Hitchcock!

Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins, Scarlett Johannson and Hellen Mirren hits theatres in January 2013. Now, I'm basically freaking out because it's FUCKING ANTHONY HOPKINS PLAYING MOTHERFUCKING ALFRED HITCHCOCK WHILE HE WAS DIRECTING MOTTHAAAAFUCKINGGGGG PSYCHO. Also, because the trailer has a gorgeous shot of SJo's ass, and here's hoping that there are more in the movie.

The movie is about Alfred Hitchcock while he was directing Psycho and the perils he had to face in the process. The good thing is that Psycho will get a cult status, not that it already didn't have one, but this movie will encourage kids to watch it, and once they do, their lives will be changed forever. Psycho is such a classic. It redefined horror in cinema. Simple cinematography and goosebump-giving background score are definitely the highlights of Psycho.

Will Anthony Hopkins pull off Hitchcock? If the man can pull off Hannibal Lecter, he can pull off anything, so don't you ever doubt Hopkins. Not even for a second.

The rest of the cast looks good too. But I just care about Hopkins and SJo.

(Just a friendly suggestion. After the movie blows your mind in January and you're tempted to watch Psycho, go ahead. Feed the temptation. And then watch other Hitchcock masterpieces like Rear Window, The Birds, Vertigo, Dial M for Murder, Marnie, Rope and Strangers on a Train)

10 movies you absolutely have to see on a priority basis.

I've been planning on making a list of movies you must watch since last year, but never got around to doing it. Here it goes, 10 movies you absoloutely-have-to-see-at-any-cost-urgently-because-they're-so-goddamn-good, in no particular order:

1. Silence of the Lambs: Watch it for Anthony Hopkins. Watch it for Buffalo Bill. Watch it. Its so weird, its so brilliant and it'll scare the living daylights out of you. Ask one of your friends to watch it too, so that you can discuss different elements of the movie that you might have missed out on. 
2. Notting Hill: While making the list, I knew that I wanted a Julia Roberts movie on the list, but I just couldn't decide on which one. Eric Brockowich is great too, and so is Pretty Woman, but Notting Hill is the mother of feel-good movies. And more than anything else, I kept on gawking at the London streets. 
3. The Pianist: I've seen a bunch of holocaust movies, but none of them had that impact on me that The Pianist did. The entire journey of Wladyslaw Szpilman played by Adrien Brody gave me gossebumps. I used to think of Roman Polanski as an average director at best before.. but that changed and how after watching this movie. Watch The Pianist because this is cinema at its depressing but enlightening best. When you finish watching the movie, you don't feel sad, instead, you get this spirit that no matter what, there's going to be light at the end of the tunnel. 
4. Bridesmaids: I know its almost criminal to put Silence of the Lambs and Bridesmaids on the same list, but hey! I never said that I was telling you to watch movies that were classics. So, Bridesmaids is undoubtedly the funniest movie I've ever seen. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Mellisa McCarthy make you laugh so much that you find yourself gasping for air. Its cheap, tacky humour mostly, but its unbelievably funny, and that's a big thing coming from me, considering how I've sat through 20 Adam Sandler movies with a straight face. 
5. The Birds: Alfred Hitchock at his terrifying best. The movie frightens you with its strangeness. Why were the birds attacking? I guess we'll never know. If you're in the mood for a 1960s movie, watch The Birds. Its almost funny to see how cinema struggled before CGI, but the emotion of fear that Hitchcock brings out is amazing. A little did-you-know: Hitchcock did not write the words "The End" during the final credits of the movie because he wanted the viewers to feel like the fear did not end, he wanted them to know that the fear will stay on. Amazing, right?
6. Matchpoint: Like Julia Roberts, I wanted a Woody Allen movie on the list, and had a tough time choosing between all the amazing movies, but I went with Matchpoint because it kept me on the edge of my seat till the very last scene. Partially that, and partially because it has Scarlett Johansson ;)
7. Requiem for a Dream: Brilliance on celluloid. RFAD stays with you for months, if not years, after watching it. Its not a movie for the faint hearted. You must prepare yourself fo the ride of a lifetime before you start watching. Its about 4 individuals and how drugs affect their lives (for lack of a better.. sentence). 
8. Amelie: Its set in Paris and it has the most delicious camera work ever. Its a French movie, so prepare to read subtitles. Amelie screams cuteness, quirkiness and amazingness. Think: the lovechild of Stanley Kubrick and Nora Ephron. Its a simple story about a very complex girl. You want to watch it over and over again, because its that good. 
9. Julie & Julia: I saw it 3 years ago in a flight and I've watched it 20 times ever since. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams playing Julia Child and Julie Powell. The movie switches between 1950s Europe and 2000s New York City and it shows the lives of the two women through the years. You see some delicious food on the screen and some amazing acting by Meryl Streep. 
10. The Shining: I wanted to conclude the list with someone as brilliant as Stanley Kubrick, so I did. The Shining is just beyond brilliant. Its a whole new genre, whole new kind of cinema. Jack Nicholson gives the performance of a lifetime. It gives you an eerie feeling up and down your spine, with the very very big and spooky Overlook Hotel. With just 3 characters in a big haunted hotel, insanity and spook follow. Strongly recommended. 

The Pianist and its brilliance

Hola! Yesterday, I watched The Pianist. I know, I know, I don't really need to review a movie that won 3 Oscars and is at #51 on the IMDb Top 250, but the film has had such a great impact on me that it's been 24 hours since I watched it and I'm still thinking about it. 

If you haven't watched the movie, read ahead on your own discretion. There can't really be any spoilers for this movie, but just saying, don't blame me.

The movie starts off with Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family living in Warsaw. The family is articulate, posh, happy and of course, Jewish. The movie shows Szpillman's journey through the holocaust and how he survived by hiding in apartments, hiding in a hospital, living on potatoes and bread throughout the war. 

I've seen a bunch of Holocaust movies before, like Schindler's List, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Life is Beautiful etc, but none of them really showed the lives of the Jews before they entered the concentration camps, so at least for me, I could sympathise with the Jews, but it never really left me devastated the way The Pianist did, because I was rooting for Szpillman's family all along. 

Also, I'm not a fighter. If I were in the protagonists' place, I would've given up long back and committed suicide, but he actually survived and when I saw the final scene, I had goosebumps, and I was ashamed of myself and I wanted to dance with joy, all at the same time. 

Its gut wrenching, beautiful, different. If you haven't watched it already, believe me, you're missing out on something huge. This is film making at its best. Not only is The Pianist the best Holocaust movie in my opinion, its my personal favorite movie of all times, solely because it evoked so many emotions out of me. 

Something about the movie Cocktail and its aftermath in the social media

Its going to be a short post about how every blog, status update and tweet these days is (or actually was, just that I'm a month too late) about how Cocktail was sexist. What I want to ask people is why they thought that Cocktail was supposed to be inspirational/ idealistic/ just etc? Its not like the movie was set in the real world or anything, because lets face it, no Indian girl is dumb enough to go to the UK without an address of her alleged husband.. or in no world does a hot Asian top level corporate boss hire employees after listening to cliched, laughed upon pick up lines. 

Just because one of the reviews shed light on how Cocktail was sexist/ chauvinistic/ cliched, everyone now has the same opinion. I didn't think that Cocktail was a masterpiece, or even tolerable for that matter, but when I went inside the movie theatre, I didn't expect to see a movie with a social message. I went to see a brainless movie with some decent music and .. Deepika Padukone. 

Social media has become the face of mob mentality. People have stopped using their brains. All they do is post long, elaborate, heavy worded status updates on Facebook that have nothing new to say; just the same old crap that you've probably already read a million times on other websites. Old wine in a new bottle.

Sigh.