Porinju Mariyam Jose

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: Porinju (Joju George), Mariyam (Nyla Usha) and Jose (Chemban Vinod Jose) used to be close friends from childhood days itself. Porinju has been in love with Mariyam since then with the support of Jose. She continued her studies at school even though her friends dropped out, and found one or two reasons to meet Porinju every time. But because of her dead father’s opposition, she has been keeping Porinju waiting. Porinju is the butcher of the village while Jose did even smaller jobs to support his family which included his father, brother, wife and daughter. Both of them never really missed a chance to enjoy life though, with some local alcohol and cigarettes. They are much loved by the people of the village, as they look forward to the local church festival to have the best of fun. Mariyam has been the village’s money lender since her father Varghese’s (Nandhu) death.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: Set in one of the villages in the outskirts of Thrissur town in the 1980s, there is a lot of focus on the church festival which forms the basis of everything. It is during such a festival that something happens, which changes the equation. As Prince (Rahul Madhav), the young blood of the house of the rich and powerful Iype (Vijayaraghavan) falls for Mariya, chaos errupts. As he grabs her backside, Jose is there to beat him up, only to find the members of Iype’s family beating him up together. Porinju who has been in good terms with Iype decides to help his friend, but this fight doesn’t end there. Prince is a typical spoiled brat who wouldn’t stand being beaten up by someone of lesser social status, as he decides to return during the next festival, and teach Porinju and Jose a lesson, much to the dismay of Iype.

The defence of Porinju Mariyam Jose :: It can be clearly seen that Porinju Mariyam Jose is not a typical mass masala movie which is often expected when knowing about a premise like this. There are some fine introductions in the beginning stages, and we come to know about the incidents in the movie from the common village people themselves. The spirit of the age and people are nicely captured here, and the setting is nothing less than catching one’s attention. The action scenes are violent, but feels realistic with the intensity that surrounds it. There are some thrilling moments, and we have the funny sequences here and there. The romantic side remains emotional, and we feel its effect that would go through decades and into the grave. The touch of realism keeps this movie apart from the other movies from the same director, and we become part of this world with ease.

The claws of flaw :: There might be the feeling that Porinju Mariyam Jose is more suited for the time period of 1980s and 1990s, but I would say that it wouldn’t have this much of a beauty if it was presented then. A certain amount of stretching can also be seen in the second half, and the story doesn’t rise to go further away from the usual stuff – there is no special ingredient regarding that. This movie could have actually had more, with other happenings of the village, and a solid reason for all these twist of events. The messages could have been stronger, and this never-ending cycle of violence could have been given a pause at some point. Some people might say that this is not as good as the veteran director’s earlier movies, but I would consider that to be a case of personal opinion, because this movie’s case is to be considered separately, like a deviation.

The performers of the soul :: Joju George had greatness written all over Joseph, and here is back with another lead role, and something else to remember in a different way. He had also won the National Film Award – Special Mention for that flick which is considered to among the best emotional investigative thrillers of all-time. As we also remember two other emotional roles from him in Virus and June, it can be seen that this movie explores another side of him with the character of Porinju. The man here plays a lovable character even though he is always there in the middle of the fights. The emotional moments once again has the best here, and we see that the same touch our hearts again, and the ending does provide that Joseph-like feeling for us. From the release of Joseph itself, we have been aware that there is really nothing that Joju can’t do, and only he can make it better each and every time.

Further performers of the soul :: As a movie which thrives with its performances, Joju is not the only person who serves as the lighthouse, the fixed mark and guiding light to this movie. Nyla Usha, who is best known for Punyalan Agarbathis, was not to be seen in its sequel Punyalan Private Limited, but we did see her in Lucifer. We knew how well she could suit this role from the trailer itself. She plays a strong character, and she does that with so much ease, and makes us believe the same with a realistic side. Chemban Vinod Jose is a master of many things, as he had proven with the award winning Ee Ma Yau, but that was just one part of it. He blends into some roles so well that we feel that he is providing another flawed character to be loved by all. Vijayaraghavan plays the man caught between two loyalties very well that we feel for him, no matter what he does. Rahul Madhav’s role is rather small, and with too weak an antagonist, he serves okay.

How it finishes :: The first half of the movie is indeed better than the second, when things get kind of slower and predictable. Maybe a little bit more of an effort could have made everything better, but we can say with confidence that Porinju Mariyam Jose jumps far ahead of the director’s last few movies with ease. One can also have no doubt about the fact that this movie thrives on its performances with the best possible cast for each role. We are taken to that world of rivalry and revenge, as we also become part of it. Porinju Mariyam Jose is a movie which is there to stay in the mind for long – it doesn’t have to pretend to gain that recognition. It is a movie which is there to stay, and go on strong until the Onam releases try to take over, but as of now, special appreciation is needed for this movie which is kept family-friendly even with the different themes which could have been explored in another raw manner.

Release date: 23rd August 2019
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Joshiy
Starring: Joju George, Chemban Vinod Jose, Nyla Usha, Sudhi Koppa, Sinoj Varghese, Rahul Madhav, TG Ravi, Swasika, Vijayaraghavan, Salim Kumar, Malavika Menon, Kalabhavan Niyas, IM Vijayan, Sarasa Balussery, Nandhu, Jayaraj Warrier, Disney James

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Thanneermathan Dinangal

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: Jason (Mathew Thomas) is a student in plus one humanities, who manages to get to science stream as one of the students in the class wished to escape from the baffling science, thus exchanging their places. He joins the science batch, but doesn’t really manage to pick up the pace, even though he is able to get into the school cricket team as a medium pace bowler and play frequently in tournaments. Despite being branded as the studious boy in the early stages as he came from a reputed central syllabus school, he soon proved to be below average or sometimes even worse in his studies. He finds some new friends who are like him, and also falls in love with Keerthy (Anaswara Rajan), a girl from the same class, a relationship which stays one-sided, much to his dismay, as he hopes to make some progress in it. There is another girl named Steffy (Gopika Ramesh), but he feels that Keerthy is his true love.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: But this is the least of his problems as he has problems with another student from the nearby class room. Still, the biggest of his problems is something else, the new Malayalam teacher who comes in the place of the teacher on leave – Ravi Padmanabhan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) is the new teacher whom everyone loves. He keeps teaching in an interesting manner, with stories and even stops other teachers from punishing students. He gets a heroic image in the eyes of the students, and is appreciated by the Principal who considers Ravi to be of the same wavelength as he is. Jason feels that he is a fraud as Ravi doesn’t teach much in the class, and everything that he does is more or less attention-seeking. Keerthy as well as his best friends admires Ravi too, and he has a cold war against the new teacher who seems to have a prejudice against him too. How will his school life progress now?

The defence of Thannermathan Dinangal :: It can be seen that Thannermathan Dinangal doesn’t deviate from its focus at any moment, and this focus is the main things that leads to its success. The movie feels realistic and funny throughout its run, and it also does come up with some nostalgia. We remember how June did the same effectively some time back, and here we are there again. It feels close to life with ease, and the kids of the school are all too good – we notice most of them and we remember them with ease, as they keep coming up with something to memorize. The music is really good, and the song “Ee Jaathikka Thottam, Ee Jaathi Ninte Nottam” stands out with ease, not just with the lyrics and music, but with what we see on the screen with the two youngsters doing a fantastic job. It is one song which can go on to become the song of the year along with a few others.

The claws of flaw :: Some parts of the movie does go a little too much, especially with Vineeth’s teacher character. There is the feeling that this kind of teacher is rather unrealistic, and we are immediately reaching for our dose of willing suspension of disbelief, but in a realistic movie, it is not that easy to use and work on our imagination. The movie could have also shortened the time spent outside the school, and some of the outside characters make less or no impact at all. There are also those extra moments which could have been added, as we look back to our school days. But considered the movies like Oru Adaar Love dealing with plus two life, we understand how difficult it is to come up with a movie like Thannermathan Dinangal – it is even more difficult to have these work for all kinds of audience, and as it seems to be achieved, there is no more searching through the flaws.

The performers of the soul :: Mathew Thomas of the Kumbalangi Nights fame plays the main character in this movie, and he excels as the protagonist. His expressions and dialogues are all too good, and he keeps on impressing us throughout he movie with realistic performance. There is no moment when you feel that he is not living through that school kid. There is the certainty of a lot more coming up as far as this youngster is concerned. We remember him having played a perfect role in his previous movie, and we are always ready to wait for his next movie. Anaswara Rajan of Udaharanam Sujatha fame plays the female lead, and after the recently released Evidey, she has another role in uniform, this time in plus two. She is also natural with her performance here, and the emotional moments are also handled with a certain amount of maturity.

Further performers of the soul :: Then you see Vineeth Sreenivasan doing the teacher character in style – the character might look a little bit strange, but he gives life and energy to that one in an admirable way. We don’t see him in movies that often these days, and we always need a little bit of him at regular intervals – this movie has him back. We had Aravindante Athidhikal last year with the feel-good, and here he has the humour in his hands. Irshad plays the principal of the school nicely. Nisha Sarangh of Uppum Mulakum fame is left to do nothing much here. All the kids here also come up with impressive performances, especially the one who played the main characters’ best friend and the one who has a problem with our protagonist. The watermelon juice from the shop outside the gates of the school and the nutmeg garden contributes as characters in a special way – we see them, and we remember them later, like William Wordsworth would, with the daffodils.

How it finishes :: This kind of a feeling was earlier achieved only with something like Philips and the Monkey Pen, but that was with smaller kids – June had gone beyond the school days as it progressed. Thannermathan Dinangal comes up with the journey that everyone can enjoy, which is the reason why it is still running with housefull shows, something which bigger superstar movies struggle to achieve. It has been a difficult job to find tickets for this movie during this weekend too, and we can be certain that the movie is here to stay. If after watching this movie, you feel the need to go back to your school again, there is no real surprise about it. Thannermathan Dinangal is not a movie of one generation, but of more than one, and you avoid the use of mobile phones, and change the drinks – you get back to the eighties or nineties with ease – well, after all, the 1990s kids nostalgia which have been circulating on the internet has been clearly applicable to the 1980s kids! This one is universal too! I leave you with this beautiful song from the movie.

Release date: 26th July 2019
Running time: 136 minutes
Directed by: Girish AD
Starring: Mathew Thomas, Anaswara Rajan, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sajin Cherukayil, Irshad, Nisha Sarangh, Kichu Tellus, Shabareesh Varma, Gopika Ramesh

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Hobbs and Shaw

Posted on August 4, 2019 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: The movie begins in London, with a group of MI6 agents trying to recover a deadly virus, Snowflake, which is good enough to cause a global pandemic, bringing humanity closer to the sixth extinction. As they retrieve it from the global terrorist organization Eteon, Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), an Eteon soldier fitted with advanced cybernetic implants arrives and kills all agents except for their leader, Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby). She injects Snowflake into herself to keep it away from others’ reach and escapes from the scene. Brixton frames her as a traitor who killed her team and stole Snowflake, and it leads to her being on the run from more than one intelligence agency. Both Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. The Rock) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are given the duty to track her down and find Snowflake before it gets to Eteon or some other terrorist group.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: It turns out that Hattie is the younger sister of Deckard, and after talking to their mother Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren) in prison, he finds it his duty to protect her. As expected, Luke and Deckard can’t get along, and that does cause problems as far as the mission is concerned. They do find her in the end, and even though she is taken to the CIA office, Brixton arrives with his team of mercenaries and captures her. Luke and Deckard manages to save her after trying to defeat Brixton in hand combat without any success. They manage to get away, and decide to find a way to get the virus out of Hattie who only seems to have a few days remaining. They figure out that she has to be killed needs to use an extraction device from the Eteon factory in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Brixton frames them as terrorists, and makes things further difficult.

And what more is to happen? :: For the same, they are helped by Madam M (Eiza Gonzalez), who is Deckard’s old flame, as well as a robber who lives in Russia – she also provides them with some special, powerful weapons. This leaves them with even lesser amount of time to get the virus out of Hattie. Brixton is also searching everywhere for the virus that he feels will change the world forever. With no option to save her, and after getting all the information from the creator of the virus, Professor Andreiko (Eddie Marsan) they decide to have her transferred to Brixton and then go after her in the factory where it was created, as it is the only place where it can be extracted. With time running out, they get their resources ready, while Andreiko is captured by Brixton. It is a tough task ahead for the two people who just don’t want to see each other – can they defeat Brixton, the man who is more like a superhuman with all the implants, or will death be unleashed on common people?

The defence of Hobbs and Shaw :: This is one movie in the Fast and Furious franchise that could do without its “FF” tag, as it has a story which can stand alone, and with its main characters and all the action around, has such great strength beyond the franchise. It is so good even without those scenes of racing in the streets, even though there are also present. The great action sequences go a long way beyond our expectations. The movie has the chases, hand to hand combat, a vertical walk and a grand final battle which has a group of cars against a helicopter. The best thing about the movie is that it knows where to draw the lines, and how to make things believable, helping the willing suspension of disbelief – it is something that some of those dumb masala Bollywood movies can never do. This one begins well and ends well, and in between has a lot to remember. The visuals are stunning, and the best is in store in the end, at Samoa.

Positives and negatives :: The movie has a certain amount of humour in there, and not all the comedy works here. Sometimes, the comic side tries to come in when not needed and the least expected – sometimes, we just love to avoid it as not being part of this grand adventure. All parts of the movie are also not at the same level, leaving us with ups and downs. The use of family idea gets repetitive, but is once again used effectively with the scene shifting to Samoa bring one more family together. Well, we know how much Fast and Furious 6, Fast and Furious 7 and Fast and Furious 8 talked about family, and that is one element which comes up in anything related to the franchise. There is also the talk about people being above technology, and regarding the final setting and The Rock who comes up with such a situation, it becomes believable. There are moments when we feel that it is this movie that needs the sequel and not the original series – Vanessa Kirby might be one strong reason for that.

The performers of the soul :: Fast and Furious franchise is known for its protagonists who have no hair on their head – this one does the job without Vin Diesel though. This is that kind of an occasion where it works perfectly without him – the contrasting styles of the two actors playing the two real different characters become perfect here. Dwayne Johnson brings the power of the Rock or rather Hercules in the last few scenes as we also have Roman Reigns joining in to give a reminder of that WWE world which we have loved for long. Jason Statham’s protagonist who comes with a different style of action has us asking for more. Vanessa Kirby is too good in the action sequences too, as she brings everything into the scene perfectly – Mission Impossible: Fallout had here doing less action, but not this time, as she has some fine sequences of action which we are going to remember. She can surely have a lot more action movies. Idris Alba does a great job playing the villain too. Elza Gonzalez has a small, but noticeable role.

How it finishes :: We have always wanted more of the Fast and Furious franchise, and this one makes sure that there is more, and that too with the two superstars who could be even bigger than the whole movie. With Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham launching the right punches, this one offers even more than what we thought it would deliver. A complete entertainer from the beginning to the end, Hobbs and Shaw is a movie that you shouldn’t miss, as far as you are looking for a grand action thriller. There will be more fast and furious movies coming up, but this one will be remembered for what has brought to the screen in a grand fashion. We are gladly past the boring street racing saga to aim at something higher. Creating a spin-off out of a successful franchise and making it as big as the original series requires some fine skills, and here the same is on display. Hobbs and Shaw will keep the expectations high until the next movie in the franchise arrives.

Release date: 2nd August 2019
Running time: 135 minutes
Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby, Idris Elba, Eiza Gonzalez, Eddie Marson, Helen Mirren, Cliff Curtis, Roman Reigns, Josh Mauga, John Tui, Lori Pelenise Tuisano