4v291o
Watched on Friday June 6, 2025.
]]>
This feels like the true legacy of what America is in every way. However, every aspect of this movie felt like borrowed from better movies, and this didn't quite reach it. Also felt like the weakest of the first three movies directed by Affleck. But I didn't know Jeremy Renner had this in him. The cops could've been just a little bit more developed instead of feeling almost like copaganda even when they're not the protagonists and this would've been much better.
]]>
A sports movie that tries to be sweet but ends up just dumb, but really shows how fucked up America is by both the content and the existence of the movie in this form.
]]>
All the Mission: Impossible movies since Ghost Protocol marketed themselves with an impossible stunt by Cruise, where the movie offered a lot more set pieces than the one marketed. Missing that this time should've given the clue that this is supposed to be more like the first three than what we've been getting recently.
All these movies worked in a different plane than ours, but never really felt like a true sci-fi, but this time it felt like they were almost ready to embrace it as dystopian, that too, a plain generic one, which doesn't exactly work in my opinion.
It has a couple of well-made set pieces, but doesn't fill the movie with them. The amount of exposition and retcons in this movie is unbelievable, especially the first hour is tedious.
The chemistry between Grace and Ethan in Dead Reckoning was perfect, but here it felt forced, which was so unnecessary.
Before this, whenever Mission: Impossible knew that the plot was becoming too generic, they cleverly infused the movie with set pieces that perfectly complement the plot, but here, even the design of the set pieces is generic and too few, far and in between. There's so much focus on the lame, plot-hole-filled generic plot that it was hard to believe it's a Mission: Impossible movie.
But even with all those issues I had with the writing and design of it, the making is still top-notch. The cast is strong, and it is shot impeccably. They were trying to go for heavy call backs and nostalgia, giving weight to the plot, and even though it's not fully successful, it works to some level. And even when the action scenes aren't as innovative as this franchise is known for, they are much better executed than most others who try this.
So, even with all my problems, I did enjoy it, it's okay, but my experience can only be described as underwhelming.
Each rewatch has made me appreciate this movie more and more. I was so much more invested in the story this time. There are so many expectations going into this that it doesn't meet, which makes it hard to directly enjoy it. You expect the general storyline to go somewhere, considering the pattern with the previous movies, and it doesn't go there. Even though the set pieces are incredible, it kind of feels a little bit pale compared to Fallout. And that death to which I'll come back later.
Hayley Atwell's character's introduction and the importance were a huge thing that kind of sets this apart from other movies in this franchise. She's almost an equal lead here, unlike every other movie, which didn't work for the initial perception of the movie, but I am fully on board with it by now. This film did focus on the drama right from the start. The cinematography and dialogue start off conveying very textbook but dynamic high-stakes drama, which could go either way, but worked for me really well. But even with the intensity, it still managed to have enough levity. The Rome chase scene was so much fun, which was the reason I originally rewatched it in 4DX.
I think it's got one of the most solid stories in the franchise, which can't be completely trusted without watching the next part, which I do trust without watching it. But besides this being only part of the story, making it confusing in of how the AI Entity worked makes it seemingly convoluted when it's actually not. It's either explained too simply as it's just about source code, or it gets a bit too complicated to figure out without rewatching. I think it's just the merging of the AIs from different countries that resulted in the Entity, and the source code just means, maybe some exploit it can't get rid of, or something more to be revealed.
But coming back to the death of a character, it's still conflicting for me. The very first fake out, every time they talk in between, where it's about how the Entity works, how they should think like it, how they should anticipate what the Entity anticipates, all of it makes perfect sense that they were faking it. From the very first time, I thought they were faking it, and I'm still convinced of it. But even after previews of the new movie, no news about such a twist is what is making me doubt myself. But I really can't see how it can be otherwise, and it seems to me that this is gonna really hinder my enjoyment of Final Reckoning.
What an incredible film, truly the high point of the franchise. The filmmaking is impeccable, right from the clever editing in the first scene to the use of poignant music in a lot of places and the use of incredible sound mixing. The mixing in scenes when Cavill first appears, the footsteps mixed with the music, then a lot of small, small effects that make it great during the chase scenes, mwah. And the chase scenes are a whole different ballgame. There hasn't been a single movie other than this where the chase scenes have made me feel like this looks so real, while being so over the top in a real-world sense. I can't stop thinking about how real it looked when the bike was dodging the cars, when the turns were taking, etc.
Vanessa Kirby was such a nice addition, too. The first time, I didn't notice her mentioning her mother, Max, and then on my last rewatch, I noticed it and connected it to be the Max from the first movie. Now, I can see that she clearly plays the role with the same eccentric curiosity as Max, along with the weird sexual tension.
On my rewatch this time, I see that both this and Rogue Nation are a little bit overstuffed within their runtime, and in this one, that's mainly felt just before they reach the last location. There are also some thematic elements that are left to explore in the next movies. These factors make me hesitate to call this a masterpiece, but it's still one of the best modern blockbusters.
Watching on Jiohotstar wasn't a good choice. Ghost Protocol didn't have the IMAX version in there. But this was in IMAX ratio, so I thought it was fine, but they have cut out a lot, as this is the Indian version. No mention of India and Kashmir, which I I have seen in my previous watches. There were some scenes where it was clear a dialogue or two where omitted, and it looks like a total of 7 minutes is omitted. So, don't watch from Jiohotstar.
]]>
This time, I can see the reasons why I didn't really like this movie the first time. Ten years ago, I was a lot more interested in how the plot moved forward than in a lot of the cinematic approaches it had. And I can see how a lot of the "plot" is convoluted and feels a bit of a tired rehash of a lot of things that worked before. But since my first watch, every rewatch has made me think how wrong I was the first time. All the set pieces are breathtaking. Ilsa Faust is a powerhouse character who just changed the whole dynamic of the way characters are in the franchise. And the plot being designed to be convoluted so they can bring about the best aspects of all the previous movies, works brilliantly to make it the best till this point.
]]>
This is where it started to feel like what Mission: Impossible is today, so since I am more interested in the setpieces around which the clever plot exists, I decided to do the rewatch starting from this one this time. It's always in these second or further rewatches that you know everything and are only looking for the excitement that you tend to forgive a lot of the issues with it. There are lots of logical leaps that are a bit too apparent in this one compared to the following ones.
Showing Bangalore as Mumbai was a mistake that the makers didn't know they were making, because the boards show Kannada instead of Hindi, they aren't even in the same language family, whereas even Hindi and English are in the same language family.
I forgot that this had an IMAX version, got to find those versions for the next parts for the rewatches.
Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.
]]>
A thoroughly entertaining movie that cleverly infuses fantasy and campus movie shenanigans into one. It's filled with so many fun pop culture references that don't feel forced, like they would have been 10 years ago, due to the change in culture in general. These pop culture references are cleverly used in the progress of the plot without sticking out. Body control and body swap stories haven't been too much in Malayalam cinema, nonetheless, this is probably the best among those. I expected Suraj and Sharafu to give great performances that are fun to watch, but Sandeep Pradeep surprised me with his shift in the second half. Just after Alappuzha Gymkhana, he's able to show what he's capable of here. I do think there are aspects of this movie that could've been better. Still, it's after some time that I am quite satisfied with a movie that is just meant to be a fun entertainer without delving into anything serious thematically or cinematically. The song "Whisitlu Bigilu" is still playing in my mind after the credits rolled out, it's so catchy and energetic and encapsulates the whole feeling of the movie.
]]>
So Top Gun Maverick was actually giving homage to this movie with its opening scene.
A very well-made movie that tries a lot of things and succeeds in them. My problems with it are all in the intentionality itself. I expected the movie to be very close to the true story because of how much it firmly stands by American exceptionalism while subtly and smartly satirizing everything wrong with that in America. I'm already too fed up with such "American" stories in the first place, but then I found out that there are too many historical inaccuracies, too.
The way the movie tries to make the prologue and epilogue portions poignant was very well directed, but still felt weird, especially because of how different the rest of the movie is, but still, it was a nice change of pace.
I was surprised to see Ed Harris and searched for his age. At least he was able to look exactly the same for the next 30 years after this movie.
People expected this to be another Suicide Squad, but it turned out to be a suicidal squad. Trauma-bonding of superheroes was just what I wanted. Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman broke me, and I was trying my best to keep my tears in. The way the whole movie is about mental health, while tackling the kind of relevant enough politics that can be expected from this type of movie, as well as executing pretty cool action sequences, all came together beautifully. The mental health aspect, especially towards the end, really made me give this four stars instead of a 3.5. It's not devoid of problems, but when they get it good, it's really good. The 3D felt very unnecessary though, and the aspect ratio switching in Imax didn't feel very impactful, but that may be because the last film I saw was Sinners, which was incredible.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is so easy to hate here, just like how easy it was to hate everyone, including her, in the final seasons of Seinfeld.
Incredibly animated spectacle. In the beginning, it felt a bit jarring because it starts off right from the end of the first movie, making it feel like there's no proper first act. It's just one spectacle after the other, which can get a bit tiring, but when it becomes too much, they know just the thing, the mother-son connection, and the emotions. Even if it's tropey, they are very good at making it extremely effective. The themes of discrimination and stuff are carried over, but the abuse of power, which was mostly hinted at in the first movie, takes center stage here. It still has enough humour that is targeted towards kids, but the story, the action, etc, are definitely geared towards adults. The one downside is that I get to watch it on a screen with a horrible 3D projection. That's the only place a lot of films are released near me, and no amount of complaining is helping.
]]>
From the get-go, the humour and the character design weren't something I felt I would be into, but the movie slowly turned me. There were a few things that were too quick, and some things in the first act were a bit annoying, but even with all that, the movie was able to make it work very well. Pixar and Dreamworks have made some great 3D animated movies, but just in of pure spectacle, this went way above them with the action sequences. I was also surprised by how easily it pulled me with the emotional side of it.
From what I've read, this is only inspired by Chinese mythology, which has characters of the same name, and the story is very, very different. But it follows a pattern I've seen in Hindu mythology a lot, even though the villains are doing stuff that is evil, every single person is acting out of desperation to right everything while the society pushes them into corners where they are making wrong choices because of expectations on them and even the most evil deed stems from a rightful feeling that gets twisted because of fate.
This was really better than I thought it would be, especially after seeing the initial scenes where it's clear that it does try to cater to kids a little bit. Now I am actually interested in watching the second part from theaters.
]]>
Magnificent! Watching this from an IMAX screen is worth every extra penny I had to spend, even if that specific one is called one of the worst IMAX screens. The aspect ratio switch-ups really elevated the whole experience. The use of music in this film is just phenomenal by Ludwig Göransson. There are a lot of obvious metaphors and direct addressing with the vampires, Christianity, and the KKK, etc. But I liked a few things that were not immediately obvious to me. How the Irish were considered lower class than other white people, and why the Vampire is Irish, and how that is able to specifically address cultural assimilation vs appropriation.
There are aspects of the supernatural lore that I have doubts about, literal doubts and doubts on the effectiveness of some of the choices with respect to how the politics is represented through that. I also wanted to see the end of some of the threads they started. The lines about Christianity and black people were so true, and I wanted them to show more of it at the end, which they didn't, but they're already getting slack from angry Christians, I guess they didn't want to go overboard with it.
The best part of the movie is definitely that musical portion blending into fantasy, which was so good that the final showdown, the last thirty minutes, didn't really live up to the potential of the movie. Both cinematically and thematically, it was a bit jumbled. The problems are more noticeable looking back at the movie because otherwise the movie was so damn good.
Despite all the nitpicks, it's easily the best movie of the year for me.
Anyone who can, go watch it in the biggest IMAX screens because it is so worth it.
A film designed to please all types of Mohanlal fans. A lot of meta references with so many dialogues from both Mohanlal movies and outside of movies, in a way that often makes fun of them. It does feel a bit over the top at moments, but it's still nicely integrated. The way the movie becomes more intense and emotional is pretty predictable, but well done. Besides Mohanlal, what really works is how it shows the reality of dealing with the police. How both people in the "good cop, bad cop" duo are dangerous, and how realistic it felt, even though it is clearly cinematic. Even though I haven't actually dealt with any police incidents, I've met police officers who act overly friendly while giving creepy vibes, like they can charm everyone around them, but can make life hell in a second. Prakash Varma gave that exact same vibe the second he came on screen. How easily such people in power can twist things is a reality that people forget all the time. Prakash Varma's ad films were always very interesting and unique but here he showed he's a damn good actor too.
Overall, the movie was really good, but it could have been shortened its length a little bit. From all the reactions, it seems that the length helped people connect with the emotions and intensity of the movie, but for me, it was a bit tiring, especially in the second half of the movie.
This feels a little older than it is for an American movie. Still, it does manage to make it interesting with the way they shot a lot of the war sequences and the pure chaos that also shows the result, but in the end, it started to repeat a lot of shots. Besides those few scenes, most of the movie is indoors. The acting was also really good. But the plot confused me about what they intended. This is probably the first time that, when watching a WW2 movie, I feel like siding with the Germans even when they are shown as the villains. The Americans are portrayed as either lazy, comionless, spineless, or straight up evil, and from what I can understand, they didn't exactly want those characters to be like that; they wanted them to be complicated, but ended up like this. This may not be the worst in this case, especially for that time, but the way sexual assault is used so lightly and the whole point is surrounding the men to the point that even the victim is shown to be sad for her man more than herself in that situation is crazy.
]]>
Maybe this isn't for most people, but such experimental existential love stories are something I'll always ire. Through the love story between a satellite and a water buoy in the dystopian future, they have managed to show a lot of issues people face today. It especially felt real for people with trauma or who are neurodivergent. The way "Me" tries to imitate the love and happiness of people from the past to feel something, and how "Iam" learns how to feel through that, were incredibly relatable thought processes, even though the situations were not. Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun gave incredible performances on top of all that. And I guess, this is what people say, "it's like a Black Mirror episode," even though I haven't seen Black Mirror.
]]>
Pretty much a sleazy B-movie with more budget. There are a few things to like about this movie, but there's too much to hate about it too. Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez do show some of their signatures here, but this is easily their worst I've seen yet. This could've been a lot more fun if the film were more balanced. A lot of the mayhem became boring, and the tension building in the first hour just felt unnecessary as well as questionable in a lot of ways. I didn't really care if anyone survived at the end. Clooney and Keitel looked like they were acting in a better movie than the rest of the actors. Even though there was some stuff to enjoy, overall, this has been a disappointing watch.
]]>
Doesn't have Paul King, who moved on to better projects, which is evident. Doesn't have Sally Hawkins because of her health, which is a shame. And doesn't have the same impact as how Paddington affects people with his good nature. Still, it's Paddington with all the gentleness in an Amazon adventure, that's enjoyable enough.
]]>
Pretty much the same feeling I had when I saw it first. There are a lot of flaws in it, and a few things are a bit too much of the artificial Britishness, but it's still a pleasant family watch.
]]>
Overall, it felt like it was all over the place. There were some really funny moments throughout the movie but it didn't really come together to make a proper movie experience. A lot of the plot points just felt like made for the comedy while the comedy that actually worked for me didn't necessarily depend on the plot itself. The inclusion of a lot of Gen Z felt very much like a superficial understanding of those by millennials without exploiting the possible comedy in it. A lot of the comedy that worked for me felt like it just didn't try to be funnier. Maybe the problem with the film is that it tries to play it too safe and as a result doesn't really earn the genre of black comedy. The actors do great in making it funnier than what is written and the pacing was pretty good. The drama part didn't work, the couple of twists were predictable which didn't help the drama or the comedy at the end. Kripasanam and convincing star being convincing star were my favorite moments of the film. On the whole, it was an average experience for me.
]]>
Simple fun gen z sports movie. The technical side was top notch and had great pacing. When the movie shifts into complete sports mode on second half, it reminded me how sports is treated on Haikyuu anime even though that dealt with volleyball.
The way the boxing scenes were created felt authentic and exhilarating even though even we know that the end results doesn't hold much weight.
Even though Thallumaala also had practically useless in life protagonists, it had so much that made them sympathetic to a point and the script and execution was subversive and clever with a simple story. Maybe I'm getting a bit old, but I didn't feel that connection here. Among the four Khalid Rahman films I've seen this is by far the weakest for me. It's still a really good film and was so much fun to watch in the theater.
Also, I knew Khalid Rahman said 60% of the movie was his own life but I'm now questioning which character 😂
For a movie supposedly championing creativity, this was definitely devoid of any. It feels perfectly like an AI slop. Enough stuff was taken directly from the game for its fans, and then the kind of factual errors and interpretations AI makes added to make a script, that was the exact feeling this gave. All the actors competed to show who could be more annoying. At least the kids in the theater were able to laugh at the action scenes if nothing else.
]]>
Vikram's best movie in years. Even though the story itself is not anything new, the screenplay brilliantly makes it feel fresh. The way, the film shows the events of one night slowly giving the audience information piece by piece and letting us solve the puzzle for the most part while keeping the tension alive was so fun. The rawness of everything around was elevated by the great performances, obviously expected from Vikram but also most of the other cast. The flashback portion in the middle felt a little bit unnecessary and slowed down the film but the way it ended was satisfactory. The drama and the rawness were strong points of the film but the action itself was mostly just okay when everything surrounding it was really great. The action scene near the end was a bit of a mess. Narratively, it makes sense because how even at that point the characters are revealing their intents and character by their actions but it was shot in a weird way. The way a lot of small, small things are connected to the main story, a reveal at the very end which shows how everything happened because of coincidences that were meant to be and connected to each other way more than we thought was very interesting as well as giving a bit of levity after all the brutality.
The decision to call this Part 2 still feels a bit gimmicky and just a promotion tactic. There's not really much need for a part 1 but if they make it, they better make it worthy of this.
I am happy to finally watch a Vikram film from the theater and be satisfied. The screenplay was brilliant but there were a few compromises without which this could've been truly great.
Basically a 70s soap opera condensed into two hours. There are a lot of sex scenes which if they'd decided to make it a bit more lengthy, could've been a softcore porn. Heck, the 70s porn industry known to be in its golden age would've made a better film out of this same story. The degeneracy of the filthy rich shown might be true but then it should be shown as that or the characters should be given some depth. Here it's neither and it ends up almost hilariously bad. With a stellar cast like Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, etc, the cast is very charming and the actresses also try their best to be way better than what's on paper just with their natural charm and it did work to a point. But the writing is so bad that nothing is enough to salvage this mess and the male actors seemed to know it better as they didn't really try to bring out their acting chops, just their charming side. But when the movie wants the audience to be sympathetic to the characters or want to be invested in their emotions, romance, heartbreak, greed, etc, it comes off as very absurd. The only thing you really feel is disgust but the music and the visual composition are asking to side with those characters. If the film wants us to side with them, it needs to show somewhat relatable aspects for it. When the most charitable thing a character does is give an enormous amount of money to a young girl for sleeping with him without her asking him, it's just absurd, that they expect the audience to be sympathetic to his other actions, however pragmatic and well-intentioned they seem.
]]>
The visual effects were probably the best part of the movie. You really feel like you are also trapped in that ocean during this storm. The initial setting up, albeit being cheesy worked really well and forms the emotional core of the movie. All the relationships really worked for me and that really carried the whole movie emotionally. Because considering the changes to the true story, this kind of makes the crew look like morons even when the music tells you otherwise. There are so many stupid decisions shown in the movie that are all fiction. Even with all that, the cast was very charming and all the relationship stuff worked really well to make it really enjoyable.
]]>
I was always skeptical about how good a sequel to Lucifer which goes international can get, and the trailers made me feel like it would be a technically solid but overall okay film, and with that thought this film met my expectations.
The technical side is incredibly done. The ambition behind this film is huge. Switching between international dealings with British intelligence, cartel faceoffs in Africa and the Middle East, the politics in Kerala, and riots in North India, it should still feel like the same movie. In of writing, there's so much more to be desired, but the technical side is where they compensate the most. The coloring was well done to make that consistent feel to all of it by giving a larger-than-life cinematic feel which also made some of the actor's skin feel AI-generated but I won't really complain about it considering what they were trying to do. The lighting on the other hand is what worked the best for me. The use of shadows, silhouettes, etc was so pleasing to see but the writing and music didn't step up to make those scenes more impactful.
The movie felt really long, there were a lot of things that felt repeated, some from the previous part and some in this same movie itself. A lot of stuff in the first half just felt very predictable and the stuff that is meant to be intriguing simply felt flat. They really tried to compensate for it firstly by incredible production quality and making, but along with that they also used real-life incidents as well as parallels with so many important political milestones. But the most hilarious attempts were the constant not at all subtle imageries like the "Ls" throughout the movie. There are so many other imageries here that are so on the face that it loses all the intrigue that they were able to create in Lucifer where it was subtle.
I was a bit bored in the first half because of how flat it felt, but the second half was really entertaining to me. Even though it still felt overlong, the action sequences were fun and the build-up to them was also pretty good. Manju Warrier's arc was well done which may be the only character with a proper character arc in this movie, unlike Lucifer. Surprisingly Antony's cameo was damn well too. I can't believe how well he was presented here.
Overall, even though there were so many things that didn't work in this for me and it's not as good as Lucifer which itself wasn't as great to me as it was to a lot of people, this was still fun to watch. The production quality and a few scenes that worked really well, as well as watching Mohanlal and Prithviraj fighting together made this worth it for me.
A highly fictionalized biopic that removes all the real-life drama of the famous composer and adds completely fictional love affairs as drama for the movie. It's hard to view this now without giving it some leeway for its fictionalization and oversimplification as a biopic. A lot of it is just too idealized. But there is enough stuff to enjoy too. The production is grand with some clever directing choices and the music is great as to be expected from the biopic of a composer. The inclusion of Black singers on screen is also very notable for the time. I have never seen a black-and-white film where a black person stands with such dignity dominating the screen. But they are limited to those songs, it doesn't risk too much by giving them proper speaking roles. A lot of performers of the time come on screen as themselves which actually made me more wary of it because even though their relationship with the real-life composer is true, their appearing as themselves in a story that is this much fictionalized and still presented as a biopic just doesn't feel right. Still, the pacing was very good, and even though simplistic, the emotions were delivered well in the ending sequence. Overall, I'm a bit confused about how I should feel about it but it was pretty entertaining.
]]>
A very interesting movie that explores a lot of issues through the narrative of a father trying to stop the hanging of his son when there are 24 hours left for it to happen.
It starts by showing who the real killer is and the rest of the movie, we follow this vulnerable drunk father with all the guilt in the world for never being there for his son. Every character's motivation is an introspection into why we humans do everything we do, for love, for fear, and the confusion in between. Even though the themes it explores are great, it does feel contrived how everything moves.
Maybe, it's me not being very familiar with the British movies of the time, but just like They Made Me A Fugitive yesterday, this also feels like it jumps from one point to another without giving the characters enough breathing space to make sense of their thought processes for each decision. These films would've been even greater if they had a runtime of an hour more.
The direction is very interesting with some quirky choices that make it very cinematic even when it stays away from a lot of the cliches of the time. The director being blacklisted during the McCarthy era automatically makes him a great human being, so watching someone's perspective during that era on such complex issues was also interesting. Parenting, alcoholism, love, the meaning of success, capital punishment, etc are as important today as then, and checks out coming from such a director.
Overall, it did feel like it could've been way better but it's still a really really good look into complex human experiences of the time. The ending which is triumphant and tragic at the same time really helped me what they were trying to do throughout the movie. Without that ending, I would've been at least a bit confused about a lot of the choices in the movie.
]]>
A bleak little noir. So many things happen a bit too fast for my taste. Felt like it could've been really great if they had taken the proper time to explore everything. It just feels like it was made to showcase violence and the quips by the gangsters and end on a bleak note.
]]>
This movie reminded me a little bit of Bong Joon Ho's previous Hollywood movie Okja. Both go to the satirical critique of different sides of capitalism a bit too much, along with showing some cute and powerful sci-fi animals. But overall, I preferred Mickey 17 to Okja, probably a lot more because of how I feel about the exact message that is being conveyed. It's funny and dark, but a lot of the stuff that is shown to be caricature that would be usually perceived as almost slapstick doesn't really feel like that anymore. This exact kind of behavior seems pretty normal in today's world. The megalomaniac idiots who hold all the power purely by exploitation are so real that it doesn't feel funny or serious in this presentation. There are too many aspects of this movie that could've been explored a lot more, but even with such heavy themes, it doesn't strive for greatness and is content in being able to convey its heavy themes lightheartedly, which feels like a shame after the humongous success of Parasite.
Overall, it was pretty good. Even though it was pretty predictable, the comedy being mostly okay and not fully exploiting the potential, I'd always want to watch such exposes of capitalistic evil that also shows how people will fall for it and won't stop the bootlicking even when they see that their egoistical master is a bumbling idiot.
Based on a true story, a TV movie about a rookie cop, daughter of a dead cop, going undercover to catch a serial killer targeting prostitutes. Now, you can predict almost everything about this movie, almost scene by scene. As a TV movie, the production, acting, etc. show limitations, and they don't intend this to be actually good. Still, within its constraints, it had good pacing and went about with everything in a straightforward manner. It had something endearing about it despite being mostly bad.
]]>
What a literal title. It's almost like they want this to be a spinoff of the Taken films but with less action. Everything about this makes it feel like it's at least a decade old. But they did pretty well with the way the emotional side was explored. There was a lot of introspection which is very surprising for such a movie. But it doesn't really come together well since it never feels like it set out to be something good anyway.
]]>
Surprisingly not as great as I but still a pretty great film. I think the new generation knows more about this film from memes and references and may even know the basic story of this movie rather than what it is actually based on. In the original Vadakkan Pattukal, those folktales depicted Chandu as the treacherous villain. Everyone knows this is a reimagining of the character being a good guy who gets framed as a traitor due to various circumstances. But the details of how and why it happens, and the various decisions Chandu makes in this film feel a bit pathetic now. Also, a lot of it feels not fully explored or shown a bit over the top and dated, which can be explained away since we are listening to Chandu narrating his own story. But this really needs that lens of a villain's story turned into a tragic hero to fully enjoy, because otherwise, the decisions of the character feel a bit pathetic being a loser in all facets of life despite being very talented and just keep getting put down and blaming all of it on women, etc.
Nonetheless, it's still a really great movie that tried something different on such an epic scale. The remastering is inconsistent with the visual quality but a very large part of it was greatly done and the grandness of elaborate sets and huge number of extras and costumes did look fantastic on the big screen. The Atmos conversion was also pretty good and quite better than some other recent remastered releases.
Nothing in Malayalam cinema feels anywhere near as epic as this nowadays. The song Unniganapathi showing the childhood rituals, then after growing up, the Kalari exhibition fights where there is no dialogue for around 20 minutes, etc are so well crafted. There are no slow-motion or shabby vfx shots to distract you from the epicness and the intensity that is going on. All the songs were incredible and such classics but watching it on a big screen made it all the more special.
]]>
The grimness of some of these 70s films is quite different from that of modern ones. A lot of the 70s films that are a bit dark in nature make me empathize more with anyone who we don't see in the movie because we are horrified for them to be living along with these kinds of people rather than feeling anything for anyone in the film itself. That's not a bad thing per se, but a lot of times it tends to be boring. Here, they make it interesting more with the way this film is shot. The cinematography and editing really carry this movie. The tension of the jailbreak scene, in the beginning, was so well done with such minimal dialogues and full use of the props they had. Even though the story is lackluster and the antihero portrayal is dated, the craft in the filmmaking itself really makes this worthwhile. Ian McShane in the ing role as a jolly conniving crook was pretty great and fits more into what psychopaths are according to modern studies rather than the gloomy depressed silent types the movies sell us.
]]>
An underrated film that tries to say a lot about racial tensions as well as the way police enforce their version of justice. It really paints a picture of the 70s America pretty well. Surprised to see the general negative reception it got. The twist at the end was predictable and a certain scene before the climactic events makes it clear who the culprit is. Most people talking about this seem to know about Dean Martin and talk about his performance through that lens. I think my not knowing much about him helped me enjoy his performance a lot more.
]]>
Cliché plot points and almost melodramatic execution but for me, it was a very engaging and entertaining two hours. Maybe it's also because of how this kind of formula was kind of familiar from 80s Malayalam movies that I really enjoyed this. The naive politician being used and the prostitute turning-lady tropes are mixed here in a very engaging fashion. The only problem I felt is that the style of the filmmaking really feels like it's stuck between that of the 50s and 60s due to which a handful of stuff felt a little bit compromised.
]]>
An over the top comedy that tries to be a little bit like the successful Malayalam comedies from the 90s but also doesn't really want it to be called like that. There were a lot of moments that really made me laugh out loud. Any time movies make a lot of movie references it makes me giddy and even though this only uses it in like some specific scenes, those were all great. There was quite a lot of stuff that felt really forced and thus lost the humor in it. But just in the comedy aspect, it had so much in it that, even though the stuff that didn't work was a lot, there was more stuff that worked for me.
However, the issue with this film is the story itself. There are so many plot points in this movie that are too stupid, and the characters are given a after questionable actions. This kind of stuff was very common among the unsuccessful Malayalam comedies of the 90s too. This plot could have worked more if they hadn't wanted to add some thematic elements and thus a heart to it, it should have been ridiculous throughout, just the way it started. Jithu Madhavan's writing intentions feel like he wanted to make it a bit emotional at the end which is still hilarious like he did in Aavesham. In Aavesham, it was all focused on one character but here, there are two main characters involved and the writing fails to make it sensible. The second act which was supposed to build a base for the climax didn't really work much and the ending was really a confused mess. Performances from Sajin Gopu, Anaswara, and Jisma really carried a lot of scenes that would have totally failed if the acting wasn't as solid.
But even with all those issues, it was still hilarious for the most part. Overall, an above-average experience for me.
Even though it was a huge hit, the critics back at the time didn't like it and it's been reevaluated as a good film by modern critics. I'd like to think I agree more with the critics of that time. lol. The film simultaneously wants to be a thrilling heist/couple on the run movie as well as a nihilistic look at the genre without fully committing to either of them. It doesn't know if the protagonist is a nice con man or a toxic piece of shit. The writing is so inconsistent with the characters. A lot of these thrillers from the 70s also feel like they don't really care about properly setting up a lot of stuff and depend a lot on the sudden shifts into action which might have worked great for the audience back then. But it's really dated in a lot of aspects now. It still has a lot of interesting ideas but as a whole, it didn't work for me. The Steve McQueen film I've seen before Bullit also felt like it had some similar issues but it was way better. The Sam Peckinpah movie I have seen before, Straw Dogs was way more nihilistic and dark in its themes, so even though I thought some of the choices were questionable in it, it felt right for that movie. Here, it seems like he wants to add such questionable stuff into his film even if it doesn't really fit into the narrative properly. Overall, it has some redeeming qualities but is just ana average flick for me. Got to say, the music was too weird, it almost felt like they didn't have too many instruments and used anything they had in the studio to make some sounds.
]]>
I had a hard time figuring out how much I liked this film. This is one of those films that if I was watching with someone else, their opinion would have been pivotal to my final opinion of it. There's so much to like in this film, from the general quirkiness, the performances, the technical side with great cinematography and editing, etc. But at the same time, there's also a lot that doesn't work. It does feel like a try-hard most of the time. The plot itself is simple and lackluster but they have tried to make it interesting by making it a stylistic non linear comedy. The comedy was hit or miss. it's refreshing when it hits but a lot of times it misses and the misses are cringe at best and frustratingly annoying at worst. But towards the end, it kind of becomes a total tonal mess, and adding extensive exposition also didn't help. Overall it's kind of fun and the way it unfolds is certainly interesting but even with such a dream technical execution for a debutant director, the script lacks substance and shows the inexperience there. This really feels like people may love it if they get the vibe or they may just think it's another boring investigation movie.
]]>
This is one of those films that make me appreciate it more and more as I think about it. Films related to issues surrounding dowry are nothing new in Malayalam cinema but the honesty, subtlety, and nuance this movie showed is truly outstanding. Initially, I was surprised to learn that the novella this is based on was named 4-5 Cheruppakkar, because if it is about dowry, why is the name talking about young men like that? But the movie really showed why it is, even though it's more about two men and a woman. The way the so-called culture of patriarchy that is so ingrained in society makes the evils of such a system a question of survival for the working-class people has never been portrayed with such honesty. All three main characters are incredibly written and performed. Even when Sajin Gopu's "villain" character is clearly doing something wrong, we are made to understand why a person who is proud of his hard work is resorting to it and also paints a picture of why he's living as an intimidating character to everyone.
Basil Joseph has been having great success as an actor in the last few years but this is one of his best performances. Ajesh's self-confidence is his desperation for survival, and however weird people may find it, this is the kind of character I always wanted to become. Have conviction in your decisions and go to any lengths for it even if everything looks impossible. The way he's able to stand tall in front of both physical and emotional blackmail and yet show enough empathy and sympathy where it counts makes it impossible to not root for the character after a point.
I loved how it ended with such half-direct dialogues where the implications were clear and yet was able to maintain the mood and style of the film.
It's a very interesting movie with great dialogue that explores how poorly the American legal systems work and how much prejudice in society is such a cornerstone to the judiciary. Add to that, legends like Helen Mirren and Al Pacino, sounds great, right? Wrong. If the writers had any kind of sense of ethics, this wouldn't have been the story they'd have used to explore these themes. Even with zero knowledge about the real-life Phil Spector while watching it, it was very apparent that this was just a way for the writers to use their craft to defend the criminal nature of megalomaniac artists. Reading about the actual case and what was omitted in the movie makes it even more clear. The movie starts with the bizarre claim that it's fictional, only uses inspiration from people, and is not based on a real story itself making it questionable. Even movies that claim it's based on real stories often change the names of people. Here, they put that disclaimer and used real names, locations, and even court transcripts, which quite noticeably don't show any real argument against the title character. What could have been some great dialogues and acting moments are wasted in a movie that feels like the writers actually see themselves in the criminal acts that they insist are only accusations against the title character.
]]>
A bit of a dated experimental film that seems to have inspired a lot of better films. While it tries to show the psychological toll on soldiers, it can't help but be silly and not very three-dimensional. Was glad at the end because I didn't have to spend more time with these obnoxious characters which might not be what you want when you make a movie that wants to be sympathetic to the soldiers.
]]>
Watched on Saturday January 18, 2025.
]]>
Even though this was painfully bad, whenever I see people calling well-made movies that may not be for their tastes the worst movie ever, I know that I do occasionally see some of the worst movies ever and it is way worse than those people can comprehend. Asylum movies always seem like the best option for seeing the worst of the worst. But then again, occasionally being put in front of Indian serials, maybe these guys aren't that bad.
]]>
Kind of reminded me of Gone With The Wind with how it's cinematically good with some great human element in it but sticks to a fascist ideology and yet the humanistic side of it is what we get out of it at the end. The writer of the novel this is based on was a KKK leader who wrote it under a native Cherokee pseudonym to trick people into thinking it's not biased. That really makes sense with a whole lot of stuff in this movie.
It's really a thing of awe how in America, you can get away with showing the historical good guys as pure evil, and the guys who fought for straight-up evil can be shown as the paragons of virtue and it doesn't matter. I mean, it's true that there's good and bad on both sides and that's what you'd expect if they aren't making the movie about the victors, this is something you usually expect to be made about the victors and not the losers.
But beyond all of that, the film manages to be much more than those ideologies it is based on. It's shot so beautifully, the pacing is great, and there's so much of it that worked so great that despite all the issues I have with it, I still think it's pretty good. I still won't consider it a great classic. Even beyond the basic politics, there were quite a few stuff that was weird and dated buy Clint Eastwood's experience in making westerns really comes handy when he makes such films so stylish.
An allegory (for the most part) on domestic abuse using a werewolf story. The atmosphere it created through the location, and music worked really well. The acting was really good, especially the ten or so-year-old protagonist. There were a lot of great ideas in it but it kind of feels a little bit stretched when they could've explored a lot more withing the setting. The ending really felt unnecessary explaining away how the girl is an unreliable narrator. There's a lot in the movie that makes sense with that ending but that would be readable even without that. But there are a lot more questions that can rise from that ending. This could've been really great if the script was reworked more. The characters could've been explored a lot more. There were many scenes that felt weird. But even with all that, the idea was good and a lot of it did work pretty well. Definitely felt that it's better than all the reviews give it credit for.
]]>
This felt like it was trying to be a spaghetti western and a revisionist western at the same time. This is also one of those instances where the dark comedy aspects are just humorless for me personally. But it usually ends up in two extremes for me, where the supposed comedy is brilliantly written satire that is very effective in its message or it could be just trying to be edgy. Here, it felt more close to being just edgy. I mean, the whole film was trying to be dark and it worked but the way it portrayed stuff, there were a few things that were just disgusting to be portrayed like it did. So even though, this seems to be pretty dated in some aspects, it's still a beautifully shot movie with some possibly mystic elements that feel right to have come out during a time when the westerns were almost in their last leg.
]]>
Ozler of 2025 for me. Way better script but lacks a bit in the direction department. Kind of a tribute to the golden age of Malayalam films of the 80s but it always feels like an outsider perspective. A lot of cool things but it did feel like something was lacking that could've made it a lot better. Asif, Anaswara, and Zarin were fantastic. Zarin should be utilized more, especially after Aattam's acclaim. The other two really are at the peak of their careers right now.
]]>Movies I've seen from 2025 ranked and updated as I watch them
- Sinners
- Ponman
- Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2
- Thunderbolts*
- Ne Zha 2
- Love Me
- Padakkalam
- Mickey 17
- Alappuzha Gymkhana
- Rekhachithram
...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favourite Malayalam films in reverse release order.
Disregard my ratings for these, a lot of it from a decade ago and imported from imdb for which my opinions may have changed drastically.
- Ponman
- Kishkindha Kaandam
- All We Imagine as Light
- Aavesham
- Manjummel Boys
- Bramayugam
- Premalu
- Kaathal - The Core
- Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam
- Mukundan Unni Associates™
...plus 97 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Every movie from 2024 I watched.
Ranked and updated as I see them
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- A Different Man
- Gladiator II
- Aavesham
- Manjummel Boys
- All We Imagine as Light
- Premalu
- Anora
- Dune: Part Two
- Kishkindha Kaandam
...plus 83 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favorite Tamil films in reverse release order
- Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2
- Meiyazhagan
- Lubber Pandhu
- Thangalaan
- Maharaja
- Merry Christmas
- Captain Miller
- Jigarthanda DoubleX
- Leo
- Mark Antony
...plus 93 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Every film released in 2023 ranked and updated as I watch them
- Oppenheimer
- Jigarthanda DoubleX
- The Peasants
- Viduthalai: Part I
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
- John Wick: Chapter 4
- Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side B
- Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – Side A
...plus 60 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favourite Indian films in reverse release order
- Village Rockstars 2
- Aavesham
- Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side B
- Jigarthanda DoubleX
- Kennedy
- Viduthalai: Part I
- Kantara
- Thallumaala
- Sardar Udham
- Asuran
...plus 88 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favorite Hindi films in reverse release order
Also adding a couple of Hinglish ones
- Kill
- Kennedy
- Bhediya
- Monica, O My Darling
- 83
- Sardar Udham
- Welcome Home
- Article 15
- Sonchiriya
- Gully Boy
...plus 98 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- A Different Man
- Conan the Barbarian
- Village Rockstars 2
- The Man Who Knew Too Little
- Gladiator II
- Aavesham
- Manjummel Boys
- All We Imagine as Light
- Premalu
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Starting from the narrative films I've seen instead of including early experiments.
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- Oppenheimer
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Green Knight
- Mank
- For Sama
- Pariyerum Perumal
- mother!
- Nocturnal Animals
- Spotlight
...plus 102 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Every film released in 2022 ranked and updated as I watch them
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Batman
- Mad God
- Avatar: The Way of Water
- Decision to Leave
- The Northman
- After Yang
- Thallumaala
- The Whale
- Kantara
...plus 79 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Fight Club
- The Social Network
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Zodiac
- Alien³
- Mank
- Gone Girl
- Se7en
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- The Killer
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All films I've seen from 2021 ranked from best to worst.
- The Green Knight
- Sardar Udham
- The Last Duel
- The Matrix Resurrections
- Zack Snyder's Justice League
- Dune
- Joji
- No Time to Die
- Malcolm & Marie
- Churuli
...plus 49 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favourite Godzilla and related films
]]>Favourite non-Indian non-English language films in reverse release order.
Silent films from non-English speaking countries are also included.
- The Peasants
- Decision to Leave
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Pain and Glory
- For Sama
- Monos
- Shadow
- Never Look Away
- Roma
- Cold War
...plus 94 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Every film I have seen from 2019 ranked from best to worst as of mostly 2020
- For Sama
- Pain and Glory
- The Lighthouse
- Marriage Story
- Joker
- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
- Little Women
- Uncut Gems
- Kumbalangi Nights
- Monos
...plus 131 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Every film I've seen from 2018 ranked from best to worst as of mostly 2019
- Pariyerum Perumal
- The House That Jack Built
- First Man
- Vada Chennai
- First Reformed
- The Favourite
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Sorry to Bother You
- Unsane
- Shadow
...plus 155 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All films from 2017 I've seen ranked
as of mostly 2018
- mother!
- Detroit
- Mudbound
- Blade Runner 2049
- Wind River
- Columbus
- Song to Song
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- T2 Trainspotting
- Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS
...plus 183 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Ranking the kaiju films I've seen from Showa era.
It's mostly just Godzilla films. but wanted to make this since the Mothra and Rodan films are not really part of the same continuity even though they appear in the Godzilla films.
- Godzilla
- Mothra
- Godzilla Raids Again
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
- Mothra vs. Godzilla
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
- Invasion of Astro-Monster
- Terror of Mechagodzilla
- King Kong vs. Godzilla
...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Favourite first-time watches of 2023
- Oppenheimer
- Calcutta 71
- Jigarthanda DoubleX
- The Peasants
- Viduthalai: Part I
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
- The Fox
- John Wick: Chapter 4
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Ultimate Cut
- Man of Steel
- Zack Snyder's Justice League
- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
- The Suicide Squad
- The Flash
- Shazam!
- Justice League
- Suicide Squad
- Blue Beetle
...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>My favorite films in reverse release order
- Oppenheimer
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Batman
- Mad God
- The Green Knight
- Little Women
- Joker
- Marriage Story
- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
- The Lighthouse
...plus 137 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked.
- Avengers: Endgame
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Captain America: Civil War
- The Avengers
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- WandaVision
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Black Panther
- Loki
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
...plus 33 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Among films co-directed by women, the ones where their credit is given first is selected
- For Sama
- Meshes of the Afternoon
- The Seashell and the Clergyman
- At Land
- Little Women
- Mudbound
- The Love Witch
- Detroit
- A Death in the Gunj
- Talvar
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>The best films in which Batman/Bruce Wayne had an appearance according to me.
- The Dark Knight
- The Batman
- Joker
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Batman Begins
- Batman
- Batman: The Killing Joke
- Zack Snyder's Justice League
- Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Oldboy
- The Dark Knight
- The Batman
- Watchmen
- Ghost in the Shell
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
- Akira
- Joker
- Avengers: Endgame
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Ultimate Cut
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Nocturnal Animals
- The Neon Demon
- The Witch
- The Love Witch
- Raman Raghav 2.0
- The Salesman
- Hell or High Water
- Kammatti Paadam
- Swiss Army Man
- Udta Punjab
...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Inception
- The Dark Knight
- The Prestige
- Oppenheimer
- Memento
- Interstellar
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Batman Begins
- Dunkirk
- Insomnia
...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Waltz with Bashir
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
- Waking Life
- Ghost in the Shell
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
- Akira
- A Scanner Darkly
- The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- The Red Turtle
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>From the first seven movies, only the second one was a bit down for me but it was still watchable. The Franchise tried something different in every movie until the 6th one and used all that to peak at 7. But then came the worst movies that made it a laughing stock even among the normal audience. Now Fast X uses all the elements including the ridiculousness that came after 7 to make a fun movie.
- Furious 7
- The Fast and the Furious
- Fast & Furious 6
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
- Fast Five
- Fast & Furious
- Fast X
- 2 Fast 2 Furious
- F9
- The Fate of the Furious
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Eyes Wide Shut
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- A Clockwork Orange
- Barry Lyndon
- The Shining
- Lolita
- Full Metal Jacket
- Paths of Glory
- Spartacus
...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Films I've seen from 2020 ranked from best to worst
- Mank
- Wolfwalkers
- Color Out of Space
- Ayyappanum Koshiyum
- Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train
- Trance
- Palm Springs
- Psycho- 3: First Inspector
- The Gentlemen
- Soul
...plus 33 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Sink
- Nawara
- There's Always Tomorrow
- Looking for Eric
- Chronicles of Hari
- The Last Mural
- Manhole
- Cold of Kalandar
- Knife in the Clear Water
- Mohavalayam
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>