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avaraana
I've seen things.
Also a leading member of the revolutionary social movement, 'Why isn't Basil Joseph in this film?'
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Manjummel Boys (2024)
A riveting tale of fear and friendship; filmmaking at its finest.
'Manjummel Boys' will likely go down as one of the most brilliantly executed films the storytelling landscape has seen in years.
The film's mastery lies in its blending of reality and fantasy, mixing raw primal emotions like fear, curiosity, guilt, love and bravery into a tapestry of scenes befitting Palaeolithic cave art for its gripping intensity and the honesty with which it treats its characters.
A seemingly straightforward plot, it's easy to expect equally straightforward treatment, given this tale is based on a true story. This could've been a cold, serious docudrama or a fantastical take on the legends of the mountains, they could've weaved in preachy sociopolitical commentary and critiques, but to the delight of the audience, they chose a different path.
Each frame oozes with layers and layers of story, well-crafted character development, and a raw aesthetic that captures the awe-inspiring wonders and dangers of the deep, misty, ancient mountains. The storyline is flanked by conundrums of caution and culture, fate and faith, all without any preachy dialogues. In many moments, the film almost philosophically straddles a fine line between tradition and modernity, without openly questioning either. They leave that to the audience. The film-makers treat their audience with maturity, there is no spoon-feeding, instead it is a buffet of creative excellence. Some of the visual metaphors are so delicate, you may just miss them in the palpable, edge-of-your-seat tension that holds the story together.
There is no sermonizing, no moral science lectures, every single aspect of the production from the dialogues to the screenplay, the direction, casting, the seamless editing, heart-pounding visuals, the score, art direction, colours, costumes, and ufffffff the lighting! All masters in their own right, and still every single element melds together in service of the film as a whole, and not solely for their own praise.
This film is a love letter to nature, unsaid promises between friends, and the indomitable force that is the human spirit. This is the kind of film that stays with you, and will probably flash through your eyes on your next trip to the mighty mountains with your buddies. Can't give half star extra on IMDB, but this is a strong 8.5/10 for me. Vere level, seriously. I could do a shot by shot breakdown and go on and on about why each layer works so well with the others, but then what will you do after watching it?
Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
An aca-cceptable Performance
Not great, not all that terrible- a decent watch if you're bored and need to kill some time, or drone out the usual rational voice in your head.
Pitch Perfect has always been more of a guilty watch, I never expected a fine art film with a gripping storyline or uh, logic. But that said, I think they pushed it a little too far... Man, I can even forgive DJ Khaled and the Ballistic Bees (which incidentally would make a great band name), or heck, even John Lithgow's manipulative parenting. But the rescue mission with Fat Amy, and the sudden unexplained popularity at the competition- just 'being themselves'; I really expected something novel, at least musically- considering the first movie's rise to fame is almost 88% because of the MUSIC. It would've been interesting to use some elements of the 'Cup' in the performance (since they were instrument-less, also they HAD a rapper in their team?! And choreographed dancing? Why were these elements so under-used?).
Perhaps they could've dived more into an Army based storyline (Listen. How. Is an internationally wanted criminal floating right under the nose of the Army? This is just bad writing. You're telling me the other Major Army Dad didn't think of doing ANY recon on his daughter's teammates? They didn't sign any freaking scary-ass documents to enter this in the first place? The whole Army tangent could've added a lot more realism to the story. I would've been 100% okay if the American Army swooped in and saved their butts- THE SHIP WASN'T EVEN IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS- IT WAS LITERALLY 2KMS FROM THE COAST.)
Pitch Perfect 4 better not be Anna Kendrick recruiting these girls for her new album. Honestly I'd rather see a biography-styled film about Fat Amy and her Fat-Celebrity franchise fighting copyright issues in court for freedom of expression.
Minus the gaping plot hotels and under-utilised script and actors, I've always, always loved the cast and have even made it a point to watch their other work, so I don't have only this to judge their skills by. If the studio has them under contract and they're forced to do more of these- I really hope they replace the writers.
East Side Sushi (2014)
Strangely Executed Family and Food Film
To be honest, I'll click on anything with Sushi in the title. Admittedly, I went in hoping for a lightly toned film a la Julie & Julia/Chef, but I was determined not to let my pre-conceived notions ruin the experience.
I quite enjoyed the neat clean representation of the food- my favourite scene was when she first peeps into the Japanese restaurant. I actually liked the restraint to showcase a loud, over-the-top family bubbling with activity despite their situation- it was refreshingly realistic... If the acting could've held up to it.
An endearing story of struggling to make life better for oneself while supporting your family- but the film really leaves a lot to the imagination, which imo is the screenplay's fault. There was no real concrete establishment of any character, location or emotion at all- at times it is frustratingly slow. It ran for 1 and a half hours like a train struggling to leave the station and left me feeling like I watched a low-budget play or depressed Disney TV movie.
The mise-en-scene is highly lacking, the camera-work did a good job of bringing out intimately tense moments, but really wasn't very creative and added little to elevate the characters and physical location. It felt like a bad joke in a lot of places, especially the competition towards the end... I found myself laughing.. Which is not a good thing considering what they were trying to establish...
The dialogues are ok at best, without any real punch, again because enough time was not taken to flesh out persons and situations. I was confused until the very end- was their relationship romantic? Or just really good friends? I would gift my friend a knife... And then go get tacos... Where was the romance? It felt like she was battling some inner depression the entire time, unable to let her emotions flow through freely... I kind of wanted to shake this film up entirely and give it just 10% more energy- even the youngest of the cast couldn't infuse more energy into the scenes- that is poor screenwriting, not so much acting even. Although the film could've used some more of that too. For such a simple plot, there was no balance in the visual treatment, to make it more engaging as a film.
Interesting concept, I wish the editing was a liiiitle faster- not that I wanted an action film, but the pace really worked against the film in the end and it was a bit of a struggle to get through the last legs. It was slow yet choppy, sentimental yet parodical... I have a sense of what the creators were trying to accomplish, but I suppose it didn't really work for me.