Category Archives: Genre

Can Skip it, Comedy, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Romance, Tamil Movies, Uncategorized

Inji Iduppazhagi Review

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Inji Iduppazhagi Review – Inji Iduppazhagi is a Telugu and Tamil romantic comedy released in 2015. Sweety is a happy go lucky girl. Her mother is worried about her over-weight. When Sweety meets a handsome and health conscious documentary filmmaker Abhi as her wedding alliance she rejects the proposal before he rejects it but internally she hopes that he would fall in love with her.

The movie’s plot has a potential to be a wholesome entertainer. It opens very well where we are introduced to the sweetness in sweety’s life. She reminds of Amélie Poulain from the french movie Amélie in the way she views her life and wishes to bring happiness in people’s life. But soon the plot looses its track and gives into the temptation of commercial formula thereby giving way for cliches being introduced. There is a point in the film where Sweety tells Abhi that she is tired of being just a friend. Post this the movie does a nose dive and Sweety’s character becomes lost in translation.

Anushka has performed well for the most part. But the story couldn’t capitalize on her acting skills. Apart from her, Urvashi has a very enjoyable role. The character of Sweety’s  father, grandfather, mother and brother have been sketched well. In the end, you think they could have made a very good movie with the premise and the characters.

High Points: Initial setting up of the plot, Production quality, Anushka’s acting, Characterization of Anushka’s family.

Low Points: Lack of focus on the screenplay, commercial cliches, predictable and beaten to death sequences.

Overall this is an effort that has gone bad due to its lack of focus and substandard treatment of the plot. With a better screenplay, this team has a great potential to deliver an entertainer. Wish them luck for their next venture.

Can Skip It

 

Biopic, Comedy, Drama, English Movies, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Worth a Watch

Joy Review

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Joy Review – Joy is an American biographical comedy-drama released in 2015.  The movie follows a common woman who struggles to manage her dysfunctional family of four generations, is on a path to become a greatest business tycoon.

Before I write any of my review comments let me tell you that I love David O Russell movies. Hence, I couldn’t resist watching Joy. The movie banks on the performance of Jennifer Lawrence throughout and she has done a phenomenal job in portraying the role of Joy on screen. I love the drama value in the movies of David O Russell. I loved the drama in the story of Joy as well. I loved the transformation of Joy’s character through the movie and her Character Arc is brilliantly sketched in the movie.

The director has certain shots subtle and in the background avoiding the usual cliches in a deliberate attempt to make something magical. I liked this treatment very much. I believe this is what has disappointed the larger set of critics who might have walked in with the expectation of watch yet another Silver Lining Playbook. The distinct characterization of each member of the family has been portrayed very well. Also, the dream sequence construction which is a mixture of the Soap Opera her Mom watches and book she reads for her daughter.

High Points: Performance of Jennifer Lawrence, The sequence of her business counterpart during the climax is phenomenal.  The dream sequence for Joy.

Low Points: The plot is a simple one compared to his previous outings with Silver Lining Playbook and American Hustle.

Overall this may not be the best movie of David O Russell but it still has the ability to engage you throughout. If you are a fan of Jennifer Lawrence you cannot afford to miss this one.

Worth a Watch

Action, English Movies, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Superhero, Worth a Watch

Ant-Man Review

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Ant-Man Review – Ant-Man is an English superhero film from the Marvel universe. Scientist Hank Pym quits S.H.I.E.L.D to protect the shrinking technology he has invented as he believes it could destroy the world if gotten by evil men. He is thrown out of the company by his daughter and his former protege Darren Cross. They are at the verge of reinventing the shrinking technology. Hank has to rely on a well-meaning thief Scott Lang to become Ant-Man and prevent them from becoming successful.

I was not very interested in watching a movie about a miniature man who could be a superhero in parallel with the Avengers. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the output of the movie. It was very interesting and engaging throughout. The movie had some good visual effects much like any other Marvel movies. The humor element was well used by the writers to keep the movie a very interesting one. Also, the challenge faced by Ant-Man was a very interesting one.

Director Peyton Reed should be lauded for the kind of output he has produced from a superhero much less known to the world in comparison with other Marvel superheroes. Michael Douglas is a good choice for playing the character of Hank. The story sets up nicely well for its sequel. Don’t miss the post-credits sequence featuring an Avenger.

High Points: The visual effects, Humor elements, A sincere attempt, Engaging Screenplay. The sequence where the Ant-Man barges into the Avengers facility is a very interesting one.

Low Points: Overload of superhero movies might not give the credit what Ant-Man deserves.

Overall Marvel is yet again successful in creating a superhero that they can add to their Avenger series. Ant-Man although the tiniest of the superheroes manages to steal the hearts of the audience. If you are a Marvel comic fan, you should watch this one.

Worth a Watch

Genre, Hindi Movies, Historic, Other Languages, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Wait for DVD/TV, War

Rudhramadevi Review

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Rudhramadevi Review – Rudhramadevi is a historical film released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi in 2015. The movie is based on the life of the warrior queen Rudhramadevi who ruled the Kakatiya dynasty during the 13th century.

First of all kudos to the film crew for taking up a historical subject on woman warrior and bringing it to the silver screen. The magnanimous Baahubali had raised the expectations of film audience so high that anything less than that does not appeal anymore. Rudhramadevi also falls as a prey for this.

In the effort of making a visual grandeur in a limited budget, the filmmakers have lost the viewing pleasure. The visual effects look very amateurish compared to the standards we see today. The only thing that keeps your interest going is the story itself. The story has inspirational parts to it and some good war stories. However, the scriptwriters have failed to capitalize on this one and tailor to the movie format. In the end, it ends up looking like a TV show.

Anushka’s performance is a big strength to the movie. She has literally transformed himself as she plays the warrior. The only other character that had turned out well is Gona Ganna Reddy played by Allu Arjun.  Rana Daggupati’s character is weakly portrayed. The climax war sequence is the weakest part of the movie. In the effort of making it visually spectacular they have lost preparing the audience for it. Most of the times you are confused about who is fighting whom. In the end, it looks too easy to defeat the villain.

High Points: Anushka’s performance, Gona Ganna Reddy’s characterization and Allu Arjun’s performance, The story of a warrior queen.

Low Points: Ambiguous war sequence in the climax, Amateurish visual effects, Lack of character build up for other characters.

Overall Rudhramadevi ends up being a tale better made for the small screen than for the big screen audience.

Wait for DVD/TV

Action, Drama, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Wait for DVD/TV

Vedalam Review

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Vedalam Review – Vedalam is a Tamil action drama released in 2015. Ganesh comes to Calcutta with his sister to give her admission into a prestigious art institute. He leads a simple life and is a pleasant company to many. But there is untold dark side to him, not known to others.

The hero is so good and straight forward person you suspect something is going to break. Something breaks and exposes a contrasting personality within him. Now you try to justify the contrasting badass personality by giving a purpose to it and then you want to see the hero win. This is a tried and tested formula for many commercial movies. Baasha being the one which started it all. Then we had seen many movies which were wannabe Baasha’s. Vedalam is one to be added to the list that is entirely banking upon Ajith’s stardom.

The movie has some interesting sequences in parts and it is enjoyable during those sequences. But then the movie falls into the trap of lack of direction, with some cliched emotional drama coming rescue making it an average affair. Ajith’s screen presence is a big strength for the movie. The initial sequences in Kolkatta are enjoyable. The most enjoyable portion of the movie is the character of Vedalam which appears in the flashback. Ajith has changed his body language and dialogue delivery which has worked out well. Lakshmi Menon has a significant role in the movie. Shruthi Hassan just adds in glamour quotient and  just becomes the reason for Ajith revealing the flashback.

High Points: Ajith’s screen presence, The characterization of Vedalam, Comedy sequences

Low Points: High voltage emotional drama which looks cliched. The entire climax sequence looks too easy for Ajith compared to the introduction the Villain had.

Overall Vedalam suffers from the common phenomenon of all the mass entertainers of falling into ordinary cliches. This movie is still watchable for Ajith’s performance. Unless you are a hardcore Ajith fan you might enjoy watching this when played on TV.

Wait for DVD/TV

English Movies, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Thriller, Worth a Watch

The Gift Review

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The Gift Review – The Gift is an American psychological thriller released in 2015.  A young married couple Simon and Robyn moves from Chicago into a Los Angeles suburb where they meet Gordon, a high schoolmate of Simon. Gordon starts interfering in their life by giving numerous gifts which make Simon uncomfortable.

A psychological thriller need not be the one that takes you to a different world and send chills through your spine, but it can be the one which narrates a sequence of simple incidents but still instill a fear in you for the probability of finding yourself in such a spot. The Gift movie is very successful in doing that to you. The movie is slow but nevertheless keeps you glued to the screen till the end. The entire tone of the movie is kept gloomy to reflect the mood of the film. The characters are sketched brilliantly to increase the tension as the movie progresses. The climax is sure to leave you dumbstruck. Director and actor Joel Edgerton steals the show with his performance. His composed acting is a major plus for the film. After seeing him in movies like Exodus  Gods and Kings, this one is a very contrast role for him and he proves he has the variety in him.

If you have watched a lot of psychological thrillers, in particular, South Korean movies, then you may not find this to be an extraordinary movie. If you haven’t watched many then you might find this very thrilling.

High Points: The characterization, Development of the plot, The ending of the movie, Joel Edgerton’s performance a Gordo.

Low Points: The pace of the movie is a bit slow and may not work for all.

Overall if you love psychological thrillers then The Gift is truly a gift you would enjoy watching.

Worth a Watch

Action, Crime, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller, Worth a Watch

Thoongaa Vanam Review

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Thoongaa Vanam Review – Thoongaa Vanam is a Tamil action crime thriller released in 2015. This is an official remake of French movie Nuit Blanche. CK Diwakar an officer in Narcotics Control Bureau along with his colleague steal drugs from a smuggling gang to make some quick money. The boss of the smuggling gang kidnaps Diwakar’s son and demands him to return the stolen drug.

Kamal Hassan demands a greater deal of maturity from the viewers for he had taken a script and stuck to the core theme of the script. He hasn’t taken any time to explain what NCB is. Hasn’t wasted time in introduction scene, songs and comedy track. The movie gets on track right from the first frame which opens on a hazy windshield with the evergreen Chandrababu song “சிரிப்பு வருது சிரிப்பு வருது…” playing in the radio. Even the character background of Kamal is revealed only later in dialogues during his first interaction with Prakash Raj. Kudos to Kamal, Director Rajesh M Selva and team for taking a script and staying in the perimeter of its true essence.

The next biggest strength of the movie is its cast. Prakash Raj, Trisha, Sampath Raj, Yugi Sedhu and Kishore all of them fit their roles very well. Kamal has performed his role at ease. The chemistry between him and his son reminds us of Uttama Villain. The trademark Kamal’s humor sprinkled in the dialogues in many places of the movie.

High Points: A different attempt in Tamil Cinema breaking some of the commercial formula, casting, action sequences.

Low Points: The original script itself has been witnessed in many crime thrillers and it lacks pace in the first half.

Overall Thoongavanam is a much-needed break for Tamil Cinema. It doesn’t aspire to be a milestone in Indian Cinema but a sincere attempt to give a good cinema to the audience.

Worth a Watch

 

Comedy, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Worth a Watch

Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Review

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Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Review – Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a Tamil comedy film released in 2015. Pandian, son of a police inspector aspires to be a Rowdy. He falls for a hearing impaired girl Kadambari who seeks vengeance with a real rowdy for killing her mother. Will Pandian be able to help her and become a real rowdy is the story of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.

“நானும் ரௌடி தான் (Naanum Rowdy Dhaan)” is one of the famous dialogues from Vadivelu which is already established with Tamil movie audience. Director Vignesh Sivan has chosen this as the title for his movie which  is very apt for the character of Pandian.  As you would expect from the movie, the story doesn’t get a bit serious at any point in time. Right from the first shot till the last the entire narration is handled nonchalantly. Parthiban is a big strength for the movie and his performance stands out compared to the others. The second notable performance is the dialogues of RJ Balaji. Apart from this the performance of Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara are not up to the mark in comparison to what they are capable of. In particular, I was a bit disappointed by Vijay Sethupathi’s performance. He seems to be disconnected from his character in many places.

George William’s cinematography is a big plus for the movie. He has captured the beauty of Pondicherry very well.  Apart from this everything else in the movie is just above average to keep the audience engaged. Editing and continuity lag in many places cause an unpleasant effect.

High Points: The plot of the movie is entertaining, Cinematography of George, Parthiban’s performance

Low Points: Patchy continuity in many places, average performance of Vijay Sethupathy and Nayantara

Despite the flaws, this is still an engaging entertainer that you can watch without much thinking.

Worth a Watch

 

Animation, Comedy, Drama, English Movies, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews

Inside Out Review

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Inside Out Review – Inside Out is an English animated comedy- drama released in 2015. The plot revolves around a little girl Riley as her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, the five different emotions in her struggle to help her cope up with the new environment.

When I saw Pixar’s Up I realised that the animated movies have a new definition now and they are no longer the cute ones to woo the kids but can be emotionally engaging to adults as well. Inside Out takes it to the next level. Although there are plenty of elements for the kids to enjoy, the core of the movie deals with the inner self of human behavior. It is philosophical and explores the deepest part of a human mind and has reflections drawn on how it affects our behavior and decisions.

The emoticons are cute, with happiness, sadness, anger having a much larger part to play compared to disgust and fear. This is again true to human emotions. There are a lot of parallels you would see in the movie. The entire world as perceived by the inner mind has been creatively designed. The credit sequence at the end of the movie is also very good and funny so don’t miss that one.

High Points: The plot for the movie is phenomenal, the screenplay and the execution is wonderful, the animation quality is good as you would expect from a Pixar movie.

Low Points: There are not much of low points for this movie.

Overall Inside Out is not yet another animated movie that teaches moral values to the kid. But its much more than that. It is a movie that every adult should watch. Of course, you could watch this with your kids. If you haven’t seen this rent it out and watch it.

Must Watch

Action, Can Skip it, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

10 Endrathukulla Review

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10 Endrathukulla Review – 10 Endrathukulla is a Tamil action thriller released in 2015. A skillful car thief gets involved in the kidnapping of a woman without his knowledge. How he comes through the situation is the plot of 10 Endrathukulla.

Director Vijay Milton had aspirations of creating a racy movie with some high voltage action sequences. He has achieved the output he had expected but missed the story by a mile. The situations are very disconnected, this has been mainly due to the fact that the screenplay has been designed to maintain suspense till the end. This has not been successful as the movie does not connect with the audience at all as they fail to connect with the purpose of the protagonist.

Vikram’s performance could not save the engaging factor of the movie. There are enough heroes who are dependent on mass intro sequences, this is not needed for Vikram as he has extraordinary acting skills and dedication that would woo the audience. There is no strong villain in the movie, there are three of them who try to leave the responsibility to the other and in the end it is so fragmented. Retaining the suspense to the very end has caused the screenplay to slow down to a great extent and in many places they have used cliched double meaning dialogues to push it further. Samantha has some solid role to play during the last twenty minutes in the movie which she has done well.

High Points: The stunt sequences have been choreographed very well. There is nothing much  apart from this in the movie.

Low Points: The screenplay is predominantly not engaging. Absence of a strong villain.

Overall 10 Endrathukulla is like a sweet cherry fruit dipped in a spicy sambar. Cherry might be delicious but doesn’t go well with the combination. So is the brilliant action sequences built on a below average storyline.

Can Skip it

Genre, New Wave, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Worth a Watch

Masala Padam Review

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Masala Padam Review – Masala Padam is a Tamil new wave cinema released in 2015.  A conflict between online bloggers and a commercial masala film producer results in a challenge wherein the bloggers have to come up with a commercial film script without the cliches in six months and the producer would produce it. To come up with a script they decide to follow three different persons in real life to create their incidents.

First and foremost this is not a spoof movie which it seemed to be due to the casting and some of the promos. Rather it is about making a masala movie.

The movie is a new wave cinema and is abstract for a common viewer. It deals with the core question if making a masala movie necessary to woo the audience. There are a lot of technical references to script writing and the social media. This may not have connected with many folks. I thoroughly enjoyed the buildup portion of the movie and the core conflict. However post the midway the movie’s purpose shifts from script writing to the lives of three people.  This is where it lost the plot.

If the script writers for the movie have given more emphasis on movie making itself, it would have been a great movie.

High Points: The plot and core conflict, The scene in which the TV reporter asks a common man if he has seen any reality movie and he refers to the Baasha sums it all, Bobby Simha and Shiva’s performance, there are no unwanted song or dance in the movie.

Low Points: Casting and promotion could have been better for instance for the rom-com hero they could have had a cast who was as popular as Shiva and Bobby Simha, The shifting of core conflict from script writing post the midpoint caused a disconnect.

The movie is well made despite its flaws and definitely would interest you if you are interested in movie making. If you are not interested in movie making then this may not engage you so much. I am giving this a watchable rating for the plot.

Worth a Watch

English Movies, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, SciFi

The Martian Review

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The Martian Review – The Martian is an American science fiction film released in 2015. During a manned mission to Mars, the base is hit by a Martian storm. They are forced to abandon the machine and lose one of the crew member Mark Watney in the storm and presumed to be dead. But Mark survives and has to find a way to survive till he gets a help in 4 years. Does he survive is the plot of The Martian.

Director Ridley Scott has struck the right chord yet again to give a movie that is thoroughly entertaining and also appeals to your intelligence. I was not very much impressed with Exodus Gods and Kings, but The Martian makes it up for all. The movie would remind you of many lost alone movies like Cast Away and also the space movies like Gravity and Interstellar. The story is a compelling tale of human perseverance against all the odds.

There is a lot of scientific accuracy behind many of the incidents that take place and a few in which they have taken some creative liberty to bring in dramatic elements. The movie is based on Andy Weir’s novel in the same name. Ridley Scott has chosen to focus on the determination and survival of a person more and let the scientific theories run in the background.  This is one of the greatest strengths of the movie which makes it a widely appealing flick. Matt Damon has performed very well and this would be one of his most remembered movies.

High Points: The movie is based on a best-selling Novel, The  screenplay captures the essence of human perseverance, The visuals of the Martian planet, Matt Damon’s performance, Scientific theories and their accuracy.

Low Points: Not many low points, the climax I felt was a bit over dramatic.

Overall The Martian is a space movie that you would enjoy as you have enjoyed Gravity and Interstellar. The movie keeps you engaged for two and a half hour and is a trip worth taking when it is in theaters.

Must Watch