Arbitrage or Wall Street

Caught Arbitrage this last weekend on netflix and must say the old guy (Richard Gere) still has it in him. Don't know many people who can look so good portraying a 60 year old. Arbitrage essentially means hedging your risks plus some, as in not only do you hedge your risks you actually end up making some money in the process. The title is symbolic of how the businessman is managing his life itself. The film reminded me of Michael Douglas' Wall Street. Except that Arbitrage had a lot more to do with Wall Street that Wall Street itself. I always related Gere to this romantic hero and this is was his most anti avataar of himself. Gere plays a hedge fund magnate who has dipped into his investor funds and made some bad personal investments, of course, he did not know they were bad when making them. This leaves him with a hole of about 400 mill dollars in his investor funds which he covers up by taking a loan from a friend. His only option now is to sell off his business and fill up the hole with the proceeds.  Shrewd businessman that he is he almost manages to pull off this coup without the regulators or the media getting any wind of it when a blast from the past comes to bite him. The scene where he explains his predicament to the daughter would be my favorite. His desperation at his current situation stopping short of pulling his hair apart looks so realistic that you forget you are watching a guy acting. Plus your heart goes out to him as he handles all the issues in his life one after another, the ones closest to him causing him most anguish, starting from his friend who lend him the money, his daughter hammering him about the mismatch in the numbers, his mistress with whom he shares a passionate affair always complaining about his absence, his wife in her own way, the cops who suspect him of manslaughter, each of them blissfully unaware of any of his other issues.

Wall Street is the story of a hostile takeover businessman who targets companies with hidden assets (read pension funds) and scrap sells them often with drastic effects on the company, its owners and it employees. The character portrayed by Douglas, another great actor, is completely negative. The protagonist of the movie is Charlie Sheen (I think his only serious role to date) who gets caught in Douglas charm and manages to get out just in time, whereas Gere in Arbitrage, in spite of his negative undertones is still the protagonist. 

All in all, I liked Arbitrage better considering the situation is so much more real and likely to happen. Also, the story is told with a personal touch and Gere's acting is flawless. Wall Street seems more like a thriller in comparison though an interesting one but falls one notch short of Arbitrage. I know many people would disagree with me. Lemme know what you think.

Ten great movies

Here is my list of ten really beautiful movies that come off the top of my mind right now. I ain't a movie buff or am I? So these are movies(excepting the regional ones) which most people would have watched. Of course the later ones more prominent on the list considering they are more fresher in my mind. This is not a pre-compiled list.

The Dark Knight - A must watch purely for the masterpiece called Heath Ledger. When I watched the movie, I had no idea who this guy was. The joker's makeup was complete and I assumed the actor to be a senior mature person of may be 50 years. It came as a shock to relate this amazing performance to a guy I had watched in a very okay romcom with Julia Stiles called - '10 things I hate about you' wherein he plays a teenager trying to woo a haughty girl. Another one of those stories and there aren't many where the sheer aura of the villain completely overshadows the hero. And of course, the genius of Christopher Nolan to transform a boys comic book series to a saga of so much depth. The second part of this series was equally engaging but we sorely missed the clown.

Bharatham - For those who haven't watched Mohanlal in action, well, what can I say, there is a part of your soul yet to be stirred. And for those who think he is just another superhero down south in the lines of Chiranjeevi or Rajni, well, they aren't supposed to read my blog. I really can't decide on a fave mohanlal movie. They're all gems - be it Aye Auto, Nadodikattu, Raja vinde Mahan, akarai akarai, ten mavin kombathu, pattana pravesam, kireedum, Chithram. I selected Bharatham purely because I felt even a non-malayali can relate to it which I am. There is no regional fervour, just a simple incident narrated through a power packed performance, the likes of which no one in Bollywood can ever hope to emulate.

Memoirs of a Geisha - This film is inspite of the undertones of lechery and sadness that runs through the entire movie, an extremely romantic and gripping movie of a woman's pursuit of her love. A must watch.

Schindlers's list - Another movie about the holocaust, yes. But one movie that was so realistically shot that till this date I can't believe it was a movie. The shots of the skinny bodies going into the gas chamber, the rows of naked people waiting to jump into the fire, the children being seperated from the parents. For days after I saw this movie I was depressed and so angry that one man could influence so many people and could wreak so much havoc. Till this date all news channels use clips from this movie to mention anything relating to the second world war or holocaust.

Life is beautiful - The only movie on the world war that could be termed cute, humorous and endearing.  All about a man trying to protect his son inside a nazi death camp using his sense of humour and never ending positivity. Ideal parenting lesson.

Gone with the wind - One of the most romantic movies ever made, the smile will linger on your face for a long time after you have watched this one inspite of the sad ending.  A huge amount of feel good factor this one had. Cant figure out why.

Naayakan - Almost everybody in their 30's would have caught either one of the versions of this movie. This movie lingers on in my mind because of the soul stirring music of Illayaraja, and of course, goes without saying because of Kamal Hassan..

Pirates of the Caribbean - The story highly unusual and hugely entertaining and totally funny. This is some serious entertainment. And the movie that made Johnny Depp a rage. Not a dull moment. The perennially drunk pirate in his british drawl getting out of sticky situations using his humorous powers of reasoning. The cannibal scenes are memorable, the best part is when he spatters salt and pepper over himself with a sheepish smile when he is caught escaping.

Nadodikatu - This is the story of two dirt-poor good-for-nothings, one a loafer and the other a joker who unknowingly solve a crime and go on to become police officers. Inspired by the Pink Panther's theme of the comic crime solvers who accidentally solve crimes, this was Mohanlal Sreenivasan combo at their best. This was days before Mohanlal became "The Mohanlal" and thankfully he didn't have to do those Mohanlalic things, read, fold his lungi and curve his moustache.

Rang De Basanti  - I saw this movie and it reminded me of the chaverpada (suicide squad) of Kerala. These warriors were specially selected at childhood and trained all their life to go to war at the age of 16 against the huge army of the Zamorin. The result was certain death and the payback was nothing but glory. Nevertheless they fought till their last breadth killing multiple soldiers of the Zamorin for every chaver life.  The film is endearing and does pull at your patriotic heartstrings and   makes you believe that you might be able to make a difference if you really tried.

As the list draws to an end, I realize there are so many more that I would love to mention here but would keep them for a later date. So let me know your faves.