Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Are there better ones???







Here,i am going to list my Top 3 movies.It was difficult to select just three from a bagful but i have managed to arrive at my favourite 3.Here they are....


3)The Illusionist:
This movie is based on
Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist".After i saw this movie,i was sure this would remain the best movie i ever saw but i changed my mind after i saw the movies that are to follow later in my list.The Title of the movie depicts it's climax.Director Neil Burger has given a master Piece through this movie.Edward Norton's performance is extra ordinary.



The story starts with a young lad who gets obsessed with magic after his encounter with a traveling magician.He falls in love with Sophie,a girl belonging to a noble family.Eisenhiem's father,a cabinet maker,is employed by sophie's parents.The two,though forbidden to meet each other,get quite close as time passes by.Eisenhiem then goes to China to learn more magic.He then learns the art of MAGIC for many years and soon becomes an Illusionist,a very good one too!!!And then,one day,he meets sophie,who is to marry the crown prince,at a Perfromance.And then,the story kicks off.Whether he manages to get his child hood love back is the main theme of the story.On the way to the climax,the story takes a lot of twists and also involves Inspector Uhl,casted perfectly by Paul Giamatti.

If anybody has not watched this movie,Please do watch it at the earliest :)!!!

2)The Pursuit Of happyness:
"Pursuit Of......"! i have lost count of how many times i have watched this movie.I have given this movie second place mainly for the performance of Will Smith.Not that the story is bad but Will Smith is phenominal in this movie.This is the real story of Chris Gardner,the founder of Gardner Rich!The role of Chris Gardner has been played by Will Smith.Actually,the apperance of the original chris Gardner in the last scene adds a kick to the story :) Jaden smith,Will smith's real son,also plays the role of chris Gardner's son!The film has been directed by
Gabriele Muccino

Chris Gardener is a married young man who finds it difficult to make ends meet.He sells medical equipments to hospitals.His wife,dis appointed with him and doesn't find him very trust worthy,desserts him,leaving 5 year old son,Christopher,under
chris' care.Chris,an expert in solving the Rubik's cube,gets an Internship with a stock-brokerage firm where he is paid nothing during his intern ship!!!He has to work there for 6 months and the firm would select ONE man from the interns after assessing their performances over that period.
Here is what an official at the firm says to the interns on the first day of his internship....
"Some of you are here because you KNOW some body
Some of you are here because you THINK you are some body
One of you here is going to be THAT some body!!!" :):):)

These lines really impressed me a lot.And then the story takes the route of how Chris Gardner finds his way in to the firm as a permanent employee amidst many difficulties....he even gets home less at one stage!Christopher Gardner(Jaden smith) is very cute and his silly replies to Chris Gardner's questions are hilarious,like for example his reply to "who is the king of the jungle?" as "Gorilla" And not wanting to sit in a BOX to watch a foot ball match mistaking the BOX seat for a card board box,are amusing :)
Chris Gardner eventually goes on to establish his own firm "Gardner Rich" which he,a few years back,sold a minority stake for a multi million dollar deal!!!

Over all,the film has the perfect mix of emotions,humour and also has the ideal cast.Cheers!

1)The Bridge On the River Kwai:
This movie is probably the greatest movie ever made...atleast the greatest War movie ever made.The movie was directed by
David Lean and Alec Guiness plays the Lead role.The movie has a tragic ending and i guess that is what has made this movie so special!

Alec Guinness plays the role of Colonel Nicholson.He,along with his Officers and other soldiers,is taken as a Prisoner Of War in a Japenese World War II camp.Colonel Saito,a very strict officer,is the chief of the Japanese camp.The British Officers are asked to work along with the other soldiers but Colonel Nicholson stands by his officers claiming that Officers are not to perform manual labours.But colonel Saito stands adamant and even tortures Colonel Nicholson to order his officers to report for work.But colonel Nicholson is a very proud man and he is undaunted by Colonel Saito's tortures.After a few days,General Saito finally agrees to exempt the Officers of the british army from manual labour.Then,Saito tells Nicholson about his project to build a bridge,across the river kwai,that he has to complete with in 3 months.Colonel Nicholson orders his troupes to help the japanese soldiers in building the Bridge and this time,He actually gets his OFFICERS to work!Colonel Nicholson and his soldiers work very hard to build the bridge.After weeks of struggle and some very good engineering by the British Officers,the Bridge is complete and ready to be opened.Mean while,a british officer,Shears,escapes from the Japanese camp and reaches the British Camp.A british troop with shears by their side,has planned to blow up the bridge.The Bridge,if completed,would be fatal to the British!The British troop,navigated by Shears,arrive at the spot just before the bridge is to be crossed by it's first train and they take their positions.Colonel Nicholson is walking proudly up and down the bridge.And then.....

Alec Guinness is now my all time favourite actor and some of his other movies like "The Lawrence Of Arabia","Great Expectations", are equally spectacular.And as for the climax of the story,well,it's too extra-ordinary for me to express.Please,dont miss it! :)

Some other movies that,i consider,are very good are No man's Land,Forest Gump,Anbe Sivam(Tamil) and Blood Diamond.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Great start for Arsenal

The Arsenal Foot Ball club have got off to a great start in the current EPL season.Arsenal's success,so far,has come as a surprise to most EPL Fans after Thierry Henry's move to Barcelona. Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie have been the most impressive for me.Adebayor has been the club's most prolific scorer so far earning him praise from Arsene Wenger and the Derby manager,Davies.Be it their 5-0 demolition of Derby,1-0 win over Manchester city(the first goal scored against them this season),Arsenal have been in complete control.Manchester city were cruising along until that match which really put a brake on their advancement in the championship.

Meanwhile,Manchester United after a slow start in the championship have come back really well.Chelsea's defeat came as an insult to injury to the club after Jose Mourinho's exit.I guess Avram Grant would certainly have wished for a better debut!!!Eventually,Manchester United managed to win that controversial match against Chelsea.Liverpool,after a very good start lost their way.And,the only club that looks like challenging arsenal right now is Manchester United.But for now,Arsenal has been the surprise package in this season so far!!! It remains to be seen if any more surprises spring up.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Sachin-the greatest?


Sachin Tendulkar-well,he needs no introduction-has been one of the all time greats and certainly the greatest of this era.But Is he the greatest batsman ever?Well,a few names come to mind-Sir don bradman,Sir garfield sobers,Sir Vivian Richards,Brain charles Lara,Sir jack Hobbs,Sir Frank worrell etc-shud sachin be rated above all of them?

Sir Jack hobbs has a first class record that will never be matched.He has 60,000 runs and 199 centuries.But taking international cricket in to consideration,i would rate sachin above jack hobbs given his higher average and his consistency.I have often been amazed by the fact that,despite of the huge pressure and expectations he faces,he has not crumbled once.

Of the players i have mentioned,only sachin,Lara and Sir Vivian Richards have played both formats of the game.So,i guess a comparision can be brought about between them.Lara has been west Indian cricket's lone warrior just like sachin has been for India.Sachin,as every one would agree,has been cricket's unluckiest player having been the victim of poor umpiring often.He has 14 scores in nineties in one day cricket,more than Rahul Dravid's no of centuries!!!
But,as shane warne put it,though lara has the flair,sachin was more consistent and to maintain a career Strike Rate of over 86 in a period where 240-250 was considered a good total is incredible.240 runs would mean 4.8 runs per over which would come to 80 runs per hundred balls.Also,sachin has served cricket longer,in terms of matches,than both Lara and Richards.So,it cant be taken for granted that Richards would have maintained the consistency for over a long time.And,Richards had the cushion of playing in a great team,which neither Lara and sachin had.And in test matches too,Sachin has an edge over both of them.After his first hundred tests,Sachin averaged 58!Except for a lean patch in 2005-06,sachin has been incredibly consistent.So,sachin is above the two west Indians.

Next comes Sir Frank Worrell,one of the three W's.Frank worrell was a fine batsman and an use ful Left arm medium pace bowler too.Though worrell had the style,he still rates below sachin just for the fact that sachin has a far better record.And again,Sir worrell's team was one of the best then.

Now,it all boils down to The DON Vs The Master Blaster.what do i say now?Don had the cushion of batting in a great team,did not play under much pressure,cant tell with sure if he would have been as consistent as Sachin had he played so many matches but then,an average of 99.94 in any era,under any team,should be given due credit.So,i leave it to the readers to decide upon it themselves!!!
As for me,Hail the DON,Hail the GOD!!!