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Foundation (2021)
Much Fiction, Little Science
Spectacular production value and some strong performances aside, the show was all fireworks and magic, hardly sci-fi. Apart from three episodes, S1E1, S2E9 and 10, the story did not raise any intriguing philosophical question that within a frame of science thinking.
Asimov's original novels and his Robot series have so much interesting material, but evidently the writers are not into that kind of stuff. I guess good sci-fi like Bladerunner, or even early Black Mirror, is hard to do. On a side note, its tragic how Philip K Dick's awesome ideas are pulped into spectacles. Movies like Solaris, Stalker, Primer, Coherence, Moon... that's what i know as sci-fi.
Visually, this show felt like an extension of the "Expanse" universe. Story-wise it felt like a dull soap opera with neon spaceships. Somehow it did not matter when characters screamed in rage or anguish over something or the other.
Akaler Sandhane (1981)
In case you missed the subtle references
Akaler Sandhane (AS2) was released nearly a decade after Satyajit Ray's Ashani Sanket (AS1) . There are a number of clues to help the viewer connect the two films, and read its message hidden between the lines; but for that, it is necessary to re-watch AS1 after AS2.
Early in AS2, a character says that the bamboo groves remind him of Pather Panchali. For any cinephile, it's fleeting invitation to recall Ray's work, specifically AS1, the only other significant film on the Bengal Famine of '43. Later, Dhritiman's character is annoyed that an actor has shaped her eyebrows, and admonishes her for being insincere. In another scene, a young woman, fan-girling over the "real" Soumitra Chatterjee, asks the "director" why the the great actor wasn't part of his project.
It is worth noting that by the time Soumitra Chatterjee took part in AS1, he was already a mega star, having taken part in over 40 popular films. Mrinal Sen must have watched Soumitra Chatterjee's stellar presence, and Babita's immaculately shaped eyebrows in a closeup of the harrowing climax in AS1, and mused how easily the veneer of the "real" breaks and exposes the "make-believe" underneath.
In fact Sen constantly plays with this idea of "real" and "make believe" with wit and satire. Smita Patil's character breaks down convincingly in front of the camera, but the audience is aware it is make-believe, because they see the camera and hear the director's running instructions on how to feel. In contrast, Durga's the emotions are real and present. Smita Patil snaps out of her character in the very next scene, but Durga can't. The viewer also becomes aware of the Sen casting choice for Durga, who genuinely looks rural and of low-caste, relative to Ray's casting of Chhutki, who glaringly does neither.
It may be a stretch to see Dhritiman's character, the high-intellect, charming, urbane, privileged "director" to be modelled after Ray. He is an outsider in a real village, with his imported classicist and humanist morality, searching for something that is staring right in the face.
I love Ray's work; his art, literature, music, and of course films, and until now, never got into Mrinal Sen's films. But with AS2, i'm beginning to appreciate Mrinal Sen's iconoclastic, provocative rebellious art. How fascinating!
The Invisible Man (2020)
Elizabeth Moss does all the heavy lifting.
If it hadn't been for EM, i'd have given the movie a 5. Your average thriller.
It got quickly predictable because the storytellers did not try too hard to suggest that it may have been all in C's head. And i couldn't help wondering how the invisible man ate or drank, went to the loo, got across town. And how did he not factor in the missing suit! And what was he thinking pulling that stunt at the hospital corridor, that no one would notice?
Adrian was cast badly. Not psychopathic enough. I wish they'd picked Alexander Skarsgård instead.
The director did do a good job with the "looking at empty space" thing. Simple and eerie. Music was great too.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa (2022)
Makes me Sad!
I thought i wouldn't return to this after the first episode, but couldn't help it. I was hoping it would get better but it has not, yet. In fact it has become worse with this episode.
I saw New Hope on the big screen when I was 9. I know it's a fairy tale, but it was full of surprising thrilling details... blue milk, hologram with scan lines, R2D2, twin suns, the buzzing lightsabre... C'mon!!... they all felt gritty and real.
BF is Disney trying to make a quick buck on low budget with the dregs. I shouldn't be hard on Robert Rodriguez because if you want to make money from pocket change, who you gonna call? So i imagine they aren't paying the writers enough, got rid of the cutting edge 'cube' that made the Mandalorian spectacular, slashed production budgets, but they'll still make lots of money.
Let me count the many things wrong in this. The cast is wrong. BF has no personality, he grimaces wildly in a fight. Everyone else, except possibly Fennec, is boring and plastic. The sets are plastic too. BF's bacta pod looks like a prop from a magic show (remember Luke's pod in episode V?). In fact most of the sets look like they are from a stage production. 8D8 is the worst robot design in the SW universe. Black Krrsantan is basically a beefed up michael jackson werewolf from thriller. Gamorreans look like have green playdough fondant on. The pyke spaceship is barely upgraded from a 70's B movie hand me down. Chases are slow, and fights are little more than characters flailing about. And now we have the hilarious vespas. Red, yellow, blue, green!! The script OMG! Most of the lines are pretty bad ("is that a no?" "that's a no.")
I feel a lot better after this rant. Apologies. And Thank you if you read this far.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021)
The one where the Spy Kids grew really old and walked through a Star Wars museum
This is the Robert Rodriguez i know and dislike. Everything feels quick and dirty. Finesse is for losers. Cliches and banalities rule. Script, story, pacing, emotion, tension, production values... nah not on his watch. He even did some of the background music and made sure to leave his trademark je ne se quoi superficiality.
Why am i getting personal? Because i waited for one year for this, and now more than disappointed, i'm annoyed that i don't feel like returning for the next episode. I blame the director entirely.
And what's with the 8.4 rating from 5k+ people? They must be in a galaxy far far away!
Henry's Crime (2010)
Tedious Flatliner
I like Keanu Reeves, but he has turned out a disappointing uninspired performance in this film. It may not be his fault because the storytelling itself was quite dull. Events unfold tediously without really building up. I think it was because the music failed to do its job of creating the tension at the right time. Nice songs in the background, but that's no excuse for not having a good score.
Bird Box (2018)
wasted opportunity
If you are going to set up a story against a gigantic backdrop of a mysterious global phenomenon, i'd like to think of it as a metaphor for something. Maybe a mother's fear of bringing children in a chaotic world, or a woman's struggle to find connection with her loved ones. The birds in the box should have had some subtle sublime significance at least. Instead the story unfolds into a relentless, and somewhat pointless action adventure. The writing was bland (Mother? don't go!). Sandra Bullock held it together enough to sit through it all, and a couple of scenes with little Vivien Lyra Blair was poignant. thankfully i had a "fast forward 10 seconds" button to skim over the dreary bits, and used it liberally over the second half of the movie. Skip it. It's not worth your time.
Too Old to Die Young (2019)
the Title mirrored my emotions
While waiting for the next line of dialogue to drop, wondering if i'd accidentally pressed pause, my suspended disbelief was broken more than once with the sensation that i was losing precious moments of my own life, growing old, dying young. Either I'm one of those viewers who have criminally short attention spans, or someone came up with a 2 hour feature film idea that demanded a 10 episode production budget. I can imagine the producers saying "if it's going to stretch that much, it better look damn good". Sure, the saturated contrasty lighting, sound design and music works great. It had wonderful elements, like breaking bad with the pacing of fata morgana and music of blade runner. And though I gave up after watching episodes 1,5,8,7,10, in that order, it wasn't bad. Hope someone uploads an edited version so i can watch all of it in 2 hours.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
A solid OK
You may have heard about the unoriginal plot, the plot-holes, the tepid script... its true, all of it. The force is not that strong in this one. But hey, i'm among those who were blown away at the age of 12 by episode IV, so I may be jaded and biased. I was super excited ever since TFA was announced in 2013, and then anxiously waited for weeks after its release, devouring the worst IMDb reviews just to keep my expectations in check.
Visually this is NICE! and more engaging than the prequels overall. Hopefully they will put as much hard work in the story and characters from here on.
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)
A slow, convoluted story with a weak ending, balanced by great production and sound.
Dibakar Bannerjee has raised the bar with his earlier films, and though this one slips a fair bit under that bar, it's still probably worth the weekday price of the ticket.
He is still pushing the envelope, no doubt about that. You can tell that a great deal of effort has gone into visualising the period - from matchboxes to trams, clothes and newspapers. On the other hand, the sound and music makes the story contemporary, even grungy, in a very good way. The international elements were cool too, especially the short scene in "japan", and authentic looking Japanese and Brit characters. While some of the period stuff jumps out at the viewer awkwardly here and there, the jewel of production piece must be the boarding house, which looks completely real and lived-in.
The story, and its telling is where the film falls short. Though the basic idea is great - because it lifts the narrative out of Kolkata and puts in context with international goings on - it got too complex. It could not told so that the viewer can connect the dots; it needed to be spelt out, in words, by the protagonist near the dragging end. As a result, it keeps the viewer distracted and confused through most of the slow fragmented narrative.
Despite good performances from the entire cast, it is hard to relate to anyone in particular. It's not Sushant Rajput's fault, it must be something about the writing. Women characters lack depth, which i think is an unfortunate / unintentional director's trademark. Emotionally, there is no memorable moment in the film, though there could have been a few.
The films ends with a hint of a sequel. Hope the storytelling is fixed in the next one; though I wouldn't miss it in any case because it is, after all, a Dibakar Banerjee film.
Dhobi Ghat (2010)
Watch it. its really good!
Beautifully unhurried and sensitive film, very good script, minimal, natural. I enjoyed every minute. Its a story about the wonderful humanity in different relationships. its good its good!
Firstly, watch it for the amazing performances that the director has been able to get out of even the peripheral characters, unknown amateur actors - the street kid on marine drive, the lift-man, the guard. the main characters, especially "Shai", are all wonderfully detailed, nuanced.
Watch it also for the images; the locations, the black and white photographs.
Don't expect a in-your-face-drama. The story is made up of delicate, subtle, small things. and that makes it so refreshing!
Really, it's not a rip off, its not about Muslims or underlying causes of poverty and other nonsense that has been written about it. i was shocked to read some of the other reviews here, and somehow felt affronted that so many have just trashed the film for being "boring".
I wasn't bored, or confused. I was glad that films like this can be made in the Bollywood kitchen that is accustomed to producing over-spiced, overcooked rich fare.