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Perilloor Premier League (2024)
Offers a great amount of laughs
Perilloor premier league offers a great amount of laugh out loud moments. The writer of Kunjiramayanam has penned a fictional village with a set of interesting & quirky characters. The duel between two parties leads to one of their members having to put forward his neice as a panchayat president contestant and things take an interesting turn when she wins the election. The 7 episode series is binge-worthy. The star cast consisting of Sunny Wayne, Nikhila Vimal, Vijayaraghavan, Ashokan, Aju Varghese & others have done their part well. Cinematography is good and captures some breathtaking shots of the beauty of the village sceneries. If you've enjoyed Kunjiramayanam, then this'll definitely work for you.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Epic, Grand and full of heart (Spoiler-free)
"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." - Paulo Coelho
When the movie ended and the words 'For Autumn' appeared on the screen, I guess most Snyder fans would've broken into tears along-with a sense of inner peace. Because for us who gathered behind a hashtag to support Zack, this is more than a movie. It's an emotion. The feeling of being united, part of something and seeing what you fought for come to fruition. The fulfillment of it.
Man of Steel is where I was introduced to Zack Snyder. It had an impact on me unlike any other CBM back then. I was deeply invested in the story he was telling, cared so much for the characters especially because of the way he conveys so much through visuals alone backed with great lines from his writers. It was heart-breaking how the studio and co. wronged Snyder in 2017. 3 years and one of the biggest fan campaigns ever later, here we are witnessing a great CBM in all its glory. A movie that is epic in every possible way rich with stunning visuals, great background score and mind-blowing action sequences.
It is very evident that Zack has a lot of respect and care for these characters and treats them godlike. Each member of the league gets their moments to shine.
Cyborg's backstory, his relationship with his father and his whole arc was really touching. He is indeed the heart of Justice League.
That jaw-dropping Flash moment was just out of this world. Ezra Miller was fantastic as the fastest man alive.
Glad to see Wonder Woman portrayed as the ferocious warrior she is. Aquaman was badass as usual. Batman being the one to unite the league, lead them and seeds are sown hinting at his larger role in the knightmare timeline. Even with a limited screen time, Superman just knocks it out of the park. He was simply unleashed during the final fight.
The character interactions among the JL members was interesting to watch - How they came together and supported each other.
Steppenwolf here is a villain with a motive unlike his 2017 counterpart. The new steppenwolf design is both stylish and scary. Talk about Darkseid- Ray Porter is a beast. A perfect choice.
The 4:3 aspect ratio and dividing the movie into chapters with an epilogue gave me the feel of reading through a graphic novel, panel by panel. 90% of the CGI is top-notch. Gotta appreciate Junkie XL for putting out a 4-hour score that elevates the movie to another level - sans the repeated WW chant that I felt was misplaced at some scenes - and Fabian Wagner for the excellent cinematography. Most of the dialogues by Chris Terrio were just fire.
It's great to finally have a closure to this movement or a continuity if the Snyderverse will be restored, only time will tell. Love it or hate it, but we now live in a society where there is a 4 hour long live action Justice League Movie.
Also, isn't it ironic that Jor-El's quote from MOS, "You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. You'll help them accomplish wonders !", fits very well for Zack's journey from Man of Steel to Snydercut. This is his big victory. A passionate filmmaker getting to show the world his uncompromised work of art with least studio interference.
Rani Padmini (2015)
A breath-taking and refreshing journey into the natural richness of Himalayas
With his recent film 'Gangster' featuring Mammootty being heavily criticized by both audience and critics for its lack of good script and inability to engage the viewers, Aashiq Abu really needed to make it to the top. After a long gap, he has finally presented us 'Rani Padmini' with his wife Rima Kallingal as Rani and Manju Warrier as Padmini.
Padmini is a typical good and well-mannered malayali women who goes to Delhi with her husband (Jinu Joseph) after their marriage. One day her husband leaves her and after not hearing from him for days, she comes to know that he has signed a mutual divorce petition application. It hurts her really bad. She decides to go to Himachal Pradesh all by herself to meet her husband who is participating in Himalayan Car Rally. During her journey she meets Rani, who is more bold, daring and extrovert in nature compared to Padmini. Both soon becomes friends and Rani assists Padmini to guide her to Himalayas. The adventures they face and the blissful, paradisiac beauty of the cold mountains, moon-lit night sky which mesmerizes them on their path to Padmini's husband, which also makes them closer to each other, are the highlights of the movie.
The pre-interval portion of the movie is just 50 minutes. Post- interval session is about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The reason for this might be the makers didn't want to interrupt the flow of the movie once Rani and Padmini embark on their journey which begins after the interval. The title sequence featuring the childhood of Rani and Padmini which also highlights their differences was well made with the song 'Varu Pokaam Parakkaam'. Similarly there were two short films inside the film which were portrayed as stories told by Rani and Padmini to each other.
Performances of Manju Warrier, Rima Kallingal and Jinu Jacob were outstanding. The supporting cast including Sreenath Bhasi, Sajitha Madathil and Soubin Shahir also made their performances noteworthy. The chemistry between Manju and Rima worked out well which led to many funny and good moments in the movie. The fun factor is one important element which helped engage the audience in the long second half of the movie. Sound design and sound mixing was brilliant. Cinematography by Madhu Neelakandan brought the Himalayas to life on screen. It was classy and beyond perfect in capturing the richness of the scenes into every frame. Background score and songs by Bijibal were good and was the key factor mostly in connecting the viewers to the movie. These 3 aspects raises the movie to Hollywood perfection.
Overall, 'Rani Padmini' is a movie that raises the idea that women aren't just meant to be stuck doing household chores, held back by family responsibilities or locked up inside social barricades and should spread her wings and fly out of their comfort zone to explore all the beauty, thrills and happiness that nature has in store.
Not a typical malayalam flick and definitely not everyone's cup of 'tea or coffee or whatever'. An adventure drama movie with an exceptionally good direction from Aashiq Abu. This is definitely a comeback for him and the way he executed this movie in his unique style makes me wait for his next flick. 'Rani Padmini' is a must watch - for those who love 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' or that kind of adventure drama flicks - to be experienced from theaters.
Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi (2015)
A Movie that reminds 'Earth doesn't belong to Man...Man belongs to Earth'
The movie title itself makes you wonder what the movie is about. Lord Livingstone is a fictional forest and 7000 Kandi is a village within the forest unknown to the outer world.
Philipose is a survivalist who wanders around exploring nature and has a profound love towards it. He accidentally finds out about the village 7000 kandi inside the forest of Lord Livingstone, named after the British company that bought the land decades ago. When a group of industrialists starts clearing up the forest to extract wood and minerals, Philipose fears that they might soon find the village and destroy it too. Left helpless by environmental organizations and authorities, Philipose decides to seek help from random people from his address book to join him in saving the forest and the village. 6 strangers join Philipose in his fight to protect 7000 kandi.
In LL7KK, director Anil Radhakrishnan Menon was able to highlight the need for preservation of nature. The movie relies heavily on the social cause such that it overshadows the general entertainment factors which can be a huge drawback to people who expect this movie to be like his earlier flicks. There were moments when the movie went out of track but still managed to end up pretty good.
Cinematography and BGM are some of the plus points of this movie as most of the scenes were shot inside the forest. Also, the set created for the village and the costumes and looks of the villagers by the art department deserves a special mention. All of the cast members did their roles very well.
The forest/nature is the protagonist in this movie. It can be a new and fresh experience for you if you are willing to watch something out of the ordinary.
"Earth doesn't belong to man. Man belongs to Earth."
Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015)
An Everlasting Lovestory
Ennu Ninte Moideen brings to light the story of Moideen & Kanchana, set in Mukkam, Calicut in the 60's. It is based on the real life events of the divine love between Moideen & Kanchana. This movie is the directorial debut of R.S Vimal who also penned the script. Even after a month of its release, ENM is still storming the theaters and is heading forwards with a heavy box office collection and huge support from audience.
Moideen belongs to a Muslim family and is a socio-political activist who is against his father's political beliefs which has also led to a grudge between the two. Moideen falls in love with Kanchanamala, a girl belonging to Hindu family. Due to religious differences, they find it hard to marry each other. Kanchana is locked up in her house when her family comes to know about this. Moideen also faces strong oppositions from his family. But both of them are not willing to give up on their deep and divine love and exchanges letters occasionally as they are prevented from seeing each other. They wait for several years and has to go through a series of turns that will decide their fate.
Performance by most of the cast members were excellent, especially the chemistry between the lead pair - Prithviraj and Parvathi. Sai Kumar, Lena, Tovino, Bala also played their parts well. Cinematography by Jomon T John is one of the plus points of this movie. He has captured every frame without losing its beauty and richness. Music by M. Jayachandran and Background score by Gopi Sundar helped sustain the mood and feel of the movie in the audience.
In short, ENM is a must watch movie. There is no way you can watch and not fall in love with this eternal love story.