Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino
A well-choreographed, well-staged and well-played movie by Quentin Tarantino. With its rich witty dialogues and the wisely chosen cast one could not have asked for a better combination. Exceptional acting by Christoph Waltz and Brad Pitt, along with the typical Tarantino trademark violence makes this a must-watch movie.
Fight Club
David Fincher
Directed by David Fincher, this movie is about an insomniac white collar middle class guy who wants to change his life. Everything changes when he meets Tyler Durden, the charismatic soap maker. His illusion of Tyler Durden finally hits him only when his whole world is about to collapse. Absolutely a different dimension from conventional movies, takes more than one watch to truly understand.
Kill Bill I&II
Quentin Tarantino
This is about the vengeance of a bride, who wakes up from coma and seeks out and kills the assassins who betrayed her. Style and substance, action and bloody violence, are all done to perfection. The action is divided into chapters, with voice-over narration, and some fancy Japanese anime. Uma Thurman plays “the bride” the lead character around whom the story revolves.
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky presents Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer who gets to play the lead in Swan Lake. She is perfect for the role of the petite and delicate white swan but she also needs to play the evil twin, the black swan. As she finds ways to evoke the black swan, her life changes unexpectedly. Natalie Portman who plays Nina gives a brilliant performance, and the pretty Mila Kunis is the vivacious Lily. This film is a work of perfection and beauty with some of the best camera work to date.
Green Mile
Frank Darabont
One of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s novel, the coming of a new member to the death row changes the life of the guards in charge. This movie is beautiful, humorous and flawlessly shot with each character playing his part well. Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb, the prison supervisor and Michael Duncan is John Coffey, a man convicted of murder who has a mysterious gift. This is a compelling story of human injustice and charity.
Those that almost made it
Shawshank Redemption : Frank Darabont
V for Vendetta : James McTeigue
The Notebook : Nick Cassavetes
Howl’s Moving Castle : Hayao Miyazaki
Troy : Wolfgang Peterson
Atonement : Joe Wright
Shruthy Dalby is an engineering student from Ernakulam, who enjoys movies with a strong script, style and substance.
