The World's Fastest Indian(2005) -English

This is the real story of Burt Munro, a record-owning bike racer from New Zealand. He is almost 70, despite being poverty-stricken and having health problems. His image as a local racer is slowly receding although he is a very charming and friendly character. He has been chasing a dream of setting a land speed record for the last 25 years. At last he sets out to Bonneville race ground in USA to make his dream come true. But there are too many hurdles for him to overcome. But with his strong will, perseverance, optimism and ability to make friends he makes it.
Anthony Hopkins has done a great job playing Burt Munro on screen. A man who made a world record with a 40 year old self-altered Indian motor-cycle, without any safety measures. That record made in 60's still stands. Hopkins has made me a fan of real Burt. At no point of the movie you get bored. Excellent movie.

The Man from Earth (2007) -English

This is a different and excellent sci-fi movie. The movie begins when his colleagues visit Mr. John Oldman, a professor, to give him farewell. John is resigning from the college and leaving the place for reasons unknown to the friends. They urge him to stay or at least to tell them the reason why he want to leave. At last he reveals that fact. John is actually a cro-magnon man who happened to be gifted with eternal youth. He is actually around 14,000 years old. when people around notice that he doesn't get aged, he leaves that place. That is why he doesn't stay anywhere for long. Then there follows an argument between John and friends and John could counter each and every one of their arguments. He has a lot of stories to tell from stone ages to present. While narrating his unusually long life time, John makes many shocking revelations.
The whole movie is picturized in and around a room and still it can sustain viewer's interest well. Its worth spending time for.

Mar Adentro (2004)- Spanish

Mar Adentro (English: The Sea Inside) tells the real story of Ramon Sampedro, a ship mechanic, who has been paralyzed for more than 26 years. The movie picturizes his vigorous fight with the government in favour of his own euthanasia(mercy killing).
Ramon was very fond of sea. In an unfortunate diving accident in his youth, he became quadriplegic and became dependent on his brother's family. He felt such a life to be worthless and deprived of dignity. Personally, at first I was against the stand of protagonist. But the movie is so well crafted  that at last we end up with an empathy for Ramon. Although he cannot move, Ramon shows power to move others. It is shown through Julia, a lawyer who pleads in his favour and Rosa, a neighbor who tries to convince Ramon that life is worth living. Actors have done a great job and director has succeeded in conveying Ramon Sampedro very effectively.

Shutter Island(2010) - English

I must begin with awe. shutter Island is an excellent piece of movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio (as Mr. Teddy Marshal) and Ben Kingsly (as Dr. Cowley). It is a horror-psychology thriller that can catch your full-length attention. Movie begins with the arrival of Mr. Teddy and Mr. Chuck, who are U S Marshals, to the Shutter Island. It is a lonely island where the criminally insane and so very dangerous patients are treated. The cops are there to investigate the missing of a patient. But later they realize that the place is really one intended to experiment with human minds and to make them do spy work. Teddy wants it to stop. But then he learns that the hospital people are trying to declare him as insane by secretly giving him psycholeptic drugs. Teddy is on fight against the authorities. But on way to the end of the movie, Teddy is forced to accept hard realities giving the audience a wonderful movie experience.
I recommend this as a must-watch movie.

Lady in the Water(2006) - English

This guy M. Night Shyamalan has got a unique skill in writing strange and different stories. Take any of his films, it will have a unique thread which no one else has ever tried.
Lady in the Water is another such movie that tells the story of a man Mr. Heeps who is a maintenance man in an apartment. One day he discovers a young lady in the swimming pool of the apartment. He learns that she is actually a water nymph who wants to return to her blue world in water. But she is threatened by a vicious animal that tries to kill her at any cost. Heeps learns from a Chinese woman in the apartment that there are people, who are yet to be identified, in the apartment who can save the life of the nymph. Mr. Heeps tries to identify those people and at last sends the sea lady to her world.
I must tell that the movie is boring at some points. But still it is worth spending a little time for.

Insomnia(2002) -English

Insomnia is another Christopher Nolan film starring Al Pacino, Robbin Williams and Hilary Swank. It a crime thriller telling the story of a Los Angels police officer Dormer (Al Pacino) who comes to a small town in Alaska for the investigation of the murder of a teenage girl. During a chase of the murderer Dormer accidentally kills his partner. Since there could be reasons for him to kill him deliberately, he conceals this fact from the public fearing public disbelief. But the guilt haunts Dormer, he loses sleep and the intellectual activity in the investigation gets very challenging. But he still chases the murderer and finally solves the case.
This movie is truly thrilling and it is interesting to see the midnight-sun phenomenon in Alaska incorporated with the story. The shooting locations will also catch your attention

I am Sam(2001) -English

This is a very beautiful movie starring Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning in the lead. Sam (Penn) is a mentally retarded man having only the IQ of a seven year old. All his friends are similarly having disabilities. Soon after the birth of a baby, his wife left him. He brings up that baby, Lucy (Fanning), alone. When her friends began to tease Lucy in the name of her father, she felt it embarrassing to accept that she is more mature than her father. But when the girl is seven year old, the state tries to separate the child from Sam saying he is not able to parent a child who has more IQ than him. What follows is a legal fight between the state and Sam for Lucy. The film beautifully portrays the efforts of a retarded man and his friends who know only to love.
Performance of Sean Penn as Sam is really stunning, especially during the scenes where he is unable to answer the complex questions of the lawyers.
It is heard that the Tamil movie starring Vikram named 'Daiva Thirumahan' is a remake of this movie.

The Happening(2008) - English

 

This is another catching Manoj Shyamalan film that tells the story of a mysterious natural disaster that all of a sudden starts spreading from a park. Some neurotoxin is unknowingly given out into the air which affects the minds of the people and they start committing suicide. There arises many theories on what actually is happening. At first it is thought that it is some kind of bioterrorist attack using some airborne chemical. Later speculations give way to frantic efforts to escape from the toxin. The story evolves around a science teacher, his wife and the daughter of his best friend who committed suicide after being infected by the neurotoxin. The movie goes along the mass hysteria spread among the public and the picturization of it is very impressive. It is a movie worth watching

The Prestige(2006) - English

This is a mystery-thriller which tells the story of two rival stage magicians, Angiers and Borden, of the 19th century. They both were assistants of a famous magician and later they split up and try to outwit each other as independent magicians. This blind competiton and rivalry leads into tragic results. The famous scientist, Nikola Tesla is portrayed in this story as the scientist who helps Angiers to perform teleportation on stage. The direction of this movie is marvellous and it is difficult to summarize the story in a few lines. I may have to tell scene by scene. Story takes sudden and frequent twists. The overall suspense is kept all along upto the climax.

The Village(2004) - English

 

The Village is an interesting suspense thriller movie directed by Manoj Night Shyamalan. It tells the story of a village where people live in constant fear of some nameless monsters which are supposed to inhabit in the surrounding forests. They had the borders of the village lined with oil lamps and nobody dared to cross the limits. They see skinned animal bodies which makes the children frightned and it is also seen that the adults keep some secrets from their own children. Story is centred on Lucius Hunt, a young man who seeks permision of the adults to go to the city to get medicines from there. But he is not permitted. When the story evolves, Lucius met with a mishap and get injured badly. Then Ivy, a blind girl who loves Lucius, at last decides to cross the forest to bring medicine from city. This venture of hers unreveals the key suspense of the movie.

The way of story telling of Shyamalan is very catching and background score needs special mention in it. Its a movie worth spending time for.

Dead Poets Society(1989) - English

This is a fantastic movie starring Robbin Williams as John Keating and a group of young boys. Keating comes to an orthodox preparatory boys school as an English teacher. He has unorthodox teaching methods and he inspires each boy in his class to bring out the best in them. The students like him a lot, and they become confident to chase their dreams. But, as can be expected, the authorities and parents cannot cope with this and this leads to some touching sequences in the story. This movie is full of positive energy which can lift your spirits.
If you want to know how such a marvelous story can be destroyed, see Fazil's Malayalam movie 'Life is Beautiful'

Philadelphia(1993) -English

Phialdelphia casts two of my most favorite actors, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, in the lead. This is an inspiring movie which tells the story of Andrew Becket( Hanks), an attorney who is fired from a law firm for being careless. But Andrew knows that carelessness is just an excuse but actually they fired him because he had AIDS. He decides to fight against this discrimination and  seeks help from many lawyers. Most of them refused to help an HIV positive person. At last Joe Miller (Denzel) decides to help him and after a series of legal fights, they win.
This movie is based on an actual story which was the first reported case against HIV/AIDS related discrimination. Performance of Tom Hanks is awesome as an HIV positive man.

Invictus(2009) -English

It is one of the most inspirational true story I have seen. It tells the story of South Africa just after the election of Nelson Mandela as the president. As a newly elected president, Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) has to face problems everywhere, the major one being the colour discrimination spread into the nation. The national rugby team, called the springboks, which had all white players and were facing failure in all matches, were hated by the people. There was a strong demand to dissolve the team. But Mandela realizes that the springboks were an efficient tool to unite the nation. He inspires the team captain Faracois (played by Matt Damon) and makes a strategy for winning. The film portrays an inspiring sequence of how a game and its spirit can be used to unite a nation and bulid greatness. The victorian peom Invictus by William Earnest Henly is highlighted as it was a source of inspiration to Mandela during the 27 years he spent in jail.
After watching this movie, I became a fan of Nelson Mandela. The music needs special mention in this movie.

The Bucket List(2007) - English

 

The Bucket list is an excellent movie starring two of my most favourite actors on screen, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It tells the story of two old men Mr. Chambers(Freeman) and Mr. Cole(Nicholson) who meet in a hospital, both being terminal cancer patients. Although Cole finds Chambers a dull man at first, he becomes friends with him. Chambers is a mechanic, but he is an expert in history. Cole is a business magnate, having nothing else than money. Chambers tells about a 'bucket list', a childhood fancy, which is a list of things he wished to do before death. Cole says it is not just a childhood fantasy,but can also be materialized in their present age also and they set out a road trip to fulfill the things in the "Bucket list". The rest is an inspirational portrayal of how they find meaning in life from each other.

It is a must-watch movie.

The Sixth Sense(1999) - English

 

Another Night Syamalan touch on the screen. Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osmant add attraction to this wonderfully picturized thriller movie. Dr. Malcome(Willis) is a children psychologist who keeps a regret for being unable to help a boy, Vincent, with hallucinations. Also he finds that his profession caused a distance between him and his wife Anna. After a long time of rest, he meets another boy, Cole(Haley) whose condition is much similar to that of Vincent. He decides to help Cole and thereby satisfying his regret for Vincent. Cole reveals to him that he can communicate with dead people. On Malcome's advice Cole helps a lot of ghosts to fulfill their desires. The end of the movie is really marvellous. Syamalan's style to keep such suspense upto the end is really something!

A must-watch movie.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975) - English

 

The movie centred on a Mental Hospital tells the story of Randal McMurphy(Jack Nicholson) who is brought there for evaluation after he has been arrested for crime many times. McMurphy is very peculiar and kind of a rebel. He becomes favourite of the other patients there and his different attitudes help in the progress of them also. He outsmarts the oppressive nurse Miss Ratched who was a dictator there. He could inspire others also and help them acquire a self-esteem. One such man is Chief Bromden, who is ending the story in very touching manner. Performance of Nicholson as McMurphy is stunning and no wonder he bagged Oscar for it.

Priyadarshan's താളവട്ടം seems to be a remake of this classic movie, with added comedy and Keralite sentiments.

Field of Dreams(1989) - English

 

This is a drama-sports-fantasy movie telling the story of a farmer Ray. While walking through his corn field, Ray once hears a voice telling "If you build it, he will come" and he visualizes a base ball field. He decides to obey the voice and so he ploughs his corn field and builds a baseball court. Neighbors laugh at him for this, but he goes on with his field. One day, to his surprise, he finds a player in the field whom he identifies to be Shoeless Jackson, an old dead player. Later number of players in the field increases, all of them being passed away classic players in their youth. Ray continues to hear voices and he sets out in search of their meanings. After meeting so many people, going through so many situations, at last Ray finds his father among the players. He remembers how he used to resent his father for his craze for base ball and feels so happy and emotional to see his father.

The movie is so beautifully cinematographed and the storytelling is very impressive. It is a movie worth watching.

The Silence of the Lambs(1991) - English

This is one one of my most favorite horror-crime thriller movies. A young lady police officer, Ms Starling is assigned to investigate a murder series where the killer is just known as Buffalo Bill. No one knows anything more about him. Ms. Starling decides to seek the help of an imprisoned cannibalistic killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter(Antony Hopkins) who was a brilliant psychiatrist too. Dr. Lecter agrees to help her if he is moved away from the prison  where he is now and where he dislikes. But Lecter is so dangerous a man and a transfer of him is very risky. Starling takes the risk. Now there are two equally dangerous people she has to take care of. 

This is one of the top five thrillers ever made. The sole role of Antony Hopkins as  'Hannibal the Cannibal' made me a fan of him.

Saving Private Ryan(1998) - English

 

I have two prime attractions to point out here, Tom Hanks and Spielberg! This is one of the best war movies I have ever seen. While preparing letters to the family of the soldiers killed in the World War, the clerk notices that three of the letters are addressed to the same lady. It gives them a shock to realize that that lady lost her three sons in the war and her fourth son is still in war front. So they decides to bring the fourth person back from war and send him home with the news of his brothers' death. But that fourth man, Private Ryan is missing and no one knows whether he is alive or not. So a mission is constituted to find Ryan, save him and to send him home. Captain Miller (Hanks) is leading the team. They have to struggle a lot to save Private Ryan.

The picturisation of war fronts and the emotional sequences of the soldiers are stunning. It is a must-watch movie.

Lola Rennt(1998) - German

Lola Rennt, also called 'Run Lola Run' is a thriller movie. The movie consists of three segments, each of which has same beginning but drastically different outcomes. Manni, Lola's boyfriend is a small scale criminal. In an operation he lost a huge amount which he has to return to his boss immediately. Lola tells him to wait for 20 minutes, she would arrange the money. That is the beginning of Lola's three runs. She leaves the phone receiver and starts running. The movie shows how a second of delay changes the outcomes of the runs drastically. It's a full-length thriller and is comparatively short also.

My Sister's Keeper(2009) - English

 

Well, this is purely a realistic drama in which emotions and sentiments dominate. It is centered on two sisters Anna and Kate. Anna is a girl conceived in vitro as a genetic match for her sister Kate who is suffering from leukemia. She was regularly used as a source of blood, bone marrow etc for Kate from birth onwards. When she is 15, Anna finds it bad to be brought up like a medical instrument and she seeks the help of an attorney to claim medical emancipation from her parents. Then follows a series of arguments and counter arguments between the attorney and Anna's parents. The way Kate approaches her death, how her illness affects the people around, her relations to them etc are picturized in an attractive manner. If you don't hate sentiments, try this movie. It is worth your time.

Man on Fire(2004) - English

 

One of my favourite Denzel Washington movies. Denzel plays the role of Creasy, an alcoholic man who happened to be a the bodyguard of a little girl, Pita. Creasy was an unsociable man and kept a distance with Pita who was very sociable. After a while, Creasy gradually began to love the child and they become friends. But, one day Pita got kidnapped and Creasy was mortally injured in the attempt to save her. After recovering, Creasy set out find out the ruffians behind Pita's kidnap. Then the story becomes a full length thriller. Denzel has shown marvelous performance. It is a movie worth spending time for.

Hotaru no Haka(1988) - Japanese

 

This movie, more popularly known as 'Grave of the fireflies' is the best animated movie I ever saw. It tells the story of a teenager Sieta and his little sister Setsuko who are orphaned after the World War II. Their father who was a soldier dies in war and their mother, of disease. The children get shelter in an aunt's home and becomes a burden for them. Then Sieta sets out with his sister to an old cave. The sufferings they undergo and Sieta's attempts to keep his sister happy are picturized in a very touching manner. I am not shy to say that at the end of the movie, I cried and the climax haunted me for days. The best of all movies based on World War, i would say. A 100% must-watch movie.

Forrest Gump(2004) - English

 

Yet another of my most favorite Tom Hanks movie. This tells the story of Forrest, an 'almost-retarded' man who knows only to love. He is portrayed as a person who has been part of many historical events without his being aware of the importance of those events. The movie extends from the beginning of Forrest's school days to that of his son. Movie depicts the events of how a retarded boy managed to study with ordinary children, how he becomes an excellent sportsman, then a soldier, a famous citizen, then a fisherman, a good husband, a good father etc. in a very funny and entertaining way. Watching the movie you will surely love the innocent Forrest Gump. The special effects used is very excellent, especially the scenes where Hanks appears with late Great men like John F Kennedy. The film won six Oscars including the Best Actor for Tom Hanks. No wonder!

A Beautiful Mind(2001) - English

 

'A Beautiful Mind' is a Beautiful movie which is inspired by the life of John Nash, a Nobel laureate in Economics.

Movie begins when John Nash is student of Princeton. He is an introvert and indifferent man having no friends except his room mate. He is constantly in search of an idea which is completely genuine. He succeeds in it and he finds his way into many top level issues in the country. After a series of mysterious incidents, Nash is diagnosed to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. His disease causes a lot of trouble to his wife and family. The rest is the inspiring sequence of how Nash fights with this illness and finally bags a Nobel prize.

Its truly an inspiring movie. Performance of Russel Crowe as John Nash is marvelous.

The Terminal(2004) - English

 

The Terminal is a comic Spielberg film starring Tom Hanks. It tells the story of Viktor Navorsky, a man from Krakozhia(an imaginary nation). While Viktor was on air to US, his country underwent a military coup and the passport and citizenship of the country got canceled. When Viktor lands in US, he is a citizen of nowhere. So he couldn't be allowed to enter US, neither he could be sent back to his country. The only place where the airport authorities can keep him is the international transit lounge. The authorities thought he would escape from there and would become somebody else' head ache. But Viktor stays in the lounge and establishes a life there itself. The strange methods of Viktor and the various tricks played by airport authorities to get rid of him makes this movie a full-length comedy film.

The Terminal is a must-watch movie. Performance of Tom Hanks is really superb!

Click(2006) - English

  

'Click' is an entertaining comic drama which tells the story of a workaholic architect Michael (Adam Sandler). Michael is very fond of his family, but he doesn't find time to spend time with them because of his busy schedule. One day while shopping he gets a universal remote control that can manipulate his own life as he controls a video playback. He can fast forward, rewind, mute, program preferences and a lot in his actual life. The rest is a series of funny, and of course sentimental sometimes, incidents in his life that he makes with that remote control. At the end of movie, Michael realizes the importance of family and the moments of mutual interactions.

A simple movie worth spending time for. There is good scope for laughter

El Laberinto del Fauno(2006) - Spanish

 

El laberinto del fauno, also called 'The Pan's Labyrinth', is a Mexican fantasy-thriller-drama genre movie and is my most favorite Spanish movie. The story is centred around a little girl Ofelia who is so fond of fairy tales. She, along with her pregnant mother is brought to a forest by her arrogant stepfather Captain Vidal. War against anarchists is going on in the forest, but Vidal wants his baby to be born where he is. Ofelia finds an abandoned labyrinth in that forest and meets a lot of fairy tale characters there. She becomes involved in the fairy world and the story develops to bringing down of the political anarchy and the end of civil war.

This movie has remarkable excellence in the technical and graphical perfection. The fairy tale world is beautifully incorporated into the political topic of Spanish civil war. It's full of thrill from beginning to end. A must-watch movie.

Finding Forrester(2000) - English

 

This tells the story of a Black boy Jamal Wallace and his meeting with William Forrester, a well known author. Jamal had good talent in writing, but he never let anyone see his writings. Forrester was a man who published only one book, became so famous and later never came into light. Jamal accidentally meets him and they become friends. Forrester reveals his personal secrets and pains to Jamal and also helps him to bring out the real talent in him. But he insisted on not to reveal Jamal's friendship with him to anyone. An envious teacher of Jamal accuses him of plagiarism and at last Forrester himself comes to day light to save Jamal's prestige.

Forrester is made memorable by the ever remembered Bond, Sean Connery. It is a movie worth watching due to the catching story telling and performance of actors.

Getting Home (2007) -Chinese

 

This is a Chinese comedy-drama movie which tells the story of Zhao, a chinese worker, who takes pain to fulfill the wish of his friend Liu. Liu used to say that if a person is not buried after death near his house, his ghost would wander like a destitute. Unfortunately he dies during construction from drinking. Zhao embark on a difficult mission to take his dead friend to his home which is thousands of mile away. That is where the movie begins. The adventurous trip of Zhao with the dead body of his dear friend is full of comedy accompanied by the portrayal of his loyalty. He meets people from different cross sections of society and different situations in everyday life.

Cinematography covers the brilliant beauty of Chinese greenery and culture. Its a worth-watching movie, of course.

La vita e bella(1997)--Italian

 

This Italian movie tells the story of a second world-war period family. The Director Roberto Benigni himself is in the lead role. He plays the role of an Italian Jew,Guido, who is very charming and funny. The first half of the movie tells how he meets his girl and marries and make a family with her. At the beginning of second half, the family is being captivated by military. In order to console his little son, Guido tells him that all the suffering in that camp is just a game and the winner will be awarded a Tank. Unto the end, the movie is full of positive energy and entertaining. The sacrifice Guido makes for his family is really moving.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)-English

 

 Another must-watch movie in my list.

This tells the story of Benjamin Button who was born old and died young! The curious idea of aging backwards is skillfully and beautifully interwoven with the human relations and adventures. Benjamin Button was born with the death of his mother. His father abandons him thinking him to be a monster born with wrinkled skin. Later Benjamin reaches the hands of an old-age home keeper and there they realize that that 'new-born old man' is aging backwards! The story is a long one, but at no point of it would we feel bored. Many scenes in the movie are memorable. Director has done very well in the drafting of this picture. In many of the scenes we seem to forget we are watching Brad Pitt on screen.
A first class example for the excellence of human imagination.

Le Scephandre et le Papillon(2007) -French

 

 Le scaphandre et le Papillon, also called 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' is a beautifully picturized french movie based on the true story of Jean Dominique Bauby. 

The movie tells the story from the view point of a paralyzed person, Mr. Bauby. Mr. Bauby was a very charming journalist who at the age of 43 happens to undergo an unexpected stroke by which he is completely paralyzed. The only part he can move is his left eye-lid. In that stage, he realizes that his body only is paralyzed, but his imagination can still fly like a butterfly. With the help of a patient young lady,Claude Mendibil, he writes a book using his left eye-lid, thats the main turning point of the movie. A few days after the publication of the book, Bauby died of pneumonia.

The Director's signature in the movie is well-felt during the course of the movie. Portrayal of incidents through the eyes of a locked-in man, his memories and imagination, and the people around him is very attractive. Really an inspiring movie. All movie buffs must watch this.