A Month At The Movies - August 2011!

Directed by: Renny Harlin!

Main cast: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Brian Cox, Patrick Malahide & Craig Bierko!

Stars out of 10: 7/10 Stars!


You make an "ass" out of "u-and-mption"

It's definitely not a 'A-Highly-Recommended-Movie' but rather a 'Only-If-You-Got-Nothing-Better-To-Do' sort of a movie. Anyways, as a fan of both Geena Davis & Samuel L. Jackson, I gave this film, which was recommended by my father, a try. I do wish I had seen this film a wee bit earlier when I was making my Greatest Villains & Greatest Heroes list because I would've added Samantha Caine & Timothy as a hero & villain, respectively. Anyways, considering the drama-suspense movies around that time, this one won't stand out as the best but It does rank under the 'good' category as I really enjoyed Geena Davis's performance as well as Samuel L. Jackson's performance which I think is his 2nd best movie, performance-wise (Who can forget Jules Winnfield?). Despite all the good action scenes which were surprisingly cliche-less, the climatic battle was very predictable. All in all, not a waste of time but, despite the good start, ends on a bad note!

Directed by: Sam Raimi!

Main cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert & Ian Ambercrombie!

Stars out of 10: 7.5/10 Stars!


Good, bad... I'm the guy with a gun!

The third chapter in what is considered the most gruelling experience in horror. Our gun-toting hero is back... in time! After the events of the second movie, Ash is transported to somewhere around 13,000 AD England where he is hailed as 'The One' and must finish off the dreaded dead-ites. It's certainly not the weakest link but after seeing how great the 2nd one was, I was expecting a little more but that's all right! This film has a unique blend of Medieval time, a reluctant hero, funny skeleton characters and a thinly veiled The Day The Earth Stood Still reference. Of all the time-traveling films I've seen, this is one of the best and Bruce Campbell could not have been more better! A worthy sequel filled with great humor and great characters!

Ranked No. 388 out of 500!

Directed by: Frank Darabont!

Main cast: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bonnie Hunt, Doug Hutchinson, James Cromwell David Morse & Jeffrey DeMunn!

Stars out of 10: 7.9/10 Stars!


We got a dead man walking here...

It's a fact that any film near or 3+ hours is bound to be great and this film is no exception. Based on the fiendishly addictive novel of the same name by Stephen King, this film is directed by Frank Darabont, who, previously handled a Stephen King novel and made it one of the greatest films of our time and of all time. I was very excited to see The Green Mile because of the man behind the camera and the amazing cast in front. But I was scared too. You see, I have this tendency to get scared when a film is based on a novel as I don't really expect the silver-screen adaptation to be as good as the novel and therefore I have avoided such films numerous times. Anyways, the slow-pace and the almost too realistic setting of this film impressed me alot and what I liked even more was Michael Clarke Duncan's excellent performance. What Morgan Freeman was to Shawshank, Michael Clarke Duncan was to The Green Mile. His performance as the 'child stuck in a giant's body' was the real driving force. Another bona-fide performance was by Doug Hutchinson (Percy Wetmore). He correctly captured the sadistic & villainous character! Excellent performances by the lead & supporting cast but from Tom Hank's side, it was a little hammy. Not exactly in the novel but nevertheless, entertaining!

I like to think of this film as Shawshank Redemption in reverse. In Shawshank, It's all about life, while in The Green Mile, It's about death. While Shawshank showed us that hope can be a good thing, The Green Mile was more about miracles and how we judge too soon. I wish Frank Darabont handles another Stephen King novel like maybe The Black House!

Ranked No. 374 out of 500!

Directed by: Mark Waters!

Main cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould & Chad Michael Murray!

Stars out of 10: 6.5/10 Stars!


I'm an old woman!

Jamie Lee Curtis brilliantly transtited from scream queen to cool mom! Many people lose their touch when they get old but in this case, Jamie Lee Curtis can be forgiven as she gives such a funny performance! We also have Lindsay Lohan before she went all drug-addict on us. The chemistry between the two lead females sure was good. Story-wise, the film was great and very entertaining but it's only for selected audiences and not everyone will benefit much from it. Go for it if you like these sort of films but otherwise, stay clear!

+ It also has Needlenose Ned, Ned the Head.... NED RYERSON!

Directed by: Mike Nichols!

Main cast: See below!

Stars out of 10: 7.7/10 Stars!



Aarfy, if anything happens to me, will you take care of my girl?

I love war movies. I love satirical-war movies even best! I think after Dr. Strangelove, this is the second best satirical-war movie although it had the bad luck of being released at the wrong time. Yes, you see it was released in 1970, the same year M.A.S.H (another, more successful satirical-war movie) and Patton (a realistic war movie) were released. Anyways, It has such lunatic characters that would put the Dr. Strangelove characters to shame and the cast are very impeccably chosen. We have Alan Arkin in the lead followed by Jon Voight, Martin Balsam, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Jack Gilford, Art Garfunkel (the Garfunkel half in Simon & Garfunkel) and a pre-Badlands, pre-Apocalypse Now Martin Sheen in a less screentime role! This film wasn't as bold as Dr. Strangelove but nevertheless, had 10 times the laughs and the whole "Turn left, you son-of-a-bitch, turn left" scene with Capt. Aadvark, Nately & Yossarian is one of the most funniest scenes I've ever seen in any movie! Overall, not a disappointing movie but If you are a fan of the above mentioned cast or satirical war movies, then give this film a try and although I won't promise that it will make you wanna give two-thumbs up, I will guarantee It will make you wanna rewind certain scenes many times and you will never forget the cool & calm Capt. Aadvark & and the freaked-out Yossarian! (Top left & middle, respectively)

On the last note, It also has one of the best take-off I've seen! No music, no dialogues, just a great background with 10-11 planes in the air! It also has Orson Welles in a small role!

Dired by: John G. Avildsen!

Main cast: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Talia Shire & Carl Weathers!

Stars out of 10: 9.0/10 Stars!


I just wanna go the distance with Apollo Creed. Nobody has gone the distance with Apollo Creed!

Rocky deserves a spot in the 'love at first sight' hall of fame. It's easily the most lovable, most inspirational film of all time. With a memorable character in the lead with an even more memorable theme in the background, Rocky is single-out the best film in it's genre! Sylvester Stallone plays the soft-hearted, never giving up Rocky Balboa, or The Italian Stallion! Backed up by an impressive cast, Burt Young, Talia Shire & Carl Weathers, this is one of the only few films I've seen which I like virtually all actors / actresses and I think that Stallone should've won but I agree that the competition was tough! Anyways, It does give me the feeling that no matter what shit people throw at you, you should just stay yourself and never give up. I do wish people would pay more attention to this classic movie because It's oftently overlooked as 'the ultimate schmaltz'. Anyways, this is Stallones most finest moment both performance-wise & story-wise and Rocky is only matched by Raging Bull! If you still haven't seen this or need a reason why Sylvester Stallone is a great actor, then I suggest that stop watching whatever you are watching right now and see this film!

Ranked No. 224 out of 500

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Main cast: Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper & Marlon Brando

Stars out of 10: 9.6/10 Stars!


I love the smell of Napalm in the morning

With the opening words of Martin Sheen, we are plunged into the terror & the darkness which refuses to let us go and with the ending words of Marlon Brando, we can safely say that the terror has been killed and lifted and now we can feel the punch Apocalypse Now gave us at the starting!

Now, how can a film, released near the end of the 70's, put a shame to all the films that were released in the 70's! Apocalypse Now is a master of a film directed by the 'the one' director, Francis Ford Coppola. As in his previous two films, The Godfather & The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now had that unmistakable 'mustard layer' and the 'gritty atmosphere' which I think is his trademark. Anyways, How often do you see a movie in which Marlon Brando is overshadowed by someone else? Just when I was starting to think that no actor could ever do that, Martin Sheen stepped in and proved me wrong. I've always been a major fan of Martin Sheen and have seen many of his movies but this one is his most best! The opening monologue of "I'm still stuck in Saigon" is arguably the second greatest opening scene I've seen and the narration is great.

This film reminded me alot of Aguirre, The Wrath Of God and I wasn't surprised since Apocalypse Now had taken direct influences from Aguirre (the narrations, lenghty river scenes with jungles, arrows) and I'm surprised that how come a film, which has clearly taken influences, turned out to be better than the film It was influenced by. Maybe It was because of the cast? Or maybe the violent nature and disturbing scenes? Whatever the reason might be, this film is solely for those people who like long lenghty scenes (with or without dialogues) and those who like war movies not led by acting or dialogues, but rather led by amazing cinematography and the realism of it without trying too hard. Like I said before, this film is only for selected audiences only and If you don't think you can watch a movie like this, then pass this one off!

Ranked No. 12 out of 500!

Directed by: Howard Hawks!

Main cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell & Ralph Bellamy!

Stars out of 10: 9.2/10 Stars!


I'm taking the 9:00 train with or without you...!

One of the most pleasing, most entertaining, most energetic movie I've seen and also one of the most surprising. How? After seeing how brilliant Scarface was, I never expected to see a comedy from Howard Hawks, but then again I've only seen 2 of his movies and don't know much. I'm gonna keep a look-out for other Howard Hawks movies (Oh, theres always To Have & Have Not) Anyways, forget Gilmore Girls & Good Morning, Vietnam, His Girl Friday is the original fast-paced-dialogue movie with likable characters and a great storyline and is a little dark. Just a dash, that's it. A small one. Since I was already exposed to Cary Grant, this film exposed me to 2 more: Rosalind Russell & Billy Gilbert. Just in case if you are wondering, Billy Gilbert (Joe Pettibone) also voices Sneezy in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs!

I think of His Girl Friday as the perfect comedy to start off the 40's. I mean, most of the 40's was cluttered by neo-noir, real-drama and crime movies. This film is also one of the only few comedies I've seen which literally begs for a re-watch and isn't filled with tasteless jokes or stupid characters or any of the nonsense you would find in a typical Judd Apatow movie. It's a classic and only for people who thoroughly enjoy these classics without any questions! A must watch? Of course! A rewatch required? Again, of course but after a few weeks!

Ranked No. 57 out of 500!

Directed by: David Cronenberg!

Main cast: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe & Martin Sheen!

Stars out of 10: 8.6/10 Stars!


She is in danger. She still has time

You can expect this lot from a David Cronenberg film: Great cast, great performances, great storyline and great blood/gore scenes. Sadly, The Dead Zone had none of the latter (except for the part where Dodd pushes his mouth in the scissors). I haven't read the novel yet and now that I've seen this, I intend to.

The thing with Christopher Walken movies is that you cannot watch them enough. That's what happened with Batman Returns & The Deer Hunter. Anyways, Christopher Walken sure gave an amazing performance, as he always does, and even though I have mixed feelings whether he should've been nominated or not, I thinking more in the lines of "should've been". Apart from Walken, we have Martin Sheen in a small role amounting to a little more thn 5-6 mins (which includes a great anger scene, albeit a little funny) and Brooke Adams with Herbert Lom. A great performance by him too. Another thing I like about David Cronenberg is his endings. The ending reveals everything in a short time-span and leaves no room for follow-ups and doesn't have any of those cliche music or camera movements which can be found abundantly in other movies. This film's ending was exactly similar to The Fly and something which I like. As a serious Cronenberg fan, this film was also a little disappointment because It didn't have any of his signature gore scenes. Don't get me wrong, I don't like violence that much but It makes me happy that when director includes a thing he/she is most famous for but he made up for the 'dead zone' by collecting a great cast that it makes you wanna see them altogether in another movie.

In conclusion I would like to say that, despite the great directing and acting, this film ended rather too fast and should've gone for atleast another 45 mins at the most and was a little disappointment in some scenes (especially the opening). For Cronenberg & Walken fans, this film may, or may not, be included in their favourite movies lists but all I can tell is that it sure won't be included in their worst movies lists and as for Martin Sheen fans, his small appearance will put a smile on your face! A recommended watch only after you have read the novel as I found some scenes kinda confusing!