Film_Fan_Raja Reviews

Once (I) (2007)

Once in a blue moon movie

[8/10 · 2 May 2024]

Once in a blue moon comes a movie which sweeps you away with the honesty of filmmaking. This was available on Amazon Prime and I've heard good things about its soundtrack so checked it out. Boy was I glad.

It is not the story narrative which appealed to me but filming of the slice of life unraveling complex human behavior of people struggling to make a living in Dublin. It's a musical which doesn't throw too much attention to music but the people. It's not fast paced - there is not forced ambition - just the experience of being human with sensitivity and compassion.

The music matched songs - stood out with sensitive soothe and would definitely have you listening to them post watching the movie too.

Small nuances like - the strings hanging from guitar / the girl dragging the vacuum cleaner on the streets and how pestering she was on the first meeting - cutely annoying (never thought I will use that phrase) / she not having batteries to play the CDs and getting them in the middle of the night singing lyrics was golden.

The lead characters - never felt like they were acting. Nothing over the top and in the end you fall in love with the main characters. I will say, these are kind of movies which make movie lovers like me feel alive. Hope and wish we see more such movies at least once in a blue moon.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Next generation Rashomon!

[8/10 · 9 March 2024]

An Anatomy of a Fall (2023) A close friend who is also a movie buff, wanted me to watch this French movie and boy was I pleasantly surprised. The bilingual movie gets you from the start, the direction was very original and the way in which similar scenes are typically made were completely different here. A small example is when an unanticipated dramatic incident occurs during a movie - they normally show characters running in slow motion and they try to enhance the sadness quotient by a somber music. On the contrary here - they show blank spaces in the house.

A lot is left to interpretation of the viewer and that adds to the charm of the movie really. I am not going to divulge the plot or the characters as it won't do justice to the original screenplay but will try and give a few thoughts which have been with me since I watched it.

Long before when I watched Kurosawa's Rashomon, I was left with the feeling that there is nothing like absolute truth, you only experience versions of the truth. How many times we read an article in newspaper / hear a friend talk about something / watched news and wondered - how objective is this? This movie comes very close to questioning your rational and think twice about how much you believe things which you have not seen yourself directly. What is it that makes you believe a person? Is it because of your bias? Your preconceived notion of life? Or you just go with - what will people gain or lose by this? Are we living in a world which makes us justify everything we do or we just say - I want to believe this version as this is what makes me happy or easy to deal with mentally.

The movie takes care to not bias you fully but leave you with a doubt in a subtle and tactful manner. I am having this feeling after a long time - that a movie instead of entertaining me also made me question my judgement. This is one of those movies which really makes movies worth watching. Having said that - this may not be everyone's cup of tea.

The humor in this movie came in the most unexpected situations. A lot of people would have used a different narrative for this plot but the director used all her tricks to ensure you have an original experience- interestingly this has been the most notable work of the director - Justine Triet and the lead actress Sandra Huller has a lot of credit and awards and you would not wonder why. The movie felt long but you would understand why once you finish it. I do anticipate some key awards this Oscar season. We have to wait and watch.

Dune (2021)

Brilliant remake!

[8/10 · 9 November 2021]

To review this movie without giving background to its legacy would be a disservice. Here goes - Dune is a series of science fiction novels authored by Frank Herbert between 1965 to 1985. This was also made into the controversially critiqued adaptation by David Lynch in 1984 which included the iconic soundtrack by Toto. There are also some spin offs of this novel in TV and it is believed by some, to be the Star Wars for adults!

Coming to the 2021 version, director Denis Villeneuve (I loved his movie - Incendies and also known for other big budget movies like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049) has shown us the "Art of possible" on how can you take a movie by someone like David Lynch and give it a complete make over and still stay brilliant - hats off!

The new version has loads of stars that it almost looks like the cast of Avengers - Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Oscar Issac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardiem, Dave Baustista, Zendaya and the evergreen Charlotte Rampling as the reverend Mother.

Timothee Chalamet as heir apparent of the Atreides was oozing appeal both in looks and performance - he had the right charm for a confused teenager being pushed into an intergalactic conspiracy. The choice of Rebecca Ferguson for Lady Jessica was so apt, she played the role of the powerful Bene Zessirit with inner conflicts and Oscar Issac did what he could with scope provided and stood out.

Some interesting bits I loved were the fact that there were no artificial intelligence or robots given the story happens in distant future (year 10191 to be precise!), the sand worms looks much different / bigger, creative liberties were taken on how Baron looks and moves (the older movie had an over the top caricatured ugly spitting cartoon, new version is more understatedly ominous), the role of Duncan went without much fanfare in old movie but here since it is Jason Momoa - they gave a better fitting farewell, even the whole voice-over thing in 1984 version is replaced with narrative and visuals which were much more powerful. You see very little of Bautista but confident that we will see more of him in the next movie.

Music by Hans Zimmer played a really important role (if you have seen old movie - it was one of the best things about the old movie as it really stood out and would have been sensible to re-mix that same iconic tune like they do in James Bond. No sir - Hans Zimmer would have to completely reinvent and still stay relevant). The mood and lighting was captivating and cinematography transforms you to the world which is mostly dark and it works. The set decorations and costumes were also extraordinary and I am positive this movie is going to get the Oscar nod on several technical areas.

While it was a disappointment that they did not finish the story (I personally did not know they only did half a movie), you also suddenly empathize the fact that even with 155 mins of taut screenplay, they were barely able to tell only half of the movie. It is clear, the depth of the Dune story couldn't be decently told in 2 hours (heart goes out to David Lynch's version which choked to tell too many things and ended up not as fulfilling).

The new movie is bigger, better and had more heart, in short - just brilliant, leaving me eagerly waiting for Dune 2 in 2023. Thumbs up!!

The Guard (2011)

Witty, dark and memorable

[7/10 · 17 October 2021]

Brendan Gleeson / Don Cheadle and Mark Strong are solid enough reasons to watch, so watched it without reading about it - and boy was I surprised! This is not an action movie but an intelligent Irish black comedy.

The premises is set in the beautiful Connemara, Galway, Western Ireland. The cultural depictions as a laid back Irish town where everyone sort of knows everyone did not look forced. Movie had more tongue in cheek lines than I have recently seen and laughed out loud many times. The screenplay was clever and laced with Gleeson's' acidic humor.

Brendan Gleeson lived the role of an indifferent wise cracking, abusive practical joker, borderline-racist and an intelligent cynical guard who loves his dying mom (how he lands scripts like this is a mystery - loved him in "In Bruges"). The script was filled with brevity laden humor - especially the laughs between mom / son contrasting with a heavy glooming backdrop of her medical condition - hats off to screenplay (BAFTA award winner).

The scenes where Don Cheadle tries to talk to locals but doesn't understand Connacht Irish and Liam Cunningham (best remembered as Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones) playing the antagonist with Mark Strong are rib-cracking. References to popular culture such as 81/2, Rhode Scholarship, IRA guns and references to Columbians being better drug mafia just add spice to the script. There is a scene in the movie where Don Cheadle can't believe the politically incorrect things coming out of Gleeson's mouth and coolly he defends himself by saying "I'm Irish, racism is part of my culture". That did it for me!!!

The distinction between the sense of humor and what ticks the English / Americans and Irish were never so contrastingly depicted in any other movie I can remember. Looking at the posters, you maybe mislead to believe this is a candy buddy-cop kind of movie, it is anything but stereotypical. The dry cynical Irish humor really appealed to me. Gleeson gets away with his politically incorrect behavior. This is not a movie which is going to be in any top 100 but it is definitely worth a watch.

Begin Again (II) (2013)

Uplifting!

[7/10 · 16 October 2021]

Begin Again (2013) I saw this hidden gem recently. Very occasionally a movie comes along which uplifts our spirits while being practical and not preachy. This is not a love story but a movie about love and music. There is so much music in the movie yet not a movie about music - it's about people who appreciate good music.

I loved the original songs, it was so relatable and comes scattered across the movies length. Both Mark Ruffalo as an alcoholic down-and-out music producer and Keira Knightly as musician songwriter who hasn't realized her full potential did an amazing job - and she sings!!!

Lovely cameos from Adam Levine as a popular singer. CeeLo Green as himself and James Gorden as a struggling musician - what a wonderful surprise. The ever wonderful Catherine Keener as Ruffalo's divorced wife was just apt and very true to role. Hailey Steinfeld Violet (who I am beginning to be a serious fan of) - Such heavy talent at such an young age. She did a brilliant job in True Grit when she was even younger (acted with stalwarts 3-4 times her age) and still made a mark.

There is a scene in the movie where everyone comes together and while weighing options just all of a sudden decide to shoot songs in iconic New York places - It was so extempore and so real. There is another scene where you relive the same moment from 2 different perspectives and one from Mark Ruffalos view was - in many ways the "woah" moment for me which makes believe there is still magic left in movies..

The song "Lost Stars" was a nominee for best original song in Oscars that year and Keira can sing - quite impressive!

At the end I was amazed on how my mood changed for good. It wasn't the laughs, wasn't the music or the complications of the protagonist's love life; it was a gentle reminder that there is no perfection in life - if we don't give up on love and ourselves - there is a rainbow waiting. And that my friends is what I love in a movie.

Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)

Family entertainment

[8/10 · 27 May 2021]

I saw this South Korean fantasy in Netflix last week and thought of dropping a note. This movie was one of the highest grossing and the third most viewed in South Korean film history.

I did not read about this before watching but the star cast was luring enough. Seeing Tae-Hyun Cha (famous for My Sassy Girl), Jung-woo Ha (from The Chaser) and many more cameos was a treat.

The story flow was very interesting and the special effects were amazing. The story is told in a funny way, very relatable and the main protagonist being clueless about the whole 7 hells to pass through before reincarnation was lovely - I particularly found the Hell of Indolence really funny. I also learnt something about the Buddhist belief of having 7 hells and trails in 49 days to be able to successfully reincarnate.

The narration was done with interesting twists and turns with a whole lot of relatable scenes (for us Indians - it felt like Yamraj and Chitragupt). The screenplay was clean and if some are watching Korean TV dramas they can identify actors from popular Netflix offerings as well.

While the movie itself is quite long, it was super friendly to kids and elderly alike (hard to watch anything without having to fast forward 🤣). My sons found it funny - with references to contemporary avengers and popular culture - some scenes were really laugh out aloud. It ended with anticipation for part two and showing Ma Dong-seok (guy from Train to Busan). I intended to check it out later too.

The music, production value and special effects could give Hollywood a run for their money. While the screenplay itself is not world class, what I found interesting is how they managed to make something of this scale with the most basic human values. Maybe therein lies the strength of the movie.

Recommend for a lazy weekend with the family.

Julia's Eyes (2010)

Wonderful thriller

[8/10 · 26 June 2020]

Julia's Eyes is a 2010 Spanish thriller. It is not common to see decent mystery / thrillers nowadays and I am big fan of the genre. This movie has its flaws but the positives are so high that it outweighs the negatives by a huge margin. If I say something about the movie - it will be to give away the story. Please watch it - I am sure you won't be disappointed.

Psychokinesis (2018)

Fun family watch

[7/10 · 26 June 2020]

This is a 2018 Korean movie. Very kids friendly and a few good movie. The thing that stood out was - inspire of a really far fetched theme of science fiction, they put a lot of family and humor. Watch with kids for some out of ordinary flicks.

The Wave (2015)

A Norwegian disaster flick (unlike Hollywood)

[7/10 · 26 June 2020]

There are not many Norwegian movies that I have seen. This was available Netflix. I watched this yesterday with family (again kids friendly movie) and found it to be a breath of fresh air.

There are many Hollywood disaster movies we would have seen (Day after tomorrow / 2012 / Deep Impact / Twister / Dante's peak / Titanic / Volcano etc) so we are used to a certain amount of CGI special effects and American influence. I found this movie to have heart which clearly makes up for less CGI and non Hollywoodish (mostly!)

The central characters did so well, I particularly liked the build up to the event without rushing to show the actual disaster. Script was unpretentious and addressed the-most important aspect of any disaster which is mitigation plans for the event and contingency during aftermath.

Strongly recommend.

And Then There Were None (2015)

A decent whodunit from the queen of mysteries

[8/10 · 26 June 2020]

I saw this yesterday with family. This is a BBC production of the famous Agatha Christie novel of the same name. It is only 3 episodes so total run time of a Hindi movie and you can watch back to back.

The reason this novel is unique is because Agatha Christie normally uses her favorite sleuths Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple - this is one of the few rare stories which did not have either and stands alone as a whodunit.

There are 2 movie versions of the same story one made in 1945 and other in 2017 and many remakes with regional flavors including Bengali ones. The story is very original and became a temple for future generations.

The reason I liked this was because of BBC production values and amazing acting by Charles Dance / Sam Neil and others. I recommend you watch it for a good whodunnit thriller.

We paused the movie 2 times to guess who the killer will be and hence it was even more entertaining.

The Terror Live (2013)

A different kind of terror

[7/10 · 26 June 2020]

I saw this downloaded Korean movie yesterday with family. The premise is live coverage of a bombing incident and the film is quite fast paced.

The thing I liked about this movie was the ability to keep the script tight so you can never guess where this goes. I should warn you this is not a feel good movie.

Shows the dark side of media and government and how any cause or coverage never actually helps the subject; media or government never suffers. There are only different scape goats!

Watch when you are in mood for something different.

Pee Mak (2013)

An original horror comedy!

[7/10 · 26 June 2020]

I saw this yesterday with kids in Netflix. Family friendly Thai movie. The genre is horror-comedy but it had more comedy than horror really.

Most of the ideas looks like we have copied in Tamil movies (specifically there is a scene completely copied in Darling movie- ghost gopal varma). It is stretched at places and would have done good to reduce the content.

Overall - it had some really laugh out loud comedy and I should say it used comedy very cleverly. It is a period film but makes current references - right from movies to history.

See if you have time to kill.

Helen (V) (2019)

Sweet, sweet story. Well made.

[8/10 · 26 June 2020]

This is a Malayalam movie available on Amazon Prime. I've heard about this movie from friend and before watching - did not know anything about the movie (which is the best way to watch any movie really!). This is a true story by the way.

Talking about the story would be disservice to the movie. My family budgeted an hour for this and decided to watch the second part the next day but we just couldn't stop it till finish.

The pace was extremely tight and showed how complicated simple things in relationship can be. This is a great achievement from script writing perspective. Great acting by Anna Bell (last seen in Kumblangi Nights) and Lal - both were very believable.

This is produced by Vineet Srinivasan (son of the great script writer Srinivasan) who does a cameo (looked forced - but hey he paid for the movie).

The tag line of the movie is "Sometimes even to live is an act of courage". The movie lives up to the tag line. Recommended family watch.

Tiger King (2020–2021)

Wild, Crazy Ride!

[8/10 · 26 June 2020]

This is a Netflix mini series - 7 episodes. I wouldn't have watched this as the genre was not something that interests me. However, based on a recommendation from a close friend, I watched it.

This is one of the most craziest and unbelievable true story I have seen in recent times. So much so I wished I was drunk or high while watching this . I've never said - "I DONT F#$*%@(# BELIEVE IT!" so many times on another film / documentary. I think I would have called it out some 10 times aloud, it was that crazy.

To call it a documentary is also disservice to the makers - they've made this like a thriller. The footage was clear and timeline made it almost like a movie thriller. The transition of how the private animal owners go against PETA and then against themselves - the rivalry and backstabbing. Pure masala!!

It is unbelievable and flabbergasting that across US they have 10,000 tigers in captivity as compared to 4000 across the world even including the wild. What is further unbelievable is at the end of the series, I actually felt bad for the main character Joe Exotic. Hope US is able to regulate this wild animal kept in captivity thing soon.

It's a wild show! Not for everyone.