Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975)

The very first scene of the movie…We are told that it’s England, 932 AD. A view of a quiet misty landscape gives you an eerie feeling and a sense of foreboding. Suddenly you start hearing a distant sound of horse hoofs. The sound is drawing near. Surely a horseman must be approaching. You sit tight in your seat in anticipation. The mist is now clearing and there appears the head of the horseman. Immediately we see the horseman. But…Waaaaait a second!!! There’s NO HORSE!! The man is prancing away on foot pretending that he’s riding a horse and another guy behind him is banging two coconut shells to produce the sound of the horse hoofs. There’s very little that you can do to stop from guffawing as the Monty Python madness begins… In fact the madness begins right with the opening titles of the movie where incorrect Swedish subtitles that inform us a great deal about Moose lead to the sacking of some people and the sacking of some people who had been hired to sack the earlier some people. Without a shadow of doubt, “Monty Python And The Holy Grail” is one of the best and the most hilarious movies of all time.

And now some words about “Monty Python”. “Monty Python” was the name of a troupe that consisted of some extremely talented British comedians- Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and the American animator-director Terry Gillam”. Their brainchild , “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, was a runaway success on the British Television in the late ’60s and the early ’70s. And in 1975 they brought their antics to the big screen. Such was the talent of the Pythons that their influence on comedy is at times compared to the Beatles’ influence on music.

“Monty Python And The Holy Grail” was the first of the Python movies. Shot on a shoestring budget, this movie proved to be a major hit all over the world. The movie was a spoof of the “King Arthur” tales. In fact, the budget of the movie was so small that the Pythons could not afford to have horses. Instead of being troubled by such a small problem, the Pythons turned it into one of the most humorus gags of the movie. They showed everyone in the movie pretending to ride and gave them their servants who made the horse hoof sound by banging the coconut shells. In fact the two men whom we see prancing in the beginning of the movie are none other but King Arthur and his trusty servant Patsy. King Arthur along with his brave knights is on a quest to seek the Holy Grail. King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is aided by Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones), Sir Gallahad The Pure (Michael Palin), Sir Lancelot The Brave (John Clees) and Sir Robin The-Not-Quite-Brave-As-Sir Lancelot (Eric Idle). Along the way, they encounter a soldier who is keenly interested in the swallows, a peasant who points out to King Arthur the unfair method of choosing a King, a Black Knight who won’t say ‘Quit”, a taunting Frenchman with an outrageous accent, a castle of virgin women, the three-headed monster whose one head complains that it can’t sleep because the other head snores, the Knights who say “Ni”, the Shrubber (A Shrubber), a killer bunny rabbit, gatekeeper of the Bridge Of Death. Will King Arthur survive through all this and succeed in getting the Holy Grail?

At one hour and thirty minutes, “Monty Python And The Holy Grail” is loaded with funny moments. Normally, in a comedy movie, there are many moments when the jokes fall flat. But in this movie there is hardly any such moment. In fact, I don’t remember any joke that did not work. I was rolling with laughter throughout the movie. But having said that, let me also say that Monty Python’s is an acquired taste. If you like your humour to be on the lines of “American Pie” or “Hot Shots”, then you might not find this movie much rewarding. But if you don’t mind trying something different, then you must check out the Pythons. Theirs is an extremely intelligent, biting, at times subtle humour. To cite a few examples : When King Arthur tells Dennis the Peasant how he became the King, Dennis tells him “Listen, strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.” Or the scene when Sir Bedevere proves that the woman brought before him is a Witch. He proves it so well that even the woman, though she’s not a witch, believes it’s a fair judgement. It’s really difficult to contain your laughter at such moments. As usual, the Pythons assume almost 8-9 different characters in the movie. And everyone excels. The movie contains not only some of the best humour of all time but also some of the most memorable quotes and characters. It’s not very easy to forget someone who says “Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-PTANG. Zoom-Boing. Z’nourrwringmm”.

This movie became such a cult phenomenon that the Pythons decided to re-release the movie in 2001, 25 years after its first release. And it again received an overwhelming response. That itself confirms the movie’s status as a “Masterpiece”. A must watch for all comedy lovers…

Rocky Balboa (2006)

When it was announced that Sylvester Stallone was coming out with the sixth edition of the “Rocky ” series, the first question that came to my mind was “Why?”. Why was he doing it? Was he trying to cash in on the fame of the franchise? If so, was it not a bad decision since the quality and the appeal of the franchise had started waning since the third part? “Rocky 1″ was a brilliant movie. “Rocky 2″ also was also a fabulous one, though not in the same league as the first one. And then the series simply started losing its momentum. The third part was average. The fourth movie was bad. And the fifth one was absolutely abominable. It was only natural for fans, even the die-hards, to be skeptical about yet another Rocky movie. And seriously, how many people cared about a 60 year old Stallone trying to make yet another boxing movie?

The odds were stacked against Sylvester Stallone. And in a true Rocky-esque fashion, Sylvester Stallone, the underdog, outperforms. Stallone manages the near impossible and gives his franchise a fitting send-off. This is easily the second-best movie of the series. This movie is a slap in the face of all the people who mocked Stallone for even dreaming about this project. This is a superb intense dramatic movie where boxing is not the primary issue. This movie deals with Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), the ageing prizefighter who is losing his way into a world without his wife, Adrian. For him, she meant everything. She was the strength behind him. And now that she has passed away, he finds it difficult to cope up with the fast pace of life. He owns a small restaurant now and every evening he entertains his customers by recounting tales of his greatest fights. But it’s all a facade. He’s lonely. He spends most of his mornings next to Adrian’s headstone. Once a year, he visits his neighborhood along with Paulie (Burt Young) and reminisces about the time he spent with Adrian and the places they visited. He is looking for someone to talk to and he finds a willing ear in Marie (Geraldine Hughes). His son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia) has also moved out on his own and all is not exactly not well between the father and the son. It’s not easy being the son of a famous man and Robert is a living proof of that. All his life he has lived in Rocky’s shadow and he resents it. In the meantime, a TV show on ESPN pits the current reigning World Heavyweight Champion Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) against an in-his-prime Rocky Balboa in a computer stimualated fight and Rocky wins that fight. So in a publicity stunt, Rocky and Mason are pitted against each other in an exhibition match which Mason thinks would be a cake-walk for him. But we know better than that. We know that Rocky, the ultimate underdog, is a fighter who simply won’t go down without a fight.

The movie is not about the bout between Rocky and Mason. In fact, boxing takes the center-stage only in the last 30 minutes. Before that, primarily the movie is all talking. There is no “action”. But then, that’s what gives this movie an extremely strong base. You see Rocky as the honest, humble, simple Philadelphia guy. He loved his Adrian very much. But now that she has passed away, he is being broken by the loneliness. He cares a lot about his son, but his son has also estranged from him. But he is trying to make the best of it. Sylvester Stallone portrays all this brilliantly. This easily one of Stallone’s finest performances. All the other actors support him well. Stallone, as a director, has kept things simple. He has managed to make the viewer care enugh about the ageing pugilist. There are a couple of really explosive scenes. One is where Robert tries to pursuade Rocky from fighting the bout. The other is when Rocky talks to Paulie about the stuff” in his “basement”. When it comes to action, “Rocky” series has always boasted of high-class action scenes. It’s no different here. The bout between Rocky and Mason truly packs a punch.

This is not an “action” movie. This movie deals more with Rocky’s personal life and provides us a glimpse of the soul of this fighter. “Rocky”, which has always been an extension of Sylvester Stallone’s own personality, may be an underdog. But he is a true fighter. And fighters fight. That’s exactly what this movie does. It battles against all the odds and come out on top. Thanks Sly for the final Hurrah! Rocky deserved a send-off like this…

Dor (2006)

Over the years Bollywood has earned the dubious distinction of producing senseless crap which pleases your eyes. Most of the Bollywood movies may be visually rich but lack in content. Most of the movies are formula-driven and the producers and directors do not dare to look beyond that formula. So as a result, the viewers are bombarded with almost similar type of movies every now and then. In such a bleak scenario, only a handful of directors are trying to change the face of Bollywood by making movies on offbeat topics. They understand that cinema is a medium to tell stories. They are using it to tell stories that haven’t been told before. Nagesh Kukunoor is leading the pack of such directors. He is definitely evolved as a master story-teller. Nagesh has matured over the years. Gone are the days of “Hyderabad Blues”, “Rockford” and “Bollywood Calling”. Though all these movies were good, they were not as good as his next ventures. In 2003, Nagesh gave the first glimpse of his brilliance with “Teen Deewarein”. In 2004, he unforunately tried to recreate the magic of “Hyderabad Blues” with a ghastly sequel. But he again found his rhythm in “Iqbal” in 2005. And now with “Dor”, he has provided his most mature movie till date.

Zeenat (Gul Panag) lives in Himachal Pradesh and Meera (Ayesha Takia) lives in Rajasthan. Zeenat is a confident, outgoing woman who believes that she is the only one responsible for her life. She takes her own decisions and deals with the consequences. Meera is a little shy woman who’s bound by the traditions. Theirs are two distinctly different worlds and they do not kow that their worlds are about to collide into each other. An unfortunate incident binds the fate of both these women and Zeenat must travel to Rajasthan in search of Meera. On her way, Zeenat meets a behroopiya (Shreyas Talpade) who helps her through her journey. Zeenat meets Meera finally, but cannot muster enough courage to tell her the truth. So she bonds with Meera and forms a beautiful friendship. But will they remain friends when the truth is out? Will Zeenat get what she came for?

This is not an easy subject to tackle. A lesser director might have turned it into a cry-fest. But Nagesh has handled this subject with a lot of restraint. This is a serious subject and it has been dealt likewise. Nagesh has crafted the entire movie so wonderfully that you simply cannot pick out one bad scene. The movie flows smoothly right till its end where it staggers a little bit. But that does not lessen the impact of this movie. Nagesh has allowed its characters enough time to develop so a viewer really starts caring about them. The scenes between both these women are brilliant. The way Zeenat helps Meera find her own self again is wonderfully shown. Occasionally, when the drama threatens to take over, Shreays Talpade’s behroopiya sprikles some genuine funny moments. The dialogues crackle with intelligence, something you do not often expect in a Bollywood movie.

Just about everything in this movie is brilliant. From the green hills of Himachal Pradehs to the desert of Rajasthan, cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee captures every nuances of the scenic beauty perfectly. Salim-Suleman’s music provides a wonderful score for the movie. Editor Sanjib Datta has done a brilliant job of keeping the length of this movie a little below 2 1/2 hours. And finally, this movie belongs just as much to both the lead actresses as to Nagesh Kukunoor. If not for their powerhouse performances, this movie might not have been such a masterpiece. Gul Panag shows what she can do if she gets a good role. She dominates the first half of the movie as the self-assured Zeenat. Then in the second half, Ayesha Takia takes over. I have never seen any of her previous movies. But this is an absolutely outstanding performance. It’s a shame she didn’t win any awards for this performance. It was extremely daring for her to take up such a non-glamorus role. But she has proved her mettle here. I hope to see more good performances from both these wonderful actresses. Shreyas Talpade, Nagesh’s blue-eyed boy, turns in another good performance. Other supporting actors do full justice to their roles.

It takes extreme guts and talent to swim successfully against the current. With a masterpiece like “Dor”, Nagesh Kukunoor has proved that he has both.

Matchstick Men (2003)

When you take director Ridley Scott’s name, the movie titles that immediately spring to your mind are “Alien”, “Blade Runner”, “Gladiator”. They were real high-intense thrillers/dramas that captured the audience’s heart and confirmed Scott’s status as a master of his genre. “Matchstick Men” is yet another movie from the master. But this does not look like the regular Ridley Scott movie. In fact, this is NOT a regular movie from Scott. This movie represents a deviation from all his previous ventures. And what a wonderful deviation this is! “Matchstick Men” is a funny caper movie and Scott handles it with aplomb.

Roy (Nicholas Cage) and Frank (Sam Rockwell) is an odd pair. Roy is an agoraphobic, germaphobic guy living in his supremely well-organised and clean apartment while Frank is the exact opposite. Roy is seeking medical counsel for his psychological problems. His psychiatrist, Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman) believes that Roy’s problem could be solved if he could get in touch with his family. Roy has separeated from his wife and doesn’t know that they have a child. So Dr. Klein arranges for Roy to meet his 14-year old daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) whom Roy has never met before. Their first meeting is quite uncomfortable as Roy is still recovering from the shock of seeing his daughter. Soon Angela comes to stay with Roy and he suddenly finds himself a “Parent”. This is even more uncomfortable for him. But he somehow tries to make the best of it and soon he bonds well with his daughter. He hopes that Angela won’t find out what he does for living. Roy is a professional con artist. He may be a quirky character, but he is a genius at crime. He can pull off almost any scam. Frank is his apprentice-cum-assistant-cum-partner. Angela finds this out one day and is actually quite interested in learning the art of con from the master. She even volunteers in the final caper that Roy is trying to pull. But will he be able to pull it off?

Though it’s primarily a caper movie, it does not neglect the father-daughter relationship between Roy and Angela. The characters are given enough time to develop so the relation between Roy and his daugter does not seem rushed. It takes time for Roy to adjust to his sudden “parental” status. But Angela’s charm wins him over. And he also starts taking delight in doing things for his child such as taking home her favorite ice-cream. The capers in the movie, though nothing extra-ordinary, provide enough juice to keep the viewers interested.

Nicholas Cage excels as the quirky Roy. He displays odd habits such as opening and closing the door thrice before going out. He plays the character with amazing restraint. So the character does not seem out-and-out stupid. Sam Rockwell is just perfect as Roy’s counterpart. Alison Lohman is also good as Roy’s long-absent daughter. The movie is filled with humour, little bit of suspense and some clever twists. The dialogues also sparkle with wit and intelligence. If you are looking for a nice movie to enjoy on a quite Sunday evening, go for “Matchstick Men”. It won’t disappoint you.

City Of God (2003)

“Cidad De Deus” or “City Of God” is an ironically named slum of Rio De Janeiro. There’s nothing “Godly” here. In fact one of the characters remarks that the God has forgotten them. Poverty, hunger, greed and drugs rule here. Violence, revenge, barbarity and addiction is the order of the day. The movie takes us right into the underbelly of the slum where kids aspire to be gangsters. They may not know how to read or write, but they sure know how to use a gun. It’s a dog-eat-dog world for these kids.Only the strongest and the meanest will survive here. But for how long? For every mean gangster of the slum, there’s another meaner one getting ready to take over. And most of these gangsters are not even above 20. One can consider himself lucky if he lives beyond the age of 20. Such is the hard-knock life on the streets of the “City Of God” .

Based on a true story from novel of the same name by Paolo Lin, the movie tells us the story of the most feared gangster in “Cidad De Deus”, Li’l Ze’(Leandro Firmino da Hora). Rocket(Alexandre Rodrigues) is our window into this world. He narrates the incidents through the ’60s and the ’70s that led to the rise and fall of Li’l Ze’. When Rocket begins his story, the Tender Trio are the most feared hoods in the slum. One of them is Rocket’s elder borther. Unlike his elder brother, Rocket is afraid of getting shot and so never really thinks that he is cut out to become a hood. Rocket thinks that the Tender Trio is the meanest bunch. But Li’l Dice (who grows to become Li’l Ze’) shows what meanness is all about. Li’l Dice kills 5-6 people in a motel hold-up when he is hardly 10 years old. In a matter of few more years, Li’l Dice, now christened as Li’l Ze’, takes over the entire slum and becomes the boss. But soon it’s clear that he may not remain the Boss forever as the Runts (a group of kids in the age group of 10-13 years) are getting ready to take over from him. The vicious cycle continues and keeps getting meaner. The movie is also partly a coming-of-age story of Rocket. He grows from a kid who’s unsure of what he wants to do in life into a teen who aspires to be a photographer-journalist.

The movie wonderfully shows the importance of choices that people make. When the movie starts, a frightened chicken is running across the streets and a group of teens led by Li’l Ze’ is chasing it wildly. At one moment, Li’z Ze’ and Rocket come across each other and both have a different weapon in their hands. Li’l Ze’ has a gun in his hand and Rocket has a camera. It’s only towards the end of movie that we realise the significance of this scene. Li’l Ze’ and Rocket were once playmates. But the kind of choices they made has sent them in two completely different directions. The movie also succeeds in portraying the desperation of the hoods that leads them to the crimes. The entire movie is told pretty straightforward. But occasionally when Rocket tells us something more about character, a quick glimpse into that character’s life has been provided. This provides for a more perfect picture.

Director Fernando Meirelles must be applauded first of all for choosing such a daring subject and then for treating it so fabulously. He uses all the tricks in his bag to make this movie a stylistic cinematic experience. He employs split screen, accelarated movements, occasional non-linear narration, brilliant camerawork. Also the editing is brilliant and innovative. This makes the movie an outstanding package to watch. But thankfully, this movie does not end up becoming all-style-no-substance. All the technical brilliance only adds up to the explosive story line. Fernando Meirelles also uses a large group of unprofessional actors who bring their raw energy to the screen and elevate the movie to another level.

This movie is extremely haunting. There is not much of gore in the movie. Very rarely are we shown the blood. What makes this movie so shocking is the age of the hoods. Many of the hoods are well below 15. When a gangwar erupts between Li’l Ze’ and Knockout Ned, kids who are under 10 are given guns like they are candies. Mostly these kids come to ask for a gun so they can take revenge on someone who punched them. When Knockout Ned once tells a kid that he’s still a child, he gets a chilling reply : “I smoke, I snort, I’ve robbed a store and killed a guy. I am a Man”. The kid who gives this answer is not above 12. It’s moments like these that make this movie so gut-wrneching and disturbing. Even though this movie is violent, there’s also an undercurrent of black humour running throughout the movie to proivide a breather for the viewers. To cite one example, Rocket once decides that honesty does not pay and decides to take up crime. But he finds his would-be victims too “Cool” to steal from. This is an extremely shocking, enlightening, funny and thrilling movie.

Even though this movie is in Portugese with English sub-titles, I’d recommend everyone to watch it. Kudos to Fernando Meirelles for this beautiful masterpiece!!

Dirty Harry (1971)

“Dirty Harry” series is considered a pretty important part of Clint Eastwood’s career. “Dirty Harry”, the first movie of this series is regarded as “Badass” by all Eastwood lovers. But unfortunately, this movie has not aged well. Everything in the movie, except for the couple of priceless one-liners and the unrelenting sneer of Eastwood, seems outdated and extremely boring.

The basic premise is a cat and mouse game between a madman who calls himsef Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) and the San Fransisco police department. Scorpio is killing innocent people and blackmailing the police to give him a large sum of money to stop doing that. Now enters our “Badass” police officer, Harry (Clint Eastwood) who is nicknamed “Dirty Harry”. The reason? Simple : Every time there is some dirty job to be completed, the cry goes up “Let Harry do it!”. And our fearless hero goes about doing the job in a ruthless manner. He is not the kind to play by the rules. According to one of Harry’s colleagues, Harry does not discrimate at all, he hates everyone equally. He only trusts his .44 Magnum and goes aroung the city bang-banging. So when Scorpio kidnaps a girl and buries her alive, it is upto Harry to find the madman in time and save the girl.

One of the main selling points of this movie was supposed to be action. However the action scenes are so lame that you will find yourself yawning through them. The only one scene that shows any real directorial skill is when Harry calmly shoots Scorpio in the leg on a football field and the camera pans over them. It’s a wonderful scene. But apart from that, there is nothing really much to write about. The story itself is extremely naive and has been treated horrendously. Occasionally, we do get glimpses of brilliance, e.g. the view of the sprawling city and the killer lurking atop a building. But these are too few.

The only saving grace for this movie is Clint Eastwood and some of the most awesome one-liners in the histroy of cinema (“Do ya feel lucky, punk?”). Clint Eastwood is everything that he was required to be. He is a nasty motherfucker and shows his bitterness perfectly. Andrew Robinson does not seem menacing at all as a killer.

Mind you, this is not an extremely bad movie. But this is definitely not as good a movie as it is made out to be. If you want to watch vintage Eastwood, you’d do better to stick to the Spaghetti Westerns of his. There’s much more entertainment to be found in that Wild West than on the streets of San Francisco.

Memento (2001)

Some time back there was this one stupid text message that was doing rounds of all my friends’ cell phones. It read :”Did you ever walk into a room and forgot why you were there?….The Dogs spend their lives exactly like that”. Put aside the stupid joke. But you will see one essential truth there. It’s our capacity to memorise things that distinguishes us from other animals. Memory is perhaps the most important and perhaps the most taken-for-granted human trait. I mean, we know we can memorise stuff. But seldom do we pay close attention to this amazing capacity of ours. Our memory is like a deposit vault wherein we keep loads of information and we keep adding to that vault every day. But what will happen if the vault won’t open one day? What if you cannot make any new addition to it? You remember everything till a certain point, but you cannot make new memories. What then?

Christopher Nolan takes this intriguing concept and crafts out one of the most intelligent thrillers of the modern times. “Memento” is the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) who’s got a “condition”. Someone broke into his house one night and raped and murdered his wife. During that attack, he was hit on head and left unconscious. Now he is determined to find the criminal and punish him. But that hit on the head has left his with his “condition”. He cannot make any new memories. He remembers everything that happened till the night of that unfortunate incident. But now he is left with a short-term memory loss. He might be talking to someone, but after some time he forgets how the conversation began or who that person is. He might get in a room with a perfect motive, but soon he finds himself wondering what he is doing there. No doubt, the odds are stacked against him. He is going to have a hard time looking for that criminal. But he is hell bent on getting his revevnge. So he makes notes, clicks photos of people he meets, writes their names under those phots. He even has tattoos of some vital information on his body. He even has his motive tattooed on his chest lest he forgets why he is searching for that guy. He is aided by “Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss). But are these guys really helping him or are they using him for their dirty work? Can he trust them? Most importantly, can he trust himself with his notes, the bits and pieces of paper and some pictures, when he doesn’t have any memory of them at all? Will he get his guy? “Memento” provides answers to all these questions and more. It’s a wonderfully open-ended movie that can be interpreted in different ways by different viewers. But one thing is for sure : the movie stays with you long after it has ended.

Perhaps the most important and unique feature of “Memento” is its structure. The entire movie has been built backwards. This may seem a little confusing in the beginning. But soon everything starts making sense. This innovative structure by Christopher Nolan makes sure that the viewers are just as actively engaged in the movie as Leonard. When the movie starts the viewers are in the dark about the entire thing. But soon bits and pieces of information is provided by a series of narrations (The important Sammy Jankis story) which provide a strong basis and explanation for the things happening. Soon we are also piecing the puzzle together with Leonard instead of being just a passive viewer.

“Memento” boasts of an absolutely wonderful performance by Guy Pearce. He is Leonard personified. He amazingly displays Leonard’s determination to get the revenge, his confusion due to his condition and his vulnerability when he reminisces about his wife. He is definitely an actor to watch out for. Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano do perfect justice to their supporting roles.

“Memento” is an intelligent thriller. It does not require its viewers to entirely suspend their belief and keep their brains on the shelf. Instead it invites the viewers to participate in Leonard’s quest. So if you are looking for a thriller that will not only engage you but will stay with you long after it has ended, look no further. “Memento” is a must-watch for you.

Airplane! (1980)

“Airplane!” is considered as the mother of all spoof movies. It was in 1980 that Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers let their imaginations run wild and came up with a spoof of the disaster movies, particularly the “Airport” series. We have seen many spoof movies over the years. But it is 1980’s “Airplane!” that is regarded as one of the first and the finest spoof movies of all time.

The basic story of the movie is as follows : Ted Striker (Robert Hays) is on board a domestic flight. Ted is a former airforce pilot who still has nightmares about one of his failed missions and is hesitant to even sit in a plane, let alone fly it. But he gets in the plane to try to save his relationship with his girlfriend Elaine (Julie Hagerty), who is an air-hostess. What he hopes to be a smooth journey turns out to be a dangerous one as the whole cockpit crew gets unconscious after eating a “bad fish”. It’s upto Ted and Elaine along with Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) to land the plane safely. To help him do that, there is McCrosky (Lloyd Bridges) from ATC and Rex Kramer (Robert Stack), Ted’s ex-commanding officer. Their job is to boost Ted’s confidence and help him get the plane back on ground.

Puns, jokes, gags fly left and right throughout the movie. There are so many gags happening and at such a dizzying speed that an inattentive viewer might lose track of some of them. e.g. there’s one great such gag happening at the very beginning of the movie. The scene shows us a lot of passengers coming at the airport. There is a female and a male voice announcing about the loading and unloading of the baggage. If you dismiss these voices just as mere announcements, you’d missing a lot of fun. For soon, there starts a small quarrel between these voices as to where exactly the baggage is supposed to be unloaded and loaded. Pretty soon we also discover that they are fighting because of their personal issue (“We both know what this is all about. You want me to have an abortion”). Then there’s one great piece of confusion (“ha? ha?” ) between Capt. Oveur (Peter Graves) and Capt. Roger Murdock (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the cockpit. There are Jive talking dudes, singing air-hostess who nearly kills a patient. Of course there is the impeccable Leslie Nielsen with his famous quote “Don’t call me Shirley”. As said earlier, the jokes come in too rapidly at times and might be missed by the viewers. So a second viewing reveals some such jokes.

Over the years, we have seen many spoof movies. But you can easily trace their origins back to “Airplane!”. Many of “Airplane!” jokes may seem a little cliche’ now because they have been rehashed so many times by other movies. But still this movie provides plenty of laughter and continues to be a delight to the movie lovers.

Requiem For A Dream (2000)

The Oxford Dictionary defines “Requiem” as “Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead or music for this”. That’s exactly what Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem For A Dream” proves out to be. It’s a symphony of the dead dreams. It shows the death of dreams when the drug addiction takes over a person. Everyone dreams of better things. Like everyone else, the characters in this movie also dream of better things in life. But they are soon sucked into the whirlpool of drug-addiction and all their dreams are simply drained away.

Based on the Hubert Selby Jr. book by the same name, the movie portrays the lives of four people. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn, in her Oscar nominated role) is a lonely widow staying in her small apartment. Her son Harry (Jared Leto) and his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are junkies. Harry’s girlfriend, Marion (Jennifer Connely) is a garment designer and she has also picked up the bad habbit from her boyfriend. When the movie starts, each of these characters has a dream and all the dreams seem well within their reach. For Sara, the dream is appear on her favorite television show and tell the world how proud she is of her son and her late husband. She loves her son blindly. So blindly, that she even forgives him when he occasionally breaks into her house to steal her TV and pawns it to get some money for his next hit (This is the opening scene of the movie). One day she gets a call from some agency claiming that she has been indeed selected to appear on her favorite TV show. This transforms Sara’s life altogether. To look slim on TV, she visits a quack who gives her weight-reducing pills, which are actually uppers. Before long she’s unwillingly become an addict.

Harry, Marion and Tyrone are small time junkies. When the movie starts, they are still in control of their habit. It has not yet taken over them. They are only doing it to enjoy the High. Harry and Tyrone dream of becoming drug peddlars and make some quick bucks. Marion dreams of her own designer store. Very soon it becomes clear that they are falling prey to the deadly drugs. The descent is so rapid that they simply cannot stop it. And the descent does not stop till they have actually hit the bottom. And once they’ve hit the bottom, there’s no upward way for them again.

Aronofsky has presented this movie in three seasons : Summer, Winter and Fall. They aptly depict the characters’ lives. In the Summer, everything is rosy, sunny. They are on their way towards realising their dreams. But then comes the Winter, where the cold reality sets in and then comes the Fall. It’s Aronofsky’s vision that makes the movie extremely compelling. If this movie had been told by some ordinary director, it might not have been as haunting. Aronofsky does not provide the viewers any respite. This is a hard story and it has been told that way only. And that makes this movie an extremely harrowing experience. There are moments when you really wince and would like to turn your head away. But it’s the sheer brilliance of Aronofsky that simply refuses to let your eyes wander anywhere else. The intial 20 minutes might be a little unsettling for an average viewer as Aronofsky uses a lot of tricks while establishing his characters. He uses tricks like split-screen, intimate close-ups of bodies (this is one the best scenes of the movie), hip-hop montage. This really prepares us for the extra-ordinary climax where Aronofsky shuffles back and forth between his characters to show their degradation. The last 15 minutes of the movie is where Aronofsly pushes the boundaries and really immerses us into the world of his characters. It’s an extremely gutwrenching experience, to say the least.

Aronofsky’s vision has been ably supported by his lead actors all of whom must be applauded for taking up such challenging roles. It’s a shame Ellen Burstyn did not win the Oscar. She portrays the lonely widow who unwillingly gets caught in the deadly cycle with utmost conviction. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connely also display their acting prowess amply. Marlan Wayans displays unexpected maturity in his portrayal of Tyrone.

“Requiem For A Dream” is not a happy movie. It’s not a movie where everything gets alright and everyone is happy towards the climax. It’s a reality check. It is perhaps the most forceful anti-drug movie that has been created for the celluloid. Simply put : It’s a masterpiece. A must-watch for all movie lovers.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

I haven’t seen Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now Redux”, the new enhanced version of the original “Apocalypse Now” yet. I hear that a new footage of almost 1 hour has been added to the orignal one. However from what I have heard it hasn’t done anything much to enrich the original movie experience. I hear that the climax of the movie is still as incoherent as it was in the original one. So I don’t think that I have missed a lot. The original “Apocalypse Now” is widely regarded as one of the best Anti-War movies of all time.

Every war has its horror stories : the casualties, the wounded soldiers, the bloodbath. But all this is on the physical level. What about the mental trauma that the soldiers have to face? The frantic chaos of the war, the uncertainty of life, the ruthless ways of the army- all these are bound to take a toll on the psyche of the average soldier. All this is more than enough to change a human being forever. “Apocalypse Now” captures such transformation brilliantly. Had it not been for the final 30 minutes, this movie would have been a masterpiece. It’s towards the climax that the movie really falls apart. But even at its worst, this is a compelling motion picture.

The story follows Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) travelling through the jungles and rivers of Vietnam and Cambodia towards his mission. When the movie starts, we are introduced to Capt. Willard who is waiting desperately in a small hotel room in Saigaon for some new mission. The idleness and loneliness have started taking a toll on him. He is drowning himself in liquor. Just when he’s hit the bottom of the bottle, a mission comes knocking in on his door. He accpets the mission but is not entirely convinced about it. Normally, in war, a soldier is expected to kill his enemies. but here, Willard is being asked to terminate and terminate with “extreme prejudice” Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a highly respected Green Beret who, according to the army, has lost his mind. Col. Kurtz, along with his men, has establshed his base somewhere in the jugles of Cambodia and is committing actions which are not approved by the US Army. He has become quite discomforting and embarassing for the Army. So Willard has to go to his base and terminate him.

So the movie follows Willard’s journey on a patrol boat towards the Kurtz’s base. Willard is accompanied by four others on the patrol boat : Chief Philipps (Albert Hall), Mr. Clean (a very young Laurence Fishburne), Lance (Sam Bottoms) and Chef (Frederic Forrest). The first pit-stop for this gang is at Colonel Kilgore’s (Robert Duvall) base. Kilgore is completely obsessed with Surfing. So obsessed that he will destroy an entire village lest enemy should attack him while he is surfing. This scene is definitely a highlight of the movie. Coppola has shot this entire scene masterfully. This scene also has one of the best dialogues of all time “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.” Kilgore is a prefect example of someone hardened by the atrocities of war.

After Kilgore’s men drop Willard’s patrol boat at another point, Willard and his men lead upto the supply depot nearby. Here the troops are being treated to the singing and dancing show by Playboy Playmates. But the show ends abruptly when the crowd gets unruly and wants to manhandle the models. The scene perfectly shows the primal instincts lurking in all of us.

Willard then leaves from there and heads towards his destination. On his way, Chief Philipps stops the boat to check the cargo of a passing boat. The cargo seems to be clear but when Chef is searching further, the girl on boat makes an unexpected move. Sensing danger, Mr. Clean opens fire on eveyone on the boat. All the thrree men on the boat are instantly killed and girl is wounded. The girl was only trying to protect her puppy from Chef. When Chief wants to take the girl to the hospital, Willard simply shoots the girl and asks to move on. It just shows the sense of danger that always lives in the minds of soldiers and how ruthlessly they can act when they feel threatened. It also shows a completely ruthless side of Willard when he shoots that poor girl.

Now they are moving in close to Col. Kurtz’s base. All through the journey, Willard is reading the clippings on Col. Kurtz and wondering if the man is really insane or a genious. All the track records of Kurtz point to the latter possibility. Willard wonders what was it that Kurtz saw that made him turn against his own Army. the more he reads about him, the more he starts respecting him. He is really looking forward to their confrontation. Once they meet, it will be Willard’s decision whether to kill Kurtz or not.

Coppola really creates great tension and anticipation till the arrival of Col. Kurtz. However with the arrival of Kurtz, the movie simply falters instead of being elevated to another level. What we are expecting is a wonderful confrontation between Willard and Kurtz where Kurtz may give the reasons for his behaviour. However all we get is a stupid war-horror story and dull poetry reading from the Colonel. Marlon Brando had insisted that he should be shot in the dark so as to hide his bulging waistline. So we hardly get to see Brando’s face. Most of the time we hear him babbling on and on. This really brings the entire movie down. Add to this the incoherent climax of the movie, and you have a really dull final 30 minutes.

The performance from Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall are perfect. They fit in their character nicely. Marlon Brando disappoints. All the supporting actors do their jobs well. Inspite of the clumsy final 30 minutes, this movie captures perfectly the madness and chaos of the war and also shows how a war transforms a soldier forever. And therein lies the success of the movie.