the reader (2008). directed by stephen daldry.

the reader, as in someone who reads. not the reader (2008). i didn't find the movie like-able at all. pretentious and boring, at best.

kate winslet shouldn't have won just for taking her clothes off.

sherlock holmes (2009). directed by guy ritchie.

i managed to catch sherlock holmes (2009) today and mr. downey was a joy to watch, that i think he risks turning into johnny depp or jack nicholson in his ability to swallow the screen. that's not a bad thing on its own if the story is about one person alone, but not when you have other characters vying for attention too.

i am a big fan of sir arthur conan doyle's sherlock holmes. definitely one of the books that contributed to my nearsightedness apart from william shakespeare's tragedies. yes, i am a romantic for hamlet and king lear. going back to guy ritchie's holmes, this is not a tribute. merely character adaptation. whilst downey brought his own brand of holmes, which is the antithesis of doyle's holmes; the story has a mass appeal effect to it. it's not strong enough. it's downey's talent that he can be comical without trying, and he is fantastic with expressions which made him quite a stand out. but holmes, would take a lot more than that.

ritchie is aiming for entertainment, not a faithful adaptation. nevertheless, my opinions are eerily similar as this one, taken from imdb.com

Has "Busted Franchise" Written All Over It, 15 December 2009

As a long time Sherlock Holmes fan,I really wanted to say something good about this one, but I really can't. Guy {Madonna's ex} Ritchie modern take on the classic Conan-Doyle stories seems to have been made for a contemporary audience who has no clue {get it?}-on who Holmes is. Downey totally fails as Holmes in a character who is too modern-and possibly too ambigiously gay for the role-not that there's anything wrong with that. Law is just alright as Watson and he does try to bring some comic relief to the character. The story has Holmes trying to stop a plot to destroy London. There are the usual CGI scenes, but for some reason most of them are pretty well done and do manage to capture the essence of what London probably looked like at that time. Even though it is a good looking and well produced movie, it is predictable from start to finish, even though some interesting diversions are placed to add some momentum to the story line. Obviously looking for a new franchise, the producers of this should hope that the Baker St. boys are a hit at the box office. Movie itself is fairly likable, but it just falls flat on what it has to deliver. That's the trouble with Holmes when new stories are written to cater to contemporary tastes. Perhaps if an original Conan-Doyle story was used, this would have turned out better. Where are Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce when you need them?

at best, i give this movie a C.

requiem for a dream (2000), trainspotting (1996), stardust (2007) & frozen river (2008)

haven't done movie reviews for a while now like i haven't been writing a lot using a pen. i don't sense any urgency in going to the movies, i find the shows unexceptionally banal.

requiem for a dream (2000). directed by darren aronofsky. 

i watched requiem for a dream (2000) 3 years ago and i don't think i could watch it for the second time. not because it was badly done, rather because it was exceptionally done. like it is saying straight up to your face, "you do this, you will get this kinda shit coming to you, i kid you not". it hit me hard. so was another drug movie by danny boyle, the fame director of slumdog millionaire (2008). trainspotting (1996) is a must watch too, i especially can not forget the scene whereby a baby was dead because she was left unfed for days as all the adults in the house were too stoned to noticed.

trainspotting (1996). directed by danny boyle. 

i don't get that kind of impact anymore when i see the movies aired these days. yesterday i caught stardust (2007) on 412 and i thought, despite the rich allegories what does it want to tell me exactly? so what is robert de niro never played a gay cross-dresser up until now? or am i the one missing the point of post-modernism, that there's no need for meaning in anything?

stardust (2007). directed by matthew vaughn. 

i am just wondering.

frozen river (2008). directed by courtney hunt. 

having said all that, all one needs to do is to dig deeper though the heap of crap being shoved at one's face by the mighty force of commercialism. i watched frozen river (2008) and liked it. nobody acted in this movie, and that's how it should be otherwise it would have been fake and i wouldn't believe it. because if there is any truth in life, we will do anything to survive.

hitch (2005). directed by andy tennant.

my house was stripped bare of its appliances that makes it a home, today. we moved to another house. not necessarily better, though it has its advantages. i like this home that i first bought. the second has a different feel to it. my parents loved it with the garden spread out.

or may be it is just separation anxiety.

i caught Hitch (2005) for i don't know how many times. i think the third perhaps. i don't like chick flicks as a rule but i can stand will smith better than jennifer aniston.

though this bit is almost always true...

Does it ever occur to you that maybe someone might like to have a plan because they are nervous?

They are not sure that they could just walk up to you and you'd respond if they said: "I like you."

That sounds good to me. True, you can't tell them you like them.

I tried that. It didn't go well. I've crashed and burned on that.

That is what you did, and I did like you!

it's not ironic at all that life and art imitate each other on a daily basis. goethe said this for a good reason, that every form correctly seen is beautiful.

one flew over the cuckoo's nest (1975). directed by milos forman.

i am no facebook addict. nevertheless i like the template, i like simple templates like that. so long it's not all black like you are mourning for something.

my brother puts on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and it is true that jack nicholson has this beautiful voice like flowing olive oil. it was an assembled cast of soon-to-be-greats like danny de vito and robert duvall.

my brother is religious when it comes to movies. it's a serious business to choose what you watch.

of nicholson's character:

McMurphy is an apparently unquenchable optimist, refusing to succumb to the defeated spirit of all the other patients. His livewire antics, inspiring the patients are generally uplifting, and when his indomitable spirit is finally broken, we really feel for him and his fellow patients. Nicholson conveys the essence of McMurphy to perfection, demonstrating his excellent understanding and interpretation of the character. When McMurphy announces that he is going to lift a huge stone fountain and hurl it through the window to escape, the other patients are so caught up in his intoxicating spirit of freedom that they honestly believe he can do it, despite the fact it would be impossible for a man much stronger than him. When McMurphy finally discovers that despite his best efforts, he cannot lift the fountain, he is so openly crushed that we can't help but feel for him. Beneath the frequent profanities and livewire antics, there are real human emotions, which come across as truly touching.

the point is, you can't break me.

something great to watch, because it makes you think. not twilight or new moon, sorry.