What I Watched – January 2025

It’s a New Year and probably a good time to get started on some new projects. I decided to be a bit more mindful of the content that I consume. So, here we go with the stuff that I watched this month:

Rifle Club: The first movie of the year and that too watched on the big screen was a ‘mass’ movie. It’s now on Netflix.

Identity: Total dud. I don’t understand how so many movie makers mess up the basic principles of aviation. Air Traffic Control is shown as some random, individual-driven process that can be easily rigged! The other movie that similairly made a mockery of air travel was the lousy Uyare.

Meiyazhagan: A formula that can never go wrong – City dweller returning to his roots and getting all senti about his childhood and becoming overwhelmed with emotions and guilt for not ‘being in touch’. Worth watching for the visuals of the Kaveri delta – Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai and pretty Tamil kovils.

Emilia Perez – While the music of this Spanish musical was catchy, the movie was badly crafted. The French director receiving flak for his stereotype portrayal of Mexicans has been the movie news of the month. Wonder if this is going to make it big in the Oscars.

Maria –  The third and last installment of Pablo Larraín’s trilogy on ‘20^th Century Women’ was a biopic of the last days of the Opera singer Maria Callas. Learnt a lot about a personality I knew next to nothing about. Her affair with Jackie Onassis and his subsequent fling with Jackie Kennedy was a fascinating tidbit. Planning to listen to her major pieces. Some recommended listening.

Jackie – Went in reverse gear and watched the second of Larrain’s trilogy. Didn’t work for me. The movie covered Jackie’s life in the immediate aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination. The first of the trilogy on Diana will be watched soon and reported.

Shtisel – Israeli masterpiece and already blogged about it

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – I read the first volume of HP when I was 38 and decided to pass the option of continuing with the series. The movie adaptation was fun to watch with the kids. Daniel Radcliffe was a dud. His buddies – Ron and Hermione stole the show.  

Bramayugam – Mammotty in fine form in this Black and White horror thriller. (On SonyLIV). The influence of Adoor’s Vidheyan was unmissable.

Triangle of Sadness: Black humour and biting social critique done well. The film builds up to a classic “group stranded on an island” scenario, with all the philosophical dilemmas thrown in: the worthlessness of money, sex as a bargaining chip, jealousy, matriarchy and its limitations etc.

RekhaChitram: Asif Ali has been on a magnificent run. A nostalgia-soaked thriller centered around the shooting of this song sequence from the 1985 Kaathodu Kaathoram (a song that I grew up listening as a kid)

Sookshmadarshini: A curious neighbor foiling an elaborate murder plot  hatched by a newly arrived neighbour – taken in a humorous way. I found it lousy.

Nirmalyam  – After MT’s demise, I decided to watch all his movies. This 1973 movie which cemented his legend as a movie maker (in addition to his legend as probably the greatest living Malayalam writer), is known for its climax. When it was released fifty years ago, the whole of Kerala watched it in awe and it swept the National Awards. Today, such a climax in any Indian language will be unthinkable. It’s streaming on Hotstar.

Thangaalan: Pa Ranjit’s movies are always something to look forward to. But I didn’t get this one. Left it midway.

Kadavu – MT’s recreation of a short story of S. K. Pottekad. Loved it for the visuals and the slice of life portrayal of the happenings around a river bank. Streaming on YouTube but sadly without subtitles.

First Reformed – I discovered Paul Schrader and his ‘Man in a Room’ trilogy dealing with lonely men grappling with guilt, regret and desire. The first of this, based on a parish priest, was cool. A maniac driven by climate anxiety and deciding to unleash terror wasn’t something that I expected in a movie. Will watch the the other two soon.

Taxi Driver – Schrader was the scriptwriter of this cult Scorsese movie. Re-watched it after twenty years. The PTSD of the ‘Nam veterans, the pre-AIDS debauchery of the streets, racial violence and the controversial casting of a 12-year old Jodie Foster in the role of a prostitute were things I forgot about this classic.

The Diplomat Season 2 – Sruthi was watching this and I caught a few episodes. Didn’t have the patience to sit through an implausible plot. But Keri Russel’s screen presence is something to behold!