Tag: comedy

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

i like comedy movies like most people i presume, few names are very synonymous with this genre like Adam Sandler, i wanted a light movie and looking at the cast of this film i was under the impression the film would the usual Sandler films lazy jokes and script but i was in for a surprise i sure didn’t read the whole cast list nor the films valuation.

i will say right of the bat best Sandler film (i am aware Uncut Gems (2019) exists but i haven’t watched it yet), since he alone does shoulder the film and acts his part so convincingly i was only left to wonder where was this skill hidden in his filmography, this was something everyone in the cast brought the characters in the film feel real enough that u can project people you know from your life into them. and the dialogue man, i can eerily remember having conversation derailing of topic with both parties talking over each other, its such a unusual thing to see in movies yet the fact its here makes the conversations between the two brothers and their fathers always feel so genuine to and fro that can happen to anyone. the effective grounding techniques is really worth admiring when used to effortlessly. credit where credit is due to Noah Baumbach (writer director).

teacher asks me question – me – dumfounded, poker-face and go to sleep mode

the film might not be for everyone with the dialogues and dysfunctional family drama style, but its one the few i recommend just so that more eyes fall on this great movie.

102 movies down……..398 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Chaplin (1992)

the Man, Charlie Chaplin holds a very special place in my heart, way before i got a interest in movies and all i consumed was films that very generalised masala films or cartoons. Chaplin was name i knew for being a great actor of the black and white films nothing more nothing less.

Till one school day of my 9th standard when all our batch was taken to the auditorium for a impromptu movie session, the Audi filled with kids talking and shouting definitely wasn’t the environment for any film as i sat bored, trying to guess what movie out esteemed teachers selected to show us rowdy kids. to my immense surprise it was a black and white film….with a title THE KID flashed forward, the Audi was still rambling but i didn’t care for the next hour my eyes never left the screen my ears ignored all disturbances. to this date it has been one of my most cherished film viewing experience.

sitting down to watch Chaplin was a odd experience i knew the life of Chaplin and was curious how its gonna be portrayed, how various aspects of his life be addressed. unlike many of the biopics i have seen i knew a a lot of facts and info about the person prior to the viewing the film itself maybe thats what made it odd for me.

the film is like any normal biopic formulaic in its structure yet in aspect less to do with script but more to do with feel this film was engaging, with Robert Downey Jr. performance being such a enjoyable act, removing any odd doubts i had if Iron man had in him to be Chaplin. though it never wowed me it was a simply put enjoyable film to watch weather you are a fan of the man or not.

95 movies down……………….405 to go.

see you soon

goodbye

Student of the Year 2 (2019)

there are some films that are shit, you know they are so, you have no expectation of them being anything else and nor did the creators have interest in serving anything else. welcome to SOTY2.

its been a while since i watched something bad willfully, no i wasn’t hit in the head i just had this film in my drive for a year now and thought might as well watch something bad to rinse my ought of the good films like i always do, i will be clear i didn’t like anything in this film good for you if you find but i grinned through this.

now many out there might say i am harsh calling this film bad multiple times and i see your point its definitely not bad if you have been watching a lot of bad films back to back i guess.

the film has no real reason to be called part two when it lacks any connection to its predecessor that is the the worst type of sequel as its becomes clear as day why the used the name just to make gullible nostalgic hungry people watch it but the film they are sequel to is not so great to begin with, among all the nepotism fiasco currently in full heights in India this film sticks out as a sore thumb. you know what the one thing that connects the 2 films is that both were made to bring new faces to screen and most of those new faces are stars currently under light for the N word fiaso.

fundamentally this is a film that is all the same as the hero worshipping masala films that i have watched many times not really new to offer but has enough of many things to seem entertaining and pass time, still i dont recommend it EVER.

oh ryt i didn’t mention anything about the film and its plot nah its not worth it watch anything else……..

93 movies down……………….407 to go.

see you soon

Allvida

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

if there is a film that i knew about have had the chance to watch it many a times yet missed knew the actors involved, but just left off for no real reason u get the tile of this essay

Kung Fu Hustle

during my young naive child-days when i thought Jackie Chan was the only Chinese movie star (yes i was super naive), a pleasant surprise in the form of Shaolin Soccer came into my life it is still one of my most chill relaxed re-watchable movies watched enough times for my mom to have noticed and commented about me watching it again. thats when u know u went to the deep end. thus i had high self placed expectation on Stephen Chow next film.

i never went actively searching for his new works, being more of a fall to my lap from heaven mentality, by the time i found it my interest had diluted yet i sat to watch bits and pieces only to leave in between this was a pattern of years to a point i knew very thing of the movie yet never watched it completely thus yesterday i sat gritted my teeth used my valuable excess time provided my the global cough cough.

this scene has been done so many times but i laughed hard here.

and how was it very good it had been around an year or two since the last time i saw any scene of the film, i had a fear my knowable about the scripts might ruin my enjoyment and i am happy to announce nope its still fun it had me laughing an few times and many chuckles. honestly watching it was unique in the sense it was both nostalgic and new.

it is a pretty popular media by itself and i dont find many who haven’t seen it before but if u haven’t do watch it. i didnt do much of a review as i went more down the memory lane.

such a fun badass….

lets add some good points fun dialogues and subversion of troupes, yet really enjoyable fight choreography. the biggest plus for such a wacky film is the self established narrative is supported or believed to an extent we also buy into in to the wacky notion. as for bad points the ending was a bit generic yet was fun in itself so no complain.

91 movies down………………409 to go

see you soon

再见 (Zàijiàn) (See you again in chinese)

Radio Days (1987)

charming, nostalgic and out-right simple is what i can say for this woody allen masterpiece imo.

as i sat to write this review, nah feel blog makes more sense i wanted to know how good of a film this is in allens own filmography only to shocked to find that it wasnt his best or close best by most people, which just hypes me up regards to watching his other films now.

now whatever i said doesn’t discredit the brilliance and impact of this film on me. i had been on a drought of sorts with regards to viewing films recently and found it hard to sit and watch and then write something about it leading to an misplaced hiatus again. but it cheers me up to think my return film was this spell-bounding to me.

wasn’t expecting this scene but a pleasant surprise.

if you havent watched this film, i heavily recommend for a simplicity of this film, being among the last generation that have used radio, my level of nostalgia might not be similar to that of my parents to this film yet i and many others can find the sense of charm that older times had when looked with a nostalgic lense.

the film depicts the life of a family and their interaction with in a world, with the background radio being on all times, showcasing the near universal attachment and necessity of it to everyone for their own reasons. the way the film grounds its narrative helps the story never feel to outlandish and break our attention while keeping the whimsical level above average to engage us by evoking memories.

like i mentioned earlier i am old enough to have used radio but unlike even older members of my family that remember it before the normalisation of television and internet. my clearest and most endearing memories of radio got invoked, the long road trips my family used to take in a small car filled with people talk and snacks passing hands to the background sounds of the various shows and songs on the radio that changed it tone and languages as we got out of the range of one channel to a new one. till date i remember those days yet no film about road trips have brought it out but a simple film about radio just made me so damn nostalgic even with out showcasing a road trip.

not me………but similar

the saddest part of watching film that evoke such a film is that you inherently know that these are past memories and life has moved own and things have changed better or worse, nostalgia just pinches you whenever it subsides.

89 movies down…………….411 to go

see you soon.

goodbye

Maari 2 (2018)

around a year or two back i had watched a film the prequel to the one i m reviewing here called Maari a Tamil Action comedy masala film, which was more entertaining than i thought. packed with one-liners action sequences and cliques beats yet the whole film gets carried by the charisma of the lead Dhanush. the small local don who’s antics and fight against the cops was the basic premise.

all in all it was a good one-time watch movie that had no reason for sequel, and then i found this Maari 2, it has a sequel so might as well jump into it. it was a pleasant watch a similar one time watch like its predecessor yet, i will cut to the chase i didn’t like it.

even though the film wasn’t my taste, the Don look was really good imo.

the film had its moments but lacks the charm and charisma the 1st had though Dhanush does bring it up a watchable amount. this film also takes a much or heart-felt and emotional approach compared to the 1st one. and that is my main issue with the film this shift felt brought drastic changes to the character that was there initially and changed the tone of the film. whereas the 1st one was more light-hearted and funny, the second feels like imitating the comedy tone while being mediocre.

the film overall feels like a script that could work by itself but got pasted with the name Maari to increase the sale of tickets, which to me is the worst manner of sequel making as it disrespects the initial movie. my advice to the future viewers is not to watch this one especially you liked the !st part.

84 movies down……….416 to go

see you soon

Piriyavitai (Tamil goodbye)

Junga (2018)

Every once in a while its good to just watch a random no sense/non sense flick just to remove agiesty or tension to just shut down your brain. thus going through the random movie suggestion on YouTube i selected Junga. an outright genuine South-Indian Masala film mix matching nearly every genre into one film.

the story initial is about a Bus-conductor who gets to know he is a child of a 2nd generation don, who’s antics lead to family losing all the movie they had, thus to get back a theater that belongs to his mother, the protagonist Junga (Vijay Sethupathi) walks down the path of a Cheapskate Don to save enough money. from here on the movie escalates into kidnapping of the Daughter of the man who now owns the theater. from there further escalating further into involving international crime syndicates.

honestly loved his don look but alas it wasn’t a serious movie to utilize this

the main charm of the film initially was the semi meta nature and self aware humour which by no means is done perfect its still done better than many i have watched. and my favourite sequence was the flashback scene where Junga gets to know his ancestry and the type of eccentric Don father and Grandfather he had. the sequence is showcased using animation as well as the mother’s dialogues which to me just was funny as it broke down the stupidity of the generally shown South Indian don movie troupes of tooo many cars and members for one kill.

the looks comes of a comical Don troupe film for the first half having some good jokes and scenes but as the film extends to the second half there build up this palpable feeling that the film is loosing touch with itself and trying various beats to keep itself stable which backfires as the second half feels forced and compared to its initial half less interesting. the whole kidnapping plot thread felt generic and extended than required also during this time the meta-charm that was built up prior is forgotten. but the weakest point the movie is by far its ending that is so blindly forced that for me it felt out of place.

this movie is that is best watchable with 1/3rd of it being good while the rest 2/3rd is mere “meh” at best.

81 movie down……..419 to go

see you soon.

POITUVAREN (tamil goodbye)

Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

i watch a lot of film reviews on the net, one of my past time activities, and one film that i kept hearing for being a good comedy movie from bollywood was Andaz Apna Apna, making me curious and thus i set out to explore the claim.

i was sceptical at first but after watching i am pleasantly surprised it was good. the initial scene itself sold me on the story, the whole premise of falling in love with and actress and marrying her all of it to be dream, not only helps tell us about the main character but also was a funny sequence.

a small pic to showcase the cast of colourful characters

the plot of this film is simply two stupid young lads (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) trying to woo a rich heiress, and the ensuing trouble that brews when teja and Crime Master Gogo join the scene to kidnapp the Heiress.

i think the main charm of the film lies in its ridiculousness, now i generally dont like a ridiculous plot-lines they make good masala-films but this film knows its ridiculousness and accepts it. from the main cast, the villains to all supporting cast all have this sense of being serious in being ridiculous. not the first film to do so but definitely a good formula to please me. having the self-aware humor along with pop-culture references here and there makes this a type of comedy i dont usual think Bollywood makes and is another of its charm points.

after watching the film i can understand why so many count it among their favourite comedies, it might be even mine if i sat someday to make that list.

79 movies down………….421 to go

see you soon

alllvida.

Dirty Grandpa (2016)

i have to give spoilers before i start this review……..Please don’t watch this unless you have like vulgar comedy movies

there in times comes movies that just change your view point and leave a everlasting effect on you that upon watching fills you with the emotion that i could only describe as nauseating, and that is best way i summarise this movie. i don’t know what went wrong and how it went wrong, it had a simple enough plot not great but simple, had a great caste….ok maybe great enough cast.

now let me be clear its not a film for people who have issues with vulgar comedy movies, the title itself is a reference to it. it has its fair share of moments that might really end up funny, even though the joke itself is cheap and i come clean i had my share of laughter in too. but it still soo much cringe into it that just doesn’t gel with me.

let me tell you the plot of the movie straight from IMDB – Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a lecherous former Army Lieutenant Colonel, to Florida for Spring Break. just by this much you might have guessed its a story of how the guy (Zac Efron) learns to be less uptight and how the grandpa (Robert De Niro) plays a role in it, and you sir are 100% correct it the genre plot that adds on to the vulgar joke and langue to spice up this trope.

now i might be harsh on this movie and i agree i went in it with a bit of bias towards how the story would play as in my head and it did yet didn’t feel satisfactory or maybe the cringe just got up to me. and as i thought more on it it came to me the fact why i didn’t like this movie that much its lack of a convincing ideals, as easily it changes its internal theme and message to suit the narrative reach a happy ending for all the characters which by the end has a definite feeling of forced.

i would usual stop peopple from watching it but if my rant made you curious watch it and be the judge yourself…..i would love to have new insight into this film from different pair of eyes.

69 movies down…………..431 to go.

see you soon

goodbye

The Other Guys (2010)

the story is about the unlikely heroes the ones you never expect to be up to the task….the underdogs

when Chris Danson and P. K. Highsmith two of the policemen, considered the best by the of the New York Police force (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson) end up dead due to their own stupidity in a simple pursuit. they police force now has to pick up the slack, this is where our unlikely heroes emerge, Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) who wanted quite life thus joined the accounting side of the police force, and this partner Terry (Mark Wahlberg) who is a fan of the crime fighting style of Chris Danson and P. K. Highsmith, and is always agitated by the inactivity of his patner. they end up finding clues that lead them to a case where money from the NYPD pension fund id gonna be transferred out to the hands of the opposing side, they act to stop them even when the whole force doesn’t believe and respect them.

now this is a silly movie but just silly enough that it doesn’t bore you, doesnt overly still to a serious tone rather goes out of its way to have meta commentary and joke , which i would say could be tone downed but end result was alright. this movie having will and mark in it was bound to have the duos random interaction scene that just builds up to become chucklish. in this film it was the school of tuna hunting the lion pride conversation.

i have to say one of the best parts of the story to me was the cameos of The Rock and Nick fury in the movie, their characters and then eventual downfall all were just funny and not overused to spoil the movie and derail its simple undertone meta-commentary on how action movies showcase such story lines and sequences. like the scene where upon being nearly being blasted due to a bomb the characters end up complaining about how scene sin movies are unrealistic in their portrayal of protagonist moving away from blast with no effect.

i would recommend this to people who have an affinity to the buddy cop action comedy genre, as it has all those aspects to enjoy that make this genre beloved.

68 movies down…………..432 to go.

see you soon

goodbye