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Journey to the West (2013)
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is an interesting fantasy comedy from China. It follows the journey of a Buddhist disciple who goes from places to places to save the villagers from the horrors of demons, he competes with four other commercial demon hunters. There is a lot of blood, killings and mutilations in the film, if you can avoid taking it to heart and see the comedy on the narration you will enjoy the film. It is available on the Kanopy streaming service. The first twenty minutes where a blood-thirsty water demon attacks the residents living on river stilt houses built was pictured very well. The action sequence…
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Bad Seeds (2018)
Bad Seeds (2018) is a French comedy that takes a familiar story and tries to present it interestingly, but the screenplay has little originality so it fails to leave you impressed. Don’t get me wrong, the film is highly watchable but have your expectations lowered. Available on Netflix. Waël (Kheiron) and his foster mother Monique (Catherine Deneuve) live in Paris and are involved in conning old shoppers visiting a local hypermarket, they also do other petty thefts to make a living. One of their acts goes wrong and Waël gets assigned to teach a bunch of students who have been caught doing misdeeds. Because of his background of being an…
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Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976) is one of the most successful (Portuguese) films in Brazil, which got nominated to Golden Globes as well. The film happens in the 1940s, and it follows Dona Flor, her first husband who dies prematurely, and her second marriage. It is available on the Kanopy streaming service and gets a MangoIdiots rating of “Ripe”. Dona Flor is from a middle-class family who is married to Vadinho, a jobless, flamboyant, alcoholic, gambler, and womanizer. Though Vadinho beats Dona for money and embarrasses her socially, she loves Vadinho as he was a great lover. Unfortunately, Vadinho drops dead during a street carnival turning Dona a…
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Space Sweepers (2021)
Space Sweepers (2021) is a Korean science fiction film, which gets a MangoIdiots rating of “Raw”. The plot is about how a bunch of misfits, space junk scavengers unknowingly get involved in saving the earth from complete destruction. They take on the most powerful and the greatest inventor in the universe, who is the owner of the largest corporation. The film was well-taken but fails to impress you as everything feels like you have already watched in earlier films on this genre of a dystopian world. It is available on Netflix. The lead actors playing the roles of Tae-ho, Captain Jang, Robot Bubs & Tiger Park have done their roles…
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Carmina or Blow Up (2012)
Carmina o revienta (2012) is a Spanish comedy film that is narrated in largely a monologue format yet feels interesting. It is about Carmina who runs a bar with an eatery that has run into tough times with frequent robberies and the insurance company rejected her claims on flimsy grounds. How she gets back at them is the story. Carmina is a self-made woman, who dominates over her alcoholic husband and maintains her daughter, a single mother and the grand-daughter. After covering the problems with the eatery due to the robberies, the film moves on to show the boldness of Carmina – the way she handles the debt collector and…
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Namaste Wahala (2021)
Namaste Wahala (2021) is a Nigerian rom-com in English that is about an inter-racial couple (Indian and Nigerian) falling in love and the hurdles they face from their families to get together. The film was made by Indian-Nigerian filmmaker Hamisha Daryani Ahuja as her debut attempt, and she has got it right. Though there is nothing new in the plot, I am bumping up my rating for the film to “Ripe” for the novelty of the location (Nigeria) and showing Indian-African cultural ties – I would love to see more Asian-African films. Available on Netflix. Raj (Ruslaan Mumtaz) is a young and smart Indian investment banker working in Nigeria. One…
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10 jours en or (2012)
10 jours en or (2012) is a French comedy-drama about a travelling salesman who accidentally had to take care of a six-year-old boy for 10 days. While there was nothing new in the film, Director Nicolas Brossette has managed to make an entertaining watch. It is available on Netflix. Marc Bajau (played by Franck Dubosc) is a bachelor who enjoys his freedom and travels across the country representing the clothing company he works for. In one city he meets an African lady who tricks him to be in-charge of her boy while she sorts out her problems. Not knowing what he is getting into Marc starts on his tour with…
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24 City (2009)
24 City (2009) is a Chinese film that had won accolades in international film circuits. A fictional take on a supposed Chinese state-owned factory in Chengdu that had produced aeronautical components in its heydays and is now in a bad shape. Its huge landholdings are parcelled off as a new apartment complex called “24 City”. The film is a documentary-style take on this in the way of interviews with former employees and their children. It is available on Kanopy.com. A former worker, a lady says I used to work before getting laid off in the 1990s and now I am doing tailoring as part-time work. She adds “If you have…
