I spent my childhood summers with my grandmother in Kollam, Kerala. As I grew older, around eight or nine, my parents dropped me off and returned to the nearby city of Kochi, where we lived. My grandmother lived in a traditional house with a courtyard (sadly dilapidated now) with my widowed aunt and a maid. […]
COMING FULL CIRCLE WITH PEARL S. BUCK Read More »
One-line review: A siesta awakens many. What’s remarkable about auteur Malayalam director Lijo Jose Pilassery’s film about an afternoon nap gone wrong is that it feels like a nap with its pacing, cinematography, and music. Despite the high drama, the notes stay within the nap “meter.” The film is about a group of theater actors
NANPAKAL NERATHU MAYAKKAM (2022) Read More »
Caving in can be fun. Like thousands of people in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in South India, Kerala, I, too, have been caught in the Manjummel Boys spell the last few weeks. Manjummel Boys is a smash hit Malayalam film about a real story of courage and friendship. It was playing in
ONBOARD THE MANJUMMEL BOYS BANDWAGON Read More »
Faux pas show us we are human. I had tea with three others in my Pilates class the other day. I was the Indian American in the group; two were middle-aged black women, and one was an older white woman. Since we were dressed in sweatpants, gauging what we did for work wasn’t easy. Our
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 »