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Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, a review by dfmorgan

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Year: 2001
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne

OverviewWatched: 11th. Aug 2010
My Thoughts: An enjoyable film. I thought that maybe I had seen it before but was pleased to find that I hadn't. An over-bearing boorish English army officer, Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne), takes pleasure in belittleing the locals. The local villages are in the middle of a long drought and Captain Russell decides to double the taxes (Lagaan). When challenged by the local villagers, led by Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), he decides to play them in a game of cricket with an important condition, the penalty being triple taxes if the Army win and no taxes for 3 years if the locals win. There is also a sort of love triangle for Bhuvan between Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), the sister of the Captain, and Gauri (Gracy Singh) a local village girl.

My Rating: A very enjoyable 4

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on August 11th, 2010)

Gone with the Wind, a review by goodguy

Gone with the Wind (1939) Written by: Sidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell Directed by: Victor Fleming Starring: Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland DVD: R1-US Warner (2004) My rating:

Cover Blurb: David O. Selznick's production of Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winner 'Gone with the Wind' is "the pinnacle of Hollywood moviemaking," Leonard Maltin of 'Entertainment Tonight' said. And in Maltin's view, "it looks better than it has in years." This sweeping Civil War-era romance won an impressive 10 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), and its immortal characters Scarlett (Vivien Leigh), Rhett (Clark Gable), Ashley (Leslie Howard), Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) and Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) populate an epic story of enduring appeal across generations. Judged by many to be the greatest movie of all time, 'Gone with the Wind' now comes home in its best video edition ever!

For the most part, this is an obnoxious sentimental melodrama, which heaps misery upon misery upon its heroine in almost comic (albeit probably inadvertently) proportions. But it has its moments, especially in the early parts, as I found confirmed upon rewatching. Yes, I seem to like insufferable characters, but, really, isn't Scarlett the only sane one among all those fools happily talking about war? At least she has a certain spark and seems alive. Now that Melanie on the other hand...

As far as the cinematography goes, the silhouette shots against the horizon (or that burning warehouse) still hold up, but otherwise it isn't too remarkable, although often pretty to look at. Certainly not the "greatest movie of all time" and I hope Maltin's "pinnacle" quote is taken out of context.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on July 7th, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
Gossip Girl belongs to a group of students who live in Manhattan's upper east side and they are rich - really rich. The "outsiders" of this group are Dan and Jenny Humphrey who live in Brooklyn but go to the same private school as the others. It's a show about love, life and intrigues and the one person who blogs about all this: Gossip Girl. Nobody knows who she is, but she and her network of "informants" know everything.

"Pilot"
The new school year has begun and Dan is now a junior. And one event will change his life and that of the others forever: Serena van der Woodsen is back from her year on boarding school and she will go to their school again. S is D's big love but she doesn't even know he exists and S and Queen B have some unfinished business.

My Opinion
The show is very intriguing with all these characters that have their own agendas, with their love and revenge plottings and in the middle of it Dan who so doesn't really fit into this world yet is bound to become the ultimate insider. And I love Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) as the voice of Gossip Girl. I never watched shows like Beverly Hills, 90210 or The O.C. but this show I really like, I even bought (and read) the book by Cecily von Ziegesar on which the show is based on:



(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 1st, 2009)