Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:10 AM
Genre: Drama/Historical Event/Biography
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) is one of the most respected President's in the history of United States politics. This respect is not futile, but something that he has earned due to the work that he did. During his second term as President, the American Civil War between the southern states and the northern states was raging and there was mounting political pressure to end the war and bring peace. Lincoln, on the other hand, was strongly of the favour to bring about the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution which would prohibit slavery of any kind. This amendment would not only boost public sentiment for the Republican Party but also ensure that the war ends. However, in order to pass the bill, a 2/3 majority is needed in the house and currently Lincoln is falling short of 20 votes. He must procure these votes from the opposition and at the same time battle with his fellow party-men who are against the bill and eventually create history. The sole reason why the movie succeeded was due to the efforts of and only one person, Daniel Day-Lewis. His phenomenal performance of Lincoln is by far one of the best one might have ever seen and he might even be able to put the real Lincoln to shame. The movie wonderfully shows Lincoln to be not only concerned and thoughtful but also shrewd and cunning, the makings of a true politician. The biggest let down of the movie is the first half, which is slow and very dragged. A load of political jargon and verbose dialogues plague the first one hour which makes the movie a difficult and boring watch. Since the first impression is weak, the better next hour can get easily discarded by the audience as being the same, but it thankfully isn't. The movie picks up smoothly and delivers a composed climax which isn't very over-the-top and isn't too blunt either. A great movie to watch about a great man, but just keep some patience.
Thumbs up: Daniel Day-Lewis
Thumbs down: Unsimplified and verbose dialogues, a bit dragged first half
Rating: 7.1/10
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:28 AM
Genre: War/Historical Event/Drama/Romance/Animation/Action/Biography
Starring (voice): Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian
The story of a young girl who witnesses the rise and fall of Iran and its evolution from a free monarchy to an intolerant democracy. Like any other country of its time, Iran too was ruled by a ruler, the Shah of Iran. The Shah's ruthlessness against his enemies and those who opposed him did not go down well with his citizens and was eventually overthrown in the Iranian Revolution. Marjane Satrapi (Mastroianni) was brought up in a contemporary Muslim family, where freedom and western lifestyle was easily accepted and widely protested against the Shah and wanted Iran to be free. When Islamic Fundamentalists win the first general elections with a landslide victory, the peoples hopes of any freedom are squashed. Woman are forced to cover themselves from head to toe, all forms of music and entertainment are banned and life becomes hard to get by. Marjane's parents do not want her to be brought up in this Iran and send her off to Europe to experience a good life with freedom and education. If it is a lesson in history that you seek, the movie accurately recounts the Iranian Revolution and depicts modern fundamentalist Iran very accurately. The childish but yet modern animation is clever and easy to watch and makes the movie much lighter than what it would have been in regular print. An autobiographical movie is made only when the persons life story has something unique to narrate. Apart from being a part of a revolution at a young age, most of Marjane's life is like any other teenage girl and does not reflect a uniqueness that it should have. A slow and slightly tedious movie but a must watch for history lovers.
Thumbs up: Good animation
Thumbs down: Slow, nothing unique about the autobiography
Rating: 6.4/10
Action,
Animation,
Average Movies,
Biography,
Drama,
Historical Event,
Romance,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:12 AM
Genre: Drama/Romance/Historical Event
Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Pietro Notarianni
When a ravishing, young damsel enters the heart of thousands of men, young and old across entire Sicily, she indeed must have been something. Malena Scordia (Bellucci) is a goddess, who walks down the streets with every head turning, every nose picking up her smell, every set of male eyes visually undressing her and every set of female eyes visually beating and scarring her. Even though every man would die for her love, a young 12-year-old Renato Amoroso (Sulfaro) shows that he loves her and not lusts her like everyone else. He secretly watches her every move, watches her dress, her cook, her walk, her cry, her laugh and wishes with every passing day that he walk up to her but never has the courage to do so. With Mussolini announcing war against Britain and France, Malena's husband has gone to war to fight for Italy. With her husband away, the men become wolves and when they learn of his death they all became monsters. The movie fantastically portrays how society creates a demon and then blames the demon in the end for becoming one. It is a fabulous story of a young boy who learns of manhood and a young woman, learning the hardships of being far too beautiful. The movie is exquisite and very European, develops well and keeps you gripped for a very long time. Not too long, compact and brilliant and just what the doctor ordered for.
Thumbs up: Gorgeous Bellucci who does a lot without speaking a lot
Thumbs down: Nothing specific
Rating: 8.1/10
Amazing Movies,
Drama,
Historical Event,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:08 AM
Genre: Historical Event/Action/Crime/Mystery
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, Ali Suliman
Most of the wars fought in the middle east for the past half-century have more or less centred around oil. Inspired from two separate terrorist attacks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the movie focuses on 4 FBI agents who travel to the middle-each kingdom to solve a similar terrorist attack. A housing complex of an American oil company with American citizens residing with it, is bombed during a Sunday softball game that strains the relationship between Saudi and USA. FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Foxx), Special Agent Grant Sykes (Cooper), Special Agent Janet Mayes (Garner) and Special Agent Adam Leavitt (Bateman) are sent to investigate the attacks, in spite of disapproval from various US agencies. Col. Faris Al-Ghazi (Barhom) from Saudi State Police is put in charge of their security for the entire journey. Fleury is shocked to learn that he and his team are not granted permission to investigate and can only 'watch' the Saudi investigation which is far from acceptable. The movie narrates a good spy story with a lot of action and thrilling sequences to keep you entertained. Although the mystery solving goes well, its the climax that is a let down. An average ending with no twists is a huge let down to otherwise good movie.
Thumbs up: Good entertainer
Thumbs down: Average climax
Rating: 7.0/10
Action,
Crime,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
Mystery,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:15 AM
Genre: Drama/Romance/History/Biography/War/Action
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Jordi Molla, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish, Clive Owen
Queen Elizabeth I of England (Blanchett) was known in history for a string of reasons. She was a virgin queen who never married or conceived a child, the reason for which is not clear. She also stood up against the King Phillip II of Spain (Molla) who despised Elizabeth's Protestant belief as against his Catholic one. He consumed all of Europe in holy war to ensure that the Protestant belief was squashed and only England stood in the middle of his path. He built the famous Spanish Armada, a massive fleet of ships to charge against England which unfortunately crumbled under Elizabeth's shrewd and tactical war strategies. Elizabeth was also known to have expanded England's borders to the new world through the explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen) who founded the land of Virginia and named it after his virgin Queen. The movie is a sequel to the 1998 movie and focuses on the latter part of Elizabeth's life as compared to the earlier movie that looked at the accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England. The movie provides immense historical knowledge about Elizabeth but sadly focuses too much on her love life and focuses little on the matters of politics and state. The focus on drama and romance is not actually a bad choice but it makes the movie a tad boring.
Thumbs up: Cate Blanchett's performance
Thumbs down: Boring bits, too much focus on Elizabeth's personal life
Rating: 6.3/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Biography,
Drama,
Historical Event,
Romance,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:26 AM
Genre: History/Biography/Drama
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccelston, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough
When King Henry VIII consummated with his mistress after his wife failed to conceive, their offspring was Queen Elizabeth (Blanchett). However, Elizabeth was third in line for the accession of the throne, of which her brother died young leaving her elder sister Mary to ascend the throne. With the death of Hency VIII, England was divided into two parts, the Catholics and the Protestants. Mary was a staunch Catholic who intended to wipe out the Protestant faith from the country. Mary died of child-birth leaving the Protestant Elizabeth to become Queen of England. Elizabeth became Queen in harsh times. The treasury was depleted, the army was short of arms, there was holy war brewing, her life was threatened by Catholics attempting to assassinate her and she was unmarried and hence did not have an heir to the throne. She fell in love with Lord Robert, the Earl of Leicester (Fiennes) but was forced to consider marriage outside England, particularly with Spain and France, for political alliances. The movie beautifully shows the early life of the Queen and all the difficult decisions and hardships she had to face. Cate Blanchett has performed with finesse and fit perfectly into the shoes of the role. Although this movie only focuses on the first half of her life, the second half is portrayed in the sequel to this movie that comes almost 10 years after.
Thumbs up: Cate Blanchett
Thumbs down: Needed more enthusiasm; felt bland
Rating: 7.1/10
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:28 AM
Genre: Drama/Biography/History
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach
Based on the life of Britain's first female Prime Minister and the person to hold the office longest in the 20th century, Margaret Thatcher (Streep) is often known to have been responsible for changing the face of the British economy. Thatcher was elected from the conservative party and was elected at a time when unemployment, high demands of trade unions and fiscal deficit was hounding the British government. With her aggressive stance and conservative policy-making, Thatcher soon transformed the country into a profit-making economy and went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. The movie transits between 2008 Thatcher and Thatcher back during her active political days. Margaret is now old and often hallucinates about her dead husband Dennis (Broadbent) and talks to him, imagining him being present all the time. The movie is extremely slow and takes its own time to move and develop. The first quarter is impatient and you want the movie to progress from showing an old Thatcher to showing her active days and move onto something that the audience want to watch and the movie promised to show. Perhaps if the movie focused more on Margaret then and had little of Margaret now, the movie would have been widely acclaimed by all. Streep has put on a fabulous performance, one of her best in the past few years but sadly the slow pace of the movie, doesn't support her effort in a manner it should to make it an exceptional work of art.
Thumbs up: Meryl Streep's fabulous performance
Thumbs down: Slow, very slow
Rating: 7.0/10
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:43 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Spoof/History
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Paulette Goddard, Maurice Moskovitch
Charlie Chaplin was known to be the greatest comedian that walked the face of the Earth and who revolutionised cinema's and gave the people of the silent era something to laugh at. Spoofing one of the most notorious dictators of all time, Hynkel (Chaplin) (read 'Adolf Hitler') the Dictator of Tomania (read 'Germany') has come into power and wishes to rid the country of the filthy Jews that tarnish society. A simple Jewish Barber (Chaplin) has returned from hospital when he underwent a memory loss while fighting for his country during the First World War. When he returns to his shop, he is shocked to find how the Ghetto has transformed and the Storm Troopers brutally beat him until Commander Schultz (Gardiner), a man whose life he previously saved, comes to his rescue. The movie humorously showcases Hynkel and his war plans along with the struggles of the Jews to escape from the clutches of the Storm Troopers. The movie shows raw comedy, much different from the slapstick version that is found in movies of today. It might seem bland and unappealing to many, but one needs to be a true appreciator of cinema to enjoy one of Chaplin's finest.
Thumbs up: Sir Chaplin at his very best
Thumbs down: May not be funny enough for the modern audience
Rating:7.7/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
Spoof,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 8:13 AM
Genre: War/Drama/Action/History/Biography
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura
Whilst
Flags of Our Fathers portrayed the American story of the Battle of Iwo Jima,
Letters from Iwo Jima narrates the Japanese story of the same war. Both movies were made by the exact same crew and shot one after the other. While
Flags of Our Fathers focuses on the famous photograph and the life of three American soldiers after the war, this movie narrates only the Japanese perception of the events that took place during the war. The movie revolves around the fictional character of Pvt. First Class Saigo (Ninomiya) a newly married baker who was conscripted to join the army. The character of Saigo is the only survivor and is depicted as experiencing all the highs and lows of the war. The insightful general of the Japanese Army on Iwo Jima, General Kuribayashi (Watanabe) faced a tough decision when he learnt that his platoon would not be receiving any backup from the mainland and yet they are to defend the island with every last soldier to prevent the Americans from making it a base. The movie revolves around the cold hardships of war, suicides and bloodshed. The movie is a critics delight with fine performances and picture perfect scenes, however, its not a movie the average audience might appreciate due to its slow and heavy nature. The movie shows the raw approach to war and is widely different from its elder sibling. Another excellent movie from the stable of Clint Eastwood.
Thumbs up: Beautiful performances, great execution
Thumbs down: Slow and heavy
Rating: 7.2/10
Action,
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:54 PM
Genre: War/Action/Drama/History/Biography
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, Neal McDonough, Thomas McCarthy
Can a single photograph change the course of world events? Not likely, but for US Marines Ira Hayes (Beach), Rene Gagnon (Bradford) and John Bradley (Phillepe) it certainly did. Set in WWII, USA is launching an attack on Japan and needs to capture the island of Iwo Jima. Most of the movie narrates the occurrences on the island and gradual advancement of the troops. The marines planted the US flag atop a mountain on the island and a photograph taken at the correct time reached the mainland and the press in no time. Three marines who survived from those that planted the flag were recalled back to USA to market war bonds in the effort to fund the countries war efforts. The US treasury was empty and dollar had lost any value it ever had. The country cannot borrow anymore and hence is trying to sell bonds to the citizens and hopes that the photograph along with the presence of the three marine officers would aid the sale. The movie comes from Clint Eastwood and anyone familiar with his recent movies would quickly identify the style to be very similar to its other movies. The movie is a directors delight and has a lot of appeal and insight. It smartly weaves multiple plot lines together without making a mess and keeping audience attention intact. One of the better war movies of this age and a superb watch.
Thumbs up: Phenomenal direction and acting
Thumbs down: The story lacks variation and seems to show the same thing over and over again
Rating: 7.6/10
Action,
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 3:10 AM
Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Drama/Adventure
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Martin Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Alexander Siddig
The heavily fictionalised tale of Balian of Ibelin (Bloom) a French blacksmith who journeys to Jerusalem after meeting his estranged father. He forgives his fathers mistakes and in return his father knights him, just before he dies. Balian arrives in Jerusalem at the court of King Baldwin IV(Norton) and serves the king just like his father would. Jerusalem being the holy city for both Muslims and Christians, it was subject to heavy war with both sides trying to gain control over it. King Baldwin does not believe in anti-Muslim killings and does not support the Knights Templar that kills Muslims mercilessly and hence peace prevails. The Kings sister Sybilla (Green) is married to Guy de Lusignan (Csokas) who is waiting for the leprosy stricken King to succumb to his injuries and hence become king of Jerusalem and kill all the Muslims. The movie recounts the true incidents that took place during the Crusades of the 12th century and recalls the story of Balian of Ibelin although it may not be historically accurate. Coming from the stable of Ridley Scott, the very man that gave us
Gladiator and
American Gangster, the movie is a very big let down. There is no visible plot for quite a bit and the plot development is slow and boring. Edward Norton's performance was a waste especially since he was forever behind a mask. Orlando Bloom failed to live up to the expectations of creating an exciting movie and story in general was extremely immature and predictable. A very typical medieval heroism movie that probably should never have been made.
Thumbs up: Nothing exceptionally stands out
Thumbs down: Orlando Bloom, story and execution
Rating: 6.3/10
Action,
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Biography,
Drama,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 11:25 PM
Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/History/Romance
Starring: Matthew Macfayden, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Gabriella Wilde, Mads Mikkelsen, Freddie Fox, Juno Temple
Based on the famous French novel, the story is set in 17th century France which was then under the reign of King Louis XIII (Fox). The kings Three Musketeers, Athos (Macfayden), Porthos (Stevenson) and Aramis (Evans) serve the king and hence serve France. A young country lad D'Artagnan (Lerman) is anxious to join the Musketeers and comes to Paris to realise his dreams. He meets his mentors who are impressed with his skills and D'Artagnan soon becomes friends with the trio. Milady (Jovovich) Athos' ex-wife who earlier betrayed him, is hired by the Duke of Buckingham (Bloom) and the French Cardinal Richelieu (Waltz) to steal Queen Anne's (Temple) diamonds from Paris and bring it to Buckingham. The Queen is framed with having an affair with Buckingham and the King gets word of it. To test her loyaly and the truth of the accusation, he orders the Queen to wear the diamonds to the ball in five days, if she fails to wear them then Buckingham and the Queen's fate would be sealed. The novel has been made into a movie a countless number of times with this movie being the latest so far. The movie in general has nothing to write home about with action and performances being mediocre. The visual effects though are quite nice with the 3D effect being very life like. An average entertainer that could have been far better if the plot and action was moulded in a slightly different manner.
Thumbs up: 3D experience
Thumbs down: Average action and plot
Rating: 6.5/10
Action,
Adventure,
Average Movies,
Crime,
Historical Event,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:59 PM
Genre: History/Action/Romance/Drama
Starring: Andy Garcia, Enrique Murciano, Nestor Carbonell, Tomas Millian, Jsu Garcia, Ines Sastre, Richard Bradford, Bill Murray
Batista, the dictator of Cuba was hated by his people for the lack of freedom and his never-ending oppression. Federico (Milian) is a highly respected university professor who has brought up his three sons with strict virtues and good ideologies. He wants to use constitutional means to remove Batista from power and make Cuba a democracy. His son Ricardo (Murciano) does not agree with his democratic future and becomes a Communist by joining hands with Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia). His second son Luis (Carbonell) joins the democratic revolution who attempts to storm into the Presidential Palace and kill Batista but gets killed in the shootout. His third son Fico (Andy Garcia) owns a nightclub who loves dance and music and simply wants to make a peaceful living. Fico promised Luis that he would look after his wife Aurora (Sastre) should anything happen to him and, upon insistence from his mother, he starts spending time with her only to fall in love. The movie reflects the love between Fico and Aurora against the hard times of Cuban dictatorship and eventual Communism by Fidel Castro. It picks up on a good note but the consequent developments are slow and at times become a bore. Romance and drama movies tend to be slow and the long pointless conversations only add to the dragged outline of the plot. Certain performances are commendable especially the unnecessary character of The Writer (Murray) who has no name who simply appears where Fico is and adds the tinge of humour to the movie. Nothing special, just a history lesson with a romance.
Thumbs up: Bill Murray and other performances
Thumbs down: Slow and dragged
Rating: 6.4/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Drama,
Historical Event,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 4:24 AM
Genre: Crime/History/Action/Drama
Starring: Jamel Debouzze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan, Sabrina Seyvecou
English title: Outside the Law. Like most modern countries in Africa and Asia, Algeria too was a colony of a European Empire and in this case it was France. The Algerians were made to fight in World War II against Germany and soon after the war ended, a revolution for independence ensued. Three Algerian brothers were forced to leave their motherland and start a new life, each in their own direction. Said (Debouzze) the youngest, was an entrepreneur and wanted to become a boxing manager and did not believe in the revolution. Making money was his only ambition, be it by hook or by crook. Abdelkader (Bouajila) was the second eldest and the revolutionist who started his own political party that would fight against the French and gain freedom. Messaoud (Zem) the eldest, served the French Army but got tired of war and left it to join Abdelkader and his fight for freedom. The characters portrayed by the brothers are fictionalised and only the backdrop of the Algerian struggle is historically accurate. The performances executed are exceptional and exactly what one would expect from such a movie. The only flaw in an otherwise decent movie is its over-stretched and slow developing plot which perhaps if faster, would have made the movie far more interesting.
Thumbs up: Exceptional performances, great adaptation
Thumbs down: Stretched and slow-developing plot
Rating: 7.0/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 7:27 AM
Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Adventure
Starring: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Keira Knightly, Stephen Dillaine, Stellan Skarsgard
King Arthur (Owen) was a legendary hero that served the cause of the Britons. The genuineness of Arthur is unknown with many people attributing it to be based on the story of other unknown heroes. The Roman Empire covered most of Europe and stretched till Hadrian's Wall, a border that divides modern England and Scotland. This wall is guarded by Arthur and his elite knights with rumours having that they have never lost a battle. The knights are Roman by birth and loyal to Rome and are due to receive their freedom from active military service when Rome suddenly backs out on its initial agreement and orders Arthur and his knights to undertake one last perilous journey, to go north of the wall and rescue an important Roman family from being captured by the invading Saxons. The Saxons, headed by Cerdic (Skarsgard) were a barbaric tribe who wish to denounce the Romans out of their land. The knights reluctantly agree to undertake the mission in order to win their much awaited freedom. On the face of it, the plot looks much like any other medieval war movie of good being victorious over evil. The lines and dialogues are very typically over-dramatic, almost Shakespearean which makes the movie a tad boring and annoying. True, that might have been the prevailing language and style used but its over-emphasis and extra usage is what makes it annoying. Nothing exceptional in this one but nothing too bad either.
Thumbs up: Good gripping climaxes and war scenes
Thumbs down: Boring dialogues and lines
Rating: 6.9/10
Action,
Adventure,
Biography,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:01 AM
Genre: Action/Crime/History/Biography/War/Drama
Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast
Every world-renowned leader had to look after his own life and the best way to do so was to have body doubles. Exact twins right up to every small feature in order to deceive assassins. Uday Saddam Hussein (Cooper), the son of the Iraqi dictator too created body doubles to save his own precious life. Latif Yahia (Cooper) an Iraqi soldier and Uday's classmate back in school was forced to accept the proposition to become Uday's double. Uday Hussein was perhaps the most arrogant, shameless, immature and perverted person in all of Iraq. He kept multiple women as servants and slept with whomsoever he wished, regularly shot and killed people simply for the fun of it and raped and murdered school girls because he fancied doing it. Sarrab (Sagneir) one of Uday's whores, took a fancy for Latif and they both together shared their hatred for Uday and his behaviour. The movie solely stands on Dominic Cooper and his astounding, perfect and fine piece of acting. He fulfills two roles out of which one role is to play the part of learning how to play the other role.This precise combination is what should have won him accolades and awards. Its just what the doctor ordered for, my bet for at least one Oscar nominee this year.
Thumbs up: Dominic Cooper
Thumbs down: Story could be slightly more vibrant, its just too simple
Rating: 8.2/10
Action,
Amazing Movies,
Biography,
Crime,
Drama,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:21 AM
Genre: History/Biography
Starring: Matt Damon (voice)
The 2008 global financial meltdown rocked the entire foundation of the human civilisation. Millions lost their jobs and their life savings overnight. How can such a huge disaster occur without any prior warning or anyone knowing about it? Inside Job looks into the development of the sub-prime crisis and its eventual impact on humanity. Greed for money and power ensured that corporate big-wigs could corrupt the United States political system into making money for self-gain at the cost of social development. The movie brings out how foolish decisions taken by Wall Street and Washington took the world to where it now stands. The movie has boldly shown the people responsible behind it and their indifferent behaviour before and after the crisis. The only flaw to the movie is the financial jargon which makes it hard for a non-finance person to understand. However, if the movie did go into the intricacies of all these definitions, the movie would be endless and would lose its objective. Hence, this movie might only appeal to the understanding of the well-versed and those individuals who would realise the full potential of it. Apart from the jargon, the movie correctly brings out how careless and near-sighted all the corporate heads of Wall Street are and the only point on their agenda is to make money for themselves. A great movie that shows the lengths and breadth of the sub-prime crisis.
Thumbs up: Bold display of all facts and figures
Thumbs down: Too much financial jargon
Rating: 7.1/10
Documentary,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 4:20 AM
Genre: History/Drama/Crime/Thriller
Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, John Turturro, William Hurt
The CIA has been the US Governments primary agency for intelligence and counter-intelligence activities for many years. The agency was founded as the OSS during World War II to collect information on Nazi troop movement. The agency continued in the Cold War period to gather data on Russian spies and their movements and this movie intends to narrate the birth of this very agency. Edward Wilson (Damon) a Yale graduate is approached by the FBI to spy on his poetry professor whom they suspect to be a Nazi spy. He slowly climbs the secret services ladder and is soon asked to head the OSS and gather intelligence on Nazi troop movement. He is forced to marry his friends sister Margaret (Jolie) whom he slept with and impregnated although he loves a deaf girl Laura (Blanchard). The movie is loosely based on the CIA's inception with many primary people being depicted by different names. The biggest flaw of the movie is its length which leads to a stretched story and subsequently becomes boring. Performances are decent and at times the movie does manage to pick up tempo which gets lost quite quickly. The multiple side-plots do not got down very well either and focusing on the main story would have been a far better idea.
Thumbs up: Great foundation story
Thumbs down: Long, stretched and boring
Rating: 6.1/10
Average Movies,
Crime,
Drama,
Historical Event,
Thriller,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:47 AM
Genre: War/Drama/History/Action/Crime
Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kevyn Major Howard, Arliss Howard, R. Lee Ermey
A group of young boys decide to take the boldest decision of their life, to join the US Marine Corps. Their drill instructor Gny. Sgt. Hartman (Ermey) has sworn to make their life as miserable as he could. he recruits get names according to their nature and behaviour. The funny person was called Pvt. Joker (Modine), the fat person was called Pvt. Pyle (Baldwin) and so on. The movie is more or less narrated with the perspective of Pvt. Joker and his experiences during military training and the subsequent deployment in Vietnam. He became a war correspondent for the army by interviewing soldiers and covering stories from the battle field. The journalists craved to pull the trigger of their guns at least once in battle and when the time finally came, everybody wished it never did. The movie does not have any objective or something in particular to bring out from the movie. Its a simple narration of a soldiers life from scratch till war. The performances in the movie were good and well supported. Although this movie cannot be classified as an outright comedy, it has the satire and hidden humour that would definitely bring out those unintentional giggles. Although the movie more or less tries to focus on overcoming your fears, the end of objective may not be clear to all. Perhaps a more structured and objective plot might have helped in the movie reaching out to a wider audience. Nonetheless, a great war movie.
Thumbs up: Brilliant acting
Thumbs down: Plot is a simple narration
Rating: 7.8/10
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
']]}
Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:33 AM
Genre: Drama/Romance/History/Biography/Adventure
Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Jack Hawkins
The tales of Jesus Christ, infused with the story of the Jewish Prince, Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) who got betrayed by his Roman childhood friend Messala (Boyd) for Judah supported the Jewish cause over the Roman one. Judah and his family, his sister Tirza (O'Donnell) and mother Miriam (Scott), were sent to the gallows by Messala to rot and die. Judah, in all his determination, vows to return and take Messala's life. He then gets thrown in a journey of slavery and travels to Jerusalem where he once again encounters Messala and decides to stub the Roman arrogance out of him, once and for all. The movie is well renowned and popular, however, the entire storyline, in isolation, is quite simple and nothing out of the ordinary. Friendship that turned sour and revenge that was sworn. The attribute that made the movie better was the Roman-Jewish setup along with the background of Jesus Christ. Although the movie proclaims to be the tale of Jesus Christ, there is very little of him which majorly comes only towards the end. The movie is a lovely watch, with some very phenomenal performances. The movie has a unique blend of film noir along with some more contemporary performances which makes it even better.
Thumbs up: Great performances, good plot outline
Thumbs down: Stretched and long
Rating: 7.7/10
Adventure,
Biography,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
Romance,
{[['
']]}
