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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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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…
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அதிகமான முறை திரையரங்குகளுக்குச் செல்பவர்கள் யார்?
எந்த நாட்டினர், ஆண்டிற்கு அதிகமான முறை திரையரங்குகளுக்குச் செல்கிறார்கள்? உங்கள் யூகம் தவறு. அது சீனாவும் இல்லை, இந்தியாவும் இல்லை. நீங்கள் எதிர்பாரா நாடு அது – ஐஸ்லாந்து, அவர்கள் தான் ஆண்டிற்கு 4.3 முறை திரையரங்கிற்குச் சென்று படம் பார்க்கிறார்கள். அவர்களுக்கு அடுத்து, தென் கொரியாவினர். மொத்த எண்ணிக்கையில் ஆண்டிற்கு அதிகமான பேர் திரையரங்குகளுக்குச் சென்றதில் இரண்டாவது இடம் இந்தியாவிற்கு. சந்தேகமில்லாமல் முதலிடத்தில் சீனா, அவர்கள் 3.2 பில்லியன் (320 கோடி) முறை ஓர் ஆண்டிற்குச் சினிமாக்களைத் திரையரங்கில் பார்த்திருக்கிறார்கள். இந்தக் கணக்கெடுப்புகள் 2018யில் எடுத்தவை. பெருந்தொற்றின் காரணத்தால் இந்த எண்ணிக்கைகள் சீனாவில் (கொரோனாவைக் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் வைத்திருந்தும்) மூன்றில் ஒன்றாகக் குறைந்திருக்கிறது. இந்தியாவில் 1.4 பில்லியன் (140 கோடி) என்பது 0.3 பில்லயனாகக் (30 கோடி) குறைந்திருக்கிறது. இது ஒருபுறமிருக்க ஒ.டி.டி. (இணையவழி) நிறுவன வருவாய், ஆண்டிற்கு 20% என்று அடுத்த ஆறு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு வளரும் என்கிறார்கள். இந்தத் துறையில் இந்தியா தான் உலகிலேயே வேகமாக வளரும் சந்தை என்றும் இத்துறையினர் சொல்கிறார்கள். 2020யில்…
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Which country goes to movies the most?
If I ask you, the residents of which country go often to the cinemas, you are sure to get it wrong. It is not the Indians, not the Chinese, and not even the Americans. <wait for the answer> The top place goes to the Icelanders. The cold country of 330,000 residents visits on an average 4.3 times to a cinema hall in 2018 for watching a film. Next to them (again a surprise entry) are the South Koreans who visit 4.2 times a year. The Americans at 3.7 visits come at the third position. Indians and Chinese don’t figure in the top 30 entries as per World in Figures by…
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Mein Ende Dein Anfang (2019)
Reading the description that talked about Quantum Physics and the opening scene mentioning the same, I wrongly assumed the German film Mein Ende Dein Anfang (My End is Your Beginning) to be a science-fiction, it was not. It was a drama, covering the familiar story of love, followed by a tragic loss and then fate playing its cruel game on you. The film was exhibited online for free at the Goethe-Institut on-demand service and gets a mangoidiots rating of ‘Raw’. Nora (Saskia Rosendahl) and Aron (Julius Feldmeier) are madly in love and on a fateful day they get caught up inside a bank during an armed robbery attempt. That changes…
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Wadjda (2012)
What a simple yet inspirational film this was! The first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, that too by a female Saudi director in her debut film: Wadjda (2012). It was about a little girl who wants to buy a cycle and race with it against her neighbour’s boy. In a conservative society like Saudi, this was not so easy. The film traces her journey. Wadjda is a 10-year girl living in Riyadh with her mother who works in a school that requires a long commute and her father visits them once in a while. She is friends with a boy named Abdullah of the same age next door.…
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Corniche Kennedy (2016)
Corniche Kennedy (2016) is a French drama about a bunch of teenagers over a summer enjoying themselves on the beaches of Marseille, France. In the beginning, the film impresses you with its authenticity but later slides into cliche territory. Hence it gets a Raw rating from Mangoidiots. It is available for free viewing from the Institut francais website till the 10th of April 2021. The film by director Dominique Cabrera starts on a highway bridge overlooking the sea below. A bunch of kids are risking a jump from there to a depth of several tens of feet. These are kids from the poorer background of the town, they are just…
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Lulu femme nue (2013)
Lulu femme nue (2013) is a French comedy-drama about the midlife crisis of a housewife who runs away from her home & kids while travelling outstation for a job interview. Even with brilliant acting by the protagonist Lulu, because the film feels familiar throughout, it fails to jazz you. Still, it is a good watch due to its simplicity. It is available for free viewing from the Institut francais website till the 10th of April 2021. Karin Viard plays Lucie (Lulu) who has three kids and a loveless marriage. One day she is in an outstation town appearing for a job interview, where she gets rejected. Due to some minor…
