The Movies I Liked

The Avengers continued to break (it's own) record. It made 103 Million this weekend between Friday to Sunday only in the US. That is 34.3 million a day!!

Cheers
 
Hi...this list is incomplete without the legendary spielberg movie.....THE JURASSIC PARK, and THE LOST WORLD......Watch these movies and, I guarantee u will forget all the others....When dinasours move behind the bushes...u can actually feel chill in ur spine....simply awesome....
 
Albert Nobbs (2011) - IMDb

Good movie, set in early 20th century Ireland. It has Glenn Close in an excellent role as a woman who dresses as a man to get a job and how he/she lives her life. When she meets a new roommate, her life changes and the path it takes her.

For the serious buffs. Great acting by the lead roles, excellent makeup.
 
Lot of old movies of late. I will just try to list some off the top of my head. A long post with short opinions......

The Artist (2011)

Though Hugo pays homage to the same silent movies as The Artist, as a movie, I like The Artist better. While the opening scene of Hugo made me wish I had bought the 3D BR, it did not impress me like The Artist did. Perhaps, if I had known who George Mellies was before seeing the film, I might have appreciated Hugo a bit more. Even then, things would have turned in favor of The Artist due to Uggie the Dog, which is a better performer than the dogs in Hugo ;). For instance, the 'sound' scene where every object and person makes sound other than George Valentin and a few other scenes stand out for me (in The Artist). The plot of The Artist reminded me of Singin' in the Rain towards at the end though.

Elite Squad 1 (2007) and Elite Squad 2 (2010)

About a special police force called BOPE and the drugs and corruption in Brazil. I may be the odd one out, but I liked the first a little better than the second. The second has a better budget, has a larger and powerful enemy and equally good, but the first one felt more personal to me, may be a bit more realistic.

An interesting trivia about the first film

This film was already a best-seller almost three months before its official release. Illegal copies of what the director called the "3rd cut" flooded the streets of all major capitals in Brazil, for the equivalent of five dollars a piece. Criminal investigation revealed that the original DVD was robbed in the Company Drei Marc, which does the subtitles. According to estimates at least three million people watched the bootleg version, which is six hundred thousand more than it managed during its theatrical run.

Der Untergang (2004)

Excellent performance by Bruno Ganz as Hitler. For the first time, Hitler on screen was not a one dimensional monster. He was a normal human being one moment (kind and concerned about people in private), but would erupt the next (saying German people brought it on themselves and should sacrifice their lives), fall into a delusion of victory one moment and accept the reality the next.

Das Boot (1981)

From one German WWII film to another. I had postponed seeing Das Boot for so many years now as the idea of a story about a German U-boat with a running time of over 200 mins was not intriguing. I've watched the first 5-10 mins quite a few times before settling on another film. But, this time, with sufficient breaks, I managed to sit through this wonderful film. Usually, longer films make me wish they were shorter. But, from my experience with the Director's Cut of 'Das Boot', I am already thinking about ordering the even longer and complete 282 minute 1985 Mini-series version. I liked it that much!

Network (1976)

Like Das Boot, I had no interest in a movie about TV Network! But, this movie is different. I usually prefer to watch three minutes of rain drops falling than hear pages of dialogues, but as an exception, I like this film because of it's dialogues - be it the 'Corporate Cosmology' preaching or the parting one between Max and Diana. 35 years after it's release, I can still draw a parallel between the breaking news chasing TV Networks to UBS.

Metropolis (1927)

Watched the 2010 restored 145 minute version. The newly found footage footage appears with black bars and a much poorer quality compared to the rest of the movie. While in some places, the lost scenes simply add continuity or scenes that do not matter, there are certain missing pieces that adds to the understanding of the story line. Though I've not watched the 2002 restoration or the Moroder version, I am doubtful they will be as complete as this one. I admired it in parts considering when it was made, but overall it fell a little short of what I expected.

Also liked : On the Waterfront (1954), Three Colors: Blue (1993)


Harold Lloyd (2 movies, 3 in queue)

I honestly did not know who Harold Lloyd was until I saw Safety Last! (1923) because it kept turning up in iCheckMovies lists. Girl Shy (1924) has better story and moments than Safety Last.

In the silent movie era, Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character can draw both a burst of laughter and tears out of you within the same movie. Among others, Buster Keaton was great with physical comedy and deadpan expressions. I think Harold Lloyd is on a similar level with his films - funny with risky stunts, though much less slapstick. Most of his physical humor essentially goes with the story line and does not fall into 'slapstick for the sake of it' humor.

Gonna watch "The Kid Brother", "Speedy" and "The Freshman" later on.

Ernst Lubitsch (3 movies)

I've watched Trouble in Paradise (1932) sometime back and liked it for being different than the rest.

I had watched the Mel Brooks' version of "To be and Not to be", but not the original. Only recently did I get a chance to catch the original version of To be or Not to be (1942). I like the original better. It is a comedy, but serious when it needs to. In the same manner, "The Shop around the corner" is better than it's inspired counterpart "You've got mail". The story lines are more streamlined and the supporting characters are well fleshed out in both the originals.

Did not like

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

I "get" the message such films convey (Post WWII, Cold War - we need to stop arms race!). But, it's hard to picture an alien who looks like humans - right down to internal organs (based on conversation between doctors), advanced enough to learn English through 'radio transmission' (why not French, Japanese, German, Tamil, Hindi etc.,?), comes in an impenetrable space ship hand in hand with a robot that can destroy planets (why do they always land in US? One of the reasons I like District 9 is because aliens land in South Africa :rolleyes:)...only to get shot by a bullet? Why? Won't inter-galactic agents expect hostile fire from things far advanced than... bullets?

I am ok with the 1950's setting, the special effects (though Fritz Lang did a better job in imagining 'Metropolis' years earlier), but I could not connect with the film at all. On the other hand, I liked Invasion of Body Snatchers (1956) better than this, so it's not the 1950's or the effects.

Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi's performance is good (or at least his staring eyes highlighted by the lighting), but the movie lags behind Frankenstein, another monster movie which came out in the same year. It is not even half as good as Nosferatu which came out 9 years earlier and based on the same story. Murnau's was a scary monster, this one is a joke. For instance, if I was Dracula, I'd have killed that Prof Van Helsing for his annoying accent right away than let him find me!

The Thin Man (1934)

May be I have seen too much of crime solving dramas of late. It was not on the expected lines, but at least it's a decent, watchable movie compared to Dracula + it has Myrna Loy.
 
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To all those who are critical of The Avengers - it made 300 Million in just 9 days, overtaking even Avatar as the highest grosser of all times!!

Cheers

Oh I never liked avatar alot.. was just an average film except fort he graphix..... aside from good detail in background and concept principle .. the plot was mundane. Avengers is the first of the superheroes team play movie.. reminded me of my childhood summers where each one would be stuck to comics and EOD imagine, enact & reenact those amazing plots... :) .NOw am just eagerly waiting for justice League, Wonder woman Va va voom & Hawk girl. :D :rolleyes::yahoo: (Of course.. this has to be released because there has to be a Balance in the force...)

but thats just me.... :rolleyes:

P.S: Shocking that there s no spiderman a he was the face of the Avengers. was surprised when my friend reminded me..*Yeah it did slip my mind too* . Prolly because we saw too much of him and are gona see more of him very soon :)
 
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P.S: Shocking that there s no spiderman a he was the face of the Avengers. was surprised when my friend reminded me..*Yeah it did slip my mind too* . Prolly because we saw too much of him and are gona see more of him very soon :)

loki would have blown holes in the web he would have made. and he barely could stop a train in the movies he did with all those web thingies.. how could he would have stopped the big dragon ?? lol kiddin man.

you got it right. we have seen too much of spiderman probably would have got bored watch him do the same tricks again and his movie is just around the corner.
 
P.S: Shocking that there s no spiderman a he was the face of the Avengers. was surprised when my friend reminded me..*Yeah it did slip my mind too* . Prolly because we saw too much of him and are gona see more of him very soon :)

AFAIK Spiderman was not part of the Avengers atleast the more popular original series. They released the Spiderman version much later is what I see in the wiki of Avengers.

Source: Avengers (comics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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Storyline

In Canton, Mississippi, 10-year-old Tonya Hailey is viciously brutalized by two white racist rednecks -- James Louis "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Almost immediately after Tonya is found and rushed to a hospital, Pete and Billy Ray are found at a roadside bar, where they had been bragging about what they did to Tonya. Tonya's understandably distraught and enraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, remembers a case from a year ago, when four white men raped an African-American girl in a nearby town, and got acquitted. Carl is determined to not let that happen in this case. While deputy Dwayne Powell Looney is escorting Pete and Billy Ray up a flight of stairs to a court room, Carl emerges from the building's basement with an assault rifle, and he kills Pete and Billy Ray for what they did to Tonya. Carl is later arrested at his house by African-American sheriff Ozzie Walls.

A Time to Kill (1996) - IMDb

V
 
Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol [2011]

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - IMDb


A good Action/Drama movie. Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant(if any one has seen them), made his live-action debut and was just awesome here. The Cinematography was really well done, the Action sequences are good. Nice Sound mixing, and two Indian cities feature in the film. Mumbai and Bangalore. But unfortunately none of the main crew of the film including Tom Cruise and Anil Kapoor had shooting on location here in India. It's only their stunt Doubles. Bangalore streets recreated in Vancouver completely, which could be easily identified;). On the whole wroth a watch on your HT setup.


Cheers.
 
Watched Coriolanus starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, and Ralph Fiennes as Director.

My rating ***/5

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A bit diificult to digest as the dialogues are written and adapted from a play by Shakespeare. The movie is a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's play Coriolanus. But the acting is spot on and nevertheless the ending is very interesting. But not recommended for casual fun viewing.
 
Intouchables (2011)

Going through it's IMDB page - Based on a true story, quadiplegic, rich man, caretaker, IMDB ranking of 87 in the Top 250 (was #96 when I watched it) - somehow the mix did not seem right. At the outset, I expected a tearjerker, a story of friendship, breaking of class inequality and then... the opening scene proved me wrong. It was a joy ride all along except in some places. If it has not been re-made already in bollywood/kollywood/Tollywood, someone will ... very soon and they will kill it! Unlike a few films in the Top 250, which needs you to 'figure out' or make you think, this film takes an easy, accessible approach. It does not do anything extra-ordinary, but re-packages what you expect in an easy to digest manner. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I do not agree with it's rating or Top 250 ranking, but then we all have our opinions.

Badlands (1973)

This is Terrence Malick's first film and my first film of his. I also happened to watch Bonnie and Clyde (1967). B&C did not impress me at all. The common elements being both are based on real life incidents and involves running away from the law. The difference for me was the emotional investment I made in the movie, which was tiny for B&C and plenty for Kit & Holly.

If you are looking for any shock value from the killing spree, better to skip this film because you might find it boring. Instead of portraying the serial killer as a glorious over the top hero or a scary villain (with awful or awesome background score as the case may be), the movie depicts him in a more realistic way. They are just 'normal' people, just cold, calm, detached, unperturbed and empty when it comes to the question of morality. I thought it was more realistic than most movies. The photography was excellent as backgrounds often formed a stark contrast to what the characters were going through.

All About My Mother (1999)

Like Malick, got introduced to Pedro Almodvar with this movie. I liked the film, but I don't think I can put my thoughts on it into words. Let's just say - an interesting and enjoyable movie with different kind of characters which would have become taboo in the hands of other directors. I hope his other movies are similar.

Gran Torino (2008)

The first half was very easy going and had me laughing many times. Untrained actors are just about ok and made sure Clint's performance stood out well above the rest.

Andrei Rublev (1966)

I have been trying to finish up Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr for long. But it never took off - firstly due to the power issues and then, mood issues.

I finished watching Ivan's Childhood (1962) long back. Within 95 mins, Tarkovsky had me intrigued and wanting for more. War was never shown in all brutal detail, yet we live through it along with the characters. Naturally, I had very high expectations going into this movie and at the end of 205 mins, I have a little mixed feeling. Not sure, but I probably need to get the RusCiCo version for it's sharper image or wait for a BR release of Criterion.

Coming to the movie itself, I found myself a little startled in the beginning. I was expecting a movie about a painter, but it took time to realize that it was more about the dark times he lived in and how his life and views change through times - the effect of the external on the internal world. I was trying to match my expectations and where the movie was going for a bit too long; so I ended up being completely lost in the film for a few moments and feeling a bit withdrawn at other times. The last one hour had me hooked though. I probably need to watch it again some weekend with a new 'eye' knowing the perspective this time. I might not like it any better than this time, however I am curious to see how it works out! I will try to watch the rest of his films first though!

PS: Interestingly in IMDB, I notice that Male and Female votes are neck to neck (close to 8.0 in rating with a difference in 0.3-0.4) in the demographic 18-45. But, there's a sharp 3.0 difference with women below 18 and above 45.
 
Just returned from watching MIB 3 in 3D.

Toomy Lee Jones really looks old, though he has not lost his charm. Josh Brolin as the Junior Agent K, mimics Tommy Lee Jones impeccably. I am not sure whether they have used Tommy's voice for Josh, but the way he speaks is identical.

Some of special effects is stunning. A ten second scene where Will Smith jumps off a building to travel in time took 2 years to build, I believe. The fight atop Apollo 11 just before it was to take off also was superb.

A movie worth watching if you like fantasies and SciFi.

Cheers
 

This is my favourite of the couple-goes-on-a-killing-spree genre. As you said, the ease and ordinariness of the way they approach the kill is what chills. And both of them look and act so normal. They could be anybody. They could be the fun couple we meet on the road while on a trip *shudder*


Almodovar is awesome! My first Almodovar movie was "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" which is the most un-Almodovar movie he's made. My next one was this movie (All About My Mother) and after that I couldn't get enough of Almodovar!
 
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