“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d
If you live on the planet earth, chances are that you have seen Jim Carey in a goofball comedy making funny faces and you haven’t liked it. However, sometimes people can do just one thing that n erases all their sins , past and future . For Carey, acting in the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ” was it.
If you were to only see one move about Happiness in Our Lives, the let it be this one. By the end of the movie, you will be a different person, I promise you.
If you really want to see a “Hollywood” movie which captures the essence of India then forget everything else and see Slumdog Millionaire. What can I say about a movie which already has won so many awards?
It is based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikram Swarup.
The movie opens with a Jamal Malik( Dev Patel ) on the verge of the Final question on the Indian version of “who wants to be a millionaire” . He is clearly not a well read person and everyone is surprised how he has managed to answer all the questions till now. The movie is about how the fellow came to know the answer to all the previous questions.
Directed by Danny Boyle of “”Sunshine” , “28 Days Later” , “The Beach” and most famously “Trainspotting” which became a cult film, the movie features excellent performances by Dev Patel , Frieda Pinto , Irrfan Khan , Saurabh Shukla , Anil Kapoor and many others.
Even with the limited release it has had so far, it has climbed to #42 on the all time top movies list of IMDB and I predict that it is destined for a few oscars at the very least, not to mention hundreds of other awards.
It also has a very good soundtrack, see below two of my favourite songs from the movie.
This movie has received very mixed reviews and I find that very surprising because it is a very absorbing thriller. I found both the performances, by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino very good and the movie was well paced. Perhaps the plot was a bit simplistic and the “twist” at the end a bit predictable but I still feel it is worth a watch as it is only the third time De Niro and Pacino have acted together after “The Godfather Part II” ( 1974 ) and “Heat” ( 1995 ). IMDb details here .
Very Rarely it happens that a movie based on the book is better than the book itself. The Painted Veil is one such rare case where the movie was better than the book. The cinematography is stunning as you can see from the pictures above and below and the camera captures the beautiful scenery of China very well. The movie, based on the book by the same name by Somerset Maugham is set in the 1920s in China during a cholera epidemic and it tells the story of the relationship between an serious English doctor and his seemingly incompatible wife.
Naomi Watts is an actress who always given her 110% to the role and Edward Norton is best when he is given a challenging role such as this. Their acting is of such high calibre in this movie that for most of the time you forget they are acting. The story is heart wrenching and the only other movie which compares in sweep , storytelling , acting and rich imagery is the The English Patient, and that is saying something.
Forget “The Shawshank Redemption”, this is the real redemption. IMDB details here. If I had to list my fav. top 5 films of all times, this would surely be in it near the top.
Another great chinese movie featuring Tony Leung and Tang Wei. It is a spy story set in pre world war II Shanghai. Directed by Ang Lee, this is a very powerful story about a beautiful woman caught in the espionage game. IMDB here, Ebert’s Review Here. Must See.
Caution: Some fairly explicit scenes so not a movie you would want to watch with your grandparents.
What do you get when you set two veterans like Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam kher against each other and given them and excellent, no-holds-barred script? Pure Gold . The way Naseeruddin Shah portrays his character leaves us in awe of his prowess but then what else do we expect of him?
“A Wednesday” was released a short while ago but for some reason did not gather the attention it deserves. It is an outstanding movie and while you may not agree with the philosophy of the main protagonist in the movie, you will have to agree that he raises some very valid questions. To say anything more about the story of the movie would spoil it for you so all I will say is that watch the movie on DVD and let me know if you liked it or not. Incidentally the movie has no songs and not for one second does the pace of the movie slacken so you can watch it in one go.
A must watch.
My favourite genre in English movies is the Thriller and here is a list of 25 top thrillers of all times. While the making of such a list is bound to be a debatable issue since everyone has their own favourites , I think this list is fairly representative. My personal favourite among these is the movie Se7en. If you haven’t seen this movie, you really owe yourself this treat.
I always find movies about Islamic terrorism fascinating because it is always a challenge to make such a movie without moralizing or taking sides and at the same time keeping the movie interesting and fast paced. I think Traitor manages to pull this off to some extent.
Don Cheadle is always a pleasure to watch and he doesn’t disappoint this time either.
Excellent editing and very good performance by Guy Pearce as the FBI agent on the trail of Don cheadle. IMDB details here and Ebert’s review here.
If you must see only one movie on the subject of Infidelity then let it be Wong Kar Wai’s “In The Mood For Love” . The original chinese title of the movie is “Fa yeung nin wa”. You can see the IMDB details here and read what Roger Ebert has to say about the movie here. The movie has a beautiful and haunting audio theme called “Yumeji’s Theme” which you can watch on youtube here .
While on the subject of movies, I think Patna sorely lacks a good DVD library. The existing ones keep mostly poor pirated prints and I am sure people would be willing to pay 100 bucks or so for original prints of good movies
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