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Reviews
Ennum Eppozhum (2015)
If you're a fan, forever and always..
As we come out of the movie, we would feel the title refers to the actor director-combination. Mohan lal - Sathyan Anthikad combo has always churned out memorable movies. This one is not one of their best outings but delivers most of what the 'brand' promises.
Mohan lal as usual has given a superlative performance. His impeccable comic timing, screen presence exuding grace and charm, we malayaalees are indeed lucky to have him. Though the story revolves around Manju Warrier's character, her role doesn't have enough meaty situations to bring out her best.
Sathyan Anthikad's world is full of 'basically good' people. There are no evil characters. Flawed, yes. But never outright evil. So it was kind of surprising to see the buildup given for THE villain. I even had a couple of names in my head as to who would play that role. But then who am I kidding! The villain is given a name and just looms in the background as the epitome of all evil and never shows up. Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. It did sync well with the general feel of the movie.
The turn of events seem a lot contrived and the characters very much clichéd and not that well written. But Lalettan's histrionics and the general feel goodness makes it worth a watch.
Kaakkaa Muttai (2014)
Worth all the hype.
Whenever I go for a movie with great expectations, even if it turns out to be reasonably good, I won't usually be satisfied. But Kaaka Muttai is no such movie. Go in with great expectations and it will deliver a lot more. (Well I should warn it's no typical mass pot boiler as well.) it has a simple plot of two young brothers from a Chennai slum and their desire to eat pizza. But it's actually an allegory of the disparity between the affluent and the poor in our society.
The film is all light hearted and feel - good and witty on the surface but it pivots around the serious issue of class divide. The rich throwing their influence and money around for further advancements of their interests, wily politicians and their cunningness to exploit both the rich and the poor according to how the situation suits them, the poor and their hardships with no chance of any advancement, the media with its penchant for sensationalizing any news, it's all very well depicted.
There is a scene where the brothers, who unassuming to them are in the middle of a media/social storm, walk by a TV reporter covering about them, are shooed away from getting in the 'frame' of the shoot. The message is not emphasized upon. But it gets through clearly.
Vignesh and Ramesh who play the lead characters.. how can they act so well? Iyshwarya who plays the kids mother, have given a performance that could shame any established star. And what a directorial debut by Manikandan! He is a name to look forward to.
It was heartening to see subtitles being played in a theater in Kottayam. The film having had a run in the festival circuit before its mainstream release might have had something to do with it. Subtitles would only bring in more crowd to theaters and I don't understand why regional movies don't use them.
Beautifully shot, very well written, Kaaka Muttai is definitely worth a visit to the theater.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
" i'll be back" , not quite!
Many years ago, when I was not yet in high school, I saw Terminator 2: the judgment day on TV. I didn't know who James Cameron was but had heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Didn't know how to pronounce correctly though.) He and Tom Cruise being the only Hollywood stars, me or my friends knew of till then. Then the movie happened! That was the best action movie I had seen till then. Nearly fifteen years later, it is still one of my favorites.
Terminator Genisys is not a bad movie. But as with any franchise movie, it bears the pressure of being compared to its predecessors. Compared to the ones after Judgment day, Genisys fares pretty well. But quite not enough. The best thing is that Arnie is back. As he puts it – old but not obsolete. Better machines/models with upgraded, refined powers have come. But no matter what, how many beatings he take, he will save the day! Writers have taken a quantum leap of logic to explain his aged look, relating it to his 'living tissue over metal endoskeleton' bearing the brunt of time! I wonder how the 'living tissue' is being fed. Terminator is the perfect role for Armies' acting skills. He plays a machine. So absolutely no need to emote!
Judgment day was based on a complex premise. Machines vs man in the future, time travel etc etc. But basically it remains a very very simple plot. A good guy protects a weaker (read humans) kid and his mother, from a much powerful bad guy. The biggest problem with Genisys is that it's anything but simple. And what is even worse is that there is nothing much new about the villains, provided no major change is possible for Armies' character. So there is time travel, shape shifting terminators, altered time lines, cryptic warnings, nano machine hybrids, all thrown in to make it more complicated and a bit confusing. CGI is great. But then nowadays every other big budget action movie has great CGI.
Terminator is protecting Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and she calls him 'Pops'! Terminator in turn goes Chappie and draws pictures of them together and keeps photos and all. Desperate attempts to tug that emotional cord with the audience. Emilia is great but it's hard not to see her as the Khaleesi of The Game of Thrones and we kind of expect a dragon to pop in when she gets into a situation, and feel that would have been much more fun!
Genisys is fast paced, action packed with reasonably good writing. A good entertainer. But its place in my heart would only be till the next big action movie hit the screens.
My Name Is Khan (2010)
Shoot at sight
To do that to Karen Johor was my first feeling once I came out of theater. he is better off producing gay movies than making people aware of asperger syndrome.
I admit that the first half was really good with its excellent script. But the movie looses way in its own maze of complexities thereafter.
SRK trying to impress as an actor is written all over the film and he does pull it off with a small amount of success. But the surrealism of his character takes away all the sheen from his effort.
Influence of 'curious case of the dog in the night time' is much evident. But the director, in pursuit of acceptance as a matured filmmaker has produced a spoof 'forest gump'. The protagonist is made to involve in diverse situations as varying as lunar water and Tendulkar's tax evasion, in an effort to impress us with the complexities. The result is that the viewer is left wondering as to what the director is actually trying to say.
The movie is not without good parts. There are good dialogs and scenes enriched with subtle warmth. But the problem is it's just too few...
Kaminey (2009)
an experience
A movie that has something for everyone. This vishal bharadwaj movie scores in almost every department. Shahid kapoor have finally grown out of his chocolate boy image with his sterling portrayal as guddu & charly. Priyanka & amol gupte have also given memorable performance. Climax scenes, seems like an ode to d gangster movies of 70s nd 80s, takes the viewer to hitherto unknown levels of cinematic exaltation. Bg score and music blends to the scenes and adds up to the final show down. yes, comparisons can be made. but the director has to be credited for not compromising for commercial gains. ample use of humour, at times being satirical augers well with the plot. This film has proved again that good story backed up with credible performances and not just stars are needed to set d cash registers ringing
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