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Reviews
New Year's Eve (2011)
Love Actually wannabe
Totally forced emotions. Throwing a huge star cast in the mix with very little genuine care for characters. Director had a Love Actually hangover.
Almost felt disjointed and the viewer could get up and go to the toilet, come back and not really miss anything important and still continue watching.
The reliance was purely on the star names to carry the movie heavily on their shoulders only. Too soundtrack heavy too, almost drowning out dialogue. Terrible movie only given 3 stars at the effort of coordinating so many big names into one movie.
However, in the end you couldn't care less about the movie. I turned off and watched Love Actually instead !
She Said (2022)
Engaging but distanced
I was hoping for a bit more gripping build up and considering the topic, was hoping for a more choked dramatisation, the type that you feel genuinely disgusted and disturbed by the reality of what a famous powerful man can do and get away with.
Instead the directing was very loose, very low key, with no tightness to the pace or tension build up. Cary who is usually so good, just looks distanced and distracted, like she needs to go to another film set.
Otherwise it is engaging as you need to know how things unfold, but it's not due to the direction, acting or screenplay, just simply because it's Weinstein.
London Nahi Jaunga (2022)
Humayun Saeed is very wooden
Film quality is good, plot is lazy, dialogue has its moments but acting is terrible.
Humayun Saeed is worse actor than Sunil Shetty.
The ladies and side actors are all working very hard, then this wooden actor turns up and starts mumbling. Humayun has same expression in every scene regardless of the emotion and situation- the females are working so hard. I prefer Fahad who is exceptional talent.
Annika (2021)
Unfortunate execution
Cut to the chase review.
Pros: Nicola Walker; location; script
Cons: trying to cram so many stereotype characters and situations into one drama; talking to the camera is a bit hit or miss (sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't); plot lines far too weak (found myself picking my phone up far too frequently); Nicola is a great actress no doubt, but her stop/start/stammering dialogues were annoying and not amusing.
Unforgotten (2015)
Enthralling series
Great script and actors. The actors all look well suited and fitted into the roles, they appear to be close to reality which gives the drama that realistic edge and impact.
Only blunder is mix up of naming origin for Sanjay's character Sunil (Hindi name) with Khan (Muslim name) :)
The Serpent (2021)
Gripping drama with great music
The acting was adequate, Tahar was menacing in a restrained way and Coleman gave a claustrophobic portrayal of a woman trapped in an inconceivable situation, most of her acting was through her eyes.
The plot, albeit a bit stretched, was well paced and the time hopping, which confused many reviewers, I didn't have much of a problem following it.
It was riveting and gripping, mostly because of the fact that it's a true story, but best of all was the soundtrack - I had to go search for the songs and add them to a playlist. Great stuff.
The Undoing (2020)
Unnatural characters and poor script
American drama at its best - glamour and style over substance. Kidman spends most of her time concerned about how she looks and her Botox pumped face allows zero expressions.
The saving grace is Hugh Grant.
If you want to watch a satisfying crime thriller look up any British crime drama and enjoy solid dialogue, great acting in natural settings and bullet proof script
The Sister (2020)
Exceptional .... exceptionally bad
Watched Ep 1 started Ep 2 .... skipped to Ep 4 and the story nudged forward a few steps only.
Believe the reviews on this one. It's terrible.
Prodigal Son (2019)
Desperate measures
US are still digging deep to match the European success in the genre of modern crime, thriller Mysteries. Here we have yet another attempt which fails on every level. The biggest weakness they have is that they suffer from style over substance. Someone has a light bulb moment and they just run with it losing quality over quantity. At this rate if you are anticipating a classic US crime drama to match then you're in for a very long wait
Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)
Yash Chopra's worst moments
Feels like Yash got an assistant to approve the script and direct this on his behalf - nothing felt like a YC movie.
The set piece looked very amateurish and the script long winded with scenes that were far fetched and too long.
The songs were superb hence the 3 stars.
Knives Out (2019)
Even an episode of Murder She Wrote is more intriguing
I figured out the murderer very early on it didn't actually make you even think very much. I'm a hardcore crime and mystery fan, but I've seen better TV series mysteries than this.
Prem Rog (1982)
One of the best movies by RK
This movie was way ahead of the times. It requires an immense amount of intellect to appreciate the undertones. Socialism, culture, love, abuse, feminism and self respect embroiled into one stunning movie. It swept the floor at the National Awards, with a powerhouse performance from Padmini, but equally great performance from Rishi. Problem is that Rishi acts so effortlessly that he makes it look easy and always gets overlooked by Awards.
The movie is directed to utter perfection, the songs, cinematography and script is second to none. They can't make anything like this again. My favourite scene is near the finale during the village power blackout and confrontation between Rishi & Shammi, the dialogue which turns all the lights back on still gives me goosebumps.