6 Movies to kickstart your KOREAN movie phase

1. My Sassy Girl(2001) 
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
   If some willing enthusiast wanted to explore korean cinema, this may perhaps be the most recommended movie by any numerous number of sources.
   The movie has a long and meandering storyline, but is basically about a boy meeting a girl under unusual and hilarious circumstances and the events following more unusual and hilarious still.
   This is a very good gateway movie to understand korea's romcoms ,and the use of varied style and approach by their director.

2. A Moment To Remember(2004)
Genre: Romance, Drama 
   This movie comes under romance territory with a theme of Alzheimer's disease, which brings countless suffering to the heroine and hero while trying to deeply care for each other.
   The on-screen chemistry between the actors is a delight to watch while their heart wrenching plight through the turmoils caused by Alzheimer's disease is equally painful to watch.      
   The climax of the movie is emotionally charged one and is one for the ages.

3. Welcome To Dongmakgol(2005)
Genre: Comedy
   According to wikipedia, "The story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded village, its residents largely unaware of the outside world, including the war." What follows is a heart warming comedy where boundaries of enmity are broken , friendship and love found amongst the unlikely of people. 
   This is the type of heart warming and fuzzy movie filled with innocence to cheer you up during the bleakest of days.   

4. Oldboy(2003)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Vengeance 
   Take heed, for this movie is not for the weak-hearted. I was toying whether to include Sex is Zero over Oldboy but winning the grand jury prize at cannes shifts the scale dramatically.
   This is kind of movie which demands horror and awe for generations to come without breaking a sweat. This is the story of a man finding and extracting revenge for being imprisoned without any human contact for 15 years in a private cell, without knowing why or who did this. 
    If ever a movie truly deserved the title of mind f**k, this is it. And if thought Dark Knight was a dark movie, this is a black hole.

5. The Chaser(2008)
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
    The Chaser is an engaging serial killer movie with an upfront narrative with a lot secrets left to be unraveled with fast chases, realistic scenes and unnatural twists.  
    The direction rewrote all the rules in the book of crime thrillers to take us on a wild goose chase at the mercy of the clock. If you want a totally different narrative in a thriller, this is the movie to watch.

6.  Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War(2004)
Genre: War, Action, Drama
   This is an epic war movie encompassing two brothers through the korean war fighting for survival, love and hope. The movie clearly depicts the destruction and misery brought on by war on peoples livelihood, their loved ones and their happiness. This is a war movie on par with the best of hollywood in terms of its portrayal of war, music and acting.

Community(2009-):
Genre: comedy  
   This series is basically about a study group of 7 people in a community college. The dialogues are smart, funny and there's no dearth of movie references. With a rating of 9 in imdb, this is a must watch for anyone seriously loving comedy.
   People who enjoyed Modern Family, Arrested  Development, Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia will have no problems watching this.

Alphas(2011-):
Genre: Science Fiction , Drama
   To put into perspective, this is basically X-MEN meets CSI. The show is 4 episodes in and my favourite part about this show is that it takes itself very seriously and has huge potential for the future. Anybody looking for a seriously engaging drama can check this out.

Movie Review: Cowboys and Aliens

Director: Jon Favreau
Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

From the outside the movie looks impressive, "cowboys" and "aliens" in the title, Old man Indiana Jones, James Bond and the girl from tron. But from inside its just pitiful.

What could have been a fun and suspenseful film turns into a boring, silly routine of drama followed by action followed by drama till infinity. The writing team could learn a thing or two from koreans about mixing genres because the elements of western and science fiction are seriously messed up.

This will be a big disappointment for Harrison Ford fans(me being one of them) to watch him clearly dominated by Daniel Craig and this movie is an insult to his charisma. On the other hand, fans of Daniel Craig get James Bond in every scene instead of a cowboy which he should be. Olivia Wilde adds less glamour and more head-ache.

The only highlight for me in this movie was listening to background of the prologue scene which was clearly a amazing blend of western and modern music.

5 Time Travel movies which are more than just going back in time

I'm sure you have seen time travel movies where somebody goes back in time to change the future or stop something from happening , like The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Time Machine etc.
So I have compiled a list of movies that are more than are not just your average thriller or adventure. These movies have heavily interwoven plots where every scene is connected to every other scene in the movie, and which requires the complete attention of the viewer.

1. Time Crimes(2007)

   This movie is Time travel logic 101. This movie has the class time travel premise, A man going back 1 hour back into past has to face the consequences of his own actions. Sounds simple right, but when you actually watch the movie it doesn't look so simple. A very tight script, small cast, a BIG flowchart of logic and 90 minutes later, you my friend have the perfect time travel movie.
P.S: Please bear through the starting 5 minutes which is very boring and I promise that you won't regret it.

2. The Butterfly Effect(2004)
    This movie beautifully blends the two concepts of time travel and butterfly effect(where changing a particular event or choice of an action, can basically have enormous unforeseeable consequences, as it is popularly understood). If you strip the skin and bones of this movie, at it's heart it invariably contains a guy having the ability to travel back in time, trying time and again to protect his loved ones. With a background of emotional performance with fate catching the hero unawares at every turn makes this movie a engaging watch.  

3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time(2006)
   Well, look at that, we have an anime in our list. Following the lead of many famous anime movies where the central character is a adolescent girl, this movie revolves around a girl who finds an object which lets her leap back into time. This is a sweet and innocent take on the fun things which we would do if we can travel back in time. With beautifully crafted montage of school life in the first half, the second half follows into more serious matters concerning the device which lets her travel back in time, and her unresolved feelings for her friend. This movie tends to get confusing near the end and may require replay.

4. Deja Vu(2006)
   This is a typical Tony Scott movie, where the hero is working against the clock, hero is trying to save someone, cars exploding everywhere, dialogues coming out like bam-bam-bam against a backdrop of impressive effects and a dramatic score etc. The concept of going back in time creeps up quite suddenly during the movie and we to adjust our whole thinking accordingly. The reason I included this one is because this movie uses a plot device where the past is backtracked in the present and use of multiple points of view. If it is to entertain your entertain your brain in hyper activity mode, this is the place to start.   

5. Mr.Nobdy(2009)
   You wont stumble across this movie in the internet unless you are actually searching for it, and this is not a time travel movie.This movie with the worlds oldest living man recounting his life to a reporter. The screenplay of the movie is very non-linear with very experimental storytelling and a lot of hidden meaning. My favourite part are the montages which speaks more than what they show. This is an experimental film and it doesn't please everyone. World cinema enthusiasts can appreciate this movie.

Special mentions: Run Lola Run, Source Code, Groundhog Day are not explicitly time travel but they are about time manipulation just the same. The plot device for these 3 movies resemble the same- relive a particular time interval to produce the most desirable outcome in 3, 10, >100 times respectively in the following movies. Run Lola Run is experimental, Source Code - thriller, Groundhog Day - comedy and each movie gives the atmost satisfaction to watch.

Primer is supposed to be most complex and confusing time travel movie of all and I will be watching it soon.

P.S: On hindsight, the ending of source code does resemble that of Deja Vu in it's logic.

Movie review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

After a blitzkrieg of publicity and promotion, the last movie in the HP series is out with it's wands blazing. For Potter fans all over the world, this movie rewards their devotion and love of this series in manifold ways. The movie gives as much emotional punch as it's action, and weaves it's screenplay through a story of adventure, survival, friendship and hope.

For the people who have read the book, there are no big changes in the plot and stays true to the book. As for the rest of the muggels I would suggest you get your A's and B's of the last book right ,or a repeated viewing of part1 of HP7 might be necessary. To put it vaguely the movie revolves around finding four objects each containing a part of Voldermort's soul a.k.a horcruxes, and destroying them by our hero.

I specially recommend the viewers to watch this in IMAX 3D for it's jaw dropping visual effects and stunning depth provided by the extra dimension. This is my favourite 3D all this summer and the best in the series as well.

I have never felt so thrilling while watching the movie and the music could bring tears during the montage of Snape's flashback.

PS: A thrilling ride worth cherishing every moment of the movie.

Book review: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones (Book one of A Song of Fire and Ice)
Written by George R.R. Martin

I came across Game of Thrones as the most anticipated TV show of this year. I watched the trailer and got to know it's based on some book. I watched the pilot episode for 10 and thought better to watch it later(The opening sequence was too awesome even for a movie). Well after 2 months I bought the book and it is the best fantasy book since LOTR and in a long time in the future.

The book is big, smart and has non linear, multiple sub-plots and each chapter told in third person of a certain character. If you want more specifics, follow this link to amazon and read the review of MISTER SJEM. He gives you the pros and cons on why you should read this book.

I cannot compare this book with Harry Potter or LOTR or Eragon. This book sets itself apart from the rest in terms of narrative structure, plot development and characters. The telling of the world and it's characters by the writer is vivid and does not give you a reason to skip it. One internal detail I should divulge is, this  book has a lot of sexual content and will not be available in the young adult section of bookstores.

PS: This book is not just for fantasy lovers but anyone who loves engaging plot with a web of intricacies and a chapters told from the perspective of several small and big characters.

PPS: This is a 7-part series with 5 books available. I'm right now reading book 4 and of the impression that I don't need to review the rest in the series because whatever I write, it doesn't change your decision on buying the next book once you read this one. That answer will be yes and you'll be hungry for more.

TV Review:Burn Notice

This is a spy thriller but not like any thing made before. The show is about a spy(Michael Westen) who is "burnt" meaning fired due to some unknown reason and how he tracks the people responsible for this.

This show is set in Miami and has the fabulous beaches and bikinis. Each episode deals with some main story line and also side missions which michael undertakes. The side missions are actually problems faced by normal people and michael solves them using the expertise of a spy and also with some help from his girl friend(who is "trigger happy" as the show proclaims) and a friend(Bruce campbell,this guy is the hero in The Evil dead).

This show also has a very interesting aspect. It also shows us how every day equipment like tape,shoe polish can be used for lethal purposes. It also has this voice overs by michael in which he explains making bombs etc. He also has a very unique way of describing things in a casual manner.

I completed watching four seasons. I felt slightly bored mid way in the 2nd season where the side missions dominate main story line. I find this very distracting as some times even 2-3 episodes have only the side missions and no main story line.

But the pace picked up in 4th season and i hope it continues in fifth season. 

This is a definite watch for anybody and it is light hearted at the same time brutal.

TV Review:Twin Peaks

According to TIME magazine twin peaks is one of the 100 best TV shows of all time(link).

When I looked it up in Wikipedia it said "Supernatural Thriller" and has an FBI agent solving the death of a local girl. All these things got me super excited and i started watching the show.

Having so many interesting things, i still can't understand how a show can be boring.I was bored from the instant i started watching this show.There is never a interesting moment and finally the show ends with a bizarre incident that i quite didn't understand what happened finally.

But the lead role of FBI agent portrayed by Kyle Maclachlan has a very unusual way of going through

the investigation which i found funny. He comes to the town of Twin Peaks to investigate the death of

a local girl and as he proceeds with investigation(at the expense of my boredom) he finds out each of 

the people in the village who appear to be normal from outside have secrets(for which i don't give a crap).

This show is aired in 1991 and is quite old and does not appeal to the present audience. This is a two 

season show but i was exhausted by the end of it. 

I seriously recommend not to watch this show even if you are a fan of murder mysteries.

TV Review:The Good Wife

Let me tell you this:The Good Wife is the most intelligent,compelling court room drama on TV. Don't have any impressions that this is a show for the female audience. But sadly, this show very much under appreciated in the media and internet. This may be the reason why you might never have heard about this show.
The show is about Alicia Florrick,wife of a district attorney(Peter Florrick) who is caught in a sex scandal.The main story is about how Alicia handles her husband's arrest and how Peter plays the  game of politics to get his position of district attorney back.The former part intrigued me a lot.You will be shocked by the tricks politicians play using internet to defame the opposition.


Besides this each episode has a case being dealt in the court by Alicia and her firm.After watching this series you will be familiar with all the court room jargon.
Alicia(Julianna Margulies) ,does a pretty good job and she signifies the strong woman.
All other characters also do a commendable job.


Take my word and just start watching this and you will be instantly drawn towards each of the characters.

Movie Review: Transformers Dark Of The Moon

Hey I watched Revenge of the Fallen in IMAX and even Michael Bay can't top that piece of crap. The trailer for Dark of the Moon was pretty good- the music, the slashing, the robots. Alas, I should have known better.

To add pictures to describe the emotions I experienced while watching this epic two and half hour movie I have included a short clip.

If you are one of those who just want to watch the latest Michael Bay movie you need to take a few precautions.
1. Before going into the cinema take a chain saw, cut a cross section across the fore head, scoop the grey, matter, grind it, burn it and throw it into the sewer.
2. After doing step 1, you wouldn't understand step 2 anyway so you are good to go.

OK, this is my serious assessment of Transformers:Dark of the Moon. If you just watch the occasional brainless summer movie without complaints about its story or characters, GO I'm not stopping you. But if you have any love for the art of cinema or respect films, I suggest you not to waste your money on this movie. You can torrent when the bluray hits piratebay and satisfy your curiosity.

There was one wow moment of 30 seconds when they airdrop in flying suits from an airplane. Had a very real sense of vertigo. Respect to Michael Bay for that clip in 3D.

FINAL WORD: This movie is a piece of shit. Period.