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Punjabi Parmesan by Pallavi Aiyar
Pallavi Aiyar is an award-winning foreign correspondent. Earlier this century she had lived in China for nearly a decade and wrote a wonderful book about the rise of China titled “Smokes and Mirrors” which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Then she moved with her family to Brussels and lived there for the next four to five years. After Belgium, she lived in Jakarta (Indonesia) for a few years and then in Japan. You cannot find a better author to analyse and provide a candid perspective of a country than Pallavi Aiyar. With her own experience of living in Belgium, the interviews she had conducted, and her role as an UN-accredited journalist,…
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Nothing to Declare (2010),
It was unimaginable that in the centre of Europe where two world wars took place, half a century later integration of economies and laws between the involved countries will happen. Nothing to Declare (Rien à déclarer) is a humorous take on the events leading up to the implementation of the eurozone. The Franco-Belgian comedy doesn’t take place in Brussels or Paris but in a small village that is part of both countries. The officers featured are not leaders, but two customs officers on the border checkposts. The film narrates how the commoners are affected by the noble ideals of the European Union. It gets a Ripe rating in Mangoidiots for…
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Mandibules (2020)
Mandibules (2020) is a French comedy about two petty thieves finding a giant fly and trying to train it for their personal gain. Reading the description, I had expectations for the film but it turned out to be routine. The film exhibited as part of the French film festival by ICAF gets my Raw rating. When driving a stolen car to collect a parcel, Jean-Gab finds a giant fly in the trunk. His friend Manu, gives an idea of training the fly and using that to earn money. The two go in search of a place to house the fly and do the training. Initially, they use a mobile home…
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Falling Strong by Stephen J Alexander
Falling Strong – A Novel by Stephen J Alexander, is a fiction set in a future (2032) Europe & then moves to the USA. The book is part 2 of a trilogy, but as the author says it can be read standalone as well, which is what I did. I liked the book, it kept me engaged that I had to read it in a single sitting in a few hours. Alice is the wife of an upcoming movie director Nathan. The young couple is living in a villa in Italy near Milan, when one-day Alice gets kidnapped by Catalan separatists to the city of Olot in Girona, Spain. Not…
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2 Alone in Paris (2008)
During the early days of the pandemic, we saw pictures of the roads of the busiest cities in the world being completely empty and with subsequent lockdowns, the scene became familiar. But to see the famous parts of Paris being deserted and void of people in 2008, when this film was made, should’ve been eerie. That’s the feeling the film, 2 Alone in Paris (Seuls Two), by Directors Ramzy Bedia and Eric Judor tries to create in the audience, unfortunately, the rest of the movie in the name of being a comedy comes out absurd and makes you feel stupid. Available on Netflix it gets my ‘Rotten’ rating. Gervais is…
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What We Wanted (2020)
What We Wanted (Was wir wollten), a German language drama from Austria covers the strained relationship of a married couple who are unable to have a baby. The lead pair of Lavinia Wilson and Elyas M’Barek make the film enjoyable, but the screenplay finds itself wanting in many places. Available on Netflix, I give the film a rating of Raw. Alice and Niklas are busy professionals with their individual jobs. They have been trying to conceive a baby for years and have exhausted the government-subsidized number of attempts (four) for fertility procedures. To take their minds off and rediscover the love in their lives they go on a vacation to…
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Spoiled Brats (2021)
Spoiled Brats (Pourris gâtés 2021), a French comedy is a film that is as simple as it gets. It is about a millionaire in Monaco pretending to be penniless so that he can teach his three children the value of money and the importance of working. The city-state looks stunning in the visuals. This was a feel-good film that was predictable yet entertaining and I liked it. Available on Netflix, it gets my Raw rating. Philippe Bartek (Artus), Alexandre Bartek (Louka Meliava) & Stella Bartek (Camille Lou) are the three children of a super-rich single dad Francis Bartek (Gerard Jugnot). The eldest, Philippe is a gourmet and comes with useless…
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GoodBye Soviet Union (2020)
The twentieth century will be remembered for the two world wars and the cold war. While a lot of movies had covered the western military and spy operations in eastern Europe including the recent The Courier (2020), there have been only a few that showcased the lives of ordinary people living on the wrong of the iron curtain. Exceptions were movies like Good Bye Lenin (2003), a period film that happens during the unification of Germany when a young man tries hard to keep his sick mother believing that East Germany hasn’t fallen. Goodbye Soviet Union (Hüvasti, NSVL), a film from Estonia made by Lauri Randla follows the life of…
