You've Got Mail

This is an absolute crap pomantic comedy. Probably not comparable to other movies I have reviewed in this blog. But still this movie moved me. And here I am.

The storyline is almost predictable. Yet its the execution which is near flawless. Meg Ryan is sweet, innocent and jolly yet has a depth of character.The chemistry between Hanks and Meg is enviable. And the wit and wisdom that one garners from this movie is almost unparalleled.


"Remember life is a dream "
"There will be a tomorrow; clear the cobwebs of sorrow :)"

"People always tell you, change is a good thing, but all they want to say is that something you didnt want to happen has happened"

And lots more..

This one tops my list

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!"

Overall 6.5/10

Stolen Kisses (French)

When I first watched this movie along with a friend, we both concluded that this movie was trash and overhyped. Now, after some thought I realize that it was a good movie..much better than many others..Its a different kind of film(or a normal Truffaut film) which is not pure entertainment..it has to be analyzed to understand the significance.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it is incoherent. you cant really understand the significance of every scene. The movie doesnt really go anywhere, it just meanders about the same region. But I guess that is what the movie wants to portray. The youth is the stage of life, when we are incoherent. Not very pragmatic. Life doesnt really have a direction. Quite like the protagonist, there is little experience in us that can lead us to a job. And people do not regard very highly of us. Even on the personal front, we are not 'settled' and often drawn to glamor.

In my view, the film portrays the essence of youth.

There are two scenes in this movie which I absolutely love. One where the protagonist's girlfriend tries to guess his new profession. Two when they are eating breakfast and the he puts a can opener like a ring on her finger.

Watch the movie at your discretion. You may enjoy it.

Overall 7/10
Direction 8/10

A walk to remember

"Love is like the wind.... I cant see it but I can feel it"
"There's more to attraction than meets the eye"
""Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful."
""Find out who you are, and do it on purpose."

And one more which probably matches the theme of this movie but is from Titanic...
" Love can touch just one time, but last for a lifetime"

Okay I wont keep on compiling a list of quotations... but this movie leaves me speechless....I have seen few romantic movies but I was floored by this one...The soundtrack is awesome so is the acting by the lead characters Mandy Moore and Shane West...

Its like one of my friends commented.. "after watching this movie you feel like crying but this movie teaches you not to" .. Love is powerful; it can change somebody "heading on the wrong path" to somersault. And it is selfless and not jealous.....The film is so natural...You will feel the way the lead characters do....

This movie has elements of teen comedy, great dialogues, beautiful locales and shots and above all an inspiring message....Dunno why it doesnt have good ratings. Its a movie of faith...This is definitely "A FILM TO REMEMBER"

Overall 8/10
Music 8/10

btw: Mandy Moore looks cute in this movie :) The movie is worth a watch for her even if you dont appreciate romantics....

Chocolat

If you are a diabetes patient you should not watch this movie... :P luscious chocolate being made by a pretty woman..This has all the elements of a good feel good movie.. Its out and out comedy with elements of romance and drama...Its one of the most enthralling movies I have probably ever seen...

The film was storytelling at its best..and ofcourse strong performances...the characters were all so believable!!!!!! but I think it delivers a strong message through the speech of the priest.... and it is one of the reasons I am in love with this film :"we can't go 'round measuring our goodness by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist and who we exclude... we've go to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include."

How true!!! most of us do that....and for my part I too did that...everybody is good in his/her own eyes....its only when we expand our horizons that we become great...often we are told :"forgive the sinner"..who are we to decide if we are sinner????? How do we decide who is the sinner? the one who is in the minority!!!! and cant the minority be right???? this film teaches just that....continuing on the "A Wednesday theme, any attempt to overthrow a rule is termed a rebellion, they are seen are traitors and insane fanatics.. But often they are right....mostly they are brutally suppressed (as in the Orwell's 1984) or sometimes they win (as in Star Wars)...But yes the bottomline is even a minority can be right.. we are nobody to judge others..

I have drifted a lot from the movie.. go and enjoy it.. :)

Overall 7.5/10

Leaving Las Vegas

Some films haunt you for life... This is one of them... A tragic romantic film that offers no solace..

Love stories are cliche...so is this...to the barebones..its an unexplainable relation between a drunk and a hooker and yes both know it....The drunk has only one aim in life- to drink himself to death..the hooker is beautiful..she does not respect the job she does yet she knows she is one of the best in her business...But..she is tired of being single...and then she meets this man..who respects her for what she is...thinks she is her angel..

The acting is superb..earning Oscar for Cage and nomination for Shue...Its a difficult film yet if you can delve into it..you would be dissolved in their lives...Sera(Shue) is pained by the way Ben(Cage) was destroying himself..yet never complained...she complied with his bouts...and tried to make his life as easy as possible...Las Vegas is the land of phoney lights and deceit..yet it was in Las Vegas that the unconditional love developed...

its difficult to write a review for this movie..see it to understand the depths..

"see how hard you make me angel?"

Acting 8/10
Overall 7.5/10

Charade

I checked the name of the director at the end to see if it wasnt some remnant of Hitchcock...I couldnt guess it till the end...The suspence is superb...but the strong point for the movie is its presentation....totally ingenuous....

This movie figures an aged Cary and aging Audrey( she still charms :)) yet it mesmerizes..the romantic Paris and the camera movements....the angles are mastercrafts...

and yes the script....there are scores of quotable lines in this movie..it begins with something like this

Cary met her
Audrey :I already know an awful lot of people and until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else.
Cary: Well, if anyone goes on the critical list, let me know!!!!!!!

Dont waste time reading this silly blog..go and watch this movie..

Overall 8/10
Direction 8.5/10

PS: There is a music in this film which seems to have inspired the background score in the Hindi movie 'Gumnam'

Jaane Tu Ya Jane naa (Hindi)

Disclaimer: I am sorry I wrote this review here. This film is nowhere near the ones that have been listed before. I had been hearing a lot about this film. So sat down to spend 2 hours and wrote down what I felt. This will be deleted in a few days when this will be forgotten.

Another Bollywood box office smash hit. You may not agree with me on this...but this film may have all the class(Bollywood standards) but is still stale.....The story is all the same yaar....The presentation is different though....I must say.

There are fresh new faces and the songs infuse life in the film....the actors put in their best....though the female protagonist, Genelia D'Souza wasnt up to the mark and hero was imitating Amir khan. Her acting did not seem natural...However, who needs acting in a time pass romantic movie if the heroine is cute? [:P]

All cons apart, this is a lovable romantic comedy...ideal for those watching in a group...and for those lonely people who are still trying to decide whether to blurt out the feelings of their heart... [:)]

Overall 6/10

It happened one night

Well, it didnt happen in a night...spread over 3 nights..but yes the declaration of love came one night.... [:)]

This is a sweet Romantic comedy....10 minutes into the movie, I bet you can predict the whole story line....but wait....you can do that you have seen numerous movies that have copied the theme from this...you wasted your time watching the dumb imitations..watch this one out...

The plot is like a rich girl..runs away from her father in anonymity...but a newspaperman caught up with her, treating her like a story material at first..but later falls in love with her....the ending is sweet ..watch it out yourself...I got a whizz of Roman Holiday and a bunch of other famous movies....yet this is one worth spending 2 hours on..5 Oscar...whoa!!!!!!

Overall 8/10

Sabrina

La Vie En Rose : See the world through a rose colored glass...You cant see the world though any other glass when Audrey Hepburn sizzles as a trained cook.. :P . But why the hell does she always end up with older men, I dont really understand(see My Fair Lady, Love in the Aftenoon etc )

This is a sweet romantic movie. Humphrey Bogart with his cliche Nester like appearance and Audrey as sweet n cute as in Roman Holiday...William Holden (Sunset Blvd fame) puts in a fine comic performance and is completely belivable as the easy-going 'playboy'. But Audrey as a commonplace chauffer's girl is not at all comprehendible. Its good that she quickly switches gears to be the elegant lady that she suits better. Nevertheless, the plot of the movie is a bit stale. Same rich guy falls for beautiful poor girl stuff. But with some comic reliefs the well etched out characters, its an enjoyable romantic comedy.

There are some wonderful dialogues in this movie which will stay me forever like "La vie En Rose " and "No Poor is ever called democratic for marrying the rich" ..

And that song really haunts.. "Isnt it romantic...."

Rating 7/10

My Fair Lady

Audrey..Audrey...Audrey....she sizzles..she enthralls..she carries herself with grace...who other than her could have been "My Fair Lady".. [:)]

It's a witty musical with dialogs you will remember forever..The movie has simple plot. 'enry 'iggins [:P] claims he could transform a 'lowly ' flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a high society phony(reminds me of Breakfast in Tiffany's). Higgins is a misanthrope who treats everybody with contempt...and is particularly severe on women...("Why cant a woman be more like a man?")...But he feels: "l'm an ordinary man Who desires nothing more Than just an ordinary chance to live exactly as he likes And do precisely what he wants......But let a woman in your life And your serenity is through She'll redecorate your home From the cellar to the dome.....then go on to the enthralling fun of overhauling you!"

Its a long film but you not even think of dozing off...The antics will keep you on your feet(or stomach [;)])..THe film has everything you want in a romantic comedy(though Shaw's original play Pygmalion on which this movie is based had a strict disclaimer on romance)...hearty laughs...touching sentiments-the misogynist Higgins finally realizes that however might he belittle Eliza, he misses her absence....

Despite being a big Audrey fan, I would say that she did not fit the common flower girl at all...And infact her dialogs had to be dubbed too..[:(] but then who cares...I care only for her screen presence and acting with the expression of eyes....Dont you?

Overall 7.5/10

The Heiress

Is it always right to be true? What if the truth is bitter? Is it right to be pratical? Is the exterior which is apparently visible the all-encompassing truth?

Catherine is a lady of good heart. But she is not 'pretty'. According to her father, she has no qualities. He despises her and always compares her with her mother rendering her miserable. More importantly he communicates his views to everybody..

If you have seen Taare Zameen Par (the review is on my blog), you would know the theme...a child's life becomes miserable when he/she grows in somebody's shadow...In "The Heiress", it is her mother...

But everybody in the world has some qualities and even the mildest of hearts could be tough from inside.....only tough situations are required to incite it. If a soft heart turns tough, it is more rigid than the cruelest ones...

The climax where Catherine shows how tough she can be is shocking....she herself says "I have been taught to be cruel by masters"

Its a wonderful film that can be seen time and again..and all those who have been cheated in love, you must see this.. [:)]

This film had won 4 oscars


Overall 8/10

Solaris (Russian)

Tarkovsky's masterpiece leaves u stunned, leaves u pondering on love, truth and human instincts....It is difficult to express in words the feeling one gets after watching this movie.

The film is in the guise of a science fiction-dont let that put you off....this is film questions our existence as humans...wot does it mean to be human???? I will remember a few dialogues of the movie forever- to a reference of an action being inhuman, it is said...."we all are human in our own ways"....."I am becoming human......I am in love" ....wot is love? when Hari, the protagonist's(Kris) 'wife' asks "Did you ever think of me?", Kris replies..."Only when I was sad".....we take for granted that truth is what we can verify, possibly with our own eyes.....the film is based in a planet where the dreams materialize.....everyone can see them and feel them......is that the truth??????

For the first time, after watching the movie I had a feeling that we are too few on earth....just a handful of a billion concentrated on a speck in a fathomless universe.....

If you are a movie buff and have not watched this movie, u have missed something very valuable....

Overall 9/10

Baby Face

Once you see this film, you have lesser chances of being bitched by a bitch. Barbara Stanwyck delivers a stunning role that perhaps is the epitome of any bitch.

A hapless girl, who was forced into bed with the 'night shift' laborers by her own father since the age of 14 is taught the philosophy of Nietsze by a philosopher and well-wisher-"exploit yourself to achieve what you want"..."Face life as u find it-defiantly and unafraid. Crush out all sentiment". She

She travels to New York and now uses men to get what she wants. The cold blooded steel looks freeze any man. She sleeps her way to the top of a bank. She doesnt know what love is-yet shotputs men into a fathomless ocean of infatuation. She gets what she wants and rises from rags to riches. Nevertheless, however hard you might be, human emotions show up and probably even the coldest hearts are moved by the dove of love.....she realizes it at the end.

Recommended for the brilliant acting.

Rating 7/10

Waterloo Bridge(1931)

This movie was banned when it was released. Probably way ahead of time... but the theme is a cliche one....a prostitute who has a heart of gold.....

Nevertheless, the movie is very well executed and has some stellar acting. If you lay hands on the Forbidden Hollywood collection, watch this movie.

Set during the first world war, this movie is about an unfortunate 'soldier' woman who falls in love with a baby faced American private. Though she is in love with him, she considers herself too lowly for him and runs away. When at the end, the private comes to know about the real her, he is even more impressed by her golden virtues. However fate had different plans and the film has a tragic ending.

Considering the time when the film was released, this was really a futuristic film.

Overall 6.5/10