Smorgasbord Fantasia

I recently finished binge-watching  the vastly popular and extremely thrilling Stranger Things on Netflix - Set in the cozy nostalgic 80's, in a small town in Pennsylvania, US in late Nov'83, the series explores the themes of supernatural horror and the amazing endurance power of the human spirit. Paying homage to the nerdy pop-culture of the 80's ( Hell, the series-premiere starts off with the eleven-year old boys playing Dungeons and Dragons in full earnest!) Stranger Things is one of the most original series, from the Netflix stables ever, I think. A gripping mystery that blows up into creepy horror that really fucks with your mind with a propulsive story-telling that is almost pitch-perfect. Notice, I said almost ? So I went absolutely  nuts over the first season. Blowing through the eight episodes in less than a week, I felt like Netflix finally got over this habit of hooking us in, with an irresistible opening bait and premise, that ultimately leads to dis...

Marvel Movies are spinning their whole franchise around – Whereas Guardians of the Galaxy was an experiment which became a runaway hit and Deadpool was a cheekier take with the same strategy of being goofey to the core, I never thought Marvel would make this their main weapon in their movie arsenal. Yes. I am talking about mindlessly insanely hilarious movies and Thor Ragnorak just takes the cake. This is the third outing for our Asgardian God of Thunder, played by Chris Hemsworth – and boy, is it fun and totally zany. In fact, I am betting that Thor Raganorak may be way too much fun than it deserves to be, knowing it’s a superhero movie and all that – But hey, that may not be a bad thing at all. Coming on the heels of some super-cool ‘funny’ superhero movies in Spiderman: Homecoming and the Guardians second outing, Marvel this time gives its mantle to little known New Zealand director Taika Waititi who does a fine job indeed, of rolling the legacy forwards and in a br...

Nivin Pauly is definitely the star of today in the Kerala film industry–having cemented his place in the hearts of malayalis world over with that love-story of his that came a year back, a movie called Premam that went on to break all sorts of records. He went on to do different interesting movies post that, many of them out and out blockbuster superhits. His choice of roles have been fascinating, to say the least. And now he turns his hands to production: the man’s legacy is growing and he is determined to leave his mark on our moviedom. Njandukalude Naatil Oridavela , that literally translates to Interval in the land of crabs, is a quirky and ingenious title, in my opinion. There’s a beautiful sound to it – and Hell, it’s such an evocative term. The land of crabs? I have to watch this one, I thought. For me the trigger was just a song – I know I’ve got it wrong before going to watch a movie, purely on basis of the songs. [Jacobinte Swargarajyam had three amazing songs th...

Dark Tower by Stephen King still remains my all-time favorite fantasy novels that is accessible and still remains intriguing, is a running social diatribe and blends in elements of western, horror and fantasy skilfully. It’s obviously the story-telling capabilities of the master that sells the story to you – of Roland the lone Gunslinger fighting for what is left of everything good in this world – connected to the Mid-World through the Beams of power. It is a spellbinding narrative and it held me rapt for several years in my younger days – my favorite of course is, Book Four: Wizard and Glass , which take us back to Roland’s younger days. The kinship, the reckless love-story, the daring adventures – all of this crafted in King’s supremely non-parallel voice. In fact, this seven book series was one of the chief reasons I started writing, in the first place. And okay now that I’ve established how much I love love love these books, let’s talk about the movie ... that ruined i...

Casting Tom Holland as the surprise element, Spiderman in Captain America: Civil War was one of the high points of that movie. A short cameo, that was delightful and punchy. And now he comes into his own - with Spiderman: Homecoming signifying bringing Spiderman back into the Marvel universe, Tom Holland delivers an absolutely fizzy blockbuster of a superhero flick with his winning, earnest performance as the lead man, even sidelining Robert Downey Jr 's wisecrack mentor act as the Ironman, biding his time to bring Spiderman in as the newest team-member on Avengers. Peter Parker, not withstanding his special web-slinging prowess, is also a regular kid, finishing high-school, crushing on his long-legged academic decathlon team-mate (Laura Harrier) , staying ahead of his clue-less hot Italian aunt ( Marissa Tomei!!) who lourbes him and is best friends with the loser-nerd of the school (Well, who also happens to be a crack computer whiz!) But after his "mission" w...

So this weekend I was spoilt for choice when it came to the movies. Seriously, weekends like this haven’t happened in a long while. First up – was of course the legendary star-lord and his ragtag bunch of misfits out to save the galaxy from itself, the sequel to the wildly popular and absolutely brilliant first part, Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel . Next on the plate, was the Alien prequel which is going to be a mindfuck, I can guarantee. With Ridley Scott spinning the wheels crazy in the first prequel to the original Alien series in Prometheus that gave us a twisted convoluted legend of the Aliens ‘origin’ story, the trailer looked mind-boggling. But the movie that I finally settled on, of course was the return of my all-time movie director: Guy Ritchie stamping his unique signature on the much loved legend of the “The Man who would be King”. In King Arthur: Legend of the Sword , one of the oldest legends is re-imagined in signature Guy Ritchie fashion – complet...

Logan is the befitting swansong for Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine, a role he has owned, for close to twenty years now and is finally letting go of those adamantium-claws, this time for good. It's raw, violent and pack full of grit, human drama and hurt in such full measure, that it deserves fully to be the burial ship for this warrior as we bid him a tearful goodbye. It's an extraordinary piece of film-making that gives Jackman, his valedictory dues as he bows out on a phenomenal high, delivering one of his most heart-wrenching portrayal of one of the most tortured and highly misunderstood x-men whose explosively volatile temper and those shiny 'snikt-snikt' claws of death and maim has been his claim to fame, for just too long. Now he can hang up those boots, having convinced us about his ability to masterfully carry off those quiet, tender moments in a movie; just as well as those supernova brain-blitzing action sequences where he goes on a rampaging streak, d...

The Lego Batman Movie actually came from nowhere, for me. I had not watched the Lego movie which came last year and so wasn’t really prepared for the outrageously funny jokes that lit up the movie, the writers riffing on everything the fantasy books/superhero comics ever threw at the large screen. The smart-alec quips, the ripping fast narrative and the depth of the characterization that came to fore was something pretty unexpected. I basically went because, the dark vigilante is my favorite superhero. (Yup: I own t-shirts emblazoned with him, Watches with his motif engraved into it, Car-Bumper Stickers with the bat-mobile motif. The works. And am not ashamed!) And I was happy to be landing back in the troubled Gotham city once more. The comic books and of late, the movies or even the TV Series set in this city, about the Batman or his fringe characters have all been exceptionally grim and dark. And so this personally for me, was a slam-dunk winner; watching a fast-talking highly in...

The Great Wall was another one of those movie, where the trailer really did cover it all and the movie itself, didn't have much else to offer. One of the biggest movies from China last year, director Zhang Yimou ('House of Flying Daggers') ties up Hollywood production values with Asian sensibilities to bring to life, one of the countless 'legends' about the staggering Great Wall of China in this movie - an epic fantasy adventure about mythical creatures that live in the North beyond the Wall who are out to annihilate the whole world - with the Wall and the Nameless order of brave, selfless soldiers the only protection against them. The story arc brings nothing new - we've seen the barbarian from the west joining in on the fight to save the world, bringing his own cunning war tactics and selfless bravery to the fore in an Eastern setting. So the charismatic Matt Damon, William, a mercenary running from his past and in search of the elusive 'black roc...

Here's a fact: I removed SRK from that pantheon inside my mind a few years back. Since he cannot stop doing that grand-romantic-gesture of his, hands stretched out, upper body bent at the waist with that stupid cocky dimpled grin on his face never wiped off. They kept saying he should learn to play his age and take a leaf out of Aamir Khan's book, maybe play a 'real' character instead of the same old superstar version of himself in every romantic movie. Even Salman Khan has learnt to take a beating ('Sultan') and toned himself down, not playing the Bhai, even trying to emote a bit. So maybe this one's a start; for the legions of disappointed SRK 'fans' to get back to cheering. I truly sat up and was pleasantly surprised at this 'transformed' SRK; Shah Rukh gets his teeth right into the meat of this titular character of Raees, a small-time bootlegger in Gujarat where liquor is of course prohibited, in his latest movie, directed by ...

2017 crept upon me, unnoticed. Literally. I wasn't prepared for the calendars to flip over a new page. a new YEAR. I was off vacationing in the jungles of Angkor Wat and busy bumming away on the beaches of Krabi, the real world a forgotten hazy dream, my only reality being the brilliantly azure stretches of the sea, the twisting gnarled roots growing out of the magnificent ruins of an empire and civilization, long forgotten - And then, time pulls a fast one on me. Damn, where did year 2016 go? I still use terms like, "Earlier this year" - like it wasn't early enough now (snort!) But yeah, so coming back to the reading challenges, I think I hit an exact 52 books this year. One book, a Week. I really did hit a slump mid-year and didn't quite catch up on the challenge I set for myself but no complaints. I did get some writing done as well, hit close to sixty thousand words on my second book, started off a short story that might just become a no...

Guy Ritchie. Guy Ritchie. Guy Ritchie. This one's going to be EPIC. Yup - New movie out in 2017 and the trailer released sometime back at Comic-Con looks like a motherload of a shit-kicker! It's got Charlie Hunnam( Pacific Rim), dark humor, bare-knuckled fights, Jude Law, fire-balls, black magic and hell, it's a Guy Ritchie movie. Do you seriously need any other reason? This one's way up on my Most Awaited Movies of the Next Year -  The   King Arthur, Legend of the Sword.  In his own inimitable fashion, Guy Ritchie stamps his masterclass and his own distinct stylish visual flair on this legend, gritty, pulsating with a very high level of energy that never lets down through this whole trailer. Would you be interested in a Guy Ritchie take - on the Arthurian legend ? Let's find out, March 24 2017 as the movie opens. For now, feast on this action-packed exhilarating trailer that definitely ups the expectations to beyond star-trek.