Film - Face Off (starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage) - Action thriller - Released in 1997

“There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”
Face /Off is an out and out thriller, throw in sentiment for good measure, a few teary eyed moments and voila - a full thriller where you don’t have to think too much. The cops and robbers routine is taken to the next level when FBI Special Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) loses his son to Castor Troy’s (Nicholas Cage) bullet - one which was meant for him.
Castor’s Achilles’ Heel is his brother Pollux Troy (Alessandro Nivola); they are both planning a bomb blast in LA -  whilst Castor is severely wounded in the gun battle that ensues, Pollux, the only guy who knows the location of the bomb, is taken captive.
Meanwhile, the vegetated state of Castor ensures there’s no way he’s disclosing the whereabouts of the bomb, so it’s now left to Archer to step up to the moment.
In a bizarre proposal, doctors tell Archer he can take on Castor’s identity – by way of a ‘Face/Off’. He has so much at stake but mainly the memory of Michael, his son, needs to be laid to rest. And so agrees to get a new face, a new identity. After the operation, Archer (as Troy) is incarcerated in the same prison as Pollux, and manages to get the location of where the bomb is planted. The tricky part now is getting out unscathed from Erewhon prison.
Castor Troy, now faceless, arises like phoenix from the ashes, and manages to get a face for himself - that of his rival Archer. And along with the new identity he has certain perks – a lovely wife, a beautiful home and a whole lot of ways to make sure that he uses the FBI to get rid of Archer once and for all. In order to earn the trust and praise of the department, Castor defuses the bomb - and becomes a hero. He takes to his new role like a fish to water, while the actual Archer faces near death in a prison riot, but manages to escape; once out, his aim is to get in touch with all of Castor’s network - his buddies and girlfriend, included.
Déjà vu when Castor (actually Archer) sees Adam, Sasha’s son (Castor’s ex) - and memories of Michael come flooding back. On the other hand Archer (actually Troy) is making inroads with Jamie - the daughter, who says she can never bring herself to forgive her father for what happened to her brother Michael. Having climbed the upper echelons of the Department ladder, Archer now takes matters into his own hands after he kills an FBI big gun and is himself promoted to Assistant Director In charge - virtually untouchable AND hopping mad because Cage killed his brother Pollux.



Meanwhile the actual Archer (in guise of Troy, played by Cage) approaches Eve, his wife and convinces her that the man in her home is the impostor Castor Troy; she tells him that Troy will be attending the funeral of the official he’d killed. But Castor, a veteran to cat and mouse games, is a step ahead, and he takes Eve hostage. In the gun fu that ensues Castor manages to escape in a speed boat, only to be brought down by Archer, who wins back his family and self respect, with a second chance at caring for the child Adam, whose mother Sasha was killed in the crossfire.
John Woo is known for bringing the Asian character to his films - they may be a little over the top, however, audiences love them. Both Travolta and Cage were two actors he had worked with earlier in Broken Arrow and Windtalkers. An excellent play is conducted by Woo on the words and names in the Film. For instance, Castor and Troy, according to ancient Greek Mythology - are brothers who make up the constellation Gemini, the prison Erewhon is the word “nowhere” written backwards.
With a rousing musical score by Hans Zimmer, the Movie was well received by audiences and critics alike - it was nominated for the Academy Award for Sound Editing (70th Academy Awards, 1998), losing to the Titanic. It won the Best Action Scene in the MTV Movie Awards and the Best Directing and Writing in the Saturn Awards.

Crazy Stupid Love - A romantic comedy - released in 2011

Starring- Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon. (Released in 2011)

What can you expect from Glen Ficarra and John Requa - the same guys who gave you Bad Santa, Cats & Dogs, The Bad News Bears (with legendary Walter Matthau)? Well, great comedy, for starters with an envious ensemble cast! We love a triangle, especially when the exes meet, throwing the ‘other’ off the marital bandwagon…the movie does a great job of  taking a clichéd plot and sprucing it up with “how to”- tips (good for the goose, great for the gander).
“Twenty-five years of marriage and you have nothing to say…” well more than half the married population on Earth doesn’t find that surprising! But what comes next, the bit about having slept with someone and that this wondrous revelation comes from Emily (the wife, played by Julianne Moore, 9 Months, Hannibal) - does prompt Cal (the husband, played by Steve Carell, Evan Almighty) to throw himself off  the moving car-that makes the requisite statement! And while Emily seeks solace in the arms of David (the suave lover, Kevin Bacon, Foot Loose, A Few Good Men) because of ‘ how broken we are’, Carl weeps in the washroom at the news of the divorce, and chooses to deal with the heartbreak by downing a few.
Enter Jacob Palmer (Casanova extraordinaire, Ryan Gosling, Remember the Titans, The Notebook) who decides to take Cal under his wing, gives him  lessons in footwear, (although he does wonder whether he should help him or euthanize him) and actually gets lands him his first success-Kate (Marisa Tomei, What Women Want).



Amidst all the adults trying to find their bearings is Robbie (son, John Bobo, Choke, Disconnect) who wants nothing more than for his parents to get back together, drops not-so subtle hints to David with regard to how he feels about him dating Robbie’s Mom.
No matter whether you’re separated or divorced- PTAs are a family thing, boring, made interesting if one of the parents is sleeping with the teacher- in this case, Kate (from the  bar, to the bedroom, to the school) confesses to Emily that Cal and she have had an affair. Now that bit of news hits Emily hard, throwing her in David’s arms, in earnest.
Muddled marriages aren’t the only thing on offer- even our singles are part of ‘tangled web’. Jacob, despite his debonair ways had earlier faced rejection from Hannah (pretty law school graduate, Emma Stone, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) but now the lady has  herself been left high & dry- she channels all her energy and throws it into a passionate kiss –at the receiving end of which is Jacob, and despite sex on the cards- all they do is talk the night away.
The prospect of love seems to be cruising around celluloid and at some point is bandied about a bit much….that is the crazy, stupid part of the movie. We finally get to the bit when Cal does chose to be in sight of the man he is, and woo Emily, happily supported by Robbie, their son. But stranger things have been known to happen- the plot thickens, when Hannah, it turns out to be- is Cal and Emily’s firstborn! And the fact that she is dating Jacob, gets the ‘dad’ in Cal all riled up!
As Cal turns his ire into a punch- David arrives and now the 3 men have a punch out- joined in by the irate parent of a 17 year old babysitter, whose naked pics were in Cal’s drawer -and it takes the police to end things. A year later, as Robbie expresses doubts about love on the day of his graduation, Cal reaffirms his own contentment with having known Emily and the years of happiness they shared, despite the fragility of such divine moments in the light of life’s ups and downs. And even though he firmly believes that Jacob does not deserve Jessica, there are no hard feelings there- just a sense of admiration on the part of Jacob, for Cal being a great dad.
Movie is typically a ‘romcom’- a genre that’s existed for eternity, but has only now been tagged under a silly nomenclature. Despite the apparent simplicity of the plot, it has its moments of “huh, what?” Which perhaps explains the B+ ratings, like the LA Times put it beautifully (the movie)"…conjures up the bittersweet magic of first loves, lasting loves, lost loves and all the loves in between".

Film - The Rock - Starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris (released in 1996)

Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer are famous in the film making world, known for the action and fast paced movies that they make. This post is about a movie that they made a fairly long time back, a movie that is still popular on its re-runs, and which made a fairly large amount of money. Nowadays, movies can make upwards of a billion dollars, and Michael Bay has directed the Transformer series, the return of which exceed 2 billion dollars, but this was in 1996, and for a movie to make the $335 million that The Rock made was a big amount. The movie also won praise from critics, something that Bay's later movies have not got.
The movie had some interesting moments, with there being disputes regarding the credits for writing the movie, and even some tension between Michael Bay and the studio executives (Walt Disney Studio). And for an interesting moment, when there is a scene in the film where the character played by Sean Connery throws off the FBI Director from the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and he dangles from the edge of the hotel; the shooting led to calls to the hotel from concerned bystanders who could see a person hanging from the edge of the building. The movie shows a lot of the Alcatraz Island, located in San Francisco Bay area, close to the Golden Gate Bridge, almost like an advertisement for people to come and visit it.




The movie takes the line of a crisis situation, where the experts are not available, and suddenly, you have to depend on somebody else to help resolve the situation. In the movie, a group of rogue marines (Recon Marines) led by a disenchanted leader, Brigadier General Frank Hummel (Ed Harris), plan a situation where they will force the Government into a crisis situation. He is very disenchanted with the Government ignoring the marines and other soldiers who have done so much for the country, but have been ignored, and in their deaths, their families have been ignored. So, he plans to force the situation. He and his men capture a very dangerous weapon, multiple sets of VX gas–armed M55 rockets, force their way into Alcatraz Island, and capture the tourists visiting that place. They set up the rockets, and then threaten the Government that unless the Government pays them $100 million (which will be distributed to his men and to others who died in situations which the Government will not acknowledge). This sets up a crisis situation, pulling in the military and the FBI.
The first rush of any Government in such a situation is to send in forces to end this kind of situation, but there is some complexity. They need somebody who is an expert in such weapons, which pushes in Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage), who did not expect that he would need to go with them, but is informed that he will also be going in with the team. The bigger problem is about getting inside the island undetected, which has to be an underwater mission, utilizing the inner network of the island. There is only such person, a high security prisoner who once broke out of the Alcatraz jail, John Mason (Sean Connery). Mason is in prison for a long time, without any record of his detention, his main crime being that he learnt too many secrets that the Government will not want to disclose. But he is important for the mission, and hence he needs to be let out of the jail, showing an interesting chase sequence through the hilly roads of San Francisco, with Stanley chasing after Mason.
So they finally enter the former prison, and Mason is able to guide them inside. However, there are preventive measures that the FBI and military did not know about, and the skilled squad is detected and forced into a fire-fight, where they are all killed at the hands of the rogue soldiers. Who is left ? Mason and Stanley. Mason has not interest in all this, and wants to leave, with Stanley urging him to stay on and help to complete the mission. There is an alternative mechanism also being put in place, by bombing the entire island with special explosives that will destroy the chemical weapon but also kill all the tourists who have been detailed on the island. It's a fast paced movie, and well worth watching.

Film - Raising Arizona - Starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter (released in 1987)

Sometimes you have movies that do not do great when they are released, but then attain the status of a cult classic over a period of time, and this ends up benefiting the DVD sales of the movie. The movie was made on a low budget of $6 million and earned $22 million, so one really cannot claim that it was a big hit at the time of release. However, it now finds mention in the list of top 100 comedy films, especially with the background that is a Coen brother film (some of their other films include Fargo, No country for old men, The Big Lebowski, etc). The brothers had made their previous film Blood Simple as a crime film, and wanted to make a different kind of film, one that was more optimistic and full of life. The movie stars Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, Frances McDormand, and Randall 'Tex' Cobb.
Raising Arizona was shot in a short period of time, taking a total of 13 weeks to shoot. On release, the critical review was mixed with many reviewers liking the style of the movies, and others having the same reaction, complaining that the movie focused more on style than on substance. However, recent reviews have been more positive, and the movie has an enviable rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site. The scene depicting the bank robbery has come in for a lot of praise.




The movie takes the life of Herbert I. "Hi" McDunnough (played by Nicolas Cage) and policewoman Edwina "Ed" (played by Holly Hunter). Their meeting is very interesting, since Hi is a criminal who Ed met when he was in jail, and they continue meeting when Hi is in jail. When he gets out of jail, they decide that they want to live together and get married, and start living in a mobile home in the desert. Next, they want to have a baby, and that is where the problem starts. They discover that Ed is infertile, and they will not be able to adopt a child because of the past criminal record of Hi. So what to do ? They hear of the 5 sons of the local rich man, the furniture king Nathan Arizona and decide to kidnap one of these sons, this boy being Nathan Junior.
However, life is never so simple. They get a visit from his former prison buddies, Evelle and Gale; with their presence, there is a lot of temptation for Hi to back to doing the stuff he used to do earlier, even though he is now married. And then, his supervisor Glen (played by Sam McMurray) proposes a wife swapping, leading to Hi assaulting him. And then, in a comic caper, Hi decides to steal some diapers for the baby, and is seen by Ed, and pursued by the police and by the cashiers of the store he was stealing from. Ed does rescue him, but there is tension between them now. Things get even worse the next day. His supervisor has learned the identity of the child and wants it, and Evelle and Gale hear this and also turn on Hi, binding him and taking junior. They decide to rob a bank, and the fun starts; Ed and Hi decide to get the baby back, and so does Nathan Arizona as well as a bounty hunter who had offered to get the child back.
What happens next ? Well, you need to see the movie and enjoy for yourself.

Film - Moonstruck - A hit romantic comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Cher (released in 1987)

Moonstruck was a romantic comedy released in 1987, and was very well received by critics and by the audience, becoming a bit hit. This was in the 1980's, when movies really did not make above $100 million that they so easily make nowadays (heck, movies nowadays cost more than that to make, with production and marketing costs making them significantly more expensive), so at that time, for Moonstruck to make a total of around $80 million on a budget of $15 million was great. In addition, the movie wowed critics and earned a number of Oscar nominations:

Won:

Best Actress - Cher

Best Supporting Actress - Olympia Dukakis

Original Screenplay - John Patrick Shanley

Nominated but did not win:

Best Picture

Best Supporting Actor - Vincent Gardenia

Best Director - Norman Jewison

The movie also did pretty well in being recognized as being among the top 100 comedies and some of the top 10 romantic comedies.

The movies starred Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Danny Aiello, and Olympia Dukakis, with Cher and Nicolas Cage in the lead roles.

The movie is about this lady and her relationship with her would-be brother-in-law and how it turns into a romantic relationship between them, and the problems it causes emotionally for them. Loretta Castorini (played by Cher) is an Italian widow whose husband had died after being hit by a bus. She believes, somewhat strangely, that he died because they did not have a proper marriage, in church, with flowers and the whole arrangement. And why did they not have a proper marriage, well it was because her father Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) did not approve of the marriage and hence they had to get married at City Hall rather than at church. This time, she is determined that she will get married properly, and insists that her fiancee, Johnny Cammareri (played by Danny Aiello) propose to her with a ring and on his knees. However, he has to leave soon for Sicily since his mother is dying and he has to be there for her. However, he wants Loretta to invite his estranged brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage), younger to Johnny, to come to the wedding.
The next morning, Loretta talks to Johnny but when she finds out that he has not told her about the wedding, urges Johnny to tell her about the wedding before she is dead. In turn, Johnny asks her whether she has spoken to Ronny, which was also not done. So, Loretta visits Ronny at his bakery and learns why they do not speak to each other. It turned out that some time earlier, Ronny was engaged and once when Johnny had visited him, Ronny hand got cut in the slicer and his fiancee left him as a result. Ronny blames Johnny for that accident. She tries to console him since he has got emotional, and they go to his apartment where she cooks for him and they drink, and you know it, they have sex. At night, there is a bright moon - hence Moonstruck. In the morning, Loretta feels the guilt and does not want to meet Ronny again, but he persuades her to come to the opera with him in the evening. Does she go ? What happens to their relationship and her engagement ? Watch this delightful movie and find out.

Film - Enemy at the Gates - clash between 2 snipers in WWII (released in 2001)

The Second World War was a huge war, a war of biblical proportions, which caused the death of millions. The devastation caused was not only a military war, but the battle for cities and population centers caused untold grief to large cities and their populations. Of the cities impacted, outside of Germany whose cities were devastated in the battle to defeat the Nazis, one of the most impacted cities was Stalingrad, the city which is seen by many as the place where the tide of the battle turned and the last point where the German army was able to establish some amount of control, with the Soviet Army using huge reinforcements (and losing people at a critical rate) to turn the Germans back. It is said that from Stalingrad, the Red Army made a march that finally ended up in Berlin.
The story is set in this battle, showcasing the story of a famous sniper. The movie is based on a book, Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, written in 1973 by the author William Craig. One of the most famous soldiers from this battle is Vasily Zaytsev (Wikipedia link) (Vassili Zaitsev - His book), a solider who became a sniper and was responsible for the deaths of more than 400 German soldiers. He was a much decorated soldier who did most of his killing in a 2 week period in November-December 1942, a period in which the fighting was in the city, at eyeball level. The fight in the city cause destruction of large parts of the city. The movie showcases a fight between Vasily and a German sniper, a major with whom he had a running battle which has to result in the death of one of them.




The movies tells the story during the war of a Vassili Zaitsev (acted by Jude Law), a shepherd who like many others is now a soldier in the Red Army. With the quest to push back the Germans and prevent the Germans from crossing the line of Stalingrad, the defense of Stalingrad was a critical point. Army units were pushed into this battle, and Vassili was one of the fighters there, finding himself in the company of a political commissar Danilov (played splendidly by Joseph Fiennes). In one such push, Danilov sees impressive shooting by Vassili and works on the visiting Nikita Khrushchev to portray Vassili as a Soviet hero; the people need a hero and Vassili would be such a hero. He is transferred to the sniper school. And in a interesting touch, both Vassili and Danilov become interested in a female militia soldier, Tania (played by Rachel Weissz). This rivalry between them is going to strain their friendship.
The snipers play an important role in defeating the Germans (having an effective sniper is devastating to morale, since it means that a soldier is afraid of getting killed any instant), and the Germans bring in a senior sniper, major Erwin Koing (played to great effect by Ed Harris). He is also a very effective sniper and almost traps Vassili, killing 2 of his fellow snipers. Even a sniper sent to kill Erwin is killed, which makes Khrushchev impatient to get rid of Erwin.
A small boy, Sacha, becomes a helper to Konig, to get information about the whereabouts of the Major so that Vassili could trap him and kill him, but it is not easy. The Major is becoming suspicious of Sacha, and in the meantime the obvious relationship between Vassili and Tania is causing jealousy in Danilov. What happens next ?

Taken - A fast paced and successful action film set in France starring Liam Neeson - Released in 2008

There are many different types of action films, and some of them work well while others do not do as well. There is no set recipe for how a movie is to be made, or the level of action, but there are higher chances of a movie dealing well if the action is gripping, and to some extent believable. The concept of a super-hero is a different kind of movie and the same is true about a movie such as Terminator and Predator where the hero is almost like a super-hero. Taken was a movie released in 2008 that was a box office success and even inspired a sequel.
The movie was made on a budget of approx 25 million dollars and made almost 225 million dollars overall, including internationally. In that sense, the movie was a big success, but one cannot say the same about its reception from critics. The movie is fast, and as a result, you don't really need to see much of acting skills or even a lot of dialog. There is a lot of action, and it moves pretty fast, including quick scenes where one-by-one, the hero easily kills a number of opponents, only depending on luck right near the end. To some extent, the hero can catch up with quick moving cars, does not get affected by anybody attacking him, and it is to the credit of the director that the action sequences do not seem forced, no extravagant actions.

The movie primarily stars Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, showcasing what happens when a black operative (apparently skilled in a number of weapons usage, skilled in intelligence operations, and many other dangerous skills) and now retired and working in the security business becomes a concerned father. He is divorced with his daughter living with her mother. He knows the dangers out there, and to that extent comes out as paranoid. His daughter wants to travel to France along with her friend, and he is very concerned, enough that his daughter gets disgusted. He finally agrees with some conditions, but is doing so with a reluctant mind.
And you know that with the type of movie this is, his worst fears will come true. His daughter forgets to call him when she reaches Paris, and at the airport, they meet a young man and agree to share a cab with him. The young man scouts for young girls who can be kidnapped and sold into a trafficking circuit, moving them quickly into a horrific life after drugging them. The ring is run by Albanians. Kim, Bryan's daughter, sees men kidnapping her friend and realizes that she has a very small period of time before she will also be taken. She calls her father who tells her that she will be taken, but she needs him to give him clues by describing the men who are taking her. And so it happens, and he records what she is saying as well as the words of the men who are taking her, and has a very brief conversation with one of them before the phone is cut.
Bryan quickly reaches Paris by using the plane that Kim's stepfather has access to, and starts the process of trying to find more information. He is able to find an image of Peter and chases him, in the process of which Peter dies in an accident. Bryan is taking some reluctant help from his friend in the French intelligence agency, but this friend is very reluctant to help, just providing some initial clues. The rest of the movie is a rushed affair where Bryan finds out more and also keeps on doing killing.