One-line review: Work is worship. Watching Wim Wenders’s new film is like listening to a song you know you will return to many times, sometimes just to listen to a snatch or a melody. But what’s remarkable is that the film has repeat value despite no plot twists or high drama. In fact, the lead, […]
PERFECT DAYS (2023) Read More »
Recently, my apartment building did not have heat or hot water for several days because of a steam pipe blast on my street. Although it was winter, the weather was relatively mild, and a space heater and fleece jacket were enough to get by. I remembered the Bennet sisters from Little Women warming their beds
Put a Bucket on the List Read More »
One-line review: Awakening through sexual awakening. When I watched the film for the first time, it was a sensory overload, with little breathing space to savor. But the second time was a seamless immersive experience, and I marveled at how this complicated movie did not make a single misstep. The film is based on Alasdair
POOR THINGS (2023) Read More »
To be remembered is subjective, but to be forgotten is universal. I began my full-time teaching career as a last-minute replacement for a professor who took another job a couple of weeks before the semester began. My primary task was to teach a graduate personal leadership course she had developed exactly the way she did
THE EULOGY EXERCISE Read More »
Connection is our default. If you are an avid reader of social media comments like me, it is tempting to give up on humans for their sheer pettiness. For example, recently, a woman waiting at a red light posted a video of a negligent driver causing an accident. People chided her for filming and not
One-line review: Oil makes the blood flow. I have seen the film four times now. The first time was awe-inspiring, although confusing with so many characters. The second time was about savoring the experience of Maestro Scorsese conducting his A team, all peaking. The third time was to experience it again while it lasted in
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (2023) Read More »
Some stars are born despite black holes. Last week, I watched the Malayalam blockbuster film RDX on Netflix. It lives up to the hype of a kickass out-and-out action movie. Even the film’s villains are receiving public adulation, a rare occurrence among a lead-obsessed audience, and this film has three of them. The film works
A LITTLE STAR IS BORN Read More »
One-line review: Mobsters with hats and hearts. Miller’s Crossing sank at the box office despite being the opening film at the New York Film Festival and was panned by critics. One of the film’s vehement critics, Roger Ebert, did not even mention the lead character, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Bryne), in his review. Of course, it
MILLER’S CROSSING (1990) Read More »
One-line review: This Christopher Nolan’s bomb of a movie restores humanity. I saw Oppenheimer thrice, once in a regular IMAX and then twice in the IMAX 70 mm on consecutive days. I had second thoughts the third time about spending three hours again so soon, but I wanted to experience this rare phenomenon of human
OPPENHEIMER (2023) Read More »
In an early writing exercise in her book, “The Way of a Fearless Writer,” Beth Kempton asks you to empty your bag and write about its contents. I decided to write about the “god pouch” I have carried in my bag for over a decade, although its contents have doubled. My god pouch is my