Tag Archives: Monday Malayalam

Monday Malayalam Film School: Angamaly Diaries, the Best Made Indian Film Since Guru Dutt

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Sorry, forgot when I “assigned” this film to be watched this week that my review is SO FREAKING LONG.  Oh well, great art excites me.  If you want to know why this film is just breathtaking, then you should read my no spoilers review.  Because the amazing part of the film isn’t in the story it is telling and what happens, it is in how the story is told.  But if you want to read a little more in depth discussion about the film and every aspect of it, not just the breathtaking parts, you can read on.

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Monday Malayalam/Tuesday Telugu: London Bridge/Love in London, A Cross Ocean Cross Languages Hit!

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This is a combined Malayalam/Telugu post, because this movie was a combined Malayalam/Telugu hit (and also because I am lazy).  Well, “hit”.  I guess more accurately it could be called a “not flop”.  But it’s still interesting!  That a movie was made with Malayalam artists, dubbed into Telugu, and did well enough to be considered a “not flop”.

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Monday Malayalam (on Saturday): Koode Review (SPOILERS), People Needing People to be Make Themselves Whole

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I already put up my No Spoilers review.  I’m going to encourage you to read that one if you haven’t seen the film yet.  Not because spoilers would ruin it, but just because this review won’t really make sense without having seen the film.  It’s so much about what is implied instead of what is shown, reading the plot bare bones won’t give a feel for how it is within the film.  Wait until you can see it, and then come back here.

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Monday Malayalam on Saturday: Koode Review (No Spoilers), Broken People Trying to Keep Moving Forward

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First movie of the weekend!  It could have come out last weekend, when there was no Hindi movie I planned to see, but nooooooooooooo, it had to come out this weekend, when there are 3 other films to juggle.  Oh well, at least I got to see an Anjali Menon movie in theaters.

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Monday Malayalam (on Tuesday): Mili Again! Cognitive Versus Talk Therapy

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This was one of my first Malayalam movies, back when I was young and foolish and watching anything where Nivin looked cute on the poster.  But now it is on Netflix, available for a whole new audience, so I thought I should circle back, being old and wise as I am now, and see if I had any new insights. (here is the old review for comparison).  And also because I am still stumped by 2 questions about this film and I am hoping some of you can help me.

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Monday Malayalam: Nee-Na, Complete Failure of the Bechdel Test, and Complete Failure to See the Reality of the Character They Created

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I was browsing through einthusan and I saw this movie and thought “oh hey, I’ve heard about this film a lot, I should check it out”.  Not a great decision!  Really a very odd and strangely regressive film that is supposed to be about two women but is really just about the man torn between them.

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Monday Malayalam (on Tuesday): Pullikkaran Staraa, What We Expect Versus What Is

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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.

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Monday Malayalam(on Weds): Philips and the Monkey Pen, Fathers and Sons

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This is a movie that was on my “recommended” list for a while, and then popped up on Netflix, so I thought “why not?”  And that was a good decision.  It’s not the greatest movie ever, but it’s a nice little movie, and I recommend it in turn if you also have Netflix and are looking for something pleasant and Malayalam to watch.

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Monday Malayalam: Salt Mango Tree, Love Children Just For Being Children

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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.

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Monday Malayalam: Kammara Sambhavan (SPOILERS) History is Disgusting

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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.

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Monday Malayalam: Kammara Sambhavam (No SPOILERS), Art That Disturbs Rather than Comforts

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I made a very foolish decision and went to see this movie on Sunday night before getting up early on Monday. And on a full moon night. And then I got lost on the way home. It was a weird evening, is what I am saying, and that is even without watching this very very strange film.

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Monday Malayalam: Jo and the Boy, Unintentionally Accurate Walt Disney and Steve Jobs

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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.

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Monday Malayalam: Zachariayude Garbhinikal, Misogyny is Alive and Well in God’s Own Country

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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.

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Monday Malayalam: Kilukkam, a Happy Malayalam Movie!!!! How is This Possible?????

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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!)

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Monday Malayalam: Ivar Vivahitharayal…?, They Try To Save It At the End, But It Still Doesn’t Work

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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.

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Monday Malayalam: Mayaanadhi (No Spoilers), The Illusions That Help Us Live Our Lives

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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.

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