Reviews
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Very generic
Everyone feels angry all the time, for no good reason at all. It's pretty sad that this is the only way writers can try to stir up some drama.
The miscast (calling them a cast would be a credit) don't fit into their roles well, the acting is wooden and there's no real chemistry between the characters.
The backdrops and environments are quite gorgeous.
Overall it feels like a cheap, generic fantasy drama, going through a checklist of tropes. It just happens to be using the Wheel of Time names.
La solitudine dei numeri primi (2010)
A word of warning
Having never read the book, the movie appears to be a jumble of time-lines and a storyline filled with teenage angst and pointless drama. It is also full of needlessly prolonged scenes that make no sense, but which you can feel the director congratulated himself over.
Also, this movie has nothing to do with prime numbers. Prime numbers may have been mentioned in one or two sentences in the movie, but were never the focus. I wonder if there was a better reason in the book for using the words 'prime numbers'.
The only redeeming quality of the movie was that the first half was interesting enough to watch.
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005)
A wasted, valiant effort of patriotism
What made this movie get such a high rating is patriotism, not the quality of the movie. One can actually watch this movie and look at Mangal Pandey (the lead role of the film) as a prostitute-patronizing, drug-addict, who had no sense of direction until just the last 15 minutes of the movie.
If we take the jarring, irrelevant and unnecessary shows of cleavage and erotic gestures aside and take a look at the movie as a movie, it fails miserably. The plot leads nowhere, and the story that you had gone to watch this movie for, simply doesn't show up until much, much later in the movie.
It seems like the producers wanted to earn quick bucks by appealing to an Indian's sense of patriotism and love for soft porn (which is apparent in about 85% of Bollywood films anyways).
I was rather appalled when I heard that this is one of the most expensive movies made in Indian history, AND that it took 4 years to make. It makes me wonder what was going on in A.Khan's head (lead actor) when he accepted this project... I am aware of the fact that he has done movies much better than this, but the simple lack of any skills, quality and expression on anyone's faces (take a look at blank looks on everyone's faces in any scene) made the mind reel (pun unintended).
My advice: Avoid this movie altogether. Else you'll feel as lost as the script.
Duma (2005)
A fresh touch of poetry
Being used to today's explosion-filled, fast-paced movies being churned out on a weekly basis for the sake of selling tickets, Duma is what I'd like to say a slap in the face for all of us who get excited over the mediocrity that has brought out "The Interpreter," "Stealth," and what else is playing now...? A movie that I would definitely recommend for an entire family to watch together, there's nothing in here that would make you want to cover your kids' eyes or ears up at anytime. Instead you'd want for them, and for yourself, to sit up and pay attention to this smooth, smart movie.
Don't wait for any explosions. There is a story being told in this movie, and its being told with a fresh touch of poetry which I haven't seen in a long time.
I gave this movie an 8/10 because of one reason: Although the movie is set in Africa, its really hard to tell until halfway through the movie. In fact, the place looked whiter than Little Rock, Arkansas! But it got an 8/10 because of the story, the storytelling, and the smooth pace at which the movie flows.