DVD Review: Swimming with Sharks (1995)

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As the movie's opening line goes - "there are stories of love inspiring success over the most insurmountable of odds - this is NOT one of those stories."

If you loathed more than loved Miranda in "The Devil Wears Prada" then "Swimming with Sharks" will fulfill your desire for revenge on a**hole bosses.

Absolutely one big movie man.. Kevin Spacey really rocks in this one!

DVD Review: The Devil's Backbone (2001)

Being a Guillermo del Toro movie (the guy who did Pan's Labyrinth), this movie is full of symbolisms - like he's painting a canvas of icons. It is a political allegory disguised a horror film. Fascism, Communism, whatever isms that plagued the old Spain, it's here, you can almost assign each of the boys a name tag.

It is still scary. I'm still having nightmares..

But I wanna watch it again! :D

DVD Review: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

If you're bored of seeing Pacino as Michael Corleone or some other gangster role, dig this movie. (I'll lend you my copy if you like.) The director, Sydney Lumet, has directed another equally great movie, starring - who else - Pacino also, "Serpico". Now that I gotta see too..


100% at rottentomatoes. That should be enough to see this one. Go watch it..

DVD Review: Seven Samurai (1954) ang Kagemusha (1980)

Forget Tom Cruise's "Last Samurai."

Just got hooked into Akira Kurosawa samurai movies at the moment.. I remember my ex-boss used to bug me to watch "Seven Samurai" before I die, and revealed to me that "The Magnificent Seven" was nothing but a ripoff of the Japanese original. I declined then - because the only AK movie I saw was "Dreams"- and it bored me.

So what the heck, I finally decided to watch it anyway. I haven't seen the Hollywood version, but I'd say "Seven Samurai" would be one of the finest movies I have ever seen - this is of course, bearing in mind that it was done in 1954. Name any aspect of filmmaking, and it's all here, masterfully crafted.. plot, story, characterization, cinematography, visuals.. Never mind that it is 3 hours long, there is never a dull moment here. So I thought, hmm, AK isn't so overrated after all. If you had to choose only one AK movie to watch, this definitely it. (Trivia: the film was released in black and white, and yet AK rejected certain samurai costumes for not having the correct red tint..) Rottentomatoes gave it a.. 100%. Dang..

Getting all excited with his samurai films, I decided to watch another of his later projects, "Kagemusha". It's a story of a "shadow" warrior, a double for a Japanese shogun who had to impersonate the feudal lord three years after his death. Quite nice though, visuals are stunning, but it was a bit dragging. Story is ok, but pales in comparison to "Seven Samurai". "Kagemusha" is the perfect companion while washing and pressing your clothes. Perhaps I shouldve watched this first, before going to the AK main event.

Googling AK films though, a lot of AK fanatics actually rate "Ran" (Japanese for Chaos) as his best work. Will hunt for that as well..

They ran indeed..

And posed for a shot.

Train Station

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.. station based on clifford pier

Sunrise

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