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1920: Horrors of the Heart (2023)
First star for Rahul Dev, second one for Avika Gor. That's about it!
It's a horror movie that isn't scary in the least.
First of all- WHERE THE HELL DID THEY SHOOT THIS? I kept wondering during the entire movie- WHY?? Just why didn't they use normal sets anywhere in the movie, like previous 1920 movies? Just to save some money spent on a real set?
Not just the horror scenes, It felt like they shot the entire movie using green screens. Even normal scenes seemed like I am watching some actors move around in a CGI house, a CGI forest, even a CGI Hotel !?!? Who came up with the bad idea of avoiding real sets, that person needs to be fired immediately!
The reason overused CGI made me hate the film is because absolutely nothing in the movie felt real. If shot in a good location, a terrible story can make a movie very watchable.
The best recent example of this being Khamoshiyan. Its story was terrible, but I'd still watch that movie again just for its breathtaking scenes shot in South Africa(and of course the hum-worthy music). What the makers did with this movie feels like a low point of filmmaking in Bollywood.
The songs in this movie were forgettable too, except for the mother's lullaby.
Mahesh Bhatt was one of the writers, I assume he was drunk when he wrote this senseless script.
Only Rahul Dev, Avika Gor and Ketaki Kulkarni seemed to be taking their work seriously. Barkha Bisht sure looks beautiful but her expressions felt wooden. Avtar Gill's and Danish Pandor's acting was as useless as their characters.
In my opinion this is the worst installment in the franchise. Do not waste your time on this movie. Save yourself!
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022)
WHAT A FARCE!! Tabu deserved better than this disappointment of a movie
Before watching Bhool Bhulaiya 2(BB2), if you expect it to match the level of storytelling of Bhool Bhulaiya (BB), boy are you going to be disappointed!
If we talk about the first movie, it had a strong central love story, memorable music, genuinely funny moments, unexpected twists and strong performances from all actors. Yet the crux of the story was- that even a horror movie can make you question blind beliefs and at the same time give an important message about mental health.
Sadly, BB2 has NONE of those magic elements! No strong love story, weird songs, poor performances and a pretentious story. It tries hard to be scary as well as funny and miserably fails on both accounts. It's ironic that BB2 has more makeup and special effects than the first film, yet the first film was scarier!
Here's my biggest complain about BB2- It's a step back when it comes to the issue of blind faith/beliefs. In India, where most people already believe in kala jadu, chudel, tantriks, astrology and many other blind beliefs, BB came out with a useful message that these things should be questioned. Unfortunately, BB2 reverts back into supernatural territory, which is in contrast to BB's story. Honestly, I wouldn't have so much problem with BB2, had it not been named Bhool Bhulaiya 2 and instead had any other name. I would have accepted it just another Indian bhoot-pret film.
WHY!!!??? Did the makers have to ruin the legacy of BB! I'll never understand.
Even when the trailer of BB2 was out, I knew it's going to be a step back and it will ruin the message of the first movie, even if both movies are unconnected. This is the reason I chose not to watch BB2 in theatres.
Performances- I watched it on OTT only for Tabu. As great an actor as she is, she tries her best to put forward a great performance here but when you just don't have a well written character, there's not much you can do! Other talented actors like Milind Gunaji and Kartik Aaryan face the same problem- bad writing.
Music- no imagination. The makers just decided to regurgitate 'Mere Dholna' and 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' from BB instead of creating fresh songs. 'Recreated Mere Dholna' didn't make me nostalgic of the first movie. It made me feel as if the makers are insulting it. 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' has been misused. About the rest of the songs- the less said, the better.
Dialogues- It feels like a child has written them.
Visual effects- Like 99% of Bollywood movies (cough Adipurush cough), the visual effects were disappointing.
After I finished BB2, I was craving an aspirin for the migraine that it gave me. I might have to rewatch the first movie again just to erase BB2 from my memory.
If there is a BB3 which further ruins BB's legacy, I just might riot!
Kabir Singh (2019)
This movie is garbage! Stinking pile of garbage!
The movie is nothing but a story of a man-child who was never slapped by his parents when he was a child. And so he goes on to become a violent, abusive, possessive, alcoholic smoker. And no other character is given so much as a script.
This movie is trash, a pathetic excuse of a movie and a shame on Indian cinema. I am ashamed that this movie was made in my country. I am infuriated and angry.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
Satisfying ending to one of the Greatest Show of all time, with sadly a badly written last season(excluding the last episode)
The reason why I liked the last episode(S08E06) is because i feel it saved Season 8 from becoming completely useless. I was personally horrified to watch the show's worst episodes- S08E03 and S08E05.
I feel all characters (except Cersei perhaps) got a good ending. Even Jaime, now that we have seen that Jaime was portrayed in a positive light in this episode which was a fitting end to his character arc.
I do not COMPLETELY feel that all loose ends were tied satisfyingly, but at least the most important ones were tied up well.
After watching last episode I had thought that I would not want to recommend the show to anyone. Thankfully, the last episode saved the show and now, I won't be afraid to recommend it to anyone.
Los Parecidos (2015)
Whacky... in a good way...
While beginning to watch this movie, I expected little from it, because I had never seen a Mexican movie before, it was a horror movie(which is IMO the least cared-about genres) and I cudn't find a wikipedia page about the movie. And was I surprised? Definitely!
I have seen hundreds of horror movies till now(I'm a sucker for horror flicks), but I can confidently say that The Similars is one of the most creative and imaginative horror movies I've ever seen. This is exactly what horror is supposed to be- something that challenges our thoughts and opinions and something that makes us fear the 'unknown'.
But to get the essence of the movie it is necessary to watch it till the end. There are parts where the viewer can get irritated/confused as in the first half, the writers offer little to explain the crazy happenings. It is only in the second half that things actually start to fall in their place. Still, I would strongly recommend people who enjoy horror which is not just dark but also a bit imaginative to watch this movie!
Writing anything more about the movie will only ruin its effect.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016)
A waste of time, money, energy and a few points of IQ
The story goes somewhat like this- Ayan falls for Alizeh but she's still not over her ex who had been her bf for many years. He then meets Saba, a divorcée, who's just a rebound for Ayan but Saba starts falling for Ayan.
We are lead to believe a guy as handsome and charming as Ranbir Kapoor would stay so obsessed with ONE girl, just after a few weeks of casual friendship, that no matter how much Alizeh says 'no' to him, he keeps wanting her love. And he isn't portrayed to be a stalker either, mind you! His love is hinted to be 'true love'. On the other hand, we are also lead to believe that a girl would repeatedly, selfishly, almost arrogantly keep saying 'no' to even try to love a guy, who has cared more for her than her own bf. Either such a girl is stupid or an attention seeker who would lead on a guy-friend, who she knows is in love with her, and yet never say yes to his advances.
The above premise would have been more engaging if both Ayan and Alizeh had shared any moments of true friendship or even infatuation. Their chemistry just isn't promising enough, the way Shahrukh's and Kajol's was in KKHH or even Ranbir's and Sonam's was in Saawariya, to create any real dilemma in the hearts of audiences.
And the ending is even less satisfying than the rest of the movie when a health issue arises for one of the main characters in the last half hour of the movie. The issue seems so fake as though some problem had to be created by the writers just to make the characters look like they are facing a dilemma. This last attempt to create drama falls flat on its face.
Fawad Khan was unnecessarily paid to star in the film as his character or him as an actor did not add anything to the film. It was great to see Aishwarya Rai in such a glamorous role after a long time. Not only does she look better than Anushka Sharma, she even acts better than her. Ash and Ranbir both do justice to their roles. Too bad that the script doesn't do justice to their performances.
In addition to a bad script, the film suffers on other fronts too. The dialogues suck as they aren't very original, when characters speak Urdu poetry in some scenes it is difficult to make sense of them and to add dialogues the characters keep talking about Bollywood movies. All of this makes the dialogues pointless. There are way too many songs that are unnecessary and not as memorable as KJo's previous ventures. The only 2 good songs are 'Bulleya' and 'Ae dil hai mushkil'.
To sum it up, Ae dil hai mushkil is Saawariya meets Rockstar meets Kal Ho Na Ho meets Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna meets Anjaana Anjaani, with the most pointless ending there could have been. I am still trying to figure out what was the message the movie wanted to convey.
The Neighbor (2016)
Gets better every passing minute...
I finished watching The neighbor a few minutes ago and as of now(September 2016) I am not able to find a Wikipedia page dedicated to this movie, while even worse movies have their own Wikipedia page. Anyway, I decided to watch this movie solely based on its IMDb rating. Ans was I pleasantly surprised! I felt this movie needs to be watched by more people which is why I decided to write a review.
The first few minutes made me think it was going to be one of those movies with disappointing endings. But at half hour past the beginning, things began to turn and the ride got more and more exciting.
Positives: - Does not have too much gore like many other thrillers have. But still keeps u at edge of seat.
- Strong female characters who are not just there for skin show and they are the kind who don't need a male knight in shining armor to save them as in many other thriller movies.
- Does not have moments where people torture each other or give a long speech before killing them(no wiggle room for someone who's at gunpoint)
- All the characters are grey characters. Not completely good or bad. Gives us chance to think who we are rooting for.
Negatives: - Lacks character development which helps keep the movie shorter
- Had a weak start which can seem boring to some people.
Overall, it's an enjoyable movie.
Game of Thrones: The Winds of Winter (2016)
My mind is blown!!!
When I watched the Battle of the Bastards(Season 6 Episode 9), I didn't think episode 10 could be better than episode 9. I was wrong. Game of thrones outdid itself, and I loved episode 10 even more than episode 9.
Any amount of words do not do justice to the episode and it is one of those things which you have to experience to appreciate. I purposely wrote this review spoiler free as writing a spoiler-y review would be a terrible insult to the show on my part.
About 15 minutes into the episode, children start running here and there, the background music gets exciting and all of that puts me at the edge of my seat, and the rest of the episode does not let me get away from that edge. It just keeps getting more exciting and then some more and more and more.
The saddest part of the episode was Tommen's decision. Both Daenerys and Jon find more allies, Sam finds treasure, the mountain is up for more torture, we finally get to know Lord Baelish's motives and that is not even the complete list of mind blowing things that happened on the show.
Watch it to know the glory of modern television.
Sanam Teri Kasam (2016)
Made me cry like a child! It's very unfortunate that this movie is so under-rated
'Sanam Teri Kasam'(STK) is one of the best romantic movies I have seen in recent years. The main actors aren't crowd-attracting superstars and sadly that is why the movie didn't do as well as it should have at the box office. But the kind of effort that the film crew has put into making this cute, romantic movie is more than the effort the big Bollywood stars put into their movies. The lack of a big star might not have attracted the masses to watch the movie but it worked in the story's favor. I might not have felt so intensely about the characters if a famous star had played the main role.
Sanam Teri Kasam is inspired from famous novel 'Love Story' by Erich Segal. But honestly, I enjoyed STK more than I had enjoyed the novel. The movie is also way better than Khwahish(of Mallika Sherawat, also inspired by Love Story) which was more about sexy scenes than a good story.
The story- not only does it make sense(which is more than what I would say about other senseless but successful Bollywood movies that are releasing these days) but it is also effective. The story has many twists which have a reasonable cause behind them. Most of the twists aren't there just because a twist was needed. The tension between characters is not a kind of tension which could be sorted out just by having an honest conversation with each other. There are some moments which were surprising and heart touching at the same time. The story is neither too slow nor too fast.
The characters- Mawra Hocane plays Saru, a behenji type girl next door, while Harshwardhan Rane plays Inder, a spoiled playboy who is Saru's neighbor. What I like about the characters is that- it seems they are stereotypes at first glance but they really aren't. Saru is simple but she is not a damsel-in-distress. She goes out of her way to solve her problems, instead of waiting for the hero or anyone else to solve them for her. Inder is rich, spoiled, quiet, care-free, but he's NOT a rude douche- the kind of douches that Bollywood portrays in most romantic movies/TV serials as part of a guy-was-a-dick-before-but-the-good-girl- changed-him cliché. Inder lacked ambition but he was never indecent or rude or cruel to Saru. He was helpful and kind to her from the first scene which is why I liked his character. The side characters are very well written as well and I felt for them too. They don't feel to be there just to fill extra space on screen.
Acting- Mawra has given a terrific performance. She's the star of the movie. She stole the spotlight in every scene she was in and it was not just because she is beautiful, but she acts very well too. Not for a second I believed that she is acting. If Mawra chooses good roles in future she might do good in Bollywood. Harshwardhan's acting pales in comparison to Mawra's. But his character is so well written that even if he lacks acting skills, it doesn't do the movie much harm. The chemistry between Saru and Inder is breathtaking. I just couldn't wait for them to get together, make kids and live happily ever after- that is how much I loved their romantic scenes together! They could have made a whole movie with Saru and Inder just romancing each other and I would have watched it whole.
Music- The title song-Sanam Teri Kasam is the best song of the movie and its lyrics are meaningful and passionate. I loved it even before watching the movie. After watching STK, I love it even more. The background score is good too, though some of the songs weren't that remarkable. And the film would have been shorter if some songs weren't featured in it. I am very thankful that STK did not include a lewd item song, as is the trend with other films these days.
The direction and editing were great. It showed that the makers have taken their work seriously and not just haphazardly made a movie to earn money.
I also appreciate that the script writers in Bollywood are slowly getting rid of the stigma that a girl and guy can not sleep together before marriage. Recently, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya and Band Baja Barat had this and now it is STK where main characters have sex before marriage.
It's a very good film but it isn't a perfect film. It has a few plot holes. The melodrama could have been dialed down a bit in the second half and dropping 1 or 2 songs from the movie could have helped to reduce the length of the film.
But it is one of those movies which you have GOT TO show your significant other! It is better than stupid Rom Coms like Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Tanu weds Manu, Cocktail, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, Love Aaj Kal, Student Of The Year and better still than other more serious romantic movies like Goliyon Ki Raas Leela Ram Leela and Aashiqui 2. It's more heart touching than some famous Hollywood flicks(cough Twilight cough) too.
I say- Go for it! Just make sure you have tissues handy. You might need them while crying your heart out.
Cocktail (2012)
2 and a half hours of my life I will never get back
I watched this movie because of the refreshing music and the shooting at foreign locations that I saw in the trailer. It was a mistake. I should have known better that nice music and shooting at breathtaking locales does not equal a good film.
The movie's weakest point is its story. Without going into details I'll say that it is full of stereotypes. Deepika plays Veronica- an independent girl who drinks, wears short clothes, visits night clubs and loves having casual sex. She also does not understand basic decency. She is supposed to be seen by the audience as the 'modern' girl because of her 'forwardness'. Diana plays Mira- a damsel-in- distress type girl who wears salwar kameez every other day, does pooja everyday, knows how to cook, has no self esteem and no self confidence. The audience is supposed to see her as the desi behenji Indian girl(because of her 'backwardness'?). Saif plays Gautam- A guy who seems to want to flirt with every girl right from the moment he sees her.
Can you see how the stereotypes are framed here? When are the Indian script writers going to stop portraying women as 'pure' and 'impure'? Just because a girl wears short clothes does not mean she likes drinking or having casual sex. Just because she drinks does not mean she loves having sex with random guys. Just because she has sex with a guy, even if she does not have serious feelings of love for him, does not make her 'impure' or 'slutty'. It is this outdated mindset of Indian society which is impure. It is a personal choice when a girl wants to have sex and portraying her as a slut because of her sexual forwardness in such movies is not just outdated but also sexist(The story never talks much about Gautam's 'purity' even if he has sex with multiple women). In one of the scenes Veronica tells Gautam "I can be pure too". I wanted to shout at her and tell her "you don't have to be 'pure', you are already pure. If you try to be like someone else, then you will actually become fake/impure." It is movies like this which encourages the Indian mentality that 'It is OK to rape a girl because she asked for it because she was wearing short clothes'. On the other hand not every girl who is religious and wears traditional clothes is good, innocent or 'pure'. I know many girls who do those things and are mean bitches. Also, the lack of self esteem in a person is not a good quality, it is a bad one.
The acting is not remarkable either. Saif overacts in almost every scene and looks too old to flirt with young women. In real life, a young girl would/should call the cops if someone like him tried to flirt with her. He seemed like a pervert. Diana does not understand how to give facial expressions for different emotions. The only good acting was from Deepika. Dimple and Boman Irani had very short roles. The main characters, who are supposed to have the 'happy ending' lack chemistry. The dialogues lack originality and are forgettable. At some points I didn't understand what a character is trying convey with his/her dialogues. They were that bad. The direction was hopeless too. In some scenes I thought the director is trying to stretch out the movie to make it more than 2 hours long even when there is nothing happening in the scene or there are no dialogues. Sadly, there were many such scenes. The music of the songs was very good but the lyrics were not.
Apart from Deepika's acting, foot-tapping music by Pritam and one hilarious scene where Saif dances on a famous Bollywood item song, there was nothing entertaining about the movie.
It's because of movies like these that I keep wanting to give up on Bollywood.
Shrek (2001)
Animation movie? More like animal cruelty movie.
If it was possible, I wouldn't even give Shrek a single star. When I started watching this movie, I thought it would be an animated comedy about fairy tales like Tangled. But I stopped paying attention to the movie story with the growing amount of animal cruelty depicted in the movie. Is this what kids should watch? Frogs and Snakes blown-in to act as balloons? Kill a bird so that you can eat its 3 eggs? Really?
Not just the animal cruelty but the story premise makes no sense at all. The princess who was saved by an ogre, turns into an ogre herself at night. Now isn't that really convenient?
This is by far the worst animated movie I have ever seen and I have seen plenty animated movies.
World War Z (2013)
This is NOT a Zombie movie.
So, when I started watching this World War Z, I imagined a movie similar to 'I am Legend'. Now, I am a fan of zombie movies. But the reason I disliked this movie is not because it isn't a perfect zombie movie(which it definitely isn't), but because this movie is all about how a guy, Brad Pitt in this case, ALWAYS survives zombies. The story lacks thrill of a zombie apocalypse, the plot is wafer thin, even for a zombie movie, the characters are tasteless, dialog almost inaudible at times and the only person actually wanting to take this movie seriously is Pitt himself.
Now, if you wonder why I think that the movie is all about Brad Pitt, just imagine the following scenario- - Brad Pitt is on a street with his family of 4 and is suddenly faced with a Zombie attack. Yet , along with saving his whole family(no limbs lost), Brad Pitt survives! - He gets medicines from a mall which gets attacked by zombies. His family again survives(No Limbs Lost) and Brad Pitt survives! - He and his family get to the top of an apartment(so that they can have the luxury of getting airlifted by a helicopter) while Pitt also swallows some zombie blood along the way. Still, his family survives(No Limbs Lost). Brad Pitt survives! - He goes to South Korea. As soon as they land for a mission the doctor who is supposedly the most important person on the mission dies without even putting a single step on the Korean land but Brad Pitt survives! - The writers feel Brad Pitt is a bit under- traveled at this point, so they send him to Jerusalem. The whole city gets infiltrated by zombies, even if it had been surrounded by tall walls, but again, hold your breath, Brad Pitt survives! - In the last act, he reaches Cardiff(Wales) and in an attempt to infect himself by diseases, he goes into a medical ward overcrowded with zombies, but yet again, Brad Pitt survives!!
So basically this movie is about how Brad Pitt saves his family, goes solo on a round trip through South Korea, Israel and UK and in the end, gets to save the world. And all that without losing a single limb on himself or his family. Because BRAD PITT always survives!
The Girl Next Door (2007)
Do NOT believe the negative User Reviews
I read some of the User Reviews here and the ones that say "What a shitty movie, how could someone do something like that, how ridiculous" seem to be those people who haven't taken the time to do some research about the case and don't know that the events from the movie happened in real life. The fact such people think "Who does that?!" shows the unimaginable extent of the real life crime.
I was looking for horror movies to watch and came across this one. I was gonna avoid it before I found out that it was based on real life events. I did some digging in the real case of Sylvia Likens and her death at the hands of Gertrude Baniszewski, one that shocked me to the core. So I watched this movie, and I must say I wasn't disappointed. I also watched the other movie An American Crime, but The Girl Next Door is clearly the better of the two.
** Following may contain spoilers** The thing is the movie raises some important points about the whole case, but the most important is this- Children will become what their parents and elders will teach them to be. Also I would have been more satisfied if the movie also told about the punishment that the perpetrators got for what they did.
Other than that, the acting is good, the story could have been developed better, but I'm not complaining much.
The Signal (2007)
Not what you would expect after watching the trailer or the poster.
The Signal is a psychological-horror-apocalypse movie, with elements of black comedy. No it does not have zombies. After watching the trailer, I thought the plot might be something about the hero trying to save his girl, in the midst of chaos, but the movie is much more, much different than that. I'd even go as far to say that at some points the movie felt like a Tarantino flick.
Don't watch this movie if you don't expect it to make you think of a deeper meaning than just the blood and gore. The film throws you a curve ball when you realize that the movie would still make complete sense, if the "transmission video" thing was completely absent from the plot.
*************The following text may contain spoilers.******************
It tells you the way humans kill each other, the way they imagine things, the mistrust humans feel and the way their emotions and behavior change, at times to such an extent that they actually come to hate themselves for what they've become. Sometimes the only way to survive in this world is cover your ears, tune out the noise and just try to be yourself. That's how I interpreted the movie.
Tsumetai nettaigyo (2010)
Good story+Good performances= A good movie
Just finished watching this movie and I must say, anyone who's a fan of East Asian horror flicks will like this film.
Cold fish is about a meek guy Syamoto and his life which is turned upside down when a fish store owner Murata and his wife enter his life. In the series of events that follows we see extents of Syamoto's spinelessness and Murata's overbearing influence on him and his family.
The actor who needs a huge round of applause is Denden as Murata. In his first scene you might think Murata might do a better job at stand up comedy than owning a fish store, only till the movie's developments prove you wrong. Asuka Kurosawa as Murata's wife also needs a huge amount of credit for playing the psychotically laughing character. And so does Mitsuru Fukikoshi himself as Syamoto who plays the meek guy pretty convincingly.
Generally in the movies of this genre, the story begins with an unsuspecting group of family or friends that end up in a lonely spot or something along those lines. But Cold Fish sets itself apart as it picks a family next door right from it's normal mundane life situations and throws it into this disturbingly bloody world on screen. Which is why Cold Fish is more convincing than other horror flicks whose tales are situational. I've also never seen so much blood in a single movie before, which is telling considering the number of horror flicks I watch.
The story is gripping and puts you on the edge of your seat at all times and the twists and turns keep coming. While there are not so many twists that the story ends up being nonsensical, but they are disturbing yet realistic enough that you find yourself in Syamoto's daughter's shoes when she breaks out in a hysterical laughter towards the end of the film.
A good watch for sure.
Ek Villain (2014)
This is a ROMANTIC MOVIE!! Not a Murder-Mystery-Action movie!!!
Indian filmmakers have been known to be inspired by other, esp foreign, films. Ek Villain is another addition to such bolly movies, inspired by the South Korean psychological/thriller-horror flick "I Saw The Devil". But the problem with Ek Villain is that to make it commercially viably the makers tone down the Korean movie's blood and gore, add love and songs and give a reason to the audience to empathize with the Villain/Devil. And what is the end result? Read on...
******* Spoilers Ahead for both Ek Villain AND I saw The Devil *************
Starting with positive things first
What I liked- -THE MUSIC!! The best thing about Ek Villain is it's music. Each and every song is of the kind which stays in your memory for a long time. The lyricists, musicians and singers have done an awesome job on the sound track. Kudos to them.
- Riteish's attempt to try a new kind of role. Negative roles were what gave Shahrukh Khan's career a push. If the same is true for Riteish's is a mystery only time can solve. But he gets well into his character's skin of a total psycho who loves his wife too much to see even a scratch on her no matter how much she hates him but won't stop from strangling any other woman who mistreats him.
- A brooding no-nonsense Siddharth Malhotra, yes his fans won't be disappointed. And neither will Shraddha's, she looks gorgeous.
- Romance between the lead pair. It wasn't the best "love story", seemed made up and was cheesy at times, but it wasn't all that bad either. The chemistry between the main characters surely makes you feel for them.
Now to the worse parts What I didn't like - The portrayal of women. It feels as if Riteish might have carried an "ALL GIRLS PLEASE BE RUDE TO ME" sign on him that he was so mistreated by so many women, so regularly!! The way those girls treat him, confused me if Riteish was actually a psycho, or was he just a normal guy and the girls were the real "Villains". India does not such portrayals of women when cases like "Nirbhaya" still exist here. Which brings me to the next thing I didn't like.
- A toned down, glossed over, Devil. The makers of Ek Villain tried to give a "reason" to the villain for hating women. In "I saw the devil", Kyung Chul hates/lusts-after all girls, no matter how nice they are to him. Which means you end up being terrified every time ANY girl is in his presence. He never "needed" a reason to hate a woman and that's how a character, whom you expect to portray as a "psychopath", is supposed to be. The moment the audience is successful in rationalizing a psychopath's actions, is the moment you fail to make him a true psychopath and make the audience less terrified of him. Remember Alfred's "Some men just want to watch the world burn" quote from The Dark Knight? Doesn't it fit perfectly for the most hated villain in recent times- The Joker? I would have loved to see Riteish's character be the same as Kyung Chul's was in the original film.
- A romantic back story. Even if the romance was cute and nice, doesn't mean it was needed in the script. In I saw The Devil, the Hero's wife exists for just two scenes. Being inspired from a "revenge" flick, the makers should have stuck with the original premise, as adding the romantic bits, made the actual revenge less satisfying even to the point of unnecessary. It made me feel as romantic parts are overshadowing the "Reveng-y" parts. That clearly shows in the different ways in which The Devil died in "I saw" and the way The Villain died in Ek Villain. So at the end it is to say that Ek Villain's hero was unsuccessful in getting his revenge- killing the Villain. So much for being inspired from a "Revenge Flick". Maybe the makers should have just made a romantic or a feel good film instead of trying to gloss over the story of a world class revenge-thriller-horror film.
- The cancer story. When that happened in Ek Villain I was like- "Where did that even come from?????" A heroin who has cancer, just to be cured in the end? Was the cancer added as an unnecessary sob story, or was it just a prop for the hero to feel something for the girl? I am still confused. Makers of Ek Villain, please take note- "A girl does not have to be a cancer patient to be loved by the hero."
If you are a die hard of I saw the devil, I say, don't expect this movie to do justice to I saw. And watch at your own risk. For all those who haven't seen I saw, and want a real "revenge-thriller-horror" movie, watch that one instead of Ek Villain. For all those who want good music, some romance, elements of real life, mixed with a dark tragic story, and a girl's continuous chatter, you might come to like Ek Villain.
The Pet (2006)
This is not bdsm!!!!
I just finished watching this movie, just because I found it on some site listed as one of the "Top ten best B.D.S.M. movies" but I regret watching it. I now realize how few movies have actually been made about the alternate lifestyle that even this shitty excuse for a movie had to be listed as one of the 10 best and this realization makes me sad.
The review I am writing is from the viewpoint of a person who has been involved in the alternate lifestyle for more than 2 years and I will not be commenting about the human trafficking aspect of the movie as I do not possess adequate knowledge about human trafficking and slave trade.
**** Spoilers ahead ******************
The problems I had with the movie are following: 1. A person does not get a slave just because his dog died. That's insulting because that is comparing a human being and an animal.
2. A master/Dominant does not "play fetch" with his slave. She is not a dog, you idiot!!!!!!!!!!!
3. The reason that the female lead starts serving her master/Dom seems as though she is doing it for money and this lifestyle is not something that you can do for money. There needs to be a lot more emotional connection and a lot more clarity of consensus between the sub- dom/master-slave for it to be classified as an alternate lifestyle or B.D.S.M., which was obviously missing between the leads, which I don't know if I should blame on bad acting or bad writing. But if emotion and consensus are lacking in such relationships, then it simply isn't BDSM. It's slavery/abuse/prostitution/human rights violation, which is not B.D.S.M.
3. The most important thing that is W-R-O-N-G with this movie is- A master/dominant takes care of his slave/sub. So a thoughtful master would never ever let his partner eat just a handful of food from his hand and drink just a few sips of water a day after making his partner work and run and crawl all day. A good master/Dom would never let his partner be naked in a snowy place no matter what because that's dangerous to the slave/sub's health. A good master/Dom would not let his slave sleep in such a small cage every night after making her crawl all day, since at least at night the slave/sub would need to straighten her legs or it might be damaging to her knees and health. All this is not alternate lifestyle. It is torture and ignorance on the master/Dom's part. This is very very wrong and portrays the lifestyle as something it isn't. B.D.S.M. is not torture!!!!!
Having said all this, the really bad acting and the non existent script are not the worst aspects of the movie, but the whole idea behind the movie is. The makers should have done their homework before making this extended porn movie. W-A-I-T!! Calling this porn is an insult to porn because this "video" ain't even arousing to say the least.
I gave it 2 stars, 1- for "only trying" to make something about human trafficking 2- for the female actresses who had to go naked all through the video. Even if they are paid for it, being in this kind of movie is not worth it. And Andrea Edmondson at least tried to act. Her acting is the only thing remotely bearable in the video and it's not an achievement.
Comparing this movie with the likes of Secretary is also an insult to Secratary because it is like comparing a video(The Pet) with a movie (The Secretary)
Martyrs (2008)
NO! It is NOT torture porn. YES! It has violence, but NOT as over-the-top as some people say.
I just finished watching this movie. And quite frankly, it is a very shocking movie. It is not for people who are not accustomed to watching gory movies(read Hostel, Saw, etc...). It is also not a movie for people who dislike movies with an OPEN ENDING. Also, some people do not understand the point of this movie, but isn't all fiction inherently pointless?
According to me the gore is not as appalling (sorry for not having a better word) as the 2 movies I just mentioned. So it's not violent to the point of being unwatchable. But the movie is actually thought provoking and VERY TRAGIC!!!
Contrary to some people's thinking, most of the film's violence is in the first half. The second half is a little less on violence and more on what Anna is going through. Though that does not mean that there is no violence in the second half at all, but it did not make me cringe as much as similar scenes from Hostel did.
The acting by the 2 leading ladies is surprisingly great and makes you feel for them.
!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! ALERT! SPOILERS BELOW !!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!
The plot has some really good twists and turns which at times are very touching and tragic, apart from being shocking. a)The revelation of who that woman haunting Lucie was (as shown in her memories) b)That Anna tries to save the Blond wife in the family c)Anna feels guilty about not believing her friend and saying "sorry" and d)The end credits are my favorite among the twists. But the hopelessly-shocking-to-the-core moment in the movie, which actually impressed(and shocked) me a lot, was when Anna finds out the other "Martyr" in the house.
And talking about the open ending, I think there can be at least 2-3 different interpretations that I can make on my own.
1)Anna told Mademoiselle something like she will be facing consequences of whatever she has done in her life, good or bad, in her afterlife which made her feel fear which led her to her end.
2)Anna told Mademoiselle that the afterlife is so beautiful that she killed herself to experience it though the chances of that are quite low but not impossible.
3)Anna told there is no afterlife, which made Mademoiselle think that all the wrong she did is all pointless and thus she felt all the guilt leading her to kill herself.
!!!!! SPOILER OVER!!!!!!!!!!!
So no matter what, it is a good watch. A movie, which has lots of gore, but still has some meaning to it.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)
Well intentioned but Toooooooo Looooooooooonnnnnngggggggggg!!!!!
The best thing about BMB is performance by one man, who gave his everything to it, quite literally. There is something really touching when an actor immensely transforms himself physically to fit a role and Farhan Akhtar does exactly that in this movie. And not only his physical transformation, but even his acting-wise performance is so sincere that I can not imagine what would have been the fate of this project if not handled in a manner that Farhan did. If you are not a Farhan-Akhtar-fan, which quite honestly I too wasn't before watching BMB, then this movie will surely make you one.
But a movie, even though it's a biopic, can not leave a lasting effect on you just because of a legendary performance by its lead actor. The movie is too slow, dipping into too much pointless information at various stages, while you will be left wondering- What was that scene for? Did this happen in real life with him too? What is the relevance of that character to the overall plot? After hearing Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's name, just as I did, you might expect a larger than life movie like RDB. But make no mistake, this does not even come close to that masterpiece. Neither plot wise nor in bringing out strong emotions out of a viewer like RDB did. And on a large part, this is to be blamed on a generously unfocused and clichéd constantly-on-verge-of-becoming-preachy kind of script by Prasoon Joshi.
Divya Dutta's character is well played. Sonam Kapoor does not do much to the plot, which I don't even think was expected from her character as it's not featured longer than 15 minutes. But one character, other than Farhan, who won my heart was Pavan Malhotra's character Gurudev Singh, who is heart warming and funny at times.
Sound track by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is okay, since I didn't find any song memorable enough that I would remember even years later from now, except for one really good one- "Zinda".
I am not saying the movie is not entertaining though. It does have its moments- funny ones, heart touching ones and seldom even horrifying ones too. But with a script so loose, they lack their intended punch.
It's true that a biopic is supposed to detail the main character's epic journey through his life, but showing it in the form of flashbacks into flashbacks, making it more than 3 hours long, putting songs when they are not necessary and giving useless information? Now that's overdoing it.
So if you want to know, in too much detail, who Milkha Singh was, only then watch this movie. But then expecting that you won't get bored, well, you can't have everything.