chanishaj-26377 Reviews

Minnal Murali (2021)

A superhero movie that needs to be made and that need to be experienced...

[9/10 · 26 December 2021]

As a superhero origin story, Minnal Murali has probably every superhero cliché that you have seen multiple times by now.

But it is presented with such a honesty, an innocence that is unique to the Malayalam cinema, the execution never felt cliché.

With a fan-freaking-tastic score , believable impactful plot points and settings, good cinematography with some great shots, subtle quirky comedy, balance of dark and lighthearted moments, characters with depth and praiseworthy performances, this is a brilliant combination of Malayalam new wave and superhero genre.

There are some pacing issues and the low budget does affect the special effects.

But the creativity and emotions in this movie easily outshine those cons.

I honestly prefer this over most MCU and DCEU films.

Because Minnal Murali has something that most other superhero movies don't have, a heart...

Battlefield 1 (2016 Video Game)

Short but whole lotta sweet...

[9/10 · 19 August 2021]

Short but whole lotta sweet...

+Campaign structure - A combination of different 'War Stories' with memorable characters, unique gameplay and a touch of cinematic. Felt like a WW1 anthology mini series. Loved it.

+Looks +Gameplay +Score

9/10.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (2018 Video Game)

Love it

[9/10 · 18 July 2021]

+ Gameplay, so much fun. Combat is awesome. You can climb bloody nearly anything.

+ Story(s). I'm a sucker for this kind of history meets fantasy kind of stories. Add legends, myths, mysteries to the lot, for me its a winner.

+ Awesome abilities + Epic weapons and armour + RPGesque upgrades, choices, characters.

+ Music

9/10.

He Never Died (2015)

#BulletsBloodBingo

[9/10 · 17 June 2018]

What a weird, brutal, freaky yet ridiculously funny movie.. Brilliant performance by Henry Rollins, 'Jack' just became one of my all time favorite cinema characters. The fresh mysterious 'WTF' kind of story and characters, the performances, music, action, violence and blood, dark humor.. all are beyond awesome...

"It's hard to live when you can't die."

9/10

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Frank Capra + James Stewart = Pure Gold !!!

[10/10 · 17 June 2018]

Frank Capra + James Stewart = Pure Gold !!! (Jimmy my boy, you always have been my favorite..)

Brilliant performance, dialogues, scenes and pacing.. But the story.. Damn, what a story !! What a great story !!!

One man's battle against corporate corrupted politics for the truth justice and liberty.

One of the quintessential whistleblower films in American history. One of the most engaging political comedy drama thrillers of all time. That last 1/3 is a blast.

Just became one of my all time favorites.

10/10

M (1931)

A landmark in psychological thriller genre...

[9/10 · 17 June 2018]

WOW !!

What a movie...

While being a thrilling serial killer manhunt story, this one looks into the modern society where parent-child relationships are getting distant, the two sides of the law, police and underworld, insanity, the legal system, justice and right to live- even of a child killer.

One of Fritz Lang's best works. Cinematography is amazing. Performances are brilliant, specially from Peter Lorre.

It's a landmark in psychological thriller genre, A Masterpiece.

9+/10

No Smoking (2007)

Stephen King met David Lynch Inside the head of Anurag Kashyap...

[10/10 · 1 May 2018]

A movie made from Stephen King's short story 'Quitters, Inc', that's the idea I had about No Smoking before watching it. Well.. yeah and NO. 'Quitters, Inc' is about a guy, a chain smoker, who gets mixed up with a company that will stop any kind of addiction by any means. The movie has somewhat the same concept. And though it begins as the short story, on the way it begins to turn in to something else. Reality and fantasy gets mixed up. Dreams and reality begins to merge. The movie transforms into David Lynch from Stephen King.

From the Story, Direction, Cinematography, Music to the use of surrealism, fantasy, dreams, reality, fear and humor are great. Most importantly, just like a Lynch movie, this can't be summed up to a single meaning. We can accept what's shown just as that, (even that can be explained in few different ways). Or we could find out some hidden stories inside the symbols. No smoking is not just a film, it's an experience that one can feel and understand in any way they want.

A mind numbing surrealistic neo-noir psychological thriller.. A Lynchian masterpiece..

Have seen more than 600 Hindi movies in nearly every genre there is, Never have seen a Hindi movie like this.

10/10

Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017)

In his world.. He is the King, He is the minister...

[8/10 · 18 March 2018]

If you are expecting a formulaic telugu action/masala movie, sorry this is not for you. While it has many Tollywood clichés, it still manage to present a good refreshing story. The main character Jogendra is totally not something you will see in telugu mainstream cinema. He isn't even a hero. From witty kind hearted to the power hungry ruthless a bastard of a politician, Rana did an awesome job with it. Kajal is beautiful as always and she atually had a female character with a depth which wasn't just eye candy. Ending was on point, exactly how it should be. Had few goosebumps moments. Overall, a well made, underrated political thriller. 7.5+/10

Railroad Tigers (2016)

Extremely entertaining.. Criminally underrated...

[8/10 · 17 December 2017]

An action/comedy/war/drama film with a heart and actually funny moments, dialogues and acting.. Laughed out loud many times..

Don't know who rated it this low, probably the people who think comedies should have sex to be funny...

Extremely entertaining.. Criminally underrated...

7.5+/10

Judwaa 2 (2017)

Judwaa 2: Half the fun, half the excitement.

[6/10 · 5 December 2017]

Been a somewhat fan of the original. As a kid watched it few times and enjoyed. Unfortunately can't say same about this one.

Comedy was forced, not funny & annoying. Characters were weak and one dimensional. Varun Dhavan does not have even a quarter of charisma, Salman Khan had. Jacqueline Fernandez & Taapsee Pannu were just eye candy.

Only good things this movie had are strongly connected with the original. Songs were good. The best 2 of them (Oonchi Hai Building and Tan Tana Tan Tan Tan Tara) were remakes from the original movie. *SPOILERS* The ending with original Judwaa was surprising and really good. *SPOILERS*

Overall, Judwaa 2 is simply not fun as Judwaa.

5.5/10