Category: English Movie

No Time To Die (2021)

Meaning of James Bond

It was with great excitement that we 7 boys set out to watch this movie with much of the anticipation leaving our family behind. Rotten tomatoes has it 84%, said one, it is a long awaited Bond movie post pandemic beamed other. I had urged people to wear Tuxedo, just in case the movie required our assistance at the end. Then the action starts right where it was left off, Bond is disturbed by his peaceful vacation and kicks some asses of the bad guys, Bond is the only action hero who fights in Tux and then walks into the bar for a Martini shaken not stirred, speaking of Tux, Ana de Armas (Paloma) is the best part in the movie who fights like a ninja with her evening gown, barely covering her chest. With an intense fight sequence never does that gown slip once, take that Janet Jackson; wardrobe malfunction.

From here on the movie goes down hill, other than some exquisite shots of some unique locations, the good guy, bad guy rant continues as to how they are both same as two sides of a coin. Whatever happened to the definition of Bond as defined on top, Craig is carrying his daughter on his waist while he hands the gun to his girlfriend, Léa Seydoux (Madeleine) to fight off the bad guys, I would rather watch Family Man (wonderfully played by Manoj Bajpayee), who is truly a family man playing 007. While Craig is busy saving his family they have introduced a lady 007, Lashana Lynch(Nomi), uggh! they have put all the remaining clothing pieces of the Ana to her, her only mission was to rescue Craig’s family from harm’s way. It was Ana de Armas who showed us how a lady 007 would look like in her short stint, Halle Barry would have carried this role best.

Craig has quit 007 who comes back to the mission one last time before he turns into a family man, I say just quit, when you decide to quit, learn from Jerry Seinfeld, leaving on the high note.

Rami Malek as Safin is a convincing villain but his character is not developed from the beginning.

I really don’t want to spoil the ending for viewers, I want you guys to go thru that pain I endured for 3 hours to catch the ending, really there is no time to die, just sulk. Rest in peace Ian Flemming, you did not have to watch this.

Disclaimer: Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond, it is Pierce Brosnan movie plots I like the best.

Never Have I Ever

This is a TV Series about an Indian American teenage girl, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) wanting to blend in the American culture, while her Immigrated mother pins her rooted to Indian values. It’s a hilarious series from the get go. Devi the protagonist falsely quotes at a Ganesha Puja celebrations that, “I love to say I am Indian”, John McEnroe laments, I am more Indian that you, girl. Well yes, John is narrating the whole story and quite funny at it, comparing her life with his personal tennis events.

The lines written are beautiful, acting by all characters are spot on. In end I like to say Mindy Kaling is a great writer, The Office fame, has created a goldmine.

Corona Virus(2020) or Contagion(2011)

Image courtesy : IMDb.com

“In order to get sick, you have to come in contact with a sick person, in order to get scared you just have to get in contact with a rumor.” Laurence Fishburne.

WhatsApp is a wonderful place to look for rumors, so I did, there is a video viral of Contagion’s trailer playing with uncanny references to the current Covid-19 predicted in 2011. As I dig deep into the movie, it is any other Sci-Fi thriller based of the previous virus outbreaks which almost all have been from China. Frankly speaking I have not seen the movie Contagion – duh! then what are you critiquing about!!!

Well as I googled to watch this movie online (you know I am working from home), although I have Netflix and Amazon Prime, I need to rent it to watch. So I googled Youtube, I did not find the movie but watched a review written by a Real Doctor, not Whatsapp doctors, but a certified one, Medlife Crisis.

Apparently he was compelled to review this movie in the wake of Corona Virus comparison. Boy do I love his review. He explains about the movie in such detail medical terms and finally gives a thumbs up to the attention to detail. More cool about his review, he sips a Corona Extra(vaccine) and runs for an extra boost once it’s over, doc has some funny bone.

The Indian Doctor(2010)

Well we are all familiar with the movies made in the light of British-India and there-after. One phrase stands out like a scar on the chest “You Bloody Indians“, may it be Richard Attenboroughs film Gandhi(1982),  Aamir Khans Lagaan(2001) or  Harrison Fords Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Doom(1984). Indians are either snake charmers or peasants. Even though today’s India is confident and economy booming at 10 to 12 percent a year under PM Narendra Modi, people walked out of the theater held their heads down from Thugs of Hindostan, for portraying Indians in bad light.

Welcome to The Indian Doctor a TV series, set in the 1960’s, an Indian doctor is invited to a small town in England to practice as the towns existing doctor has suddenly passed away. The screen opens with the doctor Mr. Sharma(Sanjeev Bhasker) although the local British would like to call him Mr. Charmer, along with his aristocratic wife Kaamini(Ayesha Dharkar) if only Brits could pronounce her name correctly. She is either called Camini or CarMini. Let me tell you Kaamini is a beauty with brains in the entire village and she brings an attitude with it. Although she starts like villain, there is no sweeter lady than her in the end. Kaamini’s mother who visits the town puts down all the Brits as stupid lot, she is ashamed to speak to any of them for there stupidity. You will see the true heart of a doctor to serve his patients even though they doubt his ability as a doctor from India. Mr. Sharma leaves no stone unturned before he exposes the top cat of the coal mine, Mr. Sharpes, who has risked the employees health for windfall profits. He acts a little like a Monk the detective to expose his wrong doings; this brings an end to season one.

Season two starts with a Small pox outbreak, although Mr and Mrs Sharma had planned to pack their bags and leave to India(Kaamini finds this village too backward for her tastes), they stay back to help the town with the crisis. This is where you see the gentle and educated heart of Kaamini, who works with her husband to contain the outbreak, eventually conquering the disease with only one death, which is attributed to one adamant Pastor who is determined to cure with the help of Lord as opposed to science(medicine).

There is a chance that you might not like the episodes and find it boring due to the slow pace and village settings, the Welsh and other English accents can throw you off. Have you ever watched a movie with your parents and in-laws together and suddenly a sex scene arrives and you can’t find the remote; all are adults but everybody is admiring the drapes and sheets in the bedroom. Same here just enjoy the beauty of the landscape of this beautiful village, I promise it’s stunning!

I recommend two seasons.

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Image credits imdb.com

The movie opens with a rant about racism, denigrating the existence of blacks as equals in the society among whites. It is none other than Donald J Trump! err sorry, I meant his SNL alter ego Alec Baldwin. This sets the mood of the film, so if you are a Trump-ster, you have wasted your money. But you sit and enjoy the intelligent comedy played by the characters.
Then enters our protagonist, Ron Stallworth(John David Washington) prepping his nostalgic Afro hairdo, he becomes the first black police officer to join the force of Colorado Springs. Based of the true story, Spike Lee weaves the story from the past to present racism in America.
Ron starts of his duty in records room, who gets bored very soon, requests his chief to assign him a detective work. Due to his persistence Chief assigns him to infiltrate a Black Panther Activist movement headed by Kwame Ture. Ron accepts it as to socialize with his own community, which in turn finds his love interest; the head of the student union Patrice Dumes(Laura Harrier).

While he is rationalizing with his own kind that police are not pigs, who have tortured the blacks at every juncture concealing his identity. He stumbles upon an advertisement in local newspaper seeking members for a new chapter of KKK in Colorado Springs. He picks the phone and dials the number, the man on the other side asks why would he want to join? Ron goes, “I am WHITE man and hate all those N-word who are sleeping with our white girls and raping them”. I dare not spell that n word, Omarosa might be taping. He pronounces the word WHITE with southern accent, VOIIGHT as it can be. The jaws drop in the office as the rant continues from Ron over the phone, hating blacks. Spike Lee shows that how the rest of the white crew in the office are supportive of Ron except to one bad apple. There is always one that spoils the entire basket. Needless to say the KKK clansman is impressed by Rons views and gets accepted and intends to meet face to face.


Ron’s partner, Filip Zimmerman(Adam Driver) reluctantly agrees to be the face of Ron Stallworth, with Ron as voice, Filip as face the duo infiltrate the KKK, they learn the plans to bomb the Black Panther to eliminate the uprising and end up meeting the master himself, David Duke!

Lee has juxtaposed the KKK and Black panther meeting both being intense in their own right although I would say that the presence of Henry Belafonte is real moving. Lee brings in a full circle and gets that one bad apple on the tape and has him removed from the police force, thus saving the basket from contamination.

In the end Spike Lee ends the movie as a documentary highlighting the events of Charlottesville and President Trump delivering the speech ‘There were fine people on both sides‘ at the cost of an innocent life
Heather Heyer.

It’s worth mentioning here that throughout the movie audience is laughing at the jokes played by Ron and his colleagues over the phone with KKK, but when the commentary from Henry Belafonte is delivered there is a pin drop silence and tears roll down as Heather Heyer is commemorated.

Hidden Figures (2016)

Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) makes a first movie and gets beaten up in NASA mission by our protagonist, thats a first. I could see him twitching with pain when Katherine Johnson, erases the black board (no pun intended it is black board not white board) and rewrites the formulas for John Glen‘s pod re-entry, unfortunately Penny was not there to console him.

The review

Hidden Figures is a wonderful uplifting story of three African American ladies during segregation, making it to the top in NASA space mission.  The bubbly, Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) who wants to be an aeronautical engineer in the white mans world, men watch her struggle through a observatory window when her heel gets stuck on the launch pad. The senior, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) who is managing a colored computers – literal meaning is a black women employed for computing. The genius of the trio is Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) who is calculating rocket’s trajectory and re-entry crossing odds with Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons famously known as Sheldon Cooper). The movie is fairly star studded, Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) is head of the launch mission who at first is very skeptical of the Katherine’s math abilities, he is a fantastic scientist with great leadership skills, but his human side is revealed when he discovers that Katherine took half hour breaks on a critical mission days just to learn that she had to walk half a mile (rain or shine) to relieve herself in the colored bathrooms. Takes a sledge hammer and shatters the  signs of color of the facility and declares “There are no colors here at NASA, we are all one color”. In the other building Dorothy updates her staff with coding (FORTRAN) so that they don’t become obsolete on the installation of IBM supercomputers in the building, in the interim gains the much anticipated respect from her supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst). Mary breaks the barrier to be the first women to go to a College for White only through a court order. The icing on the cake is when management decides to take off Katherine from the mission control since all the calculations can be done by IBM computers, John Glenn personally orders to get Katherine to verify the calculations done by the computer. She oversees safe re-entry of John Glen in the Mission Control room filled with White people (I mean all men dressed in white shirts), with Katherine in a bright colored dress. She later goes on to supervise the Apollo 11 launch, mission to moon.

The movie is a pleasant watch, very well directed by Theodore Melfi, a must watch for all children.

Passengers (2016)

Hmm, where do I begin with this movie, its an arms race to build a colony on Mars and beyond, first we had Gravity(2013) where you saw what it was like getting drifted in Space, then came Interstellar(2014) and Martian(2015) where they landed and grew a plant there. Here in passengers they have taken it to the next level, passengers settling on another planet. Every next movie uses part imagination and part scientific evidence to push the envelope backed by NASA. George Lucas is like you all so 18th century.

The review

The first 30 mins the movie is played by Chris Pratt (Jurassic World 2015) is awakened on a spaceship prematurely since his hibernating pod has malfunctioned, with no one available to talk; sounds scary but we have seen worst on Cast Away(2013). He scans through all the profiles of 1500 passengers and picks to wake up JLaw ( her name in the movie is Aurora, why did you not leave her sleeping, don’t you watch Disney Movies man). Don’t worry, ‘If I was you, I would be waking her up too‘. Now the next 30 mins or more they are busy trying to find out why only they are up and rest are hibernating peacefully for 90 years. Whatever happened to ‘Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Hon, Aur Chavi Ko Jaye‘, maybe I am old schooled they had a whole ship by themselves with all the amenities, food and wine at disposal. Lo and behold after an hour into the movie they find romance between them. It took less time to bring two Pandas together in NYC Zoo. Since Chris discovered sex; by the way JLaw claims this was her first on screen, he thought of waking up Julia Roberts too, but then the director yelled at him, it would cost them another 2o million.

All is well and Chris has planned to propose JLaw at the bar where our only humanized robot Arthur as witness, he takes off to get the ring and Jlaw is chatting with Arthur, disaster strikes, Arthur spills the beans as how Chris contemplated waking her up with guilt and finally went for it and now all looks so good with them together. JLaw is furious and breaks up with Chris for forcefully waking her up.

As fate has it, Chris waking up abruptly was beginning of more problems to arise on the ship and now Chris has to get out into the space and fix it. Love is lost, what more can he loose, he gets out and fixes it but drifts into space. JLaw could have let him go, Brad Pitt was sleeping in one of the pods, looks like she was smitten by Chris and risks her life to bring him back.  You think she will fail in the mission, hello so predictable, then they live happily ever after. No really they do and leave a legacy behind for the hibernators to see a rain-forest created in the space ship after 90 years.

I like JLaw, her movies are best but if I have to watch her I would watch Hunger Games again.