Cinema Connoisseur's Cave

Somewhere I read that this is Malick's personal offering. It sure reflects in the movie. The movie is certainly very personal. I don't  think Malick made this one to please his viewers or win any sort of awards. In this movie, we have got a director who just want to tell a story (maybe his own childhood's) in his own way by following his own mannerisms.  When the director chooses this way of making a movie, it certainly demands a fair bit of compromise from the viewers' part. If that compromise is done the movie would seem astounding.  Throughout the movie the protagonist constantly questions life and its creator or origin. Be that through the fantastic and mind-boggling visuals of creation of earth, volcanos, dinosaurs or through the dialogues by the characters; and along with that the viewers are compelled to do the same.  The story is about three brothers and their relationship with each other and their parents. The story is quite simple; but the way

Some times you watch a movie and tell yourself "Why I haven't seen this movie before?". This is exactly that kind of a movie. The movie is said to be a bit blurred in historical accuracies. Probably, that is the reason the movie is a bit underrated.  The things that make this movie a winner is its simple yet strong story and immeasurably powerful performances. The movie is about Gerry Conlon and his three friends, the team of whom was later christened as the "Guildford Four". They were falsely accused of bombing and killing. This was followed by multiple arrests, including those of Gerry's Aunt and Father, Giuseppe.  Full credit to Jim Sheridan for handling the plot in an appropriate way by following a linear narrative. It is the credit of the director for showing the unique bond between Gerry and Giuseppe, which I am quite sure can be related by any father-son pair.  About performances; when there is Daniel Day Lewis, as Gerry, there will be im

Sometimes some movies can leave the viewers preoccupied and engrossed. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a movie of that sort of quality. Not for nothing this movie won accolades in various film festivals like Cannes et al.  The story gets unraveled in a slow pace. It is about a nine men who went for an unforeseen long drive in search for a dead body in the middle of the night. The team included the two suspects who volunteered for the search. But the search continued to be longer than they had imagined because most of the location was pretty much similar to one another. The movie is not as much about the murder as it is about this search.  The Director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, did wonders in creating a perfect ambiance for a night in rural sides of Turkey. Each character in the movie had something to say, had something to do in that search. It is very commendable the way different perspectives of different men from different fields are shown. The presence of any women in the movie is few a

Sports movies have always fascinated me; and this one should count as a great one at that. The movie starts off with showing Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) taking over the coveted position of Manager in Leeds United. The movie is basically about Clough's tenure at Leeds. But with various other events shown in the movie, the movie itself becomes a masterly act. The best feature of the movie is that it grows out of 'Just a sports movie' to become much more. It portrays rivalry, bitterness, ambition and certainly ego. Peter Morgan's screenplay from David Peace's novel played a large and significant part in that. And if the screenplay played a part in making this movie such a treat to watch, then certainly the performance of the cast would be the other part.  It may be just me, but I found that Michael Sheen's performance is one of the most underrated performance I have ever seen. I understand that there were many factual errors regarding the story of the movie. But

I watched Ben Affleck's 'The Town' last year, and I was quite moved. Ben Affleck's directorial capabilities had me enthralled. His directorial debut is equally good if not better. The thing which I love about Ben Affleck's direction is how he manages to bring the best out of a city. I mean, after watching 'Gone Baby Gone' and 'The Town', Boston no longer seems an unfamiliar city to me. Such is the impact of Affleck's direction.   The movie is of the crime/thriller genre. But it grew out of 'being just a suspense thriller'.  It handles a very sensitive issue in a complete and justified manner. The movie is about two private investigators, hired to investigate the case of a missing child. As the story progresses, the turn of event slowly occurs in an intriguing and surprising manner. The movie has every element which a thriller should have. But certainly the main feature of the movie is the blend between all those twists and

Sometimes, through the eyes and great direction of some directors, a movie no longer appears to be just a movie. It becomes a piece of life. Babel is exactly a movie of that sort. The way the movie portrayed the different cultures of different countries is excellent. But the thing which deserves more plaudits is how Alejandro Gonzalaz Inarritu showed life thriving in different environment. The movie is, one can say, based or set upon one single event. A misfired (though it was a hit) shot from a winchester rifle in the deserts of Morocco changed the lives of 4 families. Spanned over 4 countries, the way, Inarritu showed the aftermath of that incident, is exceptional. The greatness about the story-telling is that it tells four or five different stories and everyone of which one can relate with, surpassing the cultural barriers. Just like the movie's poster, it's a collage of moments, moments which everyone faces once in thier lives even though they don't want to face that

Thank you Zoya Akhtar for not jumping into the bandwagon to make a mindless movie comprised of gravity-defying actions and over-the-top slapstick comedies just for the sake of making a blockbuster. The movie starts with Kabir (Abhay Deol) getting all set to be married with Natasha (Kalki Koechlin). Then, Kabir, along with his school-buddies Arjun (Hrithik) and Farhan (Imran) set off for a trip (after some hiccups), where they all would participate in adventure sports of choice of each one of them. The trip gradually portrays various aspects of each of the character. Along with the adventure sports, all of which are greatly shown, the humor is very subtle and nice. Performance of the lead actors is engaging. Farhan Akhtar as Imran is the more lovable one, with most of the funny one-liners, than his friends. He manages to pull off an entertaining performance. Abhay Deol, as always, is very good as the leader of the pack. He portrayed his dilemma regarding his marriage in a very conv

First of all, it is indeed David Yates' 'Best'. BUT his best is average in comparison to other directors' great works. It is one of those cases where someone's best is just not good enough. The movie's opening scene was good (For a second, I was like 'Can this be? Can this be the one from David Yates'?'). Well, what did I know? There were undoubtedly some moments. There was humor in some occasions. Examples: A) The thing which qualified this movie as the best amongst yates works ( which is only the 4 HP movies :P) is the way he showed the prince's tale chapter. A lot of the credits has to be given to Alan Rickman. I have only seen him showing that much emotion in 'Rasputin'. But Yates also deserves some credits because he got the great out of his actor and portrayed it well. B) Then the moment when Mcgonagall (Maggie Smith) draws herself between harry and snape and start duelling. C) The moment when snape said 'You have got your mot

The King's Speech The movie deserves all the accolades and plaudits that it's getting right now. The way Tom Hooper have depicted the royal saga, is very enchanting.  The Duke of York, Prince Albert (Colin Firth) stammers whenever he speaks, and the stammering gets worse when he addresses his subjects. After trying every bit of means he tells his wife, the Duchess (Helena Bonham Carter) to stop consulting people for the cure of his stammering. As a last resort Duchess tries a speech therapist, Lionel Logue(Geoffrey Rush), whose methods are quite unorthodox.  The movie shows both the complications, that Duke of York faces with hindrance in his speaking and the family problem involving his elder brother. Absolutely speechless is the performance of Colin Firth. He shows all the aspects of the character with a touch of genius. He portrays both the helplessness and the royal steeliness in the character with equal brilliance. Geoffrey rush literally complements Firth'

Credit goes to P.T Anderson for creating one of the most intense drama and also one of the greatest anti-hero on screen. "There Will be Blood" is one of those movies where you will just love to "hate" the main protagonist. Saying that, I would also like to add that a lot of people won't like it and it will remain a great Cult movie. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a businessman who has a oil-drilling company, and over the years he have become very successful. He has a son, who is actually one of his fellow worker's who have died during drilling. The movie is about, as it's tag line suggests, "where faith meets ambition". Plainview is one of the darkest character in movie history, and the movie portrays that. When he tries to buy a farm which had great prospects regarding oil, he meets Eli Sunday( Paul Dano) , who is a pastor at the local church, and the movie rolls on showing the differences between Eli and Plainview. Daniel Day-Lewis. T

Though the trailer of the movie gave an impression of this movie being just another "Wanna-be-Rocky" movies, but it is, very impressively, not the case.   David O. Russell deserves all the plaudits heaped upon him, for his brilliance in showing success, and failure with equal calibre. Even the boxing matches are shown in a non-conventional technique ( Different from the Rocky, Raging Bull, Ali). Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a low-profile alter weight boxer who struggles and strives for success. In that process, he also feels that he is getting overshadowed by his trainer brother Dicky Eklund(Christian Bale), who himself has been a legendary boxer from Lowell town. It's actually the downfall and rise of two brothers Micky and Dicky. That is the story of the movie and which is actually based on true events. But the thing, which makes this movie different from a simple sport movie, is the emotion and family bondings and the tension between the big family of Micky and D