Movie Reviews

One-line review: A man on the run for “a” life. This film is the Safdie Brothers’ first outing with a big star and paved the way for convincing Adam Sandler to do their dream project. But interestingly, in this case, the global sensation Robert Pattinson sought them out after seeing their previous movie’s trailer. Pattinson […]

One-line review: Eternal friendships bloom in the Wild West. When the Coens announced they were remaking True Grit, many fans of the 1969 classic that won John Wayne his only Oscar raised their eyebrows. But the Coens were interested in the original source, the late and reclusive author Charles Portis’ best-selling and much-loved novel. The

One-line review: Finnish True Grit.  Sisu has the advantage (at least when I saw it) of being seen by an audience with no expectations, but then it delivers and delivers. It tries to get some credibility by informing us in the credits that it was edited in the same studio that made John Wick. But

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

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

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

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

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

One-line review: Your heart is the only compass you need to navigate through life.  The audience broke into spontaneous applause both times I watched The Fabelmans. And they couldn’t have been more different each time; senior citizens the first time and young New Yorkers the second time. That’s the beauty of Steven Speilberg’s autobiographical film,