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Golam (2024)
A commendable howdunnit
A howdunnit murder mystery with an interesting story turned into a script that needs more drafts. The direction with the use of camera and music tries to cover up any weakness in the script which kind of works by the second half of the movie. The over-the-top use of music reminded me of how some soap operas use plagiarised over-the-top action music from movies for no reason while showing close-ups of everyone in that scene. Even though this was only two hours, it could still have trimmed another twenty minutes out of it and it would've worked better. The lead actor wasn't particularly bad but besides his chiselled body and stoic posture, he couldn't really bring the audience to care for him as the lead. But all the other supporting cast did their roles really well. The moments where I first thought their acting was a bit over the top were justified to be like that once the mystery starts unravelling. The different demography of people in an office setup felt quite real for the current time and not in the stereotypical way that is usually seen in movies.
There are a lot of aspects that may feel silly but the film manages to be engaging especially in the second half, and I felt I could forgive a lot of its mistakes. The film ends with a promise of a sequel which I can only imagine to be much bigger in scope and I don't think that is really viable with the current setup.
On the whole, despite all its issues, it felt like a commendable attempt of an investigation thriller that tries something different in Malayalam, even though it clearly borrows a lot from Agatha Christie to CSI.
Thalavan (2024)
A very neat investigation thriller
A very neat investigation thriller that is able to be well made with nuanced while being pretty commercial. What I loved the most about the movie other than the perfect pacing of this movie is the theme that all policemen start thinking like criminals. That could raise a lot of questions but it is truly a way of thinking that would help understand and help police in general too. The way the film starts with a "Charithram Enniloode" style show and how the main story is started may not seem the best way to start the movie at first, but it works out great later. The way the film was able to move through so many characters while slowly revealing the small connections throughout was really fun to watch. The intensity brought out by the actors helped a lot too, the acting was really great across the board. The way the movie ended would've made me think they were setting up an unnecessary sequel if they hadn't started the movie they did. Because of how it began and was set up before the actual story began, it was convincing to me that there must be something more to the story even though seemingly everything was tied up. The song felt unnecessary and didn't feel like it matched with how the rest of the movie was going because it directly stood with that character at that point instead of being a spectator. There were a couple of scenes where the editing seemed off, maybe they didn't shoot it keeping the 180 rule, I just noticed that the editing seemed jarring for no reason in those scenes. But these small issues didn't really affect my enjoyment of the film. It's the better investigation movie of the year in Malayalam and I'd be interested in the sequel.
Indian (1996)
Kamal Haasan Masala
I went into the theatre thinking this was a 4k remastered re-release and not just simply releasing before the sequel. If there was any remastering done on this, it seems terrible. Even without my experience as a QC tech for films, I could've noticed a lot of digital conversion errors in it, just wouldn't know what those things were. There were also a lot of places where the picture quality dropped drastically. Did they lose all the good film prints or something? There were some scenes where the vfx was clearly the reason why the picture quality was dropping too.
Coming to the movie itself, even though I've never watched the movie itself, I've always kind of known the story and have seen some scenes here and there. So it was a surprise that most of the good parts of the movie were actually everything I already knew and the rest was pretty shallow and cringe. So, the movie was actually even more outdated than I thought it would be. The comedy scenes don't work. The music is out of place and not exactly for my taste. But even after saying all this, I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie. A lot of it was like watching Annyan before Annyan, so got to give credit for that. Kamal Hassan has an effect that just makes everything better. It is a proper masala film of the time that is beautiful to look at. Even though the songs didn't have a place, it was really nice to watch on the big screen.
The best portion of the movie has got to be the pre-independence flashback scenes. Even though those scenes were also over the top, they still felt more genuine than the younger Kamal Haasan scenes in the movie. It was also good at showing things daringly within limits and even though the dialogues said some things, the visuals communicated it to be more which worked great. The character motivations for both the Kamal Haasan characters were pretty well written even though all the other characters are paper thin, with a dialogue here or there to make them work enough. There may be a bit of my convincing myself that this is a good film to a certain point that it worked for me so much, despite all of its problems.
I don't really have much expectations for the sequel, but I want at least the politics part to be properly updated to the current situations.
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Could've been great
A meta concept of fiction turning into real horror is a classic horror setting and this movie also has some of the best dialogues in such stories. I mean, "When does fiction become religion?" is such a great dialogue. It should've worked great with these aspects on paper, great acting from Sam Neil, really great prosthetic work etc but it just didn't come together the way it should have. There's so much in this movie that feels half-assed. I don't know if it is because I saw a censored TV version but it just didn't fully commit to how horrific it could've been and a lot of the jumpscares felt cheap and not as good enough as it could've been. This could've used an hour more to build up the world and the themes instead of finishing everything under 90 minutes. That's the biggest mistake they made in my opinion. They were too eager to finish the movie instead of properly exploring everything that they could've.
Gekijôban Haikyû!! Gomi Suteba no Kessen (2024)
Exactly what could be expected from a Haikyuu movie
It's almost exactly what I expected out of this. For fans of the anime, this is a treat on the big screen. Even though I have already seen all that came before, I was never a huge fan and I remember little since the last season came four years ago. So those may have dampened my experience a little but it must work great for hardcore fans. The girl sitting beside me was certainly excited by the whole thing, trying to make her boyfriend excited, who hadn't seen the series. This is definitely not for anyone not familiar with the series.
The series and this movie always show the hard work and passion of these high school sports players in a very over-the-top almost touching toxic positivity level viewpoint. But it still has an endearing spirit that doesn't exactly make it too annoying. Even though I don't have any aptitude for any kind of sports, every time I watch Haikyuu, it does make me want to push myself physically a little bit. That's one of the things I like about it and keeps me watching this even if the whole thing as a narrative doesn't interest me too much.
Gojira -1.0 (2023)
Good homage to the original but not as great as everyone made it out to be
Finally watched Godzilla Minus One after hearing heaps of praise, and to be honest, I am a little underwhelmed, even though it is still good. This is just a Showa-era Godzilla movie plot made in a Heisei-era Godzilla movie tone using modern techniques. Even the acting, the VFX, and creature designs that utilize miniatures and suit-like movements show how much it is meant to be like an homage more than anything. Even the way the appearance of Godzilla in the city is visualized is just exactly like it was in the movies from the 50s and 60s. I feel like the high praise this gets is mostly from people who are not so familiar with the different Japanese iterations of Godzilla. That checks out by looking at the difference in reception that's closer to such a view from Japanese people and the immense acclaim it got from outside Japan.
The best Godzilla film is still the original 1954 version, and this doesn't even come close. But even if I had only seen that version, maybe I would've liked this more but after watching 30+ live-action Godzillas, this really doesn't say anything new, almost every single aspect of this movie is something that has been explored in a previous Godzilla movie, just maybe not in this specific combination. I prefer even the 2014 version, Return of Godzilla from 1984, and Shin Godzilla above this.
All that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this movie. This is still a really good Godzilla movie. The immediate post-war Japan and the different traumas that the people experienced there are shown in a unique perspective from similar themed films I have seen before. But it felt like it was not really explored enough. Criticizing Government actions while people's dedication is celebrated was something Shin Godzilla did better even though the context of it and the Government itself are vastly different. But the best part for me was when the original 1954 Godzilla theme started playing and it looked exactly like a modern version of the old movie. That theme music hits hard. On the whole, there's a lot in this movie that could've been subtler and a lot other that could've been more dramatic for my taste.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
One of the best prequels
The script for Furiosa was written along with the script for Fury Road and it can be felt here. A lot of things in Fury Road get a lot more weight after watching this movie. And it's not like other franchises where the prequel is designed to do that. Here it really feels like Fury Road really came after this and does not retroactively fit into the narrative. Anya Taylor Joy and Chris Hemsworth were just killing it here. Anya has proven multiple times how great she is but Hemsworth really comes out of his pretty boy image and shows his range in a pretty complex character. The lightheartedness he brings at moments show no sign of his Marvel roles and his dialogues at the end could have been disastrous if not handled well. But the real star is of course George Miller, that man is a crazy genius. His handle on different aspects of direction is again at full display here. The incredible action, the way he directs actors and so many spectacular editing choices are used which are not enough in cinema and a lot of times feel wrongly used, but he uses everything brilliantly.
One of the best action scenes of recent times was happening and in the middle of it, the theatre decided to give an interval, which is the only negative thing I experienced.
Although, I feel like there could be many who would be disappointed a bit if they expect exactly another Fury Road. This is much more of a story in chapters than a complete adrenaline-pumping movie. The action and chase scenes are incredible and do form a significant part of the movie, but it takes its time for the characters and drama too. Especially the ending not being too big and using the kind of dialogue it had may not work for a lot of people. But it was phenomenal for me. The best movie of the year so far. Watching Fury Road after this would be even more effective in my opinion.
The Brittany Murphy Story (2014)
DIsrespectful
Honestly, I don't know how exactly to feel about this cheap TV movie about Brittany Murphy. She was a beautiful, charming actress who I've loved in everything I have seen her in. Her role in Clueless, and the makeover part felt like just a stereotype of that time when the girl was actually pretty even before the makeover. But this movie shows how she wasn't considered "Hollywood" glamorous and how much that affected her. Beyond her films and the knowledge of her untimely death, I don't know much about her life, so that kept me interested in this movie. But the movie continuously tries to paint things in a ridiculous light, I have no idea what they want to tell. Things like the paparazzi twisting narratives and how opportunities are lost due to bad circumstances are good enough to create a compelling narrative but the film is very weird in the way it presents it. The acting is atrocious across the board and that doesn't help when the plot tries to be grey, so we can't really trust anything in it. The film almost feels like an insult to Brittany's memory, the way it portrayed different decision-making in her life. So many things are not touched upon and glossed over, that a lot of things doesn't make too much sense. I'm only giving this rating because it is somewhat of a true story but at the same time, should I give the lesser rating which I would've given it if it wasn't a true story because of how badly it affects that person's legacy?
Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil (2024)
90s Malayalam family comedy updated
Guruvayoorambala Nadayil follows the path of so many great 90s family comedy movies of Malayalam and updated it for the new generation. The bRomance between Basil's and Prithviraj's characters is truly the highlight of the movie. When Basil says "Ente Aanandhettan" that's better than all the romantic movies I've seen recently. The comedy of errors in the last act wasn't perfect but it had enough things going on well, that it worked really great. Guruvayoor in Malayalam cinema couldn't be mentioned without Nandhanam and that part was really nicely executed. Non-Malayalis who started watching Malayalam films recently would totally get confused by some of the things at the end.
The Guruvayoor sets were incredible. If I didn't know it was a set, I would've believed it was the real temple where I've visited so many times. Seeing places near Guruvayoor that I know very well was nice too.
I wasn't really impressed with the songs but the way they were visualized was nice. The really sad thing is how underutilized the female characters are when there is space for them to do things. Both Anaswara and Nikhila could have done way more in so many scenes that felt unfinished. Especially Nikhila Vimal is wasted with showing such potential for the character with that intro and plot points. That intro she got was really awesome and a fan inside me was ready to watch her do something but alas, she got to do nothing. It felt like there might have been more that was shot but they couldn't really coherently put it together, so opted to sideline them instead.
But despite all the flaws it had, it was an entertainer from start to finish in a purely Malayali way. Having a houseful responsive audience really do help with these types of films.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Not the worst movie, just dwindling for the franchise I guess
I didn't find it as horrible as all the reviews for it says. Maybe it's because I don't even remember the first Jaws which I saw as a kid and never saw any of the sequels. I didn't mind the idiosyncrasies of the shark following the family 1000s of kilometres faster than it can or the roar it makes which a shark could never make. All those make it dumb fun for me. The film tries to be emotional a bit and fails. But the cute kid made up a lot for it. The obsession of the characters was nicely portrayed but there was never any tension or drama to it. It was pretty light and whenever Michael Cain came on screen he made it feel like this is a slice-of-life feel-good movie. Overall it is a very mixed bag with nothing particularly strong but it was an easy breezy watch that kept my interest. If I'd have actually saw the three movies before this, maybe I would have been bored by this.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Solid continuation of the franchise
A worthy addition to the modern Planet of the Apes movies even though this is the weakest of those four for me. The VFX work for the world centuries after Ceaser is great and I would've only had praises for it if the previous entries weren't so good at it. Here, even though there were many moments where it was impeccable and on the whole it is great, the sheer scale of it seems to have affected perfection throughout the movie as much as it was in the previous entries. The story, themes etc are nothing really new. It's all explored or expected from this franchise. Even the characters don't have the depth the Reeves films had. But despite all that, it's the solid old-school yet modern treatment of the script and direction that makes the movie work so well. There's a familiarity to the drama, its progression, and even the music made it an easy and engrossing watch for me. The references to the original 1968 movie and its sequels were interesting too. I wonder how much of it would be retained in the future. I guess even if they disregard the sequels of the original, they would make it reach the original 1968 movie ending in the future films.
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Not as bad as I thought from the ratings
I haven't seen The Poseidon Adventures, and because of that, I feel like I enjoyed this to an extent since a lot of people seem to say this is more like a bad remake rather than a sequel. Sad that the first film I saw a young Michael Caine and Sally Fields turned out to be this. There's so much stupid writing in this and the production design also feels cheap compared to other Hollywood movies I've seen from that era. Characters and character arcs are so badly written, some don't make any sense and some are just the most annoying stuff. It still manages to have a good pace and intrigue to it even though nothing works out fully the way it should. It somewhat managed to have enough light moments that helped keep the pace without repetitiveness even when it failed at other things through that. Overall felt like an average disaster movie of that time but it definitely feel like the prequel must have been a superior movie.
The Fall Guy (2024)
Old school action comedy homage to stuntwork
An old-school action comedy that is focused on being a fun homage to the stuntpeople of Hollywood. It has mostly done what it set out to do. Always love it when movies reference other movies and this had a ton of it but some of it felt weird because in terms of fitting into the movie it felt forced but at the same time, that's how I'd reference a movie with friends in real life. But there was a lot of it that worked really well too. Mixing up Notting Hill and Pretty Woman feels like something I've already seen somewhere before but it was still fun. The whole movie was mostly like that where the whole thing is cliche af but it's still fun to watch even though it's nothing to boast about. It does have some incredible stunt work and in old-school fashion the end credits with the BTS were fun. The movie could've been some 20 minutes less and would've worked way better, nonetheless, on the whole a very entertaining movie.
The theatre was filled with what seemed like college kids and they were not getting a lot of the references to which I was laughing, and I wanted to explain the references, now how can I say the movie forced the references when I'm like this 😌
The Rookie (1990)
Worst from Eastwood
Easily the worst Clint Eastwood movie I've seen, as a director or actor. It's a buddy cop movie, that's where the plot starts and ends. It tries to use a whole lot of cliches in the most boring way possible. Charlie Sheen looks bored most of the time. Can't really distinguish between what's intentinoal and unintentional comedy. German villains in the story but casting Hispanic actors made a lot of stuff confusing for me until it was made clear by the third act. The Mexican stereotypes in the beginning only felt worse when I realized, the Hispanic actors using the slurs towards them are supposed to be German in the film. There were a few okay action scenes and car chases but then the movie indulges in them too much and made it repetetive. The whole thing felt like a few episodes from a TV series of that time in the middle of a season where the show loses its audience. And the sex scene just felt like Eastwood's desire to get dominated by Sonia Braga. It was very weird and just out of place with that scene where she rapes him. It couldn't be anything other than his thinly veiled kink. The possibility of that scene must be why he made this movie, I really can't see any other reason for the existence of this movie.
Immaculate (2024)
Lesser version of The FIrst Omen
After watching The First Omen, can't help but compare. The First Omen is definitely the better one of the two. There are so many similarities among both. The main problem with this film is it tries to cram everything under 90 minutes, whereas The First Omen had time to properly build everything in its two-hour runtime. Because of this issue, a few scenes and dialogues felt rushed and weird in the way it was shown. There could've been a lot more depth to a lot of aspects here if they had taken their time. But despite all that, this was still really good at what it was. The whole atmosphere and the cinematography were great. The need for control, bodily autonomy etc are very clearly explored. But the very ending that literally hits the politics on the face is what I loved about this movie. That part was what was a bit let down in The First Omen because it was part of a franchise. I felt like Sydney Sweeney was great and looked the part without really bringing her off-screen image. But the film had a lot of room for improvement too.
Aavesham (2024)
A full-on entertainer with a wildly fantastic Fahadh Fasil having so much fun
A full-on entertainer with a wildly fantastic Fahadh Fasil having so much fun. He is so good in this that the other main 4 actors who have done a brilliant job might go underappreciated. If it was any other film, they would have gotten a lot of praise but Fahadh is just ruling the screen here. I even forgot about Sushin's score after a point, which has as much importance as a character here. The comedy and the action worked great but it even brought an emotional element that worked very well for me. Towards the end, when the theatre was filled with laughs, I was having a hard time choosing to laugh or cry as it was emotional and funny at the same time. And that emotional part that is working in this movie with such a character, is something only an actor with the calibre of Fahadh can pull off. It was such a blast when the Illuminati song started playing at the end.
The First Omen (2024)
A thematically and cinematically superior prequel
It does follow the basic outline formula of the original and there's not much surprise plotwise. Even the supposed twist was very obvious from the very beginning. But even the original Omen worked more with how the mystery unravels to the characters than to the audience. The clear politics of this movie is where this truly surpasses the original. The true cult-like behaviours stemming from the belief that it is right, thinking control is very much needed by everyone at every level, which as an American film also clearly parallels the control of bodily autonomy being put into force currently. The idea that the ones who are working for the evil are different and "the others" are abandoned shows how it's the same people who believe in both sides and those outside don't even have a side in this.
The film also retcons some stuff and ties it up to the original which may not work for everyone but by the end, I was convinced with it. The ending setting up the franchise was more like a non-horror-type franchise building but I guess it works because this and the original is more psychological mystery than horror. Although this did have a lot of gore, some of it clearly homage to the original and some on the face gore clearly sending a political message for those who can catch it.
Nell Tiger Free has a great future. This and Too Old To Die Young are proof of that and I hope Hollywood utilizes it.
The Omen (1976)
Silly but engaging
I'm not sure if I've seen this or the remake but I had seen it as a kid and had a gist of it, plus a lot of pop culture references meant, I know what most of it's gonna be. Even with that, this film was pretty engaging and the mystery element worked really well. There were some aspects of it that made it feel like this clearly has some inspirations from The Exorcist but this one's better for me. A lot of it felt pretty silly and I'd agree with the critics of the time of its release more than the people about how great or not great this is. It's a fun movie to watch. But the way it approached a lot of things in this movie makes it clear that the impact of this movie has been culturally negative, bringing out possibilities of cult-like mentalities. But that's kind of true for a lot of movies from the 70s and 80s which is not entirely their fault. At the end of the day, it's an entertaining movie. But in itself as a movie, this doesn't really have too many things standing the test of the time compared to what it created through its impact.
Crew (2024)
Formulaic but fun
A formulaic but fun heist film. The three roles of the air hostesses from different backgrounds were tailor-made for these three stunning actresses and all of them showed why they are the stars that they are. The film had a lot of ridiculousness but the two-hour running time made sure everything went swiftly so we didn't stay on anything for too long. For all the "Vijay Vallya" character and parallels to the real events and the way the film tries to make it look like they are making these people pay, they also made sure to show that at the end of the day, even this film is just a corporate product to appease the people so nothing like this happens in reality by filling every single scene with product placements. If they were gonna use this much product placement, they could have at least not made it look like they are trying to take a stand against someone and such actions. These people would attend the parties hosted by those people abroad and joke about how this movie fooled people. But all that is not really about the movie which was always supposed to be just a fun caper and nothing more. But it could have certainly been better than this.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Dumb Fun. Better than the previous one
The Monsterverse films got progressively less serious in all aspects with each movie until Godzilla vs Kong in 2021 which became so completely ridiculous and fun that it was impossible to believe it was in the same universe as the 2014 Godzilla. It was mainly due to that I didn't like it much the first time but learned to appreciate it more on a rewatch for what it was rather than expecting a consistent tone from this particular cinematic franchise. Even though this one continues to be dumb fun it felt like a step up from the previous one. The central character here is essentially Kong and everyone else is a supporting character. Being the most emotionally available, that throughline itself was more than what the previous one offered. But here, the film is self-aware enough to call itself out but doesn't try to ram it too much.
Brian Tyree Henry was annoying af in the previous movie and would've changed nothing if he and the characters with him were removed from that movie. Here, he manages to be charming enough to fit into that comic relief role. The introduction to Dan Stevens's character made me feel like it would be another annoying character but he turned out to be one of the best things of this movie for me. A lovable hippy with great comic chemistry with Brian Tyree Henry.
The action and visuals were plenty and good for such a fun dumb movie. The writing is just there to justify the action and really nothing more. No point trying to find depth or logic in it. The inconsistencies in the franchise are growing but at this point, I don't think anyone really cares.
Every time Mothra has an appearance they subtly use the music from the original song of 1961 into the soundtrack without it playing out in the open. Give us the modern Mosra song already, please.
The Goat Life (2024)
A neat adaptation of the novel
All things considered a neat adaptation of Aadujeevitham. I read the novel around 15 years ago and loved it. I don't remember everything from it but there were some standout moments from the novel that I missed here. Maybe those were the more fictional aspects of the novel and this could be closer to Najeeb's real life, I don't know. But it really felt like that in the first half there was so much focus on certain aspects that could've been shortened with more impact even if they didn't include the parts from the book that I wanted to see since it's already three hours. The initial portions of Prithviraj as the newly arrived immigrant were also not as convincing as I would've liked. But the film fully commits in every department in the second half and makes such a beautiful experience. Prithviraj's transformation and his suffering are portrayed as a person who is very normal and innocent in contrast to the similar character in Mariyan (which took a lot of inspiration from this novel) who was essentially portrayed as a hero. Periyone song was incredible but it was too short and didn't fully give the impact it could've. In fact, a lot of scenes suffer from this because of poor editing. Other than Periyone, most of the music is either too much or just not matching what is going on. Honestly disappointed with the music. Even the ending of the movie felt a little abrupt, especially considering how the flashbacks were set up but it ended without the full payoff.
Even with all the problems I had Aadujeevitham is a solid movie and a neat adaptation of the novel with incredible performances, especially from Prithviraj. As someone who had read the novel, there were a lot of things that were easier to understand and also other things that I was disappointed with. It felt like it would be an entirely different experience for those who haven't read the novel.
Anchakkallakokkan (2024)
Great use of Style over substance where the writing could have been better
Anchakkallakokkan is one of those rare style-over-substance films where the style is very much blended with the rustic rawness of 80s Kerala that is not often seen. The most stylish characters here are the Gillappis who are presented with so much style and at the same time very rustic that if you think about how such characters with these specific qualities shown in the film would have been portrayed in the past, it would be either for comic relief or as pure villains unlike here which itself makes this worth a lot for me. The action set pieces are intricately designed to feel the rawness of it while being stylish. The shaappu fight in the middle was amazing, the only thing I would've wanted there was a little bit more blood because a lot of those would be way more damaging if it was real. I also loved the final showdown even if it felt like dragged just a little bit more than needed. Lukman's character is used for an introduction to the area and then we are moving through a lot of different stories contained in this village. Splicing his backstory a little bit more throughout would have worked a bit more for the viewers to invest in him more as a protagonist at the end because the gap between the focus given to him seems to have worked against having someone to really root for. Overall, there are a few issues with the writing which if they'd have done better, this movie could have been really great. Personally, Lukman's character was very relatable in a lot of ways and loved the ending so much and that end credit song slaps.
Even though it is understandable why they chose the title of the movie, it being a hard-to-pronounce word unless you have heard it before has been a major setback for the film as many have said it's too weird of a title to even try watching the film.
This movie could have been really great with better writing but even now it's a very well-made film that would benefit from a theater watch.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
Had a lot more potential
Even though I really liked the show, the good parts of the show was really good and deserved to be part of a much better show. Kurt and Wyatt Russel playing past and future versions of a character was really charming. But it was Mari Yamamoto who stole the show every time she appeared on screen, so much so that her appearance was what I was looking forward more like the occasional appearance of the monsters. But for all those good parts and the monster mayhem, there's so much things that are handled very badly. The human drama might not have been that bad when it was conceived but a lot of the situations were very forced and a lot of the dialogues were utter trash. The first three episodes were consistently of great quality and it was after that the quality dropped suddenly. Even though in totality, I thought it was good, it's a show that had great potential that ruined itself.
Friday Night Sext Scandal (2024)
Important
Even though the high school culture in this movie is not something I'm familiar with as someone not from the West, I've seen how it works through various movies. But the other side of it, the scandal aspect is something I've heard has happened even here. And you always get so surprised and disgusted with how it happens and not only that but how this many people can be involved with such acts. I thought this movie made a somewhat good depiction of how even the most unassuming people can turn into that. Although, if I wasn't familiar with American teenage movies and how the relationships work in such movies, I wouldn't have been able to think there was any truth in how things turned out in this. So, this felt real only because of my exposure to other movies, which could be totally wrong. The movie was still trying to make the main character more sympathetic than necessary by including a lot of things that are just in bad faith. The acting was really good overall and there were some things that worked very well but it also had a limited focus on what to tell which didn't really make it really good.
Another thing that this movie really made me think of is how especially these kinds of stories are undermined by having older actors. This movie could have had no explicit scenes at all and made the actors actually look like teenagers and the impact would've been huge. The horror and disgust would really bring out the point even if nothing explicit is shown. The fact that it shows a bit with the actors who are obviously older really negates a lot of impact and also makes the crime look lesser. The audience should understand that these are kids and not grown people which is a fact all the movies constantly try to erase. I really didn't think about it before that much but this movie kind of made me understand why that is important.
Crime of the Century (1996)
Makes a great case of what might have happened
I have heard some references to the Lindbergh baby in some TV shows even though I don't remember exactly where. Here, the film mostly centres around how the police and the attorneys pin it on an innocent man. The debate on whether he was actually innocent or not is still going on but even if the movie is largely fictional, the fact that the police left so many loopholes and manufactured evidence and witnesses is pretty evident. The movie makes a great case of how a foolish immigrant man gets caught up in this because of his foolishness and the police exploit it and pin everything on him. This being a TV movie, Isabella Rossellini playing the wife is a surprise. But most of the cast were pretty brilliant. The sad thing is the various techniques used by the police to coerce so many people into different situations are still a very real thing that we can't escape. The belief of some people being the primary reason others suffer is always an evil that humanity can't seem to stop, whatever kind of belief it is. The confidence of people who are wrong is always what the world relies on to maintain the status quo.
The film could have been way better if it tried to be but as a TV movie, it felt it was limiting itself too much. Still, by the end, when the text appeared about what happened afterwards I really started to get emotional.