-
The Intern (2015)
The Intern (2015) is based on a simple script and that makes the film enjoyable. Robert De Niro who has starred in many films including Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) is a happily retired widow by the name of Ben Whittaker. He is healthy and wealthy enough to lead a comfortable rest of his life, to spend the time he looks to do something useful; for unexplained reasons a startup commerce company led by Jules Ostin (Anna Hathaway) advertises for a senior citizens internship program. Ben lands the job and gets assigned to work as an assistant to the fashion eCommerce company’s CEO Jules. Initially, Jules discounts having an assistant but grows…
-
The Departed (2006)
Sixteen years after Good Fellas (1990) Martin Scorsese gave another gangster film – The Departed (2006). The film is the about two moles; the first being Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon) planted inside Massachusetts Police by Irish smuggler Frank (Jack Nicholson) and the second is Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) planted as a mole inside the smuggling gang by the Police intelligence chief. The rest of the story is what happens as each of them progresses in their career. Fine acting by Leonardo DiCaprio, as he progressively shows his emotional pressure of handling the constant threat to his life inside the gang. The story is based on a Hong Kong film…
-
Goodfellas (1990)
After seeing The wolf of Wall Street (2013) by Martin Scorsese I have been wanting to see his earlier gangster movies, today I watched Goodfellas (1990). Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta & Joe Pesci it’s a cookie cutter gangster film told with Scorsese’s magic sauce. I liked the screen play being narrated from the protagonist Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) point of view, the opening line where he says “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” has become a guiding mantra for all gangster story writers in the last few decades. As a young boy Henry Hill begins to look up to a local gang leader “Paulie”. After he grows he joins…
-
Hugo (2011)
I have been wanting to see this movie of “Martin Scorsese” – Hugo and managed to see this today with my son. We both enjoyed the movie thoroughly. The story happens in 1930s Paris, where an orphan who has recently lost his clock-repairer Dad lives hiding in a Train station clock tower.As the only memory of his late father, he is obsessed in getting to work a mechanical man (who he finds out later can draw on a paper). The boy’s journey crosses path with a renowned French movie director who is now in self-exile. For all the expectation build-up of the mystery, the climax turns out to be pretty…
-
The wolf of Wall Street (2013)
A much-anticipated movie was The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo Dicaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese and I saw the movie today at Inox (Citi Centre, Chennai). The movie is based on a real-life biography of Jordan Belfort (nymag article) a stock market broker who was convicted of fraud in 1998. After the three-hour-long movie, the heavy drug abuse and explicit scenes showed leave you feeling nauseated, which is proof of Martin Scorsese’s storytelling ability. The motivational speeches given by Jordan Belfort to his sales team (cold calling) were eccentric but powerful, clearly showing what was needed for the job on hand. Leonardo Dicaprio has delivered yet another outstanding…
-
Shutter Island (2010)
Saw this movie “Shutter Island” a psychological thriller film today. Both “Leonardo DiCaprio” as Teddy Daniels a U.S. Marshal and Ben Kingsley as Dr. John Cawley a head psychiatrist were brilliant in their performance. The movie happens in 1954 with scars of World War II still fresh in everyone’s memory. The story is about disappearance of an in-patient in a facility on Shutter Island located in Boston harbor for the criminally insane. U.S.Marshal “Teddy” comes to investigate the issue, over the course he uncovers lot of mysteries about the place and faces a conspiracy to have him declared “insane” – his frequent migraine attacks, memories of loss of his wife in…
