Movies You Watched This Month – February 2013

gow Gangs of Wasseypur I & II

Synopsis: Sardar Singh vows that he would destroy Ramadhir Singh financially for having his father Shahid Khan killed. Ramadhir Singh instead has him and his elder son killed by Sultan. The rest of the movie is about Faizal Khan’s vengeance.

The first part begins very well and then gets derailed by unnecessary scenes of Manoj Bajpai and Reema Sen. It has some stupid scenes of Yashpal Sharma singing. There are too many characters and their unnecessary sub plots. There are also totally BS movie scenes which are just over indulgent nonsense.

Thought the second part would be better but its even worse. Too many characters and their subplots once again. There are BS scenes like Nawaz jumping from one house to another for 15 minutes and arriving at the front of the house where others just come out of the house. There is 15 minute vegetable buying scene where characters discuss why Sultan is buying each vegetable. There is a stupid 5 minute scene discussing what Definite means. New characters and their back plots get introduced during the climax and Piyush Mishra’s voice over continues with new nonsensical events.

There could have been one brilliant three hour movie instead of this two overlong two and a half hour wannabe Mahabharat TV serials but Anurag Kashyap ruins it with his over indulgence. The two movies are like some detailed history of every person that was ever born in Wasseypur and Dhanbad.

Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi is excellent. Background Music is brilliant in some scenes. Songs are very good by themselves but some songs do suit the movie and seemed totally unnecessary.

Manoj Bajpayee is very good as Sardar Khan but has lot of unnecessary scenes. Richa Chadda is brilliant as Nagma. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is very good as Faizal Khan. Tigmanshu Dhulia is excellent. Piyush Mishra, Jaideep Ahlawat
Huma Qureshi, Huma Qureshi are all good.

—————

ShooterShooter

Synopsis: A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why.

Good entertaining action movie if you are like movies with one man going around shooting and blowing up. Did not understand why Mark destroys evidence which could help him.

Mark Wahlberg was very good as the shooter. Michael Peña was very good as the FBI rookie. Kate Mara, Rhona Mitra and Danny Glover were also good.

—————

Last Month’s thread.

Movies You Watched This Month – January 2013

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105 Comments
  1. hithere 11 years ago

    GOW – I liked the movie. But agree with this comment “There could have been one brilliant three hour movie instead of this two overlong two and a half hour ……his over indulgence. “

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      I remember you made similar comment on some thread.

      Personally watching a bad movie is not as infuriating as watching a potentially brilliant/good movie ruined by the director’s over indulgence.

      • Baba Ji 11 years ago

        i am ok with even some over indulgence if its interesting or artistic.

      • shan 11 years ago

        Well said Sputnik! Watching a bad movie can be forgotten as a bad experience, but watching a movie which had everything going for it to be good, but was spoiled by director’s vanity and self-indulgence is very frustrating. I pretty much hated GoW and not because it is a terrible film – it is not. Anurag Kashyap takes a long, boring and very focused on “just listen to these dialogues”, “just see what I have done with the scene here”, just check out the reaction on his face when she touches him” route to tell a story that barely has 5 lines of story in it. He could have made this into a 2 hr taut, hard-hitting, revenge film by eliminating all the unnecessary scenes. After making brilliant stuff like Black Friday and Gulaal, and to an extent Dev D, I have been disappointed by That Girl In Yellow Boots (too minimalistic and over subtle) and now GoW I and II. Hope to see the old Anurag back with Bombay Velvet, although that one comes with the baggage of starring a big name.

  2. Baba Ji 11 years ago

    very good review sputnik ,fully agreed and i had said the same things in my review though in my style 😉
    the problem with anurag kashyap is his small townish mentality and obessesion with adultery/sex.that is his level of perverted indulgence.His indulgence is not even artistic like say kubrick in eyes wide shut.

    “The two movies are like some detailed history of every person that was ever born in Wasseypur and Dhanbad.”

    well gow is not even authentic in its represntation of wasseypur history or its people.the very residents of that place had disowned the film

    https://www.indiatimes.com/bollywood/wasseypur-people-angry-with-anurag-kashyap-30622.html

    “The history doesn’t start with the conflict between Pathans and Qureshis (as the film makes it out). It was just a conflict between two gangs over scrap business. The foundation was laid by the late Wassey Sahab and Jabbar Sahab in 1955-56. They were known contractors of Dhanbad,” said dentist Taqi Anwar.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Your reviews are like the Lohar’s and mine are like the sunar’s and “Sau Sunar Ki Aur Ek Lohar Ki” 😉

      When I talked about detailed history I did not mean in a authentic way. There are scenes/back plots for almost every guy in the movie. There are so many characters who can be edited out of the movie and it won’t make any difference to the movie.

      • Baba Ji 11 years ago

        bottomline is – GOW is not what the title suggests. if you are expecting to see a movie on “gangster drama/politics” that has some relevance to the wasseypur history, better stay away from it. gow pretends to be but it is not about it.

  3. ank_16n 11 years ago

    Shooter—–quite Entertaining movie liked it…..Mark Wahlberg is a very good actor and versatile one also…
    compare this with his Ted….comic Timing as well as Action scenes both done very well..!!

  4. Suprabh 11 years ago

    I hated most of GOW-1.. almost 70% of the movie was unnecessary . There was no need of so much dragging. I loved GOW-II . It was extraordinarily entertaining. I didn’t get bored for even a second. Loved that roof escape scene of Faizal Khan (which you hated). The best thing about GOW-II was the cinematography, background score and the acting of “Definite”.

    Shooter is a good movie– the best twist of Shooter comes fairly early in the movie and is really good. The cinematography is excellent although the villain of the movie is quite inefficient. Mark Wahlberg is really good.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Gow II has some interesting scenes and characters but they don’t move the story forward and one can edit them out. I did not like the whole Perpendicular scenes and that Shamshad scenes. Those were unnecessary.

      I was able to guess the twist of Shooter when they came to his house itself because I thought what they asked him to do was pretty explanatory of their intentions. I was thinking he is supposed to be so smart but he is no naive that he cannot figure out.

  5. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Next Three Days Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss with whom she had an argument. She was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. With no legal means left to him her husband devises a daring plan to rescue his wrongfully imprisoned wife from jail.

    The movie is a remake of a French movie Anything for Her (2008) but looks like they made some changes especially at the end. Will try to watch or at least skim through the original to see how it is and comment about that later.

    Anyways the movie is entertaining though some of things seem implausible. Russell Crowe was good as the husband who rescues his wife. Elizabeth Banks was ok as the wife. Olivia Wilde has a small role. Liam Neeson is good in a small cameo.

    ————-

    Also watched dubbed movie Death Rides a Horse Its a 1967 spaghetti Italian western. Bill Meceita, a boy whose family was murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge. On his journey, he finds himself continually sparring and occasionally cooperating with Ryan, a gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill’s tragedy.

    Zanjeer’s scene where little Amitabh watches his father and mother killed by Ajit who is wearing chain with a horse/skeleton is inspired from this movie. In the final scene Amitabh tells Ajit he should have killed 3 instead of 2 and that dialogue is similar to one from this movie.

    Ok movie at best. Not as good as Sergio Leone westerns. The ‘Bill’ fro Kill Bill is named after the lead character of this movie. And every time the hero sees a murderer the flashback plays over his eyes a technique which was used in Kill Bill. The movie theme was also reused in Kill Bill.

  6. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Master A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future – until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader.

    Did not like the movie. It was interesting in parts but lot of it was boring. Did not understand what the movie wanted to say. The whole movie could even be a dream.

    Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent. He has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and has a good chance of winning but I think he should have been nominated in the Best Actor category. Did not like Joaquin Phoenix much – felt like he was trying too hard.

  7. cr7 11 years ago

    watched khuda ke liye. liked the film. the story is very good. definitely one of the better movies addressing the issue of terrorism.but the movie deserved a better screenplay and some good actors.songs were very good. checked the film after watching sotw and definitely that scene is the best one from the movie.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Glad you liked Khuda Kay Liye.

      I watched Withnail and I on your recommendation but I did not like it much. I felt it was too slow paced and I did not understand what was the point of the movie. The gay uncle Monty making advances towards Marwood part was funny. Other than that I did not find the move that funny. The Withnail character was annoying.

      Also skimmed through the French movie Anything for Her. The Next Three Days is pretty much scene to scene dialogue to dialogue remake for the most part. The kid is older in the American version. They added more scenes after he rescues his wife from the hospital and a zoo diversion (which had one stupid scene) to add more drama than the original. Diane Kruger of Troy fame acted better in the original than Elizabeth Banks in the remake.

  8. cr7 11 years ago

    watched the tv series homeland(season 1) .here is synopsis from imdb – Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq. Carrie Mathison, a driven CIA officer, suspects he might be plotting an attack on America.

    it was good but i had very high hopes.with this plot they could have made a masterpiece . the best thing about the series is the mysteries .one or two kept revealing in each episode and that make it engrossing . from 6th episode onward its on a ride. didn’t like the main character much.she performed extremely well but it is her character that i found annoying at places.rest of the cast did reasonably well .overall good one and i will surely watch season 2 soon.

    • FS 11 years ago

      you might like first 5 episodes of season 2 and then take break or else it may become annoying… than from 6yh episode till the final one is very good, especially last episode of season 2.

      • cr7 11 years ago

        thanks for the suggestion .btw , ur thought on first season?

        • FS 11 years ago

          same as yours. I even don’t like the main actor… Prison Break was class apart in comparison to Homeland, i was very curious to watch homeland when everyone on twitter started praising it as well i heard some awards were awarded to the show. It wasn’t up to the praise but it is very good in its own genre.

          The last 3 episodes of season 2 are awesome which will make you desperate to watch out for season 3.

          Anyways, I heard “24” is one of the best series in terms of suspense, twists and narration style.. I quote from wiki “Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration”

          I would like to finish all eight season of it… but downloading is a big problem followed by managing time to watch it…

  9. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Vishwaroop The movie started off decently with some comic scenes but once the movie went into flashback mode in Afghanistan it went on and on. Then the climax is way too long. Movie is very filmy and kind of tacky especially the US attack scenes in Afghanistan or the final scenes in US. A lot of scenes are quite amateurish and silly. There was nothing offensive in the movie so don’t understand what the controversy was about.

    Kamal Haasan was good when he was doing the effeminate part early on and later in Afghanistan too. Nasir was good. Rahul Bose was bad as usual with a glass eye. Pooja Kumar was good specially in comic scenes. Don’t know why Shekhar Kapur agreed to do the cameo.

    • Suprabh 11 years ago

      Sputnik,

      Has the Hindi version, released in your area?

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        No. Downloaded it.

        • Suprabh 11 years ago

          Hamari lagayi gayi aag ab phail rahi hai 😛

          Btw, do you use Torrentz ? I don’t since I have been served Federal Notices via all network providers. 🙁

          • Author
            sputnik 11 years ago

            No I don’t use torrents.

          • Suprabh 11 years ago

            could you please message me the link on Facebook If and only if the quality is good

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Agreed. Its tone was serious in some parts and masalaic in some. And some scenes were stupid. To show yourself good you don’t need to show other person fool (FBI).
      It is not bad, but neither it is good. I will prefer this than Race2.

  10. Ritz 11 years ago

    Sup, You and Sputnik should rot in jail.

    • Suprabh 11 years ago

      We can meet your idol Aamir Khan there, when he comes to meet Sallu that is 😉

  11. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Source Code An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

    Good movie. Liked it. Its similar in concept to Groundhog Day where same events keep occurring till he gets it right. Its also similar to The Butterfly Effect in some ways of being able to alter reality.

    Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright were good. Michelle Monaghan was ok. Russell Peters has a small role too.

    @ank_16n,
    Thanks for recommending this movie in last month’s thread.

  12. Suprabh 11 years ago

    Source Code was my most awaited movie when it came out as it was directed by Duncan Jones whose Moon I simply loved.

    About Source Code- The movie was good, engaging but its ending turned out to be the most predictable and for such a movie the most unwanted one. It reminded me of another film with similar concept and bad ending- Deja Vu

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Have you seen Groundhog Day? Its a love story not a thriller but after watching Source Code I got a feeling of Deja Vu 😉

      P. S. Have not seen Deja Vu.

  13. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Limitless A writer discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities.

    Good concept. Started off very well and was interesting for a while then it became common place thriller. The ending about the drug is not believable.

    Bradley Cooper was good. He reminded me of Hrithik Roshan a lot in this movie. Robert De Niro was good in a small role. Abbie Cornish was ok in a small role.

    • shan 11 years ago

      Limitless starts off very well but tapers out in the end. Nevertheless, edge-of-the-seat stuff and Bradley Cooper is fantastic. He does look a lot like HR, only acts better and talks clearer. 😉

  14. RAJ 11 years ago

    Limitless suffers the “second half syndrome” as does “source code”..Both the movies start of well only to falter in the second half.

    1.Shooter is really entertaining and Whalberg is good in it.
    2.GOW…Boring ..Dragged quite long….Second part was a bit better though…
    3.Viswaroop was engaging till last 40 mins where it faltered…The movie could have been shorter by 30 mins…The build up was good but the conflict and tension couldn’t achieve a high at the end..

  15. RAJ 11 years ago

    Some of the movies i watched last week.

    1.The Dictator…Its a spoof movie on the stereotypes of some of the dictators of middl-east and Norrth Africa…The movie has its funny moments but loses its way midway through…The lead actor has done a good job in it…

    2.Joint Security Area…Korean…The plot revolves around killings of Two North Korean soldiers in the Border of North and South Korea and the investigations thereof..One word…Silly plot….

    3.The Queen..Story about Queen Elizabeth ,her dilemma about how to handle the situation after the death of Diana…A bit slow and but engaging…Helen Miller had given a steller performance …people who don’t like political movies can just give it a miss…

    4.Silver Linings Playbook…Couldn’t finish 30 mins of the movie and then scrolled through…Cant believe this movie is been selected for Oscars..

    5.Dexter–Season -6…The series suffers from weak characterization of dexter and others…Strong characterization been its strength in last 5 seasons…Having said that,still entertaining than some of the regular stuff in television..

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      I liked Silver Linings Playbook. Its not great but it was good mainly due to the performances of Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert DeNiro. The director definitely did not deserve a nomination for Best Director for this over Kathryn for Zero Dark Thirty or Ben Affeck for Argo.

    • narad_muni 11 years ago

      Raj,

      so no recommendations from the above list I guess 🙁

      I have seen only Joint Security Area as it was from the director of Oldboy but felt really disappointed

  16. ank_16n 11 years ago

    watched—

    The Day After Tomorrow—Awesome concept and execution..a must watch..!!

    Knocked Up—-good time pass …one of the nice movies in its genre..!!

    Mamma Mia!—light hearted movie….Amanda seyfried was just wow in this one…
    waiting for her LOVELACE.. 🙂

    Honey, I Shrunk the Kids—Watched it after very long time……nice movie brought back my childhood memories….!!

    Terminator Salvation—bad ….liked 2nd and 3rd one in the series only..!!

  17. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Zodiac A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer. It is based on a true story. Good thriller but it reminded me of Memories of Murder.

    I hate it when some characters behave in such a dumb manner that you know from a mile that they are going to get killed. The girl in the car just sits there and does nothing when her boyfriend tells her to drive away. Another guy ignores warnings from his girlfriend and a woman just lets some stranger unbolt her wheel. The hero’s character seemed dumb too giving interviews to newspapers about writing a book on the serial killer. He even gives TV Interviews thereby potentially putting his kids life in danger.

    Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo were good. Robert Downey Jr. was ok.

  18. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Up in the Air With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

    Had skimmed the movie couple of years ago. Good movie liked it. There is a small twist at the end which was good.

    George Clooney was good as usual in a classy role. Ok a question. Has George Clooney ever played anything other than a classy guy in any of his movies? I won’t count Ocean’s Eleven series.

    Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were both very good.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Two popped out immediately..Saw them sometime back..Fan of second one..It is a cult movie but people may find it weird 🙂

      o brother where art thou
      From Dusk till Dawn

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        I already found it weird 😀

        Have not seen o brother where art thou. Will check it out soon.

  19. cr7 11 years ago

    watched the imposter . it was a documentary but better than many thriller films.very few film has such great flow in storytelling.edge of the seat stuff with fascinating family drama content.highly recommended .don’t miss it.

    thanks suprabh for the recco.

  20. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Primer Its a science fiction drama film about the accidental discovery of a means of time travel.

    Crap movie and boring as hell. The whole movie is just a lot of yapping where people talk over each other and is full of techno babble. Its a low budget flick (apparently made in $7000) so there’s not much the director can show except pointless drivel.

    Watched The Thirteenth Floor Agree with suprabh that it is very similar to The Matrix in terms of plot and concept. It also had the Deja Vu dialogue. The movie is based on a 1964 novel Simulacron-3 so may be Matrix is inspired from that novel.

    The movie was not bad but I did get a feeling like it was a B movie may be because of the relatively unknown star cast (except for Gretchen Mol who looked pretty). Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl were all ok acting wise.

    Watched Special 26 Liked it a lot . Had written a detailed review here.

    Special 26 Movie Review by Sputnik

  21. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Sputnik,
    Fully Agree with your GOW Review.

    Infact, I have a Feeling that you might have just ‘Copy/Pasted’ My Various Comments on GOW along all these Months, Stringed them together and made them look like 1 big Opinion 😉

    “here are BS scenes like Nawaz jumping from one house to another for 15 minutes and arriving at the front of the house where others just come out of the house.”

    ^^ Exactly.

    I Fail to see what’s ART in this.
    Loved Shanghai a lot more wrt the GOW Series.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Ha Ha so you are alleging plagiarism 😉

      All I remember is that you asked me to write a GOW review. I don’t remember your comments on GOW – even whether you liked it or not.

  22. hithere 11 years ago

    Please have the link of old month post in current month thread.

    Saw flight. Liked the drama. Could have been little shorter.

    Aslo saw, Game change based on John McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. A well acted HBO movie.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Ok. Added link to last month’s thread in the post. Did you want it for continuity?

      If you want all monthly threads you can click on “Movies You Watched This Month” tag.

      ————–

      Watched HeadHunters It is a 2011 Norwegian action thriller film. Roger Brown is a successful but insecure corporate recruiter who lives a double life as an art thief to fund his lavish lifestyle. He finds out that one of his job prospects is in possession of a valuable painting and sets out to steal it.

      Movie started off very well and was very good up to almost half or may be 2/3rd of it but it suddenly lost its mojo. When it should have been at its most thrilling it kind of became slow paced and lost focus. Ending was good and still not a bad thriller. Performances were good.

      • hithere 11 years ago

        yep..it was for continuity. Thanks for thr tip!

  23. cr7 11 years ago

    watched 12 angry men .excellent movie . loved it. flawless .

    thanks sputnik and shilac for the recco

    also watched life of pi. liked it .it was boring in places but the whole survival part is brilliant .liked the dialogues , didn’t get some philosophical ones though. fine performance by everyone.the boy who played “pi: is excellent. fantastic ending . i’m impressed . i hope it releases here soon.it deserves to be seen on big screen.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Glad you liked 12 Angry Men.

      ———

      Watched The Warrior In feudal India, a warrior (Khan) who renounces his role as the longitme enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.

      The movie was mystical and well shot but did not understand the point. Did not understand why Irfan does not run away on his horse. He just lets his son get killed and does not even seek revenge which seemed weird. Irfan was good as usual.

      • cr7 11 years ago

        have u seen life of pi? what is ur take on the ending?

        • Author
          sputnik 11 years ago

          Yes. Saw it last month. Had commented.

          “Thought it was a silly stupid fantasy and almost hated it. But then a two minute scene at the end changed the movie completely and my view about it. It has a almost Mementoish ending. I think the ending is brilliant. ”

          I think what he said to the investigators at the end is the truth – the story about the mother on the boat.

          Movies You Watched This Month – January 2013

  24. hithere 11 years ago

    Compliance – Height of dumbness…and it is based on a true story at McDonald’s in Mount Washington, KY .

    ps – There is actual interview of manager on youtube…

  25. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Equilibrium In a Fascist future where all forms of feelings are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.

    The movie’s fights and Christian Bale’s clothes are obviously inspired by The Matrix. The movie is also similar to The Lives of Others and V for Vendetta but this movie released before them.

    Ok movie. Christian Bale and Emily Watson were good.

  26. Reddemon 11 years ago

    Watched The Town.. Liked it alot. Entertaining and engaging at the Same time. Was going through Ben Affleck’s imdb page and came across this movie. Liked the plot and so decided to watch it.
    The movie is about Charlestown- a suburb in Boston, where Robbery is like a ancestrial profession. A difficult story to direct because of its story and various issues it focus on but Very Well directed by Ben Affleck. 4/5

  27. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Buried Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a wooden coffin, with only a lighter, flask, flashlight, knife, glowsticks, pen and a mobile phone to help him escape before the oxygen in the coffin runs out.

    The whole movie has only one actor Ryan Reynolds on screen and it is completely shot in the coffin. All we hear are voices of people he talks to by making or receiving phone calls.

    Liked the movie. It was very interesting and engrossing. It is a indictment of US and American culture. Ryan Reynolds was excellent as the man trapped in the coffin. Direction was very good.

    Spoiler Alert The movie does not have a happy ending so people looking for that may be disappointed.

    ——-

    Watched Dirty Pretty Things Its about two illegal immigrants who work at a hotel in London where the manager runs an illegal operation wherein immigrants swap kidneys for forged passports.

    The movie could have been a good thriller but was very slow paced like a drama and I got bored by the end of it and did not even complete it with a few minutes left. Audrey Tautou and Chiwetel Ejiofor acted well but I think the movie needed a bigger star in place of Chiwetel Ejiofor.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Have seen DPT, don’t remember much. I probably didn’t mind.

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        Tried again because of your comment and completed the movie. I think I had almost 30 min left. Did end up liking at least the last 30 min 😀

        May be my expectations were wrong as I thought it would be a fast paced thriller based on some comments I read. The movie works more as a human drama about illegal immigrants.

  28. FS 11 years ago

    Watched some brilliant movies based on recommendations of fellow members. Made a post on these recommendations as well… These are Hotel Rwanda, 12 Angry men, Argo, the imposter, The man from earth, Erin Bronkovich, rainman, flight and Into the Wild –> https://tanqeed.com/highly-recommended-movies-of-the-months/

    The movies that i didn’t mention but liked are

    One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest – I liked the film but in the end you feel what was the purpose of the film when it ends so depressing. There was nothing good about the Institute as well.

    Let the right one in – After the recommendation of Cr i watched this movie. I liked it, it was good and could be one time watch movie for others.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      I loved One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and its one of my favorite movies. Yes its slow paced and not many will like the tragic ending but I loved it. Nurse Ratched is the villain and she makes Billy feel bad and ashamed and his stutter returns back and he kills himself. One is supposed to root for Jack when he is throttling her and I was 😀

      He is turned into a vegetable. The Chief cannot see a person full of life turn into a vegetable and puts him out of his misery. The other point is that the Chief who was so passive and who did not care at all is moved by Jack’s condition and decides to escape.

      Louise Fletcher was brilliant in the movie as Nurse Ratched and Jack Nicholson was excellent and both deserved the Oscars that they won.

      Its Raju Hirani’s favorite movie (read in interview) and the basic idea of Munnabhai M.B.B.S is inspired from it. The Jimmy Shergill part is definitely inspired from the Billy part.

      • Ritz 11 years ago

        Agree on all counts about nurse acting,Chief and all aspects. I in fact thought the ending was not sad – but optimistic in a very depressing movie otherwise (sans its dark humor). Love the dialogues in the movie – there are too many fantastic one liners.
        I like “At least I tried” scene very much.

        Even Boman irani’s characterization is bit like the nurse. In 3i as well as in MBBS. Both were stubborn and cudnt see the other side..

        • Author
          sputnik 11 years ago

          Good scene. I have never been able to find my favorite scene of Jack throttling her.

          Agree with you that ending is optimistic. Here is the ending scene. Background music is excellent too.

  29. Ritz 11 years ago

    Yes, the music is awesome – plus the expressions of rage/ and winning / by that inmate.
    Almost everyone were extraordinary in acting department in this film. Happens rarely – when almost every minor performance is so good.
    …be it Sydney Lassick (I love that “I want MY cigarettes” scene) or the guy who played Billy…to the Chief / all inmates ..all were extraordinary.

    “Nurse Ratched is the villain and she makes Billy feel bad and ashamed and his stutter returns back and he kills himself. One is supposed to root for Jack when he is throttling her and I was”

    I agree with you on Billy’s scene.
    Thats the best villainous role I have ever seen. She expresses so much just by her eyes and doesn’t overplay or resort to other body language gimmicks. Kudos to director/dialogue writer too who elevated her performance to this level.

    I also could not find the strangling scene but here is a build up to that when she mentally tortures Billy which leads to his death..
    Her aloofness when Billy gets down to his knees and pleads to her add to the character.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=RrU_oXnS03g

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Agree with you that almost every minor performance was so good. And that’s a great scene.

      Yes she doesn’t overplay or resort to other body language gimmicks. I just saw this video of her acceptance speech today and she is so right about getting an award for hating her. The last part of her speech is very good.

    • Baba Ji 11 years ago

      ritz – today is madhubala birthday. i am surprised you didnt make any comment 😀 I must mention that i loved your comment on madhubala in that pyaar kiya to darna kya thread – “pathetic hands and leg movement for a darbari nartaki” . One of my favourite comments ever on tq 😀

      • Ritz 11 years ago

        haha Baba. thanks for that ..but I had already said earlier what I wanted so didnt comment today.

        @Sputnik, thanks for that acceptance speech. Looks like her parents were deaf? (she uses sign language). Nice speech.

  30. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Saw BURIED on Sputnik’s Recco.

    Unique/Interesting Concept for sure.

    Reminded Me a lot of ‘127 Hours’ which was based on a Similar Premise.
    But that had an Happy/Inspiring Ending but Buried has a Sad Ending.

    Also Unlike 127Hours, Buried has just 1 Character – Ryan Reynolds and has just only 1 Location – Inside a Coffin that too for it’s whole Runtime of 1.20hrs.

    Reynolds is Good in his Role and Given the Situation and the Demand of the Movie, it’s Tough NOT to Find him Good.

    The Movie is a MUST WATCH in a sense for it’s Uniqueness… I Mean, How many times do we see just 1 character in an Entire Movie?! 🙂

    Other than that, the Movie was Quite Okay and Not like in the League of 127Hours.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Interestingly “Buried premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2010” whereas “127 Hours was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010”

  31. cr7 11 years ago

    watched marley & me . i quite liked the film and marley must be one of the most adorable film character .somehow the film got boring in few places but thats okay bcoz it also has some genuinely funny moments . performances were good . sad sad sad ending , marley 🙁

    hachiko still remains my fav film featuring dogs .

  32. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched the documentary 5 Broken Cameras which has been nominated for best Documentary Feature in the 2013 Academy Awards.

    It is co-directed by a Palestinian Emad Burnat and an Israeli Guy Davidi. It is a first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. The documentary was shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son. In 2009 Israeli co-director Guy Davidi joined on to create the film. Structured around the destruction of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of turmoil.

    It is slow paced and one sometimes gets the feeling that it is one sided propaganda but it was still good. It shows the human suffering and what Palestinians have to undergo and how people protesting peacefully can get killed anytime. And it does have a somewhat positive ending.

    The documentary was probably shot on Fridays and holidays so it inadvertently gives the feeling that they don’t do any work. The documentary does not explain what job Emad has which provides money for him to run his house. There is one scene where it says they are olive farmers but I am not sure if that’s enough. There is one scene where he talks about not being able to work and having to pay huge medical bills but it it is just passed over later. Wish they had given more explanation.

    I doubt it will win Oscar though as many will dismiss it as being as anti-Semitic since it is anti Israel and since Academy usually loves pro Jewish/Israel movies.

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Oscar-Nominated Palestinian Filmmaker Detained at LAX, Michael Moore Intervenes

      Emad Burnat, whose film “5 Broken Cameras” is nominated for best documentary, was held as he arrived for Oscar week.

      The first Palestinian filmmaker nominated for an Academy Award, Emad Burnat on Tuesday narrowly avoided a mix up that could have barred him from attending the ceremony.
      our editor recommends
      ‘5 Broken Cameras’ Trailer

      Burnat, the co-director of the film 5 Broken Cameras, was detained along with his family by immigration officials after arriving at LAX, his representative confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was released after questioning. Michael Moore, a governor of the Academy’s documentary branch and a champion of Burnat’s film, tweeted about the incident in detail late Tuesday.

      STORY: Michael Moore, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi on ‘5 Broken Cameras’

      “Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn’t have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars,” he wrote. “Although he produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn’t good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine… Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn’t understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help… I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times.”

      STORY: Michael Moore Praises Gun Control, Slams Obama on Drones: ‘We Like to Kill Our Own’

      5 Broken Cameras focuses on Burnat’s small Palestinian village and the peaceful resistance it has waged against encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot on small digital cameras, the film was co-directed by Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi, and won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at Sundance in 2012, as well as the recent Cinema Eye Award, which Moore accepted on Burnt and Davidi’s behalf.

      “To live in a small town, small village, and just to be traveling around the world, to many countries and many festivals and to get many awards, it’s very exciting,” Burnat recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “This was important for me, you know I didn’t expect that the film would be very successful and I didn’t expect the success. It’s not just for me, the success, the success is for my village and my people in Palestine.”

      “It isn’t just one of the best documentaries of the year, it’s one of the best movies of this year,” Moore told THR. “I’d put it on the same level as any of the other great fiction films made this year.”

      https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emad-burnat-detained-michael-moore-422616

  33. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Paper Chase A first-year law student at Harvard (Hart) struggles with balancing his coursework and his relationship with the daughter of a stern professor.

    I think 3 Idiots is inspired at least in idea from this movie or from the novel on which this movie is based. The whole movie is about this strict professor who asks questions in class and everyone is scared of him. Hart just obsesses about him all the time while at the same time dating his daughter. He and a few friends are in a study group. One of them is a jerk and one of them is a weak student who is also married. The married guy even attempts suicide. Hart along with his friend break into a reserved area of the college library to check out the professor’s notes as a student. They don’t steal or get caught however.

    The movie was quite slow paced. It shows how tough it is to be a law student at Harvard and how stressed out students are. There was a scene in a lift near the end of the movie which shows whether Hart’s fears about professor were true or not which was quite good.

    Timothy Bottoms was good as Hart. Lindsay Wagner was pretty and acted well as the professor’s daughter. John Houseman was brilliant as Professor Kingsfield and he definitely deserved the Oscar that he got as Best Supporting Actor. Found out that Kingsfield is a cult character for students especially law students.

  34. hithere 11 years ago

    Taken2 – Not bad..there was nothing new…
    Perks of being a wallflower – Well acted teen drama.
    Robot and Frank – Quirky..little slow but cutely funny..

  35. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Gone Baby Gone Two Boston area detectives investigate a little girl’s kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.

    Very good movie. Liked it a lot. Its slow paced though. Must say that it’s a brilliant directing debut by Ben Affleck.

    Casey Affleck was very good. Michelle Monaghan was ok. Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan were very good too.

    ———-

    Also watched Safety Not Guaranteed Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.

    Good funny movie. Liked it. Its a romantic comedy under the guise of a time travel movie.

    Mark Duplass was very good. Aubrey Plaza was excellent. Jake Johnson was good and Karan Soni as the Indian nerd was excellent too.

  36. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Words A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work.

    Its a story about a story about a story. They should have avoided the Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde track. The movie started off interestingly and it was good till like the halfway mark and then faltered. It did not know what to do next.

    Bradley Cooper was good. His role is similar to that of his Limitless role of a struggling writer. Zoe Saldana looked good. Did not like Olivia Wilde or Dennis Quaid. Jeremy Irons was excellent.

    Watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash.

    Movie was ok not bad but I did not find it anything great or that funny. Snatch which came after this follows the same template but that was funnier and had more interesting characters.

    Movie had a lot of characters and each had a build up but it just was not well executed. Did not like the ending much either. Performances by everyone were good.

  37. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Insider A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a “60 Minutes” expose on Big Tobacco.

    Excellent movie based on a true story. Russell Crowe was excellent and I saw the original guy Wigand’s interview and he is spot on with his impression of him. His acting is similar to his acting from Beautiful Mind which came after this. Al Pacino was excellent and he should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Christopher Plummer was also good as Mike Wallace.

    Michael Mann’s direction was excellent – taking a story like this and turning into a interesting thriller requires some talent.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Well many thought he should have got Oscar for this role than Gladiator. I like both movies but I prefer former.

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        hmm… He lost to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty so its ok. Kevin Spacey was brilliant too. Even Denzel was excellent in The Hurricane.

        LOL on Aamir and SRK starring together when they are 60.

  38. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Haven’t Seen SNATCH yet but calling LSATSB ‘Not that Funny’ Highly Inappropriate.
    🙁

    To Protest against this, I am Off TQ for 2 Days!
    😐

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      Ha Ha. May be I don’t find British humor that funny.

      I think the movie was progressing well in the climax but it unnecessarily gave that Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) all the money in the end. I did not know why the singer Sting did that cameo and what importance it had.

  39. cr7 11 years ago

    watched the pirate bay – away from keyboard .a documentary on pirate bay ,mostly on the trial against pirate bay. very interesting.got to know a lot information .loved all three founders of tpb. but the canvas is small and didn’t cover anything other than the trial . but whatever they shown is very good. and i love tpb so much that i would loved it anyway.

    p.s.-it was the first legal torrent i downloaded 😀

  40. cr7 11 years ago

    watched wreck it ralph. very entertaining movie.loved it. should win oscar for best animated movie .

  41. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Rewatched The Prestige The rivalry between two magicians is exacerbated when one of them performs the ultimate illusion.

    When I first saw back in 2006 I had liked it but I had some questions and wanted it to watch it again. Finally managed to do it. Very good movie of rivalry and how obsession blinds a person from accepting the truth.

    Christian Bale has the better role or the role of the winner while Hugh Jackman’s role is basically of the loser but his role is longer though. Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie are all good in smaller roles.

    Nolan’s direction is good. It has the non linear screenplay and a twist but its a simpler movie compared to Memento/Inception in that there is no ambiguous ending in this one.

    I always felt that this movie should be remade with Aamir and SRK but I know it will never happen due to their egos and insecurity. I think Hugh Jackman’s role will have to be changed a bit so that he wins a couple of times against Bale’s character for any Bollywood actor to do his role.

    —————————

    Watched The Last of the Mohicans Three trappers protect a British Colonel’s daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War set in 1757.

    Movie was good. Its basically a love story set against the war. Cinematography was good. Some of the waterfall shots where people fall or jump seemed bad. Background music was very good.

    Daniel Day-Lewis was good as usual. Madeleine Stowe looked good as usual. Jodhi May was not bad. Russell Means as Chingachgook, Eric Schweig as Uncas, Wes Studi as Magua were good too.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Aamir and SRK – They will star together when they fall from skies..That is when they are 60 🙂

  42. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Haha Sputnik.
    You Remember I had Mentioned abt the Aamir-SRK Point back then and you had said you had the Same Feeling. 🙂

    It’s My Dear Wish that both of them do atleast 1Movie together in this Lifetime and that 1 Movie shud be Epic[like say PRESTIGE] and Break all BO Records.

    In a Prestige Scenario, Aamir will Play Jackman, SRK – Bale, Anupam Kher – Michael Caine, PeeCee – Johansson 😉

    …….

    Anyways, Prestige I Think is Nolan’s BEST[Tied at #1 with Inception] with Memento being a Close 2nd.

  43. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Gift A woman with extrasensory perception is asked to help find a young woman who has disappeared.

    Its a pyschic/supernatural thriller. Ok movie quite slow paced.

    Cate Blanchett was good as the pyschic with supernatural powers. Giovanni Ribisi was ok. Keanu Reeves was surprisingly good as a bad guy. Greg Kinnear was good. Hilary Swank is surprisingly in a small role. Katie Holmes was bad acting wise but there is one scene that guys will like 😉

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Have you seen desi remake – Rakht?

      ps – Haha @KH reference.

      • Author
        sputnik 11 years ago

        No have not seen Rakht. I did not know that Rakht was copied from this. Read the plot from wikipedia just now and its pretty much the same and they just desified it. I think it got bad reviews or was panned a lot. Surprised that Mahesh Manjrekar is the director.

  44. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched Black Rain The story centers on two New York City police officers who arrest a member of the Yakuza and must escort him back to Japan. Once there, he escapes, and the two police officers find themselves dragged deeper and deeper into the Japanese underworld.

    Its directed by Ridley Scott. Movie was ok nothing great. Its set in Japan and you can say its a reverse Rush Hour.

    Michael Douglas was good as usual. Did not like Andy García much. One can tell from his very first scene that “This dude is going to die first” 😉

    Ken Takakura was good as the Japanese cop helping them. Kate Capshaw had some weird role created just to help the hero. Yusaku Matsuda was good as the villain Sato.

    • hithere 11 years ago

      Saw it sometime back..Everything happens very conveniently. Didn’t mind it but I won’t say it is good.

  45. FS 11 years ago

    Watched “Cloud Atlas” again… Except background score nothing seemed “terrific, excellent or Great etc…”

  46. I.One 11 years ago

    Saw “A Beautiful Mind”. A beautiful cinematic experience. And hats off to Russell Crowe for a terrifying, petrifying, stupifying performance. Must watch.

  47. Serenzy 11 years ago

    Sputnik,

    How to Insert IMAGES/PHOTOS in Comments??

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      If the image is from another site then you can use the following code

      Make sure the width is not more than 700. You can change width and height based on how the image looks.

      If it is a image that is not from another site then you have to start creating a new post and then add a image in that post and then copy that code from there and paste it in your comment.

    • Baba Ji 11 years ago

      insert image in “add new post” in dashboard and copy html code here.

  48. FS 11 years ago

    Sputnik – why don’t u make it simple by adding “upload file” button?

    • Author
      sputnik 11 years ago

      That plugin is no longer available and that plugin had some hacking vulnerabilities.

  49. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Watched The Confession A High powered NY attorney, hired to defend a murderer who avenged his young son’s death, struggles with his own desires for success versus the moral wishes of his client to choose the path of truth.

    Movie has a good message and has lot of Jewish religious principles, prayers and stuff. But the movie should have avoided the whole attorney sleeping with his client’s wife part which did not really add anything to the movie. It looked very forced and somewhat cheapened the movie. Movie was a bit slow paced but the ending kind of saved it.

    Alec Baldwin was good as the attorney and Ben Kingsley was very good as the principled murderer. Did not like Amy Irving much who played Ben’s wife.

    Also rewatched Baran and The Lincoln Lawyer.

  50. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Martin Scorsese’s letter to Anurag Kashyap saying that he liked Dev.D and GOW

  51. Anajanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    @Sputnik

    but whole scene of strangling is still not there…

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Thanks. Would have been great if the whole scene was there.

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