Box office in a nutshell

Here are few movies I watched over last couple of weeks
2010 - Year We Make Contact
I was spellbound by '2001 - A Space Odyssey'. So much a suggestive movie - hats of to Kubrick. The almost three hour long movie might have total talking time of an hour! It leaves a space for the audience. And it creates an expectation for a good sequel. So when I realized I am watching '2010 - Year We Make Contact', I was expectant. But I am disappointed. It has lost all of its flavour. The main reason may be absence of Kubrick. '2010 ...' is just another Hollywood sci-fi. Nothing else.
My Life as a Dog
I heard of this 'weird-titled' movie while surfing Yahoo! Movies almost eight years ago. It had a very high rating. I had watched two Lasse Hallström movies - 'Chocolate' and 'Cider House Rules.' They are good movies. So I was all the more interested in 'My Life as a Dog'.
Hallström has done a wonderful job. Child psychology is so different that the grown ups often miss out the point. The most cherishable part of the movie is acting of all the child actors; they are so natural. A simple but complicated story of a village, young boy named Ingemar, his friends, his ailing mother, his dog, some weird people of the village and the dog Laika who was sent on Sputnic. The thing that makes the movie all the more enjoyable are occasional narrations by Ingemar when he ponders over his miserable life and takes into consideration the life of Lika the poor dog who had no benefit of space research but had to sacrifice her life in space for sake of her human masters. And he always comes up with the positive attitude, 'I'm lucky in a way, it could have been worse.' It is wonderfully positive and fresh movie.
Autumn Sonata
When two Bergmans come togethre on a project which in a way is so much related to their real life, what do you expect out of it? A Sonata in Celluloid. Magnificently supported by Liv Ullman. I already have written something in it!
The Barbarian Invasion
It really hurts when at the end of your life you get to know that you have achieved nothing! This movie really kept me thinking what I am here for. Its a comedy of all the trifling things like politics, various isms, sex, addiction that keeps on invading in your life and makes you confused about your goal. I will like to watch it again along with its prequel, 'Decline of the American Empire'.
Rent
The much waited musical. I wished to watch it on the Broadway someday. But the movie served the purpose for the time being. As a matter of fact, I felt it could have been better as a stage-play only; not the movie. The style is not really suited for screen. It is very good, though, but still... It is well acted, well sung, and indeed well cinematographed but still, the way it is presented, I mean song in every two dialouges, it better suits the stage. But still to me this movie version is lovable. Because I really love the songs of 'Rent'. And the movie is worth of my love for the 'Rent' soundtrack.
Children of Heaven
They say, Iranian directors know how to end a movie. This was my first encounter with any Iranian movie, and I'm bowled over. Kudos to Majid Majidi. A simple tale, brilliant acting by the children and brilliant cinematography and really brilliant closing sequence. I wish to write on it in somewhat more detail someday. So lets save for it. After watching this, it seems the movie could not have ended in any other way. It lost its 'Best Foreign Language Film' award at Oscar, 1998 to 'Life is Beautiful', which is also a wonderful movie. But 'Life is beautiful' seems too artificial after this one! I love this movie.