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Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile (2024)
Terse documentary about the rock star
Gary Glitter was primarily a famous glam rock star in 70s UK famous for songs like "Rock and Roll part 1". The film associates mainly with his child pornography issue (due to which he ran into the law circa 1997 first). I am not sure how many revelations are new in this documentary since I am not from UK and had only a cursory idea of who Gary Glitter was. The scenes involving his fleeing to Cambodia and Vietnam and being arrested there were new to me.
I wished the documentary had dug deeper though than just surface level. This person was the surface. Rock and Roll industry was probably full of such folks high on power thinking that law couldn't touch them.
Eithercase, it's only an hour and it hardly gets boring or overwrought; not a bad documentary.
This World: Revolution in Ruins: The Hugo Chavez Story (2019)
Life and times of Hugo Chavez
It is hard to make an objective political documentary about anything, let alone a divisive political figure, since biases will come in depending on the people who are being interviewed and/or sometimes, even on the part of the folks who make the films themselves. However, this thing doesn't falls in such a hole. It almost perfectly sidesteps that problem.
It has lots of anecdotes with Chavez's loyalists as well and the first half, especially his first term in power, makes him come off as the guy who could do no wrong. However, it comes full circle as the person's autocratic tendencies, bad economic rationale come in the second half. If Chavez was an idealistic military officer wanting to build an utopia in his youth, he certainly failed in it and bought his country on a downward curve.
I would have liked if the documentary had focussed a little more on Venezuelan history as well, since that would have put Chavez's rise to power in more context.
American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till (2003)
An account of the South
"I fought the Law and I won". This best represents what the two accused did and got away with. JW Bryant and his relative kidnapped Emmett Till, killed and mutilated his body and were acquitted by an all white jury. This is hardly surprising given that it was Mississippi in the 1950s.
The documentary features interviews with Till's then surviving mother and other witnesses from that era including some archival footage as well. The pacing is good and it serves the main facts well in less than an hour. The funniest thing is when someone says that this whole affair was a concocted "communist" conspiracy tells you all you need to know about the priorities about 1950s prejudiced USA.
Sunghursh (1968)
Dilip Kumar shines in this unassuming film
The plot is hardly properly defined in this film. It starts hastily, with the backgrounds hazy and the end role only to bring a curtain on the feud between two rival families.
Amongst this, we get to see the acting prowess of Dilip Kumar, Sanjiv Kumar and Balraj Sajni. Especially the scenes where Dilip Kumar is pitted against Sanjiv Kumar are a treat to watch. Sadly, the film bogs down in the middle (like many films from that era), has an array of below average songs (it's dependent on the listener obviously, but I believe that Hindi cinema in general has to bear the burden of song and dance sequences in general; for every great film that integrates great music, there are ten that are redundant ) and the ending guessable. Also, Vyjantimala also acts as the female lead but I always thought that she was taken more for her dancing prowess than her acting chops.
Himalay Ki Godmein (1965)
The Hippocratic Oath
Manoj Kumar plays an idealistic doctor who has to face obstacles in his path like faith in shaman healing over modern medicine, integrity considerations regarding his character to ultimately serve a rural population who are deprived of modern healing.
The plot goes along steady, barely ever slowing down( though I think it might depend a lot on the print of the film on has too, the uncut version might be bigger than the length listed here). Manoj Kumar and Mala Sinha(as a naive village girl) play their roles succinctly, though nothing extraordinary.
The film is full of songs, but with the exception of Mukesh' 'Chand Si Mehbooba', others came across as below average to me.
Andaz (1971)
A slowish film
This film sees both the aging Shammi Kapoor and the new superstar of the time Rajesh Khanna of the time, in one film (albeit, not in one frame at any time). However, Rajesh Khanna has a very small screen time. The story line is deceptively simple. The lead actress Hema Malini (who struggles to act properly here) has lost her husband and Shammi Kapoor has lost his wife. And the viewer can easily discern what happens in the end. Add in a standard cliched negative villain and you have a wafer thin story.
It's not exactly bad but trudges around aimlessly for the much part. It might have become a big hit in it's time thanks to the standout song from the film but blockbuster numbers don't always count for the quality of a film.
Brahmachari (1968)
A decent flick that overstays it's welcome
The problem with classic Hindi cinema that dragged on into the modern era was it's need to take wafer thin storylines and then create a two and half hour storyline across it. This film has a rather simple plot, but standard melodrama is infused within it that hasn't aged well (dialogues like "Main tumhare bachche ki maa banne wali hoon" being uttered twice) and a subplot to boot as well.
It's a comedy where Shammi Kapoor plays a down to luck person who runs an orphanage for poor kids and crosses paths with our lead Rajshree after which the story ticks along.
The sound track is quite decent, atleast couple of songs have stood the test of time. Acting is where the film suffers a little. Rajshree is a very amateurish actress. Her emotions look easily fake. Same goes for the over the top histronics of the children in the orphanage. I know that expecting children to act is a bridge too far but didn't couple of children act in Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali" ; weren't it children who shaped the whole of Raj Kapoor's "Boot Polish"? Even Shammi Kapoor goes off the rail sometimes, especially in a brilliant scene towards the end where he and Pran are squared off. Pran is the only person whose acting really captivates the greatness for which he was rightly known for.
Gopichand Jasoos (1982)
A middling film
This film is from the last quarter of Raj Kapoor's career. He plays a voyeuristic private detective in the film paired with a relatively young Zeenat Aman. The film can be described as a caper comedy with elements of thriller mixed into it. As usual, the drama is elongated like in most Hindi films. What could be shown in hour and a half is stretched to over two.
Raj Kapoor had gained much weight at this time and hence, could hardly play the handsome hero ( like Dev Anand still did in the 80s ); hence settling for more suitable roles like this. His acting still has traces of Charles Chaplin in it and he pulls of his character brilliantly. Sadly, unlike films made under the RK banner of the 50s and 60s, this has a deplorable soundtrack. Raj Kapoor's 'voice', Mukesh, had died by this point and hence it was kinda weird listening to someone else lip sync to the Showman in this.
It's still an interesting film, the plot will keep you engaged even if it's a tad too long.
Abdullah (1980)
Bland, repetitive and boring
The film's synopsis and action sequences can easily be done with in an hour but it was unnecessarily padded to over twice the length (for commercial constraints, I assume). It starts in classic 80s melodramatic sequence, has most songs which can be classified as filler and iconic actors like Raj Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar (in a small role) wasted.
The action sequences sometimes do lend an urgency to the plot but often get repetitive and by the end of the film, the viewer is almost begging for it to end. There is also some faux comedy in the middle which was cringe to say the least. I watched the film mainly for Raj Kapoor but the showman has much better films in his repertoire to go through, even in the later phases of his career than his passthrough.
Your Favorite Band Sucks (2017)
Possibly the worst podcast I have listened to
The core problem is that they have taken basically all big bands, randomly posted their opinions upon them and created a podcast. There are hardly any objective facts as to why a band sucks. Their criticism for Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix is the same : they can't play. Not to mention, they self contradict themselves. In one episode, they call 'Cream' a legitimately good band before calling them out in another one. An AI model can spout off more consistent conversation than them.
Honestly, with lines like "if anyone above 17 is still listening to the Doors, they should check into a rehab/therapy", I think this podcast is more of a troll than genuine. Oh, and it is not in the least but funny. It is cringe to go through in certain parts.
12th Fail (2023)
Filled with cliches
The film is replete with cliches that have been done to death. An apparently ideal individual, who according to the film, only sleeps three hours per day and works/studies the rest; fails in all his UPSC attempts except for the last and even then, goes on to completely derail his interview before you guessed it, magically passing. Standard melodrama that has been done to death. Add in a love angle, some corruption angle and you have a film. The film also tries to tangle you in with emotional melodrama but in the end, feels all kind of soapy.
I couldn't care what happened to the main character, because well, the director made it clear from the get go. The acting's decent but that alone doesn't make it clear why this film is rated so high. I have seen tons of Hindi films that are much superior to this and honestly, this is skewing the rating trend a lot.
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story (2023)
Absolutely useless
I watched one episode of this so called 'documentary' and rue the time and braincells I lost viewing it. Of all the topics in the world, they chose possibly the most useless, C grade topic to make a topic on. Why should we care who leaked some images of some girlfriend of a random sport player? And to make it worse, The Sun (which is possibly, the nadir of journalism) makes it's mark too in this documentary.
I absolutely felt nothing in this documentary, just a sense of detachment and irony that the biggest problem in some people's lives can be images that they publicly and willingly post online.
The Mission (2023)
Exceptionally biased
Cinema, they say, has the power to shape narratives and this documentary is an example of one. Told one dimensionally from point of view of the deceased,it portrays the missionary(and in an early scene, all missionaries as a force of good somehow) almost as a martyr who died for a cause. In reality, he defied multiple warnings and still went to an exceptionally dangerous place just to diseminate his religious beliefs. And this, not even taking into account the fact, that for an uncontacted tribe, he could have bought in potentially lethal diseases that they would have no natural immunity against.
An ideal documentary presents or Atleast tries to, present the truth. This version is closer to a rewriting of the person's history after his death rather than anything else. Even from a cinematic viewpoint, there are far better ventures to make stuff on than drone on such subjects.
Real Dictators: Francisco Franco Part 5: Life After the Dictator (2021)
A well done issue on the Spanish dictator
The 5 part episodes dives well into the lives and times of Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who ruled for 36 years with an iron fist. It covers his early life pretty well and showcases his pity for life even when he was an young officer(when he was posted overseas). He knew how to tweak history via media (and censorship).
Perhaps the funniest part, ironically, is that both British and Nazi era Germany supported him directly to get into power. The series also goes into the mass graves when he was in power and his friendship with US, though I wish more time was dedicated to showcasing life in Spain under Franco and/or his foreign policy relations with other leaders of the world.
In either case, a well done series that's quite informative and 'fun' to listen to.
Business Wars: Netflix vs Blockbuster - Sudden Death (2018)
Underwhelming
First off, you don't introduce competition between random companies as 'war' and stuff that leaves causalities. Second, no sooner than the podcast starts, there are sponsored segments.
The host bores and looks like he is reading from a script. Very amateurishly published, it would be much better to read on the rivalry of these companies than to listen via these long drawn out, boredom induced segments that introduce nothing new to the saga.
They do deliver quite detailed segments on specific parts of the companies rivalry, but it had be much better had they also focussed on the companies' origin and historical basis for that.
Dead Pixels (2023)
Exceptionally boring and unfunny
I assume this is an adaptation of "Dead Pixels", an English TV series of the same name. I haven't seen the original yet but I can't think that that would be anywhere as one dimensional and boring as this.
The jokes are barely there, many parts are cringey, the few emotional scenes it tries to land falls flat and one starts to wonder what one is doing with their time watching this disaster unfold. The acting and sound score too don't do anything much to help this wreck.
The only passable thing about this show is that the episodes are relatively shorter and they get done and over with pretty quick.
The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma: Ep 358: The Semiconductor Wars (2023)
A letdown
The host is known for in depth interviews which can sometimes be interesting and other times boring, leaving the viewer dissatisfied. One needs to understand that when an average length of podcast is almost as long as 'Gone with the Wind', a certain amount of commitment is necessary. I had listened to tons of his previous episodes and semiconductors fascinated me(if a topic listener is not interested in, it's obvious it's going to be useless sinking in so much time).
However, this was lacking. He usually spends quite a lot of time on backgrounds of folks on the show. That was brief this time. And there were some interesting stuff. Talks about individual's history and especially book writing process in the initial phase. Trivia like Texas Instruments was one of the first MNC to setup in Bangalore.
However it really drags down as it progresses. There is much discussion but little that fascinated me. This was probably the first episode from this host that I abandoned before the end. Honestly, few folks might like it but there are much better avenues to start with than this episode.
To Be or Not to Be (1983)
Terribly unoriginal
It is hard for this film to be bad since for the most part, it is a carbon copy with exact dialogues, even exact positioning of scenes from the original of 1942. With such a brilliant film forming as the base, it's hard to go wrong if you don't deviate much. This film, atleast in my version, only deviated in two parts from the original: the arrest of her dresser and the useless ending. I do not yet understand why they changed the ending considering that adding those extra characters added no value to the film.
Acting is of less parity compared to the older one with the lead actor playing a far better role in that. The film tries to make one emotional in one particular scene with it's sombre sound score but fails miserably. It isn't a bad film but there is no reason to see such a horribly unoriginal version when a far superior one already exists.
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
If you prick us, don't we bleed
Making a film based on some event in hindsight is relatively easy. Making it whilst the event is still going on is very tough, especially in context of large wars. This Lubistch film might be the director's masterpiece (atleast, in my humble opinion; it is), made in the midst of second world war. Carefully piecing hilarious comedy sections whilst still standing the test of time in the modern era is no easy task.
I can't help but compare this film with Chaplin's The Great Dictator which was made when US hadn't officially even entered the war and Chaplin had difficulty finding resources to fund such an ideological film. However, whilst that film ends with a resonant message for peace and idealism, this one sticks more to proper comedy. It was remade in 1983 but the original is way better.
The acting is pitch perfect from all the cast members (something that was missing from the remake of this film).
Rollerball (1975)
Corporate dystopia
A world where violent sports that has deaths a regular part of it enjoyed by people, world divided into corporations, 'corporation hymns' and decisions taken by executives to be followed by commoners alike; almost like a two tiered system atleast. The so called upper echelon of executives take the decisions for the subservient class.
The movie's basis is that the main protagonist, who also happens to the best player of the titular game 'RollerBall' is being forced to retire but isn't told why. All he knows is that executives take decisions for the 'good' of society, atleast that's what being force fed.
I like a character from the film who spends half the runtime tirading against the Tokyo team as if they are his worst enemy and not the ruling class that has created the system of tyranny that perpetuates such a violent game. In a pivotal scene, we can see, all players take repetitively the name of their team as if they have been programmed to do so.
The set designs are good, the game well created and sound score cold and calculating. Everything proper for a dystopian film. I am not a big fan of the lead actor though, but I guess that comes down to personal preference.
On a tangent, unrelated to the film, even if we assume that a future corporate society comes up that removes poverty and material necessities at the cost of freedom; it would be a net minus for the population. 20th century political theorist John Rawls said that liberty and opportunity trump over income and in case a person has to choose amongst them; liberty/freedom and opportunity should win over income exacerbities.
Desk Set (1957)
I'd match my memory against any machine's any day
Katherine Hepburn 's character says the above line in the film, which looking back, has aged really poorly. Now, I know, it's supposed to be a comic film and not a documentary or a research stuff, but the film has hardly any redeeming points. It has terribly unfunny at the best of points (when the two main characters are together alone) and unwatchable when other useless characters join in. The plot goes nowhere for the first half and it has to be one of the weakest links in Hepburn's career. I would say something about acting but this kind of film hardly requires much acting chops to showcase. It's so unfunny that a viewer is put off from even watching this wailing cycle of nonchalance.
Dear Comrade (2019)
I lost braincells after seeing this film
What's the point of showcasing all that violence in the first half if the plot doesn't even start until the second half of the film? And why so much excessive fight scenes when ultimately, violence doesn't solve anything in this so called 'crime drama' that is soaked in melodrama in some parts. I would have been more satisfied if the violence depicted in the film was actually directed towards an end and not towards random folks who are unrelated to the plot.
Oh, and the acting. The girl has like two faces she can make and the main actor mediocre as well. I do not know if he's a big actor in the regional film industry or not but he's extremely passive in this film and has like a violent streak even in his normal scenes.
Also, why make the film so long when it can be compressed in one third the equation? They say time is money; so will the director compensate me for the time I have lost watching this braindead creature that I will refrain from even calling 'cinema'.
Gadar 2 (2023)
Unimpressive for the most part
The film essentially boils down to two parts: violence in the last hour (much of it unneeded and only there to pad the plot which gets more loopy around itself and almost sounds cliched ) and multiple songs (none of which are worth hearing). To make matters worse, the acting is quite bad. Melodramatic by Ameesha Patel and amateurish by the newer cast. The only exception is the lead character, Sunny Deol , who plays his part with the same vigor as he did in the first part of the film.
I might go off on a little tangent here but I have a propensity to dislike exceptionally long Hindi films that unnecessarily prop up the subject matter to no avail and then put in four/five songs that completely are unlistenable. Not that exceptions don't exist, I absolutely liked Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker which clocks in at nearly 4 hours but that's a far superior film to this with songs that can run circles around this.
Some folks might say that the film is a bit jingoistic in nature but that hardly mattered to me simply because it was more boring than anything else. It failed to emotionally resonate with me in any way, so anything the film might have to say completely fell flat onto me.
Purani Haveli (1989)
Interesting B grade film
This is my first film from the Ramsay brothers. The movie opens up with a proper shot of a haunted mansion accompanied with chilling sound. It goes on at a good pace and recreates suitable horror (for the budget and time it was produced). However, it is let down by amateurish acting by most characters (I only recognized one actor from the film) and three musical tracks that are best skipped.
The film tries to blend comedy with horror in separate parts and some might find it interesting. However, it creates a tangential story which I found weaving away from the main plot. In fact, the main arc could be done away with in a smaller time frame, if wanted, but I assume constraints of commercial cinema forced them to make a proper 2+ hr long film that sometimes feels draggy.
Murphy's War (1971)
Ravaged by War
During World War 2, a soldier sees his entire ship get blasted by a German submarine. He is set on a revenge against those who committed that atrocity. During his act of revenge, he becomes more and more deranged in trying to get what he wants despite the optimal conditions suggesting something else.
Peter O Toole plays the lead protagonist in an excellent role and the film delves into morally ambiguous territory. His actions indirectly lead to the killing of an innocent person and his reckless commandeering could go in uncharted territory. Is he really a 'hero' against the bad German guys or a person set on a personal agenda?
In either case, my main gripe with the film is that it is extremely slow. The subject matter could be delved into easily within the length of an hour, yet the director chooses to pad it to twice the runtime. On the plus side, there are no CGI sequences and everything is filmed on location which lends an authentic feel to it.