New
Flicks
Life
inside the Tube
Imran
H. Khan
Movies
are a vital ingredient in our lives. From the moment we turn
the television on, we are transformed into a world of magic…a
world of fantasy. No matter what is showing, be it a Bangla
feature films starring the nourished figures of our society;
Hindi serials, with their twisted never ending tales of woe,
or block-buster features from Hollywood. Although some people
are picky about their type of movie, I am quite liberal and
here are some titles that I have watched this year that I
will definitely watch again.
To start
off with a little romance, 50 First Dates starring Adam Sandler,
Drew Barrymore and Rob Schneider is a fun-filled romantic
blast that will sweep you off your feet. The story cites a
girl, Barrymore, who suffers from a short-term memory loss
after an accident. She wakes up everyday on the day-before
her accident. Adam Sandlar falls head-over-heels for her and,
with humour and suspense at every turn, tries to make her
fall in love with him again and again.
* Troy
tells the action packed story of Prince Paris, Orlando Bloom,
of Troy who stole the beautiful Greek woman, Helen, played
by Diane Kruger, who is away from her husband. The Greeks
begin a bloody siege of Troy led by Brad Pitt. The special
effects are so good that the fights seem stunningly real,
with sound effects to boot.
* If you
are a fan of XXX and The Fast and The Furious, Torque is a
must for your Christmas list. Martin Henderson returns to
his town to reunite with his girlfriend the gorgeous Monet
Mazur. He also comes to set few things straight but finds
himself exactly where he had left off: in trouble. With the
feds and two biker gangs after him, one headed by Ice Cube,
he and his friends must solve the puzzles that have made Henderson
the centre of attention. This movie is full of intense actions
and special effects that will keep you on the edge of your
seat. Don't forget to breathe from time to time.
* The
Passion of The Christ tells the story of the last twelve hours
in the life of Jesus Christ, played by James Caviezel, on
the day of his crucifixion. Mel Gibson does a tremendous job
of directing this real life drama, but on a personal note,
the film was simply too gory.
* One
of the best Family and Fantasy genres of 2k4 has to be Shrek
2. This film starts off where the first one had left us, in
the kingdom of Far, Far Away, where Shrek and Fiona return
to her homeland. Not everyone is happy to find her married
to an ogre and things get shaky. We are finally introduced
to a bar called the Poison Apple, where the villains of the
fairy tale world hang out. With guest voices from Mike Myers,
Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas, Shrek 2 is
definitely a chart-buster.
* One
motion picture that is sure to shake your screens is The Day
After Tomorrow. This movie takes a big-budget, special-effects-filled
look at what the world would look like if the greenhouse effect
and global warming got worst. The outcome: a world-wide catastrophe,
including multiple hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods
and the beginning of the next Ice Age. Even if this is a fiction
story, it is really scary to imagine. What if...?
* One
the Drama line up, Cold Mountain, based on Charles Frazier's
best-selling Civil War novel of the same name, tells the story
of Inman, portrayed by Jude Law, a wounded confederate soldier
who is on a perilous journey home to his mountain community.
He hopes to reunite with his pre-war sweetheart, Nicole Kidman.
She and Renee Zellweger, a drifter, struggles to survive in
a farm.
* Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has totally lived up to
its hype. The film starts with Harry in his third year at
Hogwarts. He is on the run after an incident where he was
unable to control his anger, getting on a bus, he hears about
Sirius Black, a renegade wizard who was a Prisoner at Azkaban.
What Harry doesn't suspect is that Black escaped to look for...
Don't miss this new Adventure.
* Raising
Helen kicks off when Helen's sister and brother-in-law die
in a car accident; they are survived by three children. Kate
Hudson takes on the role Helen, the guardian of the children
and tries to juggle the responsibilities of her new quasi-parenthood
with the effects on her lifestyle as a modeling agency assistant.
* Being
a huge fan of Suspense and Horror movies and this year's top
so far has to be Van Helsing. Set in the late 19th century,
monster hunter Dr. Gabriel Van Helsing is summoned to a mysterious
land in East Europe to vanquish evil forces... evil forces
with names like Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's
Monster. With the assistance of Kate Beckinsale, he must set
out to rid the world of all evil.
* One
movie that I had missed, much to my dismay and lack of availability,
is Fahrenheit 9/11. This documentary by Michael Moore traces
why the U.S. has become a target for hatred and terrorism.
It depicts alleged dealings between two generations of the
Bush and bin Laden clans that led to George W. Bush and Osama
bin Laden becoming mortal enemies. After winning the Top Prize
at the 57th Cannes Film Festival, one of the most coveted
honours in international cinema, which makes it all the more
coveted, Watch out for it.
Copyright (R)
thedailystar.net 2004
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