Recently Seen Movies - 12 - Page 18

Thadam, what a superb movie.

Bigil :

With Bigil, Atlee delivers one of Vijay's better actorly outings at the expense of his mass avatar. Don't get me wrong,he does the usual Vijayisms like the chewing gum trick and the forces attempts at comedy. But this time,he is backed up by some solid sentiments and emotions.But as a sports flick,Bigil sucks big time.

There's not an iota of research nay basic sports knowledge that has gone into creating the football scenes. Each and every goal scored by the TN team consists of some weird aerodynamic acrobatics. For a team game,we don't see any dribbling,through passes or teamwork. It's apparently as if the makers decided, you guys have come to see Vijay,why on earth would you bother about the supporting acts.

The fight scenes are very ordinary and lack any sort of thrill. ARR's score does the heavy lifting when any attempt is made to induce tears in the audience. The tracks are used well, especially Singappenney with a surprise cameo.

Vijay puts in a decent effort in both his roles , although to be honest a better actor would have worked wonders with this role. But he does irritate with his usual mannerisms in the comic scenes. Nayantara cashes in an easy paycheck,while looking ravishing. Tiger ka Baap does initially show promise to be a threatening villain, but then retreats into the shadows once Vijay's Bigil avatar takes over. There is a stereotypical Neil Nitin Mukesh type villain who is played this time by Kabir Singh's brother. And yeah,when you want to cast a north Chennai baddie,Daniel Balaji should always be on your speed dial

Ultimately, it's the father son sentiment and the women empowerment angle which saves this movie. The acid attack Survivor episodes and the episodes with the player turned housewife are powerful and well acted.

Bigil isn't great art. But as a 3 hour theater watch, it is never boring

Rating: 3.00 / 5.00

Perfect movie for Bhai to remake

Kaithi :

I knew that I was gonna love this movie when a throwaway line in the first 10 minutes mentions the presence of a Gatling gun. And the payoff which comes around 2 hours later is glorious!!!

It's not very common to have an action movie with such a strong emotional core at its centre. The last one which comes to mind is that Legendary Nic Cage starrer on a plane full of convicts. The action in Kaithi is confined to 2 locations,one a lorry filled with the macguffin, a bunch of cops on whom a bounty has been set by a ruthless gangster. And the other inside a blockaded police precinct wherein the second macguffin is present. A whole Lotta drugs.

The superbly economical storytelling is aided by some sensational old fashioned maar dhaad, great night time cinematography and a genuine sense of tension. Lokesh Kanagaraj does not believe in unnecessary flashbacks. Although I enjoyed his directorial debut,this one is a solid improvement. He knows that to have a truly memorable mass moment,the audience needs to get invested in the characters and their motivations. I wish the director of this movies competition took notes from this.Plus Sam CS pulls off a stylish score very unlike which u get in a mass flick

And then there's the star at the centre. Whether it's emotional breakdown that the character has when he talks of his past or whether it's doing a picture perfect neck-breaker on a baddie,this is the seminal action movie performance of the year by a long shot.

Book your tickets. It's one hell of a ride. Paavangalude Con Air

Rating: 3.25 / 5.00 ( Good )

Waiting for the sequel

movie review---Hirkani ( marathi movie )

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Set in the time after Shivaji maharaj was coronated as King , the movie is on the legend of a woman who went down a very steep cliff off the fort of Raigad ( Shivaji's capital ) because the gates of the fort had been closed as they always were by sunset but she wanted to nurse her infant which was in a village below . There is no record of such a feat in the historical records of Shivaji , but a bastion called Hirkani buruj stands at the spot where she allegedly went down from the fort . It is named after the woman , whose name was Hirkani .

Heera ( Sonali Kulkarni ) is a simple woman living in a village at the foot of fortress Raigad , who has an infant child and a tall strong and strapping husband called Jeeva ( Amit Khedekar ) working in Shivaji's spy department . On the festival of kojagiri pournima she remains in the fort too long and the gates are shut as per rules at sundown . But eager to nurse her infant which is in the village below , she decides to climb down a steep cliff . On the way down which is nearly vertically down , she nearly loses her life as she slides down fast repeatedly hurting herself and gets slithered by a snake onto her body , As Shivaji's soldiers realise someone is going downwards , they feel that she could be an enemy agent . They throw boulders and flaming objects at her which narrowly miss her .

Finally when she reaches down , she finds her house being stalked by a wolf that has tormented her village . Using the technique taught by her husband she spears the wolf and kills it . Meanwhile the news reaches Shivaji himself and next day his soldiers take her back to fort for questioning . He asks her to prove herself by repeating the feat , but she admits that with the infant safe in her arms and not in the village below she cannot dare repeat the feat . Shivaji is convinced by her truthfulness and honours her and names her infant as Jhunjhar Rao , hoping that he will grow up to be a fighter for Swaraj like his father . The place where she scales down has a bastion built in her real name---Hirkani .

Sonali Kulkarni puts up an authentic performance as a mother worried for her child , and Amit Khedekar looks every inch a Maratha warrior fighting for swaraj . Colours and photography wise the movie scores and background music and songs are okay .

Verdict---Decent .

Three stars out of five .

Ratsasan: Superb movie. 5/5 thriller.

Chhichhore— absolutely loved it. Superb. Now this is how you make movie.

Modern Love

I found the series to be ordinary. Plenty of feel-good/sweet stories with nuance, some good writing, and good acting. But nothing that blows you away. The final episode "The race grows sweeter near the final lap" is perhaps the most beautiful story that had me in tears. The show kind of reminds me of Love Actually. I found the movie strictly OK, until the final scene at the airport when I was like - this is actually brilliant storytelling.

Flavorful Origins: Yunan

They made some updates. The narrative is in English now instead of Mandarin. Their photography and video editing is also closer to chef's table. Also its ten episodes only. It loses some authenticity. But I was mesmerized by the food. These regional and indigenous cuisines are where it's at. What a loss to the world if some of these handmade foods fade away with modernization.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

It's tough to make a good travel food show. Anthony Bourdain set the bar up so high with his curiosity, cultural empathy, and genuine love for culinary traditions. David Chang is enthusiastic but doesn't have all it takes. He does rely on his celebrity guests. I think the LA and Vietnam episodes were well done. I think Lena Waithe and Kate McKinnon make the difference.

Atypical S3

This is truly a wholesome and family-friendly show. The show follows the life of teenager Sam Gardner who has autism. The narratives reflect how his autism impacts his family and friends. The first two seasons covered his high school graduation. This season shows his transition to college.

Transition to college isn't easy. The struggles he faces are too real. It is a wake-up call that our colleges need to be more accommodating for students like Sam. But it isn't just Sam, his girlfriend Sam has her own set of struggles adjusting to college.

In previous seasons Sam's mom Elsa cheated on her husband Doug and now Doug is catching feelings for another woman. The show is a very honest exploration of cheating, marital strife, and what marriage truly means. There is no resolution yet, but it shows that there is no black and white or right and wrong - marriages take a lot of compromises.

The Casey-Evan-Izzie love triangle was tense. I was totally rooting for Izzie and Casey, but Evan totally won my heart while Izzie frustrated me. But once again, the show does a great job of depicting teenagers discovering their sexuality, having conflicting emotions, and trying to do the right thing.

Only thing underwhelming was Zahid's arc. I think they had shown more with Gretchen and him and extrapolated more into why Sam feels Zahid is changing.

This show is so good (and brings so much joy) that I might rewatch all three seasons. Despite having a never-ending list of shows.

Rangi Taranga, superb thriller.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

Modern Love

I found the series to be ordinary. Plenty of feel-good/sweet stories with nuance, some good writing, and good acting. But nothing that blows you away. The final episode "The race grows sweeter near the final lap" is perhaps the most beautiful story that had me in tears. The show kind of reminds me of Love Actually. I found the movie strictly OK, until the final scene at the airport when I was like - this is actually brilliant storytelling.

Totally agree with you, overall I thought the show was pretty timepass. Some episodes were definitely better than others, the doorman one was nice, and the Dev Patel one was also nice, the final episode was sweet but my favourite one / the one that made me tear up was the Anne Hathaway episode on being bipolar. I've had family members who are bipolar and I think having someone in your life who is bipolar makes the depiction of it like Anne did on screen feel so much more relatable, not like the Claire Danes in Homeland way. I also think Anne did a great job enacting the highs and lows of someone on lithium... it's such a delicate situation that someone who has no exposure to mental health issues won't be able to relate to.

Okka Kshanam, hindi dubbed, what a unique concept, while obviously screenplay follows the typical South movie, but the concept is intriguing. While acting was basic, but damn Seerat Kapoor, what a hottie.

Lion Shiva, superb thriller, the most real life like, authentic thriller.