Author: cinemadilemma

The Girl On The Train

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https://www.indiatvnews.com/entertainment/

Rating: 1 star out of 5

Starring: Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Rao Hydari, Kirti Kulhari

Streaming on: Netflix

The movie is adapted from the 2015 Paula Hawkins’ novel of the same name. The book has been adapted into a movie earlier too, starring Emily Blunt (early warning: watch that one, not this).

Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra) has become an alcoholic after the death of her unborn child in a car accident. As far as she knows, she cannot be a mother again, when all she wanted in life was to be one. On top of this, she is suffering from trauma and has short-term amnesia (a concept explored in Memento and Ghajini). All this puts a strain on her married life and her husband Shekhar (Avinash Tiwary) and she separate. In her previous avatar she was a bad-ass lawyer who wouldn’t cower even in the face of death threats and would see justice done. All that is lost within two years. She travels on the same route everyday in a train (whereto – no idea, she just does) and she spots Nusrat John (Aditi Rao Hydari) having a picture perfect life with her husband, and she lives vicariously through Nusrat. One day she sees Nusrat with another man and is furious at her for ruining her supposedly perfect marriage and seeks her out. Thus ensues the memory lapse where she doesn’t remember what happened, but she is left with bruising all over her. It turns out Nusrat is killed and the police are suspecting Mira. The investigation is led by Dalbir Kaur Bagga (Kirti Kulhari).

There are so many questions.
First, how was it possible to screw up a movie, which has been made only recently? The script is literally in your hands. While the whole internal conflict written in the book is understandably difficult to put into a visual medium, there is already a blue print, just 5 years old.
Second, why did this movie have to be shot in London, with London street names and NRIs who justifiably do not have an Indian accent? It would have been so much more easier to follow and so much less cringy if only they had shot it in India with Indian actors.
Third, given the above two, who thought it a good idea to diverge from the original story? And who thought the new angle was good?
Fourth, what’s with that bruise on Mira’s temple dude? It looked like something straight out of a Ramsay brothers’ movie make-up.

Even though, Dear Reader, you have understood how unwatchable the “movie” is, it bears repeating. If you watch this movie, a demonic presence like in the movie The Ring will possess you and you would want to kill everyone. It will need to be exorcised. There is not even one single thing which can be said in the favour of this, not even cinematography, costumes, lighting, nothing. This movie is the point where sanity goes to die.

PSA – Do Not Watch It

Spoiler: Dalbir Kaur Bagga is the daughter of the man whom Mira put behind bars and she commits the crime to frame Mira.
There. You are welcome.

Drishyam 2

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https://www.imdb.com/

Rating: 4 out of 5

Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Esther Anil

Streaming on: Primevideo

To watch or not to watch: Brilliant watch with popcorn

The movie continues after the first installment where the crime (murder of IG’s son) was committed 6 years ago. The family is constantly under the threat and fear of the crime being traced to them. Meanwhile, Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is chasing his dream of making a movie and the script is in the works for some time. He has spent a lot of money in getting it just right. They have new neighbours, a couple with an alcoholic and abusive husband and a simple wife. The Georgekutty family is living their lives, amongst local gossip about the daughter Anju (Ansiba) who also has PTSD and Georgekutty’s recent alcoholism. The police is still looking to solve the crime and they now have new witnesses and clues. The story then “resumes” from that point and becomes again a game of intelligence and sheer will power.

The movie feels like a sweet melancholic orchestra in the beginning and takes it to the best crescendo any performance could. The movie is long-ish at 2 hours 33 minutes of play, and the first hour is director showing us the lay of the land, to generate the same emotions the first movie generated for the family and how that incident has changed their lives. The performances of the actors is yet again, flawless. Mohanlal shines brightly as a man juggling multitude aspects of life. The protagonist of the movie still remains human psyche. It is present in all the aspects of the story – the crime, the public opinion, human conscience, persecution, everything. It is difficult to express in words.

It is one of the best sequels made, not only for the execution of the idea, but for the idea itself. A crime is committed and how the people affected by it are dealing with the aftermath. The idea of multi-faceted persecution is beautifully depicted. It is more a psychological thriller, exploring/exploiting human nature than a crime genre movie – more so than the first installment. This shows how the line between crime and righteousness is grey and we cannot escape the consequences of our actions no matter how clever we try to be. It becomes almost philosophical at this point.

Do watch it, with a huge tub of popcorn for stress eating.

Bridgerton

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https://blog.zog.org/2020/12/bridgerton.html

Rating: 2 out of 5

Starring: Johnathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Claudia Jessie, Luke Newton and Julia Andrews (voice over)

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: Recommended to watch in extenuating circumstances where one is a glutton for punishment

Bridgerton is an 8 part series which follows the Bridgerton siblings through their life-partner finding journey.

The first season is based on Daphne’s quest to finding a husband. She comes from a large family with 4 brothers and 3 sisters. She wants a love match just like her parents had, but the only man interested in her is Nigel Berbrooke (we are supposed to know it is a laughing point). In comes Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings who has returned to England because his father is on his death bed and there are formalities to be taken care of in the inheritance of the dukedom. There is no love lost between father and son and the toxic relationship has left lasting effects on Simon’s mind – he doesn’t want to get married and have kids. Simon and Daphne literally run into each other at a ball and they decide to hatch a mutually beneficial plan – they will pretend to court each other so that Daphne is more in the notice of the men of the ton and Simon is saved from the mothers of unmarried ladies of England. As with all best laid plans, this also falls apart when Simon and Daphne are found in the garden in a compromising position and had to get married. Knowing full well Simon’s resolve to not have kids, Daphne gets married to Simon, as the other choices were limited and she was falling for him.

They embark on their married life and all is going well in the beginning till Daphne starts finding out more about Simon’s childhood and his reasons for resolving to never father any kids. This drives a wedge between the loving couple and the rest of the story follows the story of how the conflict is resolved.

Along with the main plot, there are many sub-plots which don’t seem to have much significance on the face of it. There is the family of Featheringtons who are also trying to be successful on the marriage mart but the patriarch has gambled away the dowries of the daughters. The Featheringtons have a guest Maria, who has a sketchy past (according to the times) and is looking to catch Colin Bridgerton, who in turn is deeply loved by Penelope Featherington. There is also Eloise Bridgerton who is forward thinking and challenges the societal norms with her best friend Penelope. Benedict Bridgerton is also trying to find a place in life by challenging society and getting in with the artist crowd, honing his sketching skills.

This is something which is easily missed, unless one really hates oneself. There is no steady storyline and whatever is there is highly unbelievable. The sub-plots seem out of place with no significance at all. The timeline is also all over the place. At some points the series looks hurried and at others it moves at a leisurely pace. There are quite a few explicit scenes for nothing but shock value. The conflict resolution is also flat without any real discussion, it just happens because the protagonists need to have a happily-ever-after, which isn’t very surprising as there is no character arc and whatever character build-up is there, it lacks any strength.

The series would have been well served if it had stayed true to the original books as they are much better and infinitely more entertaining. There is an element of wit among all the Bridgerton siblings and allied familied. Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton are mighty females on their own, and if the creators had stayed true to them, it would have resolved many women repression issues they were trying to address in the series. Just goes to show, change for the sake of change is rarely ever beneficial.

Highly recommend to miss this one. Let the sub-par output be not glorified and treated rightly. This series has been renewed for the second season, unfortunately.

Rebecca

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https://www.imdb.com/

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: A movie no one asked for, and makes the 1940 movie look far superior in comparison

It is based on the novel by Dame Daphne du Maurier. It follows the married life of an unnamed protagonist (Lily James) who started out as a lady’s companion, and meets a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), while on holiday in Monte Carlo. After a short and whirlwind romance, they get married and move to Manderley House in England. There the new Mrs de Winter comes in contact with the memories of the previous Mrs de Winter (Rebecca), who lives on in the minds of the housekeeper, the indomitable Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas) and basically everyone who has met Rebecca. To fit the image of the perfect wife, Mrs de Winter tries very hard to emulate Rebecca, but it seems nothing can please her husband, who grows more distant with time. The story closes with a deep secret which has the potential to destroy the life of the married couple, if exposed.

*Sigh* Even without much expectations, the movie disappoints. The performances of the protagonists isn’t spectacular to begin with, and the awful direction makes it worse. The only one worth mentioning is Kristin Scott Thomas, who is every bit as Mrs Danvers as in the book, but unfortunately doesn’t get enough screen time. The director seems to rely on the knowledge of the viewers about the story, so he doesn’t put in much effort. Things do progess (slightly) in act 3, when it differs from the Hitchcock’s adaptation and Ben Wheatley seemed to come alive on the set for the first time. It doesn’t help though, as the whole premise – the extent of the unnatural adoration of Rebecca by Mrs Danvers – is never fully explained or explored. There was ample opporunity to make this movie stand out, as multiple themes of obsession, homosexuality or illegitimacy could have been explained which were a taboo at the time the book and first movie came out.

It is sad to see a lost opportunity in the world of cinema. The story in and of itself is a masterpiece and the failure of the reproduction cannot go to the performances alone. The only thing that stands out, other than Kristin Scott Thomas (who is the only reason the movie got as many stars as it did), is the cinematography, sets and costume design. The direction fails to capture of the set, which seemed to put the location subtle so as not take away from the movie, but without the movie delivering, it fails on another score. Watch the Alfred Hitchcock’s version if possible, or watch it while scrolling through the phone.

Enola Holmes

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https://geektyrant.com/

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: An average movie which loses its track with runtime

Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) has been brought up single-handedly by her mother Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter) who is a feminist and quite talented in word plays, hand-to-hand combat, etc. Enola adores her mother and learnt a lot from her. On Enola’s 16th birthday, Eudoria disappears from their home and their town, leaving only breadcrumbs for Enola to follow. She lists the help of her two elder brothers, Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft to find Eudoria. They in turn want Enola to be a proper lady according to the day and age they lived in. Enola runs away from home and directly into the path of another absconding teenager Tewksbury (Louis Partridge) and enters London to look for her mother. Follows a series of shocking stories, often putting Enola’s life in danger.

The movie is directed by Harry Bradbeer, who also directed the wildly popular (and deservedly so) Fleabag. He has incorporated breaking the fourth-wall in the movie too, which was so seamlessly done in Fleabag, though he isn’t able to carry it off throughout the movie. The fourth wall merely cracks a little in the first half hour of the movie and then stays the same way for the rest of the run time. This theme of inconsistency is seen throughout the movie – Enola not so much as solves the crime, as she is blindly thrown into it, quite literally. The movie pays a homage to the women’s liberalization movement on the late 19th century, but frankly that concept is overused these days. And trying to please the PC police, they have cast a woman of colour who runs a teashop and also teaches jujitsu which not era appropriate (the teashop bit, not the jujitsu one).

There can be no fault found with Millie Bobby Brown’s performance, she has really showed the wide spectrum of roles she can do from Eleven to Enola. Henry Cavill is cool as cucumber in his role. Though his and Helena Bonham Carter’s characters seem to be done a disservice, in not been used to their full potential. It is an easily missed movie, as it doesn’t add much fun to the watching experience. Being more than 2 hour long, it drags at times. It also doesn’t justify the plot points bring dropped at quite a few places. All in all, pretty meh.

Raat Akeli Hai

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12567088/

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Ila Arun

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: A good whodunnit to watch over a meal

Raghuveer Singh, a politically connected, powerful and old landowner is found brutally murdered in his home on his wedding day. He was shot with a rifle and his face was bashed in with the same gun. The bride is Radha (Radhika Apte) who was sold to Raghuveer Singh and was his mistress. The wedding party was small, with only immediate family members in attendance. They opposed to the marriage, and they all collude to blame Radha for the murder. In comes Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) to investigate the crime, which includes political plot points and internal conflicts between family members.

It is not a very refreshing movie, as crime/mystery/thrillers are a dime a dozen and are a formula for success. This is different from others, in that it has a larger cast list with more well-known faces and a bit more serious crime plot. The movie touches a few social issues and doesn’t veer off the plot. They could have built upon the character stories a bit more, specially Radha, who has a key role. Even Jatil Yadav’s character is only understood by some subtext spread across the movie, making it difficult to understand the reason behind his actions and decisions.

The performances by Radhika Apte and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are perfect. In theory, they would have made an unlikely pair online, but in execution it all looks seamless. It isn’t something which demands constant attention and can be watched while getting chores done. It is good content from Netflix Originals, maybe their best yet.

C. B. Strike

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger

Streaming on: Hotstar (in India)

To watch or not to watch: A decent watch for whodunnit lovers

CB Strike (or just Strike) is based on the Cormoran Strike book series created by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling pseudonym). Strike is a Afghanistan war hero, who returned minus his left leg. He also has a dark background, estranged rockstar father and overdosed supermodel mother. After honorable discharge, he started his private investigation agency, which became is focal point of existence. The series picks up from when he needed a temporary assistant to help manage the business a little.

The series starts with a case of apparent suicide of a super model from her third floor penthouse. Strike has been hired by her foster brother to investigate into the death as he suspects foul play. This brings forth the old-school detective work of following witnesses, obtaining files under subterfuge and harmless deception. This is exciting work for Robin, who has always wanted to be a detective and agrees to be a full-time assistant for lesser pay (and hence a permanent cast member). The first season has 3 cases spread over 7 episodes.

Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger are a strikingly gorgeous duo. They are a reason enough to watch the series. That being said, the series itself is a typical formula detective story. The protagonist is brooding with a heart of gold, unapparent intelligence and down-on-his-luck (in contrast to Sherlock Holmes’ sociopathic tendencies which make him a better detective). Robin is smart and resourceful, who knows where she see herself in the next 5 years. As to the solution to the real case, which should be the whole point of the series, Strike just has many off-screen insights and clues appearing to him which are revealed in the climax of each case. If someone is looking for something not essentially smart but decent enough, this is a good option.

Schitt’s Creek

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https://www.cinematerial.com

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Starring: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Daniel Levy, Annie Murphy

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: A must watch – a perfect pick-me-upper

A filthy rich family in a big town has all its assets seized because their accountant misfiled their taxes. The only asset left with them is a town called Schitt’s Creek, which the dad, Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) bought as a joke for his son, David (Daniel Levy). The town is so hopeless that even the revenue department couldn’t sell it. So the family, which also has a daughter, Alexis Rose (Annie Murphy) and a mother, Moira (Catherine O’Hara) move to the motel in Schitt’s Creek. Their current situation is a far cry from their previous life, which was filled with expensive parties and clothes. The entire series follows them on the new adventure and shows how they rebuild their lives and relationships.

The premise of the series is not unheard of (Arrested Development comes to mind, which executes the same plot in a completely opposite story and is a blast) but the rest of it all is totally fresh. The characters are rich, spoiled and are lovable and not relatable at all, unless one is ultra rich. These 4 are utterly clueless on how the real world works and they have to navigate the new waters with only their resourcefulness. It is a huge change they have to make, where they have to adjust with not being the popular and have things come easy. The characters really grow over the seasons. It is heartening to see them really mature into less-pretentious adults and have care about others. Somewhat.

It is a hilarious story about reality check and self-improvement. Not an easy topic to work comedy into, and yet it achieves it. Daniel Levy is the star of the show. He is charming and probably the second least pretentious character after his series (and real life) father Eugene. The first season doesn’t leave the audience wanting too much, but just hang on. It is all more than worth it as the seasons progress. It is not often that series really evolve along with the characters and this show does it beautifully. A shout out to the costume designer Debra Hanson, who has subtly made the Roses look ridiculous and showed the difference in characters. A must watch for some much needed upliftment in these trying times.

Late Night

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https://tmc.io/

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

To watch or not to watch: A good watch for a lazy afternoon

Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) has been the host of a late night talk show for more than a decade. She has been famous once and regarded as the best in the industry. Now the ratings are declining and the network is planning to replace her with a new comedian. In parallel, she has been called out for hiring a certain demographic – male and Caucasian. In comes Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) who was working at a chemical plant but somehow ended up in front of the show’s producer and is hired. Molly is new to the industry, naive, straight-shooter and down on her luck. Her fresh outlook gets her noticed and also helps Katherine in her personal and professional life.

The movie is likable. Very. It has good performances in Emma Thompson who is so strong as a person and as the character she plays, it is inspiring all round, and Mindy Kaling who is funny, smart and well, Indian. Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott and John Lithgow are other familiar faces. The movie addresses a lot of fundamental issues in the entertainment industry, like male dominance, nepotism, lack of ethnic diversity, and #MeToo. In a short stand-up clip in the movie, Katherine speaks how the industry discriminates on the basis of age of women, but not of men. It is hard hitting.

It is so refreshing to see a fell good movie which isn’t about romance, nor about a quirky female and an impossibly perfect male protagonist. Both the leading characters are females, and flawed in various degrees in their own different ways. They have genuine human problems which are relatable. The problem is, Late Night tries to do a lot together, such that not everything gets its proper attention. It isn’t a well made movie, but the creators weren’t going for it. Mindy Kaling and Nisha Ganatra (Director) wanted to portray the real struggles, some of which were from personal expereinces.

A good watch on a lazy afternoon for a little pick-me-up.

The Report

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8236336/

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Starring: Adam Driver, Annette Benning, John Hamm

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

To watch or not to watch: A must watch when looking for something intense

The movie is a true story of a US Senate Investigative Committee’s report on the CIA’s interrogation techniques after the 9/11 attacks. The ungainful torture of the suspected terrorists was called “Enhanced Interrogative Techniques” by the CIA and was outsourced to independent contractors, who did not have the qualification to carry out the task. And yet, they got the free hand for many years. After the government changed, interrogation by torture was supposed to stop, but didn’t, thus leading to the investigation. The Committee was led by an idealistic and tenacious Daniel J Jones and his small staff, working in a basement office for about 5 years. They got 6.3 million documents to read which lead to 6,700 pages’ report and about 500 pages summary. Understandably, there was backlash from CIA and the red tape restricted the access directly into the Agency.

Though the premise of the movie doesn’t make it a compelling watch, but it is. Scott Z Burns managed to make the process of reading the documents and the presentation of the report exciting and intriguing. the role of Daniel J Jones, played by Adam Driver, is an inspiring character in and of himself. The investigation, the screenplay of reading of the documents were interspersed by the footage of the interrogation of the suspected terrorists, all playing the emotions of the viewer masterfully.

The acting skills of Adam Driver have never been in question. Coupled with the ideal outlook of Dan Jones, he is truly commendable. The movie doesn’t pull any punches and is transparent about the entire process, including the apathy of the CIA, the plot to cover up the truth and the resistance from the White House to stop the truth from coming out. It is an honest movie, simply made and yet delivers. A must watch.