Movies to Watch

As I have written in my previous post, I have some catching up to do on the movie watching front as well. I don’t have a concrete list of movies as such, but I have a few movies with me and I have been wanting to watch them for a while now.

Some of these include:

• Spirited Away
• Hotel Rwanda
• Requiem for a Dream
• LA Confidential
• The Maltese Falcon
• Alien

After watching these, I shall be watching the remainder of the Kubrick movies,

• A Clockwork Orange
• Barry Lyndon
• Spartacus
• Eyes Wide Shut
• Lolita

Well, so a lot many more reviews to come. Stay tuned.

Movie review:Full Metal Jacket[1987]

One way I catch/watch movies is to take a director who is critically acclaimed and start watching his/her movies. This works better than choosing an actor and watching his/her movies. Maybe using an Internet portal like IMDB is a better way of choosing movies if the number of movies you watch is limited and you don’t have all that much time.

Stanley Kubrick more than qualifies as a well acclaimed director and so, I have been watching a few of his movies of late. (He is a celebrity director in fact) This movie in particular was suggested by quite a few people. I have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey by Kubrick earlier. I liked the movie, but as all critically acclaimed movies, I did not get up after the movie with a smile all happy and pleased feeling good about myself or feeling pumped up and motivated in life.

Well, I did not recognise anyone in the cast while I was watching the movie. Adam Baldwin I seem to have heard off somewhere. Matthew Modine who narrates the tale as Pvt.Joker I later on found out has acted in Transporter 2 and Notting Hill. While I have watched both movies, I have no recollection whatsoever of me having seen him. Maybe he looked different and I did not recognise him. Oh,wait I didn’t know him when I saw those movies and hence would have ignored him as just another character in the movie.

Coming to the movie itself, it is the tale of a Marine, his training and later his experience in Vietnam. As a former student of an Army school (though not as intense as he movie portrays), I was able to confirm and appreciate the going ons inside the training centre. That’s how they really work.

As for the Vietnam part, it was very brief and well done. The sniper towards the very end and what happens when you disobey a direct command is portrayed wonderfuly-you endanger your life and also others’ lives. People who play games like Counter Strike should be able to appreciate the strategy of having a lone sniper hidden in a deserted location.

The ending like with the other Kubrick movie I have watched was not one with a message or an inspiration. It was just a normal ending to an otherwise beautiful movie. Watch the expletives though. They are many in number.

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Short Movie Reviews

I watch a lot many movies. The frequency has gone down over the last few days because of other work that has kept me busy. I used to watch anything between 1 to 2 movies a day on an average. Over the last few months, I haven’t watched a single movie. Pretty sad, isn’t it ?

But then, my work is kinda complete and now I can afford to dedicate more time to movies and reviews. However, I did not write reviews for few of the movies I had been watching. This means that I have a backlog of movies for which I shall be writing reviews. Trouble is, I watched them a while ago and while I might still remember the essentials, things are not fresh in my mind. I might actually even have to watch the movies again. So, for now I am going to write short reviews of movies. Once I get the time to watch them again, I shall write longer more comprehensive reviews.

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Movie Review: Mr.Smith Goes to Washington[1939]

Brief Review:

Ok, one more of Frank Capra’s movies. And yet another Black & White movie. Yes, I am obsessed. I somehow like old movies. They always seem to have some value or ideals in them rather than just action and hot actors. While I am not against action and hot actors, Black and White movies come as a welcome change when you watch too many of these new movies.

This movie stars James Stewart and Jane Arthur who are by now for me, regulars in Capra movies. Equally regular are Edward Arnold and Beulah Bondi. James Stewart does an impressive job and is every bit good as he is in later Hitchcock movies.

The movie portrays how Senators or politicians in general are involved in some way or another (even if not sinister) with Businessmen and work things out to their profit. Corruption at its fore. This movie is highly relevant in modern times and especially so in developing countries like India where such things have become so commonplace that we have come to accept it as NORMAL. How very sad ?

It has a very clear message. Let youth run politics and run it without corruption. Something we should all learn from.

A more detailed review will follow later.
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Movie Review: You Can’t Take It With You[1938]

Brief Review:

Another Capra movie. The list seems to go on and on. Yet another Black & White movie. This movie was beautiful and I totally loved it. The concept the movie tries to portray comes once again as wonderful. Full marks to Capra for that.

The movie stars the by now regulars in Capra movies - Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore (Drew Barrymore’s grandfather), Edward Arnold and others. There is actually a reason to this and I shall be covering that in a post later on.

The best thing about the movie and all Capra movies in general is that they all portray things that make sense. Things we should not be dismissing a silly and taking more seriously. Instead we seem to think such things exist only in movies. How wondrful it would be if we could all pursue our passions without actually having to worry about the money we make or starvation. How wonderful it would be to pursue your interests instead of working for someone and working at something you are not interested in. These are the questions the movie begs the viewers to ask themselves.

Also equally importantly portrayed is the need to love your neighbours and be nice to them. While this may seem cliched by now, it actually is not. It is still the one fundamental thing that would make our lives more pleasurable. Something we think once again exists only in fairy tales and Capra movies. Believe me, you and I can do it too and we should.
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Movie Review: The Third Man[1949]

Brief Review:

Another Black and White marvel. Popularly known as an Orson Welles movie but not directed by him. He plays the lead however. Carol Reed directs the movie and does a good job at it. I am not a big fan of Orson Welles. I can’t say I have seen too many of his movies, but in spite of the acclaim that Citizen Kane received, continues to receive, I did not like the movie all that much.

Things I loved about The Third Man:

• Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt. Absolutely gorgeous looking. Wonderful acting too. It isn’t overdone and comes across as very natural. Yet you can see the pain in her eyes.
• The opening Zither Music. Absolutely captivating. As an Indian who has listened to many a stringed instruments like Veena, Sitar and Violin. (I also listen to guitar by some rock bands), the Zither music comes across as unique and splendid. If anyone has this music and don’t mind sharing it, I’d like to have it. (Maybe I’ll buy it when I get some money.)
• Joseph Cotten’s acting as Holly Martins. Orson Welles is also good as Harry Lime.

However, I did not like the ending all that much. I am not saying it as bad. Just that I didn’t like it.

The best thing about the movie is the fact that it portrays a normal man trying againt all odds to find out the truth. It’s not one of those secret service agent fights the villains stories. It’s above that. Catch the movie. I am sure you will atleast like it in parts. (A welcome relief from Capra’s movies. )

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Movie Review: American History X[1998]

Brief Review:

Splendid movie this. For everyone who wants to be educated about racism and racial discrimination and our prejudices when it comes to that, this movie is a must watch. A few of my friends were discussing discrimination in India the other day. Their bone of contention was how North Indians were being called outsiders by Raj Thackeray and how there seems to be water problems between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regarding the Hogenakkal issue.

Most of their opinions were limited and I felt sad that they had not gotten an opportunity to watch a movie like this which opens your mind and makes you see beyind the petite things in life. The movie was enlightening.

Edward Norton’s acting makes you feel like you are a part of the movie for every second of the movie. Edward Furlong does an equally good job of playing his younger brother who is influenced by his actions. Elliot Gould plays a Jew who is also a teacher of both brothers.

The movie is very strong and moves you. You feel very very sad towards the end when the younger brother dies and the elder brother is helpless. You got the feeling that something had to give towards the end. Totally awesome movie and worth a watch.

List of Movies Part 02

These are some of the movies I have watched in recent days and shall be soon writing a review on them.

• American History X
• Chinatown
• They Were Expendable
• Meet John Doe
• Mr Deeds Goes To Town
• You Can’t Take It With You
• Mr.Smith Goes To Washington
• The Third Man

I could easily be forgetting some of the movie names, with the number of movies I have been watching. Shall include them when I remember.

Black and White Movies

I have been watching quite a few Black and White movies of late. There’s something about Black and White movies that adds charm to the movie. As Peter Bogdanovich (Actor and Director) puts it, “it’s the lack of distraction”. You focus on the movie and not on the color of the actors’ clothes or eye colour.

The best thing about black and white movies is the female lead actors. They look splendid. Infact, they all look so splendid on screen. I don’t know if they would have looked the same in this day and age in colour cinema.

Discrepancies in Billboard Charts

I found some problems with Billboard charts. Nothing serious though and no, I am not accusing Billboard of anything. It’s just that when I saw “What I’ve Done” by “Linkin Park” at the 38th position in the Hot 2007 Charts, I was a little troubled. It’s a kick ass song and Linkin Park are pretty famous too. Then why was this song rated 38th ?

It’s hard to say in this case as to why the song is rated 38th. I am sure Billboard was accurate with it’s ratings and all that, no doubt. I initially thought that the song might have bene released in late 2006 and still found its way on the 2007 chart. Not the case either. It was released in mid 2007 and debuted number 07 on the charts. (A relief there.)

But there have been cases where a song is on more than one years’ Hot 100 list. And depending on whether the song was released in the later part of the year or early part of the year, its ranking in the ensuing year’s Hot 100 could be higher or lower than the previous year rating respectively.

I think the bottom line is: Inside the Hot 100, it’s hard to compare songs based just on the Chart rankings.