My Favorite Movies

Fight Club (1999)
Directed by David Fincher
Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Leto

«Tyler Durden: I want you to do me a favour.
Narrator: Yeah, sure...
Tyler Durden: I want you to hit me as hard as you can.
Narrator: What, you just want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: C'mon, do me this one favour.
Narrator: Why?
Tyler Durden: Why? I don't know why; I don't know. Never been in a fight. You?
Narrator: No, but that's a good thing.
Tyler Durden: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you've never been in a fight? I don't want to die without any scars. So come on; hit me before I lose my nerve.
Narrator: This is crazy.
Tyler Durden: So go crazy. Let 'er rip.
Narrator: I don't know about this.
Tyler Durden: I don't either. Who gives a shit? No one's watching. What do you care?
Narrator: Whoa, wait, this is crazy. You want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: That's right.
Narrator: What, like in the face?
Tyler Durden: Surprise me.
Narrator: This is so fucking stupid...
[Narrator swings, connects against Tyler's head]
Tyler Durden: Motherfucker! You hit me in the ear!
Narrator: Well, Jesus, I'm sorry.
Tyler Durden: Ow, Christ... why the ear, man?
Narrator: Guess I fucked it up...
Tyler Durden: No, that was perfect!»

You are not your job. You are not how much you have in the bank. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your khakis. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. What happens first is you can't sleep. What happens then is there's a gun in your mouth. And what happens next is you meet Tyler Durden. Let me tell you about Tyler. He had a plan. In Tyler we trusted. Tyler says the things you own, end up owning you. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Fight Club represents that kind of freedom. First rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Second rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Tyler says self-improvement is masturbation. Tyler says self-destruction might be the answer.

First rule of the fight club is: you do not talk about the fight club but in the next half an hour I am afraid I have to break this rule as I will mention the good and the bad things about fight club. If you are here to read the bad things, then I am afraid you will not get any from me. Fight club is a true masterpiece, a drama/crime movie involving everything you need in a perfect movie: fighting, sex, cigarettes, love, action, more fighting, crime, more sex and of course a storyline that will touch you and make you feel stunned right to the end. A superb story, accomplished with some astonishing acting, and of course the superb special effects, all here in this movie. I will also discuss what it took to get such a great film?

The film opened at the cinemas on October 15, 1999 and perhaps made the end of the 20th Century worthwhile. An American feature film adaptation of the 1996 novel Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, adapted by Jim Uhls, and directed by David Fincher. This is a perfect story Chuck wrote, and David Fincher did a brilliant job in producing this film. The action never stops, and even in the end you are left imagining what might happen next. Twists and turns are in the film throughout, and it looks better every time you watch it.

This film has one of the best acting performances I have seen in my whole life in Edward Norton's performance, and this is only one year after his previous stunning Oscar nominated performance as Derek Vinyard from American History X. He followed this up by giving an absolutely sensational performance in Fight Club. Every time I watch another of his films and hear his voice, it brings me back to the time I watched Fight Club; the Story teller's narrative was very emotional and clearly understandable. His character is a guy who suffers from insomnia. He is a crazy, obsessed guy, but like most other guys in the world he has a normal job, a normal house, and a normal life. It all changes after he meets Tyler Durden, a mysterious guy that offers him to stay at his house, after a horrible accident which caused the narrators flat to be destroyed. Ed Norton is no longer Ed Norton; he is the narrator of this story and the main protagonist. His acting deserves more than praise but unfortunately he was never nominated for any awards whatsoever which is very disappointing.

Brad Pitt plays Tyler Durden, and he does his role unbelievably well. No nonsense from Brad and a good look, extremely athletic body, and his mannerisms are very humorous in this film, and he delivers perhaps one of the best performances in his entire career. Also he handled most of his dialogues really well and he sounded very encouraging towards the narrator; a sort of stuff I was really surprised to see from Brad Pitt.

Helena Bonham Carter plays the role of Marla Singer, a deeply depressed-looking person who is flippant about taking her life seriously, and absolutely careless about everything. At first she is kind of annoying; at the start of the movie she always appears where narrator seems to be, but later you understand that she is a major character in this film so she needed to be there all the time. It is a perfect performance from Helena which also surprised me, considering I had never heard of her until I saw this movie (all of her fans, please excuse me for my lack of knowledge about her career). Lastly I want to mention two other minor actors: Meat loaf & Jared Leto. They both gave good, strong performances and never looked like they were struggling.

There were not many Special effects, as it isn't some sort of over the top action movie, however this film does have some serious fighting scenes which you will no doubt enjoy. This film had some great destructive special effects, and without revealing any more details, I can tell you that it looks cleverly done.

One of the other things I liked about this film is the original idea, the way it is told, and the way we do not know the truth until the very end. This film is also filled with hidden messages which are very hard to notice, or understand. It is crazy and I love it for that. I cannot understand why this film wasn't nominated for any Academy Award, but for Best Sound Editing and the Golden Reel Award, it lost both, which is really disappointing in my opinion, as this film is really original and entirely unique.

So, to summarize, Fight Club achieved everything it could have achieved and rose above my expectations and became my favourite film of all time. I can assure you that if you find this film in a DVD shop or elsewhere, please buy it! By doing so you will be involved in what it feels like to be deeply depressed and to have no other choice but to fight your way through it until finally you will meet your destiny. This film is without any doubt a masterpiece.

«Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think everything you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler.»

Review Date: 13th of April, 2008.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Directed by Frank Darabont
Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, James Whitmore

«Red: [narrating] In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved Geology, I guess it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big god-damned poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy's favourite hobby was totin' his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, he decided he had been here just about long enough. Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice, neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too. Five-Hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.»

Shawshank Redemption is a film that came out in 1994, and it is based on the Stephen King novella, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". It wasn't a Box Office record; it only grossed about $28,000,000. But not being that famous at this stage, Shawshank Redemption became known as one of the biggest successes in the cinema history. It tells a story of Andy Dufresne, a mild mannered New England banker, who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Despised at first by the other inmates because of his introverted manner, Andy slowly forges an unlikely friendship with Red, a seasoned lifer and his gang. Soon, Andy also becomes popular with the prison guards, including the vicious Captain Hadley who offers him protection against the jail's rougher convicts in exchange for financial counselling. The prison warden also takes advantage of Andy's banking knowledge by exchanging privileges for creative bookkeeping. Over a twenty year period, Andy is able to maintain his sanity and dignity in prison not by physical force but by mental force. His smarts and confidence keep him going and he is able to teach the other prisoners that hope is the ultimate means of survival.

Shawshank Redemption is not a film about a man who spent his live in prison and lost his mind in the process, it is about someone who had hope and confidence that one day he will escape and he will live a happy life again. Besides hope, it also shows many other aspects of life such as friendship, redemption and salvation. This film is a perfect example of what people are really capable of, if they simply hope and believe. Andy Dufresne was a normal man, he worked hard, he loved his wife, and he was simply enjoying his life. But one day he found out that his wife cheated on him. Later after that, he was sentenced for murdering his wife and her lover; he was sentenced to spend a life sentence at the Shawshank Prison. Later on in the movie we find out that he didn't actually murder his wife and her lover, someone else did it and he got blamed for it. He was claimed guilty of something he didn't do. He spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Anyone in his situation would have stop hoping and simply gave up. Bu not him, he decided to fight in hope that one day he will be free again. Andy Dufresne had a plan, he had friends that helped him during these years he spent in prison, and lastly he had hope, the most powerful thing that person can have.

Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding was one of the key prisoners in Shawshank Prison. He was the man who could get you nearly anything you wanted. He and Andy became best friends during their time in prison. Andy helps Red to realize that hope is a good thing and that you should always thing positive. While Red helped Andy to get the stuff he wanted, Andy made lots of favors for Red and the some other cellmates. Shortly after Andy escaped from Shawshank, Red is released on parole and he decides to find his best friend and to be reunited with him. He follows the instruction he received from Andy in the card he send to him, and he finally finds what he was looking for. He finds his friend, he finds a new life on the coast of Pacific, and he finds himself. Red was always there for Andy, and in return, Andy is there for Red and they both found something that they were so desperate for before: freedom.

The tough life in prison is another factor that made this film famous. An all time fear of being victimized by other cellmates, the pressure of making a wrong move which will end in a result that will see you beaten up to death, a fact that prison takes everything from you, including your life. A clear example is a life of a cellmate and a friend of Andy called Brooks Hatlen. Andy first meets Brooks when he is appointed to help him around the library. They soon become close friends and great co-workers. Brooks spent 50 years in Shawshank Prison, he is a well known person there, and he has knowledge and experience. People respect him in there. But when he is about to get released from prison, he doesn't want to go. He even attacks one of Andy's friends and claims that he will kill him because by doing so, he will stay in prison for longer. Andy encourage him not to do so, and after Brooks let the guy go, he bursts in tears an moment which makes us realize that prison took everything from him. What happens next is simply heart breaking. For me, the next scene is one of the saddest scenes in the film history. Brooks explains that how different life is outside the prison, and that he cannot cope with it. He tells that he is nobody out there and that prison took his whole life away from him. It is true, in prison he was well known and other people had great respect for him, but in outside world he is just an old man. It is sad, yet truthful. In the end of the scene he commits suicide because he cannot live a life like that. He is sick and tired of being feared all the time. His life was simply over when he left his cell and returned to the normal world. He decided not to stay. The scene is really powerful and it shows how tough the life is. We can see that people in prison are so different after they finally return to normal world. Prison is like a different world; you live there and after a while you become famous and you make friends just like in normal life, but when you finally leave, you have nothing at all. You gain and lose everything when you leave. Prison takes the most important thing from you; your life. The sort of performance we see from James Whitmore is unbelievable. He shows us exactly what we want, and it is hard to watch this man performing because he is so good and realistic; when he is just sitting on the bus, looking afraid, looking like he just travelled to some unknown place that is far away from his home. A fear in his eyes; he knows that he just lost everything that he ever owned. Whitmore should have received some kind of award for his performance, maybe even an Oscar nomination; he was simply phenomenal.

«Brooks: [narrating] Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer". And a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It's hard work and I try to keep up but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello. But he never does. I hope wherever he is he's okay and makin' new friends. I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun, an, an rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.
[carves "Brooks was here" into wood. Admires his work for a moment. Then kicks out the table beneath him and hangs himself]»

All of the performances were sensational. Tim Robbins gave a mesmerizing performance as Andy Dufresne. He shows real character knowledge, he improvises and he follows his script well, a great actor to play Andy Dufresne. Morgan Freeman was also great, his narrating is outstanding, and his voice shows the emotions of his character. Morgan is very experienced and he always knows what he doing. A mixture between Robbins and Freeman are great; they show that they can easily work together and they both do amazing to create a whole atmosphere of friendship between their characters. They don't just try to act, they show what would the actual characters do in the certain situations and it makes the audience love the film. Bob Gunton plays an evil and corrupted Warden Samuel Norton. He does well; he shows the true evilness of his character. Norton only cares about himself and so he uses cell mates and security guards to do a lot of dirty jobs for him. He uses Andy to make sure that nobody finds out about his embezzlements. William Sadler plays one of Andy's friends called Heywood. Heywood is a grumpy guy who at first dislikes Andy, but later he becomes a good friend of his. He seems really pessimistic about many things and he shows to his cellmates that he simply doesn't care about many things in his life. Sadler does fairly well in this film, just like Freeman he has some experience in his acting carrier and he shows it here. Clancy Brown plays a nasty guard; a captain in Shawshank Prison called Byron Hadley. Many prisoners are terrified of him, and they have all the reasons to be terrified because Hadley is a guy who will look for a reason to beat you up. He hates people who try to go against him and he also beats anyone who refuses to listen to his orders. Clancy Brown is brilliant in his role; he does make you hate him, especially when he screams and shouts at the prisoners. Lastly, as I mentioned before, James Whitmore plays Brooks Hatlen. His performance is simply outstanding, it couldn't be any better. The scene when he dies is one of the saddest scenes in the history of cinema and James should be proud as he gave his best ever performance in this film. All other actors did well too, and that what makes this film so memorable; a number of outstanding performances from the main cast.

Other things such as story, music score and cinematography played a big role in the film's success. Story was told and directed beautifully by Frank Darabont, he did an outstanding job. The music score is phenomenal. Thomas Newman is so good at what he does, and he has created something special for this film. Music is always essential in movies, as a good music will help the viewer enjoy the film and the bad music will only distract the viewer. The music in this film was probably one of the best I heard in a while. All the songs were added perfectly to the certain scenes in the movie, which made it worthwhile to watch and listen. Lastly, I want to mention the cinematography. The use of light and shadow is greatly combined in this movie. The whole film is just a pleasure to watch. It is always great to watch a film that has been created with all the care it needed.

1994 was a great year for films. With movies like Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump and Shawshank Redemption it is certainly a year to remember. There are some people who don't see anything special in Shawshank Redemption. But to say so, it is a masterpiece that will be remembered for many years. A film that has anything you want form drama, it also shines thanks to phenomenal acting, outstanding music score and a great storyline. If you lost the confidence in yourself or if you simply think that there is no point in living, than I suggest you watch Shawshank Redemption. It will teach you a very hard but truthful lesson about life and about the fact that hope is one of the greatest things in your life.

«Red: [narrating] I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.»

Review Date: 25th of May, 2008.

Crash (2005)
Directed by Paul Haggis
Starring Don Cheadle, Mat Dillon, Terrence Howard, Michael Pena, Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Larenz Tate, Ryan Phillipe, Tandie Newton, Shaun Toub, William Fichtner

«Graham: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.»

Crash is somewhat complicated to review without intentionally revealing most of the film. It is a story of a 36 hour time period in Los Angeles, mostly concentrating on the racial problems between different kinds of the people that live in LA. It also tells us about the corruption, prejudice and family problems that occur between the people of different races.

The whole idea of racism in LA is somewhat an example of how bad the racism problem can get. Los Angeles is the second largest city in America, and its one of the most glamorous cities in the world. It is home of Hollywood, the ultimate place of fame. There are thousands of people that dream to live there. And the fact that the city is full of corruption and crime is somewhat truthful. If such a glamorous city became a victim of racism, what could the other cities possibly be like? If there is no respect for a coloured director or a police officer will there ever be any respect for a normal person?

The story is somewhat extraordinary. It is very emotional and extremely sad in many ways. The characters in the movie all connect together and it is somewhat hard to describe them all without revealing much. The acting, the beautifully haunted music, and the cinematography it is all combined perfectly in this movie.

Main theme of the movie is that prejudice prevents people from seeing the actual things. Whenever it's a Persian man being mistaken for an Iranian, or a Spaniard woman being mistaken for a Mexican, all is due to the high prejudice and people's behaviour towards somebody who is different from them in some way. Even the people that are completely unknown to you is judged badly, would it be a locksmith who is falsely mistaken for a "gangbanger" just because he might dress like one or simply when he is in fact a family man, or a pair of black kids that might sound like typical stereotypic black kids when in fact they are just a pair of normal African-American kids that are scared of the society that kills people like them.

This behaviour also makes the characters say exactly what they think which eventually leads to some bad consequences. A wife of the district attorney is so frightened that she calls a false alarm and takes whatever is necessarily to protect her from the danger that doesn't exist. A white cop accuses a black woman worker from HMO of not doing all the possible in order to help his dying father and being racist towards her in the process.

It may also look as it is perfectly scripted out by Paul Haggis and yes it is. The directing he does and the choice of the cast is amazing. I particularly liked the story of a racist white officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) who looks after his dying father. He stops a black rich couple for something they shouldn't be doing while driving and sexually molest the women while her husband has to watch all this because he cannot do anything against cops - they have guns and they are the law. His partner officer Tommy Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) watches everything and has no choice but to assist Ryan, but he also cannot help but feel guilty for what is happening. This shows Ryan as a vile and disrespectful person, but we see the better side of him later when he is carrying for his sick father and trying his best in order to help him.

Ironically, later in the film both cops find themselves in the different situations and locations, saving the lives of the director and his wife. Is it really ironic? Perhaps, but it also have a deeper purpose and meaning; the characters learn a lesson from their behaviour and move on to do better things. Perhaps not always because one of them makes a crucial mistake that changes his life forever as we learn later in the film.

Don Cheadle as Detective Graham Waters, whose family problems stops him from doing the right thing, gives an extremely powerful performance. The rest of the cast is also amazing, especially, Terrence Howard, Michael Pena and Peter Waters. The music connects perfectly with the movie. Just when you think it can't get any better, the music comes in and completely changes your opinion about the movie and the whole scene that you are watching at the time. The cinematography and the editing have been done to the state of perfection, and it is a hard job to connect a complex movie like that and they did great job by completely nailing it.

Crash may be cliché and predictable but in the end its not the suspense or originality that serve the purpose, but the whole idea of what you do and how it affects your life. The movie is trying to teach you a lesson, sometimes by acting on our emotions and making obvious statements but it works for some of us. If it doesn't work for you, then carry on living your normal life. Eventually you will come across one of the situation you saw in the movie and maybe then you will understand how important this movie is.

Review Date: 19th of February, 2009.

Donnie Darko (2001)
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, James Duval, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle

«Donnie: [in a letter] Dear Roberta Sparrow, I have reached the end of your book and... there are so many things that I need to ask you. Sometimes I'm afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I'm afraid that you'll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.»

The story takes place in 1988 in the town of Middlesex, Virginia, during the time of the United States presidential election. Donnie Darko is an intelligent and emotionally troubled teenager who sleepwalks and is in the medical care of a psychiatrist. One night, a jet engine from a commercial aircraft falls into Donnie's bedroom. He avoids death only because prior to the accident, he had obeyed a voice in his head that led him to sleepwalk outside of his room. The voice is that of Frank, an apparently imaginary friend in a man-sized rabbit costume. At midnight on October 2, Frank prophesies to Donnie that the end of the world will occur in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.

Donnie Darko is an emo kid. He dresses like one, talks like one, and even has an exact haircut. But for some reason, he is forced to do unexpected things that usually acquires late at night time. This is one of those films that needed to be watched carefully. By that, I mean you don't have to watch it a numerous number of times, but you have to notice every single detail in order to understand it. You either love this film, because you worked out the whole idea of it (doesn't mean you have to explain it, as long as you understand it its fine) or you hate it, because you think that it is way too complicated, or spooky, or just really pointless. I doubt many people hate it, even if this movie didn't receive high gross revenue, it has a lot of fans, and the number of them increasing every year.

Story has been developed really well, we get to know every aspect of it, and even if we feel that something is missing, or something is not right, you will get this detail by the end of the movie, but only if you pay close attention to the film. Jake Gyllenhaal was casted for the role of Donnie Darko, and this role made an instant impact on his career. He does a very good performance, his dialog was good, he acts well and looks really sick, and I am sure that his creepy smile will be stuck in your head for a while after you have seen this movie. So one day, Donnie Darko meets a new girl in his school called Gretchen, played by Jena Malone. Jena is nice and cute, and does all the acting perfectly, especially at the age of 17, she still handles her role well. James Duval plays Frank, a mysterious guy in a rabbit suit. For the guy dressed as a rabbit for the entire movie, he did pretty well. Drew Barrymore plays a teacher in Donnie's school, who doesn't get on well with some stuff in the school and therefore being sacked towards the end of the movie. She is Donnie's favourite teacher, and she sometimes encourages him and she does a great deal of work in the school, so in the end when she gets sacked, you really feel for her. Last two notable actors are Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle. Both had minor roles, but despite that fact they did really well.

Donnie Darko has a really nice music score, used well during the main scenes in the movie. You don't have to be a genius to understand that this is a really good movie. It is a fine debut movie for Richard Kelly, who must build on this great experience and produce something similar next time he directs a movie. I think the whole point of this movie is to let people understand it in the different ways that are most suitable for them. There is no ultimate explanation for this movie; you just choose the most suitable one for yourself and enjoy the film.

Overall, Donnie Darko is a cult classic that will be remembered for years to come. There is no clear meaning for this film; it shows different things to different people that watch it. The main character is someone we always wanted to be at some point in our lives. We all reached a point, where we just don't want to live anymore, and we start asking ourselves: what is live? You can't answer it, or though if you can, you always seem to be wrong about it. You just have to live and enjoy your live, hoping that one day you will find the answers to all of your questions.

Review Date: 24th of April, 2008.

Batman Begins (2005)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ket Watanabe

«[Bruce awakens from a nightmare]
Thomas Wayne: The bats again?
[Bruce nods]
Thomas Wayne: You know why they attacked you, don't you? They were afraid of you.
Bruce Wayne - age 8: Afraid of me?
Thomas Wayne: All creatures feel fear.
Bruce Wayne - age 8: Even the scary ones?
Thomas Wayne: Especially the scary ones.»

The tale finds the disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne, in the wake of his parents' murder, travelling the world to seek the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city. Learn about batman origins and feel what it is like to be a normal human who trying to fight against evil all by his own. Well, maybe not all on his own, but with help of bats- the biggest fear of his life.

Batman begins perhaps the best batman film of its time. The title says it all: it's a beginning of a new batman era and it's a perfect beginning for a perfect film series. It starts with a story of Bruce Wayne's early life (I believe I don't need to tell you who Bruce Wayne is) and his fear for bats. We see how his life goes on and what happened to him to make him who he is by the end of a movie.

The acting is really intense. Christian Bale does the batman so well that I think he is the perfect guy for a role. His movements, his fighting and his speech are all fantastic and his voice really lets us know why all of the villains are scared when they face batman. More to that he shows the human part of batman really well, he acts like a complete jackass millionaire and makes himself look all elegant when Bruce works on his business. I really couldn't find a better person to play batman than Christian Bale and that is weird as in previous batman movies there were many numerous actors who played this character and they all didn't do such a great job. But not this one; Christian was a top performer out of them all. Christian is an actor who is very strong on screen and you can rely on him doing a great job which he did.

Michael Cane was perfect guy for Alfred role; he showed that he is British throughout and his care and humour was essential in this film. The rest of the actors done well too: Cillian Murphy was a great villain, so was Liam Neeson playing a guy with a mysterious alibi and a really dark past. Only one look into his eyes will give you the chills. Morgan freeman little role showed that he can do little roles and be noticed by the viewer as his acting perfect and Garry Oldman showed that little bit of professionalism in his acting as his character is desperately trying to save his city but being fully outnumbered until batman arrives. I didn't particularly liked Katie Holmes performance but I didn't hate it either so I think its fine as long as it doesn't affect the whole movie. But she needed more enthusiasm I think and that's what she really missed.

The special effects were amazing. Perhaps that will sound weird but this film didn't have as much special effects as all other barman films and yet it tops up most of them. The batman gadgets are exciting and they all look awesome as for bat suit it is just what the real one would probably looked like. It is interesting to see how batman obtained all of his gadgets as it is different to all of the other batman films which make you feel more interested in this movie. Special effects are essential in films like that and they were fully delivered here.

Finally the story tells us about the real Bruce Wayne. It is not just about a badass superhero, it's about a boy who lost his parents and was fortunate to own all of his parent's empire. But he needed none of that as he seeks revenge and he promises to fight against all of the evil in this world and in his home city Gotham. He doesn't seek death and destruction to all of his villains no, he is trying to save the lives of all the innocent people and his ultimate challenge is to prevent Gotham from becoming a city filled with corruption and crime. He faces his fears and personal problems on his way to becoming the most fearful superhero in the world. A story of his dark childhood and even darker adulthood is all we see and it is being fully delivered here. I love the way they show us his childhood and the fact that he was afraid of bats when he was younger. An ordinary man, with no super powers or any other special abilities, who is fighting against crime and trying to overcome his biggest fear-Bats. This films will delivers everything you could possibly expect from it and much more.

So, this film is not an ordinary one; it is a mix of action and intrigue filled with tragedy and sadness which will keep you on the edge of your sit throughout the whole movie. We get a little clue about a sequel to this film right at the end of the movie and when you think that there is nothing else to hope for, you understand that there is going to be a sequel and that completely blows you away. Now, usually the sequel turns out to be worse than the first movie but I have a feeling that such a talented director as Christopher Nolan will deliver something really special with his second batman movie. After all, he created this absolute masterpiece.

Review Date: 14th of April, 2008.

The 9th Company (9 rota) (2005)
Directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk
Starring Aleksei Chadov, Artur Smolyaninov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Mikhail Porechenkov, Irina Rakhmanova

«Hohol: This is war! They don't put low grades here! They kill!»

The 9th company is a film based on the Soviet War in Afghanistan. It reflects all the terrible things during the war, mainly concentrating on the life of a band of young recruits, their brutal training in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley, up to a bloody battle on a mountain top in Afghanistan against the mujahideen.

It's hard to judge this film as it doesn't really follow the historical path. It's not entirely accurate nor does it tries to be. But it does shows what kind of tests young Russian soldiers had to go through in order to stay alive during the war. In most of the war films that shows how hard it is for soldiers to go through such thing as war seem to highlight the fact that they always fight for something; would it be their freedom, their country or even some other weaker nation. However, the 9th company completely declines that idea. It shows that no matter how hard soldiers try, there is no clear point of what they are actually fighting for. In reality it is a little bit different but overall you can say that it's impossible to tell the main reason why these young soldiers were send to Afghan. So you think if there is no point, why are they fighting? Well, simply because these guys are determined to protect their country no matter what. They all stood together while their country fell apart.

There are some great performances coming from the actors who played the members of the 9th company. A famously known young and talented Russian actor Aleksei Chadov gives a terrific performance which once again highlights he is capable of much more than he is usually given. Surprisingly unknown Artur Smolyaninov gives a terrific performance in the leading role (the last scene where he takes a major part is particularly outstanding). The rest of the actors were good and once again it shows that Russian film industry does have a great potential.

You might think at first that this isn't a greatest movie of all time, and I would honestly agree with you. But it's good enough to entertain one and make another one love it. With the budget of only $9.5 million this movie is a great achievement.

Review Date: 28th of September, 2008.

The Jacket (2005)
Directed by John Maybury
Starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Daniel Craig

«Jack Starks: I was 27 years old the first time I died.»

Little do we know what death is all about. We only get to know what it's like once we experience it. But what if it was possible to travel into future and to realise that you will die very soon? What would you do? Would you try to prevent this or would you just leave it like that?

27 year old Jack Starks is a lucky man. Being shot in the head during his military services in the Gulf War he miraculously survives; the only bad thing is he also gets Amnesia that prevents him from remembering any of his past life. Some time later he helps a little girl and her mother with a broken car, little girl asks if she can have his dog tags and he gently agrees to give it to her. Later this day he gets a lift from a mysterious stranger who looks way too friendly. They get stopped by a policemen and that's where it all goes terribly wrong. The next thing that Jack sees is him attending a court meeting that will decide wherever he is guilty of killing this same policeman that he met before or not. He says that he doesn't remember anything that happened and he also claims that he never killed anyone. The judge decides that Jack is physically unstable and sends him to mental institution. If only Jack knew what awaits him there, he wished he never got into this mess.

Sounds like a horror movie when in fact it has nothing to do with this genre. "The Jacket" is a psychological thriller about time travelling; also some people might compare it to "The Butterfly Effect", when in fact both are completely different movies. If "The Butterfly Effect" more of a sci-fi movie, "The Jacket" is much more psychological and in my opinion better since it doesn't have so many holes in the script and much more believable.

Yet the whole idea of time travelling in this movie is not as self explanatory, it is very believable. It is hard to understand what makes Jack time travel; is it the drugs that Dr. Becker injects him with, or is it the drawer where Jack has been kept during the whole process or is it the Jacket itself that does this to him? Who knows, I still have no idea what it was, yet I did enjoy it.

The whole movie concept is great; a guy who miraculously survives a bullet shot gets amnesia and is send to the mental hospital for a crime that he didn't commit. Once he is there he is been experimented on by a doctor. The experiment involves the doctor injecting him with some sort of a drug and later on storing him in the drawer for a certain amount of time. What doctor doesn't know is that it causes the character to time travel into the future where he finds out that he is going to die in a couple of days in the time where he came from. Sounds crazy and so it is, crazy but fascinating.

Visual effects were somewhat great. We get all this close shots of Jack blinking when he is about to time travel and all the colour mixtures and fragments of past & future in his eyes; the director caught that really well. We also get close shots of characters mouth, eyes, teeth, in order to see his emotions.

Adrien Brody gives yet another terrific performance that is his second best after the Oscar Winning performance in World War II biopic "The Pianist". He is very genuine and he has a real talent for acting. He doesn't overreact and he is a perfect match for the leading role in this movie. Keira Knightley is great as the girl that he falls in love with, they both have a great chemistry and it is sometimes sad to watch them together as you know that towards the end it is never going to happen. Kris Kristofferson is great as a confused and slightly mad doctor, and Daniel Craig is amazingly good in his unusual role of a man who suffers from a depression caused by his wife leaving him.

Yet is the most of the film looks great, there is a feeling of something missing; some sort of a detail or perhaps some little explanation. Like what does it that causes Dr. Becker to experiment on his patients; what made him the kind of person he is? Why the movie is called "The Jacket" that it is actually the combination of the drug, the claustrophobia of the drawer where the main character is kept and lastly the jacket itself that makes him time travel? Or is it just a part of Jack's mind? What if it is all happening in his head and he actually died right at the start when he was shot in the head by the Iraqi boy?

The ending also seems very cautious. It can tell different things. I found that there are possibly can be 3 different endings to this movie, all based on what the viewer is like It's like the director never really intended to explain the ending; he just left a big fat question mark at the end that needs some self resolving form the viewers. Or does it really needs explanation? Perhaps not, there is no right or wrong, it is just the way you look at it.

Yet what I like about this movie is the fact that Jack finally realises that there is no way of preventing something that is going to happen. That is why he decides to save someone else's life rather than his own and that is what eventually kills him. How was he to know that?

"The Jacket" is an underrated movie that turns out to be very entertaining and very remarkable even though it isn't quite there. But who said that a movie has to be perfect in order to be good?

Review Date: 23rd of November, 2008.

Black Hawk Down (2001)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, William Fichter, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, Ron Eldard, Orlando Bloom

«"Hoot": When I go home people'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda war junkie?" You know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.»

Black Hawk Down is all about that men that died in the war. Not about the men that died because they had enough courage to protect their country or men that died because they were brave enough to sacrifice themselves in order to save millions of innocent lives and prevented world destruction. It's about men that simply followed orders and never imagined that anything can possibly go wrong when in fact a perfect plan turned into a horrible disaster for all these men. It proves that in the times of war even the simplest thing that goes wrong can cause the deaths of many innocent people.

The story follows the events of The Battle of Mogadishu where the USA forces were desperately trying to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. They send three types of groups in order to achieve their task: Army Rangers and Delta Force supported by Special Operation Aviation Regiment. The task was simple: capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid and safely bring him back to the base. But as it turned out, it proved to be harder then everyone could imagine.

The movie follows different stories: there is a young soldier Todd Blackburn (Orlando Bloom) who falls from the helicopter and has to be escorted to safety due to the injury to his head during the fall. Then there are two soldiers who are supposed to return with the extraction team, but miss the humvees as they leave, and get lost. There is a highly motivated Stuff Sergeant Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) who was placed in charge of Ranger Chalk Four and is given the main task of capturing Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Then there is a gritty Sergeant First Class Norman "Hoot" Gibson (Eric Bana) who reveals the true meaning of all the fighting somewhere towards the end of the movie. There is a veteran Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore) who is sick and tired of seeing his people die every time. Then there is an all skilled Sergeant First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner) who likes to keep discipline between his soldiers. Then there is a typical desk soldier John "Grimsey" Grimes (Ewan McGregor) who has never been in a real operation and gets a chance to join the others this time.

The action scenes and the special effects are well done, especially the change of day and night; it doesn't happen in one moment and it changes slowly just like in real life. There are the moments where you can hardly understand what's going on, but it feels appropriate since it gives a massive feeling of how hard it would have been to be fighting there in real life.

The main message of the movie is evolved around a certain soldier, Michael Durant (Ron Eldard) who was a 160th SOAR pilot inside one of the two Black Hawk's that were hit during the operation. He and the other survivors were probably thinking that they will die there as a large number of hostile Somalis were coming towards the crash place, but the orders were clear: leave no one behind. So two snipers (Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart) requested to land near the crash place and shortly after that they bravely defend the pilot and the rest of the crew. Both died while defending the survivors and Durant gets captured and he remains the only survivor. The whole point is that those two are true heroes and they never lost faith in what they were doing. The fought till the end and never gave up, they are perfect role models for any soldier.

We also see a great amount of technologies, such as radar that can track all the soldiers down and all the modern weapons & gadgets. But while being able to see virtually every single soldier in the battlefield, the likes of General William F. Garrison and others are unable to prevent the deaths of their soldiers. They can watch, but they can't do anything.

The cinematography is very deep, no bright colours as there is nothing bright about war and the director uses all the suitable colours such as grey, white & black to show the true atmosphere of war.

The movie is clearly about getting a point across to the viewer rather than show him all the shooting and fighting. There is no clear propaganda on the screen and we only get messages that say about the operation being humanitarian. Towards the end of the movie, one veteran soldier says: "It's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is."

Review Date: 11th of January, 2009.

Seven Pounds (2008)
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
Starring Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper

«Ben Thomas: I did something really bad once and I'm never gonna be the same!»

I like movies where the main character has everything planned in his head, and we- viewers have to just watch and guess what he/she has on their mind. It is very breathtaking and simply entertaining to watch those kinds of movies.

Ben Thomas is an IRS agent and he does a lot of things that seem to be out of his job enquires. His actions are somewhat unknown and rather weird but it all leads to one and only outcome which only he knows about and therefore you spent half of the movie time guessing his motives. First he is trying to start a fight with a blind telemarketer; after that he punches a man who runs a nursing home because the following treats his patients badly. After that he visits a woman called Holly and she is extremely grateful for something that Ben did for her earlier, so he uses her help to track another woman down who is having problems with her boyfriend. He also meets a woman called Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) who is having heart problems. He follows her around and he also secretly observes her.

Now all this may sound like a perfect story for a serial killer movie but no, it is completely opposite to that. Seven Pounds is an extremely sad movie, in fact perhaps the most emotional movie of 2008. Emotional in terms of dealing with people and their problems and how one insignificant thing can cause a big problem which can affect the lives of several people.

Will Smith is once again plays a guy who is not having the best time of his life. I am sick of all those people who keep on complaining about the fact that Will Smith is involved in way too many roles that simply represents I-am-the-guy-who-acts-like-some-sort-of-god-or-a-perfect-man movies. Well actually he only been in two movies that somewhat similar to what people say, and that is Pursuit of Happiness & Hancock; both are entirely different one from another. Yes the characters may be similar in some way, but everything else is different! And if the guy is good at what he is doing, then why would anyone complain about it!? It's like complaining about the fact that Al Pacino appeared in too many gangster movies because he is good at playing a mafia/gangster guy. Besides Will Smith did comedy & action movies before, so give the guy a break!

As I was saying, here in Seven Pounds Will Smith gives quite a performance. He shows different sides of his character by being somewhat angry and sad at people, but to tell you the truth, he is angry at himself rather than other people. He is also able to bend rules at times, because he is an IRS agent. A truly mesmerizing performance.

And Rosario Dawson is the woman that he is most interested in throughout the whole movie. She guides him and it is very sad to know that at any moment in the movie she might die of some sort of heart problem. Smith & Dawson have a great mixture between them. Both are great actors and viewers might find it extremely satisfying to watch them acting and generally looking so natural on the screen.

While it sounds like Ben have some sort of supernatural powers, I assure you that he is 100% human and more to that, he is a good human if that makes sense. Like many people that criticised this movie like to point out, the movie is very manipulative in terms of giving us pieces of story one by one and making us wait until the end to find out the truth instead of revealing the whole meaning of the movie. People must be extremely smart these days as many say that they were able to work out the ending 20 minutes into the movie so it was a pointless idea to use suspense in this movie. I never really guessed what is coming in the end until perhaps the last 10 minutes or so but that's only because I didn't try to think about it and just enjoyed the movie which was sad and very emotional, but extremely satisfying.

Review Date: 28th of December, 2008.

R, 116 min, 2008

"I blow a hole in your face and then I go in the house... and I sleep like a baby. You can count on that. We used to stack fucks like you five feet high in Korea... use you for sandbags."

Synopsis: Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbour, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.

Clint Eastwood's underrated drama film marks his return to acting. Initially 4 years ago he announced his retirement, this is set to be his final last role as an actor. This movie puts Clint Eastwood in a position of a film Legend and an idol simple because Clint, at the age of 77 years is still able to direct, produce and stare in a movie and not only do that, but to receive great reviews form the top critics for the significance and greatness of the movie.

Gran Torino is a lot like Dirty Harry only instead of Harry Callahan we have Walt Kowalski as the older, meaner and ultimately harder version of Dirty Harry. The movie itself is about different cultures and the relationships between them as well as the relationship between different family members. Walt Kowalski is the man that hates a lot of things. He hates his family for the way they act towards him: his two sons who can't wait until he dies and leaves all of his property and his large house to them, the way they only talk to him when they want something and not because they care about him and the fact that they see him as a complete and utter disappointment. He hates his daughter for being so ignorant and disrespectful; he hates his older son's wife for trying to put him into the elderly house without his permission. He also hates the foreigners that move to America, especially Hmong-Americans who now took over most of his neighbourhood. He hates them for their weird traditions and the way they always speak in a different language in front of him, he hates them for who they are and for how different they are. He also hates Father Janovich for constantly trying to make him confess because that's what his wife would have liked him to do.

One day he finds a neighbour kid trying to steal his car. The kid escapes Walt but later his family makes him go and work for Walt for the crime that he committed. Soon the kid whose name is Thao and Walt form a good friendship even though both of them don't like to show much of it. Many times during the movie Thao is being confronted and attacked by older boys and Walt always trying to help him out. Both Walt and Thao supposed to hate each other but they become friends and Thao even sees Walt as a father and a person that he can look up to.

The movie very much shows the way the cultures collide with each other, especially now in the 20th century when many people aloud to move to bigger countries such as America in this case. It also gives a reason why some people might be angry at a certain race: because deep inside a person is angry for the crimes that he/she committed against this race. There is a strong language and some violence shown in this movie, but there are similar and perhaps worse things in the real world so it is rightly so presented in the movie.

Most of the cast is Hmong but its Clint who steals the show with his brutal and witty performance. He is harsh and terrifying towards everyone but he treats young teenager Thao as a son that he never had which shows that perhaps the harshest of people can be nice too. If this is the last performance of Clint's career according to him, then it s well worth the watch without a doubt.

The rest of the cast wasn't that spectacular but I don't think they needed to be anyway because the main focus is on Eastwood's character and the rest are just supporting characters. It is also fair to note that Ahney Her who played Thao's sister did a far better job than any other member of the supporting cast. I noticed that there were some missing details such as Thao's family background is not really explained and maybe an extra detail or two about Walt himself but in the end it doesn't change the quality of the film. The score is very haunting and inspiring, which was provided by Clint's older son Kyle Eastwood. It is also very ironic that Clint's younger son plays a minor role in the movie as a coward guy who walks away while his girlfriend gets abused by a couple of street thugs.

If Clint was criticised for being racist in some of his early movies, this time he surrounded himself by the people of different colour skin and proved that it doesn't really matter how you look or of what background you are, it's the way you act towards the other people that really matters.