Batman Begins

Quotes from Batman Begins

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely. You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.

why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

To manipulate fears of others, you must first master your own.

The training is nothing! The will is everything!

Men fear most what they cannot see.

Theatricality and deception are powerful agents.

Sye - Challenge

Sye is an excellent movie about a bunch of college students who defend their playground by winning a game of rugby. This is a very intense movie and I rate it pretty high.

Any man's finest hour, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted in the field of battle... victorious

Pokiri

(Warning: Spoilers ahead)

Watching Pokiri (telugu) was akin to a ride into a fantasy island. This is a movie with make-believe story and good feeling in the end. The viewer is treated to fantastic action sequences, lame comedy, excellent characters, and wonderful music. The movie starts with Mahesh Babu as a contract killer (or a local rowdy). Finally, the hero sloughs off his real identity, but too late to save his dad.

There is a distinct taste in assigning the outfits for the characters. The comedians adorned capris and piquant dresses. The men, stuntmen and dancers, were given a snazzy outfit: T-shirts worn over full-sleeve shirts. Gone are those days where men used to wear T-shirts underneath full-sleeve shirts. Of course, the women were skimpily dressed and were just treated like trinkets.



Apparently, this movie topped the ratings in Tollywood and is now made again in a different language, Tamil, with different set of actors altogether.

Are You Watching Closely?

The Prestige is a movie about rival magicians, which is based on the novel by the same title. A truly wonderful movie, but can confuse the viewer if not attentive. I did not appreciate the movie until I saw the ending, which was scintillating.
The movie presented a clever demonstration of the three acts of magic: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.
I present the following quote from the Anatomy of an illusion

Every great magic trick consists of three parts, or acts.
The first part is called "The Pledge";
The magician shows you something ordinary - a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object-perhaps he asks you to inspect it, to see that it is indeed real-normal. But of course it probably isn't.

The second act is called "The Turn";
The magician makes his ordinary something and makes it to do something extraordinary. Now, you 're looking for the secret, but you won't find it because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet because making something disappear isn't enough. You have to bring it back.

That's why every magic act has a third act. The hardest part. The part we call "The Prestige".
This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.

Some more memorable quotes from the movie:

Things don't always go as planned. That's the beauty of science.

Simple maybe, but not easy.

Did you smell a rat?

I never did. But, I smelt the Oscar right around the corner for The Departed.
It maybe a remake. With star studded actors performing up under the guidance of an able director, Martin Scorsese, it sure deserves an Oscar. It is a perfect example of team effort.

Pursue your dreams

Two distinct movies: The Pursuit of Happyness and Guru. One theme: Pursue your dreams, no matter how many obstacles you face.

Abhishek Bachan (as Gurubhai) and Will Smith (as Chris Gardner) gave commendable performances.

Some quotes from The Pursuit of Happyness:

Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something.

You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.

Some quotes from Guru:

There is a saying in our village, if people say bad things about you, you must be doing something good

If you don't dream you will be stuck to your village all your life

If a law can be made in one day it can be changed in a single day

I don't want to walk... I want to run

Friendship - Hug

Do you remember the Jaddo ki chappi from Munnabhai MBBS?

Lage Raho Munnabhai is a wonderful sequel to Munnabhai MBBS and is one of the best movies that I have seen in recent times. The video below describes a heartfelt hug that Munna and Circuit share when Munna asks for forgiveness after he slaps Circuit. Touching!

The Name’s Bond. James Bond

Anyone recognizes these words. Simple, yet stylish. I finally heard the characteristic Bond phrase at the end of the movie, Casino Royale.

I watched Casino Royale on Sunday in Loma Theatre. Don’t judge the movie by the sparse crowd. The theatre is empty because of final examinations for many students.

Casino Royale provided pretty good entertainment for nearly 2 1/2 hours. The movie starts in Kill-Bill style, a black & white scene where Bond kills a fellow agent, and fractal graphics. This Bond is a lot different than the usual flirtatious James Bond movies. Daniel Craig, as James Bond, is muscular, rugged, and flexible. His dialog delivery was perfect. He was different from the rest of the bonds.

The action stills were absolutely impeccable. The one where Bond chases the bomber from a construction site and to the embassy is the best action scene.

Chris Cornell performed the title song, "You know my name".

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

I have seen court room drama. But, the Senate floor drama has an excellent gripping finish.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an old movie (1939). Nevertheless, the movie is worth watching with its classy dialogs and wit. It is widely known as a ludicrous example of filibuster in the United States Senate.

Schindler’s List

“Whoever Saves One Life, Saves The World Entire”

When I started playing this movie on my DVD player people said that it is a disturbing, depressing and upsetting movie. I somehow watched the movie completely over a span of one week. I reckon they did not watch the movie till the end. I agree that there were certain scenes that were downright upsetting. But, they justified the ending.


Schindler’s List is about the roster prepared by a bodacious business man, Oskar Schindler. He saves the lives of 1100 Jews during the Holocaust. I am not going to give up anything more about the ral story. Read Wikipedia entry for spoilers. Watch the movie till the end. The ghastly disturbing scenes are worth and are justified at the end. I highly recommend watching Schindler’s List.

It is not a surprising fact that this movie is currently rated 7th in the IMDB rankings.

Don vs. Jann-e-Mann

These two Hindi movies are the subject of comparison as they were released at the same time for Diwali. I heard that they are going to play these movies in Albuquerque. I look forward to watching them and provide first-hand reviews.

Stalin

Date: October 22nd
Time: Evening show (6:15 pm)
Venue: At SUB THEATER (Student Union Building, University of New Mexico, 87106)

The Greatest Game Ever Played

“There are only two types of player: Those who keep their nerves in control and win championships, and those who do not”

Kalyug

It is a wonderful movie based on the illegal and shameful acts in porn industry. The attitude of the lead character, Kunal, was commendable. Even when he got his chance to wreak vengeance, he remembers what his father says about helping others in need. The part where Kunal reveres his father lent verisimilitude to this otherwise sensitive movie. I don’t remember the exact quote. But, it goes something along these lines.

If you want to ease your pain, try reducing somebody else’s pain.

The qawwali style song, Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaaye, is an absolute catcher. It was sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, nephew of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Bommarillu

This movie is playing in Albuquerque at the SUB Theater (Student Union Building), University of New Mexico campus on September 9th. There are two shows: 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

Fanaa

You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.
-John Adams

Yesterday night, I got a chance to watch the movie Fanna at Ajay’s place.

The movie is a mixture of poetry, photography, sentiment, romance, principles, and patriotism; all of the elements in good nature.
The lead actor, Aamir Khan, proves that he is invincible in dialog delivery and action. I get reminded of Kamal Haasan when I see Aamir’s movies. They both seek perfection. He is an actor who performs with panache.

Even though the shayari (lyricism) is platitudinal, it sounds exceptional and adorable when Aamir Khan recites it.

A couple of lyrics that I remember as of this writing are as follows:

Zindagi kay safar mein kisi ko itna mat chaho keh woh
Tumhari chahton ka kaatil aur wafaon ka saudagar ban jaye

Aag suraj mein hoti hai,
Jalna zameen ko padtha hai
Mohabbath nigaahen karthi hain
Tadapna dil ko padta hai

Sri Ramadasu

Due to popular demand, Indian Student Association @ UNM is playing Sri Ramadasu instead of the earlier advertised Vikramarkudu. Here is the new poster:

Vikramarkudu

The Indian Student Association @ UNM in Albuquerque has been actively playing new movies in their theatre. During the summer semester they played good movies. It has been always a pleasure to watch a nice movie on big screen in the company of a large audience.

This coming weekend they are playing “Vikramarkudu.” Here is the poster

Krrish - Just Imagine!

This is one of the best Hrithik and action movies that I have seen. The performance of all the artists is commendable.

If you loved “Koi Mila Gaya”, you will adore “Krrish.” Hrithik Roshan proved his versatility in this movie. The photography, special effects, and stunts were incredible. The quandary faced by Krrish was more than the regular batman stuff. In my opinion, the story was wonderfully handled. It was a full fledged action movie worth watching. In these times where the sequel does not live up to expectations, Krrish provided a far superior sequel to the movie “Koi Mil Gaya.” The music was good. The song entitled “Pyar Ki Ek Kahani” was my favorite.

Imagine as much as you can. Krrish beats your expectations.

Rang De Basanti

I had been reading about this movie in many blogs. This movie lived up to its hype. Aamir Khan’s character was, as always, witty. He had been producing high quality and good movies with English actresses. He seems to have some lucky charm when he works with English actors and British regime. (Lagaan, Rang De Basanti) The movie is entertaining and thought provoking, with the recipe for a successful Bollywood story. The language is colloquial, regional, and capturing. Aamir is his usual Ghulam stylish and evokes laughter.