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A miniaturist artist Annie Graham (Toni Collette) has a troubled relationship with her mother Ellen who was a highly secretive person. After Ellen passes away, Anne’s daughter Charlie starts acting strange. Later, she meets with a terrible accident and her brother Peter blames himself for it. As he is dealing with guilt, Annie is urged to conduct a séance to help her move on with the losses she has suffered. The exercise goes wrong and the entire Graham family have to face a mysterious evil force that is unstoppable and something that will not leave them alone. Horror films have a habit of following a formula and recycling it until another film comes and charts a new course. Haunted homes, demonic possessions and other similar tropes have littered the landscape of the genre since a while. That way, Ari Aster’s directorial debut 'Hereditary' is truly an original that moves slowly yet completely and totally terrifies you when you least expect it to. A stylistically brill

‘Ocean’s 8’ drops all the men in favour of a scintillating cast of women. The new all-women setup puts a fresh perspective on this heist franchise. As you’d expect from an ‘Ocean’s’ movie, this film has some great set pieces on planning the robbery. Because the film’s central characters are all women, their conversations mix the usual hustle talk with fashion, shopping and style related subjects and that makes things interesting. While they do talk about men too, thankfully it doesn’t go over-the-top with the bashing or swooning. The girls stay focussed on their task at hand, to pull off the heist in the smartest of fashion. The film has the same busy and slick feel of Steven Soderbergh’s movies with George Clooney; it’s just as funny and engaging too. But it’s not as smart or detailed as those films. In an attempt to pull off the twists, the film takes a few cinematic liberties.  Sandra Bullock takes over the ‘Ocean’ mantle from George Clooney. She’s introduced as his sister

Although they saved the city of Metroville, superheroes are still decommissioned. After their home was destroyed, the Parr family is given a new lease of life when they’re approached by wealthy siblings Winston (Bob Odenkirk) and Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener). Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) is tasked with being the new face of superheroes in the hopes of restoring their legal status. To support her, Mr Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) takes on the responsibility of looking after the kids at home, which proves to be quite the handful. To make matters worse, the mind-controlling villain Screenslaver threatens the city. When you consider the rapid-fire rate of superhero movies in today’s comic book franchise-driven landscape, it’s a surprise that this sequel took 14 years to make. Picking up right after the events of its prequel – the film wastes little time getting back into its quick-paced groove. Even though an entire generation has grown up exploring various aspects of superhero s

First thing first – a huge shout out to debutant director Sivaani Senthil for coming up with a film that shows on camera just one character, while the others (okay, the girlfriend was part of one song) are just voices. The concept is applause-worthy, but the execution? The film opens with a song, and we are told that Arjun (Jishnu Menon) and Maha (Prarna Sathani) are madly in love and she asks him to pick up her father from Chennai airport the next noon and head to Bengaluru, where she will be meeting them all. While Arjun is all set to impress his prospective father-in-law, he is asked by Sindhu - his MD and boss’s live-in partner - to head to Bengaluru for the US project interview – which he failed the last time, but lied to Maha that he got through - by afternoon. Left with no choice, he asks his uncle to pick his could-be father-in-law up and sets off in his car. All could have been well, except that on his way, he gets numerous phone calls from his uncle, Maha, her father,

If you believed there is certain level of positivism surrounding any film that is said to have a female protagonist of late, this story will leave you both disoriented and disappointed. Just-married couple Sagar (Tej Gowda) and Neetu Bala (Tanu) have to deal with more than their share of getting used to each other in their new life together. While there is none of the regular drama surrounding getting used to each others' family — what with Tanu gelling well with her in-laws, it is the existence of a third person in this relationship that troubles the two. A mystery gift — a honeymoon package, followed by periodic messages beeping on Sagar's phone that seems to track all their moves. The fact that his new wife spends a lot of her time on her phone makes Sagar suspect that he is being targeted by one of her former lovers. On the advice of a psychiatrist friend, Sagar decides to accept the mystery gift and take his wife on an all-paid-for honeymoon, hoping to fig

There has been a lot of curiosity about this film for many reasons. It brings together KM Chaitanya, Yogish Dwarakish and Chiranjeevi Sarja together once again. It is the 51st film from the Dwarakish Chitra banner, after a successful Chowka. It also is the remake of the successful Tamil emotional action drama Pichaikaran. With so much expectations lined up, does it hold fort? It does, to a large extent. The film manages to entertain with some funny sequences, thrill in the action scenes and also tug the heart during those emotional scenes. One only wishes the pace was a tad quicker at times. The film is about a son who takes up an unusual vow to lead a life as a beggar anonymously for the sake of his mother's well-being. The film follows how Sidharth tries to keep up this vow while also battling many impediments through the course of this ordeal. Meanwhile, Sidharth also has a tryst with love and friendship during this phase of his. But do his sacrifices help him kee

Ram is hearing-impaired after a large explosion in a factory that he owns, but he doesn’t want people around him to know about his impairment. On the advice of doctor, Ram, with his friend Bharath, stays at a farm house in Himagiri, before getting operated upon, where he meets his dream girl, Aadhya. Ram falls in love with Aadhya at first sight, but doesn't want her to know about his hearing impairment, worried that she may reject him. He tries several tricks to woo Aadhya. On the other hand, a gang tries to abduct Aadhya and her friends, and series of murders keeps taking place.In the second half, the movie gathers pace after a diligent police officer, Rajesh, takes over the case to solve the murder mystery. Is there a ghost, a gang or a person behind series of murders? Director Raj Praveen attempts to churn out a suspense thriller with a murder plot, with an intriguing title, but it fails to keep one engaged, except in some portion of the second half. The comic

“How do you know there won’t be another murder?” asks a media person to police officer Derick Abraham (Mammootty). And he responds, “I am sure that my dad’s name is Abraham.” Debutant Shaji Padoor’s Abrahaminte Santhathikal is a tale of two brothers of the same blood and character. Derick is a successful police officer who is the final word in every investigation. He handles even the toughest of cases that deal with tough criminals. When it comes to duty, no obstacle – be it relationships or sentiments - can stop him. Fast forward three years and we see another Derick - a drunkard who has lost all hope in life, shattered by the fact that his brother Philip (Anson Paul) refuses to meet him in the prison, saying he is no one to him. What went behind the arrest of Philip and why he hates his elder brother makes the movie. The film sees a Mammootty who acts his age. The scriptwriter Haneef Adeni has beautifully crafted a screenplay which not only has all the elements of M

Written and directed by Vijayakumar KG, Muthalaq is a logically disjoint and heavily melodramatic narrative that blatantly sentimentalizes ‘triple talaq’. The film has a mostly unfamiliar cast, like Varghese Moyalan and Rasheed Ponnani. Most of the actors are from theatre background, and are not over the ‘drama hangover’ yet. Neena Kurup and Geetha Vijayan are the few familiar faces with previous movie experience in the cast. But even their experiences have scarcely helped them in this film. The songs and the background score seem archaic and are distracting to say the least. The low budget locales, dimly lit frames and the breathy dialogue delivery all make you wish you had a fast forward button in the theatre. The film opens with a song sequence in Varanasi as an aged, desolate man takes part in his ablutions according to Hindu rites. Soon, it shifts to an ashram where Amina comes seeking something/someone. There on, Amina a Christian orphan, raised as a Muslim by a

Every Malayalam film lover knows that this movie is named after the dialogue by the legendary Jagathy Sreekumar, which he delivered with mastery in the film Melepparambil Aanveedu. The film begins with a tribute to the great actor and his dialogue, but in reality, the very existence of this movie tarnishes his legacy and this dialogue. With a rag-tag script and story that borrows heavily, and really poorly, from many other movies, the film does not engage or entertain at any point. The director sneaks in some plot points only to forget it in the next scene. Made at a shoestring budget, this film has Rahul Madhav and newcomer Shravya in the lead with veterans Madhu, Rizabawa and Neena Kurup in supporting roles. While the hero and the seniors try to do justice to their talent, the heroine does not leave a mark at all. This movie is a serious blip in the portfolio of Rahul who is trying to establish himself as a solo hero. It is surprising that while quality films langu

Ranjith Sankar's Njan Marykutty might or might not be the first Malayalam movie to have a transperson as the main character, but it surely is the first to treat such a character with dignity and respect. Marykutty (Jayasurya) was born a man, but aspires to be, and dresses, like a woman. She is in the process of a sex change, which, the character, informs, is no overnight process though. Marykutty's greatest wish is to join the police force, and she has a loyal circle of friends in support, but obstacles are many, in terms of the red tape involved, and society in general in the form of a police officer played by Joju George. Marykutty is sensitive by nature but determined to fight it out and refuses to take the insults and humiliation thrown her way - more often than not, she is referred to as 'that thing'. However, it's the hostility from her own family that causes real heartache for Marykutty, something she is determined to overcome as well. The t

On the surface, the storyline of Indraganti Mohana Krishna's 'Sammohanam' is as stereotypical as love stories go. A guy who hates cinema meets a superstar and falls for her. Despite being a big star, the woman’s real side is shown, sans make-up and starry airs. And our hero has complete access to her. Just when you think a romance is brewing, it all comes crashing down. But in Sammohanam, the lines between reality and fantasy are often blurred - and much like the lead pair's romance, a promising entertainer comes crashing down. Vijay (Sudheer Babu) is a cartoonist who sketches for children’s books. He looks down upon cinema and thinks it’s a fake world with fake people in it, and constantly argues with his father (Naresh), whose lifelong dream is to act in films. As fate would have it, shooting for a major film takes place in their house. The lead actress Sameera (Aditi Rao Hydari) is one of the biggest superstars in the industry, but she has a weakne

When the cast and crew list features names like Jayendra Panchapakesan – who has hundreds of ad films to his name, PC Sreeram – who has wielded the camera for Mani Ratnam for some of his most famous films, Sharreth – whose music for the film was appreciated much before the film’s release and a versatile Tamannaah and Kalyan Ram in lead roles, nothing less than cinematic magic is expected. Subha, the name used by the writing partnership of D Suresh and AN Balakrishnan, also wrote this one with Jayendra, with their previous collaboration being ‘180’. However, what is delivered to the audience are endless random scenes that are supposed to make one believe in the magic of destiny. Maybe it would even work, if only they stitched together well! Meera (Tamannaah) is the happy-go-lucky girl who’s told the good news that she has passed her exams on her fourth attempt just when she comes across a picture of Varun (Kalyan Ram). Believing him to be her lucky charm and in poss

Kishore (Sathya), the protagonist of Ennodu Nee Irundhal, is supposed to be the sensitive, socially responsible type. He delays a project that his boss (Ajay Rathnam), the MD of a real estate company, wants to close at the earliest just because he doesn't want to cheat people. He makes a scrapbook of cuttings of crime reports from newspapers. He falls in love with Pooja (Manasa), a rich girl, just because she acts friendly towards him. And he gets heartbroken when he Pooja friend-zones him. And he becomes a vigilante when he starts getting calls from her. Where is all this headed to? Is this a romantic drama, a vigilante movie or a psycho thriller, or all of the above?   There are some films that get made just because their makers had the resources to make one. These are the films where film making competence isn't the most important criteria. Ennodu Nee Irundhal belongs in this list. The performances of the leads clearly suggest that these are actors wouldn&

Kilambitaangayaa Kilambitaangayaa is just another movie which joins those numerous attempts which are made for no reason. Neither the director nor the cast and crew seem to be unaware of why the film was made in the first place. The biggest challenge for a reviewer is to find out which genre the movie belongs to. The plot revolves around four men in their 60s planning to kidnap a child for a huge amount. When they realise that they are too old for it, they hire four youngsters who could help them in completing their task. The four-member young team manages to kidnap the child and its mother and take them to a forest. The father of the child files a police complaint and the cops come to a conclusion by mistake that terrorists are behind the act. Later, a stringent cop (Bhagyaraj) is appointed to investigate this case. Finally, the child is saved, not because of the cop’s effort – the mother finds her out of nowhere. We keep wondering why the armed police force were do

In this thematic sequel to Goli Soda, one of this decade’s entertaining masala movies, Vijay Milton gives us protagonists who are similar to the ones in the first film — ordinary guys facing improbable odds in their battle to reclaim their identity. Milton gives enough variations in the problems that these three underdogs face — Siva (Vinod), an enterprising auto driver, becomes a victim of a politician-loan shark (Saravana Subbaiah); Maaran (Bharath Seeni), a gangster who wishes to leave his violent life for his girlfriend Inba (Subhiksha), is unable to escape the iron-clad grip of Thuraimugam Thillai (Chemban Vinod Jose), a don. The romance of Oli (Esakki Bharath), an aspiring basketball player, and Madhi (Krisha Kurup) becomes a casualty of casteism. All these three men are related not only by their problems, but by a common friend/guide, Nadesan (Samuthirakani, in a role that is tailor-made for him). Pacing is Goli Soda 2’s biggest plus. Like he did with the firs

The Race franchise is known for its excessively stylized characters and high-octane action. These films showcase expensive cars and fancy set pieces, they have everything to please the an action movie buff and James Bond fans. ‘Race 3’ puts the pedal to the metal when it comes to making stylish statements. But as it zooms ahead in style, the substance is left behind in a cloud of dust. This film is about a rich family dealing with a lot of double crossing and scheming, as you’d expect from a film of this franchise. The Singh family is executing a high stake heist, where they have to steal a hard disk from a bank, so the setup looks like it's going to have a lot of thrills and action. But the generous dose of action never translates into any serious thrills because the story is so flimsy. To say that the film has a wafer thin plot is an understatement. Unlike the action, the script lacks any real punch as the story does not engage the viewer at all. Trailer of the

Kaala Movie Review This time, Ranjith uses Rajinikanth the Superstar to tell his message — land is the common man's right. The story is simple... Migrants from Tamil Nadu settle in Dharavi and help build it, and run the city. When an evil politician-cum-land mafia don sets his eyes on their land, they revolt. Do they succeed? Kaala begins with an animated story-telling device similar to Bãhubali, wherein the importance of land and the suppression of the downtrodden by the power-hungry is shown. The film quickly shifts to the present day, in live-action multi-colour (with black being the prominent hue). We are shown evil politicians and land mafia hatching plans to destroy the slums of Dharavi to make it Digital Dharavi and Pure Mumbai (an obvious reference to some of the actual government schemes).   We get a casual, but sweet introduction of the Superstar, as Kaala (short for Karikaalan). However, the pace picks up when it is established that he is the King of

Mohana Movie Review Where does one begin with Mohana? For starters, you could say this: If there is a movie equivalent of facepalm, then Mohana is that one. As a film, it is cringe-worthy, from start to finish, displaying no evidence of basic craft or even storytelling flair. It is supposed to be a horror film, but there are zero scares — only innumerable scars, for us, the viewers. The set-up involves Power Star (Power Star Srinivasan), a popular star, going on a journey after a shoot. A co-actress, Swapna (Mascara Asmitha), hitches a ride, but their car stops at a godforsaken place in the middle of the night. The driver leaves to find a mechanic and Swapna and Power Star enter a lonely bungalow nearby. Of course, the place is haunted. To narrate just these events, director Ananth takes the entire first half, and we are left with putting up with Power Star Srinivasan’s ‘acting’ for almost an hour, with no break — an experience that will scar one for a lifetime. And

Panjumittai Movie Review Appu (Ma Ka Pa) and Kuppu (Sendrayan) are childhood friends who can’t even think of living in different places. As both of them grow up, they start earning their living by working in a hotel. Trouble starts between them when Appu gets married to a girl (Nikhila). He starts hating Kuppu’s constant presence when he is with his wife. He also starts noticing that Kuppu’s dress colour is always similar to that of his wife’s. A peeved Appu starts suspecting his wife and tries his best to keep her away from Kuppu. Later, he consults a doctor who explains Kuppu’s weird behaviour.   Interestingly, like Kuppu’s behaviour, the film, too, is weird, thanks to its amateurish making, loud performances of the lead actors and poor CG scenes. An outlandish plot coupled with exaggerated histrionics and extreme close-up shots make the viewing experience a terrible one. A comparatively better second half and a not-so-bad flashback episode are the only saving gra

X Videos Movie Review In today’s smartphone world, nothing is personal anymore. From pictures and videos to documents and simple forwards, all that you create/save on your gadget can be accessed by complete strangers. Some of the by-products of this advancement of technology are information theft, bank frauds and ‘homemade sex videos’. Sajo, in this Tamil-Hindi bilingual, has hoped to educate people on how anything you create on your smartphone can never be destroyed, and can potentially be seen by millions of people across the world. And he has partially succeeded, primarily because he repeats the theme in almost every scene. The director wastes no time in diving right into the story, and we see reporter Manoj (Ajay Raj) and his colleague Danny (Nijay) asking people if they think porn sites should be shut down. When one of them says that these sites are responsible for many suicides, he checks out one of the websites, and is shocked to find his best friend Ankit’s (

Veere Di Wedding Movie Review F our friends dealing with life, love, marriage and heartbreak isn’t an unheard of concept. But what makes ‘Veere Di Wedding’ a unique prospect is that here the pack of performers, is led by four ladies who make their choices, stand by them and have the guts to live their life the they want. There’s nothing holding back these gutsy girls. They speak their mind with fearless abandon, while they’re talking about sex before marriage, the lack of it post marriage, about orgasms and sex toys. They giggle and laugh over it and analyse their own situations in life with a certain objectivity, which many may or may not agree with. It’s refreshing to see a film present its women characters, in not just a progressive light, but also with umpteen flaws and cracks. It gives them the freedom to make mistakes and move on and that’s the beauty of it. These girls are unabashed using cuss words to express their angst or get high and happy to let their hair

Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Movie Review He can’t fly or swing from rooftops. He doesn’t have a million dollar armoured suit with fancy gadgets. He doesn’t have a magic ring to give him powers overnight or super strength. But, he’s our very own homegrown superhero – a simple man made of flesh and bones, with a bleeding heart. In Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli & Ashish Verma play three college mates who are more socially conscious than your average graduate.  Kapoor & Painyuli’s characters take this a lot more seriously and begin to intervene in local issues as they champion the cause of the common man. But things eventually escalate and get terribly out of hand. One of them dies while trying to reveal a corrupt plot at the hands of a local politician, played by Nishikant Kamat. The other is then left to choose his destiny. Bhavesh Joshi isn’t a caped crusader ripped off from most of the comic books we know, but his steely resol

Antony Movie Review A few years ago, actor Jai Akash tried to 'adapt' the Ryan Gosling thriller Buried as En Uyir En Kaiyil - about a man who is buried alive inside a coffin. Now, director Kutii gives a different spin to the premise - a man gets trapped in a car that is buried under the earth - and goes about showing his attempts to survive, and the search by his father, in a ham-fisted manner. The film begins with Antony (Nishanth), a cop, waking up to discover that he is trapped in a car that is buried under the earth. He cannot remember how he ended up this way, and tries to figure out who among the many men whom he has rubbed the wrong way could be behind this, and also how to get out of this precarious situation. Meanwhile, his father, George (Lal), and girlfriend Maha (Vaishali), who is waiting for him at the registrar's office, to get married, begin a search, going through the people who might want Antony out of their way. The survival thriller-m

You Were Never Really Here Movie Review     Lynne Ramsay, known for telling sombre stories on aftermath of a troubled past without resorting to much dialogue, does it once again. She straps you to the edge of your seat throughout the course of this intense, spine-chilling thriller that is strangely reminiscent of John Krasinski’s ‘A Quiet Place’. Like Krasinski’s survival horror, Ramsay’s psychological mystery leaves you transfixed by fear and suffocated. Both films exude this rare ability of turning their viewers into the protagonists, thus making you live the horror instead of merely watching it from a distance. You dread to make a single noise, let alone breathe freely at the fear of being the next casualty.  What makes this Cannes favourite vastly distinct is its ability to showcase the protagonist’s contradicting emotional and moral arc. Joe is brutally violent, makes living out of killing people but won’t trade his conscience for anything. You feel for him

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review Visual effects have indeed come a long way since Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jurassic Park’ in 1993. The CGI-heavy series received a fresh shot in the arm with 2015’s ‘Jurassic World’, bringing new talent, and new dinosaurs into the mix. ‘Fallen Kingdom’ tries a different take by changing things up a bit for the series. A dormant volcano on the abandoned island of Isla Nublar threatens to bury the revived dinosaurs. This catastrophic natural disaster compels Owen & Claire to team up once more as they try to save these magnificent creatures. Without revealing much else, this premise takes the majority of the action out its usual element, and for the most part, the film is better off for it. Director J. A. Bayona utilises these new rules to infuse some much-needed terror. What’s somewhat lacking, however, is the emotional connection to the story as a whole. Sure, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are both great performers and fa