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Short Take - He contained multitudes, indeed!

Based on Stephen King's novella, The Life of Chuck is about Charles Krantz. Narrated in reverse chronological order, the 3 acts picks up the events in Chuck's life as he lives. Act 3 revolves around the world which is at the brink of an apocalypse as people come to with it while celebrating Chuck at 39. Act 2 focuses on a random episode with Chuck celebrating his life with a busker. Act 1 gives us the insight into Chuck's life growing up. In short, it's celebration of life and the very life Chuck learns to live.

The film thematically deals with death and coping up with the loss too but what it truly focuses on is to celebrate the life, as it comes. The film connected with me for this very reason as the Act 3 establishes the intrigue, Act 2 dances it's way into the narrative, turning the grim tone into an happy, soulful one. The answers majorly lie in Act 1, well mostly as some things are better left off and that's where the magic lies in.

It's always the small things that matter and Chuck's life is filled with them. What he wants to do with them, he learns from his grandparents and a teacher. A simple poem to simply math, both shape up Chuck's life and his grandmother gets him to dance because what is life without dancing? Every life is worth celebrating and Chuck's was the one that was well lived. From a horror maestro, this very concept is so heart warming that I couldn't help but tear up. Then, it's Mike Flanagan's way of bringing this story alive on screen and what a beautiful piece of art he made out of it.

Strongly recommended.

Short Take - Ring that damn bell!

A wealthy man named Owen Carver hires Luke Purdue and team to find the fountain of youth. Luke is a disgraced archeologist, who like his father is after lost treasure and his methods are questioned by his sister who sticks to father's code. Luke's methods eventually gets his sister Charlotte to accompany him while Interpol agent Abbas and another mysterious party headed by Esma try their best to stop Luke and party. How does Luke and Charlotte find the fountain of youth as well as uncover more in the process, forms rest of the story.

Other than the noticeable big budget, the problem with Fountain of Youth is the lazy writing. It simply doesn't give anything worthy for it's actors to work with in the first place. For a treasure seeking film, there is no excitement in the proceedings and much of the hunt is lackluster. The clues too are found and decrypted quite easily. The convenient writing gets the proceedings further tedious to sit through as there is no interesting action set pieces with generic shootouts and the two hour long runtime simply feels too long. The humor too is routine and the able actors pull it off without much effort.

Short Take - Dead on arrival!

The Kintners are on a weekend getaway after experiencing a personal loss which they find hard to cope up with. The father-daughter duo are on their way to the estate owned by the Richie rich Leopold family and accidently hit ab unicorn fowl. It's blood cures of their allergies and acne, to cover up the accident, they stuff it in their car. At the estate, the Leopolds get to know of the fowl and want to take over it as they realize the business potential. However, the night turns bloody and the bunch of humans involved are simply not ready for it. How do they survive the night and live to tell the tale, forms rest of the story.

Alex Scharfman has written a story that is engaging enough but the narrative tone makes it harder to root for any of these human characters. The recently bereaved Kintners have their issues but don't get to explore it as it gets squished with all the capitalist dominance of the Leopold's family. And the Leopolds too have a singular arc. The film's initial scene itself tries to establish the violent theme but as the story moved forward, it was the violence that stayed rather than the story. The creature stuff was quite generic but not as dull as the humans in the film. The film could have benefitted with an interesting human character even though picking the sides wasn't that tough.

Short Take - Hiccup and Toothless get a scene to scene remake.

I happened to catch the paid preview at IMAX today while the film is all set to release next Friday. They did opt for a remake too soon when the 2010 version and it's sequels are so fresh in the memory. But it definitely takes a lot of courage to remake a beloved film and they have played quite safe with sticking to scene to scene remake of the animated gem. Also the performances are decent enough which made it a fun watch despite all the predictability.

Watching it on IMAX may be helped me enjoy this film a bit more and the constant change in the screen ratio did not really bother me. Some of the shots definitely stood out. There isn't much to complain when the film is this loyal to the original and the ing cast getting sidelined didn't affect the narrative much. Hiccup and Toothless will remain the main selling points and as expected, they carried the film till the end. I still prefer the animated version but this too was a decent watch.

Short Take - Laughter is your Dhammam!

Paari is raised by Sandhya, wife of gangster Thilagan who refuses to acknowledge Paari as his adopted son. Paari grows up being loyal to Thilagan, standing by him through all his crimes. Paari falls in love with Rukmini who hates violence and wants Paari to quit his gangster life. In order to marry her, Paari vows to quit his past life but Thilagan disapproves. The violent clash results in Paari getting jailed and Rukmini parting ways with him. Paari is then offered to a cult as a fighter and his path leads him Andaman islands. How does Paari's life change during his stay there and what purpose he uncovers there, forms rest of the story.

Karthik Subbaraj is a director who doesn't fail to impress with his technical prowess as he has the right team to deliver it. When clubbed with strong writing, Karthik has delivered big time. Sadly, Retro lacks on the writing front with uneven tonal shifts throughout the film. Karthik fails to connect with the story he is trying to narrate as it starts off as a normal gangster story and out of nowhere turns into a prophecy, an island with King and slaves, a cult with Gladiator style games which simply overburdens this script. The lack of clarity kept me alienated from the story despite a dedicated Suriya as Paari. The film has the usual Karthik Subbaraj stuff and a 15mins single shot segment but none of them succeed in making the film work.

Short Take - Arjun Sarkaar, the best CTK player of the season.

Arjun Sarkaar is the ruthless criminal cop as described in the last film and is on a murdering spree. Those cases are assigned to him only to investigate. This leads to him uncovering several similar murder cases which are being done on the behest of a cult which is tasked the psychopaths to perform particular kills as instructed on the dark web portal. To nab these psychopaths and their leader, only Arjun Sarkaar is deemed to the right guy. How does he solve the case and stop the psychopaths, forms rest of the story.

Sailesh Kolanu has written a pretty ambitious script which takes off from the last 2 films. All these films had troubled lead fighting his own demons while digging for justice. The last film took the serial killer route and this one takes way too many steps to introduce a cult. The problem with the screenplay is it doesn't try to capture the essence of this series and more interested in milking the universe with the bigger star. This leads to Arjun though upholder of the law to break it at his will. The film is as violent as it was d and the director doesn't hold back one bit. The screenplay takes the beating with too much convenient writing and the predictability hits early on. With not much twists around and that one ineffective reveal in the end, the third case ends up as a tedious watch. Hopefully the fourth one announced in the end, gets the franchise back on track.

Short Take - Enjoyed it better in the rewatch as the parents too liked the performance and the film in general. My original rating won't change but second viewing was more smooth with me not complaining about too much of relying on the action scenes instead of the drama. Shobana deserved better scenes.

Short Take - Sluggish murder mystery!

Inspector Govindu is residing in Nalkeri, Malnadu and has been leading a peaceful life as the locality is largely crime free, resulting in the local police station to barely exist. It's the late 90s and the boom of computers is slightly beginning. Rohit convinces his brother to buy him a computer which everyone else resents. The village's landlord Srinivasaiah is lonely after his son left him and Pankaja, a girl from the same village is in love with Srinivasaiah's son. 2 mysterious death happen in a fateful night and Inspector Govindu solves it instantly while it leads to another case from the past. How did he solve the case and what really happened in the past, forms rest of the story.

The film had the right setting and spends the entire first establishing the plot. The film picked up when Ananthu starts to question Govindu and that would remain the best part of the film. The whole Malenadu setting and limited characters should have ideally made way for a gripping murder mystery but the slow paced writing simply doesn't allow the script to evolve. The tone is laced with humor in the first half which makes it little tough to take seriously and the non-linear narrative doesn't add anything positive. The film has solid actors but doesn't give them much to work on. Overall, Agnyathavasi is a misfire.

Short Take - Finally got a chance to watch this on the big screen and it remains to amongst my favorite flawed films which has several standout moments. Hated that they chopped off the main scenes in the second half, especially Govardhan's kidnapping scene as it directly started with the chase. This is also due to knowing this film by-heart.

Short Take - Grief is an difficult emotion to process.

Mithun is an 11 year old boy who has just lost his parents. Along with his sister Vandana, he moves into his maternal aunt's place in Udupi and it's a new world he has moved into after having just witnessed his own world being shattered. As he paces himself into the new life at a new place, the film focuses on the hardships of Mithun and how the family tensions push him into certain situations that makes it even more harder for him to process his grief. How does it impact him and mainly, to what extent does these experiences push him, forms rest of the story.

It is commendable that Sumanth Bhat has chosen to narrate this deeply personal tale of grief through the life of an 11 year old. The performances of the kids alone leave a lasting impact. With a short runtime, the film packs in a lot and yet doesn't lose focus on Mithun. He is the primary character and the story revolves around him including the sub plots. There is a mention of his parents death and the marital tension they had, the topic of adoption of a child and even the court case claiming custody of Mithun, all of it is too much for a boy to understand yet his anger is directed towards the one thing that he deemed to have been the cause. The final act is a solid one despite being dramatic and the kids pull it off. Definitely recommended.

Short Take - Dev A vs Dev B!

A Dev Ambre is a rough and tough cop who doesn't believe in following the rules. While he had a major breakthrough in solving a murder case of his friend A Rohan D'Silva, Dev meets with an accident resulting in partial memory loss. D Farhan Khan who is also the brother-in-law of Dev gives him a second chance in re-investigating the case as Dev had already solved the case before his accident. All he has to do is retrace his own steps and re-evaluate the evidences. What does Dev truly find the second time around, forms rest of the story.

The film begins with Dev's accident and goes into the flashback mode with the Bhasad Macha song. We are introduced to Farhan, a righteous cop and Rohan who aspires to be like Dev while his family opposes his profession. But Dev on the other hand is ruthless and in his rush to get the culprits, the approach he takes is brutal with only Farhan and Rohan defending him. Much of the stuff is simply ed on as information so there is barely enough incentive to back any of these characters or even Dev's emotional trauma that has shaped his personality of being a brute. Pooja Hegde's Diya, a journalist is barely there like every other female characters in the film. So the first half is basically about Dev A and Shahid Kapoor keeps it up with his Kabir Singh-esque act.

The second half is where Dev B takes over and Upendra Limaye in his brief appearance tries to bring in something fresh and also push the screenplay forward. Up until then the pace remained uneven and investigation started looking dull with a grumpy Dev losing his cool quickly. Here the final reveal about the man behind Rohan's murder rather happens randomly and fails to create any sort of impact. The solving of this case relies on finding out the mole in the department but this too doesn't get the right elevation. Overall, Deva is a dull investigative drama that is bogged down by it's screenplay and one toned characters.

Short Take - Fateh, kar Fateh!

Fateh Singh has left his past life as a special ops officer and leading a peaceful life as a supervisor at a dairy farm, helping his colleagues. In the same village, Nimrit has become a pawn of cyber crime where her good intention of helping her fellow villagers is misused and the villagers have become main victims of the cyber crime. As she tries to solve the issue, she goes missing and Fateh along with an ethical hacker Khushi Sharma, set out to find her and the ones involved in her disappearance. How big is this cyber crime syndicate and how does Fateh reach out to the main men behind this while embracing his past life again, forms rest of the story.

Sonu Sood is sincere in delivering this film with him in the lead and he has given his everything to the film. The story written by him is filled with all the ingredients expected in an Action film with an righteous character in the lead. He remains single minded in his search for the girl as well as the baddies while handing out sermons and offering tea along the way. The problem is that the screenplay borrows heavily from other films and a predictable story like this ends up suffering due to this. The action set pieces are elaborate, glorifying the lead and has enough violence too but again, they keep reminding of other films. The writing hits a roadblock by the third act and minus the action scenes, the narrative has a sluggish pace throughout. Naseeruddin Shah's Raza can only do so much to be a credible villain to Fateh.

Short Take - Wowzer!

Shadyside had another ugly episode in 1988 during the high school prom night. Lori Granger enlists herself into the prom queen competition against Tiffany and her friends who are bullying her at every given chance. Lori's mother was accused of murdering her father and that remains the reason for Lori being an outcast. Her best friend is Megan who likes to prank others. As expected, a killer strikes by killing the prom contestants and as the night unfolds, it is upto Lori and Megan to figure things out before it's too late.

The new entry to the Fear Street series is simply terrible. There is ample amount of gore involved with multiple killings but the screenplay is as lazy as the routine kills the film throws at. The big reveal is simply pointless and there is no sense of tension created. The characters are underdeveloped so apart from the briefing about Lori being an outcast, there is nothing else provided to root for her. It's the same for the villains too as the characters remain shallow. The previous trilogy atleast had a connection through a witch dating back to 1666 but this event in 1988 forcefully connects itself to the Fear Street trilogy.

Short Take - Watched the re-release solely for the songs and the film itself is a guilty pleasure now. Suniel Shetty indeed gave his all to this role and I always wondered how did they got Sharmila Tagore to agree for doing the short role.

Short Take - Just finished watching it on it's theatrical re-release. Songs remain the attraction while the film is expectedly quite dated. 1st big hit in Telugu for both Prabhas and Trisha while 2nd for Gopichand, it was pretty nostalgic to witness their performances as they worked hard over the years to become better actors.

Short Take - A bumpy ride on Hayabusa 60.

It's another normal day Shin-Aomori and the bullet train Hayabusa 60 leaves on time to Tokyo. An anonymous caller informs the JR East headquarters that he had installed multiple bombs on Hayabusa 60 and the train is not supposed slow down below 100km/hr if it doesn't want to explode. A ransom of 1 billion yen is demanded to diffuse the bombs and this money has to be paid by the Japanese public, not the government. With this unique request, everyone tries to work hard in finding the solution to save the engers and investigate how this case is similar to the 1975 Hikari 109 incident.

The film starts on the same not as the 1975 version and expectedly, the Japanese tropes with respect to one's sense civic duty to Judgment tone over the current generation, the film throws all that into the mix. In it's depiction of current generation, the director hits the sweet spot with a bunch of school kids among the engers. However, the 1975 version took a deviation through it's investigation into the bomber's identity and the 2025 version, rather is happy with convenient writing. The surprise reveal of the bomber happens half way and post the reveal, the film offers no twist. The writing takes a hit in the final act and the lengthy runtime acts as a spoilsport. The main characters are not as memorable as Aoki or Kuramochi. A tighter screenplay with a controlled runtime would have made a better impact.

Short Take - 50 years since it released and I finally made time to watch it. The runtime felt too long but what I did like is how the focus shifted to investigating the bomber and eventually getting to him. I did expect the film to be entirely about the bullet train but the shift in the narrative with multiple chase scenes worked for me. It did get too dramatic frequently but for a 70s film, it's acceptable.

Short Take - An A24 family movie for a change.

The villagers on an island of Carpathia have been taught to not go out in the night and that the forest hosts fearful creatures called Ochi. They have been attacking the farm animals and affected the villager's lifestyle. Yuri's father Maxim has been training his own army of boys into hunting these creatures and Yuri s them too. During one encounter, Yuri witnesses a scared baby Ochi, separated from it's mother and relates to it as her own mother has left her. Yuri comes in of the baby Ochi and realizes the creature is not what the villagers have been scared of. As she plans to reunite the baby with it's kind, she is chased by her own father. How does she protect the baby Ochi and safely reunite it with it's kind, forms rest of the story.

I was surprised to watch a straightforward family movie from A24 and this film is an ode to 80s children films. There isn't much twists in the tale and director Isaiah Saxon has a neat screenplay elevated by the background score. It has the template characters with predictable arcs, the main character misses her mom and eventually stands upto her own father while relating to the baby creature. Then there is the loyal student who is trained to be perfect hunter and he too chooses to follow his heart. Maxim is the delusional father who blames the creatures for his failures and has been influencing others with his hatred. There isn't much depth to any of these characters but it is the performances that lift these characters, especially Willem Dafoe. The Legend of Ochi isn't pathbreaking and is a decent watch. The other plus point is the puppetry instead of relying on CGI which somehow makes the creature look extra cute.

Short Take - Predictable!

Riya wakes up in a research station on a new planet and is unable to much. She comes across Brion at the station who claims to have arrived upon receiving her distress calls. They find more corpses at the station and soon Riya realizes that they are all part of the same crew who were on an expedition to find an alternative to earth. Further, Riya's visions get more disturbing as she pieces through the fragments of her memory. What really happened on that research station? How did her crew die and will Riya find all the answers while she and Brion are running out of oxygen, forms rest of the story.

Flying Lotus on a controlled budget has a very predictable screenplay at hand and for the most part of the film, it's been there seen that feeling that looms over and the proceedings doesn't offer anything new. The visuals are good for the budget and I wish they had done more with that while exploring the planet. The reveal about how the crew got killed became too repetitive and much of the time was spent on the short flashbacks for Riya to . The best of the film was actually reserved to the last and it was too late by then. Iko Uwais was wasted in a role that didn't needed him or his martial arts skills. I am going with a lenient rating for the visuals and the final act, a balanced less predictable screenplay would have yielded better result.

Short Take - Basil cannot save this one.

New serial killer dubbed Banana killer is tormenting Kerala and his targets have been elderly men. The case is handled by Ajay Ramachandran who is a tough guy but is hurt by the disappearance of his pet dog. Elsewhere, Luke is arrested for posting about the serial killer and is considered a suspect, only for his town folk to come in of his innocence. He is about to be sent away to Czhech Republic and has an ugly breakup with his girlfriend Jessie. A bus driver Jithin Kumar's marriage is fixed and the bus conductor Aruvi has grown up with a missing father. A pervert old man Kuruppu gets on the bus driven by Jithin and Aruvi while Jessie and a government official SK are the other engers. Events lead to Luke getting onboard this bus and the shocker is the serial killer too is on the bus. What does the night unfold, forms rest of the story.

The dark comedy films are a rare genre and is not easy to crack them. Siju Sunny and Shivaprasad's screenplay doesn't really do justice to Siju Sunny's story which definitely had potential. The film starts off well and introduces all it's main characters. The humor works well in the first half and the pace is good too while establishing each of these characters with a bit of back story. The killer too is revealed in the first scene making way for the dark humor to carry the film. What brings the film down is the dull second half where the humor is less and the story feels dragged. The promising character especially that of Ajay Ramachandran and his pet dog get no scope in the story. 5 people on a bus with a dead body and 1 of them being the serial killer was good enough to make a whacky comedy film but Maranamass just misses the opportunity in delivering one.

Short Take - First we mine, then we craft.

Steve always wanted to get into the mines but couldn't get past the guard. He finally succeeds getting past him and discovers both orb of dominance and earth crystal, opening up a portal to the Overworld. Finally getting to live his childhood dream, he builds his own paradise and domesticates an wolf by naming it Dennis. He stumbles across another portal, leading him to Nether, an hellish world run by a piglin named Malgosha whose greed for gold has enslaved all the other piglins. Steve is caught and he helps Dennis escape with orb of dominance and earth crystal to the real world, to be hidden in Steve's house. Years later, the portal is opened up again by Henry and Garrett who had got hold of the crystal, following them are Henry's sister Natalie and Dawn. Maglosha finds an opportunity to grab the crystals once again and how does they survive with the help of Steve, forms rest of the story.

Clearly aimed at the kids, the film delivers a simple story with very few humorous moments, hoping for the cast to pull it off. I am not someone who played this game regularly so for me it was just another video games based film with Jack Black in the lead. Trusting his comedy timing along with Jason Momoa, I expected a decent enough storyline. However, the simple story is simply overstuffed and stretched, with bare minimum attempt at humor and I found myself searching for good laughs throughout. There are enough characters without any decent arc so all remained extremely one dimensional throughout. I tried to stay open minded as much as I could, but the film had very little to offer in of jokes in those 90 odd minutes. It was all about being creative in the overworld and that's how they were supposed to defeat the villain, sadly the creative part left a lot to desire.

Short Take - A so-so live adaptation.

Princess Snow White loses her mother as a child and her father remarries the Evil Queen who sends him away to fight a war. In his absence, she takes control of the kingdom and forces Snow White to live as a servant. The Evil Queen has a talking magic mirror and answers her one question "who is the fairest of them all?" The people live in oppression and poverty. As the Princess grows up, her beauty becomes a threat to the Evil Queen who plans to eliminate her. The huntsman warns the Princess and helps her escape into the forest where the Princess befriends magical beings alond with the wild animals. She eventually s hands with the rebels to fight back. How does she defeat the Evil Queen, forms rest of the story.

The live adaptation is pretty much lifeless and even the songs lack the charm as the 1937 animated version. I have no issue with the casting controversies but the overdoing of bring politically correct comes in the way. The magical beings are CGI driven so eventually lack the impact. The problem with remaking a classic which is fresh on memory, the narrative has to be captivating and that is where this film falters. The story could be predictable but the way it's narrated is pretty much basic. Gal Gadot's Evil Queen is not animated enough and it's a Disney film afterall so the performance felt letdown. Rachel Zegler's Snow White too doesn't stand out. The overall film itself remained too dull and so it dragged on to the predictable end.

Short Take - Caught the re-release as I had missed this film in theater back in 2007. I rate it high for NTR's performance as Young Yama even though it has a weak second half. Few scenes were cut which has become the normal in these re-releases.

Short Take - Blink of an eye!

The world has turned chaotic after the reveal of the entity. Ethan Hunt is ordered to surrender himself along with the key but he once again refuses to follow his orders and decides to go after the entity. His mission is to kill the entity, assembling his team including Paris who wants her revenge. Gabriel still wants to control the entity and he plays Ethan Hunt to get what he wants. The entity has already started taking control over the nuclear powers and with an all out nuclear war imminent, Ethan Hunt has to race against the time to save the world from the entity as well as Gabriel.

Christopher McQuarrie overstuffs the film where he has prepped it as Ethan Hunt's swan song yet wants to keep him in the game as the world continues to need him. The eighth film doesn't follow it's previous films as the initial scenes are dedicated to evoke the nostalgia. Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt once again shines and stuns the viewers with the stunts. Though his efforts are laudable, the screenplay is rather a mixed bag with uneven pacing, especially with the drama. The whole submarine segment paid off while the lengthy biplane scene is made worthy by Tom Cruise. These scenes on IMAX screen was worth the theater visit. However, the film's tone is very serious and gives very little room for the franchise's signature humor. As pointed out earlier, it started out as a swan song and later they changed their mind, this heavily shows in the screenplay. Overall, it's a decent watch thanks to two solid segments.

Short Take - Team Death FTW!

Stefani dreams about her maternal grandmother being one of the victim in the 1968 Skyview tower collapse and with the dream recurring for months, Stefani decides to meet her grandmother who has been estranged from the family, living in isolation. After meeting her, she is told that the dream was actually real and it was the grandmother's premonition which she used to save everyone before the tower collapsed. With hundreds of them saved, death is on over duty to get all of them. Stefani realizes her bloodline is the target and will she able to cheat death and save her family, forms rest of the story.

This new installment has five worthy deaths and the tone is comical which makes it into an easy watch. To elaborate on that, rather than rebooting the franchise, the writers added a premonition to be Stefani's dream and she has to reach back to her family to understand the threat and act upon it. The first one to actually have the premonition was the grandmother and it is not her story. So, the emotional connect towards the characters is straight up nil. This helps to celebrate death big time and with a steady pace, the narrative doesn't drag and deliver the deaths at right intervals. 2 out of 5 deaths really stood out for being innovative while the other 3 remained pretty satisfactory. Overall, it was a fun watch and a decent entry to the franchise.

Short Take - The lone elephant owns the forest!

Shanmugham is fondly known as Benz, is a taxi driver and he owns an old ambassador car which is too special for him. He has a wife and two children, leading a happy life while reminiscing his days as a stunt man. When Benz is coping up with a personal loss is shocked to know that his favorite car has been confiscated by the local police in a drug related case. He pleads with the cops daily to release his car and eventually requests CI George who hires Benz and his taxi for a ride. This one ride changes Benz's life entirely and how does he fight back, forms rest of the story.

Tharun Moorthy has been gifted with a stellar starcast and half his battle is won with them onboard. He has attempted to blend the actor MohanLal and the superstar MohanLal, through which he succeeds in delivering a good first half. The family bond is established well and with no major development till the pre-interval scene, it is commendable how well Tharun bolds the narrative. Prakash Varma in his acting debut, is an menacing villain and he too contributes to an arresting first half.

The second half is where the main story begins and the actor MohanLal has to make way for the superstar in action mode. The film is heavily dependent on the action sequences and they are designed to celebrate the lead actor. This ends up sidelining Shobana big time though she still delivers in the minimum exposure she gets in the second half. The logic goes for a toss and more massy moments are inserted between the protagonist and the antagonist. The third act gets weaker due to this while the film still scores on the emotional front.

Short Take - iDull!

An Apple store is hijacked by a man named Ammar with a bomb vest and a gun. Panicked customers run while he takes one guy hostage and 4 others hide in a room, locking themselves up. Ammar demands for a negotiator in order put forth his demand for a ransom as well as a car. With majority people stuck at the floor above the Apple store, the police respond swiftly in surrounding the building. The emotional turmoil they all go through while the police and the negotiator try their best to get control of the situation, forms rest of the story.

Based on a real incident, iHostage starts off as a human drama focusing on these individual characters who are introduced. Ilian is there to buy an airpod and is not a local. There are couple of beat cops outside who just happen to be their at the right time. The four others which includes an Apple store employee are the ones getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then there is a SWAT team member who has to leave his family to attend this situation and a female negotiator Lynn, who tries her best to keep things under control. Each of these characters including Ammar, don't really have a character arc and his motive never revealed, yet only brief information is ed on early and that is not enough to process. There is a profound emotional scene towards the end with each of these characters but for that to work, the screenplay had to get the audience emotionally involved in their ordeal. Instead what it delivers is a dull hostage drama that offers nothing significant.

Short Take - Abhimanyu's guilt trip before sundown!

Dr. Abhimanyu Sood gets a call from a mysterious man who claims to have kidnapped his daughter Vedhika and demands a ransom of 5cr to be paid before sundown. He dismisses this as a prank since he has been a terrible father all his life and she is being single-handedly raised by her mother. Also the 5cr he has with him is to settle a medical negligence case which claimed a life. So, Abhimanyu has to decide now to save his own career and life or to save his daughter from the kidnapper. What does he do when the kidnapper calls back with the video proof of kidnapping, forms rest of the story.

It's a novel attempt to drive the film with a single character and all others appear mainly as voice characters. But Girish Kohli's writing is simply not tense enough. There is emotional drama which Sohum Shah portrays well as Dr. Abhimanyu Sood, the conflict with his ex-wife or the relationship with his girlfriend and even his own emotional turmoil with the medical negligence case. But his journey till the location shared by the kidnapper could have been made more interesting once the cops were involved but that gets restricted to one scene. The climax reveal needed better build up but the very moment is casually revealed in one of the conversation with the ex wife that the final reveal does not come out as a surprise. The short runtime needed more thrill and more craziness for Crazxy to actually work.

Short Take - Where is Charlie?!

Veer Poddar and Koyal Chadda have an arranged marriage. Both come from a very conservative family and barely attempt to know each other well before marriage. He is a veterinary doctor and an introvert while Koyal is not at all what her parents painted her to be. On their wedding night, things take an ugly turn as the couple go on the run from goons who are revealed to be corrupted cops and they are all after Charlie, whom they claim the couple know about and it's not a person. With the trouble caused by mistaken identity, the wild night provides perfect opportunity to the newly wed to bond. How do they get out of the trouble and what exactly is Charlie, forms rest of the story.

Rishab Seth is handed over a predictable screenplay that has it's fair share of fun, much of it being elevated by the lead pair's performance. The humor works for the most part of first half despite the hyped monologue rather looks randomly put in without being organic. The logic has no space in this comedy film but it isn't as mad as it required to be and this gets quite evident in the second half as the screenplay starts to drag. There are more misses than hits in of humor as it gets sillier. What started out as fun with two contrasting personalities learning about each other, simply gives in to the stereotypes making these characters less interesting in the end.

Short Take - PVR re-released it and I had to watch it on the big screen. I had to drink that milkshake up and what a performance that was. I may not rewatch this that frequently but whenever I do, I will end up iring DDL more than the last time and also Paul Dano.

Short Take - The film re-released today and I caught the 6:30am show. As much as I was excited to watch one of my favorite films, the remastered print was a disappointment where again colors changed. It's been among the most memorable films of all time and it triggers to see Chiru and Sridevi in green shirt and saree in Abbani Teeyani song instead of the blue color they wore.

So for all the hype, the print remained blurred and only couple of songs and shots felt like they remastered to disappointing results. So these complaints aside, I still enjoyed the songs and even the film, which obviously is dated yet remains special.

Short Take - A celebration of humanity.

A Sri Lankan family comprising of Dharmadas, his wife Vasanthi and two sons, illegally enter India overnight, to escape the economic crisis in their country and high debt. Seeing their bonding and honesty, they are allowed to seek refuge in Rameshwaram. Vasanthi's brother Prakash helps them settle down in Keshava Nagar in Chennai and also provides them with the necessary documents. His only request is for them to learn the local way of life and the dialect but mainly not to mingle with anybody. The family breaks that one rule as they start their new life in Chennai. What happens during their stay is simply the celebration of life.

At these times of crisis, Tourist Family is an extremely heart warming watch and I am glad to have watched it on the big screen. Abishan Jeevinth's screenplay is all heart and there is no scope for going deep with the law of the land as the plot involves a bomb attack, putting the main protagonists as lead suspects. Yet the film's USP lies in it's simplicity and the humorous tone. Even the most emotional scene is immediately followed up with a humorous tonal shift thanks to terrificly written character of Mulli.

The film does addresses the emotional conflict the family faces between themselves, especially the father and his elder son. The sad reality of leaving your roots and travelling to another country, with the hope of providing a better life prospects to one's family. The way the family bonds with all the neighbours in the locality was well presented. The standout being M.S. Bhaskar's Richard and Elango Kumaravel's Gunasekhar. The director himself played an important ing character that provides emotional weightage to a key scene. But what stayed apart from the happy moments the tourist family provided is that beautifully etched climax shot where Bhairavan asks "who told you that you are a refugee?" and I couldn't stop myself from applauding. Strongly recommended.

Short Take - Tony Jaa Strikes... Almost!

After his wife and daughter are brutally murdered, Bai An is wrongfully accused of their murder and is on the run. His only mission is to avenge their death by killing the man responsible and all the clues point at He Yinghao, a top businessman. He Ting is his daughter and he has hired Wu Zheng as her protector. There is an attempt at kidnapping both He Yinghao and He Ting which is thwarted by Bai An rescuing He Ting. Now they two team up to find who kidnapped He Yinghao. One wants to kill him and the daughter wants to save her father. Who is really behind the kidnapping and is He Yinghao truly responsible for Bai An's loss, forms rest of the story.

Striking Rescue with it's basic storyline has efforts put in to narrate a gripping tale. It is a vehicle to glorify Tony Jaa, something which has been missing for a long time. It's an out and out Tony Jaa action film, focused on his stunts and how ably he can pull off his moves. The character arc of every other character gets sacrificed as there is simply no need for them to thrive. Wu Zheng is just like Bai An and that's it. As the climax is all about Tony Jaa, Wu Zheng gets sidelined. The screenplay and the twists are completely predictable. At this age, one cannot expect Tony Jaa to pull off Tom-Yum-Goong and the English dialogues were indeed painful. Overall, it's solely for Tony Jaa fans and has nothing worthwhile to offer for others.

Short Take - Mad Maxx!

4 years after graduating, DD is hoping to become his village's sarpanch, Ashok is fighting a court case for his property with his aunt and Manoj is still recovering from his breakup. They all get together at Ganesh's wedding uninvited and cause the expected trouble. As the wedding is cancelled, to keep Ganesh entertained, the boys plan to him on his honeymoon vacation to Goa. In Goa, the baddie Maxx Bhai has planned for a jewellery heist in Goa museum. The police are on the look out for the robbers and the Mad boys arrive at Goa to ensure a Mad cap comedy with Maxx.

Once again the waferthin storyline relies heavily on the boys' camaraderie and their comic timing is still intact. The film doesn't have any memorable comedy sequences and entirely filled with situational comedies which work for that moment. It has a bunch of senior comedy actors who find it cakewalk to deliver bare minimum humor. The extra dose of songs only add to the runtime and none of the songs leave a mark. I found Sangeeth Sobhan to carry part one and thankfully he gets some decent from the rest of the cast. The film offers nothing new but still ends up as a watchable follow up.

Short Take - The Devil stands tall!

Stephen Nedumpally has stayed away from Kerala for 5 years and is active as Khureshi Ab'raam, going after Interpol officer Robert McCarthy who is also working for drug smuggling kingpin Kabuga. In Kerala, the infamous Baldev has started his plan to take over the state. He rose to fame during 2002 riots and that past is linked to Zayed Masood. The current CM Jathin Ramdas has turned against his own party and ed hands with Baldev, leaving Priyadarshini Ramdas to fight for her people and hold onto her father's legacy. Will Stephen come back to help out Priyadarshini and how will Baldev be stopped, forms rest of the story.

The giant sequel is way too ambitious for a straight forward story. Prithviraj keeps sky high expectations for himself and the result is clearly too much style over substance. The lead protagonist gets the Demi God treatment with his Lucifer persona but the story takes a beating. There is lot of wandering across the globe and if the focus was on the Kerala politics, the result would have been far more engaging. Instead, the build up becomes way too much for a simple revenge story and the weak antagonists make the proceedings less interesting. Sure the making itself deserves brownie points but with a weak screenplay, the end result is quite so-so.

Short Take - The Family Man!

SP Arunagiri has got the go ahead to eliminate Periyavar Ravi and his son Kannan. It's the night of local festival and a snitch among SP's team leaks the information about the encounter to Periyavar who along with his son, goes on the run. As a last resort, Periyavar approaches Kaali, his ex-henchman with an offer to let his family live in peace if Kaali eliminates SP Arunagiri for them. Kaali reluctantly agrees and thus the night opens up for these men to fight to survive. The unwilling party Kaali has to safeguard his family at any cost and to what extent will he go to do that, forms rest of the story.

S.U. Arun Kumar's ambitious narrative yield mixed result as the very idea of selling the part 2 first is a challenge by itself. It's an unique ride where he doesn't need to spend time establishing these characters individually and we get to know them with the bare minimum information, as the story progresses. Only the flashback gives an extra padding to Kaali's character to firmly establish his loyalty towards his loved ones. But the runtime of 160 odd minutes is a bit too much for this film as many times the story felt dragged which dropped the momentum. The director still delivered few moments to cherish but the end result wasn't entirely satisfactory.

Short Take - Randomly chose to rewatch this gem with family and ed how it used to be a tradition at home 3 decades ago to watch this every Sunday as my dad owned the VHS copy. It is indeed a timeless classic and aged supremely well.

Short Take - She is a fighter who would never quit.

Sara is an ex-soldier suffering from PTSD and trying to raise her son. She has lost her husband during a mission and she wants to move to America for better life for her kid. Her nightmare begins when her son goes missing at the US consulate and to make things worse, everyone else denies seeing her come in with her kid. The CCTV footage too shows her, talking alone with no signs of the kid, pointing fingers at he mental status. Now it's upto Sara to tap into her skills and find her son, how does she do it with little help forms rest of the story.

The problem with this film is the Director's confusion in making a thriller with realistic approach and also sticking to some over the top action sequences to sell itself as a big action film. It ends up being neither as it becomes way too easy for Sara to roam around the consulate and even if the reason why she went unnoticed is provided, it only makes the antagonist's plan way too convoluted to pull off. The hand to hand combat are plenty but doesn't yield any thrill. The tense moments are few and the resolution is too convenient.

Short Take - Now that's a memorable date.

Violet Gates is a widower and had a very abusive husband. She had focused on her child solely and had recently tried dating a photographer Henry Campbell. It's their first date at an high rise restaurant and Violet is nervous. Her sister Jen encourages her to go on her date, offering to baby sit her son. A casual date turns nightmarish to Violet as the night unfolds where she realizes to have become a pawn at a killer's hand and his target being Henry Campbell. How does she get through this date while her loved ones are held captive and her only way to save them is to follow the killer's demands, forms rest of the story.

It's an intriguing concept where the story eventually moves into a single location with multiple suspects around. Instead of being a murder mystery, the set up is used for a thriller where the killer is two steps ahead of his pawn and the innocent protagonist has to stand up to him on her own. The director takes his time to introduce all his characters and slowly builds up the tension. The film is engaging as long as the killer remains anonymous and Violet is struggling with her set of suspects. It was the forced ending that worked against the film as it got way too convenient. The director had almost cracked the code until he relied on the action more than the tense drama.

Short Take - Motte Motte, Bank Bank!

Red Dragon quit his gangster life and surrendered, after his wife requested him to come back with a clean slate in order to be a father to their son. He is sentenced and has also changed into AK, the good guy. It's 2025 and his son yearns to meet his father even though he is lied about his father's whereabouts and profession. AK has promised his son to meet him on his 18th birthday. Things take an ugly turn when AK gets released early and his son is charged with a drug related case. How does AK fulfills his promise to his son and find out the person behind the frame up, forms rest of the story as AK turns good, bad and ugly in the process.

A fanboy directing his idol cannot be a good sign all the time and GBU is the prime example. The Hero worship is taken to the extreme levels that story gets severe beating. The eagerness to celebrate the favorite hero blurs the line between cool and cringe instantly. The absurd script and the over the top narrative, doesn't allow anything to settle down. Every scene is designed to be an ode to the man himself and it looks extremely deliberate instead of being organic. Adhik's films being loud is a norm and by now everyone is used to it. What he forgets in the process of celebrating his hero is to do it with a gripping screenplay. Instead we get a tiring hero worship vehicle that becomes too much for AK too. As the line in the film goes "This is AK's revenge" and I ended up wondering what did I do to deserve this revenge. I am all in for hero worship but not at the cost of a decent story. I have ired Ajith Kumar for the longest to tolerate this cringefest.

Short Take - That is why they are the Avengers with a Z.

Yelena still works for Valentina, doing the clean up job. As Valentina faces the threat of impeachment for supposedly doing human trials at various labs owned by her, she has Yelena and others cleaning up evidences. As Yelena wants out, she is given a final task and she ends up with the almost Captain America, The Ghost, Taskmaster and a man-boy Bob at a secret facility. There they learn Valentina's true plan and reluctantly team to survive. Elsewhere, representative Bucky Barnes is also trying to gather evidence against Valentina. The unlikely team has to work together to stop Valentina and as well as Bob, who is not a random civilian found at the facility. How do they stop an attack and who exactly Bob, forms rest of the story.

A group of anti-heroes teaming up is not new anymore, nevertheless is still exciting. Thunderbolts* deliver the fun at right doses throughout, keeping the proceedings fun. It doesn't deliver anything extraordinary but given the Marvel's dry run barring the usual sequel, it is right to say, they have delivered a fun watch with Thunderbolts*. It ticks off all the Marvel requirement, the humor remains spot on and the drama does drag thanks to Marvel's need for a weak antagonist and the actors do their bit to elevate the scenes. It was the two post credit scenes that got the loudest cheers. Thunderbolts* may not groundbreaking for Marvel but it doesn't fail to deliver a clean PG entertainer.

Short Take - How to Hunt a Spy in 7 days!

George is an intelligence office who is tasked with investigating the leak of leak of a top secret software program called Severus and find out the person behind the week. The deadline is one week and there are 5 suspects including George's wife Kathryn. The other 4 being 2 couples, Freddie and Clarissa, James and Zoe. They are invited for a dinner where George drugs them to lower their inhibitions and begins his investigation. Will George be able to uncover the truth behind the leak within the given deadline, forms rest of the story.

Without physical combat, Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp have come up with an engaging screenplay that is as good as a proper spy action film. To be fair, delivering the same high just through the performances is not an easy task. It is a procedural investigative drama with the right amount of twists. The story revolves around 6 secret services agents with one investigating the other 5 and each of these characters remain distinct. The double games and overcoming that is a slow burn but the crisp runtime helps in keeping the proceedings quite engaging. Kudos for deg the screenplay around 2 dinners and a polygraph test.

Short Take - Fun Times at Camp Pineway!

Jason is among the counsellors who arrive a day early at Camp pineway for looking after the arrangements. Jason gets a cold welcome owing to his age as he is a frequent visitor and also older than the rest. When the camp owners don't show up, Jason gets to lead the team which he realizes to be very difficult and it also includes his love interest Claire. Unknown to them, a masked killer starts creating havoc at the Camp and Jason becomes a prime suspect. How does he save them despite being the prime suspect and will the real killer be revealed, forms rest of the story.

Being an homage to the 80s-90s slasher flicks, Hell of a Summer is an uneven experience as the humor is on the nose and it takes a good amount of time to get used to the routine stuff. It's not always easy to pick a favorite from a bunch of dumb characters and that is what made it hard for me to enjoy the proceedings in the beginning. The plus point is that the narrative stick to it's tone throughout and the humor does start to work after a point. The film definitely doesn't offer anything new even in the of it's humor and the gore is not it's main focus. The main problem is that too many films already exists in this space and pay better homage to the 80s slasher flicks.

Short Take - Stunning visuals deliver big time.

Continuing from the previous film, Ne Zha and Ao Bing struck by lightning are saved by Mastet Taiyi using his sacred lotus. Chentang is attacked by Master Shen Gongbao, ordered by Ao Bing's father. Ao Bing's body disintegrates while protecting Chentang . His father agrees to ceasefire on the condition that Ne Zha and Ao Bing share one body for next seven days in order to the three levels required to become a Xian and win the potion that can restore Ao Bing's human body. How does Ne Zha and Ao Bing get through these levels? What are the challenged thrown at them, forms rest of the story.

I missed 25mins of the film, thanks to Bengaluru's traffic. Having said that, the IMAX experience truly made it worth watching. The visuals alone elevate the scenes to next level and the proper blending of humor and drama, gets the narrative even more engaging. I preferred the humor here more than the first part. The mother sentiment works well here too and add to that, other main characters get a proper arc with siblings bonding and father-son sentiment. The screenplay is indeed overstuffed especially in the second half but the visuals make up for it big time. The final battle is prolonged yet delivers. There wasn't much 3D effects though.

Short Take - To defying the fate!

When Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao fail to subdue the chaos pearl, their superior Supreme Lord steps in to separate the chaos pearl into spirit pearl and demon orb with the demon orb cursed to be destroyed in 3 years by an heavenly lightning. Taiyi is tasked to take the spirit pearl destined to be reincarnated as third son of Li Jing. However, the jealous Shen Gongbao steals the spirit pearl and gets the demon orb to reincarnate as the third son of Li Jing, named Ne Zha. As the kid grows up resented by everyone, his parents hide the truth behind his reincarnation and try to train him to control his urges. Will they succeed in getting him to control his anger or will Ne Zha meet his inevitable fate, forms rest of the story.

I have been late to the party and with Ne Zha 2 tickets booked for tonight, I finally chose to watch Ne Zha. Undoubtedly the animation is top notch and so are the action scenes. It felt much easier to connect with Ne Zha's character as he is still a child and ofcourse the strongly written parents' characters. I bought the "only friend" angle which worked it's emotional charm so the rushed climax did not bother me much. The humor was typically what I expected and it delivered through Taiyi's character. The fine blend between the drama and action, scored all the brownie points for Ne Zha, making it an engaging watch. The couple of post credit scenes were decent too.

Short Take - Unlimited supply of bullets.

A bunch of corrupt cops are after a gang of thieves, robbing a batch of washing machines. Unknown to the thieves, a shipment of drugs is also in it. Charlie and Mia are part of the gang of thieves and they take the stolen drugs to the triad's head Tsui. In the classic case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, the triad is attacked and Tsui is killed by masked men, shifting the blame of Charlie and Mia. Now they are public enemy no.1, with cops - both good and corrupted as well as the triad are after them. Walker, a cop under payroll of Charlie's rich father is tasked with protecting Charlie. Will Walker succeed in his task or the baddies get to the duo, forms rest of the story.

Gareth Evans' screenplay is straightforward and has no twists. His earlier films did stand out due to the action set pieces and it remains the weakest part in Havoc. There are plenty of action scenes largely relying on gun fights rather than hand to hand combat. So, we get unlimited supply of bullets and the firing just get tedious after a point. The action scenes offer nothing new and there isn't much that works for the film. The short runtime is a savior to some extent but with the all the players revealed early on, it turns into one routine action scene after another. It could have been an engaging watch if there were more intense fights with minimal use of guns.

Short Take - Second time watching on the big screen and I had a blast rewatching this. A classic for a reason. Unlike the last time, the audience count was bit less but they made up for it with constant cheers and applause. The first time I had caught the special screening, everyone including me kept mouthing every single dialogue which made it an unique experience. This time, it was only me and couple of others who did it. The hyped new song was NOT included in this print and I wondered why did they even it as being added.

Short Take - Welcome To Glore Valley!

Clover and her friends are on a road trip, looking for a way for Clover to move on from the grief of her missing sister Melanie. They arrive at Glore Valley after being randomly suggested by a stranger, a mysterious place where people have gone missing. Arriving at the valley, Clover and her friends soon realize that the place do not look normal. This is followed by them getting killed one by one and the day repeating again for a similar outcome. But each time, the threat gets innovative. What is this place? How do these friends survive and will they be able to escape this place, forms rest of the story.

It was surprising that it had a forced intermission just 35mins into the first half. As it is with most of the films that are adapted from a video game, this too suffers from weak characterization as there isn't much information provided about these group of friends who are willing to standby each other, no matter what. Each of them remain generic with the main lead being the one grieving her past. For a not so unique premise, the film lost it's steam early on but that doesn't mean it didn't have it's moments. There were 3-4 moments that stood out but the jumpscares were barely effective. The runtime is sufficient yet the director failed to providing anything new, kills wise as well as the reveal.

Short Take - Cannot make this dull screenplay to work.

David Ayer and Jason Statham team up again after The Beekeeper and this is co-written by Sylvester Stallone. Jason Statham plays Levon Cade working at construction after his stint as a Marines Commando. He is close with the Garcia family that runs the construction business. When their teenage daughter Jenny is kidnapped, the Garcias reach out to Levon for help. Having a daughter of his own, he agrees to help as he once promised Jenny to have her back. Levon goes on a mission to save Jenny and kill as many who come in his way, rattling the Russian bratva. Do the Russians stand a chance against Levon, forms rest of the story.

Unlike The Beekeeper, almost nothing works in A Working Man. Sure it's a done to death story and better, more entertaining films already exists with the same story, but the uninspired writing doesn't allow the film a chance. Even the fight sequences lacked anything new. Jason Statham can only do so much in selling a generic film that has a bunch of baddies who are in no way be a match to the hero and he isn't even being ruthless here. The slow screenplay clubbed with boring action set pieces, A Working Man is another addition to weak forgettable action films starring Jason Statham.

Short Take - Pick poor Robin clean!

Sammie aka Preacher boy is visited by his twin cousins who are quite infamous for their gangster background in Chicago. They are back in the town with loads cash and want to open The Juke t to also announce their arrival grandly. For the t, they have purchased a mill and they allow Sammie to perform after hearing him sing. As the night begins for a grand opening of the t, evil too in the form of vampires arrive at the venue. After being denied permission to enter, they wait for the opportunity to come their way. As all hell breaks loose, how does they survive the vampire mayhem, forms rest of the story.

What works fine is the aim to make a good old vampire film and clubbing it with music along with the cultural representation of that era. The sincere performances add onto the positives, making this a thoroughly engaging watch despite the slightly longer runtime. The main plot begins half way into the film so the slow building up of the story by introducing all the key characters with the right amount detailing pays off. The highlight will remain the climax scene and the post credits scene that elevated the entire viewing experience. The screen ratio on IMAX was not that satisfactory but the Juke t scene in all it's full glory was worth the money I paid.

According to my liking.

1. The Life of Chuck
2. Ponman
3. Tourist Family
4. Sinners
5. Ne Zha 2
6. Rekhachithram
7. Mithya
8. Dragon
9. Final Destination Bloodlines
10. How to Train Your Dragon

...plus 56 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

English / English Dubbed films I've watched in theaters

• How to Train Your Dragon

  IMAX 3D

• The Life of Chuck
• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

  IMAX 2D

• Final Destination Bloodlines
• Thunderbolts*

  IMAX 3D

• Until Dawn
• Sinners

  IMAX 2D

• Novocaine
• The Monkey
• The Brutalist

  IMAX 2D

...plus 313 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My highest rated films. Rated 4.5 & above.

1. Titanic
2. Cinema Paradiso
3. Bicycle Thieves
4. Casablanca
5. The Godfather
6. La Jetée
7. Pather Panchali
8. A Separation
9. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
10. Boyhood

...plus 122 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Also includes Premiere / Paid Previews attended
2005 - Yashwanth (Kannada) missing on Letterboxd

• How to Train Your Dragon

  8th June early paid preview at PVR INOX IMAX.

• Thunderbolts*
• Until Dawn

  Thursday night paid preview.

• Sikandar
• Game Changer
• Baby John
• UI
• Pushpa 2 - The Rule
• Vettaiyan
• White Bird

...plus 257 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

IMAX 2D & 3D

• Alien: Covenant
• Despicable Me 3
• Dunkirk
• It
• Kingsman: The Golden Circle
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Black Panther
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Deadpool 2
• Aquaman

...plus 41 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Not ranking them or should I?

• Titanic
• Mayura
• Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai
• Sookshmadarshini
• Satya
• Lubber Pandhu
• Kabhi Kabhie
• Silsila
• Interstellar
• Pushpa 2 - The Rule

...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Kannada films I have watched in theaters.
The films not on letterboxd,
1. Anjada Gandu (1988)
2. Chinna (1994)
3. Anuraga Sangama (1995)
4. Mungarina Minchu (1997)
5. Ee Hrudaya Ninagagi (1997)
6. Nishyabdha (1998)
7. Khushi (2003)
8. Daasa (2003)
9. Paartha (2003)
10. Mani (2003)
11. Ranga SSLC (2004)
12. Baa Baaro Rasika (2004)
13. Kanti (2004)
14. Pakkane Hudugi (2004)
15. Bhagawan (2004)
16. Yashwanth (2005)
17. Ayya (2005)
18. Rakshasa (2005)
19. Nava Bharathi (2005)
20. Srinivasa Kalyana (2017)
21. All India Radio (2023)

• UI
• Avatara Purusha 2
• Blink
• Bachelor Party
• Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side B
• Ghost
• Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – Side A
• Kousalya Supraja Rama
• Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare
• Daredevil Musthafa

...plus 87 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Includes all the films I watched / rewatched on their re-releases.

Hindi - 74
English - 33
Telugu - 21
Tamil - 20
Kannada - 18
Malayalam - 05
Bengali - 02
Marathi - 02
Japanese - 01

Anjada Gandu (1988) is not on Letterboxd. Watched on 30th May 2025.

• The Gods Must Be Crazy

  I was a baby when parents took me to watch this and I have only my parents to vouch for this. Going by birthday, it had to be a re-release or it released 10 years later.

• Demonwarp

  12th June 2004
  Rajkamal

• Aarya

  20th April 2005
  Maruthi

• Bride of Chucky

  2007
  Maruthi

• One Million Years B.C.

  2007
  Maruthi

• Save Me

  2007
  Maruthi

• Underworld: Evolution

  2008
  Maruthi

• Titanic

  05th April 2012
  DRC Cinemas, BM Habitat Mall Screen 01

  07th April 2012
  DRC Cinemas, BM Habitat Mall Screen 01

  01st Dec 2017
  Cinepolis, ETA Namma Mall Audi 06

  07th Dec 2017
  Cinepolis, Orion East Mall Screen 05

  03rd Nov 2018
  Cinepolis, Orion East Mall Screen 05

  04th Nov 2018
  Cinepolis, Royal Meenakshi Mall Audi 07

  25th Nov 2018
  Cinepolis, ETA Namma Mall Audi 08

  10th Feb 2023
  INOX, Garuda Mall Screen 04

  11th Feb 2023
  PVR IMAX, VR Mall Audi 03

  11th Feb 2023
  Cinepolis, Nexus Shantiniketan Audi 09

  12th Feb 2023
  Lakshmi

  13th Feb 2023
  Swagath ShankarNag

  14th Feb 2023
  PVR Gold Class, VR Mall Audi 01

  11th Feb 2024
  PVR, Phoenix Marketcity Mall Audi 08

  14th Feb 2024
  PVR, GT World Mall Screen 02

  20th Feb 2024
  PVR, Director's Cut Audi 02

• Kasturi Nivasa

  06th Dec 2014
  Woodlands

• Babruvahana

  22nd Apr 2016
  DRC Cinemas, BM Habitat Mall Screen 03

...plus 165 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Telugu films I've watched in theaters
Andaru Dongale.. Dorakithe (2004) not on letterboxd.

• Game Changer
• Pushpa 2 - The Rule
• Devara: Part 1
• Kalki 2898-AD
• Prasanna Vadanam
• Om Bheem Bush
• Guntur Kaaram
• Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire
• Hi Nanna
• Miss. Shetty Mr. Polishetty

...plus 122 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Hindi Films I've watched in theaters

• Sikandar
• Baby John
• Jigra
• Stree 2
• Dunki
• Animal
• Farrey
• Tiger 3
• Jawan
• Gadar 2

...plus 206 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Malayalam films watched in theater.

• Thudarum
• All We Imagine as Light
• Guruvayoorambala Nadayil
• Aavesham
• The Goat Life
• Manjummel Boys
• Bramayugam
• Premalu

  Watched on 26th Feb 2024.

• Kaathal - The Core
• RDX: Robert Dony Xavier

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Tamil films I've watched in theaters.

• Tourist Family
• Dragon
• Vettaiyan
• The Greatest of All Time
• Vaazhai
• Raayan
• Indian 2: Zero Tolerance
• Leo
• Mark Antony
• Jailer

...plus 100 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

MCU films ranked according to my liking.

1. Iron Man
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Black Panther
6. Avengers: Infinity War
7. Avengers: Endgame
8. Thor: Ragnarok
9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
10. Doctor Strange

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Other languages films I watched in theater.

Korean - 06
Japanese - 04
Marathi - 03
Bengali - 02
Punjabi - 01
Assamese - 01
Gujarati - 01
Odia - 01
Italian - 01
Persian - 01
Spanish - 01
Mandarin - 01

• Ne Zha 2

  IMAX 3D

• Sairat

  21st March 2025 PVR INOX re-release.

• Emilia Pérez
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig
• The Hero

  21st Feb 2025 special 2k restoration re-release.

• The Big City

  20th Sept 2024 Special Re-release

• Lai Bhaari

  24th May 2024 PVR Marathi film festival re-release.

• The Boy and the Heron
• Exhuma
• Smugglers

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

As per my liking

• Adaptation.
• National Treasure
• Lord of War
• Leaving Las Vegas
• Raising Arizona
• Joe
• Pig
• Kick-Ass
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Snowden

...plus 94 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films rated 3.5 or more by me.

Aattam had a theatrical release in 2024 so it is considered.

Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) is a 2022 film which had it's theatrical release in 2024 so considered.

Poor Thing and Robot Dreams had their limited theatrical release in 2023 so they are omitted.

1. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2. Flow
3. Manjummel Boys
4. Aattam
5. Memoir of a Snail
6. A Real Pain
7. Ullozhukku
8. The Substance
9. The Wild Robot
10. Touch

...plus 36 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Khamoshi: The Musical
2. Bajrangi Bhaijaan
3. Maine Pyar Kiya
4. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
5. Sultan
6. Jaan-E-Mann
7. Saajan
8. Dabangg
9. Andaz Apna Apna
10. Tere Naam

...plus 75 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Most of them were binge watched so I always warn about K-Drama addiction.

1. Goblin
2. Tunnel
3. Signal
4. Flower of Evil
5. Beyond Evil
6. The Guest
7. Descendants of the Sun
8. Crash Landing on You
9. Death's Game
10. The Kidnapping Day

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I decided to make 2024 the year of rewatches as well. This will be a list, in the order I rewatch and won't be ranking the films.

• Titanic
• Edward Scissorhands
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Amruthavarshini
• Beladingala Baale
• The Pursuit of Happyness
• The Truman Show
• City of Angels
• When Harry Met Sally...
• Adaptation.

...plus 131 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Aliens
2. Alien
3. Alien: Romulus
4. Alien: Covenant
5. Alien³
6. Prometheus
7. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
8. Alien Resurrection
9. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem

According to my liking.

1. Predator
2. Prey
3. Predators
4. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
5. Predator 2
6. The Predator
7. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem

DCEU films according to my liking.

1. Wonder Woman
2. Zack Snyder's Justice League
3. The Suicide Squad
4. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
5. The Flash
6. Man of Steel
7. Aquaman
8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
9. Suicide Squad
10. Black Adam

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Friday the 13th
2. Friday the 13th
3. Friday the 13th Part 2
4. Freddy vs. Jason
5. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
6. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
7. Friday the 13th Part III
8. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
9. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
10. Jason X

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Saw
2. Saw II
3. Saw X
4. Saw III
5. Saw VI
6. Saw IV
7. Saw V
8. Saw 3D
9. Jigsaw
10. Spiral: From the Book of Saw

According to my liking

1. The Prestige
2. Inception
3. The Dark Knight
4. Interstellar
5. Insomnia
6. Batman Begins
7. Dunkirk
8. Memento
9. Following
10. Oppenheimer

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Nayakan
2. Thalapathi
3. Kannathil Muthamittal
4. Iruvar
5. Bombay
6. Mouna Raagam
7. Roja
8. Anjali
9. Agni Natchathiram
10. Alaipayuthey

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking of the Halloween films including the Rob Zombie films as per my ratings.

1. Halloween
2. Halloween
3. Halloween II
4. Halloween
5. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
6. Halloween Kills
7. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
8. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
9. Halloween Ends
10. Halloween II

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Kshana Kshanam
2. Siva
3. Satya
4. Kaun?
5. Shiva
6. Gaayam
7. Rangeela
8. Company
9. Bhoot
10. Deyyam

...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

100 Horror films in 31 days was the target, could only make it to 90.

• No One Gets Out Alive
• Nightbooks
• Black as Night
• Bingo Hell
• Black Box
• Nocturne
• Evil Eye
• The Lie
• The Vigil
• May the Devil Take You

...plus 80 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Favorite Bond Films Ranked.

1. Goldfinger
2. Casino Royale
3. Dr. No
4. From Russia with Love
5. Thunderball
6. Skyfall
7. Spectre
8. You Only Live Twice
9. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
10. Live and Let Die

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

According to my liking.

1. Star Wars
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
5. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
7. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
8. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
9. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
10. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker