Language: English

Genre: Comic Adaptation, Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime, Superhero

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

Reasons to Watch: The JOKER, Heath Ledger, Edge-of-the-seat action, brilliant screenplay and amazing mind games, the perfect superhero movie.

Reasons not to: If you are afraid of the dark..!

Director: Christopher Nolan

Music: James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer create a dark and riveting movie score, brooding yet glorious.

Storyline: Under the wings of the savior Batman, the caped crusader of the night and the flirtatious billionaire by the day, Gotham city feels safe. Not until it is haunted by a psychopathic criminal – the Joker – who is almost unnaturally cold, even for a villian, even for a serial killer – his only goal is to prove that his utter belief in violence and disorder is justified, his only fight is to prove to the world that corruption is what wins over ultimately, and all integrity that exists because of reason, can be ripped off to reveal the raw human inside, who only knows itself, and shall only please itself – while the Batman and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent, along with Lt. James Gordon, fight to bring peace upon Gotham. But in this fight against the Joker, Batman must realize that the fight is not between him and joker, but between principle and discord. The Joker has made everything in Gotham dark, turning people against people, transforming Dent – the white night and upholder of justice into Two-face, a disturbed criminal. And thus begins the fight and there is so much to lose.

The Joker: See, I’m not a monster…I’m just ahead of the curve.

The Joker: See, I’m a man of simple tastes. I like dynamite…and gunpowder…and gasoline! Do you know what all of these things have in common? They’re cheap!

The Joker: People will die. Starting tonight. I’m a man of my word.

Climax Handling: Exceptional. To bind the audience in a lengthy movie isn’t easy and Nolan does it with utter ease.

Points: The most chilling villain you’ll ever come across – he is your worst nightmare – and worse – he is utterly believable. Heath Ledger’s swan song makes this movie unforgettable.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Comment: Go for it even if you know nothing about Batman. The Joker will make it up to you – Why so serious?

Language: English

Genre: Fiction, Abstract, Weird, Rotoscoped

Cast: Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater, Wiley Wiggins

Direction:Richard Linklater

Music: Glover Gill

Reasons to watch: Waking Life is a digitally enhanced live action rotoscoped film. It is a think-bag. And it has Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in small roles And Richard Linklater himself. And the film is T-y-p-i-c-a-l-l-y Linklater~!

Reasons not to: If you don’t understand it. If you get bored by recursive hellical ideologies.

Story: It starts with a young man going off to somewhere, doing something on his own, until he realizes he is dreaming. Whenever he thinks he has woken up, or as soon as he realizes he is dreaming, the situation and characters around him change. The scope changes. Everything is now new. The characters around him are discussing aspects of dreams, afterlife, relationships,existentialism, situationist politics, posthumanity and so many other things. The character discovers that he is not being able to wake up at all. These characters are telling him so many things… The young man eventually comes to realize the possibility that the reason he is unable to wake up is because he is dead. The film ends quite vaguely, typically Linklatered It’s a beauty to watch. The rotoscope works amazingly well for this script!

Climax Handling: There’s no climax as such.  All the other handlings are Awesome~!~!

Points:

Soap Opera Woman: Excuse me.
Wiley: Excuse me.
Soap Opera Woman: Hey. Could we do that again? I know we haven’t met, but I don’t want to be an ant. You know? I mean, it’s like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another, continously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us. Stop. Go. Walk here. Drive there. All action basically for survival. All communication simply to keep this ant colony buzzing along in an efficient, polite manner. “Here’s your change.” “Paper or plastic?’ “Credit or debit?” “You want ketchup with that?” I don’t want a straw. I want real human moments. I want to see you. I want you to see me. I don’t want to give that up. I don’t want to be ant, you know?

Rating: 8.5/10

Comment: Again, one of those ‘perspective’ movies. Watch it to gain direction, perspective, or simply, a train of thought.

Language: English

Genre: Sci-fi, Drama, Fiction

Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law

Direction: Steven Spielberg

Music: John Williams,

Reasons to watch: It is one of the most spine-chilling sci-fi stories. It is unbearable and the worst part is, that the horror does not come because the setting is horriffic. It comes from the minute probability that all this might, one day just happen to our world. The movie is just too beautiful.

Reasons not to: If you don’t like far-sighted movies etc..

Story: The story is set in a year far away from now, when the world identifies itself as an ‘orga’ or a ‘mecha’. They have managed to synthesize a robot which can feel love. Which can respond to human emotion. David is the first of this kind. He is sent to a family that promises to take care of him, because their own child has been put into suspended animation. But as soon as the child is cured, and the whole setup is too unnatural to be functioning smoothly, David is given up by his mother. One fine day. He, with all his attachment to home, and love for his family, out in the real world. Where he’s neither completely an orga nor a mecha. He has read The Adventures of Pinocchio. He thinks there would be a blue fairy that would turn him into a real boy. Then he would be able to gain his mother’s love. His search for the Blue Fairy goes on.

He never turns into a real boy. But he does find a way to rest in peace. With his mom telling him a bedtime story. Them lying in bed, ages after his search for the fairy even started. And he finally finds that moment which takes him to the place “where dreams are born”.

Climax Handling: This is not just a projection of technology into the future. This is also a very grotesque but real picture of what will become of the world. The eyes with which this picture has been shown to you, are real. David’s love is real. But he is not. The climax unsettles you. It makes you tremble. All in pursuit of The greatest single human gift - the ability to chase down our dreams.

Points:

Professor Hobby (The scientist who made David) : You are a real boy. At least as real as I’ve ever made one.

David: Mommy? Will you die?
Monica: Well, one day, David, yes, I will.
David: I’ll be alone.
Monica: Don’t worry yourself so.
David: How long will you live?
Monica: For ages. For 50 years.
David: I love you, Mommy. I hope you never die. Never.

Rating: 9.5/10

Comment: Please watch the movie when you’re ready for it. AI is even more relatable than other science fiction projections into future societies. Indeed - The brave New World it is.

Language: English

Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Action, Adventure

Cast: Kurt Russel, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Viveca Lindfors, Alexis Cruz

Direction: Roland Emmerich

Music: David Arnold composes a great sci-fi soundtrack – rich and ominous

Reasons to watch: Vintage sci-fi, Jaye Davidson as Ra..! Excellent graphics considering a pre – CGI era movie.

Reasons not to: Poor characterization, the movie suffers from the poor second-half syndrome

Story: Something was unearthed in Egpyt, something much more than just an artefact – a gate to another dimension – The Stargate. But how does it work? Enter Daniel Jackson - a nerdy genius – who reveals the truth of the Stargate and discovers how to use it. Now the Stargate must be utilized – but who’ll dare to discover the hidden truths of another world? Enter Colonel Jack O’Neil and his team of soldiers, all set to take a journey across time and space.

But what is a Sci-fi movie without a villain? Enter Ra – the demi-god, the leader of an alien race, who has enslaved humans and uses their bodies to rejuvenate his youth. And thus begins the conflict between Slaves and Masters, Good and Evil and the fate of a civilization, and Earth itself hangs in balance as Ra plans to send a nuclear bomb via the Stargate.

Jackson and O’Neil must fight Ra and his army of warriors, and find the symbol, the symbol to control the Stargate.

Climax Handling: Confusing and predictable.

Points: A movie which was a forerunner to two popular TV series, Stargate begins on a promising note but disappoints later. A movie that could have been.

Rating: 6.5/10

Comment: Worth a lazy look, maybe more than that for a science fiction enthusiast.