Rang De Basanti

Oh! This one must appear in my books of movies seen! Otherwise, I better stop writing this blog.

A must watch movie! Especially, by any person who "feels" for our mother nation. I do not wanna give away the details of the movie, yet, I need to pen it down.

Hence, after a few blank lines, I will resume.

CAUTION: Don't read the following if you haven't watched the movie. Its a give away!

Story

The movie starts with an English girl, Sue (Alice Patten. oooh!), who comes to India to produce a documentary on British-ruled India and India's freedom struggle, based on her grandpa's diary. She takes the help of her friend Sonia (Soha Ali Khan). During their struggle for accruing the proper cast for the same, they come across this bunch of happy-go-lucky guys. Alice sees her heroes in them and the movies goes on to show how she persuades them to come into this venture.

It treads along a very realistic, yet absolutely funny tracks till the mid, where it takes an absolute 90deg turn and gets real serious! Well, I am gonna hide the details from now. It portrays a different kinda freedom struggle that the today's India is fighting against, and how it correlates to what we've been through with the British.

Other factors

Many a good stories have been killed by bad rest-of-the-factors. In this case, all factors have been real impressive! The cinematography is brilliant, the screen is always rich and vivid in colors.

Attention to detail? Mind blowing! (Well, here is a tiny blooper that I noticed: Towards the end of the movie, Aamir drops Siddarth at his house in his Wrangler-ish jeep. He stops the engine for saying good-bye. When he turns his vehicle on, the radio continues to play normally. In most of the vehicles, such peripheral electrical systems turn off for a while during the starting process and turns back on. But in our hero's car, it keeps playing.)

Now comes music. ARR. No more to say.

Some other features? As my buddy Javed, another RDB fan, said. "The on-screen chemistry of Madhavan and Soha is just amazing"!

In short, the movie and all the cast n crew delivered the punch, "short n sweet n deep"!

The Incredibles

Incredible, it really is!!! SAP and myself saw the movie without batting an eye-lid. And, went for an overkill by seeing it 3 times before we returned it. The cartoon-movie is starts with the era when super-heroes helped to save planet earth. However, their saving started infringing people's privacy (such as privacy to suicide!!) and they were all given alternate identities and was asked never to be "super" again. However, Mr. Incredible's quest to save the people can never be sated. Meanwhile, IncrediBoy, who once was a great fan of Mr. I turned into a rebel as Mr. I didn't let him join the club. Incrediboy, with no real super power, but simulates every power with his command over science, becomes Syndrome and sets out to kill every super hero. Mr. I too gets trapped. The rest of the story is his escape with the help of his wife ElastiGirl and their kids Dash, Violet and Jack-Jack. Mr. Frozone, buddy of Mr. I, comes to the rescue as well.

The entire movie is really captivating with adequate humor added.

Rocky

Italian Stallion(e) rocks! Finally started on with the Rocky series. In this one, Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer from Philadelphia turns into gold, the opportunity that he gets to fight heavy weight champion Apollo Creed, by drawing the match!

Waiting to see the remaining parts...

Ray

2004 Oscar winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Jamie Foxx! This movie portrays the life history of a famous pianist Ray Charles who happened to lose his sight at the age of 7 due to glaucoma. However, with his revolutionary genre of music that combines R&B (Rhythm and Blues), soul and gospel music. This movie portays the problems faced by Ray which includes racism, drug abuse, failed relationships and his new music genre itself!

A little slow movie, but... Oscar winner it is!

Road to Perdition

I was assuming this great, slow moving Hankie to mean a movie that portrays a road to hell (perdition). Though such a meaning can be remotely attribed, it actually portrays the story of Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) and his son's flee to their relative's place at Perdition to escape from Michael's ex-boss. Michael was working as a hit-man for John Rooney, a crime boss. However, after Michael's son happens to witness a murder scene carried out as part of "duty", the Michael's lives are in danger. His wife and his second son gets killed and this makes Michael running wild to take revenge. This movie also portrays Jude Law, who appears as another hit-man set out to kill Michael.

The Truman Show

As the punchline in the DVD case of this movie says, "On the air, unaware"! Laughter-maker Jim Carrey leads a life without knowing that his life is actually a 24hr/day, 365days/year TV show. He is living in a man-made world, Sea where everything is set-up, including sunrise, sunset, day, night, weather... Advertisements in the movie is inserted by "characters" in the show talking about products they use!

Poor Truman (Jim Carrey) knows none of this until one day he feels some anomaly in certain people's reaction and the strange timing followed in certain mundane activity of some other guys. He sets out to leave his city via water, escaping the eyes of hidden cameras prying on him. However, to his greatest shock, he finds a wall instead of what he had believed to be as horizon!

That thing you do

A musical comedy directed by Hankie (Tom Hanks)!!! As some user commented in IMDB, "The Amazing Tom Hanks Can Do No Wrong."!! Though the share of acting for Tom Hanks in this movie is relatively small, he still has done no mistake in keeping the life of the story alive. A group of guys from Pennsylvania hits in 1964 as the top band "The Wonders" (Initially the "The One-ders") with their top album "That thing you do". The ace of the troupe being Guy Patterson, the drummer with the shades! They, unfortunately, split due to common unhealthy politics within the group.

Meet the parents

Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) sets out to seek the permission of his girl friend's dad's permission for their marriage to her house. However, his occupation as a male nurse and his girl friend's dad's "detective" nature throws in a comedy of errors from Focker making the movie funny, yet touching. A must see, non-slap-stick romantic comedy.

The sequel to this movie is coming up as "Meet the Fockers".

Shall we dance?

Now, here is a beautiful Richard Gere - J Lo movie on dance. I have been wondering for quite some time at the English - style of dance. Never seemed to get the difference between waltz or rumba or tango or whatever... However, this movie helped in alleviating the ignorance a bit. Its all about ball-room dancing. An amazing movie that left me spell bound about the intricacies of dancing. A smooth movie, perfect for having an easy time. One of the few movies that I have seen which is, at last, easy on your adrenaline, yet is soothing. A movie that can relax you. No profound thoughts, no great "thrills", no shouts, no gun-shots... Perfect for some one who likes art. Smooth it is, slow it isn't.

A counter-talk on this movie by some is that its a bit girlish... Well, that depends. If dance is attribed to be girlish, then so is the movie, else it isn't. Anyways, it is not an "action" movie nor does have "rock" songs, which is precisely why I like it.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks - The Terminal 

The Terminal

Another super "Hankie"!! Tom Hanks is impeccable in this movie with his appearance as Viktor Navorski, a down-to-earth and honest person coming to JFK airport from Krakhozia to fulfill his father request of getting the autograph of some jazz group's saxophone player. However, Victor gets stranded at the airport due to visa problems caused by his country being at war. He is neither allowed to go into the US, nor can he be sent back! He is caught at the airport due to a glitch in the rules!

However, he beats the expectations of the authority by not attempting any illegal ways to sneak out and converts his hitherto horrible fate to a pleasant experience, winning the hearts of every one in the terminal, including an elderly desi janitor. Enter Catherine Zeta Jones as a charming air hostess and he lights up her life as well.

Tom Hanks' acting excellence races Steven Spielberg's direction to bring ultimate enjoyment for the viewer. Also, they way Tom Hanks manages his foreigner-speaking-English is just amazing!

The Tailor of Panama

I am really sorry for myself for having picked this one just because Pierce "Bond" Brosnan acted and it was a spy movie. Oops! It achieved its motive of keeping me confused all through out the movie and even after it. A very very hackneyed spy movie where things happen totally strange and finally a very silly piece of thread to connect 'em together.

Not a good entertainer! Sorry to say, but a very average, if not poor, movie.

Wimbledon

An ok romance movie with action packed tennis.

Peter Colt, a British tennis player, once ranked 6th falls to 119th rank and is about to play his last match at the green-lawn courts of Wimbledon. With a shattered moralle and faith, he reaches the test-nets just to get acquainted with Lizzie Bradbury, the "bad girl in tennis" (starring Kirsten Dunst - Mary Jane Watson of Spiderman (1 and 2), Betty Waron of Monalisa Smiles) who becomes the lucky charm of Paul as he goes on to win the title as well as Lizzie!!!

A good entertainer, though with certain the cliched idea of a let-down guy going big due to a girl.

The Green Mile

Another brilliant movie by Tom Hanks! Tom Hanks appears as Paul Edgecomb, the guard of a Death row prison, where the execution is carried out by electrocution. The walk from the cell to the electrocution chair is called "Walking the mile" and the floor being green, its called The Green Mile. Paul's faith and sanity is deteriorated by the regular sight of people's life and death.

However, with the arrival of the giant, John Coffey ("just like the drink (Coffee)... but spelt differently!!", says John), things take a turn. John is convicted of murder of two kids but as the movie gets on, it becomes evident, without substantiable proof though, that he is innocent. Though a giant, Coffey is afraid of darkness!! He also has some "divine" powers to absorb other's illness and vent it out (as flies...). He uses this to heal Paul's urinary infection as well as a serious brain tumor of an old woman, but most importantly, to heal Mr. Jingles!!!

The movie turn light when Mr. Jingles appear in the scene. He is a..... a mouse! who makes his appearance in a good part of the movie. Eduard Delacroix (Del) pets Mr. J and brings out J's ability as a retriever!!!

The "rough" characters of this movie are :
1. Percy Wetmore, a horrible cruel guard who experiments the effect of not wetting the head sponge (wetting speeds up the conduction of electricity through the brain and helping to hasten the process of execution) Del's execution and also tries to kill Mr. J. However, John helps Mr. J to get back his life..

2. 'Wild Bill' Wharton: A troublesome inmate, trying to mock every one around and create all possible chaos. The guards have a tuff time dealing with him.

The "villians" have done a brilliant job to make themselves despicable. Man, did I curse them!! You have no idea!!

Though the movie was not believable due to the presence of some "spiritual" elements, the actors were splendid, and attention to detail was brilliant!! Another great "Hankie"!!

The Mask of Zorro

A brilliant adventure movie!

Antonio Banderas, as Alejandro, moves from a Zorro fan to become the Zorro under the guidance of Don Diega de la Vega, the earlier Zorro (Anthony Hopkins), to avenge his brother's death, where as, de la Vega avenges his wife's death and the seizure of his daughter.. With glimmering appearence by the ever-charming Catherine Zeta-Jones taking the role of Elena Montero, de la Vega's daughter, this movie is a "not-to- be-forgotten" one.