Ashdoc's movie reviews

Mile 22



Mark Wahlberg plays James Silva , a CIA agent with high intelligence but having an unstable past ( which is breezily explained as the titles of the movie come on screen ) which has given him a prolictivity for violence . Of course , that is exactly what the doctor ordered as far as action in the movie is concerned . Violence is necessary....

At the start of the movie , James and his team attack a russian safe house in the United States that contains cesium , which is a radioactive substance that can be used for mass destruction if weaponised . James has to kill a young boy who has the cesium .

Cut to 16 months later . In a southeast asian nation called Indocarr , a police officer called Li Noor ( Indonesian actor Iko Uwais ) wants to surrender to the US embassy where James is now stationed . He has been in contact with CIA agent Alice Kerr ( Lauren Cohan ) and says that he has a disk that contains information as to where is the remaining cesium is . But he wants safe passage out of the country . Furthermore , the disk he gives will self destruct in 8 hours . So the CIA team have less than 8 hours to extract him out of the country , after which Li will give them the code for stopping the disk from self destructing and for extracting information from the disk .

But the government of Indocarr does not want LI to leave and tries to negotiate with the CIA to hand him to them . James refuses . But they have their agents in the US embassy and the agents try to assasinate Li . He surives this by showing supreme fighting skills that make you wonder where he learnt them . But they are still on Indocarr territory and the task to transport Li from the embassy to an airstrip where a plane is waiting to pick up Li is fraught with danger as the Indocarr government tries every trick in the book to stop the team . The airstrip is 22 miles away giving the name to the movie---Mile 22 .

Alice and James take up the assignment to escort Li to the plane along with other agents , but Alice is also having to deal with personal issues regarding her estranged husband and daughter in USA . And agents of the Indocarr government are waiting fully armed to stop and kill them on the way . As no holds barred fighting breaks out between the two antagonists , we are treated to some non stop action .

The weapons used for the action are high tech and the action happens at an electric pace . Bullets fly and bombs and grenades explode with abandon . There is place for hand to hand fighting too . The action happens in corridors of buildings and in restaurants . The command centre overviewing the operation has the ability to moniter the pulse and heart rate of their personnel ; one wonders who thought of that idea....

Mark looks dashing and Lauren looks beautiful with blue eyes and their faces remain remarkably clean even after all the fighting even as others in their team get their faces splattered with blood . But at the end of it all comes a twist . The twist is to obviously pave the way for a second movie of this franchise . But the twist also renders all the sacrifices the CIA team has made completely pointless .

The movie is watchable for the action sequences and mercifully the film is also short ; last for only 1 hour 36 minutes . Photography is good , especially shots taken fro the air , and colours are decent . Background music is appropriate for the situations . Acting by all is proper .

Verdict---Decent .

Alexander ( 2004 )



Nothing could be a bigger topic for making a movie than Alexander the great , one of the greatest conquerors of all time . To be honest there were greater conquerors than him , like Genghis / Changez Khan and Tamarlane / Timur the lame . But they were barbarians !! On the other hand , the march of Alexander was the march of civilization . Even he killed many , but he created more than he destroyed . A string of cities named Alexandria were founded as he marched . And he married and had a son from an Asian queen as his heir in order to make his Asian subjects co partners in his empire .

The movie begins showing his mother ( played by Angelina Jolie ) having a horrendous relationship with his father , who royally ill treats her and leaves her forever plotting his demise among the myriad poisonous snakes she cohabits with . But both the father King Philip and the mother love Alexander . Philip anoints Alexander ( Colin Farrel ) as his successor , but mother fears that other queens that Philip has married and who have their own children will plot to usurp Alexander's birthright to kingship .

So when Philip is murdered by a man who he has had dishonoured in a party , Alexander suspects his mother behind this and confronts her . She claims that he is son of Zeus and descendant of Achilees . And like Achilees his destiny is that of being a great warrior .

Alexander plans to exceed all his mother's expectations . He first marches against Persia against the manifold greater army of the great king Darius ( Darayavaush ) . At the start of the battle he rides his horse in front of his assembled troops reminding his doubtful but valiant soldiers that even though the Persians have a larger army it is composed mostly of slaves , while the Greeks are all free men . And claims that the Greeks are a superior civilization , something that has been shown to have been taught to him by his tutor in childhood .

His stirring words enthuse his forces and they fight gallantly against the Persians . And Alexander is among them , right in the thick of battle . And he attacks the chariot of king Darius himself , forcing Darius to flee . The victorious Greeks march on to Babylon which the capital of the Persian empire . Here lie immense riches and many beautiful women including Darius' daughter . But Alexander is more interested in Darius' boy....and herein begins the long saga of homosexuality in the movie .

Yes , Alexander was partly gay , but there are simply too many scenes of homosexuality in the movie . Even though Alexander is known more as a conqueror , the director Oliver Stone also highlights his sexuality too much .

His men now want to return home to Macedonia , but Alexander uses Darius's escape as an excuse to push further into Asia to chase him . Truth is that his ambition is boundless . As his forces march into the steppes of central asia they are marching into remote uncharted territory . But the great conqueror is unstoppable and seemingly invincible .

Here he marries the princess Roxana , an Asian . She is eager to love him and her father promises that she will protect him with her life . But on their first wedding night Roxana discovers that Alexander has gay lovers and she resists his advances . So Alexander has to force himself upon her , and their love scene is more like a wrestling match with the completely nude Roxana's big boobs hanging like giant udders as they wrestle .

From central asia to bactria in Afghanistan and from there to India crossing the hindu kush mountains . But in India the army that has swelled to 150000 is confronted with new diseases and new animals . On the other hand riches are hard to find . His men are homesick and his best friend is sore that he will never see his homeland again as he has been made satrap ( governor ) of bactria . The friend insults him loudly when drunk and has to be killed . Alexander deeply regrets this later .

Alexander urges his veterans to advance one last time as India is thought to be the end of the world . His forces run headlong into the army of Indian king Porous ( Pavarava ) . It is a moment in the movie that I was proud of , for my countrymen gave Alexander his bloodiest battle as the movie frankly admits . Porous' smaller army has elephant battalions , and they are used fully to attack Alexander's hordes .

It is glorious sight to see the Indian elephants charging the enemy , and this charge of several war elephants has been filmed well . Porous bravely fights on his war elephant and Alexander's troops are shown being mauled by his elephants trumpeting and trampling the Greeks under their feet . Alexander personally charges Porous's war elephant and the elephant and Alexander's horse raise their front feet at the same time , the horse neighing and elephant trumpeting . Great photography or special effects of that scene . And Porous discharges a javelin that severely injures Alexander . Ironically the wounding inflames Alexander's soldiers and they recover from their mauling and defeat Porous' soldiers .

But the severe handling of his forces by the Indian troops and his personal wound have chastened the conqueror and as son as he recovers Alexander orders the march back to home . But he is destined to never see his homeland again . First his gay lover is struck down by typhus in Babylon bringing Alexander to grief . He blames his wife Roxana for this even though she pleads that she is carrying his child and heir to the empire . But soon he himself is on his deathbed .

It is left to his friend Ptolemy ( Anthony Hopkins ) to complete Alexander's history in old age . His wife Roxana and child are killed by his generals , who divide his empire after his death .

The film has many flashbacks of childhood as Alexander marches on into the unknown , and particularly well filmed is the shot of him taming and riding a horse his father had rejected as too wild . Overall the photography and colours of the film are good . Acting is decent , particularly by Val Kilmer as King Philip . He brings out his brutality well . Music is enthralling and worth a separate hearing . War scenes are decently filmed too . But the gay scenes put off many people are the film received bad ratings in reviews .

But I did feel it had an epic quality about it and watched the full three and a half hours long version of it . I felt it did do justice to the life of the great warrior---Alexander .

Verdict---Decent .

Three stars out of five .

The answer ( August 2018 )



This movie is about the true story of an American young man's desire to attain spiritual enlightenment , which ends as he finds it in the form of an Indian guru---Paramhansa Yogananda , who resides in the United states .

James Donald Walters ( Leonidas Gulaptis ) is born in Romania and is a kind soul since childhood . But his kindness is taken advantage of sometimes by other kids who bully him . He is dearly loved by his parents , who have him baptized as a Christian . But as war clouds hover over Europe , they take him to America .

Walters grows up to be different from other young men around him as he wants to follow a path of self realisation . As he wanders around in pursuit of this , he begins to believe in God and is in search of a guru . He then stumbles upon the book 'Autobiography of a yogi' and is instantly drawn to the serene features and teachings of the writer of the book---Paramhansa Yogananda .

Walters travels from one end of America to another to reach this yogi eschewing temptations thrown by beautiful women on the way , but is told by his disciples that all appointments of this yogi are booked for months . Many people are in line to wait for meeting the great yogi , and Walters will have to wait .

But then a miracle happens . Walters is called for meeting him by Paramhansa Yogananda himself , and the yogi tells him that he had received a divine communication to meet him right there . With this auspicious beginning , Walters' relationship as disciple of the great yogi begins . He is asked to kneel in front the yogi and is enrolled permanently as his disciple .

Life as a disciple of a yogi is not one of comfort . Walters' quarters are Spartan and his bed is of hard wood with only a mattress on it . But Walters' is most happy as he feels he is on the path he wanted to be from the start . His parents are naturally not happy with his decision but they accept it .

Walters is most happy when Paramhansa Yogananda is teaching him and other disciples and waits for those moments , though they come only once in a while as Yogananda is out on his tours and lectures . But soon he has immersed himself so much in the teaches of his master that he is called to give lectures himself , which is a great honour for a young man as himself .

Many times he is witness to small miracles . When his ladder is going to tilt and fall while painting his quarters , he closes his eyes and remembers his master and it retilts back to it's original position . When another disciple is called to meet Yogananda in blinding rain , the rain automatically stops and the sky becomes clear .

Yogananda says that one should not hesitate to kill if a creature is bent on harm and differs from Gandhi in this . But he otherwise enforces strict vegetarianism in his fold . His beliefs are primarily hindu but include all religions and he teaches the teachings of Christ too and always wears a cross . He sometimes takes teachings of Islam too .

Yogananda entrusts the work of editing his teachings to Walters and soon realises that Walters is the only one who edits his works without changing his message . Soon Walters is with him on many occasions and Yogananda begins to rely on him . Walters for his part has nothing but devotion in his look as he gazes at his master . Only once while editing the works does he begin to doubt his master , but that is because he has stayed away from Yogananda doing his work of editing for too long . On meeting him again , his doubts are cleared . Yogananda asks Walters to grow a beard , and everyone says Walters looks so much like Jesus Christ on growing it . But when Walters' parents come visiting him , Yogananda fondly trims the beard himself .

Walters has not claimed to be the favourite disciple of the guru at all . Indeed as the movie freely admits , others were the guru's favourites . But it is Walters who was instrumental in spreading the guru's message across the world after his death . After the death of Yogananda , Walters became swami Kriyananda and established Ananda universities in many continents .

Watching the movie , one gets transported into a world of spiritual calm and forgets the troubles of life for a brief span . Music is most appropriate for all situations and photography of nature most satisfying . Acting by Victor Banerjee as Paramhansa Yogananda is good and he gives his speeches with a firm and clear voice . Even better is Leonidas Gulaptis as Walters as he brings out his devotion to the guru so effectively . For those seeking a spiritual journey on celluloid , the film is worth watching .

Verdict---Decent .

Three stars out of five .

Searching



This film is truly set in the modern era where everything is recorded on computers and smartphones , and the full film is viewed through the medium of computers and smartphones . So we learn through status updates on the internet that the mother in a family got diagnosed with cancer and that she died later . The father ( John Cho ) and the daughter ( Michelle La ) then grow distant from one another, but the father does not realise that until the daughter goes missing .

The father then contacts the piano lessons teacher whose classes his daughter was supposed to be attending and learns that his daughter had cancelled the lessons months ago . But then what about the money he gave to her for paying for those lessons ? He uses her computer to find out that she paid the money to an account that has now been deleted . He finally contacts the police and a police detective ( Debra Messing ) contacts him saying that she will try to solve the case .

But the father decides to investigate further and finds out who his daughter has been contacting on the internet , whom she has been exchanging messages with on the net , which photos she has been uploading , and also he logs onto her facebook account and searches among her FB friends . Doing all this he gets clues as to what she had been doing all these months , where she had been going , and whom she had been hanging out with . In some cases his suspicions turn out to be false alarms , and none among her so called friends on FB even know her in real life .

But soon he is able to zero in on the spot where his daughter could be found , and a full scale police investigation is launched at that spot . But at the end of all the search when all hope has been lost , there is a major twist in the tale . So what is the twist ? Will the daughter be found ? Watch the movie for the answers .

The movie is interesting because of the novel approach it has taken , of showing the whole story happening on the screens of computers and laptops and smartphones . It seems the whole life of modern day teens unfolds on these gadgets . All the clues to the mystery are to be found on the daughter's footprints on the internet , and all the contacting the father and the police detective do with each other or with people who might provide solutions to the case is done mainly by messages or video chatting on computer or smartphone screens .

Acting by all actors is appropriate and background music is okay . The movie keeps you hooked on to it's suspense and the climax does not disappoint . Of course , the movie does show that in all this virtual world connect what we are really missing is real human company .

Verdict---Good .

Solid review of Searching. The twist(s) definitely made this movie captivating.

Endless love ( 1981 )



This film is for the aficionados of mushy romance and also for aficionados of hot bedroom scenes , though many hot scenes were cut by the director to our eternal chagrin in order to get the film an R rating instead of an X rating . Those cut scenes featured the stunningly beautiful Brooke Shields in the full glory of nudity , but we do get to see her lovely breasts in one lovemaking scene .

In Chicago , Jade ( Brooke Shields ) is in a relationship with David ( Martin Hewitt ) . She is only fifteen , but she has a liberal mother who allows her to have sex openly with David inside the house . In fact , mother ( played by Shirley Knight ) watches the two make love in full nudity from a secret corner on the staircase and is dazzled by the sight and by David's youthful body to the extent that she secretly develops an attraction for him .

But of course , Jade's father and brother are not so welcoming about the open bouts of sex played in their house at such a tender age and brother frankly admits that he regrets introducing David to Jade . But the nightly arousals have taken a toll on Jade and her grades in school drop and she steals sleeping pills to sleep . This finally angers her father and he orders David to stay away from their house for a month .

But David can't stay away from Jade....frankly any male allowed to make open love to the luscious Brooke Shields would develop an addiction for her....and David's addiction is incurable....as one of Brooke Shields' admirers , I can understand...

So David tries to do some attention drawing antics like setting fire to papers outside Jade's house , but the ploy misfires and the whole house is burnt down . David is tried in court and is sent to mental hospital . He tries to contact Jade but in vain . He throws a hysterical fit and convinces his parents to use their political connections to get him out . When Jade's father learns that David is out he explodes in fury .

David meets Jade's mother in order to contact Jade , but the mother tries to make love to him herself . But David is in endless love with Jade and does not respond even though the mother is quite attractive herself . He wants Jade and Jade only and goes to meet her inspite of a court order not to meet her on pain of jail . But her father sees him and rushes to attack him on a street , only to be crushed by a speeding car . His new girlfriend sees David .

Finally Jade comes to say goodbye to David , but he pins her down till she is forced to admit her love for him . But her father's girlfriend recognises David as the boy who refused to help when Jade's father was lying half dead , and a violent fight develops between Jade's brother and David leaving Jade in shock . David is sent to jail for five years for evading the court order and trying to meet Jade , but his efforts have achieved their goal if such a terrible price of going to jail is at all worth it all ; Jade regularly starts coming to the jail to meet David . Endless love indeed....

The movie was declared the worst of all movies in 1981 , but it is certainly better than such ignominy . It has beautiful and sentimental background music , and a beautiful song called 'Endless love' . Also there is something to savour in the saga of Jade and David's endless love . And it does have a real story .

Verdict---Decent .

Three stars out of five .

The Nun



The movie begins with a nun hanging herself in a monastery in Romania , and a member of the church committing suicide is considered a big crime by the Vatican . Hence two persons are sent by the Vatican to investigate this happening . They are Father Burke ( Demián Bichir ) and Sister Irene ( Taissa Farmiga ) . They are taken to the monastery by Frenchie ( Jonas Bloquet ) , who had discovered the nun hanging by a rope .

But Father Burke is still suffering from the guilt of having seen a boy who he had exorcised killed during the exorcism , while Sister Irene is only a trainee and has not been made a nun . The village near the monastery has seen numerous deaths and people living in it believe that the deaths are due to some evil in the monastery .

As the three make way to the monastery , obviously as expected a number of strange things begin to happen . One has to admire the daring of the two religious persons to stay in the nearby convent for the night , but they have no choice as the nuns there observe silence at night and are ready to talk only during the day .

At night the demonic entity attacks the two . The film makers have some new tricks up their sleeve , like shadows of ghosts walking on walls and live persons getting buried in graves . Some old tricks also , like the spirit being seen only in mirrors . But having seen too many horror films in the past , this time I seemed to be immune to the scares and wasn't getting the jolts at all . Lack of belief in the existence of ghosts and God seems to be the reason . I must really start believing at least in God to enjoy all these horror movies

Anyway , the movie is not bad . The three main protagonists soon learn about the demonic influence from the nuns in the monastery and try to seal it off back to where it was lying all these years . But do they succeed ? Watch the movie for the answer , but I will give you a hint ; these horror movie makers never ever bring their demonic influences to complete destruction as the demonic influences come mighty handy in making the next movie of the same franchise .

Photography , background music and acting is decent enough . And even if I didn't feel the chills some of you will feel them enough to enjoy them .

Verdict---Decent .

Tora Tora Tora !! ( japanese signal meaning complete surprise has been achieved ) 1970



The film shows the japanese attack on pearl harbour in hawaii that began america's entry into the second world war . The harbour was anchoring the US pacific fleet and many battleships were sunk , thus sending a wave of euphoria among the invading japanese pilots . But as the chief of the japanese combined fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto says at the end of the movie , american aircraft carriers escaped damage as they were not in the harbour and therefore all the japanese did was wake up a sleeping giant and infuriate him . For the era of aircraft carriers was beginning and that of battleships was coming to an end .

However the japanese did achieve complete surprise and did a great deal of damage and killed many sailors . The movie shows how the americans were totally unready for war . The newly installed radar station on a mountain top at hawaii at first had no means to communicate to the main base if they detected anything on radar . Later they did get a phone but their warnings of an air fleet coming were dismissed . It was a sunday morning and no one wanted to be disturbed . They japanese had clearly chosen their timing of attack well .

Actually the earlier part of the movie does show the americans having broken the japanese communication code and thus being able to read any message sent . And a colonel does feel that japan is hell bent on war on reading the messages . But the americans do not realise that japan will strike so deep in the middle of the pacific and feel the attack will come in asia in places like phillipines etc .

When the attack starts , the photography of the fighter jets silhouetted against the rising run is most beautiful , the rising sun also being the flag of japan . The planes attack with torpedoes and bombs . Complete destruction or sinking is achieved of several warships and the yellow flames of the explosions take up the later part of the movie . The american warplanes are parked bunched together on their airfield and therefore make easy targets for the japanese bombers . The japanese bombers attack in two waves and if a third had been launched then the vast oil tankers of hawaii could have been hit and set afire with loss of all stored fuel . But the japanese commander refuses to allow a third strike fearing that american submarines many be searching for them . Actually the japanese fleet of aircraft carriers carrying the striking aircraft was out of detection of the americans for some time .

There is of course the conspiracy theory that american president Roosevelt knew about the impending attack but allowed it to happen so that america could enter the war to protect democracy , but the movie does not show this as it sticks to the official version that america was caught by surprise .

Acting and music and photography is excellent ; the japanese voices sound strident and martial compared to the relaxed americans , but the glaring problem of the version I saw was the lack of subtitles in english for japanese dialogues . So I could only make out what the japanese were saying , and the could see arguments where the pacifists counselling peace were outmaneuvered by the warmongers . Music is all guns booming and trumpets blaring and roll of drums . That's the way I like it , for I like to see war on the silver screen .

Verdict---Good .

Three and a half stars out of five .

I felt like that about The Exorcist – that it would have been more disturbing had I been religious.

I liked The Conjuring a lot so I'll no doubt give The Nun a go. I need to catch up on all the other sequels and spin-offs as well .

Somewhere in time ( 1980 )



This film has become a cult classic , maybe because of the tragic fate of it's leading actor Christopher Reeve who suffers a tragic death in the movie too . When it was released it was a flop at the box office , but now there is even a club of fans of the movie .

Reeve plays Richard Collier , who is a struggling playwright . The movie begins in 1972 , when the boyishly goodlooking Richard is young and in college and is partying with friends . An old woman approaches him and gives him a pocket clock and pleads emotionally to him ''come back to me'' . She then goes home to die....

Years later Richard checks into Grand hotel and is strangely drawn to to photo of a beautiful woman hanging in the hotel museum . He talks to the hotel bellhop , who first asks him if he ever had come here before for he seems familiar . The bellhop tells Richard that the photo is of Elise Mckenna ( Jane Seymour ) , an actress who lived in the hotel in the early 20th century . And on further questioning , he realises that she was the same woman who came to him in old age asking him to come back to her....enough to make a man fall in love , especially considering her beauty....

So he goes with her pocket clock to an old companion of hers , and she recognises the clock as belonging to Elise . Richard finds things there that tell him that she constantly thought of him all these years . But how , considering the age difference between them ? Is it possible that they had met through the mists of time in another era ? He finds a book of time travel which the companion says Elise read again and again , and he decides to use the book to travel in time back to when Elise was young .

Before putting the plan in action , Richard meets the author of the book and he tells him that all things of this era must be out of sight when the time travel in done through simple self hypnosis . By repeated suggestions from a tape recorder put out of sight , he can go to the era he wants if he concentrates hard . After several failed attempts , the plan works and he travels back in time and manages to meet Elise....and she talks to him as if she knew he was going to come one day , and she had been waiting for him for a long time .

And meetings are followed by long walks together , until Elise invites Richard to watch her acting in a play . And she looks intently at him when promising love to her lover in the play , and their hearts are one . But her manager fears that her acting career will be affected by the romance , and has Richard bound and tied up till the time has come for Elise to leave . When Richard frees himself he finds Elise gone .

Relax...love will find a way , as it always does in the movies . And Elise can't let go of Richard and come searching for him and runs to him as soon as she sees him . And then she unwinds her lovely hair in her bedroom and we are enthralled by her beauty with her uncovered tresses adding lustre to it . Do I even have to say that then they make glorious love on the bed.....? And to make the relationship chaste ( it is 1912 , and people frowned upon physical intimacy before marriage in that time ) they decide to wed .

But the sighting of a coin from the present era goes against the rule told by the book's author that he must be out of sight of all things from the era he originally came from , and brings Richard back to the present from his sojourn across the barriers of time . And as he is coming back , he can still hear and see Elise screaming because he is being lost from her and dragged against his will to a time he did not want to go back to .

As Richard wakes up in his hotel room he is struck by grief and does not want to live . And he is soon discovered in his bed having died due to a broken heart . But relax....love has found a way , as it always does . As Richard dies , his soul moves through the mists of space and she is there....again looking young and beautiful , she has been waiting for him for a long time....this time the reunion is permanent .

What strikes you is the movie's endearing simplicity , of the pure and honest love between the lead pair beyond the barriers of time and the simple method of time travel done without the aid of high tech machines . The beauty of the lead actress Jane Seymour makes the movie worth a watch . But what adds to the movie watching experience is the superb musical score by John Barry . The background music lifts the romance to a different level altogether .

Colours of the movie are of lightish hue , making the photography appear magical . Acting by all actors is good too .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five .

Downfall ( 2004 )



This german movie recreates on screen the last days of Adolf Hitler and his nazi Germany and is partially based on the account of his personal secretary Traudi Junge , who was present in his underground bunker during those days . The Russians are already on the borders of the city and throughout the movie we hear constant shelling by russian artillery , the shells of which fall near the bunker making deafening noises and temporarily interfering with electricity and making the lights go out briefly .

Hitler at first refuses to give up and refuses pleas to be evacuated to south Germany . He makes plans to move armies to protect the city , but his generals are only too aware that such armies that exist are too hard pressed fighting on other fronts and cannot come to the relief of the city . When Hitler is informed of this , he goes into mad rages and raves and rants against his generals . The acting by Bruno Ganz as Hitler is most superb at this point and many of these scenes have become famous on youtube .

As the end is near , many of the nazis are openly dancing and drinking as they feel they might be dead within days . Women dance half naked with their breasts hanging out and even Hitler's girlfriend joins the fun , dancing with men and taking Junge out to smoke . Junge finds all this unreal . On the other hand Hitler decides that the german people don't deserve to survive and orders total destruction of his own country . But Albert Speer the minister in charge of this flatly refuses as he feels that the german people should survive .

The most heartless scene of the movie is that of the wife of minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels killing her own 6 children by cyanide . She is a rabid nazi and if nazi germany goes down then she does not wish to live . The couple shoots themselves later . Before that Hitler and Eva Braun get married and then kill themselves . Their bodies are set on fire by gasoline . His closest men have already begun to betray him preceding this . Hitler has given orders to shoot them all . The SS physician who had done deadly experiments on bodies of jewish people also has to shoot himself as he will be severely punished if caught . One last task given to Junge is to type Hitler's last will and testament in which he rants against international jewry .

The movie also tells the story of a boy roughly aged 13 , who has been forced to fight the russians as germany has already committed all it's adult men to the fight . He destroys two tanks and Hitler gives medal to him . As mayhem strikes with russians conquering Berlin he joins Junge to flee on bicycle . The war is over .

The movie authentically portrays the situation in Berlin during those days and the atmosphere is recreated . Hitler's mad ruthlessness is really brought out . Photography and acting and background music is good .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five .

First Man



'First man' shows what Guinness book of world records then claimed was man's greatest achievement in the twentieth century---man's landing on the moon in 1969 . Such was the awe of the achievement even in the eighties when I was growing up that when I told about the claim to my friend at that time , he said that it was the greatest achievement in entire history of mankind not just the twentieth century .

Sadly , today's political climate when liberals have a finger in every pie means that the planting of the american flag on the moon could not be shown in the movie because that would reek of nationalism . Yet the race to the moon began as a challenge to american nationalism , as americans saw the then Soviet Union winning the contest in space missions . President JF Kennedy launched the programme to land man on the moon to restore american pride and glory .

The movie focuses on the man who first set foot on the moon , Neil Armstrong . Before his mission his wife makes him admit to his son the fact that there is a possibility that he may not make it back as many astronauts have been killed on missions . Indeed so many deaths have occurred that some people consider the money spent on the space programme a waste and feel that it could be better utilised eradicating poverty .

But when the mission is on everyone parks himself or herself in front of big screens erected to show the spectacle . And on coming back everyone has placards welcoming the astronauts home .

The moon mission is shown well . The roar and yellow plumes of the rocket engines , the spacecraft shaking as it lifts off , the beauty of the earth as seen from space---all is still awe inspiring . Neil Armstrong says his well rehearsed lines on setting foot on the moon---''A small step for a man , a giant leap for mankind.'' And then he has tears in his eyes at the edge of a crater as he throws his wife's trinket down the crater .

Photography and background music is satisfying . So is the acting by Ryan Gosling as Armstrong and Claire Foy as his wife and Corey Stoll as Edwin Aldrin the second man to set foot on the moon accompanying Neil . Even the arch rival soviets are shown acknowledging the achievement in their newspapers by publishing photographs of it . Maybe their left wing political heirs should learn something from them and acknowledge the achievement by allowing scenes like american flag planting to be filmed . Maybe then President Trump ( he has vowed not to see the film ) will watch the film too .

Verdict---Good .

I'm going to watch First Man based on your review. I love history and space and that sounds like my kind of film. Good review

Crazy Rich Asians



Rachel Chu ( Constance Wu ) is a professor of economics in America . She has a boyfriend named Nick Young ( Henry Golding ) . Both are of Chinese descent and Nick is actually from Singapore . He invites Rachel to Singapore for the wedding of his best friend and they decide to go .

But on the flight and in Singapore Rachel realises that Nick is from a very rich Singaporean family , a fact that Nick has hidden from her for so long . She herself is only a commoner compared to him . In Singapore the couple is invited to a lot of parties and we get to see the life of rich Singaporeans and all their wealth . Nick lives in a huge mansion guarded by turbaned Sikh bodyguards imported from India .

But Rachel also gets confronted by difficulties due to Nick's status . He has other women angling for him and they accuse Rachel of being a gold digger . Nick's mom disapproves of an American girlfriend like Rachel because she feels that Americans are too individualistic and do not think about the wishes of family like Asians do .

But Rachel has loved Nick even when she did not know about his money and decides to fight the odds to get the man she loves . However his mother has set private detectives to dig information about her and they bring up something unsavoury about her past that even she did not know . Rachel is stunned by the new info that turns her life upside down and is temporarily at a loss as to what she should do .

But when the situation gets tough the tough get going....Rachel then turns the tables on her adversaries by doing something that proves that she has way more class and integrity and strength of character than all the rich people she has met .

So what is the secret that even Rachel does not know ? What is her counter reaction to revelation of the secret and it's repercussions ? Watch the movie for the answers .

The movie shows that beyond the west there is money to be found and flaunted even in the orient . The life of rich people in Singapore is showcased perhaps too extravagantly in the film . Acting wise the movie scores . Photography is nice , especially of Singapore . Colours are good too . Background music is hummable .

Verdict---Good .

Mutiny on the bounty ( 1962 )



This movie is based on a real life mutiny on a British ship named Bounty in 1787 . As the ship sets sail from Britain soon it is clear that the captain is an excessively harsh person who inflicts savage punishments for the slightest misdemeanours . Sailors are lashed by whips till they are half dead . This does not go down well with either the crew or second in command lieutenant Fletcher Christian ( Marlon Brando ) . but they have no choice but to keep quiet .

The ship reaches Tahiti in the pacific , where the natives are friendly and above all Tahitian women believe in free love which is taken advantage of by the ship's crew to the fullest . They all get Tahitian girlfriends and one of them falls in love with one of the women and asks the captain his permission for marriage . But the harsh captain calls her a slut and refuses , though it is the only time he ever laughs in the movie . Fletcher himself is in a relationship with a lovely Tahitian woman---Princess Maimiti ( Tarita Teriipaia ) the daughter of the Tahitian chief , but he keeps his head and says goodbye to her as the ship readies to leave .

The ship's task is to transport breadfruit plants to Jamaica , and the captain loads the ship with too many of them . Worse , they require lot of water to nurse them and the captain cuts water rations of the sailors for watering the plants . As sailors begin to die pining for water to drink , Fletcher is under increasing pressure to take command of the ship . Finally as the captain refuses water to a sailor who has begun to drink seawater and is dying , Fletcher mutinies and takes command of the ship with the aid of those who are ready to revolt . But he is a humane man who refuses to kill the captain though the captain is after his blood and would have court martialled him and sent him to the gallows if the mutiny had not succeeded .

The captain and those refusing to join the revolt are put on a lifeboat and they sail to Britain where the inquiry commission exonerates him but censure his captaincy . The Royal navy is asked to search for the mutinous crew and bring them to trial .

Fletcher and the mutineers reach Tahiti again and take help of their girlfriends and some Tahitian men to search for an inhabitable island where they can settle down far from the prying eyes of the royal navy , finally settling down on Pitcairn island which has been wrongly mapped by the British . But the conscience of Fletcher is increasingly affected by his position . As he tells the crew , they may not be locked in a jail but they are locked out of society . He wants to return to face trial in Britain . But some mutineers who are scared that he might force them to return set fire to the ship and Fletcher dies a tragic death trying to save the ship .

The music of the film is loud and over dramatic though enthralling , blaring loudly even in moments of trivial drama . Photography however is good and there are good shots of the ship silhouetted against the setting sun and of storms and heavy weather on the rough seas with huge waves rocking the ship , and also of the ship's sail billowing in the wind . Acting is decent by everyone . I was hooked on to the major portion of the film and the tragic ending filled me with pathos .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five .

Hunter Killer



Hunter Killer is the kind of old fashioned action thriller that warms the cockles of my heart . It has clear cut action and clear cut righteousness about the nation's role to fight agents of global disorder without any trace of guilt .

The film begins with two submarines exploding , one Russian and one American . Clearly someone is out to create mayhem . Soon the agents of mayhem present themselves . A Russian general kidnaps the Russian president and the general tries to start war between America and Russia . Trigger happy American military officers want to retaliate to Russian actions , but some American military personnel have another plan . An American submarine is near artic waters close to the place where the Russian president is being held by the rebels . He is against war and if navy SEALs can be sent from the submarine to rescue him then he can retake control of Russia and stop war .

The person chosen to captain the American submarine is Joe Glass ( Gerard Butler ) , and he has the difficult challenge to navigate the submarine through narrow channels to the place where the Russian president is being held and send the rescue team . But coming back is an even bigger challenge because a Russian destroyer armed with anti submarine rockets is on the prowl .

As the going gets tough the tough get going , and what we get to see is an action extravaganza with splendid photography and nice colours and decent acting . The froth of the waters of the roaring oceans , the sea parting as the submarine comes up from it's under water home , the plumes of smoke as missiles are fired onto the enemy , the air bubbles coming out from behind torpedoes as they are fired onto enemy submarines , the yellow explosions as rockets torpedoes and missiles strike ; all are beautifully filmed .

The insides of destroyers and especially submarines and also of war situation rooms are shown in detail . I could almost smell the torpedoes and missiles , so closely they are shown and so realistically as if the whole situation was for real . There are those who doubt the viability of the mission and those who believe in it , and the tussle between them is ever present . Background music and acting is all good . It goes without saying that the movie is for nationalists and nationalists alone ; the bleeding hearts of the politically correct brigade wouldn't be able to survive an encounter with it .

Verdict---Good .

Zulu dawn ( 1979 )



This movie showcases the battle of Isandhlwana where the Zulu nation gave a big defeat to the invading British in southern africa in late nineteenth century .

The war begins with a message from the british to the Zulu king that he kills people arbitrarily while on the other hand the british queen cannot kill her lowliest subject without trial ; thus the Zulu nation which is allegedly lawless must be brought under british control . The Zulu king replies that the Zulu have their own laws and even he kills people only according to their laws . But do the british imperialists care about such replies when the intention is naked imperialism ? no they don't .

The british and Zulu camps are shown preparing for war . Before that there is the marriage ritual of Zulu women with their men . Masses of free naked Zulu women run with their breasts openly hanging out to choose their husbands in a vast tribal mating programme crying war cries from their mouths . In contrast the genteel british women are fully covered from head to toe typical of Victorian times . British men dream of romancing them from afar but don't dare approach . I wondered which culture was free ?

As war is declared the aggressor british cross the river marking the boundary between the two nations . They are armed with rifles and artillery guns and some are mounted on horses . They camp for the night . Next day their advanced units cross the mountains to stumble upon an awesome sight---thirty to forty thousand Zulu warriors have assembled to give national resistance to the invaders . They are mostly armed with spears and shields but their number is overwhelming . And their intentions are ferocious .

The advanced units double back to warn the main army of the approaching horde , but it is too late and some of the british officers are frankly unbelieving . They sit for a formal meal with drinks and fruits .

Soon the advancing Zulus make mincemeat of a separated unit of the british troops by trapping them in a shallow gorge and then surrounding them and killing them . Then they attack the main army . The british are confident that their superior firepower will prevail , but the numbers of Zulus killed by firing of rifles by the disciplined british soldiers are too piddly to matter . Nor does firing of artillery guns or mortars do much impact . The Zulus simply don't care about their losses and keep on advancing .

Overwhelmed by the Zulu attack , the british cavalry retreat leaving the infantry to fend for themselves . The infantry are cut down where they stand . All that is left now is to save the union jack by running off with the british flag . But the Zulus manage to capture even that by overrunning the horsemen desperately trying to cross the river back into british territory . A gallant british soldier kills the Zulu warrior running off with the flag and the flag drowns in the river .

The movie really shows armies of considerable size maneuver on the battlefield . The british are in red uniforms and full of spit and polish . the Zulu warriors are half naked but fierce . Colours and photography and background music is good . Burt Lancaster plays the colonel leading the british troops .

Verdict---decent .

Three stars out of five .

Kingdom of heaven ( 2005 )



Orlando Bloom plays Balian , a blacksmith living in France . His wife has committed suicide , and a priest beheads her before burial . Balian kills him in revenge . Meanwhile some crusaders have approached him for going to the holy land ( Jerusalem ) where a crusader kingdom has been established by defeating the muslims , and Balian agrees to accompany them in hope of getting forgiveness for his and his wife's sins . But the law has come to catch up with him and the crusaders have to fight those who have come to arrest Balian for the priest's murder . The crusaders' leader is fatally injured in the fight . On the journey to the holy land he dies , but before that he has knighted Balian .

The ship in which Balian is sailing runs aground in a storm and he is the sole survivor . Balian is attacked by a muslim cavaliar but manages to kill him in the ensuing fight . He spares the cavaliar's companion and asks him to take him to Jerusalem . In Jerusalem he has prestige due to his knighthood and he wins the heart of the king's sister Sibylla ( played by the beautiful Eva Green ) and they have passionate lovemaking scenes . The king has leprosy and he is going to die , leaving the kingdom in the hands of Sibylla's husband Guy and his ally Reynald . Both are warmongers and are recklessly baying for muslim blood even though the muslims have gathered a bigger army under their leader Salahuddin ( Saladin ) .

After the king dies , the two declare war on Saladin by killing his sister who has come as a peace emissary . They decide to march on his army inspite of warnings by Balian that if they march away from water sources they will be cut off from water in the desert by Saladin's huge army . But Reynald and Guy are eager for glory and attack . Here what has been predicted by Balian happens and they are cut off from water and their army dies of thirst . They are captured by Saladin and Reynald is beheaded by him as it he who has killed his sister . But I was disappointed as this battle of Hattin was not actually shown , maybe because the film's hero had no part in it . Of course , the full armies of the opposing forces are shown in all their glory with the muslims flying their green flags and christians brandishing a huge cross .

Now Jerusalem is vulnerable to the muslims and Balian is called upon to defend it . He rouses the common townsfolk to fight by knighting them . This siege of Jerusalem is shown in full and one gets to see the full fighting . And one must say it has been filmed well . The muslims erect siege towers after marching with their vast cavalry to the walls of the city with standards flying---a formidable sight . As one by one the siege towers are broken by the defenders , Balian is there in the thick of the fighting . Finally the muslims detect one part of the wall which is weak . They attack with firetipped arrows which again is a breathtaking sight with fire being rained all over the city . Finally they bombard with catapults and fiery shells land on the walls breaking them . Behind the defenders are waiting and a massive fight breaks out under Balian's command in which thousands of saracens ( as the muslims are called by the crusaders ) are killed .

Next day Saladin asks for a meeting as his forces are frustrated by the fight shown by the slender number of troops that Balian possesses . Even though the odds are stacked against the defenders due to the vast size of the invading saracens , Balian vows to destroy every monument sacred to every religion in the holy city if it comes to a fight to the finish . Afraid that muslim sacred places will also be destroyed , Saladin agrees to allow the christians unmolested out of the city if the city is handed over to him .

Balian is hailed as a hero by Jerusalem's population for saving it from massacre at the hands of the saracens , and queen Sibylla accompanies him to France on the return journey . They have barely settled down when king Richard the Lionheart of England comes to him asking Balian to march with him to reconquer Jerusalem . But Balian refuses . As he and Saladin both have agreed , a lot of bloodshed would be saved if nothing had been left in Jerusalem's spot to fight over . A thousand years later , peace in the holy land is still elusive....

The ending left me with emotion , as did the events in the second half of the movie . The movie is more than three hours long , and takes time to get you in it's grip . But when it does get a grip , it is well worth watching . Colours are darkish but photography is good , especially of grand armies and their fanatical soldiers---for it was the age of the religious fervour of the crusades . Background music is decent and so is the acting by everyone .

Verdict---Good .

Three and a half stars out of five .

A Private War



The film is on celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin , who is played by Rosamund Pike . The film begins with her covering the civil war in Sri Lanka , where she goes deep into rebel territory held by Tamil tigers . But instead of the sympathetic portrayal that the limping spokesperson ( he has been hit three times by bullets in the civil war ) of the Tamil tigers is hoping for , she tells him point blank that she would like to tell the world that the tigers are letting their people suffer for want of food and medical attention .

The above incident is typical of Marie , who always cares more for the innocent victims caught in the crossfire of war instead of the actual fighters . And she is ready to put herself in danger for doing so ; as she frankly admits , she was never cut out to be an ordinary housewife living a comfortable life in a safe suburb . Maybe her trait for not caring for her own safety has been accentuated by her two miscarriages that left her without a child waiting at home .

She is fired upon by Sri Lankan government forces and loses an eye in the conflict . She is justly awarded on returning home , but beneath all the bravado she cries for her lost vision in her eye . But does she want to stop after this experience ? No .

She moves to Iraq which is being invaded by the USA and manages to get past Saddam's militia in a nerve wracking encounter to film mass graves being dug up of people killed earlier . Once more , her filming of this makes headlines and a star reporter is born . Her boss Sean Ryan is played by Tom Hollander , and she has differences with him as he sends other reporters to cover because he feels she is too unpredictable .

Yeah , unpredictable she is because of her addiction to drinking and smoking . What else can a person do to blank out horrifying images of mangled corpses and bleeding wounded bodies and death and destruction from the mind ? It's a miracle that she sticks to her job inspite of seeing all the bloodletting .

Next , she is in Afghanistan in the midst of the fighting covering it all . After that , in Libya . She gets to interview Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and he admits he has liked her more than all the women he has met . And later , she gets to see his dead body too after rebels have killed him . She interviews a rapist who raped women on orders of Gaddafi , and he describes how a girl he raped said that God was watching his act from above and he answered that Gaddafi is God . But my view of the conflict differed sharply from her reporting . She claimed that Gaddafi's regime was cruel and was committing atrocities on the people . What she did not tell was that what followed was worse . At least Gaddafi was giving a stable government to his people with a decent standard of living due to sale of petroleum . The west's needless interference left the nation torn apart due to civil war . She was just parroting what the west wanted to hear to justify it's interference .

The final assignment is in Syria , which is in midst of civil war between President Assad's forces and rebels . Here too , she blames the ruler for the war but is able to back up her claims by broadcasting images of innocent people being killed where Assad has claimed terrorists are hiding . Images of people as they die before her eyes leave many including her boss in tears . She takes interviews of women who have lost children and husbands as they try to escape , thus awakening the conscience of the free world .

But she gets too carried away and refuses to get evacuated as the fighting comes too close . In her will to report everything from the ground as it happens , it seems she also has a death wish . Her last interview from the city of Homs is reported even by CNN as she is the only western correspondent there . She doesn't make it back home from there ; is killed as bombs rain death from above . She also endangers the lives of those correspondents who choose to stick by her . One of them is killed along with her and the other wounded .

Rosamund Pike has done justice to her role as Marie Colvin . Photography of charred bodies and of the rubble of destroyed cities and of the sand dunes of the desert painted golden by the sun's rays makes for some wonderful and some distressing viewing . Colours are good and so is background music . Also good is the song in the end by Annie Lennox .

But the movie will be appreciated only by those with a yen for seeing real life horrors. For this no glamorised picturisation of war but is instead a viewing of it's realities . Of all the terrible suffering unleashed by war . Watching the movie makes you cringe on seeing the cruelties .

Verdict---Good .

Thanks for the Private War review. This sounds good enough to warrant a watch at some point. I wasn't sure how political it would try to be after seeing a synopsis and trailer for it.