movies i have seen...
Sunday, August 29, 2004
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Red alert! All hell breaks loose when the Red October -- a Soviet nuclear submarine headed toward American waters -- abruptly drops off U.S. scanners. But as the Yanks scramble to take defensive steps, astute CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) convinces the bigwigs that the sub's renegade commander (Sean Connery) has something other than a first strike in mind. A perilous cat-and-mouse game ensues in this taut technothriller.
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin
Director: John McTiernan
Osama (2003)
This stunning film, the first to be made in a post-Taliban Afghanistan and inspired by a newspaper account read by director Siddiq Barmak, recounts the efforts of a family of women to survive under an oppressive regime. To eke out a meager living, they dress up their 12-year-old girl, Osama, as a boy so she can work. A talented cast of non-actors -- including Marina Golbahari and Zubaida Sahar -- adds integrity to the heartbreaking story.
Starring: Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati
Director: Siddiq Barmak
The Fifth Element (1997)
New York City in the 23rd century is a madhouse of flying taxis, street gangs and media overload. Cabbie Bruce Willis is a regular guy … and the universe's last hope for survival as he helps the embodiment of love and life (Milla Jovovich) fight the darkness unleashed by the crazed Zorg (Gary Oldman). Director Luc Besson's vision of tomorrow has all the right elements.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman
Director: Luc Besson
Citizen Kane (1941)
Orson Welles reinvented movies at the age of 26 with this audacious biography of newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane (in essence, a thinly veiled portrait of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst), who rises from poverty to become one of America's most influential men. A complex and technically stunning film, Citizen Kane is considered one of the best movies ever made.
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
Director: Orson Welles
Saturday, August 21, 2004
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
This pithy remake of one of the great war stories of all time is based on the pacifist novel by Erich Maria Remarque. Richard Thomas is a gung-ho German student recruited into the army during the early days of World War I. But over time (and after many bloody clashes and lost comrades), he begins to view the war as a tragedy for the fighting men on both sides.
Starring: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine
Director: Delbert Mann
12 Monkeys (1995)
In the year 2035, convict James Cole (Bruce Willis) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time by scientists to 1996 to discover the origin of a virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population. When Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital, where he meets a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) and the son (Brad Pitt) of a famous virus expert (Christopher Plummer). Terry Gilliam directs.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis
Director: Terry Gilliam
Heat (1995)
Two driven professionals -- an illustrious detective (Al Pacino) and a sophisticated thief (Robert De Niro) -- draw ever closer to an inevitable showdown on Los Angeles' mean streets. Brilliantly directed by Michael Mann, Heat is a hyperkinetic tale that blurs the lines between good and evil. The all-star cast includes Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and Jon Voight.
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro
Director: Michael Mann
U-571 (2000)
It's 1942, and the Nazis are decisively winning the war at sea, thanks to the "Enigma" encoding device that makes German codes unbreakable. Facing tremendous risks for the greater good of the Allies, a group of American submariners undertake a mission to steal the Enigma. Outstanding cinematography and rich performances make U-571 a smart, fast thriller that delivers everything action fans could ask for -- and much more.
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton
Director: Jonathan Mostow
The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
In this Oscar-winning drama, fifty-ish Remy (Remy Girard) is divorced and hospitalized in Montreal. His ex-wife, Louise, asks their estranged son, Sebastien, to come home from London (where he now lives) as a show of support for his father. As soon as he arrives, Sebastien makes the impossible happen, using his contacts and disrupting the health care system in every way possible. The sequel to Denys Arcand's Decline of the American Empire.
Starring: Remy Girard, Stephane Rousseau
Director: Denys Arcand
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
An incredible true story about small-time punk Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino), who holds up a bank to raise money for his male lover's (John Cazale) sex-change operation. But the heist goes awry and turns into a tawdry exposé when, during a two-day standoff with police, the media get wind of the story. Sidney Lumet directed, and Frank Pierson won an Oscar for Best Screenplay.
Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale
Director: Sidney Lumet
The 39 Steps (1935)
Robert Donat stars as an innocent Canadian who becomes involved in espionage and murder. The suspense is terrific as he must stay one step ahead of both the police and the bad guys. Introduction by Tony Curtis.
Starring: Madeleine Carroll, Robert Donat
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Friday, August 13, 2004
It Happened One Night (1934)
Runaway socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is en route to the Big Apple to elope with a fortune-hunting flyboy. Along the way she meets crusty newspaperman Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who's just been sacked and -- unbeknownst to Ellie -- plans to sell her story to get his job back. But a string of zany misadventures leads them to realize they're madly -- if reluctantly -- in love. It Happened One Night swept every major Academy Award.
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert
Director: Frank Capra
City Lights (1931)
City Lights was Charlie Chaplin's last silent film and is widely considered one of his best. Chaplin, once again playing the character known as the Little Tramp, makes the acquaintance of a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill), who, because she can't see him, believes the shabby tramp is a millionaire. The tramp attempts to raise enough money for the blind girl to have an eye operation, knowing she may eventually discover his true identity.
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill
Director: Charles Chaplin
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Margaret Mitchell's sweeping Civil War saga remains (adjusted for inflation) the highest-grossing movie of all time and one of the greatest examples of storytelling ever committed to celluloid. Vivien Leigh's tempestuous Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable's handsome rogue Rhett Butler bicker and battle from antebellum plantations to the streets of postwar Atlanta. Brilliantly restored on DVD with vibrant colors and rich sound.
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh
Director: Victor Fleming
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Marlon Brando spellbinds as the brutish Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' classic rumination on carnal attraction and faded gentility. After losing the family plantation to creditors, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) travels to New Orleans hoping to find comfort with her sister (Kim Hunter), Stanley's wife. But Blanche gets more than she bargained for. Oscars went to Leigh, Hunter and Karl Malden for their monumental performances.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh
Director: Elia Kazan
The Negotiator (1998)
The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator (Kevin Spacey) be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: F. Gary Gray
Friday, August 06, 2004
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
When some North Carolina teens flatten a stranger with their car, they leave him for dead and try to get on with their lives. He returns to give 'em, uh, the hook (literally) -- the gore is leavened by some much-needed laughs. The well-known cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe.
Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe
Director: Jim Gillespie
Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)
Bruce Willis is back and kicking bad-guy butt as New York detective John McClane in the third installment of this action-packed series. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon (Jeremy Irons) engages McClane -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game. McClane has seen his share of bad days … but this one just might top them all. Directed by John McTiernan (The Hunt for Red October, Rollerball).
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons
Director: John McTiernan
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
On a snowy Christmas Eve in the nation's capital, terrorists seize a major international airport, holding thousands of holiday travelers hostage. Led by a murderous rogue officer (William Sadler), the renegade band of crack military commandos has come to rescue a drug lord from justice. They've prepared for every contingency except one: John McClane (Bruce Willis), an off-duty cop gripped with a feeling of deadly déjà vu. ...
Starring: Bruce Willis, Franco Nero
Director: Renny Harlin
Monday, August 02, 2004
The Village (2004)
Acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) assembles an all-star cast -- including Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody and William Hurt -- in this chilling tale about an isolated village whose residents face the constant threat of evil creatures lurking in its surrounding woods. When courageous Lucius Hunt decides to venture beyond the town borders, what happens next may change the villagers' lives forever.
Starring: William Hurt, Judy Greer
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Spiderman 2 (2004)
The heroic arachnid is back in this live-action sequel directed by Sam Raimi and written by Michael Chabon. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is going through a major identity crisis. Burned out from being Spider-Man, he decides to shelve his superhero alter ego, which leaves the city suffering in the wake of carnage left by the evil Doc Ock (Alfred Molina). In the meantime, Peter still can't act on his feelings for Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst).
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Sam Raimi
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
Legendary filmmaker Dutt's brilliant semi-autobiographical drama, following a film director's rags-to-riches-and-back story, perennially figures as one of the best Indian films ever made. Superb lighting alone makes the film a standout.
Starring: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman
Director: Guru Dutt
Do Ankhen Barah Haath (1957)
I saw this movie 20 years back and cried a lot. I just wanted to see if I cry again. But I did not... hah hah...
Convinced that even the worst criminal can be reformed, prison warden Adinath (V. Shantaram) relocates six lifers to an idyllic village. With a lot of patience and a little help from a female friend (Sandhya), he overcomes both the prisoners' violent tendencies and the local villagers' angry protests about the criminals' presence in their midst. Shantaram also directs this social drama that emphasizes redemption over punishment.
Starring: B. M. Vyas, Sandhya
Director: V. Shantaram
Taxi Driver (1976)
Mentally unstable Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) drives a nocturnal cab through the sleaziest streets of pregentrified New York City and befriends a child hooker (Jodie Foster). Along the way, the morally righteous Bickle slowly loses his mind, turning into a well-armed, homicidal vigilante. De Niro, director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader create a violently prophetic, gripping vision of urban decay and insanity.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel
Director: Martin Scorsese
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
bond movie...
When a British ship us sunk in foreign waters, the world's superpowers begin a feverish race to find its valuable cargo. 007 is thrust into one of his most riveting adventures as he rushes to join the search and prevent global devastation!
Starring: Roger Moore, Caroole Bouquet
Director: John Glen
Die Hard I (1988)
Smart-mouthed New York City cop John McClane (a perfectly cast Bruce Willis) comes to Los Angeles in an attempt to reconcile with his wife. When terrorists seize her office building, McClane escapes -- shirtless and shoeless -- and desperately tries to stop them. a wonderful action and adventure movie not to be missed. Director John McTiernan moves the film (and his camera) at lightning pace; action movies don't get any better.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia
Director: John McTiernan
Umrao Jaan
kis kis tarah se mujh~ko na rush~wa kiya gaya,
gai~ron ka naam mere lahoo (blood) se likha gaya,
kyon aaj uska jik~r mujhe khush n kar sakak
kyon aaj uska naam mera dil dhu~kha gaya...
tum mujhe chahe na chahe, ye tere bas mein to hai,
aur mein tujh~ko naa chahun, ye mere bas mein nehi...
jab bhi milti hai mujhe ajnabi lagti kyon hai,
zindagi rooz naye rang badalti kyon hai....
a film by muzaffar ali on how a family dispute forces a girl to adopt a profession she never knew about. it was her sheer luck hat she ended up in a place where she learnt writing urdu rhymes. but at the same time faced the naked truth of that society. finally she fells in love with a nawaab, and later she discovers that that nawaab got married to one of her friend who was also sold with her. at the end she reaches home to discover that she is no more wanted there. the movie has some wonderful landmark songs....
