thrilleR Movies!

Exam – DON’T MISS THIS MOVIE!

2011-11-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Do you think you’re so brilliant? Do you like watching a thriller movie? If you say ‘Yes’ for these questions, DO NOT MISS this movie!

There are 8 candidates who are in final stage of the selection process. Only one of them will be selected for the job. So each candidate has to beat all others.

The Exam room has no windows. There are 8 seats for candidates. A time clock. An armed guard by the door!

Here comes the invigilator. He says there will be only one question in front of them to be answered. They can take 80 minutes. But in this exam, the candidates have to follow three rules.

Rules:

#1 -They should not try to talk to the invigilator or the armed guard

#2 – They should not spoil their paper

#3 – They should not leave the room for any reason

If they break these rules, the guard will throw him/her out of the room. After announcing these rules, the invigilator asks the candidates whether they have any questions. Since the rule #1 stays in their mind, everyone remains silent. Then the invigilator leaves the room.

Now the clock starts ticking. All candidates turn over their paper but only to find out there is no question in that paper. Then they realize that this is not just yet another exam to get a job. This is something tricky. The Management wants to choose the best of them.

They have 80 minutes. Only one question. But it is not there in their paper. What will they do? Watch the movie to find out the answer…..…precisely, the question :-)

I have seen some movies which are shot most of the scenes in just one or two locations, like, “Rope” (Alfred Hitchcock), “Phone Booth” etc. Unless you have an interesting script, it is hardly possible to make viewers sit tight. From the start to end, I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope everyone does feel the same while watching this movie.

To be honest, after watched this movie, I really felt bad for not finding the question. Felt like, “Oh god! How did I miss this?” But that was a fantastic feeling. Just watch and I’m sure you would agree with me :-)

Public Enemies

2011-10-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

More than 'Pirates of the Carribean' series, I personally like Johnny Depp's performance in Robert Rodriguez's "Once upon a time in Mexico". Ever since, I started to take notice whenever a film of his get released.

I guess my memory stays good. So I still remember when did I get a first look of this movie. I was in a showroom looking out for digital camera. They have had LCD TVs too. When I was looking at it in between, a trailer of this movie started. I was just looking at the TV. Digital Camera? Let's see later...first let me have a look at this movie.

When I came to know that this is a real story, I decided that I shouldn't miss this movie.

This story starts in 1930s. John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is a notorious bank robber. He has a set of friends who always accompanies him during robbery. After the completion of a job, John meets Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) in a restaurant. At first, he introduces himself as Jack. But very soon he wanted to be true to her. So he reveals his identity. After a bit of hesitation, Billie falls for John.

Meanwhile, the FBI announces John as the Public Enemy No.1. Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) has been assigned to capture John Dillinger. Having belief in scientific methods, Melvin is so confident of putting John behind the bar. Truly, he does so. But still John manages to break the prison. Then what? Watch the movie...I don't want to spoil the suspense.

For the first one hour, I have had a little interest. As the movie progresses, it becomes so interested. But still, only if you have patience, you can enjoy this movie. This is not a kinda boom-boom-dush-dush action movie.

Just look at Johnny Depp's reaction while his girl friend being arrested by police. Fantastic performance! What more can you say?

Catch Me If You Can

2010-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Tagline: The true story of a real fake

Another movie from my most favorite director! After dropping out of Big Fish and Memoirs of a Geisha, Spielberg (initially involved as a producer) decided to direct this movie, a true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. Filming took place from February to May 2002 and released in December 2002.

The film begins in 1969, with FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) arriving at a French prison to meet the sick Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio). The movie then started from Frank as 16 years old, who lives happily with the family.

But after some financial and personal issues within the family, Frank’s parents are decided to split. Frank cannot tolerate this and he leaves home only with the checkbook, which was given as a birthday gift from his father. Slowly he starts to do check forgery and enjoy the life.

And later he successfully conned millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor and Louisiana attorney and parish prosecutor. During these whole things happen, Carl on a run to catch Frank.

It is very hard to believe to everyone, all these stuff done before his 19th birthday. And finally, since his primary crime was check forgery, becoming so skillful that the FBI eventually turned to him for help in catching other check forgers.

It was really surprising Leonardo acted as a 16 years old, because we all know his age. During the filming, his age was almost double what he portrays in movie. But he toned his body very well and make us believe he is really a 16 years old kid. And no need to tell about such a great actor Tom Hanks, he shows the disappointment in his eyes whenever he miss Frank.

Absolutely wonderful movie to watch two great performances!

‘Real’ Frank Abagnale’s reaction to the film: “I know that Hollywood has made a number of changes to the story, but I am honored that Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks participated in the making of the movie inspired by my life. It is important to understand that it is just a movie, not a biographical documentary”

Avatar

2009-12-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

Directed by James Cameron, this movie was released on December 18, 2009. I really don’t know any director other than James Cameron who has 12 years period between the current movie and the last one. While watching this movie, you can realize that he just put his full effort and made these 12 years a worth.

In 2154, Pandora is inhabited by Na’vi. Humans cannot able to breathe in Pandora. So Dr. Grace Augustine ( Sigourney Weaver) create the Avatar program, genetically engineering human-Na'vi hybrids. A human who shares genetic material with an avatar is mentally linked to it, allowing them to control it while their own body sleeps.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) a former US Marine who was paralyzed below the waist in combat on Earth. Since his twin brother Thomas was killed, who was working in Avatar program, Jake got the opportunity to become an Avatar.

While the process is going, Jake is ordered by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to obtain the trust of the Na'vi and is given three months to convince them to abandon their Hometree. But after few days, Jake realized that this is not at all possible. So Colonel Quaritch attacks Na’vi. And this makes Jake to decide to join Na’vi and protect them. How can he able to make it success? Watch this wonderful movie!

If you hear this story from someone, you may feel that it is nothing new, it’s just usual. But when you watch it, you would just forget the storyline. Brilliant Direction and Special Effects! I feel James Cameron should make his team ready for another Academy Awards night for this movie, especially Special Effects.

A – A treat of
V – Visual
A – And
T – Technology…
A – Again

R – Rocking by James Cameron

The Transporter

2009-12-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

Tagline: Rules are made to be broken

Directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen, this movie was released on October 2002. Responding to the success of “The Transporter”, two more sequels are made, Transporter 2 (Sep 2005) & Transporter 3 (Nov 2008).

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is hired to deliver a package to a gangster who is known only as “Wall Street” in his BMW 735i. Frank has his own rules while delivering a package to the destination.

But at some point of time, he has to open that package in middle of the way. After opened that package he realized that the package is nothing but a tied young woman by the name of Lai (Shu Qi). By seeing a young woman who is in the situation to be protected by someone, what Frank will do? And why Lai was tied up and sent as a package to somewhere? Watch the movie!

If you expect some great story, this is not a movie you would like to watch. But it has wonderful action scenes backed by a good screenplay and cinematogrpahy. Only if you like action genre, you would love to watch this movie. And it’s really worth to watch!

Frank Martin’s Rules:

Rule One: A deal's a deal...Never change the deal.

Rule Two: No names - Frank doesn't want to know for whom he's working, or what he's transporting. Likewise, he wishes to remain anonymous to his clients.

Rule Three: Never look in the package.

Phone Booth

2009-12-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Tagline: Your life is on the line

Is it possible a movie shot in just only one location can keep audience at the edge of their seat for 75-odd minutes? "No" is the answer until you watch "Phone Booth".

Directed by Joel Schumacher, this movie was released on April 2003. It stars Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell and Katie Holmes.

From a phone booth, Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a publicist, calls Pamela McFadden (Katie Holmes), a young actress. Though he is married to Kelly (Radha Mitchell) he wants to hide it so that he can have a relationship with Pam.

Captain Ed Raminey negotiates with Stu...

When he talks to Pam, a pizza delivery man tries to deliver a pizza to Stu. But Stu refuses and talks to that person in very rude manner. After he finished talking to Pam, when he tries to leave, the phone is ringing. Stu answers it. The Caller says that Stu should have accepted the pizza as it would have kept his strength up for what comes next.

Kelly tries to talk...

Here, the story starts. Stu is warned not to leave the booth. The Caller let Stu know that he holds a rifle and can shoot him at anytime he wants to. What does the caller want? Simple. Stu must confess that he is cheating both Kelly and Pam.

Pam shocked over Stu's words...

Can Stu able to come out alive from that phone booth? Did he accept that he lied to Kelly and Pam? I don’t want to break the suspense by telling more. Just watch this scintillating thriller!

The Silence of the Lambs

2009-11-30T11:46:00.001-08:00

Directed by Jonathan Demme, this psychological horror/thriller movie was released in 1991. This movie is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris.

Young FBI cadet, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to find a missing woman (a US Senator’s daughter). Starling has only one detail in her case – that girl is kidnapped by a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill”. So she seeks help from Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist-turned-cannibalistic serial killer.

And Starling has also her own tragedy in her childhood. During the conversation with Lecter, she tells him that how she was orphaned, after that stayed with a relative, discovered a lamb slaughter place and failed in an attempt to rescue one of the lambs. This has always been the nightmare since then.

To simply say, how Agent Starling finds that serial killer “Buffalo Bill” with the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and getting herself relieved from her nightmare since her childhood forms the crux of the story.

Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins have given one of the best performances in their career ever. As a young FBI cadet, Jodie Foster shows the enthusiasm, nervous, boldness etc. And especially if you watch it closely, Hopkins’ screen presence is not more than 30 minutes. But his performance makes us to think like he is always there.

After It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), The Silence of the Lambs is the third movie to win the five main Academy Awards.

Best Actress – Jodie Foster

Best Actor – Anthony Hopkins

Best Director – Jonathan Demme

Best Picture – Kenneth Utt/Edward Saxon/Ron Bozman

Best Adapted Screenplay – Ted Tally

Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s famous quote in this movie : “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

War of the Worlds

2009-11-22T08:09:00.001-08:00

Ray and Rachel looking at the clouds...

Hiding in the basement...

Directed by Steven Spielberg – I think this is the main reason why I like this movie. Produced by DreamWorks and Cruise/Wagner, this movie was released on June 2005. This movie is an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name, but the screenplay written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp.

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), a dock worker lives alone in New Jersey. He is estranged from his wife and children. So Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) allows her kids to live with their father for a few days. At that time, alien tripod machines started to kill people in New Jersey. Estranged but an affectionate father tries to save his family. He is not a super man, he is just a common man. Yet, he wants to protect his daughter and hand her over to her mom who is in Boston. How does he succeed, what happened to tripods then, shows us in “War of the Worlds”.

If anyone asks me what you don’t like in this movie, it would be one of the toughest questions I have ever faced. From start to end, this is a treat to watch. Particularly I like the camera work when Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) explains to his kids about the things happening while driving the car. This is really a fantastic scene.

And through all over the film, suspense and thrilling continues till the end. ‘What’ll happen next, how they’re going to survive…these kind of questions always in mind when you watch this movie.

Graphics work in this movie is something wonderful. And the kid who played as Ray’s daughter Rachel Ferrier (Dakota Fanning) has done a tremendous job. In many scenes, fear has been shown only through her eyes and expressions. A great movie from Steven Spielberg indeed!

Paranormal Activity

2009-11-14T23:39:00.000-08:00

There!

Directed by Oren Peli, “Paranormal Activity” released on October 2009. This is a must-watch for those who like horror movies.

Katie (Katie Featherston) believes that she has been haunted by some ghostly thing since her youth and “it” is in their home. So Micah (Micah Sloat) buys a video camera to capture the ghost activity….umm….I feel this is enough to tell about this movie. I don’t want to go elaborately and break the suspense. So watch it!

How Steven Spielberg got connected to this movie?

(Thanks: Wikipedia)

In 2008, the DVD of this movie ended up at DreamWorks and was viewed by Production Executive Ashley Brooks. Brooks was so impressed by the movie that she "pestered" her boss, Production Chief Adam Goodman, every day to see the film until he eventually saw it. Goodman, in turn, brought it to his boss, Studio Chief Stacey Snider. They were impressed by the film as well and handed the DVD to Steven Spielberg, who took it home to watch.

Spielberg allegedly returned to DreamWorks the next day with the DVD in a "garbage bag" because he thought the DVD was "haunted". According to Spielberg, minutes after he viewed the film, his bedroom doors "locked by themselves" and he could not get out without calling in a locksmith. Despite this, Spielberg loved the movie and helped to greenlight a remake to be produced by Jason Blum and directed by Oren Peli again. Paramount acquired the domestic rights to the film, and international rights to potential sequels, for $300,000!

Behind Enemy Lines

2009-11-14T23:13:00.001-08:00

Burnett contacts Admiral Reigart...

This is a 20th Century Fox movie, directed by John Moore and released on November 2001.

Being not involved in any war, Naval Flight Officer Lt. Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) feels that he is not doing what he wanted to do. So he put his resignation letter to USN Rear Admiral Leslie Reigart (Gene Hackman). Disappointed with his attitude, Admiral Reigart just hold on his resignation right then and tell him when they back home he would be relieved.

But Admiral Reigart assigned Naval Aviator Lt. Jeremy Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht) and Chris Burnett a reconnaissance mission on Christmas day.

While flying in F/A-18F Super Hornet, Naval Aviator Lt. Jeremy Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht) and Naval Flight Officer Lt. Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) crossed their allotted area, decides to fly in no-fly zone because they find some suspicious things over Bosnia. But Serbian forces target them and shot down the plane.

Burnett and Stackhouse eject from their plane and land in Serb-held territory. Stackhouse got injured from the ejection and Burnett attempts to contact Reigart for help. Meanwhile a Serb patrol finds Stackhouse, Burnett observes as they interrogate and execute him.

Now the lone survivor contacts Admiral Reigart and Reigart got caught himself with the order of his Commanding Officer’s order and the search-and-rescue mission (to save Burnett). Because the Officer feels that the mission would trouble the peace process. What can Admiral Reigart do now? Can Burnett be able to escape from Serb forces? That’s the story….

Charlie's Angels

2009-11-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

Angels ready for action!!!

My Favorite Angel ;)

So another picture of her as bonus :)

Girls can do action movies? If you underestimate them, well, this movie is the perfect answer for this question. Directed by McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol), “Charlie’s Angels” surprised us in October, 2000.

Angels are Cameron Diaz (Natalie), Drew Barrymore (Dylan) and Lucy Liu (Alex). They are working for Charlie, who they’ve never seen. They hear only his voice through phone and he assigned them a job. Eric Knox, owner of Knox Technologies, whose voice-recognition software has been stolen, is looking out for Charlie’s help. So the angels help him.

But very soon after they finish their task, they find that their home is destroyed. And also they come to know that Charlie’s life is in danger. Can we able to protect someone we've never seen in our life? And how did angels bring back the smile into their face by protecting Charlie is the rest of the story.

The Success of this move made the producers to make a sequel “Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle” and it was released in June 2003.

I think Drew Barrymore stands top among the three angels. May be the reason is, she’s one of the producers ;) I didn't know who was Drew Barrymore before "Charlie's Angels". I have not seen a movie of Drew Barrymore after “Charlie’s Angels” series till now. But I like her action, smile, acting etc. That’s why there’s a bonus picture of her ;)

The Bourne Identity

2009-11-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

Bourne enters the city...

Climax...

“I can walk, I can talk, I can add, I can subtract, I can laugh, I can kick, I can do this, I can do that…... but I don’t know who am I”. This is the situation Jason Bourne faces in “The Bourne Identity”.

Based on Robert Ludlum’s novel, this movie was released in 2002 as the first part of the series. In this movie, Jason Bourne tries to find his true identity, at the same time, CIA wants to track him down. Reason? Bourne is an assassin and he failed in an assassination which was assigned to him. Could he able to know who he was? Did he escape from CIA's attempt? That’s what “The Bourne Identity” shows us. A wonderful spy thriller indeed.

Matt Damon played as Jason Bourne is a perfect fit for this character. In this movie, Damon didn’t use body-double, instead, he has done so many stunts himself including climbing the safe house walls scene and hand-to-hand combat etc.

Since “The Bourne Identity” tasted success in 2002, two other sequels made, “The Bourne Supremacy” in 2004 and “The Bourne Ultimatum” in 2007. I really couldn’t rate which one is better. I like all the 3 movies.

“The Bourne Ultimatum” got nominated in 80th Academy Awards and won all the three, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing.

And apart from Matt Damon, I feel the good performance comes from Joan Allen who played as Pamela Landy in “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”.

And to the surprise, another movie of Jason Bourne is going to be released in 2010 or 2011, that is, “The Bourne Legacy”. I can’t wait to watch this movie!

Raiders of the Lost Ark

2009-10-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Introduction Scene.....

Typical Costume of Indiana Jones

Even before “Surrogates” I had this movie in my mind to write here.

Steven Spielberg – Harrison Ford. What a combination! When you go to a movie which has one of the best directors and one of the best actors, you will expect more. This movie has live up to its expectation & reputation and got success for its lethal combination. No disappointment to the fans at all.

This is the first movie of Indiana Jones franchise. When you see Indiana Jones, he may remind you a little bit of James Bond. But still he excels in his own style. This movie was released on June 12, 1981 and won in five categories (Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects, and Sound Effects Editing) in 1982 Academy Awards.

In this movie, Indiana Jones takes Nazis who are in search for the Ark of the Covenant, in an attempt to make their army invincible. How the treasure hunter-cum-archeologist fights the Nazis and overcome them forms the rest of the story.

Following the huge success, there are 3 more movies in this series till date. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

My favorite order in this series is...

1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Thanks to two legends, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford, I enjoyed the humor very much in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. You can also say in comments about your favorite one from this list!

Waiting to watch this movie!

2009-10-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve watched some of old Basil Rathbone starred Sherlock Holmes movies, released in 1940s. Holmes always involved in finding a solution for the crime with his detective work rather than hand-to-hand combat. But it was in 1940s. Let’s wait how our new Holmes works!

This movie is going to be released on December 25, 2009.

Surrogates

2009-10-18T06:06:00.001-07:00

It’s Bruce’s movie again – Surrogates. Surrogates is a sci-fi film directed by Jonathan Mostow. In 2017, people live or work from home. All the work they have to do is done by their remote-controlled bodies also known as “Surrogates”.

Whatever happened to their surrogates, people are supposed to be alive and safe. But after some murders, FBI Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) starts the investigation. Can Tom able to find the motive behind these murders? Why did these murders happen? That’s what “Surrogates” answers.

To give an honest review about this movie, ummm….some may like it, some may not. I fall under the later category. Couple of action sequences is good and Art Direction is good. No other thing seems to be interesting. And I would like to ask a question, what is the logic that Surrogates are looking much better than real people?

When I go to watch Bruce’s movies, “Die Hard” always comes to my mind. So expectations are always high! Hope Bruce would strike in his next release “A Couple of Dicks”

Die Hard

2009-10-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Well, this is one of the best action films ever I have seen. That’s why I start with this movie. Bruce Willis – One of my favorite actors. But that is not the reason for this movie being in my favorite list. In fact, I don’t like some of Bruce’s movies.

Then what I like? Thrilling screenplay, fantastic action, both protagonist and antagonist’s acting. Generally in James Bond movies, their costume will never fold and they will be in stylish from start to end of the movie (But I like all James Bond movies too except Daniel Craig’s). But in this movie, Bruce is get wounded, no shoes, no shirt, gets his dress torn…looks like he’s not a typical hero. He is not a superman, he’s afraid, he’s fighting, and he’s a loving husband, to simply say…he’s just a normal cop and a normal person.

But being just a normal cop, he still wants to fight the antagonist to save the hostages which included his wife. Remember he’s just having only one gun, so he uses his brain, makes some plans, take some risks and finally save the people. Only after watched this movie, I became Bruce’s fan.

Yippeee-Kay-Yay……

Introduction

2009-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Why this blog?

Those who are close to me know very well that I’m really really crazy about movies. To me, since childhood, Hollywood movies means only Jackie Chan movies and Jurassic Park series. Just 2 years before, I started to watch some fantastic Hollywood movies in DVD.

Then I felt that I have missed a lot of good movies. Since then I have been watching a lot of Hollywood movies. My favorite genre are Action/Thriller/Crime. So in this blog, I’m gonna write about the movies which I like very much. These movies may be old to so many people. But I just want to write in my words Why I like this movie, What I like in this movie etc.

Probably I would write about one or two movies on every Sunday....