Star Wars: The Force Awakens [2015]: A Pious Pilgrimage for Padawans
For all intents and purposes this film should’ve been called Star Wars: History Repeats Itself. The reason being is that the plot to The Force Awakens offers more then just a passing resemblance to A New Hope, so much so that I damn near check marked the “I’ve seen this film before” option even though I hadn’t. It seems that in his never-ending quest to please the rabid Star Wars fanbase, director J.J. Abrams felt…
Going Clear [2015]: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Going clear is a documentary but it works like a horror film because of the content it deals with. The structure of Scientology as deciphered by Alex Gibney through the interviews of multiple heads of the church who has now left the church due to the ‘assault’ inflicted upon them by the church is depicated quite effectively. The true horror comes with the revelation that people were doing what they were doing, however unethical and…
The Honeymoon Killers [1970]: A Brutal Tale of Dysfunctional Romance
The Honeymoon Killers is a cult classic that offers a remarkably unsettling movie experience. Its delirious depiction of a permissive society would definitely be hardwired into our memory.
Castaway on the Moon (2009) – A Frame of Escapism and Rapture!
Castaway on the Moon (2009): Hae-jun Lee’s world is a very strange place. Two equally lonely and unsettling souls find…
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence [2015] : A static retrospect of life
The absence or scarcity of happiness or a lighter tone doesn’t take away the fact that in its bizzare & absurd vignettes , a chuckle is the most common response. Also, the occasional randomness of the film seem to be so picturesque that when Anderson’s busy portraying them on his canvas; making the foreground and background talk without words, they come off as essential parts and not just random gibberish. The film hence gives…
Crimson Peak [2015]: The ‘Peak’ that turned out to be a Low Point
Goths, the East German people, were said to be the ones who played a vital role in the fall of West Roman Empire (around 3 or 4th century AD). In Scandinavia, a tribe named ‘Gutes’ formed a community, whose inhabitants are still living in today’s Sweden, in an island called Gotland. The word Goth, in those times was related with something barbaric or warmongering. Later, in the 12th century, the word ‘Goth’ reemerged in the…
The Peanuts Movie [2015]: A kite-chase down nostalgia lane!
The best thing about Steve Martino’s film is that he surrounds the film with colorful strokes of child like innocence and yet remains respectful to its classic source material. It doesn’t steps things up or modernize it just for the sake of it.
Kabei: Our Mother (2008) Review – An Altruistic Mother in an Indoctrinated Society
One of the most over-worked sub-genres in cinema is the home-front movies that usually chronicle the tragedies faced by average European families amidst World War II. However, Yoji Yamada’s “Kabei: Our Mother” (2008) has this benefit of being a home-front film that uncovers the Japanese perspective, which is relatively unexplored compared to American & European viewpoints. On one hand, it provides a biting commentary on Japanese wartime policies