Movie Ratings from 2010 till date - The Worst, Bad and Okay ones

This has been a very long break, and I am back again with ratings of movies I had watched in past 15+ months or so. There are categories as: Worst, Bad, Okay, Good, Very Good and Excellent. The first three will go in this post, rest will follow in subsequent ones. These are rating as per my tastes, likes and dislikes, and there is nothing to debate over this as the comments are truly my personal opinions. With that, let me get to the business.

The Worst Ones

Bad things first. I would not rate any movie worst, but I could not resist from rating these three films in this category, mainly because they are so weird and absurd, that they would make other bad movies look like classics. Even if I rate these movies, it would be only to indicate how bad they are.

Sindhu Samaveli (Tamil)

The father-in-law getting attracted to daughter-in-law and she reciprocating back might be a rare case real word controversial topic. But what makes this film disgusting is the way in which the incidents are portrayed and the reasoning out of these incidents. Sad that the lead actress and the hero who plays her husband, inspite of their potentials had this weirdity as their launch vehicle.

Kynodontas (Dog Tooth - Greek)

A film that has epic scenes like father arranging a girl for his son's sexual pleasures, daughters seeking sexual pleasure with each other and daughter and few more. Set in a weird backdrop of parents house arresting their children for no known reason and creating a fake living world for them, this seems to be a highly rated award winning and Oscar nominated film of Greece. Heights of disgust.

Shaa Boo Three (Tamil)

A less known (for good) film with less known actors who cannot act to save their life, a badly scripted and badly directed #epicfail film. I technically did not watch this film. This was running on TV as a companion for me when I was preparing MBA semester exams. No wonder I concentrated more on my book than on the film :)

The Bad Ones

These are potentially good movies which are spoiled by one reason or the other. I would not say I regretted watching these, but really regretted the way they were made.

Shaapit (Hindi)

0.5 stars

A Vikram Bhatt thriller that would have been atleast as good as Raaz if he had chosen the right actors to play the lead. Both the hero and heroine were wooden in their performances and the only saving graces were the thrills and camera work.

Nenapirali (Kannada)

0.5 stars

I supposed this to be a good film based on some reviews but finally it turned out to be a bad one. With a triangular love story and surprisingly good looking hero, the film started off well and was good till first half after which in the name of twists, the director had written a very bad screenplay with an expected ending, The title track which was played half a dozen times in the film did nothing good for the film which surprisingly is a big hit and won many awards too.

Mirch (Hindi)

0.5 stars

Four separate stories of women cheating on their husbands and escaping when they come to know of it, this is no film of women liberalization, rather portrays women in a bad light. It makes the concept of women entering into extra marital affairs look like a choice of convenience rather than a emotional decision. Thankfully there was a naturally acting Konkana Sen and a beautiful Raima Sen.

Arithu Arithu (Tamil)

0.5 stars

A film without any direction, proper story line, good narration or a focused theme. It wanders around science, love, terrorism and mental health ultimately causing a nauseated appeal to the viewer. The guy in the name of Villain kills you with his accent and dialogue delivery. Waste of time.

Nadunisi Naaygal (Tamil)

0.5 stars

Blasted by public and most reviewers, this film did never fulfill the expectations it had created or proved to be worth of its hype. Nevertheless it is a harmless one time watch though it is neither thrilling, nor very engaging. There is no takeaway from the film, even though it claims to have a message.

Sura (Tamil)

0.75 stars

With a complete entertainer like Vijay, a decent storyline and good music with amazingly choreographed songs, it should have turned out to be an atleast okay film provided there was some good original scripting and narration. But with a screenplay borrowing sequences from previous Vijay films and a weak second half, this film failed to impress on many aspects.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (Hindi)

0.75 stars

Set in the era when Naxal movement was growing and with some good performances, this film would have been a good watch if only the director has a focused theme and a better written heroine character. Neither a biography, nor the story of a struggle and not even a love story set in violence backdrop, the film meanders through all these and ended up making me wonder what was the director conveying through it?

Anandha Thandavam (Tamil)

0.75 stars

A novel by Sujatha made into a film with some beautiful camera work and good music, but sadly it is marred by poor writing and weak performances from lead cast. The characterization of Tamanna in particular which varies from insane to childish to matured to pitiful is not brought out well which makes the film further weak. Nevertheless, was good in parts.

Click (Hindi)

1 star

Remake of Thai film Shutter (which was also remade as Sivi in Tamil), this is more loyal to its original but with respect to the thrills and horror quotient, it lacks a lot. The slow pace and lackluster music make things further worse. Some scary moments still worth watching.

A Perfect Murder (English)

1 star

The film which was the theme of Hindi film Humraaz, is about a husband discovering his wife's infidelity and planning to revenge on her. It was supposed to be a thriller but had a very slow pace that I almost slept off in the middle. Though good in parts, overall the film did not prove to be a gripping film.

The Okay ones

These are films that are moderately good and can be watched once for certain aspects.

36 China Town (Hindi)

1.25 stars

A mindless fun watch with multi star cast and some good songs. Woven around a murder mystery and kidnap of a child, its humor and Shahid-Kareena pair are the highlights of the film.

Chukkallo Chandrudu (Telugu)

1.25 stars

Scripted by its lead actor Siddharth, it’s a time pass film with three good looking heroines. Its about a guy looking for the right girl for him to marry and choosing one among his three childhood friends. The never failing Siddharth trademark entertainment guaranteed.

LA Confidential (English)

1.5 stars

Thriller set in the backdrop of Los Angeles underworld and sex racket and the police department trying to get hold of them.

Leap Year (English)

1.5 stars

Fun filled romantic comedy and a feel-good road film. A woman with the sentiment of proposing to her guy on leap year sets out on a journey amidst which so much calamities, but during the course of journey she realizes her heart is lost to someone whom she met during her journey.

Nuvve Nuvve (Telugu)

1.5 stars

A Bommarilu type but lesser brilliant film, wherein the girl's father is strict and not willing to accept the guy chosen by his daughter. Typical Telugu family drama.

Vennela (Telugu)

1.5 stars

A romantic thriller set mostly in US with a triangular love story among NRIs. A decent timepass.

Notebook (English)

1.75 stars

A poor and passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman and gives her a sense of freedom. They soon are separated by their social differences. Their reunion and rest of the life is told in a emotional and sentimental way. A romantic tearjerker.

Sssshhh (Hindi)

1.75 stars

A joker in black cloak threatens and kills a group of students and teachers on a college campus, with the killer leaving no evidence at the crime scene. His main target is a girl and what happens when she sets out on a vacation with friends is the film all about. A crime thriller.

The Proposal (English)

1.75 stars

A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada. But slowly they both fall in love and a visit to his family changes a lot in her.

When A Stranger Calls (English)

1.75 stars

A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again. The start and end of the movie is the real thrill and rest is just out of pace.

From Paris with Love (English)

1.75 stars

An action thriller which starts slowly builds up momentum and gets on run till the end. Nothing great about it, but still a good time pass film.

Splice (English)

1.75 stars

A sci-fi thriller where genetic engineering screws up to produce a creature that becomes a disaster in the life of a scientist couple.

Endhiran (Tamil)

2 stars

I have written about this film in great detail earlier. The stars are mainly for Director Shankar, music and the special effects.

Typical Tamil Mega Serial :P

Dedicated to all poor souls who endure Sun TV mega serial tortures at home :D

A marriage is happening in a hall. The arrangements for marriage would have been done in past 10-15 episodes out of which 5 episodes would have been in marriage hall itself. Now before thaali kattifying one person (mostly a lady) comes and stops the marriage.(The lady coming to marriage hall would have been shown for 10 mins earlier)

Niruthunga!

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

Indha kalyanam nadakadhu!

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

Ivaruku indha kalayanam pannika thagudhi illa

[shock music for 10 secs all faces shown]

yen? yen appadi sollra

[repeated atleast 5-6 times by different characters in different ways, every time they finish asking the first person's face and all other's  faces will be shown once]

adhuku oru kaaranam iruku

[suspense music for 10 secs all faces shown]

enna kaaranam? [all faces shown once]

sollu enna kaaranam? [two more ppl ask the same and every time all faces are shown once]

adhu ennanaa....

[suspense music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaruku yerkanave kalyanam aaiduchu

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaru yerkanave innoru ponnku thaali kattitaaru

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivarum andha ponnum ipo purushan pondaati

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivanga rendu perum ipo kalyanam aana thambadhigal

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaruku idhu rendavadhu kalyanam

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

[short aahh ooohh title music then break]

- You just finished watching one scene in a Sun tv mega serial :D

Consider similar scenes 30 mins a day 5 days a week, 52 weeks in a year for 5-6 years :D

Manasaatchiye illayada ungalukellam?? :'(

Endhiran - My Point of View

Okay, it’s quite some time since I posted anything on my blog. Thought of entering back here with this lengthy post. :) Before I start with, first things first:

> I am not a fan of Rajini. The last film of his I liked was Muthu.

> I am not a die hard fan of A R Rahman. Especially I liked none of his recent albums very much.

> I am not a too big fan of Shankar. The last film of his which I felt was a complete work was Mudhalvan.

I am a normal film viewer and I have some expectations when I go for a Shankar’s film with Rahman’s music featuring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai and a crew of topmost technicians from India and world over. This write-up is based only on these aspects and I want to make it clear that, I am not interested in sales or box office collection statistics because they make no sense or are of no value to me.

Endhiran is definitely the biggest film of India till date both in terms of production cost and the reach. But biggest does not always mean the best and this film is an example of that. Claimed as a science fiction movie by many, I found it is nothing more than a typical mass commercial film borrowing lot of science fiction ideas for the flow of events.

The story as such does not have strong foundation like in the case of Shankar's other films (barring Boys and Sivaji). Reasons later. It’s a triangular love story where in the third angle is unusually a humanoid robot. This fact itself was supposed to be very interesting but I didn't find it so. Again reasons later. The robot which turns from good to evil in the second half of the film routes for a gripping climax, thanks to special effects.

The film's main characters except for the robot lack a proper characterization and appeared as alien as their character names. Dr.Vasigaran (Rajini), the robotic scientist makes the humanoid robot named Chitti (named by his mother, I wonder where in Tamil Nadu mothers dream of naming their children with a golti name like Chitti Babu). Vasi is in love with Sana(Aishwarya) with whom Chitti also falls in love at one point when he is given emotional programming and gets lost in it, failing to serve the purpose for which it is created. Vasi destroys it and throws it away in frustration. Dr.Bohra, who is Vasi's Guru but jealous of him, gets Chiti back to form and implants destruction programming in it. This leads to evil consequences that form the rest of the story.

The scientists Vasigaran and Bohra have their own labs which look more like space ships (reminding aliens again). Whereas Vasi's lab has two dumb asses as assistants, Bohra is not even shown to have anyone working with him. It looks as if Bohra managed to create dozens of robots (as shown in one scene) single handedly. What a genius! Wonder if any scientists of today have such sophisticated and well equipped labs, which can function without even proper assistants. It would have been more convincing if it was shown that both scientists work for AIRD and do their research there.

The first half of the film shows the making of Chitti and how well it performs superhuman tasks to benefit mankind. But I don't know what sense it makes to do system/beta testing on a robot meant for defense purposes with household and edupidi tasks in domestic environment. Memorizing telephone directories, scanning exam books and reproducing it for Sana, cooking and so on, the robot's multifaceted capabilities are explained through so many scenes. At one point, it becomes too much to take and the 'Boom Boom Robo Da' song is heights of it. It is ridiculous to see a scientist use a robot created with so much ambition for wearing on his tie and tying his shoe lace.

Of course, the robot also fights goondas and does superhuman stunts by his fire proof, electromagnetic and various other capabilities. The train fight though well executed seems very lengthy. And as I do a rewind of all heroic deeds done by the robot, it all turns out to be what is done by a normal commercial hero in a masala film, but here the viewer is expected to believe that all of them is possible and feasible, because its a robot doing them and it has superhuman powers. The way robot clears up a critical pregnancy case just because it has memorized Sana's medical books is something that happens only in films. Anyways, an element of thaaikulam attraction.

The second half had lot of unwanted scenes, the most boring ones like the ridiculous mosquito sequence, chitti dance and lead sequence before Kilimanjaro song. Many scenes look placed just for the sake of it, like the one when power goes down and robots walk over to the road using car batteries to recharge themselves. I wondered what purpose the whole sequence served. Scenes like dumping the dismantled robot in a corporation dustbin and showing that it is taken to a dump yard of normal garbage look totally bizarre in today's era of e-waste disposal campaigns and considering the fact that a robotic scientist cannot dispose his years of work just like that. Add to it that fact that the robot can reconstruct itself even at such a crippled stage.

There are scenes of confused logic, like the one when evil Chitti kidnaps Sana from wedding hall and fights with police, 100s of bullets rain all over. It is accepted that Chitti survives it by some power it has, but there is no explanation how a human Sana and a normal car can survive all that, especially Sana escapes without even a scratch, turning out to be better constructed than Chitti. The end scene is supposed to be a tear jerker meant for Thaaikulams wherein Chitti dismantles itself and some ‘messages’ are forcefully thrown in for the audience.

The only solace for second half is the climax sequence visual effects with ideas heavily borrowed from popular Hollywood films like Matrix, Anaconda etc. The effects are very well done as in Hollywood but the worming, deworming, electromagnetic blah blahs, though technically needed for the sequence are too heavy for a layman to understand. And again in this scene, when everything around the robot is crushed by it, a mere caravan with hi-fi equipments remains as it is and dodges over all the robotic destruction skills. Heroism!

Rajinikanth has done lot of work for the film especially with the makeup, robotic acts and so on, a remarkable feat for his age. But just makeup can't hide his ageing face which looks very odd with layered makeup in many scenes. He puts up a good show as a villain towards the end, but the robotic body language is totally missing and he acts like a normal human, may be director's fault. An evil chip can change the programming logic but cannot make a robot act like human villain. So the villainous laugh and all other acts are unconvincing when you think it is done by a robot.

Considering that his fights in recent films usually contained unbelievable sequences and over the top action, the fights does not seem to evoke any wonder, unless you remind yourself that it is being done by a robot here. And even the robotic dance in Irumbile oru Idhayam is nothing so different from what robotic steps Rajini did in his previous hits like Thillana Thillana. The romantic scenes between Rajini and Aishwarya might be enjoyable for may be die hard Rajini fans, but to me it was such a pain to watch such scenes.

Aishwarya surprisingly looked beautiful though lines of ageing showed up even in her face in some scenes. Given a heavy footage for a major portion of the film unlike Shriyas and Soundharyas, she could have done a better job than just looking beautiful. Scenes in which she emoted or tried to emote show that she is still of same standard as what she was in Jeans. The oddest thing is the way she sits in the scenes after evil Chitti kidnaps her, like someone waiting in a passport office. Looked like serious lack of acting skills or interest to act.

Danny Denzongpa as Dr.Bohra had nothing much to do rather than mouth some lines in a base voice, look intelligent in some scenes and frustrated or furious in others before he dies in the hands of evil Chitti. The other characters hardly had anything significant to do in the film and their absence would have been no big loss to the film. Infact, it would have atleast made the film more gripping.

Of Rahman's songs, Kaadhal Anukal (I hate this song's audio for no known reason) and Irumbile oru Idhayam are visually brilliant. Arima Arima has the grandeur of a Shankar's film song but is not very interesting like Mudhalvane or Adhiradi kaaran. The background score was just fine but definitely not what one expects from Rahman. Kilimanjaro song except for the locales, is a totally wasted song with the slow paced, uninteresting picturisation and its unwanted placement, which mars the sagging pace of the screenplay further.

The film is anyway supposed to look brilliant from technical point of view considering that a huge portion of the budget is spent for these and thankfully all of it has come out well. The technical crew of the film is the one that deserves credit for anything good about the film, be it the sets (Sabu Cyril who appears in a cameo) which show the massive thought process put in, costumes and makeup especially for the robot, brilliant camera work by Rathnavelu throughout, climax visual effects which give a feel of watching a Hollywood film and editing which was good but could have been much better particularly for second half.

Shankar deserves a big appreciation for all the conceptualization and execution, but this is one of his bad outings as a screenplay writer. What could have been made excellently as a slick 2 hour animation film has been overcooked with heroism, unwanted sequences and songs. There is a social linkage with Shankar's films like Gentleman, Indian, Mudhalvan or Anniyan, which makes you relate to the characters in the film. This is definitely lacking in Endhiran. The societal impact a robot is not explained in concrete terms even though the film touches upon it here and there. The film is more about the havoc created by a robot in Vasi and Sana's personal life.

There are lot of action sequences scorched with over heroism which would have been a topic of fun if present in any other hero's films. There were logical loopholes which would have been blown out of proportion in any other hero's films. There existed zero chemistry between the lead pair which would have not mattered even if it existed in any other hero's films. Songs appeared out of the blue when not asked for but that should not be the case when it is any other hero's film. Okay, I am not supposed to find such faults or question them, because it is a Rajini's film. Ok, Done!

On the whole, the film offered a good time pass, more of a children's kind and was worth watching once. The experience was better than Shivaji, which for me was nothing but a elite standard Perarasu film in high budget. It lives upto all its Hollywood-like expectations, only for the technical aspects. It is like a half cooked meal offered in a five star hotel. You enjoy the entire ambience but not the food.

The Rajini factor seems to have been added for just for the sales promotion, revenue generation and getting the film a very big reach which could not have been possible with a normal animation film or a film with a hero of lesser market. The end product is unfortunately something that lies between a Rajini style film and a sci-fi film with Shankar's extravaganza for support. Rajini fans may love it for his presence, but for me it makes no difference.

To end with: "Enaku Endhiran pudikala nu sollala. Pudichirundha nalla irundhirukum nu thaan sollren" ;-)

AAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

10 most irritating categories of people

1. Public smokers: Killing themselves and poisoning others, the worst human beings who pollute the world around us for their personal satisfaction. Worst are the nicotine stinking people coming near you after somoking, even worse is the ones trying to hide that nicotine stink using chweing gums.

2. Drunkards: Out of control and with a nauseating stink, these people are worst especially when we encounter them in public transportation. Sometimes they sit or stand near you putting you in the most awkward situation, especially when the bus is crowded. In an AC coach or Volvo AC bus, the worst smell fills the air like poison.

3. Nose picking people: Often encountered in buses and public places, having the worstest public hygiene and lack of civic sense. Don't they realize that it is a disgusting scene to others as bad as digging into ur a****le or rubbing your crotch area?

4. People who spit in public: This is yet another case of spreading your diseases to others by spitting in whatever possible places possible. Sometimes with yucky paan combination or more yucky beetle leaf combination, this not only is unhygienic but also spoils the neatness of public places

5. Late comers: Be it for a causal meet or a family outing, I hate keeping people waiting and I expect the same from others too. Simply because time is precious and we cannot take someone for granted just because we know them well. It is better to specify a later time or cancel the plan rather than making someone wait and testing their patience. Same applies when specifying time of return when you leave home. I am talking about delays of an hour or more here, not 10-15 mins.

6. Opinion thrusters: There are people who generalize their personal opinion as a public talk. Or canvass their thoughts in such a way that others should agree upon it. And in some cases, try to change our opinion on something and replace theirs instead. All these irritate me to such a extent and it is in one way a mental torture to deal with such people.

7. Sadists: There are many ways people behave as sadists. But what I often encounter is those who inspite of knowing that a person likes something or someone keep telling their bad comments and dump their hatredness towards that peson or thing in front of us. I dislike many things but never talk bad about it to someone who has a liking for it. But I have never had a similar reciprocation from anyone, infact it hurts a lot when people talk bad about something to you, knowing very well it is close to your heart. They are no less than sadists.

8. Egoists: Another worst class of people to deal with especially when you have to interact with them frequently for personal or official reasons. When people are stubborn for a long time, you lose any interest of having even a casual chat with them. At some point of time, it is good for everyone to give up and have a respect for others' feelings and there is nothing wrong in being the first person to give your hand for a shake.

9. Big mouths: Such people are really annoying may be since I am someone who enjoys silence more than noise. People who talk more than their age, people who make a fuss of everything, people who talk too much about themselves, people who are opinionated, people who talk non-stop are all very irritating to handle in life.

10. Irresponsible people: At some age everyone should acquire a maturity and be capable of taking up responsibilities failing which there is no way that they can face hurdles in life. It is really irritating to come across people, be it younger or older ones, who fail in their responsibilities and become dependent on others instead of they supporting the ones dependent on them. And when you assume onus of doing something, it is always good to act responsible and if you can't, it is better that you never take it up in first place.

5 most irritating things around me

1. Power cuts: Most worst thing to happen in a hot and humid city like Chennai and whats most irritating about it is that common man who uses fans and lights at his house has to take suffering for power scarcity while political and spiritual events, commercial establishments etc can still waste power in worthless ways and still enjoy doing so.

2. Traffic jams: Most traffic jams occur with equal responsibility of civic sense lacking public and ineffective traffic management. Drivers, especially the ones driving lorries, public buses and two wheelers ride without any botheration for others around them which is the only reason all traffic control measures go in vain.

3. Flyovers: While it is good to see flyovers that come across railway level crossings, the ones inside the city have no meaning and doesn't serve any purpose, as most of them are not used by public transport, are built in a direction in which there is less traffic flow and in many places they have led to congestion on either sides of the flyover. How can you call a flyover effective when it has less traffic flow and the whole area below it is congested?

4. Autodrivers: Chennai probably has the worst auto transport thanks to its drivers. From demanding double fare for a minimum charge walkable distance taking advantage of helplessness of passengers to ruthlessly charging high fares for every trip blaming fuel fares, autowallahs in Chennai have been behaving like they are from other planet to help people here. And worst that there is no regulation or any control over them till now.

5. Government functions: Anything that deals with government departments or officials is an annoying dealing where inspite of paying heavy amounts in white and black, you work happens only at their own pace and convenience. While it is being claimed of as a trustable and safe, even a simple transaction in a public sector bank is still a painful affair. Somethings never change and this complacence has become a character of government establishments.

A filmi flashback.....

Am back after a long time here. :D A flashback told me that I had seen more than 60 films this year thanks to torrents, broadband and my laptop :P A brief of all those films with my ratings for them here..... ;-)

BAD: Movies which I would rate at less than 2
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kadhalil Vizhundhen - 1.25/5
This film had a sweet first half which was totally spoiled by a senseless and crappy second half which turned into a psychopath torture. Otherwise this could have entered the GOOD list.

Sakkarakatti - 1.25/5
Except ARR's music and Vedhika, this film had nothing worth watching. For most of the film my heart was yelling at Shanthanu "Why are you leaving Vedhika and going behind that alien creature in the name of heroine?" :D And obviously the film had a very bad ending :P

Vaaranam Aayiram - 1.5/5
I couldn't remember even one positive point about this film. All I could remember is "Daddy" and a moderately-good old age role by Surya. Named as a film about a father, it rather tells about his son's amateur love affairs and how he "makes love" to two girls before marriage, with father character reduced to a cameo in later parts. It was 3 hrs of mere torture sitting in a hotel room and watching this film in a DVD :P


GOOD: Movies which I would rate from 2 to 3
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

50 first dates - 3/5
A soft romantic movie with lot of sweet moments, which looks at short term memory loss from a different perspective.

Bommalaatam - 2.25/5
At last a good movie from Bharathiraja in this decade. Though the film has lot of negatives, Nana Patekar's performance and the suspense maintained were good. New face Rukmini had done a very good job.

Bujjigadu : Made in Chennai - 3/5
A commercial mass film starring Prabhas and Trisha, and its the story of two childhood friends separated and trying to meet each other again for a life long relationship. Telugu guy Prabhas playing the role of a Chennai brought up and Tamilian Trisha as Telugu girl makes scenes interesting, especially the scene where she calls him "Sambar" and he calls her "golti" :D Songs were visual treats. Love and action was blended well throughout the film.

Dark Water - 2.75/5
A supernatural thriller about how a mother saves her daughter from the spirit. Worth watching many times for the cute little girl who played the daughter. Her expressions in final scenes were too good.

Dus Kahaniyaan - 2.5/5
Broken into 10 small episodes, each directed by a different director and with different cast, it was a welcome attempt and though not all were interesting, some were really good.

Guide - 3/5
Screen version of RK Narayan's novel, much different from the book. A movie much ahead of its times, done in a bold attempt. Nicely shot and very good songs.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - 2.5/5
A feel good film on the lines of "Piriyadha Varam Vendum". Very nice screenplay and fresh actors. Rahman's music was a big plus. Ending was very cinematic though.

Kala Pani - 2.5/5
A Black and white movie starring Dev Anand and Madhubala, about how a son saves his father put behind bars by false accusation. Nice acting by the lead pair compared to overacting Tamil actors who existed in the same era.

Kotha Bangaru Lokam - 2.75/5
A school days love story except that it is handled in a very very intelligent way unlike some dirty films which came with same theme. Though many scenes were very cinematic, it was a good film with a nice message.

Milana - 2.5/5
A radio jockey's story, about his life after marriage. Slightly inspired by Mouna Ragam but with a different storyline. Watched it with Tamil subtitles on Zee Tamil. :D Good time pass.

Mussanje Maatu - 2.75/5
Set with a theme of a radio jockey's love life, it speaks about how he inspite of being a healer for other wounded hearts through his show, couldn't handle his own love failure. Good performances from Sudeep and Divya Spandana.

October Sky - 3/5
Story of how a teacher inspires her student to become a rocket scientist inspite of all hurdles and lack of support from people around him. A real life story.

Notting Hill - 2.5/5
A movie about how an ordinary bookseller falls in love with a top hollywood actress and unites with her. Nice romantic entertainer.

Orphan - 2.75/5
A thriller about how an Orphan brings chaos to the family who adopts her and how she tries to destroy them. Scary towards the end.

Paranormal Activity - 3/5
A real life video footage of how a paranormal activity destroys a lady and her husband. The thrill build up gradually and towards the end you will feel shivers down your spine.

Phoonk - 2.5/5
A supernatural thriller about how black magic destroys a family's happiness. The performance of the little girl who plays central role was awesome but the film moves very slow in many places.

Raaz 2: The Mystery Continues - 2.75/5
From the makers of Raaz, another supernatural thriller. Kangana gives a great performance and the first half was brilliant though the second half was just okay, except for the good climax.

Road to Perdition - 2.75/5
A beautiful action musical that portrays the affection developing between a father and his not so close elder son, after the younger one and his mother are killed by the gang for which the father works for. Emotional film.

Shutter - 2.5/5
The original of Tamil supernatural thriller Sivi. Most of the film happens in Japan and the plot is about how the spirit of a girl takes vengeance on her lover who deserted her.

Taxi Driver - 2.25/5
A classic film from the year 1976. Net says the film was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time and as of July 2009, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave positive reviews. But being an old film I felt it was too slow and bit confusing too.

The Bank Job - 2.75/5
Movie about a bank robbery, adopted from a real life incident. Was pretty good and interesting.

Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru - 2.5/5
Though people who watched it said it was boring, I felt it was a good movie and a nice attempt at slapstick comedy. The baby around which the story revolves around was extremely cute.

Twilight: New Moon - 2.5/5
The second part of the Twilight series. Not so good as the first part but enjoyable for the lovely vampires are a delight to watch. ;-)

Untraceable - 2.75/5
A cyber crime based thriller with some gory scenes portraying the activities of a psychopath killer. Very gripping narration.

Vettaikaaran - 3/5
Vijay's latest movie that is a good entertainer and far better than his past 2 films which had so many negatives attached to it. It was a delight to watch.

Woh Lamhe - 2.5/5
Said to be based on actress Parveen Babi's life story. Good performances by Shiney-Rape-Ahuja and Kangana Ranaut. Drags a bit in second half though.

Yaaradi Nee Mohini - 2.75/5
A remake of Selvaraghavan's Telugu film starring Dhanush and Nayanthara. Though the movie had a few good moments and a very beautiful Nayanthara, it had equal amount of bad scenes and topping it all with a worst climax. But still, a decent entertainer.

Zombieland - 2.5/5
The story of how the leftover members of human species escape to safety after whole of America turns into a zombieland. Good entertainer.


VERY GOOD: Movies which I would rate from 3 to 4
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - 4/5
Undoubtedly one of the best films I have watched in 2009, this film brought a sweet fairy tale to life on screen. Ranbir was awesome in his role while I would rate Katrina's performance as her career best till date. Both shared a very good chemistry and except for a few cinematic sequences it was a delight to watch this film.

Anjaadhey - 3.25/5
Movie packed with a lot of realism and how a police job splits two friends apart to extreme ends. Good performances and a nice screenplay makes the movie worth its watch.

Arundathi - 3.5/5
After a long time, a heroine-based subject in Telugu cinema. Glam girl Anushka stunned with her performance which reminded me of Madhuri Dixit in her early films. Even though based on reincarnation and supernatural powers, the movie kept me engaged throughout.

Ashta Chamma - 3.5/5
Based on a novel by Oscar Wilde, the film is about a Mahesh Babu fanatic waiting to marry a guy like him, atleast with his name. Filled with fun throughout and with good performances by everyone, the film was a joyful ride.

A Walk in the clouds - 3.25/5
A film suggested by Sundara Balaji. Set in a 60's backdrop, the film has a storyline close to what we saw in Jab We Met (Now we know where it came from :D) A very sweet romantic movie

A Walk to remember - 3.75/5
Another very sweet romantic movie featuring singer Mandy Moore in lead role. A normal love story with a very moving screenplay and sequences that will make you feel good. The first English film I saw that has no abuse or swear words at all. :D

A Wednesday - 3.75/5
A very strong social film with a gripping narration with the added advantage of having brilliant performances by Nasseerudin Shah and Anupam Kher.

Cellular - 3.25/5
The movie which was remade and murdered in the name of "Vegam" in Tamil. A fast paced film with lots of thrills with cell phone playing a main role in the film.

Dostana - 3.5/5
A light hearted film which takes on gay relationship in a funny manner and also stresses on value of friendship. A fun ride. :)

Eeram - 3.75/5
One of the best thrillers in Tamil Cinema in this decade. The high points of the film are the beautiful romance that comes along with the story throughout, creating a sense of fear without any gory makeups or graphics, depicting the existence of the ghost just by the fact that she is a left-hander and a heart warming music.

Fashion - 3.75/5
Another serious film from Madhur Bhandarkar this time throwing light on the life of models and fashion world. Very close to reality and an emotional film, and one would really feel sorry for the life models adopt themselves to. Award winning performance by Priyanka Chopra and another very close one in a supporting role by Kangana make the film worth its watch.

Gangster - 3.5/5
A serious film with an unexpected twist towards the end. Extremely good performances by Shiney-Rape-Ahuja and Kangana Ranaut.

Godavari - 4/5
A perfect love story that happens in the backdrop of a boat journey on the river Godavari. The beautifully shot scenes in exotic locales along the river with an engaging screenplay and good performances makes the film a treat to watch. From the director of Happy Days, yet another feel-good film.

Happy Days - 3.75/5
One of the films close to my heart for the nice portrayal of college days which mostly fits with reality. Tamanna and newcomer Varun Sandesh were best in their roles and film had a lot of fresh feel to it. Music was awesome.

Inglourious Basterds - 3.5/5
A period film about German-Jews episode during second world war portraying the revenge of an escaped Jewish girl on the Germans and how the team of Inglourious Basterds incidentally help her achieve it. A slow film with lot of violence and gore, but at the same time the thrill builds up slowly and reaches its peak at the end. Some scenes are very lengthy but still you can't even take your eyes off the screen.

Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam - 3.5/5
Movie made in the lines of Bommarillu focusing on family values and relationships. Siddarth and Tamanna complemented each other well and gave best performances in the film. A feel-good film.

Life is Beautiful - 3.75/5
A classical film that is set in second world war time period when Hitler killed jews in huge numbers. After getting caught in the camp for jews, how a father saves his son's life from cruel Germans inspite of the hardships he faces forms the theme of the film. Very emotional film.

Matrix Trilogy - 4/5
I would probably be the last person to have watched this Trilogy. :P The whole matrix concept was very fascinating and I loved all the 3 movies very much, thanks to the subtitles that came along :D

Memento - 3.25/5
The film from which Ghajini's theme was lifted. Though it didn't have the delightful Asin's part of Ghajini, this film was way above it, in terms of narration, the characterization of the Short Term memory loss patient and the screenplay.

Mirrors - 3.75/5
A horror film themed with ghosts existing in mirrors. I experienced the chill from beginning to end and it was a very exciting watch.

Mungaaru Male - 3.5/5
The biggest grosser of Kannada Cinema starring the latest sensation Ganesh and Sanjana Gandhi. Shot in the heaven like locales of Karnataka, rain occupies most part of the film. A breezy romantic entertainer with a pathos ending.

Phone Booth - 3.5/5
The whole film was about a few hours event that happens at a phone booth. You can't take your eyes off the screen for the film has an importance for each and every frame of it.

Serendipity - 4/5
Watching this movie made me understand how a little lead taken from this film was spoiled in the name of a crap film called "Jay Jay" in Tamil. A very nice romantic entertainer with very good performances by lead cast.

Sleepless in Seattle - 3.5/5
Story of how a kid tries to find a partner for his single father through a radio show. A heart warming film with good performances and a sweet ending.

The DaVinci Code - 3.75/5
I haven't read the book but the film was really nice and the way suspense builds upon was very good.

The Hangover - 4/5
Undoubtedly one of the best films of this year, its the story of 4 friends who in a hangover try to trace out what happened during the previous night of their stay in Las Vegas. Completely hilarious throughout and full of fun.

Tube - 3.5/5
A Korean film that almost looks like a commercial Tamil film in its presentation and action scenes. Most part of the movie happens in a subway train and how a detective saves passengers in the train from the villain.

Twilight - 3.75/5
I have seen vampire films full of blood and gore. The cute romance of a girl with a vampire was very exciting and new. Part 1 of the series, the whole film was shot well and was really entertaining.

Whats your Rashee - 3.75/5
Playing multiple characters with different getups, ages and backgrounds is a difficult job, but not as difficult as showing difference in 12 characters,in same age group, same Gujarati background and with minimal changes in appearance. If not for Priyanka Chopra, this movie would have failed big time. The actress plays 12 roles with ease proving why she is one of the best in Hindi cinema. The fact that no one can play her 12 roles with same comfort in all characters and with same level of performance in Tamil cinema made me love her more in this movie ;-)

Yaavarum Nalam - 3.75/5
One of the best supernatural thrillers in Tamil in recent times. The concept of ghost in TV was very new and there were many edge-of-the-seat moments in the film. Madhavan did his role very well.

Excellent: Movies which I would rate more than 4
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kaminey - 4.5/5
Nothing can beat this film for me, as it is the most brilliant made movie of Hindi cinema last year. Shahid kapoor in a dual role playing twin brothers Charlie and Guddu, one with a lisp and other with stammering, proves yet again why he is one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema. Charlie's dialogues with "F" in place of "S" are really interesting. Priyanka Chopra supports him well and gives yet another best performance as a brave sister of a Maratha fanatic. Though a dark film, it has its own lighter moments and a thread of romance woven into it. The supporting cast was also brilliant in the film.

ALSO WATCHED
+++++++++++++
Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring: 3 hours long and with lot of special effects, this movie was good to watch but I couldn't enjoy it very much as I had never read the book and couldn't relate much with the happenings on screen. It took me 5 days to complete watching it in parts every night :D

Villu - Except for Vijay and a glamorous Nayanthara and a few nicely shot songs with them, this remake of soldier was nothing worth in it. Prabhudeva failed big time to make a movie suitable for commercial audience.

Final Contract - Watched it partly as a dubbed film on TV, so watched its original version in full. Not really good except for lot of action throughout. Story of a man who unknowingly gets caught in a death race trapped by a lady killer.

The Blair Witch Project - Watched it after hearing it would be a thriller and edited from a real footage like Paranormal Activity. Couldn't find much of a thrill and felt it was quite normal like watching a horror documentary.

Achamundu Achamundu - Read about it was a thriller, but it was more like a documentary with couple of songs. Tended very boring towards the end and the climax was very bad, as everything was over in a moment, unworthy of all the hype built till then.