Death Note is one anime that has managed to surpass the 'anime' tag. Anybody into movies has heard it's name and whether they are an 'otaku' or not, they have been recommended to watch this movie atleast by one person.
That is how powerful the franchise is. I won't pretend it is flawless - the plot lags in the middle to be revived by a spectacular plot twist, but once a particular person dies, the plot drowns out until the ending, which could have been predicted form two episodes previously.
But Death Note holds a certain charm that allows it this place despite there being better anime movies and series made every year.
1) Ryu, the Shinigami, is in both measures terrifying and adorable due to his love for apples.
2) The idea of the note itself is something perhaps everyone would want to possess.
3) The questions. The series questions the line between good and bad. Is what Light does so wrong? Is L truly right in pushing him tot he limits? Everybody is grey and not even Misa is spared the tinge.
4) Misa Amane!!
5) Soundtrack, especially the piano overtures that accompany the last scene.
6) Three episodes is all it takes to make one leave their work and glue themselves to the series.
If you've been putting off watching it because it is an animated movie, I implore oyu to re-evaluate and watch it ASAP.

Light-hearted in the beginning, this movie with a cliched title starts out in a very cliched way only to end in what I can simply describe as a very beautiful, futile and heart-breaking ending.
The female lead suffers from haemophilia that she treats herself and the male lead, ever since an accident in his childhood does not feel pain anymore.
While pitted against each other in the beginning, the movie develops into a love story between the two that is torn apart by the man trying to outrun his past.
Ending with a vague question as to their survival, the movie bought tears to my eyes (a difficult task for any movie of the romance genre) and made me laugh and cry equal amounts. It makes one question: how far is too far? How far can yo go before you are not allowed to return anymore? Can love really conquer all?
The answer, as the movie shows, is NO.
If you haven't watched it yet, stream it, rent it, but DO watch it!

Keeping behind-the-scenes news of how difficult it was to work with Marilyn during this phase aside, the film is a classic family comedy that strikes gold.
Despite Marilyn's colour film contract, the film was shot in black and white as the filmmakers believed Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis looked too hideous in colourful drag! While Monroe shines in the scene she is in as the blonde belle running away from saxophone players, the main attractions are truly Lemmon and Curtis with this snazzy dialogues, trying to walk like "jell-o on heels" and refraining from "Sugar" while on diet.
The songs - I Wanna Be Loved By You and I've Given Up On Love simply tug at your heartstrings as Marilyn serenades the audience with all her oomph and appeal.
A must watch for any 60s fan!

This movie deserves no less than a 5 because it is simply THE MOST AMAZING ANIMATED FILM ever made.
And I put the blame entirely on the deadly duo of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki once mentioned about the concept of emptiness or "ma." These are the seemingly empty moments in between frames, when nothing of consequence happens but the plot advances and you feel sated. In an interview, Miyazaki mentioned that as a filmmaker, he firmly believed in "ma". It is what other film makers shy away from - in a bid to keep their audience engaged. And it s this what Miyazaki's films are full of, and leave you feel no less sated.
A visual treat, every frame is taken care of and you can see Miyazaki reward his fans with allusions to previous works. The small soot balls, the lamp-post-cum-lantern that guides the way, Yubaba's ginormous child and the talking heads are all unnecessary to the plot, yet they are what makes the film memorable. The bathhouse with it's elaborate decorations, Sen's slow descent down the stairs to the furnace - these are the frames that are etched in one's mind forever. There is also a stress on grey characters - Chihiro is both sacrificing and selfish, Haku is both loving and deceitful, No-face is both - Sen's protector and a glutton. Much like real life. There is also metaphors aplenty! We see Chihiro's parents turn into pigs due to their gluttony of "wolfing like a pig".
This is a film for both adults and children alike because each age group will find a new layer to it. Miyazaki once mentioned that the entire film was simply a metaphor for the Japanese adult film industry and while there have been heavy debates both for and against this topic, I implore you to watch this film for it's richness in dialogue, ma and animation.

"To the glory of God"

Directed by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi (“Children of Heaven”), the film is nothing short of visual poetry. The movie revolves around a blind boy, so attuned with nature that he counts the sounds of birds and reads the leaves of plants. Set in the picturesque rural town on Tehran, Majidi weaves through various themes in the short 90 minutes duration of one of his masterpieces. The movie opens with “In the name of God”, a line so simple yet it prepares you for what you will explore in the film itself. Majidi enables the viewers to engage their senses and treat every scene in the film as a personal interpretation.

Mohammed is the blind boy studying in the city, his father reluctantly takes him back home during the summer vacation. Here we see him getting showered with love from his grandmother and sisters. But, his father Hashem sees him as a burden due to his blindness, and wishes to get rid of him so he can marry a rich woman who is ignorant about the existence of his blind son. Despite his son being a bright student, Hashem cuts his education short in an effort to conceal his existence. Unaware of his father’s intention we see Mohammed, frolicking in the field with his granny and attending the local school with his sisters, until his father decides to send him away to be a far-away blind carpenter’s apprentice.

The movie beautifully highlights the despair of the father, on losing his wife and having a blind boy who is seen as a bad omen in his society, he questions his god and curses his fate. On the other hand we see the love the grandmother has for the blind boy, she does not mull away in despair rather she chooses to trust her god’s will. One truly must have a heart of ice to not break down when Mohammed finally declares, “Nobody loves me because I’m blind.”

“The Colour of Paradise” will make you question your life, even with your sight intact. In Mohammed we see a boy who sees so much more than what we ever manage to see, and how even then he is reminded of his disability due to his inability to see god.
The film closes with a scene so simple yet so profound that the starting line of “In the name of God” will hold a whole new meaning for you. The cinematography by Mohammad Davudi, weaves magic and creates a personal space for the audience to experience the nature up close and personal.
Majidi has also brought the film alive by using a mellifluous soundtrack and adding subtle natural sounds – pecking woodpeckers, chirping cicadas, a football being kicked to add a realistic touch. The film proves to be a classic and a definite must watch for people who see more than what meets the eye.
And in the end, you’re bound to question: Who, in this world, are actually blind?

If you’re a Sci-Fi loyalist, Arrival is your movie.
If you’re scared of complex representations of already complex themes, Arrival still is your movie!
Denis Villeneuve’s modern masterpiece is precisely calculated and highly ambitious, for its objective exceeds telling a story.
Mysterious spacecraft touchdowns across the globe perplex humans as they struggle to solve the dichotomy of the spacecrafts’ consequential intentions. Linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) joins the US Army team to decipher the ‘language’ of two alien ‘heptapods’ in one such spacecraft. But, can it be called language?
As mankind teeters between violence and toleration on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers. But, do they?
To find them, does she take the chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity?
How is time actually related to metaphysics and structuralism? What do the aliens actually want inside the Earth?
Plot: Villeneuve approaches these questions with a prevailing ‘reality’, a word seemingly paradoxical to the genre yet adding substantial uniqueness and mystery to an excellent plot.
Performances: Amy Adams delivers impeccably. Her range of emotions throughout Banks’ personal losses, gradual loss of time sense and unsettling daydreams is phenomenal. The others perform at par too.
Background Score: Johann Johannsson composes an extremely appropriate and complementing score.
Cinematography:Exquisitely breathtaking work by Bradford Young. Further adjectives can be realised by one’s own self, post watching.

“Even listening to the same story, people imagine different things,” a character warns us, so deep into the movie that the line plays not like a revelation, but another confirmation that Park Chan Woo is but a virtuoso in this genre.
The Handmaiden is a movie that unravels within itself. Told in three parts with the same story being seen from three different perspectives, and each one adding a new layer to the already rich fabric, the movie is an emporium of visual delights, intricate plots and twisted characters.
We have the rich heiress - for whom beauty is a virtue, we have the evil uncle who uses her to fulfill his wishes, a handsome Count who is actually a hoodlum in costume and instead of the Prince on a white horse - we have the lady's Handmaiden - initially also a part of the Count's plan.
The story begins in an orphanage, from wherein the Count hires a girl to serve as a Handmaiden to Lady Hideko (Kim Min Hee) whom he wishes to marry and then confine in a madhouse in a bid to inherit her fortune. But Lady Hideko lives under the careful eye of her older Uncle who has other plans for her future.
Based on Sarah Waters 2002 novel, Fingersmith, the movie has a decidedly happier ending and chops off a major portion of the plot for the sake of Mr. Park's compulsive attention to details. Everything inside the manor and outside is made to enchant and in the rare moment that you do manage to look away from the screen, you can only marvel at what a masterpiece Park has created. The camera lingers on the minutest of details (the rustling of silk, or a slow parade down Kim MinHee's back) and dialogues or recited scraps of letters or fiction become de facto narration laid over a cascade of images, brilliantly composed for a very wide frame by Chung Chung-hoon, and backed by Cho Young-wuk’s hypnotically repetitive yet rapturously melodramatic score, which rises to operatic heights when the characters are experiencing misery, ecstasy or fear (cue, the portion where they run to freedom).
The movie is about storytelling in it most's vulnerable form - the cinematography is outstanding with wide angle views of fields that signify freedom and closed views of the quarters in which the Handmaiden lives. The soundtrack, especially the song at the end "The Sound of You Coming" and "My Tamako, My Sookee" are bound to leave a lasting impression.
Nearly as powerful, though far subtler, are the cross-cut sequences that feel like self-contained short stories of their own.
The story, like the movie itself is disturbing beautiful and is bound to haunt you for days.