Amodini's Book Reviews

Book Reviews and Recommendations

Archive for the 'movies' Category

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth mixes two vastly different story-lines to create one beautiful film. On one hand, we have the story of Ofelia, a young girl of about 9-10, who when faced with unpleasant reality, takes refuge in a mystical world of fauns and fairies, and on the other we have the story of the Spanish rebels […]

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Spiderman 3

In which Spidey gets an attitude. A bad one. Well, not really. I mean, Spiderman is a good, humble, kind-hearted sort of guy. So, how can he go bad ? In this film, via a mutant life form, crashing into earth on a small meteorite. The parasitic life form crawls off the meteorite and crawls […]

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Blood Diamond

Leonardo di Caprio gives me the hives. And not in a good way. Apparently I was the only one who didn’t L-O-V-E “Titanic”, and I am quite unable to see his “boyish” charm (or so I have been told). Although the charm still eludes me, I did like “Blood Diamond”, and Leo in it. He […]

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The Holiday

This film could be classified as a chick-flick because it’s based upon the romantic lives of two contemporary women, one American (Amanda – a wholly American looking Cameron Diaz) and one British (Iris – a dark-haired and considerably slimmed down Kate Winslet). Amanda is the very rich Hollywood based movie-trailer producer with her very own […]

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The Pursuit of Happyness

Looking at the poster with Will Smith looking all beatific, and Smith junior looking fairly pleased too, one might think this a “happy” film. But “The Pursuit of Happiness” is one of those sad, sad movies which make life seem like a tightrope walking exercise – one misstep and you fall down into the dumps. […]

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Premonition

Premonition is another time-travel film. Well, not time-travel in the sense that you’re transported to 1325 and must survive and get back to present time. Rather it’s a case of time warping in weird ways. Remember “Groundhog day” ? Bill Murray waking up to find that every day is Groundhog Day – a sort of […]

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Sholay : A little nostalgia never hurt anyone

Ever hanker for that “Sholay” fix ? You know, the one where Veeru goes “gaonwalo” and means YOU ? If you did, nirvana is in sight. Star’s stand-up comedy show “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge” is calling out to contestants for the new season, and they do it in a very Sholay-esque style. And while […]

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Water, water everywhere . . .

Water came and went. The official entry from Canada, and making it into the final 5 Water finally lost out. Much as I hope that good things happen to film-makers who high-light the unfortunate plight of women, I have to say that Water didn’t deserve the nomination (as many other films don’t) – see my […]

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The Lakehouse

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxkmbk1a2Qk] There’s a tune stuck in my head. You know how that happens, don’t you ? You hear it on and off, sometimes louder, sometimes toned down but it’s under your skin, it’s everywhere. It transports well, from the house to the car, from the car to the outside world. And it has a negligible […]

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Casino Royale

Much has been said about the new Bond. And all they say is true. Really, here’s a Bond I actually like. In Casino Royale Daniel Craig essays the part almost to perfection. Lots of muscle, great physical fitness, and apparently a sharp mind to go with that (how else do you dare challenge a master […]

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