The weekend at the movies

Time to jump off your couches this weekend and treat yourself to some serious movie action! Here are our recommendations:

Theatrical picks:

For Real

Director: Sona Jain

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445968/

Newcomer Sona Jain’s film sees the return of Sarita Choudhury in this drama about an imaginative girl’s search for her mother. Shruti (Zoya Hassan) thinks the woman who has entered her household is not her mother but an alien which leads her to leave her home to find her real mother. A must-see award-winner.

TV picks:

18 September

The Great Dictator, 4pm, World Movies

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

Charlie Chaplin’s classic made in the middle of World War II satirizes Hitler and his megalomaniacal efforts at world domination. Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator, has a double in the form of a barber which then leads to a series of comic events. The speech at the end of the film is a lesson in great acting.

Gosford Park, 6.10pm, Sony Pix

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280707/

Visionary director Robert Altman’s comedy-drama about the events that take place inside a house when people get a sniff of one man’s affluent status. With everyone wanting a piece of him, who will succeed?

Kaminey, 11.45pm, UTV Movies

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1274295/

19 September

Maachis, 4pm, DD National

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116950/

Maachis of the unforgettable songs, Maachis of the pristine cinematography, Maachis of the knockout performances: Gulzar’s Maachis is an exploration of youth caught in the web of terrorism after the riots of 1984 in Punjab. A must-watch for any cinema lover.

The Edge of Heaven, 10.45pm, Lumiere

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0880502/

Director Fatih Akin’s multiple award-winning tale of a man who travels to Istanbul looking for the daughter of his father’s girlfriend when he steps into a nest of unforeseeable events which meld the country’s politics and social problems into the narrative.

Tere Bin Laden (TBL), 7pm, Star Plus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1629391/

One of the feel-good comedies, tongue-in-cheek as it might be, to appear in recent times, TBL chronicles one man’s pursuit of the great American Dream. A reporter is ready to go to any length to reach the US but all his efforts culminate in failure. One day, he comes across a man who resembles Osama bin Laden and he decides to use him to realize his dream. But soon all hell breaks loose.

Screening picks:

18 September

Liberi, 2pm, Italian Cultural Centre

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382804/

The film weaves a slender father-son rekationship sub-plot into the narrative of a chemical factory laying off many workers and its impact on the people.

Had Anhad Bounded Boundless Journeys with Ram and Kabir, 5.30pm, Kriti, S-35, Tara Apartments, Alaknanda, New Delhi

Shabnam Virmani’s 103-minute film tries to explore Kabir and his invocations to Lord Ram. Weaving its way through songs and poems, the film arrives at the politics of religion.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1200 hrs, American Centre

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/

This classic chronicles the life of a struggling writer who moves into a New York apartment and is soon enraptured by his beautiful neighbour, Holly. The trouble is that Holly seems to be living a kind of a double life. Audrey Hepburn stars in one of her unforgettable roles.

To Kill a Mockingbird, 3pm, American Center

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056592/

Harper Lee’s bestseller adapted onto the screen in a provocative film about an upright lawyer attempting to defend a black man against a fallacious rape charge in Depression-era South. The film gave Hollywood one of its leading heroes in Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 6pm, American Center

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/

Ken Kesey’s novel turned into a multiple award-winning film by Milos Forman sees a young rebel enter a mental institution only to rally the patients’ support against the oppressive and tyrannical Nurse Ratched. But there is more to the story then meets the eye!

19 September:

The Age of Innocence, 1200 hrs, American Center

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106226/

Martin Scorcese directed the adaptation of the eponymous Edith Wharton novel chronicling sexual intrigue in a 19th century New York society.

There Will Be Blood, 3pm, American Center

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/

Another landmark performance by the inimitable Daniel Day Lewis in this Paul Thomas Anderson double Oscar winning tale about the rise and fall of an oil prospector.

The Road, 6pm, American Center

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/

Cormac McCarthy’s edge of the seat, heartwrenching novel turned into a film by John Hillcoat sees Viggo Mortensen portray a man who, along with his son, tries to survive in post-apocalyptic America.

anupam1.v@livemint.com