gangeshgnair Reviews

A Thousand and One (2023)

a very strong story between a mother and son, but very slow

[6/10 · 20 April 2023]

"a thousand and one" a very strong story between a mother and son, but very slow

i kind of liked the movie, but also not like it in a way. The performances were amazing, teyana tylor was good. The way they showed the neighborhood, the geography of the place was very nice and natural. The cinematography was amazing, especially the colour grading, it had a retro effect with some grains kind of effect which was very amazing. The movie effectively show's the difficulties a single mom has to goes through. The movie was a nice portrayal of a black people in America.

The main issue with the movie is the pace. Even though the movie is not even 2 hrs long, i felt the movie was slow and dragging in many places. If they would have made the movie in a better pace, i think i would have liked it a bit more.

Bones and All (2022)

a very different concept, but didn't work quite much for me.

[5/10 · 20 April 2023]

"bones and all" a very different concept, but didn't work quite much for me.

I am not sure if i liked the movie, the movie sure is very different. Someone with cannibalistic nature is usually portrayed as a bad person or a villain ( which i feel is the right way to do it), but here its totally different. But here cannibalism in human beings are portrayed as a natural stuff in them or as something that they cant avoid. I liked the performances, everyone were good. The cinematography was nice. The movie had a good aesthetics and style.

The issue with the movie is that the characters didn't feel much effective actually. The way Maren yearly's character is developed through the voice over in the tape by her father was nice, but not effective. It would have worked visually much more. Mark Rylance's character didn't work for me. The pacing felt a bit slow.

A pretty average watch according to me.

Madanolsavam (2023)

a nice comedy political satire

[7/10 · 17 April 2023]

"madanolsavam" a nice comedy political satire"

amazing performances by all the actors. Suraj venjaramood, bhama arun, rajesh madhavan, all were amazing. The most impressive part is the writing as characters are really enjoyable and connecting throughout the movie. The jokes work mostly, but were not complete laugh out loud moments. An engaging and enjoyable watch according to me.

The issue with the movie is that climax couldn't land an effective impact. Comparing it with Ratheesh Balakrishna poduvals previous movie "naa thaan case kodu", this movie fails to create a similar impact. This movie is also basically man vs system but the way he wins the system is not enjoyable satisficing enough.

Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

a masterpiece

[10/10 · 17 April 2023]

"gangs of Wasseypur : part one" a masterpiece

this is one of those movies i like to revisit once in a while, every time i watch it there are minute details i pick up that's new and went unnoticed before. What makes this movie a masterpiece ?, everything about it. The characters are so unforgettable, intense and funny at the same time. Anurag Kashyap credits Sasikumar's "Subramanya Puram" as his inspiration but for me the obvious inspiration seems to be martin Scorsese's "gangs of New York" . Both the names sounds similar, both the story plot are revolving around revenge and both the story lines show the changes that happened in the respective city or places over years of time. Where this movie excels is in its understanding and capturing of the geography, socio political situations and conveying it to the audience so interestingly. From costumes to architecture to songs, the authenticity and aesthetics is undeniable. Bollywood's directors must learn how to use music in movies from this movie. The way the music blends in this scenes is just so amazing, i wonder why Sneha khanwalkar is not making more music in bollywood movies. The performances in this movie is exceptional, Manoj Bajpayee, Himanshu Dhulia, Nawazuddin Siddique, Richa chadda, Vineeth, and everyone gives exceptional and career best performances. I can talk about this movie for hours, but let me just stop here and say, its a masterpiece.

"gangs of Wasseypur : part two" another masterpiece.

Many people seems to have a issue in still figuring out which is a better movie, godfather part 1 or part 2. I have a similar situation going on about gangs of Wasseypur part 1 and 2, i cant properly answer which is better. There are few movies that tell stories of such interesting and compelling characters from their birth to death and gives an amazing character study. I cant praise this movie enough and how much i love it. The performances, the songs, the writing, the dialogues, the background music, i like everything about this movie. I personally don't think Anurag Kashyap can make a movie that will surpass this. But i also wish he does something like that and surprise me completely. Nothing much to say, its a masterpiece. Watch it, if you haven't watched it already.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

just another marvel movie.

[5/10 · 17 April 2023]

"ant man and the wasp: quantumania" just another marvel movie.

After "avengers endgame" marvel is really struggling to keep me engaged with its story line. This quantity over quality stuff is really not working for me. Keeping up with so many series and movies really takes off the interest in the storyline. The only series i liked in the recent times is "moon knight" apart from that everything seems pretty average. Coming to this movie, kang the conqueror doesn't see like a interesting villain. There is something about thanos that made us really connect to him and made him a dangerous guy. Some action sequences were fun. The performances by all the actors were ok. But the movie in general fails to create any kind of lasting impact just feels like a flick, i hope marvel creates drastic changes in its approach to movies or i feel they are going to loose their fanbase slowly.

Viduthalai: Part 1 (2023)

Vetrimaaran is one of the best filmmaker in the country.

[10/10 · 14 April 2023]

"viduthalai: part 1" Vetrimaaran is one of the best filmmaker in the country.

Such an amazing movie. What an amazing performance by all the actors. Such raw, natural and effective story telling by Vetrimaaran. Soori and Bhavani Sri, what an amazing pair on screen. One of the best romantic tracks seen in recent times. Amazing production design and cinematography. The single take in the beginning was so amazing. Ilayarajas music was so nice, his classic style. I need not say how amazing writer Vetrimaaran is, the movie has such emotional and standout scenes that i can watch again and again. Waiting for part 2.

There are few issues in the lip synch, which is very evident in some scenes, but i don't care, that shouldn't make you miss this amazing movie.

Burqa (2023)

"burqa" is a debate, but not enough to get me engaged.

[5/10 · 13 April 2023]

"burqa" is a debate, but not enough to get me engaged.

What i liked about this movie is the amazing cinematography, the whole movie happens in a house mostly and the cinematographer has included so many shots to avoid a sense of repetition and the shots were so nice. Both the actors gave decent performance. This movie kind of reminded me of the Malayalam movie "kuruthi", completely different plots, but gives a similar vibe.

The issue is that the conversations didn't feel engaging enough to keep me invested. At some points it was interesting but after a point it felt a bit lagging as there were no escalation of events to keep me hooked in.

Hunger (II) (2023)

food porn, reflection on society and entertaining.

[9/10 · 13 April 2023]

"hunger" is food porn, reflection on society and entertaining.

The movie is so nice because it has a lot of layers and it conveys the theme of the story so nicely. What is humans hunger leading them to ? Hunger for food, hunger for money, hunger for fame. The cinematography is so nice, especially the scenes where people are eating their food and in some scenes when the chef prepare the food, all was shot so nicely. Amazing performance by chutimon chuengcharo, you would know how an amazing actor she is if you have watched her movie "bad genius", she gives a nice performance here also. The writing was engaging, the songs were nice. The final face off between the student and the teacher was so nice.

A really nice engaging and entertaining must watch movie.

Ayodhi (2023)

a decent watch.

[7/10 · 11 April 2023]

"ayothi" a decent watch.

I really liked the second half of the movie, it was very engaging and made me root for the characters more, the stakes were high. The show steeler is Preethi Asrani, she gave a really amazing performance especially in the emotional scenes. M Sasikumar and Yashpal Sharma were good. The message they tried to convey through the movie was nice, they did it without getting preachy or awkward and did it effectively.

Some scenes felt unnecessary, the fight in the first half (the intro scene of Sasikumar). The first half also felt a bit dragging, they take too much time to establish the characters. There were lip-synch issue in few places. The way Yashpal's character was written felt a bit exaggerated sometimes.

A decent one time watch overall.

Inside (I) (2023)

not enough pace to be engaging

[5/10 · 9 April 2023]

"inside" not enough pace to be engaging.

Willem Dafoe was amazing, he is one of the reasons i watched the movie till the end. Some scenes and some shots were really good. Especially a top angle shot in the bathroom. The cinematography was nice.

Even with a very low run time i felt the movie had a really slow pace. This movie reminded me of the 2016 Hindi movie "trapped" directed by vikramaditya motwane, the plot is almost similar, but i remember liking that movie very much and the movie was also very engaging. This movie also discusses art very much, there are many metaphors, which i did not understand completely. I felt its a pretty average one time watch.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

an engaging watch

[7/10 · 8 April 2023]

"shazam fury of god" an engaging watch.

I enjoyed the movie, pretty much was engaged throughout. The jokes were nice. The action sequences were amazing, especially the one in the bridge and the one in the climax. Jack Dylan grazer was the show steeler, i liked his character very much and the way he performed it. All the actors gave good performances. The music was good.

The superhero fatigue is really being evident now as there are so many superhero movies and almost everyone kind of feels the same, but this movie didn't feel that bad as the humor worked for me in most of the places.

Watch it if u liked the previous shazam movie.

Rye Lane (2023)

aesthetics, vibe and music

[8/10 · 7 April 2023]

"Rye Lane" aesthetics, vibe and music

if you are looking for something visually pleasing, then just go watch this movie. Amazing cinematography, so colorful and beautiful. The director definitely has an amazing visual sense. I just read a review in which someone wrote, "the movie is like before sunrise and Wes Anderson had a baby", i couldn't agree more. Vivian Oprah and David Jonsson were amazing together. The jokes were amazing. The editing and the story telling style especially when the characters narrates their breakup story were amazing. The music was really good. Aesthetically pleasing. Looking forward to Raine Allen millers future projects.

Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat (2022)

"almost pyaar with dj mohabbat" is almost good.

[7/10 · 6 April 2023]

"almost pyaar with dj mohabbat" is almost good.

This movie gave me a "love aaj kal" 2009 directed by imtiaz ali vibe. This movie kind of has a similar writing pattern, two love stories, two different places, similar looking people. Some scenes were really good, both the love stories worked for me to an extent. The performances were really good. Karan Mehta looks like a really good promising actor. Aalya was really good. Amit Trivedi's songs were nice. I was engaged till the end.

The reviews were really bad, so i tuned into this movie with zero expectations, maybe that's why i thought the movie is pretty good. Vicky Kaushal's voice over didn't work for me actually, it was hard to figure out what he was telling and how it applied in the situations actually. The climax felt interesting, but still not that impactful and its a anurag kashyap movie, so the expectations are always high.

Watch it with zero expectations, it might work, it kind of worked for me.

As Good as It Gets (1997)

"as good as it gets" is as good as it gets.

[10/10 · 5 April 2023]

"as good as it gets" is as good as it gets.

What an amazing feel good movie. The performances are just so amazing. Jack Nicolson is from a different league, he was just amazing. What i really loved is Helen hunts performance, what an amazing performance. I was just in love with her character and the actress. The combination scenes between jack and Helen were just amazing. The dialogues were so nice, they do get dramatic at places but its so natural and feels very organic. Greg Kinnear gave an amazing performance. The writing is amazing, the characters are written so nicely. The relationship and its complexities among the characters were explored so nicely. I loved the dog in the movie. Its an amazing movie, just watch it if you haven't.

Black Friday (2004)

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

[10/10 · 5 April 2023]

"Black Friday" an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Anurag Kashyap's masterpiece. I love gangs of Wasseypur for sure, but this movie deserves a different fanbase. An investigative procedural, character study, thriller, true crime its everything. Such an intense and natural story telling style. The writing is just amazing, the non linear style makes this movie much more gripping. The interrogation scenes, the chase in the slum area are some of my favorite scenes. Another best thing about this movie is the way it looks at different perspectives of each character. I am sure any other Bollywood's director would have made this movie into a preachy message movie about how Hindu Muslim can be brothers, but look at how Anurag Kashyap handles the story. He looks at the base of the issue, go backs to the beginning and tracks down how hate grows in a human being.

Want this Anurag Kashyap back.

Tetris (2023)

an amazing, entertaining and engaging biopic

[9/10 · 3 April 2023]

"Tetris" an amazing, entertaining and engaging biopic.

What i liked so much about this movie is that there is a lot of information dump within the first 15 minutes of the movie, but it never felt boring or lagging. The story telling style, narration and the editing is done so nicely, it held me in the hook all the time. The screenplay for sure is fictionalized a bit, but if the story is even 70 percent close to reality, then i am really surprised that this game has such an amazing history behind it. The movie never gets confusing, even though there are many geo political situations and characters involved in it. Amazing performance by all the actors. Taron gave an amazing performance. Music was amazing. The car chase in the end was really amazing. One of my favorite movies of 2023 for sure.

Bommai Nayagi (2023)

at what cost is the justice served ?

[9/10 · 31 March 2023]

"bommai nayagi" at what cost is the justice served ?

This movie very much reminded me of the Korean movie "HOPE". Both the movies have a very similar kind of plot but are also very different in the setup and execution. The relationship between a father and a daughter and the situations a father has to go through, his helplessness and struggles are portrayed so amazingly in this movie. The movie questions justice systems, cast systems in rural parts of south India and show this affect the life of normal people there. Baby srimathi as bommai nayaki gives an amazing performance, her innocence just makes you root for the character. Yogi babu and subathra gave nice performances. The writing was really amazing in many places, my favorite scene is when the small girl is brought to court and the judge interrogates her, such a beautiful and amazing scene. The scene shows how something can be done very gently and responsibly rather than making it ugly. The music in the movie was amazing.

Definitely a must watch.

Champions (2023)

an amazing feel good movie that's going to leave your heart full.

[10/10 · 30 March 2023]

"champions" an amazing feel good movie that's going to leave your heart full.

What an amazing movie. I have watched the original Spanish's version, but i liked this movie much more. Amazing performances by everyone. The movie works so beautifully only because of all the amazing performances. The writing was good, the jokes were amazing, the movie worked emotionally. I almost cried in the end, even though i knew the climax. Woody harrelson and kaitlin were amazing on screen. The music was so good. The basketball game scenes were shot really nice.

Definitely one of my favorite movies of the year.

The Northman (2022)

dark, beautiful, gory but usual.

[7/10 · 30 March 2023]

"the Northman" dark, beautiful, gory but usual.

The beauty of this movie needs to be commended. The cinematography is amazing. The visuals really give a different type of vibe to this movie. The music was amazing. The performances were good. Anya taylor joy gives an amazing performance. Alexander was good. The story looked like a folklore to me. Its loosely inspired from Shakspheres hamlet. The afterlife elements, the spirits the Blackmagic all gives the movie a different and stylish vibe.

The issue i had with the movie is that, at the end of the movie it remains just a normal revenge story. The backdrop of the story or all the extra elements they added in the story did not do much effect for me.

A good watch, great performances, great making style.

The Batman (2022)

such a different superhero movie after a long time

[9/10 · 29 March 2023]

"the batman" such a different superhero movie after a long time.

The biggest positive about this movie is that it doesn't feel like a superhero movie, even though its a superhero movie. The way they approached this movie is really interesting, the movie demands total attention to details. The story is basically a crime investigation drama, the way they incorporate batman into the story is really interesting, fresh and new. Cinematography is just beautiful. The movie just works amazing visually. No words about music, such an amazing background score. Robert Pattinson was amazing as batman, but i wished they included more scenes of him not in the suit also. Zoe Kravitz was amazing as catwoman. All the actors give an amazing performance. I really wish they come with a second part.

Paradise: Faith (2012)

what does too much faith lead us to ?

[10/10 · 26 March 2023]

"paradise: faith" what does too much faith lead us to ?

The movie definitely has some strong imagery, just look at the first and the last scene of the movie, it clearly shows the character arc of the main character. The movie is an amazing character study. Some scenes in the movie, the way they are shot, its so raw and natural, these makes the scenes more powerful and intense. What an amazing performance by maria hofstatter and nabil saleh. After watching the two movies of the trilogy, i think ulrich seidl is a director with amazing and visually appealing story telling style. Looking forward to watcvhing more of his movies.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

whole new level of action set pieces

[10/10 · 25 March 2023]

"john wick chapter 4" whole new level of action set pieces

i wouldn't say this movie is a masterpiece, but the action sequences make this one a highly worth watch in theaters. What else does anyone expect from a john wick movie. The last one hour of this movie is just like blazing fire. Keanu reeves, i dont think i can see him in any other character unless he cuts his hair or something. He just shines in the action sequences and embodies this character completely. All the extras and other actors give an amazing performance. Action sequences, top notch. Cinematography, top notch. Music, top notch.

Paradise: Love (2012)

everyone longs for love and searches for it

[10/10 · 24 March 2023]

"paradise: love" everyone longs for love and searches for it

there are always some movies that pulls me down to reality and show what life really is, this is one of that movie. Humans are emotional beings, everyone longs for love and searches for it. I have seen many movies in which the main character goes for a vacation in a foreign country and then many stuff happens, but its usually a comedy or movies that give a sense of feel good. This movie is a complete opposite. The making is so natural and raw. All the actors give an amazing performance. Margarete tisel as teresa gives the best performance, such an amazing and natural actor. I really wish if someone could recommend some of her other good performances like this. Its in her amazing performance that i liked this movie very much. The cinematography was so nice. I think most of the movie was done in natural lighting. Really gave me a sense that i am in Kenya with these characters.

Resurrection (1999)

a crime investigation thriller that is so underrated

[10/10 · 23 March 2023]

"resurrection" a crime investigation thriller that is so underrated.

To begin with, this is one of the most amazing and well written crime investigation thriller movie i have seen. The writing and the making of this movie is so good. The movie came out in 1999 but still doesn't feel outdated or irrelevant in any way. The moments of tension and thrill are so intense. The screenplay is just so engaging throughout. The cinematography needs to be mentioned, the dark tone, some camera pan techniques they use, its so good, builds tension in many scenes.

This movie is so underrated because of its comparison to the movie seven. But believe me and give it a try, you might as well like it.

Pathaan (2023)

a pretty average action flick.

[5/10 · 22 March 2023]

"pathaan" a pretty average action flick.

The huge star cast is the main attraction and everybody gives a decent performance. Good to see srk after a long time. Deepika was nice. John abraham steels the show. The writing was good in few places. John abrahams character was nicely written and worked emotionally also. The movie kept me engaging to an extent till the end. Cinematography was nice, songs were good, background music was nice.

The main issue with the movie is its overdependence on vfx, it actually dampers the movie experience. The dramatic dialogues works in some places, but doesn't feel organic in most situations

watch it if you like action flicks, but don't keep much expectations.