Young People Fucking

Cast : Aaron Abrams, Diora Baird, Sonja Benett, Callum Blue, Kristin Booth, Josh Cooke, Josh Dean, Enis Esmer, Natalie Lisinska, Peter Oldring, Carly Pope

Director : Martin Gero

Young People Fucking is quite clearly a title that's out to grab one's attention. Neither documentary nor hardcore, it's an ingeniously constructed pastiche of sexual encounters presented affectionately and with humour. the film should really be titled 'Young People Talking About Sex'. There's too much talk and not enough action in the balance and eventually it grows tiresome.

Still there's considerable mileage to be exploited from the title, some very funny scenes and an impressive young cast.
The film looks at five different relationships, its focus shifting between four different couples and one threesome. The relationships are identified as The First Date, The Friends, The Exes, The Couple and The Roommates and the chapters go from prelude to afterglow with intervening stops along the arc that include sex and orgasm. Each story evolves in a linear fashion but is randomly told in sections interspersed with the other four vignettes. The stories do not cross, and the characters do not interact, but are thematically linked.

The set ups are generally predictable, but the banter and interplay initially keeps the film lively and engaging. However, as each story proceeds, one can feel them laboring under the strain of trying to inject a novel twist.

The underlying sweetness in the movie's content is a mixed blessing. On the plus side, the cast is able to get across often profane dialogue as if it were lingua franca. But there's no real sense of tension or danger in the situations and something patently false about a film of this nature that displays no below the belt nudity for either gender.

Rating :

* * & 1/2

The Hurt Locker

Cast : Jeremy Renner, Anthonie Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Director : Kathryn Bigelow

What do us movie lovers desire? Well, it depends on your mood, but I find for the most part, the answer is intelligence. We desire films with an interesting story as well as something cool to look at. Katheryn Bigelow's new feature brings together all of these pieces to form an extremely well-presented artistic showcase.

It is the story of the Bravo company in the US Army's Explosives Ordnance Disposal division. They are sent to various parts of Baghdad with a simple mission; find the bomb(s) in the area and deal with them. This can mean disarming them, or in some cases, strategically detonating them. The company leader, Sgt. William James, played by Jeremy Renner (SWAT, Dahmer ), seams to have a death wish. He wanders the explosive-filled streets with no regard for his safety, or the safety of his team members. The story is dictated by the number of days left in the Bravo company's rotation through Iraq. The movie begins with longtime teammates Sgt.Sandborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) just praying to survive the antics of Sgt. James for their last 35 days.

Jeremy Renner delivers a raw performance, and it is perfectly complimented by Anthony Mackie's own gem. Mackie finally gets away from the corny teen flicks that seem to have plagued this talented actor's career for a long time (We Are Marshall). With the exception of short-lived cameos from Guy Pearce and Ray Fiennes, the cast of B and C-list actors proves that fame is not what defines a performer's talent.

What sets this movie apart from most war movies is not only the excellent acting, but it's intangibles as well. A truly artistic display of everlasting images and cinematography only add credibility to the already incredibly realistic feel of the movie. The pace of the film is almost tidal, pushing waves of suspense on the audience time after time. Nearly every bomb scene is original and leaves your heart racing. Sgt. James' cockiness might be perceived as unrealistic, but as the audience comes to find out, it fits the character perfectly, and he nudges this film along with every cigarette he smokes.

What most impresses me with the film, is its modesty. The sign of great film-making is what the director, writers, and actors know what the movie needs to be, and don't try to pound it into something its not. If you are expecting shorthanded raids of Iraqi camps with no-look gunfire while Rage Against The Machine plays in the background and every US soldier doing somersaults followed by kill shots, this film is not for you. If you want to watch a suspenseful display of realistic warfare and lasting imagery with all of the politics filtered out do make an effort..

Rating :

* * * *

Requiem for a Dream

Cast : Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

Director: Daren Aronofsky

Disturbing' gets a whole new aspect with Darren Aronofsky's `Requiem for a Dream,' a horrific film about the descending spiral of drug addiction.

I don't really know how to explain this film, so maybe it will come to me in this review.

The film is shown from the perspective of 4 drug users as they spiral into a mental dystopia. All seeking a better life, aided by drugs, they fall into a state of insanity, demonstrated by a great use of film techniques.

Despite the sophisticated film work, I found watching 'Requiem for a Dream' about as pleasurable as having a pigeon with diarrhoea land on my face. The story... goes nowhere. I spent a good 97 minutes wondering when something was going to happen. There was quite a few 'look at the clock' moments. And as the film progressed I found myself feeling increasingly uncomfortable. The finale was so painful, I was dying for the film to finish, as i was bombarded with obnoxious noise, and a montage of obscene nasty outcomes for each character.
There was a large portion of the film spent of character development, and were supposed to appeal to different members of the audience as an attempt to cause a bigger impact as you watch their lives deteriorate, however, the characters were so dis-likable i didn't want to even look at them.

The whole thing was basically an hour and a half of saying "Drugs are bad", which i think they made quite clear. The film may have been more effective if it had been condensed into about 10 minutes and placed between a plot.

You can tell that it's supposed leave you in a state of amazement, feeling disturbed and changed by the images you have just witnessed, which in many cases probably worked, explaining the amount of credibility it received. However, I have imagined things 10 times more horrible, and I can't think of a reason why i would want to share them with the general public.

In summary: Very well executed, but i do believe in the saying "You can't polish a turd"

The only thing i got out of it was the ability to read clocks in the dark.

Pls no. truly Bakwaas

Rating :

*

12 Monkeys

Cast : Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madaleien Stowe

Director : Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam's and David Peoples' teamed up to create one of the most intelligent and creative science fiction movies of the '90's. People's proved a screenplay with bizarre twists and fantastic ideas about the nature of time — I especially love the idea one can't change the past; it's a nice counterpoint to so many time-travelling movies which say otherwise — biological holocausts and the thin line between sanity and madness. Gilliam visualized his ideas with unique quirkiness, perfection and originality.

The story itself is engaging: one man, James Cole (played by Bruce Willis in a heart-warming performance) travels several decades to the past to retrieve information about a virus that's wiped out mankind and left only a few survivors alive living underground: with the information he'll collect, scientists hope to find a cure so everyone in the future can return to the surface. But because their time-travelling technology isn't perfect, he ends up being sent towards different other pasts and complicating things. And from that a brilliant science fiction thriller with shades of film noir ensues as the multiple pieces of a huge jigsaw start fitting together to form a bizarre narrative involving animal right activists, end of the millennium paranoia, biological weapons, the perception of reality, and the definition of sanity. With such a complex movie, it was easy for Gilliam and Peoples to create a mess, but instead Twelve Monkeys is a thought-provoking narrative which will please those who like to be challenged and have patience to appreciate some crazy ideas.

Brad Pitt still steals all the scenes he's in, playing Jeffrey Goines — almost a prelude to his Tyler Durden character in Fight Club — a rich kid with some anarchist/non-conformist ideas who's also crazy and, according to Cole, perhaps responsible for the virus. The scenes between Jeffrey and Cole in the madhouse are the best in the movie, Pitt's eyes, voice and quirky mannerisms convince you he's really a crazy guy locked in a warped logic only he understands. Pitt's Oscar nomination was well deserved! Surprising was also Bruce Willis' performance: his I didn't remember very well, but it's beautiful and full of sensibility; he plays a man who spent almost all his life underground, and when he comes to the past you'll share his childish fascination with something as simple as breathing the fresh air of the morning or watching the sun go up. Cole is a rather ambiguous character, Peoples' tried to imbue some darkness in him, and he does other disturbing things to other people and to himself: the scene where he removes his own teeth reveals how far his dementia has gone unchecked. Ironically Cole didn't start as a crazy character, but when he starts warning everyone about the end of the world, he's considered mad and convinced it's all in his mind, until he arrives at a point when he can't distinguish past from future, reality from fiction. Willis spends a lot of time looking confused and insecure, and it works perfectly. One of the fun twists in the narrative is when Cole's shrink, Dr. Kathryn Railly, finds undeniable proof he's really from the future and now has to convince him again of his mission to save the world. The screenplay is full with weird twists like this and it keeps the movie in a fast pace. Their relationship is also well-handed, although perhaps a bit compressed for time's sake. But I enjoyed watching Cole and Railly falling in love and trying to escape the authority of the future to live a peaceful life in the past. But then things end in a tragic/bittersweet climax at an airport, wrapping all the pieces together, which will blow many minds away.

There are two great endings in this movie, a twist in the sense of Se7en or Fight Club, and a more intimate ending where Railly is crouching next to Cole who's just been shot and looking around for a younger James Cole who's witnessing his future self die; the two share a brief look, and she smiles at him. The twist is brilliant, but I prefer this ending for emotional impact. Madeleine Stowe is very good playing Dr. Railly, she drew many different emotions from me in her performance. The movie is filled with a sense of fatalism with the idea the past can't be changed: this movie shows that in a terrifying way. It reminds me of Chinatown in that sense, the way Jake Gittes messes everything up the more he tries to help. Railly's character shares that fatalism, the more she tries to help Cole — first dealing with his 'madness' then helping him in his mission — the more they're sucked into tragedy.

The twist ends with a hopeful note, though, with the feeling Cole's mission hasn't been in vain. Twelve Monkeys is a great movie to watch if one wants to be entertained; it's not supposed to be art, although it's more artists than many artistic movies. It's an unpretentious movie where all elements, from music to editing to costume design, etc., came together beautifully to produce a modern cinema masterpiece.

Rating :

* * * *

Born In Brothels

Cast : Shanti Das, Puja Mukharjee, Avijit Halder, Suchitra

Director : Zana Briski, Ross Kaufman

In India, red light districts are booming in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Calcutta where millions of transient men live and work far away from their homes and wives. The oldest and the largest of these is Sonagachi in Calcutta where the women have organized into a sex trade union of more than 5,000 active workers and have spread awareness about AIDS and HIV, making Sonagachi one of the few red light districts in the country that does not accept clients without condoms. Subject to a class system that puts them on the lowest rung of Indian society, the mostly illegitimate children of the sex workers are also expected to "join the line" when they reach a certain age. Minor girls are the most sought after in the brothels and secure the highest price, making it very difficult for the parents to let them leave, especially when the only other alternative may be the starvation of their entire family.

In 1997, photographer Zana Briski was assigned to capture images of Sonagachi. While the women were reluctant to let her into their lives, the children quickly responded and Briski became a resident of the brothel for five years. During that time, she provided the children with point and shoot cameras, set up classes in photography, and trained them to document the harsh reality of their daily lives. The result is the Oscar nominated documentary Born Into Brothels, a film that takes us inside the squalid brothels and allows us to see the world through the eyes of some of its most vulnerable residents, five girls and three boys, ages ten to fourteen. Shot in dazzling color using a digital camera, we get to know the children through their photos.

There is Kochi, age 10, who is strong, resilient, tough, and sensitive. Avijit, age 12, seems to be the most talented of the group. He draws, paints, takes pictures and, through Briski's patient efforts, was able to obtain a passport to be a part of a photo-editing panel in Amsterdam. Shanti, age 11, is most eager to learn but is troubled and often feuds with her brother Manik. The others: Gour, Puja, Tapasi, and Suchitra all show a unique ability to find beauty in their ugly environment. The film documents Briski's uphill efforts to place the children in boarding schools to escape the cycle of poverty and exploitation. Some manage to find places in the schools but the biggest obstacle is shown to be the children's own mothers and guardians, often protective out of the sheer necessity for survival.

Born Into Brothels is a testimony to the transforming power of art and of one individual's ability to make a difference. Showing the children's art to Western audiences has helped to raise money for the Sonagachi children's education. It may also serve to make people more aware of the potential talent of millions of other third world children who struggle daily for existence on the streets, the orphanages, and the refugee camps of our teeming world.

Rating :

* * *

Matchstick Men

Cast : Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell

Director : Ridley Scot

Iv never really been a huge fan of Nicolas Cage but he surprised me here.. Watching Matchstick Men, I was brutally reminded of an Indian Movie Bluffmaster which seemed very much inspired by it. You gotta watch both to understand the similarities though.

Nicolas Cage plays Roy, a con man (or, as he likes to say, a Con Artist!) who has a lot of problems. For one, he's a compulsive cleaner, he hates the outdoors and he has lot of ticks Roy needs medication to keep him sane.

One day he knocks his pills into the sink and when he calls his doctor to get more he finds out that his doctor is no longer in town! This provides one of the funnier/saddest part of the movie. I'm not sure if it was suppose to be played up for laughs or not, the tone was kind of hard to tell, but Roy spend the next day and a half cleaning his house, his ticks got worst and well it made me feel kind of bad for him.

His partner Frank, played by Sam Rockwell provides him with the number for another psychologist who can help. Roy goes to the psychologist thinking that it'll be easy, to just ask for the pills and he'll get them. No, this guy wants to help Roy and will not give him any pills until he talks. Which, I must say, shows two things. One, Nick Cage is great when he plays these type of rolls, and two, he's damn funny. What he tells the psychologist was both funny and sad. During that time though it's reviled that Roy was married at one time, and when his wife left she was pregnant and he doesn't know what happen to the child who would be 14 by now.

After getting the pills (only a weeks worth mind you) Roy decides to find out about his daughter, but he can't because he's too scared, so after getting the number of his ex wife he asks his psychologist to make the call when he can. Later that night he gets a call from him and finds out that he has a daughter who wants to meet him.

That's as far as I'll go with the plot because the movie really picks up from there as he bonds with his new daughter and sets up a really complex and dangerous con.

Like I said, Nick Cage is great in the movie, but I also want to point out that his daughter, Angela (played by Alison Lohman) was just fantastic to watch. She really lit up the screen when she smiled and it looked like Alison Lohman was just having a ball playing her. She was your typical 14 year old (only, and this shocked me when I found out, Alison Lohman is 24 years old! If you watch it, keep that in mind and tell me she doesn't look like a 14 year old.) who knew just how to work her dad! Some of the funnier moments came after he would yell at her, then she'd start to cry and Roy would just completely collapse and start apologizing for what he said, even if he was completely right! It was just really funny.

Matchstick Men isn't a fast paced movie, it's more of a character study between Roy and Angela and how she changes his life and makes him reprioritizes his values and the way he runs his life.

Rating : * * *

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Cast : Jason Statham, Jason Flemying, Nick Moran, Dexter Fletcher

Director : Guy Ritchie

I was a total and complete sucker for this film.

This is Definatley one of the coolest movie iv seen ever. Though iv heard enough praises abt it bt i took my time to watch it. By now i am quite familiar with Guy Ritchi style of film making (I have seen his movies like Rock N Rolla, Snatch nd now Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. Even our home grown Kaminey was heavily inspired by this style of film making).

It will be hard for me and even unfair me to tell you story of the movie so i would just give u an outline about it

A bunch of British lads combine their money and enter a high stakes, illegal card game with a vicious criminal. They lose and must pay all the money within a week...or they lose their fingers--one for every day missed.

The rest of the film is about their search for the money. It involves their far more dangerous neighbours, naïve university dropouts who sell marijuana, a drug dealer described as "a madman with an afro" and, of course, the Harry and his men, most memorably Big Chris, the debt collector. Whether the characters are two-dimensional or just trying to live up to certain underground stereotypes I do not know, but it doesn't matter. They are parodies, but good ones.

If I were to write and direct a movie about gangsters or crime, this would be it. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Not a thing. Everything in this film was, to my eye, perfect - casting, the camerawork, the excellent dialogue

This film oozes with style, class, dark humor, plot twists and turns, and doesn't drag one bit. The casting and characterization is perfect, and Ritchie isn't afraid to move the cameras around; no pretense is really made here at "realism" - Ritchie doesn't mask the fact that it's a film and he runs with it.

A Must.

And there's one more thing...............it's been emotional'

Rating :

* * * *

10 Things I Hate About You

Cast : Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles

Director: Gil Junger

It's kinda weird that people say this story was based off of a Shakespeare story, yet no one ever mentions what this was based on. But 10 Things I Hate About You is one of the classic teen movies that came out of the 90's that was actually good. It had a great cast, the story was original and a lot of fun, and the whole movie made you laugh and feel good. This was the movie that really sky rocketed Heath Ledger's career in America. This movie captured a great amount of what most teens go through in their world, wither it's just wanting to be different, popular, having an over protective parent, dealing with sex and rejection, this movie just worked on so many levels. (I am sure evertythin is not relatable to an Indian Teen because the amount of pressure and level of expectations are more different here)

Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a shy, somewhat dorky, but good-hearted new guy at Padua High School in Washington State. He falls head over heels for Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), a somewhat vapid popular girl who is not allowed to date by her father (Larry Miller) until her older sister Katarina (Julia Stiles) does. Sadly for Bianca - who is also the target of sleazy jock Joey's (Andrew Keegan), er, affection - Kat is a man-hating feminist rebel, so there's no way in hell of that happening, right? However, Joey, Cameron, and popularity-craving Michael (David Krumholz) hatch a scheme to convince the school "bad boy" Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to date Kat - and of course, things don't go quite according to plan.

If you do have the opportunity to see 10 Things I Hate About You I do recommend that you take the chance. It's a good movie and doesn't push you around or play games with you, and that's why everyone loved it, because it was just honest. Plus you just have to love the adorable scene where Heath Ledger sang to Julia Styles on the bleachers and got chased around by security, if that's not love and commitment, then I don't know what is. It has a great happy ending and just makes you feel good.

Rating :

* * *

Unbreakable

Cast : Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson

Director : M. Night Shyamalan

After his success with THE SIXTH SENSE, M. Night Shyamalan's name became a brand of sorts. In a day when director's rarely get the top billing for their films, M. Night Shyamalan has managed to build up a following strong enough to have all his films labeled "An M. Night Shyamalan Film". In today's day, when cinema in general has seemed kind of stagnant, it is refreshing to see a director with such a clear strong vision getting recognition. Though his films since THE SIXTH SENSE have yet to receive the unanimous praise bestowed on that thriller, they have all had the signature stamp of Shyamalan's eye.

Ironically, Shyamalan's film that seemed to make the slightest dent on the public radar was his first follow-up to THE SIXTH SENSE... UNBREAKABLE. It takes his typical formula of a slowly revealed secret that is given a huge shift in the final moments of the film, and frames it as an ode to comic books. It tells the story of David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis), a man who miraculously survived a disastrous train accident unharmed while all the other passengers died.

There appears to be no explanation for David's survival, and the experience cuts a huge rift in David's life. Already estranged from his wife (played by Robin Wright Penn), David seems to become even more removed from his family as he struggles to come to terms with the situation. It seems no one can provide him answers, except a man named Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson). Elijah is a man obsessed with the legacy of comic books as pieces of art, and he also suffers from a protein deficiency that causes his bones to break like glass. Elijah believes that David is a modern day "superhero".

In his attempts to relay this belief to David, Elijah comes across as a man who has lost his mind. Yet he persistently approaches David with justification for his theory. Turns out David is not only "unbreakable"... he also has super-strength, a desire to protect people, and impeccable instincts. Elijah continually challenges David to develop these talents and challenge himself... but David is torn between his assumption that Elijah is crazy, the promise he made his wife, and the destiny he might hold.

UNBREAKABLE came out one-year after the phenomenon of THE SIXTH SENSE and although it did respectable business at the box office... it never truly caught on with the public. I can only assume it is because of how impersonal the film feels. All the characters are so incredibly introverted that the film feels lifeless at times. It is very slow moving in it's pursuit of the truth... and when David learns new things about his capabilities it is not filmed in a grand way. Everything is kept very subtle, and while that suits the realistic tone of the entire film, it hurts the films pacing.

I think in this follow-up, Shyamalan showed many of the skills that made THE SIXTH SENSE so successful. There are some shots in particular that are rather captivating. For example, the opening sequence on the train is filmed in a very interesting manner that works very well as an introduction to David's character and his struggles. In addition, there is a sequence in which David's son holds him at gunpoint that is done very well. Finally, in the last moments when David finally learns to use his powers, there is a particularly chilling shot of a flowing window curtain. However, Shyamalan also becomes over-indulgent at times.

and this exactly which has harmed shyamlan over the years.. after Unbreakable he’s been giving one forgettable movie after another, like The Village, Signs, Lady In The Water and The Happening. All of em had his trademark style of direction which has harmed Shyamlan More than benefitted him.

But this Unbreakable is Recommended.
Rating :

* * * & 1/2

Spy Game

Cast : Brad Pitt, Robert Redford

Director : Tony Scott

My favorite kinds of films are the intellectual thrillers where you have to run, mentally, to keep up with the pace of the plot, lest you be left behind. The kind of movie where you park yourself in your seat and skip the concession counter or bathroom visits. The Usual Suspects is one such example. "Spy Game" is another. There is no melodramatic stupidity, no would-be witty one-liners, no unrealistic "deus ex machina" scenarios to insult the intelligence of the viewer. Instead, we're treated to a brilliantly intricate series of events woven together by a very talented cast.

The film begins with the capture of Tom Bishop (Pitt). He was on a mission, which remains unknown for the most part of the film, and is held in a chinese prison with 24 hours left he is executed. After those first 7 minutes i was sold on the rest of the film. I love spy films, although I have to admit I've never been a fan of the 007 films, but was always keen to the theme. What's cooler than being a spy? Batman?.. but thats a whole other story. So the opening sequence... it's quickly paced like most Tony Scott films, and is very slick. Even in the most dirty environments this film looks great. That's one thing that you just can't help in this film, there is plenty of style. Does it work? Sure.

We then cut to an asleep Robert Redford. He is awakened by a call filling him in on Bishop's capture. Today is Nathan's (Redford) last day at the CIA, but this situation is going to stir things up. You see, Nathan Muir was the one that brought Tom Bishop into the CIA. He taught him everything he needed to know. We learn this through a series of flashbacks as Nathan is asked to discribe his relationship and events that took place while knowing Tom. There are some heavy political issues at hand here, and so the CIA is willing to have the Chinese do as they wish with Tom. Do we ever really get a feel of these politics? Not really. But it doesn't matter. What does matter is the realtionship between Tom and Nathan. What matters is that the clock is ticking and that throughout the film, you want to see what happens.

Redford was great in this film and carried it completely. I've never been a big fan of his, but I loved his performance in this. His relationship and chemistry with Pitt was great and completely believable. It's a good thing too because otherwise the film just wouldn't have worked. The scenes are pretty tight and have a nice weight to them. The blend of past and present could not have worked better, although the characters just don't show the periods well as they never seem to age. But it's a minor detail.


I sometimes feel a story that is unbelievable looks more believable if it's told in a more realistic style. I'm sure I would have liked that more in this case, but I certainly didn't mind the style.

I recommend the movie.

Rating :

* * *

Schindler's List

Cast : Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fieness

Director: Steven Spielberg

Schindler's List is not only a pure masterpiece but, for me, it is one of the greatest films ever made in the world. I feel like kicking myself why i waited this long to watch this movie.

It's difficult for any one person to pick ONE movie by Spielberg that stands above all his others. However, if i had to choose his greatest movie when it came to sentimental value, and pure power, Schindler's List is THAT movie.

The film starts off to reveal a womanizing, Nazi business man who profited off of slave labor. The Nazi business man is of course Oskar Schindler. Oskar is just like most men. He has a love for good wine, beautiful women, and pursues happiness through the success of his business. But on his journey to a successful business, millions of Jews were being killed during a time which most label as one of the darkest periods of human history. As Oskar made money, innocent people were being murdered. That's when the self-centered, often money hungry Oskar steps in and gives up his goal of having a successful business to save the lives of over 1,000 Jews.
This film is about redemption and was beautifully photographed in black and white by Janusz Kaminski (cinematographer). At the helm is no one other than Steven Spielberg, who brilliantly called non-pretentious shots and brought back to life a time and period most want to forget, but shouldn't.

If you haven't watched it yet, you better get it! I watched the uncut version. It is a very sad movie, but uplifting at the same time. Who cares about special affects, and all the really extreme graphics movies have now days. This movie doesn't even have any of that except for the one red colored item in the whole entire movie. It is everything a movie should be. I recommend this movie to watch, but it is not for the faint of heart. The horror it reveals of the actual holocaust is something the faint of heart would most certainly be torn from. It's true. This is what happened. And this is a movie that truly reveals it exactly how it went.

An especially emotional scene where the music is at its best is of course, the finale when the war in Germany has officially been declared finished. Oskar notifies the 1,100 Jews he had saved from Auschwitz by taking them to work in his factory that the Allies will come looking for him and most likely kill him. Perlman's violin score is almost able to send goosebumps up your spine as Schindler leaves for his car and is given a solid gold ring made from one of his Jews' golden teeth as a token of gratitude, and he breaks down crying, while lamenting that he didn't save more. Truly, this is Liam Neeson at his best.

Anyone who couldn't find any good points for this film, would either have some very strong Nazi beliefs, or not truly appreciate what a good film really is. For any Spielberg devotees like myself, this is a film that I strongly recommend. Let it be known lastly, that this is a very emotional movie, and it was just the same backstage too, as Spielberg has noted that he was actually crying while behind the camera on multiple occasions while filming Schindler's List.

This is one of the greatest movies ever made, and should always be recognized as such.

Rating :

* * * * & 1/2

The Last Kiss

Cast : Zach Braff , Jacinda Barrett , Casey Affleck, Tom Wilkinson

Director : Tony Goldwyn

Hey guys.. (m talking as if iv 200 people following my blog and atleast 50 comments m getting for my reviews.. (sic)).. been really long time saw any movie and actually been long time since i saw some romantic flick..(i quite like this genre but surprisingly i dnt hv too many romantic movies in my library.. aren’t they making good ones or wat.. ?? heylow.. anyone listening)..

Khair, the title sounded ultimate romantic types so prepared myself for some nostalgic stuff. Well it was rather OK..

Michael (Braff) is a young man who is in love with Jenna (Barrett). The two are engaged and are expecting their first child…but Michael has many anxieties about settling down. He feels as though his old life will end when he is married…and what if he isn't ready to close the book on that part of his life? He happens upon a beautiful young college student named Kim (Bilson) and the two begin an innocent relationship. They are just friends…but Michael refuses to tell Jenna, wanting to keep the relationship a secret. At the same time, Jenna's parents are going through a spot of trouble. Her mother, Anna (Danner), is sick of feeling unloved and leaves Jenna's father, Stephen (Wilkinson). Michael's friends, all in various stages of relationships, also begin to have many problems with their loved ones. "The Last Kiss" tells of the drama that can exist between any couple in any stage of their relationship and that, ultimately, love is a leap of faith that must be made between two people together…or not at all.

If you're looking for a moderate movie -- nothing too serious, but then nothing too fluffy -- something that you can watch, maybe chuckle a few times, or maybe something that might get you to think more deeply about relationship (and in particular if you're considering getting into a long-term relationship, or if you're not sure a long-term relationship you're in), then this would be just the ticket. You get into the minds of the characters, and there are quite a few that you can get to know, which lets you empathize with them. Some questions that I pondered watching this: is avoidance an option in life? Is truth always the best policy?

Go Find Out Your Answers.. !

Rating :

* * *

City Of GoD

Cast : Alexandre Rodrigues, Alice Braga, Leandro Firmino

Director : Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund

Based on true events of a Brazilian slum in Rio de Janeiro, 'City of God' tells a harrowing tale of one boys fight to escape poverty and crime. Over the course of roughly two decades, the story is told through the eyes of our young protagonist; 'Rocket', who desperately wants to make something of himself and free himself from the violence, drugs, robberies and corruption of the 'City of God'.

It's established very early on in the film that the name of the slum, 'City of God', is blatant irony being that the place is completely overrun with all forms of crime and immorality. The first 20-30 minutes depict how the young citizens of the slum view crime as a necessity, and the only way in which they can make something of themselves and claim respect amongst the local population. It is clear that over time to some characters their "necessities" have started to become entertaining, and sadly this is passed on to the younger generations who then also aspire to such crimes.

'Rocket' introduces us to many important characters that are well respected in the community. One of which is 'Lil Zé', 18, and the sole king of the 'City of God'. An inhumane and immoral character who only received maximum respect through murder and drugs. 'Lil Zé' is an immensely frightening character; it's very hard to find a soul or a shred of humanity within him. He is a prime example of an underlying tone of a vicious cycle; influenced by older boys when he was younger, he aspired to become something greater than those who looked down upon him as a child and made himself the most feared member of the slum. There is one particularly devastating scene which demonstrates this, it is also likely to stick with you forever.

Everybody fears everybody within the community, 'Lil Zé' has a large gang, and to join his side is a symbol of respect, and this is the ideal that all the young people of the slum have been taught. All except 'Rocket', who hopes to become a photographer one day, to form a legitimate career and to escape the hold the city has over him.

'Rocket' is a sign of courage and hope, he even quotes that the slum is purgatory at one point, and 'Rocket' highlights this by being the only, or one of few, young people to hope to have aspirations of becoming something worth while and legitimate, where others view money as their only form of escape. During the course of the film, however, he becomes influenced by his surroundings and attempts to turn to the world of crime, but he has too much heart to commit any such acts. Each guy 'Rocket' met on his attempted descent was a "cool guy", and he couldn't bring himself to do any harm.



Amongst all the various crime and drug use and dealing, it is made perfectly clear that all the main characters involved are but only teenagers. They like to party, hang out on the beach, and our protagonist has a crush on a pretty young girl called 'Angélica', who he wants to sleep with. These are simple lives made extraordinary, and for the most part, nobody wants that. 'Lil Zé', however, is displayed to be purely business orientated and has very little interest in anything other than his respect and power. If his hormones kick in, he will act upon them illegitimately.


Visually, this is quite a strange film. It has a somewhat light-hearted aura surrounding it which is sometimes strengthened by an excellent soundtrack. This makes for an extra punch because it highlights how natural and normal this life is for all the residents of the city and can be quite a tough thing to think about. Some of the imagery, however, is very powerful and graphic making them often hard to handle. This imagery is made strong by a wonderful young cast who give excellent performances throughout. I'm sure if I were fluent in Portuguese, I'd find some small discrepancies within their line delivery, but as it stands, everybody seems very natural bringing about very strong characters.


The film is brilliantly paced, very fast, with some excellent cinematographic choices. The pace and overall intensity of the film encourages you to keep involved, and despite the tough imagery in certain parts, it's hard to look away. I can't seem to find much wrong with this film, and feel that it deserves all the accolades it has got for its courageous story matter and the confidence to not shy away from any details of, sadly, what many slums still are today. Even if this doesn't accurately portray life in certain slums, as a piece of art, this is brilliant.

City of God will definitely be remembered in the future as the film which just might have changed cinema history.

Rating :

* * * *