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Reviews
Love Hostel (2022)
No Country for Young Women
All the badassery and headshots aside, this is a pretty depressing series and the message it is trying to convey doesn't come through clean.
Has a few well acted brilliant moments.
Padmaavat (2018)
An opulent yet flawed spectacle of an old wives' tale where Mr. Khilji takes the.. eh.. was about to say cake..!
Ironically, the movie is obsessed with Rajputana "Aan-Baan-Shaan" most of which got lost in protests.
Bhansali unabashedly depicts a stark contrast between 'righteous' Hindu and 'dastardly' Muslim warfare cultures, and due to deficiency of shades of grey the movie greatly suffers from lack-of-depth syndrome. However, Bhansali tries to make up for it with magnificent visual poetry and his typical OCDness in set design.
Unlike Rajamouli, Bhansali doesn't invent laws of motion. Instead, he rewrites Indian geography. Chittorgarh looks like Pushkar crossed with Asgard and Valhalla, and Delhi looks like Agrabah from Arabian Nights. Moreover, Khilji's march to Chittorgarh seems easier than commuting to Gurugram from Delhi.
Shahid's Ratansingh doesn't have to do much apart from showing his righteousness and sinewy torso. Had he been born in the British Raj, he would have played a princely cricketer who could contribute little with bat and ball but had the Wisden memorized by heart. Time for Shahid to return to Mr Bharadwaj.
Deepika's Padmaavati is adorned to such an extent that her jewelry would outweigh her hubby's chain-mail. She's the reason why men must take caution in watching this movie with their beloved as V-Day looms by. She manages to boil the pot in the first half but comes on her own in the second. Her chemistry with Shahid is lukewarm at best.
Ranveer's Khilji is the reason why we all watched Jurassic Park - to see the T-Rex. He gobbles up meat with the same intensity and dwarfs everything around. His narcissism, grandiosity and menacing grin can give Gabbar Singh an inferiority complex. Compound it with a beefed up physique, dark soulless eyes and sexual monstrosity which is way more intense than that of rapists depicted in 90s flicks. His moments with Malik Kafur are the best this movie has to offer.
Had Bhansali named this movie as "Khilji Ka Aatank", he could have had lesser problems with CBFC and Karni Sena.
Dunkirk (2017)
A new benchmark
Spoiler Alert only for those who skipped history classes in school.
"The miracle of Dunkirk" was the biggest cliffhanger of the bloodiest war in history. Allied troops exceeding 300,000 were frantically rescued from looming obliteration as the enemy approached them from three sides with sea on the fourth.
However, Dunkirk (2017) is not just another epic on warfare history. It is a psychological thriller on its own. Speaking of outcomes, where most movies bring up victory or defeat, it hits the most profound of all human instincts. It screams "survival".
Nolan has splendidly interleaved three stories on different timelines into a linear array of nerve- racking tension and bite-the-back-of-your-hand stunning visuals. With one of the most realistic sound designs ever put on any movie, the movie immerses the viewer deep into heart-pounding intensity ranging from claustrophobic spaces inside sinking ships, deafening shell explosions on the beach spraying sand and blood, and most significantly the defiant engine roar of the Spitfire fighter engaging in battle with Messerschmitt's in eye-watering (due to not blinking) dogfight sequences.
Contrary to the norm, the movie doesn't focus considerably on the characters. Weirdly, this this turns out as one of the movie's greatest assets as the director explores the tension concerning survival as an individual and as a group against death and monstrosity. The theme circles around every helpless soldier's desire to see home again, to be able to defend it and most importantly be able to muster courage to look into the eyes of their own countrymen.
Performances have been noteworthy but they have contributed to the plot rather than outshining it. Full marks to immaculate directorship.
Throughout the run-time faces of the adversaries aren't shown at all; particularizing that death is more fearful when it comes slow and unseen.
Dunkirk (2017) is a masterpiece on every technical perspective and is the most mature work of Nolan till date. It will keep haunting the viewer many hours after viewing.
Watching it in IMAX format is much more rewarding and has been the greatest cinematic experience of my life.
(5/5)
La La Land (2016)
Magic that only celluloid could deliver
La La Land is a pinch of heart-touching reality draped in a croissant of sweet fantasy with a flavor of jazz and the 60s. The film reaches deep as it explores the intensity and authenticity of one's pursuit of dreams, etching them in a technicolorish yet surrealistic canvas. However, it blurts out a squeeze of reality that chasing one's dreams no matter how authentic they seem, may not be the perfect path to happiness. Dreams after all are visions of what we haven't yet achieved; they rarely take us places where we already are blessed.
The film surrounds an idyllic relationship between a Jazz Pianist and a wannabe Actress which derives fuel from the individual passions of one another. Gosling is great in his typical shy-away from lens yet intense Scorpio-ish style, but Emma is stupendous. Her charm and vividness is the heart and soul of this film. The chemistry is bang-on and exudes undercurrents of bleak and innocent adolescence. The cinematographer has exploited the moods of viewers with exuberant use of colors. The hilltop dance sequence vividly reminds of "Singin' in the Rain", and shall definitely be remembered as a classic in the years to come.
Some realists may find it a tad too frivolous with frills, ribbons and unicorns but dreamers, prepare for a beautiful ride. The best of 2016, period.
P. S. JK Simmons still scares the crap outta me, please keep him away from musical things.
Schindler's List (1993)
A Masterpiece in shades of Grey
The Greatest masterpiece of veteran director Steven Spielberg, Schindler's List is an emotional and harrowing account of the Holocaust during the Second World War. The movie delves deep into the darkness of human heart and depicts the metamorphosis of a shrewd businessman and womanizer into the greatest philanthropists humanity has ever seen.
The movie is almost entirely shot in black and white which gives it a grim and timeless look, a remarkable effort by the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.
The acting is brilliant. Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler has given his career best performance for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Ben Kingsley has also stood well with him in his role of his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. However, it is Ralph Fiennes who has stood apart in his portrayal of Amon Goeth, a sociopath Nazi officer without a moral code. Unfortunately, he did not win a well deserved Academy Award for supporting actor.
Furthermore, John Williams has come up with a brilliant score bringing out the misery, horror and tragedy of the Holocaust.
Schindler's List is Spielberg's unforgettable piece of art that makes one cry many times over, especially in the final moments of the three hour seventeen minute epic. Its a must watch.
Inception (2010)
There's no parallel..
This movie is a perfect disappointment for those who watch to relax after hard weekdays as they may end up pondering, pondering and pondering.
It is not just brainless action. For a movie there has been nothing more complex which strains every cerebral nerve and leaves you spellbound. If you don't like to spend your gray matter on movies, this is not for you.
The sequences strangulate the viewer, layer by layer, dream by dream like a constrictor. You are made to believe what you could never imagine. The director has full control whereas the spectator cannot predict or prejudge anything. Nolan deserves a lot of credit to visualize such a far fetched and abstract subject credible to the viewer without making any fatal mistake.
The movie is purely imagination and beyond most of ours'. It focuses on the power of human mind and so many possibilities yet undiscovered. It shows how our dreams actually are manifestations of reality, that ideas can be stolen and manipulated while we are asleep.
Apart from direction the visual effects were flawless. Background score and sound effects are awesome.
Deserves a perfect 10 on 10.
Don't call yourself a movie enthusiast if you didn't watch this one.