Monthly Review: April’22

Beginning of a financial year, two films from neighbouring states broke records, the episodes of the last season of Better Call Saul premiering on Netflix, temperatures going upwards of 43°C are among many things that happened in April.

I started this month with tiredness owing to work and asked for recommendations for a light-hearted film so that I can relax and get back to work. And there, I started the movie marathon this month.

Movies

Superbad

As mentioned, I wanted to refresh with a comic movie like Liar Liar, and a friend suggested I watch this. Enjoyed this adult comedy movie depicting the lives of three desperate teens wanting to lure girls before they leave for college. Streaming on Netflix, this movie is short enough that you won’t get bored while watching it.

Apocalypto

Since RRR was released last month, I watched Rajamouli’s interview with Baradwaj Rangan, where he mentioned Mel Gibson to be one of his favourite filmmakers and mentioned one of his films to be his favourite. While I didn’t watch that movie yet, I saw Apocalypto on Prime, directed by Mel Gibson, about the Mayan Kingdom and the struggle for existence.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the immediate movie that came to my mind after watching this: Selva Raghavan’s Aayirathil Oruvan. Both of them are historical fiction movies talking about the universal nature of human beings. If you can withstand some gory scenes, I’d recommend this.

RRR

Okay, I was late to watch, but I did book tickets in Prasads Imax and experienced & celebrated Rajamouli’s RRR on the 9th of April. My father accompanied me, and we both had a couple of discussions about the movie. You can read my thoughts on the movie here.

Gone Girl

My first experience of David Fincher’s movies was The Fight Club. I saw it while I was in college, and I have seen a couple of David Fincher’s movies after that, and this one somehow was missed.

My friend Gowtham suggested that I watch this whenever we discuss movies during the long walks on campus. I finally watched it. Thoroughly engrossed, impressed, and surprised for good by the way the narration progresses in the movie.

I was hesitant to continue the movie when it began, but it gradually picked up and was appreciating the writing at the end of the movie. Highly recommended to watch.

KGF Chapter 2

When part 1 was released, I watched it after seeing the hype on social media but didn’t enjoy it except for a few bits in the movie. With the interesting teaser trailer of this part 2, I booked and went to Kurnool (~60 km from my place) to watch KGF 2 there.

Okay, I won’t disregard the movie, but I felt it to be a Boyapati film with all highs packed with unreasonably energetic music and continuous elevations with each character performing in the movie to praise Rocky Bhai from any chance they get. Sanjay Dutt apparently mistook shouting for acting and kept screaming loud throughout the movie.

It’s a good sign that Kannada cinema is back to glory, wish they continue making films that could please a wider audience.

8 Thottakal

If you can bear the empty and dull performance of the lead actor in the movie, this is an honest film that would have been remade in several languages. With a blend of Breaking Bad, Mysskin’s style of handling the story, and good performances from supporting roles, especially MS Bhaskar, this movie is good. Appreciate the honesty of the filmmaker.

There is a slight disconnect throughout the movie, but MS Bhaskar takes it on his shoulders and emotional performance. I loved this irony: Hero hates to become police after being a victim of power abuse. Finally, he takes advantage of it and gets his job back.

Thaanakkaran

This recently released film stars Vikram Prabhu in the lead role, and this is one more honest film made on the dark-insider stories of police. It talks about the discrimination even in the police department and how favouritism works there. MS Bhaskar, again has his part performed brilliantly. It is a delight to watch such an actor performing scenes that boost the film.

I think it was a conscious call to not show the violence in a raw and rustic way like Visaranai and Jai Bheem portrayed. The plot slightly gets deviated when the film comes to an end, but overall it was a good experience watching the film.

The Meyerowitz Stories

This family drama is streaming on Netflix, and oh boy, I never thought I’d be engrossed in family dramas. The dialogues and performances are realistic and eye-pleasing. I’ve seen only two movies that depict the stories of dysfunctional families. The first one is Kapoors and Sons, and this is the second one.

Manmadha Leelai

Two sequences long enough make you wait and be engrossed for a while. Duration is a plus because you can’t sustain this movie with a two-hour-long stretch. It also has absurd twists apart from the comedy it promises.

Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana

I saw this yesterday after recurring recommendations from my friends. If you understand the film’s title, then it’s easier to relate to the characters — Hari, Shiva, and Brahmaiah. The story has depth and explores the character of Shiva more, drawing parallels to Lord Shiva. The contrast between the two characters is evident from their formative years and their choices.

Due to the depth of Shiva’s character, the audience easily will relate to him more than Hari. It would have been much better if the writers also focused on Hari’s character, making it much tenser and more challenging for the audience. This quickly reminded me of Vetri Maaran’s Aadukalam, maybe because of the politics and money impacting the characters and creating a gap in the relationships.

Prema Desam (Kadal Desam)

I am a fan of Prema Desam’s songs, and I didn’t watch this until today. When I sat to write this blog in the morning, the “Hello Doctor” song was playing on Spotify. I stopped writing this blog and opened YouTube to watch the movie. Writing this blog after that :)

Series

Since I watched a lot of movies this month, I didn’t start any new series. That being said, I watched the first three episodes of Better Call Saul’s finale season. Interesting and heartbreaking at the same time. Can’t appreciate the writers enough for their detailing and intertwining of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul perfectly.

Books

I am still reading Robert Mckee’s Story. Finished 3/4th and yet to complete it. I am taking notes, understanding the movies better while reading the book, and not in the mood to complete this book soon.

Thanks for reading until now. Take care of your health as the temperature is rising throughout our country. See you soon with another blog post.