Shame: Steve McQueen’s Shame – a deep dive into the psyche of a sex addict had Micheal Fassbender pull off a great effort. The inability to get aroused with romantic partners, the porn-addiction and his eventual spiral towards a violent climax was a gripping watch.
Hunger:
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland.
The second hunger strike took place in 1981 and was a showdown between the prisoners and the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. One of the hunger strikers, Bobby Sands, was elected as a member of the British parliament; Kieran Doherty and Paddy Agnew were elected in the 1981 Irish general election to Dáil Éireann during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death, including Sands, whose funeral was attended by 100,000 people. The strike was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party. – Wikipedia
Steve McQueens ‘Hunger’ portrays Sands’ strike in graphic detail. Prior to the hunger strike, the prisoners refused food and smeared their prison cells with their own excreta. The stuff that we humans can endure to defend ‘ideas’ is not something that we often think deeply enough and appreciate.
Widows: Steve McQueens’ thriller in which a group of widows pull off a heist which their husbands had planned was a good caper to watch. Viola Davis was outstanding and had such screen presence!
Twelve Years a Slave: Steve McQueens magnum opus was a difficult and moving watch. Based on the true life story of a freeman who gets tricked and sold into slavery, the movie was unflinching in the brutality of the institution of slavery driven by the global greed for cotton
Monsoon Wedding: Since Mamdani’s victory was all over the news, I decided watch some of Mama’s movies. While I had watched this when it was released, I had no memory of how good this was. Monsoon Wedding captures the energy and chaos of a Delhi wedding and even got the nuances of the Delhi crowd quite well.
Mississippi Masala: It was while researching the Indian exodus from Uganda (triggered by Idi Amin) that Mira Nair ended up meeting and marrying Papa Mamdani. MM was a fantastic movie and had so many layers to it. The story of an Indian immigrant falling in love with a Black American was also a layered analysis about Indians’ own relationship with caste, class and hierarchies. It was so refreshing to see Denzel Washington as the lanky lover and playing it to the hilt.
Nuremberg: This one was a total disappointment. Apart from the casting of Russel Crowe, the movie had little to go for it.
Rajawinte Makan: The movie that made Mohanlal a sensation hasn’t aged well
Annie Hall: After Diane Keaton’s passing away, I thought of rewatching this classic. Woody Allen’s fixation with Freud, psychoanalysis and of course his Jewishness is something to watch out for in this warm movie.
Death by Lightning: This limited series explores the presidency of James Garfield and his eventual assassination by Charles Guiteau. Since I knew nothing about Garfield, I couldn’t let this pass. Didn’t learn much from the four hours spent
All you wanted to ask about Sex: Fifty three years back, Woody Allen created this series of seven episodes exploring different aspects of sex. While some of the episodes were dull and campy, the few that stood out made this worth watching. My favourite was his take on sodomy. It was nothing but philosophical in its approach!
Omkara: Check out my comment on this in my review of Othello
Kaliyattam: Check out my comment on this in my review of Othello
Othello (1952): Check out my comment on this in my review of Othello
Akele Hum Akela Tum: Even after three decades, this movie still stands out for its heart. I also got to listen to some tracks that I still managed to recollect after all these years
Mirage: I gave up after the first 30 minutes. Apart from Drishyam, Jeetu Joseph hasn’t been very impressive IMHO
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