Sideways
Brooding writer Miles (Paul Giamatti) takes his actor friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on a weeklong road trip to California wine country with the idea of playing golf and drinking wine. Miles is dejected and frustrated on account of his divorce and the uncertain fate of his yet-to-be-published-book. But nothing comes between the oenophile and his love for the thin-skinned Pinot Noir grape that grows in highly select conditions. Jack, on the other hand, is a wine virgin, preferring women over grapes to gratify the senses. Meandering through vineyards, sampling wine from different wine makers, they meet waitress and horticulturist Maya (Virginia Madsen) who matches Miles' knowledge of wine, and attendant Stephanie (Sandra Oh). The encounter sets into motion a tragicomic chain of events that leaves the foursome transformed in very different ways. Darkly funny and beautiful with exquisite insights into wine ("A bottle of wine is a whole life," as Maya puts it), Sideways was the toast of the "thinking" movie-watching set when it released in 2004. Celebrate this rich cinematic bouquet with a bottle of Pinot or a Cabernet - Miles doesn't think too highly of Merlot.

Bread and Tulips
Milanese director Silvio Soldini's tender and heartwarming comedy about Rosalba (Licia Maglietta), an Italian housewife who stumbles into the Bohemian life she was always meant for when she is left behind in a restroom by her family on a bus trip. Miffed at being literally forgotten by her brood, Rosalba decides to hitch-hike to Venice instead of waiting for them to come back and get her. Her adventures in the quaint backstreets of Venice and the motley group of people she meets - Fernando, a waiter from Iceland, Grazia, a masseuse and Fermo, a florist who employs her - leaves the free spirit feeling happier and more emotionally fulfilled than ever. Her absence doesn't go down well with her loutish husband who sends a madcap detective to track down his wife. Does Rosalba return to stifling domesticity or does she follow her heart and stay back in Venice? Activate the DVD machine to find out. Check in the foreign movie section of your DVD library for this movie in Spanish with English subtitles.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
A goofball version of Homer's Odyssey, this one sees three convicts, quick-witted Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), temperamental Pete (John Turturro) and sweet, foolish Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from jail to get their hands on some buried heist loot before it's washed away in a flood. Their journey to the treasure is peopled with some decidedly weird characters - a blind prophet, riverside sirens and a one-eyed Bible salesman. Set in Mississippi of the late 1930s, Cohen Brothers' outrageous road comedy is packed with chases, laughs and fast turns. Watch this one for the funnies. The flick is also worthy of mention for its outstanding blue-grass soundtrack.

Thelma and Louise
Ridley Scott's dark classic is likely to top most feminists' top 10 movie list. A weekend fishing trip by two friends, Arkansas houswife Thelma (Geena Davis) and waitress Louise (Susan Sarandon) turns ugly when a man at a roadside Honkytonk tries to rape Thelma. Louise kills him and the two hit the road to escape. Notwithstanding their chalk-and-cheese personalities - Thelma is quieter, more controlled, while Louise is impulsive and trouble-prone - both women are disillusioned with their men. On hit-and-run ride they meet a robber on parole, JD (Brad Pitt) who gives Thelma tips on robbing a bank but promptly decamps with their money. The women also meet a truck driver whom they shoot when he refuses to apologise for making obscene gestures at them. The CBI, which has been on their trail, finally succeeds in cornering them at the Grand Canyon. In a stunningly shot climax, the duo opts to drive off the cliff rather than being captured.

Before Sunset
Before Sunrise introduced us to 20-something Jesse and Celine who meet in a train, fall in love and part ways, all in a day, with the promise of meeting again six months later. The rendezvous is fated not to happen till much later. The cinematic follow-up to the unfinished romance, Before Sunset finds the lead couple Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) face to face again in Paris after a decade. The rambling dialogue between the pair – covering every possible topic under the sun from politics and the state of the world to speculations about whether they made out when they first met in Vienna – continues as they walk by the Seine, sit in a café, argue in a park, take the Bateau Mouche and finally drive to Celine’s flat. Jesse and Celine are older, married but the encounter makes them realise the experience they shared a decade ago has been the sole nourishment sustaining their romantic lives all these years. The meandering walk-and-talk scenes, which make the viewer feel like a privileged eavesdropper to the couple’s bantering conversations as they navigate Paris, make this an intimate cinematic experience. The chemistry between Hawke and Delpy is terrific, and makes any halfway romantic watcher root for Jesse to miss his flight and stay back with Celine.

Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities
This painterly poem on celluloid could have only come from an artist engaged in constant dialogue with his muse. M. F. Husain’s metaphorical exploration of the unique relationship between the creator and his creation finds expression in the story of a poet nawab (Raghubir Yadav) suffering from a writer’s block. His demanding and whimsical muse (Tabu) inspires him to weave three fascinating stories — of a perfume trader in Hyderabad, a desert beauty in Jaisalmer and an orphaned actor in Prague. The episodic narrative defies a literal storyline and is not for those looking for logic and sense. Santosh Sivan’s brilliant cinematography, Tabu’s exotic makeover and A R Rahman’s outstanding music (only he can create music that’s deeply spiritual yet shockingly sensuous) score combine to create a riot for the senses. The song Chinamma Chilakamma is a hedonist’s delight.

Motorcycle Diaries
What was Che Guevara like in his early years? Find out in this marvellous biopic, based on the Cuban revolutionary’s journals where he recounts his adventures with his best friend Alberto Granado while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s. When they set out on their travels across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela in order to do their medical residency, the two are callow college lads seeking fun and adventure before graduating. But the 8,000 mile journey — made on motorbike, truck, foot and raft — and the time spent in the San Pablo leper colony in the Amazon prove to be a turning point in Guevara’s life and reveals his true calling to him.

Under the Tuscan Sun
Watch this one for stunning Italian scenery and charming character sketches, but most of all, for Diane Lane’s splendid author-backed performance. Loosely based on Frances Maye’s memoirs of her time in languid Tuscany, the movie begins with the just-divorced Frances (played by Lane) taking off on an Italian sojourn to heal from the ravages of her personal life. In Tuscan country she stumbles upon a run-down villa which she loves so much, she decides to buy it. A Polish renovation crew comes to her help as she goes about the task of fixing the house, and by extension, repairing her own broken life. Frances’s interactions with the renovators and her neighbours and an abortive romance with an Italian prove to be significant landmarks in her journey towards self-realisation.

Lajja
A pregnant hausfrau in New York flees to India when she cannot take her husband’s philandering any more. Vaidehi’s Indian journey brings her in touch with her counterparts in oppression — a young bride who revolts against dowry on her wedding day, a feisty nautanki actress and a courageous midwife. All three women dare to take a stand against coercion but not all live to tell the tale. Starring Manisha Koirala, Mahima Chowdhary, Rekha and Madhuri Dixit, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s commercially offbeat film is worth a watch for its interesting narrative structure. The director weaves in Bollywood masala elements to make more palatable what is essentially a strong social statement about the injustices faced by Indian women.