The Missing (2014) – TV Series

Honored to be one of the best 5 mini series of 2015 in the Golden Globes, The Missing is truly a brilliant TV show in the making. Though Fargo (2014) was more popular and grabbed the award, for me The Missing was more heart felt and sensitive to the core. If I call The Missing as the most hauntingly emotional television experience I had recently that would be correct. 

When the English couple Tony (James Nesbitt) and Emily (Frances O'Connor) goes to France for a vacation their small boy goes missing. Devastated by their loss the couple seeks every angle to find their son but fails. After 8 years Tony obsessed with the idea that his son is still alive returns to France to find him pursuing a lead. There he discovers some unbearable truths about his sons disappearance. 

The Missing’s’ plot and set up is very powerful. It takes place in a small French town where the atmosphere screams of a certain emptiness that creates a mind boggling mood overall. This atmosphere mixed with the disturbingly emotional plot the viewer gets dragged in to the investigation of this small boy. And right from the first episode things becomes really tense and for the next 7 episodes its nothing but beautiful expression of cinematic quality television drama. James Nesbitt and Frances O'Connor deliver commanding performances in this show and they are supported by another set of very talented international cast. Everything about The Missing is well planned and well executed and they apply to even the sub plots that make strong sense at the end. 

To return to the shows emotional brilliance I believe The Missing makes a child abduction plot to go beyond the usual detective or crime stories and makes it feel so dearly. The plot run in 3 parallel timelines where the most significant events related to the investigation takes place and each timeline is given equal importance. This is where the beauty of writing comes to play and the job is very well done. Even at the time of the ending the viewer will be left with so many things in their minds and arguments to fight.  And just like the father of the boy the viewer will be doing a silent struggle in their minds to understand the events more clearly. Being so The Missing offers a strikingly good ending. 

If you are a parent you will certainly feel disturbed by this show and will shed tears more than few times along the way. But it’s certain that The Missing is one of the most brilliantly told story of parents love. 

Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery

Director: Tom Shankland

Rating:  4.5/5

Enemy (2013) Ratings: Genre 5/5 | Overall 4/5

In my opinion a good psychological thriller has to have 3 strong elements. 1. It should be a story that’s close to everyday situations where most viewers can relate to. 2. It should have the capacity to grab the viewer from the throat and squeeze in to their brains without much effort. 3. It should have and ending without an ending that’s so mysterious that different viewers should have different opinions about it. In short a good psychological thriller is a movie that some would despise and some would break their brains to get right. And Enemy has all those qualities and I was stricken by its force. After many days of watching it and reading ample material on the net about what it really is still I don’t know if I got it right or not.

Abad Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a history professor who lives a mundane and a very routine life. He teaches in day time and has no interests of anything else as such. He has a girlfriend but her visits and time spent also part of his dull routine. But one day after recommended by someone he goes out of his routine and rents a movie. After watching the movie he realizes that there was a minor character actor that just looks exactly like him. Abad get obsessed with meeting this look alike actor.

Though the plot sounds neat and tidy the representation of it is mind scattering. There are skeptical twists that wraps the whole story and deeper it goes complicated it becomes. As there are only few words spoken and it seems like every line has its contribution towards a twisted meaning. And the peculiar cinematography always concentrates on cityscapes and shapes which are most of the time have less people and seemed isolated just like our main character. And when it’s combined with the eerie music the movie creates a mysterious atmosphere amongst the vastly seeing urban landscapes. All in all the look and feel of Enemy itself is a psychological mystery.

Performance wise Jake brings back his Donny Darko (2001) mood and it’s very good. His facial expressions contributes to his powerful character (or should I say characters) and his confusion over his own behavior is clearly shown. Jake makes Enemy even better. Enemy is directed by Denis Villeneuve who was recently well known for Incendies (2010) and Prisoners (2013). Being a big fan of both, Enemy is another valued addition to Denis’s high marks in my book.

Sadly the irony of writing a review about a psychologically thriller is that very less can be told about its plot unless you tend to reveal lot and spoil it for many. Therefore, other than saying Enemy is a piece of cinema that fried my brain cells more than ones and has one of the most twisted “WTF” endings I will not say anything further.

p.s If you have seeing this movie already and looking for some explanation this is a good place to look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9AWkqRwd1I

Genre: Thriller | Mystery

Director: Denis Villeneuve

The Firm (1993) Ratings: Genre 4/5 | Overall 3/5

Adapted from John Grisham’s novel of the same name The Firm is a riveting movie that has the right case and right flow. Keeping the suspense and thrill for later it starts calm and gradually develops is gripping limbs. 

Mitch (Tom Cruise) is a young Harvard graduated coming from a poor southern family. Working hard with ambition to reach his goals in life he accepts a job offer from a major law firm in the city. Overwhelmed by the instant financial status and the other facilities he receives from ‘the firm’ he doesn’t question anything. But after he was contacted by FBI and they unveil a dirty secret about the firm Mitch realize that he is in deep trouble and his life can turn to a nightmare in a split second.

There are several good things about The Firm. To start with Tom Cruise is in it. And then the plot is very good. It last good while it runs and hits a solid ending too. All of these makes a fine movie and for the viewers it’s a well enjoyable one.

The Firm is directed by the late Sydney Pollack. He was an Academy Award-winning director who directed and produced over 40 films. And The Firm is a memorable work from his time though it is not considered as his best.

Genre: Drama | Thriller | Mystery

Director: Sydney Pollack

The Best Offer (2013) Rating: Genre 4/5 Overall 3/5

One of the number one reasons you should consider watching The Best Offer is because it’s directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. He is an Italian director who is well known for directing Cinema Paradiso (1988) and (1988) Malèna (2000) and certainly is a contemporary artist who knows what he is doing. And The Best Offer is indeed is a good offer for the viewers who does not settle in for mundane and puerile romance and mysteries. The journey through The Best Offer is quite slow and superficial yet at the end of it quite satisfying.

The lead role of the movie Virgil Oldman is an aged antiques dealer. He is well known for his profession and possesses a great deal of knowledge in the field of antiques and lives a luxurious life. However his interest for women is a mystery and no wife no family resides in a large house filled with valuable collectables from many eras. And some of these items which have being collected through backchannels and socially unaccepted illegal bargains seem to be his favorite private collection. But when he receives an offer from a lady named Clair to evaluate her heritage for auctioning Virgil’s life takes an interesting turn. Virgil becomes obsessed with 27 year old Clair but she hides many mysteries and Vigil intends to reveal them.

While the cinematography including camera, lighting and set creation is done beautifully the grand amount of detailing gone in to creating the pieces of art is outstanding. As the plot is heavily dependent on antique pieces of all sorts the cinematic representation of it is vital. Director has gone extra careful and the beauty of the movie is indeed enhanced by it. Then comes the strong performance by Geoffrey Rush and it seems like he was cut out to perform the character of rigid and egoistic Virgil. Finally but most importantly the plot which carefully unfold through the script creates severe enthusiasm. However at a point some things becomes predictable yet this point does not arrive until climax. So the mystery filled tale of romance has its own good run.

The Best Offer has seeing many mixed reactions so far. In my opinion the good about this movie is way beyond the mild negativities. Maybe the only complain is how practical all this can be but the mystery is well put and magnetic.

Genre: Drama | Romance | Mystery

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

The Three Faces of Eve (1957) Rating: Genre 4/5 | Overall 3.5/5

Drama | Mystery

Thought this movie does not fit the entire criteria of a psychological thriller it does have a very good potential of being one. But due to its nature calling it a drama filled with mystery is rather more suitable. And the best thing about The Three Face of Eve is that the viewer gets to know the plot somewhat in detail at the right beginning of the movie and the narrations made in intervals yet the curiosity of the background is never lost but improved by it. And I believe that this is one of the best movies based on true events and a biography surrounding psychology that actually starts and ends strong than a fiction.

The Three Faces of Eve is based on the true story of a woman named Chris Costner Sizemore (Best known as Eve White) who was suffering from the rare condition of multiple personalities. The whole movie is a clinical experience as the script is largely based on actual medical records provided by her psychiatrists. Only possible explanation I can provide of the plot (without revealing too much) is that it’s based on the treatments which Eve went through and the sessions with her psychiatrists. Though it might sound a bit too predictable or boring as a plot for a movie it actually is deep and very interesting. And surprisingly it hits a very strong climax.

It is evidently low budget and played only with very few characters but the strength of the plot does not depend in such big numbers of investment of actors. It is purely a very fascinating case to witness for us mundane everyday people. We have seeing multiple personalities in more of movies based on thriller category than mystery category and for me this was an eye opener to certain disbeliefs that I had over such individual created by other fictional movies.

Coming back to the production the movie was after the book written by psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley. And it’s directed by Nunnally Johnson. Joanne Woodward plays the character (or rather three characters) of Eve and without a doubt it is brilliant. To prove it she won the Oscar for best actress in 1957 for her performance in this. The Three Faces of Eve is a very character driven movie just like most of the classics are. And it makes it a movie worth watching which eventually gives the viewer a certain insight to people and their personalities. You may explain this story as clinical, scientific or sexual but whatever it is it will make you think. 

Lost Highway (1997) Rating 3.5/5

This is definitely one of those mind f… movies where you can’t stop thinking about. Honestly it took me some long thinking to build my own theory about it and then reading tons of material from the net to realize that I was a fool. Obviously this movie will break your brain cells and fry your circuits in the first viewing. And movies like this require a second viewing to get somewhere. Having the David Lynch flavor without a drop less this comes very close to be great as Mulholland Drive. (And maybe it’s in par with it when it comes to flow and twist). I won't even try to give you any hints about the plot because no hint can make you prepare for what you’re about to witness. Get ready to get lost in Lost Highway.

Lost Highway (1997) Rating 3.5/5

Now You See Me (2013) Rating 2/5

Now You See Me (2013) Rating 2/5

I expected to see the Illusionist and what do I get? Simply nothing. This movie is a big unpractical scam.  And what’s funny is the only things you can really rely at the end are the magic and whenever it hits the reality its looks like fantasy. I thought magic supposed to be exactly the opposite. If a four member team can take FBI on a ride as it’s shown here and they can actually pull it off this way the director must be pretty hallucinating. And the number of plot holes in this is huge. The only reason a fan might stick with this movie is that with the expectation at the end that there will be some kind of a big twist will put everything at the right place. But closing to the end everything goes wrong one after the other. Sad to say this is a concert hall size flashy disappointment. 

Blue Velvet (1986) Rating -3/5

The David Lynch style of movie making is clearly visible in this piece as well. However it is a question if the movie was effective as much as his proclaimed piece Mulholland Drive. If someone like me expected to see a mind twisting movie like the Mulholland Drive can be somewhat disappointed at the end of this one. But when talking of having moderate expectations Blue Velvet can create some serious ripples in the mind. The story is knitted carefully with a style of mystery right from the beginning. There are visible clues, spooky camera angles, and long moments of silence that all sums up to creating a solid mystery thriller that the viewer would eagerly wait to see how it will conclude, and waiting for that big twist to happen. The letdown is that there is no big twist! However the mind get badly screwed and even after you realize that the story was what it was you still try hard to find out if there was some other meaning to it. This maybe some might call as an empty cinema.  I will not totally go in to that conclusion. But come to think of it the huge drama and hard to witness scenes of the movie sums up to nothing. All in all it has powerful cinematography, wonderful set of songs and strong performances that lets you forget the unexpected ending.

Blue Velvet (1986) Rating -3/5

Mulholland Drive (2001) Rating – 4/5

When you start to watch this you have no idea what you’re getting yourself in to. It’s like this ‘Inception’ where there is a dream inside a dream. But here you really cannot explain it that easily. Was it a dream or was it some bizarre sequence of events that took place for real is one of the biggest questions the viewer left out with. And trust me the questions do not end there. If you get together in a group and watch this one time you will hear many contradicting theories of what went down. But none maybe what’s ‘really’ gone down. There are numerous clues, twists and subtle glimpses of things which the viewer may not be able to explain in one go. This quality makes Mulholland Drive one of the trickiest and mind frying movie experiences ever.

Performance wise it’s brilliant. Watts deliver a strong performance along with other supporting roles. The thrills, suspense and even sex are equally powerful and grab the viewer from the spinal code just when you don’t expect it. When the movie hits the somewhat separately noticeable second half all the theories the viewer had about the first half is ruthlessly destroyed. And to make it worse a fresh set of mind boggling mysteries takes its place. If you find yourself stunned or lost or even angry when the end titles rolling, remember this crucial truth. You are not alone!

Mulholland Drive (2001) Rating – 4/5

Cloud Atlas (2012)

I’m not gonna praise this. Though it is a gigantic production with simply mind blowing creativity all of that is ultimately a formula to a massive failure. The plot is enormous and it is one the most complicated and hard to connect. Maybe I’m too stupid to get it or I didn’t concentrate enough but none of those story lines is good enough to make any emotional connection with the movie. All seems the usual tales some overly dramatic, two are Sci Fi in nature, one kind of detective story, another more to comedy but all in all not a single story make sound connections with each other unless the same actors appearing in them over and over again. The movie wants us to believe that there is some kind of a connection exists between these characters something to do with afterlife and reincarnation or whatever but that point is so vaguely put. Totally bored me from the start but kept hanging on expecting something might turn it at someplace. But only thing turned was my enthusiasm to boredom.

 

(From this point onward it's translation in Sinhala language)

 

මේ වැනි චිත්‍රපටියක් මා මින් පෙර කිසිදා දැක නැති බව එක හෙලා කිව හැකි උවත් එය අගයකිරිමටනම් මට නොහැකිය. මක් නිසාද යත් මේ තරම් විශාල නිෂ්පාදන ප්‍රයත්නයක්, කතාවක් සහ දක්ෂ නළු නිලි එකතුවක් සිටිද්දීත් සිතට කොහෙත්ම නොදැනෙන හැඟීම් ශුන්‍ය චිත්‍රපටියක් වීම එයට හේතුවය්. මෙහි කතා එකක් නොව බොහොමයක් වෙයි. ඒ කතාවන් එක එක කාල වකවානු සහ පෘතුවියටත් ඉන් එපිට ලෝක වලටත් අයත්. ඒවායේ සිටින්නේ වෙනස් චරිත වුවත් ඒවා රඟපාන්නේ එකම නළු නිලියන් විසින්. එහි අරමුණ වන්නේ අප නොයක් කාලවලදී නොයෙක් ආත්මයන්හි නොයෙක් අයවලුන් ලෙස ජීවත් වන බව සහ ඒ එක් එක් ආත්මයන් අනෙක්වා සමග සම්බන්ධයක් ඇති බව පෙන්වීමත්ය. නමුත් චිත්‍රපටිය එම අදහස කෙතරම් ඉස් මතු කර දැක්වීමට උත්සාහ කලත් එය ප්‍රේක්ෂක සිත් තුලට කා වදින්නේ නැති බවකි දැනෙන්නේ. තැනින් තැන ඇති ත්‍රාසය සහ ක්‍රියාදාම හැරුණු කොට ඉතුරු සියල්ල ඇල් මැරුණු ගතියක් පෙන්වය්.

 

I rate this 2.5/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Cloud Atlas (2012)

Drama | Mystery | Sci Fi

 

Synopsis: An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. (IMDB)

 

Chinatown (1974)

Chinatown (1974)

Drama | Crime | Mystery

 

Other than being a movie that belong to a golden classic era of the history this one has many wonderful offerings. Amongst them the fluent yet balanced flow of the story keeps you ever wondering of the next event that unfolds. Being a thriller and a mystery in genre it provides a sheer definition of what that category can offer. Rather than being overly dramatic or suspenseful Chinatown deliver the same amount or more suspense and curiosity a view can expect. Along with the plot the charming and charismatic performances by the main leads Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway just grabs the heart and minds of the audience. Both of them have their own way of expressing feelings and being simply unique on screen. There is no way that no one could not love them.

 

What’s so interesting and enjoyable of this whole movie is that it doesn’t let you dwell on anything, anyone or any mystery for too long. It has a way of explaining themselves and then move on to the next chapter which is more complicated than the one before. And the performances and circumstances seems very natural and being less complicated in cinematographic aspects makes the viewer to engulf in its own beauty as if it’s actually taking place then and there. Maybe this is one of the reasons classics become so different and touching than many movies we see these days. They are natural and our minds absorb them better.

 

වසර 1974 දී තිරගත වුනු නමුත් අද දක්වාම ජානාදරයට සහ පැසසුමට ලක් වන රහස් පරීක්ෂක කතා හුරුවක් රැගත් චිත්‍රපටියක් Chinatown. එහි Jack Nicholson සහ Faye Dunaway සුන්දර සහ ප්‍රබල රංගනයන්හි යෙදෙනවා. එය විශේෂ වන්නේ එය එලි දැක්වුණු රන්වන් සිනමා කාල වකවානුව නිසාම නොවේ. චිත්‍රපටියක් සහ කතාවක් වශයෙන් එය සවිස්තර එමෙන්ම ප්‍රේක්ෂක මන බැඳ ගැනීමට සමත්. මොහොතින් මොහොත දිග හැරෙන කතාවේ ලාලිත්‍යය නිසාම මින් ඉදිරියට සිදු වන්නේ කුමක්ද යන්න ගැන දැඩි කුතුහලයක් ප්‍රේක්ෂක මනස තුල ඇති වෙනවා. අධි නාට්‍යමය හුරුවකින් තොරව රහස් පරීක්ෂක සහ ත්‍රාසය දනවන කතා පුවතක වෙත නිතැතින්ම අවධානය දෙමිනුය් එහි කතාන්තරය ගලා යන්නේ.

 

Chinatown සාර්ථක වන්නේ රංගන ශිල්පීන්ගේ තාත්වික සහ සාරවත් රංගන කුසලතාවයන්ගේ සහ එකල චිත්‍රපටිවල සැඟවුණු නිර්මල කම නිසාමය්. බොහෝවිට කෘතීම ස්වරුපයක් ගන්න නුතන සිනමාවට 70 දශකය සහ ඉන් එපිට චිත්‍රපටි විසින් එල්ල කරන්නේ සැබෑ අභියෝගයක්.  

 

4/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Biography | Drama | Mystery

Diane Arbus is not an unfamiliar name for the photography at heart. She is considered to be one of the controversial and prominent photographers in the history. And her vision and work was rejected and blamed by many in her days but later on praised and inspired largely. However it is a question if this movie actually discusses the true identity or her visionary perception of the world. Maybe for someone who doesn't expect or know the photography of Diane may enjoy it for what it is. But for me it didn't deliver what I wanted to see. But as a movie with a deep exploration of a woman’s mind who some might call extraordinary it is somewhat there. And the cinematography is quite powerful. What’s more commendable is the charming acting by Nicole Kidman.

ඩියාන් අර්බස් නම් අග්‍රගන්‍යය චායාරුපශිල්පිනියගේ ජීවිතයේ මැදි භාගය තේමා කොට ගනිමින් ලියවුනු කතාවක් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ අඩන්ගුය්. ඇය ලෝක ඉතිහාසයේ ජීවත් වුනු වඩාත්ම ආන්දෝලනයට ලක් වුනු චායාරුප බොහොමයකට හිමිකම් කියන චරිතයක්. චිත්‍රපටිය ගලා යන්නේ ඇය චායාරුපශිල්පය ප්‍රවිෂ්ට වීම සහ ඇයගේ සමාජයෙන් කොන් කල ජන කොටස් වෙත ඇති වන දැඩි කැමැත්ත මුලික කර ගනිමිනුය්. චිත්‍රපටියක් සහ එහි කතාවක් වශයෙන් මෙය ප්‍රබල වුනත් සැබෑ ලෙස ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා අපේක්ෂා කරන ඩියාන් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය තුල ජීවත් නොවෙයය් මට සිතේ. එම නිසාම පුද්ගලිකව මෙය අස්සර්තක සිනමා කෘතියක් බව හැඟෙ. කෙසේ වෙතත් නිකොල් කිඩ්මන්ගේ ප්‍රබල රංගන කුසලතාවයත් චිතපට කලාවේ භාවිතයත් ඇති මෙහි සැබෑ කුසලතාවයන් ගැබ්වී ඇත.

2.5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: Turning her back on her wealthy, established family, Diane Arbus falls in love with Lionel Sweeney, an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalized people who help her become one of the most revered photographers of the twentieth century.

Triangle (2009)

Triangle (2009)

Thriller | Mystery | Horror

This practically is not a horror but a physiological thriller that would leave your mind twisted for a good deal of time. The first 40 minutes runs like a baby with no big thrills or surprises. And then it starts to change face to be something you can hardly imagine of. And the plot is very difficult to predict which is one of the key reasons that it’s so effective. Apart from that the sets and atmosphere is fairly simple. And it lets you to digest the twisted plot completely without any background interference. The plot can be discussed, argued and hated upon many bases such as fiction, science, belief or religion. Yet whichever the way it’s explored or explained it will just leave you with a thrilling movie experience. If you do not have previous experience in mind and time loop cinema plots you will definitely be blown away by this. And believe me you are equally helpless to face the horrors yet to come just as the set of people in the movie!

කාලය සහ එහි ප්‍රතිගමනය ගැන ලියවුනු චිත්‍රපටි කතා ඇත්තේ සුළු ප්‍රමාණයක්. මේ ඉන් එක සාර්ථක කතාවක්. එය ඔබේ මනස සැබවින්ම අඹරා වියවුල් කර දමන්නට සමත්. කුඩා යාත්‍රාවක නැගී මුහුදු සවාරියකට යන කණ්ඩායමකට හදිසි කුණාටුවක් නිසා තම යාත්‍රාව අහිමි වෙනවා. ඉන් පසු මුහුදේ පාවෙමින් අතරමන් වී සිටින විට විශාල නවුකාවකට ගොඩ වීමට ඔවුනට හැකි වෙනවා. එය අති විශාල පාලු නවුකාවක් බව ඔවුනට ඉක්මනටම තේරුම් යනවා. මේ නවුකාව ඇත්තෙන්ම අභිරහසක්ද නැත්නම් මායාවක්ද කියා තීරණය කිරීම ප්‍රේක්ෂක ඔබට භාර වේ. නමුත් ඒ තීරණය ලේසි පහසු එකක් නොවන බවනම් කිව යුතුමය. මක් නිසාද මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ සිදුවන සිද්ධි දාමය කෙතරම් වෙනස් සහ සිත සලිත කරවන සුළුද කියා ඔබ තවමත් නොදන්නා බැවිනි. එසේ ගත් කල චිත්‍රපටියේ ප්‍රධාන චරිත මෙන්ම ඔබද අසරණය!! ඒ ඔබට අත් දකින්නට ලැබෙන බිහිසුණු දේවල් ගැන ඔබට කිසි ලෙසකවත් පෙර සුදානමක් නොමැති බැවිනි.

3.5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: The story revolves around the passengers of a yachting trip in the Atlantic Ocean who, when struck by mysterious weather conditions, jump to another ship only to experience greater havoc on the open seas.

Red Lights (2012)

Red Lights (2012)

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

There are very good reasons to love or to hate this movie. It all depends on what you expect and how prepared you are to accept the plot and it’s somewhat colossus ‘betrayal’ with the ending twist. However Red Lights is a one of a kind dramatic mystery experience that puts the viewer in a trance. This could be the most entertaining thriller I have seeing in recent times depending on how the ending effects. It may not be the same to you as it was for me. But honestly I expected something very different and it didn’t exactly deliver what I believed in. But the plot and its evolvement is nothing but thoroughly interesting and entertaining. Busting myth after myth this thriller builds a strong scientific case against many eerie paranormal phenomenon’s the man blindly believes in. Strikingly powerful performance by Sigourney Weaver puts the whole movie on a different level. I’d definitely watch it again though I know the twists not because I didn’t get them but just because I’m a curious cat. As I said at the beginning love it or hate it!

මළවුන් සමග කතා කිරීම, භූතයින් සහ හොල්මන්, අනුන්ගේ මනස් කියවීම සහ ප්‍රාතිහාර්යයෙන් ලෙඩ සුව කිරීම ගැන ඔබ මෙතෙක් ඇති කරගත් සංජානනයන් කීතු කීතු වලට ඉරා පුළුස්සා දමන්නට තරම් ප්‍රබල කතාවක් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ ඇතුලත්. නමුත් එය ඔබට බලපාන අයුරු ඔබේ විශ්වාසයන්, අත්දැකීම් සහ ආකල්පයන් මත රැඳෙන බැවින් ඔබ මේ චිත්‍රපටියට කැමති වීමට හෝ එයට ක්‍රෝධ කිරීමට පෙළඹේවි. මා මෑත කාලයේදී දුටු ඉතාමත්ම කුතුහලය දනවන චිත්‍රපටිය මෙය යයි කීම නිවැරදි. නමුත් එහි අවසානය මා කොහෙත්ම අනුමත කරන්නේ නැහැ. එය ඉතාමත්ම මතබේදාත්මක එකක් වන අතර මුළු චිත්‍රපටිය පුරා ඔබ විසින් එක් කරගත් යම් යම් ඇදහිලි සහ විස්වාස සුනු විසුනු වෙනු ඇති. නමුත් මා පෙර කීවක් මෙන් එයට කැමති වීම හෝ ක්‍රෝධ කිරීමට අබට අයිතියක් ඇත.

3/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: Psychologist Margaret Matheson and her assistant study paranormal activity, which leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic who has resurfaced years after his toughest critic mysteriously passed away.

Raven (2012)

Raven (2012)

Mystery | Thriller

 

Can’t really say that I was surprised by this movie. The plot is quite good and overall atmospheric mood is also appealing. Yet there is something really missing here. It could be the mismatch with the cast or I was expecting another Robert Downey Junior moment, Or another Sweeny Todd or Sleepy Hallow sensation. Having mildly similar characteristics amongst them   this flick is obviously in behind. But as I said before, individually it is not a bad watch at all. It’s just that we have seeing better ones earlier and it spoils the mood!

 

මෙයට පෙර ඔබ දැක නැති අමුතු දෙයක් නම් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ නැහැ. මින් පෙර මෙවැනි කතා අනෙක වාරයක් මීට වඩා විශිෂ්ට අන්දමින් තිරයේ දිග හැරී තිබෙනවා. නමුත් තනිව ගත් කල මෙය හොඳ නිර්මාණයක් බව කිව යුතුමය්. ත්‍රාසය සහ කුතුහලය හොඳින් ගැබ් උණු කතාවක් මෙහි තිබෙනවා.

 

3/5

 

Synopsis: When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.

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Safe House (2012)

Action | Crime | Mystery

 

Loudly thinking I feel like ‘if’ there was an Oscar for action thriller, this movie should win it. It’s that much intense, suspenseful and gripping. But don’t get me wrong the formula of the plot is tested many times before. And it’s quite predictable if you carefully follow it from the start. And there are ample plot holes too. But what matters is the execution. Once it starts with a blazing cast and lightning fast flow, Safe House will not let you take you a breath with normal rhythm till it ends. It has all the actions you need starting from super hand to hand combat to wall shattering bullet exchanges and tire ripping car chases. And Denzel comes out glorious either he plays the good side or the dark side.

 

මෙය මින් පසු මගේ ක්‍රියාදාම චිත්‍රපටි ගොන්නේ ඉහලින්ම වැජබෙන චිත්‍රපටියක් වනු නියතය්. පටන් ගත් මොහොතේ පටන් හුස්මක් නෑර උන් හිටි තැන් අමතකවෙන ක්‍රියාදාම සහ ත්‍රාසයන්ගෙන් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය දිග හැරෙනවා. මින් පෙර දැක පුරුදු කතාවක් උවත් ඉතා විශිෂ්ට ඉන්දමින් ගලා යන මෙය හොඳ රංගන දායකත්වයකින්ද යුක්තය්. Borne Identity වැනි සිනමා කෘති සමග උරෙන් උර ගැටී නමුත් නොසෙල්වී සිටින්නට තරම් ශක්තියක් මෙහි ඇති බවය් මගේ හැඟීම.

 

3.5/5

 

Sysnopsis: A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Mystery | Drama | Sci Fi

 

One of those movies which make you re think the whole movie from end to end and crave to watch it again in order to get your theory correct. Partly sci fic and party mysterious if this does not blow your mind away I’d say that you’re a zombie. Yet to be honest I had to read a several explanation articles in order to become crystal clear of what real went down in the plot. Freaks me out!

 

මනස කලම්බල කර කරලා දාන්න හැකි චිත්‍රපටියක් මේක. අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම දෙවතාවක් බලන්න පුළුවන්. එක පාරක් පල් මෝඩයෙක් වගේ, දෙවෙනි පාර උගත් ප්‍රේක්ෂකයෙක් වගේ. කොහොම බැලුවත් අන්තිමට ඇඟ හිරිවැටෙන බව විතරක් හොඳට මතක තියාගන්න. මෙලෝ දෙයක් තේරුනේ නැත්නම් මට බැන බැන ඉන්නේ නැතුව මේක කියවන්න 

m/question/index?qid=20090601152702AAUUA7Z

4/5

 

Synopsis: A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.