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Hereditary (2018) - movie review

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Hereditary (2018) Rating   - 5/5 Cast : Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro Directed by Ali Aster Review by Zulfiqar Horror is a genre, which I have always ventured a little tentatively. Whole throughout my life, I have seen just a handful of them. And to be fair, I have squint-saw them in their supposedly juicy but fearful bits. But the satisfaction of finding art in this heckle-raising genre for me personally has been a futile experience. I find it not an art but as an exploitation. But then, as I mentioned my view is anemic as I haven’t seen many of them. My opinion however changed when I watched ‘Conjuring’. It gave me a notion that even horror has an artistic facet to it. But, ‘hereditary’ confirmed for me that this genre is a great branch of craftsmanship in genius hands. Ali Aster absolutely overpowers the audience with chills as much as with his wonderful writing this epic horror movie. The horror element he provides on th...
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Thithi (2015) - movie review

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Thithi (2015) – movie review Rating – 5/5 Cast : Channegowda, Thammegowda Directed by Raam Reddy Review by Zulfiqar             In a time when Indian cinema is suffused with commercial pot-boilers in every regional language, with very thinly scattered (almost reduced to miniscule) number of serious films, which drive sense into the audience mind and strike the chord of plausibility, comes ‘Thithi’, a beautifully crafted kannada film, which resonates the vibes of Satyajit Ray’s Appu trilogy. Like the master filmmaker’s movie, ‘Thithi’ has a keen eye for reality and the nature of rural life, an almost forgotten chapter in Indian cinema. Even if rural movies are made, they are redundant with meaningless humor, which completely masks the real trials and tribulations, which the country populace faces and lives with.             Raam Reddy, a new director...
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Fargo - Season 3 Review

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Fargo (season 3)        - review rating (4/5) Cast : Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, David Thewlis Written by Noah Crawley and others Review by Zulfiqar             The basic template of Fargo has been set since the first season. It’s simple. And so, utterly complex to plot. It has two storylines or preferably three. These lines coincide by accidents, while an innocent cop goes about the case like a voyage in the dark. The thing which is most predictable about the plot is its unpredictability, as it surely coming.             But the main thing which gels the whole scenario is the quaint atmosphere of the ice smothered localities of Minnesota. Along with the scenic geographical aspect, the series has a background of simple citizenry of Northern parts of the country, which is untouched by the guile of...
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War Machine (2017) - movie review

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War Machine – rating (2.5/5) Cast : Brad Pitt, Daniel Betts, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Tilda Swinton Directed by David Michod Review by Zulfiqar             The only problem with war Machine is that it doesn’t give a proper ending. It however rightfully elaborates the problem of America’s war in Afghanistan. The newly appointed US army unit head in the above mentioned country, General Glen McMahon, is at confusion of solving the problem of insurgency. He wants to turn a new leaf, but at the same time is faced with the biggest dilemma of US army’s presence in the war-strife nation.             His internal thought is rightly voiced in the form of a young sergeant, who questions him rebelliously as to what exactly their unit’s position was. The young fellow is confused when he is decreed by his superiors that they will be rewarded...
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3 10 to Yuma (2007) - movie review

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3 : 10 to Yuma – rating (4/5) Cast : Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster, Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol Directed by James Mangold Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard Review by Zulfiqar             Ben Wade is a famed outlaw, who masterminds looting carriages with bank money and doing stick-ups. He is a great shot. He has a posse with a dangerous and faithful right-hand man, Charlie. To Charlie, his word is law and he would go any extent to fight for his boss. Ben doesn’t give hoot even after he is captured because either Charlie will see him out or his notoriety itself will find a way. Ben kills with no mercy and has no fear. But, he is an artist. And there lies his redemption.             3 : 10 to Yuma is a classic western, because it has that righteous hero and dangerous adversary. But it is a great modern western, because the...
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Closer (2004) - movie review

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Closer (2004) – rating (4.5/5) Cast:     Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts Direction : Mike Nichols Writer : Patrick Marber Review by Zulfiqar While watching the movie, Closer (2004), you could understand why romance is much more complicated than rocket science. At least, in rocket science, your failed launches have a compensation of repeated trials.           Based on the play by Patrick Marber, ‘Closer’ boldly and shamelessly make us see inside the turmoil of love and passion and the way it leaves destruction in its wake. It starts with a man falling for a woman. He is a obituary columnist. She is a waitress (if you don’t count her earlier career of stripping). He moves in with her, but after some duration, he falls for anther woman, a photographer – especially for book-covers. Didn’t know that such career existed, nor did I know an obituary columnist. With his momentary pra...
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Rangasthalam (2018) - nostalgic telugu nativity of 80s

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Rangasthalam (2018) –     rating (4/5) Cast : Ram Charan Tej, Jagapathy Babu, Aadhi Pinisetty, Prakash Raj, Samantha Director : Sukumar Review by Zulfiqar             Revolution is a never ending relish-of-a-concept in movies. But with Telugu movie industry having got inclined to answer to the whims of commercial box office returns with formulaic, mindless romances, the real stories and concepts have been pushed to the background. There are only a few scattered telugu movies in the last 10 years, which would define the advances made in the industry. A political drama like ‘prasthanam’, fantastical tale with technical flamboyance as in ‘bahubali’, dejected lover’s daring reasoning of his feelings in ‘Arjun Reddy’, recent psychological thriller ‘awe’ and a few more probably.             Sukumar’s Rangasthalam belongs to this meager cluster o...
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