Gone Girl, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Games, American Sniper...

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Over the extended weekend I had the opportunity to see all these classics some of which are nominated to the Oscars and are agog on the festival circuit. Each one of them have been heavily talked and discussed. I will therefore restrict my comments more to the sub textual part of it. Each one of them are different genre and each one treats the subject differently.

Gone Girl is a classic David Fincher film. It sets the tone from the onset and you are left to wonder till the very end as to how the film builds up. Rosamund Pike is classic and so are Ben Stiller and others in the film. But why the film is must see, Fincher's classic adaptation into a film format from the book with the same name. Scene after scene builds up as like showcasing an unhappy marriage being illustrated to viewers along with a scheming husband and  a very preposterous relationship that meets it's true fate and then suddenly the whole thing takes a U turn, where the scene after scene builds up an alternate version and then the end merges the two into altruistic end. The film is a must see for the brilliant screenplay, some marvellous acting and a great back ground score. The hopelessness of a situation, the scheming and planning with effortless ease, the desperation of the characters all culminates to a crescendo.

The Imitation Games and The Theory of Everything falls into the same genre, of being largely autobiographical in nature, both showcasing two very brilliant minds of this and the past century. Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing respectively. The films deserves kudos for exceptional acting by Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking and Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. Both amazing actors and proven to in their own rights. One may argue that Eddie's role of Hawking might be lot of tougher, but I will go with the essence of acting and will simply say, each one trying to out perform the other, but the end is a zero sum game, where audiences win and get to see some fine and nuanced acting from two of British cinema's finest.

American Sniper, for many could be categorised as a feel good American cinema which is an occasional pat on the back that America needs for all the (dis)service it is rendering in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan...But the movie will stand out for three things, one realistic shots of Snipers planning for targets (patience, patience and more patience), the climax which is indeed tragic and the of course the pangs that war families go through.

They all are cinemas which have script, fine acting and perhaps a reason to watch cinemas time after time. Any lessons for boys back home, break the form, stop being populist always (even Hollywood thrives more often than one) and fund some good meaningful cinema, so that besotted people like us are not left parched.       

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