Ben (2015)

Director: Vipin Atlee
Writer:    Vipin Atlee
Cast:       Gaurav Menon, Adish Praveen, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Anjali Upasana, Nila Noushad
Language: Malayalam

Film revolves around the titular character Ben (Gaurav Menon) and holds a mirror to society. It delves into things like goodness of Joint families, badness of nuclear families, goodness of small schools, badness of English medium schools for upper-middle-class and Kerela society's propensity to resort to God and religion which inevitably pushes them into the exploiting arms of religious freaks, Godmen/Godwomen etc.

As can be seen from the synopsis, the film is not a fan of subtlety. I prefer films to deal with things like these in a subtle manner which is not to say that you cannot make good films by being deliberately unsubtle. K. G. George's comedy classic 'Panchavadipalam' is a prime example for that. In 'Ben', debutant director Vipin Atlee, has made a conscious decision to have cartoonish characters and unsubtle treatment. Problem for me is that the funny bits are not funny enough and you get a sense that he is trying to have a rant through the medium against things that he thinks need attention. He has stated in an interview that the film and its story is very close to him as it is autobiographical and I would presume he might be the peripheral elder cousin. It does carry the 'Based on a True Story' tag on its sleeve. That can be an excuse for going over the top since the audience give you some leeway automatically. I just feel that he over-played his hand. It is another one of these social message films with some relevance and can be a decent watch for its target audience. 

The largely unknown cast does a decent job and the kids in it have a certain rawness which is good. Film is technically good with dynamic camera movements. The exploitative religious characters and such sequences are done quite well and the film could get some fillip if there is some unwarranted protests against it. It is not really a children's film and could become a TV hit in future.

Rating: 2/5

The Exorcist (1973)

Director: William Friedkin
Writer:   William Peter Blatty 
Cast:       Ellen Bustyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller

When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter. 

I had seen this film when I was about 12 and was scared shitless. That was not such a big deal back then since any decent quality horror film would have done the same at those sort of age. Once you grow up and become rational, horror films don't work that well for you on a getting scared level and the same thing happened to me. I am not a big fan of horror films these days and the ones that I end up enjoying tend to be 'Psychological Thrillers', which doesn't go all supernatural on us. Last year's 'The Babadook', a film championed by William Friedkin himslef, was one such film and you can pretty well explain that one as it happening inside the minds of the two protagonists- mother and son. My recollection of The Exorcist was that of it being a supernatural story and I really didn't feel the need to revisit it even though I became a big fan of Friedkin over the years after watching To Live and Die in LA, Sorcerer, French Connection and Killer Joe. Mark Kermode, film critic, frequently cites 'The Exorcist' as his favorite film of all time. That and general boredom led me to finally take the plunge and revisit the film.

I don't know if I am talking absolute bollocks, but I think Friedkin is playing a huge prank on our skepticism towards horror films and all things supernatural. The mother character is not at all religious and when her daughter starts behaving oddly the doctor explains it as caused by a lesion in her temporal lobe. The scans reveals nothing and the doctors recommend 'Exorcism' as a last resort, acknowledging it as a placebo technique. On the other side you have a priest, Father Karras, who is a qualified psychiatrist. He is suffering a crisis of faith and is grieving, with guilt, the death of her mother who died old and alone. He is bewildered when the mother approaches him, asking for exorcism. Like us the viewers, he is also skeptical about supernatural things and thinks her daughter's ailment is purely psychological. It is quite a habit to check who all are in a room witnessing when something seemingly supernatural happens in horror films. This is so as to explain events as hallucinations/psychological, and till the last exorcism part of the film, I could only put the mother as sole witness to unexplainable things in the film. So you can still possibly have 'The Babadook' explanation for it. But it goes apeshit during the final exorcism and it lands like a slap in your face when she defies gravity. It also does the same for Father Karras who finally accepts that they are dealing with the devil/supernatural indeed. So, the father character, is representing us in the story and we see the film from his perspective.  

So, to sum up, it is indeed great and is not just a horror film. Performances are excellent and the atmosphere it creates is terrific. The special effects and make ups have aged very well which is remarkable. Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' is used sparingly than I thought considering the fact that it achieved its legendary status due to its association with this film. The film was an adaptation of William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel with the same name. It was the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture Academy award but lost out to 'The Sting'. Yup, Mind-boggling!!! Begrman's 'Cries and Whispers' was also nominated.

Rating: 5/5

                                                                        

ലുക്കാ ചുപ്പി (Lukka Chuppi) (2015)

Director: Bash Mohammed
Writer:    Gafoor Arackkal
Cast:       Jayasurya, Murali Gopi, Ramya Nambeeshan, Joju George, Muthumani, Chinnu Kuruvila, Dinesh Prabhakar, Asmita Sood
Language:Malayalam

The film delves into the lives of a group of married couples over an evening and a night as they get together after a gap of fourteen years. All the husbands and one of the wives among the characters had studied together in college and another lady friend of theirs, on whom the host (Murali Gopi) is infatuated with, joins them pretty late. The chemistry between all of them causes problems for the other two wives who are pretty much outsiders. 

Lukka Chuppi is pretty much set in one location, a river-side resort home, after the initial five minutes. That kind of adds to the claustrophobia and it did remind me of 'Bheja Fry', even though the nature of comedy is much more subtle. The quality of making is evident during the opening credits itself as the way the sound is mixed reminded me of Annayum Rasoolum (Yeah, dialogues are quite hard to decipher). It was thus no surprise to me when I saw Resul Pookkutty, Oscar Winner, credited for sound design. Sync-sound was used in the film and I deeply regret not catching it at the cinemas. It was released a week after Premam and, unsurprisingly, it didn't do well at all in the financial sense amidst all the hysteria surrounding Premam. If you suppose that married people are its chief target audience, then it was anyway hard to get them to see it at the cinemas since it is not suitable for children as they will certainly get bored.

I was not really that enamored by the trailer since there have been many cringy get-together films recently. The trailer doesn't really convey the realism in the film and kind of hides the marital tensions aspect of it. Decided to watch it based on a recommendation from a friend (not that dependable) and the fact that it got selected in the Indian Panorama section of Goa Film Festival swung it for me. Performances in it are excellent (Asmita Sood kind of stick out like a sore thumb) and the script is really good with very life-like interactions and dialogues. It earns enough credit in the bank during the first half of the film to tolerate some of the things and contrivances that they include in the second half. The Indrans character was not really needed and it did look awkward compared to the rest of the film. I would have preferred if they ended it in an 'everything got fucked up' manner instead of the happily resolved ending that we get. 

Overall, it is a great watch with great technical quality and excellent performances. The director and writer made their debut with this film and I hope to see them again in future. Lukka Chuppi was picked up by Prithviraj's 'August Cinema' for distribution and I commend him for taking the risks that he is taking with his production house. He doesn't do safe films, unlike other actors who get into production and distribution, and you can more or less watch a film just for the fact that 'August Cinema' is associated with it. Not to say that I liked all of their films but they are all worth giving a go/chance.

Rating: 4/5

                                                                              

In a World... (2013)

Director: Lake Bell
Writer:    Lake Bell
Cast:       Lake Bell, Fred Melamed, Michaela Watkins

An underachieving voice coach finds herself competing in the movie trailer voice-over profession with her father and his protege.  

The title of the film comes from the phrase that we hear at the start of many film trailers, especially the post-apocalyptic variety. The idea for the film came for Lake Bell when she noticed that all trailers feature male voice-overs except for 'Gone in 60 Seconds', which used Melissa Disney. She decided to write a story in which a female protagonist sought to overcome this prejudice. I am not a big fan of watching trailers since it is a trend in recent times to reveal too much and spoil the actual film. So it is a relief when you actually see a good one and the recent Mad Max: Fury Road trailer was one such example, using as an excuse to post a link to it.

In a World is essentially a feel-good comedy film and it is a genre which can always use niche settings to bring some freshness to it without appearing to be too cheesy. It is not to say that this film adheres firmly to the genre stereotypes at a core level. Most of the characters in it are connected to this voice-over business and the film really doesn't have any overly dramatic moments. Everything is done in a matter-of-fact way, which is always welcome, and the characters are sufficiently quirky and awkward. One might assume from the synopsis that it is trying to make a women's rights/feminist statement in an 'In Your Face' manner and that is not how it deals with it. Protagonist wants to do it just because  she is good at it and want to make a career out of it. When it is announced that she got the big gig in a newly launched franchise, it is a lady executive that is doing the announcement. When the protagonist gets a chance to thank her for giving her the gig, the executive flatly states that she got it not because she was the best candidate for the job but to make a statement to all the girls out there who are watching the trailer. That is just a very clever way of portraying 'contradictions' and debates surrounding the movement. 

In a World is a great watch. It is not just unique in terms of the background of its characters but also because of its non-conformity wrt the genre. Performances are all great and it is a great directorial debut for Lake Bell also considering the fact that she also played the principal protagonist. It was filmed over 20 days in LA and was very well-received at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also a financial success, grossing close to $3m on a less than million dollar budget. 

Rating: 4/5

                                                                              

Man Up (2015)

Director: Ben Palmer
Writer:    Tess Morris
Cast:       Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Olivia Williams

A single woman who's mistaken for for a stranger's blind date, leads to her finding the perfect boyfriend. Sounds really cringy, doesn't it?

Ben Palmer had previously directed 'The Inbetweeners Movie', which I didn't like very much and I hadn't seen the TV series TBF. Man Up is a good one-time watch romantic comedy. The basic premise is of course very contrived, especially the stalker from the past part, but there are enough laughs in it to sustain you till the end. I haven't yet seen Simon Pegg in a bad role (He was alright in MI:3 even). Man Up was co-produced by BBC films and Amazon Prime along with others and the market that Simon Pegg commands and the success of 'The Inbetweeners Movie' should have been reasons enough for them to produce it. I hadn't seen Lake Bell prior to this and she was really good as well. She seems to have directed and starred in 'In a World', which looks interesting (obtaining it as we speak). 

To sum up, it is a nice movie to watch in a relaxed mood with sufficient amount of laughs in it. If you are enjoying it then you'll find the ending charming as well, despite its predictability. I didn't really care much for the supposedly deep things they are saying but it is not done in a manner where you're supposed to take it very philosophically, as they are drunk while having those conversations. Romantic comedies are really hard to do very well and it is a good effort indeed. The title of the film is ironically more significant for the lady lead in it. It was also good to see nighttime London in a different color tone, compared to the usual way it is filmed. That said, the color tone used is indeed the stereotypical one for rom-coms.

Rating: 3/5

                                                                                

The End of the Tour (2015)

Director: James Ponsoldt
Writers:  Donald Margulies, David Lipsky
Cast:       Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg

The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking epic novel, 'Infinite Jest'.

I really had no idea about what the film was exactly going to be and things like Rolling Stone and Tour from the title led me to believe that it was something about the band which goes by the same name (Not really a fan of theirs except for 'Sympathy for the Devil'). When I started watching it, I slowly recalled hearing the name David Foster Wallace related to something the director Paul Thomas Anderson had said in an interview. It turns out that was from the WTF podcast that he did with Marc Maron and Wallace had taught Paul Thomas Anderson English briefly when he was in Boston. 

I don't know how the film would be for those who are familiar with DFW's books but what I took out from the film was mostly the dynamics between an interviewer and his subject when there is an element of fanboyishness. It is common to have such a dynamic in many of these interviews and that can come in the way of being objective about things. While the Lipsky character is pressured by his editor to get something juicy for the article, he himself is trying to rein in on his fanboyishness and jealousy. As for the interview subject, David Foster Wallace, he is conflicted and guarded about how much honest he wants to be for the interview. He is someone who has always struggled with depression and was on a suicide watch when he was 28. He is 34 now and the interviewer is 30. The film doesn't really try to completely explain the personality of its subject but rather give an honest account of their conversations and we are free to glean whatever from it. I saw it more as a journalistic film rather than a dissection of DFW. It turns out that the interview was not actually published until after his suicide death in 2008.

It is a great watch overall and a unique film. It is really a cerebral kind of film and the 90s is recreated with great authenticity. The winter Illinois setting reminded me of 'Fargo', which I should be rewatching. Performances are really good and Jason Segel conveyed the awkwardness very well. I think I should try to read 'Infinite Jest' at some point in near future.

Rating: 4/5

                                                                              

അമർ അക്ബർ അന്തോണി (Amar Akbar Anthony) (2015)

Director: Nadirshah
Writers:  Bibin George, Vishnu Unnikrishnan
Cast:       Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indrajith
Language: Malayalam

The three protagonists are Fort Kochi youngsters from relatively poor families who are also close friends. They enjoy a carefree life. Their perceptions and beliefs get shattered when an unexpected event occurs and the resulting story forms the rest of the movie.

To make matters very clear, this is a film which makes 'Oru Vadakkan Selfie' look like Godfather. And OVS was a film which made 'Chotta Mumbai' look like Godfather. I am referring to these two films with respect to AAA because all of them follow a similar formula of skit like comedy sequences with some serious shit thrown in during the second half of the film. Nadirshah, who is best known for his mimicry and parody cassettes that he used to churn out during Onam, makes his directorial debut with this film. The long series of 'Thank-Yous' which starts off the opening credits (an annoying feature of modern Malayalam films) lists the directorial duo of Siddique-Lal, who are best examples of people who have made transition from mimicry to creating great feature films. Almost all of their films, with the exception of Vietnam Colony', also followed a formula of having a purely comedic first half with the story taking a sudden serious turn during the second half. But they always manage to intersperse comedy during the latter part of the films as well. Whatever be the formula, they managed to create films that are rightly considered as classics.

Nadirshah's formula seems to be sub-standard comedy skits followed by cringy 'Social Warning', exploiting Malayalees' latest paranoia over 'Immigrants' and pedophilia. If that is not enough, he ends it with some Police-sponsored vigilantism. So he basically caters to all kind of audiences, quality be damned,  which explains its commercial success. The comedy shit didn't make me laugh nearly enough and the social message thing is presented in a laughably bad manner and I had a horrible time watching it. Am not really a big fan of these skit like comedies anyway since I can watch some mimicry program if I wanted that. I am not disparaging all films that present it this way as 'Chotta Mumbai' was quite a decent film and 'Idukki Gold' could also be described following such a formula but managed with a degree of sophistication by presenting it as vignettes from the past. AAA is just shit.

To sum up, AAA is an utterly shit film and its commercial success is fucking annoying. As it stands, the top three grossing Malayalam films of all time are 'Drishyam', 'Premam' and 'Ennu Ninte Moideen'. all of which are quite good films. It will be a travesty if this piece of shit film manages to gross as much or beat any of them. It does look like it will. Arrggghhhh..... (ഒരു സിനിമാപ്രേമിയുടെ രോദനം ) 

Rating: 0.5/5