The Kim family – father Ki-taek, mother Chung-sook, daughter Ki-jung and son Ki-woo – live in a small semi-basement apartment and have low-paying temporary jobs as pizza box folders, and struggle to make ends meet. University student Min-hyuk, a friend of Ki-woo’s, Leaving to study abroad, suggests that Ki-woo pose as a university student to take over his job as an English tutor for the daughter of the wealthy Park family, Da-hye. Ki-woo poses as a Yonsei University student and is hired by the Parks. The Kim family recommends one another as unrelated and highly qualified workers to take over as servants of the Parks. From there the story completely renovates itself and crime and suspense chime in.

The director controls the perceptions of the audience throughout the movie in a very diligent manner. Parasite is extremely intriguing and thrilling and leaves the audience asking for more. You won’t take your eyes off the screen even for a second and entire movie is a roller coaster from beginning to the end. This movie was an experience and just made you tick, so many scenes that will make you anxious, excited or baffled. The movie in a word – MASTERPIECE.

A MUST WATCH!

FilmyReel Rating : 4.9 / 5

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) isn’t happy with his life. He struggles to make money as a part-time clown while sharing a rundown apartment with his ailing mom (Frances Conroy). But Arthur lives in a city struck by hard times where a decent, honest living is difficult to come by. He also suffers from a condition that causes him to break into uncontrollable laughter. None of this stops Arthur from dreaming big. He aspires to be a stand-up comedian and attempts to write jokes in his diary. Caught in between it all, Arthur slowly begins to lose his grip on sanity.

See the Joker’s beginning, the insanity and his story unravel in this movie. This is the story of a man at his wit’s end when pushed beyond his breaking point. This also resonates in his gritty vision of Gotham City, a metropolis brought to its knees, and crime is just a way of life. Only the rich and corrupt seem to be unaffected by the mayhem – a pertinent notion in present times. Set in the early 80’s, this fictional city is reminiscent of that era with impeccable production and a time-relevant, yet unsettling soundtrack that evokes a constant sense of uneasiness.

This movie slowly grips the reality of insanity mixed with anger and crime. Phoenix won an Oscar for his performance, and it was well deserved. This movie keeps you hooked till the end and pays homage to Heath Ledger’s JOKER. Bored and want to be entertained, then this would definitely be a good choice.

How has this pandemic been treating you? We hope it has been treating you well, but if not like people, we hope things get better and you feel good soon. We know there’s not much we can do. But what we can do is give you movie and show reviews that might make you feel slightly better. So we know its been a while since we posted, but we’re back with new movie and show reviews every week. We hope to introduce to you the marvellous world of Movies and Series, that might soothe, inspire and educate you.

Release date : 11^th April, 2003

Cast : Rowan Atkinson

Director : Peter Howitt

Johnny English is a 2003 spy action comedy film. It is the first installment of the Johnny English film series and serves as a parody/homage to the spy genre, mainly the James Bond film series as well as Atkinson’s Mr. Bean character. The plot revolves around a clumsy daydreamer by the name of Johnny English, who works for the Secret Spy Agency. When all the British Top Spies are killed, they ask Johnny to take over the case to investigate a mysterious rich evil french man by the name of Pascal Sauvage. Johnny’s only help is from his loyal partner and a beautiful, mysterious spy woman. The film’s plot is surprisingly good but you wish, there is more laughs at times. It met with mixed reviews from critics but was commercially successful. Due to its commercial success, it was followed by two sequels, Johnny English Reborn and Johnny English Strikes Again, in 2011 and 2018, respectively. If you are bored, this is something that might make you laugh. It is a jovial and fun movie to watch overall.

CAST: Akshay Kumar, Diljit Dosanjh, Kareena Kapoor, Kiara Advani

DIRECTOR: Raj Mehta

RATING: 3.5/5

Deepti (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Varun Batra (Akshay Kumar) are a posh, high-flying married couple, living in Mumbai and are much involved with their respective careers. Deepti also has her heart set on having a baby and after trying for a few years and then, some prodding by the family, both Varun and she decide to consult one of the best fertility specialists in the city. The doctor advises IVF and they are ready for it. Only hitch, few days after the procedure is through, Deepti and Varun are told there has been a sperm mix-up with another couple with the same last name. Enter ‘the Batras from Chandigarh’ into their lives. Honey (Diljit Dosanjh) and Monika (Kiara Advani) are a loud Punjabi couple and now it’s a complete clash of sensibilities between the two sets of Batras. As both Deepti and Monika soon find out they are pregnant, the rest of the film forms how the couples come to terms and deal with this unusual situation.

Through much of its runtime, director Raj Mehta ensures that ‘Good Newwz’ stays true to its genre with several light-hearted and funny moments. Add to that, the pace of the film stays mostly tight. Although given the subject and premise the narrative, at times, treads into a problematic zone and stance. And some of the jokes seem off-colour. There’s also a tendency to over explain and simplify in some portions which stick out. Also, the screenplay barely scratches the surface when it comes to getting into the depth and complexity of the situation.

However, the performances are top-notch. Kareena Kapoor Khan steals the show and delivers a knockout performance as the sophisticated Deepti, and her character’s emotional arc is developed well. Akshay Kumar hits the right spot with his comic timing. As does Diljit Dosanjh, who sinks his teeth into his character and plays it with full gusto. Kiara Advani is sincere and makes an impression. Adil Hussain as the straight-faced doctor, at the core of all the confusion, is a hoot. And as a couple, both Kareena and Akshay play off each other well and many of their interactions come off as very relatable.

Director: Andy muschetti

Stars: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader

It: Chapter 2 begins with a terrifying homophobic crime, which Stephen King had used in his novel. After a bunch of bullies attack Adrian Mellon and his boyfriend, they throw Adridan over the bridge into the water. Just as he is about to drown, he sees the monstrous clown. And of course, Pennywise eats him in front of Adrian’s boyfriend.

It: Chapter 2 explores those who are trapped in the closet, and also works as an examination, a rather blotchy one maybe, on how not being to able to come out can sometimes eat into a person and kill them in the end. And that’s exactly what Pennywise does. He taunts Richie continuously on his hidden sexuality. While the film has its heart in the right place, and many times strikes the right chord, the execution is a bit messy at points.

The book does a brilliant job of showing how difficult life was in the homophobic town of Derry for queer kids living in the 80s.

THE EMOTIONAL VALUE

Even if It: Chapter 2 is rather shaky in the horror elements, its emotional moments do hit you in the feels. There is a sense of wholesome friendship and love in the film. There is heartbreak, when close friends die, and there is finally the attainment of closure; for Billy, that is. This is the rare mastery of both the It films, as they both know when to just twist the knife. Eddie overcomes his fear at last, and shows his heroic side, only to be wounded fatally.

Release date: 29th July 2011

Cast: Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Kevin Bacon

Director: Glenn Ficaara, John Requa

Run time: 2hrs 20mins

Rating: 3.5/5

It may be a romantic story all over again but there is a freshness to Crazy Stupid Love which makes it eminently watchable. The characters are familiar: a middle-aged couple, a young couple and a teenage couple. Yet, their trajectory of romance is not so familiar. The middle-aged, much-married and recently separated Weavers try hard to go their separate ways but being quintessential soulmates, they never end up distanced and truly divorced. The 25-year old romance which began in high school with a chocolate mint ice cream is impossible to write off, however tempting the new options may seem. After all his heady encounters, which include one with wild cat school teacher Marisa Tomei (hilarious), Cal always ends up at Emily’s doorstep, tending to their garden in the dead of night.

The other love tracks include a teeny bopper one where Cal’s 13-year-old son (Jonah Bobo) falls crazily in love with his 17-year-old baby-sitter (Analeigh Tipton) who in turn, harbours naughty fantasies for the father. Equally zany is the one-night stand between swashbuckling Ryan Gosling and the yuppie lawyer (Emma Stone) which ends up on a fiery note and doesn’t take long to get transformed into a till-death-do-us-part affair. But nothing, just nothing is run-of-the-mill here, neither the characters nor the screenplay. The drama is finely nuanced with little touches that raise the emotional quotient to a high level while the humour is subtle, bordering on mild amusement. Steve Carell and Julianna Moore make a fine couple, lending both dignity and vulnerability to their roles while Gosling and Stone are perfectly mismatched (quite appealing). Young Jonah and his babysitter too lend a fine performance and never get thwarted by the adults and their affairs. In fact, the 13-year-old ends up as the torch bearer for the confused lot, enunciating the true credo of love and all that jazz.

A charming watch, don’t forget to take time out for Crazy Stupid Love, despite the crazy, stupid title.

Critic’s Rating: 3.0/5

Story: Ricky Bahl (Ranveer Singh), a young conman makes his monies by duping pretty young things — Parineeti Chopra, Dipannita Sharma, Aditi Sharma — with impunity. Until, the trio decide to take revenge by pitting a con girl — Anushka Sharma — against him. Is it checkmate time or is it time for redemption?

Movie Review: Maneesh Sharma struck the marquee with the offbeat Band Baaja Baraat. Indeed, a yardstick that would be hard to measure up to. And yes, his second film doesn’t really match the zing and the verve of the first one. Firstly, there is no humour, no earthy flavour. What does work in favour of the film are its performances and its non-hysterical tenor. The girls are a spirited lot and Ranveer is, well Ranveer: your average Joe kind of hero who looks convincing enough. An average movie overall.

FIMLYREEL : 2.8/5

Release date : 25 December 2009

Cast : Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor

Director : Rajkumar Hirani

3 Idiots is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film. The film follows the friendship of three students at an Indian engineering college and is a satire about the social pressures under an Indian education system. The film is narrated through parallel dramas, one in the present and the other ten years in the past. Very much a character-driven piece, which not only makes the laughs bigger but also earns a deeper involvement. 3 Idiots received widespread critical and commercial success, and also became one of the few Indian films at the time to become successful in East Asian markets such as China and Japan. Such a well-made movie, definitely a must watch for all, the young and the old.