Four Weddings & A Funeral - Super Eulogy & Prose by W.H Auden

Fell in love with this brilliant Eulogy that was delivered with so much passion in the movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'. The Eulogy is mostly a piece by W.H. Auden which is bound to move even the most hard hearted individual. Brilliant...

Oh...and By the Way, this is one of the super romantic comedies that i have seen Hugh Grant and the rest of the British Cast (Most having been seen in the more renowned 'Notting Hill') mouthing the most awesome dialogues in a very realistic setting make it one of my favourite British comedies.

Matthew talking about Gareth:
"The most splendid, replete, big-hearted, weak-hearted as it turned out, and jolly bugger most of us ever met. As for me, you may ask how I will remember him, what I thought of him.

Unfortunately there I run out of words. Perhaps you will forgive me if I turn from my own feelings to the words of another splendid bugger: W.H. Auden. This is actually what I want to say: "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bonel, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'. Put crepe bows 'round the white necks of the public doves, Let traffic policemen wear black, cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East, and West. My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good. "

Signs - A must watch Short Film

SIGNS is a must watch film for all lovers of movies and all lovers! ;-)

It is a film made by Patrick Hughes and was one of the 2009 Cannes film festival winners. The subject matter is Communications and there is not even one dialogue. Beautifully made, the film has a superb emotional & visual appeal and really brings home the message that sometimes Words are just meaningless...

Note: YouTube link can be reached by clicking on the title.

Damned United - Must watch for a football fan!

"They love me for what I'm not... ...they hate me for what I am." - The tagline says it all.

These are the utterances of Brian Clough, supposedly the Best English Football Manager not to have coached England. BTW this is the same guy who once said "Sir Alex has none of what i have two of and i not just referring to balls"!!. This guy took Derby county from the bottom of the second division to become the English Champions and then won 2 consecutive European Cups with Nottingham Forest, something which was as improbable as it is today.

However this is not the story of the achievements. Instead it is the story of his biggest failure when he coached Leeds United for just 44 days. It showcases his burning ambition to become better than Don Revvie which nearly destroyed him and his friendship with his best friend Peter Taylor, the assistant coach and guide who stayed by his side throughout.

Director Tom Hooper has done a fabulous job of properly fleshing the main characters of Clough and Taylor. However a small nitpick that i have is that of Taylor being shown as more important than Brian and his actual eccentric coaching brilliance not being truly represented. However my advice is that all folks should read a little about this team after having watched the movie.

All together it is a great movie for all football fans and really shows some great facets of the game and the league that we all love so much...so will recommend as a must watch! :-)

Wake Up Sid - Damn Refreshing!!

The one thing about this movie that really tugs at you is - What parts of the character of Sid or Ayesha is common to me. Is it just the carefree one or the one where i am craving for my independence or does it also include the one where i am rude to everyone i love. It did question my sense of reality and my sense of freedom today.

Anyways director Ayaan Mukherjee is spot on with this film about basically...growing up. And thankfully there are no cliches involved. Its really a very realistic portrayal of growing up in a upper middle class family and stumbling about till you find your own direction. A.K.A Dil Chahta Hai?...maybe in a certain sense but it looks at issues more deeply and there is no forced sentimentality. Which is what in my opinion makes the film so refreshing!

As far as the acting is concerned, Ranbir is par excellence. I have never seen a better portrayal of a confused individual in bollywood. Hrithik tried it in Lakshya but it came across as a caricature. Just watch the scene where he puts his face through the sunroof and feels the wind on his face. Its that raw feeling of understanding what is actually being portrayed and feeling the same in your senses too that gives any film the power to captivate people. WUS does that in most places. Again Konkona is brilliant. Superlatives can hardly convey the excellence that she showcases. And strangely enough, they look like a cute pair! The support cast is also good except Supriya Pathak who strangely underplays her role too much.

Coming to the music, Take a bow Amit Triwedi for the song Iktara. I have been a fan of this guy since the brilliant 'Aamir' and he again delivers a superb score. Keep an eye out for this guy. He sure is going places. And obviously Shankar Ehsaan Loy are superb as usual. The music complements the pace very well and at no time does it interfere with the narrative. In fact it enhances it quite a bit.

Finally Bombay - sorry Mumbai!! - has been beautifully showcased. You slowly start understanding what it is about the city that enchants so many people. Its a charming city in a lot many ways and that charm really come across on screen in WUS...Great work!

We are Marshall

"Jack Lengyel: For those of you who may not know, this is the final resting place for six members of the 1970 Thundering Herd. The plane crash that took their lives was so severe, so absolute, that their bodies were unable to be identified. So they were buried here. Together. Six players. Six teammates. Six Sons of Marshall. This is our past, gentlemen. This is where we have been. This is how we got here. This is who we are. Today, I want to talk about our opponent this afternoon. They're bigger, faster, stronger, more experienced and on paper, they're just better. And they know it too. But I want to tell you something that they don't know. They don't know your heart. I do. I've seen it. You have shown it to me. You have shown this coaching staff, your teammates. You have shown yourselves just exactly who you are in here.
[Thumps his chest]
Jack Lengyel: When you take that field today, you've got to lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you've got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game but if you play like that we cannot be defeated. Now we came here today to remember six young men and sixty-nine others who will not be on the field with you today, but they will be watching. You can bet your ass that they'll be gritting their teeth with every snap of that football. You understand me? How you play today, from this moment on is how you will be remembered. This is your opportunity to rise from these ashes and grab glory. We are...
Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: We are.
Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: We are!
Young Thundering Herd: Marshall!
Jack Lengyel: The funerals end today!"

I picked these lines from IMDB when i saw the movie...since these lines are absolutely true. Just imagine a football (american) team completely wiped out in 1970 - 75 lives were lost with most of the playing team, the coaches, the supporting staff not surviving the crash - and then trying to completely start again from scratch and in the process not just try to compete but also to try and heal the wounds of everyone concerned, most of them the families and friends of the people who lost their lives. Try to imagine it all and then realise the magnitude of it all.

This movie might not have been that great if just seen from the point of view of plain cinema. But when you understand that the template that real life weaves is sometimes far greater than any that an artificial film can show, you are humbled by the knowledge that what you are seeing on the big screen is just a manifestation of what must have been Marshall in 1970. The manifestation is just a glimpse of the pain, but it is enough for someone to understand the magnitude of it all and bow his head in respect and praise for the courage shown.

The film captures all the emotions quite well and all the actors play their role convincingly. A special mention for Matthew Fox (Red Dawson) who i thought was briliant. Even Matthew McConaughey was very good as the Head Coach Jack Lengyel.

The best part of this movie comes in the last 15 minutes which includes the match with Xaviers and the above mentioned dialogues. It also includes a brilliant montage and some really emotional scenes at the end of the game. Finally it includes a nice snapshot of how the main characters have done after the film timelines get over. Nicely Done!

I love the last line of the movie when Annie says - "From the Ashes we rose....We are Marshall"

Please click for the official online memorial of the Marshall Tragedy

Greatest Movies - My Pick!

There are some great movies that i have seen in these 25+ years and trust me, i have seen quite a few. Some of them were quite brilliant, some not so much but over the years i have found that my basket of movies tend to be split in generally three baskets;

1. Average and Bad movies - whatever the language,
2. Great Movies that do not appeal to me, &
3. Movies that have really made me cry/ wonder/ gasp/ shout/ laugh/ feel intense happiness

I have also realized that most of these films in the 3rd category are those that deal predominantly with Fantasies - Magic & Wizardry, Surrealism, Extreme Romance, Resurrection of thy self. There might be a few exceptions but that is because the movies would have blown me away with the sheer magic of the acting.

I Present this list of top 25 movies and will also like to present a listing of top movies within each genre as i know it. One factor that i have kept in mind is that multiple parts have been clubbed as one movie preferably.

Top 25:

1. Forrest Gump
2. Vita e bella, la (Life is Beautiful)
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Godfather Series
   
5. Lord of the Rings Series
   
6. Wall - E
7. Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset
   
8. Jaane Bhi do Yaaron (Forget about it, friends)
   
9. Kannathil Muthamital (Kiss on the cheek)
10. Rocky Series
    
11. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (Yup i am Mad ;-) )
    
12. Requiem for a Dream
13. Saving Private Ryan
14. Usual Suspects
15. Raat (Night)
16. Laberinto del fauno, El (Pan's Labyrinth)
    
17. The Terminal
18. Gandhi
19. Gladiator
20. Braveheart
21. Dumb & Dumber
22. The Dark Night
23. When Harry met Sally
24. Wall Street
25. The Exorcist

Genre Wise:

• Romance - Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset & DDLJ
• Fantasy - Lord of the Rings & Pan's Labyrinth
  
• Action - Matrix & Rocky
  
• Historical - Gladiator & Braveheart
  
• Comedy - Dumb & Dumber & Jaane Bhi do Yaaron
  
• Animation - Wall e & The Lion King
  
• Resurrection - Forrest Gump & Shawshank Redemption
  
• Drama - Godfather & The Pianist
  
• War - Saving Private Ryan & Full Metal Jacket
  
• Horror - Raat & Exorcist
• Business - Wall Street & Barbarians at the Gate
• Superheroes - The Dark Knight & The Iron Man
• Western - Once upon a time in the West & The good, The Bad and the Ugly
• Musical - Sound of Music & Singing in the Rain
• Biography - Gandhi & The Pusuit of Happyness
• Sci fi - Star Wars & Back to the Future
• Sport - Rocky & Remember the Titans
• Thriller - Psycho & The Usual Suspects

These are the movies that i will be writing more about in this blog. These are the movies which have really shaped my viewing standards. Some of them might not be liked by many folks but thats understandable. According to me movies are the world that we escape to when we are tired of the 'outside' world. And hence a lot of external attributes define & refine our tastes. Everyone has the right to create his/ her own world.....

However as i have said it earlier, this is my real world......Hope you Enjoy it!!

Kannathil Muthamittal - A Kiss on the Cheek

Just finished watching a movie which should be rated as one of the best i have seen till date. Kannathil Muthamittal - A kiss on the cheek

What an apt name for the movie. Probably one of the finest Mani Ratnam movies ever made. This guy needs to be saluted for his sheer genius. A tamil movie made about the Srilankan strife where no sides have been taken is a great sign of courage by the director.

The premise is relatively simple. An adopted girl in search of her biological mother and idealistic parents who help her in every step to grant her this wish. But what keeps this movie head and shoulders above anything else you have ever seen is that this is not about that girl - thats there just to keep the story moving - this is about a world where human life is reduced to nothing. Its about a world where the success is measured by the number of graves i was able to provide my brother who is now my enemy - hopefully that number is greater than mine. Where people fight for an ideology which ruins not just their lives but the lives of everyone who did not even wish to be part of it but are sucked into it. Where sometimes even ideology has died because it was given to a 10 year old who shot at its heart with his kalashnikov.

The story of the girl and her travels to the emerald island to find her mother is a moving one which has been handled brilliantly without any melodrama. The movie is a slightly long one at around 3 hrs but it probably needed this time. The best part about this movie is how natural it looks. The family life shown is like any other indian family and the romance so subtle. Something that will bring a smile to your lips is a great love song shot at scenic beaches and ragged ships on great salt farms but not between the lead pair but between the mother and the adopted daughter. Brilliant!!

The cinematography is excellent. Sri Lanka's beauty is captured in its raw essence. Its actually eerie to see beautiful parks and forests and amongst them just the shell of buildings. School Girls on cycles laughing like they do not have a care in the world and the next minute a gunfight at exactly the same place that looks so real that mentally you pary for their safety even though you know that its not real (or maybe it is!!!). Even the indian scenes are well captured. There is a scene where the young girl is running around in circles with her father in the centre and suddenly the father tells her that she is not their biological daughter. On hearing this she still keeps running around her father but now her happy carefree expression changes slowly as realization dawns on her. You go to movies to watch this...

Which brings us to the acting. Needless to say, Ratnam extracts superb performances from the various actors. Madhavan as the dad and Keerthana as the child are brilliant in the movie. Nandita Das in her small role potrays a great amount of character as the biological mother. She really looks the part as the Sri Lankan Tamil girl who goes through great turmoil in life. But the greatest of my applause is reserved for the fantastic Simran. The role essayed by her is really tough as that of a mother caught between wishing for her daughters happiness but at the sametime apprehensive of the steps that they have taken. Caught between the love for her adopted daughter while longing for her own sons too. This is one superlative performance.

And before i forget....the music...It seems that AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam are brothers. The music just knows how to follow the story and vice versa. The background score 'Vellai Pookal Ulagam' is haunting while the rest of the songs just simply fall into place.

A great movie which hopefully should make you wonder why do we fight when all we need to sort everything is to just kiss on the cheek...after all he is just your brother.

Slumdog Millionaire...It Rocks

It has to be about a Love Story....It just has to be!!

In one of the finest films made this year...shucks...till date...at least on Indian Soil, the love remains the undercurrent for everything. And why not?...if you take out the romance between the lead protagonists Jamal Malik and Latika, you lose the soul.

In an utterly impalusible movie, it still makes you wonder just a little bit...can this really happen, and this is the biggest tribute to the director since everything else is absolutely real. Both sides of India with its pukish slums, brothels, pimps, beggars one one hand and the glitzy call centres, Reality shows, Hiranandani and Mercedes Cars on the other are very 'in your face' real!!

The story is just an elongation of the Movie Name: Slumdog Millioniare in Hindi Slang - Basti/ Jhopad/ 'gandagi' ka Kutta who becomes a crorepati. A dog from the slums who is one the verge of becoming a millioniare and then just before the last question is asked all hell breaks loose. Since the guy is a slumdog, he should not know the answer to questions which even rich people do not know but he does....the situations that he has been in his life till date which makes him know the answer is what forms the crux of the story.

The Q&A moves between the good and the bad but keeping in kind that it has been made for international, particularly British audiences, it makes sense. What makes the Q&A session brillaint is Anil Kapoor, who in a short but career defining role is as slimy and stinking as the pot of shit in which the protagonist falls.

The situations are very real and what makes them more so are the young actors and their interaction. Watch the scene in which the blind child tells Jamal that bearded baldy on a $100 note is Benjamin Franklin. The subtlety of being blind is brought forward so well that its spellbinding. Or take the scene of a vey young Jamal dancing infront of his beloved Latika. The children keep the movie really alive. Infact they are so good that they overshadow the main cast members Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto and also Irrfan who are also quite impressive in their meaty roles.

This movie at some levels reminded me of 'City of God'. There are actually a lot of similarities in their subtext if you observe carefully though they are quite different in their overall positioning.

Finally the 3 things that make the movie so great are, The music of AR Rahman - this guy is a genious and mark my words, one day they are going to call him the greatest musician ever. Some of the tracks are exceptional and without words they convey so much meaning. Then there is the Direction of Danny Boyle - Hats off sir for making a movie in India which is better than what our bollywood has been dishing out for the last 50 years. Some of the scenes are extremely gritty without ever being distasteful. They are just 'Real'. And finally what makes this film truly memorable is INDIA - yes, it presents a myriad of colours and sequences and events our country that have become part of our life. It is what defines India today....sometimes to the extent that we have started ignoring some of these grusome facts about ourselves. If in some way - and i think it will - this movie awakens us to the darker underbelly of India and lets some reality seep into our consiousness, it will deserve the Oscar that is awaiting it right now!!!