The Critique

Dir: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman Dur: 1 hr 57 mins Genre: Animation Rating: 9/10 WOW! Yes, that’s not just what I felt when I watched the film, it’s what I’m feeling even now as I sit and write this review. This is definitely the best animated film I have ever seen. The graphics are incredible. The story is brilliantly woven together despite the colliding universes and the blend of emotional and comic-like storytelling is simply fantastic. The directors deserve more than their fair share of credit for envisioning this project and seeing it through to such a beautiful ending. I’m glad this film won an Oscar; it deserves the fame and appreciation it receives. For a superhero film, this was a novel storyline since even though there is an overlap of universes in the comics it hasn’t really made it to the silver screen. So, this didn’t only make this project novel it also made it incredibly challenging. However, the directors and their team have done a com...

Dir: Bryan Singer Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello Dur: 2 hrs 14 mins Genre: Biopic Rating: 6/10  The film released to worldwide acclaim. It made quite an impact and is regarded as one of the biggest box office successes of all time for a biopic. Personally, I wasn’t at all impressed with the film. Critics praised Rami for his depiction of Freddie but I wasn’t too happy. Perhaps, it’s just prejudice. I imagine Freddie to by quite flamboyant and out-there. Rami tries his best but for me, there is some kind of lacuna in his performance. The best part of the film is definitely the music. There is nothing to beat it. The film also drew a lot of criticism for its historical inaccuracies. Something that doesn’t digest very well considering that the film is supposed to be a biopic. Unless you liked the music of Queen and are interested in a little background, you probably might not enjoy this film. The drama is quite drab. The dial...

Dir: Tabrez Noorani Starring: Mrunal Thakur, Richa Chadda, Freida Pinto, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkumar Rao Dur: 2 hrs Genre: Drama Rating: 7/10  India is one of the hotbeds of human trafficking and prostitution. I can’t really remember a film that documented the horror quite as well as this (from Bollywood, that is). Mardaani (2016) was pretty good but it focused on the cat-and-mouse chase between heroine cop and evil mastermind. Love Sonia doesn’t bother much with villainizing people. It gets straight to the issues of human trafficking, prostitution and the most deplorable, buying and selling girls like commodities. Set in a remote village of Maharashtra, the film quickly changes the address to Mumbai which is made out to be the red zone. The story takes off from Mumbai, reaches Bangkok, proceeds to the United States and then comes back full circle. The film packs a big load of stars each delivering sterling performances. The highlight, however, hands down is Richa. ...

Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe...

Created by: Steven Lilien Starring: Brendan Hall, Violett Beane, Javicia Leslie, Suraj Sharma and Joe Morton. Dur: 13 episodes 45 mins each Genre: Comedy-Drama Rating: 9/10 One of the best coming-of-age stories told in serial form. I absolutely loved every bit of it. First of all, it’s told from the perspective of a young adult who is struggling with ideas of God, faith and religion. He starts out as an avowed atheist but begins to experience a change when an extraordinary event rocks his world — God friends him on Facebook. When I say ‘friends’ I literally mean it.   Like God makes an account and uses it to get in touch with Miles, the lead protagonist, and influence his life. The serial makes a number of bold choices. It makes use of a number of sensitive issues to get across a point. Atheism, homosexuality and priesthood are all significant players in the development of the story. Also, the very choice of lead characters. As you can see in the poster, you ...

David Rice , Shattered Vows: Priests who Leave , New York: Triumph Books, 1992, ISBN 0-8007-3037-2, pp. 280, $10. David Rice was born in Northern Ireland and was ordained a Dominican in 1958. He left the priesthood in 1977 to marry. He has worked as a journalist all his life and was an editor and award-winning syndicated columnist in the U.S. during the 1970s. Having undergone the experience of ‘leaving the ordained ministry,’ Rice is in a good position to make this presentation about the sad and troubling, yet awfully sensitive and pressing issue. The book is written in true journalistic style, without jumping to conclusions and backing up claims with significant evidence. One can take his word for truth since he has personally travelled thousands of miles across the globe, visiting, interviewing and even living with ‘priest who left’ besides those who had troubles but didn’t leave. His travels have taken him to places like U.S., Britain, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Germany, F...

Dir: Donovan Marsh Starring: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini Dur: 2 hrs Genre: Drama-Action Rating: 5/10 PG: A few expletives. The trailer promised far more than the film actually ended up delivering. I was quite disappointed with the whole affair as I came in to watch a thoroughly engaging drama but instead was presented with a poorly constructed mish-mash of suspense and triumph. Butler is perhaps the only stand out in the film. But then again, it is as if the whole film revolves around him. Interestingly, this is not the case but is sadly made to appear so. The film is based on the 2012 novel Firing Point written by Don Keith and George Wallace. I can’t say how good the novel is since I haven’t read it but I’m 100% sure its way better than this hotchpotch of a film. The characters aren’t very well developed and neither is the plot! As a writer myself and a huge movie buff, I can safely say that there were a couple at least if not more, way...

Dir: Nash Edgerton Starring: Charlize Theron, David Oyelow, Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried Dur: 1 hr 50 mins Genre: Comedy-Action Rating: 5/10 PG: Plenty of expletives, a few sex scenes (the actors are fully clothed), and plenty of sexual innuendo. Before you jump to any conclusions about the film let me tell you this: it is a film about drugs and yes, for the most part, it is based in Mexico. However, it is not your traditional DEA vs cartel kind of story. The two do feature but in a minor way. The drug angle is introduced through a pharmaceutical company’s production of an experimental drug. Let me confess, that I wasn’t too impressed by the whole plot and the way it played out but I definitely was amused on more than one occasion. The film adopts an interesting style of storytelling with serious drama glazed with slightly overdone comedy. The actors are not at fault at all for the overall paucity of the film. Most of the key players have delivered excellent per...

Dir: Peter Farrelly Starring: Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen Dur: 2 hrs 17 mins Genre: Comedy-drama Rating: 8/10   It’s not often you get to see a great story of two people coming from different worlds connect with one another in a way that is both, enriching and uplifting. Green Book offers us a story just like that. Based on true incidents, the film attempts to portray the curious and dramatic relationship between a bouncer, Frank Vallelonga and virtuoso pianist, Don Shirley. The former is an Italian-American with tough skin, while the latter is a black musician in need of a driver-cum-valet for one of his musical tours. If this isn’t enough to tickle your curiosity then this surely will: the film is set in 1960 America which is at the height of racial discrimination. The film is a beautiful blend of classical music, inter-racial relationships, ‘culture’ and above all friendship. If there is one thing about the film that stands out is the unique friendshi...

Dir: Rajkumar Hirani Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Vicky Kaushal, Sonam Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Anushka Sharma and Jim Sarbh Dur: 2 hrs 41 mins Genre: Biopic Rating: 8/10 I have waited for this film for a long, long time. Not because I’m a fan of Sanjay Dutt or anything, nor simply because I’m a fan of biopics but more so because of the publicity that was made about this film. Right at the outset let me tell you that the trailer is far more provocative than the film. I guess I should have said spoiler alert but I’m not letting out any plot details so it will be alright. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one waiting with bated breath for the film’s release; thousands others were too. This is evidenced with the box office collections that were made on the first day itself! The film registered the highest box office opening in the year 2018! It went on to become the highest grosser of the year and the second highest-earning Hindi film of all time! Quite impressive stats, ind...

Dir: Nishikant Kamat Starring: Irrfan Khan, Vishesh Bansal, Jimmy Sheirgill, Tushar Dalvi and Nitesh Pandey Dur: 2 hrs 13   mins Genre: Political Drama Rating: 8/10 The film tells the gripping story of a father who goes to great lengths to send a message to the perpetrators behind the death of his only son. It’s not what you think! Unless you’re thinking like the writer… This is not your traditional revenge story. It is a revenge story albeit with an interesting change. Corruption is so deeply rooted into the Indian political system that it seems as though there can be no cure for it. Every now and again, Bollywood musters up the courage to develop a politically charged film with a strong message. Depending on the nature of the film, one can expect to attract an audience. It seems as though good films without the typical masala just don’t sell. Madaari however, did quite well at the box office despite treading a different path. There is no item song here. Just...

Dir: Harold Cronk Starring: Lindsay Pulsipher, Makenzie Moss, Andrew Walker Dur: 1 hr 51 mins Genre: Christian Drama Rating: 7.5/10 The film is an interpretation of the song ‘Bless the Broken Road’ by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It tells the story of a young mother who loses her husband in the Afghanistan war and is faced with the daunting task of bringing up a young daughter. As such stories go, she lost her faith in God despite being the choir master of Church. Her return back to the Lord is aided by the arrival of a debonair race car driver who just happened to come to town. The rest is plain story-telling. The story has strong emotional overtones that sadly don’t transfer into the onscreen drama. The young Makenzie, who plays Bree, the daughter, is a real delight to watch. Lindsay, who plays Amber, the mother, also delivers an emotional performance but not a great one — at least in my book. The whole romantic angle that was introduced and left partially devel...