Recently Seen Movies - 12 - Page 3

Article 15

Genre:Social/Crime

When I was slogging it out for the UPSC for a period of 1 year, I was required to mug up all those various articles,amendments and the like present in the most important book in our country. Despite my bureaucratic career being nipped in the bud, I still had the words present in the constitution embedded somewhere in the back of my mind. But my actual experience with discrimination and casteism arose when I was plucked and planted right into the cow belt for my sorry excuse of a job. Eating from separate bone china plates, being asked for my surname and where I would be present in the caste hierarchy by educated polished youth too made me disillusioned about the cluster**** that is the Hindu Caste System.

Article 15, the movie made me realize that I had not exactly got the bad end of the bargain. In the movie, 3 Dalit minors are raped, 2 are hung by some upper caste miscreants. The investigation is being fronted by a Brahmin IPS dude who is so unaware about the viciousness of caste politics that he faces insurmountable obstacles in booking the culprits. It’s a straightforward police procedural story.But what makes it stand out is the daring shown by all the makers in not pulling any punches, A scene wherein the cop tries to make sense of where he lies between Dalits,Chamars,Thakurs,Mahants,Brahmins and Kayasthas is played out for laughs. But the social commentary is so biting and incisive that beneath all the laughs we realise how rotten our system is.

The supporting cast comprising of names like Kumurd Mishra,Manoj Pahwa,Isha Talwar,Sayani Gupta,Mohammed Zeeshanand Nasser are magnificent, The sepia tone and the way the whole movie is shot(The cinematography in the initial portions resemble a horror movie, and as the movie moves towards and optimistic conclusion,the fog dissipates from the screen). But Ayushmann deserves a pat on the back for showing the guts to be the leading actor for this flick,

As I write this,the movie is getting unofficially banned in several parts of the cow belt. It is a grave reminder of the fact that even if India takes a giant stride towards the moon, our other foot is still caked in cowdung

Rating:   3.5 / 5.0 (Legendary)       

Jessica Jones S3

On some level, I understand why Netflix unceremoniously canceled their Marvel shows. The MCU has larger than life superheroes, spectacular fight sequences, incredible personal journeys across the universe. The Defenders, however, are flawed human beings with gifts confined to New York city. Their stories are emotional, dark, psychological, as the characters struggle to discover themselves. They are not for everyone. They unfold like a slow burn. There is a dull phase you have to get over before you plummet into the depths of the story. 

Season 3 of Jessica Jones follows is a great example of that pattern. The season opens with Jessica trying to return to normalcy in the aftermath of last season. It is dull. I must confess there were moments when I yawned and wondered if i would ever enjoy this season. Then I remembered how even Kilgrave unfurled ever so slowly - and it was one of the most spectacular cat and mouse game on the screen. So I soldiered along. 

I was rewarded well for my patience. Right towards the end of episode three, the season hit its pace and I got suckered in for the ride. The big bad this season Salinger does not seem menacing on the surface. He is just a sadistic serial killer with no moral compass. He has no superpowers, weapons or gifts. What makes him dangerous is how clever and intelligent he is. How he always anticipates moves and gains the upper hand. 

If you like psychological stuff this season is a great exploration of the nature of evil and what it means to be a hero. It skates along that thin line on how heroism and villainy proving how precarious skating on the edge that can be. It shows how actions both good or evil can turn into shades of grey depending on people, perceptions, and situations. The season dives deep into trauma showing how different people emerge with different outcomes. 

While Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones is fabulous I think the season belongs to Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker/Hellcat. Although the name Hellcat is never explicitly stated. She has the most stunning arc of the season. Carrie Ann Moss is impeccable as sleazeball lawyer Jeryn Hogarth. I love the fact that the writers did not use her ALS as a ploy for sympathy or redemption. Instead, Hogarth's ALS brings out the dark depths within her. 

If you like good psychological action and a tense battle of wits - then Jessica Jones S3 is a fitting farewell to the show from Netflix. But if you prefer the MCU's on the nose action and cinematic experience - Jessica Jones will be like watching paint dry.

PS: I didn't know where to put this but some critics have pointed out how Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were there before Black Panther and Captain Marvel. 

^ With this much love for Jessica Jones and brilliant review of S3. I highly recommend you watch Killing Eve. Will wait for your review. 🤓

Thanks for sharing this.

टू ओल्ड टू डाइ यंग : 

निकोलस रेफन द्वारा निर्देशत यह एक तेरह घंटे की फिल्म समान है, और केवल उन्हीं लोगों द्वारा प्रशंशा पाएगी ,जो इस निर्देशक की पिछली फिल्मे ऑनली गॉड फॉर्गिव्स , दा नियों डिमन पसंद करते है, एपिसोड ४ से ८ , देखने योग्य है, जो कहानी को सीधे तौर पे दिखता है, काफी ज़्यादा जो समय है , समा बांधने मैं बित्त्ता है , कुछ ब्लैक कॉमेडी का भी उपयोग है, लेकिन जो अंत के दो धारावाहिक है ,वो उम्मीदों पर खरे नहीं उतरते ,अभिनय जानदार है खासकर सह कलकोर द्वारा , अच्छी कहानी पर सीमित लोगों के लिए ।

डार्क : नेटफ्लिक्स द्वारा एक जर्मनी द्वारा बनाए गए सीरीज है ये और इसका दूसरा सीजन अभी दिखाया गया, इस बात को कहने में कोई संकोच मत रखिए की ये इस साल की सरवश्रेष्ठ नाटक है , हर एक पल आपको अपनी कुर्सी से हिलने नहीं देगा , टाइम ट्रैवल यानी कि समय यात्रा पे आधारित , ये कहानी ४-५ परिवारों की कहानी है , जो एक समय का हिस्सा बन जाते हैं जो कि एक पाश मैं है , यह कहनी सभी पुरानी समय यात्रा की फिल्मों की कहानी की नियोमों को तोड़ती है , और मानसिक तौर पर सोचने को विवश कर देती है , अगर कोई भी व्यक्ति इस देखना चाहता है तो बिना कुछ पढ़े ,देखें पहले दो एपिसोड देखिए , शानदार कहानी और निर्देशन , मजबूत पटकथा और संवाद , इसे ऊंचाई पे ले जाते हैं।

दा टेरर : एचबीओ द्वारा बनाई गई यह कहनी एक असली कहानी पे आधारित है ,जहां दो ब्रिटिश समुंदरी  जहाज़ जाते है एक ऐसा रास्ता देखने जिससे समुंदरी यात्रा का समय काम किया जा सके, उनके खोने और उन लोगों के साथ क्या हुए , ये अपने मैं एक इतिहास का हिस्सा है ,उस पर ये नाटक को बनाया गया , जरेड हैरिस जो अभी चेर्नोबिल सीरीज से वाहवाही बटोर रहे हैं , इस मैं भी वो मुख्य पात्र हैं, और क्या बखूबी काम किया है , नाटक धीरे धीरे कहानी को दिखता है ,तो इस देखने के लिए थोड़ा धैर्य रखें , निर्देशन , नांव और उस जगह की सरंचना , किरदरों का धीरे धीरे उभरना , एक ऐसे जगह पे आप बांध दिए जाएं , जहां मृत्यु निश्चित है , लेकिन उस भी ज़्यादा खौफनाक है  इंसान की अपनी मानवता खोना और ज़िंदा रहने के लिए कहां तक जाना , बहुत उम्दा , खासकर पुरुषों को तो देखने ही चाहिए ।

लीला : अगर कोई ऐसे नाटक को देखना चाहता है , जो पहले एपिसोड में बहुत क्षमता दिखाती है , लेकिन उसके बाद ऐसा डूबती है की उभर ही नहीं पाती , कहानी का क्षेत्र बहुत बड़ा है लेकिन इस तरह दिखाया गया की ये किसी एक गांव मोहल्ले मैं हो रही है, भविष्य में आधारित लेकिन भविष्य जैसे कोई चीज नहीं , ओमनी गाड़ी का प्रयोग जो अब बनना भी बंद हो गई है ।

अभिनय ठीक ठाक है , ज़्यादा कुछ नहीं , तीसरे एपिसोड से ये एक आदमी द्वारा किसी बड़े आदमी को मारने की घीसी पटी कहानी रह कर बन जाती है , जिसमें कुछ कहने को है नहीं ,एक भी संवाद याद नहीं रहता इतने बेस्वाद ,और बाकी कोई भी चीज आकर्षित नहीं करती , केवल काम चल जाए इतना ।

पॉलिटिक्स में कुछ कहना योग्य नहीं, हालांकि अच्छा होगा की अगर हिन्दू धर्म को उपयोग किया जा रहा है तो दिखाया जाता की हिंदू धर्म से क्या क्या इस्मतेमाल किया जा सकता , जो ज़्यादातर चीज़े ली गईं है वो अब्राहमिक धर्मों से जुड़ी हुई है , उनका इस्तेाल से पता चलता है , की कहानी लिखने वाले ने केवल नाम बदला है ,और पश्चिम की फिमों और कहानी से चुराकर इधर चिपकाया है ,अपनी कोई शोध नहीं किया ।

Too Old to Die Young:

This is basically a thirteen-hour film directed by Nicholas refn, and will be admired only by those who prefer the last films of this director, Only God Forgives, the neon demon, episode 4 to 8, are worth watching a lot of time is spent on establishing the mood,  black comedy is a important factor of lot  of scenes, but the last two episodes are not upto  expectations. acting is impressive, especially by co actors, good story but confine to a niche audience

Dark: There is a series created by Germany distributed by Netflix and its second season has just been premiered , do not hesitate to say that this is the best drama of this year, every moment will not let you move from your chair, based on travel time, is the story of 4-5 families, who become part of a time which is a loop, it breaks the rules of old time travel movies and forces the audience to be aware mentally for each scene.

anyone who want to view it must do it by not reading aur watching any material and just get into the series by watching first two episodes, strong dialogues and screenplay heightened the exprenice of the show.

The Terror: The show made by HBO is based on a real story, where two British royal navy ships went looking for a route that can cut down the time of sea journey between place , when they lost and what happened with those people is the story main crux. This story is part of a history,  Jared Harris who is just getting acclaim from the Chernobyl series, Is also the main character, and  has done exceptionally marvelous work, drama is  a patient look at the story, give time for the story to grow on you.

Direction, ship and  art structure of that place, development of characters when you are stuck at a place where death is imminent and resources are depleting.

but most horrific is the losing of humanity and what would people do just to survive 

Leela: If someone wants to watch a show that accentuate a lot of potential in the first episode, but after that there is such a sink that it can not grow, the story scope is very big but it was shown that it is based in some city and villages.

There is no such thing as future things and technology on show based on future,such as  the use of the Omni car which is car from 90s and isnt even manufactured now.

Acting is fine, nothing home to write about, from the third episode, it becomes a old revenge story of  man trying to killing a big man, in which there is nothing to say, not a single dialogue is memorable, so tasteless, and there is nothing else that attracts , evertthing seems done just to pass by.

It has nothing deep to say regarding anything in Politics, although it would had been good to see if Hinduism dystopia is being used, then what can be done with the Hindu religion, things used are which is mostly associated with Abrahamic religions, its showcases  that the person who wrote the story has only changed the name and stole it from the movies and story of the West and did not do any research by themselves.

Vikram Vedha 

acchi movie hai 

Stranger Things S3

I love Stranger Things. This year fourth of July wasn't a random day off, but a blessing in disguise to binge watch the third season. It was a thrill ride. But I must confess, the show has lost its way a little. The first season was a tight compact retro package. Great characters, a taut storyline and the nostalgia factor made it a hit. Season 2 fumbled a little with its new characters and unresolved storylines. Season 3 fumbles the most with gratuitous gore playing into 80's horror tropes. A medley of new characters - some that make an impact and will be breakout stars (here's looking at you Robin and Erica) and some that turned out to be empty husks (Larry Kline, the newspaper staff and Mrs Driscoll - I kinda loved her)

The Upside Down returns to Hawkins in a much more sinister form. Once again the gang of kids has to battle them. This time they face more challenges in the form of Russian conspiracy and more. However, the gang is split up. Mike, Lucas, Will, Eleven, and Max are on their own. Dustin teams up with Steve and his coworker Robin. Nancy and Jonathon follow a story at the newspaper they are interning at. Joyce and Hopper are doing their own investigating. Billy starts developing some darker secrets. 

Eleven started off as a great breakout character. Unfortunately, the writers seem to have plateaued with her. Her character has stopped growing and is constantly written into the same savior storylines. The only break is her friendship with Max. The two girls become rounded characters as they interact with each other.  Lucas/Max & Mike/Eleven are teens. It is the age for them to explore relationships. Plus its cutesy to see awkward geeks in a relationship. But I have to agree with Hopper and Will - its overbearing, its too much, a bit nauseating and frankly for me it kills the chemistry of the gang. I felt like the characters were held static by the relationship. 

On the other hand, Steve and Robin have delightful chemistry. Even though it is not your typical arc - they riff off each other so well. Steve is one character who has grown so much since season one. Dad Steve continues to be awesome. His friendship with Dustin is genuine. Lucas little sister Erica just adds a zing to make this quartets narrative the best of the season. 

Nancy and Jonathon have the most even keel relationship. Hopper and Joyce have constant unresolved tension and Murray Bauman has some deep psychological insights on them - just as he did last season. 

The final couple of episodes reach fever pitch as the gang struggles against a multitude of evil forces on hand. But it doesn't feel as tight as previous seasons. I would have liked better resolution for Billy. Joyce deserved more - in screentime and in life. 

S3 sets up a 4th season. I do hope that the show wraps up in S5. It is still good. I would hate for it to suffer the same problems as every other eighties horror trope where - the series drags on and jumps the shark. 

PS: I just remembered that the Lost Sister is not addressed in S3

Kalank

Period dramas have so much potential. Recreating the ambiance and aura of a time period can add dimension to a narrative. It offers a nice canvas for creativity. 

Take Park Chan-Wook's Handmaiden. The narrative is the same as BBCs victorian crime thriller Fingersmith. But by transporting it to Korea under Japanese colonial rule and tweaking minor bits, it created a whole new narrative that held its own. 

Unfortunately, with Kalank the makers are so obsessed with the period and its opulent sets and costumes that it forgets what is important to make a movie - a good story and empathetic characters. And they flounder with the period. While I am not a stickler for logic Kalank takes some liberties that do not fly at all. There is no way in hell the daughter-in-law of a reputed family would be allowed to take lessons from a courtesan. The melding of family vengeance into the very complicated sociopolitical conflicts of the pre-partition era didn't work either. It diluted both Zafar's bitter rage and the very real communal divide sown by the British. 

Also just because you have a CGI budget doesn't mean you have to use it. The entire bull sequence is an exercise is a pointless futility. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the plot. The result is 20 minutes of precious time wasted in some horrendous shoddy CGI sequence. 

Kalank had a lot of potential. But the end result is a dull excruciatingly long waste of time. It is boring. Despite the most earnest performances - you can't connect with or sympathize any of the characters.  The only one who manages to hold you a little is Aditya Roy Kapoor's, Dev Chaudhary.  Kunal Khemu's role is also impactful. 

Sonakshi's Satya might as well have not been in the movie. Sanjay Dutt is wooden. Madhuri is effervescent but wasted. Alia and Varun Dhawan as Roop and Zafar are the most muddled characters ever. 

Should we sympathize with Roop or get incensed by her stubbornness? Her situation sucks. But it is 100% her doing and her backpedaling doesn't resonate. Either make Roop completely sympathetic or make her a completely dark shades of grey character.  

Imagine how delicious it would be to have a Roop who was conniving. A social climber who wilfully married Dev so that her family could climb up the social ladder. A spurned woman so bitter with Dev's love for his first wife that she wants to taint the family name. Imagine a Zafar who falls in love with a woman he is using only to discover that has been using him. Despite having despicable characters such a tale of dark betrayals and selfish aims would be more enticing. 

Kalank is just tepid dull fare toeing the line of true Kalank and boring vanilla narratives. What a disappointment. What a waste of budget and star talent. 

The subtitles translate Kalank as tainted love - I can't help myself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcyCQLewj10

SPIDER-MAN - FAR FROM HOME 

The main attraction of this movie is easily the tag "Movie after Avengers ~ Endgame". Now there is no more Tony Stark to guide the young Peter Parker and above all how MCU is planning to open their Phase 4 (if any).

The movie kicks off with tributes to Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Nathasha Romanoff & Vision which is welcomed with a loud applause (no prize in guessing who got the biggest) and explains how the school is managing to cop up with the 5 year old gap between Ashes and Resurrection along with Peter trying to date MJ during his Euro trip when things starts to change drastically during the trip.


What I liked about the movie is that the makers were able to maintain the popcorn entertainment feel in the prequel which is boosted by high octane action sequences and outstanding visual effects. If I recco a movie from MCU for an IMAX experience, THIS IS IT!!! Next thing I loved about this movie is the portrayal of Peter Parker, who is depicted as a teenager who lacks confidence to convey his feelings to a gal, when he happens to be a super-hero in real life. That Peter Parker can be easily related and we can understand the frustration he gives through whenever his personal life is affected by his superhero life. And its pretty interesting to see how Peter Parker fights and wins over his latest antagonists. The mid credit was a cliffhanger experience which pushes us to the next sequel. On downside, I felt the presentation and logic imposed by the antagonist to attain his goal wasn't convincing. The makers tried to reason it with many scenes and explanations but still couldn't digest. Also I found the first twist to be a bit predictable while the second one was totally unexpected. Even I don't think anyone can find it.

As expected there were many Tony Stark references which proves that "Even Dead, He Is Still The Hero!!!". Gosh!! Just imagine the reaction when Robert Downey Jr decides to make a comeback!!! Its gonna be humongous!!!

Tom Holland was simply outstanding and the main highlight is he is more Peter Parker than Spider-Man. Jake Gyllenhall was equally brilliant as Mysterio. Rest all of the recurring cast especially Samuel Jackson ere in superb fan. Watch out for the special return of an actor in a character making its debut in MCU....that debut is also something I have never seen before other 007 series!!

This movie is specially recco for IMAX 3D Watch because of the quality of visual effects and high octane action sequences as mentioned before...Other than that, its an hugely entertaining movie from MCU with Spidey in full form.

Ratings ~ 3.35 / 5.00

Spiderman: Far From Home

I am a bit disappointed. What I was most excited about was the 1960's Spiderman theme rearranged in the trailer. I felt it would mark the coming of Spiderman. It would establish the hero Spiderman would be. Its a bit of a bummer that the film doesn't really utilize it. 

Far from home, in general, is your run of the mill superhero movie. It is exciting. It is fun. It has some expected twists. And some super unexpected ones (roll the post-credits please). There are some great action sequences. There are some funny moments. And the Tony Stark references do hit your heart (a lot more than End Game for me personally). 

But ultimately it is run of the mill. There is nothing super special about it. There is no major growth arc. Yeah, Peter Parker struggles between being a teenager and a superhero - but it's not really fleshed out as well as I'd like. There is no great complexity to the villain (there is potential but the backstory felt short-changed). One area where it excels though is sociopolitical awareness and its nod to conspiracy theories and deep fakes. It also does answer the timeline question (why is Peter Parker in high school after five years?)

Overall a fun entertaining film. It does set up the future of MCU. With Skrulls entering the picture - I think there is something with Captain Marvel coming up. 

PS: How great is Even Dead I am The Hero? 

PPS: J.K Simmons back as J. Jonah Jameson