Master and Commander: The far side of the world (2003)

A great screenplay and direction by Peter Weir, Master and commander: The far side of the world is a depiction of a constant endeavour of a captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) to destroy a French enemy frigate during the time of Napoleonic Wars, thus putting the lives of the entire crew in jeopardy for vengeance as well as for the sake of his country.

During his crazy will to take on the Acheron, the enemy Frigate, Jack is often contradicted by his closest friend, the doctor Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) and albeit he never gives up the hope of invading the French frigate, he is constantly put in adverse situations wherein he is compelled to feel remorseful for the decisions he made. However he manages to keep the faith of his crew members alive and pursues the Acheron without giving an eye to the doctor’s concern and interests. A series of unfortunate events occur and their ship suffers bad luck every now and then but that doesn’t stop Jack from taking on the Acheron eventually.

Some great acting by Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany makes the whole movie an adventure worth watching. The situations that they were put in certainly demanded pluck and patience which was manifested well by Jack Aubrey.

This flick would make you fathom how things were really dealt with earlier. Back then when the technology wasn’t advanced enough, how sails were used by the crew and how much work was supposed to be done during a shipwreck.

The Experiment (2010)

This was a thought provoking flick. I felt what an animal man is. How easily he forces violence upon himself one way or the other. If you intimidate him, if you instigate him, if you add that fuel to the fire, he’d know no limits and would succumb to violence. The flick is an obvious depiction of the fact. There is hardly anything that can stop him from fighting for long. While the scientists tried to experiment by enticing them with a whole bunch of green and with the tinge of fear of losing it all in a jiffy the moment there were some serious injuries, every man decided to go along with the flow. Although the movie was a remake it was smooth.

Adrien Brody did a great job being the protagonist in the movie and supporting the right throughout the movie while facing some weird consequences in the long run. Forest Whitaker, on the other hand, plays the character which seriously needs a rehab as he starts to take things a lot more seriously right from the start. Prestige, dignity and humiliation were some of the main things all he could think of, the moment he was put in the shoes of a cop. While the downside of the movie was that Adrien Brody had to face piss and shit while he could do nothing but hold a grudge against Whitaker while he had the time of his life. While Whitaker enjoyed his gala-moment throughout the movie with him and with the rest of the prisoners (which weren’t many as the others had no self-respect apparently) getting what his psycho-brain wanted him done without any serious rebel from Adrien, the flick sympathizes with the character of Adrien. Money does that to you? What a dishonour he brought to himself. For Christ’s sake if there was someone else in his place he would’ve kicked Whitaker’s ass there itself.

Well overall the movie was good. There were certain demeaning moments in the movie but that’s okay coz it hardly mattered when there is someone else taking the shit and not you. The movie could’ve been made better although the concept rattled me, a better direction would’ve blown me away.

I would give it a 6.5 on 10 considering the good story it entailed. It is certainly a good one with some great performances by Whitaker and Adrien although I am told the original was better.

The Social Network (2010)

Talk about social networking and one thing that pops up in our head first is none other than the famous site Facebook. Who on earth wouldn't be interested in knowing the story behind the famous social networking websites of all time.

So Mark Zuckerberg is officially awesome. I was glad that the movie was being directed by none other than Fincher. I was excited beyond limit when I discovered that it was a David Fincher project, the guy behind such amazing movies like Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and my all time-favourite The Game. His previous mind-boggling movies surely speaks of his virtue. As a director David Fincher has taken some of the brilliant stories of all times and metamorphosed them into the finest flicks created ever in the history of movies and The Social
network happens to be one of them.

Albeit Mark Zuckerberg in reality wasn't at all approached for the project and wasn't entailed anyhow in the flick, the movie was manifested as a series of events as they occurred altogether with the assistance of Eduardo Saverin(in real life). Each event was put down to the flick with the assistance offered by Eduardo and Boy! the story of facebook is interesting, must I say.

The evolution of how the ideas arose from Facemash to TheFacebook and eventually Facebook is really surprising and wonderful as well. The story began with Mark Zuckerberg's(Jesse Eisenberg's) girlfriend breaking up with him thus causing him to dirty-blog about her to soothe his agonized heart. Taking it too far he compares her face to every girl in the Harvard and thus develops a website named FaceMash which had the feature of comparing 'who's hotter' which eventually brought down Harvard's network. The creation of FaceMash in one night brought him in the eyes of the twin Winklevoss brethren Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer well that barely seemed like a single character) and their business partner Divya Narendra(Max Minghella) who gave Mark an idea about a new project of theirs -
Harvard Connection website asking him to be their programmer.

The main story begins when Zuckerberg gets his head to build a website named theFacebook without caring to look back at the Winklevoss brothers and in the long run dumping his best friend Eduardo Savarin(convincingly played by Andrew Garfield) as well as Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) the co-founder of Napster. The character Eduardo Savarin is well portrayed by Garfield who brings in the real sensitive part of the flick. Justin Timberlake has become more of an actor now and he did his
bit in the flick very convincingly. As Sean Parker he suggests Mark Zuckerberg to drop the 'the' from theFacebook which clearly expounds why the whole world knows the website by the name of Facebook alone.

The plot is very intricate and full of surprises as you would see Zuckerberg playing around with his friends turning them into foes while Eduardo's geniality is well exploited in the flick by Mark. There are instances in the movie that clearly depicts how much dedicated Mark Zuckerberg was to his website with more than 10-14 hours of coding everyday while some showed him making fun of the jury and the
Winklevoss brothers of their ignorance, while one hilarious moment showed him stunning a teacher by his answers in the midst of his departure from the classroom.

The movie is simply awesome. I didn't find anything wrong with the movie and I hope to see David Fincher's next as soon as it gets released. I'd recommend everyone to just go for it.

Legend of the Guardians:The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)

Zack Snyder did it once again and he is going to continue giving hits in the long run as well. With movies like 300 and Watchmen to his fame-bag his next big flick Sucker Punch is all set to release this year while Superman: Man of steel and Xerxes are his next big projects.

Well talking about the Legend of the guardians:The Owls of Ga'Hoole, this one’s a must go. One of the finest animations of all times, this movie had not only its beautiful cinematography and marvellous scenic surroundings to offer but also a wonderful storyline that it follows. Every aspect of the emotions that ought to be present in a countenance was well depicted in the movie. Every character was extremely well personified. I was wonder-struck by the animation. The story was well interwoven which suited the animation as it was adventurous and quite gripping too.

Soren(voice of Jim Sturgess), the main character in the story is an owl who believes in the stories he has been told for years and he hangs onto that faith which proves eventually that his belief was not merely a myth but clearly a fact. He and his brother Kludd(Ryan Kwanten) end up falling from the branch of their home. They were held captive by a different species of owls who were preparing the owls for a battle against the guardians. The brethren part ways once the path of righteousness was put to test.
Kludd chose to work for them while Soren along with Gylfie(Emily Barclay) decided to take off the moment they got an opportunity. He learns to fly in a strange situation with the assistance of a fellow owl in their army who aids them to escape. Soren and Gylfie fly off together on an adventurous sojourn to seek the guardians, which Soren believed existed (and they did exist) thus alerting the guardians of the peril on hand. The guardians return unprepared to the land of the enemies only to find an ambush caused by a fellow guardian who turns out to be a traitor. Soren returns to the land and heroically saves the jeopardized lives of the guardians eventually.

The movie is a must-watch.It should be seen in 3d or IMAX for a full thrilling experience. There are several breathtaking scenes in the movie that seriously demand an IMAX 4d feel. I’d recommend everyone to go for this movie as probably no one would regret watching this flick.

Marvin's room (2008)

Marvin's room turned out to be a brilliant movie assisted well by a great performance by some veteran actors like Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro ( although he wasn't the center of attraction as he was the doctor ).

Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton are two sisters who have estranged each other for 20 years and Diane calls upon her sister to take care of their father as she herself realized that she was suffering from Leukemia. Leonardo portrays the character of Hank who does not get along with his mother Meryl on account of her abusive behaviour. Diane Keaton wants Meryl to take care of her Aunt Roth and their father when she would be gone. Meryl portrays a mean woman who is afraid of responsibilities and is troubled by the deliberate acts of her son Hank (Leo). The movie is a beautiful depiction of how Meryl Streep decides to eventually aid her dying sister by stepping into her shoes and taking enough pluck to set things right between herself and Hank.

Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep acted exceptionally well not to forget Leo. Altogether their performance was brilliant. I was touched by the movie. I'd rate it a 7 on 10. It was certainly one of the finest flicks that I've watched.

My Sassy girl (2008)

My Sassy girl turned out to be an 'okay' movie although I expected more
from it. The way the story went had me rooted but eventually it failed
to keep me occupied as there was a lack of emotions and the apparent
emotional touch that should be normally present in any romantic movie,
was missing. The separation between the two protagonists should have
been a little more touching which as a matter of fact didn't happen
because of the lame performance from both of them i.e. Elisha Cuthbert
as well as Jesse Bradford ( No offense .... but I still think it could
have been much better ).
I have been told that the actual Korean movie from where this flick was taken was far better than this one as it possessed a lot of emotions plus a great performance by the actors. You would enjoy the movie half way through albeit eventually you would
realize that wasn't a damn good reason buddy ! Plus I hate to mention it but the old man spoils the fun in the last moments wherein he deliberately mentions that the letter would bring her down in tears which suggested it to be a pretty good god damn letter, which it wasn't. So that was a party pooper which fell on real hard spoiling the fun altogether. Well although Elisha Cuthbert happens to be one of my
favourites (I can't rate her movies just because of that eh !) I would
give it a 5 on 10.

Atonement (2007)

This movie brought me in tears. The story was well written and impeccably directed. Joe Wright certainly created a master piece. Ian McEwan should be equally credited and praised as he came up with such a brilliant story.

Atonement is a story about an act of penance that Briony Tallis ( Cecilia Tallis's younger sister ) does in order to punish herself for a sin that entailed separating two lovers Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis ( James Mcavoy and Keira Knightley ) by a wrong decision of hers in the past. A man who was falsely accused of a crime, Robbie Turner ends up in jail and after which he goes to war during the German invasion thus getting his dream of joining medical school shattered. Cecilia leaves her family for Robbie and waits for his return from the war. Briony's false and juvenile accusation changes the lives of them for which she, after the realization of the truth, feels extremely sorry and thus tries to atone herself by giving up her further studies and working as a nurse. It is a very emotional story that would definitely compel you to sympathize with the characters of Robbie and Cecilia. A drama with emotions. It is something that tells us about the human mind. How abominable it is. How fickle emotions are. They can obscure the truth no matter how clear things are. Hatred, envy and wrath - they alone can bring down the world. They can mess up the life of those who stand in the way and one might not even get an opportunity to atone for those awful feelings.

The screenplay was brilliant. The music was equally apposite.
The pace of the movie was really well thought of. The moments of silence really gushed in thousands of thoughts to my brain. What if nothing had gone wrong ? What if the real miscreant was put behind the bars ? While I watched wishing things to end happily it certainly did not albeit it brought a sour taste eventually but it also came with a queer satisfaction of the act of atonement nourishing itself though with some bitter tinge of reality attached with it.

The photography was lovely. The plight of the soldiers was well depicted during the time of the war. I didn't find anything wrong with the movie. It was well thought of and was well directed. An 8 on 10 would be my rating for this flick.