Field of Dreams (1989)

Genre: Dramas, Sports

Cast: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

"If you build it, he will come". Kevin Costner, a corn field owner hears a voice while walking through his corn field. You need not be a baseball fan to watch this movie. Everyone would be able to relate to this movie in one way or the other. I don't think i have enough words in my vocabulary to write about this movie. Anyways, i will give it a try.

This movie is about how far you will go to do something that "you think" you believe in while others don't. It made me think how everyone's version of heaven can look like if one does exist. Costner, after hearing that voice, decides that he has to build a baseball field by clearing out some portion of his corn field. But, after it was built, nothing happens and he soon has financial trouble and has to decide if he should grow corn again. Later, his family notices a famous baseball player who has been dead for a long time, playing in the field. He then brings along few of his friends to play with him. Costner, however realises his work was not done yet and undergoes so many adventueres which though unbelievable, would make you want to be able to believe in something with your whole heart.

Interesting fact- the baseball field shot during the movie in Iowa is now a big tourist attraction and has been visited by many annually.

The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)

Genre: Comedies, Action Comedies, Car Racing

Cast: Sean William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Jessica Simpson

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A mindless comedy with car chases. This is one of those movies which i can watch anyday, anytime. Some facts- This movie is directed by Jay Chandrasekhar - of course- of Indian origin. It stars Sean William Scott (Steve Stifler of American Pie series) and Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass" Series. This movie is based on a 80's TV show of the same name. It also stars Burt Reynolds (a big actor in the 70's and 80's who mostly starred in car racing related movies) as the villain.

 Sean William Scott and Johnny Knoxville star as cousins Bo and Luke, who run moonshine(illegal alcohol production) business along with Uncle Jesse and cousin Daisy(Jessica Simpson).  They go around the "Hazzard" County using their orange colored Dodge Charger car nicknamed by Bo as "General Lee".  The county Commissioner (Burt Reynolds) unable to their moonshine lab, plants a fake one and confiscates their farm. The Dukes hear about the same incident in other places and set out to find the commissioner's plan and discovers that he is planning to turn the entire county into a coal mine. The movie is about how they thwart his plan while also participating in a car race competition and also being chased by police.

Don't think too much of the plot and just go with the movie.

Iron Man (2008)

Genre: Action, Superhero Films

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. , Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow,
          Terrence Howard

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorite superhero movies. Everything seems to have worked well with this movie. But, a special mention should go to Robert Downey Jr. for making an arrogant and an egoistic character downright likeable. Even if he has gone a little overboard, his character would have attracted hatred. If you look at any other superhero movie, the lead character has some sort of a problem. For Batman, he sees his parents get killed in front of his eyes during his childhood, Spidey feels responsible for his uncle's death and Superman- well, he just doesn't belong to this world.Whereas, Tony Stark aka Iron man is a billionaire, genius, playboy and even his ladylove seems to be okay with him fooling around with other ladies and he has all he wants at his disposal. So, any moviemaker would have a problem making a character who does not connect with normal people or without any major problem as a hero. But luckily for Jon Favreau the director, he has got Downey. I just cannot imagine anyone else portraying Iron man other than Downey.

Tony Stark, who owns Stark Industries that produces weapons for U.S. military visits U.S. troops in Afghanistan for a presentation of his latest missile and gets captured by a terrorist group with severe injuries. A fellow prisoner builds an electromagnet that keeps him alive from the pieces piercing his heart. They secretly build an iron suit powered by an arc reactor and Tony escapes from the group with the help of it and returns to the troops and gets back to US but his inmate gets killed. Tony, having seen his company's weapons at the terrorists announces that he is shutting down the company but is stopped by his partner.

He secretly improves his iron suit at his house and fights against the terrorist group without revealing his identity. However, his partner who has been supplying the arms to the group comes to know about the suit and wants one for him. The rest of the movie is about how Tony succeeds against his partner and whether he reveals his identity to the public. What seems like a serious plot has its funny moments and is enjoyable by everyone.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Genre: Romance, Time Travel

Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates

Director: Woody Allen

Are you one of these people who loves the past and wish you were in the past? Then this movie is for you.

Director Woody Allen still has it in him. This movie is about a Hollywood screenwriter, Owen Wilson vacationing in Paris with his fiancee Rachel McAdams. He loves Paris and wants to settle down but his fiancee opposes the idea.

He also struggles to finish a novel which his fiancee doesn's support and asks him to instead focus on scrrenwriting for Hollywood. One night, being drunk, he gets lost in the streets of Paris and gets picked by bunch of people in a old horse carriage. To his surprise, he finds that he has been transported back to Paris of 1920s, his favorite era. He gets to meet the famous novel writers of that time and exchanges his novel for their feedback. The next morning he finds himself back to the present. To make sure that it was not a dream, he goes to the same place once again during midnight and .. gets picked up once again and back to the 1920s.

The rest of the movie is about whether he wants to stay in the past or lead his present life.

The most interesting thing about this movie is that, though i dont know the famous authors of the 1920s, i got equally excited. Owen Wilson really acted well that we get to see the Paris of Old from his point of view.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Genre: Sci-Fi

Cast: James Franco, Frieda Pinto

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the best movies of last year that i have seen. When i saw the trailer, i was skeptic about how the movie would be, for some of the scenes in the trailer didn't make sense. So, i waited a long time to see this movie only to realise that i made a mistake.

Do not watch this movie with hopes of seeing plenty of action and violence. I have always used to think - Before man there were dinosaurs that ruled the planet but will be there be another species that might take over him? This movie kind of toys with that idea about what happens if an ape that has been genetically modified to have enhanced brain cells that makes it intelligent would do with an army of apes? But wait, this movie is not about a war between humans and apes. The director does end the movie with that possibility though.

The best part about this movie is that you would be left with struggling on whose side to pick.. the apes or us humans. If you have already seen the original "Planet of the apes" movie you would be able to appreciate some of the scenes in the movie. But you need not watch that movie to understand this one though.

So, the story is about a scientist, James Franco who experiments on apes and chimpanzees to look for a cure to Alzheimer's.  He administers a drug on a female chimpanzee which mutates and attains higher level of intelligence. It tries to protect its baby from the approaching guards and gets killed. James Franco, not able to kill the baby chimpanzee takes it home.

The baby also inherits its mother's intelligence and is able to think on its own.  We get to see the movie from the ape's point of view about how it feels when it can also think like a human being but gets treated in a different way. There is this scene where the chimp, on seeing a dog on a leash, realises that it is also being treated as a pet and gets furious.This movie really is different from the regular run of the mill Hollywood movies and you wouldn't be disappointed once you get to see this.

Wild Hogs (2007)

Genre: Comedies

Cast: Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H.Macy, Peter Fonda, Marisa Tomei

My Rating - 5 out of 5 stars

This is one of the hilarious movies i have ever watched and i have seen it countless times. It is about 4 middle aged guys on a road trip from Cincinnati to the west coast on their bikes to escape the routine suburban life. My advice would be to switch off your brain and just relax and enjoy the movie and do not think about the plot or any technical glitches.

Having always seen John Tavolta in many serious movies( of course i liked him(her) in Hairspray), i really liked his lighter side as well. In fact, i started liking him only after seeing this movie. Everyone except Tim Allen did a great job.I especially enjoyed all the scenes that took place(the second half of the movie) in the small town. It just takes you to the vacation mode.

12 Angry Men(1957)

Genre: Dramas

Cast: Henry Fonda

My Rating- 5 of 5 stars

I thought this movie was a western(which i am a fan of) by the name, but it really didn't matter, for it is one of my all time favorite movies. Personally, I cannot sit in a room for a continuos period of time, but to my surprise, i saw this entire movie that takes place in a single room without any boredom.  So, you would think that already being a 1950s movie, and with a single room setting, this movie would move at a turtle's pace, but i assure that you would be surprised to see that it matches the 21st century movies for pace.

The premise is that of a jury of 12 men who have to come with a verdict on a murder trial of a boy charged with stabbing his father to death. It is initially shown that all of them are positive that the boy is guilty and would come to a quick verdict. But, Henry Fonda, one of the jurors, questions that the evidence against the boy might be circumstantial and there may not be enough proof against him. The difficulty here is that all the jurors should come to an unanimous decision or the case would be tried again.The room shown in the movie is supposedly very hot and you could see the men sweating and growing impatient while trying to reach a verdict.

The unique nature of the movie is that they do not show the courtroom trial or the accused or any witnesses, we know about all these from the jurors' discussion. Yet, You would never feel that you missed the courtroom scenes.

The remainder of the movie is about whether Mr. Fonda succeeded in convincing the other jurors.