movies i have seen...
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
L.I.E. (2001)
A biting and disturbing coming-of-age story. Life is bittersweet along the L.I.E. -- also known as the Long Island Expressway -- as suburban teenager Howie Blitzer (Paul Franklin Dano) learns all too clearly. In the space of a week, Howie loses nearly everything and everyone he knows and is left to navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Brian Cox co-stars as an older man who befriends the troubled youth.
Starring: Brian Cox, Paul Franklin Dano
Director: Michael Cuesta
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Fedora and whip at the ready, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) sets off on his third cinematic outing accompanied by none other than his father, Henry (Sean Connery). The Drs. Jones head to the cradle of civilization on a perilous hunt for the Holy Grail, which is also being sought after by -- of course -- the Nazis. No one is what they seem in this rousing adventure, which co-stars John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott and Alison Doody.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery
Director: Steven Spielberg
Friday, June 25, 2004
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain Tom Hanks and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home. Steven Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski paint a harrowing picture of the price of war and heroism -- one that netted them Oscars for Best Director and Best Cinematography, respectively.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore
Director: Steven Spielberg
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Tom Hanks wrote and directed this tribute to the bubblegum bands of rock 'n' roll's early days. It's 1964, and the Beatles have taken America by storm. A Pennsylvania group called the Wonders plays in obscurity until a change of drummers accelerates the band's sound. The Wonders soon score a nationwide smash and hits the big time. But will the band flame out equally fast?
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler
Director: Tom Hanks
The Color Purple (1985)
Directed by Steven Spielberg, this film is a sterling adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Whoopi Goldberg stars as Celie, a Southern woman whose correspondence with her sister in Africa helps her escape an abusive husband (portrayed with a scary edge by Danny Glover). Quincy Jones's evocative soundtrack and a moving performance by Oprah Winfrey make this Oscar-nominated film an all-time favorite.
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover
Director: Steven Spielberg
Monday, June 21, 2004
The Green Mile (1999)
Director Frank Darabont's powerful adaptation of Stephen King's supernatural tale is set on death row in a Southern prison. The cellblock's head guard, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), develops a poignant relationship with inmate John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a gentle giant who has the power to heal people's ailments. Edgecomb soon recognizes Coffey's gift and desperately tries to help the falsely convicted man stave off his execution.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan
Director: Frank Darabont
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Beyond the Clouds (1995)
Antonioni's latest work is told from the dreamlike perspective of a wandering film director, the movie weaves four stories of love and lust, inspired by Antonioni's writings about enigmatic, unrequited or unresolved relationships.
Starring: John Malkovich, Vincent Perez
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Bachelor Party (1984)
Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks would probably like to forget it, but he got his big break in this raunchy teen comedy. Hanks plays bus driver Rick Gasko, engaged to super-rich Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen). To keep an eye the groom, Debbie and her pals pose as hookers and go to his bachelor party. While the film veers into Animal House territory at times, the laughs are solid. Look for a young (and nearly nude) Meryl Streep in a small role.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen, More
Director: Neal Israel
The End of the Affair (1999)
In wartime London, novelist Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore begin an affair -- and years later, long after Moore has returned to her husband, Fiennes needs to know why she walked away from their love. With commentary by director Neil Jordan and Oscar-nominee Moore, The End of the Affair is a subtle, compelling drama about the heart and soul.
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stephen Rea, More
Director: Neil Jordan
Serpico
Based on the real-life story of New York City undercover cop Frank Serpico (an honest man who refused to take part in the corruption forced upon him by his peers and was grievously wounded because of it), this movie ranks among Al Pacino's greatest film roles. Directed by Sidney Lumet, Serpico is at once an indictment of corruption and a shining testament to one man's effort to reform the New York City Police Department.
Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph, More
Director: Sidney Lumet
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Yuva (2004)
Abhishek Bachchan blossoms into a formidably engaging actor in this eagerly awaited work of popular art. "Yuva" is that rarity which can be watched both as an entertainer and a vehicle for projecting socio-political ideas.
The easiest thing in the world is to sneer at someone who attempts to be unconventional through conventional routes. In that sense, Mani Ratnam and Michael Mukherjee, his protagonist in his latest film, share the same predicament.
Like Ajay Devgan's fascinating character who wants to bring about a change in the social order, Ratnam's cinema signifies tremendous leaps in the way we perceive popular entertainment in this country.
A riveting blend of social message and entertainment is what sets "Yuva" apart. Like Ratnam's first Hindi film "Dil Se", "Yuva" is an extremely restless film about young characters who are on the lookout for a relevance to their existence.
While Michael wants to use student power to change the festering fortunes of Indian politics, the loutish Lallan (Abhishek Bachchan) just wants a decent life for his wife Shashi (Rani Mukherjee) and himself, and never mind if it's through indecent means.
The third and most blithe spirited protagonist, Arjun (Vivek Oberoi), is a commitment-phobic self-seeking wannabe whose plans of making millions in the US go flat when he meets the mesmerising girl-next-door Meera (Kareena Kapoor)
Each protagonist extends a fidgety power into the narrative.
Among the many absorbing facets to Ratnam's storytelling is the way he uses time passages in the lives of the various characters and the delightfully inventive modes of plotting, whereby different perceptions are simultaneously projected into the various characters' line of vision.
These are proof of a mind that creates cinema through literary devices.
You can almost read between the lines that Ratnam crosses from one protagonist's life into another. The effect is of sea waves lapping against the shore and receding to leave behind tempting tides of significance.
The three-tiered plot creates a sense of lyricism in the plot. Every character fits in the Kolkata milieu without stretching in the larger picture. Yet the existence of the binding cosmic force that keeps watch on Ratnam's world and the world beyond his creation, looms large over the narrative.
The gangster Lallan and his volatile blow-hot, blow-cold relationship with his wife Shashi echoes Manoj Bajpai and Shefali Chhaya's rapport in Ram Gopal Varma's "Satya".
But beyond that echo of familiarity is an aching originality in every frame, nurturing the characters through a remarkable process of self-discovery.
Unlike "Dil Se", whose narrative couldn't really hold the audiences, "Yuva" keeps us glued to the goings-on till the very end, not because it tells a remarkably original story but because the characters come alive here as complete people, full of little gestures and understated personality traits that we may miss at first.
"Yuva" is like a visit to a strange and warm tropical island. At first the sights and sounds may appear too familiar for excitement. But every shrub and every rock hides a new experience.
It's that subterranean experience that "Yuva" brings to the surface.
Ratnam goes from one level of characterisation to another, weaving in and out of three lives without creating an autonomous self-contained world for each protagonist. The men who tower over the plot are also the tools in the hands of destiny.
More than a film about ideas (so well conceived and executed you wonder why any other filmmaker didn't think of it) "Yuva" is a walloping entertainer.
It's simply impossible to forget the three protagonists and their mesh of karmic adventures. The romantic side to the political parable about a student leader, a hit man and a drifter is brought out so sharply in so little space, you wonder if economy of expression is Ratnam's mainstay.
As in all his earlier films, including the dark and moody "Dil Se" and "Kannattil Muttamittal", Ratnam stuns us with his aesthetic and creative motivations.
That intangible essence of life bathes "Yuva" in a dusky light, creating an atmosphere of enchantment. To speak on the technical skills that have gone into Ratnam's new entertainer would be going into obvious areas of praise. But yes, Ravi K. Chandran's cinematography and Sabu Cyril's artwork create a separate look for each of the protagonist's story.
And now for the performances, so crucial to this character-driven film that any wrong casting could have ruined the symphony of surcharged emotions that hover over the frames.
Every performance is terrific -- concrete yet ambivalent. Footage-wise, Ajay Devgan leads the cast, bringing a certain maturity and mellowness in a narrative where tempers and passions run perpetually high.
Vivek Oberoi as the jaunty dude is bright and dead-on. He happily complements and buffers Devgan's idealism and Abhishek's amorality.
But the film belongs to Abhishek. As the impetuous hit man who loves his wife to death, Abhishek's eyes and smile rattle us with their sincerity. His Lallan is obnoxious and violent, and yet never anything but a child of an obnoxious and violent social order. This film marks the coming of age for the actor.
In spite of limited footage, the three girls succeed in making a lasting impact. Kareena's role is specially insubstantial. She turns this character trait to her own advantage to create a girl who's at once enigmatic and all there - a bit like the film itself, both mysterious and voluptuous.
A.R. Rahman's music comes alive on screen, creating lashing licks of luscious beats for the characters to chew on. The stunts by Vikram Dharma, involving the skidding Kolkata traffic on the Howrah bridge, are heart-in-the-mouth stuff.
A word on Ratnam's love-making sequences. Why do all the three protagonists pick up their women in an identical way to embrace them tightly? Is this the director's way of telling us that when it comes to matters of the heart and sex, all men are the same?
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Tears of the Sun (2003)
Bruce Willis stars as Lt. A.K. Waters, a heroic Navy S.E.A.L. who defies military orders and follows his conscience in director Antoine Fuqua's epic action drama. Sent to the jungles of embattled Africa to rescue a doctor (Monica Bellucci), Waters realizes he must also save the refugees in her care -- even if it endangers him and his troops and places his military career in jeopardy.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Hamburger Hill (1987)
One of the most realistic, gruesome and graphic anti-Vietnam War movies. Bravo Company faces the impossible battle of Hamburger Hill - a name inspired by a mound of earth known for chewing up soldiers as if they were chopped meat
Starring: Dylan McDermott, Michael Dolan
Director: John Irvin
