avinashb75 Reviews

Dead Pigs (2018)

A satisfying satirical sectioning of society

[7/10 · 12 November 2019]

I watched this film on a transatlantic flight having never heard of it before and choosing solely based on having heard the director being in charge of the upcoming DCEU venture. Overall, it paints a satirical picture of Chinese society, though you can't help feeling that the generic nature of the stories comments on societal paradigms globally. Certainly, many of the situations, actions and reactions would be quite commonplace in India. The cinematography was so amazing I felt annoyed watching it on a small screen, and the over the top acting was befitting the satirical nature of the piece. The recurring motifs of contamination and destruction really hit home, while carefully not banging you over the head with their message. If you can seek it out, definitely worth a watch

Rafiki (2018)

Beautiful but oh so predictable

[6/10 · 13 June 2019]

Rafiki, over and above it's central premise of a same sex romance, portrays a slice of working class Kenyan life masterfully. But apart from that, the story and the characters are not given enough time on screen to enable the story to make an impact, and the ending is all too obvious - but maybe that's the point. A good attempt second half failed to hold my attention

Tolkien (2019)

An episodic narrative with a lot of padding

[7/10 · 10 June 2019]

It seems like the movie is, through Tolkien's story, trying to tell a larger tale about love, friendship and loss, and how people deal with it. The narrative is surprisingly impersonal at times, purporting to be about JRR but straying through his friends and the impact of WW1. In a similar way that Bohemian Rhapsody was not strictly about Queen or Freddie, this movie is not strictly about Tolkien nor the Middle Earth world he created, but something in the middle. Plot problems aside, the movie does have great a great score and the sets and costumes are fantastic. Hoult does a great job with the little he has to work with, but the 'fantasy' sequences sometimes go over the top and feel a bit on the nose.

Lady J (2018)

A saccharine rom-com masquerading as a period piece

[7/10 · 7 June 2019]

I came into this not knowing what to expect but some kind of love story. Though it started off slow and continued to spectacularly fail the Bechdel test, it grew strongly into a curiously entertaining romp, aided by an almost pantomime score. The best part was that it could be viewed as a light comedy, but should the viewer deign to scratch the surface, they would notice the bitter pill under the sugar coating. The movie alludes to a number of human themes, mostly around forgiveness and redemption, and for the discerning viewer there is a lot more to enjoy than at first might meet the eye

Escapada (2018)

A great exploration of what it means to be a 'family'

[8/10 · 3 June 2019]

A simple and charming yet at times gritty look at family dynamics through the lens of a group of people looking for a different way to live. The subtle allusions to 'independence' and 'occupation' are not lost in this story set in the wine-growing Catalan countryside. The main characters were well fleshed out and rounded, each with their own flaws and on their own separate arcs. Well paced story with frequent light comic relief