Do Yourself a Favor

This one, me hearties, shall be to titillate your cinematic erogenous zones. This is a list of movies I'm dying to see, and think you should be dying to see as well. For those of us in India, let us pray some of these make it to the cinemas here without being butchered by the pudgy hands of a highly unskilled, graceless censor. For those of you abroad - you lucky lucky bastards.

1) DRIVE - the new film by Nicholas Winding Refn (who directed the brutally awesome "Bronson", another gem you should DVD immediately), starring the supremely gifted Ryan Gosling (who I'm glad to see is getting more deserving work now) as a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a wheelman, whose life is imperiled when a heist he's involved in goes south. The soundtrack is lush, the acting is superb, the reviewers I've read were basically drooling all over their popcorn the entire film. Do yourself a favor, do not miss this one. (and anyone that thinks "Transporter" after seeing this film is a douche)

2) A Dangerous Method - David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortenson, one of the more exhilarating director/actor partnerships since Scorcese and DeNiro are back with a film about Sigmund Freud, his friend Carl Jung, and a very fetching Russian woman who likes to be spanked. After "A History of Violence" and the ridiculously good "Eastern Promises" I'm dying to see what this duo serves up. And also they've roped in Michael Fassbender, whom you'll remember most recently as Magneto in the "X-Men First Class" movie. Another supremely captivating screen presence who has been waiting in the wings for his time to come for a long while. We're all glad its here, especially my sister who has asked me to club him over the head and deliver him to her doorstep whenever I can, thanks.

3) Warrior - Been waiting for this film for a minute now. I love Tom Hardy as an actor. I think he's got wonderful physical presence and capabilities, just watch the aforementioned "Bronson" to see. There's a reason he's been cast as Bane, the man who finally breaks the Bat, in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Rises" film. And a movie about mixed martial arts with a tortured father and his two fighter sons story thrown in. Hand me that popcorn baby, and turn off that damn cell phone or you'll be getting missed calls in your stomach.

4) The Thing - One of those cult horror/creature features like Aliens and Predator that we all grew up watching and loving and having strange dreams about is being revived but as a prequel to the events of the eighties classic. The story is about what happened to that first team that dug the "Thing" from out of the Antarctic Ice shelf. This is guaranteed to be a fun watch. Not all films have to be blockbusters or win Oscars. Some are just to remind you of all those childhood days that you watched movies wrapped in your father's blanket, peeking through the fingers wrapped around your face at the incredible things on the screen.

5) Like Crazy - I love well done romantic films. I really do. I'm not afraid to admit it. A great romantic film is like a poem, full of deeper meanings and soaring joys and the heart-clenching sadness that squeezes your will and wisdom into fear. This is a story about a British college student who falls for an American student only to be torn away from him when she is banned from the U.S. for overstaying her visa. I think it's a very poignant and relevant issue in this increasingly accessible and yet xenophobic world. How does love survive Homeland Security? Does Homeland Security even understand the word? Do they even care? As someone who has lost a nascent, but powerful love to the vagaries of visa laws myself, you can understand why this film is on my must-watch list. That and the trailer has my favorite cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" by the ethereal Ingrid Michaelson.

6) The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson + Johnny Depp = Fuhgidabowdit! Anyone that misses this movie is a chump. I've been wanting to smack Johnny Depp for his last couple of outings and have stayed my hand at the brilliance evident in this trailer. Enough sailing around the Caribbean or getting overwhelmed by Angelina Leave-Them-Kids-Alone Jolie. Get back to the acting Johnny boy.


And on the musical tip. If you haven't clicked on the Ingrid Michaelson recommendation above, do so. Then play this hugely fun song complete with a charming video called "The Understanding" by the Jones Street Station. I've just heard it, never heard of the band before. But I'm going to find out and let you know whether they have more under the hood than this one gem.

And finally just for me, turn your speakers up way too loud and play this until the neighbors call the cops, preferably as you're getting dressed to go out clubbing or meet your lover. Get's the people going. Always has always will - "Thunderstruck" by ACDC.