A few good movies

Clearly, I have not written a word since ages now! I have not even bought a book for a long, long time (which is really not an issue, as even if I don’t buy books for next couple of years, I would still have loads of books to read). Besides, I don’t read ‘Outlook’ front to back, as I do ‘People’ as soon as I lay my hands on it. Yes, I am vain. I have not parted ways with atleast last 2 years’ editions of ‘Femina’ and all of ‘BBC Good Homes’, ‘Living etc’ and ‘Outlook’. And therefore, I have also lost all rights to crib about any of my husband’s stuff not kept in place, because my books and magazines occupy every room, every corner. So, I have made peace.

I have not read much in last couple of months, but I have been able to catch loads of good movies on TV.

Saaransh

I happened to catch “Saaransh” a couple of days back. But since the power went off, I had to watch the last 40-50 minutes on YouTube. The one thought that cropped my mind while watching this was how Mahesh Bhatt used to make such great movies once! (‘Arth’ remains my all time favourite). Saaransh is a not a formula movie, just a good movie, which you would want to watch again and again. 

Dead Man Walking

Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn deliver award-winning performances in this amazing movie. I was bowled over by both of them. They were too good. Dead Man Walking is a movie adaptation of a book of the same name. The movie tells the story of a special relationship developed by Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) with Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) who is on a death row. Poncelet, alongwith his partner, is accused of raping a teenage girl, and gruesome killing of her and her boyfriend. He is awaiting his execution. Sister Helen agrees to help him in his final appeal to change his execution to life imprisonment. Read more about the movie here.   

16 Blocks

I just happened to catch this movie out of the blue. On 14^th February, every channel was playing romantic movies back to back, and there is a limit to watching mush. It gets boring, repetitive and unbearable after sometime. It is like reading Mills & Boons back to back for the entire day, and remember, I am not a teenager any more!

To begin with, I love Bruce Willis. In this movie, he plays this alcoholic detective, who is entrusted with escorting a fast-talking witness to the court. A few minutes into the movie, and you get to know that his colleagues, the city police force, wants this witness dead. I loved the fast-pace and intense action in this movie.

Love Story

I had never seen the movie adaptation of the overhyped book of the same name by Erich Segal. I think, by now, everyone knows the story of ‘Love Story’. When I read it first (one of my really close friends gifted it to me), I could not understand what the hype was all about! It is one of those things, which everyone loves, and you don’t so much, and you are convinced, perhaps there is something wrong with you only.

Anyways, I watched this movie on Valentine’s Day weekend. If not anything else, I found it pretty endearing.

A Few Good Men

I have seen this movie before, but I love nothing more than a good court room drama. Tom Cruise makes it easy on the eyes too :-)

Even apart from him, the entire cast is fabulous and once the trial starts, the movie holds you well till the end.

Read more about the movie here. 

My Sister’s Keeper

The movie is actually based on an award-winning book of the same name. I have not read the book but after watching the movie, I look forward to reading it. The books are almost always better than their movie adaptations.

To briefly describe the story, it is about an 11 year old girl who files a case against her parents for medical emancipation. The couple has 3 children. When their eldest daughter, Kate, is of 2 years, they came to know that she suffers from leukemia. The youngest one, Anna was conceived by IVF to become a donor. Over the years, she has been a donor in treatments required for Kate. Now, she is expected to donate her kidney to her elder sister. Anna comes to know that the operation would be a major one, and on one side, it does not promise life for Kate, it also means that it is going to impact Anna’s life in a big way. The movie takes off from there.

On one side, you feel that Sara, their mother, is not doing wrong because as she says she is looking at a larger picture of the entire family. She is obsessed with doing everything possible to save Kate. She believes that Anna is not able to appreciate the impact of her decision at her age. In her defense, to begin with, Anna was conceived to help her sister. But as I am saying this, it is also true that Anna is her own person. She cannot be ‘used’ to treat Kate, even if she was given birth for this purpose. It is not morally correct and unjustified.

I absolutely loved the movie. Though they have departed from the ending of the book, the movie is worth watching.

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I don’t even remember how many other good movies I have seen in last couple of days. But I was just thinking one of these days, when I was bowled over by one of the English movies, most of the hindi movie ‘actors’ are essentially non-actors. Most of them are overrated and without talent. I can’t even name one favourite actor or actress. There aren’t any. I would say I love performances. Tabu is the only actress who comes top-of-the-mind, especially in ‘Namesake’. I liked her in ‘Cheeni-Kum’ as well. Why she needed to do ‘Baat hamri Pakki’ is what beats me! For that matter, Irrfan Khan was also superb in ‘Namesake’.

I also watched ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’ this weekend. I would post a review soon. For now, listen to this beautiful song from the movie. 


(Images source: All images have been taken through the internet from various websites. All rights pertaining to these images are duly acknowledged.)