Recent Posts

Children of the Enemy, a grandfather’s desperate search

The Disciple, lazy camera and writing

Promising Young Woman, an Oscar-tipped performance by Carey Mulligan

Cannes Film Festival to open with Annette

Ajeeb Daastaans, gripping and refreshing

Mammootty’s The Priest, and what a slipshod plot

Paramapadham Velaiyattu

Minari, an American dream

The Big Bull, all about a stockbroking scam

Oscar runner Time

Nomadland, visually stunning, Oscar-tipped

Irul, a thrilling theme

The Father, an intensely brilliant Anthony Hopkins walks us through dementia

Pagglait, subtle and lovely

The Illegal, dull and dreary

My Octopus Teacher takes marine documentaries to new emotional depths

Bombay Begums misses the mark

Brother’s Keeper, a Berlin title depicting boarding school brutality in Turkey

Sound of Metal, Riz Ahmed gets an Oscar nod, but the writing disappoints

Cherry: A miscast Tom Holland and a film that is unreal in every sense

Any Day Now, Berlin Film Festival

Memory Box, a haunting look at love and and loss, at Berlin Film Festival 

Coming 2 America, Eddie Murphy is fun, but the film is a tad silly

Namaste Wahala, a cross-cultural effort misfires

The Girl on the Train goes off-track

Allen V. Farrow…A brutal look

Theeni, a pleasing work

Drishyam 2 and I Care A Lot

Drishyam 2, not as exciting as the first one

Penguin Bloom sees Naomi Watts in a poignant comeback

Framing Britney Spears, the tale of a shackled life

Live Telecast is a tasteless work

News of the World – A brilliant Tom Hanks

200 Meters, a family divided by a political wall

The Man Who Sold His Skin follows a provocative path

The Dig, a charming story about a historical find on the eve of World War II

Palmer, a moving story of an ex-convict and a kid he begins to adore

Cannes announces new dates in July, but let us keep our fingers crossed

Cannes may be delayed till July

NFDC Film Bazaar: Inkblot

NFDC Film Bazaar: Two titles that talk about human struggle

What Killed Maradona: A life of glory that came with pain

NFDC Film Bazaar screens movies on beef ban, etc

Night Stalker — The Hunt for a Serial Killer

One Night in Miami, riveting

Bhoomi, fight against corporatisation 

Lupin is thrilling to the core

Film Bazaar to begin on January 16

Pieces of a Woman, grief at its most raw

Maara dazzles

Kaagaz, Pankaj Tripathi is laudable 

Sylvie’s Love, beautiful retro romance

Netflix Regency romp, Bridgerton, big on style, small on substance

Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You

The Midnight Sky, depressing

Unpaused, so elevating

Funny Boy, disqualified for international category

Paava Kadhaigal, nothing new on offer

A Call To Spy: Gripping World War II thriller

Godmothered: Sugary fantasies are losing their charm

Torbaaz, Sanjay Dutt’s effort to turn a bomb into a ball misfires

Ava, a paid assassin trips over her conscience

Darbaan, Tagore’s tale retold unconvincingly

Mank; A depressed Hollywood that created a masterpiece called Citizen Kane

Audrey: More Than An Icon

Black Beauty, a classic retold

Uncle Frank, a sweet American tale

Sophia Loren still firing on all cylinders in The Life Ahead

Dash and Lily in festival season offering

Tokyo Film Festival roundup

Tokyo Film Festival offers a varied fare

The Undoing, just brilliant

Soorarai Pottru, a turbulent flight

The Old Town Girls at Tokyo

The Last Bath at Tokyo

The Real Thing at Tokyo

No Choice at Tokyo

Come and Go at Tokyo

Miss India, disaster all the way

Holidate

Ashes on a Road Trip at Tokyo

Deepa Mehta’s  Funny Boy is Canada’s Oscar submission

Cannes readies contingency plan for 2021

A Suitable Boy, mirroring political, personal dilemmas

On the Rocks, Bill Murray is a steal

Nocturne, about toxic competitiveness in a music school

Faithful, fighting the French occupation of Algeria

Putham Pudhu Kaalai, a remarkable anthology on Amazon Prime

Blackpink: Light Up the Sky

The Lie, parents face ethical dilemma

Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler’s gag-filled Netflix rom-com

Emily in Paris — Show-stopping fashion, but little else

Ka Pae Ranasingam, all about an insensitive administration

Nishabdham, a ghost story that takes a U-turn

Environmental film Kiss the Ground offers hope in the face of despair

Enola Holmes, fun sleuthing that is let down by its script

Tehran, a tame spy thriller

Ratched, the nurse who is based on the character in One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

The Third Day, a riveting psychological thriller with Jude Law

The Paramedic, shoddily scripted

Freaks: You’re One Of Us

The Duchess

Oscars 2024: New rules may be an impediment…

Hostages 2, too much fat

Love, Guaranteed

V – Running into blind lanes

Venice Film Festival opens with Italian title

All Together Now

Venice Film Festival to open with Italian title

C U Soon,  exciting watch

Prakash Jha’s web series, Aashram, is dull

Chemical Hearts, taking off from tragedy

Masaba Masaba

Coronavirus plays spoilsport to screen sex

Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, tragic and traumatic 

The Sleepover

Venice to roll with stringent safety protocol

Project Power

Khuda Haafiz

Berlin, Berlin: Lolle on the Run does not fly

Lockup

Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn

Work It playfully explores ambition

Seriously Single, set in South Africa

The Kissing Booth 2

Dil Bechara

Father Soldier Son

Fatal Affair explores a subject beaten to death

Greyhound

The Old Guard

Desperados

Hamilton from the stage to the screen

The Oak Room, a slow burner with a rich horror story

Lost Bullet whizzes past car chases, fistfights

Gagarine, the pain of losing one’s home

Perry Mason

Sweat from Cannes Market

One-Way to Tomorrow, a railroad romance

Penguin, turning a protagonist into a superwoman

Artemis Fowl is a disappointing fantasy

Da 5 Bloods, right for the moment

Betaal, chills without the thrills

Control Z: A high school student sets out to find a vicious hacker

Cannes announces 56 titles

The Lovebirds, a romance that runs into rough weather

Ponmagal Vandhal, Unoriginal plot

We Are One: A Global Film Festival

Venice may have to cross many hurdles

Capone: The degeneration of an evil mind

The Last Dance is exactly what sports fans needed

Joe & The Shawl

An enigma called Cannes Film Festival

18 Presents, story of motherly love struggle to be believed

No Cannes this year, it is final

Are drive-in theatres the answer for now?

Becoming, the biopic of Michelle Obama

The Half of It

Dangerous Lies, messy and lazy

Movie shoots with innovation now

Irrfan Khan — Remembering an actor who never shied away from criticism

Bad Education, lessons to be learnt

Jyotika’s Ponmagal Vandhal on a streaming platform?

Extraction, high on adventure

Sergio, a deeply touching love story

Tigertail, deeply touching

Will Venice be held at all ?

Will Cannes and Venice collaborate?

A big question mark over Cannes now

Love Wedding Repeat

Cannes will not go digital come what may

Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project — who is it for?

Money Heist Season 4, ennui begins to set in 

Coffee & Kareem is an inane adventure

Corona — the first movie on the pandemic

Cannes Festival Palace now shelters the homeless

Netflix series SHE, a Mata Hari style tale

Horse Girl, confusing

Lost Girls — Police apathy is appalling

Cinema in the time of Corona

Spenser Confidential

Guilty

Red Sea Film Festival postponed

All The Bright Places

Roman Polanski and Cesar

Yeh Ballet

Red Sea Film Festival opening movie

Roman Holiday

Miss Americana

Nefta Football Club

A Fall from Grace

Brotherhood is pure unadulterated drama

Between Two Brothers

Jumanji: The Next Level plays on novelty

Chennai Film Festival, hits and misses

Parkour (s)

The Irishman, Scorsese scores with mayhem and the mafia

A plot that runs like a thriller, Parcel

Enai Noki Paayum Thota

Cairo Film Festival, Beirut Terminus

IFFI Film Bazaar, Baba

IFFI Film Bazaar, Josef — Born in Grace

IFFI Film Bazaar, Midnight Delhi

Hotel Mumbai, the night of blood and gore in 2008

At IFFI 2019, Ken Loach raises concerns about rising nationalism

The Perfect Candidate

Charlie’s Angels punch through the glass ceiling

Housefull 4, senseless sexist fare

Ali Fazal in House Arrest on Netflix, hardly any surprises

Midway, a World War II saga

At Kolkata International Film Festival, Run Kalyani

At Kolkata International Film Festival, Parcel plays out like an Agatha Christie plot

Moviemakers lambast International Film Festival of Kerala

Drive, Netflix’s new heist drama

Holiday in the Wild, a Christmas treat

Bombay Rose and Mumbai Film Festival

The Laundromat on Netflix 

The Two Popes at Mumbai Film Festival

Eeb Allay Ooo and Mumbai Film Festival

Karthi in Kaithi

Aamis at Mumbai Film Festival

It Must Be Heaven at Mumbai Film Festival

Young Ahmed at Mumbai Film Festival

A Son and Mumbai Film Festival 

Bitter Chestnut at Mumbai Film Festival

A chance to take advantage of

Mumbai Film Festival and Raahgir/The Wayfarers

Mumbai Film Festival opens with Moothon

Noura’s Dream becomes nightmare dilemma

Papicha — Rebelling through fashion in Algeria

The Sky is Pink

IFFI at 50, no direction, no director, but who cares

Children of the Sun

You Will Die At 20, at Venice and El Gouna

Bitter Chestnut at Busan

Vetri Maaran’s Asuran is  a study in violence

Gumnaami

Bard of Blood is another Indian jaunt

Bard of Blood is an absolute thriller

Ad Astra

Kaappaan

Marriage Story

Beyond Prejudice

Gurinder Chadha’s Blinded by the Light

American Skin at Venice

Hava, Maryam, Ayesha at Venice Film Festival

Scales: Powerful critique of male dominance

Shadow of Water/Chola at Venice

Joker, the bitter truth behind the painted face

Joker and An Officer and a Spy win big at Venice 2019

Roman Polanski’s tryst with Venice

A Son at Venice

American Skin at Venice

Bombay Rose at Venice

Kore-eda’s The Truth at Venice Film Festival

At Venice, first Saudi woman director, Haifaa, makes a tongue-in-cheek film

Venice Film Festival rolls with The Truth

Pedro Almodovar gets Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice

Venice 2019 opens with The Truth

The Kitchen; how women take on the mob.

Mindhunter

Sacred Games 2

Golden Lion for Julie Andrews at Venice 2019

Sacred Games 2 mirrors the ills of today’s India

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

India showcase at Venice

One more controversy at Venice 2019 with American Skin

Nerkonda Paarvai: A superbly subdued Ajith

Fast and Furious — Hobbs and Shaw

Ash is Purest White arrives in India

Sasidharan goes to Venice with Shadow of Water

Kangana Ranaut and her terrific script sense

The Great Hack: Manipulating people with their own data

The Lion King is roaring, thanks to technology

Venice 2019 selections

Sujoy Ghosh’s Typewriter clatters out a ghost story

Japan’s The Truth and India’s Bombay Rose to herald Venice 2019

Kadaram Kondan: A stylish Vikram gets a badly written film 

The hijab story and Golshifteh Farahani

Super 30, the struggle of a poor educationist in Bihar

Sujoy Ghosh’s scare series Typewriter

Gagging Tamil film critics, how futile

Spider-Man: Far from Home…and thrills

Raatchasi, Jyotika all the way

Shoplifters, Kore-eda creates his own Fagin and Oliver Twist

Last Visit, about a father-son relationship that is troubled

Yesterday, a rom-com with the soundtrack of Beatles hits

House Owner, a middling movie

Sindhubaadh, not worth a watch

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

Stars are no demi-gods

The Orphanage, clumsy mix of fiction and fact

Water famine and Indian cinema

Why cinema   interviews and reviews tend to be superficial

Leila…frightening glance into near-future India

Pain and Glory at Cannes

Parasite is a brutal look at social inequality

Girish Karnad

Kolaigaran, a taut thriller

Shunned by Hollywood, Woody Allen to shoot new film in Spain

Can You Ever Forgive Me

NGK: A Surya adventure

Cannes 2019: Mektoub My Love: Intermezzo

Cannes 2019: Young Ahmed offers a harsh look at radicalisation

Cannes 2019: Parasite wins Palm dÓr

Cannes 2019. Parasite is an engrossing take on social divisions

At Cannes, Quentin Tarantino loses his cool

Cannes 2019: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a stylish homage

Cannes 2019, Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life

Antonio Banderas starrer Pain and Glory is all about Pedro Almodovar

Les Miserables and Sorry, We Missed You at Cannes

Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory at Cannes

Ken Loach comes to Cannes with a moving story

Cannes starts on a disappointing note

The Dead Don’t Die 

Of Fathers and Sons

Cannes 2019 set to raise the bar

The Last Summer, a rom-com

Sylvester Stallone to be at Cannes with Rambo V

Cannes to honour Alain Delon, despite controversy

Nagesh Kukunoor’s City of Dreams

Cannes 2019 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

K 13 — Not enough meat to hold attention

Someone Great

Cannes 2019 titles to vie for Arab Critics awards

The Curse of La Llorona

Music Teacher. lyrics and love on the mountains

At Cannes, the usual suspects

No Indian movie at Cannes Film Festival

Cannes goes down memory lane

Selection Day 2, not quite like the book

The Tashkent Files rakes up the mystery of Shastri’s death

The new Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai

Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die to open Cannes 2019

Unicorn Store, a fancy adventure

Traitors is a gripping spy drama

J. Mahendran

The Highwaymen, Bonnie and Clyde retold

Super Deluxe, a biting critique of societal ills

Will Kore-eda’s The Truth open Cannes 2019?

Airaa, illogical plot and shoddy script

Triple Frontier, star-studded rumble in jungle

Juanita, a mother’s magical journey

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood may be at Cannes

Photograph – A soulless sojourn

Gollapudi Srinivas Award for 96

The films that may be at Cannes this May

Badla sinks in a quagmire of plot imperfections

Period. End of Sentence — India’s Oscar-winning documentary

Cheran’s Thirumanam, and what a bore

Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu to chair Cannes Jury

The Favourite a triangular palace intrigue

Netflix drama, Firebrand

Hip-hop dream in Gully Boy is music to the ears

The timelessness of Casablanca

To Let: A pressing social issue tackled with singular focus

Line of Descent plays at the Berlin Film Festival Market

The Fakir of Venice loses plot in the city of romance

Wajib – A father and son bond over a road trip

9: A ghost prowls all over the plot, leaving it messed up

Michael Winterbottom comes to India again with The Wedding Guest

Velvet Buzzsaw: Money and cursed art paint a strange spectacle

Sarvam Thaala Mayam

Peranbu: A nuanced study of father-daughter relationship

Gaza: An uplifting study of a land in turmoil

Manikarnika – The Queen of Jhansi, syrupy, not impressive

Polar on Netflix

First Emirati drama, Justice, on Netflix

Why Cheat India is a rocky ride to the murky side of education

Shah Jahan Regency, a lovely Bengali movie

Uri — A Surgical Strike takes a slanted view

Uri — The Surgical Strike takes way too many creative liberties

Selection Day fails to capture the nuances of the novel

Rajinikanth And Petta

Petta, Rajnikanth’s gimmicky journey

Girls of the Sun with Golshifteh Farahani

Mary Poppins Returns, though not quite with that spoonful of sugar

Sofia — A damsel in distress and a selfish solution

Five most memorable Indian films of 2018

Rajinikanth’s 2.0 has an important message

Mrinal Sen, the master moviemaker

Five foreign films in 2018 that were gems

What Will People Say

The Protector

Seethakathi

Roma, a Mexican magic

Vikram Prabhu’s Thuppakki Munai

Mowgli’s latest run on Netflix

Fatwa explores extremism through a father’s eyes

The Wild Pear Tree, Oscar submission from Turkey

A Private War at Cairo Film Festival

Poisonous Roses at Cairo Film Festival

Green Book at Cairo Film Festival

NFDC Film Bazaar invites only foreign journalists

IFFI 2018/Kolkata Film Festival 2018: Abayakto, a lovely piece of cinema from Bengal

Cairo Film Festival opens with Green Book

IFFI 2018: In the grip of Bollywood

The Reports on Sarah and Saleem

Sibel at Kolkata Film Festival

Half Songs at Kolkata Film Festival

Widow of Silence at Kolkata Film Festival

Baazaar tries and fails to rip off  Wall Street blockbusters

Kolkata Film Festival has a tantalising basket of goodies

Dancing away from a repressive regime in The White Crow at Tokyo Film Festival

Vijay’s Sarkar

Homecoming, an Amazon original

Godzilla closes Tokyo Film Festival

Amanda bags top prize at Tokyo Film Festival

Madras Beats at Tokyo Film Festival

Amanda at Tokyo Film Festival

The White Crow at Tokyo Film Festival

The River at Tokyo Film Festival

Tel Aviv on Fire at Tokyo Film Festival

Ralph Fiennes at Tokyo Film Festival

Tokyo Film Festival opens with A Star Is Born

The Old Man and the Gun

Two Japanese titles to compete at Tokyo Film Festival

Beauty and the Dogs

Rajiv Menon’s Madras Beats to play at Tokyo Film Festival

Vada Chennai, Dhanush and Vetrimaaran

Kajol disappoints in Helicopter Eela

Mayurakshi wins top award at Singapore South Asian International Film Festival

Midnight Delhi is a bewildering tale of violence

Tillotama Shome on the Macau Film Festival jury

Mayurakshi at Singapore South Asian International Film Festival

July 22 is a horrific tragedy in which children become political pawns

Nandita Das’ Manto opens Singapore South Asian International Film Festival

Sui Dhaaga is beautifully tailored

El Gouna Film Festival takes us into the world of terrorism and torture

The Day I Lost My Shadow and El Gouna Film Festival

Directors do not shy away from bold themes at El Gouna Film Festival

Robert Redford’s The Old Man and the Gun at El Gouna Film Festival

Yomeddine at El Gouna Film Festival

Dear Son at El Gouna Film Festival

Tumbbad unfolds at El Gouna Film Festival

Syrian director refused visa for El Gouna Film Festival

El Gouna Film Festival opens with The Freshman

Manto may help fractured India-Pakistan ties, says Nandita Das

Love Sonia presents a tragic picture of trafficked women

U Turn has important road-safety message

Soni: A placid attempt at highlighting violence against women

ISIS, Tomorrow: The Lost Souls Of Mosul at Venice Film Festival

Post Venice, streaming giants running into a storm again

Screwdriver and Venice Film Festival

Roma wins the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival

At Eternity’s Gate and Venice Film Festival

The Wedding Singer’s Daughter at Venice Film Festival

Charlie Says at Venice Film Festival

A Star Is Born at Venice Film Festival

First Man at Venice Film Festival

Mike Leigh’s Peterloo at Venice Film Festival

Roma in Venice Film Festival

First Man opens Venice Film Festival

Scary picture of India in Netflix’s  Ghoul fails to frighten

Mile 22 is a riddling ride through too many alleyways

Venice places curbs on critics

Gold, whipping up patriotism through hockey

Kolamavu Kokila: Drug-pedlling  Nayanthara shines in this black comedy

Christopher Robin a timeless message even if Pool lacks spark

The Meg: A giant shark movie that lacks the killer bite

Karwaan is a road movie with a spirited driver

Kamal Haasan is not infallible

Vishwaroopam 2, a royal mess

Parasakthi

Karunanidhi and his cinema

Like Father is a fun, if predictable, cruise full of characters

Mulk, a disturbing look at Islamophobia

Netflix and Venice Film Festival

Saheb Bibi Aur Gangster 3 Review

Skyscraper Review

The Warning Review

Junga Review

Venice 2018 lineup

Indian film to open Venice Critics’ Week

Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation blurs the line between good and bad

First Man on moon landing to open Venice Film Festival 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp in Marvel’s latest adventure

Soorma is unlike any other sports biopic

Kadaikutty Singam

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Sacred Games from Netflix

Ranchi nuns and Philomena

Bollywood pirates have a merry run in Ireland

Ocean’s 8

Venice 2018 probables

Sanju

Loving Pablo

Tik Tik Tik

Rajinikanth: Still banking on gimmicks

Madhavan to play lover boy again

Kaala; Review

Rajinikanth and Kaala

Abhiyum Anuvum

Ananth Mahadevan to adapt Ray’s The Storyteller into a film

Cannes Film Festival not sinking

Cannes critics and jury see eye-to-eye

Nandita Das at Cannes

At Cannes, Nandita talks about Manto

Sir at Cannes Critics’ Week

Lars Von Trier’s The House That Jack Built At Cannes

Nandita Das’ Manto at Cannes 

Manto

Manoj Bajpayee pushes Bhonsle at Cannes

First ever Kenyan movie premiers at Cannes

Cannes begins with Everybody Knows

Cannes and controversy

Daas Dev and Sudhir Mishra

Dhanush will be at Cannes

Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds floats listlessly

The fear of the hangman’s noose is not going to stop a rapist

Lars Von Trier to return to Cannes

No Dubai Film Festival this December

Vishal Bharadwaj and Bard’s comedies

S. Nihal Singh

Lars Von Trier and Cannes

Nandita Das at Cannes with Manto

Cannes Film Festival poster 

Privileged and pampered Mr Khan

Salman Khan…

Everybody Knows to open Cannes

First cinema to open in Saudi Arabia on April 18

Documentary on honour killing

The Long John Silvers of India

Cannes to celebrate Kubrick

Fremaux’s steps draw ire

Hichki

Cannes chief comes under fire from critics

Cannes checkmates racing reviewers, bans selfies on the steps

Airlift and Ridley Scott

Cannes set for exciting times

Hot Cannes possibilities

Actor Dileep

Tamil cinema in the doldrums

Slaying in the time of  stalking

Three cheers for Frances! 

Irrfan Khan, incredibly interesting

Sridevi: Her early magic could never be replicated later

Tarantino to make a movie on Sharon Tate

The guesses have begun at Cannes

Pulsating probables of Cannes

Remembering Sridevi

Cannes, are radical changes coming?

Carting the dead with vegetables

Neeraj Pandey’s cinema

Naachiyaar

The Light of the Moon