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FILMENATOR - My Candid Take on Movies from Around the Globe

Defiance starring Daniel Craig

January 25th 2012 17:22

Defiance is a World War movie based on true events during the Nazi occupation of Belarus, starring Daniel Craig and directed by Edward Zwick

Story of Defiance
After seeing their parents murdered by the Nazis, Jewish brothers Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus and Asael Bielski have no other alternative to hide out in the forests which they know like the back of their hands.But soon more and more Jews,

men, women and children, start to join them from all over the region and not all of them are as tough as the Bielskis. And soon it becomes obvious that they can no longer lead a nomadic experience as they had planned and decides to create a more permanent settlement right in the middle of the forest. But for supplies they must carry out raids and steal from the richer, government favored farmers, irking the Nazis. They also forge a dubious alliance with the Russian army though in effect it is little more than a neutral stand.

This is the story of their determination to live a free life in an occupied country and how they breathed hope amongst the oppressed and enjoyed a self sufficient existence against tremendous odds.

Review of Defiance
Defiance is a rather unique war movie in the sense that it is not an espionage

thriller or movie looking to earn the pity of the audience. Rather it is a movie about fighting back when your back against the wall and tries to woo the audience through displaying sheer valor. I liked this quite refreshing approach to depict another side of the battle--the sliver lining if you will--which brings out the very best in men and creates everyday heroes.

The story telling is exquisite and the acting is also tolerable (even Craig lets his poker face slip from time to time!).

I really enjoyed Defiance because it has a positive vibe about it and can really lift you up. I am only a bit surprised that if it really is an adaptation of real life events then why this fantastic story has remained buried for over half a century.

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The Game starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn

January 17th 2012 17:01

The Game is a thriller starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn and directed by David Fincher, dealing with the complex relationship between an immensely successful financier with his possibly charlatan but very dear younger brother.

Story of The Game

What do you get for the man who has... everything?

When his younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn) gifts Nicholas Van Orton an invite

to be entertained by very unusual firm called Consumer Recreation Services for his 48th birthday (CRS) little does he know that he is in for an adventure of a lifetime--an adventure he could well do without. It becomes apparent that the "entertainment" provided by CRS is of a very dubious nature involving a large variety of most inappropriate practical jokes including break-ins, simulating accidents and even gunfights so that it soon turns to torment and a matter of life and death. With an unknown woman, Christine for company Nicholas sets out to find the truth before it drives him out of his mind. After being betrayed at every turn by just about everyone he ever trusted he is ready for a final showdown on the roof of a skyscraper. But his mind is so blurred that does he even know the difference between what is real and what appears to be real?

Review of The Game
The Game is a real gem of an original (and I am not using the word lightly)

character driven thriller that just borders on the psychological thriller genre. This movie is not about slick dialogues and dashing men and women in smart and sexy colthes respectively. It is a mix of smooth editing, exceptional directing and apt background scores that helps to maintain the dark atmosphere of The Game and manages to keep you on the edges of your seats, not mention reeling from twist after twist after twist--and everyone of them strikingly original.

But what is really great (or lame depending on what type of a movie watcher you are) is the ending which is so bizarre that it will warrant another viewing just to see if you can pick up the clues this time around.

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Best James Bond Movies

January 16th 2012 13:51

"The name's Bond, James Bond."

Ring a bell? Who can forget the quintessential MI6 secret agent and estrogen magnet, the one and only James bond? Agent 007 belongs to that elite class of fictional characters whose fame has eclipsed that of his creator (Ian Fleming) and all other mortal beings responsible for his immortality.

In total 22 James Bond movies have been released excluding Bond23 (release indefinitely postponed) over four decades (1962-2008). Some of these movies have topped the charts for popularity and others have gone without creating a stir.

Following is a list of the top three James Bond movies ever to hit the screen with an emphasis on movie making rather than popularity or box office gross.

At Number 3: From Russia with Love (1963)

In only the second 007 film Sean Connery teamed up with director Terence

Young to deliver a movie that would become a benchmark for all James bond movies to follow in the next three decades till Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997 redefined the pattern. It is Bond's first meeting with a secret society called SPECTRE, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of his career and finds mention in a number of subsequent James Bond movies. A dramatically improved story as compared to the previous Dr. No (1962) with some great acting and directing and backed by a magnificent score by John Barry ensured that James Bond was here to stay.

At Number 2: Casino Royale (2006)

From Goldeneye (1995) onwards the James Bond team found themselves in a

spot of bother with more often than not a weak plot letting them down. In this period (1995-2002) the stories almost always included space missions and often verged on the supernatural--something the public just couldn't identify with the suave secret agent they had come love and admire. It soon, became clear that the series need a serious over hauling. The result--Casino Royale. With a totally new style and a firmly grounded story Casino Royale once more endeared Agent 007 to the public, besides rendering a fresh narrative style to the franchise which is carried on in the subsequent Quantum of Solace.

At Number 1: Licence to Kill (1989)

Arguably, Licence to Kill is the most popular James Bond movie and perhaps it has become as much a household name as classics like The Great Dictator. In only his second (and last) outing as James Bond, Timothy Dalton joins hands with director John Glen to create a visual experience that is designed to keep you on the edge of your seats. In fact story wise no other Bond movie is as intense or sound as Licence to Kill. It is also the only movie where Bond sacrifices his professionalism (and gets thrown out of MI6) to avenge his colleague from CIA Felix Leiter and his wife Della, bringing for the first (and only) time the spirit of camaraderie, which has always been an integral part of Agent 007's make up, to the forefront.

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Panic Room

January 6th 2012 12:36

When middle aged New Yorker Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) gets a divorce from his filthy rich husband she makes sure that she and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) gets the biggest possible

share of her husband's fortune and this includes a multistory, unfairly spacious house in the middle of the city. The house, previously owned by another multi millionaire has a very special feature. It has a state-of-the-art safe room called the panic room which is impossible to break into and is a perfect shelter in case of a break in.

And when there is a break in on the very first night of their stay in their new home Meg Altman and her tomboy daughter finds themselves holed up in the panic room which three burglars in the house. As Meg had not had time to take up security seriously, the burglers should have had an easy time but the only problem is they are looking for over $20 million stashed away in the panic room by its previous owner. One of the burglars is Burnham (Forrest Whitaker), the man who actually built the panic room and he knows the only way they can get in is by tricking Meg into opening the door from the inside. Meg also has a serious problem, her daughter is diabetic and her blood sugar level is falling at an alarming rate

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Cape Fear : A Martin Scorsese Thriller

December 15th 2011 05:07

Over the years I have become a really big fan of Marin Scorsese thrillers and just couldn't wait to dig into his 1991 remake of Cape Fear starring Robert De Niro amongst others. And as always he does not disappoint.

Story of Cape Fear
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The Adventures of Tin Tin

December 11th 2011 14:14

This November master innovator Stephen Spielberg saw his long time dream of creating a full length Tin Tin come to fruition and also proved that the newly proposed Performance Capture technology is a commercially viable option for animators.

Story of The Adventures of Tin Tin
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Move Over Shrek, Puss in Boots is Here!

December 8th 2011 07:12

From the makers of Shrek and Kung Fu Panda comes another anime franchise which is here to stay. Even as the sun has quite possibly set on the once mesmerizing Shrek series, one of the ogre's side kicks, the dashing and endearing Puss in Boots is here to take over center stage.

Story of Puss in Boots
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The Dirty Picture : Bollywood Movie Review

December 6th 2011 03:10

the dirty picture vidya balan silk smitha

The Dirty Picture featuring an all-star cast of Vidya Balan, Nasseeruddin Shah, Emran Hasmi and Tushar Kapoor had been making a lot of noise even months before its release and was perhaps the most talked about film since Shah Rukh Khan's Ra-One released in late October and here's a low down on this movie based on the sex starved South Indian film industry of the miserable 80s.

Story of The Dirty Picture
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GoldenEye

October 29th 2011 08:37

I don't know what it is about James Bond movies but I never tire of his charms, witty one liners, almost comic violence, the amazing and exotic locations and of course the legendary Bond Girls and GoldenEye delivers beautifully on all thse fronts and is one of my favorite James Bond movies and definitely Pierce Brosnan's best outing as the iconic British Secret Agent 007. Xenia Onattop is also one of my favorite Bond girls (and perhaps the sexiest Bond villain) as Famke Janssen beautifully combines the power of Grace Jones (A View to a Kill) and the sex appeal of Ursula Andress (Dr. No) to personify an orgasmic killing machine!

Further, the plot for once is quite believable and not unnecessarily convoluted and there are quite a few decent enough twists to make the story go along rather nicely. Overall Golden Eye, if not an adrenaline pumping thriller, should at least serve as a decent stress buster movie.

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Starship Troopers : Taking Sci-fi to new heights

October 21st 2011 17:48

Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers is considered by many to be one of the finest sci-fi movies ever made even though in reality it is a caricature of the genre most often characterized by far-fetched plots and hi-tech slug fests. In reality it is a subtle and unique anti-war movie that enjoys a cult following and merits getting a lot of attention for its sheer subtlety, if not the mindboggling visual effects.

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