The Truman Show (1998)

Director : Peter Weir.
Genere : Drama / Sci-Fi.
Cast : Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Ed Harris.
Rating : Regular
What if when one day, you realize that your entire life was cast for a reality show? Every thing you lived on believing to be true including your true friend from the childhood turns out as a lie someone is building for a TV show. The Truman Show is a knock towards the reality shows and it’s addictively.

A television mastermind decides to do the impossible, to create a world of his own, to create a real real-life character for his ultimate reality channel 24x7 globally. Truman was born and grown into a world of pre-scripted reality show. Every thing including his mother, father, friends, wife etc but himself is part of the system, hired to run the show.

But no system can hold a man entertained for so long. Later backed up by his bored routine life he feels the inner quest to break free and explore. May be it is an underlined instinct within all of us. But when he tries for that the show began to loose its balance, and they are forced to play God. He began to feel the resistance and limitations. The rest is like a man’s fight against fate to reach destiny.

The Truman Show is a brilliant; in depth subject handled with almost care. Despite from the incredible nature of such a hard subject, the director and the writer tried their best to make us believe and to keep it real. They have lightened the subject with a humor face to ensure the reach ability to the audience. Jim Carry as usual handled the comedy so well to melt down the hardness to believe.

My Sassy Girl (2001)

Yopgijeogin geunyeo (2001)

Director : Jae-young Kwak.
Genere : Comedy / Drama / Romance .
Cast : Tae-hyun Cha, Gianna Jun.
Rating : Classic

My Sassy Girl is also known as the titanic of the East, it is a romantic story between an aimless college kid and an enigmatic Sassy girl. This can be said as a romantic adventure movie. They meet in a subway station in a most embarrassing situation. Each time they meet our hero get more and more embarrassed. But he finds himself drawn to her and hopes that he could somehow heal her desperate inner sorrow.

The girl always loves to boss and humiliate the hero. She tries many things, but slowly a romance builds up between them. But she was not sure about the relationship, so they decides to write about their feelings and put it in a time capsule(HEROIN is a strong believer of time travel) bury it near a tree and read it after two years. But it took three years for the girl to come back for the capsule. The movie beautifully transforms from comedy to an emotional one in the second half.

This Korean flick is packed with an unusual energy and freshness which will remain in you for days. It says that the film is made based on an original story. Its simple, realistic storyline mixed with right proposition of comedy, romance and fantasy along with awesome background music makes it one of the best Romantic movies made. If you want to watch a good love story with your girl friend for the first time then, “My Sassy Girl” will make a wonderful choice.

Getting Home (2007)

Luo ye gui gen (2007)

Director : Yang Zhang.
Genere : Comedy / Road Movie .
Cast : Benshan Zhao, Qiwen Hong.
Rating : Master piece
Getting Home is a movie with a light touch of nostalgia. The whole movie is a road travel exploring deep into the life of common people in modern China. Although the movie is made to be look like a comedy from the surface, it’s packed with inner layers of human virtues and bits of philosophy. Through out the travel the movie explores all kind of people living on different levels of Chinese society.

The movie is about an honest and innocent poor worker who tries carrying his dead friend home, so that it can be cremated traditionally. On his way he encounters different types of people and problems. He explores china by his own, mostly by foot, meeting people of all age and class, a kindhearted thief, a teenager in pursuit of his dreams, a loving mother, a couple who lives away from society, an old man who celebrate his funeral before death, a girl who lies in the edge of society, a kind police man etc. Through all this, our hero experiences the beauty and dark side of human nature.

This is undoubtedly one of the best films made in China. It’s packed with beautiful visuals, music and brilliant acting that, only the celluloid can produce. Yang Zhang successfully portrays the common people and geography of china including the “Three Gorgeous” from a simple script. It can be considered as a modern day classic and a must watch.

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Director : Gabor Csupo.
Genere : Adventure / Drama / Family .
Cast : Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel.
Rating : Classic

A warning for those who thinks all stories for children, although I disagree that this movie is just for children, should revolve round the good vs. evil thing and at the climax the evil has to be defeated. This is not a movie about such things. Also this movie doesn’t have wonderlands powered with special effects. In this movie the only evil that the character may feel as evil, in the end, is Ms. Edmunds green eyes. Bridge to Terabithia is a beautiful fable. Here your imagination is the only limit. You must have an open and imaginative mind to enjoy this movie to its full extend. Once you open up, the movie will carry you.

The movie tells the story of a 10 year boy Jess Aarons. He is the only boy among the five children. His father is more of a farmer who always expects more from his only boy and worries about what he doesn’t, than does. Jerry is a kind of loner and the kids at school always bulled him. His only support at his school is his little sister who cared him the most. For an imaginative child the school may feel dump.

Things began to change when Leslie Burke comes to their neighborhood. She is a live, sprit full and imaginative kid who can bind any one in her spell. Soon they became thick friends. Their real fun begins when they invent Terabithia out of their imagination. For them Terabithia is a magical kingdom that they rules over, where any thing happen according to what they can imagine.

If you think this is just a movie about child play you are wrong. This is a movie about friendship, about relationship, about lose and more over this a movie about imagination. I don’t know if this movie have done faithful to the original novel by Katherine Paterson, but this movie stands perfect. Both Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb done fantastic job as Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Robb can pour magic on screen with her energy. Gabor Csupo and the screenwriters should be congratulated for relaying more on characters for telling the story than special effects. This movie is done with in the imagination and perspective of 10 year old Jess Aarons. And if you could go back to that age along with them, then they will take you to the magic lands of Terabithia for sure.

Mongol (2007)

Director : Sergei Bodrov.
Genere : Drama / History .
Cast : Tadanobu Asano, Khulan Chuluun, Tegen Ao.
Rating : Must Watch

Mongol is the director’s re-creation of young Temudjin’s journey to become one of the greatest conquerors the world ever saw. The movie concentrates on the early life of Temudjin before becoming the Great Genghis Khan. One of the greatest difficulties while making a movie based on historic legends is the clarity of actual events. There will be mysteries through out their lifetime and the film makers have to depend on fiction to fill up the gaps. This is not an exception for that although the film maker was bold enough to left out some blanks as such. Any thing can happen; even a divine intervention won’t be an exaggeration while telling a legendary story like this.

Temudjin was not born as a king. He was thrown to slavery after his father’s death. But destiny has a plan, life taught him every thing. He learned everything by experience. It all became clear when he finally realize that “There was no place for me to hide”
From then nothing could stand in his way from becoming the Great Genghis Khan.

Mongol beautifully portrays his family, a beautiful love and trust between Temudjin and his wife Borte, the culture and lifestyle of tribal Mongols. The Cinematography and Art department deserves special mention along with the director’s bold efforts to make this movie such wonderful.

Roger & Me (1989)

Director : Michael Moore.
Genere : Documentary.
Cast : -NA-
Rating : Must Watch


Roger and me is the directorial debut of the controversial film maker Michael Moore. It documents the Moors quest to meet G.M’s chairman Roger Smith and persuade him to spend a day in Flint, so that he could see the present wretched life of people who lost their job after the shutdown of G.M in Flint on his decision. Flint, Michigan is the home town for both General Motors and Moore. Flint enjoyed prosperity than any other sate in America. The shut down of General Motors made 30000 individuals jobless. Moor points the camera toward the horrors that followed the shut down.

Thirty thousand job less people and a city with no hope, Flint become one of the worst places in America to live. Crime rate increased, people and authorities tried their best to over come this. Moor captures all this with a great sense of humor. Through out the film he makes many desperate attempts to meet the chairman, but all his efforts turned to be futile. Michigan state authority tries many methods to keep the people occupied. They even build a new jail complex with double purpose, to keep the convicts and to give job to the jobless workers. They celebrate the opening by renting out the jail cells to wealthy couples.

Roger and me clearly casts the life of both wealthy and poor and the bridge between the two. It shows us vividly the greedy face of capitalism and about the importance of socialism and welfare system. Although many criticized about the wrong chronology and a little misdirection of Moor towards the G.M than to the Government, Roger and me is well said to impress

The Bicycle Thief (1948)

Ladri di biciclette (1948)

Director : Vittorio De Sica.
Genere : Drama.
Cast : Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell.
Rating : Master piece


As its simple name the movie is so simple. The whole story revolves round a bicycle theft. It tells the ordinary tale of some ordinary people that lives in Rome after the WWII. The social condition and life in post war European counties have been well portrayed

Antonio Ricci played by Lamberto Maggiorani is the lead character and is like others have no steady job to support his wife and children. They all have to work their parts to survive. Antonio Ricci finally succeeds to get the job as a poster-hanger for which ownership of a bicycle is a must. On his very first day at work itself his bicycle was stolen while he was on his ladder hanging the posters.

Its simple, No bicycle No job. The whole family's fate depends on that stolen bicycle. So he decides to find the bicycle at any means. The rest of the movie is based on his along with his son to find the bicycle. The movie ends with his desperate effort to steal a bicycle from the street.

The film is about a simple family man and his true effort to support his family, against the odds of the society. It gives us the raw edge of human experience through life. Post war Italian life in the urban was wonderfully photographed along with this story. This movie is undoubtedly a masterpiece of all times in story telling. At the end along with Ricci's bicycle our hearts are also stolen.