A few reasons to love Cinema

The list is long so we don’t want a long preface as well, but we have to explain the criteria by which these movies were chosen. Well, there aren’t any. At least no solid ones. But these are the movies that inspired Aviyal to write movie reviews. These movies made us love Cinema. So if you like Aviyal’s movie reviews, you should check this out. Click on the title to go to the OTT platform to watch each movie. (There might be a part 2 for this list so calm tf down).

Vadachennai:

Stephen King says ‘Great stories are not about events, they are about people’. The events in Vadachennai are comparable to any other gangster movie but what makes it stand out so much is the beautifully written and acted characters. So many characters, each one so real. The non linear storytelling and plotline only adds to the effect. 

Batman: Under the Red-hood:

A key concept of any good story is conflict. Many stories portray external conflict - the hero wants to do something but something external stops him, like a hero wanting to save his family but an army of zombies try to stop him. Great stories portray internal conflict. Batman: Under the Red Hood possibly has the greatest conflict ever written. A man who does not believe in revenge finds that his son is murdered. The son, who somehow survived the murder attempt, who believes that his father will do anything for him, comes back to find that his father has let his murderer walk away. There is a deep, emotional conflict here, not between enemies but between two characters who love each other dearly. 

Shawshank Redemption:

I still remember the first time I watched this movie, in its intentional black and white, with tamil dub on a local TV channel around 15 years back. I did not understand a lot of subtleties, but then I came back to it years later, and yes, it was Redemption indeed. The prisoners who hope to be free someday, the ones who have accepted that they will live out their lives here, and the ones who cannot bear the thought of being free. This movie is an undeniable proof that a simple plot is all you need. A prison break need not be an action movie

Thalapathy:

Another story with a solid internal conflict - a man is forced to choose who should get his loyalty: his best friend who has given him everything he now has, or his long lost brother, the family he has always craved for. The film does take the easy way out here but still, it is wonderful to watch. The music in this movie is beyond phenomenal.

The Lion King:

It’s weird how a cartoon movie with talking animals from the early 90’s can tell the same story much much better than one of the biggest budget movies that came out of the Indian film industry. This story is a classic example of a hero’s journey, done very well, and shines as one of the best Disney creations of all time, with some incredibly memorable scenes. 

Pudhupettai:

The rite of passage to Tamil gangster films, Pudhupettai is a one in a generation phenomena. I would call it the opposite of a hero’s journey, where the main character goes through a lot, gains so much experience, yet absolutely cannot change for the better, no matter how hard he tries and comes back home worse than he left. It’s one of those grounded yet shocking movies that totally disregards even the possibility of a happy ending. It’s a movie that will leave you questioning so much.

The Princess Bride:

Trained veteran actors, complicated plotlines that will keep the audience on edge, high-stakes action scenes, subtle intellectual jokes, uncanny CG - throw all of that garbage out because we have a stupidly unbelievable fairy tale that’s made into an even more stupidly unbelievable movie and it's just beautiful. The Princess Bride changed my perspective of what makes a good movie. It can be all of the things mentioned above, sure - but it can also just be about the audience leaving with a smile on their face.

It’s a Wonderful Life:

That’s all there is to say about it. You will come out of the movie thinking ‘Damn, it really is a wonderful life’. When a good man wishes he were never born, an angel comes to him and shows him how the world would have been if he really hadn’t been born. Sounds cringe, but man, makes you so damn grateful for this tiny little life you have.

Antha Naal:

This movie slapped me in my face when I thought old Tamil cinema is outdated. The oldest Tamil or even Indian movie to adopt the ‘Rashomon effect’ and execute it to near perfection, Antha Naal was way ahead of its time in the early 50s. Virumandi did it half a century later and was widely celebrated whereas Antha Naal went unnoticed. Various suspects in a crime narrate the story of how they think the crime was committed, and every narration ends with Shivaji being shot and falling dead. The same shot, six times throughout the movie and it’s different each time. This movie is technically a treat and one of the greats of B&W Tamil cinema.

The Godfather:

What I consider as one of the luckiest experiences in my life was being able to watch The Godfather in theatres in 2022, when it was re-released for its 50th anniversary. What can I say about this movie? Some of the finest acting ever seen on film. Haunting music. There is a lot of story-telling through sheer silence, that almost no one other than Al Pacino could have pulled off. Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone will forever remain as the face of Hollywood. This movie defines ‘iconic’.

Seven Samurai:

Mysskin was not kidding. If you can see past the B&W and the 3 hour runtime (we do sit through very questionable movies longer than this), we are in for a deeply thought provoking peep into society. It discusses, or rather questions a deep-rooted phenomenon of civilised society - the base violence necessary for change, the paradoxical violence that is almost necessary for peace. A subject also discussed in other great works like the movie ‘Karnan’ and the Netflix series ‘Arcane’.

Grave of the Fireflies:

To be honest, you might wanna skip this one if you don’t want to sit in a corner and cry for three days. I wasn't myself after watching this movie. The story follows two Japanese children during WW2, whose father died fighting and whose mother died of radiation from the bomb. The worst part is that the little girl never understands what is going on, where her parents are, why her brother is always scared, and why the fireflies are all dead. 

Anbe Sivam:

An atheist communist comes to terms with his new reality and learns to see god in people. This movie will make you laugh and cry and then break the delusion that you are a good man. It will ground you and humble you, with an almost religious reverence towards life and other people.

Rear Window:

A technical masterpiece from the iconic Hitchcock, this is yet another movie to prove you just need a couple of characters, literally just one room and two camera angles to make a brilliantly thrilling movie. Rear window follows a journalist on medical leave, confined to his apartment, who accidentally witnesses a murder in the opposite building through his window. A blood-boiling thriller where the main character never leaves his chair.

Kungfu Hustle:

Parodies do not get much better than Kungfu hustle. This slap-stick comedy roasts the ‘Bruce-Lee era martial arts Chinese movies dubbed into broken English’ genre like never before, and also has some genuinely impressive scenes and emotions as well. My advice? Watch it in Tamil dub. This whole movie is about making fun of dubbed movies, so it works like a charm. (The Tamil version is called ‘Mirattal Adi’, so plus 100 points for that).

There can be no greater honour to us than if you spend 2 hours to watch one movie from this long list, and get back to us with what you think. That is a greater compliment than any we could receive.

Thank you.

 Which movies made you love cinema? Let us know in the comments.

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