Sunday, December 23, 2007

10 films i really enjoyed this year

College was a blur.A movie watching,shawai eating,sharja guzzling,blur.We would download so many movies that it would require a dutiful,disciplined regimen to actually complete all of them.So I made it my own personal task to watch as many as i could.i would devote entire weekends to watching movies as many as 5 a day.There were so many movies and so little time that someone had to do it for the entire hostel.Yeah, everyone tried.Everyone gave it their best shot,but it was not enough.There so many distractions.assignments,football,shawai,life all came in between. Anyway,somewhere down the line i realized i was shunning quality for quantity.I need not watch all the movies out there to prove my geekiness.No,Watch only those you feel like.And you are allowed the odd mistake or two.That made it all better.It cleared the mist and brought much needed order.
Well all that is only vaguely related to this post.What i wanted to say was that i did watch a lot of movies this year.And of those i remember, the following were the ones that really really stood out.They did not all come out this year.I just saw them this year.In no particular order...


1)Memories of murder
A nicely shot thriller about a couple of detectives trying to catch a serial killer in rural Korea.Based on a true story, its taut,well directed and paints a ghastly picture of a twisted mans handiworks.


2)Jab we met
I absolutely loved this film.Hilarious,gr8 songs, and good chemistry between the leads make it a wonderful experience. I hated Kareena before.now i dont :)...



3)Chotta Mumbai
Nobody in India does comedy like Mollywood.NOBODY.Though recent times have been a slump.Gems pop up now and then.Many die hard Lalettan fans were disappointed with mohanlal resorting to cheap gags and slapstick.Not me.This flick about a motley crew of slum dwellers trying to protect their homes, is not only funny but surprislingly has a well thought out story.While director's Abdul Rashheed's previous film ,Rajamanikkyam was all the rage, i dint quite get into it.But this one did the trick for me.



4)Detective
i believe it was mamooty's Oru CBI diary Kuruppu ( i am not sure if i am spelling it rt) that started the trend of murder mysteries in Mollywood.And they have survived through the 80s and 90s and even now as subgenre they thrive.There is always a lead detective who arrives at a crime scene with a team of experts and sets about solving the case.Here too, the same but its impossible to guess the ending ,The modus operandi and the motive are very unique.The smallest details matter, and the story puts forwards so many possible methods that you start thinking on your own which of them could be true.This is intelligent cinema sans the item number.

5)A dirty carnival
I love gangster flicks, ever since i saw the departed i have been gobblong them up like shawais.This is the story of a rising goon who carries out a important hit , which no one was willing to do.An old school mate who happens to be an aspiring director, approaches him to get insight for a script hes writing.trouble stirs when he makes the film about the hit, and it becomes a major success throwing the goon into a spiral of coverup after coverup.The fights are very realistic,moreso by the fact that there are no guns,only knives and clubs.


6)The Kingdom
Peter Berg knows how to direct an action film.Tight, realistic,loud and effective.The kingdom is about an FBi team that lands in Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing of a US consulate.there is no muslim bashing, instead it portrays the Saudi lifestyle in a compassionate manner. I liked the performance of the Saudi inspector who is assigned to babysit the team.The last half an hour will leave you at the edge of your seat, nail firmly between teeth.


7)Zodiac
David Fincher.The man knows what hes doing.Three different characters hunting the same serial killer.LA confidential?? No, This ones about the real life Zodiac killer and based on the book by one of those investigators.Theres a scene when Jake Gyllenhall visits a potential suspect in his home.Nothing could be creepier than that scene.


8)Superbad
Superbad baby..!!wow, a film with a self descriptive title.Its hilarious,and anyone who hasnt seen it needs to see it.Twice.My fave character has to be Fogell .."I am Mclovin".Probably the funniest film of the year. I am going to watch anything that stars any of the leads in the coming future.Each character is funny in his own imperfect way.The 3 leads, the policemen, the old guy who got arrested. i cant wait for a follow up from the same camp.



9)Bourne trilogy
The wolverine prequel comes out in 2009.But they already made it.its called the bourne trilogy.There are so many similarities between Bourne and Wolverine .Bourne is Wolverine without the claws.Anyway, i just completed the 3 films this year.And you cant deny the fast-pace-ness of the films.And the stunts and action is so stylistic yet realistic that it leaves your mouth gape.You dont mess with the Bourne.If you break down the last film, ultimatum its nothing but Bourne getting from Europe to NY.But its more than that.The duel between Bourne and Desh in Algeirs has to be one of the coolest fight scenes ever.

10)The Exorcism of Emiluy Rose
This film really scared me.Really did.Its not just the in your face scares.There is also a subtle creepiness to it.Heres a scene that creeps you out.Emily'sBoyfriend wakes up to find her missing from bed.She is one the floor ,her body twisted in an inhumanly manner and staring at him.just imagine yourself in that guys shoes,that is some scary shiite.The film is about a Priest who goes on trial for an exorcism that goes wrong.We see in falshback what went wrong and question whether exorcism is mumbo jumbo or not.I really enjoyed it.Especially Tom Wilkinson's portrayal of the priest.

Also in the list:We own the night,Shoot em' up,28 weeks later,and Eastern Promises(this one i dug alot), and the TV show Extras and the super cool second season of Dexter.

Major Disappointemnt:Live free or Die Hard

Trivia:Brian Cox apparently has a nig hand in the creation of both Bourne and Wolverine.He is the Cia guy who oversaw project Treadstone on the Bourne films and he also plays Gen.Stryker in X2 and the upcoming prequel.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope u give me these movies when u come back and yes godhara was a retaliation righteous or not that is not for me to decide

Anonymous said...

Gostei muito desse post e seu blog é muito interessante, vou passar por aqui sempre =) Depois dá uma passada lá no meu site, que é sobre o CresceNet, espero que goste. O endereço dele é http://www.provedorcrescenet.com . Um abraço.