The Critique

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...