Movies

Count from August 2023: 26.

August 2023 - 26 movies and series

1. Jack Ryan (Seasons 3 and 4)
2. Good Omens 2
3. Pachuvinte Athbuthavilakku
4. Vellari Pattinam
5. Pathuthala
6. Mahaan
7. Neelavelicham
8. Arrival
9. The Imitation Games
10. First Man
11. Thankam
12. Jailer
13. Thandatti
14. Malayankunju
15. Yaathisai
16. Maaveeran
17. Ela Veezha Poonchira
18. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
19. Jurassic World: Dominion
20. Top Gun: Maverick
21. Jack Reacher
22. Jack Reacher 2
23. The Mummy
24. Naradan
25. Vendu Thanindhathu Kaadu
26. Confess, Fletch

Count from August 2023: 45.

September 2023

1. Charles Enterprises
2. Yanai Mugathan
3. Extra Ordinary
4. Happy-go-lucky
5. Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan
6. Bhargavi Nilayam
7. Ardh Satya
8. Nalla nilavulla rathri
9. RDX
10. Christopher
11. Kaduva
12. Women Talking
13. Yuvaratna
14. Om
15. Kantara
16. American Gangster
17. Citizen Kane
18. Veyil
19. Bambai meri jaan

Count from August 2023: 60.

October 2023

1. Dahaad
2. Thiruchitrambalam
3. Lucky Man
4. The Covenant
5. Kannur Squad
6. Mark Antony
7. Rahasya
8. The Stoneman murders.
9. Shimla Special
10. Hannah and her Sisters
11. Mirzapur (seasons 1 and 2)
12. The Covenant
13. Paramoporul
14. Kumari Srimathi
15. Killings of the Flower Moon

Count from August 2023: 134 

March 2024 - 15 movies and series

1. Corona Papers: This is a filler movie that I snuck in between other movies. I was in a mood for malayalam movies and so I picked this one. The movies stars Shane Nigam, whose movies are always interesting. But the director of the movie is Priyadarshan, who I don't consider to be a good director but has made some funny movies. He was a big director in 80s and 90s. In general, the new movies by the big directors of those years have not been good. So I did not have much hope for this movie. Sure enough the movie was not great. It was ok - a reasonable thriller. It has been two months since I have seen this movie and I don't remember much of the movie. It has slipped out of my mind. A forgettable movie I guess. 
2. Malikappuram: This movie has a high rating in IMDB and it stars Unni Mukundan. This is one of the God supports the good movie. So it reminded me of many movies that I had seen in the past.
3. Manjummel boys:
4. Hridayam:
5. Neru:
6. 12th Fail: 
7. Pookkaalam:
8. Janaki Jaane:
9.  Jaya jaya jaya hey:
10. Perilloor Premier League (series):
11. Masterpeace (series):
12. King of Kotha:
13. Dune 2:
14. Malaikottai Vaalibhan:
15. Bheeshma Parvam:

Count from August 2023: 147+ 

April 2024 - 13 movies and series

1. Varathan:
2. Aattam:
3. Kooman:
4. Carnival Row (Season 1):
5. Carnival Row (Season 2):
6. J.Baby:
7. Premulu:
8. Poacher (Season 1):
9. 83:
10. The Teacher's Lounge: 
11. Aavesham:
12. Special Ops (Season 1):
13. Aarya (Season 1):

Count from August 2023: 153 

May 2024 -  movies and series

1. Aarya (Season 2):
2. Saba Nayagan:
3. The Boy and the Heron:
4. Bhavesh Joshi Superhero:
5. Madgaon Express:
6. The Tudors (Season 1): For the past many years topics related to history have interested me. I have read many books and watched movies related to history. So when I realised that one of the series that Amazon suggested, The Tudors, is related to a king of England, I started watching it. It is only after a few episodes that I realised that the series was about King Henry VIII, who killed many of his wives and also made England Protestant. Actually, the last point was not true, though I believed it to be so till I watched the series. He took England away from the Catholic faith but did not embrace the Protestant path. That happened during the reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I.
   
   I loved watching this series and watched all four seasons in a stretch. King Henry VIII is a villain of the highest order. He manipulated everyone and everything for his own convenience. But he always claimed to be a fair and knowledgeable person and the people around him had no choice but to accept this. Jonathan Rhys brings out this character beautifully. I had only seen him in 'Bend it like Beckham' earlier and that character was very different from this one. But now I will only remember him as King Henry VIII.
   
   I see that the series does not have a great rating but I loved it. I thought it brought out the politics in the king's court well. It also made me sympathize with  villainous characters, in the sense, it brought out no one is good or bad well. People do things for survival or power and these become harmful for others. Ultimately, these acts boomerang and they themselves get caught in it.
   
   The one big issue was that there are too many graphic sex scenes in the series. This makes it impossible to recommend this series to almost anyone. In a sense, these scenes bring out morals of the time but still I think they could have been toned down a lot.
   
   Talking specifically about this season, it is an intriguing start to the whole series. Jonathan Rhys, Sam Neill and Henry Cavill take care of it well. I really liked the way Henry Cavill changed physically and emotionally through the series. It was even better than that of Jonathan Rhys. It ended with the Henry's second wife Anne, being at the cusp of becoming his wife. Her character seemed extremely scheming. But by the end of the second series, she gets trapped in her schemes and becomes a pitiable figure.

Count from August 2023: 171 

June 2024 -  movies and series

1. The Tudors (Season 2): I really liked the way the Queen Anne's life changes and one's own feeling changes the season comes to a close.
2. Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil: We wanted to see a movie in theatre and this was the only option. We had seen a few scenes from the movie and they seemed funny. But none of us are fans of Prithviraj and we were not keen to watch the movie. But we liked most of the other actors, including Basil, Anaswara and Nikhila. This turned out to be a laugh riot. It was silly as hell but in a good manner. It is like reaching hell and instead of being boiled in oil, one is tickled. The ending with its spoofy reference to Nandanam ensures that the viewer walks out of the theatre laughing. I am glad we saw this movie in a near empty theatre.
3. The Tudors (Season 3): This season once again proved that the people in power were always in danger of losing their life. Their downfall is also aided by people who surround the king. The king is merciless and kills the trusted people around him and regrets later.
4. Premulu: At last, I watched this famed movie. Its fun and the romance is fresh. The story is cliched but it is presented in a fun manner and one does not take it seriously. The dialogues and acting are good and from my point of views, the movie seems good primarily due to these factors. The big advantage of the movie is that it stays with you even after the movie finishes. I was not very impressed by the movie when I watched it but it stayed with me and then the reels on FB kept reminding me of the good scenes. As a result, my impression of the movie with passing of time.
5. The Tudors (Season 4): The grand finale of the series. It is interesting to see the transformation of the religious beliefs of the England. It moves away from Pope based Catholicism to a king based Catholic like Christianity. The sixth and the last queen of the King Henry, Catherine Parr surreptiously tries to the move the country to Protestantism. Also, King Henry's ruthlessness comes out clearly in his marrying his 5th queen Catherine Howard who was only 17 compared to him being in his 40s. I loved this series. It made me understand a lot about England's history during the important. I plan to the watch the movie, Elizabeth as a followup soon. Elizabeth is King Henry's daughter and it was during her reign that England converted to protestantism. 
6. Hacksaw Ridge: I saw this movie in Prime under the section "
7. Panchayat (Season 3):
8. Taxi Teheran:
9. Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal:
10. Tumse na ho payega:
11. Veyilmarangal:
12. Anatomy of a fall:
13. Once: 
14. Greenzone:
15. Mercury rising;
16. Looper: 
17. Predestination: This movie blew my mind off. It is a science fiction movie but it is a drama and not an action movie. In fact the movie only has a few action scenes. It builds slowly through conversation and incidents to the ultimate revelations. The first revelation is interesting but as more and more revelations happen, I was amazed by the realistic nature of an absurd idea. In a sense, this movie and Looper have some similarities and as I mentioned for that movie, it in some manner connects to the original Terminator movie. I loved this movie and have been recommending it to a couple of people. Watching such movies has made me realize that people should watch more movies but most don't care.  
18. Varshangalukku Sesham:

Count from August 2023: 207 

August 2024 -  movies and series

1. Deadpool & Wolverine:
2. Brahmastra:
3. The Equalizer: 
4. The Equalizer 2:
5. The Equalizer 3:
6. Paradise:
7. Nan Pakalnerathu Mayakkam:
8. Minnal Murali:
9. Katta Kushthi:
10. Thallumaala:
11. Iratta:
12. CBI 5:
13. Oru Thekkan Thallu Case:
14. Churuli:
15. Kim's Convenience (Season 1):
16. Thangalaan: I have never been doped but I get the feeling the experience will be like watching this movie. I decided I will watch this movie in the theater. I chose a Wednesday afternoon in the second week of the movie.
17. Anweshippin Kandethum:
18. Padavettu:

Count from September2023: 207 + 

August 2024 -  movies and series

1. Kuttavum Shikshayum
2. Maamannan
3. Ullozhukku
4. Turbo
5. Thalavan