Change Your Image
dvdusi
Reviews
Vir Das: Abroad Understanding (2017)
It's just not that funny...
It was with a great joy I turned on Vir Das' stand-up show. Knowing him from Bollywood comedies with great timing.
But as much as I wanted to like his show, it was just not that funny, unfortunately. At times cringe worthy with original ideas just not working (with one scene which he probably thought would be his "somebody's gonna get a hurt real bad"). Sometimes his original ideas were just flat. I did not laugh out (even loud) even once. At best a smile.
After watching stand-up shows with Russell Peters, Kevin Hart, Louis CK etc this one just seemed like on amateur level.
And his Indian accent was unfortunately NOT something I got used to. And I know it's a part of the joke or the whole set up, but it just did not work for me.
I know this was his first try, and I must give him kudos for the effort. But when you get a Netflix special, it's expected that you deliver.
I give the four stars for the effort and he made me smile (at best) a couple of times. But I expect more from a stand-up comedian.
Jawani Phir Nahi Ani (2015)
A comedy well done!
I expected nothing from this movie when I went to see it. I thought it's Pakistani so why not support it. The impression I had of the movie from the promotions was of a mediocre copy of a ton of Bollywood and Hollywood movies. But I had seen two Pakistani comedies recently - Na Maloom Afraad and Wrong No. - which were good so I hoped JPNA was something like that.
But JPNA not only surpassed all my expectations, it surprised me and it took Pakistani film standard to a whole another level (just like Khuda Kay Liye did when it came out, and the same with Waar).
The comedy material of this movie is highly original and entertaining thanks to the writer Vasay Chaudhry. I literally laughed out loud throughout the film. I actually appreciated the song breaks so I could catch my breath.
I was a bit reserved towards the costumes of the women and some of the drinking related scenes/situations. Not because I am not used to it, but because expecting it to be a Pakistani film, maybe it should not go down that road. But all in all what I did appreciate wholeheartedly was the type of comedy it was. Not forceful or sex-oriented, which movies with these type of topics tend to be. It was a good and clean comedy that you can enjoy with both friends and family.
The director Nadeem Baig did a very good job by holding everything together, getting the best out of the actors and making sure the movie gets a grand scale, and the movie paced smoothly, unlike Wrong No. which dragged a bit. It did not feel like or look like a low budget film, also because of all the actors who were superb in their acting and comedic timing. A special mention to Humayun Saeed who you definitely have not seen like this before. He was so good!
Go watch this with an open mind and take it as it is: A comedy film (Maybe more suited for the Pakistani audience because a lot of jokes and one liners are directed towards the Pakistani people, but I believe non-Pakistanis will also enjoy this). Highly recommended.
Oblivion (2013)
Watch Moon instead!
Oblivion is a big budget turkey that I did not feel for, root for, relate to or enjoy from start to finish. Why, you may ask. And the answer is simple: because I have already watched this type of movie before, just far, far, far better than this poop Tom Cruise crapped out.
Now, I am not a Cruise hater, I always look forward to his movies, but he delivers another major disappointment after Jack Reacher.
The another movie I am talking about is Moon with Sam Rockwell. And that's because the two movies deal with the same subject. I think the main difference why Moon worked for me and not Oblivion is because the makers of Oblivion had such a big budget to spend that they just had to throw in everything to spend the money. A bit of heartless action, half baked suspense, a type of "I am alone on Earth" type of movie, except he is not (not a spoiler by the way), a bit of important plot references related to famous book quotes just to make the movie look like it has some kind of deeper meaning. The result, in my opinion, is that the film ends up being meaningless and direction-less. It does not know what it wants to be and that's why it felt like a torture to sit there and watch this. It promises something in one scene and then it builds your expectations, crushes them, and in next scene it decides to take another direction.
But fortunately, Moon did not have a big budget to toy around with, so the makers had to keep it simple and boy, was it effective!
I believe that the people who are praising Oblivion have not seen Moon. So I recommend to skip this one at the movies and rent Moon instead. You won't regret it!