Movies this week

Hell of a week, started with gloom and ending in procrastination. Few movies, a nice summit with old friends and the champions trophy encounters.

1. Remember the Titans (2000)
Its in my hall of fame. Its about building of a mixed race team in a highly race sensitive town in highly race sensitive times. Denzel Washington did this with all the grace. A precursor of The Great Debaters. Must watch movie. 8/10.

2. Malcolm X (1992)
A biographical account of the Afro-American leader Malcolm X (played by Denzel Washington) . Malcolm X was the extreme of Martin Luther King, while King's methods were non violent, the method of Malcolm X were very close to violent. The so called civilized and modern White Europeans have done gravest and unwholesome crime during this slave trade from the east coast of Atlantic to the west coast, Malcolm was just trying to show them a mirror. A long movie, the first one hour is unbearable and can force anybody to lose interest. 6/10.

3. Seven (1995)
Its a investigative story of unusual crimes committed by a Psychopath. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt were a nice company in this movie. 6.5/10.

4. Magnum Force (1973)
Second part of Dirty Harry series. In this movie Harry Callahan's role was very closely aligned with the book. In some ways this is better than the first word. Clint Eastwood always rocks one way or the other. 7/10.

5. Amazing Grace (2006)
Its a story of British Nobleman William Wilberforce, who abolished the deadly sin of Slave trade in the entire British Empire of the early 19th Century, by his personal crusade. It was a fight to the finish and after loosing many battles, He won the war. 8/10.

The world this week (14th - 20th September)

Happy Eid to all of you.
Had a long weekend but went down with fever and cold, i have a knack of finding new methods of wasting my weekends. Watched few good movies.

1. Das Boot (1981)
Its story of a German U-Boat in the later half of the 2nd World War. The intensity level is pretty high and the climax is bit ironical. Very few movies are made on World wars with a positive outlook of the Germans. 8/10
2. The Untouchables (1987)
A good movie with great actors and a thrilling plot on Al Capone. Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia all were brilliant in this act. 8/10.
3. Training Day (2001)
This is a story of a bad cop and a rookie. Denzel Washington all over. Yet i feel that Oscar was too much for this role. 7/10.
4. The Bounty (1984)
Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson starred movie is good in patches and average in long haul. Still worth watching for Tahitian girls. 7/10.

Sachin Tendulkar winning hearts and matches since 1989

When beggars die there are no comets seen, heavens blazeforth themselves at the centuries of the master. Adverse situations call for adverse actions or as they say when going gets tough then tough gets going. Sachin's 44th ODI century against SRL was a stroke of genius. This is one of the best innings of Sachin. After a humiliating defeat last Sunday, it was only Sachin that would have redeemed India and he did it with sheer perfection. He did what he does best.

It was a sound batting display by Indian team although i still feel that we were slow in 8-10 overs between 35-45 period. Anyways it was brutal onslaught by stylish Yuvi that propelled us to 319.

Srilanka started fiercely and that reminded me of Anwar and Sohail's start in World Cup QF in 1996. I am greatly impressed by Dilshan, he is a next big find of Sri Lanka after Sangakkara. Harbhajan's ball to bold Dilshan was a real gem, his wicket of Mahela literally sealed the game for India. Although Kandamy tried hard but he too was silenced by Harbhajan. It was a great bowling show from the mercurial Harbhajan. Sangakkara did find a new way to get himself out and in the end 319 runs were too many for Srilankans. I have read so many times in news papers that "Sachin scores century, India wins". This was yet one of those days.
Thanks Sachin and Harbhajan for the superb display of the highest level of cricket.

The world this week (7th - 13th September)

Three glorious movies this weekend, a nice way to waste time.

1. Cry Freedom (1987)
A master piece from Richard Attenborough with some great performances Denzel Washington and Kevine Kline. Its based on the biographical details of great anti-apartheid South African leader "Steve Biko". A great leader murdered by racist white police in custody. 8/10.

2. Courage under Fire (1996)
Yet another Denzel Washington movie. Worth watching movie. 7/10.

3. The Thing (1982)
Its a sci-fi movie based on extra terrestrial encounter in Antarctica. A good flick specially when the "The Thing" transformed into a human spider. 7/10.

From Kaminee to The Siege

This week has been a movie week for me, was bit ill this Friday only to regain full vigor by today.

1.Kaminey (2009)
Another good movie from the makers of Omkara and Maqbool, Vishal Bhardwaj still has a magical touch. The first half is bit boring while the second half is action packed thriller. Aviral and Saugara helped me out to watch this movie, my 3rd movie in Bangalore in last two years. Shahid Kapoor acted brilliantly and so did Priyanka Chopra. 8/10.
2.Deja vu (2006)
Yet another Denzel Washington movie albeit not so good. Usual time paradox. 6/10.
3.The Siege (1998)
This movie was made in 1998 but it depicts the post 9-11 scene with almost a holistic view. Denzel Washington yet another gave terrorists their dues. Nice time pass. 7/10.
4.Casino (1995)
Goodfellas Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci did it again, this time in Los Vegas. I am really impressed by Nick played by Joe Pesci. It was a great role played to perfection. Robert De Niro was as good as he is always. Worth watching. 8/10.
5.North by Northwest (1959)
One of the finest works from Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant. It has a cult status and the theme has been chronically copied across the globe. To be very honest this film does not deserve to be at rank 29 of IMDB top 100 movies. Its definitely a good movie but somewhere some thing is missing. 7/10.