Cinema, Culture & More
There are several instances in Sam Hargrave’s ‘Extraction’ that remind you of a Bollywood gangster flick. For one, the backdrop is downright familiar in that it involves the kidnapping of Ovi Mahajan Jr., (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) son of dreaded Indian mafia kingpin Ovi Mahajan Sr. (Pankaj Tripathi) by Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli), Mahajan’s arch rival in Bangladesh. Continue reading “Extraction (2020) English Movie Short Review”
Happened to see this film on several Netflix lists for comedy lovers, and finally decided to give it a go. This Adam McKay directed flick that stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two oddball step brothers who are thrown together to live under a roof has some odd bits of laughter here and there, but hardly engage otherwise. Continue reading “Step Brothers (2008) English Movie Short Review”
I do miss not having been able to watch tiny little gem in the theatres, despite quite a few friends suggesting that I do, when the film was released a couple of years back. For one, the temperament of ‘A Quiet Place’ is distinctly different, and the eerie silence that it so skilfully employs is what makes it a class apart. Continue reading “A Quiet Place (2018) English Movie Short Review”
It’s been a couple of years at least since ‘1922’ was released and I came across this gem of a film by sheer chance, and it surprises me that I had read very little about it before hand. Based on Stephen King’s novel by the same name ‘1922’, directed by Zak Hilditch is an eerie study on crime, guilt and eventual redemption. Continue reading “1922 (2017) English Movie Short Review”
Charlize Theron would remain the prime reason behind my deciding to watch this film, and Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult’ reiterates why viewers like me look up to the actor with such an indomitable conviction. This is another of those films that Theron chisels up to perfection, and with some brilliant writing by Diablo Cody, ‘Young Adult’ turns out to be an interesting watch. Continue reading “Young Adult (2011) English Movie Short Review”
Thirteen years after its release in 2007, Gregory Hoblit’s ‘Fracture’ remains as engaging as it gets. For one, the structure of this fantastic psychological thriller is straightforward, in that there is no suspense regarding who the murderer is. Theodore “Ted” Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) shoots his wife on the face and makes its clear that death is the penalty for infidelity. Continue reading “Fracture (2007) English Movie Short Review”
Derek Cianfrance’s ‘The Place beyond the Pines’ stretches across a long timeline, and three discernible, distinct time frames could very easily be identified. It starts off with a motorbike stuntman by the name of Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) who discovers that he is the father of a toddler one fine morning and develops aspirations of starting a family. In a bid to make some quick money, he starts robbing banks and is eventually caught and shot. Continue reading “The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) English Movie Short Review”
Granted that the Argo operation in Ben Affleck’s directorial debut seems too easy and uncomplicated to be true, but when you are told that it based on a true story, do not be surprised if your hair stands up on its ends. This 2012 film is not just a directorial success, but also show cases Affleck’s potentials as an actor as well as that of several other lesser known faces. Continue reading “Argo (2012) English Movie Short Review”
I caught up with Sergio Pablos’ much acclaimed work ‘Klaus’ on the first day of the national lockdown following the Covid- 19 pandemic, and wasn’t I glad that I chose this little gem of an animation film? Whoever thought that the legend of Santa Claus would find itself a luscious version as the one that Pablos has come up with!? Continue reading “Klaus (2019) English Movie Short Review”
And quite by chance I come across this gem of a tiny movie on Netflix, titled ‘The End of the Tour’, wherein two young men in their thirties – David Foster Wallace, much acclaimed writer and David Lipsky of the Rolling Stone – engage in some brilliant, revelatory conversations as to what it means to be a writer, to be famous, and above all, to be human. Continue reading “The End of the Tour (2015) English Movie Short Review”
A bearded, sombre looking Colin Farrell plays a cardiac surgeon in Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ – Dr. Steven Murphy – who befriends a young teen named Martin, for reasons best known to the two. As Martin inches his way closer to the doctor’s family and starts treading and trampling ever so softly on his life, a concerned Anna (Nicole Kidman), Steven’s wife, insists that she knows what it is that binds the man and the boy together. Continue reading “The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) English Movie Short Review”