The Warrior's Way

The warrior's way is the first movie directed by Sngmoo Lee. It is an action movie that stands out due to its sword fight, ninjas, guns, cowboys, a baby, a beautiful girl, and the greatest swordsman in the world, ever. The right combination for an action movie.

There is a lot of action and violence in the movie, but they are all depicted as graphic/comic and therefore watachable (unlike Tropic Thunder). The story and the characters are tightly integrated which makes this movie a pleasure to watch. If you fancy sword fights and ninjas I am sure you will feel at home and enjoy the movie right from the first scene.

The storyline is simple, our warrior hesitates to kill a baby... moves to west for a new start...things get out of hand there which makes him use his sword to fight...this leds his enemies right to his doorstep...an epic battle ensues...

The Sunset Limited

The Sunset Limited (2011), is a movie that was aired in HBO. The movie is based on Cormac McCarthy's play. The movie has just two characters, one of them is 'White' the other 'Black'. Symbolic of morality/law being either white or black.

'White', played by 'Tommy Lee Jones', is a man who just tried committing suicide and 'Black', played by 'Samuel L. Jackson', is the man who saves him.

Both of them are at Black's apartment and are having a conversation. The whole movie is shot at Black's apartment with both of them deeply engaged in a conversation. Black is trying to reason with White with the assistance of Bible about the value of life and White is not willing to accept anything. White has his own reasons to believe that life is not worth living.

The movie requires your full attention and the dialogues are thought provoking. Do not expect action, suspense, or thriller out of this. This is pure drama and is a good one at that.

The pursuit of happyness

You dream big, you want to succeed, but then everything else seems to be conspiring against you, your investment has turned dud, your family life is at a cross road for some time now, you have bills piling up everywhere and wait.....you have got a 5-year-old son too......won't you give up?


................No....never.....because the "you" here is Chris Gardner enacted superbly on screen by Will Smith and his real life son (Jaden Smith) enacts the role of Gardner's son. This is his (Gardner's) real life story.


The movie shows the early part of Gardner's life as a medical equipment salesman
when he was struggling to make both ends meet, and could not even afford a home at one point and ends at the juncture where he gets his first break.


In the end, which is also the climax, both Deekay and Will Smith were trying hard to control their emotions ;-).


So, if you ever feel low on motivation and depressed about things not going your way, this is the movie to watch.


The script is by Steven Conrad and director is Gabrielle Muccino and Will Smith also won an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

Arapatta Kettiya Gramathil

A light which passes through a prism breaks into 7 colors, this is a fact known by all, similarly movies made by masters have this subtle ability of transferring a viewer's mind into prism and bathing the senses in myriad of emotions. Needless to say, Arapatta Kettiya Gramathil (In the village which wears Warriors's belt), Padmarajan sir has once again taken the viewer on a ride through the fickle world of human emotions and sensitivity.


Malayali's liking to 'vallum adi' is well known and "When a man drinks, his inhibition stops and exhibition starts" is the premise from where the movie begins and leads to a brothel, where the newest entrant is unwilling and causing trouble to brothel owner. Throw in Hindu and Muslim mobs in the mix and the chaos is complete. Not to forget a budding romance (although not shown, it is there)............Welcome to Arapatta Kettiya Gramathil.....starring Mammokka, Nadimudi Venu, and Ashokan as the protagonists......

15 Park Avenue

Mithi (Konkona Sen Sharma) looks into the saffron-clad sham (Evening) whence the whole scene transforms into a classroom of Physics where Anjali (Shabana Azmi), Mithi’s elder sister lectures on the laws of Quantum Mechanics.

Einstein’s theory of Relativity tells us that an atom can exist at two different locations at the same time. 

What is then reality? Is it a perception of the human mind?
What right do we have on denying a schizophrenic's illusion to be real? 

Aparna Sen takes us beyond just the lives of schizophrenic Mithi; she takes us to the theories of Quantum Mechanics and psychology that drill into the fictional world of reality. The fictional world of 15 Park Avenue.

After a traumatic gang rape and getting dumped by her boyfriend Jojo (Rahul Bose), Mithi’s reality is lapsed into the rambling delusions of a happy family and children that await her at her home in 15 Park Avenue. Her quest on finding that unreal reality of her home is what the movie portrays. It touches on the lives of those individuals close to Mithi and how they affect her eccentricity and presence of mind. From Jojo’s comeback to Anjali’s failure in understanding her academic concepts that in actual define her sister’s mental stability to that real illusory of 15 Park Avenue, this movie might not be your usual Hindi potboiler, but certainly will make you look at schizophrenic patients in a different light.

Watch this movie on a tranquil Sunday if you haven’t because it’s a journey into the blissful nothingness of reality. Into the silence of an illusion that screams an unbelievable muteness.  

Mousehunt

Mousehunt (1997), is a comedy with a tail. Directed by Gore Verbinski, a person who is well known for his movies such as The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribbean series.

The storyline is pretty simple, but the events in itself makes you laugh. The story begins with two brothers inheriting a string factory from their deceased father. The factory is an antique compared to the modern factories. The factory is not making any profits, and is facing difficulty paying its own workers. The only other possession that their father leaves them with, is a half filled cigar box, a ceramic egg, a lucky string, oh, and an old house, where our main character the mouse is. Watch the movie to see the plot unfold instead of me spilling out all the beans and taking away the pleasure of you viewing it and discovering your funny side.

I had seen a part of this movie long long time ago, actually the ending. The only thing I remembered was laughing due to the actions of the mouse who seems to be actually very smart. Browsing through IMDB, I stumbled across this movie, and I knew it I had to watch it. Well, I laughed a lot and I had a good feeling towards the end of the movie. Have to say kids and those young at heart will love it.

Fair Game 2010

Fair Game, is a movie based on true events. It is described as a biography, drama, and thriller at IMDB. It is not one of those loosely based or loosely inspired stuffs we normally see in the movie. The movie shows actual true events.

The theme of the movie is the events leading to the Iraq War, and the movie is shown from the view point of the two leading actors, Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, portrayed as husband and wife.

Naomi Watts portrays the actual CIA operative Valerie Plame whose identity was leaked by the White House when her husband wrote an article in the New York Times questioning the authenticity of the president George Bush's address to the public on Iraq possessing nuclear material.

The movie depicts the fight of one family against the White House for the truth, the internal tension that arises within the family, how their social life gets affected, and how they emerge from all this.

The movie is worth watching, is an understatement.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? directed by Joel Coen. IMDb describes it as a comedy, adventure, and crime. It has lot of twists and turns and with Coen brothers one can expect a nontraditional ending.

The movie unfolds as a melody with lots of country music and surprises at every turn. The movie will bring smile on your face, the song will lighten your heart and soul...

The movie is inspired from Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", it is set in South America and it is 1930's. A time when the electricity is still catching up, radio is the sensation... our heroes George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson are escaped convicts on the search for a hidden treasure.

Here is how the movie unfolds... the movie opens with prisoners singing and breaking rocks, after a while we see our three hero escaping through the farm. The movie shows their escape and their adventures and misadventures.. relentlessly pursued by a lawman. On their way they meet a man (Tommy Johnson) who sold his soul to the devil so that he can play guitar like nobody else.. they keep bumping into all sorts of characters... the movie is full of funny events, surprises, adventure, friendship, love, lies, and songs.. oh by the way our heroes get popular for signing a song that becomes a hit... and fortunately/unfortunately they are unaware of their own popularity... until much later into the movie.

If you are aware of Coen brothers you are assured it is worth a watch. Don't know how they can keep churning great movies like this.

The ending is really surprising, but the clues are in plain sight throughout the movie ;)

S1m0ne

'S1mOne', IMDb describes it as a comedy, drama, romance. They forgot it is a thriller for most of the part.

The story goes on like this..

.. an actress walks out on our director (Al Pacino). No other actress is willing to work with him. This is the last chance he has with his production company. Facing this ultimatum.. he meets a mad man who lost his eye creating a computer program that can bring characters to life on screen. Left with no choice, our director creates a virtual actress Simone, promising that he will erase her once the movie is done. To his surprise she seems indistinguishable from real characters in the movie. The movie breaks records and Simone becomes international sensation. What follows will leave you at the edge of your seat.

The fight between our director and Simone ensues.. it becomes difficult for our director to kill of Simone as she is the most popular person in the world. Now Simone has to appear on TV shows, international concerts, and just about everything else.. it is a comedy to see how our director struggles to make this all possible.

This is a great movie and I was so excited to see the ending... it didn't disappoint and was brilliant..

The writer and director of this movie is Andrew Niccol a genius who has also made Gattaca (1997), The Truman Show (1998), The Terminal (2004), and Lord of War (2005) all of them top notch.

The Nanny Diaries

Most of us have, at least, at some point in our life (childhood), been taken care of by a nanny. If not, at least we are aware that such selfless people do exist.

In this world, where everyone seems to be busy and a culture of nuclear family spreading like wildfire, there seems to be more and more families where a child is brought up by a nanny.

The nanny, we know, are generally old, graceful, tender, and caring. Always smiling and she sees nothing but the welfare of the child in her care.

"The Nanny Diaries", is a movie that goes along these lines. Though the nanny in this move is Scarlett Johansson ;p

She is a graduate student with an ambition for majoring in anthropology, but her mother wants her to enter the finance industry. Confused and aimless, fate makes her a nanny. As we will all agree, bringing up a child... is not a child's play ;) So we have some funny movements, some hard and unbearable time.. an encounter with a romeo in the lift, some realizations, some soul searching... and overall a good lighthearted comedy.

Exam

Exam, the most dreaded word around, be it the annual exams in school or the semester exams in the university it is the same feeling generally. Though I know a few who actually look forward to it.. so that they can enjoy the holidays ;)

The movie, Exam, is a thriller, the general description would be - eight people after going through rigorous screening, appear to the exam for a key position in the biggest pharmaceutical cooperation of the world.

One can guess, the exam will not be a piece of cake. The very nature of the exam, the characters, the setting.. creates tension.. and the movie progresses... as I said it is a thriller so you will have to go through the whole thing to understand what is the reason for what goes on.

I enjoyed the movie. Though I cannot vouch for all of you out there.. and say that you will enjoy it.. all I would add is, if you are in a mood for a thriller.. you should watch "Exam".

Ishqiya

Chutium Sulphate. Of all the chemistry in the world, Babban Hussain (Arshad Warsi) sure didn’t expect that for an acknowledgment on his looks.

A movie that’s Bollywood in every tasty sense. Sizzling Music. Pungent Drama. Spicy Love. Sour Betrayal. Salty Sex. Bitter Action.

 

Uncle Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and his nephew Babban Hussain are two nicks running away after double-crossing their bully, Mushtaaq (Rajesh Sharma). They head to a friends’ place for refuge but instead are welcomed by his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan), the lusty-eyed enchantress. Desi tamancha. Sutli bomb.

What follows is a bewitching adventure into guns, trickery and expense amidst a tangled tale of Ishq (Love).

Schemed in a rustic village where chutthad dhone se pehle tamanche chalana sikhate hain this movie has a bucolic start and is driven by extremely uncomfortable characters that move a cartwheeling suspense into crisp humor every 20min into the film. Ishqiya is a movie to be reckoned for its astounding music, its impulsive cast and unpredictable story. I call it the desi noir.

If you are fed up of the daily chaas after your meal, try this spicy jaljeera for a change!

The Mexican

Jerry Welbach (Brad Pitt) a bagman (a person designated to collect money in a protection racket) is given two ultimatums:

• The first is from his boss to travel to Mexico and collect a pistol known as "The Mexican"...
• The second is from his girlfriend Samantha (Julia Roberts) to end his association with the mob.

Jerry decides to head south of the border. Collecting the pistol turns out to be the easy part, but getting it back to his boss turns out to be a very difficult matter indeed, which forms most part of the movie. To spice things up, the pistol has a curse on it...

Description: A Mexican gunsmith, a Mexican noble man, the gunsmith’s daughter, a loyal but intelligent dog, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, a hit man, a love story, comedy, gun fight, action, and fun.. with lots of Mexican music........"The Mexican"

I loved it from the beginning… enjoyed it… still have a smile on my face.. Watch it. It’s worth the time.

Fight Club

I am standing in the middle of an expressway, with vehicles whizzing past all around me.  I can see a vehicle coming from the opposite side, it is a truck, it is gaining on me fast, suddenly everything goes in slow motion mode and the collision happens and seems to last like an eternity.  I can see my bloody self lying on the expressway!!...............
strangely enough ..........I gather myself up and walk away rejuvenated from the accident.


How, why, you would ask!! Rightly so, for deekay is no Rajanikanth (by the way no truck has been made which can run over Rajani Anna) niether is he from the Deol Clan, well.....actually the guy who was run over by the truck was not deekay, but a metaphor for his frustrations....


Welcome to Fight Club, for those seeking to make a sense out of the above, please go and watch this movie, and for those who have already watched it, I guess, they can relate to my crazy ravings.


It was a mind blowing experience to watch this movie.  Fight Club has been adapted from a book by the same name written by Chuck Palahniuk, directed by David Fincher, script by Jim Ulhs, and starring Edward Norton, Bradd Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter.

The Gods must be crazy

A Kalahari bushman (Sho) in search of end of the earth to dispose off a coca cola bottle (which was thrown from an airplane and he believes it to be sent by God), a woman who fed up of town life, decides to spend some time at a mission in Botswana working as a  teacher, a rebel looking on ways to topple the government, and a researcher working in the jungle who turns into a complete idiot in the company of woman.......what happens when all of them come together?....................Be ready to go off on a fun-filled, rib-crackling humorous ride in the jungles, keep your kerchief/tissue papers ready, for you will laugh till tears are rolling.....


This film was made in 1980 by James Uys and was followed by 4 sequels.  Sho was played by Namibian farmer X!xua.


Just the perfect movie for the weekend.

Tangled

Tangled starts out as a narrative, turns into a musical and from there it never fails to bring lots of smile and laughter. Even though I don’t like musicals, as I have the opinion that musicals are for kids but so are animated movies, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Lets leave that matter there, I enjoyed the music and even caught myself humming along. Now how did that happen?

There is just so much in this movie.. Ohh! the breath taking sceneries, the loving characters, the story, the acting. Ahh! this is a great movie, magical as are animated movies.

Loved Rapunzel so much, sadly she falls for the handsome Flynn Rider aka Eugene Fitzherbert, she looks so pretty and beautiful. For a movement in the movie I thought I had a chance... ahh! so much for wishful thinking... There are lots of great characters to be met in the movie and I will not spoil the thrill of meeting them yourself. Don't discard this movie as kid's movie, well, we all have our own childhood somewhere in us and I assure you, you will find your child again when you view the movie yourself.

PS: Since this is my first post here, I guess, a little introduction is called for. Ahem! I go by several names spaceman spiff, tracer bullet, uncle scrooge, and many more.. all borrowed ofcourse.. I am writing here because I love watching movies and I believe should someone be a little encouraged to watch a movie after reading what I have shared...... so much the better.. in my personal life.. I am just a simple man.... adios

Toy story 1

Just how much punch can an animation movie pack? The answer is.................a lot and mind you, these are strong solid punches....I am amazed at how taking one of the basic premises of "toys having lives", (but they become active only when nobody's is watching) a story has been weaved, which takes us on a wonderful ride splashing us en route with emotions of anger, jealousy, friendship, loyalty. Most of us would have played with toys and would have created an action world where we were the dictators and toys doing our bidding.....as a kid I had a racer bike and a rider which took a lot of my playing hours [somewhat similar to Andy's (the kid owner) love for Woody]...I clearly remember that I lost the bike, i lost the rider, well most of him, what was left was a sinewy leg, i guess it was right leg, but for the kid in me, it did not matter...the adventures continued unabated...ooh my!! what happened to that imagination....Well that is subject matter for another post and another blog....

Synopsis: Woody, (sheriff) the chief toy is jealous of Buz, the space ranger, the new toy, who has become Andy's (the owner kid's) favorite. Woody's insecurity results in Buz falling out of the window and somehow both Buz and Woody get lost. It is during this period when both of them are alone in an unfamiliar world, that they, despite initial hiccups, try to understand and help each other.

This was the second time I was watching this movie and one thing I can tell, the kid in me is alive and kicking....;-)

Thaniyavarthanam

Is insanity hereditary or is the prevailing environment responsible for it? This movie shows how a sane man born in a family, where male members are marked for insanity by Goddess and the society, does turn insane. It is a very serious and sensitive movie. The sane man who turns insane at the altar of societal norms and family commitments is played by Mammotty. This film has aptly portrayed how small talk and gossip indulged in by many people can ruin lives, especially if one happens to live in rural settings. The ending of this movie is heart wrenching. A heavy weight output from the Sibil Malayil(direction)/ Lohitadas (story) combo.

Kariyila Kattu Pole

A famous director/writer found dead in a cottage, a cottage which he uses when he is on a writing assignment. His current story is about a film maker, who is murdered, but the story is incomplete. He is also a man who has a checkered past as far as women are considered. A wife who believes her husband is cheating on her. A policeman who has been promoted as DySP and the first case to come his way concerns the man whose work he adores.

As this is a work of detective genre, I would not spill any beans here, but this is the first time I am witnessing the work of Padmarajan Sir, who has been a colossus as far as Malayalam movie industry is concerned. Perhaps being a writer himself, he could add that extra zing to the script and direction, which would have been missed by other mortals. It is said that human emotions are his USP and that is true with this movie as it does not end up to be just another murder mystery. A riveting watch for sure.

Johny Walker

Johnny Walker is a Malayalam movie starring Mamooty, which was released in 1992, and which unluckily deekay chanced upon and had to undergo the torture of watching and thought of deriving sadistic pleasure by unleashing it on unsuspecting residents of blogosphere......








Synopsis:  Johnny (Mammotty), is an estate owner in Kerala.  His parents were killed when he was 16 year old and his younger brother 2 year old.  He adores his younger brother like his own kid and has brought him up single handedly.  There is a mysterious visit of actor Soman and Johnny always accompanies him at the end of this visit for a couple of days.  Johnny's younger brother Bobby visits his native place along with his friends and has a gala time at home (Bobby is studying in Bangalore).  Johnny decides to visit Bangalore and on going there, suddenly plans on joining college (he is 36 years old), to which the principal agrees as the college is filled with ruffians and principal saw Johnny roughing up one such ruffian.  The drug mafia has presence in the campus and has already corrupted several youths there including the disappearance and murder an upcoming athlete, and also her coach, who dared to stand in the way of Swami, (the stooge of drug mafia in campus)..Bobby is interested in a girl, who becomes fan of Swami's drugged ice creams and cant stop eating (deekay meant the girl cant stop eating that icecream).  This way, Johnny becomes involved in all this and it leads to death of one of bobby's friend, which turns Bobby against his brother ...(what a crap)....in the meantime, mysterious Soman reappears and tells bobby that Johnny is suffering from optical atrophy and is loosing his vision and won't be ever cured of it(Soman is Johnny's Doctor) (this was also the reason why Johnny decided to join college so that he can see his brother till his eyesight lasts)....Burning with remorse, bobby and his friends are on their way to meet Johnny when drug mafia stops them and assaults them...In retaliation, Johnny tracks down DD's (the drug mafia's) car, but DD was'nt in it.  Johnny decides to get his kid bro married to the girl he loves, who by now, has been cured of her ice cream mania by doctors...On the day of marriage, Johnny starts losing his vision and Bobby is killed by the drug mafia...a nearly blind Johnny rushes to DD's adda and turns completely blinds there.  In the end, a fully blind Johnny kills DD and drives his mobike into a no-entry zone and falls off into a valley .


Deekay thinks even now, after so many years of this movie being released, Mammokka should be having the same feeling (of driving his car or bike into a valley), if he ever dares to watch this movie again.


Cool factor:  Kuttapai, the boy-caretaker of Johnny household cum manager of property..(alas...he has only a small role).


Uncool factor:  The script/story should take the blame for this.  There were many threads in the story, but they remained indifferent and did not give a feeling of joining up in the end also.  For eg, the english teacher who develops a soft corner for Johnny, and who also happens to be living besides Johnny's newly purchased villa.  Even doctor patient relationship vis a vis Mammoty and Soman has not been dealt with properly.  Neither the character of Swami nor DD has been developed.


Music:  Sounds good, but it blocked the flow of narrative and that is what pissed deekay.


deekay's version:  Johnny the estate owner is in reality a secret agent working for Government of India who uses his estate as a cover for his real work.  He follows his brother to bangalore to bust the drug dealers network.  Soman is his mentor/boss who visits him to give updates and new assignments.   There was scope for this line of story as the movie itself shows Johnny is well read and intelligent..(eg. when he challenges economics professor and states that classifying economies on the basis of capitalist, socialist and mixed is outdated and gives suitable example to illustrate his points)....Swami is the son of some local politician and also patron of the college (that explains his hold in college).....Johnny trains his brother and friends to deal with swami while he himself takes on big daddy DD in the final showdown, after which bobby and his wife return to estate (as they were never interested in studies) and Johnny marries the English teacher and is planning on future assignments....




So here ends deekay's first movie review and also how he could have twisted and turned the story.....ha ha he he (evil laugh) (patented one, different from tracer bullet's laugh).