I Recommend: The Reader

If there is one actress that will compete with Cate Blanchett in being THE best actress in her age group in Hollywood today, then it will no doubt be Kate Winslet. I have watched Kate in two of her films in the past weeks, Revolutionary Road and The Reader, both have garnered various awards and were very well received by film critics from all over the globe.

While Revolutionary Road is intense and well-crafted, it is in The Reader that Kate Winslet has raised the bar and gave an indelible and powerful performance; for which I hope she will win that elusive Oscar statue which she so rightfully deserve.

Kate’s strong portrayal of Hannah Schmitz, the 36 year old woman guard who seduced a 15 year old school boy into the interwoven complexities of deception, secrets, sex and love amidst the perilous time of the Holocaust was fierce but passionate. She had this disturbing fear of letting her true emotions show – impenetrable, but not without sorrow and some occasional sparks of happiness.

Equally enimagtic and a delight to watch was actor David Kross who played the young Michael Berg (the gifted Ralph Fiennes was the grown up Michael and was the one who told the story) whom Hannah has seduced and eventually formed a secret relationship with.

It is with this relationship between Hannah and Michael that the film took its cue to unravel its thoughtful take on the raw and sometimes painful realities of love, relationships and morality.

I won’t tell you here why the movie was entitled The Reader and what secret Hannah had so fervently kept because that would be giving away too much.

Reasons to see the movie (in a nutshell!): Kate Winslet and David Kross’ fine performances and full nakedness! A disturbing yet thoughtful theme that will make you discuss it over coffee with your friends.

I Recommend: Seven Pounds

I am not a Will Smith fan. But my perspective of him was changed by this movie. I won’t call myself a fan still, but he has earned my respect as an actor.

Seven Pounds is about a man who intricately plans to give hope, joy and a new sense of life to seven people (based on the universal standard of goodness, which he follows to the “T”) before he commits suicide. Quite a morbid twist on “paying it forward”. Morbid but moving.

The theme may be commonplace and cliche to some, but to most people i suspect it will be dramatically inspiring (it was to me, at least).

Except for the cliche theme, the remarkable thing about the movie though is Will Smith himself, the actor. I’ve never seen Will in any of his films with this great depth and sensitivity. His character just swells in deep loneliness and you are strangely attached, hoping that somehow he will break free of it and continue to live a happy life. You see him giving hope and joy to people, thinking that it would somehow ease his pain, but no. The pain and the loneliness just stays and becomes even more affecting until that one last breath.

Reason to see the movie: If you’re feeling down and you need some lifting up, this movie is a good watch. Strangely, even with it’s tragedies, you still feel the hope and love for life that the film wants to put across. And of course, Will Smith’s performance couldn’t be counted out.

I Recommend: The Love of Siam

It is always a pleasant feeling whenever i find a great and meaningful movie. But sometimes, the opposite happens: this great and meaningful movie finds you, speaks to you; and you are taken aback, overwhelmed, affected, changed.

I did not plan to watch the Thai film The Love of Siam. I thought it was just another gay-themed film where the highlight would be that one hot love scene between the two male protagonist. I did not even think its worthwhile to watch; thus, for the first 30 mins of the film, i did not focus and went on to do my usual computer work.

Until it caught me.

My Best Films List (Part 1)

I was seven years old when i watched my first movie. Vividly, i still remember my father putting the book like Betamax tape inside our then technologically advanced Betamax Player. I still remember how butterflies seemed to flock around, flying inside my stomach. I was excited, yes; and probably nervously anticipating what’s in store in the following minutes. Perhaps i have known in my gut that something magical and extraordinary will start to happen; so magical and so beyond my small, confined thinking, that the event would leave a lingering imprint in my memory.