Top Ten Movies

While each and every year remains significant to movie buffs and cinephiles for a whole array of reasons including things like top grossing films, box office bombs, award winning performances, the deaths with their eternal message of finality hold a very special place leaving behind a trail of bitter sweet memories. Even 2009, till now has got its share of bereavements, some coming as an end to full and recognized lives while others that have left many wondering and questioning the all seeing eye and his divine notion of reason and justice.

The event that really left the whole world along with movie lovers almost dazed with shock was the untimely demise of actress Natasha Richardson on 18th March in Quebec as a result of a skiing accident. The 45 year old was the daughter of director Tony Richardson and the legendary Vanessa Redgrave and was married to Irish star Liam Neeson. She has been fondly remembered for Patty Hearst (1988), The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) and Maid in Manhattan (2002) among many other films. The other such death that left film lovers all upset and astounded with grief was that of American screen star Patrick Swayze, who passed away on 14th September from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. The star of films like Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Point Break, City Of Joy and Waking Up in Reno including several others was diagnosed with the illness in late 2008 though he continued acting till his last day.

Among those whose deaths can be described as matured, nonetheless equally hurting for the lovers of the silver screen, the first to name would be the legendary Karl Malden who died on 1st July at the age of 97. One of the last survivors of the golden age of Hollywood, his name is associated with eternal screen classics such as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, One Eyed Jacks, I Confess, Baby Doll, How The West Was Won, Cheyenne Autumn, Patton and The Cincinnati Kid which only form a minor percentage of a long filmography that spanned for six decades. Composer Maurice Jarre, whose “Lara’s Theme” is considered to be one of the greatest pieces of film music ever recorded, also died this year on March 28. The 84 year old Frenchman is equally lamented by members of film as well as musical fraternity who left behind an impressive body of work including scores for films like Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Topaz, The Last Tycoon, Witness and Ghost along with countless such other equally enchanting pieces of works. 2009 would also be certainly etched into the memory of cinephiles for the demise of two beloved and very dear antagonists. One of them is the iconic David Carradine whose portrayal of Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s epic Kill Bill will certainly go down in history. The other is German born actor Joseph Wiseman who breathed life into the immortal creation of the title role in the maiden Bond flick Dr. No.

There’s this final shot in Quentin Tarantino’s latest World War II flick “Inglourious Basterds” where Brad Pitt almost looks straight into the camera with an admiring expression on his face and says “…I think this is my masterpiece”. This one comment literally summarizes the past two and a half hours screen time and the director’s own observation regarding the film and apparently a huge section of film fraternity all across the globe are quite inclined to agree with him in this regard. With this film, movie buffs will be acquainted with a more thoughtful, matured and wise avatar of this renowned video brat who has already made his place in the medium’s history with films like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and the two volume epic Kill Bill among others.

Unlike his previous offerings, this film has a comparatively simpler plot and is even narrated in a linear fashion. However, the film gathers its strength from various other aspects making the idea of plot and narrative really insignificant compared to them. As Tarantino himself describes it, Inglourious Basterds is definitely a commentary on the Spaghetti Western which becomes quite evident in the opening sequence which is even titled “Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France” as a tribute to the legendary Sergio Leone. Besides using a Leone like choreographed cinematography, editing pattern accompanied by score composed by the inimitable Ennio Morricone, the viewers are introduced in this sequence to Standartenführer Hans Landa, a notorious Jew Hunter played with a delicious relish and panache by Cristoph Waltz and Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) who is a Jewish girl on the run with her family massacred by Landa. Thus the viewer’s are left with the two typical genre archetypes of the western; the lone avenger and the evil antagonist with considerable shades of grey tones.

Despite marked differences in style and approach from his earlier films, there are certain familiar Tarantino touches in the film which are equally enjoyable. Besides the quirky sense of humor injected in unlikely sequences, there is the shadow like presence of his comic strip sensibilities in sequence build up and characterizations along with sudden shifts to non fiction and documentary mode of address of both satirical and serious nature in case of the backdrop of Hugo Stiglitz and the commentary on the flammable nature of nitrate films both narrated by Samuel Jackson. An almost tactile and tangible symptom of Tarantino’s maturity becomes evident in his structuring of the film where he draws his tale not from history but from the concept of war presented in films and the notion of audience sympathizing with a party. In the penultimate sequence where ironically inside a cinema house and during a screening of a war propaganda film a large assortment of German people including a major section of Nazi political leadership are gunned down by the Basterds while the former are unarmed the notion of spectatorship of war films is questioned and thus disturbed in an unprecedented way and on a concluding note one must say that only Tarantino could pull off this thing while keeping up the usual cool and casual demeanor.

The release of Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” have induced the chain of a long series of movies that were among the most awaited among fans and critics alike for quite sometime. Here is a selection of what can be considered to be the cream among the entire array of films likely to hit the theatres within the next six months.

• Invictus – Scheduled to be released in December, this Nelson Mandela biopic directed by the iconic Clint Eastwood has succeeded in capturing the attention of millions around the world. With Eastwood’s growing reputation over the past decades as a thoughtful and intense director, the film is already being discussed as a potential forerunner in the Oscar race. With Morgan Freeman playing the role of Mandela one can always expect certain sparks that was previously evident in the Freeman-Eastwood ventures like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.

• Shutter Island – Talking about Oscar race and actor-director partnership, the only thing that can offer stiff competition to the aforementioned is the legendary Martin Scorsese and his highly productive and creative partnership with Leonardo DiCaprio. This thriller cited by many as being in same vein as Cape Fear, is among the most anticipated films to hit the theatres in February 2010. With a strong supporting cast of Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow, Shutter Island will certainly carry forward the success story of Gangs of New York, Aviator and The Departed.

• Avatar – One doesn’t have to waste words regarding the anticipation of a film which comes from a director after a gap of 12 years along with the fact that his last outing with a fiction film earned him 11 Academy Awards. Movie goers around the world are eagerly waiting for James Cameron’s comeback vehicle to be released mid-December. An unprecedented application of motion capture technology that has been in the R&D for the last decade has been the primary reason for the air of expectancy surrounding Avatar’s release.

• The Lovely Bones – The film has already been tagged as the Trial by Fire for director Peter Jackson whose unquestionable reputation for silver screen spectacles faces a stiff challenge with the question about his capabilities for treating for sensitive issues of a human nature. Yet another mid-December release, the film starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon deals with the rape and murder of a young girl and the plight of her parents and loved ones following this event.

• Nine – One of the biggest Christmas releases in recent years, this Rob Marshall film is a musical retelling of Federico Fellini’s celebrated 8½. While Marshall’s flair for musicals is already established and recognized after the critical and commercial success of Chicago, the primary thing to watch out for would be the orchestration of the various characters in the narrative played by a dream star cast of Daniel day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench and the legendary Sophia Loren.

Amidst all the hype revolving around Steven Soderbergh’s Che Guevara biopic, there are precious few who were even aware about his other film “The Informant!” releasing this year. However after sitting through the 108 minutes (it seems nearer to 180!) of the slow paced adaptation of the Kurt Eichenwald book, it seems that the majority might just be right about something for the first time! According to the most of post release reports, bulk of the cine goers have apparently decided to give the flick a miss and it can be indeed stated that they are not really missing much.

On the plot level, the film revolves around the real life story of Mark Whitacre who made headlines as the most renowned whistleblower in the American corporate world being a top level executive himself. An employee of the Illinois based conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) who is in the process of steadily climbing up the ladder of success, suffers from a case of bipolar disorder and succumbing to the pressure of his wife decides to turn over to the FBI a whole assortment of evidence in form of written documents and audio and video tapes that charge his company with price fixing in the wake of stiff market competition. An apparent stressful period of three years followed where he worked for the FBI organizing surveillances and gathering evidences to build up the case against ADM, in between which Mark’s own struggle with his psychic disorder gets worse. Finally at the end of it, during the case against ADM, it suddenly gets revealed that Mark Whitacre has been involved in fraud and embezzlement worth $9 million from his own organization resulting in a prison sentence for Mark which is thrice that of his corrupt colleagues.

While Matt Damon’s performance as Mark Whitacre has been generally praised by the critics, it must be said that Damon is not seen doing anything with the character that he hasn’t done in his previous outings. In fact, one can easily detect the shadows of his previous performances in Syriana and the Bourne franchise lurking somewhere behind Damon’s portrayal of Mark. However, the real or rather the essential problem of the film lies with the script. One must admit that it’s a real weak one coming from the man who could go as intense as Lies and Videotapes, Traffic or as tongue-in-the-cheek as the Ocean’s series. “The Informant!” lacks the very fluidity of the narrative expected from a director like Soderbergh and every five or ten minutes duration, the narrative seems to fall flat owing to problems with the pacing and structuring of the film, the weak and feeble attempts at inducing a notion of black humor in certain dialogues, an unsuitable film score and finally what looked like a desperate attempt from the makers at trying their hands on a satirical comedy with a script that demanded a certain different tonality of treatment altogether. It must be said that despite the best efforts from the director to put things into perspective as logically as possible, a lot remains unanswered that gradually takes the attention away from the screen.

To watch movies is the favorite time pass of all. A person may reduce his stress by this way  later the hectic work schedule. Formerly, if anyone want to watch a movie, he/she had to go to a theater. As technology becoming advanced at a incredible speed, people are now not restricted to see movies at theatres. There are various choices have been developed. As CD and DVD are available there, people can enjoy movies at their home comfortably. Hence, if you don’t want to spend a lots of money on cinema theatres, the internet option is there for you. Nowadays, the online movie trend is at the pick of the popularity. These days everything is available  on internet. Anybody can watch the movies online. There are several web sites that let you  download films. The user will need a speedy internet connection for that.

Even if you are searching for a romantic, humor, horror or action movies, those are available there under one roof. The person who is movie freak, would surely search for an option that can let him watch as much movies as he can. Watching movies online is a lovely option for people who are movie freak as they don’t have to spend a lot of money to watch their favorite cinemas.

With the innovation of online movies, now you do not require to exceed your budget. With the internet help, anybody can easily watch full length video with good clarity and sound effects. This would be a cheaper option for watching  exclusive movies at the theatres. The user may get free movie websites also pay for each download services. These websites are gaining great popularity in few current years. The huge movie collection is available on internet including ballet and dance movies, Blue ray movies, and action movies.

There are a several activities which may be done on internet apart from gaming, listening to music and shopping. To go to internet to watch movies is one of the most excellent ways for entertaining yourself. By this way, anyone does not need to go to a theatre at all and to wait in long queues for tickets. Just download your favorite movie and enjoy it anytime you want to. You will not be required to watch it at a stretch. You may watch it whenever you feel convenient. Just go to internet and brows through the collection of lots of action movies available there for downloading. Choose your loved one and start to download.

This is the easy way for busy people who can not give time to watch movies in theatres. You don’t even have to purchase a CD or DVD on rent.