My second Pellissery Monday! And 3rd Pellissery week over all (counting the Tuesday I saw Angamaly Diaries). And this movie is rawer, but still better than Amen. But not as good as Angamaly, which combined the powerful spirit of this film with the technical brilliance of Amen.
I’ve watched this movie twice now. Once really seriously, pausing and rewinding if I thought I missed something, and once more just skimming, letting it play while I brushed my teeth in the morning or wrote blog posts at night. And I know I have still missed SO MUCH. But I am going to do my best to try to understand it and present it to you.
What a fascinating movie! Oh my goodness, SO INTERESTING!!!!! Starting from the opening shot, which sent me down a whole mental wormhole of film history. But mostly, I am SO GLAD I watched this film the same week I saw Angamaly Diaries! Because this film makes the hypothetical argument that Angamaly Diaries proved in reality.
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.
You know the problem with pioneer films? They are so groundbreaking and wonderful when they come out, but then after they have cut out the new path, the films that come after it are so much more luxurious and elaborate, it makes that poor struggling scratched and damaged first film look like nothing in comparison.
My first Malayalam movie from my huge online shopping haul! It was so-so. I think I remember why it was recommended to me, because it was Nivin’s first movie, and the first movie Vineeth directed. It was kind of cool to see how both of them started out, and the movie was also sort of interesting in its own right to look at how a plot I have seen in Hindi and Tamil films was done in Malayalam. But I wouldn’t say it is exactly a “Great Film.”
I mentioned last Monday that I saw two Malayalam movies in the theater. This was the other one! The showtime gods were kind to me, I realized I could catch a matinee of Ezra, grab a lassi at the concession counter, and then move right into the show for Fukri.
I went to see a Malayalam movie in the theaters again! Actually, I saw two, and was completely unproductive otherwise all Saturday. It was a great weekend. And next Monday, you get to see a review of the other movie!
In several parts of this film, I was reminded of Annmariya. Same single parent family, same kid with too many worries, same unusual relationship between an older tougher man and the kid. But while Annmariya took place in a world of magic and destiny where nothing ever went really wrong, this film took place in the “real” world, and was much sadder.
Week four! Woo! This is kind of working I think maybe? Although we’ll have to see how it does now that I have finished all the big name releases from last year. Oh wait! I still have Oppam!
I missed Monday Malayalam, because I was completely impractical and not time effective, and I went to see Dulquer’s new movie in theaters at the 8 o’clock show on a work night. Because it’s Dulquer! And it’s cold and grey and depressing, and Kerala is so pretty. And I was hoping to write the review when I got home, but it was midnight and my brain finger typing thoughts not coming.
Second week for this, going okay so far! Having a schedule to stick to is really driving me to watch movies. That was the initial purpose of the To-Do List, but then it just got so big I couldn’t deal with it. But needing to have a new Malayalam film watched and reviewed every Monday is good for me. Oh, and this movie in particular I have been wanting to watch since last Onam (at my local theater, we got Oozham instead).
Okay, I’m going to try something. Before, I would get a big DVD order or have a slow week at work, and post a ton of blog posts from Kerala or Tamil Nadu or whatever all at once. And then hit a point of being busy at work and running out of DVDs or whatever and post no reviews at all for a while. But that’s not good, this start and stop. So, now that the big Hindi release season is about to end, I am going to try to stick to a schedule, Monday Malayalam, Tuesday Tamil or Telugu. And then Hindi or whatever other random thing I am watching (Zindagi Gulzar Hai?) the rest of the week. Continue reading
I know I know, I should be picking off of my list. But ErosNow just added a bunch of Malayalam films and I got over-whelmed by options and decided to just go with the first one that popped up with Mammootty.
I don’t know enough about him, and Hema exhausted me, so Prithviraj has to content himself with a simple dozen reasons I love him.
This was not the best movie to watch the same time as Pink. Or maybe it was the best movie to watch? It certainly helped highlight exactly why Pink is groundbreaking! And yes, I know, it’s another one that wasn’t recommended, but it’s the last one on the Netflix list. And I really hope it isn’t the first Malayalam movie anyone watches, because ENRAGING!!!!
As I have mentioned already, I just re-activated my Netflix discs and immediately requested every Malayalam film they have available. Which means I am going to end up with some stinkers. This one wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t very good, or interesting. But not quite bad enough that I could justify stopping in the middle (it takes a lot for me to stop in the middle of a movie).
What an interesting movie! I read that it is supposed to be the start of the new age films, but it actually reminded me a lot more of Aalkkoottathil Thaniye. And other films I’ve seen from that classic 90s/late 80s era.
This was…..fine? A couple of clever ideas in the script (could tell it came from the same mind as Drishyam), Prithviraj did a good job (of course), and I guess the action was all right? But it was just sort of missing something.
I gave in! I re-upped my Netflix DVD subscription! Just because they have 2 dozen Malayalam films listed, and I am so sick of dropping subtitle files onto youtube videos, or waiting for international shipments, or paying $2.99 for googleplay videos, or squinting at eithusan on my laptop screen. Anyway, now I am cranking through all the random films Netflix happens to have available. Like this one!
I don’t quite know what to think about this movie. They left a lot of things open and a lot of things to our imagination, and there are no easy answers in it. But what I know for sure is, I love Mita Vasisht and am thrilled I finally got to see her in a lead role, instead of just showing up and giving awesome advice for a few minutes, and then going away.
What a pleasant film! Everything isn’t perfect, but if everyone works together they can make it perfect. Well, almost. But the big message is everyone working together and dealing with a bad situation as best as they can.
This movie is about a lot of different things, but what leaps out at me is they way it handled the hero’s childhood adoption into an American family. It managed the difficult task of avoiding any easy answers, acknowledging the challenges of the situation without blaming anyone for them.
My first CBI movie! Which I am aware is not actually the “first” CBI movie. But it is the first CBI movie that einthusan has with subtitles, so I wanted to jump on it before it went away. I couldn’t believe how dark it got, with the motivations and plot twists, but at the same time how clear and sensible the tone was, it never got bogged down in emotions.
Jacobinte Swargarajyam is finally on einthusan.com, yay!!!!! So, I could watch it, after missing it in theaters. I loved Nivin Pauly in it, naturally (although I have reservations about his hair). But I was surprised by how charismatic I found Renji Panicker, especially considering he just started acting a couple of years ago!
dontcallitbollywood 