Movies and Series 2026

Bugonia - 3.5/5

CEO of a corporation is kidnapped by a conspiracy theorist who believes that  she is an actual alien. A typical Yorgos Lanthimos film - meant to shock you, awe you and then something. Jessie Plemons and Emma Stone are both fantastic but its the story that shocks you. There is a commentary on the corporate office workings that goes on the side and it is subtle but very well done. The ending, will not spoil it, but it is one of those - "what if we do this" and someone will say "nah, you wouldn't) but Yorgos then will double down 

Nuremberg - 3/5

Based on the Nuremberg trials, a perspective from a psychologist who is tasked to understand how the Nazi leaders think, if they have any remorse, trying to understand the why etc. Rami Malek is one of the strangest actor to be in Hollywood - very unorthodox dialog delivery, mannerisms,  he has his own style but it works. The challenge with Nuremberg or any other such movies is that if they focus on one subject, the psychologist in this case, everyone else is shown as dumb people who are not listening to the right ideas. The protagonist is the most important person who saved the trials while others were not so good. This stereotyping is there everytime. Makes this a good plane ride movie. 

Train Dreams - 4/5 

A movie where nothing happens. Slice of life movie about a man who is a wood cutter, cutting wood to make railway tracks, bridges, houses or what not. Lives next to a lake, introvert, finds a girl by chance, happily married, with kids. Lives with nature, peace, but with inner turmoil and then, as is life, life happens. Slow pace, in no hurry. Fantastic women characters - both Kerry Condon and Felicity Jones are awesome. Felicity Jones from Rogue one and Kerry (from F1, Banshies of Insherin) are amazing. Joel Edgerton's perfmance is really good as well. 

All We Imagine as Light - 4.5/5

This one won the Cannes top prize 2 years ago. Took me sometime to watch it. Woke up one day at 5 and decided to see it - what an amazing way to start the day.  It is amazing and really difficult to believe that this was made in India. Kerala nurses working in a small hospital in Mumbai and going through their life journeys and challenges. A movie of a lot of nuance and texture - many small small things add flavor and meaning to this wonderful film. The camerawork puts the city is very amazing - simple shots of Mumbai local or markets brings out the best part of the city while hides the filth, the people. It is a must watch. Chaaya Kadam is there too and one should watch all her movies :) 

I was so impressed with All We Imagine as light that I saw a lot of Payal Kapadia's press interviews, her movie inspirations, cast interviews. This one is a special film. Payal's inspirations and her art, her lens of making movies is up there with the best of arthouses. I would like to see this one again. 

The Secret Agent - 4/5

This one won all the awards last year. The Secret Agent is a commentary on Brazil corruption and institutional killing back in the 70s. It takes a lot events that happened and weaves into a fictional story of a professor who is being hunted. The 70s period is captured very well via camera. Then there is a layer of current generation who is trying to research this story and the story also is non-linear - based on the tape recording the current generation decides to listen. Some very interesting narrative devices and some very memorable characters on the side. The real world incidents chosen have an element of magical realism to it. Reminds me of the present day India in many ways. In general, the absurd cinema does not work for me, but in this case, it is based on true newspaper clippings and that adds a fun element. Good cinema.

Sheep Detectives - 4/5

I laughed so much in this movie. The rating is high because sometimes you walk in to a movie that yeah, it is going to be a timepass one-time watch movie but the sheer comedy of it makes you laugh so much that not only you forget the time but also end of recommending this movie to everyone around you and they in turn are also equally happy. I loved Sheep Detectives and will likely watch it again. It combines a murder mystery with comedy, combines real world actors with animations (sheep), combines a small town feeling with cunning - I can go on and on. I love it. 

Sister Midnight - 3.5/5

It is actually 3/5 but the extra 0.5 is purely because it was made in India. It is a Radhika Apte talent showcase film - she is outstanding. I went in to see a marital distress film but I was so surprised to see the twist and turn that happened in there. Surreal. Dreamy. The fact that this was made in India is unbelievable. Yet, it did happen and the bold cinema that it carries with has to be saluted. So much new ground is broken. The chawl space is so effectively utilized. 

Tu Yaa Main - 2.75/5

I liked the masala. The thing is when you watch so few Bollywood films that when you do watch it, it is a refreshing experience. It is part nostalgia too. The songs or romance that is without a build up is acceptable. If there is a boy and girl, they will hate each other but will fall in love. You do not question this, you accept it. Two influencers are stuck in a diving swimming pool and a crocodile is there. The first part is disconnected from the second part but so what. It is two movies at the price of one :) 

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The Boys - 4.5/5 (all season rating)

It is gory. It is madness. It is over the top. It is wild. Action, revenge. Anthony Starr (Homelander) and Karl Urban (Butcher) will forever be remembered for this series. Other cast is ok. But the highlight is the story, the premise and what an amazing social political commentary of our times. It is no kidding that we are living in a time when the exaggerated thing described in the show happens in real life and the show runners have to add extra messages to add that this is fiction. The commentary is spot on. 

The Boys ended its run after 5 seasons. Decent ending - little bit more predictable than what the series has been. I would have expected more catharsis. Online too, some fans are not too happy. But, landing an ending is never easy. I would say ending is 3/5. But the show is awesome. It is also funny - so much dark humor. The Boys is the typical American culture show - I do not think that any other country has seen so much capitalism and is secure enough to make fun of it. 

What surprises me is not that this show got made but so many folks have seen it - it is extremely gory, and liked it. Just the times that we are living in. I guess, the charm of people without power taking people with power, and to do so in style, some grandy style, makes it viral, as the V dose was. 

Daredevil Born again - 3/5 (Season 1 & 2)

It is one-time watch. Does not stand well on its own. Again, a show with lot of political commentary on our current live events. But, many things do not add up, especially the ending where Fisk gets an exile. The legal part of the show is almost gone. There is media, corruption, but the joy that should be there as the good folks take down the bad folks is subdued. Show wants to be gritty to show that good folks can not win but also wants to make a david v goliath story. It ends somewhere in the middle with some sense of flawed morales and story lines that does not make sense. Meh meh series. A 3-star only because of the nostalgia factor of what the show is . 

Movies and TV shows of 2025

 Movies and TV shows of 2025

What blew me away!

Andor Season 2 -  5/5

A show about rebellion, politics, david vs goliath. The ending of Andor is known because of the Star Wars movie that came before it. But the show is a beauty on its own. Set in Starwars universe with no mentoion of the force, that is how it should be. Just humans trying their best to push back against the evils of the empire. Characters taking their next logical step. Very well acted, directed, written with set design that is the best that has been there so far!

One Battle After Another - 4.5/5 or 4/5

I keep on oscillating between the two ratings. It is definitely good. The title itself is 5/5. The movie has a momentum and it never slows. It is so typically PTA - so original, very difficult to predict what is going to happen, and things do happen. It could be today's times or it could be 70s or 80s, such is the amazing part of the movie. Plus, the ending car chase scene on the highway - maintains tension that is amazingly well done. 

Homebound - 5/5

What a sad but hauntingly beautiful movie. It is one of those real life commentary movies that you just wish was not true but you realize deep down is that this movie is actually a better side of how bad the truth is. The ending hurts, the middle hurts, the start hurts but there is a beauty between them. A tale of friendship, love, idealism, hope is there - captures the spirit of India that very few movies can. A must see film by Neeraj Ghaywan of Masaan fame!

Adolescence - 4.5/5

A kid is murdered by another kid, both young early teenagers. How does it happen, impact on parents, how police handles it, how the school reacts. All this happens in a 4 part short series that is extremely gripping. 

Anora - 4.5/5

I did not expect Anora to be this much funny as it was. Yes, it was tragic, with a lot of sex but it had so much humanity under the hood. Humanity came from unexpected places and it was heart warming. Plus, the social commentary that comes with the subject matter itself was very well handled. 

What was good!

Sinners - 4/5 

Horror movie with a lot of oomph! Also, a lot of music. It is the music that carries the film. Ryan Coogler - Michael Jordan duo never disappoints. 

Slow Horses season 5 - 4/5 

I love the humor of Slow Horses. That it is a thriller action series is bonus. Love the characters, love the arcs, extremely well done. It is amazing that I do not mind re-watching the series as well. 

A man on the inside - season 1 & 2 - 4/5

Sign me up for anything that Michael Shur (of Brooklyn 99 fame) makes. And if it has Ted Danson in it, then it has to be savored. Everything about this show is good. Michael Shur has a unique talent of creating fictional situations and then having characters have honest dialogue with each other. Such honesty and absurdity combination is a treat to watch. 

Bear season 4 - 3.5/5

At this point, the Bear seems to be on auto-pilot. We know the characters, we know what drives them, their backstory etc. So, all the Bear has to do is to make them follow the next logical step and each one is doing that. This season was a redemption season - Bear goes to Molly, goes to his mom, Sydney says no to new restaurant offer etc etc. They didn't screw it up, so overall a good watch. 

A house of dynamite - 3.5/5

I have a soft spot for political thrillers. In AHOD, there is a missile coming to US, of unknown origin. What happens next ? How does military react, how does politicians react, it is done in a Rashomon setting. A good time one-time watch. 

Blackbag - 3.5/5

Steven Soderbergh has an art of making films and I dig his art. Marriage + espionage has been tackled in the series The Americans, in a action-comedy like Mr and Mrs Smith. In Blackbag, Steven brings his own flavor of style and grace and makes it a really good one time watch. 

Weapons - 3.5/5

There are very few actors which make you watch a film because they are in it. Julia Garner for some reason does it for me - she brings mystery to her portrayal that it is difficult to ignore. Weapons is a horror film in which in one one night kids run away from their apartment and disappear. All kids belong to the class where Julia Garner is the teacher. Amazing premise for a horror film. 

The last stop in Yuma county - 3.5/5

I love these kind of diner pulp fiction movies. Ordinary characters (played mostly by unknown actors) thrown where things happen on its own, but driven by a basic human emotion, in this case, it is greed. 

Masala 

Fallout - 3/5

Wake up dead man - 3/5

Ballerina from John wick universe - 3/5

Superman - 3/5

Thunderbolts - 3/5

Lokah - 2.5/5 (could have been much better)

Life In 24 Mar to 31 Aug'24

 

No time to waste, so lets get down to the deets. In no particular order. 

Thindi Walk in Rajajinagar with Aarti. 

Thindi Walk

1. We started at a Chiblu idli van that is yet to be found on Google maps. Mandya Halaguru Chiblu Idli, Rajajinagara. -pillowy, fresh chiblu idlis, love rice bath items (pudina, puliyogare and chitranna), masal vadE. All good!
2. THE Ajji hotel with the sakkath khara kanninda neeru baruthe chutney, fantastic chitranna, idli and bondas.
3. Sri Guru raghavendra dosa and veg corner. Shavige bath, Kesari Bhat and vade
4. Siri coffee Mane for some fresh coffee
5. Manjunatha fast foods - Puri with Sunday special tarkari sagu (brilliant!), garlic chutney smeared masal dosE, soft thatte idlis with a dash of ghee
6. Davangere benne dosE angadi, open dosE, benne Khali, benne masalE
7. Lastly, we went to O.G. Varier bakery - a very famous one 

Restaurants explored - 

• Kampot Bellandur - Went with office colleagues for Kajal's farewell. Good Asian food. Not much crowded and no music.
• Biergarten Bellandur - Went with Rick and team. Good beer and near to office. It is a huge place inside. 
• Street 1522, Sarjarpur road with Masi - Good variety of food. Nice combination of food court and restaurant. 
• Multiple visits to Deck of brews from office
• Hotel Annapurna Tiffin Center - Nearby office. Took a cab once and had breakfast before going to office. 
• The Filter Coffee - Tried both Indiranagar (with Manas) and the Brookfiled one (with Rick)

Movies / TV Series

• Kill  - John Wick equivalent from India. Loved it. 3.5/5
• Amar Singh Chamkila - Biopic done well. I liked it a lot. 3.5/5 
• Barbie - 3/5
• Watched Oppenheimer again. I think it is just brilliant. 4.5/5
• Broadchurch - Season 1 & 2. 4/5 . Both David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are awesome! 
• The Bear season 3 - 3.5/5 Still has a lot of heart but story does not move that much forward. 
• Masala series - Tracker (2.5/5), Poker Face (3/5) 
• Masala movies - The Union, Twisters (2024), Twister(1996), Anyone but you. 
• Rewatched Ted Lasso during my Dengue time. 

Travels

1. Trip to Mussourie
2. Surya Top Trek with IndiaHikes
3. US trip - LA, Vegas and Grand Canyon. Details to come
4. Kathmandu + Vipassana  - Details to come. 

Books

Started a book club in office to read management books. 

• On Leadership - HBR's 10 best reads 
• No Rule Rules - Netflix and the culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
• The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
• Siddartha by Herman Hesse
• The Art of Living - Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka
• The devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino 

What Else

• Got Dengue - Was out for 2 weeks. Kanishka and mummy fed me lot of juices which helped me recover soon. 
• Did a fruit only detox diet from Team Sharan for a week.

We made a beautiful bouquet - Breaking down the romantic movie genre

 We made a beautiful bouquet - Movie review

What makes a really good romantic movie? 

Yes, it is a generic question and there are many aspects but there is one which is undisputed. There are a lot of romantic movies our there - Netflix is now the new Hallmark (unpopular opinion of yours truly) with a lot of mushy mushy shows,  there is classic romcom genre, there is teenage first-love romance trope, and there is the Bollywood style urban-rich trope with some parental issues etc. These are all one-time watchable but you do not care for them after watching. You do not remember their names or anything later, like episodes of Law and Order :)

In past, as part of Silver Linings Playbook review, I wrote that how romantic films have to go into niche spaces to make it truly work and stand out.  Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind is just genius to the power of infinity, a movie which is my all time best yet I have never written about it because it is that great, yet it is a romantic movie at its core. Perhaps the best that ever will be :)

While romantic movies made with niche genres are really awesome, the traditional and classic romantic films are hugely enjoyable when done well. I am talking about You've got mail, Sleepless in Seattle kind.  The familiarity of the structure, execution done well, good actors are needed but it is so rare to find. When was the last time you watched a traditional romantic movie and said - I love it. Think about it. 

At-least for me it has been ages. This made me thinking - why most of these are forgotten the next day?  aka what makes a good romantic film? 

And I found my answer in We made a beautiful bouquet - a cute Japanese film (saw this part of Japanese film festival Bangalore, 2023) with a highly classic traditional romcom structure. And I loved it. Just adored it . And wondered, why are there no more movies like this one? 

As I was thinking, the answer came to me - a really good romantic film is when the audience, that is me, feels that the two people should be together. It does not matter if they see it or not but I see it, I feel it . If a movie is able to convince you, makes you care for them, then it is a really good film. It could be because they share the same interests - same books, same authors, same shoes, they discover each other by luck and their chemistry lights up the screen. I as an audience member is rooting for them to be together.  It then transforms into the sports movie where you are the underdog waiting for this relationship to happen against the conflict, whatever the film thinks of.  A great romantic movie convinces you of this underdog feeling.  

See the Before-* movies, absolutely convinced. We just can not fathom that they will not hook up after what we have seen. 

Once - Two gentle souls, chance discover each other on the streets of Dublin, their mutual interest in music, their collaboration leads to an awesome album. You just want them to be together and do more. This, their being in the studio, her on piano, him on guitar, that is the happy space. 

Most romantic films fail to do so. Take for example the insanely hit romantic film - Hum Aapke hain Koun and if I ask you - why do you think Madhuri and Salman's characters should be together? The movies has done zilch to make us root for them in terms of character development, other than just put the pieces in a way that we should care. Ditto goes for SRK/Kajol flick DDLJ - Yes, Simran is being forced into a bad relationship, anyone like Raj will be better but why should it be Raj only? Most Bolly films just tell you and then build things around it to fit this. It is for this reason, HAHK is totally unwatchable now as a movie, other than the pure nostalgia that it provides. 

We made a beautiful bouquet is that classic romantic film that I have not seen in a long time but I would rewatch it anyday. Beautifully acted. The title has the ending written in it - 'made' is a past tense verb. So, along the whole film, I was rooting to prove the title wrong. Yet, it is inevitable. It is painful in a good way - leaves an ache in the heart. The conflict is also not contrived - it is everyday life, it is money/job - means to sustain,  a job - not even a glamorous job but an average job. It is such a simple movie about everyday life that it transcends it. 

And then there is a scene that just fills my heart with joy. (Spoilers ahead) At the climax, you know that they are there to break-up. The beautiful bouquet is now going to wilt. The girl sees it more clearly, women often do so. We have heard the boy speak so far and we know it is not working. It is the turn of the girl to share her side. You know what she opens with  - it is a feeling that is there in almost all romantic movies which leads to a breakup but never uttered once. Not even in Before-* movies. It is so obvious. She says - Thank you! Five years in a relationship and she has gratitude for the good times. Mind blown.!  You accept this movie also with the same feeling - gratitude. Thank you for showing such a nice romantic film even though it has this ending that you told us about. Plus the movie takes the breakup too maturely - not only they remain friends but they stay together for 3 months after breakup so that she can find an apartment. They do rock-paper-scissors for their cat. (Yes, there has to be a cat in every Japanese movie.) 

It is my kind of movie. If there are other romantic movies, let them be like this one. 

It is 4/5 

Good cinema 2022

The wheel has turned now. I have joined Sorcesse camp to claim that Marvel/Super-hero movies are not that good anymore. Last decade belonged to them but I do not enjoy them anymore. I have missed good story based movies, good drama offering real emotions. And with this, I turn to Mubi, the awesomest streaming platform that no one knows about.  

Shiva baby by Emma Seligman - 3.5/5

A Shiva is a jewish mourning ritual. The film takes place during the course of a lunch-Shiva where the lead protagonist has to confront her relatives, ex-lover, sugar-daddy, all at the same time. It is uneasy to watch, uneasy to see the breakdown in real time, seething with so many emotions being discussed - career, relationship, parental expectations, peer group, desires, self-preservation, anger all unfolding in 60 mins of a brilliant screenplay. It takes effort to watch the latter half since the tension is just too much. Ending is hilarious though :)

Worst person in the world 4.5/5

 Reprise 3.5/5

both by  Joachim trier

I am now a fan of the movies of Joachim Trier. They are brilliantly crafted, edited, and has a unique perspective on dealing with humanity. Worst person in the world is so far my favorite. There are montage sequence in both of his movies which are just amazing. Both of these films are part of his Oslo trilogy of which I am yet to watch one. But, this is cinema as it should be, as it used to be. 

Worst person in the world is about a woman who is still in the process of self-discovery. No sure what she wants, she goes from one relationship to another, one area of work to another until she lands herself where she should be. The process of self-discovery is messy, irrational, confusing, unreasonable but it is amazing to watch.  Couple of sequences stand out - one in the lead runs through the entire city to meet her fling where the entire city is frozen except her, the other one when she meets this fling for the  first time. It is so fresh.

Reprise is story of two friends, both writers, one successful and another one not. This leads to jealousy, self destruction, support and many other emotions, narrated brilliantly by the director. 

Power of the dog by Jane Campion 4/5

Jane Campion of Piano fame, of making movies which are brilliantly shot, scored and delivered to perfection.  Also, featuring Jesse Plemons who has a habit of showing up in almost half of amazing awesome productions coming out of US (I am thinking of ending things, Irishman, Braking bad), he is like the new-age Brad Pitt :) . And a celeb in the form of Benedict Cumberbatch to make it appealing to broader audience. It is a western but not a western. It is a love story and not a love story. There is a sense of awe that goes with the movie, a grandiose feeling, much like when I saw There will be blood. But this one is more subtle, more guarded in its message. Watch it for amazing cinema

Top Gun: Maverick by Joseph Kosinsky 4/5

Yes, I love good action movies made with panache. Many Tom Cruise movies are like that. Top Gun was known for its flair. It continues on this one. A well crafted mission, solid action sequences, edge of the seat masala, victory in the end, this one has it all. What I have always loved about Top Gun movies is how do you make movies about these fighter planes interesting where all you can do is get a view from the cockpit but they manage to do so brilliantly. These should be study in themselves. Also, a unique thing about is that the villian is called 'rogue nation', no name calling, no unnecessary bringing in Arab/Russian/Chinese  countries. Focus on the set pieces and enjoy the film. 

True Detective - Season 3 

Just brilliant storytelling. Three story lines, interwoven. Characters etched so well, played brilliantly as well. Thriller storylines at its best. A notch below season 1 but still very very good. 

The saga of real life films - 2021

 

Every so often, a craze wears on me. In general, the present day non-fiction is becoming too much to handle. The past non-fiction, especially with an element where there is a sense of righteousness in the face of decadence offers an escapism that the heart dearly espouses. This provides a false sense of hope that things may turn around, even for today's present; that there may be a change at the corner. 

Or at the every least, someone will make a film about it :)

Truth - 3.5/5

CBS 60 minutes covered an episode alleging that the George W. Bush got favors to get in to a flying school and missed exams etc to avoid being deployed to the war. The evidence was flimsy, later on retracted, but the substance of the evidence had a lot of merit. Mary Mapes was the show producer responsible for this and was fired for this. She earlier got a Pulitzer for her coverage of Abu Gharib prisoner.

Truth the film covers this whole episode, how she got hold of this evidence and how it all turned out to be false. It also shows the birth of media trials, how the small points are attacked to misdirect from the main story. It starts here and ends in a Rhea being framed for a SSR suicide.  Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford are awesome in this. 

Game Change - 4/5

My introduction of US politics happened with the Obama elections. It also became a staple popcorn entertainment with the introduction of Sarah Palin. I had always wondered how was she even considered for this post, what kind of background due diligence do these folks do etc. Game Change covers exactly this. Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is awesome. I am a bigger fan of Sarah Paulson after this and also of Woody Harrelson. The acting is top notch and it is a very well made film of a period that defines the right wing extremism in present day America. It is a harbinger of time to come that we see now. 

 The Wizard of Lies - 3.5/5

Bernie Madoff made all the headines when he was arrested on the charges of running a fraud of $50Bn. In the digital age, there was a point when he was considered for the post of head of SEC, the regulatory agency; so blatant and from everyone. The movie starts couple of days before his arrest and largely covers the trial, and the aftermath. It does cover some ground on how he ran the operation, how he kept others, including his sons in the dark. How his sons struggled with this with one even committing suicide. 

It is a tragic story but well narrated with great acting craft. DeNiro plays Bernie and sets the tone. Good watch. The ending with the commentary on Bernie being compared to Ted Bundy, on asking whether he is a sociopath is very well done. 

Unbelievable - 4/5

This one was so good that it started as a Sunday evening one episode flick and then I binge watched it the whole Sunday night with Mon being a working day. I slept at 5 with great difficult as the mind was so active. I am a very big fan of Meritt Wever after this. Women power oozes out on this one. It is very well made, very well acted.  In the first case, how very well intentioned people, screw up so royally. How the victim has to repeat her statement over and over again, systemic flaws are so open. How two people, two women, put everything on the line to get this done. This is an amazing story, very well made. 

Side note - Normally I hate Netflix movies/series now, the new ones are full on trashy, 95% of them. But these 5% are very rewarding. I think Netflix may win the eyeballs war but the HBO quality/brand will be so elusive. 

Bad Education - 3/5

A 16 year old girl brings down the curtains on a $11Mn corruption scandal in a school district of Rosalyn, in her local school newspaper. This 16yr old did more investigative journalism than the today's media journos. It is so easy to be corrupt, so many gaps when checks and balances are not there. Well intentioned people become corrupt without even realizing and how they are able to compartmentalise their actions. 

Dark Waters - 3/5

Mark Ruffalo stars in a film that shows the path of how Teflon came to be know as such a cancer-causing substance. It is literally the evident truth, one person against the system and a system full of corporate greed. The movie could benefit with a tighter editing, more procedural focus. But what it presents is so grim.  Those farmers lost everything - lands, health, kids, future. So many similarities to tribal places in India. 

5 July - Dec 30 2020 aka Life in 2020 part-2

 

2020 will be a year to remember. Life will not be same now. But even in this lockdown year, it was not a dull year. The second part became even more colorful with us adopting a pair of kittens and life changed again for us. 

Puchka & Fryums

As I shared earlier, Fryums passed away on Dec 5.  Fryums was the one who had grown closer to us. Puchka was the shy one, more sneaky one. After Dec 5, it took us lot of strength for us to move on. We thought that the worst was over. We wanted to spend time with Puchka and make sure she moves on as well. However, after 5 days, on Dec 10, Puchka had vomiting, loose motions and after couple of vet visits, a blood test, it came out that her White blood cell count is critically low and all her symptoms point to FPV - Feline Parvovirus. 

FPV was supposedly over but it has taken a resurgence in last 1-2 years. It is more contagious than Covid is in humans, it has no cure, (there is a vaccine but out kitten was not vaccinated), and has about 70% fatality rate. GIven the low WBC count of Puchka, vets were very concerned. Puchka refused to have any food and we had to take her to the clinic for morning and evening IV fluid drips so that she can be hydrated. This was a painful 10 day time period. Her conditioned worsened where in she even showed symptoms of FCV - Feline Calcivirus. Her mouth had ulcers, she was drooling everywhere. Loose motion would not stop. A kitten having both FPV & FCV is incredibly rare and for someone to survive this is a miracle. Big shout out to vets at My Pets Choice who were very knowledgable and handled her with due care. 

Kanishka took it upon herself to ensure that Puchka gets full love and affection. The cold weather in Bangalore required us to give her heat packs whose water had to be changed every four hrs. Kanishka kept alarms and slept with her to ease her pain. She regularly cleaned all poop and made sure her surroundings are clean. I mostly got the vet duty and figured out clever ways to keep her quiet when her IV drips were going on. 

After the 10 day period, Puchka's health improved. She came out of IV, and is now also out of oral medications. This Sunday, we got her first vaccine treatment. Her energy is coming back, her hunger is unstoppable. Here are some of her recent excursions - 

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Cooking 

Made authentic alcohol filled plum cake during this Christmas. Came out very well. 

Sandesh during Diwali

Our Diwali sweet this time was Sandesh, specifically Naren gur Sandesh. We made Sandesh in three different varieties - one using milkmaid, one using Naren gur and third one using chocolate

Chinese style chilli Tofu and veggies

No pic unfortunately but it came out pretty well. 

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Movies / TV

Once upon a time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino

4/5 - There is a different energy in each of Tarantino's movies, even when they are not westerns :) Although this one is both a western and not one either. 

Ak vs AK by Vikramaditya Motwane

2.5/5 - Masala movie that is one time watch. 

Kim's convenience - Season 1 & 2

Could have been an Indian family. Lovely Canadian show (Canadian TV is awesome) perfect for family.

Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda

4/5 - Poignant story about what is a family, about survival and poverty.

Line of Duty - Season 4

3.5/5 - Less gritty than the previous ones. But still pretty good. 

Mandalorian - Season 1 & 2

2.5/5 - I wanted some mindless masala when I started this. It delivers on that. Yes, baby yoda is cute. 

The trial of Chicago seven by Aaron Sorkin

3.5/5 - Pretty good. Great actors, decent script. Semi-based on a true story. Sorkin fans will love it

Morning Show - Season 1

2.5/5 - I honestly watched it for Billy Cudrup and Mimi Leder (of Leftovers fame). Reese Witherspoon definitely provides the energy needed for this show.  Never a fan of Jennifer Anniston. Story arc was ok.

More AV here - http://arvindbatra.blogspot.com/2020/10/av-report-june-sept-2020.html

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- Presently reading Sandman vol - 5. Brilliant series. 

- Installed Swing at home. 

- Travelled to Sakleshpur, Kabini and a day out to Nature's village to celebrate Babu's bday. 

- Home deep cleaning done, ahoy! so much effort it is.

AV report June- Sept 2020

Nolan's Tenet has been released and deemed a dud.  Cinema theatres are about to open from Oct 15. Covid cases are still rising. Confined to our homes, Movies and TV are the only window to the external world out there. 

Real escapism is needed to escape the reality of our times.  Lot of escapism is needed :)

So, with that, here is how I have survived the last few months 

Movies

I vitelloni

With unemployment more than 25%, do you know how the unemployed youth is spending their time? When you have no work to do, the days are longer and the emptiness in abundance. Fellini's I Vitelloni covers the  story of such youth after world war 2 - no work, no jobs, carefree, with limited money, each one finding faults in the society in its own way.  This belongs to the 'slice in time'  genre of movies - a story of 4-5 friends and how they decide to spend their days and their years. They dance, drink, tease women and are philanderers. They are naive. As with all of us, they do not see any fault in themselves. I Vitelloni captures the times, the wastage of youth, the idiocy of their actions in a very real manner. 

4/5 - this cinema was not escapist at all :) 

LA Confidential

Take a great cast, put it in a great story, characters dying at any moment, add politics, mafia, corruption and an idealist cop who understands the politics of all of it, a hard hitting muscular cop who understands that his role in the system, a media who wants to profit from this shit-show who very well knows that the audience in real world loves this pulp-fiction and lastly a sensual mix from a prostitute who wants to break free but can not - all done in an incredible stylized manner, neo-noir genre is what it is called. The twists and turns come till the last moment. Great film to escape the current times. 

4/5

Old guard

Old Guard is a group of people who are blessed with a gift of immortality, rather a curse, but with a twist that the immortality has an end date which is unknown. What would you do if you are immortal? Living for 500+ years. Seen regime changes, world wars, famines and also all the good things. You still have to hide yourself as the immortality has to be kept a secret. There are interesting things to theorize with this premise and Old Guard does a decent job. By making this into a super-hero genre, it is able to do se with some nice action, albeit with a cliched villain who wants to replicate their immortality in a lab. Charlize Theoren is excellent, action choreography well done and supporting cast holds the fort.  Not so loud, not very flashy, Old Guard takes a reserved approach to a super hero genre. All in all, a perfect masala escapist movie .

3.5/5

Ford vs ferrari

The worst thing about Ford vs Ferrari is its title. Honestly,  this is like Mahabhratha being titled Pandavs vs Kaurava. Once you get past the initial 15 mins of the movie, it is all about the behind the scenes of speed racing - what research is done, identifying risks, research, trial, error, can money buy progress? and how speed racing is an art not some capitalistic tool. Yet, it is what it is - Ford throws money to build the fastest car, but it is not enough.  Matt Damon and Christian Bale are excellent. Best part of the film is that it does not take itself too seriously and it also does not make the speed racing very flashy. 

3.5/5

Frozen 2

Frozen 2 cashes on top of Frozen 1 with a bizarre storyline, too much of feel goodiness and honestly the emotional heartfelt touches seem too artificial even for an animation world

1.5/5

Psycho

Psycho is actually a masterclass in film making but it much effort to identify the mastery. How is the director trying to show a particular scene, what does this scene signify. Even for those who know the ending, the movie is very taught, it pulls you in though its sheer mastery. The camera effects are brilliant. Hitchcock had a great knack of knowing what the audience is thinking at a given time and then he uses this to deliberately not resolve this. The conflict is within the audience's minds and that I think is the ingenuity of Psycho. 

4/5

Les diabolique

Is he dead or is he alive? Was that a perfect murder? Who is lying? What is the truth? Les diaboliques  was truly ahead of its time in bring such complex plots to screen. The setting of a boys boarding school adds whole level of eeriness to it.  

3.5/5

Martian

The Martian is a feel good movie with feel good actors - Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.  This was a re-watch.

3/5

Pyaasa

Pyaasa is all about Sahir Ludhianvi and S.D. Burman - it is a movie with damn good songs with damn good lyrics and nothing else matters here. Yes, the plot is there, it is ahead of its times as it shows a red light area, protagonist landing in a  mental institution, media trials and what not. The jumps between scenes are not smooth; too many things happen in too few scenes until a songs comes in and adds a depth to a scene that is so profound that - nothing else matters. Above all, its ending is a positive one. 

5/5

Homemade

Homemade is a product of 2020 - a movie made by 20+ filmmakers while respecting social distancing/varying degrees of quarantine norms and made minimally with minimum crew. Some are fairly very creative, some very funny ones. I liked the auto-biographical aspect of Gunindher Chaddha's one - mainly because it has a foray into the lives of Indians in these times. Overall, it has various nuggets to please every kind of viewer, including one where Pope and Queen go skinny dipping :) 

3.5/5

TV Series

Laakhon mein ek - Season 1

A good one time watch - reasonably well made series. Although, it has some cliches but some of the lines are good. A honest attempt to capture the lives of people struggling to fit in.

3/5

Homecoming Season 1 & 2

A fantastic season 1 followed by a dud season 2. Sam Esmail is a genius - both Mr. Robot and Homecoming follow the same style of cinema making applied to two different stories. The store delivery is top notch. 

Season 1 - 4/5

Season 2 - 2.5/5

Schitts creek - Needs a separate review

The leftovers - Needs a separate review

2020 - A year of movies

Even though, I am nearing a saturation point, need something to truly be creative for me to root for it, the craze is not going down. And my `talab` is taking me to films that I wanted to see for a long time but never got around to them.  In this process, it has been a remarkable year so far. I have not seen most of the oscar winners, yet I am still very content.  I give kudos to my selecting abilities.
Also, among other things, even in theatre halls, I am now more keen to view drama/story oriented films instead of Avengers.


The Piano by Jane Campion
4.5/5
BBC did a poll of 100 best films by women directors, they invited 300+ critics to make a list and The Piano topped it. I was not aware that it was made by a woman director. I wanted to see The Piano because of Michael Nyman. Its been a long time coming.

The Piano is a story of a single mother who is a mute by choice, piano player, sold to a New Zealander for marriage. She and her daughter land in NZ with their piano which can not be transported back to their home as it is too bulky. Later, her husband strikes a deal with one of the Maori worker George Baines, played by Harvey Kietel,  to have the piano and his wife goes to Baines to take lessons. What follows is a love triangle but in the most un-cliched ways. Everyone has their motivations and none are white. The daughter's acting varies from high maturity to innocence. Both Holly Hunter (mother) and Anna Paquin (daughter) won Oscars and so did the best picture.

It is not easy to understand the behavior of each on. Jane makes no effort to describe it anyway. You have to step in the shoes of each character, bear in mind what you have seen so far and then you could see how their reaction is indeed plausible. It is definitely a very layered movie.
Nyman's music is the soul, the 'aatman' and it is pure. There is no Piano without Nyman. period.



Two popes by Fernando Merilles
4.5/5
This came via a recommendation by Parul. I had always enjoyed movies/plays in which two actors just talk and that is the story.  Two Popes is inspired by true events, it is dramatization of a period of transition between Pope Benedict (by Anthony Hopkins) to Pope Frances/Cardinal Bergoglio (played by Jonathan Pryce).
The dialogues are paced very well. For those who know the real facts, this transition phase takes a long time to come and rewards the patience. The background of Cardinal Bergoglio is a revelation and it has been handled very well. No movie has been bad after choosing Abba or the Queen in its title sequence.
But above all, it is Jonathan Pryce that I loved the most. He is caring, energetic and human. I think his would be my best Pope so far.



Mard ko Dard nahin hota by Vasan Bala
4/5
This alternative cinema from India is pure gold. Surya has a rare disease - congenital insensitivity to pain. This and a whole lot of Hong Kong crime movies, Shaolin soccer high, you get a goofy, absurdist movie that is a pure gem. Where the villains are most psychotic and action scenes out of the world. Full marks for giving meaty role to women, perhaps little too much in a couple of occasions, this one is for all those Jaane bhi do yaaron fans who love action movies aka me.



Pain and Glory by Pedro Almopdovar
4/5
There are few directors who create cinema with so much life thrown into it that each film is a celebration. Alfanso Curan, Walter Salles and Pedro Almdovar are few of them.
It is in fact Pain and Glory that has started my movie reflection period of this year. I am missing Pedro Almodovar's earlier films. Pain and Glory has brilliant performances by Penelope Cruz (I am craving for her other movies too) and a too good Antonio Banderas.  The story is of a famous director now old and  suffering with lots of pain medicines and trying to make sense of his life now.  Told with lots of flashbacks, some say it is auto-biographical. It is pure cinema


Gully Boy by Zoya Akhtar
3/5
The best thing going for Gully Boy is the character of Alia Bhatt. She has no two qualms on being possessive, lying, or blackmailing others. In a scene, when our hero asks her to swear on his life that she won't be physically aggressive in future, she responds - "tu mar jayega".  Rap songs are decent, Dharavi setting is good.  Amruta Subhash is a scene stealer - no one can share screen space with her, she takes up everything, not even Vijay Raaz. From schwaas, to Killa, to Sacred Games and now this - her anthology is a solid one. She deservedly is the best of the lot. The weakest link is Ranveer himself. Even though he has mellowed down so much for this role, still he does not look like a guy from Dharavi.  Kalki needs to stop doing this sidey love interest roles, I think she has done way too many of them. 
But kudos to Zoya for making a main stream movie about rap music.  My other best point about the movie was the bridge - the meeting point of Ranveer and Alia which is on top of a sewer. Zoya, except for a panoramic shot does not dwell on it but once you have seen it, you can not un-see it.



Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach
5/5
Adam Driver, Scarlett Johannson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda - it is a dream cast. Adam Driver can portray any role - From Blackkansman, The Report, Star Wars and now this, Adam fits in so well in each one that he can do anything.
Noah tells a marriage story through a story about divorce. The film opens with both husband and wife narrating good things about each other as they are trying out counseling. The writing is warm, soft and so fresh.  There is a scene where Adam gives feedback to Scarlett on her recent performance, says - "thanks for indulging me" and she goes to her room and then cries. She is trying to be strong in front of him and the kid but internally, it is all in turmoil. Scarlett moves to LA and then files for divorce in LA claiming that they are an LA family while Adam is still living in his reality that she would move back to NY. 
It is a story on non-communication between couples, it is a story of honest communication with each other, it is a story of pain, misunderstandings, no-one being right, and people being people with their failings. My other favorite scene comes in the end when Laura Dern claims that as part of divorce deal, Scarlett will get 55% of time over her kid and Adam will get 45%. She being very happy in getting an upper hand while Scarlett is shocked that it was always meant to be 50-50. In a flash, Scarlett's expression says that she is not aware what else has Laura said to Adam on her behalf.
Laura Dern is sassy and too good.  Alan Alda, is the goody-good person from our West Wing and he is perfect for this role.



The Irishman by Martin Scorsese
3/5
I have a confession about Martin Scorsese. I have seen his Goodfellas, Silence, Wolf of Wall Street, Departed and Shutter island. Will not count Hugo in this list, as it is an exception. Each of his films are stories where too many things happen and Martin does a great job in covering the breadth. But I find it difficult to identify with his films, nor do I find his brand of humor very funny.
From a screenwriting and direction point of view, the fact that he can pack so much in a film is his ingenuity but I do not relish.  His use of music is also very creative and there I think I find a good overlap with his taste.
The only exception is Goodfellas which I thought to be very creative as I was watching a genre for the first time. Silence has a whole different feel to it and I may revisit it again. I found Wolf of Wall street to be okay-ish.  The same feeling goes to The Irishman.
Well, outside of The Irishman, the reason to watch this film was Joe Pesci. The use of de-aging technology is very shoddy, I found that the gait of Robert De Niro gives it away in any scene. The story, well it is there and it is okay.  It is a very well made film and hence watchable.



Bombshell by Jay Roach
3/5
The unraveling of the Fox CEO - Roger Ailes, his sexual harassment of Fox's prominent anchors  and god know how many other women, is the story of Bombshell. It is a story of courage, of our present #metoo age. Plus, it has wonderful actors - Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie.  However, would have liked if the movie went deeper, also explored harassment by other people at Fox as well.

Life in Oct 16 - Feb 4

If you go to the previous blog in this series, it says - a period of calmness.
Well it was calmness before the storm as the next period was a torrent of action.  One thing after another and it was all planned and executed to perfection.


Travel -
- Travel was the bulk of the activity. All started with the 16 day NZ trip . Documented here, here and here. 
- Immediately after NZ, after 10 days, we were off to run Kaveri Trail Marathon in Mysore.  It was a HM after a long time, took 3 hrs plus but feels good to have done it without injury. Report is documented here.
- All of the above was in Nov. For NY, it was an impromptu plan to attend Sunburn @ Pune. Amazing experience plus a road trip from BLR.
- For the anniversary weekend, Kanishka and I decided to visit Sunderbans + Kolkata together with Aman and Divya.  Kolkata was a foodie trip and Sunderbans is a hidden gem in India.  Report will be shared soon.

Events-
Life in city (when not traveling) was also full of activities. December is anyways a month of lots of interesting things.
- Ruhaniyat - This year edition had a group of 9 from our side. Here was the lineup -
Mongolian performance by Hosoo Khosbayar
Mukhtiyar Ali and group
Belgian performance by Louvat brothers.
Nandesh Umap and group from Maharashtra
Qawwali by Chisti brothers
All were good but nothing stood out like last year. But a great night with home-cooked rolls under open skies.

- Sunburn was anyways the highlight and as Kanishka says - 'once in a lifetime experience'

- Play - Ram lala ki Mata at Ranga Shankara. A play on role of Kaikeyi in Ramayana and why she did what she did. A self aware play which tries to rope in the current political topics into its narrative. But overall not very spectacular either.

- Concert : Local Train at Phoenix market city. There is only one Indian pop band which I started following closely in last year, it was Local Train and I got to know that they were coming to Bangalore. I instantly booked tickets. It was amazing performance. The best highlight was the crowd as these were the die-hard fans of this band. Each song before the artist could sing as sung by the crowd. It was a thrilling performance and it was so good to be in good company of today's youth.


While travel and concerts were happening at one end, Kanishka and I decided to leave our life of rental nomads and decided to buy a flat in Sobha Daffodils. But post the registration, the process of finding a good interior designer and ideas for interior made us go out every weekend from one group to another, and in the online world from one website to another. The process is still underway and we are hoping things to get done by April.


Movies -
First Man- 4/5 Again a process movie (no doubt it is by the same guy who wrote Spotlight - Josh singer), but very well executed. I think the major accomplishment of Damien Chazelle is that he makes Ryan Gosling watchable :) Soundtrack was amazing and it is now my ring tone too!

Watched a bunch of bad action movies - Close (2/5), The girl in Spider's web(2/5), and rom-com - Leap year (3/5), The Spy who dumped me (2/5) , The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (3/5)

Tumbad -
4.5/5
Watched on the way to Pune in road trip.  Very well done film. Probably the finest horror film from India.  Absolutely highly recommended.

Raazi -
3.5/5
Good story telling and good acting. Liked it a lot.


Mowgli - Legend of the Jungle
3/5
Adds a darkish tone to the entire Jungle book and comes out okay.

TV Series -
Finished Gilmore girls. Watched it till season 5 and skimmed through 6 or 7.  There are lot many things to like here but some things are just unwatchable.
Brooklyn Nine Nine. I am a fan boy. 5/5. Love all the aspects of the show.
Bodyguard - 3.5/5 Not as good as Line of Duty but still action and performance keeps it going.
Also finished season 1 of Mad men by forcing to watch and get it done. Not an easy series to watch.
Black Mirror - Watched 3 more episodes and each one is a good one. Will take some time to get back to it.


Books

- Finished Sacred Games. 3.5/5 The first half is amazing with good commentary on what happens at a police station and how cops work. The making of Ganesh Gaitonde is also amazing. But the ending though it ties together things is not as thrilling as it should be.
It was a mammoth book and took 2 months to finish.

2016 movies so far

Apart from cooking and running, one of my favorite destresser is watching movies. A good movie just makes you forget everything. It has been little difficult to make time out for movies but in between, I did manage to catch a few and some of them have simply been amazing.


Spotlight -
Aah spotlight!  Tom McCarthy's Spotlight is one of the best movies of this year. A behind the scenes take on Boston Globe's expose of how priests where sexually abusing young children, Spotlight makes one feel back in love with the process of journalism.

There is a scene in Spotlight which just moved me. As the journalists are unraveling this mystery, they are all shocked to hear that even their local churches are involved in this. Since the complete depth is not clear, they can not confide with any of their friends outside work. And when 9/11 happens, they have to further wait before they publish. In one such waiting moments, Mark Ruffalo reveals heart broken he is. He had a religious upbringing but with youth he became agnostic. He had stopped going to church. But even with his skepticism, he believed that there could be a day when he may start believing again, he had hoped that church may offer him some solace. But this story has killed the dream and he can no longer respect that institution after what the team has uncovered.

Spotlight is very beautifully written, acted and directed. It has got to be the best movie for me this year.


Sully -
Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a dramatic retelling of the real life incident in which a Capt Sullenberger successfully managed to land an airplane on Hudson river with no casualties. It was called "miracle on the Hudson". I was there in US when it happened. I remember hearing about the story but did not view it to be a miracle. I was too busy to worry about miracles then :)
The movie follows up here and explores the aftermath of this, in particular, an investigation by the NTSP, on whether the plane could have gone to land at a nearby airport. In a typical Clint style, the movie has an easy pace, great acting and lot of patriotic fervor to it. It is a human emotional drama told in a style that is getting old, yet it is a delight to watch.
The only problem with Sully - the film comes after the movie when upon research it is learnt that the investigation as told in the film never happened. It is a let-down. It is ok to take artistic liberties but to falsification at this level takes some glean out of it.


Pink
Pink is the movie of our times. There are very few movies that depict the society we live in, very few that can capture the imagination of a country, especially its urban middle class. Queen, Jhankar Beats, Khosla Ka Ghosla, A Wednesday has done so in past.  Movies like Dil Chahta Hai or even Rang De Basanti do not fall in this genre, because even they do try to attempt our society, the Bollywoodization is too much for us to relate to them. On top of it, Pink is a legal drama, a genre for which I have a weak spot.
Pink is a movie about three girls who are molested at a Surajkund resort. They escape after one of them breaks a whiskey bottle on one of the perpetrators. The perpetrators intimidate these girls, the girls file a molestation complaint and in retaliation the perpetrators file an attempt to murder case. What follows is a legal drama.  But the underlying context is how our society views women, how we judge them and finally what is the meaning of consent.
The first half of the movie is very taut, like a noir with an edge-of-a-seat thrill.  Without revealing the original incident, it is beautifully left to our imagination and the intimidation, even though is quite simple, manages to touch a raw chord.  Till the first half, it could have easily been an Anurag Kashyap movie. With the difference that in a Kashyap cinema, things go further downhill, but in this one, we get the regular cliches to make it an happy ending cinema. Despite this, the social commentary and the hard straight dialogues makes it a movie that we have been waiting from Bollywood.  The industry has to grow and this movie is showing a way.


Udta Punjab
I loved it! Yes, the ending is far too much contrived for the first 75% of the movie but the first three quarters is so good that I don't care. Basing on the drug menace in Punjab,  Udta Punjab got into spotlight because of censor board recommending many cuts. The courts provided some sanity and the movie was released with just one cut.
Udta Punjab has many many flaws, the whole Kareena Kapoor arc is far fetched but it is still a special film. I have wondered why? I was instantly happy and ready to overlook so many things. Why this movie works while others don't?  The answer lies in the tone of this film. Boosted by its soundtrack, the background score, and the genuine human absurdity replete in this case, it just keeps you engaged. Subconsciously, one is aware that the underlying drug problem is very real and the movie's second sequence establishes it very convincingly. The four fictional story lines are a refreshing change and avoid the common tropes. The music has definitely grown on after the film.  This is good cinema, dark and serious but much needed.



Masaan
It takes heart to watch Masaan. I waited for a year to finally put the dvd in my DVD player. I was not ready for the film. I knew that watching the film is going to be a stressful experience. So, one Sunday, after a good sleep, healthy breakfast and sleep, we put it on. It is exactly how I anticipated but loved it.
Masaan is a story of 4-5 different people living in Varanasi. It is as much their story as it is the story of Varanasi. The characters in film personify the city - a crumbling, sadistic, cynical city. The best sequence of Masaan is the falling in love sequence. How does one fall in love with small towns where main line of work is to burn bodies after death? How friends influence and how a  mela is the place to be. Plus the amazing lyrics and sound track of this film makes it a delight to watch. Richa Chaddha gives a tour-de-force. Her performance really fills the screen. Pankaj Tripathy fights for his screen presence and is able to pull it off in a manner that only he can do so.  Sanjay Mishra is at home here and newcomers pull it off very well. Overall, Masaan is not an easy film to watch. But once it gets going, it is not that difficult either. A million other things could have gone wrong but they don't.  It is definitely part of the new-age Art cinema of India.



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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Now, that is what I call a perfect family entertainer. We watched if when my dad was ill and we were looking for a light hearted movie that all of us can enjoy. A black & white movie, that too on politics but MSGW is an endearing effort, not enough for a one time watch.
Based on a fillibuster, MSGW is a lovely film. Played with heart by James Stewart, MSGW is a story how a rookie Mr. Smith gets nominated to the house of Congress. Naive and completely unfamiliar with the inner workings of Congress, he decides to pass a law to build camp for scouts only to realize that the space is earmarked by a corrupt businessman for his personal gains. It is a classic good vs evil movie, pure heart vs greed and MSGW is an out and out feel goodness that one seeks from cinema.



Shop Around the Corner
James Stewart again. Who knew that the cute and lovely You've got Mail is actually a remake of an equally lovely and affable film - Shop Around the Corner. Given that SAC came before You've got Mail, it is a truly remarkable script.



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Other decent ones to watch - Nil Battey Sannata. Jungle Book. BFG
Did not like/Hated it - Dhanak, Captain America - Civil War.

Movie Review : Boyhood

Boyhood
By Richard Linklater


There is certainly a lot of charm in watching a movie without knowing anything about it. Sometimes, it is more than enough to know that its made by Linklater. The fact that Linklater has made it piques curiosity on its own.

About 40 mins or so into the movie, the realization dawns on me - its the same boy. This boyhood by Linklater sahib is actually shot using the same boy or person as he grows up, over 12 years. Shot for a week in a year, for a dozen years, with the same cast, Linklater keeps the look natural so that we can witness the aging as a natural process. It could have been a documentary but then it would rob us of fiction. That there exists a script is interesting, but the way it gels and progresses just proves that Linklater is a god amongst us.

Soon after my realization, nothing mattered anymore. It was evident to me that watching this film is an experience in itself. I was in awe with the art. The natural growth of this human being, the travails and joys of being a teenager, the journey through adolescence, and the search to find oneself and the true meaning of life at the same time, it is like life being captured on reel. I was reminded of Tree of Life several times as I was watching this film. How much they talk about the same thing, yet how differently they treat it.

Ethan Hawke plays the boy's father and there are some awesome scenes between the two, including a discussion on what makes Beatles so great! Patricia Arquette plays the mom and her performance is brilliant. It was no wonder that she has won every award where she has been nominated.


After watching Boyhood, i was confident that it is an effort worth the best picture oscar. To dream a project of this magnitude, to deliver it in this manner is a feat extraordinaire. That the film was denied the best director and best film just reinforces our belief that even Oscars does not get what true cinema is.


Boyhood must be seen. It must be experienced. It is amazing!

2014 movies : Aug - Dec

I had not blogged various movies i had seen in 2014. Below is their names and my one line review.


Hunger Games - Mocking Jay Part 1: (3/5) . Pleasantly surprised that this movie did not suck as much as the book. Inspite of it being a 2 part split, the flow is not so slow and screenplay credible. Would not recommend though


Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (2.5/5) Had to watch it to just get over with it. The whole trilogy of Hobbit has been a big let down given the LOTR trilogy. Battle sequences are nice but because of no story depth, they have very little influence.


Khoobsurat - (1.5/5) My attempt to watch a regular Bollywood film of this year. Reasonable plot executed without any brain, a lot of legs and bad songs. Nothing works in the movie except the fact that it ends, even though the end comes an hr too late.

Gone Girl - (4.5/5) A brilliant thriller. Very good script and executed to perfection. Highly recommended watch.

Interstellar (3.5/5) Full credit to Nolan for attempting to make larger than life films. Matthew McNaughey delights as usual. Some major issues with screenplay as the first half feels longer. Second half starts brilliantly but the end becomes little too hyperbolic for us.

Sex Tape (2/5) Funny in bits, time pass film. Popcorn flick but fails to hold a grasp even during its small running time.

Wreck it Ralph (3/5) Delightful watch, very creative concept and well executed. Moments of delight but the attempt to bring it back to a happy-ending plot seems too sugary.


The Grand Budapest Hotel (4/5) Wes Anderson films are always a delight. Quirky, imaginative, arbit and strangely beautiful. Liked it a lot. The movie grows on you as time passes. Definitely requires multiple viewings

Queen: Celebrating Silliness

Queen's trailer already reveals that it is a film about a girl going alone on a honeymoon. Implying behind this line is that a marriage has been called off at the last moment - that is beyond acceptable in any society. The trailer promises a journey of liberation and self discovery. Queen delivers more with its awesome dialogues, brilliant performances, Amit Trivedi's catchy music and lots of comic touches.

Queen opens itself on the night of Ladies Sangeet with the catchy song London Thumakda playing on background. The very next day, our couple meets at CCD where the groom (Vijay) tells the bride (Rani) that he is calling off the marriage. To mellow down this horrible tragic incident, Vikas Bahl, Queen's director, shares the present with flashbacks of how Vijay, played by Rajkumar Rao, had wooed Rani, our Queen Kangana Ranaut, during college time. When did they first meet, how he flirted, how they began to like to each other and how there were differences. There are bollywood movies which spend the entire first half in this, not to mention adding a couple of unnecessary songs. Not Queen. It has more ground to cover.

The next day, Kangana Ranaut announces that she wants to go on her honeymoon alone and hence begins the celebration of silliness.  I write silliness not with contempt but as a best response to tragedy.  Silliness is a virtue of being our true self, of living with our mistakes, of being human.  We are forgetting to enjoy silliness, ignoring the charm of being a fool and are loosing ourselves in the process. We remember childhood with a romantic nostalgia because those were the days when we could be silly and yet it was ok to be so. We miss it so dearly now.Queen in its process of self liberation is a story of discovery of joy of silliness.

There are many other reasons why Queen stands out. For one, a substantial plot development happens when the protagonist is drunk in a pub and she is dancing mindlessly against an awesome remix of 'Hungama ho gaya'.  Even after couple of days of listening to this song in a loop, i still have craving for more. After the pub scene, we have both Kangana Ranaut and her friend dancing outside, in front of a middle aged man who appears busy by playing with his phone. Vikas Bahl, does not let go of this scene quickly, the scene plays on to ensure that we notice the contrast.

Then there is a scene where the Dutchmen are given a taste of Gol Gappe. (Reviewer's bias - any movies that promotes Gol Gappe has to be excellent!)  I think as a country, we may be failing to protect our natural resources and our heritage sites, but in terms of food tourism, we are doing exceptionally well. It is interesting to note that movies with woman protagonists always have some connection with food. English-Vinglish is the other one that shared the same connection. May be it is stereotyping it but it has to be commended that atleast we are breaking one stereotype with the help of another. There are several other similarities between English Vinglish and Queen, Amit Trivedi being one of them.

Queen takes a poke at many stereotypes and comes on top for most of them. The subject of sex is discussed in many forms and for the most part it works well but couple of instances it goes overboard. I was in particular annoyed with the scene in sex store where in Rani pretends to be buying sex toys as gifts for relatives thinking them to be something else. The annoyance was not that it was a sex store but it assumes Rani to be so naive; the comedy hurts the sensibilities of a viewer as well in my opinion. Perhaps, here is an instance where they went overboard with multiple sex references.  Then there is also the stereotyping of the father. In the recent neo-modern films, the Nani or Dadi are always the cool characters who just get the new age, but its the parents and in that especially the father is still shown as somebody who has not grown.  Queen shows the same orthodoxy in couple of instances, something which i was hoping that they would tackle more admirably.

At 146 minutes and that too without frivolous songs, Queen is a long film but it does not feel so. As we come close to the end, a question that comes is can Queen end while maintaing the same high bar of cinema that we have seen so far or will it just give in to the traditional way. Will it be a yet another melodramatic ending high on emotional drama.  The answer is a big no. Queen's ending is handled deftly with calm, poise and maturity as it should be. It is a kind of ending that makes the movie a namesake of its title. Queen is another leap in Bollywood movie making genre. Go watch it!

Review : Ship of Theseus

Ship of Theseus
Directed by Anand Gandhi

Let me begin by writing that if you have not seen this movie, then please see it. Do not watch its trailer, do not read a single review, do not ask a friend. Just watch it.

There are very few films wherein after the movie ends, there is a feeling which says - "Good job! Arvind" for having seen that movie. I felt proud to have seen this film, i felt elated to be alive to see the film and the fact that this was an Indian film made by an Indian director, shot in India (mostly) is just bliss.

Ship of Theseus is a philosophical paradox which is best explained by reading this Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus . The movie explores this subject through three stories and an ending that was so evident but i didn't see it coming. I couldn't. I was not even thinking about it but when it hit me, as it hit, i was floored. The entire theater gasped. oh! It was like a magician's trick.

But it was not merely the ending that had us all blown. There is no way to tell that one story was better than the other, there is no way to measure it. It is like three circles of same radius next to each other. When i focus on one, it seems bigger but as soon as i glance at its neighbor, my entire concentration moves to it and suddenly the other two are paler when compared. Yet, in terms of #scenes that are still visibly clear in my head now, in terms of stills that will stay for a long time in my head, i think it was the monk arc that impacted me the most.

To write about each arc will give it away. No, not the  plot but the joy that you will derive when you watch it. The visuals are stunning. It was like Tree of Life all over again.

I watched most of the movie with head on my elbow leaning forward as if i was attending a lecture. The movie made me think, it took me in and made me open doors within me. A philosophical argument in a film form - People! Cheers! Indian cinema has arrived!

Superman of Malegon

Superman of Malegaon - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermen_of_Malegaon
Directed by Faiza Ahmed Khan.

Superman of Malegaon is a documentary covering the making of a film called Malegaon ka Superman. Malegaon is a small town in Maharashtra obsessed with films. Shaikh Nasir is a local director who wants to adapt popular movies/genre into the local context of Malegaon. Previous, he had made Sholay in Malegaon and his latest project was Malegaon ka Superman. Made in a shoestring budget of 1Lakh Rupees, Malegaon ka superman has all the special effects expected in a Superman movie. Malegaon's Superman is seen flying above the town, saving innocent people, fighting the local goons, a romantic relationship with a local girl and showing her around while flying.

To rate a movie like Superman of Malegaon is a superfluous exercise. It is equivalent to rate first time marathon finish of any runner, or to rate the beauty of natural canyons, or to review home cooked food. They are not made for reviews, they don't give a damn about ratings. There are some things that are made out of heart/nature.  These things serve a higher purpose, a calling that has come from within; these people have surpassed all expectations because there were none; they have borne pain, sacrificed their lives for it. There is an inherent passion in their work, an energy whose potential is unlimited and finally a will that will not rest until it is done in a way they want it to be. For these works exist just because these people wanted to make them and everything else just happened along the way.

Superman of Malegaon beautifully captures the process behind the creation of such an effort. The people behind Malegaon ka Superman are not professional artists, instead a tailor is a costume designer, a carpenter is set director, the local orchestra provides background score and a wedding videography maker is the cameraman, director and the editor. The movie is produced by these people, their families and friends. Story writing is a collective process, generally written during night when everyone has finished their daily duties which is how they manage their day to day lives.

Creativity comes best when you have nothing. The special effects with Superman flying, flying over Malegaon, flying while chasing an Auto, and flying with his love interest. These are no easy tasks but as they go about doing them, you just marvel at their process. Some of the techniques were used in early Kurusawa films before they became mainstream, these guys are creative at that level.

The documentary shines as it is able to reflect the passion of these small town people. In all the domain of arts, the final product conceals the effort that has gone in making it. In rare cases only, the process is equally important as the outcome. In this case the making is much more interesting, inspiring and liberating than the actual movie itself. How many movies can boast such a claim? I am pretty sure you can count them in your fingers.

Watch Superman of Malegaon, but its dvd and share it with your friends. The spirit is indeed infectious.

Silver linings playbook

Disclaimer: The reason i choose to review this film among so many others that i saw recently is not because i liked the film better than the rest. It just that this film aligns itself with a though that had been with me for sometime now and i wanted to share it.


Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy film wherein the hero suffers from bipolar disorder and the heroine is a sex addict, both coming out of a broken relationship and trying to cope up with their lives. The story works sheerly because it is made to work through many small small sub plots and quirkiness of its actors. Jennifer Lawrence is a brilliant actress and seeing Anupam Kher was a treat as well, at least for me.

Silver Lining Playbook also extends the boundary of Romantic films. In reality, the only movies that work in this genre are the ones that go outside the box. Gone are the days where rich girl/poor boy made a good story. The early formula of young birds falling in love but family against it, inter-caste affairs, inter-color relationships have all been explored and gone. All that was for a generation earlier. Our generation brought its new complexities, Jerry Maguire explored the theme of two co-working adults drawing towards one another, one of them was also a single parent. You've got mail extended the boundary wherein people feel in love on internet.  Romantic relationship between adults sharing workspace, in competing workspace (Mr. & Mrs Smith etc), in matchmaking business (Hitch etc) are also coming to a closure. The truth is that in order to make a fresh, genuine romantic film, it has to go into further niche segments and explore what true relationship is all about. If it means extending the boundary or to come up with quirky situations, it has to be done.

 Silver linings Playbook works because it simply keeps the chassis of a romantic comedy film, the three part structure - (a) The initial meetup where girl/guy does not get along or are hesitant to break the barrier (b) They do get along but there is some issue (c) Everything is well in the end.  Other than these three pillars, SLP fills the details in a completely unique way, something that none of us can think off and what gets it going is just our curiosity on how the story will match each pillar as it unfolds.

While at the subject of romantic comedies, i think a film that i would call romantic but it breaks the three pillar definition are the Before Sunset/Before Sunrise movies of Richard Linklater. There are so many movies about romance but so few on cynicism while both these are so related to each other. Richard Linklater brings these two together to create his masterpieces and leaves it to audience.


Bollywood still has to learn its lessons. It is still living in the early days, remaking classics, same wine in a new bottle, but the bottle has to change and the wine in it as well. Amal is a great example of how it could be done - layer the wine with cheese, add more flavors to it.  The days of same old crap may not be over at box office but they will be soon once the sheen is off.


Back to SLP, watch it for Jennifer Lawrence and some really sensible directing. It gets a 3.5 out of 5 stars in my world.

5th BIFFES

Before the start of 5th Bangalore International Film Fetival, I jokingly remarked to my friend  "I would be more happy than sad if i miss any film at the festival on account of it being house full". I was confident that most of the seats would go empty as who watches these odd, hard hitting, heavy, no-song films and that too with subtitles in this "Dabbang" age other than a few eccentric people. I could not have been more wrong.

The lineup of films at 5th edition of BIFFES was strong, diverse and offered something of everything. I was happy that they chose to include a retrospective of Fatih Akin, whom i have followed after accidentally watching his Gegen die wand. Also included in the festival were newly released films by famous directors like Amour by Michael Haneke and Pieta by Kim ki Duk. Typically, there are retrospectives, films from a given director or an actor as a focus area,  but Biffes also included a section wherein they focussed on films from a country, Denmark, Taiwan and Germany in this edition. A country focus is a great idea as it presents a unique opportunity to see a country from different perspectives. 

By skipping a party, i was able to catch the Oscar nominated Monsieur Lazhar by Philippe Falardeau. A film deserving of an oscar nomination, it has everything that one can hope for, yet it fails to hit the strectch goal that the winner does. Overall,  i enjoyed the film a lot, perhaps it was also the lightest, in terms of watchability of films, for me for this festival.

On day 2, Saturday, of the festival,  i started by watching Antonioni's Blow up -   A 1966 movie that critques the fashion industry at that time, a movie responsible on changing the rules of how MPAA issues film ratings, a cult so much that its reflection can be seen in Kundan Shah's Jaane bhi do yaaron.  At the end, while exiting the screening hall, i overheard from someone in crowd - "That this film was made in 1966 with such finesse is beyond belief". I couldn't agree more. 

By the time i got out of this film, had my lunch and went to join the queue for The City of Life and Death by Chuan Lu, the queue was already holding more people than i could imagine. An elderly looking man just ahead said to me "It does not matter how long the queue is in front of you, what matters is how many are there behind you." I looked back to see that there are already about 50 people behind me and it was growing. Inox guys closed the gates when the hall reached its capacity and i was left standing outside with about 100 people. Our pleas to let us go in, urging that this is an exceptional circumstance and let regulation be relaxed this time, were deftly handled by Inox's managerial staff. Kudos to them for carrying themselves in a dignified manner at the face of a erudite, cultured crowd that is willing for rules to be bent to benefit them. The same crowd would cry fowl when they see bent rules in any other circumstance. 

I instead went to see Prasad, a Kannada film by Dir Manoj Sati. Couple of lead actors were also present during the screening and this was the worst of the 11 films that i saw during 5 days of the film festival. Overtly melodramatic, boring, like a soap opera gone bad. I left it midway. Why o why do we continue to make films in this childish manner is beyond me. 

My next excursion was Abbas Kariostami's Certified Copy starring Juliette Binoche. A treat to watch, a typical Kariostami film with ambiguity marked everywhere. My neighbor who had seen Gegen die wand this morning (and disliked it), told me about the  parallels between these two movies, especially in the ending, and how different treatment each one gets by their respective directors. It was a very incisive observation, something that i could not have linked together ever. Next came Barbara, directed by Christian Prtzold, it was a surprise gem of a drama with very powerful acting and direction. Barbara is one of those films which would not achieve the cult status but it will be always deemed in respect among cinema lovers. As far as film making is concerned, it gets things right across all departments but does not go that extra mile to shake the viewers. 

Tired. I had seen 3.5 movies since morning but one always overeats when there is a buffet. I went in to see 11 flowers by Xiaoshuai Wang. Among other films of the day, it was average but nevertheless it offered a unique glimpse into a chapter of Chinese evolution. 

After finishing my work on Sunday, i got the opportunity to catch up the evening programme of the festival. But i had to make tough choices. First was between Napola by Dennis Ganzel and Melanchola  by Lars Von Trier. Normally, this would have been no contest, i would have gone for a Lars Von Trier movie without any question but i knew that if i watch it, i will not be able to watch any other after that. But the schedule after that incuded Amour by Haneke and Pieta by Kim Ki Duk. I wanted to see both of them. So, in order to maximize my pleasure i went for Napola and followed it up by Amour as it had won the Palm D'or at Cannes this year. Pieta was also going to be screened again couple of days later. 

Napola was shot and produced brilliantly but its story failed to provide any long lasting impact. Yet another German film, yet another one based on WWII but the bar has been raised considerably in this genre now.  Before i describe Amour, let me share my views on Michael Hanneke. I have never understood why is he so reverred in film circles. I have seen couple of his films including the cult - Hidden but didn't find it to be too impressive. But i still went in with an open mind. Amour turned out to the be best film for me during the festival. It chronicles life of an elderly couple as the wife sits on her deathbed owing to parallysis on her right side. As a movie, it is emotional, gritty, extremely realistic, convincing and very difficult to watch, all at the same time. When a loved one is dying, you can not abandon him or her yet you can not help but realize that you are stuck with it. Hanneke creates this emotion for us a viewer beause we also stuck with this film but it is our admiration towards it that prevents us from leaving even though it is quite difficult to bear it. With a dreamy sequence, a surreal ending, and lots of minute details embedded, Amour is a brilliant film that you may not watch second time but you must watch it once. 

At the start of Pieta on Christmas day, an announcer says that it is 104 minutes long. I say to myself - 104 minutes of torture to be witnessed. As much as i like Kim Ki Duk's movies, it is without shame i admit that i find them difficult to bear. Yet i watch them because they explore some emotion in me that i have never experienced before. His take on things ancient, mythological and contemporary is one that is full of complexities yet there is an attempt to understand it from a human standpoint.  Pieta did not prove any different. In a review, one of the critics had mentioned that Pieta is Kim Ki Duk's most commerical movie ever. I laugh at it. I wonder what would someone, unknown to his films, think about his other works after just seeing Pieta. Pieta, interestingly, becomes lighter in second half but that is a luxory available to only those who brave the first half. Atleast 10 people left the movie in first 30 minutes. I would not recommend Pieta to anyone before asking him to watch Spring.Summer... again, sometimes you have to understand a director before understanding his work.

My last movie from this festival was Rust and Bone by Jacques Audiard featuring Marion Cottilard. I decided to catch it owing to Marion's nomination for best actress in Goden Globes this year. Her performance is truly an award winning one but the movie fails to make an impact as it should have. "Was i supposed to empathize with the protagonist" is the lingering question and there were several others who shared my dilemma. But overall it is a pretty good movie. 

BIFFES satiated my complaint that i have not got a chance to see enough foreign films since my move back. I thank the organizers, Inox and Lido for organizing this. I am sure next year the crowd would be bigger, queues would be longer - for we have tasted the blood now. Ask any cine-fan and he would admit that watching a movie on big screen is 10 times better than watcing it on tv or laptop. And watching it with other like minded people is even a bonus.