Movie#42 Shudharil Shudhan (Malayalam- India)

A gem of a movie. I won't use exclamation like 'perfect' but a well done work. It does not star any of the prominent frontline actors but an actor who is evergreen in the comedy scene, mr Indrans.
I have seen this movie on display at the store many a times when I had gone there to rent others. Since it was not a major release (I guess) and did not star any major actors, I didn't bother. I don't think that the director or producer even bothered to market it properly. This time the choices were limited at the store and I had no option but to rent it out.
The story setting is the hill station and tea plantation in Idukki district of Kerala. Here the daily wage plantation workers are exploited by the land lords and estate owners. Low wages and long working hours had helped the growth of a major political movement (which is on the decline except in China and few pockets in India such as Bengal, Kerala and Tripura0 The workers are used to the advantage of the political leaders for their personal gains. Overtly they support the workers but covertly the agenda is different, in favour of the rich.
Indrans plays the role of one such worker who would die for the party and ideology he believes in. Little does he know that the ideology was dead and few like him were the slaughter lambs. His family consists of 3 children and a loving wife. Her prettiness is her curse as the local policeman, landlord's son and party members, all lust for her. His life turns upside down and he falls prey to the elaborate scheme of the policeman and how their life unfolds is the story.
The story has strong touch with the reality and gives insight into the hardship of plantation workers. How they are taken for a ride by both the aggressors and protectors. It is a must watch for all movie lovers
My personal rating is 3.5 out of 5…

Movie#41 How to Make Love to a Woman

A movie which ran its course without much fuss and substance, and redeemed itself in the final 10 minutes (excluding the credits…duh!). It stars not so well known actors (at-least to me), Andy Conners and Krysten Ritter. I remember seeing the actress in another movie since starting this blog, Movie#13 She's Out of my League. In that she plays supporting role to the lead actress.
The storyline is very simple. Guy and girl dating–  guy thinks he is making the girl happy in bed–  actually the reverse is happening–  guy and girl have got their respective friends who would give them 'valuable' insight into what was happening between them–  guy and girl almost split–  guy and girl realizes that they need to communicate better to each other than listening to 'stupid' friends–  Happy Ending (the last 10 minutes I mentioned earlier). The actress has an interesting feature of note in her–  it is her mouth. Compared to her small face and flawed make-up, it appears very very (XXL) wide, Gosh!.
I suggest this one for a relaxed evening. No emotional turmoils or heart breaks. Enjoy…My personal rating will be 2 out of 5…

Movie#40 Uncertainty

It took me 3 days to watch this one. I was having a busy time at work, hence couldn't get the chance to finish this off at one stretch. I had my apprehensions because the video store guy told me there would be a late charge and this one is a limited release. I didn't want to pay extra for a movie which had all chance of being a below par one. But surprise! surprise!
This movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins. The title is apt as it shows the path and progress of the choices we make. A common couple, these two meet on a bridge and decide where to go based on the toss of a coin. The story then divides into two pathways based on opted choice. The stories run side by side allowing us to feel the emotions involving on each. The director made it easier for the viewers to identify which storyline was based on what choice by marking each as yellow side and green side, which I found as very funny.
Limited release or not, this one is a good watch. I don't regret the extra money I had to pay. My personal rating is 3 out of 5…

Movie#39 Naan Mahan Alla (Tamil- India)

My 1^st  tamil movie review post here and my 1^st  tamil movie after a very long time. Thought I shall include tamil review too because my option for posting more would increase.
Frankly, I don't know who all acts in this because of the tamil aversion to english. The credit at the end is in tamil and I have no clue. I see that all the actors were new because these were not the regulars when I used to watch tamil years back.
A small fact about tamil movie to readers who have never watched it before. The basic fact one should know is that everything would be in excess, for example the hero would be the most romantic and best fighter in the world, the heroine would be the epitome of pureness, simplicity and innocence, the villain would be the most cruelest person alive on earth, the friendship would be 'unto death' type etc etc. Do you get the picture? I hope so…But if you want to watch pure fantasy with out of the world experience in all types of emotions, tamil is way better than hindi. The camera work, the special effects, the stunt scene, the song beats etc are all at par with world standard. And this movie is no different.
The 1^st  half is a drag for people who look for core story. It is all 'mushy mushy' love and time is wasted painting up the picture of the hero. Watching it I began to think whether Indian girls were so superficial. Here the hero is painted as a carefree guy who lives life as there was no tomorrow and the girl falls for him! Maybe I didn't get the picture about what women want…lol
The story telling turns in the 2^nd  half. From 'mushy mushy' love and warm family life, it turns to vengeance. Hero loses family member and he tracks down the killers, and extract revenge. Watch out for the last fight sequence. Really fantastic camera work and stunt co-ordination. Personally, the last sequence churned me up for a fight too. As usual, the female lead has no role at all in the movie. She don't play anything constructive at all except being an eye candy in posters. Felt so sorry for her.
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#38 The Book of Eli

The world is in the aftermath of a major war and asteroid strike. Cities have been wiped out, with whoever left are fighting for scraps and bartering for survival. A valuable book has been lost to the world and it is needed to bring back civility. A lone man is in possession of the last copy and he is following his inner calling to head westward. With no clue of what is lying in wait for him at his final destination, he is guided by his faith. He befriends a girl from a town, he visits on his way. The town's self proclaimed lord knows about the power this book holds and want to take it from the traveler.
Shot in sepia frames, the movie stars Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis. It is something which would not appeal to the taste of everyone. My friend who watched this suggested to me to skip it but I went for it anyway. The setting is a dry landscape in which water is the most precious commodity. There are certain indigestible facts about the story. One of which is the distance covered DW and MK on foot in a day. The chasers need to travel a lot in their vehicles to catch up with them. I don't think one can travel such quickly in such a harsh environment. Else it is a satisfactorily taken film
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5

Movie#37 Pramukhan (Malayalam- India)

What will I write about this one? As a cricket fan (not a fanatic fan), I am used to the captain of the team commenting about the team performance after every loss. He always goes 'We have to improve in all areas, such as batting, bowling and fielding'. People who don't know cricket should know that there was nothing else left other than these 3 areas. What the captain indirectly means is that the team had failed in all areas..period! Likewise this movie needs to improve in 'batting, bowling and fielding'…have you got the picture? Anyone who is interested in supporting amateurish work in the hope that this director, actors and others involved would one day make it big but needs a bit of support, could spend their hard earned money and valued time on this crap. Poor me…
The director is under the impression that if you have a fight sequence every 15 minutes which would last for 20 minutes and songs featuring a curvy woman showing almost all but just below the censor board threshold limit of getting an 'Adults Only' certificate, could save his movie and catapult him to fame. Either he is a schizophrenic or using up the producer's black money. Still I do think that they left out the fact that a movie production needs the help of a casting director. The hero would fit properly in the advertisement of a toothpaste. His smile is pathetic and he wasn't paid to get a haircut. The actress is nothing but a joke. She's totally wasted. In the song sequences which were shot in market place, at-least they could have selected a cleaner area. We can see rubbish strewn all around and the dancers prancing around and on them.
I don't want to continue more about this movie lest I shall turn abusive. Totally disappointed that I had indirectly supported such movies. Everyone please AVOID AVOID AVOID
My personal rating is less that 0.5. Since I give my rating in .5 steps and this is lower than my minimum rating, I shall give it 0 out of 5 ( Sorry for all the artists involved–  you need to improve your batting, bowling and fielding)

Movie#36 Prince of Persia- The Sands of Time

Got lucky. When I went to the video store, I was prepared to watch anything but this. Haven't had a clue that this DVD was among the returned ones. Didn't think twice about renting this.
The genre falls in the 'Clash of the Titans' category. An adventure movie based on the video game I used to play when I was young. Special effects are spectacular in its own right. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal (JG), Gemma Arterton (GA) and Ben Kingsley (BK), this movie is a visual treat. I have no postings as a gist of this movie because this has been made from a very famous video game.
I find that JK had been an odd choice for such an action adventure. Used to seeing him in low action thrillers such as 'The Zodiac' but not in this genre. Anyway he pulled it off very well. GA as usual, attracts more for her physicality than her acting. Compared to 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed', her acting skill wasn't fully exploited here. But satisfactory nevertheless. BK cannot be compared to anyone. He is in a class of his own.
The movie is pretty long but it manages to keep up the interest till the very end. As I wrote earlier, the special effects action sequences are at par with the current releases but there is nothing much to keep anything in memory for a few days. It is almost like tissue paper, Use and Throw.
My personal rating is 3.5 out of 5

Movie#35 The Bounty Hunter

A good watch. But not a must see. Gerard Butler (GB) and Jennifer Aniston (JA) star in this romantic-comedy-thriller.
GB and JA have been separated for almost a year now. JA is a investigative journalist on a successful career path while GB is a bounty hunter on a career path that is going reverse due to his compulsive gambling streak. They cross path, when JA is investigating a alleged suicide and GB gets a contract to bring JA in, as she jumped bail hearing. Things unfold and the usual happenings in a romantic comedy ensures.
I noticed, maybe I am mistaken, that during one of the shots JA lost her high heels which would magically return back in the subsequent scenes. Barring that I found that the movie had no obvious irregularities.
So folks, if you haven't yet seen this one, I recommend this for a good time pass during your next week end. The movie comes with no strong emotional baggage or anything to keep your mind distracted when you rejoin work on monday. My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#34 Crazy Heart

Country music lovers should go for this one. Beautiful music. The story is very simple. A life phase of a declining country singer, that's it. That is the best short gist I could come up with.
Jeff Bridges stars in this as a declining country singer. Addicted to alcohol and wasting the days away as they were his last till he finds love and corrects course. I can't recollect correctly but is this the movie for which he won oscar? His acting definitely seems worthy of one. A freak incident with the son of his lady love makes him re-evaluate his lifestyle.
Particularly interesting is the fact that even though he had no money and practically living in shabbiness, his talent would still attract women for one night stand. Anyway, there is nothing much to comment about this movie. It is a slow drama that managed to keep the audiences' interest going till the very end. Interspersed with good country music, it is a good choice for movie lovers. As for me, I'm off to get the sound track CD.
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5

Movie#33 The Lovely Bones

In short, a movie that build one's hope for a classic ending but fizzles out. Starring Rachael Weisz, Suasan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Saorirse Ranan, the movie promises a lot. One of the persons involved in the making of this is Steven Spielberg too.
I haven't got a clue what the story was meant to convey. It started with the narration, with flash backs, of a murdered girl who was now stuck in the middle world. Then I think the director lost track on how to end the movie. Towards the ending it became painfully dragging and I hoped it would be compensated by a superb ending but I was wrong. All it made me think is that what was the point in making a movie with such an ending. Don't get me wrong, this one has lots of special effects. Lovely vivid colours and catching back ground music. The narration has an echo effect which I liked.
The acting skill of Rachael Weisz was totally wasted in this. Susan Sarandon had the part to play of a superb grandmother. Staney Tucci was superb for the role of the anti-social and Mark Wahlberg did the role of a grieving father very well.
In my opinion, this one can be watched with an open mind. May be I was biased to a predictable ending but I feel totally unsatisfied when the end came. My personal rating will be 2.5 out of 5

Movie#32 Remember Me

A romantic movie featuring Robert Pattinson (RP), Emilie De Ravin (ER), Chris Cooper (CC) and Pierce Brosnan (PB). I have mentioned this category because that was what was written about it in all review websites and print articles. I found romance but more than that I found it as a drama showing the lives of two dysfunctional families, their inter-twining and an unexpected ending.
RP's role is that of a rebellious son whose main aim in life was to mentally torture his father (PB). Their family had become dysfunctional following the death of the eldest son. RP blames his father for not caring enough for the youngest child, a girl, whom RP cares for very much. So as all the rebels, he assumes that he knew what was best for the family and not his father and he was the one suffering it all while PB was enjoying an isolated life style.
ER's family has been having another problem. As a child she witnessed her mother murdered in front of her. Her father has transferred his entire care on her now that she was the only one left for him in this world. His care has become over-bearing for her, as it intrudes into her personal life now that she is an adult, but at the same time she loves him.
RP and ER meet by fate and they fall in love. Their love suffers trials because of his anger within towards his father, and also he had hid the truth about his prior meeting with CC, ER's father. But at all troubled times, RP has a friend on whom he could bank on.
The story is just below the “dullness feel” threshold for me. But with superb editing and good acting, it has saved itself. The ending was almost expected but the way it ended was unexpected.
My personal rating is 3 out of 5

Movie#31 Robinnhood (Malayalam- India)

Oh Gosh!…what a piece of crap!
Sorry folks, this is not the robin hood starring Russell Crowe, this is a malayalam movie starring some of the upcoming youngsters such as Prithvi Raj, Naran, Jayasuriya, Bhavana and Samvrutha Sunil. Directed by one the reputed directors of malayalam industry, Mr Joshy, I expected a sincere effort. I hope this is not Joshy because in the credit it was spelt as Joshiy. But nowadays the trend in Indian film industry is that the men and women concerned, would change the spelling of their name to bring about good luck. They forget that it is effort and sincerity and not superstition that bring success. Well, this is one such case…
Story theme is ok. ATM robbery using high tech gadgetry. The script and editing, well, very amateur work. Just because it has some well known stars does not mean they would save a super weak script. Gosh! even TV soaps have better editing. And if any mallu director, while surfing the internet, came across this blog, please take note–  just because a comedian charges less money for casting him in a movie, it does not mean that he should be cast to increase the number of actors. I'm talking about the case of Mr Salim Kumar's acting in this one….yuck! How can you call his acting as comedy? Samvrutha Sunil has totally wasted her talent in this movie. No role in the story at all and in the end cast away by one dialogue from the hero…wah!
All malayalam movie fans, please stay away from this one. My personal rating is 1 out of 5

Movie#30 Leap Year

Another lazy night and another romantic comedy. There is definitely romance in this one but comedy, well, I didn't feel anything much.
Starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, this movie is set in very picturesque but almost 'remote' locations of Ireland. I recognized Amy and Matthew but couldn't recollect the names of their other movies. There is nothing much in this one to keep them in memory either, except for the cuteness of Amy, her nose and facial expressions, are very catchy..hahaha.
The movie gist is that Amy (forgot her screen name..oops sorry) had been dating her doctor guy for almost 4 years and had enough of waiting for him to propose. So, after she learned from her father about an irish tradition in which the woman proposes to the guy on the 29^th  of February of the leap year, she set out to do the same that year which incidentally was a leap year. On the journey, she discovers that 'she has all things she wanted but not the things she needed'–  that's the almost near phrase from the movie. Then things happen as in all romantic comedies…
My personal rating is 2.5 out of 5

Movie#29 Swa Le (Malayalam- India)

A drama portraying the life of a journalist of a small newspaper. The film stars Dileep and Jyotika.
The movie has tried to bring out the unethical attitudes currently prevailing in the information and media industry. Gone are the days when newspaper reporting was meant as a social cause. Now everyone is behind 'sensational' news as it drives up the viewers which in turn drives up the profit. The main casualty of the trend is ethics, as corporates take control of media. Journalists try to make up stories and visuals due to pressure from editors who are in turn controlled by directors who are controlled by the board and share holders. The power of the media is such that they could break or make anyone anytime.
Here a simple reporter is pushed to the limit at the expense of his loved ones. He feels frustrated by the pressure at work and his inability of not being there for his pregnant wife. When he reaches breaking point, he even thinks of the most unethical practice of all, but he last shred of goodness in him hold him back. But when his life situation changes for good, he understands and be like the editor who pushed him to the limit.
The movie would have got a higher rating from me but for the out of context comedy scenes the director tried to push in. That scenes included made the movie drag along for over 2 hours.
My personal rating will be 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#28 Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese scored a beauty in this work. An excellent movie with two crucial twists at the end. The latter one comes from the last dialogue of the movie. It caught me by surprise.
I don't know how to write a short personal review of this movie because any slightest mistake from my part would reveal the plot. And if I write leaving out the crucial, then what I write would seem like a lie. So I shall leave any review writing for this one. Watch it and you shall understand my dilemma. Since there is a compulsion to write a review, because the blog is made for that, I shall tell you how the story starts…just that only.
Two US marshals sail to a mental hospital on an island called the Shutter Island. They are to investigate the disappearance of a patient called Rachael. The rest you watch…
The movie stars Ben Kingsley and Leonardo DiCaprio. My personal rating of this is 3.5 out of 5

Movie#27 Palerimanikyam ( Malayalam- India)

A story of investigation into a woman's brutal murder 50 years ago by a investigative novelist and his crime analyst girl friend. Mammooty is the novelist and main character.
50 years ago in a town called Paleri, a woman named Manikyam, was brutally murdered. The subsequent investigation was allegedly blotched to save some prominent person then. 50 years ago, at that time, the first communist government of Kerala was taking charge and the story telling features that time and life style. It reveals the cruelty of the upper caste towards lower caste and the risky life of women who were treated as commodities. Towards the end, a lot of truth are revealed. The director has done a commendable job in setting up the props in line with post independent India with the feudal system.
A must see for lovers of malayalam movies. My personal rating is 3 out of 5…

Movie#26 Raat Gayi Baat Gayi (Hindi)

As I had mentioned earlier, I'm not a big fan of emotional masalas. I do extensive check about various reviews available before I commit my hard earned money to worthless stories. This one has fairly good reviews and it does not have the so called superstars who care less whether their movies are worthy or not. These are the kind we, in India, usually calls as multiplex releases. A fair script and limited budget, the main aim of the producer is to release it in multiplexes where the ticket costs are high and garner maximum revenue within 10 days to make profit. Then they sell it to DTH providers for a little more profit and thats it.

The usual 'multiplex release' category actors star in it, such as Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia. Before I continue there is a warning–  The title song is worthless.

The gist of the story is that of alcohol blackout. The actor sees his wife in a dark mood from morning. The only thing he can remember is that he was flirting with a strange girl the night before party and was drunk to remember if they had done anything and whether he was caught in the act. So he sets out to find out the answer with his friend. When the story unfolded, it reminded me of Hangover, but it is not that story. There is a little bit of drag towards the end but I liked the movie. Lot of surprises are revealed comically when the movie nears completion.

My personal rating will be 2.5 out of 5

Movie#25 The Disappearance of Alice Creed

A limited release movie starring Gemma Arterton. I have seen Gemma from The Clash of the Titans but was skeptical about the movie as a whole because it was a limited release.
The story is that two persons kidnap Alice (GA) and demand money from her father. How the kidnap saga unfolds has been beautifully portrayed in the movie. We are familiar with the other side of the kidnap stories such as how the relatives of the victim suffer the ordeal or how the police crack the case successfully/ unsuccessfully. But this one shows the mental agony and torture the kidnappers go through while sealing the deal. The story has lots of twists and turns and personally I started to feel bored towards the end. Somehow the movie manages to finish just before the the full concentration wore out. I don't think the producers had to shell out a lot of money for this movie, except for the supermarket machinery and a van, but they managed to make a nice thriller with limited budget.
Gemma does have a nice figure and she shows it in this one. What is catchy is that she is neither chubby nor thin. I shall say that she is healthy looking. The acting has nothing negative to comment about from all the main actors (3 in number only). What is impressive is that the tension rose slowly when the story unfolded and managed to sustain except towards the end, maybe because I suffered from 'tension fatigue'. Anyway, I'm happy I chose to watch this.
My personal rating is 3 out of 5

Movie#24 From Paris With Love

Another day, another movie. Since I started this blog, I'm watching movies at the rate of one per day or better. Anyone who reads my short blogs might be wondering how I get all these. Well, I rent some of them myself, borrow from friends and I own some of them. So that's it. It all need cash, I agree. I'm living a singleton boring life in the UAE and movie is all that I have to pass time. So I made a budget and there is a good allocation of my salary to keep myself engaged.
Back to the movie-
A decent action thriller starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I think the casting person got it wrong to put Mr Travolta in such a role. His character is that of a ruthless government eliminator of terrorists. He was ok in Sword Fish role but not this one. It is like casting Ice Cube in XXX instead of Vin Diesel. Mr Travolta is sluggish and that is obvious in all the action sequences. The storyline has nothing new to the audience and to a movie buff, the movie would seem pretty obvious. Jonathan Rhys plays the role of an aide to the US ambassador in Paris. He is also helping out the intelligence agency in logistics and being their insider when the ambassador travels through the inner circle of French govt. He is a novice and that shows in a comic part when he tries to bug an office. His dream come true in an unexpected way when he asked to assist special operative Mr Travolta in eliminating the terrorists. The movie is about how they efficiently go about their job. The car chase sequence is the only attractive stuff worth mentioning here. I'm just mentioning about the novelty stuff, ok. The movie as a whole is decent.
Mt personal rating is 2.5 out of 5

Movie#23 Evidam Swargamaanu (Malayalam- India)

Another Malayalam movie. Mohanlal back at his best. He had lately sidetracked from his strength, a down to earth human being, to a super hero who could beat down 20 villains and being super rich with massive influence and power, characters. Majority of such roles bombed but the actor was in a delusion that he was doing his best but situation was at fault. Not this one. HE IS BACK.

I'm fed up of propaganda movies. Lately I find a lot of Malayalam movies are such. This one started out with the feel of propaganda. Showing the goodness of farming life styles. Well, it is not. The movie is about the helplessness of a farmer in Kerala when faced with the threats of land mafia. Lately this has been a big problem in Kerala. Land mafia is out taking land illegally off from villagers with threats. With massive political and money power, the poor stand no chance. Mohanlal fits into the role of one such farmer in this movie. The fight is on and that is the story. The story's main plus point is that it could relate to the common man. Also it brings out the goodness of farming as weel as the evil of bad politician and mafia nexus.

Watch it if you can get a hand on this. My personal rating is 4 out of 5.

Movie#22 Chloe

Hmmmm, I shall say that this movie would fall in the category of an emotional thriller. The story line is not excellent but definitely above average. And it is not a family entertainer, do you get the message? It has a collection of well known and respected actors such as Liam Neelson, Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore.
The commonly visible storyline is that a troubled woman plays a dangerous game by recruiting a high class hooker to have an affair with her husband to prove that he cheats on her. The shooting locals are breath taking and each shot has so much of vividness. I stand in admiration of the house the couple lives because it comes closest to my dream house. So beautiful and the outside colour, deep red?, just wow!
Amanda Seyfried has more colour and looks 100 times prettier in this one than the previous blogged movie, Dear John. Her golden tresses catches your attention. It makes us wonder whether it is Pantene or Sunsilk?
Even though it is clubbed as a thriller, the movie cause derailing of audiences' attention but pulls it back by nudity from the leading actresses. The story runs 96 mins with the credits.
My rating for this one will be 2.5 out of 5…

Movie#21 Broken Embraces ( Spanish)

Ah ha! decided to do something very out of the ordinary. Took this spanish movie to watch, mainly because it has Penelope Cruz in it. As usual it didn't disappoint, as she bared it all in it..ahem.
A dull story or perhaps a dull drama/love story. I finally lost my Midas touch after 5 good movies in a row. A movie director living as his alter ego for 14 years after the death of his lover (PC) who happened to be the mistress of a wealthy businessman. Because of his involvement with this woman, the businessman destroys his reputation by mismanaging the last movie ( a comedy!) he was working on, which starred the same woman (PC). The story unfolds and the director finally accepts his own ego and starts to edit the same movie for a re-screening. Happy Ending.
I don't have anything more to comment about this movie as I got only the above mentioned story line. Saw it with subtitles, hence on majority of the duration, my eyes were concentrated at the bottom of the screen than centre.
My personal rating will be 2 out of 5…

Movie#20 The Last Station

A very tragic story, this one. It is a love story of a different kind. Between Leo Tolstoy ( Christopher Plummer) and his wife, Sofya (Helen Mirren).
The story begins during the time Leo Tolstoy lives in a commune he himself made, far from the mainstream society and the church. It is supposed to be a place where freedom and love reigns. But things go out of hand for Tolstoy. His friends and partners twist his beliefs to their advantage to create an icon. They made him will his works for the public and not a share for his family. His wife, countess Sofya, fights with him for the rights, which I think is always fair. Atlast he is taken away from her. The story is seen from the perspective of his secretary, Mr Valentin ( James Mcavoy). He comes to the commune as a celibate but falls for a worker girl there but chooses to stay with Tolstoy than her. When he realizes the love that Mr Tolstoy had for Countess Sofya even when he was taken away, he realizes that there was no greater love than between man and woman.
I personally hoped for a happy ending but it was an apt sad ending. The rating I shall give for this movie will be 3 out of 5

Movie#19 Undisputed III- Redemption

Well, the name says it all. It is a story of the villain in the 2^nd  edition to redeem himself. In short, the part 2 villain is the good guy in this edition. I found it funny that I was rooting for the same guy I was cursing in part 2.
If you are a fan of UFC fighting, then you would love this. I don't know how exactly UFC is fought but I guess it is either this way or these fights come closest to it. Fantastic fights, especially the kicks.
The story line is nothing to brag about. You can expect the same as in part 1 and 2. Prison setting and the fight tournament for freedom. The 'current' good guy trains and is recuperating from the injury he got form part 2. Also, as usual, he has become God fearing and the role of The Bible is shown. He befriends a talkative american (as usual) in the tournament and helps him. Thus redeeming himself of the bad deeds from part 2. Interesting to note that the director tries to show the bonhomie between this russian and his american friend. The bad guy is a columbian in this one (maybe he will redeem in the 4^th  edition). And the one action to look out for– The final match, especially the final kick that settles the match. Wow!, seeing something like that for the 1^st  time.
Anyway, for anyone deciding to watch this–  you won't be disappointed. My personal rating is 3 out of 5

Movie#18 Neelathaamara (Malayalam- India)

I think I struck gold. Lately all my choices surprise me. It seems I got the Midas's touch. How else I decide to watch this and it turns out to be masterpiece…
The storyline is one of the simplest I have ever watched. Yet the movie is so smooth. The director has cleverly tread the path that so narrowly demarcates lust and innocent love. If it had anyone else, it would have made out to be a B class rated movie but not this one. The shots and the editing needs special mention. It can be termed as a class that is in transition from art movie to mainstream movie.
The music and the songs have the power to bring back childhood memories about innocent love. I can't seem to find words to describe the beauty of this movie. I suggest anyone, including people not versed in malayalam, to watch this one. There is nothing too complicated to understand in this one. Maybe subtitles can help if you want to know the dialogues but it can prove a distraction from the scenic shots.
My rating is 4 out of 5…

Movie#17 Requiem for a Dream

I took a chance to see this because I saw the review in IMDB.com. It came highly recommended by all the reviewers, so I didn't give up the chance.
If the saying 'What You See Is What You Get' holds true somewhere, then this movie is one of it. The movie starts and finishes without any fuss. The story is about the life experience of a son, his mother, his girl friend and his friend. All are addicted to drugs somehow or the other. It shows how dreams can be shattered by drug use and where one shall end up. The background music scores have a magnetic attraction to keep your attention throughout. The movie doesn't have any hidden message. It depicts what it wants to convey.
It is a rated movie because of drug usage scenes, nudity and language. But anyone adult shouldn't miss chance to view this. Made so beautifully with minimum expense, I guess.
My personal rating is 3.5 out of 5…

Movie#16 Winter (Malayalam- India)

Here I am writing my experience on watching a malayalam movie. Malayalam is my mother tongue and I rate such movies higher that Hindi movies as they are more in touch with reality and have themes which a common man can relate to. Since starting this blog, this is my 1^st  malayalam movie. For anyone who cares to read my short movie blogs, the review of malayalam movies would not give much info as I don't expect keralites showing any interest in my blogs.
This one stars Jayaram, whose movies I watch with caution as I'm fed up of his constant imitation of late Mr Prem Naseer's mannerisms. I find that there is no novelty in Jayaram's acting. Rarely does he come up with a worthy watch. The movie also has Bhavana who portrays Jayaram's wife. The movie is a thriller/horror category one. Barring a few gross mistakes (Jayaram, a super–  speciality surgeon, doing an emergency operation with his face mask hanging by the neck and etc), the movie is worth watchable. It also has some propaganda message for viewers as it glorifies vaastu shastra. Agreed that the fad was catching up with the Kerala community but obvious glorifying it in movie was a drag attempt.
The theme deals with a psychopath killing children and after his death, the killing continues, which invokes the fear that his ghost was still at large. The investigation follows with storyline peppered with sounds to jolt the viewers. Then as every horror/ thriller, the ending gives way for a possible sequel (don't know why every horror movie need to end this way–  why can't it be just 'The End').
My personal rating will be 2.5 out of 5