Movie Maniac....

I am a passionate follower of cinema, not just restricted to the likes of Bollywood and Hollywood, but cinema on a global scale! I just love watching movies day in and day out. And having watched so many movies, it's difficult to pick the best among them all. But daring as I am, I am going to take on the daunting task to name a few.
Note ~ This list was compiled almost an year back! I am just adding a couple of new names to the list.

The compiled list is not set in any particular order ;) And another thing to note is that this list excludes a lot of the cult classics like Golfather, Fight Club, Star Wars etc.

1>Good Will Hunting : Kudos to Gus Van Sant's amzing movie about a gifted math brainiac ( Matt damon ). The screenpay deservedly won an Oscar for Matt and Ben Affleck for the screenplay. I still do not believe the rumours that a major chunk of the screenplay was discussed an written over the phone. There are lot of really riveting dialogues in this movie...the best one being Matt's reply to why he doesn't want to join the NSA ;-) Don't remember? Read this.
"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president."
Truly amazing!!!
Even Robin Williams and Ben Affleck were amazing in this movie. Read more amazing quotes from this movie @ IMDB

2>Shawshank Redemption : Shawshank Redemption is by far the best movie crafted out of Stephen King's novels(The Green Mile came really close). This film boasted of a stellar cast, with Tim Robins playing an inncoent man in prison accused of murdering his wife. This is one of the best survival stories ever. Watching this movie you realize that there is always hope...hope of some thing better...and it is this hope that can help you endure the worst of pains."Salvation lies within!!"...yes it truly does!!

3>Finding Neverland : Being a Johnny Depp, this movie had to appear in my list...I love almost all Depp movies. He knows how to get into the skin of any role he plays...for example, in The Brave...he plays a convict just out of prison being offered to star in a "snuff" movie to help his poor family. In Pirates of the Carribean..he plays captian Jack Sparrow with such sincerity that it made this chidlren's movie an adult's fav too...i can put a lot of his movies in my list but that wouldn't be fair to other actors, so I am sticking only to Finding Neverland..Another day I would have put "What's eating Gilbert Grape" or any other of his movies.. In Finding Neverland, Johhny plays J.M Barrie the author of Peter pan...His relationship with Kate Winslet and her kids is truly endearing....

4>Forest Gump : I bet this movie will be in my top list for years to come. This is Tom Hanks at his best..Who can forget the opening lines.."My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump. Do you want a chocolate?". This movie is not a fairy tale, but it is as beautiful as one...Forrest's love for Jenny, his fiends, his `momma`...I could watch this movie over and over again without getting bored.

5>Shrek : This was one of the foremost children's movie to appeal equally to adults. Shrek, the ogre voiced amazingly by the funny Mike Myers...his best pal "Donkey" voiced by the talented Eddie Murphy...Princess Fiona voiced by Cameron Diaz..and the King voiced by John Lithgow....All truly remarkable performances...
This fairy tale is full of surprises....The are a lot many brilliant scenes in this CGI movie but the best scene for me was the song "Halelujah" when Fiona and Shrek part ways... Shrek 2 came in later with a new character -- Pussy Cat, voiced by Antonio Banderas. This too was a great movie earning more that the original, but still the original remains closer to my heart.

6>Bull Durham : I personally know a lot many people who just hate Kevin Costner. They feel that he is very much overrated as an actor. Watch "Dances with Wolves", "The Untouchables", "Bull Durham" and I bet that you will feel otherwise. I had a tough time deciding between these three... And I choose Bull Durham, because it captures the essence of sports. It is one of the best movies on Baseball...
The movie takes you on a journey with Crash Davis, played by Costner who loves baseball more than anything in the world..Tim Robbins, plays a rookie, who is mentored by Crash. The best dialogue of the movie..
"You don't respect yourself. That's your problem. You don't respect the game. That's my problem." Wow!!!

7>A Beautiful Mind : I must say that I read the book by Sylvia Nassar after I watched the movie.. The movie did not show everything what the book said...but to hell with that....This is really a wonderful movie.. Crowe, plays a brilliant mathematician, John Nash who is affected by paranoid schizophrenia...The supporting cast was great, Jennifer Connely, Ed Harris. payed their parts really well.

8>Groundhog Day : This is a cute film. Just try to put yourself in Bill Murray's shoes...he is having is worst day of his life repeating over and over again.. Bill Murray is a fine actor and he has displayed that over and over, the latest being `Lost in Translation` and 'Broken Flowers'. If you don't like this movie at first, watch it again... This movie had truly left me amazed till date.

9>When Harry Met Sally : This is one of the best romantic movies ever made( Sleepless in Seatle is also a close competitor in this category)... Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal were brilliant in this movie. The question that this movie tries to answer is that, Can men and women be only friends? Even after watching the movie, I cannot make my mind. ;-) I can watch this movie again and again without even blinking an eye....the story moves so fast and you will not realize how soon one and a half hour passes by.

1O>About A Boy : Being in London, I really had to put a British film in my list...I thought long and hard..the only two movies that come to my mind were "Love Actually" and "About a boy"..Both are great movies..Hugh Grant revelled in both of them. Please read this book authored by Nick Hornby...It's a great read and the movie even better ;)

11>Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (a.k.a Amelie) : The only foreign language on this list. The movie has best and the most colourful visuals that I have ever watched in a movie. Compared to most other films "Amelie", is just an ordinary story about a girl living in Paris seen through the lovely eyes of Audrey Tautou. She is extremely beautiful!!!
If you haven't already watched 'Dirty Pretty Things', please do watch it. Audrey looks fab in that too.
Hero (A Jet Li masterpiece) came very close to dislodging Amelie from this list. Maybe next time!!

Other movies that I love :- 'The Usual Suspects', 'American Beauty', 'Fight Club', 'Chasing Amy', 'Chupke Chupke', 'Kilukkam', 'Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il', 'Sin City', 'Roja', 'Musa', 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', 'Agneepath', 'Ramji Rao Speaking', 'Green Street', 'Gladiator', 'The Sixth Sense', 'Serendipity', 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S.',and so on and so forth

So thats all for today!
Signing off.
TLT