Lucía y el sexo (2001)

A split tale movie by Julio Medem.

"The story is that of a waitress named Lucía (Vega) and her relationship with an author, Lorenzo Álvarez (Ulloa), as well as a host of other characters whose lives converge on a mysterious island. The main focus of the story is on the different aspects of sex. Julio Medem shows the complexity of sex by showing its relations with love, hate, friendship, joy, happiness, sadness, depression, excitement and loneliness"

Fa yeung nin wa (2000)

In the Mood For Love
A Wong Kar-wai movie. The prequel to 2046

Charme discret de la bourgeoisie, Le (1072)

"A complex, shifting, virtually plotless web of dreams within dreams within dreams". This one written and directed by Luis Buñuel

is a definite watch if you enjoy surrealism. Its not about the acting, its about the story (or the lack of it) and the direction and the weaving together to bring about an idea that is complex and inexplainable.
Enjoyed the movie nonetheless.

Nuit américaine, La (1973) [Day For Night]

Another François Truffaut that was recommended, and was a good watch! I've always liked to know about how things are made, and a movie about how a movie might be made and all its problems was quite nice :-)

The Grindhouse (2007)

I went to this movie with three other friends. Two of who are not very frequent movie goers. And it was great to see them actually leave the theater half way though the movie because they thought the first part was so Gross.
I've never before enjoyed watching someone leave the theater :-)

These two back to back movies with the amazing trailers in the middle and the beginning have it all: lots and lots of gore and blood and pus and boils and body parts flying all over and heated car chases, people dying, being shot, pourpuseful missing reels, cheap romance, lots of action, guns, hot women, wit, corny dialogues, some amazing cars, no acting, absolutely no moral of the story, and nothing to take back when the three hours are complete. lol. And thats the fun in it all :-)

Frankly though, I was not too excited about Tarantino's movie. I did expect more from his capabilities. Rodriguez on the other hand, gave quite a stunning movie. A total nonsensical, humorous all fun and violence and gore movie.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

I thought I should watch a little bit of François Truffaut. I'd started reading Ray Bradbury's book a few years back but had stopped reading it in the middle of my moving to Stanford. Though its never been the case that i've been happy with a movie after reading the book, I thought I'd anyway see this Truffaut movie. I'm sure the book would have made more effective the thoughts that Ray wanted to put across, but Truffaut didnt make a bad job of it at all.
Bradbury has said that Truffaut "captured the soul and essence of the book," although he disliked the double omission of Faber and the Mechanical Hound.
I had a decent time finishing the book through this movie :-)

Oldboy (2003)

When tarrentino procaims a movie as a must watch, you know what youre gonna get to watch. A recent set of allegations of the mass murder in Virgina Tech point to the resemblence of some of the stances and scenes to this movie. Startling indeed, but the VT killer was a paraniod, delinquent foolish idiot comments on whom are not worthy.
The movie is shocking in the end moments as the viewer gets to unravel the mysteries of Dae-su Oh along with Dae-su Oh. A great movie to watch especially if you can watch someone eat a live octopus. (it actually is shown clenching to his cheeks while he's eating it. not something for the weak hearted)
The ending is deliberately ambiguous, and the audience is left with several questions. Try the movie.

Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story (2005)

Yeah, I watch family guy. I also watch southpark. I know what the two think about each other :-) I also used to watch beavis and butthead. I liked 'beavis and butt-head do america' a lot. But I also believe that its very hard to make a good movie from an episode driven series. Familiy guy presents... was one such attempt. But its almost as good as the episodes anyways. I had a good time watching the movie nonetheless. A good break of monotony in the night. You'll live if you dont watch this one.

Vegas

I'll be in vegas from 18th to 22nd. So I guess there'll be no movie watching for these days.
hey, vegas is one real life movie anyways ;-)

Simon (2004)

Its true. I've hear a lot of people tell me this. Dutch movies are not always the best. French mabye, american maybe. But dutch movies have not always been on the top for most people. But I had absolutely no problems with Simon. It was a very refreshing movie to watch. Its got your grass/weed, homosexuality and gay marriages and is a nicely told story looking a little more into euthanasia. A strange concept, that I personally do think is OK is shown in a way to show the distress and mental make up necessary to deal with it. I do believe the topic of mercy killing was a little more like suicide in this movie, it still shows some of the issues with it : without trying too much and without too very dramatic acting. I did enjoy this movie

Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)

Up on tv-links.co.uk, I found a title that I couldnt resist watching. This movie was classic jackie chan style. The fight sequences with Jackie could not have been better. Enjoyed watching this one quite a bit :-)
Somehow, this movie was a better indication of the style and capabilities of jackie when compared to his new era movies.

This image is of a DVD cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the DVD or the studio which produced the DVD in question.

Garden State (2004)

My labmate Nicolas was astonished to hear that I hadnt seen this movie. Ashamed as I was, I had to watch this one. The movie is set to bring out the age of those who are in their twenties now. It was supposed to show me how I was feeling and that its a feeling that is felt by the entire race of twenty year olds.
To quote a review: "It is a film that speaks to an entire generation. 1947's "The Best Years of Our Lives" spoke to our grandparents. "The Graduate" spoke to our parents. "Fight Club" spoke to our older brothers working dead-end jobs in the 90's. But it is with the arrival of "Garden State" that our generation is spoken to, those of us born in the early-mid 80's who are in our late teens and early twenties trying to make it by in a environment that seems all at once to strange and yet so familiar"

I did indeed enjoy the movie, though I wouldn't go as far as the reviewer in my accolades to the movie. Maybe because I dont share the same feelings as young americans do. But what I did enjoy was the choice of music for the movie. They were just so right for the movie. I had to go and get the OST for this movie. A little more investigation into Zach's movie told me that this movie won the Grammy for choice of music in a movie. An apt choice I would say.

Der Untergang (2004)

Hitler is a character that will fascinate any of us even though we werent around the same era as him. To be set in a war that shaped so much of history, and to see up close the cruelest man that used to be and to see the mind of a man drowned in his greatness and contorted vision, was an awesome treat. The last four to five days of his life, and the near japanese style of suicidal men around him was indeed interesting to watch. In the meanwhile, wikipedia helped me get to know a few more names of the era and their atrocities and lives. A great movie well made - a touchy topic where the director does not hesitate to take an opinion of what he thought about Adolf Hitler

This image is of a film poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the film or the studio which produced the film in question.

The Birds (1963)

The Birds finishes up the left over Hitchcock movies that I wanted to catch up with. The dvd version had a bonus feature talking about how the movie was made. And the presentation of "all about the birds" was a wondrous thing to watch. I watched it before I saw the movie - something that I always do after watching the movie. The hour long presentation of how they made the movie made me appreciate the movie a lot more. The lack of present day technology overcome by using brilliant ideas. The strive the make it look realistic is extremely commendable.
I will go as far as saying that without keeping in mind the time and prevalent technology at the time the movie was made, you'd balk at some scenes where the super imposing is obvious. But once you realise that theres no cgi and that at times the movie makers had just One chance to get the editing and blending together, you appreciate the movie and the three years it took to make it.

The final shot of the movie is a mix of 32 separate shots. And this culmination of the movie is not that the story had ended but is the tribute to the art of the making of a movie.

Vertigo (1958)

Another movie that I've been hoping to catch up watching. Had heard a lot about this one, and was indeed a treat to watch this. From a suspense thriller to an obsessive romantic angle was something unexpected in a movie. Among psycho, north by northwest and rear window, this one will remain the better one for me.

Its been very long since I saw Dial M for Murder, and might just catch it sometime later.

img credits: VERTIGO© 1958 Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions Inc. Renewed 1986 Samuel Taylor & Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell as co-Trustees.

Unforgiven (1992)

Clint Eastwoods best: this almost un-western depiction shows a different face of violence and the west. It doesnt glorify the same concepts that the other westerns do. Through the Kid who joins two oldtimers, the price of killing is examined and shown to actually leave an unforgiven mark on the soul. Its good to see that a killing is not easy as the western's used to show it to be.

A good movie to watch after watching a good number of wild west movies to get back to reality.

Inside Man (2006)

A.R Rahman's Chaiyya Chaiyya is played in the opening credits of this movie, and this made gJump member Sajiv Jose ask the question as to its relevance in the movie. I had to ofcourse watch it to confirm what I knew was director Spike's decision to add it to the movie inspite of a lack of any connection to the movie.
Other than the opening sequence (for the sake of the song), it was a just about a decent movie to watch. Another perfect roberry attempt movie with a catch in the end. Made for a decent time spent, and not too boring but nothing more. If you enjoy heists, then you'll possibly like it.
I found myself wanting to watch Dog Day Afternoon again half way though the movie though.
One thing that I did enjoy was the flash-forward scenes, which gives the hint of the ending without actually showing the ending.

Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003)

A change of pace after being convinced by Keya to watch something different.

I was quite impressed with the Lage Raho (the sequel to this movie) when I got to see it last summer in Redmond, and thought that I should catch this movie.

Would talk about it critically, but hey, it was quite good to have a change from the heavy movie watching.

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

I have to confess, before Million Dollar Baby, I wouldnt have guessed that Clint Eastwood could direct. After this movie, I guess I have to sit down and watch both mystic river and (how did I miss this one!) unforgiven. Letters from Iwo Jima is a beautifully crafted movie.

I am more attracted to the Japanese angle of the war, which I think is always rich with a very different sent of emotions to represent. It was great to be treated to this view from the baker (saigo) and the General in this movie. The sheer pressure of war forcing you to want to bring it to and end, even if it means to surrender; to have in you the willingness and pride to kill yourself rather than die at the hands of the enemy and still break down the image of the face of the enemy - emotions worth capturing in a war movie. Sam's (the American prisoner) moms letter and the conversations showing that one should Do what is right because it's right leaves you with enough philosophy.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, another great movie indeed!

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

A true epic. Without a doubt. The original uncut version had about 9 hours of footage. The almost four hour movie will be excused when you sit through this beautifully crafted movie. Even though it took me two sittings to get done with it, I could notice so many different levels and aspects touched and etched in this classic: romance, love, friendship, betrayal, crime, us history, cinematography and the many levels in which you can understand this in. The break-and-flashback approach and with its ending scene leads you to wonder whether the movie is a dream or if its just three different eras intermingled beautifully. But good movies have such multiple interpretation. Excuse the wild match, but somewhere in the end of the second cd, a want to read again Marquez's Hundred Years of Solitude kept creeping in my stomach.

This weekend was back to back Sergio Leone movie, and you cant not love his style of movie making. The music is ofcourse the haunting one of unmistakable Ennio Morricone. De Niro and Jack Woods do a great job, and you'll love the young Jennifer Connelly.

I'm thrilled with this weekends movie watches !

psst... any recommendations?

I'm looking for movie suggestions. please add your picks as comments.

C'era una volta il West (1968)

So I'm stuck on old movies. But truly Once Upon a Time in the West is a classic in the true sense. Beautifully directed with extended shots, long drawn our suspense filled pauses and glares, the 7 second standoff with nothing moving in the screen with the two cowboys at the ends of the screen, the beautiful lady, the bad guys, no good guys, dry heat, wild west shootings, lot of extras dying, and a queer opening sequence with a housefly and the unnamed hero.

It'll be hard to find a movie thats this long and can get away with the pace these days, but then the luxury of having a faithful audience for so long allows the director to get every nuance of feelings from the faces and to actually tell a good story. Things unfold slowly but firmly around the well fleshed out characters, and each of the characters are well fleshed out. Somewhere along the movie you start wondering who the movie is about: harmonica, or the girl.

Oh, well, eitherways, a true gem of a movie.

North By Northwest (1959)

This 1959 movie has been eluding me for a long time. Been trying to get my hands on it, and just as Vertigo this always seems to give me the slip (i'm a lazy guy and prefer things online). Nonetheless, I finally found myself watching it in small parts, spread out at Stanford and with Kams in San Diego. It was a long day when i watched it in SD, and I slept through after the first half with a beer in hand. But this was more because of the long tiring day over at LA and not because the movie was a drag. Well, it was a drag compared to modern adventure. Its not exactly fast paced, and its got scenes that you've seen abused in Bollywood cinemas. But then you try pondering over why some call it Hitchcock's best, and then you realise the best of tricks and mix of adventure, chase and romance.

There was a particular style which I did like a lot in the movie. Movie writers use some styles to create the suspense and thrill of movies. One is to give the viewer more knowledge about whats happening around the protagonist, and thus edging him/her to do something else. Another is to give the protagonist knowledge of something that the viewer's dont: keeps you guessing. There was this distinct part in the movie where Thornhill et all device a plan to end the story of Kaplan over at Mt. Rushmore . Its amazing how in a few minutes, we the viewers moved from knowing a lot more about the story around the protagonist to knowing nothing of whats coming up. Gotta love Hitchcock.

Great movie to watch to get educated. Not so much if you are actually looking for an adventure of modern type.

An interesting trivia: Cary Grant appears on the left side of the screen for almost the entire movie :-)

The Jerk (1979)

If it weren't for Steve Martin, I would have called it a goner. But Steve manages to get this movie a little bit of respect. Akin to light in a dark room from a key hole in the door. OK, maybe a little more than that: maybe the crack from an unclosed window.

Then again, maybe it was the beer that made it better. The Jerk is your 'i'm-so-bored-i-got-nothing-to-do' movie. It might make you laugh, but then you've seen better comedy for sure.

Not to make it sound that bad, the script was decent enough that you'd notice it, and some aspects of the comedy are sometimes witty. But the bottom line is that I'd forget this movie soon. Sorry Steve.

Frago (1996)

Its one of those movies more known for a scene in it. This is the movie with one of the guys killed by being fed into a wood chipper. Very cold scene that one.
The movie claims to be a true one in the opening sequences: an amazing lie that makes the movie so much more worth the first watch. But some more research shows that its a concoction and characterizations of a lot of true stories. This one didnt exactly happen all at once, and if definitely didnt have anything to do with the city fargo as such.
I love Frances McDormand in this movie. She brings about a nice cool but weird cop way of looking at things. Almost detached, doing her normal job enjoying her tastes in food, and a husband for comic relief :p
Its a lovely must watch movie for the great script and very good acting (in spite of the pronounced accents) and deserves the best actress. Though I'd say it should have picked up the one for direction.

The Fountain (2006)

A recommended movie by dash, The Fountain is kinda artsy with its three parallel stories running around Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Hugh brings out the desperation and obsessive love for his wife. The quest for immortality and continued search for whatever he is searching for. The stories are entangled a lot and without warning its a bit of unwrapping to do as the movie progresses. Once you realise that its actually three parallel stories, things settle in, and the directors brilliance comes forth.

I dont think I ever want to be that fanatical/obsessive about anything. But its a short movie worth its time: different, somewhere poignant and spiritual.

Sunset Blvd (1950)

I just came off a trip of LA, universal studios and Santa Monica and it felt strangely ironic that today I should get a glimpse of this dark reflection of the worst of Hollywood as portrayed by the best of Hollywood. Sunset Blvd, the 1950 movie, was extremely refreshing and haunting and was quite surprised at its 'meager' 3 Oscar haul (of second level ones at it). Maybe not as surprising given the subject matter.

I wont give you the usual banter and details about the movie. its best viewed here and here.

Anyways, this is not the first movie that I saw this quarter. But is a part of an ongoing effort to celebrate the hard work over the last couple of years; by catching up with lost and recommended must-watch movies. Posts will mostly be erratic, but am hoping to capture through these posts my progress over the 'let me watch atleast one movie a day this quarter' challenge to myself.