An Awkward Human

CODA stands for Children Of Deaf Adults, the precise topic of the film.  This is not a typical “I am 17-year-old making sacrifices for my family, and that makes me the best” kind of movie. Though the 17-year old was ready to make the biggest sacrifice of her career, and life to the day.  Ruby, our protagonist, is stuck in a small town because she is the only hearing and talking member of her family, making her the translator for the small family business. When she is left to choose between her talent and her family, the decision is on her shoulder.  What is so great about this? The troups are quite simple I would say, with the most common troup of a coming of age movie. Sian Heder however uses those cliche ingredients to present the most fabulous dish on the menu. The movie has the most “Disney-esk'' plot line but it is not cheesy.  It's not only about how Ruby is ready to stay in the small town and give up on her dream career in music, but it also gives the story of...

So over the weekend, I saw the hand of god by Paolo Sorrentino .  Not every movie makes you move. Not every movie leaves you wrecked after the viewing, and not every movie makes you want to sit down and write a review in praise of it. This is one of the movies that make you do all that.  This movie was a part of my Oscars nominated spree, and I jumped into it with no expectations. I knew that it was nominated in the foreign film category, but the title gave away nothing, and since I don't read the synopsis before watching the movies, I didn't know what I was going for.  It comes from my heart when I tell you that this movie- sorry, film is something that I felt in my guts and my core.  Plot: The Hand of God is a coming-of-age movie, following the life of Fabietto Schisa, a teen in Naples, Italy during the summer of 1998. He and his family spent the summer together, until a tragedy struck, leaving him and his brother orphans.  The films have many hear...

They say ‘Learn from the best’, but how do you define ‘Best’? What is the criteria of best? And how do you decide that something is best and nothing better can be done? When it comes to books, it seems like all books are ‘New York Times Best Sellers’. But then again, are all books the best?  When it comes to movies, the Oscars seem to be the landmark of excellence. Every year I, like millions around the world, watch the awards, and the anticipation of watching you favourite Actor/ Actress/ Director walking up the stairs to the Oscars is exciting on some different scale. This year, 276 movies were eligible for nomination for the Oscars, and being a film fanatic, I downloaded the list so I could watch them all. Halfway through, I realized that it is impossible for me (and frankly anyone) to watch all the movies before the main event itself.  So I waited till the nominations were out to watch all the movies that were nominated. Even though the list is shorter, there are still 53 ...

  When I was in my fourth semester of graduation, the teacher gave us the assignment to write the script for one scene from our favourite movie. I chose a movie that I have never seen before but had downloaded on my laptop for about 7 months. That movie was ‘ The Grand Budapest Hotel' by Wes Anderson. And ever since I have been a great fan of the artistic style of Mr Anderson. The static frames of each scene gave me so much joy that I started making notes of all the scenes.  Since the start of my active involvement in reviewing movies (and books), I have been excited about one such movie. The French Dispatch.  Now if you have the slightest and mildest of interest in watching movies, that is source material for the study of cinematography, direction, art style with a hint of social commentary then you must have come across at least a few Wes Anderson recommendations that have popped up in your feed. And today, I present to you the greatest and the l...

To start is the hardest part of any journey. And that is precisely how I feel about writing this review. The subject matter, the plot, the actualities within this fiction, and all the levels of emotions you encounter with this piece of art, it make is hard for me to summarize this 650+ page book within a few words. There are days when you stray from your path and encounter something or someone so beautiful, twisted, dark yet deliciously inviting that you can not afford to leave it behind. This is what I feel about this book, and D H Lawrence felt while writing this book. With words slipping out of my fingers, I can not control the emotions this novel has excited in my heart. Plot: Sons and Lovers story of Morel’s, an English family in the late 19-century. Gertrude Morel, born in a high-class business family marries a coal miner beneath her standers. She births 4 children, William, Annie, Paul, and Arthur. Sons and lovers give us the sight of the relationships Mrs. Morel...

Before I start with all the words of praise, I have to mention the fact that I read your diary only at a much later age than it was assigned to me. In high school, my English teacher assigned this book as an option to read among others, and I did not select your diary as I believed it would not be as interesting as the story of a man who is invisible. And I am glad of the choice I made. ,16 year old me was nowhere as intelligent and wise and 14 year old you were.  In my haze of teenage emotions, which quite frankly you too had experienced, my problems of boy love, girlish gossips and peer validation were my highest priority. But now that I am at the level of emotional maturity where I try and understand the problems of the world, and take account of others suffering as well, I am glad I read your diary.  When I was reading each entry, my mind kept making conclusions and assumptions (I can't control my imaginations), about the dreams that you mentioned, the hope you had and abo...

When it comes to cinema and movies there are three types of movie watchers, as the term goes. The first category belongs to people who watch it for leisure, entertainment, on weekends and with friends and family. The second kind is the ones who watch it as background noise while scrolling through Instagram. And the third kind is the ones who study them, like me (and most of my friends). The third kind in my opinion is the worst because they extract all the fun and joy out of the simple form of entertainment, and that is what I am here for today.  If you are even mildly interested in writing and creating movies, there is no chance that you have not heard the name Sir Alfred Hitchcock . Popularly known as the Master of Mystery, Hitchcock has given Hollywood some of its greatest classics in the genre of mystery. The famous shower scene from Psycho is printed on all the books of cinematography for analysis.  Here's a task for you, name 5 Hitchcock classics. Did you na...

When I finished ‘You’ season 2, I counted days backwards till the next season will be released. Not only did I follow P enn Badgley on every existing social media (not Joe Goldberg style),  I constantly checked updates for the show. I can not explain how excited I got when the teaser trailer was released.  There are so many reasons the show is very near to my heart, but the primary is, I love a good thriller/murder drama. A story of an obsessive, psychotic boyfriend that is not cringy in Wattpad style is the absolute definition of entertainment to me. An inner monologue is my favorite narrative style (looking at Patrick Batman).  Season 3 started with Joe and Love in their lovely suburban home in Madre Linda, far away from their past (the bodies they buried). It looks all normal till Joe goes back to his psychotic self and stalks his neighbor Natalie. The neighborhood friendship was at the cusp of an affair till psycho Joe's psycho wife kills Natalie, and the...

Even if you are mildly interested in true crime and crime dramas, the names of Ted Bundy and Jeffery  Dahmer are  not unknown to you. The mainstream media and the internet have a strange yet understandable fascination with the minds of these twisted creatures. If you search for “Ted” on google, Ted Bundy would be the second recommendation on the site, which speaks volumes for the popularity of the psychotic serial killer. Even after 30 years of execution of Ted Bundy, he remains one of the most notorious serial killers on the planet.  In 2019, American filmmaker Joe Berlinger directed 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile' which became the hot topic of American cinema. The film tells the tale of the crime and trial of Theodore Bundy. Starring Zac Efron as Ted, the movie has been very successful. As per my habits, I am late to the parade of trends.  Of all the recommendations I read before watching the movie, the majority of the reviews had the same ...