Where Eagles Dare
Brian G. Hutton
Directed by Brian G. Hutton the film is set in the winter of 1943-44. A U.S. Army brigadier, a chief planner of the second front is captured by the Germans and held at Schoss Adler, a fortress high in the Alps of southern Bavaria. A team of commandos led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton) and U.S. Army Ranger Lt. Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) attempts a rescue mission. High power drama involving the Gestapo, SS and MI6 makes this action thriller written by Alistar MacLean, an all-time favourite.
Gravity
Alfonso Cuaron
During a space walk to service the Hubble telescope the space shuttle is hit by space debris leaving astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) stranded in space. During their efforts to reach the International Space Station Kowalski is lost in space. Stone escapes from a burning ISS to reach the Chinese space station which eventually is also hit by debris and begins to de-orbit rapidly. A fighting Stone uses the escape capsule to land back on Earth safely. The film won the most number of Academy Awards this year.
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Ken Loach
This movie is a British-Irish war drama set during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1922) and Irish Civil War (1922-1923). Two brothers from County Cork, Damien O’Donovan (Cillian Murphy) and Ted O’ Donovan (Padraic Delaney) join the Irish Republican Army to fight for independence. Later the Irish Free State replaces British rule and Damien joins Anti-treaty IRA and Teddy the Irish army and the civil war begins. But as the situation grows out of hand Damien is executed by Teddy who leads a firing squad. This film won the Palme D’or in 2006.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Scott Derrickson
This court room drama involves a parish priest (Wilkinson) tried by the state for Negligent Homicide after a failed exorcism performed on Emily Rose ( Jennifer Carpenter) who is possessed by six demons, dies as she is medically neglected. Defence lawyer Erin Brunner (Laura Linney) begins to experience strange things associated with the Devil. It is revealed that during an out of the body experience Emily feels a Marian apparition and decides to suffer to become a living proof of the existence of God. Father Moore is found guilty and awarded a sentence.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sergio Leone
In this Wild West movie, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach star as the Good, Bad and the Ugly respectively. The plot involves around these three gunslingers competing to find a fortune in buried confederate gold amid violent gunfights, hangings, American civil war battles and prison camps. This classic takes us back to a time when guns ruled the Wild West.
Those that almost made it
Star Wars: George Lucas
Enemy At The Gates: Jacques Annaud
Casino Royale: Martin Campbell
Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Francis Ford Coppola
A Lot Like Love: Nigel Cole
S. Rajan Mahesh is a legal consultant based in Tiruchi.
