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

Title: Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Year: 2001
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 214 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German

Stars:
Shri Amitabh Bachchan
Aamir Khan
Gracy Singh
Rachel Shelley
Paul Blackthorne

Plot:Awards:

Academy Award	2001	Nominated	Best Foreign Language Film
European Film Awards	2001	Nominated	Screen International European Film Award (non-European)
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Actor Award	Aamir Khan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Director Award	Ashutosh Gowariker
Filmfare Awards	2001	Won	Best Female Playback Award	Alka Yagnik
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Lyricist Award	Javed Akhtar
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Male Playback Award	Udit Narayan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Music Director Award	A. R. Rahman
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Story Award	Ashutosh Gowarikar
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Actor	Aamir Khan
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Director	Ashutosh Gowarikar
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Female Playback	Asha Bhosle
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Movie
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Music Director	A. R. Rahman
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Story	Ashutosh Gowariker

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Music Videos
Poster
Scene Access
Trailers

Overall I enjoyed this movie. As I have previously stated I like movies about an underdog sports team of misfits trying to beat an established opponent. Though I have to say that it was better done in "Chak De! India". I think the main problem for me is the sport they are playing here: Cricket. I find it boring. I have this problem also with Baseball. In my review for "Chak De! India" I have written, that I was on the edge of my seat for the most part of the hockey matches. But here this hardly was the case.

The love triangle they were building up in the first half of the movie was promising, but as soon as at was really beginning, it was already resolved. It was rather abrupt. For this I recommend to watch the deleted scenes (on my release they were 30 minutes of deleted scenes, which seemed to be cut for time, not for quality).
Finally I have to say, that I very much enjoyed the songs. Nothing really memorable, but well executed and fun to watch.

Rating:

(From Tom's Alphabet Marathon Reviews on July 24th, 2010)

Le salaire de la peur , a review by Achim

Le salaire de la peur (The Criterion Collection) (1953/France) Janus Films, The Criterion Collection (United States) Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot Writing: Length: 148 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: French: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles: English

---

Stars:
Yves Montand as Mario
Charles Vanel as M. Jo
Peter van Eyck as Bimba
Folco Lulli as Luigi

Plot:
IN A SQUALID SOUTH AMERICAN OIL TOWN, four desperate men sign on for a suicide mission to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin over a treacherous mountain route. As they ferry their explosive cargo to a faraway oil fire, each bump and jolt tests their courage, their friendship, and their nerves. The result is one of the greatest thrillers ever committed to celluloid, a white-knuckle ride from France's legendary master of suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Featurettes
• Production Notes

The highly intense main section of the film is really great. The actors do great work to portray their respective roles. Despite the lack of music strong tension is achieved repeatedly and the simple threat of the nitro exploding from even a small vibration kept me on the edge of the seat for most of the time.

I really wanted to like this film more than I did. However, the two main character were rather unlikable to me which really put a bump in the road for me (pardon the pun). The second pair of characters (Luigi and Bimba) is what kept me engaged. On top of this I found the opening part of the film, which already made sure that I don't like the two main characters all that much, much too long (1 hour) and should have been trimmed by at least 30min (maybe I am just missing the point). And finally at the end...


(From Achim's entirely random reviews on July 7th, 2011)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

20. War Zone (2000-05-09)
Writer: Garry Campbell (Writer)
Director: David Straiton
Cast: David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce), Michele Kelly (Alonna), Maurice Compte (Chain), Mick Murray (Knox), Joe Basile (Lenny Edwards), David Herman (David Nabbit), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Sean Parhrm (Bobby), Sven Holmberg (Ty), Rebecca Klingler (Madame Dorion), Kimberly James (Lina), Ricky Luna (James)

An episode I never really enjoyed that much. I always thought that Gunn is a boring character. And I don't know why they had to bring a character "from the street" into the mix.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on July 19th, 2009)