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Reviews
Aggretsuko (2018)
Rating this because I'm scared of Netflix cancelling all great shows
Aggretsuko 3rd season is so good. Netflix has another bojack horseman on their hands. Don't they dare ever cancel it or I'll have to go sing death metal karaoke about it.
Midsommar (2019)
Wicker Man Sweden
Hereditary was a great film. This one not so much. There is no story. And it is supposedly set in Sweden but I'm sure Swedish people will be more than offended at the depiction. Still giving it 5 stars for all the "hidden symbolism" and stuff like that. Parts of it felt like it could be interesting but it just didn't follow through.
Typewriter (2019)
Stranger Things India
Sujoy Ghosh doing what he does best. Making copies of popular stuff in Hindi. This time it is Stranger Things. Gairik Sarkar is great on the camera. Jishu Sengupta is great. Watch if you have a lot of time.
Cosmopolis (2012)
Loved it as a fan of David Cronenberg
I don't know why this movie has such low reviews. As someone who has loved Cronenberg's films like Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, the visual treats like Crash & the pulpy ones like Xistenz, I am satisfied with this one. I was pretty disappointed by A Dangerous Method, this is the Cronenberg I love. Parts of it are confusing though, but it makes for good reason to watch it a second time.Some long pieces of monologue may bore most people not used to Cronenberg's indulgent style. Rober Pattinson is pretty good, will make a great Two Face in any future Batman films. The background score is minimal & captivating. Overall I would recommend this to anyone who has liked David Cronenberg's films & want more of his surreal, witty cinema that makes you think.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Needed: A Terminator to terminate the series. High time now.
Only one word for this. Disappointing. Maybe expectations were too high, maybe it's hard to make another T2, but then some originality would have been appreciated. Borrowing every single tried & tested method from the first two films (bullets, bazookas, molten lead, freezing... everything has been done before) does not make it a sure shot winner. Neither does the damp squib of a plot. If you haven't seen no 1 & 2 you will probably not even be impressed by John Connor, leader of the resistance, only hope for the humans, blah blah, if it was not for Christian Bale's lovely face it wouldn't have mattered even if John Connor was cut into 50 pieces & fed to mechanical hyenas. Everybody is an accessory in this movie, male lead, female lead, supporting cast, nobody matters, only thing that is good is the camera-work, special effects & the technical shizznit Hollywood is so good at. But then if technicality made good films then we'd see the Resident Evil series screened at Cannes. Verdict: Watch it if you have time to kill. Otherwise give us Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne any day, we'll pass on John Connor.
P.S: I almost forgot, wait for the scene where Arnie Schwarzenegger appears, it's so funny, you'll probably laugh enough to get your ticket-price's worth.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Allen meets Almodovar
Vicky Christina Barcelona has Woody Allen meeting Pedro Almodovar, & if you, like myself, love both these directors, you will definitely like this movie. So here you have Woody Allen's typical style, his breezy storytelling, his dry, quick wit & he throws in dashes of Almodovar's raging passions here & there & you get a concoction that is just right. Woody Allen likes his women beautiful, yet not sexy in their truest sense, not in the wild, free sense of the term at least. Here Allen's latest muse Scarlett Johansson (who has been in all of Allen's last few films) & the equally beautiful Rebecca Hall play the two American tourists going to Barcelona for a summer where their very lives are turned around in a whirlwind of romance, emotions, romance & art. You have the very talented, very handsome Javier Bardem playing the painter Juan Antonio who is the ultimate bohemian & treats life like a piece of art, full of sensual pleasures. Then there is Almodovar's muse Penelope Cruz, playing the free spirited Maria Elena, who is consumed by the passion that drives her, often burning bright, often burning her out. There is also a scene with the very Almodovarian Spanish soirée with the protagonists being overwhelmed by the music & then falling into passion. Overall, like all Allen's movies, this one too is witty & funny, never gets preachy or boring & is completely entertaining.
WALL·E (2008)
Arguably the best of 2008
Wall E crosses the thin line that most animation movies never dare to approach, & catapults itself into greatness. Yes it is funny in parts, yes it is about the triumph of the underdog, yes kids would love this one 'coz its just heartbreakingly cute. But there's more to Wall E than just that. It is one of the few animation movies that make you think, a thing that the Japanese have long done with their animation, but Hollywood rarely ventured to attempt. Yet it is not a serious ho-hum affair at all, it's sweet, it's endearing & it gives you that same fuzzy feeling that you got after you watched, say Amelie? Watch this one on the big screen, watch this one even if you despise the diabetic cuteness of Hollywood animation films, this is not something you expected.
American Beauty (1999)
Truly beautiful
This is what movies should be like. You go in expecting some melodrama or just some bland emotional tale, you come out dazed & almost enlightened.
Beautiful visuals, mind blowing acting, & music that gets you into the mood for the entire experience. You can actually feel this movie. And its one that you will remember for a long time after watching it. The images are unforgettable, the story touches the heart. Even in a crowded theater you can feel the tension, sit with bated breath, & almost be carried away into a trance like state. And in the end there is only one word that describes it, "beautiful".
This is one of the movies that will define out era. A piece of art.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Incredibly bad
If you expect this to be better than the previous Hulk movie, if you think Edward Norton could do no wrong, if you think Liv Tyler may have finally learnt to act... you are completely mistaken. It's a torture to sit through The Incredible Hulk.
The first part is entertaining enough. The action sequences are well shot. But 45 minutes into the movie, it all spirals down to a repetitive sequence of the same stunts, the same old junk. Liv Tyler is pretty to look at, but she really needs acing lessons. She holds the same, dazed expression on her face throughout. Edward Norton is probably the only hope, but he fails to rescue the boring plot.
It's almost obvious what turns the story would take. And it's not entertaining enough to watch similar action sequences over & over & over again. You almost wish that they don't start blowing up & bashing up things yet again, but they just don't stop. A headache inducer to be precise. Avoid.
Scoop (2006)
Comic thriller
I watched this movie not knowing what to expect. The plot read serious from various reviews i had read. The movie starts off with a funeral. Then 10 minutes into the movie I got a pleasant surprise. Nothing gets too serious in this movie. Not even death. And that is what makes this movie a delight to watch. Everything that may have called for boring drama is dealt with lightheartedly & comically. And yet there is a serious plot to go along with. Scarlett Johansson manages to look sexy even when she is completely plain. Woody Allen is lovable as the funny old magician turned father figure to Johansson's journalism student. Overall a nice, entertaining film.
Match Point (2005)
Entertaining & thoughtful
I haven't seen many of Woody Allen's movies, this was actually my third, after the classic Annie Hall & the more recent comic mystery Scoop, but i can already say that every single movie was entertaining & yet thoughtful from a certain angle, harmonizing the two is a difficult task for most story tellers, but Woody Allen does it with the ease of a maestro. The way the story builds, from innocence to sin & then an almost surreal sequence toward the end of the movie, is intriguing to watch. Its never predictable, even if anyone watches the movie knowing how it would end,they wouldn't really know or believe how it goes. Full entertainment, yet not cheap or conventional, neither is it over intellectualized. This is good cinema.
Sex and the City (2008)
Never take a guy to watch this movie
If you are looking for a movie to go to on a girls night out, this would be the right one. However take your boyfriend to watch this movie at your own risk. By the end of it, he'll either be dead, or brain damaged, or dump you, or discover that he's gay. There's nothing new to this movie if you have seen even a few episodes of the TV series. You see a lot of pretty dresses, lots of pretty shoes, lots of pretty but clearly ageing women, & lots of hunky men. The plot is so predictable that you can actually play a game of who can predict the next scene most accurately. Watch it if you have nothing better to do & forget it the moment you are out of the theatre.