Movies from that long rainy weekend - Take 2

As I had said in my previous post, this is about the movies from other languages. I happened to watch a Tamil, a Hindi and a couple of Spanish movies that particular weekend.

So, here we go...

Vaaranam Aayiram [2008]

As I had already said above, it was very slow and not very engaging. But I have mixed feelings for this movie. It was between OK and good. Menon had wonderfully brought out the relation between a father n a son. Surya was awesome.. His sincere acting was essential in carrying the movie till the very end. One can know he wanted to give something special to this movie from his efforts towards his 6 packs. Great job!! Sameera was pretty in parts and Simran (one of my personal all time favourite) was aptly cast. But sad that she doesn't play the lead anymore. She has grown old :( Songs were obviously excellent. The way they were choreographed only did justice to Harris's efforts. My personal favs were 'Anjala' and 'Anal meley' songs. I particularly liked Surya's chest thumping in that song :)

My Rating: 3/5

Dostana [2008]

I usually watch Hindi movies based on Rajeev Masand's recommendations. He had quoted this as a laugh riot. It seemed to be at the beginning, but then it was like an average Bollywood movie with all the ready made masala. Even the genuine funny moments in the movie were to do with John and Abhishek being gay. It wasn't very funny later. It was OK. May b u can sit n watch with friends on a rainy day when u cant go out anywhere.

By the way, here is a trivia: Aishwarya Rai was originally offered the role of Neha, but she refused because she felt that her real-life marriage to Abhishek Bachchan would ruin the whole idea of the movie.

Could Ash have been as hot at Piggy chops!? We could only speculate!

My Rating: 3/5

Orfanato, El [Spanish] [2007]

Wanted to watch this movie for long. n this long weekend provided a perfect opportunity to do so. And when I did, I was happy that I had watched it. Its not your typical horror movie with cheap thrills (tho' it had a few). I had to see the ending again as I felt that there was a loose thread hanging somewhere. But then I realised that it was tightly tied up.. A mom's affection to her son (even tho he was adopted) and things she would do were neatly portrayed. This is a movie not to be missed.

My Rating: 4/5

Laberinto del fauno, El [Spanish] [2007]

More popularly known as 'Pan's Labyrinth'. It is a top 250 movie in IMDB. It was a little disappointing, but not bad at the same time. I watched this movie because of its high rating and it being a part of my favourite genre 'Fantasy /Mystery'. It was good in parts especially for those who love fantasies and fairy tales. It had a bit of drama as well, a little bit of action even based on an autocratic leader trying to suppress rebellion guerrillas in his jurisdiction. You can watch it once.

My Rating: 3.5/5

On a finishing note, a special mention of two short movies that were based on two of the widely acclaimed animation movies

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five [2008]

I really loved Kungfu Panda and its characters, that this small film was a must-watch. It was ass-kicking was the original movie was. This short film is about how the 'Furious Five' came into being. Kungfu Panda finds himself being confronted by a bunch of enthusiastic kids who are newbies in learning kungfu panda. He faces a tough task of teaching them, thats there much more to the art of 'Kung fu' than breaking jaw bones. I was thinking that this might be coming with the original DVD as an additional feature but sadly it didnt. So may be you can grab one from the good old peer to peer.

My Rating: 4/5

Shrek the Halls [2008]

I shall keep this one short. It was a good complement to the main movie. Shrek is as unfriendly as ever and the donkey does his best in guaranteeing just that. It was fun to watch as Shrek prepares for a nice family Christmas with his ladylove and kids. But, he could only hope that all goes well :-)

My Rating: 3.5/5

Merry Christmas & a Happy New year to all readers! Have fun !!

Movies from that long rainy weekend - Take 1

I have been wanting to write this post for long. This is just a roundup of movies I had watched few weeks back. Yes during that rain lashed weekend when Chennai almost came to a halt.

The post is in two parts. One for the English movies and the second includes other language ones.

The Others [2001]

I watched this in between Vaaranam Aayiram as it gave me a few yawns. This was good. Gave a few good scares. And was pretty entertaining till the end. It was a reco from one of my friends, who said it was pretty engaging. The kids were cute and I was very sad for them at the end. The way the twist in the story unfolded was excellent. It makes a good evening watch with ur family. Nicole's acting was commendable.

My Rating: 4/5

Rope [1948]

It was too good. This was my first Alfred Hitchcock's movie. I had wanted to watch one (particularly Psycho) for very long. I finally ended up watching this as this movie was very short. It was less than 90mins and it was supposed to be in 'real time'. It was a very good watch. John Dall's (as Brandon) acting was fabulous. I read in a forum where one of the buff was wondering why had he not won the oscar that year, even I was made to think so. James Stewart's performance was commendable as well. It was not like a movie. It was very short n was more like a drama or a play. I think its even 'movie with the least no of takes' (some 4 or so, not sure). This is a movie not to be missed. Even in any case you think it would be waste of time, you won't be wasting much.

My Rating: 4/5

2001, a space odyssey [1968]

I accept. I never understood this movie. To me this was the most complicated movie I have ever seen. It was one of those movies were music played a vital role, more than the protagonists and their dialogues. You need to have the patience to sit through the whole film and let it unfold to completely get the story. Believe me, I skimmed through most parts of the movie and that could might have added to the complexity. I got a bit of what actually the film is about only when I had read a few discussions about the film and a few more explanations and then I was like ''Oh.. ya.." So get this movie, when you have too much time at hand and when u are ready to interpret and analyse what you actually see on the screen.
There is an official site where this movie is explained.

Pitch Black [2000]

It was a good action film. I wasnt expecting too much from this film as I had seen its sequel [ The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) ]. It was much of an average entertainer. But I was pleasantly surprised as this movie made a good watch. Here a group of space travellers get stuck in a seemingly lifeless sun-scorched planet. What they soon realise is that thrs more to their problems than being abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Vin Diesel was doing what he does best 'Action'. He acts out his character with amazing ease, that u start feeling he is the man for the job. His noctornal blue eyes are really cool and menacing.

My Rating: 3.5/5