Two Recommendations

Last weekend was a lazy one. I mostly stayed at home. One of the two highlights was talking to Hari after a long time. It felt really good to catch up.

The other is that I watched quite a few movies both on TV and video. Bad Boys, Guru Shishyaru (once more), etc. But two movies I hadn't seen clearly took the cake....

Life is Beautiful (LiB) came highly recommended by many. I had caught glimpses when it played on Zee Studio (?), but watching it uninterrupted on video was a wonderful experience. This is one movie of hope and human struggle and triumph and optimism in the face of terrible adversity. Roberto Benigni is phenomenal as Guido. I still can remember him hopping on the tables to reach the stage at the Oscars to receive his Best Actor Award.

If LiB was known to be a good movie, Finding Forrester (FF) was an extremely pleasant surprise. Its not simple for someone to follow up an act like Good Will Hunting (which already was on my favorites list). But Gus Van Sant pulls it off in FF. Its about this sixteen year old black genious Jamal Wallace (played by Rob Brown), from the Bronx, and an old man, William Forrester (played by Sean Connery), who lives a secluded life in his apartment, peering from the window through his binoculars watching the inner-city kids play basketball. Its unusual that Forrester lives in the Bronx, given he is white, old and is never publicly seen. This movie is about their friendship. The movie highlights the travails an unusual genious undergoes (especially if he comes from the most unexpected of places, a Black township), integrity, honour and above all, life.

Both these movies now make it close to the top of my list of favorites. I'd highly recommend them if you haven't already watched them.

I'd also be interested in recos of such great movies....