House of Flying Daggers (2004, Chinese)

Director: Zhang Yimou                      

Cast: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau

Genre: Action, Drama

Plot: Chinese dynasty rule is plagued by various rebellions—“House of Flying Daggers” is one such rebel group.  

Contrary to what the name suggests, this wuxia film isn’t a high-octane dose of martial arts, it’s rather well-balanced with a heartwarming/wrenching tale of love.

The initial action scenes may not stir you much and you may not find them outstanding, but that is deliberately done only to build up tempo of the movie. As the movie progresses it starts to grip you. While protagonists run from law the vista changes constantly from deep forest to flowery meadow to bamboo forest to golden brown of autumn – bringing back memories of my recent Roopkund trek :)
The forest fight scene and bamboo jungle scene are top notch even remind you of “Crouching Tigers Hidden Dragons”. Bow-arrow scenes are nifty but LOTR-Legolas remains my personal favorite. The daggers are really cool! They are so made to even work as a boomerang!

It would have been a 7+ for me had it not climaxed the way it did. Astounding climax, not just story-wise but visually too – especially visually, and perfectly executed! Totally takes you unawares…didn't expect it to be so...what can I say? only "Rebecca" did this to me before! 

Some Trivia: There was supposed to be no snow-fall in the climax scene but it snowed while shooting and that gelled so beautifully with the scene, adding even more weight to it.

Strongest aspects of this movie are its striking visuals (read natural beauty) and use of various bright colors. What Argento does with colors in his horror movies, Yimou replicates that in his drama/action movies—he actually betters him.

A must watch, highly recommended if you want to experience nature up-close on screen!

8.2/10

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Director: Richard Attenborough

Cast: Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford

Genre: War-drama, History

Plot: WWII operation Market-Garden is deemed as 90% success by most historians, contrariwise, this movie depicts why it was more than just 10% failure.

 
Based on the book by Cornelius Ryan this movie brings to screen shortcomings (the often not talked about) of the allied forces that led to strategic failure, resulting in loss of life.

A Bridge Too Far deals with an aspect of WWII that is mostly overlooked in other wartime movies. Not many movies portray the allied forced on the losing side; this one does and does so with quite immaculately.

September 1944 - Axis forces are almost defeated and with their resources exhausted, they are retracting from Netherlands. US general Patton and British Marshal Montgomery are racing against each other to be the first one to claim Berlin—their overconfidence overshadows this movie. Political games higher up the ranks force Eisenhower to give clear to Montgomery’s Market-Garden operation.

Market-Garden basically comprised more than 30,000 air-droppings of paratroopers 60+ miles behind enemy lines—an even bigger number than D-day. These paratroopers were supposed to attack and hold the bridges until infantry could arrive to secure them. However, the plan was chalked out hastily, and a lot of basic requirements and warning were completely overlooked. E.g., junior officers kept mum about possibility of radio-communication failure due to terrain (trees and water) and foggy weather conditions; those who reported suspicious enemy activity—tanks captured during aerial scouting and reports from Dutch underground about German elite force: Panzers—were removed from duty. Even some senior officers raised doubts about the strategic planning of Market-Garden—a prime concern being, the daytime jumps 8 miles from the bridge they were supposed to take over. All this notwithstanding, on site in-charge of operation General Browning goes ahead with Market-Garden.

The movie has very lifelike detailing of army infiltration and espionage. You actually feel the desperation of men who are trapped within enemy lines, running short on supplies. The scene of construction of Bailey bridge is simply awe-inspiring.

General Urquhart (Connery) of British Airborne Division, Arnhem loses 8000 of his 10,000 men and is rescued by Major General Sosabowski (Hackman). Lt. Col. Frost (Hopkins) in-charge of 1st British Airborne Division at Arnhem road-bridge dies fighting.

The huge star cast delivers a good performance, though there isn’t much scope for any one in particular as there are so many characters.

The movie probably didn’t gather as much accolade from audience, due its theme that is slightly anti of what we are used to but it is critically acclaimed and quite an honest work of art. Length might deter some!

A must watch to experience the flip side of war.

7.6/10

Troll Hunter (2010, Norwegian - Trolljegeren)

Director: André Øvredal

Genre: Fantasy, Mockumentary

Scottish had their mystic Loch Ness Monster 'Nessie' so why can't Norwegians have their very own Trolls!

Please don't judge by the name, it's surprisingly well made and mostly gripping!

Ever since "Blair Witch Project" started the trend for horror mockumentaries we have seen plenty similar ones: Paranormal Activity, Rec, The Fourth Kind (one of the best in my opinion), and now, Troll Hunter is one more addition to the list.

Those into the genre have always enjoyed the antics of mythical Nessie. So many stories and movies have come out based on this character. Somehow, people have moved on from mythical film—Bigfoot never quite captured the imagination on big-screen as Nessie did, and "Bermuda Triangle" has been decoded. So, "Troll Hunter" is what you watch when you crave for something similar and peculiar! 

It is a low budget movie but the camera work simply astonishes you, and the CGI is commendable too—the trolls look very convincing!

The story revolves around a group of students trying to figure out the depths of a governmental cover-up. These students assume they are only after some bear poachers, however, they didn’t bargain for a Troll hunter! The movie maintains a good pace all through and there are exciting /comic incidents every now and then. The explanation given for the high altitude Norwegian power grids is very amusing :)

In the climax they do go a bit over the top for a mockumentary but it’s something you want and enjoy—a guilty pleasure!

7.5/10

Going My Way (1944)

Director: Leo McCarey

Cast: Bing Crosby

Genre: Musical Comedy

A lovely and adorable Musical, perhaps an inspiration for "West Side Story" and other classic musicals. This movie somewhat reminds of good ol', short & sweet "Marty" as well!

Plot: Father Chuck (Bing Crosby) is a face of progressive Church. He is young, flamboyant, caring person who has left behind a life of fun and frolic to join the Parish. He wins the heart of young and old alike without exercising any harsh discipline or preaching, rather playfully and musically. 

Bing Crosby's act is like a soothing symphony. He is very rhythmic and it is topnotch cinematic art to see how he deals with the aging father whom he is supposed to replace, eventually.

I don't know who that young blond was but she was hot!!

A complete joyride.

8.2/10

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah

Genre: Drama-Comedy

Writer: Zach Helm

Plot: Stranger than fiction—indeed!

A delightful movie that exemplifies top notch direction and a perfect script. Zach Helm's writing is the real showstopper; he conceived a brilliantly writing film. "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" would be the obvious next choice for me where he directs too—it’s already tempting with Portman in it!

Marc Forster is another young director to look out for. He already boasts of successful films like Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner (need to watch this beauty asap!), Quantum of Solace and none of them are similar. Even his latest “Machine Gun Preacher” has a very strong plot. 

What can be said of Ferrell? Not surprisingly, he wasn’t even nominated for any major awards. It’s is high time these Awards recognize comedians—in addition to perfect timing, maintaining the same intensity with multiple retakes is more difficult in a comic act—and give them their dues. Actors like Ferrell, Jim Carrey, etc have been branded as comedian and anything they are associated with, is branded as comedy—doesn’t matter how meaningful and deep it is. Almost same is the case with negative roles.I just hope awards grow up soon and stupendous acts like “Joker/Ledger”—arguably the best ever—don’t have to settle down with “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role”!!

As for the movie, I’ll just quote Forster: “It's not the exact accurate story, but for me the film really isn't about reality. It's about the transformation of imagination, about creativity, about belief. That basically, if you believe, you can make anything happen.” 

This was his take on “Finding Neverland” which, for me, holds true for Stranger than Fiction!

 8.3/10

P.S., loved Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium too!