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Pookkaalam (2023), a Comedy Drama for the whole family
In Pookkaalam, a Malayalam comedy, Director Ganesh Raj takes on the challenge of telling a humorous story about a centenarian and his nonagenarian wife who get into a marital dispute. The film succeeds in balancing humour with pathos, and the result is a heartwarming and thought-provoking film that will appeal to audiences of all ages. He has crafted a whimsical film that tackles sensitive topics with grace, never letting them dominate the narrative. Overall a good cinema and gets a Ripe from Mangoidiots. The film’s lead couple, Vijayaraghavan and K P A C Leela, are both excellent in their roles. Vijayaraghavan brings a sense of warmth and humour to the…
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Star Trek Picard, I loved the final episode
Season 3 of Star Trek Picard started tamely. I was disappointed to see Picard throwing everything he stood for by lying to Captain Shaw and sacrificing many for his son. However, Episode 9 titled Vox brought it all together nicely and made sense. The final episode was a treat for the fans as the writers did an excellent job of wrapping up the storylines. Instead of high adrenaline, nail-biting action sequences, we got a treatment that suited the age of the characters. It was a fitting end to the series, but I wish we got a glimpse of the earth below! Overall, Star Trek Picard season 3 was a great watch…
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Hello Tomorrow! (TV Series) is a mixed bag
If you have an Apple TV subscription check out their retro-futuristic (it means it happens in the 1960s but shows future tech) science fiction tv show called “Hello Tomorrow”. We see cars with no wheels, levitating, but powered by internal combustion engines. Large dials, CRT screens on TVs and no silicon chip revolution. Robots do all the work and so on. The story is about a travelling salesman and his crew selling homes on the moon. I am in the third episode, it has been a mixed bag. But I am enjoying the “futuristic” tech.
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Murder Mystery 2 (2023), predictable yet enjoyable
The sequel delivers exactly what you expect and that’s the reason Murder Mystery 2 was enjoyable. It had its dull moments and conveniently convoluted sequences, but its focus on being humorous and not worrying about logic or offering explanations makes it a fun watch. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston have delivered what they do best, more than the first film the action sequence in this one was more elaborate and I liked them too. The film gets a Raw from Mangoidiots. Nick and Audrey Spitz are invited to the wedding reception of Maharajah Vikram on his private island, where he gets kidnapped. Soon Nick & Audrey are on the case.…
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Mister Mommy (2022), an eccentric plot squandered
When I read the noticed poster of this film, Mister Mommy (2022) on Netflix I was intrigued. A male is shown with a pregnant tummy! Add to that, it was starring Genelia D’Souza, an actress I love from her early Tamil films like Sachein (2005) and Santosh Subramaniam (2008). Sadly, the actual film was a total failure, the screenplay was non-existent. It felt like the movie was being made up on the set. Gets a rotten rating on the Mangoidiots scale. Amol Kote (Riteish Deshmukh) works as a physical education trainer in a school in Britain, he is a strict disciplinarian and he inflicts the kids with near corporal punishments.…
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Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2023), is an unbelievably simple film!
What can good casting, attention to the smallest detail, brilliant acting and natural background score do? It can produce a wonderful film like Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2023). The lead actors starting with Mammootty, Ramya Pandian and Ramya Suvi were outstanding. The film gets a ripe rating. In the first fifteen minutes, we are transported to the holy town of the Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni. The camera of the cinematographer Theni Eswar doesn’t miss anything in the market or the corridors of the lodge there or the eatery during a road trip. The story is about what happens when the leader of a group of devotees on…
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Mukundan Unni Associates (2023), a different type of hero
In Indian cinema, there is only one type of hero and heroine. They are good people & honest beyond fault, even when they are involved in illegal acts they do it for the common good which is revealed to all in the end. If the hero is a money-minded capitalist or a power-hungry leader, he turns a fresh leaf and becomes a saint in the climax. The heroine will be a fine example of an ideal citizen, and in general, they pick their partner based on his virtue. The Malayalam comedy film Mukundan Unni Associates (2023) directed by Abhinav Sunder Nayak, has broken away from this mould and that alone…
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Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?, a miniseries that was gripping
Can a half-a-line plot make a gripping mini-series? To see one, watch the Netflix show Pepsi Where’s My Jet? It is about a twenty-year-old John Leonard in the 1990s, fighting the mighty PepsiCo to make good on their promise of rewarding a Harrier fighter jet for those who collected seven-million Pepsi points in 1995. The four-episode series was not a courtroom battle, not a thriller of corporate espionage, not of unexpected twists, yet it was interesting and made me complete over an evening. If you ask what John Leonard did was audacious, yes it was! I liked the way the director Andrew Renzi focused on the two main individuals, John Leonard…
