Ball & Chain

April 17, 2013 Leave a comment

BallGenre: Romantic Comedy| Year: 2004 | Duration: 90 mins | Director: Shiraz Jafri| Medium: VCD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 2.5*/5*

A romcom set among ABCDs in Texas, could have been funnier with a better storyline or direction. The story is of Ameet (Sunil Malhotra) whose marriage is ‘arranged’ by his parents to Saima (Lisa Ray) against their wishes. They try everything in the book to break-off this engagement with the help of Ameet’s best friend, Bobby (Kal Penn), only to fall in love with each other during the mayhem.

This delightful & hilarious in-parts film is my ‘Movie of the Day’.

Filed under Movies Tagged with , , , , , ,

No Country for Old Men

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

countryGenre: Thriller/Crime | Year: 2007 | Duration: 122 mins | Director: Ethan & Joen Coen| Medium: VCD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating:5*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “Nervous Accountant: Are you going to shoot me?
Anton: That depends. Do you see me?”

This movie is a pitch-perfect thriller that delivers the intended fear and suspense, and at the same time the directorial brilliance thrashes the conventions of the genre. No doubt it won four Oscars, including best film & best director! The film starts with Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) hunting in West Texas when he comes across a drug deal gone bad, a wounded mexican, dead dogs and men, and 2 million dollars in a black satchel bag. He’s throughout chased by Anton (Javier Bardem), a psychopath hitman hired to recover the money, who uses a captive bolt pistol as his choicest weaponry for killing. Sherrif Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is investigating the case of a string of murders by Anton, who plans to retire from active service as he feels over & outmatched. Anton kills Llewelyn, and visits Llewelyn’s wife for a pledge that he had.

This film, which is a faithful adaptation of McCarthy’s novel, and is full of pessimism, nihilism and nervous dark humor, is my “Movie of the Day.”

Filed under Movies Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Almost Famous

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

famousGenre: Drama| Year: 2000 | Duration: 122 mins | Director: Cameron Crowe| Medium: DVD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “William Miller: I love you. And I’m about to boldly go where… many men have gone before”

This movie views the rock scene in in 70s through a nostalgic lens, yet not a hitting expose` or a tell-all story of the music era. The story is inspred by Cameron’s own experiences as a teeage music journalist, is about a 15 years old boy, willim Miller (Michael Angarano, and later Patrick Fugit) in 1973 going on a road trip with an upcoming rock & roll band, Stillwater.  For William, the trip with the band is about exploring his sexuality and learning how to live outside of his mother’s protective umbrella. In the process, he loses his virginity, rejects the drug scene, forms a few lasting friendships, and saves a life. He falls for a band groupie, Penny Lane (Kate Husdon) who already has a ‘thing’ going with one of the lead singers of Stillwater, Russell. The film’s ecstatic atmosphere is only briefly interrupted by the sense of longing that is associated with first love and the pain that accompanies the inevitable separation between a child and a parent.

Almost famous with its sheer exuberance is my ‘Movie of the Day’.

Filed under Movies Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

The King Maker

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

kingGenre: Drama| Year: 2005 | Duration: 100 mins | Director: Lek Kitaparaporn| Medium: DVD (Magna Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 1.5*/5*

Among the awful movies, The Kingmaker set another standard of low in quality and story telling or direction. Period drama does require brilliance in direction, which this movie clearly lacks and is excruciating throughout its 100 minutes. One has to be a diehard lover of films to sit throughout the movie without dozing off or instead change to watching news!

The film is set in 1547 Thailand (Auytthaya Kingdom), when a Portuguese soldier Fernando de Gama (Gary Stretch) washes up the shores of Siam due to some ship-wreck, and is captured by slave traders. The beautiful Maria (Cindy Burbridge) takes fancy and buys him and introduces to her father, Phillippe (john Rhys-davies) whom Fernando recognises as the killer of his father.

Fernando joins the armies and eventually promoted as the personal bodygurad of King Chairacha. Queen Sudachan along with her lover and Phillippe plots to assasinate the king, and eventually succeeds and frames fernando. Fernando is rescued by the King’s brother. The movie ends with the Burmese invasion.

This movie, worth avoiding, unfortunately is my ‘Movie of the day’.

Filed under Movies Tagged with , , , ,

The Ninth Gate

April 13, 2013 Leave a comment

ninthGenre: Thriller/Occult| Year: 1999 | Duration: 133 mins | Director: Roman Polanski| Medium: VCD (Eagle Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating:4*/5*

 Fav Dialogue: “Liana : Don’t fuck with me!
Corso: I thought I already did.”

Perennial provocateur Roman Polanski directed this occult movie based on a part of the book El Club Dumas, and in the process made a very clever story. I loved the part of all the books and book fanatics in this film. The film is about this demonical book, The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows, chased by Dean Corso(Johnny Depp), an unscruplous & infamous dealer of rare books, to find the authenticity of the book owned by his client Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) and compare it with two other copies that exists with two other book fanatcis & collectors. The book seems to have been written in collaboration of the Devil himself with instructions on how to invoke satan and enter his realm.

Most of the characters in the film seems to be seduced by the evil, are on an unending search for the devil (which never appears throughout the movie, which is good direction and story telling). Balkan’s quest ended in death for him and Corso crossing the ninth gate, having witnessed the entire process during his detective work for the book, and helped by the succubus girl (Emmanuel Seigner) against all perils (and remains a mystery till the end in the movie). The movie is full of riddles being unfolded, and the last riddle is for the viewers to solve concerning the ninth ritual, which was forged in the book. The succubus girl have sex with Corso amidst the backdrop of flames, thus completing the ninth ritual, and corso returning to the castle to cross over.

Being a bibliophile, I truly enjoyed The Ninth Gate as my ‘Movie of the Day’.

Filed under Movies Tagged with , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →