The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Anybody walking into this movie hoping to be entertained have better consider other options. There is seriously nothing entertaining about the Jew persecution in the Second World War.

The story unfolds through the eyes of an eight-year-old German boy who establishes an unlikely friendship with another boy of his age in a nearby concentration camps that his father, a Nazi SS officer, was task to manage.

The glaring differences of their relationship reiterates that Friendship (like Love) is something that knows no bounds. This movie also served as a rude reminder that Life is never fair. But we have to continue to do whatever we can to strike a balance whenever we can or have the choice to, especially as adults.

The movie kinda picked up in its last quarter as I was really curious what was going to happen next and how the movie would end. It scores full point on morals but could have been much better if all its actors was not spotting an overpowering English accent.

Let the Right One In

This must be the most dreamy Vampire movie I've ever seen not that I have seen that many nor are there many good ones anyway. The last Swedish-Vampiric (Frostbiten) movie experience I had was not a good one which kinda set off my reservations when I walked into this. Surprisingly, this one is not bad at all for a lazy weekday afternoon.

The storyline is rather simple and very straight foward. It is however slightly on the slower side but the arty (not farty) indy feel of the movie more than makes up for it.

It is funny how most Vampire movies is genered undered Horror where in fact most of them turns out to be romance.

Valkyrie

Watching this movie reminded me of a quote that I read in the opening of another one: "All that is necessary for Evil to triumph, is for Good men to do nothing."

I am very sure everyone knows the long and short of this movie and how the story turns out in the end. Perhaps watching it with that in mind free up all expectations which allows us to soak fully into the little details of its deliverance.
This must be the most amazing World War II film I have ever seen with the least shots fired but yet the intensity kept me hanging to the edge as the plot unfolds and the tide turns.
They even included a nice little touch to the preserve the authenticity of the film as they did for a much earlier movie involving Russian submarines.

Being a nut of the Romanic standards, insignias and uniforms from the Third Reich. I have waited a long time to watch this movie knowing that the different costumes involved are all the uniforms of Nazi Germany. They turn out to be quite the splendid sight as I have imagined them to be.

This may not at all seem like a movie to bring the Ladies to other than the fact Tom Cruise is in it. I would not be surprised if they secretly Thank you for taking them to it after when the credits roll.

The Wrestler

Despite having some idea what this movie is about did not do much to prepare me for the kind of emotions that it brought about during its course.
Although this movie is very down to Earth. It is nevertheless a truly depressingly sad tale. Nothing in it feels puffed up at all. To sum it up in a few words: It does not get more real than this!

Some parts of the show are shot in chase-cam style which instantly gave the movie its poignant feel and some scenes are truly graphic in both good light and bad ones.

I am sure we have all been exposed to the glamour of professional wrestling, if not at some stage, been fans of the charade ourselves.
However, this film gives us an insight to one particular wrestler's Life and the pain he goes through in his later years. Somehow I cannot help but feel that his character speaks for many of those in the industry.

Needless to say, the story literates much morals and values about second chances (hits and misses). What it is that we do well in Life and how everything comes to a stand-still when we stop doing exactly those things.

Defiance

A true story of how four Jew brothers who escaped from the clutches of their Nazi aggressors and hence started banding up with other Jew stragglers who seek refuge in the forrest. They pick up and start rebuilding the Lives that they have lost hence forming a resistance group employing the use of guerilla tatics not to fight back but for mere survival.
However, this movie does not focus too much on the fighting but rather, the shine comes from how the community in the forrests grows out of proportion and the many problems faced by the brothers to keep everyone alive and in line. It is one of those well written war films that questions the morality of fighting for survival when tested in everyway possible. It stresses very much on the importance of the Brotherhood and camaraderie not restricting only to those of the same blood but all those who fight for the same cause. There are also some very well placed references to the Old Testament which are obvious in certain scenes.
This movie is not only surprisingly fantastic but also very authentic, spotting Russian dialogue aplenty. There are certain moments in the film which are truly triumphantly moving.

Daniel Craig played his true calling in this movie as he rough it out in the dirt as it becomes increasingly difficult, as the story progressed, to reassociate him with the well-heeled British operative from MI6.

The Reader

The story relates of an affair between a teen and a Lady in post-war Germany. What started out as teen loins and pure lust slowly pans out into a full fledge relationship.

It is a fantastic story and very different from your usual run-of-the-mill Love stories. The main thing that spoke to me most was the unbreakable bond that the teen and the Lady shared. The kind of respect and unselfish sense of responsibility that the bond entails for each in different ways.
Also it would definitely help if one walks into the cinema knowing a thing or two about the persecution of the Jews during World War Two by the Nazis' (where the HELL were you?) to understand the gravity of the storyline in the later scenes. Although it is based on a novel, it could just as well have been a true story. At least that was how as it felt to me.
There are a few moving scenes to the point of tears. It seemed that the second half of the film struck me as rather gray and solemn. But that is perhaps the feeling the makers wanted to exact in its audiences.

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes need no introduction as they have already distinguished themselves in the industry but Kate Winslet truly deserve recognition for her performances throughout the movie. The "kid", David Kross was sensational!

Doubt

The trailer of this movie struck me as a question raiser. True to its title. It did raise alot of questions about right and wrong. Belief and disbelief as it sways you both ways in the course.

The pace is set on the slow side as it builds the conflicting idealism of the Principle and the Father of the Catholic school. What your perceptions from the exteriors of these characters are and how at every turn, the story gives you the hot and cold about your own judgements.

There are some moments that are sacarstically funny but this is quite a serious film to begin with. Honestly, I do not think everyone will enjoy this movie as it asked some questions that has no answers. Hence, the title of the film is perfect for this movie.

The Changeling

Clint Eastwood (next to Sean Connery) has been my hero as I grew up watching all his classic westerns and Dirty Harry films. I have followed his works (both starred and directed) rather closely since and most of his recent directions manage to instill better moral values as they are mostly based on true stories and actual events.

This film is a true story which revolves around the preposterousness of the Los Angeles Police Department during those times. And how the will, determination and Love of a single-Mother desperately searching for her missing son brought down the whole department against all odds.

I can relate to the fact that when you lose someone that means everything to you, you really have very little left to lose and since that be the case here. The single-Mother hung on to whatever she has left and went all out to make sure the authorities continue the search for her missing son which lead to a major chain of events that unfolded.

The story's pace was a very comfortable one taking its time to build the different characters surrounding the lead. It also pays plenty of attention to the emotional pains and psychological stress that one goes through when faced with such uncertainties. Most of those scenes are really intense and brought about sniffles that can be heard throughout the cinema. If there is one simple word to properly describe this film it will have to be: 'Powerful'.

The cast is strong and on-screen chemistry was all in the right places.

Angelina Jolie has established herself as one of the many sex-symbols of our times and have been casted as the X-factor in too many action films that we know of. However her focused acting in this film has elevated her to a totally different echelon and I would not be surprised she bags another Oscar for her more than remarkable performance here.

It has always been a pleasure to watch John Malkovich work his magic as his presence is always been felt and never once disappointing but pretty far from it.

The only gripe I have is not with the film itself but how a film of such intensity did not reached our little island earlier and that the poster in our light-boxes did the actual film no justice at all.