 100 movies.

Sunrise (1927)

technically best and most mature silent era movie.....

[7/10 · 9 August 2010]

It is one of the most mature silent movie i have ever seen. Great powerful performances of leading pair ,beautiful cinematography and stunning set decoration makes this movie overall a wonderful movie.the starting of the movie was brilliant with great intensity and depth but then after first act movie became dull and just like any other rom-com, just mildly entertaining,in it's second act there was nothing striking in the movie,the twist in the movie at the end just saved the movie for me and the thrilling third act give brilliant ending to the movie.

The thing that really amazed me was it's special effects and the set decoration that seemed ahead of it's time,melodious soundtrack also saved the movie in it's dull second act.The most wonderful scene of the movie was the scene of the boat, when the husband was going to drown her wife but at last he conquered his evil.The scene was very intense and powerful. Another scene was brilliantly shot(considering the time when movie was made)the morning scene when the husband sitting in the bed watching her wife feeding birds struggle between his evil desire to kill her wife and the love for her wife. the scene was shot with wonderful visual effects.

It is a overall good movie and a must watch for every silent movie fan.

Inception (2010)

the most complete grand-scale entertainment movie ever.............

[9/10 · 20 July 2010]

Without exaggeration,i can say I had never waited for anything in my life like i waited for Inception.I was keeping update of every single development and news about the movie,i can say i was getting hysterical ,and the reasons are quite clear as both my favorite actor and director of my generation ,Leonardo Di Caprio and Christopher Nolan come together ,my favorite newcomer actors Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon Lewitt they are all together in one movie,it is like a dream come true and the movie itself explores the world of Dreams,the boundless world of dreams where you are free from any limitation of real world to imagine and create anything you want.It is action,sci-fi,romance,you find everything here,every grand scale entertainment that we experience from watching different movies brought in a single movie(as Chris Nolan said),a movie we all dreamt about and Christopher Nolan made it real.

When the movie released and after reading dozens of reviews,i came to decision that i will not see this movie till the hypes get over so that i could make own point-of-view on the movie.But i was unable to control myself.Now,the movie has released in my city,the dubbed version actually,in Hindi and they also renamed it in Hindi as "Chakravyuha" which means "Labyrinth" which also seemed quite sensible to me.The dubbing was perfect,with brilliant translation and synchronization, and the selection of voices for actors were also fantastic.In short,they didn't spoiled the movie like they did to Harry Potter and Avatar .We watched the movie in empty cinema hall(there were only 40-50 peoples present in the capacity of 300) which was not surprising for me,as no one care much about Christopher Nolan movies here,except few movie aficionados like me.

Watching Inception was the experience like seeing a miracle from you own eyes ,a entertainment for your mind, body and soul.This movie satisfied me completely from every point of view,like i said before this movie is a complete package,this movie makes us think deeply and explores subconscious of human mind and make us realize the power of it.The completely original and personal work of Christopher Nolan with some inevitable influences of other movies like Matrix but this doesn't make this movie unoriginal ,the idea of traveling into the subconscious of human's mind and steal his idea or even seeding an idea in his subconscious is completely new,mind-blowing and ground-breaking concept,the brilliant action and chasing sequences maintained adrenalin rush in your body,and also a very heart-touching love story that doesn't seemed out-of-place but the vital part of the movie.This brilliant concept get the full support from Warner Bros. who can take such a high risk and give full freedom to their director,grand scale production which made the sets and special effects looks so real. Brilliant performances from every single cast as they were portraying the beautifully created characters with such depth that made their work very challenging.The soundtrack of the movie is mesmerizing and added great feel to the movie.

Inception may not be the best,may not be the most perfect and flawless movie ever made but certainly it is the most complete grand scale entertainment movie,so far.

Repulsion (1965)

brilliant horror movie from Roman Polaski...........

[9/10 · 19 July 2010]

Repulsion is a very underrated masterpiece and one of the best movie from great director Roman Polaski.It is a psychological horror movie about a sexually oppressed women suffering from schizophrenia.

Carol is a very attractive and beautiful girl who lives with her elder sister,and works in a beauty salon.She is a very reserved girl and always remains scared of man.Maybe some thing from her childhood,kept haunting her.Terrible things began happen to her when she left alone in her apartment for 10 days,like claustrophobic hallucinations and she began to grew disturbing rape fantasies.

Carol is portrayed by extremely gorgeous Catherine Deneuve,she did the complete justice to her character and bring a brilliant performance in spite of very less dialogues and emotions.Her sensible performance grew sympathy for the innocent,weak,mentally oppressed Carol who needed proper attention and care but left alone in isolation.

The movie moves very slowly like any other Polaski's movies with very long scenes and very less editing demanding the patience and involvement of the audience,took it's time to get into the real action,almost all the time movie remains very calm, without any dialogues and background music.The haunting black and white cinematography and excellent camera work creates a powerful thriller. There are very few characters in the movie,to create the feel of isolation in audience. Polaski kept the plot of the movie as simple as possible without any twists and turns like we see in any other horror fantasies and this gives the movie very realistic touch,even the ending of the movie is very terrifying but remains very realistic, the ending speaks to us and gives proper conclusion to movie. Roman Polaski uses all these techniques to create a dark and scary atmosphere that doesn't create a cheap thrill that fade away as the movie end but it's depth and gravity leaves the audience disturbed and moved from inside.

Repulsion is one of the most disturbing movie i have ever seen,this movie frightened you to very deeper level and it's effect doesn't end with the ending and the movie keep haunting you all the time,this movie gravitate it's viewer by it's psychological depth,the intensity of the movie drag you to the emotional isolation and madness like no other horror movie.

The Fountain (2006)

Death is inevitable,it is not a disease that can be cured.......

[7/10 · 15 July 2010]

Three parallel stories revolves around the two characters in different time periods but there are invisible threads connecting this three stories.Each story is the journey of a man to save his beloved one from the certain death.A doctor trying to find the cure for his wife dying from cancer,a warrior in the ancient Spain to save his queen trying to find a tree which according to ancient Mayan myth is the source for life in Earth,and the third story is of a man traveling in the space to save the dying tree.First story which is the real story and other two stories are used as symbolism and interpretations to make us realize the message and to express the purpose of the movie.

The plot of the movie looks very simple on the surface,Darren Aronofsky use the ancient myths and mysteries of universe as the symbolism to raise the questions on life and death.The Fountain is the movie which does not depend on it's story but on what will we experience after watching the movie,you cannot know what movie delivers by just reading it's story on the page you have to experience the movie on your own. What i felt about the movie is that this is a great effort but it lacks in vision and focus.Due to it's lack of clear insight the movie failed to get us to the destined point and the message of the movie get lost and remained unclear and at the end i was left unsatisfied.

The Fountain is not like other Hollywood mainstream sci-fi cinema,this movie reminds me of the Andrew Tarnofynsky's movies,The Solyaris and The Stalker which deals with the same questions and philosophy of human life,it's existence and it's purpose through symbolism.But this movie is not as complete and insightful as those movies but still a good experience to watch.

The best thing about the movie is it's beautiful cinematography,it's editing and its mesmerizing music given by Clint Massel.This three things makes the movie a visually captivating and eye-pleasing experience to watch but it failed to be eye-opening experience for me.The movie have outstanding performance of Rachelz Weisz but Hugh Jackman could have done much better job here,i think he was not the right choice for the role.

Darren Aronofsky is a very talented director with a great vision,his every work took out some deep thoughts from inside of us forces us to face the harsh reality of human life,the sorrow,the failure,the death.His works always remains like a very sad poem with a message.The Fountain is so far the worst movie from him but still have strength to distinct itself from other movies we see nowadays,you can see the fingerprints of a brilliant and visionary artist in his bad movie too.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Certainly the most perfect western movie ever.........

[9/10 · 13 July 2010]

This is the story of the two infamous outlaws of the wild world of west Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid.They may be the biggest outlaws that ever hit the area and are the leaders of the gang named "Hole in the wall".They are very different from each other,if Butch is a good natured man with great ideas,Kid is quick and deadly as lightning but they are very close buddy,their friendship is so strong that they even love the same women Etta Place,a school teacher.The west in now changing and things are not so easy now as before,luckily escaping the almost certain death Butch and Kid escaped to Bolivia with Etta,where they also started robbing the bank and soon they also became infamous there as "Bandidos Yanquis".

This movie is not like other western movies,this movie is not as stylish and violent as other western movies of Sergio Leone or The Wild Bunch.This is the original work more like an art movie,very slowly burning masterpiece with the most perfect script ever written for a western movie which get equally great treatment from it's Director. There are many very-well written quotes and lines in the movie which makes the scenes memorable.The second part of the movie is as entertaining and binding as first part of the movie,there is not a single moment where the story gets weak and we felt lack of interest.

This is also the most beautiful western movie i have ever seen, wonderful cinematography which makes the prairies and wastelands surrounded by mountains look astonishing,even the montage scenes that are filmed with different brownish color looks so beautiful. Another wonderful thing in the movie is it's soundtrack which is not used to create thrill in action scenes like in other westerns, they use background score(like in a romantic movie) in montage scenes and in the bicycle scene(which is the loveliest scene for me in the movie,the way they use the sunlight which make the scene very pleasing).Brilliant performances and great chemistry among the three lead actors Paul Newman,Robert Redford and Catherine Ross.

The whole movie was full of fun and adventure from start to end,a complete entertainment,there are many moments that make you laugh aloud specially train robbery scene but it is not a comedy movie.the ending was so tragic but did not make us sad,which is the only reason for me to give this movie 9 instead of 10,i think the ending should be more emotional.Except this,there is not a single mistake in the movie,this movie have such a high standard of film-making which is very hard to compare with other movies of same genre,perfect and mind-blowing peace of art.

I'm not too fond of western movies but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the best western movie ever made and also among the few westerns that i like so much.For me this is the second favorite western movie(after The good,The bad and The ugly).A must watch for every western movie lover and even if you are not,i recommend this movie as it has everything which you found in traditional western movie but at the same time it is very different and original.

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

Greatest Civil-War movie ever made....................

[10/10 · 11 July 2010]

Battle of Algiers is based on Civil-War for the independence of Algeria from the occupation of France started by the National Liberation Front of Algiers in the year 1954,the war came to an end with the independence of Algeria in 1962.The movie shows the civil war from two different view points of both the Algerian peoples who aimed to obtain their independence at any cost and of French authorities who aimed to hold their occupation over Algeria.

We see the war from beginning to end with the story of a young man Ali La Pointe who became a rebel hero from a small criminal.When things get out of control from French police the French Military intervened to handle the situation under the command of Col. Mathieu.We see the account of bloody struggles from both sides,the torture and suppressive methods used by military to end the struggle or the bomb explosions and guerrilla war tactics used by NLF to obtain freedom,both French Military and NLF try very extreme and violent measures to counter attack each other.

The half documentary,half fiction style of movie from the director Gillo Pontecorvo gives us the very realistic feel and drew us close and connected to the movie.The screenplay is written very well in both documentary and fiction style.It is made with very precise technical perfection,the use of camera to create a feel of documentary movie and also the thrill and tension of a war movie gives us a unique and mind-blowing ride that can be deliver from watching this movie only. the scenes of bomb explosion,assassinations and protest scenes at end of movie were shot very perfectly and seemed to be very real with the brilliant background score by one of my favorites Ennio Morricone.

Battle of Algiers is the most hard hitting and violent Civil-War depiction,i have ever seen.The best thing about the movie is that it is not a propaganda movie even if the movie was made under the authority of government of Algeria the movie doesn't justify any particular side,this movie do not have any thing such as struggle between good and bad,instead of preaching and manipulating us,this movie just shows us and tells us accurately horrible and terrifying casualties of a Civil-War.Without any doubt this movie is greatest political thriller and one of the greatest war movie ever made for me.

Sunset Blvd. (1950)

The harsh reality behind the celluloid screen....

[9/10 · 1 July 2010]

The life of a movie star is something very volatile and strange.Their glam and fame make peoples love them,when they are young and at the peak of their career peoples admire their beauty and talent,we call them star because they shines among the billions like a star.But in reality they don't have the life time like a star,in fact celebrity status is more like a air bubble,so much fragile and thin which doesn't stay forever floating in the air,as the time passes it just need a little push of fate and in few moments they became past and no one remember them.But they never overcome their life style which is full of glamor and fame,they just don't want to believe that their days of repute are over,they always live in their past, unaware of their present and uncertain about their future.This is the dark and naked truth about the cruel world of Cinema that no body cares about a fading star not even their audience,a movie star is nothing more than a joker in the circus for an audience.whether it is Hollywood or any other place the story is same.Sunset Boulevard is a haunting tragedy and hard-hitting satire that make us familiar with this dark side of Film Industry,the harsh reality of a movie star's life.

The movie starts with a thundering music,showing a dead body of a movie writer in the pool.the story is narrated by Joe Gillis a penny less screen writer without any work,his fate took him to a big old mansion belong to a silent movie star Norma Desmond with an ugly grimace in her face, her career is faded by time into uncertainty just like the beauty faded from her face.But she doesn't accept the truth,she said "I am big,it is the pictures that got small".Joe get hired by Norma to write a script for her movie which she think that make her a star again.He forced to living with her and then came to realize the emptiness and loneliness of her life.At the end he pay a heavy cost for his relationship with her.

The movie have very strong script with excellent plot development.They given such a depth to characters,we can relate with them easily.The dialogues are very well written and hard-hitting and also create humor to give us comedy relief.Performance of Gloria Swansion brings the pain and emptiness of her character with expressions like an actor of silent era,worthy to be remembered among the greatest performances of cinema history.Willian Holden also did splendid job as a comic hero Joe Gillis.Direction of Billy Wilder was splendid and daring,he created a wonderful atmosphere in the movie,a feel of dark comedy film-noir with uncompromisingly direct and honest satire.Just look at the scene of first night at the mansion,gives us such a creepy feeling and the tragic ending that leaves you unspeakable.

Sunset Blvd.is certainly the best movie made about life in Film Industry.From every level of film making this movie is undoubtedly certified as a immortal masterpiece.The brilliant script filled with memorable dialogues,powerful performances from all castes and above all visionary direction of Billy Wilder and the haunting b/w cinematography combines all together to give us a memorable experience.The haunting atmosphere of a film-noir combines with the depth of a satire makes Sunset Blvd. an unforgettable and unique experience for audience.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

The husband,his wife and her lover..............

[9/10 · 29 June 2010]

A husband found his wife is having an affair with another man and he planned to murder his wife to inherit all her wealth.He made a perfect plan and had all the arrangements done,but just like in real world every thing doesn't go as you planned.The things get upside down when his wife not only escaped from being killed but she also killed the man who came to kill her,now the husband have to hide his involvement in crime.

Dial M for Murder is a small and simple crime thriller and one of the best movie from master of thrillers Alfred Hitchcock.It is really amazing to see how a movie that has been almost shot in a single room without any thrilling scene(except one) create such a tension and mystery.This is one of rarest thriller movie that doesn't depend upon it's style and thrilling scenes to shock you and manage to keep you on the edge of your seat,in fact the whole movie consists of long sequences of dialogues and conversations,just like a play but still doesn't bore you.

This movie is less psychological and dramatic than other Hitchcock's work and this simplicity of the movie give it real strength.The story of the movie is very clever and witty and it also doesn't seemed to be unrealistic at all and the feeling of realizing that how much the events that occurred in the movie also possible in real world,thrills you most.

Direction of Alfred Hithcok was perfect.Every single scene was wonderfully shot with brilliant camera work.He maintained the suspense and tension constantly throughout the movie with his brilliant story telling,there is only one short scene of violence in the movie and the movie maintain the thrill all the time only with it's story-telling and dialogues.The soundtrack of the movie also played a very important part to create the atmosphere in the movie.

The script was also very well written,sometimes it seemed to be dragging the scenes very long but it's weakness overcome by perfect direction.The first part of the movie shows how he plot the killing and how the killing went wrong and the second part of the movie shows the investigation of police and how he manage to hide his role in the killing.

The most appealing of all the performances was of Ray Milland as the devious husband who planned the murder of his beautiful wife for 90000 pounds, his character was so clever and witty,always remained cool and casual in critical situation.No matter how serious the situation is he come with a brilliant idea to save himself.Grace Kelly was looking so beautiful(especially in the nightdress) and also did the brilliant performance,she is the most beautiful Hitchcock lady ever.

Dial M for murder is my third favorite Hitchcock movie after Rear Window and Psycho,I am not a very big fan of Alfred Hitchcock.I usually like those Hitchcock movies that depend lesser on style but more on plot and story-telling,and Dial M for murder is one of them.

Invictus (2009)

Invictus succeeded in it's purpose completely.......

[9/10 · 27 June 2010]

Invictus is the third movie from the team of Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman and this time too they succeeded to bring us a brilliant movie. Invictus is based on the early years of Nelson Mandela as a newly elected President of Republic of South Africa,it was the time for change,the end of apartheid and the beginning of new era.The country was divided and hopeless, crime rate,poverty were increasing,country was not working right so was it's Rugby team and the world cup was on it's way in the year 1995.Country needed a inspiration,a medium to get united and to break the walls of creed and color.Nelson Mandela knew his country needed a inspiration,a moment that make the whole country feel proud will also help in bringing people close to each other and thus it was important for it's country to win the Rugby world-cup.So Mandela took the matter in his own hands,he meet with the Rugby team captain Francois Pieenar and made him realize that whole country is counting on them and how can they help in unite the whole nation if they win the world cup.

Nelson Mandela is portrayed by my favorite actor Morgan Freeman.Now,the problem is that both Morgan Freeman and Nelson Mandela are popular faces.we are familiar with both of them so,it is really hard to accept Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.This is why a role of popular person should always been played by an unpopular face,like Ben Kinglsley in Gandhi,i didn't know who is Ben Kingsley when i was watching Gandhi so it was not difficult for me to accept him as Gandhi.But here Morgan Freeman is my favorite actor and that make difficult for me to accept him as Nelson Mandela but some minutes after movie starts,i never felt like i was watching Morgan Freeman and that is an real achievement for an actor and Morgan Freeman shows the brilliant performance here. Matt Demon was also brilliant in the role of Rugby team captain Francois Pieenar.

I think Clint Eastwood done a beautiful job here,his direction literally saved the movie,there was not a single moment in the movie where i felt detachment.The whole story of movie was so plane and predictable,but i felt movie very interesting and entertaining as it was great experience for me to see a movie based on great leader Nelson Mandela.Invictus is not completely a sports movie,the movie is also biopic which gives the glimpse of life of Nelson Mandela as a newly elected president,his views and thoughts towards his country and it's peoples and how he try to unite his nation,the movie is filled with very well written quotes and speeches.The movie makes us familiar with the historic moments of a country and Clint Eastwood succeeded in this completely.The scenes of the rugby match should have been much more energetic and passionate but like Clint Eastwood's other works this movie also remains calm and sober all time.Otherwise,the movie is very well made and was perfect in all the departments.

Invictus is not just a normal sports movie.The movie shows the importance of sports for a nation and it's peoples,sports unite us,you support a single team with the same spirit your religion and color have no importance here the only thing important here is your country. Because of those moments of celebrations or grief that we felt with one spirit for one team it realize us how much we love our country.Invictus will be respected and remembered personally by those who feel historical importance of the events occur in the movie,but it will also be enjoyable movie for others too from different part of the world.

Harvey (1950)

story of a perfect man in the imperfect world........

[9/10 · 22 June 2010]

Welcome to the world of Eldwood P. Dowd. Mr.Dowd is a very pleasant, good-hearted innocent man who treat everybody with respect and love.I don't think he ever hated anybody in his life he always find good in everybody no matter how bastard you are and how much you disrespect him he will always love you.He is free of envy,jealousy and hatred,He never lie and cheat and never speak ill of others and that makes him happiest human in the world,he is completely satisfied with himself and the world,everyday is a beautiful day for him.He is a kind of guy you always want to be with him and to be his friend,but he has a problem too and the problem is his friend Harvey(who is only visible to him only) a six feet three and a half inch Rabbit,now whenever he introduce this Rabbit with everyone he meet they get scared of him and run away from him.This constant trouble caused by Harvey compelled Mr.Dowd's sweet-and-sore elder sister Veta to send him to sanatorium. Now,the whole things turns upside down from here and thus,movie becomes one of the most funny, wild and touching cinematic experience of my life.

The first part of the movie is filled with strangest moments,twists and turns that you won't expect to happen but when they occurs you won't be able to stop the bursts of laugh,the first part of the movie is wild, very fastly but very nicely paced that gives us a very funny and lovely ride.In the second part movie gets into something deeper,serious and mysterious,it touches you,makes you realize something and delivers you the beautiful message without any effort at the ending but also remains very funny all the time.

Mr.Elwood P.Dowd is portray by James Stewart and thus it doesn't need any further explanation. But the most memorable thing of the movie was the acting of Josephine Hull as the Veta Louisse Simmons.Even if her character remained funny all the time She really gravitate the whole movie towards her.The performance from every single caste was wonderful.

The character of Mr.Dowd is really interesting,either you will find him naive,retard and rubbish or you will love him,it just depends on your mentality.For me he is just a perfect human because he is free of every thing that makes us unhappy,he is untouched by evilness of human mind. So what makes him believe that he has a giant Rabbit as his friend? Because the world,the peoples around him is not what he deserved, he deserved something better,something more innocent and pure that doesn't envy or feel jealous from him or anybody and this he only found in his imaginary friend Harvey.

Harvey is a feel-good movie,the kind of movie that put a smile on your face,you feel better after watching such movies.May be i am exaggerating but,If you don't like the idea of movie and find this movie overemotional,unrealistic and pretentious then you really should start worrying about yourself because i can say there is nothing wrong with the movie,there must be something wrong with you.This movie is based on a wonderful idea which is also get proper treatment from its director and writer.Such kind of movies are almost impossible these days and this movie consists of all the reasons why i liked old b&w movies.

Raavan (2010)

Doesn't do justice with the great epic but still good entertainment...

[7/10 · 18 June 2010]

Raavan is another movie from veteran Indian movie director Mani Ratnam. As the movie is the adaptation of Ramayana,(one of the greatest epic ever told) set up in the present world,I was pretty excited to watch this movie and had lots of expectations from this when i went to theater betting my 150 rupees on it(my whole week pocket money).As in original Ramayana there was a battle between good and evil.The good one was prince Ram(a epitome of complete virtuous,perfect man),his wife(a epitome of perfect,completely pure woman),his brother Laxman and Hanuman.The evil one was Raavan,a complete evil man,entirely opposite of Ram.Now,the events occurs in the epic are almost same in the movie too but as the movie is based on modern world,there is a difference in characterization so the consequences of the events occurs are also different.In the movie a naxalite bandit Beera(Raavan) who is also the lead character of the movie,kidnap Ragini(Sita) who is the wife of police officer Dev(Ram).Beera unlike Raavan is not completely evil(he is shown like Robin Hood). Kidnapping Ragini is not an act of lust and greed but but an act to avenge his sister's iniquitous death who was raped in police custody.He is wild,violent and ruthless to his enemies but he is not evil he also have a righteous side.Also,Dev unlike prince Ram is not righteous,he is evil and cruel and can outreach the limit of morals and ethics to rescue his wife.As the story moves Beera fall in love with Ragini and Ragini came to know good side of Beera and the dark side of her husband.Due to all this changes occurs,the outcome of the movie is completely different from the epic,but i admit it was brilliant.

The best thing of the movie is its cinematography which is done by the very talented Santosh Sivan,he is the best at his work and this movie is the most brilliant work from him so far.The exquisite beauty of Indian forests,waterfalls,rivers and the villages are captured beautifully. Raavan has the best cinematography any Indian movie ever had,almost parallel to international standards(like Last of the Mohicans) and it is the greatest achievement for this movie.The direction of Mani Ratnam is very good and there is no doubt,at present he is the best director of India.

Casting of the movie is grand and the performance from all the caste(except Abhishek) is splendid.The performance of Aishwarya Rai as Ragini is very powerful and colorful.In recent years,she establish herself as an actress of substance and maturity.Her transformation from a beauty queen to an talented actress is really worthy to be praise and admire.Once Roger Ebert said about her that she is not only first but also second most beautiful woman in the world,and I agree with him on this one.Now,she is the deadly combination of both beauty and talent.The other actors did their part very well.Vikram's acting as Dev was thrilling and chilling.Govinda and Ravi kishan both did well in small but important roles.The soundtrack of the movie is given by Oscar winner A.R Rehman and he did another outstanding job under his mentor Mani Ratnam.

Among the bad things,the most disappointing is the performance of Abhishek Bachchan as a lead role of Raavan.He did not perfectly fit in the role and did lots of mistakes like his accent of a rural man and his expressions all seemed so artificial and out of place.He is among the most over-rated actor of bollywood and he continuously fail to deliver performance.He certainly was not the right choice to did the role.Plot development is another thing that disappoint me,the movie before interval was so fast and the events occurred very quickly and just after interval they inserted the song( and all those dancing stuffs,which i hate so much)this all things left me untouched and unsatisfied.The problem was in the script, you cannot make only 135 hour long movie on a seven books long epic(Ramayana is the second largest epic after Mahabharata) and also add two dancing songs.I admit ending was very good and make a lot of sense but the disappointment was in how they reached to the ending.

I was delighted when i heard that Mani Ratnam was adapting Ramayana into the modern world.This is the first effort from bollywood to adapt such a great epic and only Mani Ratnam had the potential to do justification to such a great epic.But,i truly admit Mani Ratnam failed to deliver completely.Yes,the movie was entertaining and had every aspect that Indian audience expect from bollywood movie and there is no doubt in my mind that the movie will be a big commercial success.

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Giulietta Masina gives the greatest performance of cinema history in this movie........

[10/10 · 16 June 2010]

Nights of Cabiria is another neo-realistic Italian cinema that took us down-right to the world of misfortune,despairing,unloved world of a prostitute.The story of a woman Cabiria who dreamed up of finding true love in her life.The story follows Cabiria in her quest for love where she wanders the streets of Rome during night awaiting a wonder to happen when one day she will find the love of her life,but ironically in her quest she always get betrayed,disrespected and used-up by the different men she encounters in her journey.

In this tragicomic tale,Giulietta Masina portrayed the role of innocent and naive women which is one of the greatest performance i have seen from any actress in my life.You will gravitate towards her wide,round glittering eyes and her innocent smile.You will grieve for her griefs, felt sympathy for her and when she smile,the innocence and purity of her smile compel you to smile and rejoice for her, when she pray to Madonna in a shrine i felt like praying with her.Her character was so energetic,full of passion ans positive attitude towards life,no matter how much she is in pain and grief she always found a way to laugh.

Nights of cabiria is certainly one of the most perfect and equally powerful movie ever made.There is not a single flaw in the direction of Federico Fellini.The movie was more than perfect in every department from plot development,cinematography,performance to editing you cannot point-out a single sign of blemishness in the movie.This movie was entertaining throughout, perfectly paced that allow the audience to get deeply involve with the story and also prevent from boredom.The scenes were shot with precise details, perfection and beauty,whether the scene of the prayer in the shrine or the tension and sadness build at the climax ,every scene was exquisitely brilliant.

This movie have one of the most tragic ending i have ever seen.The movie ended like it started,when she get betrayed again by another man she fell in love, in-spite of being sad and severely honest to audience about the harsh reality of world all the time, movie still inspire us at the end same time to never to loose hope.

Nights of Cabiria is not a chick flick,this movie has an insight ,the character study of a misfortune women.Just like a mirror,this movie shows us the reality of life,true depiction of the cruel and unaffectionate world we live in but still inspires us.

Sometimes,I wonder how can i relate myself so much with a movie that is not even near around to my culture,language,era and the country.Nights of Cabiria is one of those movies.this movie was made in 1957(the year even when my parents were not born) and from the country of Italy,i hardly know anything about it's culture and language.But still love the movies from Italy,the country where one of the most beautiful movies of the world are made.It is because of that these movies have boundless emotions that flows beyond the border of any country,passes all the hurdles of language and time and equally capable to penetrate the emotions of audience,irrespective of it's language and country.

The movies like Nights of Cabiria are like Diamond which have no influence of time,only they get more and more beautiful as the time passes.The world will never forget the cinematic gems like this.

Micmacs (2009)

this movie is not among his best but a must watch for Jean Pierre Junette fan..

[7/10 · 8 June 2010]

After a long interval of six years,Jean Pearre Jeunet has brought us his new movie Micmac which is embellished with his as usual weirdly inventive imagination of real world, his trademark visual style which makes his movie adorably beautiful and the melodious soundtrack.

Micmacs is a story about a orphan basil who has a bullet in his head and the reason for him being a orphan and bullet in his head is the two weapon manufacturer companies which are run by very vicious and immoral peoples.The story is about vengeance of Basil from this two companies who had destroyed his life and in his revenge which turned out for me to be one of the most clever,wild and comic revenge plan,i have ever seen in a movie,he is accompanied by his underdog friends who are proficient in their own unique qualities and live together in a cave like home,repair second-hand household equipments.The movie is basically a satire on the weapon manufacturer companies who do illegal arm dealings just to make more profits and are responsible for millions of death and casualties over the whole world.But instead of being thought-provoking and efficacious the movie sticks to its style all the time which makes it emotionally less involving for the audience but very funny and comic ride.The movie had lots of funny and wild moments that kept me entertained all the time.

All the characters were strange and weird but very lovable that can only be emerged from the mind of Jean Pierre Junette.The sober and innocent character of Basil(David Boon) had the striking resemblance to Charlie Chaplin.a contortionist girl(Anna Ferrie) who is as flexible as elastic and also the love interest of basil.a calculator girl (MarieJulie Baup) who has exceptional ability to calculate anything. Tiny Pete(Michel Cremades) is an artist with a shy and cheerful face who can convert a junk into useful things.Tambouille(Yolande Moreau) is the leader of the family.We cannot imagine a Jean Pierre movie without Dominique Pinon in it and he was amazing as always in the very funny role of francaisse,a human-cannonball.

Cinematography was stunning,the exquisite use of colors made the movie very easy and beautiful to watch.the art direction in the movie was also splendid which makes the movie visually attractive.

The weakness of the movie was its dialogues which were not touching and striking but remained funny all the time.More emphasis should be given to plot development,instead of relying completely on style and visuals.

Jean Pierre Junette is one of my favorite director and i always enjoyed his work.The best thing about the Junette's work is that even if his movie is based on real and present world,it never seemed like one.Like his other works,Micmacs is also full of weird and strange imagination, but this time it was lesser surrealistic and more realistic .However, Micmacs is not among his best creation,movie remained comic and funny all the time without any striking quality in it but movie surely is enjoyable and entertaining and worth a watch from everyone who loves Jean Pierre Junette movies and his world of beautiful and strange imagination.

The Kite Runner (2007)

finally,a tale which garners all human emotions with a nation's history

[9/10 · 4 June 2010]

Who can tell us the tragedies and consequences of war better than a citizen of Afghanistan?what it feels like to loose your inheritance and country forever?No story have been told about this but from the movie kite runner Khalid Hosseini made us realize.The kite runner is wonderful movie based on his novel,very brilliantly directed by Marc Forster and having superb performances from every single cast.

the whole scenario of movie revolves around the 25 years of history of Afghanistan revealed through the story of a boy Amir.the events that occurs and change the course of his country drastically also changed his life.the movie is a very captivating,heart-touching and poignant melodrama that garner all emotions of childhood-friendship,father-son relationship,romance,sacrifice,tragedy,betrayal,courage and redemption.

The story can be divided into three acts. In first act Afghanistan of late 70's before Russian invasion has shown when there was peace and freedom in Afghanistan.first act describe the childhood of amir in city of Kabul where he lived with his father and his friend Hassan,a very cute hazara boy with china-doll face who is the son of their servant but he is more like a brother to Amir.Amir who want to be a writer have very estranged relationship with his father. Hassan who is very good kite runner,he help Amir to win a kite tournament to help Amir to earn his father's love. Instead of different ethnicity amir(pushtun) and Hassan(hazara) have very devouringly close and strong friendship and movie portrayed it beautifully with wonderful acting from both child actors. The tragic events that fall out on hassan due to his ethnic difference and betrayal from Amir due to his cowardliness afflicted me deeply.the first act show the turning political conditions and eventually the invasion of Russia which forced amir and his democratic father fled from Afghanistan to U.S.A.

The second act follows amir's youth in U.S.A.Amir is now became accustomed to American culture finished his studies and ready to became a writer.His father who was once rich and powerful now lives in a pitiful condition selling goods in markets and working in shops,the sparkness and robustness of his face has now been over-shadowed by his continuous sadness and sorrow of losing his inheritance.Amir fall in love with an Afghan girl soraya.His father who is suffering from a dreadful disease do him a last favor by asking soraya's family permission to marry his son.The tragedy brought Amir very close to his father and the depiction of strong bond bw. them is very touching.Amir married soraya and his first novel get published.Then he received a letter from his uncle which compel him to return to Afghanistan again to redeem from a sin he did in his childhood.

The third act follows the search of Amir in Afghanistan and through Amir we see what Afghanistan has became in the reign of Taliban.The painful depiction of child abuse was harrowing and unbearable to watch. The events that occurs at the ending are considered by many as over-dramatization of story but i totally disagree with them.In fact i felt completely satisfied with the movie.the movie had such a perfect plot development that the story felt like a journey to me.It was a journey of Amir for his redemption and i felt like travelling with him and when he finally achieved for what he went in Afghanistan,he became free of every guilt,of what he did in his childhood to his beloved friend.every pain of him of being exiled from his country and loosing everything seemed to be vanished by his single act of heroism,when he finally conquered all of his fears.The movie was seamless throughout from beginning to the end and events that occurred no matter how melodramatic they were seems relevant to the plot development and purpose for what movie had made.

I also disagree with all those critics who bashed the movie for being over-emotional.i will say them to quit being so over-practical.They are missing the whole point of the movie.Every single scene and emotion in the movie was purposeful and nothing in the movie seemed to me like out of place or unnecessary.

I haven't read the novel and i can't say that this movie did justice to it or not, but i can say that the kite runner is absolutely complete as a movie and story telling.yes,this movie have its flaws and achievements like every movie does,but the greatest achievement of this movie is that the movie garners a nation's history with all the human emotions in it and influence of a nation's tragedy on it's peoples at the personal level.

American Psycho (2000)

American Psycho failed to be a satire and succeeded in entertain us but this movie left me with a question of how much Patrick batman i have inside me?

[7/10 · 2 June 2010]

American psycho is wickedly funny,thrilling and hilariously shocking movie which doesn't prove or point anything substantial or thought provoking but still entertain you,one of the most controversial movie based on equally controversial novel with the same name.

We all have a evil part of us,a beast inside.Now,it depends upon us how much of it we have.The measure of our success as a human or as asociety can be measured by how we control it.Either we unleash it or we can try to suppress it.this story is about a bank executive who has an alter personality of Patrick batman by which he fantasizes himself being a serial killer.it is very clearly shown in the movie that heis frustrated with the society and the peoples with he live but the reasons for him being so frustrated and annoyed doesn't seemed to be reasonable to me. Yes, he was very highly obsessed with perfection and wanted everything according to him.This is why,he get angry easily but i can say that the feelings aroused in him was innate or inborn in him and it was just his state of mind which make him crazy for blood and violence.

So what was the idea behind the movie?what movie tried to show us? in fact the movie was intended to be a satire about rising frustration and anger among peoples against materialistic society, against the profit oriented ,consumerist world which is full of careerists, hypocrites and liars.but movie failed to made any point because script fall flatly to bring the message in front of us.the result we obtained was of A-grade slasher movie full of comedy and violence,have brilliant performance from Christian bale and a overall good direction from Mary Harron.

the only drawback of this movie is its script.the movie obviously is entertaining.It is funny at one moment and suddenly movie will horrify you and have very witty dialogues.but the movie did not provide completely what you wanted from it and that is the message.they did not provide any valid justification for his actions which makes us dis- connected and distant to the character of Patrick.we felt entertained but untouched.both a clockwork orange and fight club clearly gave reason for anti-hero being highly disturbed and his inclination towards violence but this movie fail short of it. also,the ending was satisfying and disappointing both.we can have our own opinion on that if he really killed them or not,but i think it was only his imagination.it was relieving for me to know that he was not a serial killer but it was also clear that at the end he was not at the better condition too.As he said he is in a constant pain and wanted his pain to be inflicted on other i felt sad for him by realising that the rage and anger inside him will become more and more and it is possible that he will kill someone one day.

Overall the movie was very well directed by Mary Harron.It was really surprising for me that a woman directed such a bold and unusual movie. She handled the project cleverly and provided us the feel we never had from watching from any other movie.everything was perfect-the atmosphere ,the pace,the performances form every single cast, the soundtrack, everything was at the right place.unfortunately she did not get the good support of script, otherwise movie should have been perfect.

But the real highlight of the movie was thundering performance of Christian Bale.i always thought of bale as mediocre actor who cannot bring challenging performances but he proved me wrong.he totally got inside the personality of Patrick batman,his body-language,dialogue delivery ,expressions were mind-blowing.He forced me to laugh at the moments where i should feel disgust.His highly unstable and eccentric portrayal of unsympathetic anti-hero is the performance worthy to be praise and remembered.

Alice in Wonderland (I) (2010)

Alice is not in wonderland but in blunderland........

[5/10 · 28 May 2010]

Alice is back again but this time she is not in wonderland but in blunderland.i receive first and one of the biggest disappointment from movie fraternity this year when i saw Alice in the wonderland.just from the beginning i felt movie slipped from its track.It was never clear what ride Tim Burton wanted to give us from this movie,whether it was the fun ride he intended or the dark fantasy ride filled with surrealism like we get in jean-Peary Junette movies or may be the both but he completely failed in all of them.the result we obtained was totally a blunderous world of Alice and its C.G.I friends.all those computer created characters never seemed to me alive because they were never given heart of script from inside.

all the time i felt like i am watching emotion less drama,there was no high and low points in the story of the movie.the whole movie seemed to me like a plane ride without any thrill or excitement.the whole movie seemed to be pointless and without any purpose to me because movie was not succeeding in deriving any kind of feeling inside me except a slightly pleasant feeling from watching wonderful C.G.I.

i always thought that this novel can only be treated perfectly by Tim Burton or jean Pierre Junette and i was really happy when i heard that Tim Burton is making a movie on this novel.but the movie failed in every department from beginning to end except graphics but they were not enough to save the movie.Tim Burton should have given more emphasis on script.he should make the script more substantial,there was not a single quality in this movie for which i liked the Tim Burton's previous works of big fish and Sweeney toad.

Impressive Casting seemed to be crippled and wondrous special effects seemed to be garbage in the absence of a good script.many good talents wasted in the movies.Mia Wasikowska as Alice was very unimpressive and dull but it was not her fault completely,the character of Alice itself was unimposing and felt less alive than her C.G.I friends.johnny depp as mad hatter,Anne Hathaway as white queen were impressive but still suffered from lack of depth but Helena Boheme carter steal the show,she was tremendous as red queen in fact she was one of the two reasons that kept me interested in movie.another was special effects. beautiful ,colurful, imagination is used to create the wonderland that was the good experience for me,but special effects were not the only thing that i expected from movie,what i expected to see was Tim Burton's world of fantasy.

movie disappointed me but the real disappointment was of seeing johnny depp as such a shallowly and undemanding role of mad hatter.Johnny depp is in the most crucial time of his career and he is wasting his time and talent by doing such unimportant roles.I am big fan of johnny depp and really want to see him winning Oscar for best actor some day but if he continue to do such kind of roles,he will never achieve this.

25th Hour (2002)

another brilliant performance of Edward Norton in thought-provoking drama.

[7/10 · 23 May 2010]

The 25th hour is a emotional and moving drama from spike lee,filled with brilliant performance of Edward Norton.

A drug dealer(Montgomery brogan) has sentenced for seven years in jail.Before he went to jail,he has 24 hours of freedom to spend with his wife ,his father,his close friends and his dog.In this 24hours,they realize what went wrong and who was responsible.He was smart,young and intelligent but he did wrong things,at some point he moved towards wrong direction in his life.The 25th hour revolves around this 24 hours where everybody grieve ,think of the moments where they tried to stop him but he didn't listen to them.The movie deals with the relationships ,their importance and failure of them,what happens when we don't listen to them or when they fail to act.the movie shows it is only us who should be held responsible for our mistakes and its consequences.the reasons should be many but the main culprit is only us.The movie is also about fear which we felt through Monty,fear of not being survived and losing everything.

Edward Norton was the perfect choice for the role of Monty borgan and he played it brilliantly.the character of Monty is not of a very bad guy but somehow he took wrong decision to become a drug dealer.the character was not very sympathetic and likable either but Edward Norton made us grew sympathy towards him.all other main characters were very well portrayed.his wife naturaily (rosarie Dawson) who failed to stop him from ruining himself,his father(Brian cox) who owns a pub and felt very estranged with his own son,and his friends Jacob Elinsky(Philip Hoffman) a introvert English teacher who has a crush for his own student and Frank Slaughtery(berry pepper) his child-hood friend who felt sorry for Monty but also believe that he deserved for what he did,they all seemed to be estranged and distant to each other.

we felt the feelings of emotional estrangement and dissatisfaction among the characters for each other and spike lee succeeded in portraying those feelings.but in some way direction of the spike lee was not up to the mark as he did some mistakes.some scenes seemed to be very badly edited and proper use of camera should be done to make the scenes better.some small characters like DEA officers are very improperly portrayed.the movie was intense and involving but irregularly. there was no problem with script,it was brilliantly written,but movie left to make impact at many moments where they could have done better due to its weak supervision.

however,they give brilliant start and finish to the movie.the opening scene of the movie shows Monty saving the injured dog as he was inspired by his zeal to live.after wards,Monty admits to his friend that saving this dog is the only good thing he did in his life,which makes us realize how unimportant life he had lived.after the starting when i felt movie is getting more involving and interesting the movie deviated from its path at certain points due to its weak supervision by spike lee.the best part of the movie was the montage at the ending, which shows his father taking him farther away from new york instead of going to jail,his father saying how it is possible that he can live happily away from here,then we saw Monty living a happy life, getting married with naturaily and raising kids.but at last when montage ends we saw both of them going towards jail ,realizing us of loss of last opportunity he had to save everything he lost.

spike lee chosen the great idea to make the movie but he failed to convert it into something memorable,but this doesn't prevent movie to deliver its message successfully.the movie reminded me of movie cool hand Luke,symbolically,the hero also had its poster in his house.both movies are the character study of anti-hero who did mistakes in their life,and ended up in jail,having no idea what to do with life.

Kick-Ass (2010)

kick ass is a good entertainment but not more than that......

[8/10 · 12 May 2010]

kick ass is a story of an average boy,living ordinary life without any real excitement(like me).one day he decides to become a super hero(kick ass) and the funny thing is that there is no motive and personal agenda behind him being a superhero, now that makes this movie different,every time there has been a reason for someone for being a superhero and they all have some extraordinary power or large amount of money to spend for a social service.

kick ass have lots of interesting characters but one that i liked most in the movie was of "hit girl".a 12 year girl abusing and killing brutally was really surprising for me.her character is necessary for movie as she played important part in achieving the purpose of the movie.you don't have to think about movie and it's character after,as it is just a fun ride to entertain people and violence,profanity and hit-girl played a important part in it.

kick ass is very original,a new way making a movie on comic and graphic novel.kick ass will prove a pioneer in the start of new era of movies, a totally new genre(like western movie genre of 60's) of comic book adaptations filled with lots of stylish bloody violence,lots of fun and profanity.

kick ass is a movie that doesn't convey any message,you don't have to think about the movie seriously.this is just a fun ride and this is what today's generation want.they want just fun to leave all the tension behind and this movie succeeded in this purpose completely.

many peoples is disappointed with extreme use of violence and profanity in movie,they are right on their behalf.but i liked this movie because this movie succeeded in its purpose completely and give me a ride that i wanted from this movie.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

a century ahead of its time,boundless,timeless movie.............

[9/10 · 11 May 2010]

it took me a long time to understand why i liked this movie so much.i do not only liked this movie but felt so personal about it,i started thinking about this movie all the time.the feeling of exploring and experiencing something new and unique took over my mind.i never believed that the art of movie making can be so pleasantly shocking, daring and sensational.the movie is also very thought-provoking satire,a precisely correct vision of our dark future,where we are heading ourself in future.the movie was challenging and daring as the movie shows the failure of society and system at every point in a very straightforward manner.

the futuristic tale of a teenage boy Alex set in Britain,Alex whose fascination is for all the deplorable and shameful criminal activities.the fascination of Alex towards all those crimes can be figure out by looking into the world where he lives.the future world of anarchy,chaos and immorality.all the things he did was in his ignorance.in fact he was the product of the society where morals and wisdom have been extinguished long before Alex was born.there was no sense of good and bad in him,all those crimes was his means of entertainment,he find them equally amusing as Beethoven was amusing for him.the movie shows the decline of culture and morals,lack of communication bw. parents and children through the relationship of Alex with his parents.

the story shows two stages of Alex at first,a completely evil machine created by society and was programmed for anarchy and chaos.at the second when he betrayed by friends and sent to prison where he was selected for a test.the alteration of Alex from completely evil to completely good was very painful and unjustifiable.the movie here also shows the failure of the system to understand the problem and its inability to find solution properly.when Alex returned from prison,he was abused and condemned,without realizing his condition he was punished for what he had done previously.

Alex was called a clockwork orange because he was like a machine(a robot),at the both stages.at first a pure evil programmed for anarchy and chaos.and the second one was of pure good where he was painfully programmed to do only good.a human is a mixture of good and bad both but Alex had no understanding to choose bw. good and bad,he was living in ignorance like a robot,without realizing what he was doing, without any insight of it.

Alex was played by Malcolm McDowell perfectly,he was the best choice for the role.Alex was evil-minded,sinister and a monster and also a nescient teenage boy living in ignorance.the brilliant performance by Malcolm McDowell convey the message perfectly.direction of Stanley Kubrick was flawlessly path-breaking and imaginative.everything was perfect with the movie,the dialogues in archaic form maintained the feel of the novel and the soundtrack was also brilliant.the sets and costumes was designed very perfectly to give the bizarre feel of the movie.

a clockwork orange is a movie can be consider as ahead of its time,even at the present time no one can think about making a movie like this.a clockwork orange crossed all the limits of movie making showing the way for the filmmakers from all over the world to do something path-breaking, unconventional and extraordinary.

at last,i have to say that this movie can be easily misconceived by anybody,so watch it carefully with an open-mind and don't jump to conclusions instantly,think deeply about it.

Nefes: Vatan Sagolsun (2009)

poetic,philosophical tale of soldiers life defending their country...

[9/10 · 6 May 2010]

Nefes: Vatan sagolsun is a story of 40 Turkish soldier defending a remote military post from terrorists.the story inspired from true events is about an infantry captain mete and 40 soldiers under his command,most of them are new recruits and inexperienced.mete who is mildly disturbed because the death of his close friend by a terrorist leader called doctor shattered him from inside.he is filled with rage and anger to avenge his friend's death.Mete Horozoglu gives a thundering performance as cpt.mete.

nefes cannot be consider completely as a war movie but a highly philosophical drama and the character study of the soldiers who are working under impossible conditions,ready to defend their country at the cost of their life.the movie deals with the psychology of soldiers,give the view of their daily life under cruel circumstances.movie travels deep inside feelings of soldiers who are at the front for first time.

the movie is filled with hard-hitting dialogues and quotes with memorable performance from all castes.the movie consists of many unforgettable scenes that are highly binding and sensitive.the highly energetic speech from captain to infantry at beginning was shot very artistically with top-notch acting and cinematography,everything was white with fog and snow,only soldiers were visible.the scenes when soldiers talk to their family and loved ones were also very emotional. everything was brilliant in the movie.cinematography and sound effect were exceptionally brilliant.they filmed the wast terrains covered with snow very beautifully and the sound effects was also of very high quality.

the whole movie revolves around the soldier's life,their thoughts and thinking.the real action is at the last 25 minutes of movie.the combat scene were very quick,realistic and brutal.the combat also filmed with great perfection.i remember two scenes first when cpt. order a soldier to turn off the generator,without wasting a second he went outside through the firing of enemy,he turn off the generator and get shot and died instantly. he lost his life only to turn off the generator,so that they should not be the easy target for enemy.without firing a single bullet he was the hero of the day.he knew the risk that he would die for sure but he did because it was the order.another scene when a terrorist came running inside station and blew himself with three soldiers.i have never seen such a forthright description of war.

but the movie had some of its mistake too,it's patriotic tone and some over-dramatization caused it to loose its international appeal.another reason was that movie hold a totally distinct view towards war in comparison to Hollywood movies that also make the difference.

but i liked it as this is the best of the recent war movies outside Hollywood and very different from them.

watch it,if you can relate with this philosophical, war drama,it will be the mind blowing experience for you.

A Prophet (2009)

most powerful,realistic and an eyeopening crime drama

[9/10 · 2 May 2010]

the prophet is a story of a french Arab, malik who was imprisoned for six years in jail for a small crime at the age of 19. the story tells how in this six years he became the mafia boss making his way through Corsicans and Muslims crime bosses.

this movie clearly shows how a jail which were established for amelioration of criminals has became the platform for recruiting new criminals.similarly,our anti-hero who involuntarily doomed to the violent world of crime,forced to do murder and certain crimes he would not have done if he was not imprisoned.

at the jail there was no going back and he became pawn of the bosses.slowly,he gambled his fate took every opportunity comes to him.in the course of six years his destiny took him to attain the position of a kingpin.he was used by the disrespectful Corsicans and mistrusted by Muslims.but at last he took revenge from Corsicans and also became respectful among Muslims.in jail he developed his skills, became literate,make friends and with becoming more stronger he became more evil from inside.

this movie shows one of the most realistic depiction of jail life and crime world.their dirty game of politics and power.the scenes of violence seems very real which makes them very violent and unbearable.i have seen many movies made on the same idea and story but none of them was so realistic and veridical.

the storytelling was brilliant,the whole movie was seamless and very artistic.they depict alteration of malik in jail,his every step towards his freedom and the power very elaborately.

direction was also almost perfect,perfect use of camera to reveal emotions of characters with details of the surrounding.casting was also perfect everyone did the great job.the characters were very real and depict true nature of a criminal,they were not seemed to be fictional or fake like in most of the crime movies.

being a very violent movie and can be considered as racist by many,this movie explore the deep truth of the most darkest and sinister part of the society.highly recommended for art movie lovers from all over the world.

Being John Malkovich (1999)

unique,wicked,dark,funny,fantastic fantasy..........

[9/10 · 24 April 2010]

being john malkovich is a brilliantly written fantasy drama which is full of comedy,absurdity and surrealism.Charlie Kaufman is a charismatic writer and this movie is as scintillating as his other works.

the story is about a struggling,frustrated puppeteer Craig Schwartz(john cusack) who is unemployed and unhappily married to Lotte(Cameron diaz) obsessed with her pets.Craig took a job in a firm at 7½ floor of a building.his wistful and melancholic life is shown in a very funny and comic way.at office he fall in love with a women maxin(Catherine keener) but she refuse to love him back.

the movie took a turn into a fantasy ride when in office Craig discovers a hidden portal to john malkovich mind through which he can see and control what john does for 15 minutes.maxin and Craig started making money by giving ride to other peoples ,when Lotte tried the portal,she get fantasized herself as male and decided to be transsexual.Lotte also discovered that Craig's boss Dr.lester also know the secret of portal.things get much worse when Lotte also fall in love with maxin when she see her through john's mind.now both Lotte and Craig are in love with maxin but maxin chooses Lotte as maxin felt good being loved by both man and women through a single body.

due to forsaken by both womens,Craig got mad and he held Lotte as hostage and started meeting maxin through john without revealing her his identity.now john also feel that there is something wrong with him and he suspect maxin and followed her to the office and find the secret about portal ,this was the most intriguing scene of the movie as we all exited about what will happen if john enter his own portal and scene was really astonishing.

now Craig adept himself to control john's mind completely.Lotte loose herself with help of her pet chimpanze.this was also funniest scene of movie,how a chimpanze think back his childhood tragedy in flashback.Lotte told everything to maxin but it doesn't bother maxin as Craig has got the complete control on john's body.Lotte felt betrayed and went to Dr.lester which reveal her another secret about portal.

after that story moves eight month forward and another totally unexpected new turn come to the story.actually story took a new turn in every 15 minutes of the movie.this movie have every thing that you expect from Charlie Kaufman.

director spike jonze did justice with the script.i think it was very difficult to direct such a different script.there are the elements of absurdity,fantasy,surrealism and also the characters have so much depth and very difficult to portray specially of maxin who was a beautiful ,confident women but very cold and insensitive form inside.Catherine really did the great job.she was wickedly funny,confident and beautiful.all the three characters loved her but she used them for her own purpose.

the best thing about Kaufman work is experiencing something unique and beyond imagination which is funny and wicked at same time and also took us to all the dark side of human nature. this movie is highly recommended for Charlie Kaufman fans,his most funny and entertaining work.

Z (1969)

Z is a landmark and masterpiece of political thrillers

[8/10 · 21 April 2010]

Z is a powerful,intense,realistic and compelling political thriller which tells the real story of assassination of an leftist political leader,the conspiracy behind his assassination, its investigation and at the end aftermath of the events.

in fact i am not aware with the history of the Greece much,but i like political thriller very much,but this movie was very different from others in many ways.instead of being based on real story and without any dramatic twists ,the movie was thoroughly entertaining. the first one hour of the movie doesn't reveal too much,you have to wait until second half to get some real action when investigation begins and then movie became really interesting.

the movie was filmed in a very stylish way without loosing its realistic feel. the best achievement of the movie was its editing,the very fine and shortly edited scene to jump to flashback for short time leaves great effect on audience.scenes in which character revealing important past events the scene jumped to the that event very finely that audience doesn't feel any change and also with the sound of the character as narrator all this things give a very stylish feel to the movie and bind the audience deeply inside the story of movie.

another great thing was cinematography,the long duration shots are not shooted from a one place for long time but they always move the camera around the characters without editing,giving audience a very detailed and close view of that event.the very fine and small details are also get captured which makes audience more relative to the event. this type of film technique are not used by Hollywood and Asian cinemas,only martin Scorsese use this type of cinematography and editing.

script was also very balanced,very realistic and gives description of true events but also doesn't lack intensity and interest as they also added some funny characters and some thrilling scenes of chasing.the pace of the movie throughout was same but not cold and doesn't felt us bored.

you can watch this movie even you are unknown with the history and importance of events that happened in movies because this movie will totally be a new experience for you because of its stylish presentation.