Misery***(1999)

This is scheduled for Oct 20, 2010, but I realized I had already seen this before. And I couldn't resist setting it down here because it may not have been noted in this blog earlier.
The reason why I couldn't resist noting it here is we enjoyed this Hitchcock like film adaptation of Stephen King's novel. This movie had won an Oscar, not mention several others. To refresh my memory of this film I have copy-pasted below an IMDB SUMMARY.

"Best-selling novelist Paul Sheldon is on his way home from his Colorado hideaway after completing his latest book, when he crashes his car in a freak blizzard. Paul is critically injured, but is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes, Paul's "number one fan", who takes Paul back to her remote house in the mountains (without bothering to tell anybody). Unfortunately for Paul, Annie is also a headcase. When she discovers that Paul has killed off the heroine in her favorite novels, her reaction leaves Paul shattered (literally)..." IMDB summary

The Duchess (2008)***

Seen on 18-10-10
Keera Knightley played the 18th century Duchess while her husband, Duke of Devonshire was played by Ralph Fiennes. Reviled for her extravagant political and personal life, the Duchess emerges yet as a person of conviction and boldness to face up to things and assert her free spirit in revolt.

Significant films seen in October 2010

04/10/10 THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER. Based on the bestselling novel by Kim Edwards. Cast: Emily Watson, Dermot Mulroney. About a doctor who abandons his just born mongoloid (down syndrome) daughter and suffers guilt his whole life.

06/10/10 THINGS BEHIND THE SUN. Dir.: Allison Anders. Abt a singer whose signature song is about having been raped. She goes about drunk singing this song. The LA mag takes notice and the writer Own Richardson recognizes her as the girl on whom his older brother orchestrated the assault involving him. Owen tries to put his own demons at rest.

06/10/10 RAISIN IN THE SUN (2008). Film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's famous play about the state of black-white relationship, about how a poor black family struggles to own a house in the white neighborhood.

Films Seen Between June 3-19, 2010

1. 3-6-10 In Good Company
2. 3-6-10 Eight Below (Survival struggle of snow dogs in toughest conditions)
3. 4-6-10 Keeping Mum (abt a housekeeper who sets right adulterous wife, the struggl-
ing priest, and his little boy at school)
4. 6-6-10 A Few Good Men (Tom Cruise, Demi Moore help bring a recalcitrant col to justice)
5. 9-6-10 Nights at Bodanthe
6. 10-6-10 Shadows and the Fog, dir. WOODY ALLEN'S 1991 black & white film about a
bling vigilante who finds humanity in fellow sufferer AND REMINDS ONE OF
JAGTE RAHO of RajKapoor in many respects.

All the pretty Horses (2000)**

Seen in the 2d week of May 2010
Director: Billy Bob Thornton (of "Sling Blade" fame)
Cast: Matt Damon, Penelope Cruz
Two Texan boys who go to Mexico searching for work find themselves in trouble with law there because one of them falls in love with the daughter of the local rich man. The romance is like what we find in Indian movies where the hero continues to love against all odds only to end up a winner. Here the ending is not like ours though, saving it slightly from the pattern. Hard to imagine that Billy Bob Thornton made this movie.

Rails and Ties ( )***

Seen on 10-3-2010 - HBO

It's about the ties that develop between a trainman and a destitute boy whose mother is run over by the former's train in an accident that possibly could have been averted by him had it not been for his over-cautiousness.

Alice (1990)****

Seen on 21-2-2010 - Zee Studio

A brilliantly comic insight into the illusions that we cover ourselves with and uses whimsical fantasy, magic, magic potions, herbs and what have you as short-cuts to probe into disturbances that haunt us deep within.

"Woody Allen's "Alice" snatches its heroine out of the cradle of luxury and takes her on a dizzying tour of the truths in her life, fueled by the mysterious herbal teas of an enigmatic acupuncturist.

It's a strange, magical film, in which Allen uses the arts of the ancient Chinese healer as a shortcut to psychoanalysis; at the end of the film, which covers only a few days, Alice has learned truths about her husband, her parents, her marriage, her family and herself, and has undergone a profound conversion in values. Because this is a Woody Allenfilm, a lot of that metaphysical process is very funny."---Roger Ebert

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a man like Dr. Yang, a deus ex machina to drop into our lives with his herbs and paraphernalia, and lift the scales from our eyes, and free us from our petty routines and selfishness, and allow us to practice the sainthood we have always suspected lies buried deep inside?"--Ebert

Milk (2008)***

Seen on 21-2-2010 - HBO

The Wedding Date*

seen on 15-2-2010

Two Lovers**

Seen on 15-2-2010

The Rich Man's Wife (1996)**

Seen on 12-2-2010 - Zee Studio

Cast: Halle Berry, Clive Owen

A very suspenseful murder mystery with a very surprising and most unsuspecting ending.

"A rich man's wife finds she has a bad prenuptial agreement with an even worse husband. Over drinks with a stranger, she fantasizes about doing her husband in to void the prenupt. The stranger decides to turn her imagination into reality much to the wife's surprise."---IMDB Summary

Evelyn (2002)*

Seen on 11-2-2010 - Zee Studio

Cast: Pierce Brosnan

Dir.: Bruce Bersford

This about a man whose wife has left him leaving behind three little children. Being without a steady job and a wife, Irish State that his children be taken away to be raised by orphanages until he settles down with a job and wife. But the man grows desperate over his separation from children and fights all the courts there are for getting his children back.

First Wives Club (1996)*

Seen on 11-2-2010 - HBO

Cast: Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler

Dir.:Hugh Wilson

"After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three wives have been dumped for newer, curvier models. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts - in the wallet! Sit back and watch the sparks fly as The Wives get mad, get even and get it all. Justice has seldom been so sweet. Or so much fun."--IMDB summary

It's fun movie.

Michael Clayton (2007)*

Seen on 10-2-2010 - Star Movies

Cast: George Cloony, Tom Wilkinson

About class-action suit against a multi-billion chemical company, U/North who are guilty of producing material harmful to human kind. A big law firm is engaged and its very competent lawyer has a break-down half way through the case. A fixer is pressed into service who ends up making a $10-m deal with firm by blackmailing it for suppression information he has come into possession.

A very convoluted litigation that we couldn't really follow.

Untraceable (2008)*+

Seen on 9-2-2010 - Star movies

Cast: Diane Lane

Dir. : Gregory Holbit

Diane Lane plays the harried FBI agent on the trail of a psychopath serial killer whose sophisticated method consisted of putting the victim on internet while he dies as fast as the number of hits the site gets. Eventually when she is about to figure it out, the killer first gets her colleague and finally herself. In the final moments when we are sure that she cannot escape certain death, she snaps into action even though she is tied hands and feet and hung upside down while a garden mower is menacingly moving towards her. The police, as usual, reach the spot after she has overpowered the killer but right on the dot to shoot him before she is harmed.

It was a tense drama at the end.

I sat through while Mom got bored at the beginning. The initial patience paid off it seems.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (2008)*

Seen on 8-2-2010 - HBO movie

Cast: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett

Dir.: Steven Spielberg

It was surprising to know that this otherwise trashy/fun movie was by Speilberg. But its free-wheeling indulgence of fantasy and the supernatural was pure fun. Incidentally though, this unbelievable movie also sends cliche of message: that human court risk and self-destruction in pursuing in god-like knowledge and power. But you'll like it if you are willing momentarily to suspend disbelief. Here's the IMDB summary copy-pasted for ready reference:

"During the Cold War, Soviet agents watch Professor Henry Jones when a young man brings him a coded message from an aged, demented colleague, Henry Oxley. Led by the brilliant Irina Spalko, the Soviets tail Jones and the young man, Mutt, to Peru. With Oxley's code, they find a legendary skull made of a single piece of quartz. If Jones can deliver the skull to its rightful place, all may be well; but if Irina takes it to its origin, she'll gain powers that could endanger the West. Aging professor and young buck join forces with a woman from Jones's past to face the dangers of the jungle, Russia, and the supernatural."

Cadillac Records (2008)***

Seen on 7-2-2010 - Star Movies Channel

This is a biopic about setting up of the Chess Records in Chicago of 50s. It follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of the musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howling Wolf, Etta Jones and Chuck Berry. Here the tragic role of Etta Jones is played and sung by Beyonce Knowles herself. And the song, "I'd rather be blind..." and one another which I don't remember now was deeply moving.

Arlington Road (1999)**

Seen on 3-2-10 - Zee Studio

Cast: Jeff Bridges (of "The Door in the Floor," "Mirror Has Two Faces" fame), Tim Robbins

A professor of terrorism has lost his wife, working as FBI agent, in a botched attack and now he begins to suspect that his neighbor is a terrorist. He begins his own investigation and discovers he is indeed a terrorist. Eventually his surviving son is kidnapped by the neighbor in order to force him into silence. At the end, though, the professor, chasing the terrorists, in an attempt to save his son from them gets killed himself. The surviving son goes to his relatives for care.

The ending is bizarre, but gripping.

Mad Money (2008)**+

Seen on 31-1-10 - Star Movies

Director: Killie Khouri

Cast: Diane Keating, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifa

Impression: loveable comedy one comes by rarely. No slapstick here. Addresses concerns and dreams and tendencies of the middle-class people. Quite convincing too. Occasionally the script is scintillatingly funny.

"The film begins close to the end of the story, when the suspects get caught and are interrogated. Then it flashes back to three years earlier and the film proceeds forward from there interspersed with occasional bits from the interrogation.

Three years before getting caught, Bridget (Diane Keaton) lived a comfortable upper class life until her husband Don (Ted Danson) was fired from his position and sunk into debt. The paycheck for Selina, the cleaning lady, bounces again. Selina confronts Bridget and suggests she take a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

On her first day on the job, Bridget hatches a scheme to steal damaged dollar bills slated for destruction. For her team she chooses Nina (Queen Latifah), who works the dollar bill shredder, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), who takes bill carts from the Secret Service room to the shredding room. It takes some work to convince Nina to join, but Jackie joins them quickly.

The plan is that in the Secret Service room Bridget will switch a cart's official Master-brand lock with a near identical lock she purchased at Home Depot. Bridget will tell Jackie the cart number and give Nina the official lock. When Jackie gets the chosen cart, she dumps some bills from the cart into a trash can before taking the cart to Nina, who then uses Bridget's key to open it and restores the official lock, and then proceeds to shred the remaining bills. Meanwhile, Bridget, in the course of her janitorial duties, retrieves the dumped bills from the trash and splits them among Nina and Jackie in the women's restroom.

Their first robbery is a success though the take is not as big as they had hoped. However, they're emboldened to do it again and again. Once Don and Bridget pay off their debt, Don suggests they stop before they get caught. Bridget rejects this idea and convinces Nina and Jackie to keep going. They almost get caught but they fold in one of the cops.

A Federal Bank Examiner shows up at a party at Bridget's house, and the next day Bridget sees him at work. The Examiner confronts Glover (Stephen Root), who is unwilling to admit anyone has stolen a single bill out of his bank as a matter of professional pride. Tipped off, that night Bridget and her accomplices begin trying to get rid of all the loot stashed in their houses, but the cops move in before all the evidence is destroyed. Bridget escapes but the others get caught.

Bridget hires a tax attorney to defend them. The lawyer gets Bridget and all her accomplices off the hook for their crimes. However, the IRS demands they pay their taxes, which turn out to be equal in amount to the money that remains. They walk away free but penniless.

Eight months later, Bridget reveals to Nina and Jackie that she had stashed away a lot of the stolen money in the basement of a friend's bar."--IMDB summary

Gone Baby Gone (2007)**+

Seen on 31-1-2010 - Star Movies

Dir.: Ben Affleck

Cast: Casey Affleck (Patrick Kenzie), Michelle Monaghan (Angie, Gennaro), Morgan Freeman, Amy Ryan (Helen McCready, the missising child's bohemian mother), Ed Harris (Remy Bressant, the detective)

Popularity Rating (IMDB) - 7.9

Awards: Nominated for Oscar (Best supporting Actress), 19 wins & 8 Nominations

Significant: 1. What starts as a missing child investigation (Like "Changeling") soon ramifies into drug dealers, paedophiles, criminal underworld, etc.; but what is significant is it ends in a personal moral crisis for Patrick Kenzie, the private investigator, because he finds that the child is hidden away by the cop (Freeman) in order to save her from her drug-addict mother: he firmly takes the position that the cop be reported and the child be reunited with her mother, even if she is an extremely undependable mother. In implementing his decision he even pushes the issue to the extreme with his girlfriend who doesn't want the child be reunited with her mother. Having implemented his decision, Patrick now feels responsible for the child's safety from her bohemian mother. The ending leaves a lasting impression.

Significant: I sat through the movie the second time although soon after the opening scenes I discovered that I had already seen the movie.

"When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detective freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they finally solve the case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart." ---IMDB summary

Deception (2008)**+

Seen on 30-1-2010 - HBO

Cast: Ewan McGregor (Jonathan McQuarry), Hugh Jackman (Wyatt Bose), Michelle Williams (S)

Dir.: Marcel Langenegger

An auditor in Manhattan gets involved in a murky million-dollar heist and he cleverly extricates himself by outwitting the criminal who forces him into this wire transfer of money.

Significant: Read about existence of secret sex clubs (here it's known as The List) in Metros where respectable housewives of all ages seek thrill of sex with complete strangers. Here too the parties involved follow rules such as not asking each others names, phone numbers or addresses. They meet to have sex and depart as strangers! These sex encounters are organised by secret outfits and often the women earn hefty money on the side!!!

"Cat and mouse. Jonathan McQuarry is an auditor in Manhattan, moving from office to office checking their books. While working late, a smooth and well-dressed man named Wyatt Bose chats Jonathan up, offers him a joint, and soon they're pals. When their cell phones are accidentally swapped, Jonathan answers Wyatt's phone to a series of women asking if he's free tonight. Jonathan discovers it's a sex club: busy powerful people meet each other anonymously in hotels. Jonathan falls for one of the club members, whom he knows only as "S," whom he's also seen on a subway. When she goes missing, patterns emerge and Jonathan faces demands involving violence and lots of money."--IMDB summary

Angel and the Badman (2009)**

Seen on 29-1-2010 - HBO

Dir: Terry Ingram

Cast: Lou Diamond Philips (Quirt Evans), Deborah Kara Ungar (Temparence)

A remake of the old Western of the same title, this is said to be more authentic than the original in its evocation of the period! This is about a highly dreaded gunman, Quirt Evans, reforming and finally shedding violence under the influence of the pretty Quaker girl, Temperance.

We enjoyed it in spite of its corny commonplaces .

Traitor (2008)***

Seen on 27-1-2010 - Star Movies

Cast: Don Cheadle (Samir Horn), Guy Perce (Ray Clayton)

Dir.: Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Sudanese-born black American, Samir Horn, trained as US Special Operations officer, infiltrates the Arab terrorists planning bomb explosions in America and finally, after a nail-biting series of near disasters of being discovered in the process, succeeds in thwarting their meticulously planned attempt. And he does all this from a deeply religious belief that no innocent man's blood be shed. Although the motive for his work is too sentimental, it works itself out convincingly in the breathtaking drama that ensues.

Valkyrie (2007)***

Seen on 24-1-2010 - Star Movies

Dir.: Bryan Singer

Cast: Tom Cruise (Staufenberg)

About a failed assassination attempt on Hitler staged by one of his top officers, Staufenberg.

Based on true story.

Mom didn't watch because she doesn't like war movies. I watched it with headphones and was swept away by the tension in the film. Felt drained of energy at the end, but liked it.

"A key element of their plot [Staufenberg] is to use Hitler's "Valkyrie" plan against him. The reserves were held back to defend Berlin and Hitler in case of an Allied assault, so von Stauffenberg conceived the strategy of killing Hitler, ordering up the reserves to ensure stability and making its first order of business the immobilization of the SS. We see that the plan might well have worked. Indeed, it did -- until the news arrived that Hitler was still alive. So much did the Fuhrer command the fanatical loyalty of troops and civilians with an almost mystical grip, that merely his voice on the radio could defeat the plot, even with Germany clearly facing ruin."

Nothing to lose (1997)***

Seen on 15-1-2010 - Zee Studio

Cast: Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence

A hilarious comedy this is about a man who is shattered to discover his wife's affair with his wife. Until then he believed he was a happy man. To avenge himself upon the boss, he decides to rob him of his millions stashed in the office locker. He does this with the help of a black crook. But finally when he finds that he was mistaken in his discovery, he puts back the stolen money and returns a relieved man, a rejuvinated man.

We enjoyed the script, the situations, and the realistic manner in which the whole thing is done.

The Last Time (2006)*

Seen on 15-1-10 - Zee Studio

Not worth remembering. Corporate life in which the best salesman of the co. are being either neutralized or being enticed by a rival co. Not my cup of tea.

Legally Blonde***

Seen on 14-1-2010 - Star Movies

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson

Writer: Amanda Brown's novel

Dir: Robert Luketic

Ditched by her boyfriend, the fashion supermodel and Sorority queen, Elle Woods (Witherspoon) decides to win a seat in Harvard Law School if only to win him back. She proves she has brains to not only get admission in Harvard but prove to be more successful than her boyfriend. But her struggle is being treated in a very comic vein.

It's a fun movie.

Vicky Christina Barcelona***

Seen on 13-1-2010

Dir.: Woody Allen

Cast: Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson, Javier Pardem, Penelope Cruz

This Oscar winning Woody Allen's film is once again about the Spanish avante garde liberal views about love and marriage. Tony wouldn't agree that Spanish are very progressive minded in regard to their views on these matters.

However, this is Woody Allen's quirky challenge to the entrenched beliefs about marriage, one-man-one woman relationships, love, etc. This challenge couldn't have been dramatized in an American setting. So he takes his protagonists to Barcelona for the brief summer duration when his heroines (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) go to Catalona to meet a bohemian artist Javier Pardem who has just split with his equally unstable but gifted wife Penelope Cruz. The artist frankly invites American tourists for a week-end of fun and love-making. Flabbergasted Rebecca balks (but is the first to be seduced), but the bohemian Scarlett agrees on the condition that there is no obligation and commitment to do any thing if she doesn't feel upto it. Then Penelope Cruz appears on the scene and for a time the artist, Johansson and Cruz live together and the broken marriage of the artist seems to heal while the three are together!! Before long the summer vacation ends and the American tourist girls leave while, in the process, Rebecca's engagement with a dependable guy also takes a beating under the influence of the artist's values.

The movie is fun though. Typical Allen.

Ice Princess (2005) **

Seen on 10-1-2010 - HB0

Yet another film about a youth's struggle to fulfill an impossible dream--this time about figure skating--against insurmoutable hurdles. But here the girl who played the lead role looks divine and graceful and the game of ice-skating itself looked interesting.

"A high-school bookworm transforms into a swan. Brainy Casey Carlyle has never quite fit in. Caught between her fantasy of becoming a championship figure skater and her strong-willed mother, who has her on the fast track to Harvard, she can only hope to be like Nikki, Tiffany and Gen--three elite skating prodigies who are ruthlessly competing on the US National circuit (and have attitudes to match). But when Casey gets the chance to train with Gen and her coach, a disgraced former skating champion who also happens to be Gen's mother, she must dash her own mother's hopes in order to pursue her dream. Now, with only the support of Gen's teenage brother, a hunky Zamboni driver, Casey takes on the challenge of her life when she finds herself competing against the best to make it into the championship circuit and become a real "ice princess." --IMDB summary

Avatar*

Seen on 6-1-2010 - Ashoka Theatre

The reputation of the director James Cameron (of "Tatanic" fame) combined with phenomenal success at the box office impelled us to the theatre to watch this film. But we would have spared ourselves the trouble if we knew the truth. While in the theatre we even considered walking away at the beginning itself, but for want of better things to do, we called up patience necessary to stay through.

"When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora."--IMDB summary

One Hour Photo (2002)**1/2

Seen on 2-1-2010 - Star Movies

Robin Williams plays the bachelor employee in a One-Hour photo shop of a mall takes pleasure in one particular suburban seemingly happy family who were his regular customers. When he discovers that this happiness is threatened, by the husband cheating on the family, he acts up to bring him back to the family.

"Seymour 'SY' Parrish has been doing photo development for 20 years. He has a vast knowledge of modern photography and develops photos at a local department store for a living. But SY lives a sad and lonely life and begins spying on the Yorkin family, his biggest customers who seem to have everything in the world. SY begins to feel that he wants to be in the Yorkin's life, but when he discovers that the Yorkins are not as perfect as they seem, he becomes a man on a mission to expose the imperfections of the Yorkin family that could tear them apart."--IMDB Summary

Goal**1/2

Seen on 31 Dec 2009 - HBO

About a boy from poor Mexican background making it to the top of soccer leagues, New Castle United in England with encouragement and support from a retired talent scout. The struggle involved is touching.

3 Idiots***

Seen in Theatre

Based on Chetan Bhagat's book, "Five Point Something" this film is all about pranks that students indulge in prestigious institutions of Engg. Of course, the is rendered cenematic in the later half by bringing in popular elements of suspense and mystery.

Entertaining and sensible.