First half - 50 movies

Most of us have this very basic tendency of doubting any 'round' figures in any report. Even in a water-cooler talk we will go with a person saying, 'Renjith has four (or six) affairs' than with someone, who based on meticulous data collection and thorough third party verification convincingly says, 'Renjith has five affairs'. 

I have completed the first half of 2015 with 50 movies. These fifty fall under different shades of languages, periods, and genres.

Top five:

1. Sunset Blvd. (Eng/Billy Wilder/1950)

This is a 65-year old movie, but Sunset will give a tough fight to any of the black humour/drama made even this date. The film is presented as a narration by a dead man and you get engrossed in it right from the first scene. Set in the times of transition between the silent movies and the talkies, Sunset takes a close look at the peculiar and intriguing relation between a failing screenwriter and a fallen star of the silent era. With a superb performance by Gloria Swanson as the obsolete artist and interwoven with real filmmakers and studio settings, Sunset is easily one of the greatest movies ever made in English. And perhaps the greatest movie ever made on movies.

2. Fargo (Eng/Joel Coen/1996)

This 1996 winner of the Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, is captivating, enthralling and - cold-blooded. The pace picks up slowly, but it just sucks you into it very soon with a series of unexpected murders, culminating in a scene depicting the (probably) most-chilling way of disposing a dead body ever shown on screen. Fargo is full of an amazing set of characters - right from the lead investigator, the pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (for which Frances McDormand picked the Academy Award for Best Actress), to the clumsy Jerry Lundegaard who hatches a plan to get his wife kidnapped for a ransom from his father-in-law, to the laconic, sturdy criminal Gaear Grimsrud, and the funny, kidnapper Carl Showalter - whose interactions leaves you guessing 'What next?' Interestingly, the film starts with the lines "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.", though the Coen bros. later acknowledged that while the killings were based on real events, the characters and the plot were imaginary.

3. The Wizard of Oz (Eng/multiple directors/1939) 

One of the oldest talkie movies I have seen. Based on the 1900 book with a similar title this musical is just an amazing take on the fantasies and insecurities of a girl child, and her journey to and from a dreamland, Oz. It was refreshing to experience the use of colours in the film. Unlike the usual colour movies that we are used to - where the flashback scenes are shown in B&W - The Wizard starts and ends in grayscale - but the imaginary world of the girl is presented in colour. That is a masterstroke. The movie has good special effects too. Even after 75 years, The Wizard continues to entertain.

4. Kaaka Muttai (Tamil/M.Manikandan/2014)

A refreshingly simple, original and spectacular take on the rich-poor divide; ironically the beauty of Muttai lies in the fact that it never tries to shout at the top of its voice "I am a leftist movie". Loaded with stellar performances, creative camerawork, fantastic art, a fun-filled freshly-baked script backed by deft direction, Muttai will be around for a long time to come. Success of such movies provides renewed hope for new talents in Kollywood - as well as its audience.

5. The Infernal Affairs - I, II, III (Cantonese/Lau-Mak/2002-03)

Over a Saturday afternoon-evening I completed all the three parts, back to back. (A long back, I had tried this with the three editions of The Godfather, but I did not succeed.) A big fan of The Departed, TIA was always in my to-see list as I was curious to know about the foreign language movie that inspired the legendary Martin Scorsese to remake it in English. After the viewing, I realise the greatness of veteran director Scorsese lies in having an openness of mind to recreate a Chinese spy drama in Boston; and the greatness of TIA lies in converting a die-hard Departed fan into a TIA fan.

Next five:

6. Boyhood (Eng/Richard Linklater/2014)

7. JFK (Eng/Oliver Stone/1991)

8. The Shining (Eng/Stanley Kubrick/1980)

9. NH 10 (Hindi/Navdeep Singh/2015)

10. Wild Tales (Spanish/Damian Szifron/2014)

Bottom five:

46. Komban (Tamil/M.Muthiah/2015)

This is a good paisa vasool movie that delicately and successfully steers away from the Paruthiveeran mould. A slight slip here or there would have rendered Komban unbearable. Luckily, it is not the case. Karthi's screen presence does the wonder. Another trophy in oldie Rajkiran's kitty too. 

47. Naan Kadavul (Tamil/Bala/2009)
I revisited this one after a period of six years. Now the film looks contrived; it just hangs in thin air perhaps just to prove some point to someone. I liked the movie back then. In the mean time, Bala too has gained more aura as a bold creator.

48. Natural Born Killers (Eng/Oliver Stone/1994)

There is something about this Oliver Stone movie. But I am still not able to make out what was the vision he had set for the movie. There are just too many crazy things that do not come together well to deliver a good movie experience.

49. Beyond the Reach (Eng/Leonetti/2014)

I just waited for the film to get over. But interesting casting - Michael Douglas in a purely negative role.

50. Anegan (Tamil/K.V.Anand/2015)

One more case of the talented actor Dhanush getting let down by a big-name director and a seemingly brilliant screenplay. Trying to live up to the inspiration of Nenjam Marapadhillai (Tamil/1963/C.V.Sridhar) and demands of the modern audience, Anegan reminds us no one (including the veteran actor Karthik ver 2.0) can salvage a script gone awry.

Terminator Genisys just missed the list; it was released here on July 3rd. It was my first movie for the second half of the year. Had I watched the movie a few days earlier, very easily Anegan would have looked a lot better. Why was this boring fifth itinerary, bereft of creativity, even made at all? Waiting for another Terminator by James Cameron.

Happy second half!