“The No-no Gamous”

Fight and you'll never survive..... Run and you'll never escape.

At this point of time my social life sucks- 24 x 7. On World AIDS Day, I was given the red ribbon by my colleague, who believes that I need to exercise caution in my wanton ways. I noticed that he wasn’t wearing one, and upon enquiry informed that since he was monogamous he didn’t need one. I thought for about a nano-second, contemplated my current state of deprivation and said- “In that case I don’t need one either- I am No-no gamous.”

So much for things that aren’t going too well at the moment. Now for something that never fails to make me smile- any day, any time… Movies. I decided to sit and rate the movies on the IMDB top 250 list- of course only the ones I have seen. There are others too which do not appear on the IMDB list, but I am a bit lethargic. Not too many oldies appear- unless they’re really, really good, as I tend to feel out of context. Neither does sci-fi in a significant way- so the Star Wars series is absent. Then there are obvious biases- the LOTR trilogy is top of charts. Ditto for some mainland European films. The books I have liked often don’t translate into a strong rating for the celluloid version. And then these are not necessarily good films, but films I have liked, and remember in a certain way. And then there are associations that are based on purely personal experiences, which others would obviously not be privy to. According to me, anything above 7 is a can see. Anything above 8.5 is a must. So enjoy…

And this weekend, I intend to watch Decalogue, so all other plans have been suspended.

The Godfather – 9 For the style, storyline and a generation gone by- they don’t make movies like this any more.
The Shawshank Redemption – 9.5 The best inspirational movie ever, with the exception of…
The Godfather: Part II –8 Definitely the best sequel, again with the exception of…
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 9 Straight As to the entire series. Sheer bias
Schindler's List – 7 Always been curious about the Holocaust.
Casablanca – 7 A lifetime’s supply of catchy lines
Pulp Fiction – 9 The question isn’t how much, but how many times can one see this movie.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – 9.5 Few movies ever managed to improve upon the book.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – 9
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – 9
Citizen Kane – 7.5
Lawrence of Arabia – 7 Not a big fan of epics
The Silence of the Lambs – 7.5 Not necessarily the best in the trilogy
Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le – 9 Production quality, direction, concept- has it all
American Beauty – 7
The Matrix – 9 What if???
Fight Club – 8 Most amazing monologues
Apocalypse Now – 8
To Kill a Mockingbird – 8 The book’s better, but then it doesn’t have Gregory Peck
Taxi Driver – 7
Se7en – 7
Million Dollar Baby - 7
The Bridge on the River Kwai – 5 A bit impish for a movie of its repute.
Alien - 6
Raging Bull – 7
Reservoir Dogs – 8.5 Direction, direction…
Vita è bella, La - 9.5 My all time favourite film. No dearth of reasons to love it.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – 8.5 Bloody, shocking and fucking solid Tarantino
On the Waterfront – 7.5
L’ Apartment – 8.5 “I am not the woman who can hurt you”
Jaws - 6.5
Braveheart - 6
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - 7
Rebecca – 7.5
Forrest Gump – 8 Music, story, motivation
High Noon – 8.5 My first real time film
Nuovo cinema Paradiso – 9.5
Annie Hall – 7.5 “I always fell for the wrong women, that is my problem. Even as a kid, when my mother took me to watch Snowhite- everyone loved Snowhite, I immediately fell in love with the wicked queen.”
Terminator 2: Judgment Day – 7.5
Notorious - 7
The Sixth Sense - 7
Cool Hand Luke – 7.5
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - 8.5
It Happened One Night - 8
The Graduate - 6
Before Sunrise – 9 Every youngster's dream. One couple's destiny
Before Sunset – 9.5 The best sequel ever. Definitely.
Ben-Hur - 7
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 6
Lola rennt – 9 20 mins, 100k DM to save a few lives- Can she do it?
Gladiator - 8
Die Hard - 7
Gone with the Wind - 6.5
Gandhi – 8
Roman Holiday - 8.5
Trainspotting (1996) - 7
Sideways – 5.5 Over hyped- weak characterization
The Exorcist - 6
All the President's Men – 8 Amazing performances, shocking story
The Terminator – 6
Snatch- 7.5
Almost Famous – 8
Trois couleurs: Rouge – 9 Story, cinematography, concept- beautiful
Lost in Translation – 6.5
Rain Man - 6
Scarface - 7
Bonnie and Clyde – 7
The Motorcycle Diaries- 9 Get inspired!

Leonard Shelby: I don't even know how long she's been gone. It's like I've woken up in bed and she's not here... because she's gone to the bathroom or something. But somehow, I know she's never gonna come back to bed. If I could just... reach over and touch... her side of the bed, I would know that it was cold, but I can't. I know I can't have her back... but I don't want to wake up in the morning, thinking she's still here. I lie here not knowing... how long I've been alone. So how... how can I heal? How am I supposed to heal if I can't... feel time?

-Memento