The Intern

The Intern (2015)

Written and Directed by: Nancy Mayers
Starring: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway

Streaming on Netflix.

The film is a buddy comedy. It has a simple premise - a 70-year-old man starts over as an intern. The 70-year-old is played by Robert De Niro, and it's fun to watch an actor known for playing masculine macho characters, playing an underdog. There is a beautiful friendship that forms between the intern and the CEO of the company, who he works for. There's an interesting element that they explore - the idea of a man. Masculinity. They associate masculinity to doing the right things and saying the right things, which is an interesting way to look at it. Ben embodies that idea of masculinity. He dresses up no matter how small the work is. He says the right things. He knows when to talk and when to shut up. It's such an inspiring character. After watching Ben be at work like that, I want to be like him where I'm barely fucking up. 

Whereas Anne Hathaway's character is relatable to us because of the vulnerability. The way she is trying so hard to hold things together, but is constantly struggling. I wasn't a big fan of the way they were emasculating the husband's character, and it made sense when they explored that he's probably cheating on her. My point was that, he can still be a masculine man and stay at home. This is what I find a bit troubling. It's like women want to get back at years of patriarchal writing, by writing one dimensional shitty partners to women protagonists. I mean, why do the same mistake? I wish that their friendship was threatened a bit more, perhaps where Ben is conflicted between the right thing to do vs working for his boss. Because at the core, the unique point of this film is that it explores an unusual relationship - which was pretty smooth throughout the film. 

Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Written and Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Nominated for Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

It was such a pleasant surprise, this film. A director like PTA who was made films on dark themes and characters - and has done them really well, he has come to a genre like rom-com and he's done it with such grace. I was laughing out loud at so many instances. Like laughing out loud, not even chuckling. Beautiful conversations throughout. Interesting usage of pacing - to create awkward moments, deadpan humor. Both the characters, Alana and Gary, are beautifully explored. The setting, the period setting also came through so well - whether it's the roads filled with neon lights or the lighting within scenes. I could recall Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, for the colors in the film. 

The film has a conventional structure, and I think that was a safety net for PTA to go batshit crazy in between wherever he wanted. For example, the whole Bradley Cooper sequence wasn't adding to the core story at all, but it was a nice detour. Elements like waterbeds, pinball machines, they add character to the film. These are the elements that define the tone of the film. The banality of the world sets the tone. Just like in Burn After Reading, there's a "massaging" machine that adds a beautiful layer to the entire film. It's just a prop, but a well thought through one. The film is interesting because it's a coming-of-age story of Gary also - rom-coms with this quality, where we see at least one of them having an arc, are always fun. 

Burn After Reading (2008)

Burn After Reading (2008)

Written, Directed, Edited, and Produced by: Coen Brothers
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton
Cinematography: Emanuel Lubezki

It's such a Coen-esque film. You know you are an auteur, when your name becomes an adjective to describe something. Tarantino-esque. Coen brother's films are weird, distinct and idiosyncratic. They are serious, but also silly. For me the scene that encapsulates the tone of the film is the one where he shows her the "massaging" machine, and what it can do. Every character is so distinct and weird, even a character that appears only in one scene. For example, the doctor at the liposuction clinic. I'm curious to know how Coen brothers cast - because their casting does a lot of the work. They pick people who don't seem camera-friendly - and make the scenes work with them. All the characters have something in them off which is what makes it interesting. We look forward to every scene, no matter how insignificant it is to the core story. I think the story is just a tool for the Coen brothers to explore all of this. 

Right from their debut - Blood Simple - they have limited main characters, and a simplistic plot, and a few locations and settings. These are high-stakes scenarios, so there's a lot of scope for drama. Within this world, they go all out and explore all batshit crazy stuff. Even in a seemingly epic film like No Country for Old Men - it's essentially a fight between two men. It's always what they do with it that matters the most. Give the same story to Coen Brothers, and to someone else - it'll become a different film. And of course, the way they direct their actors, the way they use wide shots and place the camera extremely close to them to create a sort of comedy - if you give the same screenplay to others - even that'll be a drastically different film.

Bheemla Nayak

Bheemla Nayak (2022)

No. This is not a review. This won't give you an answer if you are deciding whether or not to watch the film. Figure that out some other way. Maybe the ticket prices are a good reason to make a choice whether to watch the film or not, in either states. But anyway, about the film, the material in itself is unapologetically, macho and masculine. And I love it for that. The core conflict of the film is an essential ego clash between two men that grows out of proportion. I loved the sequence where Bheemla carries a bottle of alcohol, after he gets suspended and blasts the bar. It's always fun to watch a superstar playing a bad guy. The flashback sequence was an interesting addition - but my issue with it was that the violence is too deafening that it distorts reality to an extent where the core of the film, a 'man vs man' fight stopped being interesting anymore. In the original, simply because the world is subliminal and grounded, even a slap lands very well and elicits drama. I enjoyed how they changed the ending, and I liked the comedy touch that they added. 

What didn't work for me in the film is, the ego clash in this film doesn't build up to a point where they would both want to kill each other. It's a jump. I felt that the characters don't arrive there naturally. Because the characters were in a playful zone earlier, and suddenly they want to kill each other? And though the twist that Danny's wife was someone he saved, though it was a good twist - I didn't find it reason enough for his anger to be subsided right away. That's the reason it didn't seem like the conflict that was built up naturally. If he really wanted to kill him, he was really that angry, would he stop right after he knows that he saved his wife? Because he already knew that Danny has a mother who has cancer, and a wife who is pregnant. Apart from this one part, that there are a few jumps, I liked the film. I loved Rana's styling. I enjoyed Trivikram's touch in the film - the folk tales and the kind of comedy that's placed in the film. The music was nice, and it was pretty well shot.

High Fidelity (2000)

High Fidelity (2000)

Directed by: Stephen Frears
Based on a book of the same name. 

I discovered this film when I was reading about 500 Days of Summer that it's a good film, in the lines of Annie Hall & High Fidelity. I felt that if this film is being compared on those leagues, then I should watch this film. Because I think Annie Hall in one of the most stylish films ever made. So my expectations out of this film was that it's a love story, and is high on style. And the film touched the expectations. The protagonist talks about his failed relationships, with some wit and humor. There is a lot of breaking the fourth wall, and I usually find it to be a bit boring by now, simply because it's over done. But I found it's usage in this film to be interesting, even though it came in 2000, when the form was probably just starting to be in use. There's different kinds of comedy in the film. There is nice Tarantino-ish banal conversation around word play, like for example, the piece about 'yet', and then there is some physical, visual comedy in the record store. 

From a story perspective, it's a common story - a guy who never falls in love, but ends up falling in love. The interesting part here is how he differentiates her from the rest. He says that the rest is a fantasy, and he's tired of the fantasy now, and he wants something real which is her. I was wondering if that won't be offensive, if you say that to your partner. I don't know. John Cusack did a great job as an actor, he was very interesting to watch - all of his expressions were so easy to follow. It's a nice film, I enjoyed it. 

Madhuram (2021)

Madhuram (2021)

Directed by: Ahammed Khabeer
Starring: Joju George, Shruti Ramachandran

Streaming on Sony LIV.

The film is bittersweet and honest. It's not too sweet in a way that it seems like this isn't how life is. It shows all the facets of life within very limited number of settings. It shows good elements like falling in love, savoring food, spending time with your friends and family, marriage and it also shows us the harsh realities like dealing with loss, death, longing and pain. Since we experience these wide range of emotions in the film, it doesn't really feel like a single location film - which it mostly is. But even in the hospital, they explore so much of life that it doesn't feel like that. As Baradwaj Rangan once put it, Malayalam cinema captures the 'nothingness of life' beautifully. Even in this film, it's interesting how they explore the world and characters throughout the film, where there isn't much "plot" happening but the film creates an emotionally satisfying effect, just with the ending 20 mins.

The characters in the film are so endearing to watch, because of the simplicity in their lives. Their priorities are simple - food, friends and family. Joju George is beautiful as an actor, because he projects his vulnerability in a very appealing way. Usually such emotions, even though they're done honestly - sometimes they're not as fun to watch. But actors like him can make sure that they're doing it in a honesty and yet interestingly. For some reason, I kept seeing Vijay Sethupathi in him, perhaps because both of them have a similar meter as performers, and in the amount of masculinity and femininity they draw from within. The ending is beautiful - the film and the characters inspire us to love unconditionally and to find hope even in the worst of circumstances.

500 Days of Summer

500 Days of Summer (2009)

Directed by: Marc Webb

Relax guys. It's a re-watch. Don't say, you are watching this film now? But I must admit that it's a different reading than what I had a few years back. Earlier, I sort of didn't get Summer. Now I do. In fact, I've met people like Summer. There is a beautiful quality to indecisiveness - it's honesty - just because they've made a choice they won't stick to it if it doesn't make them happy anymore. Though it's irritating to be around indecisive people, and I'd love to appreciate them from far. Summer is like the protagonist in the Worst Person in the World, who I was madly tripping over. Not looking for anything serious. Not sure about what she wants. Does what she feels like doing. Impulsive. It makes for an interesting character. Although I felt that the makers weren't as empathetic to Summer, for the way the portrayed her. The acting notes felt like they wanted to show Summer like a psychopath, without feelings. 

Tom, poor guy. She told him that she's not looking for anything serious. But men. If they like a woman, they'd never deny getting physical with them. And that's the worst thing to do, explore something casual with someone who you are in love with. It's an offer that you can't deny nor take. It creates such a turmoil inside your head and it creates for a constant sense of battle within. That's exactly what Tom goes through the entire film. He can't blame Summer because she was clear. But he hates her for not reciprocating his feelings either. I absolutely love the usage of montage, and voice over in the film. It's extremely stylish. I like how the film doesn't take a particular worldview on love, it just presents a few and let us decide which side we'd want to take. If it's meant to be. Or not. We never know.

Kadaseela Biriyani

Kadaseela Biriyani (2022)

Co-written and Directed by: Nishanth Kalidindi
Narrated by: Vijay Sethupathi
Streaming on Netflix.

The film is high on style and aesthetics. It is shot in Kerala - has beautiful landscapes already. The way film is shot - it uses interesting B-roll shots of close ups of insects in the forest. In a few scenes, they use interesting sounds as background score, like the sound of crickets, etc. They have solid colors in most of the frames. It has a strong influence of Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction and Gangs of Wasseypur - the usage of black comedy, voice over, the way they capture violence and their style of banal conversations in the film. The film has a weird experience overall - some scenes are extremely interesting, and some scenes, not as much. Although in entirety, the film gives a very distinct experience. In this film, it isn't really so much about the interiors of every scene, it is about the entirety of the experience. Vijay Sethupathi's voice over is done in an interesting way, it has VS's vibe - even the way it's written. I remember the scene where they have a lot of red lights - it's such a tribute to Goodfellas. They use elements like rain, and nature in an interesting way. 

I didn't enjoy the villain character as much - it felt like he was trying to do a mixture of Joker in Batman, Anton Chigurh and a Joe Pesci in terms of making the personality seem weird and scary - but it didn't work that well for me. He seemed scary, yes, but I wasn't enjoying whatever he was doing - which I thought the film was trying to go for. Nevertheless, it's at least not a boring character. It has some mystery to it. And the reason I didn't enjoy as much, could've been a language thing too.

 

DJ Tillu

DJ Tillu (2022)

Directed by: Vimal Krishna
Written by: Vimal Krishna, Siddhu Jonnalagadda

The best part about an actor co-writing for themselves is that they write with a stronger sense of character. They write to their strengths, they add in more idiosyncrasies perhaps with a bit of greed to get more scope for acting - but when it results in a better fleshed out character, then it's a win-win for all. Few other examples being Naveen Polishetti, Woody Allen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This aspect is the main strength of the film - DJ Tillu as a character is so interesting because of the way he talks and reacts to even normal situations. Phrases like 'naadhi chala delicate mind' and many more such things add a lot of quirk to the character which ends up in humor as well as authenticity. This resulted in such a strong sense of character, that I can imagine DJ Tillu being a love story as well, with the same character put in different circumstances. Now it is a crime comedy because of the inciting incident. What if the girl is still in love with his ex, and is confused? It'd have been a love story. When the character is so specific, it keeps us hooked irrespective of how the plot is. 

In this film, the plot is pretty simple and normal - it puts enough situations to elicit humor and tension. Although in the 2nd half, it felt a bit dragged only because there was no emotional satisfaction in the plot. Which is why, even after the twists and turns in the film, it didn't feel emotionally satisfying. But the film works as a comedy, it keeps us hooked - it's just that it doesn't go to the next level - which is completely alright because never promised to do that. I'm really enjoying Siddhu's work - in every film of his - there is strong sense of character and depending on the plot they choose - the film lands at a mark from being normal to being really good.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Written by: Dan Fogelman
Starring: Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Streaming on Amazon Prime.

In the world of modern romance, we don't really resonate much with stories which believe in ideal love, the one, soulmates. We resonate much with moments of connection that are fleeting, we resonate with feelings of solidarity within relationships. Although Dan Fogelman, rekindles our belief in love with his stories. I didn't know that this film was written by him, but I remember feeling the same when I watched the first episode of This Is Us. I was pleasantly surprised with the unapologetic belief in true love. I remember a line from This Is Us, I found my purpose in life when I met you, it was to make you happy. This film talks about how you never give up on the one. Well, the worldview of putting the other person before yourself, it's so different from the game of modern dating, where independence and individuality is seen as a strength, and even the feeling of depending on someone, counting on someone is seen as a weakness - which is exactly why Cal couldn't accept Jacob as his daughter's boyfriend. Well, the only thing different is that the person also has to choose you - the case with the teenage kid - him not giving up wasn't really that great of an advice, because that can easily go into a slippery zone. 

I loved how a lot of plot was seamlessly crafted into the film. The big confrontation scene was hilarious and that's when I realized, oh there's this much happening and I followed every bit of it very seamlessly. Steve Carrell was beautiful - his vulnerability came through very well. I like how they dealt with the wife's character with empathy, and it's almost like they make us travel with it slowly just like how Cal does. In the beginning, we too judge her just like Cal. Eventually, we understand things better, again exactly like Cal - where he says, I'm mad at you, but also at myself.

Gehraiyaan

Gehraiyaan (2022)

Directed by: Shakun Batra
Streaming on Prime

Spoilers Ahead.

Gehraiyaan was marketed like it's a film about infidelity, but it's much deeper than that. The film is high on tension and drama, because it is filled with secrets, revelations and there are lots of moments with terrific tension - for example - the scene where Tia video calls Contractor, the first time when Alisha and Zain kiss in her studio, the scene where Tia confronts Zain and throws her ring away and finally when Alisha sees Zain mixing pills into her drink. All these scenes create tension by the difference in knowledge between the audience and the characters. The audience knows more than the characters. I loved how Tia doesn't know about the affair till the very ending, and how the film ends. It's beautiful. I like how Zain is torn between the two women and how he changes his side according to the situation. At first, he gets carried away and thinks that he can have whatever he wants to. Later, he realizes that he's in trouble and that he still has a shot at life if he cleans this up and by killing Alisha.

I like how Alisha's character is designed with the help of childhood trauma - the way they use flash cuts in between is very interesting. I love how they set up the flashback in a way the whole time, and put a big twist on it. Because by now, we like Alisha are empathizing with the idea that one shouldn't be stuck and if they are getting a better deal in life, they should go for it even if it's "wrong". But after we get to know that Alisha's mother was having an affair, the entire worldview of the film suddenly changes. Till that point, the one thing Alisha didn't want to do is become like her mother and she exactly did the same as what her mother did. I loved the film for the way it carried tension throughout the runtime - as good as a thriller.

Hridayam (2021)

Hridayam (2021)

Written and Directed by: Vineeth Srinivasan
Starring: Pranav Mohanlal, Darshana Rajendran, Kalyani Priyadarshan

Hridayam is a film that is exactly in my zone, in fact it has a lot of similarities to one of my own screenplays. So I had to watch this film for sure. I loved the vibe of the film, it's breezy, subliminal, and at times deep too. It's beautifully executed. In the beginning, I was not so sure but I was eventually drawn to Pranav and his charm, although I felt that he could've done the voice over better. I like how the film takes the character on a rollercoaster ride - there are ups and downs. Like the entire, alcohol phase, and the phase where he decides to stop everything and get clean. Although what I felt at certain places was that, the screenplay was deliberately structured in a way for the character to have wider range of experiences. It didn't seem so natural. Darshana's character was interesting - but I wasn't very convinced that she wouldn't have moved on from him even before his wedding. But I absolutely loved the pre-interval scene where she asks him about how life would've been if she forgave him earlier. It just shows how sometimes, we end up losing so much because of our own anger - although in this case it's justified too. 

I really enjoyed how the film made me feel nostalgic. Although towards the ending, it felt like a bit of a drag because after the marriage, apart from him regaining his conscious there wasn't really much happening. I like how the director holds his ground in terms of character - like he doesn't explain each and every motive of every character and sometimes it even feels instinctive. I didn't enjoy the climax when he again goes to the Secret Alley, because for the character he's revisiting after 10 years, but for us it happened right in the film and we're looking at it again. So it felt a bit repetitive like that. Although I'm just writing about what didn't work for me in the film, because usually this is the space that I really enjoy watching. I enjoyed the film, and the music was also beautiful.  

Edge of Seventeen

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Written and Directed by: Kelly Fremon Craig

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson

Streaming on Netflix.

It's a nice slice of life, coming of age film. It captures the feeling of being a misfit very well. It's weird how a lot of us feel as misfits, when misfit by definition means the odd one out. How can a majority of people in a group feel like a misfit individually? So it's perhaps that we all have our own set of issues which makes us feel that we're somehow not enough and hence the feeling of being a misfit. Or in some good cases, you feel good about yourself and still feel a misfit. This film deals with the first case. She always felt like the odd one out, until she found her best friend. And that's a very nicely done subplot. Although the trouble I had in understanding was, why her best friend dating her brother was such big of an issue. Of course, she'll not spend enough time with her from then - but at some point, she will have to date someone. And why was she dating her brother such an issue. I get it, it's weird because she saw them in the act. But beyond that? I wish this aspect was a bit more clear. 

Apart from that, the entire setting and the tone of the film has that coming-of-age tone to it. Woody Harrelson's character is interesting, because of the sense of the mystery he carries around, which typical teenagers get attracted to. I like how by the end of the film, she's finally at a better place and she feels that she has some place for her in this world.