| The
Princess Bride - a cult classic I discovered while in college.
This movie will surprise you with its wit, humor and charm on many levels.
You may find yourself playing it back in your mind decades later. It
is a fairytale love story that has everything: giants, fighting, pirates,
and most importantly it has that which all of us hope for and very few
lucky ones do find: True Love. By the end of this movie you too “won’t
mind the kissing part”. This film is loaded with actors who later stared
in renowned films. I've watched this movie on so many occasions, that
I've practically memorized the whole script. Oftentimes in everyday
conversation, especially with friends who have watched the movie with
me, I quote lines from this classic. Something about this movies makes
it so charming and unique that you just want to watch it again and again.
(1987) |
|
| Gladiator
– I have a great affinity for war movies. Even though this film
only has one battle scene at the very beginning of the movie it provides
intense, graphic and visually stunning fight scenes throughout the whole
plot. It chronologically follows the fate of its main character: a roman
general, who became a slave, turned into a gladiator, who became a hero
and defied the emperor. Loosely based on historical facts, it illustrates
form multiple viewpoints and in amazing detail what life was like during
the reign of the Roman Empire. This film is a perfect mix of action,
dialogue, intrigue, and a very well written storyline that along with
amazing cinematography and a moving soundtrack makes it a real masterpiece.(2000) |
|
| Forrest
Gump –If you’re an American and you haven’t seen this movie,
I suggest you buy it online or run to the video store right now. This
movie is a classic. Best picture of 1994. It received 14 Academy Awards
Nominations – and won 6 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
It’s a great piece of Americana honestly and with a great sense of humor
portraying main socio-political events of the last three decades. The
storyline follows the life of a slow witted but righteous and wise protagonist:
Forrest Gump. He will entertain you, he will make you laugh, he may
make you cry… but he definitely will make you think. This film will
force you to reflect on life from a completely new angle – through the
eyes of someone who is not that stupid after all.(1994) |
|
| One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – best film of 1975, nominated
for 8 Oscars with 4 wins in major categories: Best Picture, Best Actor,
Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, 6 British Academy Awards, 6 Golden
Globes and then some. Louise Fletcher and Jack Nicholson collide on
screen as the hateful Nurse Ratched destroys McMurphy’s attempts to
bring normality, friendship and fun into the life to his fellow inmates
at a mental institution. Both come out victorious with an Oscar each.
It’s a deep, sometimes disturbing movie with great performances from
practically everyone. All the loonies from this ward went along to establish
themselves as fruitful productive and in a several cases famous actors
(Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, et al) (1975) |
|
| Chicago
– is a musical comedy about murder, booze and most importantly
jazz. With all the amazing musical parts it makes for awesome entertainment.
It even makes Richard Gere look like a real singer. It has a superb
soundtrack, solid acting and overall it’s an enchanting movie. Nominated
for 12, it won 5 Academy Awards including Best Sound. All the signing
parts with exception of Richard Gere's are outstanding, charged with
energy and perfectly coherent with the plot. The movie is visually stunning.
Choreography is great. Overall it is a very well made film. (2002) |
|
| Braveheart
– it is in my opinion Mel Gibson’s crowning achievement. This
movie revolutionized the genre. A series of similarly themed epic war
movies followed, utilizing the same ideas, special effects, theme, and
even cast members. Nominated for 10 Oscars, it was awarded 5 – including
best picture. The movie is action packed, has deep emotional content
and a very good plot that is both interesting and for the most part
historically accurate. Beautiful cinematography shows gorgeous highlands
of Scotland in all their magnificence. The actors are very well cast.
Every main character delivers a grand performance. This movie will take
you on an emotional roller coaster, and by the end of it you will feel
like you're one of the rebelling warrior poets taking field to fight
for your freedom and the freedom of your land. (1995) |
|
| True
Romance - What do you get when you cast Christian Slater, Patricia
Arquette, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman,
Brad Pitt, Tom Sizemore, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Saul
Rubinek, James Gandolfini, Bronson Pinchot, and Chris Penn all in one
movie? You get an action packed roller coaster ride from Detroit to
L.A. so intense and so cool you’ll never forget it. This movie rocks.
It got me so mesmerized that years later when I came across Sonny Chiba’s
“Street Fighter”, “Return of the Street Fighter” and “Sister of Street
Fighter” I bought all of them! This is one of the best scripts Tarantino
has ever written and Tony Scott did an excellent job of directing it.
(1993) |
|
| Romper Stomper
– Before he was a Roman General or a Commander of a British
war
vessel Russell Crowe was a skin head neo-Nazi leading a group of
wretched punks on a crime spree. This movie is intense to say the
least.
The plot goes a lot deeper than the wild punk lifestyle and violence.
This is a quality film that emotionally sucks the viewer into its
reality. It shocks. It angers. It makes the viewer reflect and think.
The finale is especially effective in underscoring a mode of
reflection. I would go so far as to state that this tragedy rivals
those of Aeschylus. (1993) |
|
| History of the World Part One
– this is a Mel Brooks comedy… and the truth is
the more
times you’ve seen it the less funny it becomes. However I
distinctly remember that the first time I saw it I was laughing so hard
my stomach hurt. My eyes were tearing… no they
weren’t
just tearing… I was crying laughing. You know the term ROFL?
Rolling on the floor laughing? Well this is genuinely what was
happening to me. Even if you consider this type of comedy silly, vulgar
or stupid… you will have a good time. If you’ve
never seen
it, then it should be very high on your "to see" list. (1981) |
|
| Zulu
– this historically accurate war movie is a classic if not a
masterpiece. The film is British and the action is set in Victorian
times. A regiment of army engineers holds fast, fighting off an army of
marauding Zulus after a disastrous defeat of a British battalion
earlier in the day. This movie is intense from the beginning to the
end. The dialog and acting are superb. The soundtrack is excellent;
some vigorously argue that it should have won an Oscar.
Considering there was no computer imaging and animation at the time the
violence portrayed is sufficiently realistic to get the point across.
The lack of obvious blood and gore actually makes it more persuasive.
It doesn’t glorify the fight making it into a Hollywood
action
spectacle. It shows the emotional content, the thought process of the
participants, and their motivation. It shows courage, desperation,
fear, and reason on a canvas of an intense military and ideological
conflict. When watching it I still get the same chills running down my
spine as when the first time I saw this picture. Except now in the sing
off between the Zulu’s and the British, with watery eyes I
chime
in loudly: “Men
of Harlech
stop your dreaming. Can't you see their spear points gleaming? See
their warrior pennants streaming… To this
battlefield….” (1964) |
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MK
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