Chup Chup Ke

Rajpal Yadav and Paresh Rawal. It is for them the movie has to be seen. And Priyadarshan's direction, of course. It is humorous, has good dialogs and interesting story twists.

Rating: Good

High School Musical - 2

Musical teenage movie. Time pass.
Rating: Average

Upkaar

Typical old movie about good son - bad son, and the bad son realizing his mistakes in the end. But this movie has a lot of patriotism thrown in. Also emphasizes the farmers duty to the land. Made me remember The Good Earth.
Rating: Average

Do Raasthe

Family movie. Poverty, issues with joint family, rich girls, etc. Not an entertainer, just another time pass old Hindi movie.
Rating: Average  

Jab Jab Phool Kile

Time pass. Standard love story of a low class man with a high class woman set against Kashmir's beautiful backdrop.
Rating: Average

Aap Ki Kasam

Nothing great but nice in it's simplicity, as in all 1970 movies. First half is all happy-happy but latter half is all sad-sad. Some adulterous dialog in the middle surprised me though.

Rating: Average

Dhoom: 2

Suffice to say there are better movies in the same genre.
Rating: Average

Band, Baaja, Baarath

Very thin. Not much in it. Avoidable.
Rating: Average

Robot

The much hyped-Rajni's movie. Saw the Hindi version.
Heavily Avoidable. Thin dialogs and poor acting. 

Aarakshan

A must-see movie on reservation in education system. Powerful dialogs.

Amar Prem

Avoidable.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Plot of movie will be clear in first half hour. Its filled with so-called humorous and SRK's over-acting scenes to make it 3 hrs. But a profound movie with good dialogues.
Rating: Good

Kati Patang

Simpleness is written all over the old movies. Makes it watchable. Nothing great though.
Rating: Average

Dil Deewana

Jaya Bhaduri's acting is worth the watch. It is nice to see 'real' middle class families in these 80s movies.
Rating: Average

Namak Halal

The celebrated Amitabh's movie. Typical 80's movie. Nothing great about it.
Rating: Average

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Different story-line. The title says it all and pretty much gives away the story in the first 15 minutes. But still its nice to see the entanglements getting un-tangled.
Rating: Good

Kissise Na Kehna

Hilarious. A simple middle class romantic story with an overbearing father in law - lies and the twists associated with it, and of course, the happy ending. A perfect recipe for a movie.
Rating: Good.

Aandhi

Clean, simple, catchy. Its amazing what charm old Hindi movies had. Very easily can relate to the middle class families.
Rating: Average

Veer Zaara

Some over exaggerated emotions and passions. But catchy dialogues. Good story line with enough twists to not making boring.

Sex and the City - 2

Saw the movie on TV in bits and pieces. Especially the Abhu Dhabi part. Pretty average stuff.

How to lose a guy in 10 days

Time pass. Light comedy at times. Romantic at other times.

The Transporter

Starts off as a thriller but finally ends up like a Bollywood blockbuster where nothing happens to the hero in spite of 1000 bullets. However nice action, nice stunts, nice fights. Worth a watch.
Rating: Good.

Valentine's Day

A really nice movie. Once again - like Crash, Vantage Point, 11:14, Babel, He's Just Not That Into You - multiple stories intertwine one amongst other to create a nice romantic collage of a 'picture' :)

Drillbit Taylor

Time pass kiddo movie.

Vantage Point

As IMDB states, an attempted assassination is told and re-told in different perspectives, each adding to the story and making it that much more complicated and an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Very good movie.

The Day After Tomorrow

After Inconvenient Truth this is the next movie on global warming that I have seen. Very well depicted. Has lots of thriller-moments (not needed actually) which makes the movie an edge-of-the-seat. A sci-fi but very close to reality.

Its complicated

Its a complicated story of old age romance and affairs :-)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Sort of a rom com. Most scenes shot inside a mall with the hero being a Mall cop and heroine being a saleswoman inside the mall. Things turn for the worse (or better?) when mall is hijacked.
Rating: Average

Ganesha Matthe Bandha

Catchy dialogs. Humorous scenes. Nice story line and twists. Family entertainer. Well portrayed and easy-flowing.
Rating: Good

The Social Network

Captivating story of Mark Zuckerberg (co-Founder of Facebook.com) and the rise of Facebook.com. A must-see.

Pineapple Express

Crazy movie! Its thrilling when two innocent men are caught in between two gang wars. But its fun when they themselves are not so innocent and one cop belongs to one of the gangs!! From the director of Knocked up.

Mad Money

Wow! What a movie! Nice story, nice acting, nice score, nice casting, nice direction and nice ending! All in all, a must see!

American Graffiti

Pretty boring. Saw only first 40 minutes and story was not going anywhere. Just a bunch of graduates celebrating end of school.

Anger Management

Time pass. Back to back Jack Nicholson movies. Kind of funny movie. Watchable once.

The Bucket List

What a movie! A must-see written all over it! Its good to have a bucket-list - things to do before one kicks the bucket. Flip part? One's gotta have lot of money!

Spy Game

Gripping. A movie that depicts a CIA operation that never was! What starts off with a simple jail break in China, traverses across Vietnam and Beirut while all the talking goes on in Langley, Virginia. Very well made movie.

Mamma Mia!

Totally musical! Comparable to Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Thin story line but set in picturesque locality. There is a song sung every 5 minutes - sometimes its funny but sometimes it gets at you. Watchable once.
Rating: Average

Kingdom of Heaven

"From the director of Gladiator" said the tagline on the DVD and that was enough for me to choose this movie. Like Gladiator, this movie too is extremely well made. The epic story, the war, the romance, the dialogs - definitely a must-see.

Twenty Bucks

An interesting story about how one $20 bill goes from one person to another person and sometimes coming back to people with whom it had already traversed at one point of time. Nice way of narration and a unique story theme. Watchable once. It is fun to try to recollect the complete story of how the $20 bill moved from one person to another after watching the movie. It is almost like playing the game of 'Memory'.

Jackie Chan's First Strike

A surprisingly nice story line in a Jackie Chan movie. It was in fact pretty thick - almost Bond-like movie what with Nuclear Warheads and CIA and FSB (previously KGB). Of course, superb fight scenes, esp the funny ones underwater.
Rating: Good

Gangster: A Love Story

A nice movie. Good direction. The lead female role is very critical and could have been acted well. It starts one evening and ends the next day morning. But it is filled with flashback and events that led to that fateful evening. One feels that the movie is going only one way: down. There is no happy ending and there cannot be in movies like this, as in Satya and Company. In movies of such dark nature, one thing I have noticed is that everyone dies - the hero, the villain, the heroine, the supporting actor, etc. But the ending depicted in this movie is very nice. It transcends that Love is strong enough even above Death. Somewhat similar to Gladiator.

Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino never disappoints. In his own different way of film-making, this movie tells about a story that never happened in real life but how easily it could have. Set in the 1940s when Nazis ruled the world, the film has all that is needed for a Nazi Vs Jews drama. Superb dialogs. Christoph Waltz's role in the movie and acting is amazing. Little wonder he got Best Actor award for this film in Cannes film festival.

The Devil Wears Prada

A nice movie. Set amidst the fashion industry, it also depicts the role of a highly challenging secretarial post for a devilish boss and how such a work life affects the personal life. The movie is different and is good. In it's own way, it slightly resembles Mean Girls.

Anjaana Anjaani

Not bad. Pinches of (not slick) humor here and there. Only thing that is overdone is the part about suicide, but then the crux of the movie is about suicide. Doesn’t bore. Movie totally taken in USA.
Rating: Average

What Happens in Vegas.

A nice RomCom. A random trip to Vegas changes the life of a married lady and an unemployed person for ever. Just goes to show that What happens in Vegas, does not stay in Vegas! It also made me think that any man and any woman can fall in love with one another if they stay together for a significant amount of time.
Rating: Good

Armour of God

I had seen this movie about 2 decades ago in a small tent and I had not understood much of the story but understood it better now. Not that there is much of a story. Its pretty silly but then the movie is famous for Jackie Chan’s stunts and fights. This, it has much in quantity and quality. Best part for me is at the end of the movie when the mis-shots are shown.
Rating: Average

Badmaash Company

Pretty interesting. Introduces unique ways of creating bad money but lot of loop holes. Good characterization. Watchable once.

All the Best

Very mediocre. Attempted humour doesn't really click. Time pass.

The Last Shot

Average. Movie moves fine and story is ok-dokey, it doesnt get you bored, etc. But there is no punch in the movie. Very mediocre.

Terms of Endearment

A story about a tight-lipped mother and an easy-going daughter and their respective love lives. Not a RomCom but very typical story of an American middle class. Nicely portrayed.
Rating: Average

Babel

Story theme similar to 11:14 and Crash where different characters in the movie are related to a single event. Such movies are always my favorite where the stories of different characters revolve around one single time-event.
Rating: Good

Mayor Muthanna

Nice hard hitting dialogs and song lyrics. Was a long time since I had seen a black and white Kannada Rajkumar movie. Plain and simple; nice and poignant. Typical '70s story-line. Dwarakeesh and Balamurali's comedy - as good as ever!
Rating: Good

The Break-up

Totally about break-up and how a relationship floats farther and farther away. Good verbal fight scenes and good picturization of a couple's compromises but an average movie. Not a RomCom as marketed.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

This movie has 8.2 on the IMDB but I felt it was over-rated. It might have such a high rating perhaps because it is a true story. Movie is mainly on the chase when the hunter becomes the hunted. Nothing great about it though.
Rating: Average

Boys

Tamil flick. Rahman music. Shankar direction. Genelia and Siddharth (the Bommarillu pair). Freshness but kinda dragged. Equal importance given to parents and youth but some unnecessary scenes. Good digital work with songs.
Rating: Average

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Brit. Very mediocre. A typical adolescent movie of gals having crush over guys and vice versa. Not worth it.

Honeymoon in Vegas

Story on similar lines as Indecent Proposal but this one's much funnier and lighter. Set in Vegas and Hawaii, the title is a misnomer. Its about what actually happens in Vegas prior to the wedding - and there is no real honeymoon depicted in the movie.

Knocked up

Damn funny. A one night stand leads to a hilarious comedy of coming-together of two totally opposite individuals. A perfect Friday-night movie for couples!

One Fine Day

A RomCom. A very nice movie about two desperate divorcees-wanting-to-find-partners-but-dont-want-to-show-desperation!
Rating: Good

Black

Emotionally touching. Strong theme. Good acting by both Rani and Amitabh.
Rating: Good

He's Just Not That Into You

A Romantic Comedy (RomCom). A story of 9 lives which get entangled and dis-entangled for the same reason: Romance! Beautiful direction, acting and dialog.
Rating: Good.

Aamir

Tight, gripping story line. Reminded me of a line I had read in a magazine almost a decade ago: "When the underworld approaches you, you cannot refuse."
Rating: Average.

A Mighty Heart

I had seen Daniel Pearl's assassination in a forwarded video in 2003 and it had shocked me. This movie gives insights into what Mrs Pearl went through during those traumatic days.
Rating: Must-see.

Luck By Chance

A good story about Bollywood-wannabes and how stardom affects their personal lives. But not much of a punch in the movie.
Rating: Average

The World is not enough

Pretty surprising that I hadn't watched this movie till date. Good action, as usual in any Bond movie but too complicated a story to follow. And of course, too much technology to understand.
Rating: Average.

Paathshaala

Average movie but strong theme. Its about how the education system has been commercialized. Punch is definitely missing in the story and direction. Shahid's role in the movie is unnecessarily hyped. Ending is pathetic and fails to deliver.

Duplicity

My God! This was a corker of a movie! Perhaps its because its been quite some time since I saw a movie like this. Espionage and counter-espionage and counter-counter-espionage! Strangely, this was not recommended by anyone and I just took a chance (this movie was taken of the shelf just by reading the back cover of the DVD)! The movie is always running speedily and one has to hang onto every word! Literally, an edge-of-the-seat thriller and a definite must-see.

Page 3

Wow! What a puncher of a movie! It doesnt start out that way though. It starts more like a camcorder recording Bollywood parties but slowly it shapes out into a story thats hard-hitting and shows Life in it's truest sense...

Changeling

Wow! What a movie! I had mentioned before that I somehow dont get to like Clint Eastwood's movies but this one blew me away! Perhaps it is because this is a true story. Excellent acting by Angelina Jolie.

Sugar and Spice

Movie about cheerleaders is always fun to watch and it is not just for the mind-blowing dance! This is an average, time-pass movie about how one cheerleaders gets herself pregnant and find herself running out of money. The result? A Bank robbery!

Freaky Friday

Comedy. Mother, daughter and son are all losing their relationships when one freaky Friday, the mother's soul enters into daughter and vice versa. Lo and behold the fun times and how it actually bonds the relationships. Good direction. Typical Lindsay Lohan movie.

The Reader

Another movie set in Berlin. Another movie related to Nazi. Another good movie. The movie is about one woman's illiteracy and her ego of not making it public, intertwined with romance with a boy half her age.

Exceptional acting by Kate Winslet. I kind of like all Ralph Fiennes movies (Constant Gardener, Schindler's List, The English Patient, etc).

Valkyrie

Gripping from start. Set in Germany in 1944, this is about an operation to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Good movie.

Saagari

After a long time, saw a horror film. An average movie about a soul which possesses a living being in order to take revenge of it's own untimely death. But direction is gripping, and the movie does indeed scare a bit. Worth watching. Interspersed with good humour.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge

Average. Mediocre story line. Dry humour. To an extent, instilled with morality. Time pass.

Revolutionary Road

The Titanic couple - DiCaprio and Winslet pair up again as an American estranged couple in this movie set in 1950s. Its kinda average movie but exceptional acting by both the lead parts. Most characters are psychos in the movie and there definitely is no feel-good factor about this movie. You'd rather have it end it sooner than when it actually does.

17 again

An average movie. Very much a stereotype of similar movies like Big, etc. Time pass.

The Informant

Pretty good movie about a whistle-blower in an agricultural industry who gets into deep waters of corporate politics and, lo and behold, FBI! Strangely, a true story.

The Ugly Truth

Wow! Very nice movie but definitely not for kids! Curiously and simply funny and very entertaining to watch two skilled opposite gender people go at one another on one topic. Full of catchy dialogue.

Wake up Sid

Average. Slow. Refreshing. But Konkana Sen is a treat to watch. Simple romantic movie.

Malibu Spring Break

Pathetic. Just goes to show that the wordings on the back side of a DVD should never be the reason to watch a movie. Absolutely no stuff in the movie.

The Hangover

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is best portrayed in this hilarious movie about 3 guys who go to Vegas along with the groom for Bachelor's Party. Rated R for adultish content.

Rating: Good

Gran Torino

I guess its just me but I kinda dont get to like Clint Eastwood's movies. I didnt like Million dollar baby nor this. Its made well, nice story and all that but didnt feel any 'wow' factor.
Rating: Average

Choti Si Baath

A simple jovial Hindi story of wooing a girl while being diffident.
Rating: Good

The Incredibles

A nice animated movie about super heroes and their lives.
Rating: Good

Morning Walk

A very homely (Hindi) movie about Indian middle class but it revolves more around the dad of the house (Anupam Kher). It seemed engaging in the beginning but lost out in the latter part.
Rating: Average

My Name is Khan

Surprised my wife with a Valentine gift of ticket to this movie!
A good story of how innocent Muslims were treated post 9/11 in US but kinda sloppy direction at times. Some scenes could have been edited to be made more gripping. Shahrukh's role resembles Dustin's role in Rainman.
Rating: Average

Ratatouille

Not a great movie. Watchable for the uniqueness of the story line. Of course, good animation.
Rating: Average

Arasu

A kannada movie that was aired on the Volvo bus to Chennai. Really pathetic in the beginning but metamorphed into some decency by the time movie ended, especially because of a different ending.
Rating: Average

Khosla ka Ghosla

A Hindi movie. Pretty nice. Some very good dialogues. Whole story revolves around a father's cherished plot of land and the son's wishes to fly to New York. Very well taken.
Rating: Good

Pokiri

A Telugu movie and no subtitles. But still could make out the story line and some one-line dialogues. Watchable once.
Rating: Good

3 Idiots

Unofficially, based out of the theme created in the book 'Five Point Someone' by Chethan Bhagat but to be fair to the screenplay and direction, an excellent adaptation to the mainstream cinema. If FPS was good, 3I is better. It conveys a lot of messages like success follows excellence, knowledge and application is more important than rote learning, etc.

Rating: Must-see

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Sequel to Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Not very funny. Of course, ridiculous imagination and story line, like the prequel. And, definitely, not a movie for the children.
Rating: Average

Juno

A time pass movie on a serious theme taken apparently in a humorous manner but I couldnt see the humor anywhere. Did not feel worth it to have seen this movie...

Rating: Average

North by Northwest

A nice gripping movie by Alfred Hitchcock where an innocent man gets caught in the underworld.

Rating: Good

No Country for Old Men

It was gripping to an extent and then suddenly it loosed out completely. The missing threads never seemed to be woven. It became a Bollywood kind of movie. For a lay man like me, several questions remain unanswered. Perhaps its all there implicitly but it does not stand out. And I dont like movies which do not answer all my questions.

Rating: Average

Confessions of a shopaholic

Very nice movie. Hilarious at times, but rather extreme other times. Nevertheless, watchable. A must-see for shopaholics!

De Dana Dan

A Priyadarshan movie. Which means, lots of twists and turns and confusions and misunderstandings! Rather too much, one feels and it gets so complicated that the direction and storytelling gets too much to handle at some points, but watchable.

Dial M for Murder

This was our 'First Show' on 5th. A captivating black and white Alfred Hitchcock movie of a murder of a wife planned by a husband. A good watch.

Superhero Movie

This was our matinee show on 5th. It is a spoof on Spiderman movie. Extremely hilarious. A must see!

The Killing Fields

A true story that happened to 2 reporters from 1973 to 1979 in Cambodia when they were caught in combat and how they managed to escape. Its mind-chilling at times, very much resembling The Rabbit-Proof fence and Hotel Rwanda.

Ready

A Telugu movie. Extremely hilarious. Very good story line. But pathetic fight scenes. And of course, 'keep-your-brains-out' kind of movie. Light hearted and wholesome entertainer.

Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma

I guess this was the second time I was seeing this movie but I had forgotten the story line except that Rajkumar over-acted. Watched it this time with friends and commented on each scene and laughed it out. Ridiculous direction and threadbare storyline but 'keep your brains out and watch' movie. Kinda funny if you can laugh it out...

Bhoothayyana Maga Ayyu

A nice Kannada movie about life in a village with one rich miser loan shark against all other villagers, with number of twists and turns.

12 Angry Men

Simply beautiful! The whole movie takes place within a room and it is just discussion amongst 12 men who get angry due to one reason or the other such as weather, ball game, offspring, etc. Excellent direction, story and very simple yet beautiful!

Children of Men

Well, I aint the type to like futuristic movies - movies based in the year 2050, 2027, etc. Usually because it involves some sci-fi. This one didnt have much sci-fi but was based on a theme which was too difficult to believe (18 yr old person being youngest person on Earth) nevertheless a very good imagination considering so many miscarriages happening these days. As always, I will not reveal the story here. But the thing I liked about this movie very much was the technicalities of movie-making. Story is one thing but technicality is another thing altogether. Its very rare to get a good story with brilliant technicality. In this movie, there is 1 scene which lasts for 4 minutes and 1 more for 5.5 minutes. And its not just a scene where 2 people are talking. Both are high-charged scenes where there more than 100 people acting at any point of time, people are falling, crying, laughing, bemoaning, shouting, fighting, shooting their guns, throwing stones, blood is pouring out, dying, a car is rolling down in fire blocking the road, blood spurts onto the camera, the hero and heroine show a magical act of throwing ball from one mouth to the other without the use of hands, cops are involved, etc. Its just mind blowing how a scene like that can be shot in one long stretch, like real-time, without the director saying 'Cut'!! Also, there was this scene of a baby being born. This scene is out of the world. They actually showed the baby coming out of the mother's body!! Along with the umbilical cord and everything! I mean, there is a limit to showing reality!! All in all, its worth watching for the technicalities more than the story, which at times seem dubious.

Children of Heaven

Wow! An excellent, must-see Persian movie by Majid Majidi which is wholly based on a brother and sister's desire for a pair of a new shoes after the sister's shoes get lost accidentally.

Raise The Red Lantern [Da hong deng long gao gao gua]

A poignant Chinese movie about 1920 Chinese custom. Very touching and heart-rending. Simple, subtle but powerful.

Princess Mononoke

Well, I guess not my kind of movie. Sci-fi is something which I try to stay away from always. But this was animated sci-fi! Still, did not like it so much.

The Stepford Wives

A humorous, scary, sci-fi kinda movie with a unique concept. Watchable once.

Snow cake and Truly, Madly, Deeply

Snow cake is a nice movie. Excellent acting by all parties involved, catchy story line, and just like life, just another happening in this river of life...

Truly, Madly, Deeply is avoidable. It gets real boring and consists of ghosts having fun and kinda makes the whole thing repugnant.

Whats your Rashee?

Didn't seem much of a movie which tells about the characteristics of rashee (planetary position). A time pass movie with not much stuff in it. Avoidable.

Norma Rae

An average movie although true story of a lady who won through stiff management to form a union in the Textile Industry.

Ocean's Thirteen

Finally saw this movie. Way back in 2007 when this movie was released, our project team had gone to the theatre, full of expectation, only to notice that the date booked was the previous day! Lost about 3 grand that night!
Nice movie, but 13 is too high a number and until we see the grand heist, each person's activities dont make sense. So, the first hour is full of multiple things happening and you cant make head and tail of it. A movie which you will have to see from the beginning again once you complete it, to appreciate the happenings of the first hour...

The Sting

What a movie! A 1980s movie based on a 1935 setting. Really rocks the audience! One of the greatest con movie ever...

13 Tzameti

Hmm, gripping but the end....A french movie.

21

Wow what a movie! Although I did not understand the technical intricacies of blackjack, felt it was one real good movie - especially considering that it was (inspired by) a true story!

Annie Hall

A different kind of movie with unique direction but hardly any stuff in it. Watchable once for time pass.

Heist

Twists and turns and twists and turns amidst burglary. Again, although very well scripted, kind of dubious to see an aiplane sitting on the runway apparently stalled without any help coming by. But a good movie and plot overall.

The Spanish Prisoner

One more con movie. But felt this had some loop holes in direction and story. Still, a nice gripping movie.

House of Games

Brilliant! Con after con after con in plain and simple scenes. Shows how easily Man can get fooled.

Billu (Barber)

A nice story but it resembles Krishna-Sudhama story. SRK just sings and dances with bollywood actresses and overacts in the last 10 minutes. Timepass.

Kaminey

This is a nice Hindi movie with plots intertwined amongst multiple gangs which makes it almost humorous. Almost resembled District B13. Very nice direction and doesnt bore.

City Lights & Mr Bean's Holiday

Felt like watching Pushpak Vimana! Two movies that hardly had any conversation and yet had humor in them. Nice movies to watch. Rowan Atkinson is amazing and Charlie Chaplin also was equally good.

Wordplay and Girl, Interrupted

Wordplay is a documentary on crossword puzzles and how people solve NY Times crossword puzzle. Its also about how the puzzle is designed and created with themes. It kind of touched a chord in me as I was once an expert in crossword puzzles and somewhere down the line I lost touch.

Girl, Interrupted is a nice movie of loony folks. Acted very well by all and I liked it better than One flew over the cuckoo's nest. A movie worth watching.

Little Miss Sunshine, The Italian, Bigger, Faster, Stronger

Little Miss Sunshine
Its different. But it doesnt seem worth it...

The Italian
Its nice but its boring...

Bigger, Faster, Stronger
Its an eye-opener but its lengthy...

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

A comedy movie about one night when two Asians head to a burger store and all the adventure that they undergo during the night. It also shows American racialism against colored folks. But a very jovial movie.

Salaam Bombay

The movie goes from sad to sadder to saddest. It showcases Mumbai at its very worst, with all the red-light areas, drugs, corrupt cops, pimps, etc. Extremely depressing to see the state of affairs that are prevalent.

The pursuit of happyness

Mind blogging. Its extremely touching. Emotionally charged. Just shows what the outcome of hard-work is.

Happy Feet, Gone Baby Gone

Happy Feet
Animation movie about marine fishing. Did not captivate me so much.

Gone Baby Gone
Movie by the same author of Mystic River. Noticeably, the movie is on very similar lines to MR. Very gripping and packed with enough twists in the tale.

88 Minutes

A nice thriller movie. Good direction and good acting by Al Pacino.

Honey, Daddy Day Care, White Chicks

Honey
- A nice movie about hip-hop dance choreography.

Daddy Day Care
- A wholesome entertainer about guys doing day care.

White Chicks
- Its actually about 2 black guys actings as 2 white chicks. One can imagine the entertainment!

The lives of others, District B13, Dazed and Confused

The lives of others
- German movie about how a secret police betrays his organisation for the life of another person. Truly remarkable.

District B13
- French movie. Lots of action and amazing twists and turns. Wholesome entertainer.

Dazed and Confused
- Typical americal teenage one day in college life. Funny!

The Color of Paradise

Wow! What a movie! Truly touching...

The Last King of Scotland

Pretty nice movie. Not sure if its a true story or not. But story is seen from the eyes of his personal physician. Its about Ugandan dictator Ibu Amin who apparently has murdered thousands of people. Forrest Whitaker's acting is amazing. He instills fear even without saying a word.

Thank you for smoking

Wow. If ever you want to learn how to speak, this is the movie to see. The film portrays Nick Naylor as a lobbyist who fights successfully for smoking amidst great campaigns against tobacco companies although he does feel cigarettes are injurious to health. He shows how you can survive in this world as long as you know how to talk. A must see.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Wow. What a movie. Extremely poignant. Beautiful direction. The narration of Daisy's accident in particular is simply magnificent although it is a very popular style employed by many known authors. The movie reminded me of similar movies like Forrest Gump, The English Patient, The End of the Affair, The Truman Show, etc where the whole life span is shown. Brad Pitt has acted very well.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

A movie by Priyadarshan is generally nice and enjoyable. This one is not so great but watchable. Quite a different theme handled well and rather humorously although there are times when one gets bored...

Ugly Aur Pagli

Disgusting. Avoid it.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Inspired by a blog. So, really had high expectations. But felt the movie was just mediocre. I checked with others about this movie too. Some have liked it and some not. So, its 50-50...

Bommarillu

A Telugu movie which was recommended to me although I do not understand the language. A wholesome entertainment and awesome direction. There is not a moment of 'bore' or 'sadness' even if you do not understand the language. The heroine's character is extremely well accomplished, ditto the hero's. The dance sequences are superb, as are the songs. Some dubious twists in the tale, like the dad asking the fiance's girl friend (not the fiancess) to stay in the house of the fiance for 7 days. But otherwise, an excellent movie which does exactly what movies are meant to do - entertain!

Soul Man

A nice story with a comical touch. Its about a white boy who poses as a black to receive scholarship to study in Harvard. Rated at 4.7 on imdb. I would rate it as 'Good'.

License to Wed

A nice movie. Its about how a couple have to live their entire life together once, with all that comes with marital life - well, not all - in just 3 weeks, before they actually wed. Very humorous and very true.

Slumdog Millionaire

Wow. What a movie! There are some who dont like this movie and some who do, and i definitely belong to the latter. Amazing direction, amazing picturization and good story line. There are some things in this world which makes a good movie on its own. A 3 hr Cricket match is one. A 1 hr show of 'Who Wants to be a millionaire?' is another. Lagaan used the former as its main theme and SM uses latter as its main theme. Add a parallel story, touch of tragedy and dose of romance and it shall become as good a movie as any...

Mayura

Saw it for the nth time. An amazing movie of the yesteryears, showcasing the history of Pallavas and Kadambas, of war and peace, of heroes and villains, of literary excellence, of romance, of bravery and extreme bravery. Its the Kannada version of Gladiator. Except that it is semi-true. A film not to be missed.

Soorappa

Vishnuvardhan starrer Kannada movie. Too many goods and too many bads happen in this movie. All goods by Vishnuvardhan but all bads by those who admire him and are against him. Nice movie but not a great one.

Race

Twists and turns. Whole movie goes on with so much of twists and turns that you rather start expecting the unexpected - like characters coming back from the dead and heroes becoming villains and villains becoming heroes. Rather too much, but then, yeah - doesnt bore the audience. Nice songs. Watchable once. Cinematography capturing the beauty of South Africa is commendable.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Part 3 - At World's End

Same ugly characters continued in this sequel too. Story became even more complicated with dead men living and living men dying. Completely lost track of the storyline. Fantasy, fantasy and more fantasy. Like the scene in which ship overturns but goes down the sea to surface again! Did not like this film one bit.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Part 2 - Dead Man's Chest

Captain Jack Sparrow's character is mesmerising but I aint the kind to like the ugly characters portrayed. Part 1 wasnt all that bad with ugly characters. Also, the story wasnt very clear. Liked only the scene in the island when the chase happens. Didnt understand the ending either. Scene of Sparrow entering the dragon was absolutely disgusting.

Ghajini

Why would anyone want a movie named after a villain? With the villain being really bad? And the villain dying in the end? And whats with the short term memory loss? It was not even needed. The movie is simply a 'boy loses girl and takes revenge on villain' theme. Overacting by the heroine. True short term memory loss is depicted in the movie Memento. And by the way, there is far too much violence than what is necessary. Well, anyways, watchable once...

Welcome

:) There are times when one ought to watch movies like this. Again, 'keep the brain out and watch' types...

American History X

Wow! What a movie! Beautiful direction, excellent story, mind blowing dialogues...

Death of a President

Huh?!

Extract:

Range and his co-writer/producer Simon Finch have shown how the news can be refashioned into science fiction. In the process, they conclusively demonstrate how easily fiction can be re-edited, on a daily basis, to television viewers and web surfers as fact. The real evidence is the footage, mostly just edited and only occasionally doctored, of protests, speeches, receptions and even a funeral. This strategy of capturing realness knocks the breath out of the spectator, as the audience plays its own frantic guessing game, trying to figure out the source of what is being shown. Its other, equally important, agenda is to demonstrate how efficiently technology can be used to misinform. It's a demonstration of how people can be deceived. How do we judge images? How do we interpret them? When do they show us the truth and when are we deceived by lies?

Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/sep/14/festivals1

Apna Sapna Money, Money

Nice comedy movie with enough twists and turns. Apart from Anupam Kher's character, all other characters - to an extent - seem realistic and bring smile to the lips. An enjoyable movie with good comical direction!

Quantum of Solace

Typical Bond movie. Sequel to Casino Royale. Good chase sequences - in car, in boat, in plane. High adrenaline action packed scenes but rather tamed ending though.

Meera Maadhava Raaghava

A simple story that goes all wrong. One lie after the other, one loan after the other...one can predict where its all heading...culminating in one big tragedy of life...and a show of exactly 'what not to do' in life! But well directed, good sequence of events, nice acting, no over-acting, no sad jokes, a typical family movie. One can almost predict the director - TN Seetharam...

The Dark Knight

Nice movie but I somehow lost the story in the middle. Perhaps because I didnt quite understand or wasnt concentrating. But its gripping enough to keep the story moving and interesting without boring the audience. Not a very happy-happy ending though...

MungAru MaLe

Many people will hate me for this but I absolutely loathed this movie. Poor direction, poor dialogues, disgusting jokes, wasted scenes, redundant characters and horrible acting. In some movies, heroes are what film is all about (read Gladiator) but in this movie, everyone other than the hero has acted well and I for one wished to see scenes in the movie without the hero's presence, although its made to look as if the hero is BangArada Manushya. The only thing I liked about this movie is the cinematography of the song sequence set on top of the water falls. With such a thin, used storyline, one wonders how this film became so popular. I guess all credit goes to the cinematographer and the music director. That too didnt impress me much either.

Singh is Kinng

Jazzy and good dialogues. Wholly unrealistic but at the same time enjoyable. Movie easily categorizable under 'keep your brains out and see the movie'!

Chanakya

After a long time, saw an old Kannada movie. Never boring, moralistic and unrealistic...

A Wednesday

Wow! What a film! A definite must-see! Although the first 20-25 minutes invested in building up the characters of the film seem wasted and totally lacking in direction although gripping. Well, better than a dance-and-song sequence in such a thriller...

Rock On!

Very mediocre film. Well, I guess 'Rock' isnt my cup of coffee.

Sarkar Raj

I didnt like it. Not sure why. Perhaps because of an overdose of movies of such genre. There was a time when I used to like don movies but now, looking at those serious faces and actors acting as if they own the world, I feel like laughing at them. The visual should stop at the level of movie and remain there, but for me, it is penetrating to the level of actors and their lives and how, at the end of the day, they are just acting. Perhaps it is the duty of the director to ensure that that doesnt happen. Perhaps it is just me. At the end of the day, I just didnt like this movie. I would rate it as average.

Sept 2008

1. Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story

A must-see. True stories really thrill me.
Well, I saw the documentary on Discovery. I am assuming the clippings were from Snowbound. I got the gist anyway.

2. Frequency

An Average movie. Its somewhat like Mulholland Drive and Butterfly effect. It starts out well, completely gripping, but then once the super-naturality pitches in, it kinda becomes mediocre, and really falls apart in the end.

Till now...

Check out 'The Whole Set'.

:)