Movies in Aug 2011

Movies in Aug were seen in an interesting fashion. Because now i have a tv, the chance of watching good movies serendipitously has gone up. Here is the list

Harry potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2. The final installment was seen at IMAX San Jose and it was a very interesting experiment to see that movie at IMAX. The circular dome screen creates a special effect all in itself. Regarding the movie - There is a 30 min sequence when they try to protect Hogwarts, that is very well done. Every HP movie is better than previous and it is HP, it has to be watched.

The Whistleblower -
Whistleblower was the camera cinema club movie of Aug. It is based on a true story about a woman who tried to expose the sex trade happening under the hood of a UN peace keeping mission. Rachel Weisz plays that part and she delivers a great performance. Its the director's debut. Kudos to her for making this movie.

My Beautiful Laundrette -
This was one of my tv discoveries. On a Sunday morning, i was working on my laptop and as usual the TV was on. After some random channel surfing, i hop on a channel and i see Saeed Jafrey. Since i do not have an Indian channel subscription, i am curios. After reading the description which says that this movie has Daniel Day Lewis and is made by Stephen Frears. That's it, i have to watch it now. And boy! what a movie. Daniel Day Lewis is very young yet his performance is very strong. The story is about racial tension in UK with gay and other subjects explored. Highly recommended if you like DDL or Stephen Frears.

Koran By Heart
An HBO documentary about a competition on who knows Kuran the best and who can recite it with correct pronunciation. Made it in the style of spelling Bee, it follows the life of 3-4 contestants, how they prepare, what they want to do and interviews with their parents. What makes it special (and different than Spelling Bee) is the Koran or the religious aspect. What is the take of organizers of this competition on growing religious fundamentalism, why a father wants his daughter to learn Koran and what all he is willing to do to secure a good education for her. There are many interesting insights into this documentary.