Great scenes
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Black is a dramatic movie in every frame. The way it is composed, shot, acted and scored – it is as if the entire movie is climactic. I was quite impressed by it when I first saw it, but regrettably, the movie hasn’t aged that well in my mind. I still think it’s a beautiful
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Now here’s a rom-com that works. Kunal Kohli’s loose adaptation of When Harry Met Sally (arguably the best romantic comedy of all time) makes a few mistakes, but does a better job than most other Hindi movies in this genre. Saif Ali Khan, who spent years in the wilderness before breaking into the A-list with
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Salangai Oli was one of those movies that characterized the best of its era in South Indian cinema: individualistic, dramatic and comprising a clutch of bravura moments. It also happens to feature one of Kamal Hassan’s greatest performances, as a classical dancer whose love for his art, and for one woman, are pretty much the
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Pithamagan has one flaw: Laila is too loud to be credible. There, I’ve got that out of the way. Otherwise, this is pretty much a perfect movie. Heavy, hard-hitting, and comprising some incredible performances. So good that using anything less than superlatives to describe the performances of Vikram and Surya would be an insult. The
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Nanda was Surya’s breakout movie, the one that transformed him from a generic romantic hero to an actor of substance. A number of movies that came afterwards cemented that position – Kaakka Kaakka (the best cop drama in Tamil cinema bar none, in my opinion), Perazhagan (his most astounding performance to date), Pithamagan (stole nearly
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In an earlier post, I had spoken of my admiration of Bharathiraja, and how he wrote the rule book for village films with 16 Vayathinilae. That movie, more than any others I have seen that came before it, brought that milieu to life. Somehow, earlier movies never really got their hands dirty while making a
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The soul of Pulp Fiction lies in its dialogue – profane, literate, whimsical and incredibly well-delivered. In fact, the dialogue is so important to the movie, its characters are a lot more interested in what they’re saying than who they’re shooting (or being shot at by, for that matter). This is an extremely interesting choice,
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How many of you have seen a Buster Keaton movie? He’s not as well-known as Charlie Chaplin, but his comedic talents are no less prodigious. He was also an amazingly courageous stunt man – not only did he do his own stunts – some of them quite amazing – he even used to be a
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My favourite Mani Rathnam movie of all time. Yes, even more than Mouna Raagam, Nayakan or the movie I just raved about in an earlier post – Kannathil Muthamittal. I can’t quite explain why. Iruvar is the story of two men, both destined to shape the future of Tamil Nadu politics. One is an actor,
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One of the recurring themes in Mani Rathnam’s movies is that of an individual or a family caught in a social maelstrom. Kannathil Muthamittal is one such, depicting a little girl’s search for her biological mother in civil war-ravaged Sri Lanka. For the most part, the movie is, I think, pitch perfect. It overdoes it
24 frames per second 