Cinema Connoisseur's Cave

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...

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...