Movies You Watched This Month – October 2013

boxerThe Boxer

Synopsis
Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis), a promising Irish boxer who was imprisoned for 14 years at age 18 for associating with the IRA, returns to his Belfast neighborhood just as IRA leader Joe Hamill (Brian Cox) is trying to negotiate peace with the British. Despite wanting to return to boxing and stay out of trouble, Danny is drawn back into turmoil when he reunites with old girlfriend Maggie (Emily Watson), who’s married to an imprisoned IRA man.

Its a good political drama set in Ireland against the backdrop of the clash between the Protestants and Catholics and the IRA bombings. It also has a boxing story and a love story.

The movie is directed by Jim Sheridan who also directed In the Name of the Father and My Left Foot starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Daniel Day-Lewis is excellent as usual. Brian Cox was very good. Emily Watson, Ken Stott, Gerard McSorley were all good.

—————————-

beyondbordersBeyond Borders

Synopsis
Moved by the pleas of a doctor and international humanitarian, wealthy socialite Sarah joins him in Ethiopia to help suffering people and romance ensues. Sarah returns home to her husband, but reunites with Nick over time in various exotic locations.

The movie started off well as a social drama about Doctors helping the poor in Ethiopia against the backdrop of war but then it ultimately turned into a stupid love story. It also had a subplot of CIA and gun trafficking and United Nations angle in the middle.

Clive Owen was good as a doctor but his character being constantly rude to Sarah in the initial scenes did not come across as good. Angelina Jolie was ok but her character was quite badly written. She listens to Nick’s plea for help and goes to Ethiopia but is mostly seen helping only one woman and her kid. She is then in United Nations and in one scene she becomes Lara Croft when she starts kicking Clive Owen. Noah Emmerich was good.

Tags:
183 Comments
  1. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched a Spanish movie “Sleep Tight” .It is about a guy whose only desire in life is to make others unhappy . A really disturbing, nightmarish story . very original writing , well directed thriller. .Barring two “cinematic” moments it is very clever storytelling .hardly any dull moments .liked it .

  2. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Watched Besharam Horrible pathetic movie. As Baba said this is Ranbir’s worst movie even though I have not seen Anjaana Anjaani either.

    Don’t know WTF Ranbir and Abhinav were thinking. The movie is so dated – it looked like some bad 70s/80s movie with the thief and Anath Ashram angles. Not a single scene in the movie is good or funny. The only scenes which brought a chuckle was the Sunny Deol reference and Javed Jaffrey finding the tire being stolen. There is annoying background music throughout the movie.

    There are unnecessary vulgar scenes like Ranbir’s errection scene, butt crack scene and Rishi farting and taking a dump.

    Ranbir was overacting in every scene whether he was being crude/vulgar or in action/comic scenes. Pallavi Sharda looked bad and was bad in acting, dancing everything. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh acted well but were loud in some scenes. Javed Jaffrey was ok.

    Dabangg is a classic in front of this and all credit for Dabangg including directing it should go to Salman.

    —————————

    Days of Heaven The story of Bill, a Chicago steel-mill worker who flees town after accidentally killing a man. In search of a better life, he moves his girlfriend Abby and younger sister to Texas. But they run into tragedy when a wealthy farmer falls for Abby.

    This is the first Terrence Malick movie that I managed to complete. It has beautiful scenery and cinematography and won Oscar for Best Cinematography.

    Now coming to the story/plot I did not understand why Richard Gere and his girlfriend pretended to be brother-sister instead of a married couple if they did not want the tongues wagging. It made it even worse as the tongues would wag of incest seeing their behavior.

    There are some weird scenes involving the Flying Circus out of nowhere and lot of scenes of nature and insects which is common in Terence Mallick’s movies. When someone is dying the director is more interested in showing the beautiful shot of horses than the person dying.

    A very young Richard Gere acted well. Brooke Adams looked very ordinary and don’t know why two men would fall for her. Sam Shepard was good as the husband who doubts there is something wrong with the relationship between his wife and her brother. Linda Manz character seemed unnecessary and her narration – specially her voice was very irritating.

    • Baba 10 years ago

      LOL! i thought you will wait till ddvscr is out. good review, fully agreed 😀

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        dvdscr is out. I am so glad I did not watch this in a theater 🙂

        • Baba 10 years ago

          how did you find the songs? there are 3 songs in first 30 mins. what did you think of the scene just before interval? if ranbir could not see the film is sinking then and there he is the biggets fool around

          • Author
            sputnik 10 years ago

            Did not like any song. They had no real plot/story so just added the songs to stretch it.

            Interval scene is just random.

            I think this movie will hurt the perception that some had that Ranbir is a great actor. And if he does a couple more movies like this it will hurt him very badly.

          • Baba 10 years ago

            herione lives in a chawl but she is manager in a MNC who has a cabin of her own and she also has mercedes which he has bought for show-off to friends. why not buy a proper house to show-off instead of a car 😉

  3. Saurabh 10 years ago

    @sputnik

    When someone is dying the director is more interested in showing the beautiful shot of horses than the person dying.

    This reminded me of a scene in another Malick masterpiece The Thin Red Line where Private Witt’s (Jim Caviezel) mother is on her deathbed while the scene cuts back and forth with parrots flying in a cage. Malick uses his actors as props. Adrien Brody was the main actor in TTRL. But Malick chopped almost all of his scenes and reduced him to just one or two scenes screentime and made Witt the focus of the story. Poor guy found that out only at the premiere. Imagine the frustration. Mickey Rourke’s all scenes were cut out from the film. Also Sean Penn expressed his frustration when his scenes were reduced in The Tree of Life. The trees, leaves and the animals have more screentime in Malick’s films than any actors. Only Christian Bale seems to love his work ethic. That’s why he’s doing two movies straight with him.

  4. Saurabh 10 years ago

    He’s also notorious for employing great composers like Hans Zimmer, James Horner and Alexandre Desplat and then throwing out the entire music, and replacing it with some western classical compositions. Only Zimmer escaped this treatment unscathed. He stated in an interview how he had composed hours and hours worth of music and was having a hard time editing it. Horner straight away blasted Malick while working on The New World and said that he had zero knowledge of film music. Here’s the article:

    https://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/terrence_malick_almost_directed_che_-_eight_things_we_learned_about_the_new?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel

    For me when it comes to Malick, there’s no middle ground. You either love his work or simply hate it. I absolutely love TTRL and for me its the best war film ever. But then again I think To The Wonder was a snoozefest and a complete bore.

    Also he has reputation for spending years in the editing room. Tree of Life was made in 2007 or 08 (then it was to star the late and the great Heath Ledger in place of Brad Pitt) but was released in 2011. Now he’s trying to make a 4 hour cut of the film.

    Malick is simply one of his kind. Its incredible how he even manages to convince people to finance his uncompromising vision and make these masterpieces.

  5. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Pacific Rim: I grew up on the 90s cartoon network shows like Ninja Robots, Yamato Takeru and other Japanese anime featuring on robots. Also Jurassic Park had happened in 1993. Spent many days after that collecting dinosaur stickers featuring stegosaurus, T-Rex, etc. I used to feel how these robots would translate to movies. The answer is Pacific Rim.

    Guillermo del Toro is gifted when it comes to transporting the audiences in a dark world filled with unusual and otherworldly creatures (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth). When I say otherworldly I try to think that these creatures may not conform to the life form designs that we come across in our world. So they may end up with eyes on their wings or on palms, etc.

    The story is simple. In the future aliens have invaded earth not from outer space, but from an interdimensional portal beneath the Pacific ocean. These giant monsters called ‘kaiju’ have destroyed the Pan Pacific region. To combat them humans created giant 400, 500 ft tall robots called ‘Jaegers’. Every country has it’s own Jaeger. Initially humans seem to be winning. But then the kaiju numbers and the frequency of their attacks increases sporadically. How the humans attempt to end this war forms the entire story.

    The visual aesthetic is a homage to the kaiju genre of Japanese movies like the Godzilla franchise and the robot anime. The design of the Jaeger pilot suits, Rinko Kikuchi, Clifton Collins Jr’s hairstyles, the Jaeger names, etc convey this aesthetic.

    The acting’s uneven. But I wasn’t expecting some Oscar calibre performances either. Charlie Day was okay. Burn Gorman as Hermann Gottlieb was super over the top and the Australian Jaeger pilot was irritating. His was the worst Australian accent since Tarantino’s last year in Django Unchained. Rinko Kikuchi was good. Charlie Hunnam has no screen presence. Idris Elba gave a thunderous performance with the most badass name I’ve heard in a long, long time- Stacker Pentecost. Watch out for the scene and the way he just looks at Charlie Hunnam for touching him. Intimidating but badass. Ron Perlman was as always cool with a cool name- Hannibal Chau.

    The Jaeger designs are so immaculate and detailed you realise that it’s a labour of love for GDT. The scenes where the Jaegers are assembled and you see the pistons and gears move and their bulky movements just grab your attention. But these scenes aren’t just to grab the audience’s attention but to convey a sense of effort to be put in to construct these behemoths if they were to be made for real. Everything, from the characters, to the kaiju and Jaegers have their backstories and writer Travis Beacham has created an elaborate and a tangible world for these characters to exist in. Check out the prequel comic if you can. It gives a detailed account of the motivations of the supporting characters.

    Ramin Djawadi’s score is kickass. You are sucked into the film right when the Rayleigh brothers suit up and their Jaeger Gypsy Danger is assembled with the theme played in the background.

    I’m not much into Hollywood blockbusters these days because they seem to lack certain words like ‘integrity’ and ‘ethic’. I’m looking at you Transformers, GI Joe, Die Hard, etc. They’re just about money and 3D and records. Hence, it’s unfortunate that we have another crappy Tranformers crap thrown at us next year while Pacific Rim is struggling to even warrant a sequel.

  6. Bored 10 years ago

    I also liked Pacific Rim. The movie did very well overseas, but was not that much liked in US – doubt if the studio will make a sequel even though they got back their investment. Wudnt mind if they do.

  7. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Chennai Express – was quite enjoyable for some parts as many Rohit Shetty films. Was not expecting much anyways. The last 30 mins were torture though with typical srk films type rona dhona. Shahrukh acted very well and I think his hamming suited the style of film. Deepika acted well, spoke tamil well, though had consitipated look continuosly on her face while speaking hindi lines.

  8. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Hard Lessons This drama based on a true story stars Denzel Washington as George McKenna, the tough, determined new principal of a notorious Los Angeles high school. Life is full of hard lessons for McKenna, who risks it all by going head-to-head with the drug-infested, gang-run war zone known as George Washington High.

    It felt very low budget amateurish stuff like a TV movie and it turned out to be actually a TV movie. Denzel Washington was good as usual. Have seen many school based movies which are similar to this now and it seems all cliched now. Background music was pathetic – seemed like they were trying to make the whole movie sound like Michael Jackson’s song Beat It.

    ——————-

    Yanks Acclaimed director John Schlesinger stages this epic romance against the dramatic backdrop of World War II. Stationed in England at the end of the war, three American soldiers (Richard Gere, William Devane and Chick Vennera) find romance with three local women (Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave and Wendy Morgan).

    Movie was ok. An Officer and a Gentleman which also starred Richard Gere and which came after this seemed similar in at least the Richard Gere love story. There was one scene where a Black Guy is thrashed for dancing with a white girl by the American soldiers which was good and which showed the difference between the US and UK then.

    Richard Gere, William Devane and Chick Vennera were all good. Lisa Eichhorn looked pretty and Vanessa Redgrave was good.

  9. FS 10 years ago

    BREAKING BAD – Finished season 5 & have to tell you that it was thoroughly enjoyable, engrossing and at the same time very emotional. Excellent finish and as CR said it ended the way it deserved. Each Season was better than the previous season.

    MOVING ON TO SHERLOCK HOLMES

  10. cr7 10 years ago

    Insidious-the sequel released and i watched the first part now 😀 . haven’t seen many horror movies lately . but liked it .Nothing extraordinary in the story but there were some genuinely scary moments .what more do u want from a horror movie.

    Anger management- Funny movie .Fantastic performance from sandler,nicholson .Some ROFL moments like monk scene,the scene where jack nicholson tell sandler that his gf called and he said sandler is out with another woman . never knew MSK is inspired from it .

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Hated Anger management and had walked out of the theater after 30 min or so. Don’t like Adam Sandler and did not like Jack Nicholson in it either (at least till what I saw).

      • cr7 10 years ago

        lol . u liked MSK?

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          I think I have seen some bits of it (ending) not the whole movie. Looked like typical David Dhawan comedy – not as good as his 90s comedies.

  11. saurabh 10 years ago

    @fs sorry i ruined ur Lil fun in my previous comment abt bb, but i never really thought it Ws a spoiler, coz even if u know that will happen, but dnt know wen, how.. Creator vinci(forget spelling of his name) has created show in such a way that u’ll be amazed wen that actually happen in series, like ***** spoiler***** i knew hank will die frm internet but then also I Ws enjoying that whole scene coz i Ws amazed by creator who chooses such a twist. ** end of spoiler*****
    i love bb, nd its really very special to me. Its an emotional journey nd will test ur morality philosophy. At one point of time i Ws shocked by ww behavior nd Ws confused to root him or nt, but then ww wins, i told myself that whatever may happen i want this guy to win, all my principle were questioned, nd that is the purpose of this show as told by creator.
    i m still attached to this show.
    u will find it slow but wen u watch then u’ll realize its the best thing abt the show as creator shows minor minor details, nd Lil emotions through eyes, body language. U can feel the change or emotion literally.
    another good thing abt the show is that its very real. Remember the scene wen ww is coming up frm basement nd suddenly a iron rod falls, or wen u think smthing bad may happen nd ur fear turned out to be true. Like ****spoiler**** uncle jack took ww’s all money.. (anyway i Ws really sad for ww at that point rather than for hank), **** end***(*
    i love jessy pibkman, saul nd mike. ND hank.. ND of course ww. Its the best serial of all time according to critics. I still cant get over with the feeling of **** spoiler**** ww death nd the sorrow he brought…. *** end ****
    plz watch it jst simply without expectation that its grt, nd at the end u’ll say its really greatest.
    ending Ws perfect, though i m only 85% convinced by end episode, it has sm flaw too, but if u watch it with open mind then u’ll love it.. Its really best

    • cr7 10 years ago

      ***spoiler***

      Good comment .Agree with u on most things .I kind of had a emotional involvement with BB .Feeling really bad for it now 🙁 .I’m impressed with the last episode .maybe they could avoid walt’s death .but still It is the best way to end.Walt saying he was doing it for himself was a great scene. At the end of the day breaking bad was a satisfying experience . A truly complete series. Btw as u r too much into bb .here is two articles i think u’ll like.
      https://movieclipsblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-felina-review/
      https://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/

      p.s whats ur opinion on skyler .I hated her throughout the series . I didn’t like the whole skyler & co. marie,walter junior . hank,mike are my favorite among the supporting characters .Gustavo as a villain was great. Liked jesse a lot .And Walter white a is character of the decade . And bruyan cranston nailed it .Perfect .

    • FS 10 years ago

      Saurabh – The detailed work is partly done. It has its flaws in almost every episode including the finale. They emphasized more on emotional part and that is why the series is kinda emotional. I keep most of the films or seasons I download for later watch but I deleted immediately after I completed this series which should make you understand my fondness about this series. I loved last 3 episodes of season 3, first few and last few of season 4 & 10-12 episodes of season 5.

      I loved Jesse Pinkman more than Walter White and you know why? His character & performance makes you dislike him when he acts stupid, makes you love him for his pure and good intentions, makes you feel pity for his sufferings, makes you angry for his dumbness & drug addiction and ultimately makes you feel his elation from the freedom in the finale that also makes you realize the value of freedom. I loved Walter White too but Jesse Pinkman is my choice. I didn’t like Hank but felt really bad on his “Spoiler” *** death *** “Spoiler”.

  12. ank_16n 10 years ago

    watched Now u see me
    the casting,the screenplay the story the suspense n the
    explaination behind every single fiction/magic was just
    breathtaking…
    loved every part of it not a single moment in 2 hrs that i
    was not engaged…..the climax twist or revelation was very good too.
    the characters which made most impact were mark
    buffulo,jesse n morgan freeman..!!
    though i don’t rate movies but its a must 😛

  13. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Watched Tsotsi, the 2005 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

    After shooting a woman and driving off in her car, a ruthless thug is surprised to discover he isn’t alone, kept company by a crying infant in the backseat. But through his efforts to care for the baby, he slowly rediscovers his capacity to love.

    Could not buy that he wanted to take care of the baby instead of trying to return it back. He keeps the baby in a paper bag and carries him around and magically the baby never cries when he is outside.

    Acting by Presley Chweneyagae who played Tsotsi was very amateurish. Acting by the rest of the cast was ok. The songs in the background made it seem like a wannabe gangster flick.

    Had watched Paradise Now one of the other nominated movies from that year back then and I think that was better than this.

    ———————–

    Double Jeopardy Libby Parsons is arrested for the murder of her husband. While in prison, she finds out that she’s been framed. Now, the law of “double jeopardy” — and the desire to kill her “late” husband for good — is all she has left.

    Its a masala movie. There are lot of silly implausible scenes. Being wrongfully framed by her husband/lover and seeking revenge part is somewhat similar to Ek Hasina Thi which came after this but Ek Hasina Thi is a much better movie than this.

    Ashley Judd was good. Tommy Lee Jones was good as the parole officer. Bruce Greenwood was ok as the villain.

  14. FS 10 years ago

    Pacific Rim – What a boring film and so stupid and cliched and what not… Had disliked the promo and never bothered to care for but heard good things from the trusted ones, so bothered to watch. could not go past interval. left half way.

    BA Pass – Don’t know had commented it earlier or not but saw it few days back and Liked it. It was gripping and engaging with some sensual activity that you may like to watch again and again 😛

  15. FS 10 years ago

    Besharam – Third class flick – Please avoid

    Shorts – Don’t Miss it guyz, very underrated film but good one.

  16. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Himmatwala – didnt mind it 🙂 Maybe I saw it with least expectations or it was effect of watching with kid, I actually ended up enjoying most of it.

    • yakuza 10 years ago

      Himmatwala was not that bad actually .. I agree 🙂

  17. yakuza 10 years ago

    Shagird – Worth a watch for IS Johar, Sayra Bano and some great songs.

    Johar Mahmood in Goa – This is “masala action comedy” flick of 60’s with super hit songs .. If you sit through first 10 minutes .. I am sure rest of movie will entertain you better than Dhoom or Krish. And yes, it was Bigggest Hit of Johar-Mehmood franchise.

    Besharam – Movie is as good and bad as APKGK, PPNH etc .. many factors creeped in for such high backlash else it is not that bad. Though will recommend in theater only if you have nothing better to do.

    Fookrey – Awesome movie. Saw at DVD and enjoyed every bit .. best teenage black(?) comedy of recent times .. better than Delhi belly. Don’t miss.

    Naam (1986) – Saw again after decades .. I loved it back then and loved it even today. It has three pillers .. Music, Direction and performances .. top notch.

    PPNH – Time pass .. Shahid got opportunity to showcase his talent and he did excellent job. It was minutely better than Besharam and APKGK for me.

    Hero(1985) – Bit outdated now .. but still watchable to experience masala love story in Subhash Ghai style .. Music is excellent though. I think Karma is only Ghai trademark movie which proved timeless. Not to take away that Ghai was best director of 80’s

    Masoom – I am not worthy enough to review or rate this gem. Those who have not seen this masterpiece yet should sent to jail .. 🙂

  18. FS 10 years ago

    The Conjuiring – One of the best movie in its Genre & it wud definitely make in the list of Top 10 horror movies of all time. Barring the exorcism part (which is same in most films) everything is good abt this movie. You will be surprised by its thrilling chills that it throws at you every now & then with fantastic background score. Highly Recommended!!!

  19. Zacked 10 years ago

    Agree with CR7 i disliked and found Skyler, Marie and Hank annoying in the beginning but then i later realised that they are characters whose sole purpose is to annoy.

    BTW the bad company throughout the show was perfectly cast. From Krazzy 8 to Uncle Jack everyone performed well. But Gus Frings was just too bloody good. The season 4 Episode 1 where he slices Victor, he was at his menacing best.

    Also agree with Saurabh that Walter White is the best character created on TV.

    Started Newsroom, watched an episode could not finish the 2nd, started Walking Dead finished 2 episodes, I think i am going to re watch the whole BB series again in Eid Holidays!!

  20. cr7 10 years ago

    Started watching homeland season 2 .Couldn’t go beyond episode 5 . Too much personal issues going around .Carrie’s emotional involvement with brody is so annoying . The lady acts well but i just don’t like her character . Also too many insignificant sub plot like dana’s car accident, mike doing investigation alone . I was expecting some real CIA stuff ,intense investigation this one is a disappointment .First season was decent.

    Started another series Orange is the new black ,Midway through the first season .Till now looking good .its basically a comedy drama . synopsis from IMDB “The story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a woman in her thirties who is sentenced to 15 months in prison after she is convicted of a decade old crime of transporting money for her drug dealing girlfriend (Laura Prepon).” Its a very entertaining show .kind of slow and average production value . But the story and execution is interesting. Liked the flashbacks , brief introduction of each characters . The humor is top notch . Performances are excellent. Only problem i have is the duration of each episode .This genre shouldn’t have anything more than 40 minutes for each episode . That is what makes little slow.

    Watched sinister .A horror movie . I think it had a great story .In fact one of the best stories in recent horror films .But the execution wasn’t great .Liked it though .Could have been scarier.Some scary scenes were very predictable . But overall a good horror movie.

    • FS 10 years ago

      Homeland season 2 kicks off from 6 th episode. Previous episodes somewhats puts ur expectations down. Give 2-3 days gap & start over from 6 th episode. I think i had mentioned the same thing earlier.

  21. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched The Conjuring .Absolutely fantastic movie. Loved it . This is how u make a horror movie ! I really wish i saw it in theaters .It would be awesome.

  22. FS 10 years ago

    Homeland Season 3 – First two episodes are like explanation to CIA’s failure to stop the incident of the last episode in Season 2 and aftermath investigation about the agency itself. Didn’t like how it started and its not even exiting as well.

    The Shield – Bollywood should learn something from these series before even attempting to make superhero movies. If you can’t reproduce their work at least Benchmark their efforts and detailed work carried on before the execution part. Even if the Genre don’t support a solid script back it up with something clean and appreciable VFX or CGI. All three episodes looked like some superhero flicks but a thinner plot on the negative side. Entertainment wise, its a good popcorn entertainment for about an hour everyday. Looking forward to some more entertainment.

  23. John Galt 10 years ago

    Watched Lunchbox

    Simple film. Some effective moments but mostly insubstantial. Its not abstract, in fact its very direct yet the treatment or the script, something somewhere went wrong. Wrong in the sense that, what was required to conceive such a film was missing. It relies too much on performances (which were quite good) and very little on actually striking the right chord. I didn’t have any problem with the ending specifically (as many did) because for me, the whole movie itself was indefinite and too flexible.
    I felt “The Lunchbox (the actual tiffin system)” as a premise for this film was totally for the heck of it, although I don’t have any complaints about that. Its a film that I do not dislike but a film that I’ll forget in no time.

    4 on 10

  24. FS 10 years ago

    Cr – Why don’t you start TV Series you watched this Month Post from now on? You have watched most of the tv series… I have watched few series earlier but after your recent comments on few series, I started to watch again. Even Suprabh & Hithere is into it and few discussion is goin on related to it. I think you better start with the series you have watched, rate it as per your liking that could inspire some of us to watch those series. I know there may not be much to discuss or may not discuss at all but who knows in future/coming months it could trigger lot of comments and good discussion on your post 😉

  25. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Great Gatsby Mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby is obsessed with Daisy Buchanan in this 1974 film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. Beyond Gatsby’s grasp, Daisy is married to unfaithful Tom, making for a love triangle that ends with broken hearts.

    Movie was good though its quite leisurely paced. Had watched this movie first in 2000. I remember liking it because of Robert Redford and the tragic ending though I thought it was very slow paced back then. Art Direction and costumes are very good.

    Robert Redford was very good but did not understand why he would still love Mia Farrow’s character when she seemed so vain. Mia Farrow looked gorgeous. Her character is very vain and air headed so I think she was good. Bruce Dern was good as her husband. Karen Black was horrible and was overacting like anything. Scott Wilson was good. Sam Waterston’s acting was bad in some scenes and his character seemed almost weird.

    ———————-

    Flashdance Alex works as a welder by day and a stripper by night, but she dreams of training at the local conservatory and becoming a professional dancer. Meanwhile, she navigates a romance with her boss at the steelyard.

    Its a typical 80s dance movie. Jennifer Beals looked cute and acted well. The dancing while good is supposed to be by some body double though. Michael Nouri and the rest of the cast was ok.

  26. cr7 10 years ago

    Ghanchakkar -Liked it . Entertaining movie . Good as both dark comedy and thriller . Really impressed with Emran hashmi’s performance .He was excellent . vidya,pandit,idris were good too.

  27. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    @Cr7 – glad that you also liked it 🙂

    That makes 5 of us here – FS, Sup, me, John Galt loved it + You liked it.

    Agree with Emran acting. In fact its the best film in most department.

    Best Actor, Best Editing, Best screenplay, Best film, Best Music. (though the songs were not in this film – the score by Amit trivedi was awesome and so was the choreography / concept of Lazy Lad / Allah meherbaan)

    And not to forget – best dialogues (love the lines in climax especially).

  28. John Galt 10 years ago

    Ritz,

    John Galt is my other name

    Suprabh

  29. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    ayilaa

    Tabhi mai soch raha tha , yeh aadmi ekdum kahan se paida ho gaya.

  30. cr7 10 years ago

    Pacific Rim– the movie is full of cliches.the characters are very predictable.But i liked the main plot and visuals are good . Decent film

    The kid with a bike – A Belgian movie .Simple touching story about a depressed stubborn kid . But the film failed to create any emotional connection.It lacked the soul this type of films need. It is only 87 mins long but feels much longer. Performances are decent .But the characters are badly written . Overall unimpressive,boring. Once again IMDB and RT betrayed me 😛

    Homeland season 2 – Only one word . annoying . I think this series is going in a completely different direction from what I’ve expected .And i Don’t like it at all . Gonna skip the 3rd season now.

  31. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    A Clockwork Orange Against a bleak futuristic landscape, young sociopath Alex DeLarge spends his time stealing, raping and beating innocent people in nihilistic orgies of violence, all in an attempt to get his nightly kicks.

    Have mixed feelings on this one. The movie is a satire and covers quite a few things like juveniles, psychiatry and totalitarianism. The writer of the novel on which the film is based – “Burgess claimed that the novel’s inspiration was his wife Lynne’s beating by a gang of drunk American servicemen stationed in England during World War II. She subsequently miscarried.” From Wikipedia

    The rape and “ultra-violence” scenes were there as if they were being celebrated. The classical music used as the background score was excellent.

    I had to research on the title and I think it makes perfect sense. The writer explained “I’ve implied the junction of the organic, the lively, the sweet – in other words life – the orange. And the mechanical, the cold, the disciplined. And brought them together into this kind of oxymoron” Link

    Malcolm McDowell was very good as Alex but I think he was even better in Caligula.

    • John Galt 10 years ago

      One of my all time fav films.. I literally had a cinematic orgasm watching this.

  32. FS 10 years ago

    Miral – Inspired from a true story based on the lives of people from pre and post formation of Palestine State in Israel. It has covered the brutality against Palestinians, this illegal settlements and Palestinians terrorism. Some of the scenes were quite familiar with our pre independence day struggle. It has also shown some cross cultural conflicts. Frieda Pinto has acted quite well and so the Other cast. Recommended!!!

    The Insider – watched this film only because of Russel Crowe and Al Pachino. Started very slow and picked up the Momentum After half an hour. Acting was goad but not great and the story would appeal to you only if you understand how mediaand corporate houses work or else it you have seen Newsroom TV series. It’s all about a former whistleblower scientist fight against his former employer -America’s third biggest Tobacco company which is based again on true story .

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      My views are opposite to yours on both the movies 🙂 I liked The Insider a lot. Have watched it twice. Here is my comment.

      “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.”

      Link

      And here is my comment on Miral.

      “Did not like the movie. It is set against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation of Palestine but it tried to be too many things at the same time with the back story of Miral’s mother and so on. The movie should have just been about Hind al-Husseini the creator of the orphanage instead of Miral.

      Frieda Pinto was bad as Miral. Hiam Abbass was good as Hind al-Husseini and so was Alexander Siddig as Frieda Pinto’s father.”

      Link

      • FS 10 years ago

        I know we have our differences in opinions & tastes but we also hHave a ME Opinion & taste for few films as well.

        If there were no Russel Crowe & Al Pachino in “The Insider”, I might have lost interest in midway itself.

        As far as Pinto, I liked her acting but I thought the film name should have been as Hind or its school instead of Miral. There are so many pointless films just to portray the past or ongoing battle and it is one of those films that succeeds in what it aims for.

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          If you like movies on Israeli-Palestinian conflict you might want to check out the documentary 5 Broken Cameras and the movie Paradise Now. Had seen Paradise Now back in 2005 so don’t remember in detail but I think it was good. Both were nominated for Oscars.

          Here is my comment on 5 Broken Cameras.

          Link

          • FS 10 years ago

            I would definitely like to check out your recommended films but its not like I intend to watch israeli-palestinian conflict movies instead movies that are well made and your review says you liked 5 broken cameras hence i will watch it.

  33. FS 10 years ago

    Bhaag Milkha Bhaag – It was an average affair to me, certain parts are really great & certain too clichéd or cheesy. Farhan acted really good in major portion of the film but he too has limits in acting capabilities & expressions. He also managed to look exactly as Milkha Singh. Few things were implausible to digest for the fact this things could have happened in his real life and even if those are true then they made it very filmy or cheesy.

  34. cr7 10 years ago

    Monster University – Liked it . Though not as good as Monster inc .

  35. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Starting from Brave and then Monsters University – there is a definite decline in Pixar. Lee Unkrich and David Silverman not directing MOnsters Uni resulted in poor product.
    Just waiting for Finding Dory though. Its in safe hands of Andrew Stanton.

  36. Anjanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    Btw, hope all is well in Andhra, Odisha in next 24 hours.

    Here are live updates

    https://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/cyclone-phailin-live-rains-winds-batter-odisha-ap-lakhs-evacuated_882698.html

  37. ank_16n 10 years ago

    saw commando didn’t like it…..action was good but no story no acting nothing……..heroine was bad choice…why they showed action in slow motion …..they should
    have kept it in real time only 😛

    vidyut does have a future if he picks more lead roles..!!
    he shud stop doing supporting n small roles IMO.. 😛

  38. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Charade Cary Grant stars as Peter, who may or may not be a flimflam man who aids the recently widowed Regina in her mission to recover a fortune hidden by her late husband. But three sinister crooks — who’ll stop at nothing — also covet the loot.

    Liked it overall. Suspense part was very good with good twists and I was not able to guess the main villain almost till the end. I think the movie should just have been a serious suspense thriller. But it was also trying to be a romantic comedy at the same time. Some of the scenes looked ridiculous like Cary Grant bathing with his suit on for some stupid comedy.

    The witty repartee between Grant and Audrey was good but Audrey being so desperate for the old Grant looked like a sophisticated version of the Mard scene that Baba posted in some other thread. According to wiki – “Cary Grant (who turned 59 during filming) was sensitive about the 26 year age difference between Audrey Hepburn (33 at the time of filming) and himself, and this made him uncomfortable with the romantic interplay between them. To satisfy his concerns, the filmmakers agreed to add several lines of dialogue in which Grant’s character comments on his age and Regina — Hepburn’s character — is portrayed as the pursuer.”

    Cary Grant was good and this role reminded me somewhat of his North by Northwest role. Audrey Hepburn looked pretty and was doing her usual cute stuff she does in romantic comedies. Walter Matthau, James Coburn and George Kennedy were all good.

    • John Galt 10 years ago

      Its a very fine film..the dialogbaazi between the leads is amazing. Agree about the weird age difference between Grant and Hepburn, but with the flow of the movie it becomes okay. Its very much like Hitchcockian movies though not by Alfred Hitchcock.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        There are some dialogues like “you are acting like my father” and stuff which makes it even more weird.

        Yes I always assumed its directed by Hitchcock. Its famously described as “the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made”.

        • John Galt 10 years ago

          Yes I bought its DVD from planet M about 6 years ago- I just picked it randomly but the thing that made it interesting for me was the headline on the DVD cover said the same thing-“The best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made”.

  39. FS 10 years ago

    Watched raid redemption & world war z. Liked both the films again.

  40. FS 10 years ago

    Rewatched Oblivion again and liked it once again.

    Lootera – First half was brilliant and artistic… very subtle and expressive but second half gets quite filmy… Film is predictable but I loved the performance especially Sonakshi Sinha… She is excellent in her role and so is Ranveer Singh… I have noticed that Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh sound identitcal in their lower pitch dialogues including the delivery style… Are they related? Recommended!!!

  41. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    25th Hour Monty Brogan has 24 hours to spend with his two best friends and his girlfriend before he’s sent to prison for seven years for dealing drugs. Spike Lee directs this meditative drama set in post-9/11 New York.

    Movie was ok. There is a F*** You monologue in the movie which while good by itself seemed unnecessary and not belonging to the movie. There was one scene where his friends talk about him going to prison and there was very heavy melodramatic background score and I did not understand why that scene required that kind of music. Read up on IMDB that scene is supposedly about US deserving 9/11 and the scene ends with shots of the WTC site. There is another dream scene at the end which dragged on for too long. Did not like the background score – horribly overdone with some Indian/middle-eastern style music in some scenes.

    Performances by Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox were good.

  42. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Unbearable Lightness of Being In 1968, a Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.

    Did not like it. Movie was trying to be some epic love story set against the backdrop of Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia but it went on and on and it had no great story to back it up. There were a lot of nude/sex scenes which made it seem like some softcore flick. Background score was good. Cinematography was good and there is a Black & White scene which mixes real footage of the Soviet invasion with a scene from the movie.

    Tereza (Juliette Binoche) is working as a waitress one minute and suddenly she becomes a expert photographer. The movie forgets Sabina (Lena Olin) for a while and suddenly there is a scene of her as the director remembers that she is also there in the movie.

    This is the first movie where I did not like Daniel Day-Lewis much. Daniel Day-Lewis as some guy who every woman falls for was not convincing. He does not seem to be have been happy with his performance either. Read the part below the interview where it tells how Daniel Day-Lewis prepared for each of his roles.

    “He does, however, own up to one bad decision ‘which I don’t regret because the experience was probably one I learnt from. I was swayed by the hullabaloo surrounding The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which I was encouraged to believe every young actor was after. If I’d really shut out the din and looked at that script, I’d have known that I wasn’t ready for that. I felt I was short-changing them somehow because I was missing the centre of it. It was sliding away from me.’

    In the 1988 adaptation of Milan Kundera’s novel set in the Prague Spring of 1968, Day-Lewis played Tomas, a Czech brain surgeon. ‘It was,’ he muses, ‘something to do with language. The idea of speaking English with a Czech accent without actually speaking Czech meant it wasn’t coming from anywhere – I knew that that kernel of truth that I need to have somewhere in a role would be missing. And apart from anything else, the exploration of sexuality in the film was just – well, I was in no way prepared for how that would feel. It was a mistake.'”

    Link

    Juliette Binoche acted well in some scenes as the woman who cannot come to terms with her philandering husband but she was bad in some scenes acting like she was crazy. Lena Olin was ok as the carefree artist.

  43. narad_muni 10 years ago

    watched 3 movies and ended up liking all of them

    The Butterfly effect – a psycho thriller which might fry up your brain .. love it or hate it kind of movie – i loved it.

    Truman show – absolutely loved it… I feel bad that I haven’t watched it yet but better late than never. Must watch!

    The Chaser – a typical Korean thriller with its share of blood and gore. It’s unpredictable (mostly), edgy and gripping though I would rate Memories of Murder and Old boy higher than this

    • FS 10 years ago

      I liked all three films as well. Watch Yes Man of Jim Carrey if you haven’t yet…

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Have not seen The Chaser yet. Will watch it soon.

      Love The Truman Show and The Butterfly Effect. There are two different endings of The Butterfly Effect so don’t know which version you saw. I like the ending of the Director’s cut more. Had written a Recco for the movie long time back.

      The Butterfly Effect Recco

      • hithere 10 years ago

        Chaser – Gory but good..

      • narad_muni 10 years ago

        Sputnik, I watched the Director’s cut… the ending was perfect, loved it.
        Later, I read about the different endings on IMDB forum. The other ending sounds bad.

        FS, thanks for the recco about Yes man… will watch it soon

  44. FS 10 years ago

    Thank you for Smoking – “Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco’s chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son – IMDB”. thanks Suprabh for recommendation. Movie is excellent and performance by Aron Eckhart is one of the finest. His style and persona suited the character he played as Lobbyist perfectly. Highly Recommended!!!

    Nausica of the Valley of the Wind – “Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet – IMDB”. Old japanese animation movies are some sort of classics. They have creativity, character roles, solid script and most importantly they are kind of tearjerkers. Will update my post with this film in the list. Highly Recommended!!!

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      I find Thank you for smoking over rated.
      It has got some smart ass kinda dialogues and screenplay but lacked substance. I lost interest halfway through the movie.

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Glad you watched The Director’s cut and liked it. I think I did not like Thank you for Smoking either and stopped watching after 30 minutes.

  45. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Cider House Rules Homer Wells has lived nearly his entire life within the walls of St. Cloud’s Orphanage in rural Maine. Though groomed by its proprietor, Dr. Larch, to be his successor, Homer feels the need to strike out on his own and experience the world outside. While working at an apple orchard, Homer learns some powerfully indelible lessons about life, love, and home.

    Movie was ok. I don’t think it deserved the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay award that it won. I think the Academy gave that award just because the movie was pro abortion. The Green Mile and The Insider were way better than this.

    Spoiler Alert Did not like that the guy who raped his own daughter is still treated with sympathy and respect in the movie. Also did not like that Michael Caine’s character lies to the board that Homer is a doctor. The scene where Charlize tells Toby about Rose being pregnant with her father’s child and Toby asking her father looked very ridiculous.

    Tobey Maguire was ok. Charlize Theron looked very pretty and was ok. Michael Caine was good but I don’t think he deserved the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that he won for this. Have not seen Tom Cruise in Magnolia but Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense and Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile were way better than him in far more important roles. Paul Rudd was ok and Delroy Lindo was good.

    —————————-

    Marvin’s Room In this adaptation of Scott McPherson’s play, the tables are turned when straight-laced Bessie — who devotes her life to caring for her chronically ill father — suffers a health catastrophe of her own and must ask her estranged sibling for help.

    Movie was good. Its a emotional tearjerker and some scenes were really good.

    Diane Keaton was good in a very sympathetic role and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Meryl Streep was excellent as usual. Leonardo DiCaprio was very good. Robert De Niro was good in a small cameo. Gwen Verdon was very good as Aunt Ruth.

  46. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Watched a few more –

    Black Swan – WOW!
    There are movies which u like, there r movies which u love and then there r movies which simply blows u away, sweeps u of your feet! Black Swan belongs to the last category for me and makes its way right into my list of all time favorite thrillers. I m sure most of u have already watched this gem but in case u haven;t, go watch it!
    I saw that Natalie Portman had won Oscar for her performance n I m not surprised..what a stunning performance and ably supported by Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel. The film also boasts of excellent direction, cinematography n editing.

    Conjuring – Heard a lot of good things about this movie though I m not a fan of this genre. The first 30-40 minutes of the movie blew me away and I thought I am about to witness one of the best horror films ever. But sadly, it was not be. The movie started going downhill from the halfway mark or so and never reach the heights it achieved in the first half an hour. The climax was average n predictable. Overall, a likeable movie but a pretty routine horror movie, though well executed.

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Good to finally find someone who loved Black Swan. I think FS and Serenzy both hated it.

  47. Bored 10 years ago

    I loved Black Swan … amazing movie! Revisiting it has been on my backburner for a while now, may review it then.

  48. John Galt 10 years ago

    Here’s my mini review of black swan from some time back

    I felt, for the story it contained it was well directed but the story-screenplay was too predictable and unattractive IMO …the only good thing about the movie was Natalie portman’s performance..story-screenplay wise it was a let down.

  49. narad_muni 10 years ago

    M not surprised to see that some people hated it…
    I agree with Suprabh on one aspect – predictability. What worked for me is the way it was presented and the amazing performances. Though the story is predictable, the movie kept me engrossed throughout … it doesnt happen often with me where a movie keeps me glued to the screen from start to finish – no dull moment. I do not consider this movie to be a pure thriller, it’s as much a drama as well. Anyways, I feel this is one of those love it or hate it kind of movies. But going by RT and IMDB, most people seem to love it!

    Sputnik, wheres ur review?

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      This is what I had commented on NG.

      “I saw half of Black Swan and I liked it – it was engrossing and I did not feel bored. I had to stop because of some work so I kind of watched the ending. I thought of returning back to it later (from where I left off) and have not been able to. Natalie was excellent. Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey was very good too.”

      I did watch the movie from where I left off and I liked it.

      I read some explanation on sexual abuse by her mother on IMDB and it had raised some doubts in me too. Me and Reggie had some discussion over it but I am not fully sure of it though.

      Here is a link if you are interested.

      Interesting Movie Theory: What Is Going On Between Nina and Her Mom in ‘Black Swan’?

      • narad_muni 10 years ago

        Very interesting read… I am also not very clear on Nina’s relationship with her mom.

        I will revisit the movie soon.. there r some other things which I want to look more carefully into the 2nd time

        Watching half of the movie later won’t have given you the same impact as watching it at one go.

  50. hithere 10 years ago

    Saw Oblivion and World War Z. Both decent and regular masala fare. I was probably hoping better products based on hype.

  51. FS 10 years ago

    Raging Bull – wanted to see this film for a long time now. Robert de neiro is one of my favorite actor in Hollywood and I did not want to miss his classic film. At first I thought its a sport movie, as movie progressed I thought it’s a biopic on La Motta’s boxing career and then thought it’s all about the unfair game where you are forced to bend against your own rules to achieve the ultimate goal but no it was more than that. Mind blowing performance and totally engrossing movie that also reflects your own short comings, greed, ego and relationships. Highly recommended!!!

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Had watched the movie long time back so don’t remember the movie much but Robert De Niro was excellent and deserved the Oscar that he got for Best Actor.

      • FS 10 years ago

        Good to Know that he won an Oscar for it. The transformation from healthy athlete to a fatigue faggot is unbelievable and for first i thought it should be his body double.

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          You mean fat guy? Faggot is an abuse meaning gay/homosexual.

          According to wiki “De Niro gained 60 pounds (27 kg) and learned how to box for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.”

          ‘ Jake LaMotta, on the other hand, would serve as his trainer, accompanied by Al Silvani as coach at the Gramercy club in New York, getting him into shape. The actor found that boxing came naturally to him; he entered as a middleweight boxer, winning two of his three fights in a Brooklyn ring dubbed “young LaMotta” by the commentator. According to Jake LaMotta, he felt that De Niro was one of his top 20 best middleweight boxers of all time.”

          Robert De Niro training with the real Jake LaMotta.

  52. Baba 10 years ago

    saw the blue lagoon starring brooke shields. a very weird and interesting story 😉 two innocent kids growing up to discover maturity . some scenes looked like a soft version of tarzan:the shame of jane . i think the film could have been better if the focus was more on about discovering sex than just discovering a relationship of man and woman. if they decide to remake it, then alia bhatt should be casted as brooke shields

    • John Galt 10 years ago

      LOL

      its generally regarded as Brook shield’s soft porn…but to be hionest I liked it when I first saw it long ago…I mean its a nice concept and a visually beautiful film.

      • Baba 10 years ago

        saw the film thrice 😀 it has got some depth too. how brooke shields begins to feel the need for God and starts worhsipping a jesus like stone. evolution of human in a nutshell.someone on imdb made a great point “This movie epitomizes Freud’s theories of the id, ego and super ego- explaining these three branches of the human mind very effectively and creatively”.
        the acting , dialgues. direction everything is perfect.its a great film.grossly underrated on imdb. they did not understand the film

    • hithere 10 years ago

      baccha jawan ho gaya hai 🙂

  53. FS 10 years ago

    Despicable Me 2 – This time Mr. Gru plays more of a family man and doing good things to society. Takes care of his 3 adopted children, baby sits them and in the end falls in love with right the woman. Over all it was fun but it dragged a little while trying to add more fun elements. However it won’t disappoint but yes it is filled with cliche’s.

  54. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Kids Are All Right Joni and Laser, the children of same-sex parents Nic and Jules, become curious about their sperm-donor dad and set out to make him part of their family unit. But his arrival complicates the household dynamics.

    The movie was good and enjoyable right until the climax when it went all downhill. The lesbian director decided to turn the movie into a pro-lesbian, anti-straight guy thing ruining the whole movie.

    Julianne Moore was excellent. Annette Bening was so annoying for the most part and I don’t understand why she was nominated for a Best Actress instead of Julianne Moore. Mark Ruffalo was very good and deserved the Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor that he got. Mia Wasikowska was very good. Josh Hutcherson was ok. Yaya Alafia looked very pretty.

    —————

    Twilight Harry Ross (Paul Newman) is a Hollywood private eye who’s living out his golden years in the house of two fading movie stars — Catherine (Susan Sarandon) and Jack Ames (Gene Hackman). But his life gets complicated when he uncovers clues to a long-unsolved murder in this smart and stylish mystery from Robert Benton. The all-star cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner and Liev Schreiber.

    Pointless mediocre movie with no surprise no twist nothing.

    Paul Newman was ok. Susan Sarandon was usual. Don’t know why Gene Hackman even did this role as it was nothing substantial. Reese Witherspoon has a small role and was pretty. James Garner was ok.

    • hithere 10 years ago

      Have seen both. The Kids Are All Right was decent.

      Don’t remember Twilight except a scene involving Reese Witherspoon 🙂

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Ha Ha. That was the best part of the movie 🙂

        Don’t know if you have seen The Cider House Rules but the best part was a scene involving Charlize Theron 🙂

        • hithere 10 years ago

          Have seen that too..want to revisit it sometime.
          Have been watching Breaking Bad, Damages, Good wife…

          • John Galt 10 years ago

            I have been watching Breaking Bad too. ending season 3 today.

  55. John Galt 10 years ago

    Here are some previous comments of mine on The Kids are all right

    “What Can Say…thats a major flaw in the oscar nomination process I believe….they can nominate an “Annette Bening ” for an almost zero impact role in “the kids are all right” but they cant nominate kate winslet twice for two really fantastic performances!!! sad”

    ————————————————————–

    “I cant believe “the Kids are all Right” has got nominations such as Best picture, Best direction, Best lead actress and Best supporting actor…

    Out of all these nominations I can understand Mark Ruffalo getting one for Best supporting actor but I am so surprised regarding the other 3….The movie was a nice watch..and thats it…It was nothing very special..or any special performances!!huh”

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Agree that it was an almost zero impact role and she did not have that much screen time either. She was horrible in the scenes where she was crying.

      She was basically playing the man/husband in the lesbian relationship with her character being domineering, sneering and rude. If her character was male there was no way that Julianne’s character would be apologizing the way she does at the end and they would not be staying together as they did. Compare this with Blue Valentine for instance or Take This Waltz where the husband was not even a bad guy.

      ““I cant believe “the Kids are all Right” has got nominations such as Best picture, Best direction, Best lead actress and Best supporting actor…”

      I think it got all those nominations because it was a pro gay marriage movie just as The Cider House rules got all those nominations because it was a pro abortion movie.

  56. FS 10 years ago

    Lock Stock and two smoking barrels– a very entertaining comedy flick that has been an inspiration for bollywood flick phir hera pheri. There were too many characters introduction in the beginning but after 20 minutes or so you’ll get the picture what is goin. Loved the film and good performance from everyone. Highly recommended!!!

    No country for old men– don’t know what’s the point making such a film and it is not even based on true story but based on some novel. Few scenes were good but I didn’t understand many things may be I was too bored to concentrate. Didn’t like the ending either and also inclusion of other unknown parties all of a sudden in the end I mean WTH?

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      I could not understand the movie No country for old men either. I could only follow the movie up to the motel scene. Javier Bardem was excellent and deserved the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that he got but the movie did not deserve the other awards that it won – Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

      My comment on LSTSB

      “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.”

      Movies You Watched This Month – February 2013

      And my comment on Snatch

      “Watched Snatch. Liked it initially with the dialogues and all but after a point it had too many characters and it kind of dragged. Hate it when they are dumb characters in a movie and one can tell from a mile that their stupidity will have a big effect later. And the dog was added to the movie only for one reason and I knew what it would do in the end.

      Some scenes and dialogues were good though like Bullet-Tooth Tony’s dialogues when he is pointed a gun by the black guys or Brick Top’s dialogues about being a pig farm owner.

      But Guy Ritchie is clearly inspired by Quentin Tarantino – the cursing, the long smart ass dialogues and multiple tracks””

      Movies You Watched This Month – December 2012

      • John Galt 10 years ago

        Quentin Tarantino is himself inspired by Johnny TO and other chinese filmmakers.

        check this film out..you;ll be amazed to see Johnny TO’s style..

        https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491044/

      • FS 10 years ago

        I liked Snatch as well.. When LSTSB started it was irritating because of too many character introductions but then since I saw phir hera pheri first, I could grasp the film and it started my attention. It is not typical laugh out loud kinda movies but a subtle comedy with dark theme.

        Hell did it won Best picture in Oscars? WTF?

    • hithere 10 years ago

      No country for old men- has some dream and meta stuff which confuse people.

      Read this:
      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/faq?ref_=tt_ql_op_2

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      I loved LSTSB…superb, highly entertaining.. might have Tarantino’s influence but I found the style of narration to be pretty unique. I even liked Snatch as well but bot so much

      I too couldn’t understand the point of ‘No country for old men’. It is pretty highly rated everywhere, dont know why

  57. John Galt 10 years ago

    Fs,

    even I dont like movies by coen brothers.. The only movie of theirs that I somewhat liked was The Ladykillers. Its a dark comedy starring Tom Hanks.

    • FS 10 years ago

      Honestly Suprabh, I have never bothered to care about the people behind the film only until somebody informs or points out. Like I didn’t know who Hans Zimmer was until the post by Sputnik pm themes and you mentioning his name and his BGM of few films.

  58. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Dressed to Kill Brian De Palma directs this 1980 murder mystery. When a middle-aged wife and mother (Angie Dickinson) begins to doubt her own attractiveness, she turns to her therapist (Michael Caine), who declines her advances. But after her mysterious murder in an elevator, the detective assigned to the case (Dennis Franz) is content to do little to solve it, so a prostitute who witnessed the crime teams with the victim’s only son to find out the truth.

    Its a Hitchcock style suspense thriller. The movie borrows the cross dressing slasher bit from Pyscho and there are a few B-movie type shower scenes which are inspired from or homage to the famous Pyscho shower scene Link. There is a long dialogueless scene at the museum which is supposed to be a homage to a similar scene from the Vertigo. The scene drags a bit and some will love it and some will hate it.

    Looked like the presence of a psychiatrist and a transvestite killer who wants to turn into a woman was ripped off in The Silence of the Lambs.

    Its a 1980 movie so some things look bad now like the prostitute picking up the murder weapon and running all over or the geek who can do secret agent stuff and Black guys openly harassing the heroine on the subway/train.

    Was not able to guess the killer but once it was revealed it was kind of stupid. There is the whole customary scene explaining everything after the killer is found and the movie should have ended there. But then there is a extended scene after that which again is kind of ridiculous in what it turns out to be.

    Even with all these problems the movie is still watchable/enjoyable may be because of the campy/cheesy feel to it.

    Michael Caine was very good as the psychiatrist. Angie Dickinson was ok. Nancy Allen was bad as the prostitute and Keith Gordon was ok as the geek. Dennis Franz was bad as the cop.

  59. FS 10 years ago

    Les Diabolique 1955 – Story – “A teacher gets influenced by a mistress and plans to kill her husband who is headmaster of the school”. I wanted to watch this for long time but as it belongs to white and black era, I always avoided watching it. But since I had nothing else to do today, I thought of watching it and turn off the laptop if its annoying or boring… However it not only turned out to be engaging and thrilling but gripping as well. Second half is excellent with suspense and shades of horror ending with top class climax of that era (you can guess the climax but may not be 100% sure). Performance is also very good and there is not dull moment after 10 mins of the start except few over to top act by one of the top lead actress. It was common during that era to be over expressive to convince the audience but since its in white and black you wont feel much difference. Highly Recommended and thanks Nirjhar for Recommendation.
    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
    Pyscho – Story – “An employee steals $40,000 cash given to her to deposit at the bank goes missing”. Some one said to me that Psycho ending is pathetic and advised me not to watch the movie. Even I was not much inspired from Hitchcock’s work but after watching Psycho, I am really starting to admire his work. I was not inspired from his Vertigo project but I his liked North by Northwest movie and thought to give a chance for Psycho. The movie is a straight tale of events to the audience but to its characters is like a suspense. Movie is engrossing, acting is good to great but direction is outstanding. You know what is happening, what happened and what’s going to happen but still it captivates you, gives you pleasure watching it. There is no dull moment in this too and the performance by psychopath is brilliant. Climax is shot well and reaction time by the actors perfect. Highly Recommended!!!
    ————————————————————————————————————————————–
    Lucky Number Slevin 2006 – Story – “Slevin gets involved with two gangsters of the city with his mistaken identity that unfolds mysteries layer by layer”. You enjoy such type of films as it entertains you but you also feel cheated when you account the situations and incidents produced before you that ultimately turns out to be “made up” or “fake”. If you don’t mind such gimmicks then this film is really a paisa vasool film as it entertains you, keeps you engrossed and won’t spoil your mood till the end credits roll in. Bruce Willis, Josh, Morgan freeman and Ben Kingsley have done good job but i felt the lady Lucy Liu performed brilliant and looked damn hot. Highly Recommended!!!

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Had watched Diabolique the 1996 remake of Les Diaboliques starring Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani back in 2000 or so. It was ok.

      So who told you “Psycho ending is pathetic and advised me not to watch the movie.”

      Had watched Lucky Number Slevin back in 2006. Don’t remember much. I think it was a ok masala movie.

      • FS 10 years ago

        One of my relative whom I trust because I have liked almost all, at least 95% of the movies suggested by him. Or may be he was talking about American Psycho (the ending was definitely pathetic), I will have to ask him again when I meet him.

  60. Baba 10 years ago

    watching sholay on zee cinema. its been close to 40 years and it is still able to engage. a real classic masala film. saw aankhen the other night. one of the last few films of govinda that had a story

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Have not watched Sholay in a long time but agree that is a real classic masala film – a film with drama, action, romance, comedy, songs but not OTT like today’s stupid masala movies except for the final fight between Thakur and Gabbar which I never liked.

  61. FS 10 years ago

    Before Midnight – Continuity of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – the two most romantic movies and my favorites. In this installment it is more about middle life crisis in their relationship. Started well then dragged a bit but was back on track. It is a let down if you consider past two installments in holding your attention but there is lot more truth about relationships in it. Liked it but I know most people don’t like such conversational movies. Recommended only to those who have liked past two movies and liked them.

    • John Galt 10 years ago

      I actually felt the same thing (that it’s a let down if compared to the previous too) when I first saw it,but then I thought, that not everything can be rosy and hopeful in life and that’s where this movie is actually more closer to reality than the previous too.. The last 30 minutes especially are so spot on.

      • FS 10 years ago

        Agree with you John Galt…

        Btw just googled John Galt and learned this. John Galt is a character in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged (1957). Although he is not identified by name until the last third of the novel, he is the object of its often-repeated question “Who is John Galt?” and of the quest to discover the answer. Is it a great Novel?

        • John Galt 10 years ago

          best book I’ve ever read.

          • FS 10 years ago

            so you do read novels…. isn’t it? Many members here read lot of novels… You, Tulmul, Nirjhar, Serezy and anyone else am I missing out?

  62. FS 10 years ago

    Sputnik – I started commenting on “Movies you watched this month” thread from November 2012 and just realized that since then I have watched over 300 films. How many have you watched? I think you started with weekly and then moved on to Monthly… You must have watched nearly 400 – 450 films i guess 😛

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Ha Ha. No idea of the number of movies but I have written about every movie that I watched. I usually watch one movie a day unless I am busy/tired/out.

      This is the thread whose comments I look most forward to because of recommendations from you, narad_muni, hithere, suprabh, cr7 and others.

      The weekly movies thread was never really weekly. It was used for the whole month and it was just two posts in Jan 2012 and Feb 2012. Back then the response was not that good may be because of fewer members.

      • FS 10 years ago

        Me too… 95% of the times I log in to visit this thread. I visit other threads only for banters and now a days I can’t even enjoy that coz even Akshay is going low, Srk is out of criticism after CE 🙁

      • FS 10 years ago

        Either on December or in November you can celebrate “Movies you Watched this month” anniversary and list out all the Good movies that you would recommend others to watch… What say? 😛

  63. Baba 10 years ago

    was watching agneepath on zee cinema.what a great scene from 6:15

  64. cr7 10 years ago

    Started watching a sitcom “Coupling” . the tagline is “The naughty new comedy about nothing…but SEX!” .So one can easily assume what it is all about 😀 . Loving it . About to finish first season .Hilarious till now .

    Also watched special 26 .Flawed but entertaining .

  65. hithere 10 years ago

    Gravity : A great visual experience. Plot is predictable but don’t miss it. See it in 3D. If possible in real IMAX.

    Captain Phillips: Thriller drama. Personally, I prefer such movies more than any genre. The rescue I think, dragged somewhat in this excellent movie.

  66. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    This Is the End This Is The End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.

    Story is silly but some of the scenes are hilarious. It dragged a bit but liked it. All the actors play themselves in the movie.

    Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco and Craig Robinson were good. Jonah Hill was very good.

    ——————

    Makkhi When a ruthless billionaire kills a man in a bid to steal the woman he loves, he’s reborn as a common housefly with a taste for revenge. But before he can get even, he must convince his crush that he’s buzzing around her.

    Liked it. The love story part of it was cheesy and some of the scenes were silly. While a lot of it may be implausible the movie was very engrossing. The VFX were very good. Songs were bad and all were unnecessary except the one at the end.

    Nani was irritating and the director did a good thing by killing him off. Samantha Ruth Prabhu looked cute and was ok. Sudeep was excellent.

    • FS 10 years ago

      I liked makki (eega) too… songs were irritating but sudeep has done wonderful job as a villain.

  67. Baba 10 years ago

    anyone has a liking for tinto brass movies here, except spuntik ? 😉

  68. Baba 10 years ago

    one question for those who have knowledge on this – in mainstream films what is the level of softcore thats allowed? last i read a females genitals are allowed but not the male’s if its erect. but tinto brass doesnt seem to follow them 😉

    • Author
      sputnik 10 years ago

      Mainstream movies usually avoid full frontal nudity specially that of males. But some movies have started showing male frontal nudity too. Art house cinema especially European movies have had male frontal nudity previously too. Now they are into showing hardcore. Tinto Brass uses fake penises for those scenes 🙂

      “In the United States, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), through the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), issues ratings for movies. The system was instituted in November 1968 and is voluntary; however, most movie theater chains will not show unrated domestic films and most major studios have agreed to submit all titles for rating prior to theatrical release. ”

      “NC-17 – No One 17 and Under Admitted. These NC-17 rated films are patently adult and children are not admitted. These films may contain strong graphic violence with a very large amount of blood and gore, sex scenes, explicit content, rape or sexual assault, depraved, aberrational behavior, sexual nudity, or any other elements which that are not suitable for children and strictly prohibited from viewing by minors. Many theater companies and local operators will not play NC-17 titles and some newspapers and magazines will not run ads for these films. Most NC-17 titles have limited theatrical release, usually in smaller theaters, or are released directly to video or DVD. Most NC-17 titles also have edited versions released on home media that are either unrated or R-rated.”

      • Baba 10 years ago

        female frontal nudity is a no brainer in hw. it is there in most films since a long long time even including some worldwide acclaimed and watched films like the Godfather. there were frontal female nude scenes in enter the dragon too. both films from 70s era and fully mainstream.many richard gere films had frontal nudity and they were from 80s era . so its not just arthouse.

      • hithere 10 years ago

        Please be warned, there is male nudity in following link. I am not sure how good is the link with virus.

        https://restituda.blogspot.com/2013/03/robert-de-niro-and-gerard-depardieu.html?zx=5eb43ab511c4a3f7

        • Author
          sputnik 10 years ago

          Well its from a Italian movie directed by an Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. I already said – “Art house cinema especially European movies have had male frontal nudity previously too.”

  69. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched “The Counterfeiters” .Excellent Movie .Liked it. fantastic performance by the lead as well as the supporting casts. A must watch .

  70. John Galt 10 years ago

    Baba,

    Watch ‘Love and Other Drugs’

    • FS 10 years ago

      Sup – Its more of a romantic movie than the nudity. It will definitely be in my top 15 most romantic movies 😉

  71. Saurabh 10 years ago

    Escape Plan
    I knew about this one since the last year when it was called The Tomb. Was going to catch it later on. Friend asked casually which one should we see- Gravity or Escape Plan. Would have preferred Gravity if it didn’t have Sandra Bullock. Hate her. Finally saw Escape Plan. Good, decent fun. Like the 80s actioners.

    Having grown on Arnold and Stallone actioners, I was a bit disappointed with Expendables 2 where we just have 2-3 min of screentime for Arnold and that too is self reference. Van Damme was the saving grace. The Last Stand was ok. But no trademark Arnoldisms. So had few hopes for this one.

    But it was damn entertaining. Stallone is given a decent material to flex his acting muscles. But he’s scrawny in that department. But Arnold completely owns the film. There’s a scene where Arnold is taken in ‘the box’ like in Cool Hand Luke and he starts screaming at the camera in German. Just got a kick out of seeing Arnold not just enjoying but going full on in that scene. He has the acting chops. Stallone tries to look intelligent and all but frankly he can’t project that knowledge and wisdom through his mannerisms, dialogue delivery coz it just isn’t him. It’s the second half – when the movie kicks in full on action mode that he settles comfortably. Jim Caviezel enjoys his time as the stereotypical jailor. He hams it up unsually, by whispering his lines with a devious smile. Good to see his career recovering after the backlash for Passion of the Christ. Also Person of Interest seems to be helping.

    The plot is intriguing, but don’t look deeply for much adherence to logic, plot holes, cinematography, score, reviews, rotten tomatoes or any such things in these type of actioners. If you loved the movies these guys made their careers on and for which they’re known for, you’ll get my point. It’s an interesting premise like Predator, Total Recall, First Blood, Demolition Man, etc. Much of Escape Plan depends upon the pairing of Stallone and Arnold and they deliver. It truly is their first bona fide pairing together, where they’re not just hanging out like in Expendables, but enjoying the material and caring about it.

    Highly recommended for hardcore Stallone and especially Arnold fans. It’s nothing brilliant, but a good, decent entertainment.

  72. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Daisy Set in Amsterdam, the story features a love triangle between a young girl and the two mysterious men in her life. One is a hit-man and the other his pursuer. As the two men clash, Hye-young is caught in the middle of this action-fueled romance story.

    Movie was very beautifully shot and is very leisurely paced. Did not like the ending. After all the drama in the climax the movie should have had a happy ending. The twist also looked good at that point. But then the director decided to ruin it by going for a unnecessary tragic ending and a final shootout scene.

    Performances were good by the three main leads.

    —————

    Watched Shahid and wrote a detailed review here.

    https://tanqeed.com/shahid-movie-review-by-sputnik/

  73. Baba 10 years ago

    saw boss. its a usual stupid akshay kumar film with loud silly dialgues and OTT drama and action.ronit roy has cheesy dialogues. akshays punchlines are irritating and he has overacted in almost all scenes.he also looks overweight.cables/wires have been used extensively for action by both akshay and other co-stars. akshay had lied about this in an interview. there is a long attempted-parkour chase sequence (akshay trying to do a vidyut ala comando) but its also done by cables and possible a body double has been used on some occasions bcos there are plenty of back shots of akshay or long shots taken, for those sequences , so that the face is hidden , clearly suggesting use of a duplicate.the last fight scene is painfully slo-mo and uninteresting.not seen blue so cant say how bad or good it is compared to it

  74. zacked 10 years ago

    Watching Arrow, finished 5 episodes and loving it.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      I watched first few episodes of arrow on TV . Didn’t quite like it . But i don’t watch any tv series in tv 😛 . That could be one reason . Will download and start again .

      Have u seen Hannibal,The following? These two new shows got lot of praise . Started Hannibal . Looks very good .

  75. Anajanpur685Miles 10 years ago

    @Baba

    Your opinion on action is the final word for me. I felt same thing for when i saw Boss Promos…well said.

    Bas haan mein haan nahi mila raha hu… 🙂 i really mean it.

  76. cr7 10 years ago

    Olympus has Fallen – The film has a ridiculous plot . But somehow the director made a engaging movie . The action is good . But still the silly plot is a big
    drawback . Overall a time pass movie .

    Pirates of The Caribbean – This series was on my watch list for long time .Finally started . Seen the first part . Fall short of my expectations. But Entertaining . Absolutely loved captain jack sparrow .The bgm is epic . Will try to watch 2nd part soon .

    Tried to watch phata poster nikla hero in a good print this time . pathetic movie . Seen probably first half an hour.

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      olympus has fallen is as good/bad as a Tollywood/Bollywood masala potboiler. Ridiculous plot but timepass movie.
      The Pirates series never worked for me.
      I downloaded the Counterfeiters based on your recco..will watch it soon

    • cr7 10 years ago

      *I meant shuddh deshi romance not phata poster nikla hero .

  77. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Watched Korean movie – The man from nowhere. Found it decent but not epic as Mom/Oldboy/Sassy girl. More comments on the Korean movie thread.

    Going to watch Gravity in a few hours time at a theater wtih Doldby Atmos..hope it ll be a gr8 experience

  78. Zacked 10 years ago

    Finished 19 episodes of Arrow over Friday and Saturday. Liked it. There are lots of cliches and flaws but its entertaining.

    P.S.: We are top of the league. Big game next week 😀

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Yeah 😀 . But the fixture ahead is tough .If we hold the first spot till xmas break i’m sure its going to be our year . Only tension is injury .i don’t understand how so many of our players get injured so frequently . Hope flamini,giroud don’t get injured .we have no backup for them .

  79. FS 10 years ago

    Completed Game Of Thornes Season1 – loving it. Cannot wait to start Season 2.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Finally. What took u so long to start it . If i remember correctly u downloaded it long back . Its epic . You are gonna love it . Though second season is the weakest .Still its good . One tip, Please avoid reading any spoilers .In this case spoilers really gonna spoil the fun . Your favorite character ? Mine is Tyrion Lannister .

      • FS 10 years ago

        I had already skimmed through all episodes of season 1&2, so my expectations were not high & just wanted to understand what led them to do take such actions.

        I deleted all downloaded seasons & redownloaded 720 p hd print 😛 i have not bothered only season 3 and expecting it to be full of surprises as i have seen the end episode of season 2 as well.

  80. Zacked 10 years ago

    Flamini is already injured, reports claim that he may be out for 2-3 weeks. Hopefully reports are false and he gets to play against Dortmund at the least.

  81. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Watched Gravity today… the highlight was the Dolby ATMOS experience..dont know how many theaters are having it but the demo before the movie just blew me away. Would ask everyone to check it out if possible.

    Now coming to the movie..hmm, its hard to call it a movie, its more of a 3D experience becoz theres nothing in it except the 3D special effects. And I have to agree the effects were one of the best I have ever seen for a mainstream 3D movie. But some of the portions of the movie where there was no ‘action’ and where Sandra Bullock was murmuring something to herself were utterly boring. But fortunately there are enuff action and effects to keep u engaged. Added to that, the awesome sound system at the theatre made the overall experience worth the price of the ticket. And there’s absolutely no point in watching this movie at home..

  82. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched “Black Hawk Down” . 144 minutes of pure awesomeness . Loved every bit of it . Should have seen it earlier .

  83. FS 10 years ago

    Game of Thrones – Completed all three season and I am sure Season 4 will the most exciting if they have the same pace as of season 1. Second season had many episodes dragging a lot with speeches, teachings, history and other shits but it also had some of the best episodes of all seasons. Season 3 is also on par with Season 2 and it also has lot of ridiculous episodes that could have cut short but it also had some of the most disappointing episodes of all the season. You will be totally surprised with the politics played, the coups staged, the allegiance’s made, the crimes committed, walls breached and above all to see the slow raising of shining beauty of mother of dragon, the ruthless intelligent mind of Tywin Lannister and the most famous attractive charming character of Tyrion Lannister getting surrounded by enemy of his own people. It is really an awesome show but there are certain characters that you better like skipping or forwarding during the downloaded watch.

    The show is so much engaging that it certain characters play in your mind while you are at sleep or thinking when about them when you are idle. It is definitely one of the best shows I have watched and looking forward to future episodes.

  84. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Midnight Cowboy To earn cash as a freelance sex stud and work toward his dream of becoming a kept man, hayseed hustler Joe Buck heads to New York City, where an improbable friendship blossoms when he meets seedy con man Ratso Rizzo.

    The movie won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay and is the only X-rated film to win an Oscar. But I don’t think it deserved any of those awards. Its bold for its time (1969) with the whole gay thing but its basically about this dumb guy who instead of doing some regular job wants to be a male prostitute and his final realization. Movie has some weird dream/flashback scenes.

    Jon Voight was excellent as the dumb cowboy. Dustin Hoffman was excellent as the con man/agent and the only thing I did not like was his limp which seemed weird. Both received well deserved Oscar nominations for Best Actor. Don’t know why Sylvia Miles was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for a 5 minute scene when she was not that good either. Brenda Vaccaro was good and she should have been nominated instead.

    Cinematography was good. Background music was good and liked this song from the movie.

    ————————

    Planes, Trains and Automobiles While trying to get home to his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving, marketing executive Neal Page runs into one disaster after another — which includes being stuck with insufferable salesman Del Griffith as his unshakable traveling companion.

    Stupid horrible movie. Stopped halfway through it as I could not bear it anymore. The movie had a interesting premise but they ran out of material pretty soon. They just kept stretching the movie like a chewing gum. There were characters with exaggerated mannerisms including John Candy and Steve Martin was suddenly saying dialogues like he was doing stand up comedy. The background music was horrible.

  85. cr7 10 years ago

    Started watching a new series “The Killing” . Its a murder mystery .So how much I will like it will depend very much on how the mystery reveals .But till now liked it a lot. The whole atmosphere of the show with the locations,BGM,cinematography is excellent. It looks like a perfect thriller . One murder and 13 episode long investigation ,so it is bound to be on the slower side . But i don’t mind the pace . Performances are very good .

  86. cr7 10 years ago

    Finished season 1 of “The killing” . Liked it . But some of the episodes really tested my patience, very very slow. But there is a twist midway after that it came back in track.The ending twist is good but it kind of pissed me off . Won’t state the reason as it could be a spoiler.As i said earlier the locations,BGM,cinematography is excellent .The characters,story,events look real .It is not a fairy tale police investigation with a genius police officer and everything falling into places . IMO One of the reasons this show worked.

  87. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    Edison Force (Edison) Justin Timberlake, in his feature-film debut, stars as a reporter fresh from journalism school who uncovers a hot story of lies and deception within the Edison police department, and does everything in his power to unravel it.

    Movie looked interesting for a while but then it became a B-grade action movie. And the story was so cliched.

    Morgan Freeman was ok. Don’t know why Kevin Spacey did that inconsequential role. Justin Timberlake was bad. LL Cool J was ok. Dylan McDermott was good. John Heard and Cary Elwes were bad.

    ——————-

    Author! Author! A playwright’s work is never done, especially when it’s Ivan Travalian, a down-on-his-luck scribe who desperately needs a hit. But before he can attend to his flailing career, he must deal with the unraveling threads of his personal life.

    Tried to watch because it starred Al Pacino but stopped watching after 30 minutes. Looked so dated and uninteresting.

  88. FS 10 years ago

    The Host – Given details on the Korean thread https://tanqeed.com/my-top-ten-favorite-korean-movies-fs/#comment-130572

    Hoosiers – Read a lot about this movie for being one of the best sports movie ever but the sports movies which I have seen till now are much better than this so called Classic. May be it is not equipped with enough emotions and performances to age well for today’s generation. Even Gene’s performances are better in other movies compared to this. Any how it is much disappointing to see people still rate this movie so high in ranking or may be they didn’t bother to check this movie once again before listing it above the deserved movies of our generation. Director tried to create some melodramatic scenes but it didn’t work out much neither it synced the flow of movie. Over all an average affair.

    The Walking Dead – Episode 2 & 3 – Getting interesting with each episode and looking forward to upcoming episodes.

    Lootera – Watched it once again and loved it more. Brilliant act and performance by Sonakshi and Ranveer. Second half pace may seem to be slow but the beauty of this movie relies in its pace only. I am loving all the songs now…

  89. cr7 10 years ago

    Watched “The Past” . Loved it . Asgar farhadi is one of my favorite filmmakers now . I really wonder how can the Irani filmmakers able to make such effortless heartwarming movies . It lacked the pace but the story and emotion is so powerful that it more than makes up for that . On par with A Separation IMO .Top notch performance Highly Recommended .

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      A seaparation is one of my favorite movies..so this one becomes a must watch for me.
      The ratings at Imdb and RT r good but nowhere near as a Seaparation. Will watch it soon n post my opinion. Thanks for the reco!
      Which other movies of Asgar Farhadi you like the most?

  90. zacked 10 years ago

    cr7 and FS have you guys watched Fringe, is it good?

    • cr7 10 years ago

      No zacked . not yet .heard good things about it though.I have plans to start it within few days . I guess jj abram made it . So should be good .Story reminds me of X files . I’m currently watching Orphan Black and The killing . I posted my views on The killing above .Orphan Black is a scifi thriller .Concept is great .But looked abrupt . It seems the makers are in some sort of hurry. Will start either “The following” or “Fringe” next . U can try Hannibal .It is good .

      There are so many good tv shows out there and not enough time to watch them 🙁 .I hardly watch movies these days . Only Tv shows and football .

      P.S Hard luck against chelsea . I’m really afraid we’ll be able to maintain league form for long time . We don’t have enough back ups .

    • FS 10 years ago

      No Zack, not seen… Problem with watching TV shows is that you are tempted to watch the next episode as soon the first one ends. You definitely need lot of time in such cases and sometimes I have abandoned my company’s work for these addictive TV shows which is not good. So I have decided to watch only movies unless I have 2-3 days off or continue only on weekends with the series that are in continuation.

  91. FS 10 years ago

    Samsara 2011 – Before I even talk about this beautiful meditative film, I’l put down the synopsis from wikipedia.

    Samsara is a 2011 documentary film, directed by Ron Fricke and produced by Mark Magidson, who also collaborated on Baraka (1992), a film of a similar vein. Samsara was filmed over four years in 25 countries around the world. It was shot in 70 mm format and output to digital format. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in August 2012.

    The official website describes the film, “Expanding on the themes they developed in Baraka (1992) and Chronos (1985), Samsara explores the wonders of our world from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man’s spirituality and the human experience. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation.”[3]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_(2011_film)

    This movie is a visual treat to any audience and an absolute delight. Never seen before Cinematography which is totally divine and the landscapes captured, the way different different things are amalgamated into the movie that totally engages you is also worth mentioning. I have not seen its prequel Baraka which once Ritz/Anjanpur posted. Certain portion of the movie was also posted here in TQ that shows about farming. Beautiful film with superior quality production and Highly Recommended

    • narad_muni 10 years ago

      sounds interesting… I ll prolly see Bakara first n then this one.
      Lots of good movie recos n very less time 🙁

  92. yakuza 10 years ago
  93. cr7 10 years ago

    Television -Its a Bangladeshi movie .A well made Bangladeshi movie is a rare thing . Every year only 1-2 good films are made . Looks like this is the one for 2013 .The story is in a village the local community leader forced many orthodox rules ,one of them is banning television. Quite liked it . Interesting topic .The humor worked big time .The movie is very refreshing . Nice and simple. Could have been better with a more satisfying ending . By satisfying i don’t mean happy ending though .Ending looked abrupt.there were few unnecessary scenes. But by Bangladeshi standard this movie is Gold . Performances were good. special mention the leading lady Tisha . She is as usually awesome. Liked one song a lot “kanamachi”. Other songs were underwhelming

  94. Author
    sputnik 10 years ago

    The Grapes of Wrath Tom Joad, a Depression-era everyman, leads his poor family on a harrowing journey from Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl to the promised land of California in this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It won Oscars for Best Director and Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for 7 Oscars in total.

    Its hard to watch a Black & White movie that too one from 1940 but watched it because it was expiring from Netflix. Its a depressing movie and tried to show how poor people are exploited and how they have to live in almost wretched conditions. It was may be very hard hitting for its time but it was also fantasy/childish like in parts and it also had some theatrical/weird acting. Lot of it looked like it was shot on sets. The novel is supposed to have a controversial ending but the movie had a almost filmy good speech ending.

    One scene where the grandfather does not want to leave his house is the inspiration for a scene in Garm Hava where the grandmother does not want to leave her house.

    Henry Fonda was good in parts but in some scenes his dialogues seemed so filmy and his acting was weird. Jane Darwell was shown as very goody in mother’s role. Did not like her at all in the last scene. John Carradine’s acting was weird as the priest.

  95. narad_muni 10 years ago

    Watched the Counterfeiters on CR7’s reco. very good movie if not great. Thanks for the reco!
    Great storyline and performances, very engaging. I felt the emotional undercurrent could have been a bit stronger given that the movie had a strong emotional content. May be its becoz of my desi mind. I don’t like too much melodrama ..at the same time, I dont like too less as well. This movie though a very good one failed to give me the emotional highs through the ups and downs in the screenplay…though clearly there were enuff material in the script for those.
    Anyways, definitely a good watch.

    CR7, could u answer my previous question about Asgar Farhadi?

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Hi Narad . Extremely sorry for the late reply . For some reasons i couldn’t see the comments posted as reply . So missed ur comment . Glad u liked The Counterfeiters. And i have only seen three farhadi movies . The past,separation and about elly . Loved the past,separation . I’m confused about about elly . Its a movie which leaves almost everything for the viewers. It is up to u how u judge the characters. It was a good movie. But I’m not sure how everyone will find it . For example i was irritated at the end of the movie .Not because it was bad but because i hated certain characters . But i would suggest watch The past first . If u liked separation u’ll surely like it . Btw if u r in for soem irani movies one more i would like to recommend . It is not by farhadi though . Close-Up . Its a very different movie .U may like it .

      • Author
        sputnik 10 years ago

        Loved A Separation. Have seen another movie Fireworks Wednesday (Chaharshanbe Suri) by Asghar Farhadi.

        My comment – “The couple are fighting and a maid starts working for them which is similar to A Separation. This also deals with the theme of truth and lies. Its good but not as good as A Separation.”

        Had posted the movie but its not available online anymore.

        https://tanqeed.com/tanqeed-film-festival-fireworks-wednesday-chaharshanbe-suri/

  96. FS 10 years ago

    November’s thread?

  97. Author
    sputnik 7 years ago

    Daniel Day-Lewis Says He’s Quitting Acting

    Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis has announced his retirement from acting.

    Day-Lewis’ publicist, Leslee Dart, said Tuesday in a statement: “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject. ”

    Day-Lewis’ last film, which has a Dec. 25 release, will reunite the actor with his There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson. While it has been reported to have the working title Phantom Thread, the film is still officially listed by its distributor as Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project. From Annapurna Pictures and Focus Features, it is set in 1950s London and will see Day-Lewis playing a fashion designer who caters to high society. According to Dart, the actor plans to participate in promotion for the movie, which is expected to be an awards-season contender.

    Extremely selective about the roles he chooses and slow to sign on to any movie, Day-Lewis retreated from film once before, in the late 1990s, in what he described as “semi-retirement” to return to one of his main loves, woodworking, and at the time also moved to Florence, Italy, where he took up shoemaking.

    After five years, Martin Scorsese persuaded the actor to return to filmmaking in Gangs of New York, in which Day-Lewis played colorful gang leader William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting.

    Day-Lewis also famously quit the stage in 1989 when he walked out on a production of Hamlet mid-performance at the National Theatre in London, saying that he had seen his father’s ghost. He later explained that he’d been speaking metaphorically, saying, “I may have said a lot of things in the immediate aftermath and to some extent I probably saw my father’s ghost every night, because of course if you’re working in a play like Hamlet you explore everything through your own experience.”

    The British actor, one of the most celebrated of his generation and known for the intense dedication he brings to each role, has been nominated for an Oscar five times and taken home the trophy on three occasions — for 1989’s My Left Foot, in which he played the physically challenged artist Christy Brown; for 2007’s There Will Be Blood, in which he played a driven, turn-of-the-century oil baron; and for 2012’s Lincoln, in which he played the title role of Abraham Lincoln.

    The son of poet Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon, Day-Lewis made his film debut in an uncredited role as a child vandal in 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday. Having trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he worked in England in both theater and television before he began to attract attention on film, appearing in 1985 in both the gay love story My Beautiful Laundrette and the E.M. Forster adaptation A Room With a View.

    His roles have ranged from an American backwoodsman in The Last of the Mohicans to an Irish revolutionary in In the Name of the Father to a New York aristocrat in The Age of Innocence to a Puritan farmer in The Crucible.

    Day-Lewis, who lives in Ireland with his wife, actress Rebecca Miller, has been quoted in the past as saying, “In every actor’s life, there is a moment when they ask themselves, ‘Is it really seemly for me still to be doing this?'”

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/daniel-day-lewis-says-hes-quitting-acting-1015235

Leave a reply to sputnik Click here to cancel the reply

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?