[binand]

Saw Forensic (Malayalam) yesterday.

This is another movie about a serial killer and the investigative sequence that leads a team of cops to the perpetrator. In fact the comparisons with the recent Ancham Pathira is inevitable and in my opinion, quite justified.

I found this one to be better though. In Ancham Pathira I was turned off by the coincidences baked into the script. Here thankfully, coincidences are not a player - every lead, every breakthrough is actually the result of investigative nous and focus of the team.

Some plot holes, some tests on the limits of credulity etc. remain.

[StarrySky]

Big Brother (Malayalam): Watched this movie on Amazon Prime. I cannot think of one good thing to say about this movie. Director Siddique has tried an action movie this time. His idea of an action movie seems to be a half-baked story punctuated by "fly-by-wire" action sequences shot almost entirely in slow motion. It does not even have a decent comedy track to offer some relief. Stay away from this one.

[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Its available now on both SUN NXT and Netflix

Yes, you are right. It dropped a day earlier.
Sarileru Neekevvaruhas dropped at midnight today on Prime.

When I start my Fire Stick and go into movies on Prime, I find the latest movies of Thalaiva, Mammukkha, Laletta, Dhanush, Akshay Kumar & Prince Mahesh Babu from this morning.

Rajnikanth, Mohanlal & Mammotty are just sleepwalking their roles in their respective movies.
I wish Mammotty makes movies like Unda & allow his legacy to shine rather than make crap movies like Shylock & spoil his image. Same for Mohanlal.

Then there was news of a Hindi remake of Thadam (SunNXT)
Thoroughly enjoyed Thadam - specially after the entry of the lady cop.
Arun Vijay does take some good scripts.
Thadam is a must watch for fans of cops v robbers cat & mouse chases.

[KPR]

Watched Adanga Maru in Hotstar yesterday. Based on Pollachi incidents this movie has been made. Many loop holes in the movie yet worth watching once. The movie banks on the viewers sentiment about women harassment. Rating will be 2.25/5. As usual Jayam Ravi does what he's good at. He was donning a humble cop role to perfection.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Big Brother (Malayalam): Watched this movie on Amazon Prime. I cannot think of one good thing to say about this movie. Director Siddique has tried an action movie this time. His idea of an action movie seems to be a half-baked story punctuated by "fly-by-wire" action sequences shot almost entirely in slow motion. It does not even have a decent comedy track to offer some relief. Stay away from this one.

Hahah, we watched Darbar a few days before watching this so we though Big Brother was awesome.

Ala Vaikunthapurramloo - 1.5/5

Wife wanted to watch it in theaters. Somehow we couldn't go. Finally caught it on Netflix. We both loved the songs and I think that is what helped hype up this movie. There was pretty much nothing in it. I thought Murali Sharma played his part well though. Just a timepass movie.

[GeneralJazz]

Watched two movies over the weekend.

Forensic (Malayalam): 3.5/5

An uncommon story. Thats about it. Tovino cant act. Its the rest of the cast that carried the movie. The first half is somewhat interesting, with the stuff about forensic investigation, but the second half goes into the usual 'hero beats the crap out of the villain' mode. CSI fans will get a sore face from all the face-palming.

Trance (Malayalam): 4/5

WOW! Not for the story or the direction. Just for Fahad Faasil. A movie which scratches at the surface of the miracle healing industry. Loved Fahad's acting, how he transforms into a maniacal pastor/healer. A must watch for Fahad fans!

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Hahah, we watched Darbar a few days before watching this so we though Big Brother was awesome.

Had a similar feeling watching Shylock a day after watching Big Brother. Another pointless movie, with Mammotty repeating his Pokkiriraja/Madhuraraja act, this time dressed in black instead of white. However, it is a good 30 minutes or so shorter than Big Brother. So it feels fast-paced unlike Big Brother which really tests the patience with its long running time.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Had a similar feeling watching Shylock a day after watching Big Brother. Another pointless movie, with Mammotty repeating his Pokkiriraja/Madhuraraja act, this time dressed in black instead of white. However, it is a good 30 minutes or so shorter than Big Brother. So it feels fast-paced unlike Big Brother which really tests the patience with its long running time.

Good to know. I found Shylock a disaster, super-bad script and over-the-top acting; assume Big Brother will be a catastrophe then – thanks for the heads up

[neil.jericho]

The Home Minister wanted to watch Shylock and having seen the warnings here, I did mention that it was not a good movie. Nonetheless, we decided to give it a shot and my wife gave up after 30 minutes, she could take it no longer. I soldiered on since I am a big Mammooty fan (well in fairness, I am an equally big Mohanlal fan as well). I think two words uttered by Mammooty in the movie perfectly encapsulate this forgettable venture - "Cinematic bull(crap)!".

We happened to watch Darbaar as well recently and I see a lot of parallels between the two movies. Both have massive superstars that dont even seem to be trying to act at this stage of their careers, really poor scripts, forgettable production quality and image denting action scenes. At times, I actually felt that these were B grade movies that were semi spoofing genuinely super hit movies but magically landed a superstar in the lead role instead of some forgotten TV star instead.

[naveen.raju]

Forensic

Even I found Tovino's acting to be just ordinary. Nothing special. It does have couple of twists. When we think it's over, there comes a twist. That was pretty interesting and they manage to keep everyone guessing till the end, unlike Anjam Pathira where you get to know the killer after the second half and it's then just a revenge story.

But Anjam Pathira provides a better viewing experience especially in the theater with it's BGM, visuals and those creepy scenes.

Although both these movies are serial killings, both are depicted in a different way. Definitely not a "Must watch in theater" sort of a movie but definitely recommended.

Rating - 3.5/5

[fundagenie]

Forensic

Had very high expectations considering the tag line of it being a forensic investigation. Though there was some amount of new forensic stuff, felt a dialogue by Mamata to Tovino in the movie is what was required finally- Let the police do their job and forensic just focus on theirs. I felt if the storyline was scripted that way the movie would have been far better.

Though the movie started off well, with time it started going the same way as some of the earlier malayalam movies of similar genre. The hero Tovino becomes the one man genius investigating the case while Mamata mohandas and rest of the police force are sidekicks making dumb mistakes. Plus in comes the emotional angle, some family melodrama and revenge and finally a twist to connect all these. I felt it was like complicating a story just for the sake of making the twist. Dint understand why the story even required the family angle in the first place .. Remembered how simple and straight forward CBI diary kurippu was in this regards.

However the movie is worth watching. Again not a movie preferred to be watched in theatre with small kids, since there are some bloody and gory scenes involving children. And then the haunting music..

3.5/5

FundaG

[Rajeevraj]

Watched a bunch of movies in theater and prime.

Forensic: Reasonably good one. Some of the forensic related discoveries that took the investigation ahead was pretty interesting. But would have been good to see a more in depth focus on the forensics as it is rarely covered in movies. Lot of twists thrown one after the other got a bit tiring after a while.

Trance: Hugely disappointed with this. Seemed totally muddled up and vague especially the second half. Only good thing was of course the brilliance of Fahad. Only reason why it was even partially watchable. Expected much more from this movie coming from Anwar Rasheed- Fahad- Amal Neerad combination.

Big Brother/Shylock: Nothing much to say I guess. Typical template movie from the Big M's. Interestingly my wife liked Big Brother.

Ala Vaikunthapurramloo/: Good timepass. Being hit with a lot of intense/serious Malayalam movies, miss these kind of typical entertainers. Hence enjoyed this one

Sarileru Neekevvaru: Same as above. Pass time watch. Liked the unique climax though.

[TorqueyTechie]

Watched Love Mocktail (kannada) movie on prime yesterday. It is about a guy and his journey in finding true love. I would rate is 2.5/5. Liked the sceneries, roads in the movie more than the story While there are some good scenes in the movie, I felt it was a tad too long and acting not upto mark. Best as a one time watch.

[Ithaca]

Ayyapanum Koshiyum
Prime

Starring Prithviraj and Biju Menon, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie this evening. A fight of egos between the lead cast who carry their roles with aplomb.
Having seen Prithviraj doing a similar ego driven role in Driving License, I was expecting to be bored but the movie went from strength to strength.
An almost 3 hour movie that does not bore you at any time.
Even the role played by Ranjith as the father of Prithviraj was superbly done and this gentleman produced this movie.
Wish some Telugunadu director remakes this one before it is botched up in Hindi.
This is the first movie I am seeing of the director and Wiki says he directed the lead cast in another movie called Anarkali (2015).
Will find out where it is available and watch it soon.

Jaanu has also dropped on Prime
This is the official remake of 96 but going by reviews, they botched it up.
Will watch 96 (SunNXT) before watching Jaanu.

[Geo_Ipe]

Watched two Malayalam movies over the weekend on Prime

Ayyappanum Koshiyum - 4/5
Strong performances by Prithiviraj and Biju Menon. It is quite a long movie at 180 mins, with no songs to skip. The story has been told in a very gripping manner. Even though the plot is predictable, it did not bore me for even a minute.

Shylock - 1/5
Watched this one after seeing a few very poor reviews here on this thread, which included a 0/5 rating. I couldn't imagine how someone could give such a rating, but after watching this one, I'm not surprised anymore! I'm giving a 1 rating only for the presence of Mammootty and Raj Kiran in the movie. Terrible story line, atrocious direction and action sequences you expect only in B or C grade movies. Avoid.