Freelance Consultant's Diary

So often we take what others do for us for granted. While impolite, it is not so bad. What is really bad when we take for granted even when others risk their lives for us. Yes, police officers, firefighters, and women and men in the armed forces, risk their lives every day so that we can be safe. If you are one of those people who just think of firemen when there is a fire in your house, we strongly suggest that you watch Ladder 49. This is a very depressing movie; so don't plan on being entertained. In fact if it were not for its movie stars, it could very well be categorized as a documentary about the life of Jack Morrison (played by Joaquin Phoenix) as a firefighter. After starting his career as a firefighter, Morrison takes on the job of search rescue because he wants it, despite being warned about its dangers by his boss and mentor Mike Kennedy (John Travolta) and his wife, Linda (Jacinda Barrett). The film traces Morrison's life in flashbacks as he lies unconscious ...

Can you imagine a movie called " Scen t of a Woman" with no women? Indeed, there is a pivotal sequence in the movie in which Al Pacino takes beautiful Gabrielle Anwar to the dance floor at the Waldorf Astoria for an impromptu tango performance , but other than that it is a movie about men. I enjoyed watching this movie even more because it reminded me so much of my days at the Birla Public School in Pilani. Retired (and blind) Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (played by Al Pacino for which he got the Oscar) is a man with a very complex and powerful personality. When his daughter hires Charlie Simms (played by Chris O'Donnell, who is a student from a poor family at a prep school in New Hampshire) to take care of him over the Thanksgiving weekend , he is in for a roller-coaster ride. Within moments of the daughter leaving for a family reunion, Slade and Simms are on a plane to New York City . Slade's plan: stay at the Waldorf Astoria, eat at the Oak Room, dance and...

Horror is a genre that I tend to explore occasionally (and mostly alone) and I have enjoyed some good movies during recent months ( Vampyros Lesbos , Night of the Living Dead, etc.). But when I received the press kit for Marcus, I had no idea what the movie was about. It didn't take me long to find out. Within seconds, it was obvious that it was a horror film. In my opinion, there are two types of horror movies. The first category includes movies with monsters and ghosts - these don't scare me because I know that they are unreal and more often than not include just computer-generated characters. The second category includes sick human beings (or animals) - these do manage to scare me because they are depictions of real people and without our knowing it, they might be around us. Marcus belongs to the second category. You would not dream of any monsters or imagine that there are ghosts in your bedroom, but the image of this heartless killer will stay in your mind. Here is ...

Lorena was disappointed from the get-go that "America's Sweethearts" was not the movie she expected - that there was no humor so typical of Billy Crystal. On the contrary, this is a very light comedy that reminded so much of what Woody Allen ( Shadows and Fog , Casino Royale ) comes up with. There are some comic moments, but at no point are you falling off the couch, or as is typical of Woody Allen movies, smiling at the cleverness of the joke or the subtlety of the dialogue. The plot is essentially a satire on Hollywood relationships . Estranged couple Gwen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie (John Cusack) have no choice but to come together to promote their latest movie (which is otherwise and may not do much to lift the sagging career of Gwen), and only some drama at the press junket at a luxury resort in the Nevada desert can get good reviews from the media. Billy Crystal, who is an experienced publicist, takes charge and produces situations that will delight fans of...

Whether it is Pinky or androids or Stepford Wives or robonauts , we will soon see robots the way we look at pets: friendly, helpful, and part of the family . Will that be in 2035? That is the premise of the movie I, Robot, which like The Day After Tomorrow is a visual masterpiece full of special effects. In Chicago of the future, robots are everywhere and definitely that is good news for US Robotics, the company that manufactures them. If the robots were simply to follow our orders and make life easy for us, everything would be great, but what if robots could evolve or even have emotions? Even worse, what if robots could also try to protect us from ourselves, which is not inconceivable considering that by not fighting global warming , we are deliberately destroying the chances for survival of the human race? If you are a fan of science fiction movies and get excited by robotics, this is an excellent movie to watch. Will Smith delivers a remarkable performance but we thought t...