BODY OF LIES


IMDB USER RATING- average vote - 7.2 / 10

Directed by one of the Greatest Directors of All time :RIDLEY SCOTT
Cinematography by :ALEXANDER WITT
Body of Lies is a crisp and watchable American spy film based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius set in context of the middle-east and the war on terror, unfolding the story of three men battling a terrorist organization, and each other. Leonardo DiCaprio as Roger Ferris, a CIA operative who is sent to Jordan ;Russell Crowe as cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman, a manipulative CIA boss who teams with Ferris ; Golshifteh Farahani as Aisha, Ferris' nurse in Jordan.
The plot begins with an elite anti-terror squad targeting a terrorist safe house. The terrorists detonate an explosive device , killing civilians and members of the elite team. It is then revealed that the C.I.A. is trying to track down the leader of the terrorist organisation, Al-Saleem, with the help of an infiltrator (Di-Caprio) in the middle-east. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is "Don't lie to me." Ferris has information that Al Saleem may be behind terrorist attacks, but lacks any evidence to apprehend him or any of his associates. His plan to implicate Dubai-based Architect, Omar Sadiki, not only fails, his Iranian girlfriend, Aisha, gets abducted, and he must decide whether to surrender himself to her abductors to negotiate her release or leave her to their mercy. With Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies its a modern warfare. WELL MADE FILM

NAADUVAAZHIKAL (1989)


Directed by : JOSHY
Written by :S.N.SWAMY
Cinematographed by : JAYANAN VINCENT

Just wanted to remind you of a brilliant writer S.N.SWAMY ,who gave us such brilliant hits in Malayalam. This was one of the early gangster movies that lead way to Super Stardom of Mohanlal in Malayalam Cinema. I love the theme music of this film .
The story revolves around the rivalry between a once don (Madhu ) and his partners ,Chekkutty brothers. The turning point is Don's son Mohanlal arriving into their clash and settles the problem in STYLE. a thrilling movie with lot of PUNCHES !!
The witts played by Maala Aravindan is a highlight of this film.

CINEMA PARADISO (1989)


(Directors cut)
Directed by : GUISEPPE TORNATORE
Cinematography by :BLASCO GIURATO

This film is my personal BEST FILM EVER and its my beloved CLASSIC. A genious like maestro Ennio Morricone blessed this film with a heavenly music .

A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.
Won Academy Award for best foreign language film (1989), Grand Prix du Jury , Cannes, Golden globe for best foreign language film(1990) , BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language(1990) and many more.

A famous film director receives news from his aging mother in a little town that someone he once knew has passed away. A beautiful story unfolds about his childhood(then called as Toto) at the Cinema Paradiso where Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. Their bond was one that contained many highlights and tragedies, and shaped the way for a young boy to grow and move out of his rundown village to pursue a dream.He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena, who he had to leave before he left for Rome .With the love and guidance of the aging man, Toto navigates the trials of first love and builds on his ever-growing passion for the cinema. Ultimately, it is Alfredo who convinces Toto to leave his village to pursue his dreams of becoming a director. But as Salvatore thinks back on his youthful romances and his innocent love of movies, he comes to realize that perhaps his success has come at a very high price.
The film also brings the audience through the changes in cinema and the dying trade of traditional film making, editing and screening.

EE PATTANATHIL BHOOTHAM


Directed by : JOHNY ANTONY
Cinematography by :Azhagappan / Uthpal V. Nayanar

A movie which was intended for kids , but unfortunately didn't appeal both the kids and the mass audience.The technicians did gave their average output.Especially the double role sequences ,music and art direction were notable. But the script and Mammookka's acting (as bhootham) is too difficult to digest.Suraaj gave us a little relief.

TURTLES CAN FLY





Directed by : BAHMAN GHOBADI
Cinematographed by :SHAHRIAR ASSADI

ASTONISHING PERFORMANCES
HEARTBREAKING
EXTRAORDINARILY MOVING
POWERFUL
BELONGS TO MOVIE LOVER's MUST-SEE LIST
This movie is too touching .Shows us some of the unseen consequences of a war.All the child actors have given a memorable / unforgetful acting performances.All of the child actors in this movie were actual refugees.Selected as Iran's submission in the Best Foreign Film category for the 2004 Oscars. a film you will not easily forget.

THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957)


Directed by : INGMAR BERGMAN
Cinematography by: GUNNAR FISCHER

The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), is one of the SUPREME MASTERPIECES by Ingmar Bergman. a CLASSIC in Direction and Cinematography.
The film is Bergman's stunning allegory of man's apocalyptic search for meaning of life.
After a decade of battling in the Crusades , a knight ANTONIUS BLOCK (played by Max von Sydow),on his return home, encounters Death on a desolate beach . Block, whose war experiences have left him cynical about the existence of God and the afterlife, challenges Death to a fateful game of chess to stall for time to visit his wife and gain some insight into the meaning of life before passing on.
Then Block continues the journey finds solace in a quiet, pleasant picnic of milk and wild strawberries with a family of traveling actors. He invites them to his castle, where they will be safe from the plague.
Halfway through their journey, they come across a witch who is to be burned at the stake. Block asks her both at their first encounter in a village and as she is at the actual stake to summon Satan for him; he wants to ask the Devil about God. Strongly atheistic and cynical, Jöns later tells Block that the witch did not see God or Satan because neither exists.
Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, Bergman’s stunning allegory of man’s search for meaning, Hero confesses: My whole life has been a meaningless search. The audience gets chilled on Death’s call. We start to think about our lives on seeing such Masterpieces.
Pontifical Council for Social Communications 1995 has included “The Seventh Seal” in The Vatican Film list .
A textbook on the art of filmmaking and a must watch movie.

BHRAMARAM (2009)


Directed by : BLESSY
Cinematographed by : AJAYAN VINCENT

After along time , I am happy to see a real CLASSIC movie in Malayalam.
The story is about a common man Sivankutty (Mohanlal) , who once served a jail term for a murder which his friends committed at an immature age . He forgive them and started a new life as a jeep driver in High range, after the release from jail , but hid his past life from his wife. On knowing that he was in jail for a murder , his wife leaves the house and commits suicide with his daughter.

The film is Hero’s journey to find his old friends who were the actual murderers, and take revenge on them at the tomb of his beloved wife & daughter.

This is a serious movie , But it has melodious songs and stunts and of course thrilling chases . Mohanlal’s acting is beyond our imagination. The character which Lal played is one who hids a heavy sorrow inside and acts like normal , but there are times when he bursts from his own control.Director Blessy also included his usual preaching in the beginning of the movie ,like the necessity of spending time with children etc.. But after that the movie is on a tight grip.
The camera work is excellent with some brilliant camera movements . I loved the highway hotel stunt, especially its introduction , with Mohanlal calling the villains with his toes.
The locations are exotic . The film was shot in Coimbatore , Marayoor, Nelliyampathi etc… There is a scene where the drunken Lal takes a lorry to the edge of a cliff-It makes us breathless. It was shot in Paruthumpaara.
The only flow was the immature baby artist who played Lal’s daughter. The film also conveys some good thoughts that we have to keep in our mind in maintaining a relationship.

This film needs to be seen & appreciated in theatre , if we need more class films in Malayalam .