Marley and Me

They say Marley is a 'Dramedy'. Hell no. It is a 'Dog-u-drama'. And the dog is Marley. Before writing anything further about the movie i must admit that throughout the time line it was not much more than a biographical documentary. Had no plot. Had no twists. Had no adventures involving Marley. It had nothing. Then what on earth made this movie a blockbuster? I found the essence when the movie reached its climax. It had love. Enormous amount love, unconditional love. Grogan, a reporter buys a dog for his wife only to postpone her idea of having a baby. But Marley turns to be more time deserving, attention deserving, high-strung, boisterous Labrador. The movie narrates the 13 years of the Grogans lifetime spent with Marley.

Why watch it?
Have you ever brought up a dog? You got one now? Ever thought of having one? Dont miss the movie. May be if you watch it, you might go straight to a breeder and take your Labrador. Because i got too much involved in Marley and cried like hell in the climax! Watch it.

The Sorcerer's apprentice



Witch craft movies include Nicholos Cage as an essential ingredient nowadays. Unlike the other movies, Cage's presence has worked in The Sorcerer's apprentice. The good sorcerer cage tries to find the successor of his master, who has the power to kill the evil and make the good triumph. But the waiting is too long i.e 1000 years! But the supposed successor is not more than a science clown until he finds the inner self. 

Why Watch It?
Okay okay. I can agree that the plot has got nothing new. Bou it has some new dimensions of magic. Unlike other magical movies, The sorcerer's apprentice mixes science with superpower and the blend is exceedingly fantastic. The movie will sure entertain kids as it contains the 'How to train your dragon' protagonist Jay Baruchel who has the funniest voice among his contemporaries. The comical scenes are well weaved and the screenplay never leaves you searching for it. Its a thorough entertainer with  good laughs. Watch it with kids, they would love it.



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Under Siege(1992)


Fans of Steven Seagal would definitely go crazy for this academy award nominated action flick. Casey Ryback (Seagal), a cook takes the responsibility of saving his captain's ship from the bad guys. Here the bad guys are lead by highly intelligent and very highly insane William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones). Strannix has the help of the Nuclear weapon carrying Ship's commander Krill excellently portrayed by Busey.

Why watch it
Like any other highfi action flick Under Siege is heavily packed with Heroism, Action and some cool awesome twists. Seagal's best is this. He is extremely good with the action and Bondish humor. But the show is run by Tommy Lee Jones. He is the man here. The best reason to watch Under Siege is Tommy Lee Jones! So watch it!   

Rathacharithram (Tamil)

Rakthacharithra, a biographical action-drama based on two real life Dons of Andhra pradesh was released in two installments. The first was totally about Raviprasad's(vivek oberai) violent, cancerous growth after his father's murder. This first episode is just a recap in the recently released Rakthacharithra2(Telugu, Hindi) or Rathacharithram(Tamil) that has Surya (played by Surya) as the protagonist and the dreadful enemy of Ravi(Vivek).

Vivek Oberai earned high regards for his wonderful potrayal of the Don turned politician Ravi in the first installment of Rakthacharithra. Here he underplays the role since this time he faces the fearless Surya, a man with nothing but vengeance. Why surya is blood thirsty towards Ravi? Did he acheive his revenge against the most powerfulman of Anandhapuaram? Rathacharithram answers it all. Surya is introduced after 30 minutes by the narrator (Gautham menon) as the man born to kill Ravi. The screenplay then gains pace and travels between the revenge-play of the two men.


Surya is the ultimate choice for this dreadful role since it deserves an impeccable body and an extraordinary acting talent. Obviously, unlike most of the indian actors, Surya has got both. He excels in every inch of his part in the movie. Let it be the cry he lets out at the brutal death of his family or when he kills people with bare hands or when he delivers a devilish smile at the politician who offers him a political agenda, its Surya everywhere and nothing but his powerful eyes that speaks of revenge and blood all the time.

RGV is the man. Nobody except him can imagine about making such a blood thirsty script that deserves enormous passion and talent. RGV, as a die hard fan of 'The Godfather' has let his signature to be crawl all over the movie. Amidst the meeting of Surya and Krishna(Politician who favours Surya), the so far silent secretary of the politician gives a wicked smile when Surya accepts the offer. Its a sample of RGV's style and one should not miss it.
I have never had a good impression on biographical dramas made in India, because unlike hollywood biographies, they lack pace. But Rathacharithram is an exception. No matter in what language you watch it, its a must watch. Since blood has got no language.

Sabapathy(1941-Tamil)

 Whenever comedy genre is in the tittle-tattle i have never been able to elude this extremely hillarious comedy of the 1940s. Whenever i come across comedies of the mid 20th century, i have always felt they dont or wont interest this generation of movie goers much. But Sabapathy has always been an exception. I personally feel that my standards are far too low to criticize or study this movie. Its above all. People who enjoy suppandi tales will surely have an hillarious time watching sabapathy. The suppandi in Sabapathy is named 'Sabapathy' and his master's name too is 'Sabapathy'.

College goer, millionaire and foolishly intelligent Sabapathy (T. R. Ramachandran) and his valet, an even more foolish Sabapathy(Kali.N.Ratnam) form the base of this story. Nothing more can be told about the movie because its all about funny instances and hillarious scenes here. The way the valet addresses (Enna baaa) his master is a sample for the movie's comical content. Fine quality DVD is available with moserbaer. Watch it. Dont miss something which is really capable of making your heart weigh some pounds lighter.

JFK

What would you do if the Presidentl of your country is assassinated and the government withhelds truth from the people? What would you do if you are an District attorney and yet, you are publicized as a crackpot only because you are a threat to the government's cover up plans? JFK is an answer. Kevin Costner as the District Attorney Garrison of Orleans tries to convict the CIA, FBI and President Johnson for the murder of John.F.Kennedy. But its too late now since the government appointed commission has already closed the case finalizing Oswald as the lone killer. 

Why Watch it?
Oliver stone has taken a out of the box screenplay to screen this 3hours 17minutes long movie which is more of an investigative video tape with spine chilling facts and speculations. One could never get bored with the narration. Some historical scenes are staged for a more subtle explanation which you cannot differentiate from the real happening at all. Kevin Costner's long argument in the trial room in the climax scene is exceedingly brilliant and more than sufficient to make one believe that Lee Oswald was not the killer of JFK. Don't dare to miss it!

Awake (2007)


      Awake's poster has nothing special except Jessica Alba, till you watch it. Multi-Billionaire Clayton Beresford Jr. (Hayden Christensen) has a faulty heart and needs a transplant. And due to anesthesia awareness, he is awake during the complete procedure and in the middle he learns that the doctors are gonna fail his transplant deliberately and gonna kill him!  Did he live?

Why watch it?:
Awake has the plot of a conspiracy thriller, scenes of a horror genre and romance of a romantic flick but the priorities messed up. The only thing that keeps us occupied is the theme "Anesthesia Awareness" which is new to the audience! So its not a must watch for sure but watchable.

Marvin's room (1996)



An ailing father is cared by his daughter Bessie (Diane Keaton) for 17 years and ignored totally by his other daughter Lee (Meryl Streep) who has been out of touch for 20 years after her marriage. Now Bessie is diagnosed by her doctor (De-Niro) with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life. She turns to her sister for help. Lee comes to help her sister with her two boys Hank (Leonardo Decaprio) and Charlie. Eventually the sisters grow close and the boys start to love their aunt. And unfortunately, bessie is left with no matching bone marrow for her transplant. Now the whole responsibility falls on Lee. Whether she takes it or abandons her family is the final part.

Why watch it:
Meryl streep and Diane keaton, the finest of woman actors in the same pot with teenager Decaprio move this story like a wonderful real life family. The story has very minimum characters but all are woven together perfectly. Its a ocean of emotions and love. Diane keaton won the academy award for best actress. By all means one should  NOT miss this movie. 

Grown Ups (2010)


 This hilarious buddy comedy made me a big fan of Adam Sandler. He along with his real life buddies David spade, Bob Schneider, Chris Rock and Kevin James has given a 'LMAO' movie. This movie, despite the fact that it lacks story and character buildup, will make you feel nostalgic if you ever had hilarious times with your buddies. Five school time buddies, Rennie, Eric Lamonsoff, Rob Hilliard, Marcus Higgins, Kurt McKenzie meet up after thirty years, in their basketball coach's funeral. Now they are all married and have kids. Rennie rents a lake house for a weekend. The stay moves them closer again and it changes their life style entirely.

Why watch it?:
The movie lags nowhere and is swift and will make you laugh till the very last moment. It would make sense to mention it has a very few emotional scenes too. Totally the movie is a must watch and the reason is you would never stop laughing.

Leaves of Grass (2010)

You seen Indian films based on twins? Except for kaminey, indian films that show on-screen twins, have never been good. Leaves of grass deals with the lives of identical twin brothers Bill and Brady. And the most amusing part is Edward Norton stars alongside Edward Norton. What can be better about a movie? Bill, a professor is stuck up with the life of his shitty, messed up, yet lovable twin Brady who is in small time drug business. May be because Edward Nortons are present, who is more than potent to carry more than two characters, the supporting characters are not developed well. Director Nelson, except for the above reason, has developed a fast paced, crime-dark comedy genre movie perfectly. 

Why watch it?
Edward Norton and Edward Norton, do you need another reason to watch this movie??!!!!!




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The Oxford murders (2008)

          John Hurt, the man who was Gandalf 'the grey' in the Lord of The rings trilogy is professor Arthur Seldom here. Elijah Wood, remembered for his Frodo character in the above trilogy has shared an impeccable screen space with Hurt as his would be disciple in The Oxford murders.  The professor-student duo join forces to discover the truth behind a series of puzzling murders happening in the Oxford university campus. Based upon the spanish novel Crímenes imperceptibles (translated as Oxford murders) by Guillermo Martínez, this movie has a super woven story, perfectly blended with mathematical strategies and formulas. The casting is exceptionally good and it would be a sin if the presence of the beautiful spanish actress Leonor watling is not mentioned. She does a perfect job and her romance with the much  younger Elijah Wood has come well throughout. 

Why to watch:
You don't get to see different, out of the box mystery movies often. This is one of its kind. Story written by mathematician and novelist Guillermo Martínez makes this movie stand ahead of its contemporary mystery movies. Why wait? Watch it now. 

22 bullets (L'immortel-french)

A mob leader, now retired wants nothing but peace. Everything is quite well until he is shot 22 times. The mobster Charley Mattei who miraculously survives the deadly attack, sets about to find who was behind it. He suspects his fellow hood and a long time friend Tony. When his suspicion turns to be true, the demon in him is unleashed and starts off a revenge attempt. He kills the gunmen with his trademark style, a bullet to head and another in heart.

Why watch it:
With an actor like Jean Reno in the casting, one cannot expect bad acting. In 22bullets he is the one who keeps us seated. This movie has nothing new in it but it definitely got style in its action scenes. Truly appreciable. If you are an action movie fan who do not worry about plot complications, go for it.


Trailer:

Monster (2003)

          Years before when this tall handsome woman, widely loved for her off-screen charisma walked out with an academy award for best actress for her performance in Monster, a biographical drama of the then serial killer Aileen Wuornos, i did not realize it was quite less than what she deserved in actual. It would be noteworthy to mention that i had not even seen the poster of monster until recently, though I have come across quite a few number of movies starring Charlize Theron and have already become a great admirer of this South African born actress for her extremely contagious beauty and nothing more than that. It all got washed away once i watched monster. Quite a number of times, when i was watching this movie, i could'nt believe it was Theron, i googled to make sure whether Charlize was actually donning the lead role, and yes she was. The way she laughed, cried, spoke and reacted in the movie was not a bit of her real life. It was not just acting but an embodiment.  This is supposed to be a review to the movie but i could'nt help myself speaking on and on about Charlize theron's performance. Because its all about how far a woman, that too an exceedingly attractive woman like Charlize theron would go, to do justice for her role. We all watched Robert-De-Nero and were astonished to see him as a middle aged fatty in the later part of Raging Bull. But i would say Charlize theron's preparation for monster was way too more admirable than Robert-De-Niro's in Raging bull. She gained nearly 30 pounds to have a corpulent figure, used prosthetic teeths, wore a unique make up for that chapped lips, pale washed off face and to look gruff. But minimizing all these is her out of the world performance which would haunt us hours after the watching! Now, into the movie.

Plot: Just like any other biographical drama, Monster too carries a very usual plot. A sexually molested child, little Aileen wants to be a rich movie star or a rich lady and at least rich like the woman on Tv. But she takes on hooking (prostitution) at thirteen and continues to be a hooker (prostitute) ever since. She develops a very low self esteem which is depicted by the mirror-viewing scenes which has always been a cliche in serial killer movies. Monster is not an exemption. But after tuning into a serial killer, Aileen (Charlize theron) sees her real self in the mirror and it happens not lesser than four times in the movie, which definitely is an overdose. When her life goes nowhere, Aileen meets Selby Wall (christina ricci) in a bar and overnight they start loving each other. Here Selby is a lesbian but Aileen turns to be one when she falls flat for Selby. In a drastic incident, Aileen is raped and beaten brutally by a sadistic client. For self defense, she kills him, takes his wallet and car. On the same night she meets Selby, who is already having a hard time with her parents and they move out together. Now Aileen needs to earn a life for Selby. She decides to quit hooking and tries for different jobs but could'nt get one because of her no-qualification, no-experience situation. Situations drive her again to hooking but this time its not really hooking but a series of murders and auto theft. Finally the city is alerted about the existence of a highly dangerous armed serial killer. Frightened that she might get caught, Aileen sends off Selby to her parents' and the very night she is arrested. But when she is very confident that the police has got nothing on her, Selby is pushed to testify against Aileen which results in a death sentence.   
Why watch it: 
   The screenplay staggers nowhere and its a clearly executed biographical drama which keeps the audience engaged. And most of all Charlize's performance makes it a must watch and if you missed it, you are definitely missing one of the best performance in the history of cinema.


Cast:
        Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos
        Christina Ricci as Selby Wall
        Bruce Dern as Thomas
        Directed by Patty Jenkins