Dial M for Movie

In the last one month i saw more movies than i had ever in my entire life before i got married. In fact, its a wonder that i'm not watching something right this minute. A summary:

• 17 movies in 20 days
• 6 in the theatre, rest at home
• 3 hindi, 1 french, 1 japanese, 12 english
• 4 animation, 1 musical, 3 comedies

Impressive, no? Sure is for me, at least!

Among other things, i was surprised with the number of animation movies. I always respected this genre for the finesse and infinite labour a good animation film demands, but by now am totally bowled over with how much the human mind can conjure and conceptualize, and how well it can be executed with the right skill, patience and a flair for perfection.
Of them all, the one i liked best was Howl's moving castle, which is a Japanese film about a young girl who is cursed by an evil , and about a young wizard called Howl who can save her, and his funny castle that keeps moving from place to place.
This movie was a visual delight, with its lifelike detailing and fabulour colors, and a story that is unlike any that we have (i have) ever heard or seen. It gave it a 10 on 10. If you get your hands on it, do not miss it.

Others that were also marvellous were Kung fu panda - which made me laugh out loud, and Wall-E which was a total treat. It's on the IMDb Top 250, and rightly so! In fact i think it deserves the Oscar for best lead actors, even though the lead actors are animation robots.
I also watched Enchanted (7/10) and Bee Movie (6/10) which were both ok.

Amongst the non-animation movies, the most fabulous one was La Grande Seduction - a delightful French movie (English title Seducing Dr. Lewis) about a small fishing village somewhere in Canada, that decides to change its flailing fortunes by luring Dr. Lewis to make it his home. It is such a heart-warming, ribtickling, clever little film that long after its over the memory of it still makes you smile. And the strangest part is that months ago, i had thought of and presented to some unkind friends a story that was strikingly similar, though they didn't think so. Good thing i didn't invest my time and energy developing it because no matter how different i'd made it, it would've still been tagged 'inspired' or maybe even, shudder, 'copied'.
Rest of the movies were divided into three different categories:
A. Important, mainstream films that i had to catch up on:
- Blood Diamond (va va voom! What an idiot i was to not watch it in the theatre when it released)
- Breakfast at Tiffany (had seen this long ago, but at age 21 with no subtitles, missed out much)
- Four weddings and a Funeral (don't like Hugh Grant much, didn't like the movie much either)
B. Random, forgettable fare that i saw on TV or video:
- Marvin's room (stellar cast, great acting, but such an ok film!)
- Rumor has it (ridiculous comedy)
- Monster-in-law (absolutely predictable chick flick, but still great fun, total timepass)
- What happens in Vegas (even more predictable than monster-in-law, but still great fun, total timepass)
C. Current theatre releases - A mix of good and bad:
- Rock On (nice! makes me wish we really did have some local rock icons. A band we were all mad about, worshipped the ground they stomped on, felt proud of, tattoed their names on our bums, threw our panties at... you know what i mean? Sigh, i guess the movie is as close as it gets to the real thing, which hopefully may happen by the time i have grandkids. But then i would not approve of the whole name-tatooing, panty-throwing business! What a catch 22!)
- Bachna ae haseeno (yummy ranbir, eyepopping locales, droolworthy designer threads on three (actually two) hot leading ladies, nice foot-tappy music. Yup, i like the Yash Raj formula fare)
- Mumbai meri jaan (tremendous potential - wasted. A preachy (yuckk!) movie with some ridiculous, incredible, unconvincing, poorly executed sequences and worse-than-amateurish acting from some of the most respected names in hindi cinema. This one, i don't forgive. Very bad. Waste of my time. And this, when i love love love Mumbai and anything to do with it)
- Singh is Kingg (if you haven't seen it yet, thank your stars. Save your money and time. This movie makes a public loo with defunct water supply look like the garden of eden)

So there. For the record, that is 17 movies in a span of 20 days, six of them in the theatre. Pretty good, huh? Smug smile. Of course all of this has taken its toll on the other stuff. My plants lie almost forgotten, cooking has taken a back-seat, and going to gym has become as rare an activity as going to the public library! But am not complaining, heck no.
In fact, i'm wondering if tickets are available for A Wednesday! - which i believe is a superb movie. If not, oh well - i guess i'll find something from the 800 movies in Golls' collection!