1. Citizen Kane (1941)
194…What! Okay let me refresh your historic memory (if you
have one); this was produced during the Second World War by Orson Welles. It is
one of the best movies of all time. It is a rivetingly interesting movie about
Charles Foster Kane (citizen Kane) upon his death after uttering one word
“Rosebud”. A reporter is tasked to find out what/who/where the word stands for
and its meaning and connection to the departed wealthy Publisher. He interviews
some of his friends, wife and business associates to make sense of the word.
It is comical, musical and intriguing, so much for the
first-time director and producer Orson Welles in the midst of WWII. You may not
find it with the movie vendor (I streamed it online from 123movies.to).
2. Citade de Deus (City
of God) 2002
It nostalgically begins with a chicken racing through the
slum area of City of God, one of the largest in Rio de Janeiro chased by a gang
carrying machetes. The fast moving every day hassle in the gang-infested favela
(slum) that is impenetrable to law enforcers, thriving drug trade, the
functionality of gangs in maintaining peace, the small invaluable joys, sibling
feuds, young love, trounced dreams and rise and fall and the rise of gangster. Although
you will have to follow the subtitles, it is action packed, unpredictable and
leaves you ecstatically breathing in the end. There is a lot to take in the
ending.
It is set in Brazil where Portuguese is the lingua-franca.
3. Ground Hog day (1993)
What would you do if you had unlimited time? Phil Connors a
meteorologist openly expresses contempt of covering the Groundhog Day, an
assignment he has been doing for the past four years. He goes through the
motions of the day with a news producer and cameraman only to wake up to the
same day next morning. When he realizes, he is depressed that he is stuck in his
least favorite day and no one believes he is reliving one day. He has to learn the valuable lesson
of making the most of one day; to touch lives, appreciate others, find love and
become selfless.
You will laugh.
4. The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button (2005)
This movie that portrays the intriguing life of Benjamin
Button, the son of a button-maker born in 1918 with an inexplicable malady, who
is abandoned by his father outside a nursing home when his mother died giving
birth. He is taken in by a nurse who adopts him as he start growing among the
old folks in the home. He bears the appearance of an elderly man and queerly
fits in with the old people who treat him so. He makes friends with a Daisy, a
young girl, who had accompanied her grandmother. His adventure begins when he
moves out the nursing homes, travels the world, discovers his roots, and finds
love (as always…).
The upside-downess of life.
