I tear up a lot

When I watch movies. I get invested in the lives of some characters. There is sympathy with whatever happens to them in a way that I tear so easily and this happens even when I watch the movie a second or third time.

In the Stoning of Soraya M, the religious intolerance, misogyny and outright cruelty shown her was very painful to bear. Or in the last castle after the prison revolt and they ate hoisting the flag when the lead character is shot by the warden left me tearing.

The Green Mile is a story of death and injustice of the justice system. The hanging of an innocent man is a great injustice that cannot be repaid. And it is this hanging, or execution even though a number of the wardens appear to feel with the prisoner, that is unforgivable. It is this point in the movie that disturbs more than anything else. The cruelty of Dalariux or the warden is nothing compared with this.

And I can enumerate a number of movies that leave me a mess as they end. And when I think of it, the theme that gets me all emotional is injustice. Though I tear as well in the face of beauty. Injustice more than anything else leaves me a mess.

Do you tear when watching a movie or a film? And if you do, what themes or scenes make this happen?

John wick

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

The Green Mile, Les Miserables and I don’t remember which. Maybe the last castle and Shawshank Redemption.

I like John Wick. A dude goes on a rampage because of a dog. Well, it ain’t just a dog. It was given him by his wife who some dudes thought a good idea to kill. Now some idiots harmed his dog and they got what they deserved.

I find the Green Mile very emotional. I find the injustice done to John unbearable and is representative of what happens to many people jailed for crimes they didn’t commit. Paul is a good man. Can only do enough. Delacroix is an asshole and so are most of the prison warders and the inmates in the green Mile but not John. It is for people like John that the innocence(?) project exists.

Other than John Wick, the three movies I have listed have something to do with jailhouses. Jean val Jean has just left prison in les miserables. In Last Castle, there is a prisoner’s revolt that topples the main warden. In shawshank redemption, god- Morgan Freeman- and others are in prison and are friends with a guy who plots his escape and carries it out successfully through shit. It is the determination to be free that is amazing.

I don’t watch series, if I can help it. And it is unlikely I will watch a series twice even if I liked it. Where is the time to do that? A movie yes. Every time I watch the same movie, it has a different ending. There is something new to pick.

Lastly, other movies I have watched more than once include the Stoning of Soraya M., the three burials of m estrada, the three billboards outside ebbing missouri. Each of these movies tell great stories. Of human cruelty to each other. Of love. Of determination and Of the fight for justice.

They may not some people’s cup of tea but for me, I can watch them every other 3 days and not be bored.

So I have been watching movies

And I think some of you might find at least on of them interesting. If you have followed me long enough, you will already know I am those guys who like to watch old movies. The first one resonates with the issue of nuclear disarmament. And I think builds on an older story; what would happen if the US acting on misinformation launched a nuclear weapon against Russia or vice versa. I hear something like this has come close to happening.

The second movie, also about war, is how men, headed to their death in the belief they were fighting for freedom. The action is really good. There is bravery. Comradeship. Friendship. And of course racism.

And finally, run all night, a movie I watched more for the voice of Liam Neeson than anything else. But it is a good movie. A fall out between friends. Murder. Cops. Mob and death. But then again, is it possible to have a mob movie without death? What else would they be trading in?

Tell me if you found any interesting. Jim you are not allowed to comment.

Rang rasiya

The movie.

All the movies I have posted here until now are from Hollywood.

Today we are in luck. I found this old Bollywood movie that deals with very interesting question- freedom of expression, art, technology and religion and it is such a hot mix!

The acting is quite good. And while the cliche is that an Indian movie is 3/4 song, this does not disappoint.

If you can, watch it.

Movie

I watched American son the other day. The setting is a police station. Actually it could be anywhere but we think it is at a police station. The people involved are two cops: Larkin and Stokes who has been coming to work for forever! Kendra and Scott(Jamal’s parents).

Jamal has been missing from home for a few hours and Kendra fearing for the worse is at the police station to report. She is angry. She almost doesn’t allow Larkin to finish a sentence. Larkin seems to know more than he is letting on. Scott arrives on the scene and is briefed by Larkin mistaking him for Stokes.

Scott and Kendra use this tense moment to discuss their failing marriage. For a moment there I thought they would make up but as the movie ends, their marriage ends with the final curtain.

If you have watched the exam or the Sunset Limited, then the lack of set variation will not be a problem for you because then you pay attention to the action.

 

The three burials

Of Melquiades Estrada

I was advised to give movies a wide berth and recommend only books as that’s where I do well but I will pretend I didn’t hear Jim and recommend a movie I think was quite well done. And as is usually the case, I like oldies.

At the end one wonders whether without the thought that Melquiades had a family in Mexico, would Parkins have taken the trouble of this long lonesome journey on horseback? Was it worth it?

John Wick

An act in 3 (or is it 4) parts because someone was mad enough to steal a car and kill a puppy! I am grateful to Helen for being so thoughtful to leave him a puppy as a present. Without that puppy, and it is not just a puppy, we would not have three great films.

Lesson here being don’t kill a man’s puppy. And don’t steal his car.

Why would Winston cross Baba Yaga after he has risked his life to protect him and the Continental?

We will have to wait till 2021 to know what the last man you see as you die does to the High Table and to Winston. Hopefully, it will be them running for their dear lives and not the other way round.

Just so we are clear, I don’t care if you don’t like John Wick 🙂

The prestige

This is Christopher Nolan production (2006) and it is great. Well, I don’t know whether it is my love for Christopher Nolan’s movies or the casting that I enjoyed or maybe both. Maybe I am biased towards Nolan but then he really is good.

So the prestige is the final act in a magician’s performance when the trick is completed. The first part is the pledge, then the turn and finally the prestige. Say for example, they disappear a bird and then bring it back again alive. And because  things can sometimes go wrong, they go wrong in this movie. Two friends become bitter enemies and do everything in their power to outdo the other. And as most rivalries, this doesn’t well.

In a final confrontation between the two rivals, Robert tells Borden the audience always knew the truth. That the world is simple. It’s miserable. Solid all the way through. But if you could fool them even for a second, then you could make them wonder. And then you got to see something very special.

It was the look on their faces.

I think it is a great movie, worth all the two hours of watching.

 

movie time

You, the unfortunate followers of this blog have apart from suffering my random musings on many things under the sun must also suffer my movie choices.

Over the long Easter weekend, I had a lot of time to reflect on my life and got to watching many movies, thanks to slow internet and Netflix. So I watched the dressmaker and the one great thing about this movie is how Tilly gets her revenge against a community that shunned her and her mother for a long long time. It reminded me of three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri.

If you have some time, get yourself some candy or whatever it is you like munching during movies.

The ring

In the recent past, people I know have lost friends, relatives, parents and all which means I can continue with our discussions around death.

In this post, I tell you about an old movie, the ring where there is a video which if you listen to, you got 7 days to die.

I thought it would have a happy ending but there is a twist.

The question I ask is the small girl justified in letting those who see the video and do nothing die? Is it enough that she wasn’t heard and all she wants is to be heard?

If you have watched the film, weigh in below.