My Favorite Movies

Remember how Sideways was the sleeper hit of 2004 (I think)? Well you're looking at Oscar material again in 2006. For eccentric characters, you don;t get much weirder than this:
A struggling motivational speaker whose family are sick of his speeches; his capable wife, who is about the only sane person in the movie; her gay, pre-eminent Proust scholar brother (a hilarious Steve Carell), who tried to commit suicide when his boyfriend left him for his rival; the son who made a vow of Nietzsche-inspired silence and writing on notepads until he realises his dream of being a pilot; his expletive-spewing grandfather who spends half the movie telling him to "F*** lots of women!", and finally the flower of the family, the adorable Olive, who they are all trying to get to California on time to take part in some Barbie Doll-lookalike contest masquerading as a junior beauty pageant. A heartwarming road trip coming-of-age story that doesn't try too hard, with the lovable Olive the honey-coated heart of the whole story.
Alternative title: How to drive from 700 miles without a clutch and stuck horn.
I put next month's salary on the fact that you're gonna love this one.

What touched me most about this movie is when the mother of the nun, Rosa (Penelope Cruz), who got pregnant and subsequently HIV-infected, asked herself what she'd done wrong with her daughter. She said that Rosa had been like an alien to her since her teenage years. That really struck a chord with me. Parenthood is all about learning as we go along. No one really created a fail-safe guide to parenthood.
A parent may do everything right but still have a failure of a child, or vice versa. Look at Manuela (Cecilia Roth). She raised her son as a single mother, juggling that with her job as a nurse (just like my mum), and yet she lost a aspiring writer son to a freak motor accident.
Parents have to do the best they can for their children, and the rest are in God's hands.
I loved this movie because it spoke of a mother's love and the disappointments she faces. This was true for both Manuela and Rosa's mum. They rose above their circumstances: Manuela's husband became a transvestite and left her and her son died. Rosa's mum saw her daughter get pregnant and HIV-positive, and had to bury her.
Yet, a mother's love carries on. It truly is the greatest love in the world.

This was the funniest comedy I've watched in the longest time. Chuck and Larry trying to act like a gay firefighter couple was pure hilarity.

Love the animation, but love the storyline more. =]
There's a Linguini in all of us.

I even have the poster (thanks, Ting)! THis movie made Kate Hudson my favourite actress.

'Nuff said.

I didn't watch the play, but this drawn-out relationship between the characters really held me captive. So did Natalie Portman. RIght up there with Kate Hudson. I can almost excuse her for playing Amidala.

This reduced me to a weeping wreck. 5 stars ain't enough. This one really hit home.

There's no conclusion to this one, but the journey itself is well worth the wait. The acting in this one is top-class and comic at the same time.

The plot is nothing. That Elisha Cuthbert could be your next-door neighbour? That's worth thinking about. She's right up there above Kate Hudson in my books.

This one really takes you back. A good one especially for the aspiring journalist.

Excellent movie. Had me riveted throughout, which says a lot. Spesh effects were non-intrusive and believable. Explored ethical issues and they weren't afraid to kill off pivotal characters.

Seems to me like there's a fourth instalment, and that they left it hanging so the next team has something to work with. Best of the trilogy.

Looking for a movie to lift your spirits? This is it.

An indictment of everything beautiful about America.

This is the movie that convinced Bond producers to cast Daniel Craig.

Funniest one in a long while. "Play?" "But I like the cookie." "I like it." "People are driving SUVs as they slowly lose their ability to walk. It's so big, but they usually hold just one human being."

Can someone say Oscar? Meryl Streep's five-star turn in the titular role as fashion editor Miranda Priestly makes this so watchable, and brings this iconic character to life. A must-watch for her acting alone. Simply debonair.

A rollicking good ride of hilarity, suspense and fantastic SFX. Once again, Johnny Depp shines as Jack Sparrow (that's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, thank you very much), this time trying to cheat Davy Jones and a lifetime of servitude to him once again. A pretty darn good movie, savvy?

There's nothing else like this.

I was torn between giving this one four or four-and-a-half stars. in the end, the cutting-edge effects and Megan Fox pushed this up to almost perfect. The effects were so real that the transition between CGI and real-life scenery was seamless. Megan Fox can't really act and has only one look throughout the movie, but who cares? As Shia LaBeouf put it, "Oh my God!"

Even better than Flags of Our Fathers, which I didn't really connect with.
The sheer desperation of the Japanese, officers and men alike, drove them to communal suicide. Our hero, Saigo, watches on horrified, as he ponders what is the best way to die. Some are not afforded the same luxury of choice.
What is your enemy really like? They are just like you, actually. They fear who's on the other side, they fear death, they fear not seeing their family again.
In the end, we realise the whole pointlessness of war and the futility of suicide, but we understand why in our world, people prefer these abhorrences to the alternatives of compromise and losing face.

"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." - Anna Scott

One of the scariest and most enigmatic villains I've ever seen: William Cutting aka Bill the Butcher played so convincingly by Daniel Day-Lewis. He killed the priest (Liam Neeson) who started an Irish uprising on his turf, and sixteen years later faces his son (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has conned his way into the Butcher's confidence, much like in The Departed. Still this is watchable mainly for the cruelty and unpredictability of the Butcher.

This truly genre-defying Spike Jonze experiment is so weird on so many counts. The idea of controlling someone's life by getting into his mind just raises so many existential and ethical issues. In this convoluted story though, we just realise the tragic lengths people will go to prolong a fantastical life, at the expense of their own.

Satire at its best. Not too preachy as Eckhart defends the indefensible to great effect.

Way better than its predecessor. Scrat finally saves the day, but you don't want me to spoil it for you. Certain things were a little too contrived, which stopped me at 4 stars, but otherwise a wonderful effort with something for everyone. Best quote? Dung beetle to his wife rolling the ball of dung: "Do we need to bring this crap along? I'm sure there'll be crap where we're going!"

Pretty riveting, but nothing we've not seen before.

Felt like doing the Mexican wave in this one. Good feel-good movie.

Buddy?

A thoroughly engaging tete-a-tete between two shadow agents that thrilled every minute. I kid you not.

Jack Neo who? This is so much better than whatever Manglish titles Raintree Films can come up with. Jack Neo is successful 'cos he has the money.

An insightful look into the British monarchy.

Just for making me laugh so loud when Donkey and Puss switched bodies. Priceless. Full of LOL moments, this one.

What a quirky funny family! Brings back memories of Matrix (Doris) and Muttley (Bowler Hat Guy). And Goob is just adorable as the perennial underachiever. Awww.

Not the most exciting but I found the storyline thoroughly engaging.

What Batman Begins was to the Batman franchise, Casino Royale is to James Bond. Daniel Craig is a fantastic Bond, suddenly strippping him of his debonair demeanour and gobsmacking gadgets and giving him a vulnerability that we can indentify with. Previous Bonds would never been seen dead in a Ford, much less alive. The film kinda dragged on towards the end; I thought the movie was ending for about 45 minutes! Excellent work for the kill scenes though. Extremele gritty and you really feared for Bond's life (and balls) in certain scenes. Guys, don't be afraid of squirming during the torture scene. I know how you feel.

A vast improvement over Twelve, but doesn't quite hit the unique heights of Eleven. More of a techie's indulgence with the manipulation of advanced security systems and pure probability. The plan was too hitch-free to be engaging, and the audience was in on it all the time. You don't really want to know the ending when you read a book do you? Ditto.

Full of in-jokes that made it enjoyable, buit basically just a longer Simpsons episode with some 3D effects. As Homer put it, why are we paying to watch something we can watch on TV?

Thoroughly enjoyable reminder of contract teaching. Shout "Silence!" when you want silence. And boy can Jean-Baptiste Maunier sing. =]

Steve Carell brings that endearing quirkiness we first saw in Little Miss Sunshine to the fore once again. Sure, he may be getting typecast as a lovable loser going through a mid-life crisis (a-la 40-Year-Old Virgin), but this empathetic endeavour maintains its appeal for now.

This feel-good rom-com reinforces the institution of true love, if not marriage, and one of the best parts is where all the characters come together for the first time; their genuine surprise mirrors that of the audience.

The standout scene for me is when Emily (Julianne Moore) calls Cal (Steve Carell) ostensibly having a problem with the heater, but she calls only to hear his voice as a source of comfort; what she doesn't realise is that he's in her backyard secretly doing some gardening. Awww.

All in all, a heartwarming if cliched movie holds its own with its formidable cast; Carell alludes to this when it rains during his most depressing moment: "What a cliche," he deadpans. Definitely one ti bring your better half to, if only to appreciate him/her all the more for who they are.

PS: Doesn't Emma Stone look like the 50-ft woman from Monsters vs Aliens?!