Movie Ratings and Reviews Hi-Action Drama, Unforgiven
Movie: Unforgiven
Year: 1992
Genre: Western/Action
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman
Snapshot of Story:
A small town in the western front suffers humiliation when a group of thugs enter the town and rape some of the working women. The women setup a bounty to catch the culprits but the sheriff is not pleased and thwarts all attempts to stop them.
Hollywood Movie Ratings and Reviews of Unforgiven
Storyline:
Will Munny played by Clint Eastwood makes a last concerted effort along with his old friend Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) to claim the bounty setup by the women. They make way to the town along with another person known as ‘The Schofield Kid’ and embark on the journey that would change their lives.
The movie was directed by Clint Eastwood himself who is already credited with a string of successful movies such as ‘Pale Rider’ and not forgetting the dollar trilogy of movies by Sergio which this film was dedicated to.
It is a gritty movie that touches the human emotional perception of death and how it is represented to various people. For Munny who was once a cold blooded killer, the task of killing was easy but for the ‘The Schofield Kid’ who was bent on being a killer himself found it very hard to do so. It perfectly reflected the junction where one can openly see killings taking place and visualize themselves doing it but the actual act of doing it and taking a life opens up deep conflicting moral issues internally.
The director has done well to portray the killings to serve a purpose as in the case of Munny and his left-hand Ned Logan but in the same token the sensitivity of the movie towards humans and their well-being is equally emphasized. At one point Munny saves one of the women from trouble and is offered a ‘free-one’ for his chivalrous act.
There is a brief appearance by Richard Harris who also comes to the town but only to be taken down by the Sheriff played by Gene Hackman to set an example to anyone coming to town for the bounty.
The movie shifts to high gear when Ned Logan is captured by the Sheriff and his gang and is tortured and murdered and then displayed in a casket in front of the bar. Up to now we did not witness the cold-blooded nature of Munny and this becomes evident as he enters the bar. At one point Munny takes a drink of whiskey which he had avoided thus far and symbolizes a turning point where he vowed never to drink or kill. This unleashes almost an evil force within him where he is able to bring down the Sheriff and all of his men.
Final Thoughts:
Many people claim that this was one of the best western movies ever made and there are many reasons for this. The movie does not portray an unknown and mysterious hero as in the dollar trilogy of the 1960s western but the heroism is wrapped up in a very believable story in this movie of ‘Unforgiven’. In fact, for those longing to see the fast gun-slinging action of Clint Eastwood will be better off watching his older western movies. The movie ‘Unforgiven’ has won many awards for its portrayal of a gritty life in the western front that encompasses all of the elements of heroism, moralities and ethics into one.
Rating:
8.5/10
Best Classical Romance, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Movie: Guess who is coming to dinner
Year: 1967
Director: Stanley Kramer
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn
Snapshot of Story:
The movie is about a young white woman coming from a well-to-do family that brings back a black man to get approval from her parents for marriage. The setting of this movie is in the 1960s where race relations were low and nothing like what we see today.
Movie Ratings and Reviews of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Storyline:
Joey Drayton played by Katharine Houghton and John Prentice played by Sidney Poitier come back from Hawaii to tell Joey’s parents of the good news about their imminent marriage to each other. However, John Prentice has some conditions regarding the marriage and needs complete and unequivocal support from both parents in order for the marriage to proceed but does not tell Joey. Joey simply needed some reassurance from both her parents to proceed and as her mother Christina Drayton pointed out later in the movie, she would go along with it even if she did not have approval from the parents.
The movie is interesting in that the viewer needs to detach himself/herself from the element of surprise that the news brings to the Drayton family and the hidden racial element. We go through some interesting exchange of words as well as expressions from each member of the family as they are told of this news. It is this initial reaction that can sometimes define who we really are and underlines our own philosophy of race and whether any of us truly have double standards or not. What follows afterwards are words of justification, reassurance and often disbelief and possibly anger. I felt that movie did well to portray the subtle nuances of race and even addressed the gender separation. The reaction of the black maid was typical and almost amusing in her expression of suspicion towards John as playing some sort of game.
When viewing this movie, one can find some amazingly accurate references to the future of race relations as in one case where Matt Drayton played by Spencer Tracy who blurts ‘we need to be reasonable and we are not going to see any big changes in our lifetime’. A nice touch was when Christiana said to Matt that they had brought their daughter up in exactly the manner they had always wanted which was not to discriminate between whites and negroes. It was funny to see how over the years we have become more accustomed to saying ‘black’ rather than ‘negro’ which would sound a little ridiculous today. This maybe due to the reflection of blacks at that time when there was much turmoil around the country to bring about new reforms for the black community. Perhaps ‘blacks’ was a derogatory word used by people at that time who stood for the racial segregation that was so commonplace.
The movie however does not aim to make a topic of racial discussion but rather the intertwining deep seated philosophy of race itself held within individuals as it pertains to their life and blood ie. their sons and daughters. Apart from the standoffish and disbelief behavior of John Prentice’s father the majority of the family members could overcome their racial prejudices and see the real meaning of their relationship which Matt Drayton eloquently delivered in his final speech to everyone.
The director Stanley Kramer took a big risk with this movie but managed to pull it off very well. It is easy to see why Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn were towering figures of cinema at their time. Sidney Poitier in his usual artistic ability gave a convincing performance as John Prentice with subtle hints of arrogance and air of superiority expected from a person of his standing. Katharine Houghton was charming as the young 23 year old very much in love, head strong and resolute in her decisions.
Rating:
8/10
Tags: Best Classical Romance, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Katharine Hepburn, Movie Ratings and Reviews, Sidney Poitier
Romantic Hit of Shahrukh Khan, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Movie: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Relations are Made in Heaven)
Director: Aditya Chopra
Year: 2008
Genre: Family, Romance, Comedy, Musical
Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Vinay Pathak
Snapshot of the story
RNBDJ is story of young man Suri Sahani (played by Sharukh Khan) who is believes in simple living and believes that “Relationships are made in heaven”. Due to unavoidable reasons Suri Sahani has to marry his teachers daughter Taani (Played by Anushka Sharma) who loves other guys. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is interesting love story where Suri Sahani try to impress his own wife by getting a make over and in disguise this results in funny and interesting plot of the story.
Movie Review of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Storyline
Movie is must watch for people who love Sharukh Khan, RNBDJ is an emotional love story, debutant Anushka Sharma looked good and impresses with his acting and dancing talent.
Story of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was very weak where a girl gets married to a stranger just because it is her father last will and does not fit in this 20th century scenario. Even after getting married both Suri Sahani and Taani stay away from each other and Suri Sahani wants to do something so that Taani start loving him. On the other side Taani has decided that she will live with Mr. Sahani but loving him is not possible. Taani has great passion for dancing and want to join a dancing one month dancing camp.
Suri Sahani takes this as an opportunity to impress Taani and also join this dancing camp; he goes for his make over to disguise Taani to hide his identity by the name Raj kapoor. Both become the dancing partner. In this one month Raj kapoor tries all his tricks to impress Taani and be Mr. Perfect for her. Taani start liking Raj Kapoor but she knows that she is married and this is some thing would society would not accept. Even Suri Sahani wants to reveal the truth and he chooses the final day of the summer camp as they are the finalist of dancing contest. This becomes the high point of story as Taani would not believe that Suri did all this to impress her but she is already impressed by him.
Final Thought
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is sweet emotional story but has weak storyline but that has been over come by impressing performance by Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Shankar. Director Aditya Chopra did a good task as director to lift the movie, however this effort could have been more appreciated if he has shown similar passion in writing story. Music composed by Salim – Sulaiman contributes heavily in making this hit.
Rating
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Scores 7 out of 10 because of its romantic music, great performances by all actors and good story narration. It could have been a bigger hit if the story has been given more importance.
Movie Ratings and Reviews, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Year: 2011
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis and Freida Pinto
Snapshot of Story:
The Planet of the Apes franchise movies have been with us close to 50 years owing much to it’s unique story and the play of Apes being the closest animal to humans. The version of this new movie goes back to the early times when a few apes come to have the same level of intelligence as humans and lead to the ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’.
Movie Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Storyline:
There have been no references made about the accuracy of the movie in terms of the previous original movie and the version of the story in the original book. Since movies are made to entertain the audience, the issues of accuracy in content does not become significant as say a documentary. However, what is important are the true depictions of events that make up the whole story and stands well on it’s own merits. In this movie of ‘The Planet of the Apes’, the director has done well to capture the meaning and essence of the story in the two hours permissible but the story itself lends to some lack of credibility by the audience.
One of the primary conflicting points in the telling of the story is how ‘Ceaser’ the super intelligent ape is able to communicate effectively with the other normal apes in a humanistic way whereas humans to date have failed miserably to have any effective communication with apes. The director does well to picture Ceaser observing the behavior of his counterparts and have the apes take on his side and follow him to a revolt against the humans. This to me is the most difficult part of the story since Ceaser needed to deploy reasoning at the human level to convey to the other apes of his superior intellect, power and leadership. I particularly liked the ‘gesture’ of the ape in showing their hand face up with their heads bowed to the leader as a means of submission. The leader would swipe the hand with his fingers as a token of acceptance. One could argue that this gesture alone is a very high form of intelligent communication.
Another turning point in the movie is when Ceaser utters his first word ‘No’ that is made more credible by the director by deliberately leaving it late in the movie.
The special effects in this movie are superb and again we are mezmorized at how real the CGI graphics are becoming from year to year. It would only be a matter of time when entire movies are made from CGI graphics and we would not require real actors although this could be an overstatement.
There was another part of the story where I felt that the personality shift was too swift when the researcher Will Rodman played by James Franco who worked on the drug Alzheimer’s drug was quick to administer it to his father but was also adamant later in conducting more trials. However, in most cases the research establishments depicted in movies are often over dramatized to keep the momentum of the story going and hence lacks any substance but always includes more of the emotional content.
The Final Thought
The movie is a fair rendition of ‘what it could be like’ if there ever happened to be a super intelligent ape and the possibility of the ‘rise of the apes’. Although, in reality that would never be the case even if one were to create one intelligent ape since apes would never be able to work as an organized group. However, the movie scores well in portraying a fictitious movie that is both stimulating to watch and highly entertaining.
Score:
7.5/10
Tags: Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, James Franco, Movie Ratings and Reviews, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Unlock the Sci-Fi Code of Matrix
Movie: The Matrix
Year: 1999
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller
Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss
Snapshot of Story:
The Matrix movie is about a world set in the future where an unknown source creates a virtual world for humans housed in animated suspension. The digital entity known as the matrix uses the energy of the human brain waves to furnish their own survival by allowing humans to live in a dreamlike world but appears real to them.
Movie Ratings and Reviews of Matrix
Storyline:
There is a band of humans who live outside of the Matrix and searching for the coming saviour that can infiltrate the Matrix and thus release all humans from it’s clutches. Keanu Reeves plays ‘Neo’ as the hero in this movie and meets up with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) who is the leader of the renegade team in search for freedom.
In one scene Morpheus offers Neo a red pill and a blue pill in each hand and asks Neo to choose. In his decision, Neo opens his eyes and sees the ‘real world’ outside of the matrix and Morpheus introduces him to his other team and their mission.
In the ship that they use to move around in the desolate wasteland of the world, Morpheus and his team have methods to enter the matrix and pull out by a phone call to one of the many phone booths within the matrix. Neo begins to see the ‘other side’ and the entire team begins to feel that Neo could be their potential savior. He must battle with the ‘Agents’ within the matrix to accomplish his mission and save mankind.
The Matrix movie is a very intelligent movie and came about at the right time where the digital world is widespread and makes this story all that more believable. Many people at first were confused by the concept of the matrix but in essence it is quite simple. The Matrix is a virtual world which required someone who could see through this and bend this world to his shape and liking as Neo does towards the end.
By using humans as energy traps and suspending them in an animated state, the matrix allowed the networking of the brains to create a virtual world. The humans effectively think they are living ‘real lives’ but in essence they are living in a vast computer program creating the virtual matrix. The whole matrix setup opens up interesting avenues for stories which the directors have done with superb clarity, creativity and execution.
Towards the end of the movie Neo finally understands the limitations of the matrix and is able to defeat the agents with some of the best action scenes in the movie.
Further Thoughts:
The Matrix movie caused quite a sensation when it first appeared and now has a cult following. With two Matrix stories to follow, ‘Reloaded’ and ‘Revolutions’ were equally original, creative and highly entertaining. The movie created some milestones in filming where the directors employed an array of multiple cameras surrounding the action scene to create some of the effects in the movie. In particular where we see Neo dodging an Agent’s bullet and the camera pans around Neo showing the bullet nearly missing him in slow motion.
The movie was a big hit when it came out and the initial complexity in deciphering it’s meaning did not hinder many people as this was a perfectly great movie in it’s own right with all the actions and thrills of a Sci-Fi action film.
Rating:
9/10
Tags: Carrie-Anne Moss, Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, review of the movie Matrix, Unlock the Sci-Fi Code of Matrix
