Yearly Archives: 2015

Drama, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller

Papanasam Review

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Papanasam Review – Papanasam is a Tamil thriller drama released in 2015. This is remake of Malayalam movie Drishyam. The movie revolves around the middle class family of Suyambulingam, his wife and their two daughters. They lead a typical life that has both happy as well as challenging moments around petty things. Overnight they go through a situation that threatens to change their lives forever. What was the situation and did they manage to overcome it is the plot of Papanasam.

Director Jeethu Joseph and Kamal Hassan should be appreciated for remaking the movie in Tamil. Many a times the remakes of a super hit falls into the trap of making it bigger and dramatic thereby loosing the essence of the movie. Papanasam does not fall into the trap and maintains the essence of the story and also adapting it very well to the nativity of Tamil Nadu very well. Kamal’s performance is outstanding and is on par with Mohanlal’s performance in Drishyam. He has performed the role with such ease. The scene, in which he boasts about himself to his wife, creates pun intended statements in the teashop, breaks down at the key moment his performance shines.

There are few changes done to the screenplay as compared to the original still they don’t spoil the story. Kalabavan Mani has performed his role very well as a ruthless inspector. Gouthami has come onto the screen after so many years, it is definitely refreshing to watch her on screen. You might have heard people refer to Japanese movie Suspect X to be similar to this one, but both are very different movies.

High Points: Screenplay of the movie, Kamal Hassan’s performance, Essence of the original maintained, very appealing story line

Low Points: Not much to say as low points although the length of the movie could have been kept within 2.5 hours.

Overall Papanasam is a very well made thriller. Even if you have watched Drishyam it is still entertaining to see this one as well.

Must Watch

PS: SPOILER AHEAD – On a funny note I wonder why the police didn’t catch the fact that the family couldn’t have watched Anjaan on August 2nd as it released only on August 15th 🙂

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

Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga Review

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Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga Review – Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (VSOP) is a Tamil slapstick comedy drama released in 2015. Vasu and Saravanan are close friends but as women enter their life as their love interest and wife they should forgo their friendship to please them.

“Not again Director Rajesh”. That’s what I wanted to tell the director once I was 20 minutes into the movie. He has used this theme very consistently in many of his previous movies.

You can now try to narrate what would happen.

The friends would now start drinking more often and crack jokes about women….

Then?

They would try some foolish technique to fix the issues……

Then?

Not sure… think the drunken jokes and foolish attempts would make a good movie.

Rajesh has fallen into the trap here. He has an amazing sense of humor, which was well represented in Boss Engira Baskaran. But in all of his other movies this has started to nose-dive.

The cast for the movie is a big plus and would attract the audience but with a weak plot banking on only male chauvinistic jokes would appeal only to a certain segment of the audience. The script is so weak that at many dull situations Arya tells Santhanam “Ethavathu pannu machi…” They have also used the technique of characters in the movie mocking at a joke attempt to make the audience laugh which has worked in few instances. The other big disappointment is the songs. Not the tune per say but the choreography is of very low production quality and seems out of rhythm.

High Points: Very few high points, the casting of the movie is a strong point, few comedy scenes would make you laugh out loud, Costume design is good.

Low Points: Weak screenplay, poor choreography, repeated story plots and a weak conflict

Overall VSOP is a lackluster effort only banking on slapstick comedy that would work for a niche segment of audience.

Can Skip it

Action, English Movies, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Thriller

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Review

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Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Review – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is an English action thriller released in 2015. The movie is a sequel to the Mission Impossible franchise. Ethan Hunt the undercover agent is on a mission for IMF. However as IMF loses its existence his existence is under threat, as he is wanted by the CIA and also by a criminal organization.

I am not sure if this one were the best of the Mission Impossible series however this would definitely be one of the best in the series. The movie has all the ingredients that one would expect from a Mission Impossible movie perfectly assembled together in the right proportion to woo the audience. There is the impossible mission, unexpected twists, adrenaline pumping action sequence and you know what would happen in the end. Still this makes a very interesting action thriller that keeps you glued throughout. The only part I hated was the mid movie break.

The strongest part of this movie is the characterization of the Villain. This one well could be the arch nemesis of Ethan Hunt as Moriarty was for Holmes. The villain is very sophisticated, intelligent and more gruesome which makes the mission more challenging and more bangs for the bucks. Tom Cruise looks very handsome despite his age. I felt he looked better than how he looked in Ghost Protocol. Good part of the movie is that they haven’t used the facemask technique too much which has now become predictable thanks to the over use of it in the second installment. They have in fact made fun of wearing a facemask.

High Points: Screenplay of the movie, Motorbike chase sequence, Characterization of the villain, Brilliantly placed twists, impossible situations that puts the hero in the corner.

Low Points: Not many low points for this one. If you want to find one then it would be the opening sequence, which looked forcefully stuffed into the screenplay but what is a MI movie without such gravity defying stunts  🙂

Overall this one is a very enjoyable outing for the Mission Impossible fans and also fans of action thrillers. Forget the logic; just go in to be enticed by the mission.

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Crime, Drama, Genre, Korean Movies, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Suspense

Mother Review

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Mother Review – Mother aka Madeo is a South Korean crime mystery released in 2009. A mother has to find the killer of a girl murdered in the neighborhood to save her son from being convicted for the murder.

The premise is very interesting and is set in a small town in South Korea. Director Bong Joon-ho yet again comes up with a brilliant script with full of suspense and mystery around a crime after his Memories of Murder. A mother’s love towards her son is universal. How far a mother would go in order to save her son when all the odds are pointing against him is a very interesting plot line. The screenplay is very intense and starts getting gripping once the mother start her journey of finding the killer. The opening shot of the movie itself is a brilliant one and keeps you interested till the end. Kim Hye-ja has performed the role very well and is the backbone of the movie.

The scene in which she is trying to hide in one of the suspect’s house to take an evidence of crime and the attitude in her walks is simply amazing. The entire scene is very gripping. She can turn her expression from anger to guilt to love in seconds. The suspense is maintained till the end of the movie and the ending is just brilliant. I had a very long reflection process after watching this movie. It was quiet overwhelming for me to see the ending anything I speak about it I would give the movie away.

High Points: The screenplay of the movie, acting performance by Kim Hye-ja, gripping moments, background score

Low Points: There are no much low points. I felt the script was bit longer for its content.

Overall the movie is brilliant and is very different from the movie you would have seen. Watch it for the unique script and power packed performance by Kim Hye-ja. This is a must watch for all suspense thriller fans.

Must Watch

Drama, Genre, Must Watch, Other Languages, Rating, Reviews, Thriller

Suspect X Review

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Suspect X Review – Suspect X (titled as Yôgisha X no kenshin) is a Japanese thriller released in 2008. Ishigami a Mathematical genius and a high school teacher try to save his neighbor a divorcee woman and her daughter from being convicted for a murder.

This is the movie that is been widely talked about nowadays that shares similar plot lines with Drishyam. However both movies are different but for the fact that a murder is being concealed by creating alternative evidences. But for that both these are very different movies. You could see it for yourself.

Now coming to the Suspect X movie, the movie is a very gripping tale of fight between two great scientific minds the genius mathematician and the charismatic physics professor. This is based on the popular Japanese TV series Galileo. The screenplay is very crisp and precise. Keeps the interest level flowing throughout. There are many scenes that create the thrills and the movie reaches a different level as the climax unfolds. Everything connects together. Till then the movie is both intellectual and emotional roller coaster ride. Anything more I say here would become a spoiler in the movie.

If you are a screenwriter and looking for ideas to keep the screenplay precise then this movie is a great example. Although mention of many places occurs in the screenplay, there is no visual until there is a strong requirement for the visual to move the story ahead. In the first five minutes you would get acclimatized with the main characters of the movie and from then on the director can concentrate on developing the plot.

Overall if you like detective thrillers then you would enjoy this one. This is much different from your standard detective thrillers but a strong dual of intellectual personalities.

Must Watch

Action, Drama, Fantasy, Genre, Hindi Movies, Historic, Must Watch, Other Languages, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

Baahubali – The Beginning Review

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Baahubali – The Beginning Review – Baahubali – The Beginning is a Telugu is a historical fiction movie released in 2015. The film is the first of a two part series. Shivdu is found on the riverside and is raised by a small tribe family; he always wants to climb the big mountain near the village against the wish of his mother. He is able to do it when he grows up; this leads him to his roots from where had come from.

5 tablespoons of Mahabharat, one tablespoon of Ramayan and one tablespoon of masala ingredients from high packed action movies mixed well together. The dish that comes out of the above ingredients is what is Baahubali in a nutshell. Although it is made of the ingredients that we have tasted before, the dish is well prepared and fulfills our appetite like a grand feast. Director SS Rajamouli has dreamt big and kudos to him and his team to bring such a visual grandeur to the silver screen. The breath taking visuals, a native story, stunning fight choreography, powerful characterization all these make Baahubali a very compelling watch. The movie stays true to its promotion and what it had promised to offer; a historical fantasy story painted on an expensive canvas. Every frame has visual grandeur in it, right from the formidable falls to the large battlefield. Many of the characters and situations resemble many of the Indian mythology stories you would have heard but putting them in this combination is interesting. Prabhas, Anushka, Sathyaraj, Nassar, Ramyakrishnan, Rana Daggupati, Tamanna all of them have performed very well. Peter Hein’s stunt choreography is one of the highlights of the movie.

High Points: The narration, visual effects and characterization of Baahubali, Bhallala Deva, Kattappa and Sivagami shine in this first installment. The interval block for the movie was really powerful and is the high point in the movie for me.

Low Points: There are definitely some low points. There is very less differentiation between Shivdu and Baahubali. You don’t feel they are two different characters. There have been some sequences to please the fanfare on the opening day of the movie, which could have been avoided. The background score for such a visually stunning film was a bit let down for me.

Overall Baahubali is a visual treat, though it is a story you would have heard a million times still it is very interesting when SS Rajamouli narrates it. This one is a milestone in Indian Cinema and a Must watch for all Indian movie lovers.

Must Watch

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

Yaagavarayinum Naa Kaakka Review

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Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka Review – Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka is a Tamil action thriller released in 2015. Sagaa a young man from Chennai lands up in Mumbai under mysterious circumstances to take on a fearsome don. What lead him here, what happens after his encounter with the don is the story of Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka.

The movie showed a lot of promise from the time the promotions started. The first half of the movie is fairly engaging and thrilling. The scenes flowed into each other very well and the non-linear narration was told very well. The interval block raises the expectation further. However post the interval block the screenplay was a let down and falls into the trap of commercial over action drama with some unwanted larger than life sequences making it long and uninteresting. The characterization of Mithun Chakraborthy was a let down. They could have utilized him much better. The same comment goes with some of the seasoned actors like Nasser and Pasupathy. Nikki Galrani has performed decently compared to her previous outings; still there is scope for improvement. The love portion between Nikki Galrani and Adi has been done based on Karthik and Revathy’s romance sequence in Mouna Raagam, the only difference being here the girl stalks the boy. This is definitely a very interesting treatment.

High Points – The overall plot and suspense in the movie, the engaging narration, the performance by Adi, Love angle of the lead pairs structured in resemblance to Mouna Raagam, The production quality of the movie has turned out really well.

Low Points – The second half and unwanted over the top action sequences, underutilization of the Mithunda, Nasser and Pasupathy.

Overall Yagavaraiyinum Naa Kaaka banks on a non-linear narration to convey a thriller but gets lost in thrusting in larger than life sequences. For the level of expectation I had on this one, I was disappointed.

Can Skip It

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

Netru Indru Naalai Review

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Netru Indru Naalai Review – Netru Indru Naalai is a Tamil science fiction comedy film released in 2015. Elango and his friend Pulivetti Arumugam chance upon a time traveling device sent from the future and uses it make a successful business. But things go hay wire when they alter some undesired things in the past.

A science fiction movie in Tamil is always not a viable commercial option. It takes a lot more to make it appealing to the general mass. While many of the makers are hesitant to take up one debutante director Ravikumar. R should be lauded for his efforts in making a science fiction movie in Tamil and yet making it with wide appeal. If you have seen movies like Back to the future then this concept may not be new to you, however the brilliance of the script is in adapting the time machine to Indian context.

Vishnu and Karunakaran combo strike very well. The sequences involving them are hilarious.  The makers have created some similarities to the english movies which I think is intentional. Like the design of the time machine resembles the device from the movie The Time Machine released in 1960 and the scientist Parthasarathy resembles Doc Brown from Back to the Future movie series.

The way the time traveling concept is explained to people should be appreciated as it is simple and neat. When the scientist take out all the time traveling books like theory of relativity, a brief history of time to help the lead characters understand it, they ask him to explain it in simple terms. Thats how the screenplay handles it.

High Points: The screenplay is easy on people without much complications, The comedy has worked very well, A time travel movie in Tamil is a welcome change.

Low Points: Dragging screenplay in parts, in particular when the romance angle of the lead characters are portrayed. This slows down the pace.

Overall there is lot to enjoy in this movie. Although it is not talking about any new scientific theory, the screenplay makes it an enjoyable ride between the present, past and the future.

Worth a Watch 

Animation, Comedy, Genre

Minions Review

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Minions Review – Minions is an English animated comedy movie released in 2015. This is prequel to Despicable Me series where the creatures called Minions existed since beginning of time and they always find their purpose in serving a super villain. But for years they are deprived of having a master. Three minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob set out on a journey to find their new master a new super villain.

If you love Minions there is lot you would enjoy in this movie. But if you ask if I would rate this higher than Despicable me then I would say no. My review here is going to treat this as a separate movie without comparing it to its predecessors. The plot is definitely a very interesting one. Thanks to all the Minions promos for increasing the expectation from this movie. To be honest since I have seen all the preview trailers of the minion’s movie I did not find anything new in the first half. Everything seemed to repeat itself and was another ordinary animated drama with occasional laughter.

The movie picks up in the final 20 minutes leading to an entertaining climax. I said you would need to love Minions and Despicable Me series for you to love this one. There are very subtle references of what is going to come next in the movie you might miss this is you are not a fan of this franchise. The next thing this movie has capitalized on is all superhero movies. If you have watched a lot of Superhero movies then you would associate with many of the villain characters shown here and also some of the sequences are direct spoof of a superhero action scene. If you get this you would enjoy this even more. Right from Spiderman to Godzilla you will find references to all of them. The three minions are modeled after the 3 adopted daughters of Gru in the Despicable Me series, which has worked well to continue the tradition of the franchise.

What clicked well for me is the climax of the movie, which was simply stunning and don’t miss the credit sequence which is hilarious.

High Points: Adorable Minions they proved they could take a movie on themselves in Despicable Me 2 and they in fact have done it, the climax sequence is definitely the most entertaining part of the movie, reference to many superhero movies.

Low Points: The promotion of the movie had revealed too much than it should have. The first half of the movie is a bit slow. Scarlet overkill could not match the charismatic super villain Gru.

Overall without comparing this with the previous installments, Minions deliver what they had promised to. If you love animated movies then you would enjoy this.

Watchable

Comedy, Drama, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

Kaaka Muttai Review

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Kaaka Muttai Review – Kaaka Muttai is a Tamil comedy drama released in 2014. The movie had its theatrical release in 2015. The movie revolves around two young kids growing up in the slums and their biggest aim in life is to eat a pizza, but it is not as easy as they think.

Director M. Manikandan has done a wonderful job in painting the view of life through the eyes of two kids from slum who gets excited with simple things in life. Most of the movie is shot with a Camera angle at the eye line of the kids, which gives the view of the world from their eyes much more naturally. The names of the kids are not revealed in the movie and they are just addressed by their nickname “Chinna Kaaka Muttai and Periya Kaaka Muttai”. This is very effective in making them a true representation of unknown kids from slum. The other characters in the movie are also used very well in the larger screenplay and every character has a meaningful role to play in the 2 hour drama. Yet another movie that is shorter in length and works more effective than the 3 hour extravagant movies. Indian moviemakers should take some cues from this and be precise to their premise without introducing unwanted frills.

The two boys playing the lead roles in the movie has performed very well. In particular the younger one is so adorable in his acting and innocence. The movie also touches sarcastically upon some harsh realities in the society. Although subtle but still makes a very compelling impression on issues like economic differences, discrimination based on economic status, child labor and many more.

High Points: The screenplay is the major strength of the movie, Cinematography is very apt for the movie, the performances of the kids, the humor in the script is another big plus

Low Points: There is nothing really as a low point. Such movies should be promoted well to reach more audience.

Overall Kaaka Muttai would bring in smile on your face as you walk out of the movie hall and next time you see slum kids running around their chore you would definitely stop and think about the battle they are fighting. 2 National awards for this movie is well deserved.

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Friday Fundas

Film Gauge – 65 mm aka 70 mm

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Film Gauge – 65 mm aka 70 mm film

When I was a kid someone gave me a film roll (negative). My friend and I took this to a room. As my friend lit torchlight I rolled the film in front of it. We placed a lens in front of the film and projected it onto a white dhoti hung on the wall. It was fascinating to see actual images on the white dhoti. They moved in discrete steps, as the roll was moving. My friend said the lines on the side contained sound but we did not know how to reproduce it. Still it was a fascinating experience. From then on we started collecting such films and tried projecting them. Some of these films were narrower and few of them were wider. We did not realize the wider ones were 70mm and the narrower ones were 35 mm film.

In this week’s Friday fundas I would talk about what the numbers actually mean.

You might guess that 70mm denotes a length of something. The unit denotes the “film gauge” which is the width of the film stock. The width of the film is actually 65 mm but is printed on 70 mm film. The additional 5 mm hold 4 magnetic strips that are used to hold 6 tracks of sound. In the later years 70 mm film used digital sound encoding.

70 mm film is a wide high-resolution format of movies. The aspect ratio of these movies were 2.20 : 1. Due to its wider length it produced a greater visual grandeur compared to its 35 mm predecessor. However the many of the theaters that time did not have 70 mm screen. Hence many of the 70 mm movies were released on 35 mm prints so that it can be widely distributed. Hence you see wide screen edition and a normal edition of a movie. 35 mm films had a aspect ration of 1.3 : 1.

When you look at a film negative you see holes punched on its ends. These holes are called perforations. In terms of perforations 35 mm film were 4 perforations tall and 70 mm film were 5 perforations tall. A horizontal variant of the 70 mm film was introduced and is widely used in IMAX screens. In this format a single frame covers 15 perforations.

The recent movie Jurassic World was shot on a 65 mm film the makers chose to do it to match the visual aesthetics of the previous trilogy. The film camera captures more dynamic range of light than that of a digital camera. Also they released it with an aspect ratio of 2:1, which suits the IMAX screen. Hence the movie would be more appealing on a IMAX screen than a normal screen.

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

Jurassic World Review

Jurassic World Review – Jurassic World is an American science fiction adventure movie released in 2015. The movie is a sequel to the franchise of Jurassic Park. After 22 years of the incidents in the island of Jurassic Park there is a new theme park created with genetically altered dinosaurs. Things go awry when the newly created predator Indominous Rex breaks free into the wild.

The movie of dinosaurs releasing after 22 years made it very special for this movie. Many of us who have seen the first installment had nostalgic moment of going to this movie. When Jurassic Park was released it was almost considered, as a sin for not have watched the movie. Although Jurassic World did not create the peer pressure but still drew people by recreating the nostalgic memories of seeing dinosaurs on big screen.

Jurassic World has the chills and thrills that you expect from the movie. Although it can never match up with the first one due to the fact that we have already seen dinosaurs on screen, still it is successful in recreating the magic world much bigger and fancier this time. The movie’s money shot is the sequence in which the biker drives alongside running Velociraptors.

Jurassic World Bike sequence with Velociraptors
Jurassic World Bike sequence with Velociraptors

It is said that Steven Spielberg wanted to create this scene in the new installment of the movie, which was originally in the Lost World book but he could not add it to the movie. The end output had worked very well.

Director Colin Trevorrow should applauded for recreating the magic of Jurassic Park all of us have enjoyed in the past. The imagination of a theme park has gone wild and the sequences are visually very appealing. It is also great to see Irrfan Khan having a substantial role in this compared to his role in The Amazing Spiderman.

It is really unfair to compare this with the first one then you may not enjoy it very much. Go with an open mind and get enticed with the visuals you see on screen. If you have kids take them along with you they would enjoy this a lot.

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