Creative Movies of all Times

[shailendra]

hey, by the way thanks for sharing your knowledge here....atleast i know the differentiation between real frame by frame animation and the computer graphics one.......am always for human talent than computer concoctions....

Oh of course Priti, no problem....I finally got to brush off my knowledge somewhere! Heh!
But on a more serious note, it does always help anyways when you can bump off these ideas etc. with people....

Like I had said, the romantic in me is sad to see that style of animation dying a slow death (a style that gave us so many childhood classics)...but at the same time I recognize the fact that it is a Dinasour getting extinct, cause just like those creatures there is no more space for that old style of frame by frame animation here anymore! The world has moved on; computers are here and taken everyone by the imagination-scruff-of-the-neck and killed this traditional style (which by the way, supported so many small line of animators....You see, the main guy/animator always did the first and last frame and then there would be these bunch of subordinate animators that would do all the 100's of frames in between; now the computer has all of them dead in the water! Ah well!)...

Now unfortunately that style is relegated to small time documentaries only (short animation movies)...so if you watch closely in the next Oscars that category has some very fine short animation films....all mostly done the traditional way.

 

[shailendra]

Finding Nemo!

who made finding nemo...was it 2-D or 3-D? its probably my second best animation film after lion king....

Dora was hilarious dumb in it.....

LOL! Priti, sure hope didn't make anyone feel guilty for liking a good movie cause it just might be a CG(computer Graphics) animation Movie!!!
Yes, 'Finding Nemo', is CG animation alright (by Pixar)...but you are so right, what a movie!!!, everything else notwithstanding!!!..... Don't get me wrong, computer's might make life easier and overtake the creativity of the hand, but computers definitely don't do stuff all by themselves afterall and in fact one needs to be an awesomely trained animator to able to capture those expressions, ambiance (underwater scenes in this case), realistic movements etc. all by working with complex softwares with complex commands and sometimes even having to create, morph a single scene from more than one software (Multimedia Flash, 3-D studiomax, Mira, CAD etc etc)....

Dora's character was indeed the best punch of the 'Finding Nemo movie...[and My personal favorite scene continues to remain the one with the sea-gulls (stuck in the canvas sail),going,"Mine...Mine, Mine!"....(I remember when the movie first came out; me and some friends who would always horse around the office, and when someone picked up a stapler or something from a desk, immediately start harping in the same squeaky falsetto voice,"Mine...Mine, Mine...!" It sounds corny here, but would make everyone burst out into loud laughs right away)...]

 

[shailendra]

Lion King

I loved Lion King...saw it twice at one go.......and cried both times when simba's dad dies protecting him .......and loved the soundtrack too....

Sorry, but this all is such a personal fav topic, I could be but a lil' kid right now... and I definitely don't mean to hijack this thread of yours Priti (and to think it was you who was worried about hijacking/sidetracking it! LOL... ) But JUST gotta add my two cents about all these great movies:

'Lion king's' best character portrayal continues to be the one that shares the least amount of screen space and goes easily missed by most: Rafiki! (the Holyman/Fakir Baboon).....Do you remember the awesome eccentric style and his classic retort [when asked by the now grown up Simba as to who is he?] saying,"Nou, question is; WhoO R Uuu???...wow! very-very smooth for a monkey, dude!
Also, I couldn't help but notice that hilarious bruce lee styled crack (aiyeeeyaa!) of his towards the end in the fight with the Hyenas!

 

[shailendra]

Another lil' looping animation...

...Since now I am strutting completely like a peacock, then what the hell...Heh! Heh!!! ... Here is another little animation for you guys...

This (color sketch this time) animation that keeps looping together was created by me to reflect subtly but in a powerful way what bad planning does and how some of those very mistakes can be corrected by future good design. A trend that somewhat slow but seems to be happening all over US now...

Description about the Animation: The idea was to show that big box retail and sprawling strip-shopping complexes (these Wal-marts, Targets, Shopping Malls etc) eat up so much valuable land with their windowless box like sprawling appearance and add absolutely nothing to the character of the place with their huge sea of parking in front (very car oriented and not at all pedestrian friendly) look and blank facades....
and then thru the animation try and show how these big box of ugly buildings can be slowly and incrementally replaced by better designed and Architectural buildings that add character ambiance to a place and make for better Walkable pedestrian friendly Main streets....the Block as you can see gets redesigned with parking now in structured spaces (garages) and now there are green Plazas fronting taller and well designed Mixed-Use Buildings. (Retail on ground floor with residential and offices above)...

Anyways I for one can go on and on about this,... but Check it out yourself....

 

[shailendra]

Best TV Mini Series!

...In India as a kid I used to watch some very captivating TV mini Series (usually a movie adapted into a TV series) that some of the current TV mini-series would not be able to even show a flame to!...

'Jewel in the Crown' and 'Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' were the two most noteable ones worthy of rememberance!!!....

Anyone else remember those (or similar famous ones)?

 

[sansanwalamit]

...In India as a kid I used to watch some very captivating TV mini Series (usually a movie adapted into a TV series) that some of the current TV mini-series would not be able to even show a flame to!...

'Jewel in the Crown' and 'Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' were the two most noteable ones worthy of rememberance!!!....

Anyone else remember those (or similar famous ones)?

Funny thing, I am watching Jewel in The Crown right now, its really a masterpiece, and every Indian must watch it

 

[shailendra]

Funny thing, I am watching Jewel in The Crown right now as I am writing, its really a masterpiece, and every Indian must watch it

Oh yeah, it's a very good piece of filmaking on the period during the British Raj (or when it was on the wane, to be correct)...I have very faint memories of it now, but remember that it was very-very captivating...
The guy who plays the main Indian lead in this mini-series is the same guy that went on to play the Arab villian in Arnold's 'True Lies'...a very good actor.

Is that 'Jewel in...' series being brodcast on some channel or something?....

 

[sansanwalamit]

Animation Movies

My favourite animation movies of all time are:
Lion King
Wallace and Gromit (the whole series)
Chicken Run
Triplettes of Belleville (A must see, one of the most creative movies ever)
A Bug's Life
Babe both of them (well not truly animation but couldnt resist mentioning these ones again)
Spirited Away (Japanese Anime at its best)

 

[sansanwalamit]

Oh yeah, it's a very good piece of filmaking on the period during the British Raj (or when it was on the wane, to be correct)...I have very faint memories of it now, but remember that it was very-very captivating...
The guy who plays the main Indian lead in this mini-series is the same guy that went on to play the Arab villian in Arnold's 'True Lies'...a very good actor.

Is that 'Jewel in...' series being brodcast on some channel or something?....

No I got it from the local library, its actually a 14 part series similar to Brideshead Revisited format (check that one out too)
The story is based on Paul Scott's book series "The Raj Quartet" and begins in 1942, I have only seen 8 of the episodes so far. Will be finishing it by next week if time be.
It is very captivating indeed and very human. It also throws a very neutral light on everything during that time and all the observations sound very logical. I am anxiously looking forward to finish it, surprisingly there are many similarities between JITK and David Lean's A Passage to India. JITK's first two episodes are very similar to the main plot of A Passage to India.
And that actor is British-Pakistani actor Art Malik, I havent seen True Lies though.

 

[vinodks]

Hmmm, would be interesting to watch it... will check in local store... I am hoping each of 14 part is not more than 1 hr... interesting to know that it resembles Passage to India(one of my favorite books on India written by westerner, E M Foster, though movie didn't impress me much...

-vinod

No I got it from the local library, its actually a 14 part series similar to Brideshead Revisited format (check that one out too)
The story is based on Paul Scott's book series "The Raj Quartet" and begins in 1942, I have only seen 8 of the episodes so far. Will be finishing it by next week if time be.
It is very captivating indeed and very human. It also throws a very neutral light on everything during that time and all the observations sound very logical. I am anxiously looking forward to finish it, surprisingly there are many similarities between JITK and David Lean's A Passage to India. JITK's first two episodes are very similar to the main plot of A Passage to India.
And that actor is British-Pakistani actor Art Malik, I havent seen True Lies though.

 

[vinodks]

Hmmm... hey are you architect by profession?.. yeah I am familiar with FLASH and tweening... cool dude... sunn, would you like to get paid for painting?) seriously, lemme know... I cud do marketing...

-vinod

...Since now I am strutting completely like a peacock, then what the hell...Heh! Heh!!! ... Here is another little animation for you guys...

This (color sketch this time) animation that keeps looping together was created by me to reflect subtly but in a powerful way what bad planning does and how some of those very mistakes can be corrected by future good design. A trend that somewhat slow but seems to be happening all over US now...

Description about the Animation: The idea was to show that big box retail and sprawling strip-shopping complexes (these Wal-marts, Targets, Shopping Malls etc) eat up so much valuable land with their windowless box like sprawling appearance and add absolutely nothing to the character of the place with their huge sea of parking in front (very car oriented and not at all pedestrian friendly) look and blank facades....
and then thru the animation try and show how these big box of ugly buildings can be slowly and incrementally replaced by better designed and Architectural buildings that add character ambiance to a place and make for better Walkable pedestrian friendly Main streets....the Block as you can see gets redesigned with parking now in structured spaces (garages) and now there are green Plazas fronting taller and well designed Mixed-Use Buildings. (Retail on ground floor with residential and offices above)...

Anyways I for one can go on and on about this,... but Check it out yourself....

 

[dndeswal]

My favourite movies

.
Some of the hollywood movies which I liked most are:

Hunchman of Notre Dame (1940 - B&W)
The Birds (by Alfred Hitchcock)
The Godfather
Dancing with the Wolves
Predator
Les Miserables
The Black Stallion
When the North Wind Blows.
.

 

[sansanwalamit]

Hmmm, would be interesting to watch it... will check in local store... I am hoping each of 14 part is not more than 1 hr... interesting to know that it resembles Passage to India(one of my favorite books on India written by westerner, E M Foster, though movie didn't impress me much...

-vinod

You might wanna try Confessions of a Thug by Paul Taylor Meadows or something like that, the name of the book is accurate. Read it long time back, its very good slow in the beginning but it took my fascination with Thuggery and the whole cult to a great height.
I didnt enjoy the Passage movie that much as well I found it way weaker than Lean's other masterpieces (Strangely Dr. Zhivago is my fav. well I guess coz of Julie Christie). JITK is much better although Alec Guinness as a Brahmin was brilliant and Peggy Ashcroft was sweet as ever, but not as sweet and motherly as Zohra Sehgal in JITK

 

[sansanwalamit]

.
Some of the hollywood movies which I liked most are:

Hunchman of Notre Dame (1940 - B&W)
The Birds (by Alfred Hitchcock)
The Godfather
Dancing with the Wolves
Predator
Les Miserables
The Black Stallion
When the North Wind Blows.
.

The Black Stallion is simply beautiful, they made a sequel (IMAX) for it and it was great too.

 

[shailendra]

Architecture and Urban Design

Hmmm... hey are you architect by profession?.. yeah I am familiar with FLASH and tweening... cool dude... sunn, would you like to get paid for painting?) seriously, lemme know... I cud do marketing...

-vinod

Well, yeah I am an Architect whose specialized into Urban Design (Urban Planning) now to be more specific. (Invoved in Master plans of new Towns and Community Designs)...

So, how are you familiar with 'Flash', are you doing animation or something related? You mentioned about 'Painting',...do you mean work of arts on canvas and bigger formats to be done with selling in mind? Well, frankly, this field of work of mine doesn't allow me too much time to patiently start something big like working on a canvas etc. but of course have done/created stuff for people in the past if commissioned on something they wanted specifically...

 

[nirajsihag]

As far movies are concerned in my

opinion​

, in case of

Hindi​

movies

Amitabh​

Bachan's​

MAI AZAD HU

an

Amir​

Khan's

Rang De

Basanti​

However, In case of

English​

ones

The Patriot

BraveHeart​

Saturday Night

 

[shailendra]

'Memoirs of a Geisha'

...Saw 'Memoirs of a Geisha' over the weekend, and what a fanatastically done movie....

One should watch it just to understand what this world of Geisha's are, if for nothing else. It has almost a documentary quality to it and there are even some striking qualities about this movie that can be paralleled to our own Art movies on the lives of women in the red light district...BUT THE COMPARISON STOPS THERE!...

Think again if you have always considered 'Geisha's' as the Japanese version of a common 'Prostitute',....because it is anything but that.
'Geisha', literally translated means 'Artist'...These women each were apparently walking works of art. They are painted and sculpted and taught to perfection the art of dance, walk, serving and conversation.....a piece of the culture that was always considered mysterious.......

Anyways, watch the movie and make your own assumptions...just consider a world filled with incredible beauty, grace, discipline, prestige, honor and success,...and then imagine that same world filled with abuse, neglect, opression, longing and suffering all at the same time!

Quiet sums up the movie for me....

It is a beautifully done movie, with incredible capturing of Japanese landscape and costumes of the Country during the World War era. The performances are just exemplary!!!....

This is again a movie based on a book of the same name (by Arthur Golden)

Watch it!

 

[priti]

I have been meaning to see this but just didn't happen...the book sold pretty well too.....reading this fascinating account...i guess i'll have to make time to see this one......

It funny how whenever one starts writing or thinking about one movie, it triggers thoughts about some other movie which links vaguely to the previous one......funny....

so at this instance, i'm reminded of Lost in Translation (maybe the mind stores everything oriental together)...and then i think how good Bill Murray is as an actor...very different....has anyone seen Life Aquatic...and that again reminds me of this guy with twisted nose..Owen Wilson...he was funny in wedding crasher...they appear together quite frequently.......

...Saw 'Memoirs of a Geisha' over the weekend, and what a fanatastically done movie....

One should watch it just to understand what this world of Geisha's are, if for nothing else. It has almost a documentary quality to it and there are even some striking qualities about this movie that can be paralleled to our own Art movies on the lives of women in the red light district...BUT THE COMPARISON STOPS THERE!...

Think again if you have always considered 'Geisha's' as the Japanese version of a common 'Prostitute',....because it is anything but that.
'Geisha', literally translated means 'Artist'...These women each were apparently walking works of art. They are painted and sculpted and taught to perfection the art of dance, walk, serving and conversation.....a piece of the culture that was always considered mysterious.......

Anyways, watch the movie and make your own assumptions...just consider a world filled with incredible beauty, grace, discipline, prestige, honor and success,...and then imagine that same world filled with abuse, neglect, opression, longing and suffering all at the same time!

Quiet sums up the movie for me....

It is a beautifully done movie, with incredible capturing of Japanese landscape and costumes of the Country during the World War era. The performances are just exemplary!!!....

This is again a movie based on a book of the same name (by Arthur Golden)

Watch it!

 

[shailendra]

I have been meaning to see this but just didn't happen...the book sold pretty well too.....reading this fascinating account...i guess i'll have to make time to see this one......

It funny how whenever one starts writing or thinking about one movie, it triggers thoughts about some other movie which links vaguely to the previous one......funny....

so at this instance, i'm reminded of Lost in Translation (maybe the mind stores everything oriental together)...and then i think how good Bill Murray is as an actor...very different....has anyone seen Life Aquatic...and that again reminds me of this guy with twisted nose..Owen Wilson...he was funny in wedding crasher...they appear together quite frequently.......

Yes, the 'Geisha...' movie is fascinating....try and watch it; one can grab it on DVD now....
I guess I also tend to be seduced very much by the whole architectural ambiance and the period, history and culture reflected in these beautifully done movies too! (I mean, the good theme aside...)....

Unfortunately haven't seen either of those Bill Murray movies mentioned... The best movie of his I can remember for me was 'GroundHog Day', the one in which the scene keeps getting repeated for him with different endings.....it was a wonerful movie!

Oh I think this dude Owen Wilson is a super cool, hilarious kinda guy; his comic timing is impeccable! (He always seems to deliver the best when working in tandem with someone! For example: Jackie Chan, Eddie Murphy and Vincent Vaughn!)....

Ok people, two another great movies: 'Derailed', and 'History of Violence'....super thrillers! Came out on DVD recently and for all those people who like an edge of the seat non-stop thrill,.....watch these!

 

[priti]

Hello Deswal ji

Good to see you here, Among the movies you mentioned, i have seen only three- godfather, predator and les miserable....why dont you share with us what made you like these?

.
Some of the hollywood movies which I liked most are:

Hunchman of Notre Dame (1940 - B&W)
The Birds (by Alfred Hitchcock)
The Godfather
Dancing with the Wolves
Predator
Les Miserables
The Black Stallion
When the North Wind Blows.
.