Movies are recorded here

Recent movies

2009-01-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

Recently watched movies
The Prestige - good watch
Blood diamond - good acting by Leonardo DiCaprio
Contract - good watch
Fracture - good watch to see the cleverness of a crime
The Queen - wow. must watch
Michael Clayton - loved it.
The Kingdom - good action scenes
The bank job - just the last bit worth watching considering it is based on a true story.

few more movies

2007-06-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

North country (2005)

LA confidential (1997)

Heat (2007)

American history X (1998)

Primal fear (1996)

A beautiful mind (2001)

Will post (in a day or two) on all these movies I watched recently.

The General's Daughter

2007-06-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

The General's Daughter (1999)

Military politics, men and their career moves, men and their behaviour towards women, women and their struggle. Nothing different from civil world. Military is no different.

Good movie until the end.
Some commercialisation.

John Travolta does what he is expected to do.
James woods
James Cromwell

Must watch for feminists and anyone who is interested in women issues. Good watch who is interested in some idea about what goes inside the military area.

The Contender

2007-06-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Contender (2000)

Great political thirller. Well made.
Cheap tactics, but very real. But decided to give some hope to the viewers, they bring justice at the end, which does not succeed in taking off that bothering feeling lurking in the back of our head reminding us that it may not happen in real world.

Gary Oldman amzes how he changes his looks. Does greatly nothing to get that.
Jeff Bridges as President of America. Convinced me as a good politician until the last speech.
Joan Allen was good except that her characterisation as honest woman won't happen in real politics. It is not good either. Either you are honest or you are in politics. They are mutually exclusive.
Willian Petersen didn't look convincing as a politician. May be I have been watching too much of him as the Crime Scene Investigating scientist.
Christian Slater should do more movies for his fans sake ;-) .

Must watch for politics lovers and for feminists.

Women issues - must watch movies

2007-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

It so happened that I watched these three movies one after other. They all deal with women issues.

North Country (2005) - based on true legal battle

The General's Daughter (1999) - based on true story

The Contender (2000)

Each deserves a separate post.

Must watch movies.

Troy

2007-02-22T03:11:00.000-08:00

Troy

Brad pitt, orlando bloom are the only two known actors for me.

Brad pitt gets to flirt in his training sessions with Patroclus and when he makes Hector follow him.

Very good stunt direction.

Reminded me of Ilanjcheliyan, Yavana Raani and Sandilyan a lot. Sandilyan was one brilliant author who could recreate the war and its strategies, tricks and even the minds of the planners brilliantly well.

John Travolta

2007-02-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

What is the name of the movie in which John travolta comes as a lawyer; works with his two other friends, one of them is the owner of their law firm; go bankrupt, but continues to fight even when his friends withdraw. declares bankruptcy etc. etc.

Thanks in advance.

Found it. A Civil action

Movies I want to see

2007-02-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

12 Angry men (still waiting for a good DVD)

The departed - I have got a pyrated bad quality DVD. I want to see it from good DVD

The good shepherd

Hannibal the Cannibal

2007-02-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Red Dragon (2002)

Silence of the lambs (1991)

Hannibal (2001)

Julianne Moore is no Jodi Foster. Gary Oldman is wasted as Mason Verger in
Hannibal.

Hannibal is more of a horror type than a Dr. Lecter type. "I tell you things you tell me things", "Clarice" (in Silence of the lambs).... worth the money. period. Red Dragon is just an yet another thriller that is all it is. Although the prequel and sequal do not suck that bad if assessed independently, they do not stand at par with the Silence of the lambs. It is one of its kind.

Antony Hopkins. You have swallowed everybodyelse's efforts, importantly the actual villains' of the movies.

Jodi could have been shown little more stronger. Her characterisation does not justify as an FBI agent.

Proof

2007-02-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

Proof

I loved the following conversation.

Hal: Well, I'm gonna be late. Some friends of mine are in this band. They're playing in a bar on Diversey, way down the bill, they go on about 2 to 2:30. I said I'd be there.
Catherine: Great.
Hal: They're all in the math deparment, they're really good. They have this song called 'i', you'd like it. Like lower-cased i. They just stand there and don't play anything for three minutes.
Catherine: Imaginary number.
Hal: It's a math joke... You see why they're way down on the bill.
Catherine: That's a long way to drive to see some nerds in a band.
Hal: You know, I hate when people say that. It's not really that long of a drive.
Catherine: So, they are nerds.
Hal: Oh, they're raging geeks. But they're geeks who, you know, can dress themselves and hold down a job at a major university. Some of them have switched from glasses to contacts. They, uh, play sports, they play in a band, they get laid suprisingly often... So, it makes you kinda question the whole set of terms. Geek, nerd, wonk, dilbert, paste eater...
Catherine: You're in this band, aren't you.
Hal: Ok, yes. I play the drums. You wanna come? I never sing, I swear to God.

Haven't seen A beautiful mind.

Gwyneth's acting in Proof is worth watching. Wonderful portrayal of maths brains. Wonderful portrayal of the fear of being a genius. The movie is not about "risk taking" as the tag line says, it is about her fear in accepting the package called "genius". She knows she is like her father, who was a maths genius, she fears she is like her father whose machinary is malfunctioning.

aval appadiththaan

2007-01-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

good points.
flow of the movie is not great.
why does a woman have to be from a "broken" home to have feministic and cynical thoughts?
why does her mother have to be a whore? Her mother, a woman herself, was portrayed and described as சாக்கடை?
why does she have to be a victim of child abuse?

Agreeing with someone's points is different from choosing a life partner. I agree with Kamal's character. (I didn't when I was unmarried).

movies I must post on

2006-11-19T00:53:00.000-08:00

Recently watched:

Monalisa Smile

Ninth Gate

Red Dragon

Cast Away

Watched some time (years) ago, but need to watch again and post:

Calendar girls

Meet Joe Black

Sabrina

Devil's Advocate

Notting Hill

Runaway Bride
(the list continues...)

The Aviator

2006-10-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Aviator

Must watch to see the lover boy as a genius, not just by characterisation but in every sense.

Another good movie about child psychology.

Instinct

2006-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Must watch, just for that one scene when Anthony Hopkins asks Cuba Gooding Jr "What have you lost? What have I taken from you?".

I have no idea why they selected Anthony Hopkins to play this role, it is not that I don't like him, I am an ardent fan of him since my Meet Joe Black day, I just was curious to know what made one to think of him to play this role, as I always thought Anthony Hopkins fits for sophi roles than this rough guy. Haven't seen Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal/Red Dragon so, I don't know his rough acts. Cuba Gooding is wonderful and his eyes fit exactly the description "The look in your eyes; curious, not satisfied, slightly pissed off...". :) All his "eye" acts are very nice.

Gorilla deserves an Oscar. Particularly for that dieing scene.

Must watch.

The Sentinel

2006-09-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

The Sentinel

Michael Douglas tries his hands on action movie (thriller/conspiracy type). He looks nice and sophi, as always. Predictable villain. Too much american patriotism that they decided to change the villain a good guy at the end!

Hudson Hawk

2006-09-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hudson Hawk

Hate me. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this one.

The Da Vinci Code

2006-09-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

Not impressed.

We have been to the Roslyn Chappel. Nice place. Will post photos and may be a post on that.

Insomina

2006-09-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

Insomnia

Al Pacino. This oldie and shortie has never ceased to amaze me. I am always like that Ellie Burr girl (the character played by Hillary Swank in Insomnia) whenever I get to watch him. The insider was the first movie of him recommended to me. Couldn't sit through the movie. Either it was my mood that day that I was very tired, or it was too heavy for my taste. I didn't watch the movie and did not have any idea about him, until I watched The Devil's Advocate. The next one was The Recruit. Other than the reasons I have mentioned here, I liked the recruit for Al Pacino and for Colin Farrel. (I have seen Colin Farrel in the Phone booth and became his fan instantly). Then it was The Scent of a Woman, which I would recommend as a must watch.

Insomina as such is an alright kind of movie, if you consider the fact that it is from the Director of Memento. If you didn't know that, it was again an alright kind of movie if you consider the heavy star cast... Al Pacino, Hillary Swank, Robbin Williams.

I must mention about Hillary Swank here. I have seen her in Terror in the family, a film made for TV, and instantly I related myself to her. I don't know whether it was her looks, or it was her anger or it was her violent way of reacting (expressing)... (no. I did not abuse my parents).... as rightly said in this review of this movie, the title was misleading. The girl was a victim herself. Then one day I read in the news that she has bagged oscars!! She is a one talented girl, that I have seen for sure.

OK, coming back to Insomnia,
The place was very scenic.
The mist reminded me of my Kerla days.
When Al Pacino and Robbin Williams were shown together for the first time, the way Al Pacino was looking at Robbin Williams, I thought, that "I am gonna eat you, spit out and have coffe after that", kind of look.. Robbin williams looked soo poochi in front of Al Pacino. What a powerful face, eyes, voice (that voice).. This shortie makes the character, and the movie powerful just by being there.

Watching Al Pacino, Hillary Swank, and the place, are very enjoyable and for that reason one can consider this movie as a must watch. Otherwise as I have mentioned above, it is a great movie, but nothing special.

As always, read others comments for plot outline and good reviews.

The Amityville Horror (2005)

2006-08-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Amityville Horror (2005)

There are few of them. I just have watched the recent one.

The best horror I have ever watched. If you like horror movies, this one is a must watch. I must find the others in this series and watch them too. :)

Plot: usual: haunted house with previous history of family murder by one of the family members as he was possessed; new family moves in as it was up for sale for bargain price, one of them is possessed again and tries to murder them. only the difference is they escape this time. Looks like this Lutz family is the famous one in this Lang island house, as the previous movie in this series also had the leads George Lutz and Kathy Lutz.

Wall Street

2006-08-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wall Street

Was reminded of The firm a lot. The only difference I felt was that the hero of the firm was a good guy, a hero material, whereas in Wall Street he was more a real guy. I am a fan of Michael Douglas.
I kept wondering why Charlie Sheen didn't make it as big as Tom Cruise, it seems it was the drugs.

Read user comments for plot outline and good review.

Just Cause

2006-08-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Just Cause

Dont watch. No, sorry, you can watch it for Blair Underwood's acting and/or for Ed Harris's acting. (This guy, Ed Harris, seems to be there in all movies these days!) But if you are expecting it to be Sean Connery's movie, don't watch. Well, he cannot act very bad, but, he didn't do anything great (in this movie) either.

Murder in the first

2006-06-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Muder in the First

I thought it was going to be a murder-detective movie. Wasn't expecting anything heavier than that. When the movie started with Kevin Bacon naked in the isolation cell in a Prison, sure they mentioned that it is Alcatraz, but I didn't pay attention to that and was still expecting some investigation about why Kevin in prison to start. It slowly got into my thick head that it was a different kind of movie. I had to switch off for that day, make myself ready for some heavy stuff and then I watched it the next day.

Kevin Bacon
Gary Oldman
Chritian Slater

The handsome Christian slater as handsome lawer though is a glamour factor, he does act very well, it is not that he is not an actor, it is just because, in front of Gary oldman, Kevin Bacon and the likes, Chritian Slater should have been a glamour factor when they selected the cast (imo, ofcourse). But he was very comptetent. Gary Oldman is subdued. But, the director gets the impact of his character just by his presence. He didn't have to do anything. You just know that it is Gary oldman as the Prison warden, you feel terrified of him.

It is Kevin Bacon's movie. Absolutely marvellous. Not a bit of overdoing was my favourite note of his acting. His portrayal of a man from isolation in Alcatraz prison is absolutelty beyond sane acting.

I don't know whether Siraichalai (Kala Pani in Hindi) of Priyadharsan was inspired from this movie. Although not a copy, it reminds the central theme.

Murder in the first is based on a true story.

Christian Slater looks adorable and 100% that time guy in B/W scenes.

Must watch. Heavy stuff.

A good review in another site.

Just have got couple of complaints:
1) Court scenes could have been better
2) A man kept in isolation cell showing heavy symptoms of its effect, retaining his sane behaviour though just some of them, was unconvincing.

Spy game

2006-06-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Spy Game

I am a sucker for conspiracy theories and FBIs and the likes. You can get me watch any movie in the name of cospiracy theories. My fav ones in this type are (in the order I have seen them)
1)Conspiracy Theory
2) The Recruit
3) Spy Game

Myself and Senthil used to fantasize when we were kids that we would become agents for Indian intelligence service when we grew up. We even knew the meaning of RAW when we were kids in Kombai and running and playing in ohdais and in dry muds (puluthis). I even attended an interview to join military. I was too thin and was rejected. I failed pathetically in physical tests. but, but, BUT, I scored 10 out of 10 in a test that hypothetically simulated a war situation, I was left in a forest with my team and my task was to bring my team out of danger. yaay. It was a nice experience. I got to stay with the military guys for four days (interview was for four days!!). Senthil attempted NDA and failed too. I still believe that we would have got it if we knew anything about preparing for it. It was just that we lived in a village where absolutely no awareness or any coaching was available for us. Although I totally agree that I am unfit for military profession, my observation during the interview was that everyone there had went for coaching, prep and even knew who the interviewer was!! I was from kombai, straight inside a military barracks in Bhopal!! ok, ok, come back to movies, but, The Recruit brought all those memories back for me. Spy Game too.

Robert Redford recruits Brad Pit as a spy for secret operations. Tom Bishop (Brad Pit) gets caught in one of his operations. Nathan Muir (Robert Redford)'s last day in service. And to make things worse, an enquiry is arranged as the Agency suspects Nathan Muir of hiding things about Tom Bishop(Brad Pit). Very gripping.

Additional interest for me was that they show couple of remote sensing (satellite) picures in the movie!!

A lot like love

2006-06-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

A lot like love

Good masala/love plot for a Tamil movie. Only, a little modification is required as our Tamil Culture wouldn't tolerate certain things! There is a plenty of scope for song sequences!

Mercury Rising

2006-06-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Mercury Rising

Super action masala. But certainly very enjoyable. When Bruce Willis is there, how can you not enjoy it.

Miko Hughes as Simon Lynch at the age of 12 was amazing. He is an autistic child (in the movie), and he does it very well, I would even say, he was comparable to Dustin Hoffman of Rainman, in some scenes. He was born in 1986, and started his career in 1989! No, wait, read his biography! :)

Mystic river

2006-06-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Won't suggest it.

Not too bad, but have seen better.

Kevin Bacon wasted.

Sean Penn shows that its worth a watch for that one scene when he jumps when he finds out that the dead body could be his daughter.

links, more text later.

Failure to launch

2006-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Mc....

Nice plot for a nice tamil movie. no need to add any masala, it is already there.. Still enjoyed. good laugh.

He said She said

2006-06-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Light romantic comedy. very enjoyable. Kevin Bacon.

Will do more text later.

Mr and Mrs. Iyer

2006-06-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Pain.

Can live with a not so great plot, flawed story line, well I confess I will complain about it, but I will still be able to watch it. Bad direction, drama like, an unnecessarily painfully slow drama like direction, nah. pure pain. The story line does sound a wonderful one, but couldn't sit through the movie. Sorry. I should have stopped after that first scene, well, did stop not too later, but, you know that unnecessary scene of that burnt child's face in a close up, absolutely unnecessary. ridiculous.

Sorry.

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

2006-05-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

You will like this movie if you understand and enjoy some comedy based on Englishness/Welshness. You will also like if you like Hugh Grant.

I liked it. Light comedy.

I am linking this review instead of writing my own.

At First Sight

2006-05-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

At first sight

Need to do a proper reivew. But, should have done just after watching it, if I wanted anything remotely close to a proper one.

I invite people to review this movie, if you have seen it.

similar movies:
Awakenings
I have seen another one which was on Hallmark channel, TV; which I can't remember now. It was about a girl having similar medical condition as Robert De Niro in the Awakenings; she gets a chance. lives her life for a short time. loses to the medical condition again. update: It was Molly

At First sight supercedes the other two, may be just for me, as it gave me the first time sight into the world of the blind getting their sight for the first time. How the distances confuse them, how the sizes confuse them, how suddenly they lose the skills to smell and identify.... At first sight a must see movie, if you get a chance.

Surprisingly some of the scenes are simply same as in Raaja paarvai. If Raaja parvai wasn't made in 1981, as At First Sight was made in 1999, we would have simply said that Kamal lifted the scenes from AFS movie. It is unlikely that Irwin Winkler, the director of At First Sight, lifted some scenes from Raaja paarvai. Or did he?

I would watch if I haven't.

(Actually I picked this movies over my fav. detective/murder movies only because I thought it is a romantic movie, the name suggested it, the plot diguised me.., After that some heavy discussion over love/romantic theme and stuff, the idea of watching a romantic movie was favoured over my otherwise normally favourite choices. Although it was not exactly a romantic movie, although it does have the element of love and such stuff in there, it was the world of the blind and the technical approach of the idea of the blind getting his first sight, well that is the theme of the movie,... well, the idea of the movie that got me hooked to it. In the beginning of the movie I thought the movie was going too fast ignoring the important moments their deserved significance, but later I got the idea why was it like that. Val Kilmer justfies the role.)

The Exorcist, The Dominion

2006-05-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Exorcist and and the Dominion are well made movies. watch if you don't mind some scary stuff. I enjoy actually, so I enjoyed these two as well. Technically very well made movies.

I surely enjoyed. I watched The Exorcist first and The Dominion next.

Mrs. Henderson Presents

2006-05-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Should have written just after watching the movie. The movie deserves that.

Judy Dench. If you haven't seen her other than as James Bond's boss, you have missed a lot. I have. I have seen her other than as Bond's boss, but really missed her bests. Mrs. Henderson Presents made it up for that. wow is the word for the lady. :)

The director and Bob Hoskins seem to be acclaimed in their own rights. I don't know anything about them. Bob was OK for me, as I was busy admiring Judy, Will young and ofcourse the direction. The direction is the dominating wow factor in this movie. It is not about recrearting the time that amazed me, it was the theatre. Nude ladies so artistically portrayed. I used to be cynical when they show nudity and call it art, well, I am a middle class girl, what do I know about art? :-) But, this MHP really made sense of the word "artistic" for me, that too, I was able to comprehend that naked women could really be seen as a form of art, through artistic eyes ofcourse.:), no.., honesly, it was nice.

Judy brings Mrs. Henderson alive. Not overdoing is very difficult, but only Judy could do that. I really can't believe how she could bring those emotions so real when someone says "action ... and cut..." That scene when she visits Alec, the emotion she shows!

The chocolate Will Young. I thought the character was written for him. To my surprise, it seems that he went for audition and worked hard to get the part. I know I always liked the guy. :) I love his voice, particularly when he sings old kind of songs. Added perks in this movie, his songs.

I liked it.

It is based on a true story.

update: plot
Plot Summary at imdb

Laura Henderson is a recent widow, who has spent her most of her life by being a "wife". When her "inconsiderate" (for leaving her alone) husband (that was her words, not mine) dies, she is left with huge wealth and absolutely no idea on what to do with her life. Friends suggest that she is "free" to do anything now. She even buys the idea of knitting or having a toyboy lover. Not convinced by those ideas, she is on the look out for exciting ideas. She sees a theatre up for sale. she buys it. Again, doesn't know what to do with it. Her manager (accountant?) suggest a right man for the job. They do not get along at all, which is what Mrs. Henderson likes about it. Anything against the rule, anything that is not normal, excites her. She likes anything which otherwise would normally be termed as outrageous during her time. Van Damn (Bob Hoskins) is a good manager and runs the theatre successfully experimenting new ideas, while the other London theatres were very conventional and stereotype. Soon after the success of Windmill (the theatre run by Mrs. Henderson and Van Damm), many copycats theatres crop up, ruining the income for the Windmill. Then Mrs. H suggests the idea of having nude girls in the show. Lord Chamberlain, who licenses live shows in Britain unable to escape from Mrs. H's charms, licenses her idea to have nude girls with a condition that they should not move and should only be used as a form of art. She agrees. War time Brittain with many girls looking for jobs compromise their values and become Windmill girls, strangely to find themselves more safe to be nude on the stage than to be on the street fully covered.. So more girls come in. Windmill gains popularity again.. Some romantic encounters, some emotions,.. some dilemmas, and some lives..:)

Warning: Many naked girls. Will Young goes naked too. Bob Hoskins going naked was too much for me.

The Bridges of Madison County

2006-05-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Bridges of Madison County

The movie was a “good one”. Dominated by Meryl streep. Didn't like Clint. He is better at directing than in acting. He should have offered the role to somebody else and stayed out of it. Robert Redford would have been perfect for the role. It is a shame that they considered him but didn't offer him. Meryl Streep ruined (in a good way) the movie by dominating it. Didn't like the story line. The "falling in love" part looked more in the lines of "she was sexually starved", or "seventh year itching (for her)", rather than "love". and His "love" for her looked in the lines of "manipulation" until he leaves her everything after his death. Probably that was the best during their time (what? Is 1995 considered as "old days" these days? ughh!!.. Awright, the movie was set in a older time), again considering their time, looking at it sympathetically, Meryl streep was good. (oops, its her again). Oh yes, Clint's Direction was damn good. Awestruck by his direction, the way he chose to express her first strike of dilamma.

Loved the house. Would do anything to get one like that. Shame it was burnt down.

Didn't like the bridges. Have seen much more dreamy and beautiful ones, which are better suitable for the movie.

The movie is “neither here nor there” type. It is a compromise between "realistic" movies and "dreamy, romantic" types. Didn't score (with me) in either field.

Surely it is a delight to watch Meryl Streep and Clint's direction (Clint Eastwood).

updated: It looked like as if they were going for a realistic type. rustic bridges, wild flowers, guy not bothered to tell her to wait, keeps on shooting, even when he sees a note, he didn't read it immediately as he was more concerned about the lighting.. she feels insecured just after sleeping together. also, it was clearly shown that she was sexually starved.. even her italian background works well with the "realistic" idea. the trivia says that, Bruce Beresford was chosen to direct the movie before Clint, and Bruce wanted to cast the heroine English, which would have suited if they wanted the movie a dreamy-romantic type. Italian accent goes well with the "realistic" feeling. After the "sleeping together part", she even explains that may be if they start living together probably they will lose what they think they have etc. etc.. fine. it was going good until they confuse themselves with "love of their lives" concept.. But, it was still ok, as it is all about "confusion", well, I thought. but, the movie demanded insisted and stamped on the concept that it is indeed "love of life". There were it confused me. What do they want us believe? a realistic movie with facts hitting your face? (i.e she is sexually starved and he was shallow and opportunistic) or "Love of life", falling in love at the first sight? Once you decide it is going to the later case, I am all for it, show us that they fell in love at first sight, it was all signs and what not.. I like Serendipity and Fools rush in and even Sleepless in Seatle for that. Whereas in bridges of Madison county, they are confused. I like the good girl for its right portrayal of reality hitting your face. it was all about seventh year itching and sex. when Jen agrees to have sex with bubba (Tim Blake Nelson) (the blackmailer), you just can't bear that, but it adds to the "hitting your face" factor. The movie was made in a such a way that you get the incredibly boring life Jen has been living. You feel bored. that is the idea of the movie. Bridges of Madison County was, as I have mentioned before, a compromise between the two and didn't score in either field. They were confused.

Once. Why not.

Romantic movies I like

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(will add others later).