Recently Seen Movies - 12 - Page 11

Mindhunters:- It's about how FBI researched on serial rapists-cum-killers in 1970s. Starting is slow but then it becomes better and better with every episode.

Originally posted by: Padfoot_Prongs

Mindhunters:- It's about how FBI researched on serial rapists-cum-killers in 1970s. Starting is slow but then it becomes better and better with every episode.

S2 is better

Brother's Day - oru kunjupengalde review

Well not going into much detailing, here is a short n sweet review of Brother’s Day!

The movie is a mix of emotions, mystery, action and humor.

Prithviraj – Rocked the movie with his aura. The movie of Prithvi, without illuminati/ dark side. Lolz, after a long time a colorful powerpacked entertainer by Prithvi. He excelled in tickling the funny bones, exceptional stunts and maaasha allah, the powerpacked dance for thaalolam thumbipennalle – datz all about Prithvi.

Madonna, Aishwarya, Mia and Prayaga : Amongst the femmes, Aishwarya leads the most important part in the movie and was the best in the lot! Madonna however had a very limited role to play and Prayaga, our expression queen have managed this time, without much expressions! Miya is the surprise and suspense element.

Vijayaraghavan – Comic role not worked well, felt a lot of overacting! However, the serious Chandy sir was better!

Always known for humor at its best, Kottayam Naseer however did take up a low-profile role and was very engrossed in his personal emotional satire.

Dharmajan – as usual made all of us laugh with his witty one liners.

Not to miss the one and only trump card of the movie – Prasanna – the perfect catch for a villain role! Absolutely well-done with his style and enigma. :

Cameo roles for Sphadikam George, Ponnamma Babu, Anil Murali, Kochu Preman – not much to talk about.

Negatives :

Since this is a Directorial Debut of Kalabhavan Shajon, there are lot of loopholes in the movie. The movie is a mix of emotions, mystery, action and humor. However, while trying to add too much of masala into the movie, the debut director has gone hay-wire. Without much detailing, the length of the movie was really alarming! All characters in the film have a flashback, but the most intriguing of them all, the psycho killer (Prasanna), lacked one. The script did invest a lot of reel time in establishing the goodness of each characters, but the crime that holds the storyline together, just got a casual approach.

At times, I did feel that the reels are put in wrong order.

I don’t know if anyone noticed, there is a change in the costume which was continuity of the scene! How can the Director / Actor make such a blunder!

Still don’t know, what was the concept of Madonna’s flashback in the movie.

Positives :

Whoever did the costumes for this movie, need to be applauded. Prithvi, Prasanna both did look ravishing becoz of the costumes. Need to mention Aishwarya’s costumes as well – not much glazy, but really cool and soothing.

Loved the songs, the mimic that prithvi and Dharmajan did!

Stunts

In a gist, Brother’s Day story-line is weak. One can just cast your eyes onto the screen for the fun elements in first half and the thriller element in the second half. By the time, you try to analyse and stitch things together, its “The End” of the movie. With such strong characters, the script could have been better. Better luck next time Dear Shajohn chetta. Wish you all good luck.

If the flaws of Directorial Debut can be ignored, then its a watchable movie - its not at all boring for sure!

Originally posted by: TakingAStand2

Yay!!! Finally someone who loves the good place! Is S3 on Netflix? Also, S4 will be the last season, Michael Schur, the most amazing man ever, confirmed it recently which makes me both happy (and kinda sad) cuz they won’t ruin an amazing show for ratings. That said, S3 has extended episodes, check it out if you haven’t done so already.

PS: great review!!

No, it isn’t on Netflix for the Indian audience at least. :(

13 Reasons Why S3

The first season was controversial and received backlash. I thought it was a well made and bold series that pushed into uncomfortable territory. Tbh, I felt the backlash was more about people uncomfortable with their reflection rather than the graphic suicide sequence.

The second season unraveled a neatly completed story arc. The makers were clearly milking the success, but I was OK with it on two accounts. The first being the execution. Although patchy it was overall well done and a nice extension from tapes to photos. The second was its willingness to continue tackling difficult issues - especially male rape and trauma.

The third season continues the milking of a phenomenon. But this time it completely goes off the rails without redemption. They have lost both execution and the ability to tackle issues as they ride their success wave.

Season two ended with Tyler planning a mass shooting and Clay facing him down. Everyone assumed that season three would address gun violence. But it takes a u-turn by becoming a whodunnit following the disappearance and death of Bryce Walker.

The decision to shift the focus away from gun violence wasn't wrong. It wasn't a bright idea to make a rape victim a violent criminal. There is really no data connecting sexual violence with gun violence. Sexual abuse victims do act out in negative ways, but their violence is usually sexual or emotional in nature. So it made sense to pivot from a badly conceived story.

And I don't think the redemption arc for a rapist is a bad idea either. However, Bryce wasn't someone who made mistakes and struggled to understand consent. Bryce was a serial rapist. It is not that he didn't understand consent, but he wilfully wanted to assert his dominion on women - including his best friend's intoxicated and unconscious girlfriend. That doesn't mean he cannot be redeemed. That just means that he needs to work harder for redemption and its a much steeper tasks. But this season makes an absolute mess of it. It is inconsistent, insincere, and erratic. It focuses more on him being "nicer" to people and "throwing his money" around rather than show "genuine remorse" and "reparations" towards his victims.

We are also introduced to a new character Ani who is the narrator for this season. But could they have made a narrator more unreliable and unlikable? Ani isn't a terrible person as some fans think. She's a decent character who has been given some horribly shitty story arcs that would normally never happen. Her relationship with Bryce makes zero sense and there is nothing established to build the empathy she has. Her hot and cold behavior with Clay and her final decision just don't make any bloody sense at all.

Let's not even get started on the #MeToo group at school. Jessica is the only redeeming and likable character in that group along with Tyler. The others are just angry women without logic and purpose. They are brash in their actions, mean in their demeanor to Tyler (a victim who hasn't spoken his truth yet), and overall crazy. If I, a feminist woman, loathed them and their actions - I cannot imagine how people on the fence or critical of the movement would react. Could you not flesh them out to justify their anger, show more to elicit empathy - or was this group written to specifically shit on victims of sexual assault. Thankfully Jessica had a really good speech towards the end - that somewhat made up for the prior ill-conceived actions.

The less we say about Montgomery's arc the better. It is one of the most stereotypical and cliched arcs, that doesn't hold much ground in reality. He would have been better served as a dark character who channels abuse at home into the outside world. It didn't need to play out the way it did.

Honestly, this season is so problematic because ultimately it justifies violence begets violence. That people who are hurt should be able to carry out their own form of justice without consequences. In this case, the perpetrator isn't even someone who was that extremely wronged either - and has like zero justification.

Oh, and there is that side arc with Tony that although poignant and relevant in keeping with times, but does nothing but meander and stretch this season.

To add to the chaos the flashback in flashback narrative is executed horribly. It's dull and easy to get lost between what is real and what is fiction.

On the bright side, Tyler's healing is a highlight of the show.

I don't know why though this trash TV is addictive. I consumed Season 3 despite loathing it and probably will watch S4 too. Maybe I'm a masochist.

Dream Girl:-

Entertaining movie. but not without issues of course. But still entertaining. Ending was little abrupt. And lecture at the end was also a little bit out of context. Emotional part while dealing with the individuals who were involved with Pooja was also not there. Also that Bisexual part of Roma was just not there. Was Pooja her best Friend or she was in love with her. It was like they evaporated that in the end.

If some one ask me to choose between this one and Badhai Ho, I will choose Badhai ho.

Radhe Radhe is such a catchy song. I am in love with it right now. Situational comedy is good. But somewhere it seemed forced. Like with whole discussion of Hindu-Muslim love was so forced. I just wanted to ask Karam- Bhai tu Chahta kya hai. Baap shadi ko reject kare ya maan jaaye. Khud hi against jaaye khud hi defend kare.

2.5/5.

Dear White People S3

S3 completely changes the narrative style. Instead of character POV focused episodes the show switches to a regular sitcom based narrative. The switch honestly is weak and ineffectual. It makes the show lose its uniqueness.

However, it manages to salvage itself with some sharp story arcs. Lionel's deep dive into being gay. Troy's struggles with Pastiche as a token minority. Most importantly the whole #MeToo narrative that is so much more loaded and nuanced than anyone else has done. I enjoyed the subtle Tyler Perry vs Spike Lee jabs as well.

Dream Girl

This movie is absolutely hilarious. It will leave you in stitches start to finish. The movie boasts of an ensemble cast and they all nail the interpersonal chemistry and punchlines. The jokes too cover a whole range meta-humor, situational, slap-stick, and innuendo. Its a clever and bold take for a comedy.

But let's face it, it's not without its flaws. When you scratch beneath the surface you realize that theater full of belly laughs does mask some problems.

I'll focus on the glaring cinematic ones first. The writers run away with their plot device. There are so many avenues to explore and they hit as many as possible. In doing so they create too many subplots and are hard-pressed to neatly conclude all of them. The final speech is painfully contrived and feels forced. It's like they couldn't write anymore and picked a lazy cop-out.

Phone sex aka "friendship" hotlines have existed ever since the telephone was invented. To chalk it up to the hollowness of social media is a cop-out. The Hollywood movie Don Juan does a brilliant job of addressing a porn addiction with the need for real human relationships that go beyond the superficial. I guess the makers were unwilling to acknowledge the seedier aspects of the plot and glossed it over.

The whole conversion to Islam bit was also so contrived. It went for the lowest common denominator in humor that it had me wondering if some random writer from the street was called into fill in the blanks. Compare that to the Mahabharata scene which is such a scathing and sharp commentary on sexism in Indian myths. How do you go from this level of sharpness to a level of baseness?

In the noncinematic aspect the lesbian/bisexual erasure/stereotypical misrepresentation was painful. It is about time films quit the manhating lesbian trope. It's not funny. Bad relationships or trust issues don't make women gay. And if a woman discovers that she is a lesbian, she won't go back to men for any reason. I think Roma's plot could have been resolved with Karam telling her that men and women are equally capable of heartbreak and she should open her heart to people's qualities rather than their gender. It would have been a nice acknowledgment that she could be bisexual.

Finally, the movie missed an opportunity to recreate something like Kajra Mohabbat Wala. You have your lead man in drag for so many scenes. You have the setting to push the envelope with a gender bender song number. Radhe Radhe though catchy should have been a gamechanger instead of another run of the mill heteronormative number.

Queer Eye S4

This should be just mandatory viewing for all. Just a feel-good show that shows us how opening yourself can change lives. The last two episodes hit a special chord. Both were stereotypical conservative men who didn't have exposure to gay men and it showed how all it takes to overcome biases is for someone to take a chance.

Section 375

Review has spoilers

A prominent film director named Rohan Khurana ( Rahul Bhat ) is accused of rape by an assistant of his film's costume maker . He pleads not guilty to the charges and hires an expensive lawyer named Tarun Saluja ( Akshaye Khanna ) to fight his case . The victim Anjali Dangle's ( Meera Chopra ) case is being handled by lawyer Hiral Gandhi ( Richa Chadda ) .

Tarun changes the testimony of his defendant to admitting that he had consensual sex with Anjali , that he was using his power and position in the film industry to get Anjali assignments for costume designing in return for sexual favours . But Anjali wanted a real relationship with him and when he refused she took revenge by charging him with rape . This destroys Rohan's relationship with his wife but gives him a chance to prove himself innocent .

Tarun then asks Anjali to come to the witness box and totally tears apart her rape accusations by showing how she made injuries on herself . So much so that her lawyer Hiral Gandhi herself is convinced that Rohan is innocent . But the judgement according to section 375 of the Indian penal code by the judges is that Rohan is guilty . So what was the point of the movie ? To prove how section 375 can be misused by jilted women to falsely implicate men in rape charges ?

The best part of the film is the arguments and counter arguments brilliantly presented by both sides in court , the best part being Tarun proving with statistics that India is not the rape capital of the world . The medical examination of the victim and the procedure of how police handle rape cases is also illuminated upon . In the end you do feel for the accused but that's how the legal system works .

Acting is good by everyone and colours photography background music is all okay .Some of the arguments in court are partly in English while some dialogues in the film are in the Marathi language as the victim and the police and one of the judges are shown to have Marathi as their mother tongue . It can be watched by the thinking audience , but one senses a lack of clear direction as to what was the point of the movie in the end .

Verdict---Decent .

Three stars out of five

I watched Super 30

I liked the start but then it just started going downhill. Could never really connect with any character esp Anand Kumar's character. Towards the end, they made it like a masala movie with kids protecting the hospital using their intelligence and stuff.

Hrithik was good but again I really felt he was a misfit in that role. His bihari accent slipped when he mentions english words and terminologies.

I actually liked Nandish's role who played HR's brother. I also liked Mrunal's role esp in that scene in the car with her husband played by Manav Gohil. That was a cute scene and had more chemistry.

HR's father character was also well played.

Overall one time watch but disappointed

6/10

My ordinary love story (korean)

Available on youtube. Do not read the comments before or while watching movie.

i typed comedy korean and this came up in the suggestions but it is NOT a comedy. Cannot say more as that will be spoiler.

Acting is very good but few plot pieces are left for us to imagine which can be annoying. Lot of flashback and jump editing in this one. Not a boring moment. Movie was fast paced. Some of the characters needed more development. Background Music was appropriate. I didn't expect much from movie but i was surprised. You should pay attention else gotta rewind back a lot lol.

Value for time. I recommend everyone to watch it whenever they have free time.