The King’s Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper
Cast : Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush

This is first feature film from John Hooper I am watching.

Colin Firth, I have seen a couple of his films. Probably this would be the one I feel he did his best. The other role which I would stand by is for Pride and Prejudice.

Helena Bonham Carter – I saw her first in Fight Club. I was floored. Howard’s End. Well, her role here is quite a non-whacky one…but then she captures what is needed to get the King going.

Guy Pearce – See him in Memento. See him in Rules of Engagement. LA Confidential. Factory Girl. The King’s Speech, is a milder of his performance.

Geoffrey Rush – I have seen him. I do not really remember a role which I recollect clearly.

Now coming to the movie – the definite high is the unconventional and unorthodox ways of the speech therapist. An inside peek into the ways of the blue blood and the manner of conduct. A must watch.

The Fighter (2010)

Director: David O Russell
Cast: Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo.

Based on a true story.

When you see Christian Bale, in such a de-glamorized state, you wonder is he the same guy you saw in the Batman series. Well, the casting guys have always amazed me in spotting people. It’s difficult to conceive a role for a person, who has done some typecast roles earlier.

For instance in Fighter, look at Amy Adams. When I first noticed her in Enchanted, well I was she was the best for a princess in distress. Look at what she did in Doubt. I was simply awed at the transformation, and more so like I said about the casting guy to spot her. Now look at her in The Fighter. Same holds so true for Christian Bale. Batman series -> Prestige -> The Fighter!!!

I like boxing movies, and I liked a lot more when I saw it again quite later. The underdog winning is an instant thrill. And it works for me always.

The story has several sub plots, and equally involved side-kicks. The transformations happen all around, and the victory is not just for Mark Wahlberg, it’s for all. Watch it for the grit and determination, and fighting the odds. Actually there are a lot of odds in here. I liked the soundtrack as well.

Melissa Leo – I have seen her 21 grams, Frozen River and some more, but actually did not quite recollect her when I saw her in The Fighter. In fact I did not register her as an actress, her name and other details before. Though I knew the critical acclaim for Frozen River, little did I take notice of her.

This is first David O Russell for me, looking forward to watch I Love Huckabees.

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Directed by – John Cameron Mitchell
Cast – Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
Nominations – Academy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award – Actor in a leading role


Rabbit Hole deals beautifully with the lives of Becca and Howie who have lost their son in an accident. The subject is quite tragic but the plot and the narrative does not delve only on the tragedy part and grief. But there are sub plots as well, the lives of others which get intertwined as well, mostly family and friends.

Nicole gives a superb performance, undoubtedly. I liked the thought process and the concept behind the comic series created, and the detailed and intricate activities that goes into the making of it.

We went for the 10 AM show at PVR on a Saturday, and was expecting it to be not crowded. I was right, we had a free seating as there were hardly 10-12 people in the hall. I had a slightly more number somewhere around 30-35 people when I went for ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’, the previous week.

I am planning to go for ‘The Fighter’ and ‘The King’s Speech’ this week, for the special Oscar screening at PVR. I hope these dismal turnout does not result in cancellation. The other way around is also equally dangerous, if there is a sudden downpour of viewers.

Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011)

Director – Sudhir Mishra
Cast – Irrfan Khan, Chitrangada Singh, Aditi Rao Haydari, Arunoday Singh

Excellent review - http://filmreviewsjohnsonthomas.blogspot.com/2011/02/yeh-saali-zindagi-utt-pataang-united.html
There is not much to add/write after reading the review. Read the part before the plot, well that in fact is somewhat the same thing I would have wanted to write. One thing to add, was Arunoday Singh’s voice dubbed and also for Chitrangada Singh?

More reading material on Sudhir Mishra - http://passionforcinema.com/film-making-influences-life-and-people/

Biutiful (2010)

Biutiful (2010)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez

21 grams, Amores Perros, Babel, well this the fourth film from Alejandro González Iñárritu, stable. Be prepared to be a witness to a heart wrenching tale with in depth view of the troubled lives of the concerned. Some morbid tendencies, some psychological disturbances, human trafficking and exploitation, infidelity, corruption, guilt, greed…Well, the idea is not list them all….But you get a picture of what to expect. When you deal with such issues, you are bound to be touched, or you could simply find the whole stuff as one of the members of the audience said “bhaara” or “heavy” stuff. It’s intended to be and does a good job at that.

Well this movie had really interesting names of characters, which I have never ever heard of before – Uxbal (what a name), Ige, Marambara,Mateo (can understand it’s Mathew otherwise)

Now, that goes as far as the critical review is concerned. Let me come to some, well you can decide what to call it….When you look at Javier, he has huge fingers, a huge face, a not so sharp nose, but a long one, a big forehead. A head too big for his body. Did you feel so? Maricel does have a very peculiar nose. Together on screen, they are nose-wise poles apart!! And add to that the little ‘how papa proposed me’ story by Maricel, makes you think it about it all the more…

I too had a love story – Ravinder Singh

I too had a love story – Ravinder Singh


I wanted to read the book, I wanted to know what was it made of to make it what it is. I knew it would be breezy read. I was travelling from Bangalore to Thrissur, I had approximately 10 hours of an overnight travel, and roughly about 2-3 hours of transit time. Personally, I had set an agenda I should be through the book by the time I reach my destination. I kept my milestone.

It’s a very plain narrative, a narrative which otherwise was not so popular in the Fiction genre and that too as novels till “Five Point Someone’ changed the paradigm. ‘Five Point Someone’ reached out to people who dreaded books, and they have lapped up the book more voraciously than the already initiated. And the reasons are obvious I guess. But I feel if ‘Five Point Someone’ can create so much hysteria, what effect the conventional novels would be able to do. But then, I may be a bit crude here, the audience is different for the two – one with near zero attention span and then the others.

There are some high moments, some predictable moves, and some poignant ones too. Overall, what I wished for, I got more than that. Hence hugely impressed. I had been through a similar phase recently, so all the more reason to relate to the characters. (Did Shaadi.com and IMS endorse the author?).

127 hours (2010)

127 hours

Cast – James Franco

I somewhat knew what to expect. Hence was delaying it for quite some time. I always have experienced that movies, I have been biased against, and have won nominations, have turned out to be the most memorable movies I have seen.

127 hours has been an exception to that.

I till date maintain of all the films of Danny I have seen – Trainspotting is my personal favorite. Hands down.

127 hours did not capture my imagination and move me as much as I thought it would. The grotesque act of survival is what remains very clear in my mind. The location and the limitation of the screenplay in such a scenario, limitation of what can be the background score, limitations as an only actor, well the limitations are innumerable. Yet it still does not appeal to me. It’s an National Geography/Discovery channel format, maybe crude, but that’s at its best I can say.

American Beauty (1999)

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Meena Suvari,
Director: Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes’s claim to fame. American and Beauty – both intricately woven into the movie, it blends the two words.

It was my second time I was viewing this movie. However, I had forgotten most of the exact words which were spoken by whom and when. I remembered the sequence of events roughly, but it was an absolute delight to watch a re-run on ZStudio w/o a commercial break, after a long day.

The narrative and the way how the characters interplay, it’s so beautiful, and it’s so very an American story. It can only happen in America.

So many things actually happen on the screen and a lot more in our minds. That’s what I loved about such movies. They way they play with your minds. Deserves all the wins it got that year. American Beauty, hands down, you were awesome.

Godfather III

Cast: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Sophia Coppola, Andy Garcia

Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola have left behind, what should I say, nothing less than what was needed for a cult. I need not write anything about what Godfather means to cinema.

The duo were almost near perfection to what they wanted to build, an empire. And that empire stands still even now, after so many decades. Why? My best bet would be it’s a guy thing. Power, women and danger. Control.

One of my roommates for a brief six month stint, wrote a screenplay in Hindi for the Bollywood version of Godfather. Hugely successful, even after it was after decades it was adapted for Bollywood, how it appeals to the minds. Mafia is not unheard of in these parts, with various active so called families, ruled the city of Mumbai. So, I guess the Indian audience lapped it up. Prashant if you happen to read this, definitely you I must say, you know what tickles the Indian minds. You knew it too well. And that’s your claim to fame.

It’s great to see the full circle of time, the way how things were in Godfather I, appears to place itself mysteriously again. Life’s like that, everywhere.

Indecent Proposal(1987)

Cast: Demi Moore, Robert Redford, Woody Harrelson

The title is quite misleading, in the sense it may too much of a give-away as to what to expect. Never the less, even before knew what was Demi Moore’s claim to fame, I had heard about Indecent Proposal. However, I got around to see it only much later, 17-18 years later. Well, that’s not the interesting part about the movie, which I want o share with you.

Some of the events may look to have been placed to make the story happen, give credibility to the plot. However at the same time, I would have fallen for a much simpler premise, a much simpler state of mind to make the choice. The choice which the couple made.

Robert’s fierce conviction, is sometimes so ruthless, it fails to appeal to me. May be that’s what most women would fall for!! I liked the emotional dilemma that Woody goes through, and the need for him to know what transpired. I guess, it’s a guy thing. The thought of the partner with someone else can cause a misery that’s equal to none. For those of you who have seen, ‘Closer’ you can relate to similar portrayal of the mental agony.

The hitman cum driver is funny, I must and the least scary. The advocate was neat. Does justice. Watch it for, well, for knowing why it made the rounds.

Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

Saturday night, Z Studio one of the movie channels, screened 3 movies back to back w/o any commercial breaks. Ultimate.
The third and the last movie I saw during that marathon was ‘Draughtsman’s Contract’. I was impressed with the way the movie opened, I am sure a lot would be put off too. In case elaborate costumes, 16th century settings and language are a put off, assume this movie going to OD to you of that. Else, if you are the kinds who are sucker for such stuff, come join the aboard, and lets ODed together!!

Extensive dose of humor laced subtle and lengthy dialogs. Plot development through the narrative and dialogs. The whole stuff how it develops stuns you, and at the same time, there is so much being said on screen and so much to reflect, that following that on screen was very very intellectually stimulating. I mean to keep up with the delivery and to observe the expressions and the settings, I felt one viewing was not enough. It would be a delight to lay on hands on this movie again, maybe on a lazed Saturday afternoon. It reminded me of the screenings of the Shakespeare plays in college.

Come indulge.