Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Year: 1939
Genre: Family/Fantasy
Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan and Ray Bolger

Snapshot of Story:
A timeless classic fairy tale that is still watched by many today especially around the Christmas season. Judy Garland who plays Dorothy Gale comes to an enchanted land full of magic and fairies and she must make her way to see the Great Wizard of Oz to get back home. On her way she meets very unlikely characters that also travels with her to the great city of Oz.

Storyline:
Judy Garland plays the sweet and innocent young girl where her house gets caught in a tornado and then lands in an enchanted land of fairies, witches and magic. She makes her way back by following the yellow brick road and so begins her adventure with the evil Witch of the East trying to thwart her every move. Through her adventure she comes across companions who travel with her and they all encounter many obstacles from the evil witch who tries to stop her.

There are many great moments in the movie with many scenes to please the young and old. The story has some undertone messages for the human spirit and comes in the form of the characters that Dorothy meets on the way. The first character she meets is the scarecrow who thinks he has no brain, the second is a tin-man who believes he has no heart with the third being a lion who has no courage. When they finally meet the great Wizard of Oz they discover that their search was in vain and what they sought was always been inside of them.

One of the memorable moments was the enchanting song ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ with with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg sang by Judy Garland herself.

Final Thoughts:
The movie is much loved by children and adults alike and has a special meaning to many people because of the beautiful script and story telling. The direction by Victor Fleming was ahead of its time and was one of a few movies that was done with Technicolor.

Rating:
9/10

Tags: Come to Fantasy Land: The Wizard of Oz, Hollywood movie reviews, movie reviews and ratings, Review of Hollywood movie The Wizard of Oz

Movie: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) (The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride)
Director: Aditya Chopra
Time: 1995
Genre: Romance, Musical and Family
Stars: Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), Kajol and Amrish Puri

Snapshot of the story

DDLj is a story of two young characters Raj (player by SRK) and Simran (Played by Kajol) living in London with their family and fall in love on their Europe tour. It is the story of how they meet each other; fall in love and their struggle as Simran’s father (played by Amrish Puri) was against this relationship and wants Simran to marry his friend’s son back in India. The story has drama, comedy, music, romance, action and almost everything that most Indian movie are well known for.

Storyline:

Story starts with the introduction of a characters Simran’s father, Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri) summarizing why he came to London and how much he misses his motherland India. These were very touchy moments for any one who lives away from their home for a long time. Everything becomes rosy turn when both Simran and Raj plan the European tour along with their friends but Simran has to deal with his father’s orthodox nature but she manages to convince him. The story connects with one’s youth as Raj and Simran meet each other on exotic location of Europe and Switzerland. Their love starts with initial distaste for each other, especially Simran who did not want to be around Raj but falls into situations where she needed his help during the trip. This is where she has an attraction for Raj and even Raj develops deep feelings for Simran but both through their pride ignore each other’s feelings.
Their European tour was good as it was home to some of the best moments including some great photography and chart topping songs. Their parting after the tour was enough to make the audience cry.
Movie has some of the best Indian wedding settings and rituals in the same manner as Mira Nair in the movie Monsoon Wedding.

Twist in the Tale

Story turns into a fast paced drama when Simran’s father comes to know all this and wants to tie the knot of Simran with his friend’s son as soon as possible and with that intention flies to India with his family to settle. Raj goes to Simran’s place wanting to convey his feeling to her but when he came to learn about this he decides that he will go to India and tell Simran. As per Raj’s plan he saves the groom’s life and becomes his friend and is able to be accepted by the household and meet Simran. He also came to learn that Simran also loves him but only getting married because of her father’s decision. For Raj, this plot gets exposed to his family and they throw him out as he remains steadfast in his instance in marrying Simaran. The rest was history as how Simran’s father gets convinced with all this and leads to one the most famous scenes in Indian cinema where Simran catches the speeding train. The scene is still in the minds of many even after 16 years.

On Screen Chemistry

Carrying the same intensity from Baazigar both SRK and Kajol have given their best performances in this movie. The great direction of Aditya Chopra, music by duo Jatin-Lalit and voice rendered by the great Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle with Udit Narayan made this one of the longest running film of Indian cinema.

The Happy Ending

The movie ends on a happy note as Raj and Simran fly to London followed by Simran’s parents to get married. It also sends a strong message that if you believe in true love then no one can ever take that away and it will always prevail.

Rating
9/10

Tags: 1001 movies to watch before you die, logest running indian movie, longest running film of Indian cinema, Reviews of Indian Movies, The Long Live Romance of SRK and Kajol: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Movie: Die Hard
Year: 1988
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: John McTiernan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Bonnie Bedelia

Snapshot of Story:
This edge-of-the-seat movie is a high-powered action thriller starring Bruce Willis who gets stuck in the Nakatomi Skyscraper seized by a group of professional criminals while on his way to a Christmas party held by his wife’s boss.

Storyline:
Die Hard is a fast paced action packed movie with towering performances by both Bruce Willis (officer John McClane) and Alan Rickman (Hans Gruber). Hans Gruber along with some other accomplices takes hostages of the office workers of the party in order to steal millions of dollars worth of bands stored in the secure safe of the building.

Although gruesome and violent at times, the whole film comes together as a well thought out action-packed movie that will have have you glued to your tv.

At one point, John McClane’s wife accuses Hans of simply being a common thief to which he replies ‘I am an exceptional thief’. The story shows the mishaps of the gung-ho FBI characters that come to the scene only to bundle up the whole operation even more. A lifeline kept between John and an officer of the LA police is John’s only hope of survival and preventing much casualty amongst the hostages. Using his quick intelligence and wits McClane is able to thwart Gruber’s plans and causes much chaos and confusion amongst the group.

A very memorable ending where good prevails over bad and McClane is able to again outwit Gruber and save the day after a few twists and turns.

Final Thoughts:
The director was able to produce a heart thumping action thriller thanks to the portrayal of very believable characters by the main actors. Although having a few cliches here and there, the film was surprisingly entertaining to watch and will have movie goers glued to their seat.

Rating:
8.5/10

Tags: Review of the movie Die Hard, The Action Packed Thriller: Die Hard

Movie: The Green Mile
Year: 1999
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Director: Frank Darabont
Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan and David Morse

Snapshot of Story:
The movie centers around a death row prison and it’s guards with a black inmate who has been accused of child rape and murder. The inmate is found to have a special gift of healing.

Storyline:
The Green Mile movie is wonderfully directed by Frank Darabont who presents an engaging movie for the audience with the two central characters Tom Hanks who plays Paul Edgecomb and Michael Clarke Duncan who plays John Coffey.

Paul Edgecomb is a fair but a strict guard officer whose duty was the proper running of the prison were John Coffey was housed. Paul soon discovers that John has an uncanny ability to heal the departed and he demonstrates this with a mouse that was killed by one of the officers. Paul realizes there is more to this inmate than meets the eye and is able to utilize his powers for other causes. This makes Paul become more attached to John and to work on his case as he is certain of his innocence.

Paul shows his resilience and maturity when dealing with another guard that many others in the prison disliked and his portrayal of the guard is very well performed by Tom Hanks.

In one memorable part of the movie, John takes the dead mouse in his lap and open his mouth wide to expel what appeared like insects coming out of his mouth. He manages to revive the mouse much to the amazement of the other guards.

The acting by all the characters in this movie is just-right and brings about the story telling that keeps you fixated without even knowing. Set in the beginning of the 20th century the vocals, languages and the discriminatory nature of the people at it’s time was well portrayed.

Final Thoughts:
The Green Mile is a movie that moves with a slow pace as the story unfolds but you never feel bored thanks to the execution of the script by the director. Tom Hanks gives a heart warming performance like many of his other movies to provide on-stage presence and add substance to the whole story. The unusually big build of Michael Clarke Duncan and the demure nature of his character also lifts the film by another bar.

Rating:
8/10

Tags: review of the movie Green Mile, The Criminal Fantasy Drama: The Green Mile

Movie: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Director: Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar
Gerne: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Time: 20011
Stars: Hritik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin

Snapshot of the story

Zindagi Na Milegy Dobara is a story of three friends Arjun (Played by Hritik Roshan), Imraan (Played by Farhan Akhtar) and Kabir (Played by Abhay Deol) who go to a fantasy tour of Spain where they meet different people and get to know life and learn to seize the moment. In short, their visit to Spain changes their lives forever.

Theme of Story

Story starts with an engagement of Kabir with her six month old girl friend Natasha (played by Kalki Koechlin). As Kabir getting married the following month they make a plan to go on a fantasy tour basically an extended bachelor party to Spain. Kabir is son of a famous construction tycoon, Imraan is a creative writer and Arjun is a stock broker in London (always busy) and because oh him this trip gets canceled four times but this time Kabir wants Arjun to come at any cost. The history behind this trip goes back to their school days as they have decided go on adventures trips and everyone has to choose one adventure sport and all have to partake in it.

Kabir Chooses scuba diving but Arjun has aqua phobia, Arjun has his own dreams but Imraan has big problem in choosing his sport of Sky diving and with Imraan wanting to take the run of his life by running in front of the street bulls in Spain and both Kabir and Arjun were not comfortable. However the pact they share have much to do with these daring and adventure sports.

Twist in the Tale

In their Spainish trip they come across the beautiful and gorgeous Laila (played by Katrina Kaif) as the scuba diving instructor. Story takes emotional ups and downs of the individual’s life and connects the audiences well. The story also showcases how these male characters break their confined lifestyle and re-discover life.

On Screen Chemistry

All three were great in their respective roles especially Imraan who’s comical timing was amazing. Katrina was gorgeous as ever. Director Zoya Akhtar did a fantastic job in directing and shooting some the exotic locations in Spain. Although, music of the movie is average but that was compensated by beautiful poetry by Imraan(written by Javed Akhtar). Film also had a guest appearance by Naseeruddin Shah.

The Conclusion

Movie gives a strong message to it’s audience to live the life by conquering your inner fear and think as if every day as your last day of your life because this moment will not come again (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara).

Rating
7.5/10

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Tags: Farhan Akhtar Another 3 Friends Story: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, review of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara