Change Your Image
raghu-mktg84
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Irishman (2019)
Blended Scotch, 50yrs!
On a lazy weekend evening, you have the rest of the day all for yourself to kill, with a bottle of Scotch in your hand. 'The Irishman' will definitely be your perfect company to savour.
Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a World War 2 veteran, narrates his time as a hitman. "Painting the house" as they call it, Frank does the hitman jobs for Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), the head of North Eastern Pennsylvania Crime Family and Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), the head of International Brotherhood of Teamsters in the 50s to 70s. Hoffa gets into trouble when President JFK's brother, Attorney General Robert F Kennedy arrests him. While President Nixon grants him a conditional pardon, Hoffa does things that does not go well with other crime families.
The movie runs for a 3.5hrs and if you enjoy the language of the 60s/70s and a fan of De Niro and Al Pacino, you will have a blast watching this. The plot as such is complex with too many supporting characters, happening over a 30-year period. Yet, the screenplay keeps us interested throughout with its twists and turns happening in the lives of Sheeran - Russell-Hoffa trio. Another noteworthy element is the deep-fake of the characters' younger versions that is seamless.
Go for it!
Enai Noki Paayum Thota (2019)
Death Wish Granted!
3.5 years since the date of its announcement, this movie finally got to see the light of day. Overcoming various struggles in making and release, the team had managed to sustain the expectation levels high throughout this phase. Whether the movie lives up to it is a big question mark.
Raghu (Dhanush) is an Engineering student at Chennai who falls in love at first sight with actress Lekha (Megha Akash) who comes to his college for a shooting. Surprisingly, Lekha also falls for him since the beginning and they get along. Lekha's guardian Guberan has other plans of making a fortune out of her acting career and is not ready to let her go. When Lekha decides to settle with Raghu, Guberan threatens Raghu's family and she has no other option but to give up her love interest. After 4 years, Lekha calls Raghu and informs him that she and Raghu's estranged brother Thiru (Sasikumar) are in trouble and she needs him to come to Mumbai. What happens at Mumbai and how Raghu manages to solve the crisis is the plot.
For 2.5 hrs, the audience get a claustrophobic attack of getting stuck in Dhanush's mind-voice.While Gautam Vasudev Menon's movies are known for the narration through the protagonist's mind-voice, this one has done it to death! While the first half was bearable because of the songs and the excitement of audience, the second half goes all over the place, lacking content and direction. The director has literally mocked the audience by showing how Dhanush escapes the gun shots because of his belt buckle and a key (?)! This is just one of the too many irking sequences in the movie. Sasikumar as a cop trying to deliver dialogues in English didn't gel too well. Darbuka Siva is the only saving face with his fresh rendering of music and BGM.
The hero keeps saying that he needs to shift from Auto Pilot mode to Beast mode to Death Wish mode. But the audience had been granted with Death Wish, by default!
The End of the F***ing World (2017)
Raw & Refreshing!
Yes, you read it right. As bold and on the face it gets, the series is also made with such raw content, in a coming of age and an interesting fashion. This 2-season series definitely belongs to the category where you just cannot stop with one episode and you end up binge-watching all the episodes!
James, a 17-year old who is convinced that he is a psychopath, is bored of killing animals and wants to kill a human. He meets Alyssa, another 17 year old rebellious girl who has family and social issues. They decide to run away from their town. En route, they end up committing a murder and they are on the run from there on. How they manage to escape the law and whether they both have a future together is the plot.
Every episode here is just 20-25 mins long and the makers have managed to pack enough elements to keep us engaged in duration. The addition of the third main character Bonnie who wants to kill both James and Alyssa makes season 2 even more racy and addictive.
A must watch for the 'Netflix n Chill' folks.
Saaho (2019)
Catastrophe!
While I was caught up in the mundane work-life all this time which certainly didn't allow me to contribute here, I feel the compelling need to record my views on this masterpiece of epic proportions. Someone from a movie forum on FB had posted a request asking for suggestions on movies similar to the likes of 'The Dark Knight' and I, without any second thought, replied 'SAAHO', for there will never be another movie like this, just like The Dark Knight!
The movie takes you into an intended intense gang war plot that had been in narration for ages, right from the first frame. One could see the audience getting suffocated in 20 mins with a plethora of characters thrown at them - Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Arun Vijay, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mandira Bedi, Vennela Kishore... and that's just the first row in the line up that I can remember.
It takes a while to understand where we are exactly headed with the plot that goes everywhere possible. After a while, we come to terms with it and accept life as it is. If one had observed keen, it is actually something like 'Catch me if you can' or 'The Departed' at play, just that it is there at subliminal levels. Prabhas/Shraddha are up against Neil Nitin Mukesh in pinning him down red-handed. Several attempts backfire and there is one last chance they have got to do what needs to be done. And alas! The director takes the audience for a steep twist where both Prabhas and Neil are not who we think they are. In fact they are not who even their partners thought they were. From my scattered memory cells across my brain I can also recollect a couple of songs and stunts filling the time in between.
I may not be able to comment any further on this since I had already walked off the cinemas from that point and by the time the movie resumed post interval, I was tucked into my bed at home with a sense of deep regret and a bizarre feeling about what I just went through.
It Chapter Two (2019)
Spine-Chilling!
"Swear... Swear if It isn't dead... if It ever comes back... we'll come back, too" said Bill in the closing frames of Chapter 1 to his fellow Losers Club mates, in Sep'1989. The Urban Legend at Derry said It will be back once every 27 years and we always knew It is going to be back again to haunt us on screens and in our dreams. It is Sep'2016 and Pennywise is back!
Bill, Beverly, Ben, Richie, Eddy and Stan - the members of Losers Club back in 1989, all lead a life far away from Derry, in a hope to put back the horrible memories and move on for better. One fine day, they all receive a call from Mike, another member of the club who chose to stay back at Derry. The moment they hear him talk, they all could feel the chills already and they know It is back. Bound by the blood swear they made 27 years ago, they all have no choice but to get to Derry immediately to stop the Clown from taking more lives. Stan alone is not able to face It once again and commits suicide before even he could get there. Mystery unfolds at Derry when Mike convinces the rest on a ritual that needs to be performed by all of them to destroy It once for all. The only condition- each member needs to go alone and collect an artifact from their past that needs to be placed in the ancient pottery. In pursuit of the artifact, each one sets course separately just to experience more and more horror inflicted by Pennywise before they could collect it. Whether the Losers were able to succeed in their mission, is the rest of the plot.
IT stands unique in what it offers in comparison to other horror genres. While Conjuring, Insidious, Annabelle etc have their equally fair share of spine-chilling moments, IT also gets on to one psychologically. The very fact that It targets children and takes them in the most gruesome way possible makes us subconsciously detest what's about to come in the next to next frames. Also the graphic content that is shown on screens cannot be unseen for so many nights. While most of the Losers are shown to have moved on, Andy Muschietti (Director) has subtly driven the point that nothing gets away from the clutches of the curse, by showing that they are only going through the same at a different place. Bill, is still caught up in the mystery of what happened to Georgie and turns up as a mystery writer. Beverly escaped an abusive father only to get stuck with an abusive husband. Eddie moved away from his mom's control, just to get controlled by his wife all time. Stan as always is never courageous enough to confront. Mike never left Derry. Richie used his loud mouth and foul language for better. The only person who has actually become better and stronger is Ben, who has lost weight and is an architect now. The detailing given to every character and how they confront their fears makes the movie run longer and longer. Except for that, IT Chapter 2 delivers what it promised.
Joker (2019)
A new hope for DC!
"Every story needs its hero. And its villain. And its monster."
The Caped Crusader of Gotham City was never complete without his villain, the Joker. What made The Dark Knight (2008) a phenomenal success at the box office and as an all time cult classic was the characterization of the agent of chaos and seamless delivery of witful dialogues and challenges. It wasn't a surprise that the people loved the Joker more than the Batman himself in the film, for he, the Joker, didn't have any rules to play by. It was unfortunate that Heath Ledger had to leave this world, and thus creating a permanent vacuum in the Gotham City. There had been attempts by Jared Leto to fulfill the gap, but it is no match.
DC had to come up with a solo Joker movie that was due for long. Joaquin Phoenix had been creating the buzz ever since the first look poster arrived and looks-wise he was almost..almost matching the legend of Heath Ledger. With much expectations, the Joker is finally here.
Set in 1981, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a disregarded personality who works as a clown at places wherever needed and lives with his mom Penny. With a rare neurological condition, he suffers from frequent and inopportune laughter which irks people around him. The city as such is infested with crime and unemployment all over, hence there is no question of sympathy or concern for special characters such as him. Struggling to make a mark as a stand up comedian, Arthur also suffers from delusions where he is unable to distinguish reality from dreams. Things go topsy-turvy when one of his colleagues hands him over a gun to take care of miscreants who harm him. Arthur uses it against 3 rogue employees of Wayne Enterprises. While the cops are in search for Arthur, he also is in constant battle to come up as a comedian, pursue his neighborhood crush, find out the true identity of his father and take care of his mom. When he finds an answer to most of these, how he handles them and emerges as the Gotham City rebellion is the plot.
The movie has its high moments in the seamless change of expressions and body language of Joaquin. The audience will be in for a shock to see his shirtless episodes where he reminds one of Christian Bale from The Machinist (2004 The background score in most places takes the cue from The Dark Knight and builds over it to make us feel the connect. Also there are too many frames that resemble the ones of Heath Ledger, which possibly could be a deliberate attempt. ). For those expecting a Batman cameo in this movie - the answer is both YES and NO.
While this movie could easily be a grandeur in performances, one cannot get the rush that was given by the one played by Heath Ledger. Surely, there cannot be a comparison to the 2008 Joker version, for that set its standards too high that any more attempts can only keep trying to scale up half way. We can only hope the sequel to this one has much more interesting elements, for the movie ends with enough scope for that hope!
Bigil (2019)
A neat entertainer, do not expect more!
Diwali and Vijay movie release is becoming a trend with this third consecutive release on the day of fireworks celebration, after Mersal and Sarkar. With one of the largest fan following in India, Vijay movies have always been a festival of action, songs, punch dialogues and powerful stunts. Bigil is no lesser on all these ingredients. Atlee, having joined hands with Vijay for the third time, delivers what one can expect from this combo - a good family entertainer.
Michael (Bigil) is yesteryear's Tamilnadu Football team's Captain who had a colourful rise in his career which is cut short. He now manages a market place in Chennai while fighting against anti-social and evil forces. His friend Kathir is now a Women's Football team coach , ready to make the team win the National Championship. Michael's past plays spoil sport and does things that will not make this team move ahead. How Michael manages to escape the clutches of baddies and how he empowers the team to emerge successful is the remaining plot.
While Atlee is known for getting 'inspired' from cult classics, here we see he got inspired from his own movies and has dialogues and sequences that reminds us those. The Chewing Gum style (Theri), the opening song sunglasses (Theri), Nayanthara as the bride with a John as groom (Raja Rani) and a few more dialogues such as 'Kannu Verkudhu' (Raja Rani), 'Big Magician' (Mersal). While a couple of these can be taken as fun, the first half is loaded with these. Vijay as Michael's father Rayappan sizzles in his performance but the make-up could have definitely been a lot better. Dying the hair white and having a grey contact lens alone does not depict old age, in this era of technological advancements. The movie takes off high on emotions and tear-jerkers through out the second half that showcases the hurdles that women have to come across to taste success in anything in their life. Atlee has safely chosen not to get into too much of detailing of rules and norms of Football and has stuck to Goal scoring and winning, which most of the Indian audience would understand. In that way, the match sequences are clear and crisp. The graphics could have been a lot better as one could see many glitches and that was disturbing to an extent. A R Rahman has not been up to his mark, except for 'Singa Penney' song.
In spite of all the 'thumbs down' points mentioned, what makes the audience sit through 3 hrs and come out satisfied is Vijay's screen presence with his usual briskness and the emotional roller-coaster in the second half that talks on women empowerment and how it gets channelized to the game of Football.
Well, again, one definitely knows what can be expected from Atlee-Vijay and this stands true to that promise!
Kaithi (2019)
A nail biter!
It takes serious guts to lock horns with a movie like BIGIL and release your movie on the same day. The guts can only come from tremendous confidence in the output and Lokesh Kanagaraj emerges successful once again with his Karthi-starrer , Kaithi. Similar to the screenplay style of Maanagaram, Kaithi also has multiple plots running in parallel, where all gets connected towards one common cause.
The movie opens with a big drug bust operation led by Bejoy (Narain) where the lower level mafia group is detained. Irked by this operation, the mafia leader's brother fixes a huge ransom in return to decapitating the 5 police officers involved. Unaware of the insiders from the drug mafia, the entire police force is in a party where drinks are mixed with harmful sedatives. Bejoy now has the task of transporting the entire unconscious police force to a safe medical facility without alerting media, other officials or the mafia. His only option is Dilli (Karthi) who is brought into custody for an anonymous investigation, since he alone can drive the lorry to carry the officials. Whether Bejoy-Dilli were successful in carrying out the operation or did the mafia get hold of the drugs is the remaining plot.
The movie holds the audience under its clutch right from the first frame. What is surprising to see is Karthi, an otherwise experienced actor in dialogue deliveries, has been given very little dialogues and yet he manages to steal the show by his mere body language and rustic attitude. Each time Dilli manages to escape the ploy of the mafia, it is literally a case of our blood pressure shooting up. Sam CS has terrified the audience with his BGM score. Another notable highlight is George Maryan along with the college students guarding the IG office forte from the mafia. While his comedy roles in movies such as Kalakalappu made him famous, this for sure will show him in a different light.
Well, the ending definitely suggests there could be a sequel/prequel to this. We can't be more excited!
Asuran (2019)
Raw and real!
While India as a nation celebrated its 72nd Independence Day and aspires to explore the moon, there is still a larger part of the society that is stuck with the caste system and untouchability. Unaware of the law, the plight of those undergoing such suffering is immeasurable. Vetrimaran joins hands with his specialist lead Dhanush for the fourth time to deliver what can be called as an intense and raw thriller like never before. How can the duo continue to impress every single time? Touch wood!
Sivasamy (Dhanush), a farmer, is a father of Murugan (20), Chidambaram(16) and a 5-year old girl. Along with his wife Pachaiyamma (Manju Warrier) and brother-in-law Murugesan (Pasupathy) he strives hard to provide for the kids. The small piece of land that he owns is under the radar of a rich landlord Narasimman, for he wants to construct a Cement factory over it. While Sivasamy wants to deal with it in cordial terms, his elder son Murugan wants to settle scores with an eye for an eye. As arguments and fights over the land become a routine, things take an ugly turn and Murugan gets killed by Narasimman's goons. Sivasamy's family suffers due to the loss and is unable to come out of the grief. The cops seem to ignore the case as Narasimman had tipped them. Now it is Chidambaram's turn to avenge his brother's death as Sivasamy is in no mood to take up violence. What happens to Chidambaram's plans and how Sivasamy manages to protect his family is the remaining plot.
Dhanush donning a role is no news. But what one could witness in Sivasamy's role is sheer brilliance. The looks of the tanned and skinny farmer, the pain and suffering in the eyes, the anger in his nerves... these are just for starters. Vetrimaran has literally chiseled an oppressed villager out of Dhanush. Under one role one could possibly not imagine the scope to deliver so many shades .The stunt sequences and blood bath are sure to increase anybody's blood pressure, for they are an expression of all the suffering, that section of the society had faced. GV Prakash's background score gets us immersed. The screenplay constantly keeps us under a fear of what could happen next.
This film will certainly leave an impact that will be hard to undo for a couple of days.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Old robot with a new mask!
For any movie buff who is into sci-fi, Terminator 2: Judgement Day will be on top in terms of technically sound quality of making and the depth of CGI work involved in the early 90s, which many teams find it difficult to match even today around the globe. That was also one among very few cases where a sequel became a larger phenomenon than the original version itself. Attempts were made by the franchise to recreate the magic through a series of films (T3, Salvation, Genesys) after that but none really stood the test.
Realizing the immortality of T2, the team has once again come up with a plot that is very similar - a bad Terminator trying to eliminate a human who is a future threat to the machines and a good Terminator protecting that human. Also to bring in the
connect with T2, the important cast - Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and the Skynet Terminator (Arnold) are brought back in this version. The movie begins with the elimination of John Connor by another Terminator T-800(Arnold). With the changes that happend, the future takes a different course where the machines are resisted by humans once again. Hence an advanced Rev-9 Terminator is sent to eliminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) and in the other end there is a cyborg human, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) being sent to protect Dani. Sarah Connor also joins the resistance against the machine along with T-800. Who won at the end of the battle is the plot.
The team had tried hard to outsmart the T2 version and keep this film as racy as possible. The shape shifting and mitosis-like Rev-9 had certainly brought in the fear factor that T-1000 in T2 did, to some extent. Yet, the audience cant help but only appreciate the T2 version more and more , since the template for every sequence in this film is drawn from it. While this version can be rated as the better off the other versions that came post T2, the team should really consider putting this to rest.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
High on thrill quotient!!!
"Don't worry, Mom. I know all about cannibalism. I saw it on TV", said Danny in the opening moments of THE SHINING (1980). From there on, the little boy who could 'Shine' went through all trauma & paranormal experiences one could possibly experience and they have not stopped haunting him till date. As the next and final chapter of Stephen King's novel, comes Doctor Sleep, set up in today's world with more evil forces around!
Danny (Ewan McGregor) after receiving the settlements from the Overlook Hotel, spends his days with Alcohol for long. With the help of a friend he manages to find a place to live and a job at a Hospice care. Due to his abilities, he gets fondly called as Doctor Sleep. He incidentally is being contacted by Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a girl with psychic powers. Abra is able to discover a group of cult called the True Knot who prey on people with such special powers. Abra seeks Danny's help to put an end to that group. Meanwhile, a member of the group, Rose (Rebecca Ferguson) finds out about Abra and her abilities and the cult group is in pursuit of Abra. Whether Danny is able to help Abra and stop Rose is the plot.
What makes Doctor Sleep stand out from the rest of the horror movies released this year is its ability to keep the audience glued at the 'cat and mouse' game between The True Knot and Abra. Also this movie is high on the thriller quotient which makes it even more interesting to watch. While one would expect the little girl to give up, she in turn terrorises the cult group. Kyliegh Curran portraying Abra Stone steals the show hands down. The last few minutes shot at the Overlook Hotel bringing in the nostalgia of The Shining is captured so well. Room 237, the broken bathroom door, the twin girls, the old lady, the maze garden, the bar etc have been recreated with Danny as the focus. The deepfake of Jack Nicholson is a bonus for the audience.
Totally worth a theatrical watch.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
As Vintage and Classy as a scotch straight out of the cask!!!
There are movies that give you 100% of what you expected and there are movies which exceed expectations in every way possible and blow your mind away. Documenting the le Mans race of '66, this team has delivered a vintage classic that is as classy as a scotch straight out of the cask after maturing for decades!
Set up in the 60's, the Ford Motor Company is in pursuit of a new design that will take them back to the glory days. Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) gets a path-breaking idea from his marketing team to design a Race Car, like the legendary Ferrari. After failing in an attempt to buy out Ferrari which is broke, Ford decides to build a race car on its own and commissions Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) for the job. Shelby takes the help of Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a hot-tempered British racer who is struggling to make both ends meet. While Miles's addition to the team adds tremendous improvement to the design, the Marketing Head Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) wants him out of the team. How Shelby and Miles manage to achieve the American dream of winning against a Ferrari at le Mans is the remaining plot.
What fascinates the audience is that the movie starts like a documentary and picks up pace in no time to make everyone watch it literally at 7000rpm. Whether a person is into cars or not, the detailing given to every aspect of a race car and how it is tested and done is prone to give a 'car-gasm'. Christian Bale and Matt Damon will definitely be serious contenders for the Oscars along with Leonardo Di Caprio, Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix this year. Their transformation into the role is top class. Another noteworthy character is Josh Lucas portraying Leo Beebe. While he is pure evil as a personality, he is a pure genius at what he does and how he gets it done. Thank God for this is just not a 1hr30mins affair. The movie runs for a good 2hrs32mins and it was still not enough.
Pure Gold!!!
Thegidi (2014)
An engaging game of shadows
With the entry of abundant young blood into the industry, Kollywood had been witnessing a healthy mix of genres beyond triangular love stories and gang wars. The subject of a detective is hardly touched upon and this one fills the gap perfectly. Nalaya Iyakkunar fame Ramesh debuts with the rising star Ashok Selvan to deliver this suspense thriller.
Vetri (Ashok) a Criminology fresher gets picked by a private detective firm for shadowing and collecting information on select individuals on request of its clients. Known for his observation skills, his professor also recommends him becoming a professional detective. Completing the assignments given in style, his fifth assignment is that of Madhushree (Janani Iyer) where he slips from professional ethics and gets personal with the subject. Vetri discovers that his previous assignment subjects die in freak accidents one after the other. He is now insecure considering Madhu being the probable victim next. When Vetri gets into the details of this chain accidents in pursuit of the cause, he is convinced that they are murders. Who is the spearhead behind all the murders? Why is that only Vetri's assignments are targeted? How does he save Madhu? The answers are revealed in the gripping second half.
Ashok Selvan is definitely the next sensation in the industry after Vijay Sethupathy. He has successfully completed his hatrick after Soodhu Kavvum and Pizza 2. His subtle expressions and soft dialogue deliveries make him fit any elegant role such as this. The screenplay has been drafted to be as candid and and realistic as possible and the debutant director scores over and over on that. While it is easy to get influenced by a few Hollywood flicks and replicate it, the director maintains the originality and is true to the script. Though Janani Iyer comes for a very brief part, she has made her mark as well. Nivas Prasanna has livened the sequences with his scores.
The plot certainly has a few logical glitches. While Vetri is suspected to be the prime cause of the murders, how do the cops let him out just like that on bail without any investigations? When Vetri knows that he has the full back up from the inspector, why doesn't he call him up when he finds the real accused in Hotel Malco or why does he break into the house ? Wouldn't it be much easier with the cop's support? While Vetri avoids having a mobile phone, he carries his friend's for a good 50% of the time and eventually gets tracked by it too... what is the point? On the whole, except for a few loose ends the movie entertains the audience in style for the entire duration.