Cinemascope-Looking at the movies of 2008

The initial list-"The Top Movies of 2008" had some of the movies that I liked. Once I finished writing that post realized there were lots of other movies that I enjoyed and totally forgot about:

Mithya:

Rajat Kapoor's movie with Ranvir Shourie, Nasiruddin Shah, Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia a story of double identities, amnesia, dons, intrigue, unrequited love and death. The part that I enjoyed most was Ranvir's Hamlet soliloquy in Hindi.

Eastern Promises:

London, the mob, Russian gangsters, lots of F words, punches and fights, couple of gross scenes and the final fight in the buff. Viggo Mortensen does a great job in David Cronenberg's violent gangster story.

Kannum Kannum:

A beautiful love story where sacrifice gains a new meaning. Prasanna in a great role. Beautiful cinematography no vulgar comedy or item-songs. A simple story told aesthetically. A pity that the movie was not a big hit.

Raman Thediya Seethai and Pirivvom Sandhippom:

With Cheran in both movies, the first one as an actor and the second one as both actor and doctor both movies were good family entertainers. The first one was the search of a man for a wife the second the problems faced by a city-bred woman coming to terms with a large joint family after marriage. Pasupathy excels as a blind radio jockey in Raman Thediya Seethai.

Alibaba:

Directed by a debutante and starring director Vishnuvardhan's brother Krishna, this is a really taut thriller. Just think you are a good for nothing thief who lives with his brother and father(also thieves). One day to your surprise you find that there are close to 40 lakhs in your bank account and with every passing day your bank balance keeps increasing. Then the fun starts young girls been raped and killed, a senior police officer being killed, the plot keeps thickening and just when you think that the climax is here, there is another twist. "Saroja" was OK with its thumping music track and Tom and Jerryish antics, but Alibaba really scores on the surprise factor.

Welcome to Sajjanpur:

When India's most acclaimed and respected director returns after a long gap and returns with a Malgudish comedy you are excited. This movie is a brilliant satire of the life and times of modern northern India the casteism, rogue politics, and development problems, Good performances by all and Shreyas Talpade keeps excelling with each movie. A must watch.

Taken:

I saw this on DVD. This stars Liam Neeson as an ex-CIA agent who works as a security guy along with his friends. He is separated from his wife but is close to his daughter. when his daughter goes on a pleasure trip to Paris and gets kidnapped. He returns to his super spy ways and tracks down his daughter's kidnappers who run an international prostitition and trafficking ring. Powerful performance by Neeson and good action sequences. Watch this movie when it hits the Indian theatres.

In Bruges:

Two assassins on a sight-seeing trip. A boss who is angry and wants to kill them. A midget who is an actor, a young woman who is a con. Great cinematography and background music. Directed by Martin McDonagh the movie stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes in one of the finest black comedies in recent times.