Not a great movie. Really pretty flawed. But pleasant, and with nice chemistry between the leads, and once again proof that Mammootty really really knows how to pick age appropriate scripts. And also how to age gracefully, he is playing at least 10 years younger than his real age and I can believe it.
Mamootty picks the BEST story ideas for his age. After Bhaskar the Rascal, here is another one, Pullikkaran Staraa, that is age appropriate and interesting and could so easily be translated into a Hindi film. Especially since the Malayalam original was only moderately successful and of only moderate quality.
Look, I watched an actual good movie! A classic even. It just took all of you listing off the good movies for me on HotStar so I could avoid their gosh awful search function and go directly to what I wanted.
This is interesting. It’s officially the original version of Hindi Medium, but besides the essentially plot concept, there is really nothing in common. A sign of how very different the different parts of India, and different Indian film industries, see the world. Oh, and it’s “Monday” Malayalam, but coming on Sunday, because Tuesday is Madhuri day which took precedence over Telugu so everything moved back one.
Time for a Netflix update! Which I only do once a month or so, so it’s not up to the minute accurate. But hopefully I make up for that with the descriptions I give them. (Accessbollywood.net does the real work of keeping this list updated, you should definitely absolutely subscribe to them for your day to day updates.)
Okay, spoiler time! I am doing a separate SPOILER review not so much to avoid spoilers (it’s not exactly that kind of movie, the plot is so intricate you can’t spoil it entirely), as because the film is so complex, I needed a moment to deal with just the general themes and structure and ideas (the No SPOILERS post) before I could get into the details of what technically happens.
Happy Monday! Let’s see if I can crank this post out before I fall asleep. Luckily, it is about a nice little movie that I don’t have to think about too much to be able to write about it.
I’ll use film examples to make this Indian film related, but really just think of this as an extended dictionary post. I use these words a lot, and other film writers do to, but I’ve never really defined them for you.
This was another disappointing Malayalam film. Not because of bad politics or misogyny, just because of a kind of rambling plot and characters that changed direction too quickly. Still happy catchy songs and pretty pretty places, but overall not great.
Well, this is depressing! I went for a new film, with Rima Kallingal, thinking I would be safe from that horrible strain of really gross misogyny that runs through Malayalam films. But, no! Still there! Even in a film from 2014 with one of the strongest actresses working today.
I can’t believe it!!!! An actual happy Malayalam film! Or maybe I have just been worn down in my definition of “happy”, so that it now expands to accept illegitimate children, forced commitments to insane asylums, kidnapping, sibling murder, and so on. But hey, it doesn’t end with the heroine being raped and/or the hero being arrested, or a sad song in the rain, so HAPPY. (you understand I kid because I love, right? Malayalam movies are beautiful and brilliant but MAN can they be depressing sometimes!)
This was a movie I picked because a) it has Jayasurya, b) it was on HotStar, and c) it looked like something that I could watch while doing dishes and being in and out of the room. And all of these things were true! Especially the last.
I already put up my “no spoilers” review, this is if you have already seen the movie or won’t be able to see it for a long time and want to know what happens and what I thought about it.
What a wonderful movie! I was sold this as a Tovino Thomas romance, and it is that, sort of, but it’s really more than that, a full character study of a woman and her life, and the way men treat her and the man she loves is part of that. But not all of it.
I got off work at 4:30 for once instead of 5, meaning I could just barely make the 5 o’clock show, meaning it was fate that I go see Carbon, since it was the only one playing at 5 o’clock. And turns out, it’s not a great movie! I don’t mind that I had to wait 3 months after its release to see it.
Hmm. We gained Pardes and some more regional options, but lost Andaz Apna Apna. So, a mixed bag. (Accessbollywood.net does the real work of keeping this list updated, you should definitely absolutely subscribe to them for your day to day updates.)
This was a nice movie! Not a great movie, the plot kind of went up and down and all around, but a very pleasant movie. The kind of sunshine and nice people movie that the Malayalam industry does not quite like anywhere else. And which was perfect to watch on an overcast late winter day in Chicago.
You can probably read this review even if you haven’t seen the film. There are a few plot twists, but it is the action and chase scenes that make the film the film stand out, and reading spoilers won’t give you the sense of those. Or satisfy your curiosity about seeing Mohanlal’s son onscreen.
Another Malayalam film in theaters! I braved the cold, and left the dog home alone for 8 hours, and it was kind of worth it. Not super worth it, but not horrible. If nothing else, it was nice to feel warm for 3 hours watching a movie in Kerala.
Well, this was a pleasant enough film! I was looking for something a little old-fashioned on Hotstar, and this popped up. And I just can’t say no to Kunchako.
This film FINALLY made it’s way to einthusan. And it is just as wonderful as Angie promised me. Not as spectacularly well-made and imaginative as Ohm Shanti Oshaana, but that same totally satisfying feel of a female protagonist going after what she wants and getting it in a completely happy way. Everyone happy, really.
I watched this movie in a self-serving grab for views, knowing it was popular last year and therefore a lot of people would have seen it and want to discuss it. And then, much to my surprise, I actually ended up enjoying the thing!
Sorry, this is going to be a lot of me-me-me, but it will also be a little bit of a discussion of the responsibility of public writing and education and stuff. So that will be fun! Oh, and it will answer a question that a lot of people have been asking me lately.
Bangalore Days and Premam both got second reviews, might as well complete the trilogy and give OSO a second review too. Also it will be a nice little stop gap until my new Malayalam review goes up on Monday, now that family time is over and I am a sad orphan again who can spend her weekends watching movies (now I hear my parents saying “Hey! We live TWO MILES AWAY! She’s not an orphan!”). Anyway, life is back to normal is what I am saying, and my family has shrunk back down to normal size and my free time has expanded.
Finally, a movie about sisters! No romance, hardly any parents, it’s all about the sister relationship. For once, it is the pain of separated sisters we feel, not lovers or brothers or parent and child.
