The Critique

Dir: David Kerr Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Olga Kurylenko Dur: 1 hr 29 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 6/10 The Johnny English franchise hasn’t been of much interest to me except for two things: one, Rowan Atkinson stars in an actual film! and two, it is a pretty good parody of James Bond. When the film released, I wasn’t too excited about it. My interest in the film increased when I heard that some of my friends literally laughed at every scene in the film. This got me wondering about the comedic quality of the film and I finally brought myself round to seeing it. It starts off on a pretty interesting note, both by way of introducing the film and by re-introducing the titular character. The addition of Olga was a slick Bond-like move, and it had its desired effect. The film got the look and feel of a true spy story. The plot felt slightly better constructed than the previous one but I’m not in a position to make a sound judgment since the last film was release...

Dir: James Wan Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman Dur: 2 hrs 22 mins Genre: Superhero Rating: 9/10 This is something I never thought I would see for at least a little longer! No, it’s not the Aquaman film I’m talking about; it’s DC’s next big blockbuster! Over the years, DC has tried several times to come up with something fantastic, at least something that could match their rival, Marvel’s success. The closest they’ve come was The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), both of which are in the top ten highest grossing superhero films. Not even the superhero ensemble film, Justice League (2017) or their epic, clash-of-the-titan, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) could make the bill. In my opinion, Wonder Woman (2017) was their last great product. Although it sadly didn’t do as well as it perhaps should have, it served as a beacon of hope that finally, DC had pulled their act together and learnt to produ...

Dir: Eli Roth Starring: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett Dur: 1 hr 53 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: 6/10 With a trailer that promises a breathlessly exciting and thrilling adventure of magic, mystery and drama, the film set itself a high standard. Surprisingly, it managed to keep up to most of its promises. The film was thoroughly entertaining, both in terms of language and adventure. It wasted no time is establishing the setting or on developing the characters or the story line. It jumped straight into the thick of action — something I deeply appreciated and immensely enjoyed. However, what the film gained in skillful direction and animation it lost on a threadbare plot. A young boy, Lewis, who has tragically lost his parents is sent to live with his estranged uncle (question bells are already ringing in my head. Are they in yours too?) Slowly, he discovers that his uncle is a warlock and that the house he is living in is magically animated. In his attempt to live a ‘nor...

Dir: Shree Narayan Singh Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma and Yami Gautam Dur: 2 hrs 41 mins Genre: Social Drama Rating: 7/10 The film’s title is quite revealing and its concept is interesting. I quite liked what the director did with the film, although I have my reservations. This could very well have been simply a great social drama film but thanks to the emphasis on romance, it has to settle for being just an average social drama. The film centres around three friends, two boys and a girl, who are quite inseparable until the girl decides to do the one thing that is sure to stir up trouble: date both of her best friends separately. Considering that this is set in the remote state of Uttarakhand, it is quite a bold move, and also quite an awful way of introducing drama. In between shots of friendship and romance, we are made aware of the sufferings of the locals with regard to power cuts. Against the social situation, one of the boys, Tripath...

Dir: Pierre Morel Starring: Jennifer Garner Dur: 1 hr 47 mins Genre: Action Rating: 5/10 I hadn’t heard about this film until the opportunity to watch it sprang up. It’s not until after I had seen at and even more, after I got round to writing this review, that I realized why. It’s simply not worth it! For a film whose poster boasted of having the same director of Taken , it was quite a let down. First off, there was absolutely no reason to market the film with the director’s credentials. Peppermint is quite unlike Taken . I understand that it is a market strategy but it didn’t work, at least in this case, and at least for me! From the very first scene, the film is shown to be a mindless, brutal and bloody action thriller. The thrills were missing but the other elements were all there. The film doesn’t really stand out in terms of action sequences, storyline, twists and build up. The best thing about this film is clearly Jennifer Garner. Her performance is fantastic....

Dir: Ruben Fleischer Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed Dur: 1 hr 52 mins Genre: Superhero Rating: 8/10 Am I surprised that Venom is the fifth highest-grossing film of the year? Of course, not. It was great! The film was very well done. Acting, photography, animation, directing, editing, effects etc. were all fantastic. Yes, the script wasn’t the best but so what? It still managed to deliver a smashing performance. I think Venom was a great Marvel production and fittingly comes before the release of the much awaited Avengers 4 . The film is a first, in as much as it stars an anti-hero. The film’s backstory isn’t consistent with the comics and therefore not also with its predecessor, Spiderman 3 (if that could be called a predecessor!). While the character Brock (Tom Hardy) is consistent, the origin of the ‘venom’ symbiote isn’t. I suppose people who aren’t aware of Marvel history will have no reason for faulting the film for taking liberties wit...

Dir: Corin Hardy Starring: Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet and Bonnie Aarons Dur: 1 hr 47 mins Genre: Horror Rating: 7/10 The film is the fifth installment of the Conjuring franchise that has provided wonderful scares for nearly a decade. Riding on the back of such a big hype, the film was destined for success. It’s no surprise that it did very well at the box office. It has come out as the highest grossing film of the franchise, which is a bit much considering its quality. The franchise burst to fame with their opening act, Conjuring which honestly conjured up more than just success, fame and wealth. It appears that the franchise has since tried hard to match their initial success but have come up short time and time again, despite the successes they have enjoyed at the box office. This film focuses on the demon nun, Valak, who made her unwelcome appearance in Conjuring 2 . Considering that identity of the demon was known, probably some of the hor...

Dir: Amar Kaushik Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor Dur: 2 hrs 7 mins Genre: Comedy-Thriller Rating: 8.5/10 In a first of its kind (atleast for me) Bollywood has done a fantastic job with making something great out of something dumb. The film is loosely based on the urban legend of Nale Ba, a female specter who terrorizes men, apparently leaving no trace except for their clothing, during a particular festival. The legend of Nale Ba (literally, ‘don’t come’) is quite prominent in the South of India and in many villages you would find the words written on walls in an attempt to deter the spirit from wreaking her havoc. The legend is very well brought out in this thoroughly entertaining film. Besides, the strange choice of theme, the film amazed me for its bold attempt to merge two genres that hardly go well together: comedy and horror. Usually, when the two are combined comedy reigns supreme at the expense of horror but here, the director and his team have to app...

Dir: Simon Curtis Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Kelly Macdonald Dur: 1 hr 47 mins Genre: Biography Rating: 7.5/10 The film tells the interesting story behind the infamous story of Winnie the Pooh. It traces the life of A. A. Milne, the author and his son, Christopher Robin, on whom the book was based. This is one of the first films I have seen which attempts to show the story behind the story. The concept itself intrigued me and inspired me to put it on my watchlist. I was happy I did so because the film offered me a brilliant perspective into the life of an author. The film stands out for me because of its focus on the life of the author, A. A. Milne. As the minutes tick by, it become apparent that this is not just a fanciful tale of a successful author. In fact, the film exposes the struggles he went through in developing the book, the toll it took on his personal and family life and the effect of success on his family. I admire the director’s courage i...

Dir: Brian Baugh Starring: Masey McLain, Ben Davies, Alex Dickerson Dur: 1 hr 52 mins Genre: Biography Rating: 8.5/10 The film is based on the incredible true story of a teenage girl, Rachel Joy Scott, who lost her life in a shootout on school campus, initiated by two deranged students. The film has strong Christian overtones and resonates a beautifully Christian message even in the face of tragedy. Surprisingly, on one hand and not so much on the other, the film faced a bit of opposition in its release when Youtube for no apparent reason refused to display its trailer; few of the well known film critic sites also slammed the film for capitalizing on a mass-murder event. But aren’t such things to be expected? Did Jesus himself not warn us: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (Jn 15:18)?   This is definitely one of the better made Christian films. The editing, direction and acting was really professional. There was no attempt at preac...

Peter Gonsalves, Clothing for Liberation: A Communication Analysis of Gandhi’s Swadeshi Revolution, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-81-321-0310-3, pp. 164, Rs. 350 The author, Peter Gonsalves, is an accomplished scholar in the field of media studies and communication. He is a professor of the Sciences of Social Communication at the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome and even served as Head of Department. He began his career in the field of media while he was working for rural development at Bosco Gramin Vikas Kendra, Ahmednagar - Maharashtra. He was responsible for founding ‘Tej-prasarini’, a multimedia production centre geared toward spreading awareness of the urgent need for pro-life education. He promoted a series of teacher-training manual under the title of ‘Quality Life Education’, first among which was his own work: Exercises in Media Education (1994). Over the course of his career, he has served as president of INTERSIG, the international wing of SIGNIS, ...

Dir: Ol Parker Starring: Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan Dur: 1 hr 57 mins Genre: Musical-Rom-Drama Rating: 6/10 This is the sequel of the 2008 film which set a very high bar. Sadly, this one seemed to fall on its face. When I first watched Mamma Mia I was so fascinated by the whole project. A beautiful story, tailored to fit in some of Abba’s greatest hit songs; it was just wonderful. So, I had pretty high expectations for this movie. I waited a long time for it and when I finally got a chance to watch it, I could hardly wait. But then as the minutes ticked by, I realized that my waiting was not so much for the film to be released as much as it was for it to end! Don’t misjudge my words; it isn’t a terrible film, it’s just that it didn’t have a similar feel like its prequel. The essentials were all there: the romance, the song and dance, the network of connections, but yet it felt empty. I wasn’t too impressed by t...

Dir: Perry Lang Starring: Brendon Thwaites, David Strathairn Dur: 1 hrs 37 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 6/10 I’m not going to lie to you; the trailer promised far better than the movie delivered. But it wasn’t all that bad either. Yes, it takes the verbal route of revealing God’s plan and therefore might not appear as powerful as another film which takes the visual route but yet, there is great depth to the film. We are invited to reflect on God, and His relationship with us, and our relationship with Him through the eyes of a troubled, young journalist. Paul (Brendon Thwaites) has seen perhaps the worst of humankind, when he went to cover the war in Afghanistan and his going away put a strain on his already punctured marriage. When he gets back his life seems to slide downhill until he mysteriously comes into contact with a man who calls himself God and who is willing to give him an interview. Over the course of their meetings, Paul is helped to get in touch with himse...

Dir: Amit Ravendranath Sharma Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Sanya Malhotra Dur: 2 hrs 3 mins Genre: Comedy-Drama Rating: 3/10 Seriously! This was one Bollywood’s biggest releases of this year! My word, and I could barely sit through it! This was honestly one wasted outing. Let me help me get an idea of what went down. Basically, it’s a story about an ordinary middle-class Delhi family who turn out to be extraordinary when the mother gets pregnant at an advanced age and decides to keep the baby. That’s essentially what the story is about. The drama surrounding such a strange occurrence and how the typical Indian reaction of “log kya bolenge?” wreaks its havoc within the otherwise undisturbed family. The film seems to want to give you the experience of the drama and how it unfolds in a typical way, not in the filmy version. Perhaps, that does not sit well with everyone like myself, for example. The characters aren’t very well developed. I...

Dir: Angelina Jolie Starring: Sreymoch Sareum, Kompheak Phoeung, Soceata Sveng, Dara Heng Kimhak Mun Dur: 2 hrs 16 mins Genre: Biographical Drama PG: Scene of war, death and bloodshed Rating: 8/10 Perhaps the most moving film I have ever watched. Sincerely, I struggled to make it to the end. The film is so powerful and moving that for an emotionally fragile person like myself the tears are bound to flow. The film is incredibly well-made even though the acting is not up to the mark. As it stands, the film had a great impact on me. I can only imagine what would have been the case had the acting been a little more polished. More than a couple of times I had to reach out for tissue as the film took me through the uprooted and candle-in-the-wind kind of life of Loung Ung, a Cambodian girl. Based on the best-selling book of the same name authored by Loung, the film endeavours to tell the story of Cambodia through the eyes of a seven year old girl. One moment, life wa...

Dir: Milap Milan Zaveri Starring: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee Dur: 2 hrs 20 mins Genre: Action-Drama Rating: 3/10 I cannot understand why Bollywood keeps torturing us with films. I think they just ought to take a break for a while, get together and discuss how they can stop making films that suck and start making films that actually have some meaning. Don’t get me wrong, this film has good intentions behind it but a good idea is shrouded by shoddy film-making, barely average acting and horrendous camera work and choreography. Don’t let the trailer fool you as it did me. The trailer is merely an amalgam of all the best parts of the film. What it doesn’t show you is what a disgrace this film really is. The idea of vigilante justice is not something altogether new. Gabbar is Back did a comparatively brilliant job with it. Satyamev Jayate seems to trip on the very first hurdle. I honestly thought that Bollywood would slowly realize that spicing up films with unbec...

Dir: Peyton Reed Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, Laurence Fishburne, Hannah John-Kamen Dur: 1 hr 58 mins Genre: Superhero-Action-Comedy Rating: 7/10 Marvel returned with yet another fantastic film on the back of its latest hit, Avengers: Infinity War . Needless, to say the film reeks of the Marvel spirit with the typical humour, action-sequences and tight plot. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is the introduction of Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) as the Wasp. Although it doesn’t come as a surprise thanks to its featuring in the title of the film, the seamless buildup of the story around her character is interesting. The film starts on a weird note but later sets things right. Scott Lang a.k.a. Ant-man is facing the consequences of his actions in Civil War . His house-arrest is exploited very well to achieve comedic relief in the film. In an effort to maintain their renown for levity, I think the producers ...

Dir: Advait Chandan Starring: Zaira Wasim, Meher Vij, Raj Arjun and Aamir Khan Dur: 2 hrs 30 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 8/10 If you haven’t seen this film yet, you have missed out on one of the best things to have come out of Bollywood in the last year. It’s not too late however, to watch this incredible story of youth. Youth is a time of big dreams and little means. Our heroine Insu, played brilliantly by Zaira Wasim is smitten with dreams to make it big in the world of music. Despite her small beginnings and unstable family environment, she harbours her dreams. Before I go any further allow me to let you know that the film is dedicated to ‘mothers and motherhood’ and that is bound to give you some idea about how things develop. Needless to say, Insu’s biggest support is her mother while her father is her biggest obstacle. Through some sly family dealings (reminiscent of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau of the Old Testament) Insu gets her shot at fame but her success is shor...

Dir: Ari Sandel Starring: Adam DeVine, Alexandra Daddario, Shelley Hennig, Robbie Amell and Andrew Bachelor Dur: 1 hr 37 mins Genre: Comedy-Romance PG: A good number of kisses, mild use of expletives and one reference to male genitalia. Rating: 7/10 There was something about this film that attracted me. The trailer was pretty seductive; but it kind of gave the whole plot away. 20 minutes in to the film, I had predicted the outcome. Yes, the film is predictable but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the power to tug at heart strings.   Avery (Alexandra Daddario) is about to be engaged to Ethan (Robbie Amell), a handsome, debonair guy while Noah (Adam DeVine), who has a huge crush on Avery looks on. Things get out of hand when Noah takes glass and later bottle in hand. Just when things seem to be at their lowest, he is driven away by Avery's pal, Carrie (Shelley Hennig) and left in the company of his buddy, Max (Andrew Bachelor). In a drunken state, Noah stumbles...

Dir: J. A. Bayona Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Dur: 2 hrs 8 mins Genre: Sci-fi Adventure Rating: 8/10 The sequel to the popular Jurassic World that released in 2015, Fallen Kingdom picks up from where its prequel left off. We are taken back to the infamous Jurassic World that lies in ruins after the disastrous events outlined in the previous film. Much to no one’s surprise, the dinosaurs haven’t given up on the fight to survive and this film builds itself around that feeling. The dinosaurs are faced with a life and death situation and their future seems to be fading into the darkness of extinction once again. The island which the dinosaurs inhabited is facing destruction thanks to an active volcano. Lockwood, one of the original fathers of Jurassic world, desires to save the dinosaurs and relocate them to a safe zone but as things normally do, his plan blew up (quite literally!) The evil conniving of his aid, Eli, leads to the drama that forms the bod...

Dir: Christopher McQuarrie Starring: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Monaghan Dur: 2 hrs 27 mins Genre: Action PG: Expected Violence. One stray and totally misplaced kiss. Rating: 9/10 This film, should you choose to watch it, is guaranteed to blow your mind. (Don’t worry, this review is not going to be destroyed in the next 5 seconds so take your time to read it.)     Like all Mission Impossible films, this one has a killer beginning and ending. I had to put it out there, right at the beginning. For me, this is one of the most satisfying and enthralling film series of all time since it promises you great things and delivers the goods with a bang (literally!) Tom Cruise is getting old but despite this fact, the film does quite well to showcase him for the action star that he is sans his obvious aging. Hardly for a moment, are you given the opportunity to sit back and think abo...

Dir: the Erwin Brothers Starring: J. Michael Finley, Madeline Carroll Dur: 1 hr 50 mins Genre: Biographical Drama Rating: 8/10 I watched a lot of this film with tears in my eyes. It traces out the real story behind the titular hit song ‘I Can Only Imagine’. The film is the fruit of life and music. It expertly depicts how music is drawn from life and life experiences and how it has the power to influence and inspire the very life that gave it birth. Bart Millard’s story is relatable and touching. His family was broken through and through. My father wasn’t half as nasty and Bart’s but I could empathize with him. Bart’s father was a terror. He abused Bart and his mother on a regular basis. He was full of dashed dreams and bitter memories. He allowed them to take control of his life and destroy him from within. The emptiness he felt within translated into nastiness and violence towards his wife and son. Bart’s mother was sweet, loving and supportive of his dreams but coul...

Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984) is perhaps one of the greatest, yet underrated philosophers of the last century. His name is usually eclipsed by other heavyweights in the philosophical arena like Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer and the like. This oversight however, is not due to his diminutive popularity but to blatant neglect. He featured on the cover of Time magazine (1970) on account of being “the finest philosophic thinker of the 20 th century.”This says a lot about the person he was and the lasting contribution he made to philosophical discourse. One of the many things that struck me while studying his though was the interesting reflection he makes on the subjects of philosophy and theology. He starts out by stating that there is no absolute separation between philosophy and theology since they are isomorphic, however, a distinction can be made between the two. This distinction is on account of their different sta...