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It’s a dirty trick, really: setting a movie in Kolkata during Durga Puja, knowing that this very fact would make it nearly impossible for me to find fault with it. I lived in Kolkata for around 6 years as a grad student, and I haven’t lived in any city before or since that I have loved…
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The entire principal cast of A Streetcar Named Desire received Academy Award nominations for acting in 1952. Three of them won. The one who didn’t? Marlon Brando. I’ve been following the Oscars regularly for nearly as long as I have been a serious movie buff. That’s a long time, and the quizzerly part of my brain…
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I often wonder about star/numerical ratings for films. How does a film earn, say, 3 stars out of four? Is there a sort of formula employed by those who give out these ratings, or is it a quantified version of what is essentially a qualitative reaction? Is there an objective way of doing this? Here’s…
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I tried to like this movie, I really did. But when a talented writer-director like Cameron Crowe sets his sights on mediocrity, he is good enough to be able to achieve it. Despite having a quirky plot (widower Benjamin Mee uproots his kids, moves to the countryside, buys a derelict zoo, gets it up and…
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Over the past few years, I have found myself gravitating towards the conclusion that any movie can be improved by the presence of Vadivelu in it. Examples (some of which I have mentioned in earlier blog posts and comments) include: Wanted (the English version involving curving bullets and a curvier Angelina Jolie): Given how often…
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There’s a lovely moment in the opening monologue of Mayakkam Enna (delivered by its protagonist Karthik) where he talks about how his friends took care of him and his sister after his mother died as well. Now, I don’t remember him mentioning his father in a previous line, but the “as well” tells you what…
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I watched the movie a few weeks ago and just finished reading the Michael Lewis book it was based on, and as it happens, what works in the movie and what doesn’t are the same as with the book. Both stood out as interesting examples of a certain type of storytelling — dense, jargon-heavy dialogue…
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The second installment in Guy Ritchie’s Holmes reboot reminds me, most of all, of The Dark Knight — the reference to this movie’s villain at the end of the previous movie, the theme of escalation, a triangular relationship (in a manner of speaking), the loss of a loved one and above all, the assured hand…
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Enter the Dragon was one of the first martial arts movies I ever watched and it remains, to this day, my favourite in the genre. Its premise has been reused countless times since then; I am not aware of any, but it is entirely possible that there were movies before it that used the framework…
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Imagine you’re Ethan Hunt. You’re chilling out at a plush beach resort, knocking back a cold beer and eyeing the cheese. Your bikini-clad waitress brings you one of those drinks with an umbrella in it. You clearly didn’t order it but it does look interesting, and you aren’t inclined to say no to her. But…
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