Finding Neverland

This is one movie which truly depicts what friendship is, what love is, be it for your friend, be it between a mother and her child. In a marvelous performance by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet the movie revolves around Johney Depp (a playwriter) and Kate Winslet's (a widow) family and how the friendship between Depp and Winslet takes a new form. And among the kids Peter Davies has done an excellent job. You won't see such a powerful performance from such a small kid in any other movie. There is a scene in the ending of the movie where Peter is sitting with Depp in a garden and he cries remembering her mother's death. That single scene is so powerful that you need to see it to believe it. The locals are great with lush green trees and lawns truly represent Scotland. The sepia color effect is infact used in a great amount and it appeals to the screenplay of the movie. The USP of the movie is the powerful screenplay.

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Being Cyrus

Being Cyrus is different in every aspect. Be it the language, the screenplay, the locals, the theme, the cinematography and the whole idea. We have Mr & Mrs Iyer which is a masterpiece. Even though Being Cyrus is in English its not the kind of movie Mr & Mrs Iyer was. It doesn't have a niche audience as Mr & Mrs Iyer had.

The story is based on an unknown person Cyrus who rather invades into the life of a parsi family and successfully completes his mission. No one knows anything about Cyrus where did he come from and where did he vanished. Its not the kind of movie where in the end you see the hero bashing the villain and there is a happy ending. But you will feel happy after watching the movie. That's for sure. Boman Irani has done a nice job once again. Being a parsi himself he has that ascent which comes quite naturally to him. Even Dimple's violent expressions are great. And somehow she had to look a little older then her DCH image. Naseer has done a nice job. The best thing about the film is all the characters are important. Its not concentrated on one or two characters. There were a few shots which reminded me of scenes from requiem for a Dream, the cinematography is great and the locals are well chosen. It didn't require much of extravaganza or scenic beauty or larger then life sets. Infact those thing would have ruined it and taken away the natural beauty the movie has. Over all a good package and for a change a fresh breeze of air.

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Cast Away

A movie about a single man who spends four years on an isolated island and finally he sails all the way back to where he existed before, to start a new life.

Tom Hanks (Chuck) in a powerfull performance portrays how painfull it can get to survive on an isolated island. He had to go back to all the basics of what the stone age people used to do. Chuck is a FedEx employee and while going on a flight suddenly the weather becomes harsh and the flight loses control. It nose dives in to the deep sea and the only surviver is chuck. When he wakes up he finds himself straned on a small island. There is no drinking water no food no cloths nothing. The initial days of survival are shown beautifully. His attempt to escape and getting brutaly hit by the strong ocean waves and the frustration is something one needs to see in his eyes. The struggle to open a coconut for water, to catch a fish for food, to light a fire, every single thing that is so easily available in the normal world seems so difficult on this island. Gradually he learns to find out ways for survival. He opens one of the parcels and finds a ball with whom he keeps talking. He spends about four years on the island and finally decides to sail back. He prepares a small boat, collects drinking water for the journey and starts with a lot of courage. While passing by a container ship he gets rescued and goes home. Little does he know that after the accident, he was declaired dead and now his wife has a new husband and a kid. But even after the accident his wife always thought that someday he will come back. The love is still there. But now she has a different life and Chuck moves on with his own life.

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Spring Summer Fall Winter & Spring

A movie of few words, almost literally. The movie is based on a Buddhist monk, the master and his student and how with the passage of different seasons things change with time and the surroundings. The movie doesn't specify the names of the monk or the student. The dialogues are rare and precise. They are enough to convey the message. The movie is shot in a beautiful place where the monk stays on a floating temple with the student. The student grows up from a kid to become a monk himself. The transformation from the student to the monk and how is this achieved is the main theme of the movie. The main attraction of the movie is cinematography and the locals.When its fall it looks beautiful. When its winter the whole lake freezes and its all white with ice everywhere.

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The Shawshank Redemption

The finest of movies ever made. No doubt it still remains on the No 2 position in the iMDB list. You can watch this movie N times and each time you can feel it. Morgan Freeman didn't get an Oscar for this, but this movie is much more then just the Oscars. The narration by Morgan Freeman is as smooth as the movie. It has a pace of its own. You sit down and you will get glued to it. Though the movie is about two hours and twenty minutes in length, you will never feel the time. One of the finest performances by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins.

When Andy (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murder changes. He comes to The Shawshank Redemption where its a totally different world. It has the usual bullies, the bad guys, and as Red (Morgan Freeman) says everyone is innocent here. Contrary to the prison behavior, Andy remains calm and silent. But deep inside he feels the pain, the anguisand put to prison his lifeh, and the hope to escape some day. There he meets Red. After sometime he gets used to the prison routine. Since he is educated he takes care of the library and later on works for Norton the Prison Warden. All these while he makes an identity of his own for the outside world. No one would have believed that one day he will dig a tunnel from his room and will escape the prison, and he escapes. Everyone including the warden are surprised. He discloses the Warden's unethical practices and exposes him to the outside world. Morgan Freeman still remains there in the prison, and when his term gets over he meets his friend Andy. Andy had saved enough to live a sort of retired life on a beachside.


The movie is all about hope. Hope that never dies.

Awards

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Mr & Mrs Iyer

One of the finest of cinemas ever made. Its a milestone. The movie is not about hindu muslim fights, its not about violence, it doesn't revolve around the love between a muslim guy and an Iyer brahmin gal, its not about a bus journey which gets stuck in a curfew. Infact the movie takes each of these elements and makes meaning out of it. It shows you how a plot is developed and narrated. How each character has a role to play in the movie and its not there just for the heck of it. Rahul Bose and Konkana Sen have done a really brilliant job.

Rahul Bose(Raja) is a photographer and Konkana Sen(Meenakshi Iyer) is a Iyer Brahmin housewife. She had to catch a train to Calcutta where her inlaws are supposed to receive her. She has a baby and she boards a bus to catch the train. Raja is also going by the same bus and they meet through a common friend. Since she is traveling alone with her baby Raja gives his word that she will take care of her. The journey starts smoothly. During the journey the driver takes a shortcut and while crossing a river bed gets stuck. The bus is full with different kind of people. An old muslim couple, a few college youngsters, Punjabis, a mother and her mentally challenged son. What follows that night is what changes the course of the movie and the journey. Due to a hindu muslim riot in the near by village a group of hindu's are searching for any muslim people. There is a jew also in the bus and to save himself he points towards the old muslim couple who get killed.Raja would have got killed but Meenakshi saves her. Everyone is in a shocked state. The next morning Raja and Meenakshi take shelter in a nearby place. A police officer helps them out in getting accommodation. All through these events both Meenakshi and Raja come to know each other. They form a strange kind of bond. A bond which can not be defined.Initially Meenakshi didn't know that Raja is a muslim, and when she finds out, she shows a strange kind of behavior towards him. But later on she comes out of this confusion. All through the journey Raja helps her out. They reach Calcutta safely and there Meenakshi introduces Raja to her in laws. He hands over the film roll which contained the pictures of her baby and disappears in the crowd.

Finest Moments
A few of the scenes in the movie are really well shot and well enacted.
When the bus is hijacked and a group of hindus come in search of muslims , this one is done really good.
The next morning when Raja comes out of the bus and takes photographs, the cinematography is really good.
When Raja and Meenakshi are sitting outside that evening and are talking.
When Raja narrates the honeymoon stories to the group of youngsters.
When Raja and Meenakshi were almost going to kiss each other in the train, this one is done really well.
And finally when Raja hands over the film roll and walks away , Meenakshi shows a strange kind of expression on her face, an expression of pain, love, confusion all at the same time.

The movie got a lot of National and International awards. Aparna Sen as best director and Konkana Sen as best actress. I personally think that Rahul Bose should have got best actor or best supporting actor for his role in this movie.

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Brokeback Mountain

This is the story of two cowboys who meet on a job. They take care of the sheep herd and stay together. Its a beautiful mountain, Brokeback Mountain. They always stay together and later on fall in love. Later on they realize that this is not normal and go their own ways. They get married, have children. But somewhere down the line the spark still remains. They again keep meeting. When you actually watch the movie you don't feel like this is just another gay movie. There is more in the movie then the story.There are scenes where they break down to tears. The beautiful mountain, the cinematography and the flow of the movie. It has picked up eight nominations, the highest score at the 2005 Oscars. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal have done an excellent job.

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Old Boy

How will you take revenge on the person who kidnaps you and imprisons you for 15 years? 15 years in a room without sunlight, without any connection with the outside world, except a TV which shows different programs. Eating the same food for 15 years, you get used to it, so much so that you can't forget the taste.Where even doing suicide doesn't work. They are always watching you, every move you make, every sentence you speak.More then that, when you come out you have just 5 days to find out the person who kidnaped you and put you in that jail.How will you react?

This is the story of Daesu. One fine day he gets kidnaped and is put in a room for 15 years. He has a wife and a six year daughter. He has no idea what happened to them. He has no idea who kidnaped him. He just keeps guessing. Within that four walls he starts writing his autobiography. Only he knows that he has murdered his wife. But is that the reason why he is going to spend 15 years in the encavement.As he says, after 11 years the room started feeling like home.He gaves up manytimes, trying to kill himself. But each time they rescue him. They don't let him die.He starts learning fighting skills within the room. Some how pain makes him strong, very strong.He starts digging a hole in the wall and reaches to the other end. He is happy that he will escape within one month. But they leave him before that. Leave him to the unknown world.Where he is supposed to find out the person in just 5 days.He has turned into a monster. By this time his daughter has grown up. He finds her. But in a strange fashion. In a manner which he would have never expected even in the scarest of dreams. What happens to the kidnaper? Did he find him? What happens to the daughter? Watch the movie to find out.

A full review

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The Basketball Diaries

For sometime I actually thought of deleting this side of my blog. There are so many blogs and websites dedicated to movie review. So how does it matter. But after watching this movie, I thought its not just another movie review blog that I am writing, its for others in general and for myself in particular what I think of movies. So here it goes, from time to time I will keep updating this blog with movies which I have watched both old and new.

The Basketball Diaries

Leonardo DiCaprio has done an excellent job, almost like Titanic. In Titanic its the ship and its grandness that takes the centrestage. In Basketball Diaries its Dicaprio and his true story. Based on how street children get sucked in to the drug world. But this is not just another story where finally he dies, its a movie where he overcomes substance abuse and becomes famous. The thin slim look of DiCaprio suits best to the character Jim who was a basketball studd. He looks like a teenager. On the concluding part of the movie, he looks more mature. Some of the dialogues are really interesting.
Scenes :- He is gazing at the stars and jerkin off.... When he is desperate for some stuff and feels totaly helpless..... When he agrees for a BJ for a few bucks, when he goes to his mom for some money.....When his friend bobby dies and it rains...

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My Movie Reviews

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