Yeh Dilli Hai Mere Jaan

DILLI 6:

I am not a big fan of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, or his earlier Rang De Basanti, the abode of dumb stereotypes, and James Dean wannabe Siddharth, but decided to watch Dilli 6 anyway, especially for the absolutely breathtaking music by Rahman, again dwarfing the tripe that was Slumdog Millionaire and to watch Sonam Kapoor gyrate to Massakali. This time around I wasn't especially disappointed.

Although the movie, or its plot aren't anything to write about, the performances and the subplot keep you involved. And the number of wince worthy moments are close to zero, another landmark for a Hindi movie. The movie starts with another recent bollywood cliche, India through the eyes of the phoren return desi dude. Who is amused by everything around him, and is surprisingly ready to accept the chote gallis, the overly familiar people with no real sense of personal space, the dirty clutter of the houses and the mind numbing inefficiency of the Indian public works department. Our hero's arrival coincides with the infamous monkey menace that plagued the capital a couple of years ago, and through his moments of self discovery, we are kept informed about the daring do of the monkey menace (there is a song too). During the course of the movie, we are treated to many occurrences within the hero's community, which the trigger happy residents happily pawn off on the 'kala bandhar', which should make us question the credibility of all those rating hungry news channels and the 'aam aadmi' pining for his 15 seconds of fame.

The movie is brimming with excellent performances, notable among them are Vijay Raaz, who is shamefully underused by the industry, Atul Kulkarni, Deepak Dobriyal, Aditi Rao as the harrased bua and Rishi Kapoor with his second extremely poignant performance of the year and Divya Dutta. Waheeda Rahman gives an excellent portrayal of the dying grandmother and still looks beautiful while Sonam Kapoor breezes into the movie as the effervescent Bittu, with dreams of becoming the next Indian idol, seems to glow with an ethereal beauty (the massakali dance haunts me still). The only person who seems woefully outcast is Abishek Bachchan, with his super bad shot at an Amreekan accent and his stony faced attempt at a (again) James Deanish nonchalance.

What I hope people will think about after watching this movie is about the amalgam that is India. At every level we see people of a thousand different personalities and likes living and loving as a family, even outsiders are welcomed into the folds of our gallis and nukkads. The old quarters retain the flavour from a bygone era, its smells, sights and sounds live with you forever. But this type of coexistence is sometimes extremely volatile, and the slightest spark can throw everything into chaos. The jalebiwalla played by Dobriyal being the case in point, the victim of the closed mindedness of the communal tensions sparked by the to and fro of Hindus and Muslims, he is transformed into a seething point of hate and driven to murder. The politicians here as always surface only to fuel the fire that can add reinforcement to their political pile of crap. Although the message in the movie unfolds in a seriously chaotic melodrama, it still is relevant, and hugely invisible to our superstitious and bigoted people. Except probably people are actually bastards, and the facades they pull over their faces to hide that takes tremendous work to maintain.

Also evident is the plight of women in our male centric culture, how being unmarried or abandoned kills a woman's spirit and how hard our families try to kill the dreams and aspirations of our girls in the guise of wanting better lives for them or how a squabble leaves friends and relatives torn apart. The harassment of the simpleton and the lower caste garbage lady (untouchable unless you want a good time) makes you question your own actions from the past. The layers of life are myriad in a community, and you can never touch upon them all in a couple of hours.

The movie also showcases a brilliant Katha Ramayana, with the show being interrupted for the political power play of a wannabe politician, and is also the stage for the monkey madness, a very funny roll in the sack and video montage bit, which probably gets a bit overlong, a traffic block to allow a cow to give birth , although it makes me wonder if the same treatment would be given to a buffalo or a pig or mans best friend, and the Indian idol aspirant video.

Where the movie falls flat is not in content, but in focus. Mehra decides to leave every possible story in the background and focuses on the social commentary, which ultimately falls flat. The scene with Amitabh was unnecessary, as were the parkour sequences of Junior B....he seriously does not look like a parkour guy. Also the 'Kala Bandhar' fiasco blows into full scale riots way too easily, which is questionable. Also for an area of the city teeming with atmosphere, the area seems devoid of interest or life....we just see the same handful and hear no real noise or activity that make you feel like a speck. Then there are the unnecessary bath towel slip scene and the pathivritha -you amreekan types wont understand moral speech bit and the many cases of amreekan Indian rebellion against the Indian shortsightedness, a love and spiritual awakening happens against the backdrop of the Taj Mahal montage and a babul song on the rooftops. Also why did they have to wait for a whole speech from the simpleton before they called for an ambulance?

Saving the best for last, the music of Dilli 6 is absolutely breathtaking. Rahman has not given us such a brilliant set of songs since Kannathil Muttamittaal. Masakkali is wonderfully sung and picturised (excuse the obsession with the Kapoor lass), the title track is soulful and peppy in equal measure, the babul song, ghenda phool is well executed, arziyan is soulful, rehna tu is a nice lil ballad, the wonderful aarthi song and the wonderfully soulful Dil Gira Dafatan, with is my favourite track.

Score - 6/10. Watch it for the performances, detatch yourself from the rest of the movie.

the lists - best car chases

Since High Fidelity came out, everyone seems to be obsessed with lists. But there seems to come some sort of weird satisfaction from affirming your definitive 'best' of lists.

I will start with my list of favourite car chase sequences.

20) WHO AM I?

Jackie Chan choreographs this edge of the seat chase from a hotel on foot which ends up in a car chase, which is action packed, funny and entertaining, with some sooper stunt driving. Although he has done cool car chases before in police story and operation condor, this is probably his best effort and I just had to add something in here that had Jackie in it.




19) TAXI

Taxi! is a fun buddy movie, which has some spectacular stunt driving. Also the Peugeot taxi getting tricked out in mid run is like some sort of adolescent wet dream come true.




18) THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

A movie that was made solely for the purpose of pitting muscle cars against each other in underground street races, it contributes almost nothing to cinema, except for some cool races and some slick engine section CGI.




17) CRANK

The movie is about adrenaline. Period. It features the rather short car chase scene where Jason Statham and Amy Smart are shot at and chased by baddies, and in the middle of it all Smart gives Statham a blow job. No way this could not be included in here....although it does lose points for being too short.





18) BAD BOYS II

Remember when Will Smith made fun movies? Sigh....I would be willing to sit through even a shitty Bad Boys 3, to hear Will Smith curse on screen again, instead of subjecting us to i-Robots and Hancocks.




17) HOT FUZZ

The brilliant Brit satire of buddy cop movies, has the most hilarious car chases ever filmed full to the brim with knocked off doors, geese and a miniature town.


16) DEATH PROOF

Tarantino makes brilliant pop culture flicks. Death Proof is nothing more than a tribute to Vanishing Point and the Dodge Challenger from the movie, and has managed to make an entertaining B-movie style gore fest with an excellent car chase with the spectacular Zoe Bell strapped to the hood of the Challenger.




15) THE ROAD WARRIOR

One of the best post apocalyptic sci-fi flicks ever made, the desperate scramble for 'juice' involving an oil tanker filled with sand is probably one of the most brilliant set pieces ever filmed. Although both Mad Max and The Road Warrior are filled with great chases, this climatic chase is what can be called epic.




14) TERMINATOR 2

Although not technically a car chase, the fact that it is from one of the most brilliant and entertaining action films ever committed to celluloid, and had a flying truck and Arnie on a Harley make it a shoo in.




13) GONE IN 60 SECONDS - 1974

Filmed as a series of car chase set pieces, it starred the director and stunt choreographer H.B.Halicki. It was pretty much B grades crappiness with amazing chases involving the stunning Mustang GT500.




12) MATRIX RELOADED

Although filled with CGI, the effort that went into making this chase sequence was a project by itself. An entire stretch of freeway was created for the movie and GM provided over 300 cars to the Wachowski brothers, who went on to wreck them all. Also it has Trinity on a Ducati....what more can we ask for.




11) GONE IN 60 SECONDS - 2000

Although the movie was ridiculous, and it starred an improbable Nick Cage as grease monkey and booster extraordinaire, the final car chase involving the Mustang GT 500 is pretty much edge of the seat stuff. Take away all the actors and we have a veritable classic.




10) TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA

A surprisingly well made cop drama, ed by the brilliant William Friedkin, features a slick, well edited and intense car chase scene.




9) THE DARK KNIGHT

One of the best crime thrillers ever made, and hands down the most brilliant Batman movie, thanks to the defenitive Joker rendition of Heath Ledger, the chase is also classic stuff, with trailers and bazookas and the Tumbler which when wrecked detatches the most hunky bat pod ever.




8) RONIN

The chase scene in Ronin probably set the standard for all modern car chase scenes, it features innovative use of the roads and has the car running through actual traffic. Wonderfully detailed and edge of the seat stuff, it is one of the most intense car chase sequences ever filmed.




7) VANISHING POINT

Its a road movie, and more than half the movie is inside cars, and probably all the time theres is driving, theres chasing. Its an awful movie with some brilliant chase scenes.




7) QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Although James bond always has the sexiest cars, the bond films have very few really good car chases. The directors always manage to add a specific amount of improbable gadgetry cheese to the scenes, making them laugh worthy. The chase in QOS is wonderfully kinetic and extremely well edited and detailed. Also Daniel Craig looks extremely comfortable and believable behind the wheel of the jaw droppingly beautiful Aston Martin DBS.




5) THE BOURNE IDENTITY/ SUPREMACY

The bourne series is filled with brilliant chase sequences, starting with the Mini Cooper chase in Identity, the chase through the narrow streets and fields of Goa and the crackling run through the streets of Moscow, the jerky camera and the hurried editing all adding to the intensity of the sequences.




4) THE ITALIAN JOB

This is one of the finest Brit comedy capers of all time. It stars a brilliant ensemble cast, with the always wonderful Michael Caine and the unstoppable fleet of Minis tearing through Turin. It must have been a logistical nightmare and would have taken point precision planning, intricate coordination and excellent timing.




3) THE HIRE - BMW

A set of eight short films dedicated to the car chase and the Beemer, directed by the best in the business and starring Clive Owen as 'Driver'. Although not technically full length films or all car chases, these shorts feature some cool car chase scenes, and some of the best short films involving cars, and Clive Owen is the defenitive chase god.




2) THE FRENCH CONNECTION

This is the most brilliant raw chase sequence ever filmed. Gene Hackman is like a mad animal chasing a prey, single minded and determined not to lose his man, he tears through the narrow streets at one point ramming into a car by mistake, which was left uncut to keep the authenticity of the scene. What we get is an unbeatable combination of realism and intensity.




1) BULLITT

The God of all chase scenes, the one that started it all, it is wonderful because of the minimalistic quality of the chase. Starting slowly and with McQueen being followed by a couple of hitmen, he turns the tables on them and chases them through the terraced roads of San Fransisco. Shot from every concievable angle, it changed the way chase scenes were choreographed and filmed forever.

My Movie Star Lists

Here is a list of my favourite actors and my favourite movies of theirs: Mohanlal: To me the most complete actor. Extremely versatile and mind numbingly subtle, he was the actor I grew up watching and idolising. Although he does tend to fall into bouts of mediocrity, his best works have been just spectacular. To make a list of my favorite movies of his would be impossible. But here are his best dramatic performances and movies. 1. Vaanaprastam 2. Amritham gamaya 3. Patha mudra 4. Aham 5. Iruvar 6. Bharatham 7. Kireedam 8. Kalapani - bad movie, great performance. 9. Thanmatra 10. His Highness Abdullah. 11. Nammukuparkan Munthirithoppukal. 12. Kamaladhalam 13. Spadikam 14. Devasuram Sreenivasan: The best Comic Screenwriter in India probably and a pretty spectacular actor, considering his looks and limitations. Again it is impossible to pick a few great movies of his... 1. Vadakunoki yenthram 2. Thalayana manthram 3. Akkarey ninnoru maran 4. Chintavishtayaya shyamala 5. Panchavadi palam 6. Sanmanasullorku samadhanam 7. Gandhinagar second street 8. Kalapani 9. Mukundhetta Sumitra villikunnu 10. Udhayananu taram 11. Nadodikattu 12. Pattanapravesam 13. Sandesham 14.Then maavin kombathu Toshiro Mifune: Macho and moralistic. Have only seen him in Kurosawa's movies, which I think is more than enough. Extremely versatile with spectacular screen presence and a brilliant voice. 1. Stray Dog. 2. Rashomon 3. Shichinin no Samurai 4. Yojimbo 5. Red Beard 6. Sanjuro 7. The hidden fortress 8. Throne of blood Marlon Brando: The best hollywood actor ever. Period. 1. On the waterfront 2. the Godfather 3. Last Tango in Paris 4. A Streetcar named Desire 5. Apocalypse Now 6. The Brave 7. Sayonara 8. Mutiny on the bounty 9. One eyed jacks Robert De Niro: A great actor, but typecast and slipping into mediocrity. Reinvented himself as director, which I hope he follows up on. 1. Raging Bull 2. Taxi Driver 3. Goodfellas 4. Mean Streets 5. Casino 6. The Deer hunter 7. The Godfather 2 8. Heat 9. The King of comedy 10. The untouchables 11. Once upon a time in america Daniel Day Lewis: Probably the most complete and intense actor in the world today. Could probably dethrone Brando in my books someday. 1. Gangs of New York 2. My Left foot 3. The Last of the Mohicans Havent seen him in anything else, and am sure his performance in There Will be Blood will be my favourite once I watch it. Al Pacino: Started out as a spectacularly talented and subtle actor, slipped into this intense and hammy star after scarface. 1. Dog Day Afternoon 2. Serpico 3. The Godfather 1 and 2 4. Heat 5. And justice for all 6. Glengary Glen Ross 7. Carlito's way 8. Donnie Brasco 9. The insider 10. Scarecrow Edward Norton: Excellent actor stuck doing bad and obscure roles. Breaks out with some spectacular movies once a while. 1. American History X 2. The painted veil 3. Fight Club - for sentimental reasons 4. The people vs larry flint 5. Primal fear 6. 25th Hour 7. Red Dragon Christian Bale: Most promising actor of this generation. Intense and method to the core. 1. Rescue Dawn 2. 3:10 to Yuma 3. The machinist 4. The prestige 5. American Psycho 6. The new world 7. Empire of the sun 8. Batman Begins 9. Reign of fire 10. Equilibrium Johnny Depp: For the record, I have been a fan before the Jack Sparrow years. Quirky and unconventional in almost all roles. 1. Edward Scissorhands 2. Sweeny Todd 3. Fear and loathing in las vegas 4. Ed wood 5. Arizona dream 6. The brave 7. Whats eating gilbert grape 8. Benny and joon 9. Donnie brasco 10.Blow 11.Sleepy hollow 12.Finding neverland 13.Pirates of the C 14.Once upon a time in Mexico Bill Murray: My favourite American funny man. 1. Rushmore 2. Groundhog day 3. Lost in translation 4. The life aquatic 5. Ghostbusters 6. Caddyshack 7. Mad dog and glory 8. The Royal Tenenbaums 9. Ed Wood 10.Stripes

Memento and The Departed

The film industry survives on gimmicks. All the easily available good stories have gone, and it is only rarely that a good script is made, considering that the only truly original screen writer in hollywood is Charlie Kauffman. Every movie is a copy of a copy of a copy. Memento does not have a ground breaking story, it has been done to death. And all the noir that can be done has been done too. We have seen all the shady characters that is possible for the middle ground morality that Hollywood preaches, so there are no surprises there. Memento is textbook noir, in the way the characters are unapologetically and simplistically complicated bad guys and broads. The treatment of the screenplay is what makes this interesting. Without the gimmicky flashback sequences, this movie has nothing to offer. There are no great characters, there is no moral lesson to be learnt, there is no redemption, the actors are stale, except for Pantoliano. The direction on the other hand is deft and effective. The puzzle and red herrings, starting from a murder is well done. He does not lose track of the story and gives us clues all along the way. You are confused and disoriented at the end, with no real answers, and many new questions. Its the sort of brilliant gimmick that can make you famous in Hollywood, and it has worked for Nolan. The movie does nothing much for me, and I would not watch it a second time. But it is a well done film, and is probably one of the better noir movies you will see for a while. [6.5/10]


After Aviator, I was ready for anything by Scorsese. And the "anything" here was actually pretty good, although it did not feel like a Scorsese flick. What really hit me about the movie was how Jack Nicholson seemed so empty. For a guy who is used to filling up the screen even when he is not on it, it seemed weird. Which probably reflects on the characters, underdeveloped and just empty shells to carry the story forward. It is not every day that you walk out of a Scorsese movie feeling empty and unsatisfied, like he did not give you enough. It happened with the Aviator and now the Departed. The only time it felt like Scorsese was behind the camera was the end, where everyone gets blown up. Scorsese finds ways to reinvent himself every time, and I'm sure we can look forward to some stroke of genius in the future, but till then The Departed is a good effort, but then we do not expect just good efforts from Scorsese. [7.5/10]

Movie marathon!!

Heres a list of movies for your movie marathon. I do not approve of the Thai food idea...it is just not right. You will find my reccomendations of great movies by the directors in some places, I just thought the movies I have listed might interest you guys more than my other reccomendations.

1] Sunset Blvd: (B/W) 1950
One of the best film noir movies ever made. A down on luck screen writer runs into a prima donna silent era star, agrees to do the screenplay for her comeback movie, and ends up being a kept man. The screenplay and acting are top notch.
[Dir: Billy Wilder/ Gloria Swanson, William Holden]

2] Irma La Douche: 1963
A naive cop loses his job while trying to clean out a red light district and ends up becoming the pimp of a sweet young prostitute called Irma, who he falls in love with. He tries to keep her of the streets by dressing up as an old Englishman who wants her servies exclusively. Brilliant work by the man who plays the bristo owner, Tasche.
[Dir: Billy Wilder/ Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine]

Other good Billy Wilder Movies: Some like it hot[Lemmon, Monroe], The Apartment[Lemmon, MacLaine], Seven year itch[Monroe], Sabrina[A. Hepburn, Bogart, Holden]

3] Rear Window: (B/W)1954
A photographer with a broken leg starts spying on his neighbours from his rear side window and ends up as a witness to a murder. Done in the inimitable style Hitchcock is famous for.
[Dir: Alfred hitchcock/ James Stewart, Grace Kelly]

4] North by Northwest: 1959
A story of mistaken identity, involving the mob and the government and a spectacular finish Hitchcock style. Booyah.
[Dir: Alfred Hitchcock/ Cary Grant]

More Hitchcock: Psycho[A.Perkins], The birds, Vertigo[Stewart], The man who knew too much[Stewart], Dial M for murder[Grace Kelly], The trouble with Harry

5] Chinatown: 1974
Film noir style tale set in the 50's. A private eye Gittes investigates the death of an engineer and ends up uncovering a twisted family secret of a much respected businessman. One of Nicholson's best.
[Dir: R.Polanski/ J.Nicholson, Faye Dunaway]

Other Polanski movies: Rosemary's baby.

7]Once upon a time in the West: 1969
A young cowboy protects the land of a widow from land grabbers who murdered her husband. Brilliantly filem and choreographed Spaghetti western, by the master.
[Dir: Sergio Leone/ Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson]

Other Leone movies: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, For a few dollars more, A Fistful of Dollars.

8] Monty Python and The Holy Grail: 1975
King Arthur, the knights of the round table and their glorious quest for the grail Monty Python style, with obscene french guards, the knights that say Ni, killer rabbits and a palace of virgins. Oh, and a witch and a duck. Probably the most quotable comedy of all time. [ You dont frighten us you english pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.....that was it, roflmao]
[Dir: Terry Gilliam/ John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam]

Other Monty Python stuff: Life of Brian, Meaning of life, The whole Flying circus stuff [Hitler in England is hilarious]

9] The Maltese Falcon: [B/W]1941
Classic Film Noir, Dick Sam Spade, double dealing client, murder times n, twists times n...damn how do I describe it! This was Bogart at his best.
[Dir: John Houston/ H.Bogart]

10] The Shining: 1980
Do I need to do this. Heres Johnny!!
[Dir: S.Kubrick/ J.Nicholson]

Other Kubrick movies: Anyone that does not like Kubrick is an ignorant no good piece of shit. All his movies, all of it, again and again!!

11] Raging Bull: [B/W]1980
Biopic. DeNiro's performance as Jake La Motta is epic, throw in Joe Pesci and we have one of the best biopics of all time. Understated, underplayed, underappreciated.
[Dir: Scorsese/ DeNiro, Pesci]

Other Scorsese movies: Mean Streets[DeNiro, Harvey Keitel], Taxi Driver[De Niro, Keitel], Colour of money[Newman, Cruise], Goodfellas[DeNiro, Pesci, Liotta], Cape Fear[DeNiro, J.Lange], Casino[DeNiro, Pesci, S.Stone], Gangs of New York[DD Lewis, DiCaprio]

12] The Manchurian Candidate: 1962
Have you ever seen a movie of Sinatra that was actually good? Here it is. About a soldier who returns from Korea, programmed to kill the president. Sounds cheesy, but is actually good. Also an excellent 2004 remake of the same name with Denzel W, Meryl Streep and a surprisingly excellent turn by Liev Schreiber[who you may ask, good question].
[Dir: John Frankenheimer/ F.Sinatra]

13] The Great Escape: 1963
POW's at a German camp plan a daring escape. Brillant movie, good acting, tight script.
[Dir: John Sturges/ McQueen, Attenborough, Coburn, Branson]

14] Bullit: 1968
Gritty police thriller about a curropt politician trying to get at a mob boss. Has the best car chase sequence ever filmed.
[Dir: Peter Yates/ McQueen]

15] Cool Hand Luke: 1967
Considered to be part of the defenitive collection of man movies, it is a brilliant movie and has one of Newman's best performances. Also has the famous "Failure to communicate..." speech.
[Paul Newman]

16] The Sting: 1973
Small time con artist seeks ouot big time hustler to seek revenge on mob boss who has their mutual friend murdered.
[Dir: George Roy Hill/ Newman, Redford, Robert Shaw]

17] Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: 1969
Defenitive buddy flick about, well the title characters. Remember when Redford used to be fun?
[Dir: George Roy Hill/ Newman, Redford]

18] Blade Runner: 1982
Sci Fi Noir, about an ex dick whose job is to track down rouge droids, discovers disturbing cover up secrets of the company that manufactures them.
[Dir: Ridley Scott/ Harrison Ford, Sean Young]

19] A touch of Evil:[B/W] 1952
Murder mysetry and deciet. Orson Welles at his best, probably the only Heston flick I have enjoyed that did not have many many apes.
[Dir: Orson Welles/ Welles, Heston]

Other Welles Movies: Citizen Kane, The Magnificient Ambersons, Othello, Chimes at midnight.

20] High Noon: [B/W]1952
Classic western about a retired, newly married sherrif who returns to fight four fugitives who come into town to kill him in the noon train. The build up while they wait for the killer makes the crux of this satisfying drama.
[Dir: Fred Zinneman/ G.cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges and a young Lee Van Cleef]

21] The Great Dictator: [B/W]1940
Brilliant satire of Hitler. Some classic scenes include a dance with a globe and the climatic cake fight, wihch probably inspired a scene in Dr.Strangelove.
[Dir: Charlie Chaplin]

Other Chaplin Movies: Modern Times, City Lights, The Gold Rush, The Kid, Limelight.

22] Unforgiven: 1992
Clint Eastwood doing what he does best. Outlaw comes out of retirement to kill a group of rapists and collect the reward put on their heads by the prostitutes in a small town. About morality, redemption and guilt.
[Dir: C.Eastwood/ C.Eastwood, M.Freeman, G.Hackman, R.Harris]

23] Oldboy: 2005
Part of a Korean trilogy by maverick director, Park Chan wok, about a man who is kidnapped and held in a cell for 15 years, with only a TV as his link to the outside world. He learns he has been framed for the murder of his wife. At the end of the 15th year, he is released and his kidnapper plays a cat and mouse game with him, challenging him to discover his identity or lose his new friend Miho.
[Dir: Park Chan wok]

24] Dog Day Afternoon: 1975
Two bumbling bank robbers hold a bank hostage after their burglary attempt is foiled, and negotiate with the local force and the FBI to get out free. The tense hold up brings to light the reason for the attempt and catapults the robbers to instant stardom which eventually comes crashing around them.
[Dir: Sidney Lumet/ Pacino, John Cazale]

Other Lumet movies: 12 angry men, Serpico, Network

25] DIE HARD!!!!!!!!!

26] Trainspotting: 1996
The defenitive drug film of our time. The funny, sad, often surreal life of a junkie and his misfit friends, has the most brilliant intro monologue ever. Choose life.....Based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh, this could well the the best anti drug film ever made.
[Dir: Danny Boyle/ E.McGregor, R. Carlyle]

27] The Big Lebowski: 1998
A slacker, laid back bowler, 'the Dude' , is mistaken for a millionaire, whose wife owes a lot of money to a local kingpin. The dude tries to clear up his name, but ends up in a courier for the millonaire whose wife gets kidnapped, end up stealing the money for themselves and then losing it. Brilliant comedy the way only the Coen's can think of. Has a weird psycadelic weed induced love scene with bowling balls and upskirt shots.
[Dir: Coen Bros/ Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, Stee Bushemi, Julianne Moore]

28] Before sunset/Before Sunrise: 2004/1995
Havent seen it, but supposed to be a good romance tale where the couple meet in Paris for a day.
[Dir: Richard Linklater/ Ethan Hawke, Julie Delphy]

Other Linklater movies: Waking life[Hawke, Delphy], The bad news bears[Billy Bob T], School of Rock[Jack Black], A Scanner darkly[K.Reeves, R.Downey Jr, W.Ryder]

29] Young Frankenstein: [B/W]1974
A Parody of the Frankenstien flicks, starring the genius Gene Wilder as the grandson of lunatic doctor Frankenstein, with the usual double entendres Brooks, the father of spoofs, is famous for.
Do you want to roll in ze hay? roll, roll, roll in ze hay.
[Dir: Mel Brooks/ Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman]

Other Brooks movies: Blazing saddles, To be or not to be, The producers, History of the world, Life stinks, Silent movie.

30] On the Waterfront: [B/W] 1954
Marlon Brando was the best actor of his generation, probably the best ever, and this movie shows us just why absolutely nobody came close in hollywood. Brando becomes, not just the character, but the movie itself, effortlessly blacking out everyone else to mere shadows. On the Waterfront is probably his best remembered role, and as Terry Malloy, he voices the most famous and most imitated, but never matched monologue on film. The movie, about a has been boxer's fight for revenge, dignity, and self affirmation, is told beautifully by Elia Kazan. Kazan introduced Brando to the world with 'A Streetcar named Desire', and also gave us James Dean, was the king of angst. Cinema seldom gets better.
[Dir: Eliza Kazan/ Brando]

Other Kazan Movies: A Streetcar named Desire[Brando/Vivien Leigh], East of Eden[J.Dean, Splendour in the grass[W.Beatty]

31] Lawrence of Arabia: 1962
One of my personal favourites, and probably the most brilliant biopics made, Lean directs Peter O Toole to his career defining role as TE Lawrence, the eccentric English major, concentrating on his exploits in the middle east. Also marks the hollywood debut of the evergreen Omar Sharif.
[Dir: David Lean/ O Toole, Alec Guiness, Omar Sharif]

Other David Lean movies: The bridge on the river Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, Great Expectations

32] Murder by death: 1976
A whodunnit spoof with all the usual suspects. Truman Capote plays an eccentric millionaire, who invites the best detectives in the world to solve his own murder. What we get is a brilliant comedy with the greatest ensemble cast of comic geniuses on screen, Nivens, Sellers, Guiness give us a memorable, flawed classic.
[Dir: Robert Moore/ Nivens, Guiness, Capote, Sellers]

33] Ferris Bueller's day off: 1986
High school fun, with some teenage rebellion thrown in. Risky business does not come close. The movie that made Matthew broderick.
[Dir: John Hughes/ Broderick]

34] The Untouchables: 1987
Brian De Palma, weaves a fictional web around real events that led to the eventual arrest and conviction of the legendary Chicago mob boss Capone, played brilliantly by DeNiro. Sean Connery plays an Irish American cop to good effect.
[Dir: De Palma/ Kevin Costner, DeNiro, Connery, Andy Garcia]

Other DePalma flicks: Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Raising Caine, Carlito's Way, Mission Impossible, Snake eyes.

35] Wall Street:
It isn't a great movie, it is a good movie that runs on great performances. Michael Douglas, best known for Basic instict and being the son and husband of famous stars probably got his best role as ordon Geko. Charlie Sheen plays a hotshot wall street trader who falls from grace, he never did better.
[Dir: Ollie Stone/ C.Sheen, M.Douglas, M.Sheen, D.Hannah]

Other Stone Movies: Platoon, JFK, The doors, Natural Born Killers, U turn.

36] The Italian Job: 1969
A group of crazy british crooks, with the aid of a rich kingpin in jail plan a daring robbery in the middle of Turin, by baiting the traffic system. The greatest car chase sequence in mini's in the movie that immortalised them, and probably the second best car chase sequence ever filmed. Addictive fun, and the best Brit star of them all.
[Dir: ??/ Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill]

37] Any movie with Michael J Fox....I just love the guy. Try, For Love or Money, Frightners, any Back to the future flick or The Hard Way.

38] Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: 1998
the movie is what I would call a guilty pleasure. It does have a good little thing going, but it is by no means a great movie, yet the chemistry between Caine and Steve Martin, elevates this movie to what its not, a classic.
[Dir: Frank Oz[Yoda]/ Caine, Steve Martin]

39] Dirty Harry: 1971
Another one of em guilty pleasure type movies. It is all gritty and shit, but the tough cop routine ages pretty quickly, and even if anyone tries they cant get tougher than the man himself. Do ya feel lucky, Punk?
[Dir: Don Seigel/ Clint Eastwood]

40] The Nightmare before Christmas: 1993
An animated musical by Tim Burton, the weirdest genius in Hollywood, he gives us the most brilliant whacky comedy, musical ever. No other musical in hollywood history can hold a candle to this one.
[Creator: Tim Burton]

Other Burton Flicks: Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Batman, Batman Returns, Charlie and the chocolate factory, Corpse Bride.

41] Apocalypse Now: 1979
The movie that almost bankrupted Coppola, almost killed Martin Sheen, it is my favourite war movie of all time. The way Brando stole the movie away from everyone although he barely had a screentime of a half hour, pure genius. Also has some uber cool dialogues courtesy of Robert Duvall.
[Dir: FF Coppola/ M.Sheen, Duvall, L.Fishburne, Dennis Hopper and Brando]

42] Zulu: 1964
Michael Caine's first major role, in this classic tale of a remote outpost under seige. Rather than being racist, the movie potrays the Zulus as the fierce, intelligent and extermely brave warriors that they are. The key to enjoying the movie is to not get put off by the mating dance of the zulus, that runs for the first 10 minutes of the movie, probably fast forward the parts and you will enjoy the movie.
[Dir: ??/ Michael Caine]

43] Sideways: 2004
If you havent yet watched, this is one of the best movies of 2004, a little depressing, but excellently done.
[Dir: Alexander Payne/ Giamatti, Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen]

Other Payne flicks: Election, About Schmidt

44] The Royal Tenenbaums: 2001
A brilliant movie about a weirdly disfuctional family. It has a stellar ensemble cast, and an eclectic feel to it. Dont know if you will enjoy it, I sure as hell did...also try to watch his other movies, The life aquatic[2004], a weordly fantastic tale of a fictional killer shark and Rushmore[1998], a bittersweet love story. Wes Anderson is one of the most brilliant young directors around today.
[Dir. W.Anderson/ G.Hackman, A.Huston, G.Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Owen and Luke Wilson, Bill Murray]

45] Bill Murray:
Almost anything with the guy. He is a genius!! Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, Rushmore, Groundhog day, Mad dog and glory, Lost in translation, The life Aquatic. We will forgive him for Garfield and Charlie's angels.

46] Austin Powers: [any]
You are semi-evil, quasi- evil, you are the diet coke of evil.

47] Fools Rush In: 1997
Guilty pleasure times n. I have actually watched this movie many times over. I guess I'm just in love with Salma Hayek.
[Dir: dunno/ Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek]

48] Ong Bak:
Mindless thai Kickboxing action. Heeyahah. Oh and there are elephants and human trafficking from thailand, all in the Oz. Go Figure.

49] Ten: 1979
Bo Derek in a golden swimsuit with cornrows running on a beach in slow motion. Every man's fantasy, and probaby the inspiration for all the slo mo running action in baywatch, although we could have done without the slo mo david Hasselhoff hairy chest shit. Damn bastard. Dudley Moore is a middle aged composer who is smitten with Bo Derek and follows her on her honeymoon to have sex with her. Fun movie.
[Dir: Blake Edwards/ Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek]

50] Pink Panther: [Any]
Peter Sellers is a comic genius. I will watch anything that he has ever done. The fact is that he is more hilarioous doing even the most unfunny stuff. The first Pink Panther was not too good, and neither is the last, but we have 3 in between that are. A shot in the dark, The return of the pink panther, The Pink Panther strikes again, the 4th one called revenge of the pink panther wasnt great either. Also we have the super neat soundtrack. du-dum du-dum, du-dum du-dum du-dum du-dum du-duuuuummmmmm. The genius that was Henry Mancini. Steve Martin cannot carry off the French accent with as much ease and flair as Sellers, or the physical comedy. Also 'The Party', where he plays an Indian actor wannabe, is a good watch.
[Dir: Blake Edwards/ Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom]

There we have it, a list that gets kinda sad to the end. But you bitches are only gonna pick 4-5 out of the list, so go to hell ya freaks.

Dark world, Darker people

Mathrubhoomi......mother land, yet the movie describes a society that kills female infants, leading to the extinction of the female race. Finding a bride in this society becomes impossible and people are willing to pay to get a bride for their children. The movie has only one female character who is used and abused throughout the movie. It was extremely disturbing to say the least. But it is weird that you can get disturbed by a movie and not by what you see around. You cry at the misfortunes of your favourite star, but the suffering of your neighbour has no place in your full life. We try to identify with celluloid but are seldom able to identify with real life. What ails us....? In a time when everyone tries to find god in books and wars, where does one find time to find the god within ourselves? Where is the compassion described in the bible, the morals described in the gita or the generosity of the quran? Instead we have the holy wars and prejudice against other religions. We are willing to destroy even the most sacred of all, the womb that produces life. I will never really understand women, but I dont think I will stop trying. It is a fascination I have for a race that has endured humiliation, rape, torture, discrimination and the burden of childbirth since the begenning of time. They are our mothers, sisters, lovers, wives and friends, but we seem to have no respect. Men have always ruled the world and have fucked it up well and beyond repair. just watching the world slip closer to chaos leads me to think, what would the world have been like if women had led us through?

Sin City - Sin was never this delicious.

I was rather interested in watching this movie from the time I heard of it, and I was not disappointed. Although I'm sure the art work and the world created by Frank Miller would be more fascinating in print, the movie was not far from the vision. Adapting books into good cinema is difficult, and it only gets tougher with comics. As in the case of the Batman series which has been far from satisfactory. Although I am a fan of Tim Burtons work, I thought his movie was not dark enough. Rodriguez has managed to adapt the book almost frame to frame.
Frank Miller's artwork in the Dark Knight comics has been fascinating, the way he always plays all his characters in the shadows, creating a very fascinatingly mysterious world. The same can be said about Sin City. Although the characters are all the typical heroes and villains the plot and characterisation are so fast paced you don't have time to think of it all. The direction is great and the cast is brilliant. Almost all the actors do their jobs brilliantly, even Bruce willis, or probably its because he just gets to play himself.
The amount of blood and gore isn't really that heavy, when you compare it to movies like saving private Ryan or the like. The b/w treatment was inspired, when coupled with a splash of colour, it just springs to life.
This movie is pure sin!