Despicable Me(2010) - English

'Despicable Me' is one among the best animated movies I have ever watched. No other movie kept me laughing this much from beginning to end and at the same time giving rise to some soft feelings inside.

This is about Mr. Gru, a great villain fond of committing crimes that can shake the world. In a competition with Mr. Vector, another contemporary  young villain, Gru decides to steal the Moon. Despite Dr. Nefario, an old scientist and a big group of 'minions' Gru is in need of three little girls Margo, Edith and Agnes to carry out his Mission Moon. So he adopts the girls from Miss Hattie's orphanage. But things take an unexpected turn when the ruthless villain is exposed to the innocence of three cute little girls.

In addition to being hilarious throughout, this movie also conveys some message. All the characters are so superbly crafted, especially the little girls and minions and you will end up loving all of them.

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.