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Indian Cinema [PART 4]

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Indian Cinema [PART 4]

Old 12-14-14, 10:07 PM
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nitin, umm...you're...you know, like free and everything, right....didn't pick a really bad time to go chocolate shopping when you should be saving up for more Blu-rays...I hope?
Old 12-15-14, 04:33 AM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

haha no just busy with some real life shit. Havent really watched tv/movies for a while but I bought craploads during this recent BF period so lots to look forward to.

btw did we ever discuss Bron/Broen and Forbrydelsen? I have only seen s1 of both so far but loved them both to bits.
Old 12-15-14, 07:50 AM
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Glad to learn you are out of harm's way...I hope the same can soon be said about those currently caught up in that situation.


I don't recall you and I ever directly discussing BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN. I do seem to recall that sleepyhead and I (and perhaps someone else or two) talked about them...maybe in the Asian thread or the more general International thread that followed...but that was maybe 18 months ago.

I hadn't seen BRON/BROEN S2 at that point though. I did watch it earlier this year...I recall being quite impressed by S2, in the sense that I liked it as much - or perhaps more in some ways - than S1. Out of the 5 seasons that are the current total for the combined BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN, I'd say FORBRYDELSEN S2 was my least favorite...while FORBRYDELSEN S3 was again highly entertaining, a very strong entry (sort of a fusion of the previous two seasons if I remember right) and closed things out very well.

Via the UK DVDs, I did watch a couple of other European television entries earlier this year...Norway's MAMMON and Belgium's SALAMANDER...both quite similar in many regards...again don't remember much at this point...maybe quite decent enough experiences, but not in any way essential like BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN. And yeah, as I mentioned earlier...about my "masochistic" viewing tendencies...I did also continue with BRAQUO S3 earlier this year...it was more of the same (aka my thumbs down verdict still holds with regard to the show)...and too S3 I seem to remember as being a little dull too...if the best you could say about the first two seasons of BRAQUO was that it at least had a measure of check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment value...perhaps that "fun factor" instead gave way to a level of "dryness" in the third season.
Old 12-15-14, 03:47 PM
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To update my movie snacking preferences...7UP Cherry is out, and my new favorite is Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash...like that it doesn't taste as sweet as a lot of others.

One thought with regard to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the Michael Rooker character totally felt like a futuristic version of the Crowes from JUSTIFIED...they should have found a role for him in JUSTIFIED.

And I did finish up S5 of JUSTIFIED...same old same old but even more (lazily) violent...introduce a bunch of "red shirt" guest characters and then proceed to kill them off...and really very little development in terms of the core characters...and the storytelling feels contrived at times...again although a lot seems to happen in S5, ultimately when you really look at it, not much happens at all.


Ustad Hotel (2012 - Malayalam) - Paint-by-numbers but - at least initially - well-done, and feels more often than not more like an "international" movie than a South Indian movie in style. The first, maybe thirty-five percent, of the 150-minute runtime was very enjoyable. However, things really deflate thereafter...it feels drawn out, in need of trimming, and starts to feel more like a typical Hindi movie that you've seen too many times...NRI guy - in this case a European-trained chef (with caucasian girlfriend) - ends up back in India (after dispute with rich father)...he ends up having to work with his grandfather in a small restaurant...he meets an Indian girl, at first they don't like each other, but you can guess what happens after that...and then evil big restaurant/hotel tries to push out little old grandpa...everyone bands together to win the day...NRI guy finds he is happy with simple life in India. I did like the "food movie" aspect...it made me hungry for sure. While everything is cliche, and I was disappointed that it couldn't sustain things after the strong opening, the movie did close quite well over the last fifteen minutes, where the movie injected a lot of heart and it became quite moving and meaningful. So USTAD HOTEL is entirely formulaic, but not without certain merit here and there, and - by South Indian standards - it does have a freshness about it.
Old 12-16-14, 04:00 AM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

Originally Posted by flixtime
Glad to learn you are out of harm's way...I hope the same can soon be said about those currently caught up in that situation.


I don't recall you and I ever directly discussing BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN. I do seem to recall that sleepyhead and I (and perhaps someone else or two) talked about them...maybe in the Asian thread or the more general International thread that followed...but that was maybe 18 months ago.

I hadn't seen BRON/BROEN S2 at that point though. I did watch it earlier this year...I recall being quite impressed by S2, in the sense that I liked it as much - or perhaps more in some ways - than S1. Out of the 5 seasons that are the current total for the combined BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN, I'd say FORBRYDELSEN S2 was my least favorite...while FORBRYDELSEN S3 was again highly entertaining, a very strong entry (sort of a fusion of the previous two seasons if I remember right) and closed things out very well.

Via the UK DVDs, I did watch a couple of other European television entries earlier this year...Norway's MAMMON and Belgium's SALAMANDER...both quite similar in many regards...again don't remember much at this point...maybe quite decent enough experiences, but not in any way essential like BRON/BROEN and FORBRYDELSEN. And yeah, as I mentioned earlier...about my "masochistic" viewing tendencies...I did also continue with BRAQUO S3 earlier this year...it was more of the same (aka my thumbs down verdict still holds with regard to the show)...and too S3 I seem to remember as being a little dull too...if the best you could say about the first two seasons of BRAQUO was that it at least had a measure of check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment value...perhaps that "fun factor" instead gave way to a level of "dryness" in the third season.
Good to hear the remaining seasons of both shows are quality, have them all, just need to watch them. Another one I'm eyeing off is the new italian series Gomorrah and the slightly older aussier series The Straits.

ps I am only upto the end of s3 to Justified and quite liking it so far, especially Boyd Crowther (although I would rank them s1, s3 and s2).
Old 12-16-14, 03:41 PM
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Yeah, I'm looking at the Italian release of GOMORRAH too but I'm waiting for a pricedrop and I'd like to bundle it with at least a couple of other pickups so I feel better about Amazon Italy's per shipment cost. Never got around to THE STRAITS.

In terms of near-future pickups on my radar...PEAKY BLINDERS series 1 and 2, THE HONOURABLE WOMAN, and BANSHEE S2 (thank you god for Lili Simmons).

The Boyd Crowder character sort of Fonzie'd/Urkel'd the show...in some ways he feels like the 1A lead character, while Raylan is 1B. I don't find myself too drawn to Raylan as a protagonist...I mentioned in another thread that in comparison I'd rather hang out with the lead from BANSHEE...Raylan sometimes seems to me like an emotionally-stunted diva...which is fine...but he also has this drama queen way about it...going on about how bad he had it as a kid because of his father. And again that is okay too, but they haven't done enough with Raylan in terms of a character arc. Anyway, you probably know, but the actor who plays Boyd was also one of the main actors on THE SHIELD...and too he turns up - in quite a unique fashion - in a few episodes of SONS OF ANARCHY too.


I have started S2 of THE AMERICANS...a DVD only release in the U.S. I'm not finicky when it comes to A/V quality and I'm certainly still content with buying DVDs...that said I did think things looked a little "soft" in terms of picture quality on the DVD.
Old 12-17-14, 02:21 PM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

Originally Posted by flixtime
I did also continue with BRAQUO S3 earlier this year...it was more of the same (aka my thumbs down verdict still holds with regard to the show)...and too S3 I seem to remember as being a little dull too...if the best you could say about the first two seasons of BRAQUO was that it at least had a measure of check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment value...perhaps that "fun factor" instead gave way to a level of "dryness" in the third season.
I'll have to check this one out again. I totally forgot that this got a third season. It's funny when I first read this I thought you were talking about Spiral S3. Now that's a show I avoided after watching the first two overated seasons.

I really have to start watching Forbrydelsen but I'm just waiting for it to price drop on Amazon.uk
Old 12-17-14, 09:33 PM
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I may be a glutton for punishment in some of my viewing choices, but ENGRENAGES/SPIRAL would be taking things to another level...I recall you mentioning a long while back that S2 was as rough a ride as S1, and though I picked up the S1-S3 boxset, I just haven't been able to convince myself to give S2 a spin.

Given that BRAQUO S3 left at least a couple of things open by season's end, I wouldn't be surprised to see a S4 sometime down the road. A lot of the S3 story is driven by infighting between Russia mafia factions.

I was checking around today and just noticed that the Welsh series Y GWYLL aka HINTERLAND received the release I was hoping for. Apparently this series was shot in both Welsh and English (with bits of Welsh). The UK DVD released in May I believe was the English version. A month later there was another UK DVD release and this time it was the Welsh version. It looks like the U.S. release was the English version. Anyway, I need a pricedrop back to 14 GBP or less and then maybe I'll consider picking up the UK DVD of the Welsh version.

I was searching through some stuff today and one of the DVDs I came across was STANDER from 2003...I don't recall anything specific except I do recall liking the movie quite a bit...if anyone hasn't seen it yet then maybe give it some consideration...actually maybe I should give it a spin again too.
Old 12-20-14, 09:53 PM
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Watching the 2013 German TV-miniseries GENERATION WAR (available on U.S. Blu-ray). It's a WWII story focusing on five twenty-something Germans caught up in the war. Opening in mid-1941, they are enthusiastic at the thought of a quick victory, and reuniting by that coming Christmas. The five main characters are two German brothers (an officer and his far less eager to fight younger sibling) who are setting off to join the army's advance towards Moscow; a female nurse (in love with the elder brother) who is also off to serve with the medical unit following just behind the German advance; and a romantic pair of an aspiring actress and her German-Jewish boyfriend who remain back in Berlin. Now, WWII has been covered so thoroughly in films/TV that everything here will feel quite familiar...and in that sense this is a rather standard, par-for-the-course effort. At the same time, it is quickly-paced, high-scoring in terms of "entertainment", and I do feel quite invested in the characters. Middlebrow it may be but I'm also finding it to be thoroughly enjoyable.

I'll chime in after I wrap things up tomorrow. The miniseries consists of three parts of approximately 90+ minutes. So far I've watched Part 1 which ran for 95-minutes, and Part 2 which came in at 90-minutes. Part 1 ranges over an approximately five-month period from mid-1941 onward while Part 2 saw a jump ahead to mid-1943...around the time of the Battle of Kursk. When it comes to the few action parts, it isn't about grand-scale and epic battles, instead it is more small-scaled, squad-based combat...and generally when following the characters on the war front, the show is more focused on the characters and their goings-on in between the actual combat.



Downed 7 of 13 episodes in S2 of THE AMERICANS. While it had a strong kickoff in episode 1, it did take me a couple of episodes for the eager-to-watch-the-next-episode factor to take hold, but after that things started humming along quite nicely. I really like the new Russian character they've added...I hope he isn't just this season's "red shirt" as I'd like to see that character developed further. They've certainly ratcheted up the sex quotient this season too. To try and tie this comment to this particular thread....umm, actress Annet Mahendru is part-Indian.
Old 12-20-14, 10:05 PM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

Originally Posted by flixtime


Downed 7 of 13 episodes in S2 of THE AMERICANS. While it had a strong kickoff in episode 1, it did take me a couple of episodes for the eager-to-watch-the-next-episode factor to take hold, but after that things started humming along quite nicely. I really like the new Russian character they've added...I hope he isn't just this season's "red shirt" as I'd like to see that character developed further. They've certainly ratcheted up the sex quotient this season too. To try and tie this comment to this particular thread....umm, actress Annet Mahendru is part-Indian.
You are talking about, Oleg, right? I liked him a lot too. Probably because he is just so duplicitous. I ended up liking him more than Stan in the season.
Old 12-21-14, 07:11 AM
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Yup...Oleg...and I concur...he is more interesting than Stan right now.
Old 12-21-14, 08:23 PM
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Finished watching GENERATION WAR...Part 3 opens in mid-1944 and runs through the end of the war...runtime comes in at 96-minutes. My comments with regard to Part 3 would be consistent with my feelings about the two earlier chapters...if you desire something significantly "unfamiliar" with regard to your WWII stories and characters then you might not find much of that here, outside of that I found GENERATION WAR to be thoroughly enjoyable... an easy thumbs up.
Old 12-23-14, 04:19 PM
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Finished S2 of THE AMERICANS...the story-of-the-week aspect was perhaps less consistent this season, but it did have a nice season arc...Phillip and Elizabeth were somewhat mercurial in their parenting skills...a solid second season with no real indicators of a sophomore slump...nicely executed final episode that capped the season off well while leaving me eager to watch S3 (the teaser trailer for S3 looked quite promising). Nice to see Rahul Khanna (BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD) after a very long while. It was amusing hearing Matthew Rhys' real voice while watching the extras...in the sense that I thought his real voice sounded fake. Anyway, I think the show has a lot more story to tell so I hope it lasts beyond the coming S3.


Watched KON-TIKI (2012) and enjoyed it...measurably more than Redford's ALL IS LOST. Wish I hadn't watched the "making of" type extras as it ruined some of the magic...it doesn't bother me in something like say GUARDIANS OF GALAXY where you know it is a lot of CGI, but in something more natural like KON-TIKI...learning how much of it was CGI kind of dampened the overall experience.

Watched SNOWPIERCER...meh...too long, more like a B-movie, poorly-delivered action, and in general I wasn't pleased with the cinematography in terms of framing and composition...didn't find anything of significant merit or entertainment value...didn't find it compelling, substantive, or thought-provoking in any measurable regard...would rate it as "average".
Old 12-23-14, 08:55 PM
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Related to my mention of Rahul Khanna...he also appears in India's official remake of Keifer Sutherland's television series 24...actor Anil Kapoor (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 24 (U.S. version)) plays the lead in the Hindi remake...and S1 of the Hindi remake version just got released on English-friendly Indian DVD.
Old 12-24-14, 05:46 PM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

I have only seen s1 of The Americans and found it to be decent 3rd tier tv personally. The spy stuff definitely 'felt' right but the 'relationship' stuff felt heavily contrived IMHO despite the fine performances. I actually bought the relationship between Keri Russell and Derek Luke's characters more, probably because it was less on the nose and left more to your imagination via the good acting. And dont get me started on Nina and Stan...

Still I will watch s2 despite Fox making a habit of releasing everything after s1 of shows on dvd only.

Last edited by nitin77; 12-25-14 at 07:08 PM.
Old 12-25-14, 07:39 AM
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I've felt similar with regard to some of the "contrived" aspects but, for me, it wasn't much of an issue. I acknowledge the Derek Luke stuff as being well-done but in some ways it felt like it was from a different show, in terms of style/tone...a more realistic THE WIRE-like spy show perhaps. For whatever reason, from the beginning, I entered into THE AMERICANS seeing it as more "quality escapist" entertainment. So, for example, if it were a spy show version of THE WIRE then Stan - an FBI agent - just happening to move in next door would bother me, but since I see the show differently it doesn't...aka like sleepyhead mentioned about Martha earlier and too at least in S1 I wondered that too about the kids - don't they ever notice the parents never around at night - but again, for me, I'm able to push those thoughts aside rather easily.



To follow on my mention of PEAKY BLINDERS...today it is a lightning deal (starting a few hours from now) at Amazon UK...a deal on the Series 1 & 2 bundle in either DVD or Blu-ray...don't know what the price will be but I am probably looking for just a few GBP drop from the current price and that'll be enough to go for it.
Old 12-25-14, 07:09 PM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

hmm, I would say it seems to oscillate between escapist and trying to be proper drama, and the mix didnt gel with me too well in season 1. I liked it overall but like I said 3rd tier tv for me personally.
Old 12-27-14, 06:59 AM
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For those that might have missed it and might still be interested, PEAKY BLINDERS is on the Boxing Day lightning deal schedule again today....about seven hours from now.

If I remember correctly, the price last go 'round was 17.49 GBP for the DVD, and 18.99 GBP for the Blu-ray.
Old 01-12-15, 10:40 PM
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Munnariyippu (2014 - Malayalam) - Well-received, low-key, suspense-thriller...well, when I start with "well-received" that generally means trouble for me...and this was trouble. Thought it was totally "meh"...didn't do much for me at all. A slog through 112-minutes just to get to the punchline...issue being the punchline was easily anticipated well before the climax. That Australian movie THE ROVER which I mentioned not caring much for was something similar...a movie all about the arrival of its "clever" punchline.

Ivan Veramaathiri (2013 - Tamil) - Vigilante, and girl meets boy storylines cross paths in - at least by commercial cinema standards - rather nicely underplayed fashion. I don't generally care for the South Indian style of having the heroine behave like a six-year-old girl, but accepting that, I otherwise found the female lead to be appealing more than not. The music and limited dance numbers were average-grade. All that said, this was quite a solid and thoroughly enjoyable entry. I also found it to be more thoughtful than other South Indian films of this nature. Though, I was a little disappointed in the wrap-up scenes at the end...they ran counter to the earlier more thoughtful approach...and I would have gone with a greater "weighs on one's conscience" send-out. Still, I look back at the 149-minute runtime as a quality investment.



Finished off MASTERS OF SEX S1...I liked it...not wildly addictive or anything, and kind of soap opera (or at least HBO-paced) storytelling but enjoyable. While sometimes it felt a little too "sensitive", I generally appreciated the warmth it had for its assorted characters. Of course, acting/casting, and production/technical values were top-notch. The sex/nudity of the show was actually rather wholesome.

Also finished off BANSHEE S2...I thought the writing in terms of dialogue/plot/storytelling dropped down to average after a more impressive first season...but I suppose this show isn't going to be about writing. And if that is the case, good heavens they certainly delivered in terms of "mayhem" while Lili Simmons delivered on everything else. It can rank with STRIKE BACK in terms of being top-shelf viewing for action fans. I do appreciate - even though it might have been a conserve-the-budget type of episode - that they hit the pause button a bit with episode five and allowed the show to share a little more of its heart and soul. For those who plan to watch S2 I do offer one suggestion, there is an extra on the first disc called Banshee Origins. I would recommend before watching episode one that you invest the 45-minutes and run through all the short scenes that make up Banshee Origins. Basically they are a collection of "prequel" scenes that give you some background on the existing characters, more importantly perhaps is that you are introduced to some new characters that later come into play over the course of S2. In many ways the scenes could have been inserted as "flashback" scenes throughout the course of S2, though they might have been momentum breakers too.

Not sure what show to go with next...the plate is full with PEAKY BLINDERS, THE FALL S2, THE MISSING, and THE HONOURABLE WOMAN among other choices.

I did watch FROZEN...umm...I enjoyed it a great deal. A look under the hood revealed that it was running on the same engine as say something like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and I found that FROZEN offered the nicer ride.
Old 01-13-15, 09:17 PM
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Bachchan (2013 - Kannada) - During the early stages this basically plays like a so-so Telugu hero-type movie, except without the big-budget technical/production values. Ultimately too, that is what this is. However, BACHCHAN distinguished itself by delivering a much stronger and far more involving story than is usually found in these types of films. The movie's first engaging aspect comes with the introduction of two villains in the first half...one especially was rather interesting and someone could actually make a black comedy type of movie with that type of character. What I found most impressive is that the movie actually in many ways started to feel like a mystery, not in the who-done-it sense, but I found it quite engaging and was thoroughly into it in the sense of being very curious as to how things would play out...and that makes the experience quite uncommon for me as compared to other movies of this ilk. Sudeep was likeable enough as the protagonist...most would likely know him from his well-done turn as the villain in the Telugu blockbuster EEGA from a few years ago. While things took a while to come together, BACHCHAN was quite an enjoyable 146-minutes. The title is basically an homage to Amitabh Bachchan's Angry Young Man early days...they apply that persona to Sudeep's character. I wouldn't be surprised to see BACHCHAN picked up for remake in other Indian languages.




Decided to go with S2 of THE FALL in terms of TV-viewing. A general comment with regard to watching TV shows on home video...I really wish they'd do a better job in offering recaps of the previous season. At the beginning of episode one in S2, they do offer a brief recap of S1 but it really did very little to help me reacquaint myself with the events of S1, thus I felt quite disconnected from the first episode as I was struggling to recall earlier events and characters.

And, while I'm at it, another general and related complaint, I can't stand it when the main menu for a show or movie shows clips from the show/movie and those clips are of the spoiler variety. This issue comes up often it seems...the most recent being the super annoying menu for S2 of BANSHEE which totally spoils a lot of what is to come, and that isn't something I noted after the fact, it is something I strongly suspected early on given the scale and location of what was being shown in the menu clip...just super annoying.
Old 01-14-15, 09:18 AM
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Shankar's highly-anticipated I opened today...U.S. theaters are offering showings in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. I was going to bypass it, but now I think maybe I'll check it out. If I pre-wire myself with modest expectations aka Vikram will be his usual likeable self, Amy Jackson is pretty, and it should deliver a reasonable amount of "eye-candy spectacle" (given the mammoth budget)...then maybe I should be okay...anything else above that in the 189-minute runtime perhaps can be seen as "gravy"...so maybe that approach could work for me.
Old 01-15-15, 09:00 PM
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I (2015 - Tamil) - I'll muzzle myself since I fully anticipated what this was going to be like...Vikram was fine (I prefer him over Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, though I'm not finding Vikram, in his most recent films, as charismatic/handsome as he used to seem)...Amy Jackson is pretty (in a vanilla sort of way)...the music segments delivered on the spectacle, but otherwise the film came up short in that regard. All in all, it was a rather ordinary story...yeah the hunchback stuff is there...and it helps "sell" the movie, but this isn't any sort of HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, or PHANTOM OF THE OPERA affair. I thought the casting of the assorted villains was rather average at best. They shot a lot in China, but I wasn't much impressed...nothing especially creative or extraordinary in terms of visual appeal (don't know if it is accurate but some bits had me recalling HERO, ENTER THE DRAGON, and THE PROMISE...so maybe Shankar studied up some in that regard). The action scenes felt recycled (the bicycle fight seemed very familiar but don't recall which Asian movie it might have been). Quite a few things seemed like lesser versions of things done in ANNIYAN. I didn't like the way the film was edited in terms of scene structure. At least the romance portion wasn't entirely inert. Really a put your brain on auto-pilot experience which puts it on-par with a lot of South Indian movies. Yet when you look at the talent and money and time involved, the movie has to be seen as a disappointment. Shankar's ANNIYAN was a wonderful movie, likely the best masala movie in Indian cinema these past fifteen years. I didn't care for ENTHIRAN but at least Shankar delivered in terms of a grand finale in that movie. Walking away from I, I'm not carrying much besides an appreciation for the music and visual presentation of the songs. Shankar really needs to deliver more than just a "watchable" movie.
Old 03-03-15, 08:56 PM
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Badlapur (2015 - Hindi) - Worthy of inclusion when discussing the best vengeance films of all-time!

The latest from director Sriram Raghavan (AGENT VINOD, JOHNNY GADDAAR, EK HASINA THI)...BADLAPUR is unquestionably his best film (as compared to others, I didn't care much for JOHNNY GADDAAR). There's quite a bit I'd like to comment on with regard to BADLAPUR but it is better if I don't...if you like vengeance films then watch the movie...and don't read anything about it beforehand because it plays best if you go in totally cold.

I can say that my high rating of the film is based almost entirely on story/plot...though there are a number of strong performances as well. There isn't anything special in terms of style or technicals...it is a rather unadorned film in that regard...and it isn't with a flaw or two...but it succeeded in what matters most...storytelling and the characters...and in the end it played well to my thoughts and emotions...the movie isn't about simple blood and guts revenge...it isn't about revenge as entertainment...actually BADLAPUR's tone is surprisingly quiet and low-key. I am curious to experience how it plays out on a second viewing.

BADLAPUR is currently playing in U.S. theaters. Highly recommended!!!





Random thoughts...THE HONOURABLE WOMAN and THE MISSING were both A-grade experiences...highly recommended viewing. PEAKY BLINDERS was uninspired but otherwise entertaining and recommended. UTOPIA S1 was terrific...S2 was a drop-off but still enjoyable...very surprised at how violent the show was...more violent than many a crime show. THE FALL S2 gets a thumbs down. I have survived the experience of watching all of SONS OF ANARCHY...and after being used to Charlie Hunnam as Jax, seeing/hearing Hunnam using his natural voice is entirely odd to me. All done too with BOARDWALK EMPIRE...it really tailed off in the final two seasons but at least it ended in a satisfying manner. I'm not as big on GAME OF THRONES as most others....the first season was great but not so much after that...but I liked season four better than the previous two seasons. I finished off SHETLAND (which I mentioned in the other thread)...really liked it...my closing comments are in-line with the comments I posted in the other thread...a very consistent and entertaining viewing experience...eager to see how they handle the change in format with S3.

A movie I quite liked was BYZANTIUM...yeah, it is simply a more modest take on INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE perhaps, but I quite liked it. SEASON OF THE WITCH (2011) would make for a solid B-movie double-feature with BLACK DEATH (2010). Watched NO TEARS FOR THE DEAD...wasn't as high on THE MAN FROM NOWHERE as others...likewise NO TEARS FOR THE DEAD didn't impress...actually to tie in to the other thread...when it comes to recent one-last-job hitman movies...PANZEHIR and SALVO are both far better choices over NO TEARS FOR THE DEAD...and director LEE Jeong-beom's first movie CRUEL WINTER BLUES is still his best. As to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan...Taiwan's SOUL (2013) is certainly one to check out.
Old 03-04-15, 07:16 AM
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Re: Indian Cinema [PART 4]

thanks, added Badlapur to the to-watch pile I had read good reviews but you have sealed the deal.

Have the first 3 british shows you mentioned in my monstrous unwatched pile together with The Fall and Utopia too (although need to get s2 of Utopia but waiting for the german blu ray).
Old 03-04-15, 02:41 PM
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nitin, one point with regard to THE HONOURABLE WOMAN...it isn't relax-after-a-hard-day's-work viewing...it demands concentration...so plan your viewing accordingly.

Also, try to keep your expectations in check heading in to BADLAPUR...I was glad I went in cold without the burden of expecting anything...in many ways, from a filmmaking perspective it can be described as not especially distinguished and not entirely polished. Again, what was special to me was the story...and here we get in to something like I recently wrote about with regard to all those films from Japanese author Keigo Higashino...thus when it comes to BADLAPUR who deserves a lot of the credit...I would say the writer - acclaimed Italian crime writer Massimo Carlotto. He wrote the book - Death's Dark Abyss - upon which BADLAPUR is based (another Carlotto book was made into the Italian crime film ARRIVEDERCI AMORE CIAO some years back...did that movie ever get a releases besides that Thai DVD). Some of Carlotto's work is available via publisher Europa Editions...and not too long back they started an interesting line called World Noir...nice paperbacks, I have one - Zulu by French author Caryl Ferey...that too was made into a crime movie starring Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom (note this Zulu has nothing to do with the classic war movie ZULU or even SHAKA ZULU).

Somewhat relatedly....meaning another movie I liked a lot because of the story...I finally got around to Colombia's LA CARA OCULTA (2011)...it took a while to find a decent price on the U.S. DVD...but I have mentioned that I liked the official Indian remake MURDER 3. LA CARA OCULTA was about what I expected it to be...a little rough around the edges. In many ways MURDER 3 would be my preferred choice as, while the story was the same, MURDER 3 in terms of filmmaking improved upon some of the aspects in LA CARA OCULTA. Note: if you liked Esme from HOMELAND S3 you get to see her naked in LA CARA OCULTA. Anyway, my point is neither version is a great film in terms of filmmaking perhaps...but I hold a solid measure of enthusiasm for them because of the clever story (a story strong enough to make you dismiss other shortcomings)...it is something that would be of interest to those who might have enjoyed something like Alfred Hitchcock Presents...the story would have been perfect for a show like that.

And relatedly, not too long back I mentioned how I greatly dislike the use of spoilers in DVD menus and such. Well, if you plan on watching LA CARA OCULTA then before the menu comes up cover your eyes and just glimpse the very bottom of the menu screen where you can hit play. Why...because the DVD menu totally ruins the movie...and that is no exaggeration. I'm glad I saw MURDER 3 first so I knew the story...so in that way I wasn't bothered, but otherwise I would have been quite upset (you know, in a first world sort of way).

Actually, if you liked something such as GONE GIRL (wow, another Hollywood movie I actually liked)...then something like LA CARA OCULTA and/or MURDER 3 might be of interest (and too another B-movie that'd be of interest would be Mexico's AMOR DOLOR Y VICE VERSA (2008)...the female lead is Barbari Mori who would be known to Indian audiences as the female lead from Hrithik Roshan's KITES).

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