jessie-singh

Napolean was better than my expectations - thought that story from the point of view of his better half would be a bit boring - but it nicely covered perhaps the most important aspects of his life, his achievements & losses in the battlefield & life in general.

The charcter is a quanit one to play & Joquaim Phoenix had a tough job to emulate. Napolean himself is not portrayed as extraordinary, but rather as a bit of an eccentric with only expertise in artillery warfare, an able tactician, but with some failures as well - both militarily & in life.

P. S. Don't understand why the movie title is "Kitbag" on my IMDB.

A political / diplomatic movie that builds up nicely and hold ones interest. Shows the time period, few months before the commencement of WWII. We get to see the side of British PM Neville Chamberlain, and his negotiations with Hitler. Most WW movies are about the actual war and show how Churchill led Britain. This was a welcome change.

Also Hitler is shown to express some trepidation about the fact that his country's citizens are understanding his principles, but he felt they were not while heartedly with him, atleast didn't express it as vociferously, as he expected. This particular pre-war time period has been delicately captured.

Although there isn't a dramatic conclusive ending, but the Director chose to remain at the edge of the war (true to the title) and didn't venture into it.

Spoiler: There is a Valkerie like sub-plot also, but it is more nuanced, & perhaps at an early stage of planning, with less clear intent, as expectedly, war didn't commence till then.

Ratings of quite a few series on Voot Select OTT seem to have been artificially bumped up. Having said that, this one deserves a 6.5 point rating - this is for Season#1 (Haven't seen Season#2 at the time of writing this review). Though it is definitely not recommended for family viewing. Having said that, producing something that is closer to reality in UP land, is bound to have its share of flowery local vernacular, plus there are some suggestive scenes also.

Timing & choice of some of the Bollywood song tunes (am assuming Alt Balaji productions) for various situations are quite apt and entertaining in instances.

Drama about an extended family and the emotions of aged parents losing connect and affection of their children, & taking the decision of embracing euthanasia. A relatively untouched subject in Indian cinema, the idea of euthanasia has been beautifully explored in this movie.

Being a sci-fi movie, it has to explore outlandish concepts. Some parts might not make sense, but after watching movies like aliens, gravity and I am legend, one is able to relate better. Though I'm still to get grips with time travel........

A mix of old and new world in this coming of age movie of a small town boy striving to make it big. In the end, it seems the culmination is a bit rushed - my only gripe. Special mention for the beautiful artistic visualisations during stage performances, and a remembrance spree.

Movie about a Parsi (Zoroastrian) daydreamer, facing life's challenges. In the end, we are to construe that perhaps there is no place for simpletons in the modern world.

A depiction of royalty in former hill state of Guler (now in Himachal region) in form of paintings by a lineage of period artists. These depictions are recreated rather minimistically (but yet gracefully) for visual understanding of the circumstances behind the paintings in the same / similar location, including ruins of former royal residences and other annexes. Narration and illustrations are in Dogri (which has a Gurmukhi / Punjabi influence). Must mention that the paintings have fairly accurate architectural depictions.

A sordid WWI movie about the grit and determination of a very young Russian soldier, who contributes despite seemingly unsurmountable personal adversity, and that also without actually firing bullets!

Beautiful movie - weaves lives in old and modern world, and at the same time assimilates various religions while portraying an old man's passion for his work and true love for his partner. Saw the movie at 66th National Film Awards and Indian Panorama in Delhi.