Movies - July 2024

Count from August 2023: 189 

July 2024 -  movies and series

1. Lion: This movie appears in many lists of Academy Awards worthy movies in Prime. I have consistently ignored it due to its name. It reminds me of the 80's malayalam movie song where the hero realizes that the work LION when seen upside down is NO17, whic seems to be a major clue in the movie. Everytime I am reminded of the scene, I am both amazed and appalled. Also, I am not ready to watch a Dev Patel movie. I did not like Slumdog Millionaire and this dislike somehow landed on Dev Patel. Recently I read something good about the movie and decided to watch it. It was a good choice. A beautifully made movie. The initial scenes though sad and disturbing are shot beautifully. The fact that it is based on a true story made it fascinating and touching. By the end of the movie, I had to fight my tears.  
2. Makal: I only watched this movie for Nasleen. He brings out humour well and his timing is impeccable. One scene from the movie appears in many reels. Nasleen lived upto the expectation. In general the movie is a super light movie, its so light that it seems pointless. It has a serious theme but Sathyan Anthikad flies through each situation so lightly that none of it leaves an impact. In the end, it is good break from all those heavy award worthy movie. As a post script, I am not sure why Jayaram acts in these roles. This is a typical Jayaram role and I think I have watched him do such roles many times.
3. Priyan Ottathilane: I only watched this movie for Sharafudeen and for the good rating that this movie has. The movie is not taken well. I got the feeling that I was watching a serial on Asianet. But the screenplay was good and so the movie keeps the viewer occupied. At two hours and twenty minutes, the movie is too long for the story but as I said the screenplay kept me occupied. The actors are good and situations are interesting. Good for a watch.
4. Civil War: I had seen the trailer of this movie on the big screen. I did not like the trailer, it reminded me of one of the zombie attack movies.  But even the bad trailer was good enough for me to realize that this is a movie not to be missed. Yet, I missed watching this movie in the theatre. I really wanted to go for the movie but I couldn't. During the first week of July, I saw that the movie was released in Amazon Prime. Almost immediately, I started watching the movie and finished it in one sitting (nearly). Its a beautiful movie. It has a poetic feeling to it. As I watched the movie I shouted to myself "You should have seen this movie in the theatre man." I really should have watched it in the theatre. Though I have seen many great movies during the past few weeks, this one captured my attention totally. Its scary and beautiful. The background score is one of the reasons for this - the change from music to the sounds of the scene and a song suddenly bursting into the scenes make the movie a complete pleasure to watch. I love this movie.
5. Gaganachari: Once again it was time to watch a movie in the theatre with family. I did not want to watch Kalki. I don't want to pay money for a hyped up pan-India nonsense. Besides, I don't want to watch a movie with Prabhas in the lead at the theatre. I have done that mistake twice - Bahubali 1 and Bahubali 2. Also, a harcore Telugu movie fan had responded Amitabh was good when asked what he thought about the movie. This does not augar well for the movie. So I gave the movie a skip. I am not even sure if I will watch it in OTT (As I review this writing I am attempting to watch Brahmastra on OTT, so I think I will end up watching Kalki on OTT). Instead a movie called Gaganachari captured my attention. The reviews for movie were good. It's a Malayalam sci-fi mockumentary that was not mocked by any reviewer. Instead everyone appreciated the movie. So I booked the tickets for this movie. This is one of the funniest and wierdest movie that I have seen. I am not sure I will recommend it to anyone as I think they will only observe the wierdness of the movie. But the movie has a lot more than just wierdness. It shows how storytelling can make the most impossible of scenarios plausible. At a less than modest budget, this movie depicts a convincing post disaster earth, focussing only on a small section of Kerala. That said, what made the movie click for me was the humour. I laughed.
6. Half Love, Half Arranged (Season 1): I had seen bits and pieces of this series as reels and had found them amusing. So when I found that the series was available in Amazon miniTV, I decided to watch it. The series is a short one with just six episodes, each about twenty minutes long. But miniTV being a TV has a number advertisements added to it. This made the experience a bit painful. The series itself is funny. Most of the characters are fun to watch. But I did not like the end of the series. It left it at a place that forces one to wait for the next season but somehow I felt I did not care about it. I seemed to have lost interest in the series during the last few minutes. Anyway, I will see the next season too if and when it releases. If I am unable to do so, I really don't care.
7. Bramaram: Many years back, I saw a small part of this movie and I liked it. But it is a Blessy movie. I had watched two of his movies and did not like it much. For that reason I have not watched Aadu Jeevitham yet. Also, other than Drishyams I have not liked any of the recent Mohan Lal movies either. So I never got around to watching this movie. Recently one of my friends mentioned this movie and said that Mohan Lal was terrific in this movie. So I decided to watch it. Sure enough, Mohan Lal is terrific in this movie. He brings out the disturbed and yet decent character out well. But the movie making is terrible. It seems like an Asianet serial at many places. Other than Mohan Lal almost all other characters are loud. This makes the situations seem extremely staged. All this seems to have convined me that I would not like to go through this movie again. But I think I would like to see Mohan Lal's acting in this movie again and so might watch a fast forwarded version of this movie some time in the future. 
8. Malayalee from India: It has been sometime since I had seen a fun Nivin Pauly movie. The teasers seemed funny but even there the jokes did not seem funny. The acting seemed forced too but I still hoped it will be a good movie. It wasn't. The story seemed like a combination of many movies. In that sense the movie is a paisa vasool - you get five movies at the cost of one. But that is not the issue with the movie. It does not flow well and worse the acting is forced. Nivin’s interactions with the Pakisthani character are good and is funny in some situation but other than that even Nivin has not acted well in the movie. For a disappointing movie, the ending is even more disappointing. It is cringe worthy. Ultimately, it is not a movie worth watching even on OTT.
9. Dune:I had heard that the David Lynch made this movie is the 80’s and that it did not get good reviews. Yet, when Prime threw this movie at me, I could not resist the temptation to watch it. I think the movie deserved all the terrible reviews that it received. The movie is terrible in most, if not all, departments. The only thing interesting about the movie is watching Sting make a fool of himself in a few scenes. It is interesting to note that the negative characters in the movie displayed too much energy and all the positive characters seem spaced out. It seems they were all high when they acted in the movie. Their eyes stared into infinity as they whispered nonsense, AT some points I had to rewind to hear their words. Still, I don’t regret watching this movie. It was an experience that one must have at least… No, not at least. Its once and only once in one's life.
10. Manaadu: This movie was a rage when it was released in the theatres. Its was STR’s come back movie. It is directed by Venkat Prabhu. S J Suryah’s acting was the talk of the town. Yet, I did not want to watch the movie in the theatres. In general, I don’t watch Tamil movies in the theatres, not because I dislike the movies. But most Tamil movies have something that is terribly disappointing in it. I am usually annoyed just watching many of them on OTT. So, I gave this one a miss. Also, the movie is based on ‘Source Code’, which is a movie I love, and I was pretty sure Venkat Prabhu, will not be able to do justice to that movie. I was right and wrong. The first half of the movie is not great. But the second half is good. STR’s dialogue delivery continues to be annoying. It is so annoying that I am unable to remember how he acted. The explanation for the recurring events that occur in the Hollywood movie was explained using science but we being Indians brought in gods and mythology into it. The explanation is not unbearable. It is cheesy to hear the actors mouth it with a serious expression on their faces. I might have lived with it if I had not watched ‘Source code’. On the whole, like most Venkat Prabhu movies, this one is a decent entertainer – timepass.
11. Thoramukham: I was very unhappy to see Nivin Pauly in ‘Malayalee from India” and so wanted to see another movie of his. I found this one. It also has Joju George and Arjun Ashokan in it. The movie was directed by Rajeev Ravi. Its rating was not too high, but it seemed interesting, and Rajeev Ravi is a good director. So, I picked it. It is a terrific movie. The direction, screenplay, cinematography and editing are great. The background music is superb. Poornima Indrajit is absolutely fantastic in the movie. She brings out the aging of a person well, though her makeup is not great.The movie tells a sad story and yet it seemed like a poetry. I was reminded of the first few scenes of the movie ‘Lion’ but in Thuramukham it is consistent and the whole movie maintains the flow. The climax is great and got me pumped up. I think this would have been a good theatre experience movie. 
12. Garudan: This movie fits the description I had said some time back about Tamil movies. This movie was a hit and has good reviews. Yet, it is a terrible movie. It seems like a rehash of all the Sashi Kumar movies. I did not like the movie at all. Soori is ok. Unni Mukundhan is not much of a bad guy. I have no opinion about Sashi Kumar. On the whole, this was a waste of my time. 
13. Jai Ganesh: I was so disappointed by Unni Mukundhan in Garudan that I had to watch a movie where he is not a bad guy. But the character he is playing in this movie is too complex for him to portray and he ends up hamming through the role. Since he is stuck to the wheelchair through the movie, he does not get a chance to beat up people. So, he has to act but that is not his forte. The theme of the movie is reasonably good. But as usual the scientific concepts thrown through the movie sound quite iffy (Chlorine gas becomes poisonous when a child is exposed to it for 12 hours not 11 hours and 58 minutes but exactly 12 hours). I think it is not a movie worth spending one’s time on though it is not really a bad movie, like ‘Garudan’ or ‘Malayalee…’.
14. Journey of Love 18+: The theme of this movie is outright terrible. It justifies everything from (nearly) underage  marriage to women having pills to keep their period away. I found it inappropriate on many occasions. The movie uses a caste based issue as a justification for all the nonsense. Yet, when looked at as a medium for entertainment, it is funny and moves along very well. The story appalled me and yet I laughed at the comedy. It is a great case for how story telling forms the crux of a movie. I should not have watched this movie or should have at least stopped watching it half way but I did not.
15. Tamilikku en onnai azhuthavum: This movie was well received by critics. It has Dinesh and Nakul on the poster and I did not really care for either of them. But for variety of content I decided to watch it. It is an interesting movie, which is inspired by many non-linear narrations that came earlier. It is not well made though. The attempt to mix in humour with serious siutation makes it annoying to watch. It had to be an edge of the seat thriller and the humour had to be subtle. But most of the humour is on the face and plain stupid. This made the movie tiresome in the second half. The ending was absolutely terrible and unintentionally laughable. I don't think it was worth a watch.
16. A Haunting in Venice: I wanted to watch a movie of the thriller genre and so I picked this. I had watched Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express, a few years back and liked it.  I also remember fondly, the series Poirot that I had watched many decades back in Doordarshan. So I gave this one a shot. I enjoyed it. It was spooky and went smoothly. The person responsible for the crimes did not come as a surprise but the flow of the movie is interesting and more than the revelation the reason becomes more important by the end of the movie. I liked the fact that in the end, I was not clear if the supernatural element had a part to play in the movie or not. 
17. Death on the Nile: 'A Haunting in Venice' had some reference to this movie. This movie also had some identifiable people in the star cast like Gal Gadot and Ali Zafar. This movie was well received too. It is a good watch. Once again the ultimate villain and scheme did not surprise me. But the build up to the revelation is good. As a plus, the movie is set in Egypt, which is always a pleasure to watch. A good thriller. I am running out of movies in Prime, XStream and HotStar. I think I have to start on NetFlix.
18. Bose - Dead/Alive (Series): Damn it! I got conned into watching this. I thought this is a movie but it is a series from Ekta Kapur factory. It's not bad. It has Rajkumar Rao, who is convincing as Bose. The series is watchable. I really liked the background score. It covers a lot of ground, from Bose's early life to his presumed death and his presumed life after his presumed death. So it rushes through the scenes and ultimately leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction. The English and German characters speak in Hindi with an English accent, which should have been terribly cheesy but surprisingly I did not find it so. It also ends abruptly. The last part of the series covers a lot of ground with words written on the screen and a background narrator explaining it. The series had to be atleast twice as long for it to do justice to the material.

Movies - February 2024

Count from August 2023: 119

February 2024 - 20 movies and series

1. Garudan: The 100th movie/series on this list. I wanted to watch this movie on the day it was released but I was not sure about its quality. Later, I heard that the movie got good reviews but the moment had passed and I did not feel like watching it. The movie came up as a suggestion when I watched Antony and I decided to watch it. Unfortunately, I got to know an important point in the plot of the movie while watching it and so the element of suspense was lost. I wonder if I would have guessed it anyway. The details of the twist are interesting and makes the movie watchable. The main element of the plot is similar to a hindi series that I had watched a few months back. So I get the feeling that this would have given a clue too. For some reason though this is a better made movie than Antony, I liked that movie better. Not that I will watch either of these movies again. I found Suresh Gopi annoying. The dialogues in English and his delivery sounds artificial. Biju Menon was good for most of the movie but goes overboard towards the end. Overall, its an ok movie. It only became interesting thirty minutes before the endand that is not a good news for a movie in this genre. I am glad I did not watch it in the theatres. 
2. Tholvi FC: I want to see Kaathal desperately. There is so much noise about the excellentness of the movie that I want to see it undisturbed. But that is difficult at home. Unless I go to the theaters, I watch movies while I am involved in some other activity. There is too much to be done at home and so I get little time to sit to watch a movie. So to pass time till I get the time to watch a movie without distractions, I watched this movie. It is a comedy, it has many people from 'Premam' and it has an IMDB rating of 6.8. So why not! It is yet another feel good malayalam movie. So many things go wrong for the members of the family, who specialize in not winning (or losing, I am not sure which) and yet no one seems sad. The other interesting point is that each member of the family keeps losing money on their different ventures and yet they have enough money to lose and live well. This is not exactly unbelievable. I have been through that situation many times in the past 12 years. The movie in that sense is motivating - Keep spending and losing money as one can be sure that money will reach you from some unexpected source. I liked the movie. It is not really a comedy. A few scenes are funny but at most times, it felt light hearted. The misery of the people on screen did not affect me. As expected things brighten up in the end else the movie can go on for ever or the movie can never end or worse, the movie might be considered an art movie. But the good part is that the happiness at the end does not seem miraclous or terribly cheesy. I kept thinking "Yeah! That could happen. Did it not happen to me? So it could happen to anyone!" Also, I was surprised by how the movie causually inserts a disturbing aspect into it. The incident has a good message surrounding it but was inserted without being preachy. Good movie to watch once with no expectations. One crib: Why has Sharafudeen become such a serious actor? I really miss the 'kozhi' of 'Premam'.
3.  Philips: Yet another movie that I watched as I did not have the totally undistracted time required to watch Kaathal. This movie has Mukesh in the lead, which these days does not guarantee a good movie. But the movie has received good reviews. It is yet another malayalam feel good movie. Also, it is Innocent's last role in the film world. It has an IMDB rating of 7.1. These are reasons enough to watch the movie. I loved it. I loved almost every frame of the movie. The actors are superb. The two girls and the boy, acting as Philip's children, are very good. They look familiar and yet I can't remember seeing them in any movie. So they appear fresh. The movie is taken well, it is touching and yet not melodramatic. Mukesh is good too but I have seen so many of his movies that his expressions are guessable. Innocent is terrific and I felt sad about the actor's passing away as the movie progressed. Its a beautiful movie.
4. Judgement at Nuremberg: I was still not ready to watch Kaathal and went looking out for another movie. I landed with this one. The name is interesting. The events of World war 2 and its aftermath are always interesting to read and observe. Besides the movie had a high IMDB rating. Sure enough, this is an incredible movie. It is like a documentary. Only a few scenes have background music. The actors are so good that it seems like they lived through the experience. There is a lot to learn from the movie, especially in these polarized times. The ending is absolutely brilliant. At the end, there is a good line mentioned by of the characters, "To be logical is not to be right". I am not sure if I would have thought so earlier. Prime Videos is one of the best things that has happened to my life. I have seen movies that I would not even have heard of otherwise. Whoever is reading this, watch this movie.
5. Thelma and Louise: I started watching the series Superman and Lois. I don't think I like it much but am not able to drop it. It is a family drama that borders on melodrama and yet is not completely boring. But at the end of every two episodes, I feel like taking a break. This and the next few movies, are seen while taking a break from the series. The series has completed three seasons and each season seem to be 15 to 17 episodes long and so this will go on for some time. I have heard about Thelma and Louise for a long time but somehow thought it is an unhappy movie and so avoided it. Recently, I realized (or got reminded) that the movie is directed by Ridley Scott. So I clicked on the 'Watch now' button on Prime. At first I could not get into the movie. I like Susan Sarandon and she holds the movie well. I do not have an opinion on Geena Davis but she lived up to the character's expectation and was annoying. I was ready to write her off as stupid when the second part of the movie transformed her. This is not a long movie and still the director was able to bring about this transformation in her character gradually and convincingly. I think that is the best part of the movie I liked the best. I loved the last 15 minutes of the movie. The close up shots of Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis' towards the end were brilliant. I should have watched this movie earlier.
6. Capote: I remeber Capote due to the Academy award that Phillip Seymour Hoffman won. Till I watched the movie, I thought this movie was about the life of a gangster. As stupid as I feel, I have to admit humbly that I had no idea who Truman Capote was. As I watched the movie, I felt annoyed by Phillips Seymour Hoffman but that I think is the intent. I don't think that Capote was a likable character and the actor portrayed it well. I was thrilled to see that one of the characters in the movie is Harper Lee. I love the book 'To kill a mockingbird' and to learn something about the author at the time of its publishing makes the movie interesting. The most impressive aspect of the movie was that it challenged my tendency to identify the good from the bad. There are many movies that deal with the greyness of a character but I don't think any movie deals with this topic as well as this movie. I found it very difficult to segregate any of the three persons at the centre as good or bad. The toughest was Capote. I was never sure if he was a selfish bastard who manipulated the other two and others around him or a person with soft heart. The last few minutes of the movie were beautiful. The movie made me want to order the book the development of which is shown in the movie - 'In cold blood'. But I did not order it.  
7. Me before you: Valentine's day is round the corner and it seems cupid has struck me. I wanted to fall in love. As that is not a possibility in real life, something even better happened. I fell in love with people falling in love with each other and it was beautiful. It started off with this movie. It was a suggestion in Prime for the movie 'Pride and Prejudice', which for me is the greatest love story (both on film and on paper). It is a British rom-com and so I had a lot of hope for it -  Remember 'Notting Hill', another greatest rom-com ever. I started watching this movie at 10:00 pm two days prior to Valentine's day. I thought I will watch 15 minutes of the movie and go to bed. At midnight I got off my chair, wiped a tear drop attempting to flow down my left cheek and switched off the lights. I could only grab four and a half hours of sleep and the next day I walked into the office with a heavy weight weighing my head down. Emilia Clarke plays the lead in the movie. I have only seen one episode of 'Games of thrones' and so have no idea how she is in the series. But I have seen a snip of her interact with Matt Le Blanc in the Graham Norton show and she seemed to be adept at playing roles in which men fall in love with her the moment they see her. Sure enough the hero of the movie falls in love with her the moment he sees her. But his position is such that he cannot express it. So we go through 60 odd minutes of her clawing through his fortress to open up his heart to her. In this movie, Emilia Clarke does what she does well well. Though at times, the muscles on her face contort worryingly. I wondered if it could be CGI but then I remembered the interview and in it too she indulged in similar facial gymnastics. The ending of the movie is brilliant. I felt too lazy to get up and find a napkin or a bucket else I would have cried bucketloads. I might watch this movie again in a few years or maybe not.
8. The map of tiny perfect things: The sweetest and cutest movie that I have seen. I love this movie. Its unbelievably cute and to top it is good to watch too. It has elements of science in it. It is inspired from the movie 'The Groundhog day', the characters in the movie say so openly. The lead pair is fantastic. To top it, it is a love story. What a combination! The lead characters are energetic and take the movie along well. The screenplay moves along well too. The movie brings out the boredom of living the same day over and over again, well. The ending was good too. The reason for the repetition of the day is also tied up well at the end of the movie. On the whole, a movie that I would love to watch sometime in the not too distant future.
9. What if: This one's not the Marvel animation movie. This is the one with Daniel Radcliffe. A predictable but cute love story. The lead pair is good and so the movie is a good watch. The movie reminded me of 'Notthing Hill'. An impossible love story becomes possible as the lead pair find it impossible to not be with each other. The movie seems to be another attempt at proving that men and women can never be friends. Maybe I worder that too strongly. I should have said, men and women can never be best friends. So any one out there having a best friend belonging to the opposite sex should watch out. One slip and the pair of lips might end up meeting each other. I watched this on Feb 14 and this valentines day ended up being more romantic than any other. I had to watch the last 20 minutes of the movie at office as I could not stand the suspense of how the movie would end though it was clear to me how it will end the minute I started watching the movie. I am not sure if I will watch this movie again. Its cute but is still generic. Daniel Radcliffe, like Emilia Clarke, can suddenly display a plethora of expressions on his face.  
10. Manchester by the sea: Valentine's day has come and gone. It is time to get romance off my life. Frankly, I tried watching a couple of rom-coms but they started off so badly that I could not watch beyond the 15th minute of the movies. I was also worried that I will have to go back to Superman and Lois. I was not ready for the series yet. I had to find another movie. I found this movie under the category of award winners in Prime Video. It has an over 7 IMDB rating. It is an amazing movie. It's like a poetry on reel. A very sad movie that deals with the death of a loved one in detail. But it is not just about that death but a few other deaths that occurred in the past. Death lingers throughout the movie. The screenplay is superb. The placement of the flashbacks is unbelievable. In one sequence the director effectively shows a person remembering his past as he tries to deal with a conversation that he is having. In those scenes, I could almost feel what that character felt. I think that is the best thing about this movie. I could live through it. It shows boredom, sadness and guilt beautifully. I don't think I remember watching any other movie that brought out these feelings so effectively. Casey Affleck is superb and quite deservedly, he won the oscar for this performance. The use of classical music in the background adds a beautiful touch to the movie. I am glad I watched this movie.
11. Gone baby gone: Two reasons for choosing this movie - It also has an academy award nomination and it has Casey Affleck in the lead. The movie is directed by Ben Affleck, whose movie Argo was good. This is the first movie he directed. It is a crime thriller but not in the usual sense. The intent of the movie is not to determine how or why the crime was committed nor is it about solving the case. This was obvious from the beginning of the movie but it becomes clear in the last 15 minutes. These 15 minutes takes the movie to another level. I was reminded of the experience I had while watching Capote. In that movie, the question that ran through my head was "Who is good and Who is bad?" Here, it was "What is the right thing to do and what would definitely be a mistake?" As in the case of the former, here too there were no answers for the question. At the end of the movie, the story, the crime or the thriller was not important. I was left with an uneasy feeling. It should have been an happy ending but it seemed like anything but a happy ending. A thoughful movie.
12. True grit: This one came as a suggestion from another movie, I think. It was also an Academy award winner. It is a western and I was not really in a mood to watch it. But then I did not want to go back to Superman and Lois. So I started watching it. At the end of the titles, the movie announced that the directors of the movie as Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. All the doubts I had about watching the movie disappeared. My first Coen brothers movie was 'Blood Simple'. I watched it at Subham Theatre a few decades back. I am not sure why, but I liked the movie. Since then I have watched many of their movies. They are all good with some like 'No country for old men' being spectacular. This one is not spectacular but it is a good movie. It was able to hold my attention well. All the lead actors play their characters well. There's intrigue in the movie as it is not clear for a major part of the movie who the villain is. But ultimately the villain is not important. The journey that takes place while tracking the villain is interesting. As is the case with many of the movies that I watched recently, the ending is interesting and that helped me in ending the movie on a happy note. Incidentally, this is the highest grossing movie made by the Coen brothers.
13. Air:  I started watching this movie for three reasons - Its directed by Ben Affeck, it has Matt Damon in the cast and it is about Air Jordan. As a bonus, I got Chris Tucker too. As I watched the movie, I found it amazing that a movie based on a business deal could be made this interesting. It is like a thriller. I think it is a good movie to show to younger people too for it bring out the aspect related to perseverance, doing one's homework and thinking out of the box well. This and the other movies directed by Ben Affleck make me wonder why I did not like him earlier. He is not a bad actor but I don't think he is good actor either. Maybe that is the problem. The humour in the movie is good too. I laughed out loud when I heard the exchange between Chris Tucker and Matt Damon as they talked about Nike's slogan. "That damn slogan came from a convict about to get executed in front of a firing squad and they asked him 'what's your last words?'" "Just do it?" "Yes". 
14. Kaathal - The core: At long last, I watched Kaathal. I kept away from it for a long time. Everyone praised the movie to the sky and yet I did not watch it. It stayed in my watchlist for long, like the character played by Jyothika in the movie. The theme of the movie, is not a happy one and that played a part in keeping me away from it. The director's previous movie 'The Great Indian Kitchen' was a tough movie to watch. So I thought that this would be a tough movie to watch too. Ironically at the end of the movie I was disappointed that the movie was not really tough. The incidents in the movie seemed uncomfortable but were not tough to sit through. The ending was a big disappointment - it made the movie a feel good movie. This made the movie seem unrealistic. I am not sure if real life is as forgiving as it is shown in the movie. Mamooty is great but Jyothika is Jyothika. She thinks her lack of expression is acting. Unfortunately, it means she is not acting. It is fortunate that she has forsaken the South Indian movies for Bollywood. She should stay there. I don't think this is a movie worth waiting for. 
15. The founder: This came as a suggestion at the end of the movie 'Air'. I started watching it due to the presence of Michael Keaton. I am not sure I have seen many movies of his but I liked him in every movie I watched. I have always felt comfortable when I watched him on screem. But not in this movie. I did not have any idea on the inception of Mac. But the movie surprised me with the diabolical manner in which Mac became this big. As in the case of many interesting movies, it erases the line between good and bad and success and failure. Michael Keaton is so good that he is annoying as hell. Like Air, this is yet another business movie that is interesting to watch but unlike Air, this is a not feel good movie, if anything, this is a feel bad movie.
16. Bramayugam: I had decided to watch the movie the minute I saw the first posters of the movie. Mamooty's look and the black and white feel in the poster made it seem interesting. I did not see the teasers or the trailers of the movie. I booked the tickets for the movie soon after it was released. Watching the first half of the movie is simply one of the best cinematic experiences I have had in my life. I felt trapped in that old house like Thevan. It was spooky and uncomfortable. The scare that I felt was a lot more oppressing than I had felt in any horror movie. Incidentally, I don't like the horror genre at all. I hate jumping out of my seat due to a scream or an ugly face popping out of nowhere. But in this case, there were only one or two such instance . The second half was not as good. It was not bad but the hold that the movie had in the first half was lost. Maybe, this movie should be watched without an interval. The ending, though, was brilliant. Though the movie has layers as many have analysed, I loved it at as a straight forward movie watching experience. I went for the movie a second time, as the other two in the family had not seen it. That was on Sivarathri night. I was stuck at a spot close to the theatre for nearly 30 minutes. Finally, I had to ask the two of them to walk to the theatre and I went in later. I also had a call 30 minutes into the movie. So I missed most of the first half of the movie.   
17. 11.22.63: Someone mentioned about this book written by Stephen King and a week later I found that there is a series by the same name. I started watching it. James Franco plays the lead in the series and I find it comfortable to watch him on screen. The story is interesting (obviously, it is written by Stephen King). Sarah Gadon, plays her character beautifully. I found the chemistry between Franco and her incredible. As a result, this series is as much a romance as it is a thriller. I liked that time itself plays the role of a villain role in this series. The ending I thought was predictable but not disappointing. A good watch.
18. Nna thaan case kodu: This is one of the funniest movies that I have seen in recent times. It is a satire and it is a court drama. The actors are brilliant, especially P.P.Kunhikrishnan. His dialogues and expression are funny. Wierdly, I can't remember much of the movie though it has only been a few weeks since I have watched the movie. That probably is a good thing. I can watch the movie again.
19. Boy and the world: I picked this one randomly. It is an animation movie from Brazil and it has message about capitalism, environment and all. It also tries to drive in the point as it speaks through the eye of a child. I am getting a little tired of the movies with such messages as they don't seem to change much in us humans. I have become (or always was) cynical and I think so have many people around the world. That said, the movie is good on the eyes. Its imaginative and colourful. The animation is interesting too. I will not watch this movie again but am glad I did.
20. Falimy: Another true entertainer from the Malayalam film world. This is not funny from the beginning to end. The story is not a happy one but the premise is amusing and some of the incidents are really amusing too. Basil's timing is perfect. Of course, Manju Pillai and Jagadesh are legendary. A good watch. I think I will probably revisit it some time in the future. Ehh... Maybe not. Too many movie to watch can't afford to rewatch movies unless there is a strong familial reason to do so.

PS: I have given up on Superman and Lois. I will not go back to that series.

Movie - November 2023

Count from August 2023: 71.

November 2023: 11 Movies and series

1. Shutter Island: This movie appears on many lists of the greatest psychological thriller movies. I have been considereing watching it for a long time. Finally, I did when I was reminded that this is a Scorsese - DiCaprio movie. A good thriller. It starts off at one place and twists into another place by the end. I did not guess the twist for a long time. At one point, the twist started appearing but I was not sure about it. The twist was an uncomfortable one and I wished it was not true. But by the end it was clear that it was true and I felt terribly unhappy. A great movie. I will not watch it again.
2. Master: I don't like Vijay, the actor. Most, if not all, his movies have two big problems - his dialogue delivery and his acting. This effectively means, I should avoid watching his movies and to a great extent, I have been successful at avoiding them. 'Beast' was the first Vijay movie that I have seen in the theaters and though I had a good laugh, it was not a good movie. I have never felt the desire to see that movie again though I laughed at its silliness as I watched it. Of course, Vijay hammed through the role like he usually does. For these reasons, I gave Master a miss when it was released. I am not a big fan to Vijay Sethupati either (could it be that I have a block against the name 'Vijay'). I did not see the movie when it was released on OTT either. But I suddenly felt the urge to watch the movie. I liked the movie. Both the Vijays were not annoying and the story was interesting. I did not end up with a feeling that I should have watched the movie earlier - it was not that good. Will not disappoint one's so-what-should-I-watch-on-Prime-now urge.
3. Loki (season 2): The first part of Loki was excellent and it ended at a point that ensured that I would watch the second season. I did and I loved it. Its complex and great to watch. Tom Hiddleston is fantastic. When compared to season one this season is a lot more serious. I missed the funny part of season 1 but the makers maintained the tension well and I was engrossed in the proceedings. The end of the season seemed like the end of the series itself but one never knows. The internet is filled with speculation on how the ending of the series would affect the MCU but I don't think it would affect much. The makers of the MCU movies and series will make adjustments to their stories to fit the end of Loki season 2 into it. The conviction of Jonathan Majors, makes the continuation of Kang as a villain complex but I am sure MCU will work with that too. Ultimately, nothing really matter, its all a story after all and stories can be taken wherever the story teller desires to take it.
4. Upload (season 3): I loved Upload season 1. Sometime back I got the idea that human beings can live forever if human thought can be transferred out of a brain into a computer. This series is based on this idea and I was thrilled to see the idea being reproduced well on screen. The first season of the series was really good. The second one was good. The romance between the lead characters, reached a crescendo at the end of the second season. Thus, most of the third season focussed on the relation between these two characters and this made the series miserable. Three months have passed since I watched this season of Upload and I don't remember much about it. It was not interesting but I watched it anyway. Did not want to leave the story hanging. I think I will try and watch the next season too but if its like the current one then I would have no choice but drop it in the middle.
5. Deadpool 1: I have been thinking of watching this movie for a long time. Many people have raved about it but I somehow did not want to watch it. On watching the movie, I realized why. The reason was that I was sure I will not like the movie and sure enough, on watching it I realized I did not like this movie. It cool, sarcastic, funny, different from anything I have seen and all but I did not like this movie. It did not keep me occupied. The only scene I remember is Deadpool killing Ryan Reynold as he read the script of 'Green Lantern'. That scene was funny. I laughed, rewound, watched again and laughed again. I guess that scene alone makes this movieworth watching. 
6. Deadpool 2: Deadpool 1 was interesting and had some good jokes. It should have been a good movie but I did not like it. But to complete the deadpool scene I watched the second part. It been two months since I have seen this movie and I don't remember much of the movie. There is someone who comes from the future and tries to stop someone who ... Oh! How does it matter! This is a generic entertainer that does not deserve all the hype it receives. But I will watch Deadpool 3 when it is released. I guess it's due to FOMO.
7. Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 2: I had seen some parts of this movie many months back but I had dropped off in the middle as there were too many things happening in life and movies were the last thing in my mind. Then I heard that the third part of the movie is really good. I missed watching it in theatres. But I had a chance to watch in the Disney + Hotstar. So I decided to watch that movie but I could not do so without watching the second part. So I watched this. Its a decent movie at best. It is not as interesting at the first or third part. As in third part this gives the backstory of one of the characters but this one is not as interesting as the one in the third part. So its ok-ok. 
8. Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 3: I am not a big fan of the MCU though I have watched many movies of that universe. But Guardian of Galaxy series in one of the best in that universe. Chris Pratt is funny and cool. Zoe Saldaña plays the no nonsense role well. The Racoon, Groot and other big fellow are funny. The part 1 of the series was really good and the songs in the movie are great too. Bringing back the songs of 80s and 90s and making it an integral part of the movie pushed the movie up a notch or two. The third part of the series, is better than the second and is almost as good as the first. The serious back story of one of the characters that runs through the movie gives some heavy material to the movie. It is a good movie to watch, though I don't believe I will watch the movie again (even on OTT).
9. Napolean: At some time in the past, I heard that Ridley Scott is making a movie on Napolean and that Joaquin Phoenix is playing the role of Napolean. I had decided then that I would see the movie in the theatre. Soon the happenings in my life, pushed the movie off my head. I saw its trailer during the screening of "Killers of the Flower Moon". Soon after the movie was released, I watched it, at IMAX. I was warned the movie was disgusting by a friend, but it did not matter. I would have liked the movie if it was another hour longer. Ridley Scott mocked Scorsese about the length of his movie, but I think his own movie suffered due to it being shorter than required. The IMAX experience did not make much of an impression on me. I guess I was engrossed in the movie and the largeness of the screen was forgotten as I watched it.
10. Paatal Lok (season 1): I had heard about this series for long, but did not bother to watch. But after Dahaad I ran out of hindi series that seemed interesting. That's when I remembered about this series and how people raved about it. For some reason, I thought that series was of mythological nature - I mean, involving humans and shaitans in some manner. But the reference to paatal is metaphorical. I was a trifle disappointed but unnecessarily actually. Great series. Kept me at the edge of my seat. It started with a lot of curse words and brutality but as the season proceeded, it started focusing on the story at hand. That does not mean it is not dirty and brutal, its just that it dirtiness and brutality seemed relevant to the story. I loved the fact that the series is about a crime that is foiled. It is a search for the intention. In that sense it is not the thriller where we are looking forward to find the person responsible for the crime. I did not care about the intention behind the crime. All that I was interested in was the way the series was laid out. Of course, the brilliant cast helped in making the series interesting to watch.
11. Wakanda Forever: What a terrible movie! A lot of sentiments that did not affect me at all. Too many cliches. Also, the end credit scenes completely messed the movie. Anyway, I don't have much else to say. The only thing I liked about the movie is the kadi joke based on the movie title that I heard a few months back - If Black Panther sits down, he will never get up, Why? Because okkandha forever.

Movies - January 2024

Count from August 2023: 99.

January 2024 - 14 movies and series

1. Neymar: Someone told me that this is a fun movie to watch. I had seen another movie, Jo and Jo, in which the two boys who played the leads in this movie have acted and I liked that movie. So I decided to watch this movie. I should add that the two "boys" are no longer "boys". The movie has a dog at its centre and the expressions of the dog have been captured well. The dog is a rock star. The first half of the movie is fun but the second half is filled with cliché and I ended up forwarding some of the edge of the seat moments in the movie. A decent one time watch movie.
2. Shatranj ke Khiladi: I saw a reel in which an actor playing Satyajit Ray receives a phone call from a student of film making from New York. The student says that he had watched the Apu series recently and was inspired by it. At the end of the call he introduces himself as Martin Scorsese. I felt impressed. I wondered if its true and searched for it on Google. I found a YouTube video that had Scorsese talking about Satyajit Ray. He was introducing the screening of Ray's Bollywood movie "Shatranj ke Khiladi". In the talk, he mentioned that he was inspired by the Apu series. As I was watching the video I realized that I had not seen a Ray movie for many years (decades?) now. I have seen "Shatranj ke Khiladi" but I think at that time I considered it a boring art movie and don't remember enjoying it. A few years later, I watched "Pather Panchali" and loved it. Since then I have seen a few other movies by Ray but don't remember many. So I decided to search for "Shatranj ke Khiladi" on YouTube. I found it and watched it. I liked the movie. Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jafferi are so good that they keep our minds off the the serious theme of the movie. I also liked Amjad Khan as the king. Usually, I like to watch a movie at its face value and not look for layers. It just makes the movie watching process too intellectual and responsible. Since this is a movie by Satyajit Ray I am sure there are underlying layers. The only one I could find was that the common people are not really bothered with the politics of Governance. They just want to live their lives. Anyway, I think I will watch a few other Ray movies in the future.
3. The Missouri Breaks: Marlon Brando's Napolean in "Désirée" stoked my curiosity towards the actor. I wanted to watch a few of his movies, especially his earlier movies. I had seen him in "Godfather" and "Superman" but the movies by themselves formed a greater impression on me than the actor itself. So I searched Prime Video and found this movie. The movie stars Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. On paper, it seemed like a treat but the reviewers at the time of the release of the movie, 1976, did not like the movie. But since then the movie seemed to have become a sort of cult favourite, also IMDB gave a rating above 7. So I watched it. The movie is interesting, I liked watching it. Interestingly, Marlon Brando play a role that I usually associated with Jack Nicholson, at least in 80s and 90s. Nicholson has a straight forward role, with a slight negative shade. Marlon Brando was just annoyingly superb in the movie. He reminded me of many characters played by Joaquin Phoenix. Could he have been inspired by Brando? Prime Video has the good feature of providing information and trivia about the movie being watched; for many movies and not for all. Many a times, I pause the movie to read the trivia. In this movie, it is said that Brando improvised so much that the Director gave up and let him do what he wants. This is a good movie to watch. Once again the ending is clichéd as hell but that's ok.
4. Ronin: I had kept this movie in my watchlist for long. It has Robert De Niro and received  good reviews. Apparently, the car chases through Nice, in the movie, are good. The director John Frankenheimer was a famous director though I don't think I have seen any movie of his other than 'The Manchurain Candidate'. Unfortunately, I movie did not interest me. I don't think the movie has aged well. The chases might have been interesting in 1998 but I found it difficult to not press the forward button. During the climax, I had to press the forward button. The climax had twists and surprises for sure but by then I had lost interest in the movie. Till the end I had no idea who the villain of the movie was and when I found out in the end, I did not care. There are few interesting scenes but other than that I did not find anything interesting about the movie. 
5. You were never really here: Many lists that I have seen in the recent months have this movie as a must watch movie. I started watching this movie but the beginning of the movie itself seemed disturbing. So I stopped it and started watching the series "The Boys". Next day, afternoon, I packed lunch to the office, bread and egg, and decided to have it at my desk itself. I started watching the movie while having my lunch. The movie is terribly disturbing but it is taken beautifully. The cinematography and editing is good. The background music defines the movie. It sets the mood for every scene beautifully. As usual, Joaquin Phoenix is good and carries the movie on his shoulder. The movie does not have many dialogues and yet conveys its message effectively. I would not like to watch this movie again.
6. The Boys (Season 1): I have heard a lot about this series and even attempted to watch it once. But it seemed too gory and sexual. I watched two parts and dropped it. In recent times, I felt the urge to watch movies that I have not heard of or have heard about in distant past. The search led me to some interesting movies. 'You ere never really here' was one such movie. Now I am tired of the search and also, most of these movies are of disturbing nature. Not many well made comedies are available. So I decided to watch a series as that will at least keep me off the search for a few weeks. I picked 'The Boys' as I thought it was some super hero nonsense and yet it had a high rating in IMDB. The series has completed three seasons and the fourth one is round the corner. So I thought it will keep me occupied me for sometime. Unfortunately, the series turned out to be as disturbing as some of the movies I had seen. The basic premise of the series seems simple but as it proceeds the complexity increases and more characters came in. Season 1 ends at an interesting and frustrating point. Fortunately, I did not have to wait for long to watch the second season as it was readily available. The sex and violence is quite disturbing and so I cannot recommend this series for anyone though the theme perse is good and quite relevant to today's world.
7. The Boys (Season 2): The basic premise of the first season gets taken care of in the first few episodes of this season. The theme broadens and takes a serious tone in the second season. It continues to be bloody, sweaty and juicy. But in a way it talks about today's polarized world and how easy it is for leaders to use people's beliefs to swerve them off the path of fairness and justice. This series is a good black comedy-drama. Sadly, it is not accessible for many people. I will continue to go through the series till it ends. As I write this, I am watching the first episode of season 3 and I feel tired of it. I have parked it the whole day and am tempted to watch something else. But I think I will go back to it tomorrow and finish the series in the next four or five days. Then I will wait a few months for season 4 to come out.   
   
   Thaikudam Bridge concert: This is not the eighth entry as this is not a movie. But it is worth a mention here. Oh! More than worth a mention. There was some mess ups and heartaches about a Thaikudam Bridge concert that happened a few months back. It stayed with me for the past few months. So when Facebook informed me that the Thaikudam Bridge are playing in Bangalore on a day when I was in that city, I decided to book the ticket. Book my show showed that the tickets started at Rs. 999 but by the time I booked, the cheapest tickets available costed over 2000 bucks a seat. But we had to attend this concert and so I booked the ticket. The only issue was that it was in a hall, I had already seen them a few years back at Music Academy in Chennai. Though the band played well, the concert was not fun. I also attended a John McLaughlin concert a few years later (or earlier) at the same hall and that was not fun either. So I hoped the issue was with the hall and not the group itself. Maybe that hall was made for sa-sa-sa-ri-ri kind of concerts. 
   
   On the day of the concert, we arrived at the hall on time. As expected, malayalam seemed the national language of the hall. Our seats were somewhere in the middle of the hall. The hall itself was packed. Just after 7 pm, an MC started talking. He talked nonsense; not worth remembering or repeating here. At 7:20 pm, the stage darkened and the band walked in. They set themselves up. Soon the LED screen behind lighted up and the band started playing the song Navarasam. The song by itself is superlative but when it combined with the LED screen, the experience was mind blowing. It was a great, great, great concert. At the end of it, I walked out feeling sad that it had come to an end. The next day at 7:30 pm I looked at my watch and thought, yesterday we were watching the concert at this time. My young concert mate, started searching the web for the next Thaikudam Bridge concert. I am so fortunate to have attended the concert and I will see them again if they come anywhere close to Chennai or Bangalore (Not true! They are playing at Mahabalipuram this weekend and I have no plans to attend the concert. It is not a concert but a part of some two day programme and I don't have the patience to go through two days of programmes).
     
8. Captain Miller: I checked my mobile as soon as I woke up. He had sent a message the previous night, It read "...tomorrow some guys are gonna watch thenew Dhanush movie in Balaji theatre at 4. Can I go or stay for family time?" I got all choked up feeling the affection the boy had for his family. I asked his mother "His friends are going for Captain Miller and he wants to go too?" She responded "Let him go. He will get bored otherwise." I typed back "go ahead". Late that evening, he came back from the theatre after watching Captain Miller. He said it was interesting and that he enjoyed watching the movie. I had seen the trailer and it seemed interesting but I don't really like Dhanush. I realize half the world thinks he is the best thing to happen to Tamil cinema after Kamalahassan but I don't like his acting much. I mean, it is not the acting, I don't like his dialogue delivery. It seems too kiddish. So I don't like to spend money to watch a Dhanush movie. So though the name 'Captain Miller' and the trailer intrigued me, I did not plan to watch the movie. But he said the movie's good and so I decided to watch it.
   
   The show started fifteen minutes late. That was annoying. I liked the movie. It is a good masala movie. Mindless and lot of action. The action sequence prior to the interval was terriffic. But the second half was a bummer. It was not bad but it was not interesting either. A movie becomes terrific when one feel one is a part of the movie and when one feels one's life depended on the action of the characters in ṭhe movie. In this case, I felt I was a part of the audience watching the action of characters on a screen. That can be entertaining at the best. That is what I felt in the second half. Dhanush was ok. I was not annoyed by his dialogue delivery in this movie but his laugh is annoying. It reminded me of the bubble in comic books with the word 'ha ha ha' written in it. The laugh of a person, who does not want to hurt the person who is trying to tickle him/her. Anyway, not a bad movie to watch, but it has to be watched in the theatre. I don't think I will like the movie, if I watch it on OTT.
9. The Boys (Season 3): The Boys marathon continues. I had to end this crap and move on. I don't mean that the show is crap. Its good but the amount of graphic violence and sex just makes it unbearable. If one takes off the super hero part then one can map the happenings on the screen to what's happening around us. The super heros on the screen can be mapped on to politician and industrialists in life. The manipulation of the common people by the politicians and media is the same as what's shown in the series. Also, I liked the emotional side of the super heros shown in the series. They are not shown strong and perfect. They are unsure and constantly in search of love and adoration. This being a series, it gets all the time it requires to develop the different aspects of many of the characters and that's fun. I miss the Billy Joel songs in this season and maybe the previous one too. In the first part had many of his songs but the character who listens to Billy Joel has changed and also many other characters have walked in. So the number of songs by the artist has gone down. That said, the soundtrack of the series is good. Overall this season was more complex than the previous two and it ends in a complicated place. This should ensure that the audience will end up watching the fourth season. It is a fun series to watch but I definitely will not recommend it to anyone.
10. Gen-V: This is an off shoot of the series "The Boys". Its about an university for the super heroes. It seems like a coming to age movie that got contaminated due to the interference of the directors of "The Boys". This one too has plenty of gore and sex. Plenty of exploding heads, exploding bodies, slashed arms, plucked out brains and ... Bloody hell, the list goes on. I don't think I enjoyed it much. Just went through it so that I can be done with it. The final three scenes are quite interesting. It seems to be placed there for people to come back and watch season 2. I am not looking forward to it but think will end up seeing it anyway. The only interesting thought that I got while watching the series is that whenever a group of people come together to form an organization, there is injustice being done to people inside and/or the organization. Organizations are driven by a value system that a new entrant might not agree with and this causes many issues for the new entrant. But one does not have to watch the series to understand this, just go to your office/college/school. 
11. The Night Manager: I started watching this series as Tom Hiddleston is the protagonist of this series. He did not make much of an impression on me in the Avenger or Thor series, where I thought he was projected as a loser. But he is fantastic in the Loki series. In the first part he is funny and in the second one he is serious. He carried the series very well. Also, he has a terrific voice. In this series, he looks terrific. Another reason to watch this series, was that it is based on a book by John Le Carre. I have only read one of his book and don't remember much about it. But I remember his books as serious spy thrillers. This series also fits into that category. Not many scenes of violence but the series is envoloped with a constant feeling of violence and tension. Tom Hiddleston is great. So are the other actors, all of whom I have seen in other movies and series. The series is produced by BBC and the class is seen through the series. It had only 6 episode and so I was able to finish it in a couple of days.
    
    A few lines from the series are interesting enough to note down here.
    
    "How long have you been married?
    Twenty years
    Well! Congratulations.
    Its marriage, not a state of bliss."
    
    
    "Alternatively, fill your pocket with stones, walk into the sea and keep going" - Tom Hollander says it so beautifully that I had to watch it three times.
    
    I really liked the series.  
12. Blood Diamond: I loved this movie. I have been wanting to see it for a long time but kept pushing it. Finally! Di Caprio is amazing and so is everyone else. A tough movie to watch. I have heard about the civil war in African countries but the movie shows how brutal it is. I can't even imagine living through this after seeing the movies. Of course, the bloodiness of the diamonds that people buy also comes out well in the movie. I have seen a few DiCaprio movies but the performances in this one and 'The Killing of the flower moon' are the ones that I will never forget. 
13. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One: This is the seventh part of the Mission Impossible series and I find it ridiculous that I am watching it. But what's worse is that I enjoyed watching it. For me, any series in movies represents a lack of imagination. I think the people involved in the making of such movie like to be creative within a limited framework. They don't have to spend time on the character development, at least for the older characters and the basic premise of the story is already setup. That said, I think it is ok to make a series of movies with three or four parts, like 'Back to the future'. But I think making a series with seven or eight parts, like Fast and the Furious, is ridiculous. However, the Mission Impossible series is different. The series seems to be getting better with each movie. I did not find the early movies to be interesting, but I have liked the last three or four movies and this one is the best. The theme is terrific; it brings AI into it very well. The incidents are quite complex. Funnily, the action sequences in the climax bored me. I don't understand why there is a fight on top of the train. This has been done in millions of movies across many decades. I found the whole train sequence in the climax boring. If they had not had those sequences then the movie would have been two and a half hours long, which is good enough. In the recent past, I have started liking Tom Cruise movies. They are nothing more than entertainment and that's all I demand from movies on many occasions. The only issue is that Tom Cruise is alway Tom Cruise. For example, I find no difference between Ethan Hunt and Reacher. They are both Tom Cruise, simple. Ethan Hunt and Reacher are good characters not because of Tom Cruise playing those roles - Ethan Hunt and Reacher are good Tom Cruises. This would be seen as a limitation in the case of other actors but Tom Cruise chooses his movies well and he is so involved in the movie making that he ensures that it is fun to watch. I will definitely watch the second part of this movie in the theater.
14. Antony: The poster of this movie did not seem interesting and so I avoided watching this movie for sometime. At times, I was tempted to watch this movie as it has Joju George in it but then I remembered 'Porinju Mariam Jose' and hesitated. That movie started well but became a mess as it went along. I don't remember much about the movie, but Joju was good in that movie, I think and the person who acted in the Mariam character left a good impression too. But over the past few weeks, I kept hearing that this movie, Antony, is good and that it performed well in box office. So I decided to watch it. The beginning seemed promising but my spirits dropped when I saw the name of the director. Joshiy was a happening director in the 1980s but for some reason I don't think his movies in this century are of the same quality. I wondered if I should stop watching the movie but then I realized that I have never run away from a bad movie. (Not true, I have done it thrice - Saajan: I was actually enjoyed watching the first half of the movie but my friend, a movie buff, felt the movie was rotten and I did not have the guts to disagree with him. The second Kaadal Desam - even A R Rahman's music could not save the movie; we thought it was better to go home in the rain rather than watch the second half of the movie. Kadhalan - What a rotten movie! Once again A R Rahman's music sounded terrible when heard in the movie.) Besides, the movie had begun reasonably well. The first half of the movie went well. Joju was good, Nyla Usha effused energy in the few scenes she appeared. Kalyani seemed spunky. Her kick boxing seemed convincing. But then the movie turned sentimental and Kalyani stopped being impressive and Nyla disappeared. Joju continued to be effective though. The climax thankfully was short and to the point but the last scene was cheesy. On the whole, I am glad I watched the movie as it increased the movie count for January to 14. I am superstitious and want to avoid the number 13 as I believe the month I stop with 13 movies will be the last month I watch a movie for that year; not life, only year. After watching the movie I realized that the 'Porinju Mariam Jose' was directed by Joshiy and Nyla, Chemban and Joju played the titular characters in the movie. If I had known that information earlier, I would not have watched this movie.

The End

Movies - December 2023

A major change took place in my life in August 2023. This resulted in my having a lot more time at hand than earlier. I had work but I could do the work while playing a movie on my laptop. Lovers of cinema might think this is not the best way to watch a movie but I don't watch a movie to be a lover of cinema. I watch movies because I like watching them and for the few hours that I am watching them I am taken away from my life to another world. So I grabbed the opportunity and let the movies run. In August I watched 26 movies but since then the numbers have reduced but the numbers are still decent. I watched most movies on OTT but a few in theatres too. I watched most of these movies alone. 

After watching a few movies, I decided that it will be important for me to keep track of these movies. So I started noting them in a draft blog entry. A few weeks later, I decided I should write something against each movie. Not really a review but the reason for me to choose the movie and my experience while watching the movie. I started it in December and am now travelling backwards to catch up while I continue to watch movies. I think the catching up will take time and also, the list is getting long. So I decided to publish the list of movies month by month.

I am done with December. So this becomes the first month to get published. I hope to go back and complete the previous months in January itself.

Note: I watched a few series too and I have included them in this list.

Count from August 2023: 85.

December 2023 - 14 movies and series

1. The Family Man (season 2): I enjoyed watching the first season of The Family Man. I enjoy watching Manoj Bajpayee. I think this role fits him well. I liked the not so pleasant ending of the first season. So I waited eagerly for season 2. But season 2 got immersed in controversy about the reference to the Eelam movement in Sri Lanka. There was also some controversy about Samantha who played a Tamil terrorist in the series. So I decided to keep away from this season. But at the beginning of December I reached a phase where I was not sure what I should watch. So I watched the second season of The Family Man and I am glad I watched it. It is quite tight and Samantha is good. As in series one, there is a good balance of thrill and family moments. The icing on the cake is Manoj Bajpayee though. 
2. Eternals: I loved this movie. Why the hell was this movie thrashed and trashed? The story is interesting and gripping. The casting was a trifle annoying, especially Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie (I never thought I will say that in my life). But as I said the story is quite gripping.
3. Black Widow: I did not expect to like this movie. I am not sure why. In the Avengers world, Black widow gets sidelined by Iron man, Thor and Captain America (among others). So I did not believe this to be a strong character. Also, the fact that Black Widows dies in Endgame reduced my interest in the movie. But the movie proved me wrong. It was good. It has almost all the required elements for a hollywood masala (almost as there is no romance). Much better than the sentimental nonsense called Endgame and Wakanda Forever.
4. Indian Jones and Dial of Destiny: The movie did not deserve to flop. That does not mean it is a good movie.  It looks like a poor man's 'Raider's of the lost ark'. The climax is quite nonsensical. Shockingly, I found Phoebe Waller-Bridge annoying; she just does not fit the role. I think Indiana Jones does miss Steven Speilberg.   
5. Get out: Amazing movie. Dark and uncomfortable. 30 minutes into the movie, I had to take a break and I could only go back to the movie 24 hours later. After that I was not able to stop watching it. Eerie and edge of the seat movie. I think the movie has many layers but for me it was just great to watch it with the most obvious two layers.
6. John Carter: I have no idea what to make of the movie. I thought I did not like it but I could not help it though. Apparently, it is based on the book written in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burrogh (the one who wrote Tarzon) "A Princess of Mars". Ultimately, it is a dumb entertainer. One that I would not recommend to anyone who thinks Govinda movies are crap.
7. Romancham: What a brilliant movie! Midly spooky and terribly funny. Just maintains an uncomfortable feeling through the movie and does not make it scary except in a couple of places. The scene involving Chemban Vinod is funny. The conversation between Jesus and Krishna is outstanding and I was disappointed when it ended abruptly. Its interesting to note that I was planning to write something along those lines a few months back. But the realization that most Indian writers' writings are based on mythology made me stop, at least for now. Getting back: Arjun Ashokan is brilliant in the movie. I am glad I watched but wonder why I did not see it earlier. 
8. The Killing: The movie is directed by Stanley Kubrick - the only reason I started watching it. It is a short one hour and twenty minute movie. The movie is a documentary with a narrator in the background. It recounts the incident of a day or two and it is done so with timings. I found the movie interesting with the last fifteen minutes absolutely engrossing. The ending of the movie stands out.
9. Old Boy: This is considered to be a cult favorite. It appears in many lists of movies not to be missed. Every time I surfed for a movie on Amazon, it appeared. Finally, I decided to watch it. Did I like it? I don't know. It is very different from anything that I have watched. It touched a raw nerve and made me feel disgusted at times. But I am glad I watched the movie. 
10. Manchurian Candidate: Another Kubrick movie. Nope, this is not a Kubrick movie. About a month later, I was reading about the movie named Ronin, when I realized the director of Ronin is also the director The Manchurian Candidate, John Frankenheimer. Prime video suggested it when I finished watching "The Killing". I have heard this term earlier and had a vague idea what it meant. The phrase itself took birth due to the movie and the movie is based on a book. This link has details about the phrase, movie and the book. Good movie. Kept me at the edge of my seat. I don't think I have ever seen a Sinatra movie. I only remember him as a singer but he is good in this movie. Another good movie watched.
11. A Fistfull of Dollars: I love Sergio Leone - Ennio Morricone - Clint Eastwood movies. That said, I have only watched "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and maybe a "For a Few Dollars More". But the former is such a good movie that I have watched it many times. The pace of the movie, the cinematography and the music are fantastic. Sergio Leone's use of close up shots (especially the eye) and the sections of silence make his movies interesting to watch. This movie too has all the trademarks of the Sergio Leone movie. But being one of his earlier western its seems a little raw. "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" seems extremely refined in comparison. Next movie: "For a Few Dollors More".
12. Désirée: I knew she was interested in Literature, History and Movies. So I mentioned to her that I saw "Napolean". She immediately asked  if the movie has anything about Napolean's first lover, Désirée. The movie did not mention her. She said that she had read a book about Désirée when she was young and that this person was Napolean's first fiancée. I got curious and searched the Internet. I found that there was a book and a movie about Désirée . Interestingly, the movie had Marlon Brando as Napolean and the review claimed that he was brilliant. I agree with the reviewers. Brando seems like a textbook Napolean. As in the case of the movie 'Napolean', this movie too should have been longer but it is quite informative. A few lines on what I learnt. Désirée ultimately married a Marshall of France by the name of Bernodatte. He was adopted by the queen of Sweden and ruled Sweden for a few years. The dynasty that he started with him continues to rule Sweden even now. This means that Désirée was the first queen of this dynasty. She was not just a lover and fiancée of Napolean.
13. For a few Dollars More: This one is better than 'A Fistful of Dollars'. The story line is more developed compared to the other movie. The presence of Lee Van Cleef and his character too helps the movie. The villain from the previous movie is repeated here. I somehow felt Gabbar Singh of Sholay is based on the villain character, Indio, from this movie. The Spaghetti westerns are always a great watch. Maybe I will watch it again in a few years. I will not complete the trilogy by watching "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" again. Too many movies to watch, no point indulging in watching movie that I have already watched and remember too.
14. Of Mice and Men: Many years back, I read the Steinbeck's book "East of Eden". The book is set in depression era and is terribly depressing. But I loved the book. I don't remember much about the book but I remember still that it is a good book and I enjoyed reading it. I saw the movie too but I remember even less of the movie. Since reading 'East of Eden', I have wanted to read another Steinbeck book but for some reason I never did. "Of Mice and Men" is one such book. So when I saw the title in Prime Video, I checked the IMDB rating, it was above 7. I started watching the movie. One of the lead actors seemed familiar. His name's Gary Sinise and he acted as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump. The other lead of the movie is John Malkovich. I loved the movie. It is a sad tale but it is made so beautifully that I did not feel sad watching it. Very few sad movie have made me feel this calm. I wish I could ask someone to watch it but not many people I know care for movies as much as I do and the ones who care would already have watched this movie. So I write it here.

The End

Self-censor

I try and avoid vulgarity or use swear words in these write-ups. I am not sure how I came up with this pre-condition but I have held this to a great extent I can. However, a few time frustration got the better of me and I have used words and written thoughts I should not have had. The one given below is an example, of such a thought. I have removed it from the original article and have saved it for posterity here. 

"the meaning of everyone's life always begins inside two undergarments. In some cases, I wish some had continued to stay in one of those warm and moist places. It wouldn't have been very different from the tropical conditions they live in now"

Mind you, I am not a goody two shoes and all. Put me inside a car in city traffic and you will be amazed at the colourfulness of my language, in multiple languages too. Only yesterday, I enjoyed watching the movie '8 mile'. If someone decided to make a clean version of the movie, they would have ended up with a silent movie.

Let me end, by expressing my appreciation for the best bad movie I have seen till date (and I have seen quite a few, and in my opinion Govinda's 'Hero no: 1' is not a bad movie). The hero of the movie Bolo Yeung is also the director of the movie. Though I did not realize it when I watched the movie, he is the actor who fights against Van Damme in the climax of 'Bloodsport'. Bolo is ridiculous beyond words. The second half of the movie has large gaps in it. I could not stop watching the movie and only took a pause when some of my family members came back home. There is a small sequence during the climax fight, which is amazing.  Must watch, if you have the spherical objects used during playing games!

Aravindante Athidhikal

Though the movie "Aravindante Athithikal" begins in sadness, it proceeds to humourous terrain quickly. Srinivasan, Vineeth Srinivasan, Aju Varghese, Urvashi, Premkumar and others make the middle portion of the movie funny. But the last half  an hour turned out to be a bore. I did not feel good about the feel good ending. Through the movie, the ending was hinted by many characters and I watched in dread as the movie went through the expected zones of twists and unsurprising surprises. The two high points in the movie are 

1. The song "Rasathi": I love this song and the way it is taken. I like Vineeth Srinivasan's singing in this song as in many other.

2. The "24 hour running hot water" sequence. I am not sure if this scene has already appeared in another movie but I found the interpretation of the phrase "24 hour running hot water" funny. I will watch the movie again just for the sequence.

Perfect days

I was stuck in an apartment for four days hoping without much confidence for some unknown people to walk in. As expected, no one came and I had plenty of time to spare. So I lay on the couch, dragged a chair besides me, placed the laptop on it, switched it on, plugged the headphone jack into the laptop and placed the headphone over my ears. That was the beginning. Ten movies in four days. None of the movies can be called classic. Many of them had a B-grade feel to it but except for one sentimental nonsense I loved watching each of them. For the few hours the movies held my complete attention and all my worries could not cross through my thought horizon. The movies went thus.

1. I always thought this monster destroyed humans. I was surprised to realise that it is a friend and saved humanity from massive destruction. Poor SFO and Golden gate got destroyed in the process of saving humanity. None of the set of monsters cared about the human beings through the movie. They were more interested in each other. 
2. There are no Bruce movies that I have disliked. I confused this with another movie, which was a mega flop. Turns out that the movie was a hit and was also liked by the critics. It was a gripping movie that went nowhere. I mean the situation at the end of the movie was same as the beginning. I don't think I have seen too many movies like this.
3. I have seen the trailers of this movie when it was released and was keen to watch it. But I had watched another movie which I thought was similar to this and hence decided to give it a skip. Thursday morning after my breakfast, I settled into the couch to watch this heaven and hell movie. It was amazing. I still think it was similar to the other movie but that doesn't reduce the fun one bit. A dark movie dripping with eeriness. It lingered in my mind for a few hours.
4. I had not heard of this movie but got interested when I realised that it was about a famous serial killer. The feel of the movie was great but the big revelation towards the end was disappointing. It was too ridiculous for expectation and acceptance. That said I liked the way the movie ended. The movie stayed with me till late in the night when the lonely darkness of the apartment made me uneasy.
5. I have always been comforted by the presence of Matthew Mcconaughey in a movie. When I see him on the screen I get the feeling that the rest of the characters are safe. The only issue with this is that Matthew Mcconaughey ends up being Matthew Mcconaughey in all his movies. While this would be a weakness with other actors, it’s a strength for Matthew. But even Matthew could not save this movie. It is a boring real life based sport movie. The first half of the movie was reasonably engrossing but the second half was a bore. By the end of the movie I was browsing Wikipedia to determine its accuracy. The second half was not very accurate. 
6. I have never heard of this movie but found its name interesting. Also it had aliens in it and I was in an aliens kind of mood. The internet claimed it used the concept of aliens to talk about the segregation that exists in our society. The movie began well. The documentary style was done well. The humour and the ridiculous situations were brought out well. The main character played his role well. Towards the middle, the makers started struggling to maintain the documentary format. So they dropped it and the movie for few minutes turned into a mundane aliens movie. The movie ended in an interesting manner though.
7. I was young when the original movie was released. I was old enough to watch that movie but I was not interested. So I let Schwarzenegger and his gang fight the invisible aliens. Many decades later, I decided to watch the reboot version of the movie. It turned out to be one of those movies that captures one’s attention as long as one lives through it. At the end of it I felt a disinterested “Myaaah!” run through me.
8. This movie was the only funny movie among the ten. Four old men biking across the country behaving like leather rebels when in life they are losers in one manner or other. Definitely not a great movie but I laughed a few times and felt amused during a few others.
9. Tom Cruise is the emperor of action movies. At some point of time, when I look back at the Tom Cruise movies I have seen, I would not be able to separate one from the other. Most of his movies are similar. I mean they all have Tom Cruise in them and regardless of the name of the character he is enacting he always is Tom Cruise. This is a good addition to that list. The one slight twist from his usual movies is that this one has aliens in it. It seemed like an action and aliens filled version of Groundhog’s day. The movie had the ability to capture my attention and that makes it a good movie to watch.
10. This movie was not in the list of movies I was planning to watch. I had a few hours to spare and I had already watched half of this two hour and forty five minute movie. So I closed my laptop, pushed it back into the bag, fished out the mobile from my pocket and continued watching it. Under normal circumstances I would not have watched this movie. But I was in a mood for utter nonsense and this movie provided it in ample amounts. Mamooty and Suresh Gopi screamed every word they uttered; many of them in annoyingly polished English. Suresh Gopi acted as a top cop and Mamooty as an IAS something who had enough power to call the home minister of India a bastard and land a kick on his chest while the minister’s Z-level security watched the fun with their guns held safe in their hands. The movie was released in the first decade of 2000s and one could easily identify all the politicians of that time in the movie. The best dialogue in the movie landed from Suresh Gopi’s lips, which probably exists underneath his thick moustache, when he admonishes one of his subordinates for mistreating a Muslim man. The golden words when thus “You treat this man so badly because of this cap he is wearing.” A wonderful movie that made me laugh every time I should not have.

Endgame, I hope!

For many months, the phrase "Endgame" had been buzzing around the house. The grand finale of the Avengers series was eagerly awaited. I had watched the first part of Avengers many years ago. I had not disliked it but I am not sure if I had liked it either. It was dark and at the same time cynical; always an interesting combination. At that time, I was not aware of the Marvel vs. DC mania. From my point of view, super heroes are super heroes. With the exception of Modi and Trump, they only existed on screen or paper (I wanted to write "they only existed in 2D" instead of "paper or screen" but then I remembered the annoying 3D glasses). Superman flew and spewed laser from his eyes. Spiderman climbed walls and discharged web. Batman sped around, jumped from place to place and talked in an annoyingly hoarse voice. Iron man loved to stay in the insides of a robot. They all had super strength and would not break a sweat if some villain pounds them using the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower. To my not fully developed brain all of them seemed the same at a macro level. So, I was shocked to realize that my understanding was far from reality. There was a fundamental difference between superheroes, viz., some belonged to the Marvel universe and others to the DC galaxy. Further, it is considered a blasphemy to mix one with the other. As a mother realized when she asked her son while watching a Marvel movie "When will Wonder woman come?" The boy was embarrassed and shocked. He spit out a "Mom! What's wrong with you? Wonder woman's in DC." The poor mother was perplexed by the response and asked "Why is she in DC? Is she meeting the President?” It was the boy’s turn to be perplexed. He asked “Why should she meet the President? What are you talking about?” The mother realized that her understanding of DC was incorrect. She asked “What do you mean DC?”
“Ma! DC comics”
“Why are we talking about comics?”
“Ma! Can I explain later? I am unable to concentrate.”
“Hey! Tell me now. You have watched this movie four times already.”
“Maaaaaaa! This is an important scene.”
“Shhh! Tell me when Wonder Woman will her entry?”
“Wonder Woman will make an entry because this movie is based on Marvel comics and Wonder woman is only seen in DC comic.”
“So who was the woman in the poster?”
“That’s probably Captain Marvel or Black Widow”
The mother decided to ask no further questions. She had not realized that Captain Marvel was a woman and she had never heard of Black Widow. She decided to go with the flow.

The beginning of the month arrived. The clamour to watch Endgame increased. Patience levels were at an all time low for the youngest member in the family. Three times a day, the family was made aware of the countdown status. As the day of the movie approached we became a part of a group of friend from work who were planning to watch the movie. Around the time, I was made aware by the above mentioned youngest member that I was not learned enough to understand the movie. Marvel had made 22 movies in 11 years and each movie added a character or two to the finale. For example, I had not watched the movie Ant-man and did not realize that Ant-man played a pivotal role in the finale. Then there was the Winter Soldier. Not to forget, Black Panther! I thought all these were different movies and the Avengers only included the five or six characters with Fury. My thoughts were far from reality. This issue came to the fore when I watched Infinity war, which I had missed watching in the theatres last year and had to rent on YouTube as a part of my preparation for Endgame. Infinity war had many super heroes and I had to use tally marks to keep track of all of them. At the end of the movie, many of the super heroes wither away and I thought I had no use of keeping track of their existence or their actions for Endgame. For example, the all important Fury withers away but not before he sent a message on a pager to I-am-not-sure-who. If I had not watched Captain Marvel, I would not have realized the recipient of the message and would have been perplexed at the sudden appearance of the recipient. So clearly my Avengers knowledge was sketchy and I required a crash course of the Marvel world. I opened an Excel sheet and drafted a plan. I started by watching the original Avengers. I followed it with Thor Ragnarok, Civil War and Ant man. I had become 80% ready for Endgame. I was informed that the only Black Panther and Spiderman were missing from my spectrum. I protested "I know Spiderman". I was admonished sternly and made aware that this Spiderman is not the old Spiderman but was Spiderman (Tony Spark upgrade version 2.0). Comparing the two Spidermen is like comparing Window 10 with DOS. But I refused to accept. I know all about Spiderman and Peter Parker and did not have the time to know more. Now only Black Panther remained. I started watching “Black Panther” in a bright room at two in the afternoon but could not get through the first fifteen minutes. The occurrences in the movie were enveloped in darkness and I could only see the reflections of the room on the screen. I gave up and decided to try it later that evening. Finally, I ended up watching the movie at two in the afternoon on the television in a hotel room in Bangalore. I found the movie interesting but I not great. Somehow, all the characters in the movie seemed detached. The movie required some over the top acting but everyone other than Forest Whitaker indulged in realistic acting.

The real boost to my enthusiasm for Endgame came from Infinity war. An year earlier, I had contempt for the movie and gave it a miss. Being an old school superhero movie watcher, I wondered, why Avengers required so many superheroes to bring down a villain. Superman, Spiderman and Batman handled multiple villains possessing multiple hands and tentacles single handedly. People told me Thanos was different and that he is god among super villains. I waved my hand in a Mr.Bean-ish manner and uttered "pffffffttt". I considered myself lucky for not being a part of the Infinity mania. I lived in this manner for an year and then watched the movie. I would probably be exaggerating if I say "it is the greatest superhero movie ever made" but I would be lying if I say "I did not feel that way". Watching Infinity war was an absorbing experience and sixty percent of the absorption came from Thanos. He is one of the best super villains conceived by humanity. He is extremely powerful and eliminated many super heroes through the snap of his fingers and at ither times through violent means too. He believes that he has a strong sense of morals and values but as is usually the case the world does not appreciate it. He was convinced that though his actions caused pain it was not done for his own pleasure; he believed he had to snap his finger to make the universe a better place to live in. I loved the ending of the movie wherein he walks to a cliff, sits by the edge and calmly watches a sunset. Prior to this calm end he had destroyed many superheroes and half the living creatures in the universe by snapping his fingers. Does the universe possess a greater super villain?

I awaited Endgame with bated breath. I was curious to see how the remaining Avengers defeated Thanos. Being a super hero movie, the makers of the movie will not allow the super villain to win. Would the universe not crumble if Thanos wins and continues to live? His thought that he is doing it for the universe and not for himself makes him dangerous. (This reminds me of the political situations prevailing in different parts of our planet?) So he has to go! But how?

Before I proceed to Endgame, I would like to place my formal protest at the way common people, like me, are treated in these movies. We scream and run around, like ants, with our hands flailing around above our heads. (NOTE: The ‘like ants’ part was for ‘run around’ and not for ‘hands flailing’. I have never seen an ant flail its hands. As a matter of fact, I am not even sure if ants have hands. They could just be four legs, which are the ant’s forelegs). We humans are either crushed by flying trucks or smashed by falling buildings or simply blown to bits by fluorescent explosions. These explosions vaporise us and not even ash is left behind. The makers of such movies don't even let us observe these plain vanilla human faces. I would like to know if someone who looks like me would perish in one such attack. I formally protest through these words at the treatment meted out to us non-superhero human being by the makers of superhero movies.

I did not book the tickets for the movie as soon as they opened. As a matter of fact, by the time I realized that the bookings were open, all the tickets for the opening Friday and the weekend were booked. So we decided to go for the movie on Monday. The tickets were available in a theatre close by but I did not book. I waited for the bookings to open in a new theatre close by. I had watched Shazam in the theatre and loved the new and blue look inside. It looked like the insides of a space ship, which made it an ideal location to watch the finale of Avengers. I checked the bookings website once every three hours for two days (not including the time I slept and worked, of course). As time passed I thought the fellows at the theatre had received a message from someplace in the Universe stating "Don't bother to open the bookings for Avengers: Endgame. Your planet, the Earth, will be destroyed at 12:04 am on 26 April 2019*. * - Conditions Apply". I was getting desperate. The forefinger of my right hand hovered around the "Book now" button of the older theatre but it not touch the button as I felt reassured by the fact that most seats for Monday afternoon were available. So I waited. Finally, I was relieved to know that the Earth would live through another Friday when the bookings at the new theatre opened. I booked tickets for the afternoon show. We had forty minutes to reach the theatre from our work place. The time taken for the journey was not a worry; only fifteen minutes. The afternoon meeting was a worry though. If it stretched beyond the designated time due to the abundantly available enthusiasm of its participants, we could miss the first few scenes of the movie, which as everyone knows is considered an act of blasphemy.

Unfortunately, the afternoon meeting turned out to be an interesting one. It involved people presenting concepts in different manners using mechanisms, which resembled role play but was not called so. By the time all the teams readied their presentations only 20 minutes were available. We had already informed everyone about our plan and had requested everyone to contain they enthusiasm that afternoon. But as is usually the case, enthusiasm radiates and travels faster than radioactivity. As a result, the presentations stretched beyond the closing time. When the stretching reached fifteen minutes, I became desperate and started displaying five of the nine navarasas on my face. It must have been an effective display for the meeting ended almost immediately. As expected the journey to the theatre took only the estimated amount of time and we were in our seats two minutes prior to the start of the movie.

Prior to getting to my thoughts on Endgame, I would like to mention two points.

1. The pop corn in this new swanky theatre costs 200 bucks. The interval time snack being an integral part of the movie watching process ensured that the cost of snacks was nearly 500 bucks per person, which is more than double the cost of his/her ticket and which is sufficient to provide for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a family of four eating at home. The ridiculousness of this situation has forced me to look towards Netflix and Amazon Prime instead of cinema theatres.
2. Since I write my thoughts on the movie nearly a month after its release, I don't have to write the words "Spoiler Alert", which is a minor tragedy. I would have loved to use that phrase. “Spoiler alert” is a phrase of power. It intimidates it's recipients to believe that its utterer knows something that they probably don't want to know yet. If the utterer wishes so, he/she could whisper this information into their ears and make them feel miserable but, in many cases, he/she is benevolent enough not to do so. I think the use of the phrase helps us understand the feeling God has when He/She sees us preparing for an examination. He/She already knows the result for He/She is all knowing but He/She does not intimate us of the result for He/She wants us to go through the miserable experience of studying even though He/She has already decided on what the result is. If this comparison does not make sense, ignore it.

A few minutes into Endgame, we find a benign Thanos sitting in a decrypt location surrounded by the remaining Avengers. When they demand him to surrender the Infinity stones, he informs them that he has destroyed them as he believed they were no longer required. I felt a thrill run through me. Twenty minutes into the movie, the Infinity stones were destroyed and Thanos seemed as harmless as a hermaphrodite. I wondered what all these fellows would do for the remaining two and a half hours. The thrill disappeared a moment later when Thor beheaded Thanos. The people on screen had the same shocked expression as I had. Being a child friendly movie they too would have thought "What the hell!" Thor looked around, shrugged and uttered something stupid that I refuse to repeat. On hearing the words, half the audience whooped and clapped. I realized that I had done a mistake. I should have stayed at home and watched Infinity war again. The next thirty minutes were some of the dullest moments of my life. I was put through an absurd emotional drama. I realize superheroes have every right to express their emotions but I believe they should not do so for more than five minutes on the screen. I wish the makers had watched “Die Hard” prior to making these thirty minutes.

The beheading of Thanos gave me an idea on the direction the movie would take but I was not sure of the reason for taking that direction. The villain no longer existed and the problematic stones had disappeared. In the normal world, the remaining population of the universe would spend their time rebuilding the universe. But that probably would be an ideal theme for a pornographic movie. This was an Avengers movie and so the villain had to resurrected and fought again. But I was shocked by all the sentiment and emotion that the movie and its characters underwent prior to before they reached this decision. I do realize that I belong to the minority who were annoyed by these scenes. I blame it on Doordarshan, which during my younger days ensured that I sat through many hours of Dilip Kumar, Sivaji Ganesan, MeenaKumar and Vijayakumari. I was also lucky enough to weep through the second half of Deshadanam within the safe haven of a dark theatre. The sadness of the Black widow did not move me. I did not pity Captain America for his morose expressions. I thought Tony Stark should feel happy playing with his daughter and not pine for Peter Parker's company. Instead, the members of Avengers by two walked around the screen like Zombies. At the end of thirty minutes, they came up with two uninspired reasons to continue with the movie.

1. We have to get everyone back.
2. The Infinity stones are very important for the universe's existence. We have to get them back and place them in their designated location. Only then will our universe feel like our good old universe complete with Thanos and rest of the villains. 

The audience were then taken through the Quantum version of "Back to the future". The little interest and respect I had for the movie disappeared when one of the characters mocked the time travel concept of "Back to the future" and then ended up using it. If I have a choice, I would time travel to the past and erase the concepts of time travel and wormhole from Hollywood. The genre of science fiction survives primarily on these two concepts and Endgame has used and abused them beyond the acceptable limited.

As expected, the climactic battle had all the superheroes reappearing. The audience went berserk at the appearance of each superhero and my annoyance climbed steadily. By the time Ironman snapped his fingers I did not care whose head snapped and whose stayed intact. At that point I did not realize that the movie had another twenty minutes of sentimental nonsense in store for me. Apparently these were the scenes that caused extreme sadness among the teens and twenteens. One person in Hong Kong had to be taken to the hospital from the theatre. It is a pity that she did not go through an operation for I would have loved to use the phrase "from cinema theatre to operation theatre".

I was glad to walk out of the theatre. I did not and still don't understand the world going bonkers for this movie. It is a very boring end to a good movie series. It totally failed to build on the premise setup by Infinity war. At the end of Infinity war, Thanos was the all powerful villain who could destroy the Universe at will. But in Endgame we have to deal with a naive Thanos who does not even possess all the Infinity stones. The movie was basically a Marvel version of “Back to the future II” where people messed with history and future by travelling back and forth in a time machine. In that sense Endgame is not even original.