Monthly Archives: May 2024

Film Reviews

Film Review: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

STORY

When Japan is close to the Second World War, a giant reptilian monster shows up on one of the islands. Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the horrors of the bloodshed it created that day. That giant monster is called Godzilla.

REVIEW

Godzilla Minus One is the first live-action Godzilla film from Japanese production and distribution company Toho since Shin Godzilla in 2016 and thirty-third overall. And has no connection with the Monsterverse of the Legendary Pictures that mostly involves Godzilla and Kong.

Although, Monsterverse has done justice and we finally got to see the frightening existence of Godzilla in the most suitable setup of the universe. But I think this was about time that Godzilla must had an equally competitive narration and setting in its Japanese roots. But golly! Godzilla Minus One made a Godzilla film much better than the Monsterverse.

No wonder how spectacular are visual effects in Monsterverse but I have been criticizing this universe for years that the human factor of this universe has always looked dragged in such an amazing Kaiju-action showdown. Monsterverse is now five films and ten years old but the human writing still has not grabbed or captivated any interest. The human angle in this universe has been annoying.

But Godzilla Minus One has a potential story where Godzilla itself is second to humans. This is about an already struggling and suffering post-World War Japan getting further nuked by this scary colossus. The Japanese are not ready for this kind of wrath and the scientists and military are jointly devising an ultimate plan to bring it down. And then there is poor Shikishima who already was suffering from PTSD given by Godzilla and now has distanced his close company Noriko from him by the atomic breath.

I say close company for Noriko because in all honesty, her relation with Shikishima was confusing. They were neither friends nor developed any romanticism. I think with so much destruction on their world to suffer, they were the need of the hour for each other and held tremendous respect. But one of the rare minuses of the film is that Noriko survived with injuries on her right eye and the right arm. How is that even possible? But wait. What is that black thing revealing on her neck?

The biggest accomplishment of Godzilla Minus One is winning the Oscar for the Best Visual Effects becoming the first Japanese film to win this particular award and the first Godzilla film ever to win an Oscar. Imagine a five-film Monsterverse not winning in ten years but the Japanese team of VFX winning it one go. You can realize how superior was the work on Godzilla and the entire visual creation that included blasts and destructions.

This Godzilla looks more terrific and terrifying than the one in America. Observe the work on the lightning spikes and when the flesh of Godzilla regenerates. The only plus of the American Godzilla over the Japanese one is that the former easily has the best roar in the films than the latter.

CLOSING REMARKS

I think Godzilla Minus One is an innovative arc of storytelling where a gripping emotional storyline is set in a war-torn Japan and has a strong reliability on a very sound visual effects based on a fiction, a legend, a monster. The film has deep human affection, a trauma of war and a larger-than-life shocking incident. I do not believe a monster story has ever been taken so seriously with a quality filmmaking.

Remember, this is a Japanese monster film that reached the global audience especially the West. The popularity of the film was enormous. And Japan nailed that in a comparatively extremely low budget for a VFX-bound action film. It is a win for the monstertainment cinema and the audience.

RATING 8.7/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Unfrosted (2024)

STORY

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In 1964, two rival food manufacturing companies, Kellogg’s and Post, tried to outdo each other to launch a highly-awaited breakfast, a never-heard-before ‘Toaster Pastry‘. Yes, you read that right! ‘Unfrosted‘ is about the birth of the toaster pastry. The film is about the competition for launching the best breakfast product in the cereal market.

KELLOGG’S/POST

Before I jump into my review, I would like to take you in the past and brief you about why Kellogg’s and Post are rivals for more than hundred years in the business.

In the early 1900s, the founder of Post, C. W. Post was accused of stealing several of Kellogg’s recipes. And the varieties Post offered were highly successful, Just like Kellogg’s.

As they competed for decades, Kellogg’s got their chance to produce a better breakfast food than Post when in February 1964, Post announced an upcoming toaster pastry ‘Country Squares‘. The problem was that Post was not ready to produce and distribute for the market shelves. So their announcing it to the world was a massive blunder that allowed Kellogg’s to utilize the time and take the advantage and release the first-ever toaster pastries called Pop-Tarts.

‘Country Squares’ miserably failed in front of Pop-Tarts, so Kellogg’s actually rubbed their success on their face. Most remarkably, C. W. Post’s daughter Marjorie Post was the head of the company that time. So Kellogg’s gave them the history lesson that their pride and legacy was built on stealing what was their’s.

TART & JERRY

This event truly deserved a film or a limited series and I was very excited to know that none other than Jerry Seinfeld was making his live-action as well as directional debut for this. Fully aware of the quality of humor he has written and made us laugh around the world for decades, I was eager to understand how this funny man will sell his jokes based on this story.

So the first glimpse of his venture was when the trailer was released. And when I watched that trailer, I felt this was a lame spoof. Flat jokes, washed-up acts. So I had a bad feeling that ‘Unfrosted’ will not live up to the expectations. So now I have watched it and I guess I was wrong. ‘Unfrosted’ is not a lame spoof at all, it is a disaster.

What went wrong? Execution, that went wrong. The direction and the screenplay were way below-average. A carelessly written story that clearly showed that Jerry’s concentration was to make the audience laugh than sell the narration. Due to this reason, the comic lines turned out to be awful and boring.

Making the film a parody of the true event and keeping it mostly inaccurate was a big mistake. Jerry was either devaluing a great landmark in the American history of cereal breakfasts or struggling to put his situational comedy fit into the continuity. Whoever watches this film will definitely think for once that something is really off about ‘Unfrosted’.

And I would have loved to adding historical accuracies about the film but I decided against it because the film was intentionally made as fictitious.

CASTING

You may say an ensemble casting but for me, ‘Unfrosted’ also suffered with wrong choices starting from Jerry Seinfeld himself. Everyone knows including Jerry himself that he cannot act. In Seinfeld, Jerry was the weakest link whose ass was superbly covered by the other three. This time, there was no force to hide his inability. And then the two leading actresses of the film were Melissa McCarthy and Amy Schumer. Maybe the audience like them but in all honesty, they don’t fall in my radar at all. I also couldn’t buy Bill Burr as JFK. Was he really resembling him with the wig? Was he? Or maybe that was the whole point, to make things look silly.

Also, I feel gutted that none of the Seinfeld biggies showed up. The one who deserved the most for the presence was the now-disgraced actor Michael Richards. This certainly was the platform where Jerry must have brought him back and done the favor as he did before.

CLOSING REMARKS

After watching ‘Unfrosted’ falling apart and viewing Jerry’s jokes struggling to tickle, I begun to analyse Jerry’s well-built legacy. Certainly not insulting or discrediting him as ‘Unfrosted’ will never damage my connection with Seinfeld. But maybe it is time that we recognize Larry David more than Jerry Seinfeld to be the one who gave that show its distinguished rank amongst other shows.

Jerry Seinfeld and ‘Unfrosted’ struggled to please the audience as much as they can. They went extremely soft and focused on entertaining. Consequently, it resulted in a confused story-telling. I am not sure if Jerry will feel regret about returning to the screen but most of the viewers like me will feel utterly disappointed. I certainly didn’t expect the film to bring that Seinfeld magic at all. It is just that the entire construction collapsed to its foundation. The sugar-coating went too far.

RATING 1.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Minus 31 – The Nagpur Files (2023)

REVIEW

In the times of the pandemic, officer Preksha investigates the murder of a builder Dayanand Pande that leads to the disappearance of an employee who worked in his factory. She has been missing since Pande’s murder and her name is also Preksha.

‘Minus 31: The Nagpur Files‘ is a crime drama about two struggling free-spirit daughters. One is a cop whose work is distracted by her sentiments. The other is a street rapper who wants to get famous overnight.

This is a small-budget film with a different story and clearly a different execution. One can observe that the director Pratik Moitro tried to relate things in the screenplay. Set in a pandemic period, you will watch some careful details like a sanitizer dispenser not working in the police station, and women clanking steels in the society to make corona disappear.

Minus 31 should be considered a female-oriented film due to the fact that both Prekshas scream their identity and existence in a holistic nature of social circumstances. The hip-hop Preksha had not much choice of her own freedom due to her grandfather and couldn’t make out her own way where she was employed.

Inspector Preksha was also less optimistic due to her retired amputated father, and receiving not enough cooperation in solving a crime case that involved politician. That affected her health and was missing her cycle. Her periods were getting delayed. The stress of it was pretty evident. She also had no mother so she expressed her periods problem with her father. This is something unusual, I cannot recollect a memory of watching such instance before. And the scene was not exaggerated but was dramatized as usual so that the makers humbly addressed the audience that in such cases, women can address their problems with their fathers.

The father-daughter chemistry was so natural. Once, the father heavily scolds her over getting suspended and starts complaining her existence. Preksha pushes him and bursts out.

I like the pressing over cleaning the mess on the floor by roomba at a wealthy residence of Dayanand Pande. One’s necessity is other’s luxury. It amazes to those who cannot afford but keep it in the life plans. By the end of the film, you will see a roomba in Preksha’s apartment.

As I mentioned a wealthy residence, there is an interesting shot where Inspector Preksha walks between the horns and at the very same time, Mrs. Pande walks down from the other side. Maybe I am observing way too much but I found that shot attractive.

There was another shot when Inspector Preksha chases down Sandy for a few seconds from the pharmacy. The way it was shot, Pratik Moitro would have made the chase more thrilling if this chase was a one-shot for half-a-minute from Preksha’s angle.

CLOSING REMARKS

It is not coincidence that the two important characters of the film were named Preksha. While trying to solve the case, Preksha found similitude in Preksha and therefore she began to find a purpose. Surprisingly, the film concluded on a high note.

‘Minus 31’ is a heavy thunder but without black clouds. The director’s effort is there and you can see honesty in presenting the story with sharp aesthetics but I feel the story needed more spark. The background score and cinematography is a plus.

But the biggest plus is Rucha Inamdar as Inspector Preksha who deserves the praise for giving us an honest portrayal of a policewoman who is stuck in the line of duty, health, and household. Scuffling with personal predicament, her character looks more relatable and human.

RATING 6.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Poor Things (2023)

STORY & REVIEW

Resurrected by the scientist Dr. Baxter, Bella cruises with a lawyer Duncan across the continents for an adventure seeking liberation.

‘Poor Things‘ is, basically, a novel by Alasdair Gray that he wrote back in 1992. So it is the work of literature that is turned into drama and is technically the most vibrant source of a complex narration. Director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with his usual absurdist form of science-fiction.

‘Poor Things’ is Alice in a Neverland in a kaleidoscopic dream. I tried to make sense from the fictional university of this wonderful cinema but I slipped to nonsense in the name of creativity and Yorgos’ artistry.

In a very advanced Victorian London, Dr. Baxter tests Bella who was pregnant and committed suicide. He brings her back from the dead and gives her her own fetus’s mind by replacing her brain with that of her fetus. With time, Bella shows incredible mental progress. She gets engaged with Dr. Baxter’s assistant Max but after one meeting with the lawyer Duncan, she runs away on a long adventure where she breathes a new world. But during all this, she has no knowledge about what actually happened with her.

The film, with all its mind-blowing technical excellence, mesmerizes me. But the story provokes me to question what exactly is the message of the film. Is it just entertainment? Must I stay disconnected with such an unusual enchantment of a bizarre world?

Unsure about what the novelist or the director wanted with the subject. Maybe we all are on the same page but I think that ‘Poor Things’ has lifted a woman from the floor and showed a harsh reality about how the woman is expected or hoped to exist in the world order. Almost all the men were cruel and unkind to woman. Every man Bella trusted, broke her heart. Dr. Baxter brought her back to life but as a subject. Max had an affection but didn’t reveal the secret of her existence. Duncan used her for pleasure and regretted when he realized what she was. Husband Alfie was a sadist who imprisoned her.

As Bella seeks freedom but on her own terms, ‘Poor Things’ emphasizes on social inequalities. When Duncan loses all his money because of Bella and has no place to live, she sell her soul to repay him. Does he accept? No. When Bella presses for choosing her customers on her own terms, she is told that she is being an idealist but she must give in to the demands of the world. The hard line by her owner is that “Some men enjoy that you do not like it”. Bella’s body is squeezed for pleasure by mostly old men who come in all sizes.

I think ‘Poor Things’ lost the grip in the middle. Particularly, when she joined the brothel. Too much time was stretched over her experience with the customers. I get the point of dramatizing all this but twenty minutes is awful stretch. The story was moving nowhere at this point.

EMMA STONE

Emma Stone stole the show as Bella. The entire body language and facial expressions were terrific. With the brain of a child in an adult woman’s body, Emma left no space in the character. The behavioral attitude was so spot on. Just watch her performance when Bella experiments her first sense of pleasure on the table. When she gets excited over a piece of music in the party and dances wildly. Or when she winks Duncan. Or when she gets furious with the doctor. Or receives the doctor excitedly. Clearly looks to be Emma Stone’s most enthralling performance to date, she was the perfect candidate to win the Oscar for the Best Actress.

CLOSING REMARKS

Poor Things has a storytelling in aesthetics that envisions me if Robert Eggars and Tim Burton had a brunch one day and decided to draw the pictures and set a sequence of the drawings into a story. The visual design of the film is spectacle.

I think ‘Poor Things’ has conveyed the message in a Yorgos way. Even the absurd humor has a strange excitement. I recommend the audience of the abstract and surreal cinema to watch ‘Poor Things’.

RATING 8.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Bheed (2023)

STORY

During the coronavirus pandemic, the government ordered nationwide lockdowns including checkpoints at the borders. Inspector Surya Kumar Singh Tikas is tasked to control one of the checkpoints but thousands of travelers get stuck on that border because they are not allowed to cross. The consequences are heavy. The impatience leads to frustration and people begin to quarrel, blame, and protest.

REVIEW

Bheed

I am not sure if the film “Bheed” is based on a true geographical event but if I assume that it is fictional, then the incidents in this fictional event represents one of the million stories that occurred in India, and one of the billion stories in the world. Bheed plays at least five different stories in the same parallel. Due to this reason, the growth of the characters are challenging within two hours of the screentime. Moreover, Bheed has another challenge that the screenplay must not exhaust the viewers because almost an entire film is shot on the checkpoint.

Although the film didn’t do well at the box-office because it was understandable that the audience do not wish to spend the time on a severe depression that recently haunted almost every one in the world. But frankly speaking, it is an absurd reason if I consider that’s the case. Bheed, in its full potential, served the purpose. The dramatization of tension building was remarkable, the panic in the crowd was impressively alarming, and the emotions were rightly despair.

BLACK AND WHITE

The one aspect that I found very impressive about Bheed is that the director Anubhav Sinha chose to make this film black and white. As an observer, there can be two reasons. One is that the migration in the film will heavily remind you of the partition era. Second, the colorless theme can represent the national tragedy. Such creative aesthetics indicate that the filmmaker is serious about conveying a message to the audience. And I like that spirit when the film-making artistry is taken too serious.

A POTENTIAL BEST SCENE

There is a scene where a sudden noise among the crowd erupts and Inspector Tikas has to run to check what happened and it is the police that sanitizes people by showering them. I wish if I was Anubhav’s assistant so I would have suggested him to make that a one-shot scene from Tikas’ angle running the entire route of the noisy crowd until that mark of sanitizing them. I know that could have been a very difficult shooting but that is the beauty. What’s the fun if the director has to shot the film plain and simple. My suggested shot would have been the best Bollywood scene of the year 2023.

THE DAUGHTER

I think the best of all stories was the hopeless cycle riding of a young daughter and drunk father. Their survival was not imminent but were not giving up. It was strange that only one car spotted them riding towards a different route. And this was followed by that car following them until a very moving scene caught our attention when the driver of the car refused to obey his madam and helped them cross the route. This was an important message to the audience coming from the global disaster. On such a cruel planet, the natural disasters are the only certain situations where strangers help each other out.

THE TROUBLEMAKER

But then there are circumstances where people do not allow helping each other. Balram Trivedi is one such character who provoked the harmony twice. When the Muslims aided the Hindus with food, Balram snatched all the packets and returned. It was too late to realize and regret that he was wrong and then the packets were distributed somewhere. When he couldn’t borrow the time of feeding them by not dropping his ego, he chose desperate violence of invading the mall nearby which was illegal and unacceptable. Had he allowed the Muslim aid, the circumstances would have not gone worse.

CLOSING REMARKS

The commercial failure of Bheed gives a wrong reflection on the choices of the audience. Because the film had technical brilliance in direction, story, screenplay, cinematography, and editing. The dialogues, the major performances especially of Rajkummar Rao as Tikas and Pankaj Kapur as Balram, and even the closing in the final 20 minutes were impressive. So forget the box-office and do yourself a favor, watch Bheed on Netflix.

Bheed successfully shows how the pandemic still cannot defeat the caste system, the religious conflicts, and the prejudices. People still find reasons to raise hatred and squabble by differentiating. Perhaps, the humans fighting over stupid reasons is a bigger pandemic than the pandemic.

RATING: 8.2/10

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