[benbsb29]

You guys are super quick to complete the homework Prime throws your way.
Here I am, waiting for the weekend to complete my tasks.

Hope to watch Joji over the weekend and will update.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

You guys are super quick to complete the homework Prime throws your way.
Here I am, waiting for the weekend to complete my tasks.

Hope to watch Joji over the weekend and will update.

You need to ramp up, else will fall way behind

Mammootty's The Priest is coming next on April 14th on Prime. Also saw that the new Telugu film Jathi Ratnalu which had got very good reviews is coming on April 11th. (Although I guess since this a comedy with a local flavor, sub titles may not give the needed effect)

[greyhound82]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

The Adoor Gopalakrishnan type movies that critics rave about and get all the awards. As a simple Malayalee looking for entertainment, you wonder what the fuss is about. .

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is a master director. Following are my favourite
1. Vidheyan
2. Anantharam
3. Elipathayam

He is a master craftsman and his movies are political

How he strips heroism from Mammooty in Videhayam using the dialogues and shots was amazing . It was a thin red line for people to portray him as a hero ( it’s adaptation of a book by Zacharia)

Another movie is Anantharam , the after effects of authoritarian parenting. Amazing movie.

In Elipathayam , he portrays a feudal Nair household and its decay.

[subraiyr]

Originally Posted by greyhound82

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is a master director. Following are my favourite
1. Vidheyan
2. Anantharam
3. Elipathayam

He is a master craftsman and his movies are political

I remember an amazing scene from Elipathayam where Uni is sitting in the verandhah and a cow walk into the garden. Rajamme Pashu...cannot forget that. Quntinsential Adoor. To equate Joji to that would be a crime. Both of them are similar but different and have to be appreciated for what they are. Lovely movie

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by greyhound82

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is a master director. Following are my favourite
1. Vidheyan
2. Anantharam
3. Elipathayam

He is a master craftsman and his movies are political

Of course. I am well aware of his movies and no doubt he was a master director .My comment was not intended to mean that his movies were not good (That would be a terrible statement to make), just that his movies (at least most of them) were more towards a niche audience who could understand and appreciate his craft.

[poised2drive]

Watched Joji and one world I'd say - mind bending.

It is a psychological crime-family drama , a genre very rarely explored, especially in the Indian Cinema and is inspired from Macbeth.

As usual, FaFa was impeccable in his role of an oppressed, wayward slacker ,who lives under the shadow of his father . ( faint similarities with Ranbir Kapoor's Sid in Wake up Sid ) .

Special mention to the
1. Cinematography- the way a bungalow filled with people surrounded by greenery , but of pervading coldness amongst all and discontent brewing
2. the BGM - Using Pathos to emote the extreme rawness of the characters just elevated the movie.

For crime lovers, it is a must-watch .

I cannot stop but to mention about its heavy similarities with Irukal , one of the earliest psychological family crime dramas in the Indian movie history . And as I see, the director dedicated Joji to Irukal

[AltoLXI]

Yuvaratna (Kannada)

The film was shot at the colleges of my hometown. Got curious to know which all locations it was shot at.

I forced myself to watch this on Prime, only to be disappointed - as usual. After the first 10 minutes, came to know it is the run of the mill film for ಪಡ್ಡೆ ಹುಡುಗರು (front bench adolescents). Just kept watching while doing other chores.

Beat some bad guys, and then beat some more bad guys and then some more - that is the film all about.

Rating - 0.5/5 - 0.5 for some nice sunglasses the actors wore

[procrj]

Originally Posted by KPR

Watched in Netflix 'Mandela' a tamil film on election.

Thanks for the recomendation. Absolutey agree with your point on it being a slap in the face. Would rate it 3.75/5 for the message, acting and nuances of cast driven politics that it manages to bring out.

[blueshift]

Watched Vadham on MXPlayer and The Great Indian Kitchen on Prime. Both were good.

[StarrySky]

The Priest (Malayalam) on Prime

It seems the makers have tried to include every cliché from horror movies, be it lighting, angles, evil grins from characters when others are looking elsewhere etc. And also other plot points/twists which cannot be shared here without giving out spoilers.

Due to this, the main part of the movie is somewhat predictable. The slow pace makes the experience even worse. It's like you know what's going to happen and then the characters take another 10-15 minutes to reach the same conclusions and you're like "Come on! Go faster!".

I don't know why Mammootty accepted this role. He has practically nothing to do, certainly not something that challenges him as an actor. And I think the only reason Manju Warrier accepted the role is to do her first movie with Mammotty.

The BGM sounded so familiar and I was wondering where I have heard it before. If someone is bold enough to watch the movie (pun intended), could you try and identify it?

[feninrexo]

Mandela (Tamil)- Netflix

The storyline is about a man with no identity and how he ends up the most important person in the village. A wonderfully made film with a very strong message for the masses. Highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L73MUTAuTiI

Rating - (4/5)

[Rajeevraj]

The Priest: (Malayalam) Amazon Prime. . Another thriller/horror genre movie. Not a bad watch, but apart from a couple of good twists, pretty predictable. Nothing challenging for Mammootty, Nikhila Vimal and the young girl were good. Manju Warrier-more of a guest role only. Rating: 3/5

Vellam: (Malayalam) Sun NXT-Jayasurya. This one was one of the first films to come out once theaters opened. So it kind of was not noticed at all, came on TV a week back and is now on OTT. Movie that deals with alcoholism and how it affects everyone around. Slow paced, but brilliantly done by Jayasurya. The fall into the depths of despair due to the alcoholism was done well, but the recovery was quick and convenient. Based on a true story of a person called Murali Kunnumpurath who is a very successful businessman now. Rating 3.5/5

Personally feel Jayasurya is on par and even better than some of our other stars who have pan india appeal now. Can do most genre's especially comedy very well. Unfortunately most of the time not choosing the right scripts or directors.

Also saw Yuvarathna(Kannada), which was a pass time watch and Jathi Ratnalu(Telugu) which was nice, but a comedy is one genre where lot of things get lost in translation when relying on sub titles.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Jathi Ratnalu(Telugu) which was nice, but a comedy is one genre where lot of things get lost in translation when relying on sub titles.

Absolutely agree. At times I couldn't concentrate either on sub-titles or the actual talk (can follow Telugu to an extent) because the dictum along with comic timing is so important that we miss the fun reading the sub-titles.

By the way, Naveen Polishetty has another comedy thriller - Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya that you will like it if you haven't watched it yet.

I watched Jathi Rathnalu only because Naveen was the lead cast in it and my experience with Agent....was nothing less than heartful laughter.

This is the short video on YouTube where Naveen rocked it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bvcyGyzj7Y

[vb-saan]

The Priest (Amazon Prime, Malayalam) – 2.0/5.0

Quite an underwhelming experience, almost like creating situations for the sake of it. The role was literally a sleep-walk for Mammootty, and Manju Warrier was more like a guest appearance.

[poised2drive]

Jathi Rathnalu

Rating - 1/5

Its a lacklustre attempted comedy drama which clearly lacked any kind of story-line with almost nil character development. I must say it became cringe-worthy at times.

First of all, the amount of hype generated before the movie release was extraordinary and even politicians and top heroes of Telugu Film Industry (TFI) took to twitter to appreciate the movie, which made my expectations grow.

But as I began to watch the movie in the theatre, I was baffled that this movie garnered such hype and understood to see the power of propaganda as the movie was bankrolled by one of the major production houses.

This movie is just a half-hearted amalgamation of scenes containing a bunch of witless & buffoonery conversations between the main roles. Of course, that type of comedy is enjoyable for a couple of minutes and becomes redundant as the movie proceeds with absolutely no unweaving of any semblance of story.

Only saving grace was the lead actors' impeccable comedy timing -Naveen , Priyadarshi and Rahul played the silly buffoons with unbelievable ease .

Bottomline- Can watch a couple of scenes at times for a few minutes for some comic relief, but in aggregate , is a pretty poor one.

PS: Apart from my group , almost the whole theatre was continuously in the mode of laughing track . I assume they must have really enjoyed the movie ( or were secretly laughing at their stupidity that they came to this movie, just like us )