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Joker (2016)
Hard Hitting political satire depicting our mindset.
Raju Murugan joins elite list of directors who elevate Tamil cinema to global standards. Dialogues are sharp, hard hitting and does not spare anyone from the Gods to both the bigwig politicians to the matinée idols and finally to the one who most needs a wake up call – the common who gets it in the climax. Director wins big in telling a very touching love story, disguised as a political satire while also raising the relevant question that if mercy killing should be made legal in this country where many underprivileged people suffer endlessly. He raised a loud voice for the downtrodden and kudos to him for coming out with a truthful film.On the downside a few sequences the pacing lags. The President visit also lacks authenticity with a sparse crowd.
Guru Somasundaram has taken quirkiness to a new level as the suited President, he is equally captivating as the ordinary innocent worker who falls in love with a girl. Mu Ramaswamy plays Ponoonjal the social activist with such natural grace. Ramya Pandian brings to life the local girl who adamantly rejects the hero because his house has no toilet. Gayathri Krishna as Isai is perfect as their spokeswoman and social media manager.
Mannar Mannan who lives in a small village with no toilets and minimal facilities. He believes and behaves as if he is the President of India. The trio go about raising social issues like going to court for a political bigwig's sand truck hurting a goat to fighting for compensation from a school correspondent in whose premises a four year old girl falls into an open well. The court ironically awards a huge compensation for the goat, but in the case of the four year old girl rules that owner of the premises is not responsible. The dejected "President" signs an order to bring "military rule" in the country so that he can take the law in his hands and attempts to stab the correspondent. he is arrested and produced before the court the judge finding that he is not in his right mind orders an investigation and also to give him medical attention. The flashback come to reveal the beautiful love story of Mannar Mannan and Malliga and how due to the nepotism and apathy of the government brings great tragedy to the couple and results in him losing his sanity opening up many questions for everyone in the society to answer. She moves to a state of coma and attempts for mercy killing fails. Meanwhile the sand mining mafia and the others he opposed take a plot to kill him, run him over with a lorry. The climax dialog spoken by the Mu ramaswamy is a tight slap on the apathy of people and our politicians and in fact our political culture. One thing i disliked about the movie was its ending scene suggesting a red revolution and isai joining maoism, which i think should not have been a part of the movie. yet the director prevails across the theme of the story
Kabali (2016)
A one time watch??? Hell No for a Rajini fan, for others a big YES !
Am Back! I am back as the same youth I left 25 years ! This is a famous dialogue from kabali by Rajinikanth. Perhaps it holds the best for the movie as director Pa Ranjith has loaded it with enough elements that every Rajinikanth fan would lve and make it a movie to cherish. Produced by kalaipuli S Thanu in a grand budget, Kabali is a entertaining and mass engaging stuff with enough in it to give goosebumps of you are an ardent follower of Rajinikanth. Knowing what fans of Rajinikanth would want, Ranjith has spread the commercial elements in his style. One we saw in his earlier films including Attakaththi and Madras. A social message is buried deep in the script. And with Rajinikanth at the scheme of things, it eventually gets bigger and better. All credit to the director. He holds a string grip over the movie and never compromises at places wherever essential. And Rajinikanth seems to have performed what his filmmaker wanted. At regular intervals, there are mass elements that fans will go berserk in theaters. Besides Rajinikanth, there is Radhika Apte playing the female lead, while Dhanshikaa, Rithyvika, Kalaiarasan, John Vijay, Kishore and Chinese actor Winston Chao are in the cast.G Murali is behind the leans and Santosh Narayanan scoring music. Set predominantly in Malaysia, the movie is adrenaline pumping action scenes with enough emotional elements, quite like in any Ranjith film. Every character has been carefully etched by Ranjith and they all have a part to play in the film. And as man of the masses, rajinikanth had always enthused the fan by setting the screen on fire. Here too, he does the same but in style and with a difference. Murali's camera captures Malaysian lifestyle in colorful way and Santosh Narayanan's music compliments the story well. His Neruppu Da and Maya Nadhi are huge hits among music-lovers. Praveen with his crisp editing makes it a short and sweet affair. Coming to the story, Kabali is about a gangster. An international don. Kabaleeswaran also called Kabali (Rajinikanth) is simple man but with a lot of principles. And his better half Kumdhavalli (Radhika Apte) is his life. Kabali has a purpose to serve in his life. It is about his travails for Tamils plantation workers who are unfairly treated by a section.There he encounters problems. After coming out of prison, he treads a path that strikingly teaches the baddies a lesson.. There are flashback scenes where he looks youth that is sure to make his fans feel nostalgic. His costumes and body language helps him in a great manner. The stunt sequences are enthralling. And in one word, kabali marvels you. The vintage Rajinikanth is back. He has replied all those who wrote him off after Lingaa debacle in style with Kabali. Kabali is a movie that deserves a engaging watch. With a super screen presence of Rajinikanth and effective handling of the theme by Ranjith, Kabali ends up as one of the best films from superstar's hut. A good movie is one which should sync the story line with the actors, #kabali is one such which makes you feel there are no overtones and displays brilliantly, the maturity of the legend- #rajinikanth. Simple and straight forward story, no exaggerations. Those initial reviews which spoke about certain over tones, trust me you have Ur views clouded. Not a typical rajini film with blockbuster action sequences and hard hitting punch dialogues. But the story is subtle, with the right proportion of aggression. The movie had much stronger resemblances to the god father story specially the way story and action runs. Final Verdict: A one time watch??? Hell No for a Rajini fan, for others a big YES !
Orange Mittai (2015)
A lovely tale of emotions from a seemingly irritating person.
Trust me when I sat down to watch the movie after a long list of people recommending me to watch it, I was literally cursing them to have wasted my time and money. But the end of the movie made me thank every one who asked me to do so. The story is of a man obsessed with orange candies despite its ill effects on his health and his emotions portrayed from being notoriously irritating to a man who longs for affection who is able to love and care back at others when cared upon. Vijay sedupathi is a man who is alone , his son hates him, none in the village care about his existence .all that is there in his life is about him , his long list of disease and his dilapidated house. To make himself connected with the outside world he often "calls " 108 emergency services so that he can converse with the paramedic. One such call makes him meet Ramesh(satya) who is different from others . Having lost his father recently he is more considerate towards him. The movie is about Vijay plays his antics across the journey. They soon develop a bond which food the vacuum in each other's life. Meanwhile, Aarshita(kavya) who plays satyas love interest is forced to commit to a guy and satya since could not be there on time makes her break up with him(I really wonder how things go wrong in a day). Finally Vijay gets treated for his health issues and gets back along with sathya, first to meet his son and then go talk to kavya and her father to convince them.
So what's special about the movie ? Its about how a man undergoes his old age related issues and the pain of loneliness, to someone who is waiting to die, it doesn't matter what the world thinks about his personality, the scene when he stops the auto and dances on the road literally tells me how liberating it would have felt for the old man to have a caring company. The story has its own short falls, a rather slow picturisation does have an impact on the overall movie viewing experience. Movies with good emotions are hard to come by. Grab a seat, everyone needs to watch this.
Visaranai (2015)
Edge of the seat experience for a movie that sends fearful chills down the spine.
Vetrimaaran deserves allocates for having given the best from the team. The extent of enduring pain is as plain as water as they stutter and fumble with their bloody bruised bodies. The hard- riviting screenplay is unstoppable, making no move to shield you from the bitter realities of the merciless world. cameraman S Ramalingam perfectly complements the script by depicting the pain, torture and humiliation while GV Prakash's haunting background score makes it happen like real, The sound of flesh being torn apart by brutal lathi blows will make one finch and even experience it. The story portrays as how innocents are often brought in to fill cases which cant be solved. The extent of torture they undergo to make them underwrite the crime they have never committed is painful and morally awakening. The film brings out how gruesome our criminal justice system is, and the lack of transparency, access to judicial services and no signs of accountability at the cutting edge level is making the common man suffer more every day. It is not to say that all police functions are gruesome. But the movie brings up how the dark side can be and how dangerous it can be to the life of a common man when the power is uncontrolled.I sincerely hope that lockup deaths and police encounters will no longer be mere flash news after watching this movie, as the film sends across a spine chilling message which needs every ones attention.
The Gift (2015)
something familiar but never feeling tied down by the clichés
Films that provide a fresh twist on them are few and far between.The Gift may initially feel like it's something we've all seen before, but it builds to a tremendous crescendo. This is a dark and twisted gem of a thriller with a gut-punch of an ending.
Actor Joel Edgerton has also written this thriller and brings us something familiar but never feeling tied down by the clichés which it uses to its benefit.
Simon (Jason Bateman) and wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) have just moved into a new house. However their lives are thrown into uncertainty and chaos when Simon's old school pal Gordo (Edgerton) begins imposing himself on their life.
As odd little gifts and gestures are presented to the couple, so are unspoken incidents from a distant past.
Such a thriller will bring anything like Unlawful Entry to Single White Female to mind, although in this instance there is more of a male focus on the stalking.
While Simon is immediately unsettled with Gordo's repeated turning up at their door unannounced, Robyn is more sympathetic to the loner. However, as her kindheartedness is dismissed by her husband as her just being soft, it soon becomes apparent that Gordo's presence is rooted in an incident from the past.
To say any more about the premise would be to spoil one of the best thrillers to have been released this year.
Some of the beats may feel familiar, but throughout there is a growing sense of unease. For much of the opening half there's a real off- kilter feel to what's going on. The escalation of Gordo's odd behaviour is handled well, squeezing out every ounce of tension out of the situation before flooring you with a sledgehammer of a final act.
Bateman has yet again shown he's capable of performing dramatic roles with ease. He's brilliant as the cocky, ambitious Simon. His ability to be chameleon-like is impressive as he initially plays dumb to what's going on before things reach the unexpected climax.
Hall plays Robyn note perfect. A woman recovering from a traumatic experience who wants to move on with her life, she's keen to see the good in people while ignoring any red flags that may be thrown into play.
But the real star is Edgerton. As oddball Gordo, he's both unnerving and disarming. It's a special quality to possess in a role that's supposed to keep us guessing and he manages it with aplomb.
Couple that with the overall tone and Edgerton's script and he becomes a film-maker worth keeping an eye on.
The Gift may initially feel like it's something we've all seen before, but it builds to a tremendous crescendo. This is a dark and twisted gem of a thriller with a gut-punch of an ending.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
steals your breath every minute.
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the vivid movies of 2015. The cinematography for this film is an absolute marvel- showcasing the sprawling outback desert through hues of oranges and reds during the daytime, contrasting it with beautiful midnight blues at night. All this comes together to give the movie a very lively atmosphere. The score alleviates the sense of rush and is smartly used diegetically as well as non-diegetically. The action scenes are shot brilliantly with minimal special effect, furthering its case as a masterpiece. Finally the acting especially that of Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa is top-notch and no character is left needing further characterisation. Tom Hardy's Max is a man of little words, but the performances are so strong that the movie doesn't need dialogue in order to flourish. This movie is definitely not hyped up- go see it and then go see it again. This sequel and reboot of the classic action franchise brings Mad Max soaring vigorously back to life with a two hour action extravaganza that puts everything attempted in the original trilogy to shame. The original Mad Max trilogy was gritty and violent, but compared to the colorful landscapes
Interstellar (2014)
interstellar is an imaginative movie bringing out our survival instincts to forefront
"We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt." Interstellar is the rare film that forces deep consideration of "our place" in both the terrestrial and celestial spheres, though its conclusions are perhaps less satisfying than the cinematic journey itself. It's an provocative, enthralling, ambitious movie that comes at a time when space exploration has seen some new horizons.Earth has been rendered useless by an climatic disaster called as the Blight – forcing humanity to abandon earth and in the dreams of discovery, in order to focus on basic survival. To this, former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a widowed father of two, is now a farmer tasked with growing one of the planet's last remaining sustainable crops: corn.Because the earth appears to be on a hopeless trajectory, NASA is actively and secretly developing an escape plan for humanity, but first they must find a livable planet. Thankfully a Dylan Thomas-quoting physicist, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), has discovered a mysterious wormhole near Saturn which provides a shortcut to unexplored galaxies and, potentially, habitable planets. Early expeditions through the wormhole (aptly titled the "Lazarus" missions) have not returned and no one knows what they may have discovered. A new mission is necessary, and the survival of the human race depends on it. Cooper, a widower raising a young son and daughter alongside his father-in-law (John Lithgow), makes the tough decision to embark on a journey that might ensure a future for his children but will almost certainly mean he won't see them again for many years, if ever. Deep space travel of this sort does odd things with time, you see. One hour on a distant planet can equal years back on earth. Survival is Interstellar's most central theme. It's no coincidence that the words of Dylan Thomas are repeated throughout: Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Every character in the film is a testimony to the natural instincts of self-preservation and adaption in the face of extinction: doing whatever it takes to survive, both as individuals and as a species; surviving
The Fear of Darkness (2015)
50:50 approach to a mystery movie.
Maeve Dermody as Dr. Sarah Faithful – a psychologist with plenty of issue as her own baggage. She's brought in to investigate a case of one Skye Williams (Penelope Mitchell) after Skye is suspected in the murder of her (boy)friend. Skye insists that it was some sort of evil
some kind of "darkness" which was the cause of her boyfriend's death. Through the investigation of Skye, Sarah must come face to face with her own demons and stand up to the "darkness" which soon begins to equally harrow her. There is the introduction of a powerful hallucinogen (DMT – Dimethyltryptamine) which could be to blame for Skye's possible departures from reality. Honestly I was not sure of what was happening in the movie all along. Is the Ghost there or not?Who killed whom? There are a lot of unsolved mysteries that leaves the audience puzzling.
As some one said, The Fear of Darkness is nothing that will blow your mind or change your life, but is can boast a beautifully shot picture with stunning compositions, strong performances and plenty of tension,making it well worth your time. The background scores are worth the 2 hours spent on the movie.
Fury (2014)
A decent watch with a little bit of over dramatization of allied forces
"yea lets smack some more Nazis !" The movie is all about over glorification of the allied forces. I really find it appalling as to how the American movie industry still tend to think any thing American is good and others are good for nothing. Well acted and entertaining enough but the quality of the script is certainly lacking. Lack of genuineness, originality, subtlety. A lot of scenes were rushed, cliché,or just lacked a subtlety of acting that you'd expect from this movie.Experienced German anti-tank from defensive positions missing four shots in a row when firing at static targets? Come on we all know Germans were ain't that bad. I did find some scenes a little clichéd and unnecessary, trying to develop as a character but they didn't detract from the overall movie. Some of the unnecessary scenes did add punch to the character but they seemed a little forced into the story.
Coming to the good part of the story, The cast is great, Brad Pitt and all the rest making a great team and an interesting one, and even though this tank team does have some typical characters you find in war movies.Yet, the complex dynamic between Wardaddy and his men is far more fascinating. It's engaging and watchable, even as it marches toward a seemingly suicidal climax. The killing of the German SS man on knowing his involvement in killing of children and even the setting up of the horse free in the initial stages adds a lot of maturity to the character portrayed by brad Pitt which justifies his ability to command his men and the way he handles the situation. His expressions and his fierce eyes speaks volumes about what the war has turned him into.
Overall the movie is a great watch if you like the genre of war games. IF you expect too much of reality this is not a movie for you, but if you are ready to watch the American version of the war with some really interesting characters, this will not disappoint you. It takes you thru the emotions of men at war, their real state of affairs and psychology of warfare from their perspective.