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Lal Salaam (2024)
Poor writing. Would've been good if it was made in the 1990s
Whenever a director has to use voiceover to move the plot forward, it's a sign of poor storytelling. In this movie the director uses voice over to tell us what is happening on screen. Unnecessary symbolism sprinkled in to make it seem like an art film, but it needs a more talented story teller to pull it off. The non-linear story telling doesn't have any suspense either as there are barely any stakes.
Vishnu Vishal and Vikrant are completely wasted. The supporting cast is forgettable. Even Rajinikanth seems to be phoning his performance in.
People who've seen this will have more appreciation for Darbar and Jailer. This movie isn't even worth watching on OTT.
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
A bland adaptation of a screenplay we've already seen
Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes set the standard for what a modern day detective story should be. It was fast paced. Had some great set pieces and action sequences in the middle when the story dragged a bit. The characters were likeable and witty. Everybody assumes something supernatural is abound, and it is up to Holmes to restore order. I can keep going on about that one just to avoid talking about A Haunting in Venice.
This is Brannagh's third adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel, and his formula is getting tiresome. The characters are lacklustre. Poirot is presented as someone who thinks of himself as above his clients in the way he dismisses them during the opening sequence. This does not fit in with the character Christie created.
The camera angles and lighting are extremely poor and a source of constant distraction. There are 4 deaths at the end of the movie as members of the cast are picked off one by one. But I was only left disappointed that all of them didn't die. At least that would have brought some satisfaction to an otherwise completely forgettable movie.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Mediocre adaptation of a great story
It's surprising how something this good looking can be completely devoid of any substance. And I'm not just talking about Gal Gadot. The screenplay is extremely poor. There are sequences where we just get exposition dumps where we're introduced to every character. The character introductions are themselves very rushed, and we have little time to know the motives of each character.
Branagh's Poirot is not very likeable and his French accent is like sandpaper to the ears. Poirot in the books is a very quiet, amicable character, who doesn't throw around accusations willy nilly. This iteration of Poirot seems like the opposite of what Christie envisioned.
There is also a completely pointless scene after the story is concluded which give you a couple of minutes to contemplate why you just wasted 2 hours of your life.
Reacher (2022)
The dialogue is atrocious
This show is like BBC's Sherlock but much dumber and 10x the testosterone. When I checked IMDb for this show's ratings, it had an 8.9/10. I was expecting something Breaking Bad like. My disappointment is immeasurable and my week is ruined.
I can only imagine the men rating this show 10/10 think this is what an alpha male looks like. It would've been an 8/10 if not for the atrocious dialogue. I've seen better writing in porn scenes.
Black Widow (2021)
Had the potential to be more
Black Widow is no different from most of the marvel films. It's filled with cliched characters, a completely expected twist, witty one-liners and a forgettable villain (perhaps the most forgettable villain in the MCU).
Red Guardian character has no redeeming qualities of a father. Rachel Weisz and David Harbour are completely wasted. The over-the-top ending sequence is non-sensical. Taskmaster is an iconic hand-to-hand combat villain in Marvel comics. To see him this under-utilized is almost criminal. The twist that he was a she was something most people who paid attention could see coming since Olga Kurylenko's name is prominently featured in the title cards. If you're going to have a surprise twist, at least hide the actor's name in the opening credits.
Formulaic. Disappointing. Forgettable.
Thamizh Padam (2010)
Spoof movies are underrated
The spoof movie genre is under-represented in Tamil cinema.
From the opening scene, to the climax twist, it's very evident that the director/writers have analyzed Tamil cinema with a fine toothed comb. Some references to movies are quite direct, others very subtle. Some older ones flew right over my head. The movie is a laugh riot, and represents several things wrong with Tamil cinema.
Must watch for Tamil cinema fans!