One-line review: Beauty of the Beast. I was among the few to see this film in the theaters (in New Jersey) when it was first released. Despite the great reviews, it went out quietly, although those who saw it knew they had seen something special. Thankfully, the film recently got a new lease of life […]
THE MUSTANG (2019) Read More »
One-line review: The nice guy who doesn’t finish last despite the odds against him. This Clint Eastwood film is based on the real life of Richard Jewell, a security guard hailed as a national hero for detecting a bomb at one of the venues of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be publicly vilified as
RICHARD JEWELL (2019) Read More »
History repeats itself; just watch the dogs. Seeing dogs in the NYC streets always gives me a sense of déjà vu. Are we at the cusp of the dogs’ civil rights movement? A non-violent uprising that will see them achieve equality with their masters. You see, it always starts with the indignity of performing one’s
One-line review: Engagements are meant to be broken, but not homes. Thinkalazhcha nischayam (The engagement’s on Monday) proudly proclaims it’s made in Kanjanghad, a small town in north Kerala, India. Kanjanghad has a distinct dialect and very few actors working in the Malayalam film industry. The film is an original Kanjhangad product because of its
THINKALAZHCHA NISHCHAYAM (2021) (MALAYALAM) Read More »
Effective persuasion is passive-aggressive. “Please adjust” is India’s infallible persuasion mantra. In a country of over a billion people, scarcity is a way of life, and you must give and take to keep things on an even keel. Please adjust is a polite request to someone to make some space; wait a little longer or
Please kiss but don’t tell. Mary Oliver’s blisteringly beautiful poem, “Someone I know,” ticked me off. Please read the poem before I explain why. I know someone who kisses the way a flower opens but more rapidly. Flowers are sweet. They have short, beatific lives. They offer much pleasure. There is nothing in the world
One-line review: Wuthering Heights emerged from Emily Brontë’s lows. How did the three corseted Brontë sisters, mostly homeschooled and isolated, each write a masterpiece? It cannot just be genes because their brother Branwell didn’t make it despite being ambitious and having all the opportunities. The movie is a mostly fictional account of how and why
One-line review: Woody Allen’s bloodless coup with laughter. When I rewatched Bananas, I was surprised at how good Woody Allen is with physical comedy, an underutilized part of his acting prowess. Bananas is one of those rare films (Sleeper is another) where we see Allen at his peak with verbal and physical comedy. It may
Everybody needs a place. The above quote, the motto of St Bart’s Church in midtown NYC, captures the angst of homelessness. In NYC, there is no avoiding the homeless. In the city that never sleeps, the visible inequality is between those outdoors by choice and those without. The sheer number of homeless people in NYC also
LIFE LESSONS FROM HOMELESSNESS Read More »
One-line review: An abandoned baby rescues many adults. The film has you at hello; I am referring to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-ada’s charming greeting before the movie begins thanking the audience and the actors. Broker is his first South Korean movie (he also wrote it). After his acclaimed “Shoplifters,” Kore-ada revisits the theme of families