The puzzle of sight

At first Sight (1999)

I randomly caught this movie on Star on a boring saturday afternoon. At the end I found it was inspired from a true story.

The movie is about a blind man who regains his sight for a brief period. Period. But the movie is really about how change is bad for everyone to begin with. Even for people who adapt very well to it.

A blind man who is blind from birth sees things like cotton candy, water drops on window pane, the coulour purple for the first time and is as fascinated as a child. Val Kilmer is expressionless like the plastic faced Keanu Reeves and Mira Sourvino (who is hot as hell) plays the woman who is love with this man. She would do anything to make him see. But he is dissapointed with what he sees in the world : the misery, the ugliness, the sadness. At to this, internal conflicts of his father who estranged him, his over-protective big sister and the woman who loves him (who also has an ex-husband, btw) and you have movie material. The movie would have been much better with a better male lead...like probably Edward Norton.

The medical case is like a House episode, without obviously the medical terms and House himself, but a lot of soap - opera emotional crap (which a real life blind man would go through)

Mira Sourvino would be a really nice Cuddy though!

All in all, a much better movie on similar lines would be "Awakenings"

Rate - 2/5

The best goodbye ever!

Dasvidaniya (2008)

This is a beautiful film. And its Vinay Pathak all the way...

Although the movie is inspired from the Jack Nicholson - Morgan Freeman starrer "The Bucket List", this movie has taken life of its own. There are brilliant moments in the film - like when Amar and his mother go for a drive in the car, when Rajiv (Rajat Kapoor) bids Amar goodbye at the airport, when Amar finally tells Neha that he loves her or when Amar & his brother make peace. This film is all about moments. Moments that mean a lifetime. And since Amar didnt have much of a lifetime, he wanted to live as many such moments as possible!

Words fall short of Vinay Pathak's performance. He carries the film on his wounded shoulders and smiles through the journey. And a very well written story by Arshad Sayyed supports his cause (The Russian prostitute was genius!)

Three fantastic songs. Shashant Shah's debut film is soft, heart wrenching and warm. Im sure a lot of females and my friend Harsh will cry through the movie.

Rate - 4/5

Personal references - G9 & G10...we have but only G4

the best dumb charades team...I know one!

Not another future fight movie.

Reign of Fire (2002)

When I saw the promo of this movie on Star Movies, I thought it was just another stupid futuristic movie about how a bigger evil has screwed with the human race and a hero fights back. And to make it even more ridiculous - the evil is DRAGONS! (wtf, dragons in the future?) But I have four words for you - Christian Bale & Matthew McCoughanny.

These two have given power-packed performances and added so much more to their character. Bale exhibits the internal conflict of a Bristish leader-of-survivors group with intense eyes while Matthew plays an American do-whatever-to-get-it-done dragon slayer with a husky voice. A female lead who understands both men could have been a guy and I would care less!

The story has loopholes - it were the dragons that caused the dinosaurs to become extinct and that there is only one male of the dragon species that fertilizes all the dragon females. But given these facts, you wouldn't pay much attention to the story if the dramatization is well done, which it is.

Action sequences are mediocre, one or two stand out (when Matthew dies and when Archangels try to catch a dragon)

I wouldn't see the movie if it wasn't for Christian Bale. He makes this run of the mill future movie...a bit more. (just like Equilibrium - but that had an immaculate storyline)

Rate - 3/5

Jesus is a fake?

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

For all those who haven't read the book, go make Dan Brown a little happier by getting the original hard cover. Its a good read if you are into history and puzzles...and so is the movie.

Justice has been done to all the characters in the movie - Robert Langdon, Sophie Neveu, Lee Teipeng, Silas (my favourite) and Inspector Fache. The movie can be dark at sometimes, I literally mean dark, but the mixing of past sequences with the present is exqusitely done continuing the flow of storytelling. Tom Hanks hasnt been able to do anything great with his role because none of the characters are actually in control of the story. Its like the wheels have already been set into motion and this is where the rolling stone has gathered too much moss. Good background score.

Now that leaves us to the story - a very controversial novel when made into a movie loses the charm of the conflict. Because protests have already been done and/or the book has already been banned if it had to be (like Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie) For people who didnt really understand what was going on - Jesus Christ and the Church are two different things and the latter has used the brand name "Christ" to become the most profitable organization in history (the most simplified version of the story) The whole thing about Priory of Sion, Opus Dei, Mary Magdalane are things that will throw people off track if they aren't into this sort of literature.

All in all, its a movie that you have to see if you have read the book.

Rate - 4/5