Vicky Christina Barcelona might not be the most genius work as several critics are making it out to be, but it is in my opinion, is Woody Allen’s best and sexiest film in at least a decade. Watching this film made me crave more of Allen’s creations and helped to forget the not so brilliant Cassandra’s Dream which he made just a year earlier.

Sergei Bodrov created a fascinating visual experience"Mongol" about the young boy.  The movie is a mesmerizing account of a boy Temüjin, born in 1162 and eventually becoming a fearless leader and legendary conqueror, Genghis Khan.  This stunning historical epic transports us back to an exotic and distant period in world history; to the endless land and magnificent landscapes, climate extremes and constant struggle for survival. Young Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu captures magnificently the hunted boy whose love and relationship with his eventually wife, Borte (portrayed beautifully by Khulan Chuluun)   created the ultimate foundation of his future achievements and greatness.  Mongol takes us to one of the harshest and unmatched in beauty terrains in the world and keeps the audience in awe the entire length of the film. Mongol is a true cinematographic achievement in collaboration between director Sergei Bodrov and cinematographers Sergey Trofimov and Rogier Stoffers.

Finer Points: The film was an international co-production between companies in Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia. Mongol is a part first on trilogy about Genghis Khan. Second film, said to be called “The Great Khan” is schedule to be released in 2010.

Casablanca is a 1942 film which according to LA Times achieved a "near-perfect entertainment balance" of comedy, romance, and suspense. Set during World War II, Casablanca is about one man’s choice between love and morality. He must choose between his love for a woman and helping her and her Czech underground leader husband escape from Morocco to continue his work against the Nazis.

Directed by Jason Kohn, “Send a Bullet” is a documentary about one of the most corrupt, violent and yet beautiful country’s of the world: Brazil. The film is split into several stories: about a businessman who spends a fortune bulletproofing his cars, plastic surgeon who reconstructs the ears of kidnapping victims, and finally about a frog farm which is used as means of laundering money of a prominent politician. One of the points from the film will always stay with me: San Paolo has 20 million inhabitants and has only 80 people anti-kidnapping unit. Considering that in San Paolo one person is kidnapped every 2 days, the numbers speak for itself. Jason Kohn’s attempt at brining these issues to light is great even if he might fail to fully address and explore them.  He does demonstrate a weakness for scenes with excessive shock value such as showing video of a kidnapping victim’s ear being cutoff. pictures via [bloggernews]

Finer Points: “Manda Bala" won the grand jury prize for documentary at 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Written and Directed by Eugene Jarecki, Why We Fight is a documentary about U.S. military-industrial complex and its involvement in wars of past 50 years including 2003 invasion of Iraq.  Thru interviews with politicians, former CIA analysts, reporters and writers, the film examines United States foreign policy and by allowing the facts to speak for themselves, shows the audience how American public was lied to over and over again in past 50 years.  Why We Fight asks to consider Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential farewell speech, especially the substantial piece of it about “"military-industrial complex," beginning a new phrase. Eisenhower’ farewell address reads more like a warning considering events which happened since 1961. What makes this documentary unique from other films on the same topic such as Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 911”, is that this particular movie is truly bipartisan. Why We Fight successfully illustrates how all Republicans and Democrats alike, are influenced by the Industrial-Military Complex. The finest film on the subject we have seen. pictures via [allmoviephoto]

Finer Points: Why We fight won Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2005.

Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) in my opinion is the best animated feature ever made. It’s the most perfect one anyway. For the entire 125 minutes the film is able to keep audience’s full attention and captivate us with fantastic characters and imagery.  The plot is incredible as well. Chihiro and her family take a wrong turn in their car and go through a tunnel which leads to a mysterious town filled with restaurants full of delicious food and no people around. However, as the day comes to end and sun sets, the peculiar place fills up with the gods of Japanese mythology and Chihiro’s parents turn into pigs.  As she tries to rescue them we get to see the world of Spirited Away: unique, vivid and full of lovable creatures going about their daily life. In some ways, the film reminded me of Alice in Wonderland with all its magical and sometimes quirky characters. One cannot help but be completely captivated watching this enchanting film. pictures via [film galery]

Listed by American Film Institute in 2000 as the best American comedy of all times, Billy Wilder’s “Some Like it Hot” is classic film about two musicians, played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who must join an all-female band led by Marilyn Monroe to hide from the mob after witnessing a massacre.  The 1959 comedy is full of adult content but the story is told in such a brilliant way that for the first half of the movie the viewer believes that it’s actually about greed and crime. As a director, Billy Wilder genius able him to make great drama, thrillers and comedy and to leave his mark of cynicism in each film.  “Some Like it Hot” is a flawlessly scripted witty comedy which also delivers erotically explosive and marvelous at the same time Monroe performance. pictures via [cinemacity]

Finer Points:  Jack Lemmon also appeared in several other Billy Wilder films, including 1960 Oscar winning “The Apartment”.

The dreamlike journey that is “Russian Ark” transpires in Winter Palace (today Hermitage Museum), home to generations of Romanovs’, in St. Petersburg. A 19^th century French aristocrat guides the audience through Winter Palace full of greatest masterpieces and Russian history and culture. For those who are not familiar with Russian History the film can still take one’s breath away and can be watched as a most elegant museum tour in a sort of cinematic ballet form. The uninterrupted flow of the film is the creation of director’s Aleksandr Sokurov genius and the longest singe sequence shot lasting entire 96 minute of the movie.  The movie is truly undeserving of some criticism which has been directed towards it because of the film’s unconventional plot. The work is not for those of short attention span because of the dreamlike quality but for the rest of us, it proves to be a landmark in achievement and a delight to watch. Russian Ark is a glimpse into the Russian Soul. pictures via [moviemail]

Finer Points:  Through one long 96 minute shot, Sokurov takes the audience through art works from 33 rooms of the Winter Palace with a cast of 2000 actors and extras.

Driving in French Connection from ucnv on Vimeo.

William Friedkin’s film “French Connection” was nominated for 8 Oscars and took home 5 but the film is still best known for its famous and arguable best car chase sequence ever filmed.  The plot of the movie is essentially a true story about two tough New York cops braking up a drug smuggling operation which resulted in seizure of over $30 million dollars of heroin.  Detectives Jimmy Doyle and Buddy Russo are played brilliantly by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider.

Today, in 2009 “Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” is regarded as the best politically charged black comedy of all times.  However, back in the mid 1960’s, at the height of nuclear war paranoia this film was viewed by some as shattering sick joke rather that a cinematographic masterpiece.   Stanley Kubrick’s brilliance in making the film is how timely it truly was. Dr. Strangelove came in midst of Cold War, Bay of Pigs fiasco, and Kenney’s assassination.  The film is a speculation about what might just happen if a US Air Force general would suddenly order a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.  Peter Seller brilliantly plays 3 distinctly original characters, the U.S. President, a British Officer, and Dr. Strangelove himself. Arriving at the climax of the film and realizing the sheer genius of Peter Seller’s performance we finally comprehend the magnitude of this masterpiece and the absurdity of war at the same time.

Finer Points:  Device called “CRM-114 discriminator” was used by character Major ‘King’ Kong in the film.”CRM-114” is a Kubrick trademark that appeared in 1971 “A Clockwork Orange” as a “serum-114” which was injected into main character Alex. “CRM-114” is also a serial number on one of the pods in 1969 “2001: A Space Odyssey”. pictures via [blueherald]