Malcolm X (1992)

imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104797/

story gist:
A biographical account of the life of Malcolm Little a.k.a El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (wiki) takes us right from his days as a shady character in Boston to being a criminal who turns a new path after a jail term. He embraces the Nation of Islam under the leadership of Elijah Muhammed and later questions its policies and when his power is threatened by rifts within tries to move out and form his own organizations. Finally, he is assassinated as he is delivering a speech in a small gathering indoors.

my perspective:
As you might have seen, I am impressed with good movies that are based on real people, real events and truth. I think the movie closely follows the autobiographical account of Malcolm X. Even if the movie is quite long, it does extreme justice in presenting the extraordinary life of an individual in a very natural way.

Denzel Washington's performance is astounding, awe-inspiring, astonishing and absolutely amazing. It was almost as though Malcolm X came back from the dead and breathed life into the actor. He single handedly brings the movie power, attention and the thought people need to put into the life of an unbelievable person.

The emotional feelings that well up within you as a human being is very understandable and unavoidable. There would surely have been a lot of detractors, enemies and critics of Malcolm X at that time when he was alive. But, when we sit and think about the impact that his life has had, is having, and will have in our world we would surely be surprised by it. It is true that many people do not know him nowadays, there is a Malcolm X college here in Chicago right opposite to the Illinois Medical District. In the future children might think of that as a weird name for a college that they didn't go to, but they should really remember the strength and courage a soul can possess in the world through Malcolm X, through Spike Lee, through Denzel Washington.

Diarios de motocicleta (2004)

imdb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/

story gist:
Ernesto(Gael Garcia Bernal) and friend/cousin (?) Rodrigo embark on a motorcycle journey that takes them across the continent of South America. The story is about documenting the events that shaped the radical mind of one of recent history's important revolutionaries, Che Guevara. Their journey as aspiring medical students takes them to a leper colony perched in the middle of an Amazon rainforest through Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. Interesting incidents give life to the experiences of Che Guevara as a student whose mind slowly takes in the reality of life and the social problems people are facing in the region. The story ends just as their work in the colony ends.

my perspective:
Moved me so much at some points, especially the scene where Che Guevara swims across the river to prove a point on his birthday. When some scenes really gets us into the mind of a future revolutionary, some really seemed ordinary. The story makes more sense if we think about what happened to our hero after this trip. How it moulded him? How he changed his way of thinking? How he felt that his people needed help.. etc.. Very well acted/directed and great cinematography. The movie does some justice to portray the early life of Che Guevara and does it well enough to use it as inspirational stuff. It makes young people curious to find more about him and to see if it was a very unjust way for him to die.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

imdb :
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076666/

story gist:
Tony Manero (John Travolta) works in a paint shop in Brooklyn. The only thing he looks forward to in his week is the disco every weekend to show off his excellent dance moves. The plot explores his aspirations, his friends, his relationships and family. He meets a talented dancer and pairs with her for the annual dance competition. The story weaves the usual web of achievement, disappointment, betrayal, friendship, love and tragedy. Overall a simple story.

my perspective:
Having seen John Travolta as the lovable villain in "Broken Arrow" for the first time and having seen the music videos in "Grease" of him in his earlier days, my expectations were high when I saw this movie for the first time. As the credits rolled, I was taken head first into a time machine. The year was just one year before my elder brother was born, 1977. The 70s. All the movies that I'd watched in Tamil cinema and all the movies that came after Saturday Night Fever just came back to my mind.

How much inspiration can a single movie give? How old was my parents when the movie came out? Well, the movie is older than me by 6 years. "Stayin' Alive" by the BeeGees is so evergreen enough for me to judge this movie. How long has this movie stayed alive? Certain aspects of the story even though if it happened 30 years ago were very interesting to look at. It made me think, how my parents might have been influenced by this culture. The hairstyles, fashion and music that they grew up with etc..

Firstly, John Travolta is amazing as an actor, dancer and an icon for the youth. As the story proceeds, he just gives it life with his impressive natural performance. Secondly, the social aspects in the movie have been very well handled and gave a very good idea of how it actually was to live in that place at that time. Thirdly, very good performances from the other actors too keeps the movie alive and well. Overall, a movie that needs to be watched by the youth of today/future to understand that the problems in societies are basically the same simple ones even if the movie is from the late 70s.

Disclaimer : First Post

This blog might contain material that is not suitable for people who are actually looking for reviews / ratings of movies so that they can watch them. Its rather a collection of random movies from around the world that I've watched through my netflix subscription. Like director Ameer said in one of his interviews (rather a strong request to journalists to refrain from rating movies), I would not like to rate the movies. Just present my perspective on the movies in specific and my interpretation of them.

But, to keep things simple I will follow a format so that anybody who visits this blog can associate with it and also for consistent organization. You'll find a IMDB link to the movie (if there is one). Then probably if I remember the circumstances I watched the movie they would follow the link (I'm a strong believer that your mood plays a very important role in deciding how much you like a movie, and also in the phrase: 'first impression is the best impression' ). Then the gist of the story and how much I liked it.