Trust thy self!

O (2001)

Before I start out... yes, its an Othello adaptation. Yes, all the characters are very strong (of course, the story is. C'mon Shakespeare isn't Shakespeare for nothing!) and yes, Desmodenia is hot.

Since the obvious is out of the way, I love how the motif is changed in this movie. Its a basketball team whose coach is Hugo ie. Iago's dad. The coach always favours O who is the star "playa" and the MVP (and nigga, might I add...get the racial connection?) O is dating Desi (Julia Stiles) and his main man is Mike (Cassio) Now we all know how Hugo (Josh Hartnett) uses Desi & Mike to mess with the mind of O. The usual conflict of race, trust, brotherhood and lust that ensues is what the movie is all about.

Josh Hartnett gives a gripping performance but no actor outshines the truly immaculate, flawless, filled with conflict storyline of this movie. If Deewar is considered the baap of Bollywood scripts, Othello is the God of english literature.

If God were to reside in the mind of men, I wouldn't say that a different God lived in Othello than that of Iago. Iago was always a part of Othello. He listened to him because he wanted to listen to him. He only believed what he wanted to. No doubt he loved Desmodenia, but he ended up killing her not because he was provoked or blinded by deceit of other men, it was because he wanted to kill her. Somewhere, deep down inside, he knew she was too perfect to be true. And so to not let this perfection dissolve, he had to destroy it. Desmodenia and himself. Iago just laid out the path for Othello...

Rate - 3.5 / 5

Trivia - Which actor features in this movie as well as the 1995 Lawrence Fishbourne's Othello? Martin Sheen

I'd rather be lucky than good

Match point (2005)

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose.

I didnt write that (I wish I did) This is how this Woody Allen movie begins. And pretty much sums up the entire story. A young Irish tennis pro (Johnatthan Rhyff Myers) mixes with an English bloke, marries his sister, works for her fathers multi - million pound comapany, does his American-struggling-actress ex - fiance (Scarlett Johansen) and leads a happy and well balanced life while having an extra-marital affair.

Trouble comes when he cant get his wife pregnant but his mistress gets knocked up. So he plans to kill Scarlett. The plan, the execution and the escape is where the entire luck factor comes into play.

A brilliantly written story.They had this weird opera theme going on in the background and the movie seemed too lenghty (but I saw this back to back after "Proof" late in the night, so my opinion could've been compromized.) Johnatthan Rhyff Myers seemed blunted for emotions in some scenes.

The message that this movie patronizes is - If you're lucky enough, you can even get away with murder!

Rate - 3/5

I want to date a hot mathematician

Proof (2005)

This is a story of mathematicians. How am I a sucker for such movies! (Oxford Murders, Number 23, Good Will Hunting, 21, A Beautiful Mind, Hyper Cube and many more...)

But this movie also has brilliant performances. Gwenyth Paltrow plays the daughter of an insane yesteryears mathematician Anthony Hopkins who did some brilliant work back in the day. Now after his demise, a very important proof (something to do with prime numbers) is found and Gwenyth claims to have written it. Juggling between what she inherited from her father - the intellect and the insanity, she tries to explain to her boyfriend (also a mathematician and a student to her father) and her sister that she is the rightful author of the proof. But there is no proof that she has written the proof!

The movie is an adaptation from an award winning play. The play must be really good figuring the movie has strong screenplay and dialogues (and also some math, which many math & science movies lack)

All geniuses are insane but not all insanes are genious!

Rate - 3/5

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