The Terminal - A Simple Movie!

By: Thejas Krishnan on 9:18 PM

Cast : Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones, Stanley Tucci
Director : Steven Spielberg

When You see a Spielberg movie, which is not about dinosaurs or aliens or angry robots tearing a metropolitan city apart, you are just curious:) Then when you come to know that Tom Hanks is acting i it, you are excited, and when finally you see the movie, you are enthralled  :D

Tom Hanks plays Victor Navroski a tourist from Krakhosia who just landed at the JFK Airport. He later finds out that his govt. was  out-thrown by a military coup and his country didnt practically exist. So the Airport Supervisor, Frank Dixon(Stanley Tucci) has no choice but to keep him under house arrest at the airport till the government sorts out their issue.

The movie progresses on how Victor faces the obstacles and learns to live against all odds. He even Finds love....

The man who takes  all the limelight is of course Tom Hanks. He adopts the role so intensely that it fits him like a second skin. Victor's Innocence attracts the audience and they begin to laugh and cry with him.Victor is portrayed as a simple man with all the insecurities and stubbornness.It is only due to Hanks' amicable portrayal that average climax seems so heart touching. He is just a joy to watch..

Spielberg  is also to be credited for his approach.  He carries the story with a lot of care, as a Caterpillar in a cocoon!Even in the 'neon-bathed' crowded airport, he shoots Victor with the empathy of a lonesome traveller in an unknown city. Also the lively supporting cast of the aiport workers were also quite brilliant, giving us a different picture of the airport.

It is a simple movie, with a simple story and yet it does the job quite brilliantly....

Rating : 4/5
  

Read More

Shutter Island is a Dark Thriller

By: Thejas Krishnan on 2:09 PM

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo

Director: Martin Scorsese,

From the very opening scene of Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" the eerie background score pumps up the sense of despair, as the ferry carrying US Marshal Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck (played by Mark Ruffalo) approaches the isolated island that houses their destination. The officers must visit the Ashecliffe Asylum for the criminally insane to investigate the sudden disappearance of a potentially dangerous female inmate.

As Teddy questions doctors and inmates, all under the watchful supervision of creepy head psychiatrist Dr Cawley (played by Ben Kingsley), he begins to suspect that the mental assylum is not at all what it seems to be.

Teddy, unfortunately, has his own problems. A World War II veteran, he can't seem to shake off his ghosts, and is haunted by images of concentration camps and Holocaust crimes. He's also having as much trouble getting over the tragic death of his wife  who was killed in a fire set by a former patient at Ashecliffe.

"Shutter Island", directed by Scorsese, considered by many as one of the best directors in the business, , relies on atmospherics. The bleak grey skies, the thrashing weather, those waves lashing against the rocky shores strir up a sense of uncertainty and dread that's further emphasized by the ominous score.

The audience is equally anxious to find out the truth about the island and most important about waht goes about in the light house .The line between reality and delusion, between sanity and insanity, begins to blur early on in the film when it becomes apparent that nobody - neither the psychopaths nor the psychiatrists - are being entirely honest here.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels as something of a insecure soldier, a man prone to violent outbursts, a permanently scowling fellow who looks more rattled the more he discovers. DiCaprio tells  us why he's still the one among the best in the industry. He plays the character so well that every movement tends to drive straight into the audiences' heart.

At roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes, the film is way too long for an english movie, and pulls too many tricks - although you'd be lying if you said you didn't fall for most. Even if you are extra smart and managed to  guess the twist in the end, but there is no way that  you can predict how Scorsese gets there.

Overall it's an exciting, intriguing film that demands a second viewing to fully grasp its ambition. I'm going with four out of five for Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island". The last line of dialogue alone will leave you stunned, wondering if you figured out anything at all in the end.

Rating: 4 / 5

Read More