Stephen King’s legendary tale of Terror

The Mist (2007)

After watching this movie, I felt how true Mr. Joker when he said “When the chips are down, these…these civilized people, they’ll eat each other”. We are living in a civilized world, wait…are we? All your civilization and humanity would be put to the test, when it is your life that matters. Again, I just cannot refrain thinking about the Joker. Well, what he said “You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!”

Enough said about the Joker. What is it about this film here? Why am I relating to the Joker? Well, there is a woman character in this movie who is kind of insane and extremely religious. She preaches the apocalypse and drives people mad after being attacked by some horrific creatures. And, you will understand why I have mentioned the Joker’s quotes here after you watch how this lady was able to make people believe that she is uttering the words of God and drive them crazy. I do not know if this character was enhanced in the movie version or it stays as is from the novel of Stephen King. But, with the help of this character, the director asks many questions about human faiths and morals.

Directed by Frank Darabont, The Mist is such an involving, intriguing and fast-paced horror-thriller. If you have not seen any of Stephen King’s, make this or 1408 as your first.

Yeah, it was all me!

Secret Window (2004)

Johnny Depp! Johnny Depp! Johnny Depp! Well, this film is an one man show and who else could justice to such a story? A good adaption of the novel written by one the successful writers in Hollywood, Mr. Stephen King.

Johnny Depp plays a writer (Mort Rainey) who lives alone in a wood house. He is in the middle of a divorce. Suddenly a stranger shows up and claims that he has stolen one of his stories and published it with his name. But Mort is confident that it was his story and was published well before the time accuser claims to have written it. The accuser threatens his life upon failing to produce proof. He even kills Mort’s dog, a couple of other guys and burns his house.

If you had watched some psycho thrillers before, you might very well guess the twist. Yes, it was all Mort himself! There is no such person who accuses of plagiarism. It was all his imagination. But, that was not all. Watch out for the ending.

BTW, which is your favorite Stephen King movie? Mine is 1408. Also, I liked Apt Pupil very much. My next blog is also based on a novel by Stephen King, The Mist.

Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?

Oldeuboi aka Oldboy (2003)

Rumors are there that the student who did the shooting at the Virginia Tech University was a great fan of this movie. I don’t know how far that is true. Still, this is a movie that deserves such a fan following.

People say that some of the best films come from the French and Iranian soil. I have not seen any of those movies yet. But, this is a terrific movie! Korean cinema at its best!

The film starts with the lead character narrating his story of imprisonment. To be frank, you have to just sit and tolerate the first few minutes of this film. Some random scenes does not give the impression of a good movie. It picks up momentum after Dae-su Oh (name of the lead character) escapes from the prison and starts to find why he was kidnapped and imprisoned. The ending of the film is quite depressing and dark. I restrain myself from telling more about the story since it would spoil your experience. If you ever watch a foreign movie, let this be the one. If it depressed you, don’t blame me and I can promise you this is not just one of such movies. And, most importantly do not watch any dubbed version of this movie. Instead use the original language version with subtitles.

A reasonable doubt

12 Angry men (1957)

Have you seen any movie (not a serial) where most part of it takes place within a single room?

How would you feel about watching a black ‘n’ white movie which is not a horror or a thriller? What is your idea about these old movies?

Well, this movie might change your views about old black ‘n’ white movies.

This is a movie filmed in a single room for the most part. 12 jurors are supposed debate for the death sentence of an 18 year old boy. This film starts with the trial after all witnesses have been produced against the boy who is accused of stabbing his own father. 11 out of 12 jurors are convinced that the boy was guilty. One man believes that still it needs to be discussed before they can arrive at a decision because a boy’s life is in their hands. He (Henry Fonda) votes him innocent and starts to convince them. If there exists a reasonable doubt in a trial, the benefit of the doubt has to favor the suspect.

One another film that I could remember that was so intense and filmed with in a room is the The Rope by Alfred Hitchcock. I guess the later would have been more difficult to film. While watching the rope, I never noticed it in the entire film. But in 12 Angry Men, you can find that the camera never goes outside the juror room. Nevertheless, this is a masterpiece. A lesson for all aspiring directors, writers and most importantly actors.

I’ve got a train to catch

Midnight meat train (2008)

This one is for horror movie fans. A perfect Saturday night movie. I knew nothing about this movie before, except that I copied this one from the hard drive of a friend of mine. But, it’s so happened that I watched this on a Saturday night. You will get the best experience from a movie when you haven’t read any review of the movie before watching it. Reviews strongly influence your opinion about a movie.

I wouldn’t say this is one of the best horrors/make feel sick movies that I have seen. Nothing like the masterpieces of Sin City, Irreversible and Men behind sun.

Top 10 films that make you feel sick are here: http://www.dreamlogic.net/archives/10-films-to-make-you-feel-sick.

One director who could do justice to all the bloodshed is Mr. Quentin Tarantino.

Are you ready for the truth?

Unbreakable (2000)

Written and directed by the Indian born Manoj Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable hit the theaters in 2000. As a director this was his fourth film.

Within the first 10 minutes, it gets you involved after the lead character played by Bruce Willis survives a major train crash. He not only survives out of 130 odd passengers, but doesn’t even suffer a single scratch. He starts a journey to find if he could be a superhuman.

But, I find it hard to accept that one would be so memory-bad to ask someone “how many sick days I have taken?”. Would you not remember that you never had a single headache in your life?

I am yet to watch Lady in the water and The Happening of Shyamalan’s. Excluding these two in the list, I would say The Village was Shyamalan’s perfect followed by The Sixth Sense and Signs in no order.

Empty what is full. Fill what is empty. Scratch what itches.

Rescue Dawn (2006)

Christian Bale was the obvious reason for which I chose to watch this movie. And, this was a great performance from him as usual. He really makes this character his own. Directed by Werner Herzog, this film is based on a true story of survival during Vietnam War. But the historical accuracy of this film is strongly criticized here.

This is one of the films that portray the true struggle for freedom and survival. I have not seen any movie of Steve Zahn before. His portrayal of a broken man is just amazing and he does overshadow Christian Bale.

But, this movie is not recommended for weak hearts as it contains strong sequences of violence and torture.

Start -> Load Movies

You can find so many movie blogs. You can bet this won't be any different except that I am writing this blog.

I will fill this blog by sharing my thoughts about the movies I watch. Again, I do not have a style of my own. Anyway, I will try to my best to keep this as interesting as possible. If you may find this blog sucking, well, you know what to do! I'm not expecting big time viewers to my blog. I do not know how deep the water is. I have just come by and standing by the river hoping I may cross it.

Having said that, your continuous support is always welcome. Let's get started.