Movie Analysis : Ford v Ferrari

Directed by : James Mangold
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/

Look out there. Out there is the perfect lap. You see it?
I think so.
Most people can't. 

Spoilers ahead..


Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), an american car designer who once was a well known race-car driver is hired to get Ford company the kind of sports cars which could win them races against Ferrari, but he has to face the various challenges that includes getting Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as the main driver, but the biggest headache is to handle the constant interference by the Ford executives.

I am not into cars or racing at all, and yet 'Rush' was a film that I loved a lot. 'Ford v Ferrari' may not have reached that same level but there was a lot to like in the movie for me apart from learning about some racing history being another biopic.

What I totally enjoyed was the breathtaking racing scenes, the noise of the cars, gear change and the strategy used to win the races.. and great performances by Matt Damon and specially Christian Bale who once again looked completely the part of his character of Ken Miles. We get to see how slowly but gradually friendship between Shelby and Miles blossom, and to be honest I would had liked more scenes between them.

Miles and Shelby fighting like kids while Miles wife quietly sits and watches them, Miles telling his son about the perfect lap and how most racers ain't aware of it, Shelby locking out Ford executive so that he could give a test run himself of the new built car to Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) and Miles being told to slow down when he actually does the fastest lap of his career were some of the best moments in the movie.

It was kinda of irritating watching the way director of Special Vehicles Ford, Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) made that controversial decision to ask Miles slow down knowing that way Ford will have 3 racers on the podium. It was a real incident and I wonder how the fans of Miles must have felt during that 24 hours 1966 Le Mans race. I didn't even knew a event existed then (not sure if it does now) which lasts whole 24 hours. Did Shelby really steal those stopwatches or threw that nut making Ferrari guys doubt if was their driver's car? It did make for a great viewing even if it was fiction.

I felt scenes after Miles death were underplayed, there was a scope of more emotions involved in there.

Ford v Ferrari will most likely keep you engaged and involved in whats happening even if you aren't into racing and cars. Yes, there are some cliches involved, but they very much get overshadowed by the performances, direction and a story that you may not know much about until now.


My Rating : 6.5/10

Movie Analysis : Doctor Sleep

Directed by : Mike Flanagan
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5606664/

I don't know about the magic. I always called it 'the shining'. 

Spoilers ahead..


First thing, I don't love 'The Shining', while watching it few months back I strongly felt the character of Jack Nicholson should had been developed properly before going into the mad isolated zone and yet at times he would try to help his family but gone too far away to do so. While googling I did find out that the book of Stephen King actually shows him the way I wanted. Kubrick's direction and Jack's performance still made it a very good watch though minus the problems I mentioned.

Coming to Doctor Sleep, went in with less expectations as the trailers didn't quite suggest it would be good. But, it indeed was pretty good if you don't mind slow moving first 30-40 mins.

The story revolves around Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) who has grown up far away from that dreadful one year spent at Overlook Hotel. He gets a job at a nursing home where he uses his 'shining' powers to help people die with comfort in their last breath where he is aided by a cat that can tell whose time has come. Abra Stone, a young girl (Kyliegh Curran) communicates with Dan through her own 'shining' powers and then meets him one day telling what awful thing she saw and how she wants his help. It all leads up to the cult 'The True Knot' who uses the steam that the children with 'shining' powers produce when torturing them to death and thereby help themselves remain immortal. Dan has to save Abra and himself from this cult, and it all eventually connects with Overlook Hotel.

Movie begins with that super haunting background score in opening credits from 'The Shining' before we dive into some scenes of young Dan who is still haunted by the event that happened at Overlook Hotel, and gets help where he is told a way to shut those spirits trying to reach him locked inside the boxes of his brain. Its clear right then, this scene would play a key role in the finale.

We jump to the grown up Dan, it takes a while to get used to his life, and the narration is done in slow pace probably in sync with how his life was going nowhere until he got that job at nursing home and started to feel a happy change. Things do speed up when 'The True Knot' get to know about Abra stone as it becomes a battle between them before Dan joins in.

I was amazed to know that 'Rose the Hat' was played by Rebecca Ferguson, maybe something to do with my aging eyes or did she look and sound different in the movie.. whatever it is she just lifts up the movie to another level with her super acting in a very negative role. Ewan McGregor also provides the character of Dan, the kind of vulnerability or you can say not at ease with himself with the kind of childhood he had. And that gives the movie a great finale even though its the predictable part of movie including a extended nostalgia scene where Dan explores the entire Outlook Hotel remembering that one year he spent here when he was young.

And boy the goosebumps I got when Dan tells Abra they have to drive to the Outlook Hotel to win against 'Rose The Hat', and starts that background score again, and happy that it was a long sequence just as it deserved to be with some brilliant captured extreme wide shot visuals.

It may sound odd, but to me Doctor Sleep works more than 'The Shining', its hardly a horror movie as you get around 2-3 scenes that aims to scare you, mostly it pans out as a drama thriller and it was very engaging till the end. I don't know if there's any possibility of a further movie in this franchise with the ending they had it may not happen or maybe a prequel would be nice as long as the director is same because he certainly has become one of the director's whose future films/series I would be looking forward to.

Kind of under-rated movie, Doctor Sleep is going by the buzz..for me its  one of the best of 2019.. slow in parts but if you are patient then most likely you would end up liking it atleast.


My Rating : 7/10

Movie Analysis : Eli (Netflix)

Directed by : Ciaran Foy
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5294518/

Take a deep breath in. Blow out all your candles. Make a wish. 

Spoilers ahead..

Eli (Charlie Shotwell), a young boy is taken to a facility-home handled by Dr Horn (Lili Taylor) where she assures that his auto immune disorder will be cured, but with time he realizes he is only getting worse at this new place.

If you had seen the trailer, then it was visible that Dr. Horn isn't what she appears to be, and thats how the 1st and 2nd act goes too. Only difference is we discover an altogether different answer to our questions in the 3rd act. Basically whether you love the 3rd act or not decides your opinion about the movie. I couldn't digest it, mainly for how badly it was executed, watching doctors suddenly turn into church nurses doing exorcism that felt funny.

In the 3rd act, Eli is told to be son of devil, and he never had any disorder, but then question arises what were those red rashes he gets or is afraid of getting always. He surely must have tried going out once to confirm it. We are given a hint that Eli's Mom, Rose (Kelly Reilly) wasn't faithful to his Dad, Paul (Max Martini) in one of their private conversation. Also, I didn't get why Eli was getting haunted if all the time it was about him getting to know the truth about himself.

I do wanna like the twist, but thinking about the story shown before the 3rd act, it just becomes hard to not feel kind of cheated. Performances wise, Charlie was great while I expected lot more from Lili, she just felt too much one tone. Kelly Reily was decent, while Max Martini was way below average. Also, a cameo from Sadie Sink was likeable though again the real identity when revealed made less sense.

Eli is a decent one time-watch for most of its runtime, definately better than the ones that released lately on Netflix. It falters in the final act for me. Scare wise there are few moments, not too many.

My Rating : 5/10

Series Analysis : Unbelievable (Netflix)

Directed by : Lisa Cholodenko, Michael Dinner and Susannah Grant
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7909970/

Even with good people, even with people that you can kinda of trust, if the truth is inconvenient and if, if the truth doesn't, like, fit.. they don't believe it. Even if they really care about you, they just.. they just don't. 

Spoilers ahead..


True story about a teenager Marie, who is charged with lying about having been raped and how two female detectives find out the truth.

First episode is hard to watch because as a viewer you know Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) isn't lying and yet the abuse and trauma she had dealt with all life has taken a toll on her and you see how she keeps changing her statements. Ofcourse the blame has to go to male detectives who didn't do their job well. Specially the scene where instead of giving hope to Marie to let her do the polygraph test, they just scare her off citing potential jail time if she was lying. And that results in her life getting affected badly after she is forced to accept that she was never raped.

2nd Episode shifts story from Washington 2008, to Colarado, 2011 and we get introduced to Detective Karen (Merritt Wever) who meets a rape victim and on the spot we can draw parallels on how she investigates and talks to the girl, and how Marie was asked questions in 1st episode. No, I am not referring to the instant thought that would come to mind 'woman did it better than the guy', what this says is how one person did a better job than the other,  and in this case the better one was woman.

Detective Karen happens to meet Detective Grace (Toni Collette) after being told by her husband how her case resembles the one Grace was dealing with where the victims happen to go through similar procedure by the rapist. Grace is total opposite of Karen in the way she walks, talks, total fierceful character which clearly was done by writing team so that they would look a great pair. Though found through google, the real Grace (different name) was more of a calmer person. So bit of fiction but it made for a great watch, I don't mind it.

The performances of Meritt, Toni and Kaitlyn all standout, but I personally loved Meritt most, the kinda of laidback and yet I want to find this motherf***** attitude, and the emotional attachment she shows towards the people she meets. Also, love the slow gradual bonding she develops with Grace. And also enjoyed watching Kaitlyn who had a tougher role, the vulnerability and trauma she showcases and also the urge to get a 'sorry' from the male detectives. The other actors who play intern and the desk old lady give in a good supporting acts.

Love the scene of the counselor with Marie where a zombie film 'Zombieland' is used in conversation to discuss the thoughts Marie has about the world and people. Also, love how they show Marie story, dedicating 1st and last episodes fully on her, and keeping the rest 6 with fewer scenes. Starting with how tough life Marie is about to live, losing out on friends with the false rape charge, both her foster moms not trusting her and losing her job too. And then ending with the phone call to Detective Karen, for once I wanted Karen to talk more than she does in this phone conversation but then maybe thats how she always is as per the series.

I read some reviews suggesting how this series tries to show 'girls power, and every man is bad', and it made me wonder did those people not see the behaviour of both foster moms of Marie, or did they miss watching husbands of Detective Grace and Detective Karen who always kept supporting them, one even went out of way to get the file on a person Grace wanted, or did they miss the help Special Agent Taggert gave? Or did they expect sympathy shown to Detective Parker and Detective Pruitt who clearly were at faults and they were main reasons why more rapes took place. I mean seriously how blind some people can be, yes there's some fiction but this is a real story shown in as solid manner as it can be, so just avoid watching the series if you believe guys have to be portrayed as good not matter what they do!

Unbelievable for me is near perfect series, my only complaint would be lack of surprise but then it went more for getting the guy caught angle and not that element of 'oh no, he is that person' surprise. And other marginal problem was editing that was at places not tight to my liking. But I could easily ignore these small hiccups, as I just felt it was a very good gripping series from start to finish, shown in a very realistic manner, top-notch acting from main leads and a certain emotional tone to the way it finishes. Would love a 2nd season with same cast, and probably a different real life based story!

My Rating : 8/10

Series Analysis : Haunted Season 2 (Netflix)

Directed by : Jan Pavlacky
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9077192/

Be quiet, don't wake him... If you wake him, you are gonna be sorry. 

Spoilers ahead..


Based on 'true stories' as is told before every episode though its not easy to believe that in some of the cases. I had seen 1st season and hardly liked 1 or 2 episodes, with one of main problem been the narration. The person who is/had been haunted, sits in a living room setup along with the people who mean a lot to him/her (family/friends/relatives/lover) and then begins to narrate the story with them giving the reactions of 'oh no, oh my god', so you know why this gets irritating. Coming back to 2nd season now, yes the same narration is repeated sadly, but were the episodes, or the reaaal episodes good or not.. lets see.

The Mimic :
A young woman starts hearing her friends voices in the house she just started living. And those voices come when they ain't there.

It was likeable minus the part where they show the spirit physically in that disgusting gross look. If you love jump scares which I don't, then you may love this episode even more as there were I think 4 major jump scares (provided I counted right) that to be honest were forced upon us. My only question is, why didn't she leave the house when her boyfriend confirmed there was something wrong in the basement of the house. Too adventurous or money issue?

Ward of Evil
A nurse works with dementia patients at an assisted living facility comes to terms with a new patient who she discovers is possessed.

This one was in middle kind in terms of believing its true. Sometimes I felt it might be, and sometimes I didn't. Decoding on basis of fiction, what didn't work for me was why would nurse or the owner of the place let that possessed patient (Jackie) stay even after they discover she can't be cured by them. I mean they are having routine trips to her room knowing she is dangerous even after what was done to arm of a new assistant who immediately quit the place. Another theory is that Jackie was just hallucinating and the nurse tells story from her point of view so just exaggerating.. Either way, there was nothing much to like about this episode, even the exorcism scene isn't shown in detail. The end is good but only if you believe Jackie or that room did actually had something evil.

Cult of Torture
A man shares his experience from pre-teen to teenage times when he was made to go through a religious conversion therapy.

I liked this one but then I hated it too, and that was for what the guy goes through. Let me clear, this episode has no spirits involved, its the horror of having the kind of parents you shouldn't have. In a scene when the priest arrives home and spanks the guy's brother while their mother stands silently, it gives a hint how horrible she must be, and what hell the guy will go through who is considered to have feminine traits. There's the disgusting 'Gay demon, go away' ritual done, originally I found it silly and funny but then the physical trauma they do after that was hard to watch. It was like those torture movies of slaves you may have watched. Believable story, yea this one was very much so!

Spirits from Below
Traumatized siblings tell the story about the terrible things that happened in their family home when they lived there.

This was the least believable story, specially the way it ends where their Mom tells about the ghosts. But as a fiction (thats what it is for me), there are some good scenes, like the red boy one or the one where the little girl one by one starts throwing things down. As always the narration breakup by the ridiculous conference kind re-tell of story breaks whatever interest had developed.

Demon of War
A U.S Marine who has gone to serve in Afghanistan, is confronted by a demon with glowing eyes.

For like 10 mins there was no demon, and I was thinking maybe the haunting here would be about 'war' as how it affects people sometimes while knowing enemy could kill you anytime. But my bad luck, they show a stupid demon more like a creature look that does nothing but warns 'you are not welcome in here'. It was the funniest of all the episodes so far, unless ofcourse you are a jump scare lover, have fun then.

Born Cursed
A young boy is convinced that he was born cursed and there's a 'hangman' always following him.

As if the jump scares aren't enough, there's plenty of jump cuts (editing term if you aware) used in here. Same was done in 2nd episode too. Talking about this episode, its bit of middle way, the demon encounters are fun to watch, but they just didn't show much or give it a proper end as I was expecting. In terms of believability, its 50-50 for me.


So, yet another poor season of 'Haunted' it turned out.. Didn't love a single episode, liked two and rest were either mediocre or plain bad.

My Rating : 3/10 

Movie Analysis : Wounds (Netflix)

Directed by : Babak Anvari
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5913798/

People look so normal on the outside, but on the inside, its all just .. worms.

Spoilers ahead..


Will (Armie Hammer) who is a bartender at Rosie's starts to experience creepy mysterious disturbing things happening ever since a group of teenagers left a phone at his place.

Yet another movie that may work more while reading the book it is inspired or adapted from. Infact for the 1st 30 mins it had me engaged, making me think its just one of those case where I differ from the majority of people who rated it as pretty low at imdb.

There's a great atmosphere created right from the 1st scene at the Rosies's where the fight takes place involving a important character, Eric (Brad William Henke) who I assume is a regular customer of Will, or maybe an acquaintance. Then there's Will and his live-in girlfriend Carrie (Dakota Johnson) who aren't in a happy space together. And another plot involves Alicia (Zazie Beetz) who comes at Rosies with her new boyfriend Jeffrey (Karl Glusman), and she appears to be friend or more than a friend to Will.

All these sub-plots play well initially, with the horror limited to mainly some cockroaches who are at Rosie's and also at Will's apartment. The moment Will tries to get physically involved with Alicia, to cheat on his girlfriend, thats when for me the movie started going downhill. There's nothing told about the whereabouts of the phone, why was Will chosen as the perfect vessel as per the ritual of the portal those teenagers had opened, I am assuming they did it curiously which would involve 'The Translation of Wounds' book they must have got in touch with. A simple theory is ofcourse Will was easy to feed on since he was something else than he initially shows himself to be, and the version of his true self he does become by the end. Talking about the end, again they leave it too open, with the entity that Eric had present in him (he probably got during the fight) getting transferred to Will, who has by now broken up with his girlfriend. Alicia not wanting to be in touch either making him willing to go on a path that may not be right but then thats how he is probably is.

One thing for sure, Wounds isn't a straightforward movie, it makes you think about the plot, very much reminds of 'It Follows', where the origin details are never given. Wounds is like a sequel to a movie that would had been about a group of teenagers and their adventures leading to the first scene at Rosie's. I love creepy atmosphere with a good background score but the insects/worms kind horror doesn't interest me.

Most would find it a bad and irritating movie, which I felt too at times, but at same time I was always interested in knowing where the character of Will is going to end up at. What could had made the film better? Some explanation to what is happening, not everything though, I prefer the ending but I wanted scenes like Carrie sitting staring at the tunnel pic on internet to lead somewhere.

Lot to complain about 'Wounds', still not a terrible movie in my opinion and I may well give the book a read in future when I get time. The movie is strictly a one time watch.

My Rating : 4/10  

Movie Analysis : War

Directed by : Siddharth Anand
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7430722/

Jai jai shivshankar, aaj mood hai bhayankar.. 

Spoilers ahead..


The basic premise is about a patriotic soldier  Khalid (Tiger Shroff) who is given a mission to kill Kabir (Hrithik Roshan), his former mentor who has suddenly gone rogue.

Till the 1st half, I was quite happy with the movie, managed to somehow ignore the many irritating elements that are still part of this 1st half, namely the over-use of slow motions (I will get tired of referring to this stupid love affair our filmmakers have). I get it that you need the entry scenes of superstars get whistled so slow motion gives more time, which again is pretty stupid but whats bizarre is when you keep doing it again and again, even in the action scenes. Also the action sequences weren't impressive and at times gave repetitive feeling. 

But I was still fine with all those problems, it was Naina's (Vaani Kapoor) character and the plastic surgery plot they bring in 2nd half that just makes me lose all my interest. Only scene of Naina that was likeable was when she says 'mera dil tootne wala hai na' but that too doesn't totally work as I was never invested in her character, it comes out as something added just for some glamor. Why would you build half of movie based on Khalid's loyalty for his country, showing his past where his dad was a traitor and got killled by Kabir. And now we are shown Khalid is dead and another traitor, from Kabir's team has plastic surgery to have same face as Khalid. Whats funny is, he has same mannerisms, same kind of fighting style, almost a ditto copy of Khalid, because its a film based on suspension of belief I assume. 

Now to the best part of movie, which is undeniably Hrithik Roshan, and I don't mean just his performance, but he just makes you adore him every time he is in the frame even if he is given a average/bad dialogue or he is asked to dance in a song that was never needed to be inserted in narrative (Guilty pleasure, I did love Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, it still was a song only meant for end-credits). In short, with all the flaws around the story, narrative and other actors, Hrithik holds his own and never gives me a reason to criticise him.

Tiger Shroff is wonderful as always in his dance and action sequences, his acting is still here and there. His character getting killed off, does give him scope to perform the grey side for a change in that plastic surgery act and he does it pull it off quite nicely.

War would appeal certainly to Hrithik-Tiger fans (thats a given), but for neutrals like me, its just a decent one time watch, full of loving as well as cringeworthy moments. 

My Rating : 5/10