Traffic (2000)

In early 2000, I made use of the Internet for the first time and soon started spending time tracking Oscar winners. I loved getting to know about the various categories, tracked movies being shown on TV, and overall loved the exposure to Hollywood.

In these early days, I read about Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, got to know they were getting married, and most importantly (for me) they starred in ‘Traffic’. I have wanted to watch the movie for a long time (well, 25 years) and finally got down to it, thanks to Benicio del Toro.

Why, you ask?

Benicio has starred in ‘One Battle After Another’. He was nominated for best supporting actor, and it reminded me that he had won the Oscar for ‘Traffic’. I searched, found the movie on Amazon Prime and rented it.

Brilliantly shot in sections with English and Spanish, ‘Traffic’ is a masterpiece in storytelling involving multiple arcs. Not all characters meet each other, but their lives are interwoven masterfully – it is no wonder to me that the movie won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay as well. There are 3 stories happening in parallel, each with its suspense intact.

The movie is about the illegal drug trade between United States of America and Mexico, how various players sustain the drug trade, and how it impacts families. Douglas’ character is a Judge who is appointed as a drug czar, only for him to discover that his teenage daughter (an excellent student) abuses drugs and has been prostituted. She later joins Narcotics Anonymous, and starts recovering.

Zeta-Jones plays a pregnant wife whose husband is arrested for distributing drugs in the USA. This is a clever storyline to showcase how families behave, even when there is illegal activity involved. I liked how Don Cheadle played his role as a honest DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent.

As for Benicio, he plays a Mexican police officer who stops drug transport. I couldn’t understand most of his dialogs as they were in Spanish – and subtitles wouldn’t get turned on – and I watched it as if it were a silent movie. His physical presence seems tailormade for the role.

I loved watching Viola Davis and Salma Hayek in their brief roles. I have been a huge fan of Viola ever since I watched her in ‘Air’.

‘Traffic’ is a must watch for parents and enforcement agencies. Given how drug usage in India is steadily rising (Punjab, some parts of the North-East, Kerala), it is important to see how consuming locations and transit locations are related. Schoolchildren have started abusing drugs, courting danger on so many fronts. At a time when brains are still developing, this is extremely dangerous. 

I’ll never know the high of drugs (and I don’t want to know), but I do know the high of watching a great movie. ‘Traffic’ is one such movie.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

I have been meaning to write about this movie for over a year, and am finally getting down to it. I love the collaborations between Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ was the best opportunity of them all – Martin Scorsese collaborating with both in the same project.

The movie is based on a book, and focuses on a series of murders of the Osage tribe members in the 1920s. The Osage Nation was transformed post the discovery of oil, and attracted the attention of a corrupt political boss.

DiCaprio’s character is a World War 1 veteran who comes back to stay with his uncle, the corrupt political boss, played by De Niro. Aided by the brainwashing of his uncle, he then gets romantically involved with Lily Gladstone’s character (a refreshing performance and casting), gets married and then has children with her.

Gladstone’s character belongs to the Osage tribe, and one by one, members of her family are found mysteriously dead. Thelma Schoonmaker’s movie editing kept me on the edge, waiting to see what happens next. Watch the movie to see how the story unfolds, the role that Brendan Fraser plays as De Niro’s lawyer (I loved this casting too) and the references to J. Edgar Hoover’s role. As an aside, I was reminded of DiCaprio’s portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood’s ‘J. Edgar’.

Via ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, I got to know about some Native American customs. I also got to know about the impact and occurrence of diabetes among Native Americans. It was moving to see Gladstone’s character suffer because of the illness and her criminal husband, and heartening to see the quick recovery she makes when agents of the Bureau of Investigation help her.

I had noticed DiCaprio’s stained teeth in the movie, and recollect reading a review mentioning the same point. His handsome face acquired a different character because of this. The scene where he gets paddled is menacing, and yet again I marvelled at how Scorsese depicts violence. I also noticed Gladstone’s beautiful smile and expression in one scene (when she is driven in a motorcar), and later read that it was a spontaneous and unplanned reaction that was retained in the final cut.

I highly recommend watching this movie. The IMDB rating is now 7.6.

Beautiful Boy (2018)

When I logged into Prime after long, I came across ‘Beautiful Boy’ starring Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet. I like both performers, and started watching the movie without knowing anything about it. The pace of the movie startled me, and I then looked it up – the movie is based on books written by David and Nic Sheff, and portrays the impact of drug addiction on addicts and their families.

When I started undergoing treatment for mental health issues, I was angry that substance abuse is also considered a mental health disorder. My mind kept saying, “They have control over the intake, unlike my issues”. Now, I know better. Many addicts have other mental health issues as well, and it is saddening to think of what they go through.

I can’t say I can relate to substance abuse, but given my struggles with excessive sugar intake for the past 5 years, I understand substance abuse a bit more. It takes courage to admit to the issue, take steps to overcome the addiction, and stay clean for long periods. Family support can make a difference, as can psychological counselling.

Coming back to the movie, I loved the portrayal of the relationship of Timothy’ character with his stepmom and step-siblings, the difficult bond between the father and the son (the father desperately wants to help, but is unable to), the impact of drugs on academics and work. Timothy is already lean and he lost weight further for his role as the drug addict. This is the scary part for me always – when actors take their roles seriously and look the part.

The movie reminded me of ‘Requiem for a dream’ and Jared Leto’s heroin addicted character, and I know Jared is far more impactful. ‘Beautiful Boy’ is more for the parents who struggle with their children becoming addicts, who need to accept the low recovery rates, and who end up questioning their upbringing style.

As per John Hopkins, a nationally representative survey of more than 2,300 Americans, fielded in spring 2023, suggests that 32 percent of the U.S. adult population, or an estimated 82.7 million individuals, has lost someone they know to a fatal drug overdose. It makes me want to look up for India data, and I will do so sometime. This is not a holiday-season movie, but worth a watch.

Challengers (2024)

Earlier this year, when I saw pictures of Zendaya at the Monte-Carlo Open, I wasn't sure why there was as much focus. Later, I got to know about 'Challengers', the tennis-based movie in which she stars. I then saw that On Running, owned by Roger Federer, has a brand partnership with Zendaya. That was enough to get me interested in watching the movie.

For a change, I could recognise the brand placements in the movie. Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, Head, Wilson, Babolat, On Running - all were familiar. Also familiar was the US Open background, with JPMorgan featuring prominently.

I loved the script - all three main characters are fleshed out well - and I loved most of the tennis sequences. Brad Gilbert has played a part in making the tennis look authentic, and code violations are introduced well. It was interesting to see that the female lead is the most tennis obsessed of the three. Perhaps the most talented too, with her career cut short by injury. I also liked that she is a Black woman.

The movie explores love triangles, male jealousy, sexual tension, financial stability cleverly, and shows how fights before crucial matches can have career-threatening impact. One wrong move, one serious injury and suddenly life changes dramatically.

I liked how the man-child authentically responds to him being called one. "I have played with a ball and racquet all my life". Perhaps he didn't charm only the characters in the movie :)

I am expecting the movie to get an Oscar nod for the script. Let's go!

The Shape of Water (2017)

When ‘The Shape of Water’ was released, I was intrigued all because of a meme I received from a Bengali friend.

“Shape of water, a film about a human falling in love with a fish is being universally called a cinematic brilliance but when Bengalis do the same thing, suddenly it is ‘stereotypical’ and maccher jhol Bengali pagol”

I couldn’t stop laughing when I received the meme, and as I was slowly recovering from yet another episode, I missed watching the movie. I may have looked up the Wikipedia entry once.

I maintain a list of ‘Best Picture’ from the Oscars and Golden Globes, and recently found the movie on OTT and watched it in 3-4 sittings. I no longer mind watching a movie for a bit and then returning to it when I find the time.

Set in the 1960s in North America during the Cold war, the fantasy movie has a mute female protagonist who communicates fluently via sign language, and gets acquainted with a humanoid amphibian at a laboratory. The Amphibian Man has healing powers and has been forcibly brought in from South America. She feeds him, and slowly forms a romantic, reciprocal bond with him. The development of the bond is beautiful to watch as the Amphibian Man also cannot speak, and both rely on their body language to communicate. She understands him, and doesn’t react with anger (for instance) when she finds him devouring a cat of her closeted gay neighbour. This neighbour plays a pivotal role in helping her rescue the Amphibian Man, and in her happy-ever-after ending.

What I also found beautiful is the portrayal of disability, and how it doesn’t prevent her from leading a normal life. She has a close friend at work who is unconditionally supportive, she opposes harassment – the harasser’s portrayal is particularly convincing - and she stands up for what she believes in.

The movie has many nude scenes, and while initially it seemed completely out of context and unnecessary, as the story builds on, they start to make more sense. I wonder if the scenes were retained when the movie was released in India. 

I still think ‘Lady Bird’ is a better movie from 2017, but it is good to see fantasy rewarded by the Oscars.

Oppenheimer (2023)

A few months ago, when I got to know that Oppenheimer was going to be released in 2023, I had mixed feelings. I did not want to see a movie that showed the “other side” regarding Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There are others who felt the same way as me – the Japanese have delayed the movie from being screened in Japan. Yet, I remained curious, particularly since I knew about Albert Einstein and his pacifist ideas. Perhaps I could learn something from this movie too about some of the greatest physicists the world has known.

And I did learn. More from Christopher Nolan, i.e. His storytelling is compelling and engaging as ever, and I hope to read “American Prometheus”, the book on which the movie is based.

The cast is fantastic – I particularly liked Robert Downey Jr, Josh Hartnett (such a delight that he was in ‘Pearl Harbour’ too) and yes Matt Damon – all big names. Cillian Murphy worried me in parts with his thin frame. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Oppenheimer is a patient of depression and schizophrenia, and was grateful that Nolan showed this aspect in a physical sense too. I almost expected stills from J. Edgar featuring Leonardo Di Caprio to be shown in this movie. That would have been interesting to see!

“Genius is no guarantee of wisdom. How could this man who saw so much be so blind?”

The Manhattan Project is an amalgamation of what happens when Physics, Armed Forces and Politics come together. The usual call to violence – some lives lost are better than more lives being lost – is opposed by Physicists who signed the Szilard petition including David Hill (Rami Malik in a persuasive role), and they are expectedly ignored.

“You drop a bomb, and it falls on the just and the unjust. I don't wish the culmination of three centuries of physics to be a weapon of mass destruction”

It was interesting to see the portrayal of women and womanising in the movie, and how sexism is prevalent in Science and Academia. Nolan doesn’t demonise the mistress nor places the wife on a particularly high pedestal – something that other moviemakers mirroring societal norms tend to do.

“Well, a fool or an adolescent presumes to know someone else's relationship, and you're neither, Lloyd.”

In 2023, Oppenheimer is the movie I have liked the most. I was happy to see Picasso’s painting ‘Woman sitting with crossed arms’ appear in the movie. I wonder what the world would have been like if a majority group of women Physicists had worked on the Manhattan Project.

I hope my father can watch it sometime - Physics always reminds me of him. If any of you like Science and politics come together, don’t miss it! 

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

As always, I was eager to watch Tom Cruise in the latest Mission: Impossible movie, particularly after seeing videos where he rides a motorcycle off a cliff and skydives. My jaw dropped while watching them.

When the movie released on July 12 and I couldn’t go to watch it in the same week, I thought my chance was gone. Over 3 weeks later, I achieved my personal mission impossible and went to the theatre – it turned out to be a great experience at Insignia.

 
As Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) wryly explains, IMF is not the International Monetary Fund but the Impossible Missions Force, and it takes on tasks that are classified as impossible by legitimate intelligence forces. This time, I found more than a touch of humour in the movie – the theatre burst into laughter at the scene when the 1957 yellow Fiat 500 appeared.

The plot is the usual – bad people have access to destructive power, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team take fascinating, improbable steps and prevent the destruction from being unleased. Each time, there is hope that Ethan will survive the mission and he does so. Unfortunately, the heroines are mostly not so lucky. I was genuinely disappointed to see Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) being eliminated.

I loved the scene where Ethan Hunt’s old id card is displayed. I am glad he has taken to aging well and we have authentic cinematic moments like this one. I also liked the implausible scene where he tells Grace (Hayley Atwell) that he will hold her life as more important than his own.

Ethan Hunt: [to Grace] I swear your life will always matter more to me than my own.
Grace: You don't even know me.
Ethan Hunt: What difference does *that* make?

Post this series, I am waiting to see how Tom Cruise guides the rest of his career. I hope he gets back to doing movies like ‘Rainman’ and ‘Jerry Maguire’. And yes, I hope he gets an Oscar one day!

Barbie (2023)

After watching the movie today, when I looked up ‘Barbie’ on Google, I was delighted to find my mobile screen turn pink. There were pink sparkles followed by a baby pink shade on the webpages. It was delightful and unexpected, and a marketing idea that I liked. Go ahead, do search!

Like many girls, I too have childhood memories of playing with a Barbie doll; in my case, they are hazy memories. Between the sibling, my mother and me, we could piece together the relationship. The sibling and I had bought the doll with our pocket money – I could recollect we had to pool around Rs. 300 to do this – and later we gave her away to someone in the extended family. She – the family member - is of my age, so I can’t fathom why we did this. Barbie didn’t exactly influence me though. I liked how well the clothes fit her, and I remember more than one outfit. I also remember her being blonde, and well-endowed. I didn’t know about the stereotypes associated with either factor. In fact, even as a teenager when I heard 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua, the stereotypes remained unknown.

When ‘Barbie’ released, I knew I wanted to watch it for two reasons – Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling. I stayed away from watching the trailer, reading reviews and was happy to see that the movie was being touted as a feminist take – something I have come to expect from Greta.

The movie is set in ‘Barbie-land’ where different versions of Barbie live along with their boyfriend Ken. In the matriarchal world, Barbie calls the shots. She has her own place, spends nights with girlfriends and doesn’t get physical with Ken. Ken is a suitable bachelor, but Barbie isn’t interested in taking things ahead. What she does believe is this – “It is the best day ever. So was yesterday. And so is tomorrow and every day from now until forever.”

The Barbie version leading the story is the stereotypical Barbie, and when she suddenly finds herself talking about death and cellulite, she is asked to visit Weird Barbie. She gets to know that one of the girls who owns her is causing this distress, and she needs to visit the Real World to know why.

Accompanied by Ken – well, he insists on being there – she visits and to her shock, discovers how patriarchy works. Ken, to his utter delight, discovers how patriarchy works. Watch the movie to know what happens post that.

The overall casting and narration is perfect and I loved how Gosling played Ken. There is music (Dua Lipa!) and choreographed dance, and I love that he likes being part of such set-ups – it reminded me of ‘La La Land’. I have believed matriarchy too has ills, and the movie touches upon this idea. The women are wonderful and closely knit and somehow racially sensitive, and yet don’t hesitate in isolating the older Weird Barbie. Depressed Barbie left me with myriad thoughts – how did she find the energy to watch TV?

:)

The theatre had more school-going girls than usual, and I found it sweet to see one of them accompanied by only her father. Perhaps they chatted about the movie on their way back. The movie made me curious about Mattel’s financials, and whether the movie will have a positive impact on them. It was also good to know a bit more about the creator of Barbie, the doll.

Watch the movie. It is a delight, and I hope it does well at the Golden Globes – Musical or Comedy section.

Air (2023)

Last weekend, I wanted to watch one of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ or ‘Before Midnight’, and found that while they were both available on OTTs, they weren’t available in India. I was very disappointed, but started going through the list of movies on Prime, and landed on ‘Air’.

‘Air’s cast intrigued me, and as I am a fan of Matt Damon, I decided to watch the movie without looking it up on Wikipedia first. To my utter surprise, I had landed on a sports drama – I love watching the ones made by Hollywood – and I carried on.

5 years ago, I had read ‘Shoe Dog’ and got to know a little bit more about Nike and Phil Knight. ‘Air’ presented another opportunity – I got to see how the marketing deal had been struck with a young Michael Jordon led by baseball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon), who had identified his greatness very early on. It was fascinating to see how Matt Damon captured the body language of an earnest middle-aged man in reasonably poor physical shape. However, I liked Viola Davis the best in the movie – she plays Deloris Jordan, Michael’s mother.

There are many lines that made me smile, and I loved this one.

“Everyone at this table will be forgotten as soon as our time here is up - except for you. You're gonna be remembered forever, because some things are eternal. You're Michael Jordan, and your story is gonna make us want to fly.”

After watching the movie, I read a bit more about Air Jordan, Michael Jordan, and his family. His father was shot dead in 1993 and Michael decided to retire from the NBA for the first time. His sister has indicated that she was sexually abused by their father, and I might read ‘In My Family’s Shadow’ written by her.

Similar to Jordan, there was expectation that Roger Federer would sign a lifetime deal with Nike, and that didn’t go through in 2018. I’ll not forget the “Advantage, Nadal” campaign in 2022 with Nike hailing him as the GOAT.

As an aside, Nike has been in the news for sexual harassment lawsuits, and I am waiting to see how it all ends. For now, watch ‘Air’.

A Man Called Otto (2022)

Photo courtesy www.imdb.com

Warning: mentions of suicide

When I read that Tom Hanks was playing an aging widower in ‘A Man Called Otto’, I got interested in watching the movie. I love actors who play age-appropriate roles – the depth they lend to characters by their sheer presence is immense. And this is Tom Hanks, after all, so expectations were high.

Otto is a widower who is seriously contemplating suicide post his wife’s demise. He tries multiple ways to end his life, but all his attempts are thwarted by other people – who don’t know he is thinking of ending his life. His character is a contrast from the character played by Robert De Niro in ‘The Intern’ – Niro’s character accepted his wife’s demise and leads his life well.

Otto’s loneliness, grief and suicidal thinking is captured in an authentic manner, and reminded me of some days from my past. Otto struggles through daily life, missing his wife constantly. He keeps her clothes around, gets angry when someone tries to touch her stuff, and visits her grave and talks to her. He lost his parents early – we don’t know anything about his wife Sonya’s family – has no children, has severed connections with his neighbours and has accepted a retirement package from his company. The scene where the cake printed with his image is cut is poignant – I am now clear that I won’t get photographs of any person printed on cakes!

His life turns around when a pregnant mother of Mexican origin moves as his neighbour, along with her husband and 2 daughters. My exposure to Hispanics is only via movies, and she doesn’t disappoint – she is warm, chatty, straightforward and a great cook. She slowly draws Otto out from his shell – he reminds her of her father who is no more. He enjoys her cooking without being patronising.

I like movies in simpler, everyday settings that focus on how people interact with each other. The movie touches upon the treatment of transgender persons (a trans man has been cast in the role), men who are effeminate, interracial friendships. Added to this is the interactions with neighbourhood animals.

The book on which the movie is based in set in Sweden, and I am keen on reading it as it features an Iranian immigrant.

Tenet (2020)

Last year, when ‘Tenet’ was released overseas, I wasn’t sure when I’d watch the movie. Much like with Leonardo DiCaprio, I try watching Christopher Nolan’s movies earlier than later. It is much to my delight that both of them collaborated for 'Inception'.

On Good Friday, the sibling informed me that ‘Tenet’ is available on Amazon Prime, and I sat down to watch it the very same day. I hadn’t looked up the star-cast and was surprised to see Robert Pattinson as part of the cast. He looked much older – it suddenly reminded me of his look in ‘The Lighthouse’, a movie I am yet to watch. The protagonist is played by John David Washington (who comes across as physically very fit), and it was a moment of delight to discover that he is Denzel Washington’s son.

Nolan’s movies show me how geography, physics and cultures can be combined in interesting ways, and it was particularly stunning to watch shots of ocean windmills. I am also a fan of his writing, and while I cannot claim to understand all that happens in his movies, they always get me to think.

I first give you the official trailer. Take a look.

 

I leave you with 'The Plan' sung by Travis Scott. It appears in the trailer too. 

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

City: Mumbai

Date: December 2019

Mode: Theatre

In one of my illness spells (possibly the May-June spell of 2019), I came across the trailer to this movie, and recollected it with detail to the sibling. She was surprised to see me able to pay attention, and we (along with her husband) later watched the movie in the theatre just before I took ill again. I had even written about Le Mans in my FB Sports Group. I have a simple explanation to my being able to recollect the trailer – the movie stars both Matt Damon and Christian Bale, and they looked like they were friends in the movie. The secondary explanation is that it involves car racing.

The movie has been praised by critics and watchers (and won Oscars), and has plenty of fantastic moments. I particularly liked how the death scene involving Christian Bale’s Ken Miles was done, and how Matt Damon’s Carroll Shelby sheds a few tears in front of Miles’ son. Both scenes are poignant and do not focus on debris of any kind. 

Lovers of car racing will find plenty to love about the movie, and for those who don’t understand the speed involved in car racing and the skills of the racers, watch this scene from the movie.

Rush too had a sequence that showed how quick Daniel Bruhl’s Niki Lauda is, and when Niki Lauda passed on in May 2019, I was convinced that his death wasn’t real. I kept watching this scene from the movie to convince myself that he was still alive.

The Bourne Series

When I was in high school, my classmate RM~ lent me one of Robert Ludlum’s books. I returned it to him without reading it, and now I can’t recollect the reason behind not reading it.

Later, The Bourne Series of movies arrived along with Matt Damon. I immediately fell in love with Matt Damon’s portrayal of Jason Bourne. The perfect combination of brawn and brain (and integrity), he tremendously appealed to the sapiosexual in me.

In the Bourne Series, I have watched the first three movies (2002, 2004 and 2007) on TV and liked them. The remaining two have been theatre watches for me. I didn’t enjoy The Bourne Legacy (2012) as much – it didn’t feature Matt Damon, and I was glad when he returned in Jason Bourne (2016).

Moby’s “Extreme Ways” features in the movie series more than once, and in my illness spells, I used to think of KS~ while playing the song on loop. The blue and black combination in one of the videos held special meaning to me, and the grey one more so. Even as things fell apart, I loved that the picturisations had nothing more than Matt Damon's face. 

“Oh baby, oh baby
Then it fell apart, it fell apart
Oh baby, oh baby
Like it always does, always does”

Go on, listen to the song. 

Extreme Ways – The Bourne Identity (2002) – not the official version

Extreme Ways – Jason Bourne (2016) – the official version 

I like this version even more – the pace is different.

Extreme Ways - The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - the official version

I discovered this version today. 

Black Panther (2018)

Place: Mumbai
Year: 2019

Mode: TV

The sibling and her husband are huge fans of movies featuring superheroes, and after watching Black Panther in the theatre, she excitedly recommended the movie to me. I couldn’t watch it in the theatre, but my interest in the movie grew after watching Naomi Osaka gush over Michael B Jordan. 

pls block me 😩

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) October 16, 2018

When Black Panther played on one of the TV channels last year, I watched it. The sibling had specifically mentioned that the brother-sister relationship is portrayed well, and the music is fantastic. I agree with both her points. 

In recent times, there is much debate around the poor representation of Black characters in Oscar nominations, and I was glad that this movie got made and did as well. While quizzing this year, I got to know about another special feature in this movie – that of the presence of Tolkien white guys, a pun on token white guys.

I was happy that I could finally watch Lupita Nyong’o – I still haven’t watched her Oscar winning performance. What I wasn’t prepared for is Chadwick Boseman’s performance as T’Challa / Black Panther, and Letitia Wright’s performance as his sister Shuri. Both characters are written so well, and I was mesmerised with how inspiring they are. Since yesterday, post Chadwick’s untimely death, I am remembering the movie. Actors will pass on, and yet I suspect that the passing on of popular superheroes is going to hurt a lot more.

pic.twitter.com/aZ2JzDf5ai

— Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) August 29, 2020

Writing this post makes me realise how I have small stories connected with movies, and I hope to be more frequent here. For now, I leave you with the trailer. Do watch the movie – it is a delight. Wakanda Forever!

The Rainmaker (1997)

Place: Chennai

Date: August 2020

Mode: TV

It comes as a huge surprise to me that I haven’t mentioned John Grisham on any of my blogs, given that I have read 6 of his books and watched multiple movies based on his books. I have paid attention to how the best of actors star in movies based on his books (Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon to name three), and after I read “To Kill a Mockingbird”, I can see how it inspired Grisham’s “A Time to Kill”.

All of this is not to say that I have watched all the movies in totality. I watched The Pelican Brief (1993) briefly because I wanted to read the book first. Nowadays, I watch and read in no particular order, and when I found my father engrossed in watching ‘The Rainmaker’ recently, I too spent some time watching it on TV.

I didn’t expect to see Claire Danes play a battered wife in this, and her scenes with Matt Damon are really good. It was a pleasure to watch Danny DeVito too. Via this movie, I got to know about ambulance chasing, and how insurance companies can operate when it comes to claims. Hollywood often portrays corporates harshly (do you remember Erin Brockovich or Wall Street?), and yet it acts as a good reminder of the world that I have temporarily left. After working for as long, that world still scares me. 

I am mentioning the trailer of the movie here. Do watch it.

Ocean’s Eight (2018)

I don’t know how to review movies all that well, but I like noting down the thoughts that occur before, during and post movie-watching. The sibling once pointed out how we weren’t watching Oscar nominated movies featuring top actresses by default, and that was true. The default watch used to be best actor and best picture winners and nominees. This made me confront the bias in my head. I am still not there in overcoming it fully, but atleast I am aware.

When Ocean’s Eight was released, I paid attention to the female star-cast and can’t quite recollect why I didn’t watch the movie in the theatre. These days, I try watching one hour of TV at night and was flipping channels when I landed on Ocean’s Eight. I love watching Sandra Bullock and Anne Hathaway (who somehow makes such a good villain), though I must confess that I liked Cate Blanchett the best, was disappointed with the role given to Helena Bonham Carter and was surprised to see Rihanna in a movie. Guess this is what ensemble casts look like – not everybody gets enough screen-time and yet it is all quite entertaining.

I have watched all three Ocean series movies (11, 12 and 13) on TV and somehow wanted this movie to have some linkage with the series. The main link remains Sandra Bullock’s character who is the younger sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean. These heist movies look more attractive than necessary thanks to the star-cast, although if I were being ripped off in the manner they show, I would have different things to say. But then, I’d have to be THAT rich to be ripped off, so all of it is going to remain an unknown experience.

If you have time to kill, do watch. The food poisoning scene involving Anne Hathaway is interesting in the way it is shot. I wish I could comment on the chemistry between the lead actors the way Clooney and Julia Roberts had, or Clooney and Brad Pitt. I didn't find any such chemistry here. Perhaps Blanchett and Bonham-Carter might have shared some.

Onward (2020)

Post my medical review in February 2020, I got back to Mumbai and wanted to get back to watching movies in the theatre. I didn’t think I was ready for ‘Parasite’ yet, and when the sibling suggested an animated movie, I thought why not. Usually these movies have a feel-good ending and don’t demand too much in terms of thinking. I guess this is the world healthy children live in, and there’s no harm in visiting this world as an adult too. Even if one is unhealthy.

My mother, the sibling and I went to watch ‘Onward’. The theatre had more children than usual, and I felt happy. My mother felt the movie was too kiddish, but I loved it. The story of two elf brothers who set out on a quest related to their dead father was exactly what I needed to kick-start my movie-watching all over again. We went to a theatre close to where I stay with the idea that incase we had to return during the interval, it would be easy to do so. What happened was that I could sit through the movie without any discomfiture.

I notice that Hollywood often makes movies related to magic, and the animation and the art is exceptional in them. It leaves me with the lingering feeling of wanting to watch behind-the-scenes work. I don’t know how to review the quality of such movies as I am usually mesmerised at what I watch. Is there more effort put in the movie? I wouldn’t know.

Such movies usually show the principal character go through the hero’s journey and it makes for exciting viewing. The movie has some special moments. It shows the reaction of the two brothers to their mother’s new boyfriend, the independent mother who makes her own decisions, the low self-confidence in the younger brother, and how much the two brothers miss their father. Watching the younger brother draw up a list of things he wanted to do with his father was bittersweet. I also got to know about the magical and mythical manticore.

Watch the movie. It will be time well-spent. At any rate, it isn’t clear when one can get back to watching movies in the theatre, so this acts as a good way of saying, “The last movie I watched in the theatre before Covid-19”

Contagion (2011)

This movie is my third watch on Amazon Prime overall, and comes soon after I watched Parasite. Under ordinary circumstances, I ought to have watched the movie much earlier – it has a starcast I love – Matt Damon and Kate Winslet both star in it. I don’t know if this movie was released in India or how it fared at the box-office, but it is surreal to watch how it creates a world that’s affected by a flu-like pandemic that originates in Asia. It also creates the world of a journalist (Jude Law) who blogs about the truth of the pandemic much to the discomfort of the establishment.

The movie left me gripped for most part, especially the scenes that show ordinary people violating the social distancing norm put in place, the requirement of masks and other medical kits, and the spread in Asia. If this isn’t being ahead of the curve, I don’t know what is. It explains what R naught is (the basic reproduction number) and how a pandemic develops based on differing R naught. It shows an autopsy in more detail – I was not prepared to watch Gwyneth Paltrow’s brain getting dissected.

There are many dialogues that struck as applicable for today’s Covid-19 scenario and I am mentioning three of them here. I feel like validating some of these numbers and comparing myself to the average person metrics, but don't quite know dependable resources to do the same.

“But right now, our best defense has been social distancing. No hand-shaking, staying home when you're sick washing your hands frequently.”

“How fast it multiplies depends on a variety of factors. The incubation period, how long a person is contagious. Sometimes people can be contagious without even having symptoms.”

"The average person touches their face 2- or 3000 times a day. Three to five times every waking minute. In between, we're touching doorknobs water fountains, elevator buttons and each other. Those things become fomites."

Watch the trailer here to get a glimpse of what the movie is all about. If you are the sort who gets anxious after receiving more information about a disease, I’d recommend not watching this movie right now.

Blood Diamond (2006)

Whenever mentions of unrequited love or finding husbands are made, I think of the maturity shown by these two characters who fall in love, but realise they can't be together.

Jennifer Connelly's character remains my benchmark for strong, mature women. Watch the scene where she bids goodbye.

Joker (2019)

11 years ago, when I watched the Dark Knight, I didn’t imagine that Christian Bale would one day stop playing Batman, and Joaquin Phoenix would eventually play Joker. Watching Joker come alive in 2019 made me think of how well the story has been written – it turns out that the director of the movie (Todd Phillips) is one of the writers. He has the Hangover series and Due Date among his earlier writing credits.

There is much to be said about the violence shown in the movie, the method acting of Phoenix that has prompted him to dangerously drop weight, the joy of watching Robert de Niro, and the storyline connecting Joker and Bruce Wayne. However, there is something else that struck me way more.

I expect to see more articles cover how mental illness has been portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix - for good and bad reasons. For instance, I would have liked to see his descent into violence portrayed differently given how stigmatized mental illness is and how popular media readily associates the mentally ill as perpetrators of violence. The movie links his violent streak with the absence of medication, and I would love to see how this can be challenged in real-life as tapering of medication is reality for many recovering patients.

Three other things struck me as remarkable.

• His relationship with his original counsellor - he is candid and shares how he feels, how he takes his medication and enquires about dosages, and how she offers the right combination of challenging him and staying supportive as she works with him
• What he writes in his journal regarding mental illness - "The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don't"
• How the underprivileged don't have ready access to mental health care, and how it can suddenly be withdrawn due to lack of funding - so even if someone is willing to take help and stay the course, it isn't possible to do so

The movie is conflicting more than once, and that perhaps is the mark of a great movie as it prompts one to assess one’s own views on what it means to be underprivileged and ill. What it means to go through childhood trauma and lose one's livelihood as an adult. What it means to get attracted to the people one does, given everything.

Recommended watch.