FILM CHALLENGE: 86) Harry Brown

86) Harry BrownDirector: Daniel BarberYear: 2009Plot Summary: Retired widower Harry Brown spends his lonely life playing chess with his only friend Leonard Attwell. However, one night, Len is beaten to death in an underground passage by a young gang....

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 85) Moon

85) MoonDirector: Duncan JonesYear: 2009Plot Summary: With only 3 weeks left in his three year contract, Sam Bell is getting anxious to finally return to Earth. He is the only occupant of a Moon-based manufacturing facility along with his computer and...

By Daniel Sarath with 4 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 84) Twilight

84) TwilightDirector: Catherine HardwickeYear: 2008Plot Summary: A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.After being strapped to a chair with my eyes held open by machinery, I was forced to endure the first part of the Twilight...

By Daniel Sarath with 4 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 83) Monty Python and the Holy Grail

83) Monty Python and the Holy GrailDirector: Terry Gilliam and Terry JonesYear: 1975Plot Summary: King Arthur and his knights embark on a search for the Holy Grail.Monty Python need no introduction. Their unique brand of quirky, bizarre and sometimes...

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 82) Dog Day Afternoon

82) Dog Day AfternoonDirector: Sidney LumetYear: 1975Plot Summary: On a hot summer afternoon, a Brooklyn bank is held up by the down-and-out Sonny and Sal, but they find that there's actually nothing much to steal as most of the cash has been picked...

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 81) The Road

81) The RoadDirector: John HillcoatYear: 2009Plot Summary: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls...

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments

Toronto International Film Festival 2010

TIFF is the film festival that I have always wanted to attend. Sure, it's Sundance that is the most highly regarded in the industry as it showcases many of the underground, independent movies that will go on to be hits. Sure, it's Cannes that is renowned...

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 80) Open Your Eyes

80) Open Your EyesDirector: Alejandro AmenabarYear: 1997Plot Summary: A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.Many of my friends rave about...

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

Could Inception change Blockbuster cinema forever?

"It's the Blockbuster movie that will set the bar for all the others to come," I said in my review of Christopher Nolan's latest release Inception some days ago.Over the last decade Blockbuster cinema, in my opinion, has hit an all time low. Most of...

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 79) Happy Go Lucky

79) Happy Go LuckyDirector: Mike LeighYear: 2008Plot Summary: A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colourful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.The first time I watched Happy Go Lucky in...

By Daniel Sarath with 5 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 78) 2001: A Space Odyssey

78) 2001: A Space OdysseyDirector: Stanley KubrickYear: 1968Plot Summary: When a large black monolith is found beneath the surface of the moon, the reaction immediately is that it was intentionally buried. When the point of origin is confirmed as Jupiter,...

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 77) Leaving

77) LeavingDirector: Cathering CorsiniYear: 2010Plot Summary: Suzanne is a well to do married woman and mother in the south of France. Her idle bourgeois lifestyle gets her down and she decides to go back to work as a physiotherapist. Her husband agrees...

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 76) Maradona By Kusturica

76) Maradona By KusturicaDirector: Emir KusturicaYear: 2008Plot Summary: A documentary on Argentinean soccer star Diego Maradona, regarded by many as the world's greatest modern player.Can a documentary be bad? After the recent success of films like...

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments