Ashdoc's movie reviews

But he was already 82 at the time of his death. He had already suffered a heart attack earlier according to the film .
He himself said it on record that he was being poisoned slowly. Someone close to him was poisoning him it was assumed. The film didnt want to rake up that controversy so it showed his death due to old age and failing health.
 
An entity that charges entrance fees is not a religious organization. Isckon is no different from osho ashram. For gods sake don’t push these entities as legitimate representatives of Hinduism. They are not spiritual guides but alternatives to mall visits
Every religious institution charges money to run its daily activities, money doesnt grow on trees.its run by donations or services offered by temple. Churches ask their members to put in their tithes on sunday mass, is that not charging a fees for services rendered? You dont have a problem with church or mosque doing it, but ISCKON trying to spread its footprint and Hinduism in other countries is not a representative of Hindu faith?
 
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I don’t think iscon is the right platform for the spread of Hinduism. It is theme park hinduism and will eventually give us a bad name so I think it’s ok

I think you should quote statistics of how Pentecostals here are distributing rice among the needy while harvesting souls for the church . That way you could draw some equivalency however perverted the logic between the incident in Russia and what happens in India , when such a church gets demolished .
 
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I think you should quote statistics of how Pentecostals here are distributing rice among the needy while harvesting souls for the church . That way you could draw some equivalency however perverted the logic between the incident in Russia and what happens in India , when such a church gets demolished .
RW logic
 
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Edited out the bhakt word..

Ppl can put civil word like RW logic instead of degrading bhakt.
 
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Sameer ( september 2017 )

sameer-sameer-official-trailer-mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub-subrat-dutta-anjali-patil.jpg


This is a film made with a hair brained conception of reality in mind---that the various acts of terror are the creation of those in power ; that they keep themselves in power by perpetuating acts of terror which force the public to vote for the politicians who promise to curb those acts . But what the public does not know is the fact that terrorists are being funded by those same politicians who are seemingly against terrorism . Also the public discourse over those terrorist attacks is also masterminded by the politicians themselves , as they make the media give wide publicity to the terror attacks and thus increase their own popularity by taking an official stand against terrorism . Needless to say , those who are reputed to commit terror are muslims and those in power are right wing parties . For example , if you are among those people who believe that 9/11 was perpetrated by the US government to attack Afghanistan and Iraq then this film is right up your alley .

So after a series of bomb blasts in Hyderabad , the Gujarat anti terror squad ( ATS ) gets a tip off that the mastermind is a gujarati muslim named Yasin Darji who is living in a college hostel in Hyderabad . The ATS raids the hostel to find only his room mate Sameer ( played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub ) . He claims innocence , but the fact that he is muslim is enough for the ATS to capture him and torture him and force him to become a mole among the terrorists to infiltrate their gang and capture them . His fate is to become trapped between the ATS and the terrorists whose gang he is supposed to join inspite of having nothing to do with terror .

Openly pitted against the ATS is committed left wing journalist Alia Irade ( played by Anjali Patil ) . She is into searching for missing children of the left wings favourite obsession---Gujarat Riots what else . She is so popular among the terrorists for championing the cause of the underdogs that before every attack she receives a message from terrorists informing her about it , but her attempts to stop the terror attacks come to no avail . Curiously , the deputy chief of Gujarat ATS is in love with Alia . Yes , Vikram Desai ( played by Subrat Dutta ) is in love with Alia. And this gives a bizzare twist to the whole saga as the person who is the sword arm of the right wing establishment is in love with a driven left wing journalist .

Meanwhile , Sameer manages to get into the house of Yasin Darji by getting close to his mother Mumtaz Khala ( played by Seema Biswas ) . He then manages to win the trust of Shaheed ( played by Chinmay Mandlekar ) who is brother of Yasin , though an ATS officer has to lay down his life for that trust to be won .

It is in showing life in the slum in Ahmedabad where Mumtaz Khala lives that the director excels ; he has really captured the sights sounds and smells of that place clearly . A left wing small time politician ( played by Alok Gagdeka ) organises street plays to inform the public in the slum of the government's misgovernance , and Mumtaz gives Shaheed lectures on the foolishness of hindus and muslims to be unable to come together . A small boy called Rocket who had a stammer is the darling of the people in the slum . A minor incident like stone thrown by Rocket and his friends is enough to almost start a communal riot . The movie was gathering steam and I was watching it it with all my attention .

Shaheed makes a plan for further bomb blasts in which Sameer is to take a part and the ATS deputy Vikram Desai plans to use his mole Sameer to not only stop the attacks but also capture the terrorists . But inspite of all best laid plans , the bombs do go off and scores of innocents are killed . Only Shaheed is captured and put to death by Vikram .

But what did Sameer do that made the whole set up by Vikram and his ATS go wrong ? Why did the bomb blasts still happen even though Shaheed got captured and killed ? Is Sameer playing a double game of his own ? Who is he really ? Where is the original suspect Yasin Darji ? Why has he not even come into the frame ? Is Sameer himself the mysterious Yasin Darji ? I sure was hooked to the film by this point .

Since this is too small a film and hardly anyone is going to watch it , one can reveal that actually it is the state which is behind the bomb blasts . That the right wing government is orchestrating the bomb blasts and the mayhem in the media that Alia Irade does too , thus giving wide publicity to the terror that keeps the right wing in power by fuelling the fears of the majority . In the end the terrorists are shown to be people scarred in riots and thus the cause for their involvement in terrorism is explained . So the director would have us believe that they are the victims of the system rather than the extremists that we thought they are .

My personal opinion is---The director sure has been smoking a special kind of weed to believe that the audience can be made to believe that the right wing government sponsors the bomb blasts that regularly rock the nation . Yet the tragedy is that he has many takers !!

The ending of the film where the whole premise is explained is sure a surprise at the climax . It raised my rating of the film from three stars to three and a half out of five . I HAD to admire the director's ingenuity in spinning out such a yarn . It was the tallest of the tall stories I had heard in my life .

Acting is good by Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub as Sameer . He has really matured into a fine actor by now . Rest are all okay for their roles . Photography is authentic rather than spectacular . Music is not great but gels with the grim situations properly .

Verdict---worth a watch .

Three and a half stars out of five .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote about the movie from somebody else who saw the movie on echarcha forum


''the last few minutes were blatantly anti Modi. They imply that he was behind some terror attacks and the line by Sameer ‘Chai aur Chutia banana aap se Sikha hai’.

Question is, didn’t any of the intolerant BJP supporters rant against this or are the guys who made this movie not on Twitter?''
 
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All the money in the world

Oil tycoon John Paul Getty---the richest man in the world . But a mean miser with money....or maybe I am being too harsh on him , because his mean ways were obviously what earned him all the money in the first place . However , does all the money in the world matter when your precious grandson is kidnapped and the possibility arises that you will not be able to see him ever ? It does , especially if you are John Paul Getty . The old man fears that a precedent of him paying ransom money may spark off further kidnappings of other family members for money and simply refuses to pay at first .

And the refusal to pay money sets in motion a long saga of the grandson's suffering in captivity , of his mother running from pillar to post to try to do something to get her son back , of his grandfather sending his ex CIA dealmaker to try get the grandson out by making a deal with the kidnappers , of the Italian police meddling in...for the grandson has been kidnapped in Italy .

What makes you really feel for the family of the kidnapped boy is the acting by Michelle Williams as Gail Harris---the boy's mother . Her struggle to eke out the required amount from the hard old man Getty , her expression when she gets false news that her son has been killed , her relief when she finds out that he is not dead , her repeated meetings with Getty's dealmaker Fletcher Chase ( played by Mark Wahlberg ) in her quest to get her son free , her tears and her efforts---all make you really empathise with situation she finds herself in .

Michelle's great acting is however outmatched by Christopher Plummer as Getty , who plays a person as tough minded as a billionaire who has earned his billions through sheer hard work ought to be . In private he does care for his kidnapped grandson , but seems almost loathe to admit it....as if it would be a insult to a man in his power and position to bow before a bunch of mere thugs who hold the grandson . And he does not care for the heartache he gives to the boy's mother with such a hardened attitude .

As the matter spirals out of control due to the boy being sold to another gang and his escape attempt nearly succeeding but failing , and Getty's miserly attitude resulting in the kidnappers cutting off one ear of his grandson , it is left to the deal maker to show some conscience and threaten the powerful old man into parting with his money by literally grabbing his arm .

The movie which is based on real events unfolds as a thriller that relies more on the acting of it's protagonists than it's action . And it relies on the tension on the faces of the protagonists and the sweat created by the tension on their brows to hold us in it's grip . The publicity generated by the kidnapping and the photographers and news reporters falling over themselves to report the news adds to the tension .

Background music is appropriate for the situations and photography is decent , but colours are grim just like the scenes . The movie does keep us on tenterhooks for a long time as to the fate of the kidnapped boy . But amazingly , the film makes you worry more about what the mother will go through if he does not return home than what will happen to the boy himself . And watching the relief on the mother's face when she finds her boy is just priceless . Watching 'All the money in the world' is certainly your money's worth .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five .
 
Darkest hour

'Darkest hour' centres around Winston Churchill from the time he was made prime minister of Britain till the evacuation of British troops from the french port of Dunkirk during world war 2 . The movie starts with the removal of former prime minister Neville Chamberlain from his post for failing to confront Hitler . Majority of the cabinet wants Lord Halifax to be PM , but he feels his time is not yet come . So the onus falls on Churchill to be PM .

Churchill's wife and children raise a toast for his elevation , but privately Churchill tells his wife that making him PM during Britain's darkest hour is like taking revenge . Obviously if anything goes wrong as it seems will happen , then Churchill can be made scapegoat . It is upto him to prove his detractors wrong and make history .

But the movie does not glorify Churchill and does not just show the fiery speeches that he gave , but also concentrates on his private moments . And many of them are filled with self doubt and even tears . Also many of his private moments are spent on his commode in the WC phoning allies like US president Roosevelt . And many moments are disappointing , like when the US president says he cannot give the fifty warships Churchill wants as he is bound by the neutrality act .

His female secretary/stenographer ( played by Lily James ) is witness to many of these happenings . When the British army is surrounded at Dunkirk and she does not understand the situation , he personally takes her to the war room to show the situation on map . And watches her tears flow as she comes to know....her brother is trapped there never to return you see....Churchill just keeps on looking at her face....

His plan to ask 4000 British soldiers to divert the Germans on themselves so that those trapped in Dunkirk can escape does not receive the support of anyone , but he pushes the plan and those soldiers are sacrificed . His wife ( played by Kristin Scott Thomas ) is his pillar of strength , egging him on to fight the nazis . King George VI ( played by Ben Mendelsohn ) would plainly have preferred to have Lord Halifax as PM , as he admits to Churchill . But later he warms up to Churchill , visiting him in his all too humble quarters asking him to reach out to the people . And Churchill is shown doing just that ; a fictitious journey is invented by the moviemakers in which Churchill travels through the London underground to assess British public opinion about the war . And the opinion of all is not to surrender .

But behind the scenes there are people willing to negotiate with Hitler , and they want Churchill out because of his adamant opinion that war is a must to preserve western civilisation . Leading them are Lord Halifax and Chamberlain , who is dying of cancer . They consider him a drunkard and a man who has only 4 good ideas among 100 , with the rest 96 being bad ideas . Indeed Churchill is shown forever drinking and smoking a cigar . But the speech he makes in parliament makes him unstoppable . ''We shall fight them on the beaches , we shall fight with growing confidence in the air'' he says . And promises to carry the fight across the seas if Britain shall fall .

The speech makes a rousing climax to the movie and Gary Oldman has wonderfully acted every bit of his part as Churchill , making us feel as if the PM himself was with us making the speeches . He is helped by the some great music as background score and good photography . What would disappoint an ordinary viewer is the fact that there are no action scenes . Ultimately Churchill's decision to send civilian boats to evacuate the British soldiers stranded at Dunkirk proves to be right as the boats manage a successful evacuation , but you will have to see the movie 'Dunkirk' for that . This movie is about what went on in the centres of power in Britain's darkest hour .

Verdict---decent .

Three stars out of five .
 
12 Strong

Review contains spoilers

In the aftermath of 9/11 , task force dagger consisting of 12 men is assembled by the US army to go to Afghanistan under the command of captain Mitch Nelson ( played by Chris Hemsworth ) . Their task is to join the forces of Afghan warlord Rashid Dostum , who is part of the northern alliance fighting against the Taliban . But the other members of the northern alliance are at loggerheads with Dostum's forces too . In Afghanistan no one trusts each other .

However task force dagger meets up with Dostum's forces in the middle of the night in a meeting where they almost come to blows with Dostum's troops because they can't identify each other at first . As dawn breaks out they move on horseback into the rugged mountains of Afghanistan which would have had a stark beauty of their own if they had not been so war torn .

The duty of task force dagger is to go as close as possible to the Taliban to give co ordinates to B 52 bombers of the US air force so that they can bomb the Taliban . But Dostum warns that going to close to the Taliban will bring them in range of their guns . However Mitch does move close because the bombs miss when he is afar and then gives proper co ordinates which rain death on the enemy in the form of bombs which give out black smoke that spirals after yellow explosions . But this brings him in range of the Taliban's fire . And the fire is deadly from their Kalashnikovs .

Wearing all black dresses , the Taliban are truly formidable fighters who are not afraid to die as they have been promised riches in paradise after death---as Dostum warns . Amazingly , he is in touch with the local Taliban commander on radio . But he tells Mitch that his family has been murdered by the Taliban commander and one day he wants revenge . He reminisces about the old days when women used to move about freely and they had movie theatres . But as the Taliban have moved in , they have unleashed horror where any girl above eight who is being taught by her mother has to see her mother killed as women's education is forbidden---as a brutal scene in the movie shows .

The tactics of the Taliban are gruesome . Many of them come in the guise of surrendering , and when they come close one of them cries out ''Allahu Akbar'' which is signal that he is going to explode a suicide bomb . As he explodes , the others begin to attack from their guns . They also have battle tanks which surprise Mitch and his men , and rocket launchers for which they have a seemingly endless supply of rockets to launch at Dostum's men .

Dostum has to use ruthless tactics too . Because all help from America will cease if the members of force dagger are hurt , he assigns small boys with guns to follow and protect the members on pain that the boys' families will be killed if they fail in their duty .

As the dagger force along with Dostum's forces finds it difficult to pass a choke point where they are bottled up by the Taliban , Mitch decides to lead a cavalry charge right into the heart of the Taliban forces so that the road to the town of Mazar e Sharif ( the preliminary objective of the US forces ) is cleared . His success in the charge which allows Dostum to kill the Taliban commander and fulfil his vow of revenge is stuff of legend , something that inspired making of this movie .

The action scenes in the movie are great and the photography of the rugged mountainous topography of Afghanistan is awe inspiring . Background music is good and so is the acting . Of course , with benefit of hindsight we know the sheer pointlessness of fighting endlessly in Afghanistan---the graveyard of empires . But the movie is a welcome addition to the genre of war and military movies .

Verdict---Good .

Three and a half stars out of five .
 
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Padmaavat 3D

Two points are to be made about the film .

For one thing , the film is like a fairy tale because many events in the film seem unlikely to have happened in real life . From the king of Mewar to have gone all the way to Singala in search of pearls demanded by his first wife only to fall in love with the princess ( who seems to be buddhist ) of that country , to him banishing a brahmin who goes all the way to Delhi to tell the sultan about the princess' beauty , and the sultan taking the king of Mewar prisoner in a lone meeting and taking him away to Delhi , to the princess going to Delhi to fetch the king back and conveniently being helped by the wife of the sultan---it all seems to be fantasy and legend . Of course , the story is based on a real invasion of sultan Allauddin Khilji on the great fortress of Chittor . The jauhar shown at the end may be real too ; after all , many times the rajput women committed jauhar when about to be captured . But the way the story has been built , it has seems to have many not too real happenings .

The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make the right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs are shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy .

In contrast , the movie hardly shows the invading turks in a good light . Above all , their sultan Allauddin Khilji is shown having an evil gleam in his penetrating kohl lined eyes . He has been acted brilliantly by Ranveer Singh . His roar of laughter is full of fiendish cruelty and his dance is full of mad gusto . He is shown to be mean and treacherous and as crafty as hell . He chomps into pieces of meat like a barbarian and lusts for women like a debauchee . He is bisexual and has a gay lover---Malik Kafur played by Jim Sarbh .

On the other hand Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar is a gentleman . This gives less scope and range for acting to the person playing the role---Shahid Kapoor . Compared to Ranveer , his acting seems to be bland . Deepika Padukone pays the princess of Singala , who quickly upstages the first wife of Maharaja Ratan Singh to become chief queen of Mewar . Her acting becomes better with each passing frame and her last speech before committing jauhar did give me a small lump in my throat . Her beauty is mesmerising too , well worth an invasion or two on her kingdom for capturing her---for Allauddin invades Chittor again for her after she brings her husband back home .

Just like director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's earlier films , the distinguishing mark of the film is great cinematography and rich colours . Great attention seems to have been paid to the clothes of each and every person , from the plain clothes worn by soldiers to the bejewelled and embroidered clothes worn by the noble ladies and the queen . Fire plays an important role in the film ; fire in both hands of the queen of Mewar as she dances on the song 'ghoomar' , fire being drunk by the insulted brahmin as he is banished from Mewar , torches of fire lighting the walls of the fort of chittor , and the great fire into which the women are led by their queen when all is lost....

The battle scenes are decent without being too spectacular , with the one to one combat scene between the two kings being good . The stomp of the horses as they gallop on the battlefield pounds the ears in dolby atmos sound . Songs and background music is okay but not memorable . 3D effects are pretty good and add to the depth and clarity of the scenes . The film does drag towards the interval because it is almost three hours long , but post interval it again holds your attention .

Verdict---Good .

Three and a half stars out of five .
 
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The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make the right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs are shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy
I saw it last nyt and I must say that this film is a HIT JOB designed to make a subtle impression that rajputs were cowards who attempted to attack muslims when they were offering their Namaz, that Brahmins cheated on Rajputs-which is a clear way to divide the Brahmin-Rajput comradery and showing the wife of Allauddin as the real saviour to Maharana Ratan Singh and Rani Padmavati with an intention to show muslims as benevolent. Even the whole movie has been given a twist to identify Allaudin as belonging to just Khiilij tribe and He has not been identified as a muslim invader. Islam and Jihaad have been completely removed from the narrative to ensure that this movie does not create negative impression of muslims.
This movie belongs to the genre of Udta Punjab and such films which were made with a clear intention of creating and propagating an anti-India and anti-Hindu narrative. Even Bajirao Mastani was released just prior to maharashtra elections with an aim to portray muslims as victims thru mastani's character and show marathas and Brahmins in negative light. I am posting below a link. watch it and see what he meant by shooting this scene which was cut just prior to release of the film. What did Bhansali mean by this scene in Bajirao mastani. This scene has been modified the original scene showed nana Saheb trying to disrobe Mastani and so this dialogue from Mastani. Even this youtube seems to be under the control of these *censored*s.


The movie has been very badly made with willful suppression of facts and the director has misused his liberty and freedom of creativity to create a false narrative with clear aim to degenerate Hindu culture in general and Rajputs and Brahmins in particular. Raghav Chetan was detested by Brahmins as he was a Tantric and even the brahmins of Chittor had asked for his death. But here he is shown to be the Rajpurohit of Chittor and I really fail to understand why Bhanshali did this change from Original Padmaavat also. Similarly, in original Padmaavat, Pani Padmini never leaves Chittor fort, its the palkins with rajput warriors who go out but again Bhanshali changed it to Rani going to Delhi. Why did he do it? To show that Maharana Ratan Singh and Rani Padmavati were saved by the wife of Allaudin.
This movie is clearly aimed at dividing Brahmin-Rajput comradery before the elections in crucial states of MP and Rajasthan and consolidate muslims votes against Right wing. I never believed in Dubai mafia fuunding such projects but after watching this movie, I strongly believe such a nexus.

My verdict- Avoid and never watch any movie made by Bhanshali ever again. As per deepika, was she not the same lady who acted as the Girl Friend of Vijay Mallyas son for a fee of 16 crores to promote that guy in India? She will probably resort to prostitution also for money. I hated this movie.
 
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Padmaavat 3D

Two points are to be made about the film .

For one thing , the film is like a fairy tale because many events in the film seem unlikely to have happened in real life . From the king of Mewar to have gone all the way to Singala in search of pearls demanded by his first wife only to fall in love with the princess ( who seems to be buddhist ) of that country , to him banishing a brahmin who goes all the way to Delhi to tell the sultan about the princess' beauty , and the sultan taking the king of Mewar prisoner in a lone meeting and taking him away to Delhi , to the princess going to Delhi to fetch the king back and conveniently being helped by the wife of the sultan---it all seems to be fantasy and legend . Of course , the story is based on a real invasion of sultan Allauddin Khilji on the great fortress of Chittor . The jauhar shown at the end may be real too ; after all , many times the rajput women committed jauhar when about to be captured . But the way the story has been built , it has seems to have many not too real happenings .

The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make the right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs are shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy .

In contrast , the movie hardly shows the invading turks in a good light . Above all , their sultan Allauddin Khilji is shown having an evil gleam in his penetrating kohl lined eyes . He has been acted brilliantly by Ranveer Singh . His roar of laughter is full of fiendish cruelty and his dance is full of mad gusto . He is shown to be mean and treacherous and as crafty as hell . He chomps into pieces of meat like a barbarian and lusts for women like a debauchee . He is bisexual and has a gay lover---Malik Kafur played by Jim Sarbh .

On the other hand Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar is a gentleman . This gives less scope and range for acting to the person playing the role---Shahid Kapoor . Compared to Ranveer , his acting seems to be bland . Deepika Padukone pays the princess of Singala , who quickly upstages the first wife of Maharaja Ratan Singh to become chief queen of Mewar . Her acting becomes better with each passing frame and her last speech before committing jauhar did give me a small lump in my throat . Her beauty is mesmerising too , well worth an invasion or two on her kingdom for capturing her---for Allauddin invades Chittor again for her after she brings her husband back home .

Just like director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's earlier films , the distinguishing mark of the film is great cinematography and rich colours . Great attention seems to have been paid to the clothes of each and every person , from the plain clothes worn by soldiers to the bejewelled and embroidered clothes worn by the noble ladies and the queen . Fire plays an important role in the film ; fire in both hands of the queen of Mewar as she dances on the song 'ghoomar' , fire being drunk by the insulted brahmin as he is banished from Mewar , torches of fire lighting the walls of the fort of chittor , and the great fire into which the women are led by their queen when all is lost....

The battle scenes are decent without being too spectacular , with the one to one combat scene between the two kings being good . The stomp of the horses as they gallop on the battlefield pounds the ears in dolby atmos sound . Songs and background music is okay but not memorable . 3D effects are pretty good and add to the depth and clarity of the scenes . The film does drag towards the interval because it is almost three hours long , but post interval it again holds your attention .

Verdict---Good .

Three and a half stars out of five .
Like to know your review for Dunkrik and Star Wars : The Last Jedi
 
Like to know your review for Dunkrik and Star Wars : The Last Jedi

Dunkirk

For those who don't know , this is the background to Dunkirk . In the second world war , the Germans handed a huge defeat to the defending French and British soldiers in France . A part of the French army and almost all the troops the British had sent to help the French were trapped near the port of Dunkirk on the English channel surrounded by German soldiers on three sides . The only hope the British had was to escape from Dunkirk back to Britain by sea to live to fight another day . So many private boats owned by ordinary British people sailed across the English channel and brought back the soldiers stranded at Dunkirk . Though a retreat , Dunkirk was still hailed by Britons as a evacuation that brought back their army to regroup and re equip to fight the Germans again .

The movie itself gets better and better as it progresses . The fear and the uncertainty of war---it's all there . The tension on the soldiers' faces as they wait on the beaches , the relief when they see dozens of small private boats coming for them , the cheering for those private citizens by the soldiers as they take in the soldiers , the uncertainty of war again as the boats are attacked by German warplanes and some get killed , the shame of having retreated from France , the disbelief when ordinary citizens do not treat them with contempt for having fled the battlefield but instead offer them food and drinks , and the stirring speech in the end by Britain's Prime minister Winston Churchill promising never to surrender---it's all there in the movie .

Individual bravery does form a part , as is shown by the gallantry of a British pilot who has run out of fuel but still manages to shoot a German warplane trying to kill the soldiers on the beach . Individual cowardice too---as in case of a French soldier who tries to escape with the British instead of defending his country's land . Hard decisions taken too form a part , like the one to not use the Royal ( British ) navy to evacuate the soldiers and the Royal air force to help cover the evacuation from air---because they would have to be used later to defend the oncoming German invasion of Britain instead of being sacrificed at Dunkirk .

The movie is well photographed , with the dogfights between British and German fighters in the air shown with precision . The cracking sound of gunfire hitting the aircraft , the thump of onrushing water when it lands into the sea---all look authentic . The desperation of a troop of soldiers who commandeer an abandoned boat on the beach and wait for high tide to come so that it can be put to sea , only to be shot at by Germans and holes drilled by bullets in the boat so the water will rush in when the boat is put to sea and will be sunk---all is well crafted .

There is the heroism of an old man and his son who are joined by the ship's hand who wants to become a hero by saving lives , only to see his bid for heroism thwarted tragically by a shell shocked soldier who is picked up and does not want the boat to go to Dunkirk to get attacked again by Germans . A gunfire damaged German plane crashing into the water to ignite the oil spilled around it endangering the lives of soldiers stranded in the spill---that's the way it is in real war .

The background music complements the events and many of the events are tragic with a suddenness that befuddles---one moment evacuated soldiers are enjoying their sandwiches in a ship , and next moment the ship is hit and drowned and they are in the midst of water....

The movie is relatively short but still delivers the bang for the buck , especially in IMAX form . Colours are authentically pictured and acting by everyone is appropriate .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five
 
Dunkirk

For those who don't know , this is the background to Dunkirk . In the second world war , the Germans handed a huge defeat to the defending French and British soldiers in France . A part of the French army and almost all the troops the British had sent to help the French were trapped near the port of Dunkirk on the English channel surrounded by German soldiers on three sides . The only hope the British had was to escape from Dunkirk back to Britain by sea to live to fight another day . So many private boats owned by ordinary British people sailed across the English channel and brought back the soldiers stranded at Dunkirk . Though a retreat , Dunkirk was still hailed by Britons as a evacuation that brought back their army to regroup and re equip to fight the Germans again .

The movie itself gets better and better as it progresses . The fear and the uncertainty of war---it's all there . The tension on the soldiers' faces as they wait on the beaches , the relief when they see dozens of small private boats coming for them , the cheering for those private citizens by the soldiers as they take in the soldiers , the uncertainty of war again as the boats are attacked by German warplanes and some get killed , the shame of having retreated from France , the disbelief when ordinary citizens do not treat them with contempt for having fled the battlefield but instead offer them food and drinks , and the stirring speech in the end by Britain's Prime minister Winston Churchill promising never to surrender---it's all there in the movie .

Individual bravery does form a part , as is shown by the gallantry of a British pilot who has run out of fuel but still manages to shoot a German warplane trying to kill the soldiers on the beach . Individual cowardice too---as in case of a French soldier who tries to escape with the British instead of defending his country's land . Hard decisions taken too form a part , like the one to not use the Royal ( British ) navy to evacuate the soldiers and the Royal air force to help cover the evacuation from air---because they would have to be used later to defend the oncoming German invasion of Britain instead of being sacrificed at Dunkirk .

The movie is well photographed , with the dogfights between British and German fighters in the air shown with precision . The cracking sound of gunfire hitting the aircraft , the thump of onrushing water when it lands into the sea---all look authentic . The desperation of a troop of soldiers who commandeer an abandoned boat on the beach and wait for high tide to come so that it can be put to sea , only to be shot at by Germans and holes drilled by bullets in the boat so the water will rush in when the boat is put to sea and will be sunk---all is well crafted .

There is the heroism of an old man and his son who are joined by the ship's hand who wants to become a hero by saving lives , only to see his bid for heroism thwarted tragically by a shell shocked soldier who is picked up and does not want the boat to go to Dunkirk to get attacked again by Germans . A gunfire damaged German plane crashing into the water to ignite the oil spilled around it endangering the lives of soldiers stranded in the spill---that's the way it is in real war .

The background music complements the events and many of the events are tragic with a suddenness that befuddles---one moment evacuated soldiers are enjoying their sandwiches in a ship , and next moment the ship is hit and drowned and they are in the midst of water....

The movie is relatively short but still delivers the bang for the buck , especially in IMAX form . Colours are authentically pictured and acting by everyone is appropriate .

Verdict---Good .

Four stars out of five
Need to add the excellent score by han Zimmer - But need to dock one star - simply because this movie should have at least recognized/represented - a small British Indian Army contingent that too were present during this evacuation. (which unfortunately many Hollywood movies fail to do so)

Have you seen Bladerunner 2049?
 
Need to add the excellent score by han Zimmer - But need to dock one star - simply because this movie should have at least recognized/represented - a small British Indian Army contingent that too were present during this evacuation. (which unfortunately many Hollywood movies fail to do so)

Have you seen Bladerunner 2049?
no . neither that nor star wars--the last jedi .
 
phantom thread

Review is full of spoilers


I went to see this movie because the critics were going ga ga over it . The setting is 1950s London . Reynolds Woodcock ( Daniel Day Lewis ) is a famous fashion designer who creates dresses for high society , though I don't remember a single scene where he makes clothes for men ; it seems he makes clothes only for women . The movie showcases the memoirs of his wife Alma Elson ( Vicky Krieps ) as she tells the story to his doctor ( Brian Gleeson ) besides a fireplace .

Woodcock is a confirmed bachelor until he meets Alma , but unlike fashion designers nowadays ( especially those who make clothes for women ) he is not gay ; maybe gay people had not captured the fashion industry in the 50s . He sees Alma who is a waitress at a restaurant where he orders his quirky order for food , and asks her out for date . Soon he is making a dress using her body as model ; his sister and partner Cyril ( Lesley Manville ) steps in to oversee the making of the dress . Alma soon discovers that Cyril is an indispensable part of Woodcock's life ; she is everywhere they are .

Woodcock is dominating and egoistic and quirky ; he does not like Alma making grating noises during buttering bread while he is concentrating and walks out . Of course , the noise was deliberately increased by the moviemakers in the soundtrack ; buttering bread does not make such loud sound normally . But the bickering does not stop at that ; Woodcock does not like the food Alma makes at a surprise romantic date and his sister has already warned that he does not like surprises anyway .

But Woodcock has met his match in Alma ; earlier also she has shown her mettle when a rich lady does not behave properly but gets drunk and unconscious wearing a Woodcock designed dress . She makes Woodcock go with herself to the lady's bedroom and forcibly removes the dress from her body in a scene which made me wonder why the drunk lady did not file a case of outraging modesty on the two later .

Now sensing that Woodcock is slipping from her hands , Alma poisons him and does not even let the family doctor treat him . Then she takes care of him and impresses him so much that he finally proposes marriage . Soon she is poisoning him whenever she wants to control the relationship and Woodcock who has realised what she is doing acquiesces in whatever she has been doing !! The lion has decided to get himself tamed....

Background music is most wonderful in the movie and acting by everyone is great . The dresses shown created by Woodcock are beautiful too . The only thing that was lacking in the situation was a viewer having real taste in movies . Sorry but I as a viewer / reviewer lack the taste to fully appreciate such a movie and I thought it was okay but not as great as the reviewers were saying .

Verdict---Okay .

two and a half stars out of five .
 
phantom thread

Review is full of spoilers


I went to see this movie because the critics were going ga ga over it . The setting is 1950s London . Reynolds Woodcock ( Daniel Day Lewis ) is a famous fashion designer who creates dresses for high society , though I don't remember a single scene where he makes clothes for men ; it seems he makes clothes only for women . The movie showcases the memoirs of his wife Alma Elson ( Vicky Krieps ) as she tells the story to his doctor ( Brian Gleeson ) besides a fireplace .

Woodcock is a confirmed bachelor until he meets Alma , but unlike fashion designers nowadays ( especially those who make clothes for women ) he is not gay ; maybe gay people had not captured the fashion industry in the 50s . He sees Alma who is a waitress at a restaurant where he orders his quirky order for food , and asks her out for date . Soon he is making a dress using her body as model ; his sister and partner Cyril ( Lesley Manville ) steps in to oversee the making of the dress . Alma soon discovers that Cyril is an indispensable part of Woodcock's life ; she is everywhere they are .

Woodcock is dominating and egoistic and quirky ; he does not like Alma making grating noises during buttering bread while he is concentrating and walks out . Of course , the noise was deliberately increased by the moviemakers in the soundtrack ; buttering bread does not make such loud sound normally . But the bickering does not stop at that ; Woodcock does not like the food Alma makes at a surprise romantic date and his sister has already warned that he does not like surprises anyway .

But Woodcock has met his match in Alma ; earlier also she has shown her mettle when a rich lady does not behave properly but gets drunk and unconscious wearing a Woodcock designed dress . She makes Woodcock go with herself to the lady's bedroom and forcibly removes the dress from her body in a scene which made me wonder why the drunk lady did not file a case of outraging modesty on the two later .

Now sensing that Woodcock is slipping from her hands , Alma poisons him and does not even let the family doctor treat him . Then she takes care of him and impresses him so much that he finally proposes marriage . Soon she is poisoning him whenever she wants to control the relationship and Woodcock who has realised what she is doing acquiesces in whatever she has been doing !! The lion has decided to get himself tamed....

Background music is most wonderful in the movie and acting by everyone is great . The dresses shown created by Woodcock are beautiful too . The only thing that was lacking in the situation was a viewer having real taste in movies . Sorry but I as a viewer / reviewer lack the taste to fully appreciate such a movie and I thought it was okay but not as great as the reviewers were saying .

Verdict---Okay .

two and a half stars out of five .
Never head of this movie until they announce this for the oscars!

This is movie Oscar worthy?