Category Archives: movie reivews

Kabir Singh: Movie Review

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

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H O L Y. S H I T.
This has been my reaction watching some of the movies in the past few years. I’m sure it has been yours as well, with one or the other. Kabir Singh is not that movie. 

See, anyone can try to be Guy Ritche, direct those cool camera shots- but they forget a very important aspect of a good film – writing. It needs to be at least a semblance of a coherent narrative and not a mere vehicle of blasting music to show the lead actor walking around via 15 camera shots from varied angles. The first half of the film was Tere Naam, rowdy guy falls in love with a potato, sorry, pretty girl and the girl falls for him too. And sorry, it’s pretty easy being confused between a vegetable and the lead actress of the movie, given they have the same personality.

The lead actress does not have more than 10 words in the movie. An empty vase, nothing more than that. Displaying a medical student in 2019 like the way the movie did, showcasing the college campus where there’s one sher and the rest are pathetic losers- including the warden, the dean, rest of the entire student base- should be borderline criminal.

And let’s not get started on the sheer misogynist undertones. The actor kisses the lady without consent then practically says no one saw anything, tells who her friends should be, fat shames, is inappropriate to the father of a first year student- eyeing her in front of him, and if this wasn’t enough, slaps the lady as well. Don’t think that the heroine even opened her mouth in the first hour twenty minutes of the movie and thought that the big twist of the movie would be that she is a mute or a mentally disadvantaged kid or something.  

Well, turns out she was just stupid. And Shahid, as good as he looks and carries himself, can do only so much with the shitty writing and direction. Not a lot to gain from glorifying a ‘chutiya’, could have just shown his life from a normal lens and not the lens of a hero- could have made a half-decent watch. Still could be, I could only sit through the first half, and that’s just because I’d gone with someone. Else would have walked out in 20. At max.

Sanju- Movie Review

19 Thursday Jul 2018

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Granted, it’s always difficult to make a biopic about someone who still is very much in the public arena; and while ‘Sanju’ ticks off a lot of boxes, it falters at a fair few as well. Much as its protagonist’s story.

The movie is a mix of good, bad, and ugly. Both in respect to Sanjay Dutt’s life and the narration. The movie tries to give in a very one-sided view of the actual story of Sanjay Dutt, but maybe Hirani thought that we’ve gotten enough from the other side (‘the press’)- which he attacks from a couple of fronts in the movie. It’s just a bit ironic that in the age that every other news is being branded as ‘Fake News’, in here, they have put in a symbol in the form of a ‘question mark’ (quite literally) to brand most that had been sprouted by the media as lies. But that’s the creative freedom which we need to give the story-teller, and even if you aren’t completely ecstatic about this, you can respect that.

But there were a couple of things that massively exasperated me in the film. The first being the use of stereotypes, time and again. The scene with the Parsi family kept stretching on and the whole Gujju thing has been done on-screen for countless times already, man, you really cannot add anything on the subject at this point in time. And for the second- the use of ‘Kamli’ in the film, at times comes out to be taking the easy route, used for nothing but a prop to propel the story forward.

Personally, I would have liked this story presented as more of a grey macabre than a black-and-white mural, a show with some added nuance, a hint of secrecy, and some unanswered questions. The best thing about it is the performance of Ranbir Kapoor, who does his reputation of being the finest Indian actor of this generation no harm- his performance is nothing short of brilliant, Paresh Raval, who made us want a movie about Sunil Dutt’s life, and a mention has to go to Vicky Kaushal’s portrayal of the slapstick comedy dude, ‘Kamli’.

It was a decent movie, but it’s for the masses and the box results of ~300 Cr. speaks plenty of the chord it has stuck with them. I just wish it had prodded and poked a bit more.

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Thor: Ragnarok Review

06 Monday Nov 2017

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Thor: Ragnarok is an embarrassment that keeps searching for its identity between Deadpool and The Avengers. The humor is forced, and it successfully accomplishes in reducing the God of Thunder to a comical struct- one not so witty as the Deadpool, not so charmingly humorous as one Tony Stark, and not so straightforward as Captain America either.
The movie is a classic example of Bollywood in early 2000s – you have a couple of hit movies (The Avengers, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy)- and you think you have discovered the formula. Now instead of expanding the horizons in which you can engage your audience, you rinse and repeat. You mix and match. All the while laughing your way to the bank.
If you are a Marvel Fanboy- you might like the movie. Or a lady who just wants to have a good time looking at Mr. Hemsworth (let’s just say if I were remotely like him, I wouldn’t have worn any clothes in my life). Or if you are a kid. It felt like a movie made for kids- or for anyone whose brain ain’t developed enough.
Tom Hiddleston is charming as ever, as Loki, but an actor of his caliber must be getting tired of playing the same one-dimensional character over and again. Cate Blanchett has got to be the finest woman-villain in fantasy for Hollywood. Chris Hemsworth does whatever he’s been told to, not his fault that the studios wanted to make the movie a certain way.

Ah Come on!

The visual effects are enchanting, could have used a little more serious storytelling. I do not want inane jokes in the middle of an intense battle scene- which never reaches an intense level because of the said jokes.

 

Check out this review of Thor. The one unpaid review that I could find on the internet: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/movies/thor-ragnarok-review-chris-hemsworth.html

 

Blade Runner: 2049

08 Sunday Oct 2017

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There’s something about this world that entices us, and repels at the same time. The concept of replicants, and through that, humanity. Humans breeding generations of slaves to do the dirty work for them, no more endangering or humiliating jobs for the elite race – even when the replicants are better than humans in almost every aspect. Except, as humans believe, having a soul.

The dystopian future has moved forward in the past thirty years. The new generation of replications is bio engineered to be miles better than the Nexus 8 series- which are being hunted down by Blade Runner to be replaced by the Nexus 9s- the ultimate obedient soldiers for mankind. This world is as forgiving to the replicants as the last, Deckard is as he was in the last film, and the new Blade Runner is efficient af. There are so many similarities in his interaction with replicants, which are spread across the entirety of the movie.

Before watching this movie, be sure to check out the three short films that were released over the past few months that depict the progress of the world since the last Blade Runner. Blade Runner: 2049 is a lengthy saga, but one that keeps you glued to your seat till the very end. The music is amazing, the storyline seamless and the visuals- a spectacle. The direction around Gosling’s interactions with the AI was better than La La Land (in my own humble opinion!)- and you gotta see the movie to get what I am talking about. A few of the scenes were nothing short of fabulous and something that I haven’t felt with the big screen for a little while now.
Also, Take a look at Harrison Ford, and you’d wish to grow up old even half as gracefully as he has done- bugger looks better than freaking Gosling in the movie- and I’m not kidding!

On a personal note, we’d discussed ‘Blade Runner’ during our course of Science Fiction in Movies when at undergrad. I’d written a pretty decent writeup on the movie as well, and I cannot believe that I did the reviews that time in a notebook (that obviously had to get lost!). Discussing this one with Prof. ANS would be an absolute joy again!

Go watch it. Best movie I’ve seen in a longass time! And if you are a science fiction fan, you’d be making plans of a second viewing already, as I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Room – movie review

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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You’d read the movie description and might ponder if this would be anything remotely interesting, if at all. Make no mistakes, this slow paced adaptation of the book is excellent by all accounts. Brie Larson who plays Joy, the mother, delivers an impactful performance and William Macy is excellent as usual with the short role he is at in the movie. But the star of the show is the nine-year-old actor, Jacob Tremblay (Jack). He carries more than half of the movie on his slender shoulders effortlessly and with such maturity that you forget that this is a child actor that we are talking about here!

 

The movie showcases some of the most powerful emotions and shades of the human nature with delicate subtlety. It discusses the adaptability of the human mind by making the audience question how “relative” is reality when you see a room as your world. And the close connection between a mother and a child- they are the two people for each other in the whole wide world- is an extension of the womb and you cannot escape the feeling that if Jack sees the world outside for the first time, the experience would be nothing short of rebirth.

 

I cannot discuss it any further because of the fear of sending a spoiler or two your way. This is easily one of the best movies of 2015- it is powerful, funny, realistic and absolutely incredible. Be warned, it has the capacity to dig out a tear or two as well.

Do watch!

The Hateful Eight – movie review

18 Monday Jan 2016

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A tale of blood, suspense and mistrust.

Tarantino has made this movie for his fans. If you aren’t acquainted with his work, start with Reservoir Dogs, do the Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds. Then jump on to his more groovy work with Death Proof, Natural Born Killers and Grindhouse. (Django was too commercial a Tarantino work for me). Now you are all set. Get ready for a three-hour long saga looking at eight people, more or less, and getting enthralled and amazed.

The suspense in the movie is genuine- you are at the edge the whole time figuring stuff out and making the connections so that you can go in the end like aaah- I knew that! But when has Tarantino been this simple, and I think it is marvelous that he has been able to create so much with so few characters. The dialogues are extremely funny- dang dark humor, the plot is thick, you cannot point out a finger to who lies, and to someone who is living on the part of the globe with snow all around, the cold conditions on which the movie has been set gives you the absolute chills.

Samuel L. Jackson steals the show along with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russel is brilliant, Micheal Madsen is surprisingly old- one always wonders how come he hasn’t appeared in more movies, and Tim Roth can be confused with Christopher Waltz for one half of the movie! This film has all the Tarantino quirks, people vomiting blood, shots to the head with brain splatters, a quiet peaceful symphony with the most intense and disturbing scene that creates a blizzare effect, extremely funny dialogues at the most unthought of circumstances (diaaaaabooolicaaal biiiiiiaatch, dialogues between Jackson and Bob the Mexican), some lovable poor characters who die for nothing, and this film has Mr. Quentin at his unrestricted, unstrained best.

One of his best movies- it was an experience to say the least. And to imagine Tarantino nearly scraped off the project because of the leaked script!

The Big Short- Movie Review

02 Saturday Jan 2016

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“The truth is like poetry and most people hate poetry”

How do you make a movie about the biggest financial meltdown in the history? Quite simple- you present the facts as there are and you stay as close to what happened as possible. Ah, simple, but then how do you stop your movie from turning into a documentary – because there simple have been many- Zeitgeist being one of the best that comes into mind.

The Big Short tries to keep it simple- it takes some of the best actors in the industry; it has a bunch of people who you can relate to – chefs, reality stars, music artists- explain the meaning of the terms that are used by the banks that a normal Tom, Dick, Harry won’t have any idea about; and it juxtaposes the images of what all had happened a few years back with the pace of the movie in neatly spaced timelines; and pays an impressive attention to detail. It does not match the precession of Micheal Lewis’s ‘The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine’, the book that it has been adapted from, but then Lewis’s book is not for your regular reader with the number of financial terms that are thrown in the mix- but somehow the movie manages to keep it all together and explains everything without indulging in anything too fancy.

It has Ryan Gosling being Ryan Gosling- at his charismatic best handling the narrative of the whole movie, Christian Bale taking on a challenging role as an eccentric numbers genius, Steve Carrel impressing again after his brilliant portrayal of John du Pont in Foxcatcher with another serious role, Brad Pitt doing what he does best- giving zero fucks in one scene and a million in the other. And the strength of The Big Short lies in not focusing on a single character but the storyline, the characters play their way out in each of the scenes.

The movie has just the right blend of comedy infused with classy subtlety, style- it wouldn’t be a wall street movie without it, elements of humanity- showcasing people losing their homes, and a comment on the system as a whole- well, money brings corruption and the lessons of the past are forgotten pretty shortly. It is not a movie that you cannot miss, but should definitely give it a watch if you have a little time to spare in your hands just because the actors in the movie are plain brilliant! Steve Carrel’s performance is probably the best of the bunch, and that is saying a lot when you look at the starcast, and Bale- true to his character- stays out of the limelight.

Spotlight – movie review

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Some movies stay with you long after they have ended. And a few do it with such panache. Spotlight picks up a delicate story, and lays out the events that happened with finesse, leaving you wondering where you were when the grave misdoings happened. The movie is based on the true story of how The Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese. We have all read about this story, we have all seen Priests made fun of in comedy shows and jokes written about the molestation of little boys, this movie makes you feel the pain a child must have gone through when the violation occurred, and so much more.

 

“What do you do when the God asks you to do something?”, implores one of the church victims at one point. And that is when you try to comprehend the gravity of the whole situation. These were God’s men we are talking about here; these are spiritual leaders. The children they broke either went into depression, alcoholism, drugs or took their own lives. And the movie does not try to sugarcoat it, and it does not try to amplify the whole situation- it presents the way it is and leaves it to the audience to comprehend.

 

The people in the movie are brilliant, and you could expect nothing less of the cast of Micheal Keaton- who has carried on his amazing work after Birdman, Mark Ruffalo- thick accent, wonderful as ever, the beautiful Rachel McAdams, Liev ‘Sabertooth’ Schrieber and John ‘Madmen’ Slattery. I knew nothing about the movie before I started watching it- started it partly because of the cast, and was blown away. It tells us the importance of investigative journalism- something that is a dying breed nowadays, and the impact that it can have on the whole world. The movie does not turn the journalists into heroes, it presents them as who they are, lets them do their job, with a realism that grips the audience. It tenderly lays down tiny insights into the lives of the journalists, as well as the people who had been violated- twice- one by the priests and second by the system that did nothing to punish who wronged them.

 

Do watch! 10/10.

Roy – Movie review

19 Thursday Feb 2015

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Usually small names for movies are reserved for those that are packed-a-punch. I’ll try to keep this discussion to just hindi movies– Gajini, Gadar, Lagaan, Bhoot, Dil Se- we loved them. They didn’t go for discussing the movies’ entirety in the name itself – a la Dilwaale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (this is the name of the movie and the whole fucking theatre claps when the dilwaala does take the dulhaniya – duuude!), Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (-_-), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (Oooooo- such suspense, tauba!) etc etc.

On the other hand, Roy is an extremely poorly written pretentious fuck of a movie. The less you talk about it, the better. Even the hummable songs can’t be the saving grace for the movie. Here the movie is in a nutshell (if you say this is a spoiler- fuck you) – the protagonist tries to pull off ‘the intelligent artist’ look and falls for a lady. The lady then acts as a muse for his story that he is directing but has just started writing (really?!). After a night of hot steamy sex, the lady gets up and reads the unfinished script of the director in which the story’s protagonist leaves the lady of the story after their first night in bed. Keep in mind the script is UNFINISHED. Our heroine gets so mad after reading it that she thinks that our hero is a fascist pig who only thinks about himself and leaves him stranding on the airport. We can only guess, because throughout the movie we can’t figure what the fuck is she angry about. Our hero, though a playa– having had 25 ‘girlfriends’- suffers a breakdown when she leaves. We cannot figure out exactly what happens in the later part of the movie- how he completes the script, makes the movie and somehow all is well.

In the movie, the dialogues are non-existent, the acting is poor and the direction is – well, let’s just say I enjoyed Housefull-2 more. The ingredients are all there in the movie, and if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find hints of story as well. Ranbir Kapoor has been wasted in the movie – one might agree that it was in his character not to display emotions, but comeon – the director did no justice to Mr Kapoor’s acting talents. That hunk of a man, Arjun Rampal is decent with whatever had been given to him and then there is the sex-bomb of a lady- Jacqueline Fernandez. When you see her in the entire movie and get a feast of her legs properly for only one song, you know that there is something wrong. Okay, that was sexist, but she cannot act, cannot deliver dialogues, and you still love her – why, anyone? ; )

P.S: Thanks for going through the review. Here’s the snapshot of the most enjoyable four minutes of the movie. Those legs maaaan, damn ! \o/

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