Tag: reviews

Review: ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023), starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh

July 19, 2023

by Carla Hay

Benny Safdie and Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer” (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)

“Oppenheimer” (2023)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Culture Representation: Taking place in the United States and in Europe, from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, the dramatic film “Oppenheimer” (based on the non-fiction book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer”) features a nearly all-white cast of characters (with a few Latinos) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer invents the atomic bomb, which is used in Japan toward the end of World War II, but he struggles with the moral consequences of this invention.

Culture Audience: “Oppenheimer” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Christopher Nolan, the star headliners and history-based movies with a top-notch principal cast.

Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer” (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures)

“Oppenheimer” has the words “awards bait” written all over it. This epic drama about atomic bomb inventor J. Robert Oppenheimer is crammed with showy performances from an all-star cast. The last third of the movie is the best and most meaningful section.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” is based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s 2005 non-fiction book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” Oppenheimer was born in 1904 and died in 1967. This three-hour movie has a story that spans from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, with most of the story taking place in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s a very ambitious film that at times seems more interested in showing off how many famous cast members can be stuffed into quick-cutting scenes. The middle part of the movie tends to drag with some repetition, but the movie’s last hour is absolutely riveting.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as Robert (played by Cillian Murphy, giving an award-worthy performance), is an intense and quietly brooding American theoretical physicist who is originally from New York, but he did his most significant work in remote areas of Los Alamos, New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was tested. The top-secret research into making the atomic bomb was called the Manhattan Project. The movie shows that Robert had mixed feelings about this invention, even before it was actually built. He also worried about how this bomb could possibly start a competition among other countries (specifically, Russia, then known as the Soviet Union) to make an even more destructive bomb.

The first hour of “Oppenheimer” cuts in and out of scenes so quickly, it does a disservice to the story by preventing viewers from getting to know the main characters better. After a while, the movie’s first hour just becomes a parade of big-name actors portraying scientists and government officials who have various debates about the merits and morality of the atomic bomb. It all becomes a bit long-winded, although the visuals in the movie are often stunning. Also noteworthy is composer Ludwig Göransson’s stirring “Oppenheimer” musical score.

There are repetitive mentions of Robert always feeling like the white Anglos who dominate the U.S. government will never truly accept him because he’s Jewish. There’s some antisemitism depicted in the movie, but the biggest prejudices in “Oppenheimer” have to do with political alliances. The movie’s story is steeped in people’s obsession with finding out who’s a Communist (or Communist ally) and who is not. This “Red Scare” would eventually be the undoing of more than one person in the story.

The other real-life people portrayed in “Oppenheimer” include Leslie Groves Jr. (played by Matt Damon), the politically conservative officer of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers and director of the Manhattan Project; Lewis Strauss (played by Robert Downey Jr.), the founding commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission); and physicist Ernest Lawrence (played by Josh Hartnett), the extroverted inventor of the cyclotron, who befriends the more introverted Robert. Other real-life historical figures portrayed in “Oppenheimer” include Danish physicist Niels Bohr (played by Kenneth Branagh), a mutual admirer of Robert; hydrogen bomb inventor Edward Teller (played by Benny Safdie), an uneasy subordinate of Robert; and physicist Frank Oppenheimer (played by Dylan Arnold), Robert’s younger brother, who was recruited by Robert to work on the Manhattan Project.

And there’s more: Hans Bethe (played by Gustaf Skarsgård), the leader of the Manhattan Project’s theorist department; physicist/chemist Isidor Rabi (played by David Krumholtz), Robert’s longtime friend/advisor; Vannevar Bush (played by Matthew Modine), the leader of the Office of Scientific Research and Development; William Borden (played by David Dastmalchian), executive director of the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy; and world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein (played by Tom Conti), who has a few contrived-looking scenes where he has private conversations with Robert.

And there’s even more: Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, special counsel to the Atomic Energy Commission; Macon Blair as Lloyd Garrison, Robert’s attorney; Rami Malek as physicist David Hill; Alden Ehrenreich as an unnamed U.S. Senate aide who works with Lewis Strauss; Casey Affleck as U.S. Army military intelligence officer Boris Pash; Dane DeHaan as civil engineer Kenneth Nichols. Also in the “Oppenheimer” cast are Tony Goldwyn as national security/defense government official Gordon Gray; Jack Quaid as physicist Richard Geynman; Josh Peck as physicist Kenneth Bainbridge; Alex Wolff as physicist Luiz Alvarez; and James Remar as U.S. government official Henry Stimson. Even with a cast packed with well-known actors, most of the supporting actors who are in the movie for less than 10 minutes each don’t have much to do but say their lines while sitting or standing in offices.

One of the best scenes in the movie is when Robert has a tension-filled meeting in 1945, with U.S. president Harry Truman (played Gary Oldman), who dismisses Robert’s concerns about the atomic bomb being a trigger for other countries, such as the Soviet Union, to get into an arms race to build an even more destructive bomb. The scene is less than 15 minutes long, but Oldman absolutely stands out as tough-talking President Truman, who has no regrets about deciding to drop the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that year. President Truman scolds Robert by saying: “Do you think Hiroshima and Nagasaki care who invented the bomb? They care about who dropped it. I did!”

The only two women with prominent speaking roles in the movie are mainly there as love interests to the male protagonist, even though these women have their own careers. Florence Pugh plays a commitment-phobic, Stanford-educated psychiatrist named Jean Tatlock, who has a fling with Robert around the same time that he meets his future wife Katherine, nicknamed Kitty (played by Emily Blunt), who is an outspoken botanist/biologist. Robert was Kitty’s fourth husband.

Both women are portrayed as being “difficult” for Robert, who’s depicted as the “long-suffering” person who has to deal with these strong-willed and opinionated women. Robert is portrayed as a “romantic” who just can’t help falling for women who might be wrong for him. “Oppenheimer” absolutely excuses his affairs with married women, including Kitty, whom he got pregnant when she was married to her third husband. Robert’s responsibility in this homewrecking infidelity is glossed over in the movie with a “wink, wink, nudge nudge/boys will be boys” attitude, while Kitty gets the most of the shaming.

As was the case with many wives in the 1940s and 1950s, Kitty (who came from an affluent family) had to make her career take a back seat to her husband’s career while she was the primary caretaker of their two children: son Peter and daughter Toni. Kitty is very unhappy in New Mexico. Her mental health starts to deteriorate, and she has some addiction issues.

Despite her personal challenges, Kitty maintains a defiant nature. Kitty encourages Robert to stand up for himself when he becomes the target of a smear campaign by former ally Lewis Strauss, who spreads lies that Robert is a secret Communist who might have been a spy for the Russian government. Blunt gives a compelling performance that has a little more depth than the typical “loyal wife of the main character.” Downey has his moments to shine as the sneaky and duplicitous Lewis, but Downey performs in “Oppenheimer” like he’s trying too hard to win an Oscar.

“Oppenheimer” is a very “male gaze” movie that wallows in showing a lot of men in ego rivalries and power struggles, while all the women react to whatever the men do. Pugh being topless in her sex scene with Murphy is a very “male gaze” decision, since she didn’t need to be shown with her naked breasts exposed in this movie. Meanwhile, her male co-star had absolutely no “private parts” nudity in this sex scene. Directors really need to stop this blatant double standard about nudity in sex scenes, where women have to show some kind of nudity, while men do not have to show any nudity. It’s a very outdated double standard that’s a turnoff to many viewers who aren’t stuck in this type of backwards and sexist mindset.

The lead-up to the making of the atomic bomb isn’t nearly as interesting in “Oppenheimer” as what happens in the aftermath, when Robert struggles with the consequences of his invention. He becomes famous and lauded as a war hero in America, but with that fame come scrutiny and jealousy from some of the people he had trusted as colleagues. People who know what happened in real life to Oppenheimer can debate if what is shown in the movie is entirely accurate. The “Oppenheimer” movie obviously makes him look like a sympathetic person.

One of the ways that “Oppenheimer” depicts Robert’s guilt is when he hallucinates visions of people in front of him dying from the bomb, with their faces melting or their bodies being ripped apart. Curiously, he only envisions white people suffering from this catastrophe, not the thousands of Japanese people who were actually killed by the bomb he invented. It might be a tone-deaf part of the movie, or it might be writer/director Nolan’s way of showing that even “liberal” Robert Oppenheimer couldn’t see past his own insular world that has no racial diversity.

“Oppenheimer” is not the masterpiece that some people might hail it to be. As a history-based drama, it’s got a very narrow point of view. However, the performances by Murphy, Blunt and Oldman elevate this very long movie, even if much of the dialogue is basic and perfunctory. During the course of the story, Robert Oppenheimer goes from being an underdog to a hero to an embattled public figure. It’s this most difficult phase of his life that brings out his true character and the best that “Oppenheimer” has to offer.

Universal Pictures will release “Oppenheimer” in U.S. cinemas on July 21, 2023.

Review: ‘Barbie’ (2023), starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman and Will Ferrell

July 19, 2023

by Carla Hay

Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Kingsley Ben-Adir in “Barbie” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Barbie” (2023)

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Culture Representation: Taking place in Barbie Land and in “the real world” in the United States, the comedy film “Barbie” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latinos and Asians) portraying Barbie dolls and human beings.

Culture Clash: Barbie and Ken, who are two of Mattel’s most famous dolls, leave Barbie Land to venture out into the real world, and they encounter humans who have various reactions.

Culture Audience: “Barbie” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the Barbie brand and campy comedies that have pointed observations about society and feminism.

Ana Cruz Kayne, Sharon Rooney, Alexandra Shipp, Margot Robbie, Hari Nef and Emma Mackey in “Barbie” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

Despite a few parts of the screenplay being clumsy and meandering, “Barbie” is a nearly pitch-perfect comedy in its blend of satire and social commentary. The production design, costume design and casting are impeccable. The musical numbers are a bonus. If you like pop-culture-drenched comedies that can appeal to many generations (but adults will understand most of the jokes), then “Barbie” is the type of movie for you.

Directed by Greta Gerwig (who co-wrote the “Barbie” screenplay with Noah Baumbach), “Barbie” is candy-hued madcap adventure that sometimes gets overstuffed and unfocused in what it’s trying to say. It’s an occasionally bumpy ride that’s still worth the journey, but it’s best appreciated by people who are attuned to the impact that Mattel’s Barbie dolls have had on the perception of “feminine ideals.” People’s views of the “Barbie” movie will likely be affected by their views of Barbie dolls.

Barbie dolls (and what they represent) have been loved, hated, and somewhere in between by countless numbers of people, ever since the first Barbie dolls were sold in 1959. Within the Barbie toy brand are dolls with other names, but the Barbie doll name is iconic for various reasons. Barbie having a woman’s body and an entire imaginary world built around her have become part of Barbie’s image of being a “superstar” doll.

The “Barbie” movie acknowledges this impact from its opening scene, where voiceover narrator Helen Mirren is heard saying, “Since the existence of time, there have been dolls—baby dolls.” It’s a spoof of the opening scene from the 1968 sci-fi classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The “Barbie” movie then shows girls playing on a beach with baby dolls until a giant Barbie (played by Margot Robbie) suddenly appears on the beach, in a one-piece, black-and-white-striped swimsuit, like a doll version of Godzilla. The girls on the beach quickly smash and abandon their baby dolls and are in awe of Barbie.

Over the years, Mattel has presented Barbie as different races, occupations and body sizes, in order to deflect criticism that Barbie is not diverse. The “Barbie” movie does the same thing too. It also pokes fun at the stereotype that the “ideal” Barbie is supposed to be thin, blonde and pretty, by naming its protagonist Stereotypical Barbie (played by Robbie, one of the producers of the movie) and having her do a lot of stereotypical things that an eternally cheerfully doll would do. Barbie lives in fantastical world called Barbie Land, where the majority of everything is in pink, and parties often feature well-choreographed song-and-dance numbers.

But then, this Barbie begins to see signs that she’s not as “perfect” as she thought she was. Barbie starts to have dark thoughts about death. Her feet—which are supposed to be in permanent “tip-toe” mode so she can easily slip into high heels—suddenly become flat fleet, much to the horror of the other Barbies in Barbie Land. The movie’s other Barbies who have prominent speaking roles are portrayed by Issa Rae (the president of Barbie Land), Hari Nef, Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, Sharon Rooney, Ana Cruz Kayne, Ritu Arya, Dua Lipa and Nicola Coughlin.

In the “Barbie” movie, Stereotypical Barbie has a possible love interest named Ken (played by Ryan Gosling), just like Mattel has a Ken doll that’s supposed to be Barbie’s love interest. In the movie, there are also various Kens of different races and body sizes. The ones with prominent speaking roles are portrayed by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and John Cena. (Cena’s appearance in the movie is very brief: no more than two minutes.)

More often than not, the Barbies in Barbie Land co-exist peacefully with each other and the Kens and are in perpetual supportive “girl power” mindsets. The Kens in Barbie Land aren’t as friendly with each other, because they are often competing for the attention of the Barbies. Gosling and Liu portray the Kens who have the biggest rivalries with each other. It’s the movie’s way of saying that competitive male egos will always exist, even in so-called utopias. (After all, history has shown which gender is more likely to start wars on Earth.)

One male who’s not named Ken in Barbie Land is Allan (played by Michael Cera), who represents every sad-sack beta male who’s treated like an outcast misfit. Allan is not considered “cool” enough to be a close friend of the Kens in Barbie Land. And he’s not considered “attractive” enough to be swooned over by the Barbies in Barbie Land, although the Barbies treat Allan better than the Kens do.

The Barbies have their own outcast misfit: Weird Barbie (played by Kate McKinnon), a disheveled doll who was played with too hard by whoever used to own her. Weird Barbie is a moody, sarcastic nonconformist who prefers the real world over Barbie Land. Almost all of the Barbies in Barbie Land have no idea what the real world is about, but they have a vague concept that it’s an undesirable place.

Weird Barbie has some of the best lines in the movie. There’s a scene that has some snarky commentary about how Mattel makes all Barbie and Ken dolls with genital areas that are not explicitly detailed. Weird Barbie quips in this scene about the Ken character played by Gosling: “I’d to see what kind of nude blob he’s packing under those jeans.” There’s also a joke about discontinued Barbie dolls, including Midge (played by Emerald Fennell), who was controversial because she was pregnant.

The Ken played by Gosling is frustrated because he wants to have sleepovers at Stereotypical Barbie’s place. Stereotypical Barbie doesn’t think about sex and only wants to have female-only slumber parties, so Ken is always rejected when he asks Barbie to spend the night at her home. As Barbie tells Ken about her sleepover rules: “Every night is girls’ night.”

Stereotypical Barbie grows increasingly disturbed by signs that she’s turning into a different Barbie. In addition to having flat feet, Barbie also shows signs that she’s becoming klutsy, insecure and no longer “perfect.” Through a series of events, Stereotypical Barbie finds out from Weird Barbie that someone in the real world has been planning a Barbie with “irrepressible thoughts of death” and other non-Barbie-like characteristics that Stereotypical Barbie has been experiencing.

And so, to solve this mystery and to find the person who’s been messing with her “perfect” life, Barbie decides to go to the real world, right to the place where she was made: Mattel headquarters in the Los Angeles area. Because she’s a master traveler, she goes by land, air and sea in a quick montage. Barbie starts her journey on a road trip, and she’s surprised to find Ken has hidden in the back of her car, because he wants to go to the real world too.

The Mattel executives are an all-male team led by an unnamed CEO (played by Will Ferrell), who has more ego posturing and bluster than he has intelligence. His team consists of a bunch of “yes men,” except for a junior executive named Aaron Dinkins (played by Connor Swindells), who dares to be an independent thinker. The CEO is predictably a bumbling oaf.

Meanwhile, another Mattel employee named Gloria (played by America Ferrera) and her daughter Sasha (played Arianna Greenblatt), who’s about 12 or 13 years old, are big parts of the story. Sasha is a pouty adolescent who’s angry that her mother left her father, for reasons that aren’t fully explained in the movie. Sasha and her female friends hate Barbie dolls and aren’t afraid to say so.

“Barbie” director/co-writer Gerwig is an outspoken feminist, so it should come as no surprise that the movie has a lot of satire about misogyny, patriarchy and how people are treated or perceived a certain way because of gender and physical appearances. The female characters aren’t excused for terrible actions, since “Barbie” also lampoons “mean girls” who are bullies and snobs. “Barbie” is not a male-bashing film, but it does point out the privileges men often get just for being men. One of the funniest parts of the movie is when Ken discovers that the real world is the opposite of Barbie Land, such as men have most of the power in the real world.

“Barbie” stumbles a bit in the backstory for Gloria and Sasha. It could have been a better-developed part of the screenplay, because Gloria and Sasha just seem kind of thrown into the movie without viewers really getting much of a chance to know them before Gloria and Sasha become a big part of the story. The movie also doesn’t do enough with Barbie’s and Ken’s “real world” interactions with adults who don’t work for Mattel.

There’s a very children’s movie-type subplot about the Mattel CEO wanting to capture Barbie and Ken, in order to put both of these life-sized dolls back in their boxes. During a chase sequence through Mattel headquarters, Barbie finds refuge in a kitchen, where she meets an elderly woman named Ruth (played by Rhea Perlman), who shows up again later in a hilarious scene.

Robbie and Gosling are a very good comedic team in “Barbie,” with both playing their respective roles in an effectively funny tongue-in-cheek style. Robbie’s Barbie is naïve but resourceful and a quick learner. Gosling’s Ken proves that he’s not just a mindless “himbo” and he has very thoughtful side. McKinnon (whose Weird Barbie deadpan delivery is very amusing) is a true standout among the “Barbie” cast, but she isn’t in the movie as much as many people think she should have been.

Ferrell, who has played pompous jerks in many other comedies, doesn’t do anything new in “Barbie,” but people who like to see him in this type of role will find his performance to be what’s expected. Ferrera and Greenblatt give believable performances as a mother and a daughter working through their own issues. Ferrera’s Gloria character has had an interesting life that is only hinted at in the movie, especially when she gives a dramatic monologue at one point in the story. The rest of the “Barbie” cast members give serviceable performances.

The soundtrack music of “Barbie” has some predictable selections, including Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life” and Lizzo’s “Pink.” Barbie has a personal theme song during her “real world” journey: Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine,” while Ken’s personal theme song after he discovers patriarchy is Matchbox Twenty’s “Push.” “Closer to Fine” and “Push” are inspired choices for the soundtrack, which includes “Barbie” co-star Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Also on the soundtrack: Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice have a duet cover version of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl.”

Making a live-action “Barbie” movie is so much harder than it sounds. You can’t alienate the die-hard Barbie fans, but you can’t make it so sickeningly sweet that it will turn off people who have no interest in buying Barbie dolls. There’s some product placement in “Barbie,” but it isn’t aggressively obnoxious, like some product placement is in many other major studio movies. The “Barbie” movie is a lot like a Barbie doll: Some people will find it to be disposable entertainment, while others will be hooked and will become devoted fans.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Barbie” in U.S. cinemas on July 21, 2023.

Review: ‘Shadows’ (2023), starring Stephy Tang, Philip Keung, Tse Kwan Ho, Ben Yuen, Ling Man Lung, Justin Cheung, Jennifer Yu and Babyjohn Choi

July 17, 2023

by Carla Hay

Stephy Tang in “Shadows” (Photo courtesy of One Cool Pictures and M2M Entertainment)

“Shadows” (2023)

Directed by Glenn Chan

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong, the horror film “Shadows” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A forensic psychiatrist, who has psychic abilities that allow her to read people’s minds and see their past, begins to suspect that another psychiatrist has been manipulating some of his patients to commit murder.

Culture Audience: “Shadows” will appeal primarily to people who like murder mysteries with supernatural elements.

Tse Kwan Ho in “Shadows” (Photo courtesy of One Cool Pictures and M2M Entertainment)

“Shadows” is a haunting and effective thriller that mixes the supernatural and criminal law. The movie works better as a horror story than as a story about solving murder cases. Some of the plot is too mysterious, but the visuals and acting are impressive. The movie’s ending will probably divide viewers. Some viewers with criticisms about the last few scenes will probably argue that the movie should have had a different outcome. However, the movie had enough clues hinting that the story could have ended in this way.

Directed by Glenn Chan (his feature-film directorial debut) and written by Chang Kai Xiang and Mani Man Pui-Hing, “Shadows” had its world premiere at the 2020 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, but the movie didn’t get released in theaters until 2023. “Shadows” takes place in Hong Kong, where a series of murders are being committed by people who had no previous history of violence. What all of these killers have in common is that they are or have recently been patients of a particular psychiatrist, who is known for believing that people are inherently bad.

“Shadows” begins at the murder scene that sets off the investigation. An award-winning social worker named Chu Chun Yung (played by Justin Cheung), who is 36 years old, has just murdered his 9-year-old-daughter (played by Leung Lok Ching), his 34-year-old wife (played by Lai Jessica Whitney) and his wife’s 64-year-old mother (played by Pang Mei Sheung), who all lived with him in an apartment building. Yung is seen confessing to the murders when he calls an emergency number to summon police. After making the phone call, Yung jumps out of an apartment window.

It’s soon revealed that Yung survived the jump. He has been arrested and taken to a hospital, where a forensic psychiatrist in her late 30s named Dr. Tsui Hiu Ching (played by Stephy Tang), who works closely with the local police, has been tasked with evaluating Yung’s mental stability, to determine if he was insane or not at the time he committed the murders. Yung seems to be in a trance-like state when Ching interviews him. All he will say about the murders is that it was like feeling hungry and then eating a satisfying meal.

Before meeting with Yung, Ching is seen having a private one-on-one meeting with one of her patients named Kloudia (played by Jennifer Yu), who is a timid and forlorn teenager. Ching tries to get Kloudia to open up to her about what’s bothering Kloudia. All that Kloudia will say is, “It’s too late. There’s no escape.”

At that moment, viewers find out that Ching has psychic abilities. She can enter into people’s conscious minds and see into their past. When Ching enters Kloudia’s mind, it’s like she’s stepping into the same where Kloudia s and reliving her past experiences as as n observer. However, the other people in the room cannot see Ching.

During this psychic trip (which is depicted in a very spooky way with murky locations and menacing black smoke, Ching can see that Kloudia’s father (played by Li Ying To) has been physically and verbally abusive to Kloudia. Ching witnesses Kloudia’s father beating Kloudia and tries in vain to shout to Kloudia to run away and not take this abuse any more. Suddenly, Ching is brought back from this psychic trip and sees that Kloudia is has been screaming in her chair and cowering with fear.

Kloudia’s father, who has been paying for these therapist sessions, suddenly bursts into the room with Kloudia’s mother (played by Leong Cheok Mei), because they’ve heard all the commotion on the room. (Kloudia’s parents don’t have names in the movie.) Ching immediately accuses Kloudia’s father of abusing Kloudia.

Kloudia’s mother scoffs at this accusation and defneds her husband by saying that he’s a good man. Kloudia’s father also denies the abuse and questions Ching’s competence. Needless to say, that’s the last time that Kloudia has a session with Ching. But it won’t be the last time that Kloudia is in the movie.

The homicide detective who is the lead investigator for the Chu family murders is a bachelor named Ho Shun Fatt (played by Philip Keung), who is tough on the outside, but he can be tender on the inside. His tenderness mainly comes from taking care of a foster daughter named Dao-Dao (played by Keira Wang), who is about 6 or 7 years old. Dao-Dao is intelligent and adorable.

The movie doesn’t really explain Dao-Dao’s background and how Fatt ended up being her foster father. However, it’s shown more than once in the movie that Fatt gets so busy with his work, he’s sometimes late in picking up Dao-Dao from school. Dao-Dao has an easygoing schoolteacher named Cheung (played by Babyjohn Choi), who usually looks after Dao-Dao until Fatt arrives to pick up Dao-Dao from school.

Around the same time that the Chu family murders are being investigated, Ching does a speaking appearance at a local university. The subject is psychiatry and the human condition. Two people are interviewed on stage for this speaking appearance: Ching and a well-known psychiatrist named Dr. Yan Chung Kwong (played by Tse Kwan Ho), who has beliefs that are the opposite of Ching’s. For example, Ching is more likely than Kwong to believe that mental illness can cause people to commit murder.

Ching tells the audience that people are inherently good, while Kwong tells the audience that people are inherently bad. He says it’s why laws are in place to prevent people to giving in to their natural impulses to sin and to punish people who break the laws. Kwong believes that if people were inherently good, there wouldn’t be a need for these laws in the first place. Kwong later says in the movie, “The more evil someone is, the more likely they are to pretend otherwise.”

Kwong is a mysterious, middle-aged bachelor whose past is explained at one point in the movie. He was living in Europe for several years but recently moved back to his native Hong Kong. Ching becomes suspicious of Kwong when she finds out that several of his past and present Hong Kong patients, who had no prior history of violence, have been murdering people. Former social worker Yung is one of those patients. Kwong had recently been treating Yung for anxiety and depression.

Fatt reports to the no-nonsense Inspector To (played by Leung Kin Ping) and has two younger subordinates who are working closely with him on this case: Officer Choy (played by Locker Lam) and Officer Judy (played by Fung Hoi Yui), who are all somewhat generic characters. Fatt is the police detective with the most clearly defined personality and the best lines of dialogue. He’s diligent about his work in the office and out in the field. He also doesn’t like to jump to conclusions and likes to gather as many facts as possible.

The investigation takes Fatt and his colleagues to various places. One of them is Ping Che Nursing Home, where a young male nurse named Lau Po Keung (played by Ling Man Lung) comes under suspicion when two of his elderly patients—a man named Chiu (played by Mak Lok Sun) and a woman named Mui (played by Yeung Yee Yee)—disappear from the nursing home. Keung’s co-worker Wong Zi Hin (played by Cheung Lap Fung) is also questioned.

One of the criticisms that “Shadows” might get is that it never fully explains how long Ching has had her psychic abilities. However, there are hints later in the movie that Ching probably didn’t have or wasn’t aware of these psychic abilities until she became an adult. Fatt wonders about Ching’s own mental stability when she becomes more insistent that Kwong is brainwashing his patients to commit murder. Fatt does a background check on Ching and finds out that Ching’s widower father Tsui Yong Sek (played by Ben Yuen) was a construction worker who has recently been released from prison.

“Shadows” is occasionally gruesome in some of its horror aspects. Viewers who get easily squeamish should be warned that there’s a scene that involves a murderer removing skin from someone’s body—not in full, explicit details, but blood and the skinning aftermath are shown. The police procedural aspects of “Shadows” move along at a very good pace. And the banter between Ching and Fatt is interesting to watch, even if Keung’s cop character is the type of police officer who has been in many other movies and TV shows.

Tang gives the best performance of the cast members, since her character is the most complex and the most unique. Tse is also noteworthy for his unsettling performance as Kwong. Up until a certain point in the movie, viewers will be wondering if Kwong is a cynical psychiatrist, or if he is truly evil. The answer is revealed about halfway through “Shadows,” but this revelation doesn’t take away from the suspense that this flawed but fascinating horror movie has to offer.

One Cool Pictures and M2M Entertainment released “Shadows” in select U.S. cinemas on July 14, 2023. The movie was released in Hong Kong on February 23, 2023, and in Singapore on March 2, 2023.

Review: ’20 Days in Mariupol,’ a disturbing but necessary documentary chronicling the first month of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine

July 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

Iryna Kalinina (center) with emergency workers and police in “20 Days in Mariupol” (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/PBS Distribution)

“20 Days in Mariupol”

Directed by Mstyslav Chernov

Ukrainian and Russian with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in Mariupol, Ukraine, from February to March 2022, the documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol” features an all-white group of people who were affected by the Russian invasion war that began that year.

Culture Clash: People who remained in Mariupol during this time were trapped, with their supplies to water, food and electricity cut off, as Russian invaders bombed the city and killed thousands of people.

Culture Audience: “20 Days in Mariupol” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching a documentary about what happened inside of Mariupol, which was targeted for some of the worst violence, but sensitive viewers should know that the documentary has graphic scenes of people (including children) dying during medical care.

People at a shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, in “20 Days in Mariupol” (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/PBS Distribution)

Brutal, harrowing and courageous, “20 Days in Mariupol” is one of the most important documentaries of the year. It’s a disturbing but necessary chronicle of the death, pain and resilience of Ukrainian people under attack by Russia invaders in 2022. “20 Days in Mariupol” which was filmed cinéma vérité style, does not gloss over the horrors of this war, beginning when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. However, “20 Days in Mariupol” has enough sensitivity not to show the faces of the people who died in front of the cameras or the faces of the dead people whose bodies were strewn in various locations.

Directed and narrated by Ukrainian video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, “20 Days in Mariupol,” had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the audience award for World Cinema Documentary—one of several awards that this documentary has won. The 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service went to members of the “20 Days in Mariupol” team, including Chernov, still photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko and correspondent Lori Hinnant. “20 Days in Mariupol” is the feature-length directorial debut of Chernov, who works for the non-profit news company Associated Press, which helped fund the making of this documentary. Jordan Dykstra’s musical score and Michelle Mizner’s editing express the sense of urgency and dread that can be felt throughout the movie.

As the documentary’s title describes, “20 Days in Mariupol” takes viewers inside the war zone for the first 20 days of the invasion. Chernov, who was accompanied by Maloletka, had the choice to flee the increasingly under-siege Ukraine, which is a choice that many other journalists did during this period of time. However, Chernov (who is from Kharkiv, Ukraine) and his team not only decided to stay, but they also went to Mariupol, which they suspected would one of the main targets of the Russian invaders.

Chernov says in voiceover narration at the beginning of the documentary: “When we realized the invasion was imminent, we decided to go to Mariupol. We were sure it would be one of the main targets. But we could never imagine the scale, and that the whole country would be under attack.” The first day of the documentary’s 20-day chronicle began on February 24, 2022. Chernov says in the documentary that about one hour after he and his crew arrived in Mariupol, the city was under a bomb attack.

Before the Russian invasion, Mariupol’s population consisted of nearly 426,000 people in January 2022. After the war, Mariupol’s population decreased to less than 100,000 people. (Both statistics were provided by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine.) Most of the people who left Mariupol evacuated, but a still-unclear number of people died in Mariupol, as well as in many other parts of Ukraine.

In “20 Days in Mariupol,” Chernov makes a voiceover comment that has become one of his most quoted comments of the movie: “Someone once told me, ‘Wars don’t start with explosions. They start with silence.'” This documentary serves as a collective voice of the people who suffered through these traumas and those who didn’t live to tell their stories. Throughout the documentary, various Ukrainian people tell Chernov and his crew they want what’s happening to be filmed so that the world can see the atrocities and suffering, or they hope that the footage will be seen by loved ones who are wondering who’s still alive.

Some of the video footage and still photos seen in “20 Days in Mariupol” were used by news outlets such as Associated Press, which syndicates content to other media outlets. After the original footage is shown in the documentary, some of it is shown as news clips that got televised by several media outlets, such as CBS News, ITV and MSNBC. One of the more memorable news clips that Chernov and his team had that was shown around the world was an infuriated and frustrated doctor, who had just witnessed a 4-year-old girl die from bomb injuries on a medical table, despite his and his medical team’s best efforts to save her. The doctor says to the camera, “Show this [Russian president Vladimir] Putin bastard the eyes of this child!”

Part of the documentary explains how Chernov sometimes had to travel miles to find the nearest working electrical outlet, in order to send the footage. When cell phone service wasn’t available, Chernov and his team had to communicate by satellite phone. Chernov says in the documentary that he worried about his own daughters, who had to be evacuated.

Food, water, and electricity became scarce. Internet service was cut off. Russian soldiers blocked the borders. After a certain period of time, even if people wanted to escape from Mariupol, they couldn’t because they were trapped in a hellish war zone. The way that Chernov and his team escaped is detailed toward the end of the documentary.

Not everyone was grateful to see journalists in their midst. During one of the early days of filming, when people were still able to evacuate from Mariupol, an angry middle-aged man, who is in the midst of evacuating, walks past the documentary crew and snarls, “Fuck you, prostitutes!” A middle-aged woman, who is distraught over having to flee from her home, refuses to say her name when she’s asked, and she very openly express her disgust that cameras are filming her. In another part of the movie, Ukrainian soldiers defensively tell the camera crew not to film them.

Chernov says in a voiceover: “I understand their anger. Their country is being attacked. It’s our country too. And we have to tell its story.” Almost everyone shown in the movie is not identified by name. They don’t have to be, because the powerful message of this documentary is that what happened to the people of Ukraine in 2022 can happen to almost anyone in the world whose country is ruthlessly invaded by outside forces.

The most heartbreaking aspects of “20 Days in Mariupol” are the death scenes. Some people, including children, are shown dying while receiving medical treatment in overcrowded, understaffed emergency centers that are running dangerously low on medicine. Their loved ones’ anguished reactions to these deaths will be burned into the memories of people who watch “20 Days in Mariupol.”

In addition, there are scenes of bodies being dumped into makeshift, unmarked mass graves. One of the men who is tasked with this awful and unwanted activity says he can’t talk about what it feels like because he knows he will start crying. The gravediggers and body disposal people wear masks, but you can see in their eyes that the masks can’t filter out the overwhelming stench of death and decomposition.

Countless people who’ve lost their homes are seen wandering around in a daze, crying out in anguish, or huddling in fear and uncertainty in shelters. Some are involuntarily separated from loved ones, while others already know that some of their loved ones are dead. A girl who’s about 5 or 6 years old who’s in a shelter tearfully says of this living nightmare: “I don’t want to die. I want it to end soon.” At a shelter that used to be a sports/athletic center, mirrors are taped over to lessen the impact in case a bomb shatters the glass.

Even though Chernov says in the documentary that he and his team did not stay in one location for too long, the documentary gives a few updates on people he met or saw during this ordeal. Early in the documentary, after the bombing started, some people (including Chernov) mistakenly believed that civilians wouldn’t be attacked. A middle-aged woman is seen wailing on a street because she says her son hasn’t come home from work.

The woman is afraid to go back to her house because she thinks it will be bombed. Chernov tries to comfort the woman and tells her it would be best for her to go back home, in case her son will look for her there. Chernov assures her that it will be safer for her to be at home instead of walking around outside.

“I was wrong,” Chernov says bluntly in a voiceover. Bombs ended up destroying the neighborhood where the woman lived. Later, Chernov sees the woman at a shelter and says in a voiceover that he was relieved that she was still alive and that he told her he was sorry for his error in judgment. Chernov says he was surprised at how forgiving she was. (The documentary doesn’t say if this woman ever reunited with her son.)

A particularly gut-wrenching part of “20 Days in Mariupol” is how it shows the evacuation of a maternity ward. Some of the vulnerable, pregnant women are in labor. A 32-year-old pregnant woman named Iryna Kalinina, who has been severely injured, is one of the expectant mothers who is rushed out of the maternity ward to a location that’s not equipped to handle childbirths. What happened to her is later revealed in the documentary.

As time goes on, the death rate rises, and survivors get more desperate. People start looting stores, although some of the stolen items, such as electronics, will eventually become useless when electricity is virtually cut off in Mariupol. A store owner named Natasha, who appears to be in her 30s, yells at people who are openly stealing things from her general merchandise store, which has already been destroyed by bomb damage. Anyone with enough life experience can see that it’s not the loss of material things that’s upsetting her but the fact that her entire life has been turned upside down.

In the voiceover narration, Chernov (who has many years of experience as a war correspondent) says a doctor once told him: “War is like an X-ray” that can expose who people really are inside. “Good people become better. Bad people become worse.” Amid all the madness and mayhem, there is still plenty of kindness and generosity shown in this movie. These examples include the heroes who try to save people lives; survivors who share food, shelter, and other resources with strangers; and even the people who didn’t abandon their pets and kept them during this hellish experience.

“20 Days in Mariupol” is a documentary that won’t be forgotten by anyone who sees it, and it should not be overlooked by anyone who cares about humanity. Director/narrator Chernov gives an unflinchingly honest viewpoint that is specific yet universal. Although “20 Days in Mariupol” shows many people in moments of despair, none of it is exploitative. “20 Days in Mariupol” is not only a vital history lesson but it is also an urgent reminder that although damage done by war cannot be erased, compassion for others is not defined by national boundaries.

PBS Distribution released “20 Days in Mariupol” in New York City on July 14, 2023. The movie will be released in Los Angeles and San Francisco on July 21, 2023, with an expansion to more U.S. cities in subsequent weeks. The PBS series “Frontline” will televise the documentary on a date to be announced.

Review: ‘Maaveeran’ (2023), starring Sivakarthikeyan, Aditi Shankar, Mysskin, Yogi Babu, Sunil, Saritha and Monisha Blessy

July 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

Sivakarthikeyan in “Maaveeran” (Photo courtesy of Red Giant Movies)

“Maaveeran” (2023)

Directed by Madonne Ashwin

Tamil with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in India, the fantasy action film “Maaveeran” features an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A financially struggling comic-strip artist finds out that he can hear the voice of his created superhero in his head, and he battles with a corrupt politician who is the landlord owner of the unsafe building where the artist and his family live.

Culture Audience: “Maaveeran” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching superhero action movies that have a good balance of drama and comedy.

Mysskin in “Maaveeran” (Photo courtesy of Red Giant Movies)

“Maaveeran” is an entertaining and often-amusing spin on the superhero genre. The movie’s occasionally substandard visual effects are transcended by the engaging story and watchable performances. Sivakarthikeyan carries the movie with winning charm.

Directed by Madonne Ashwin (who co-wrote the “Maaveeran” screenplay with Chandru A.), “Maaveeran” has moments of being very hokey and sentimental, but they are balanced out by some of life’s harsh realities that are depicted in the movie. (“Maaveeran” means “legend” in Tamil.) The movie has a refreshing take on being a superhero: In this superhero movie, the hero does not have a superhero costume or disguise. He also didn’t get his superpower in a particularly heroic way, by birth, or through accidental genius.

In “Maaveeran,” the protagonist’s name is Sathya (played by Sivakarthikeyan), a graphic artist in his 30s whose passion is drawing superhero stories. In the beginning of the movie, Sathya is the writer/illustrator of a superhero comic strip called “The Great Warrior,” which is published in a local newspaper. The problem is that it’s a low-paying job. And the newspaper’s editor/publisher Dhanraj (played by Madhan Dhakshinamoorthy) says that “The Great Warrior” might be cancelled and replaced with advertising.

Sathya lives with his sassy widow mother Easwari (played by Saritha) and his younger sister Raji (played by Monca Blessy) because he can’t afford to have his own place. Easwari often nags Sathya for not having a better-paying job. She thinks his fascination with superheroes is childish. The slogan for “The Great Warrior” is “Bravery triumphs.”

Sathya, Easwari and Raji live in an apartment building that’s condemned and will soon be torn down and replaced by a more upscale building. The apartment dwellers are relocated to another building, but the conditions in this location are even worse: Plaster falls from ceilings and walls. The plumbing often doesn’t work. And other parts of the building are deteriorating. In addition, there are many creepy and criminal-like people who are living in this building.

Easwari is appalled and feels unsafe. She does what she can to complain to the landlord: a corrupt and ambitious politician named Jeyakodi (played by Mysskin), who is campaigning for an upcoming re-election. Jeyakodi is very dismissive of the building residents’ complaints. He completely denies that the building has any problems. Jeykodi has a subordinate named Paramu (played by Sunil), who is the epitome of a “yes man” enabler.

With these problems at home and at work, Sathya is feeling enormous pressure to keep his job. He has a co-worker ally named Nila (played by Aditi Shankar), who pleads with Dhanraj not to cancel Sathya’s comic strip. Dhanraj gives Sathya one last chance, by saying that the newspaper will keep the comic strip if Sathya can come up with a story that he hasn’t done before for “The Great Warrior.”

The slum-like conditions of the apartment building where Sathya lives become the inspiration for him to do a story about his superhero living in a crumbling palace. When the comic strip is published, Jeyakodi becomes enraged because he correctly assumes that the comic strip is a thinly veiled criticism of the Jeyakodi-owned building where Sathya lives. Jeyakodi uses his clout to get Sathya’s comic strip cancelled.

And to make matters worse for Sathya, he comes home one day to find his mother Easwari has been assaulted when she tried to protect Raji from a sleazy neighbor who intruded in their apartment for sexually voyeuristic reasons. Easwari berates Sathya for being fearful and wimpy. She also says that if Sathya’s father were still alive, he would’ve beaten up the intruder in brave self-defense.

A despondent Sathya feels like his life is falling apart. He makes a half-hearted attempt to commit suicide by falling out of the building. He lands on some scaffolding and becomes unconscious. When he regains consciousness, he finds out that he can hear the voice of the Great Warrior in his head telling him what will happen next and how he can be a better fighter. Sathya is going to need all the help he can get, because a vengeful Jeyakodi makes Sathya a target for bullying.

The rest of “Maaveeran” shows what happens as Sathya is initially frightened and confused by hearing this inner superhero voice, but he eventually uses it to become courageous and harness his own powerful fight skills. He tells a few people about hearing the voice of the Great Warrior in his head. Nila is the only person who doesn’t believe that Sathya is mentally ill after she finds out this information.

One of the movie’s main sources of comic relief is a handyman named Kumar (played by Yogi Babu), who is at the apartment building to do repairs. Sathya and Kumar have some hilarious dialogue because Kumar thinks Sathya is weird, while Sathya thinks Kumar is incompetent. The comedic chemistry between Sivakarthikeyan and Babu is very amusing to watch.

On a more serious level, Sathya clashes with his very opinionated mother Easwari. He craves her respect. And so, he decides he’s going to try to get her respect by going after Jeyakodi. Sathya isn’t seeking justice just for his mother. He’s doing it for all the residents in the building and for anyone else who’s affected by Jeyakodi’s greed and corruption.

Without being too preachy, “Maaveeran” has some pointed observations about gentrification and how low-income people are often forced out or displaced from their homes that become gentrified. Mysskin gives a somewhat stereotypical villain performance as the menacing Jeyakodi, but the performance is always watchable. And although “Maaveeran” has some artistically filmed action scenes that are worth admiring on a technical level, Sivakarthikeyan’s multifaceted performance is the main reason to watch “Maaveeran,” which is the type of engaging movie that seems made for sequels.

Red Giant Movies released “Maaveeran” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on July 14, 2023.

Review: ‘Baby’ (2023), starring Anand Devarakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya and Viraj Ashwin

July 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

Anand Devarakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya in “Baby” (Photo courtesy of Mass Movie Makers)

“Baby” (2023)

Directed by Sai Rajesh Neelam

Telugu with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in unnamed cities in India, the dramatic film “Baby” features a mostly Indian cast of characters (with a few white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Working-class teenage sweethearts have their relationship tested when she goes away to college and is courted by a wealthy suitor, who is a fellow student.

Culture Audience: “Baby” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching a movie that’s a tacky soap opera.

Viraj Ashwin and Vaishnavi Chaitanya in “Baby” (Photo courtesy of Mass Movie Makers

“Baby” is an awful and bloated melodrama on every single level. This pathetic excuse for a romantic film has misogyny and abuse against women as acceptable ways for men to treat women as people to “own” and manipulate, not as people to truly love. The movie is on an often-boring loop of makeups and breakups that drag on for far too long in this nearly three-hour film.

Written and directed by Sai Rajesh Neelam, “Baby” takes place over a period of about five to eight years, in unnamed cities in India. The movie opens by showing a man in his 20s named Anand (played by Anand Devarakonda), waking up and vomiting on a street, after he passed out from ingesting unknown drugs. He’s dirty and disheveled. Anand works as a mini-cab driver, and he has a reputation for frequently being a drug abuser who often passes out in public.

Anand has woken up from this stupor after dreaming of his teenage sweetheart Vaishnavi, nicknamed Vaishu (played by Vaishnavi Chaitanya), whom he liked to affectionately call “baby.” The rest of the movie then goes into flashback mode until the last 15 minutes, to show what happened during the relationship of Anand and Vaishnavi, who both grew up in the same working-class neighborhood but didn’t start dating each other until their last year in high school.

“Baby” is a very corny movie in too many ways to count. Vaishnavi first gets Anand’s attention by throwing a pebble at him from her window while he was outside on the street. They make googly eyes at each other and do some mild flirting with each other. Vaishnavi is a stereotypical virginal “good girl” who is very sheltered, while Anand has had a bit of a rougher life. The turning point in their relationship happens after a disturbing abuse incident that happened to Vaishnavi at their school.

Anand and Vaishnavi have the same mathematics class together. One day, their male teacher gets angry at Vaishnavi for not knowing the answer to a math problem. The teacher starts yelling at Vaishnavi and then slapping her hands very hard with a ruler. Vaishnavi and the other students do nothing to stop this abuse and don’t report this crime, because they’re in a culture where teachers are apparently allowed to abuse their students in this way.

After the class ends, a humiliated Vaishnavi is walking outside with her best friend Kusuma (played by Kusuma Degalamari), when Anand joins them. Anand picks up one of Vaishnavi’s bruised hands and asks her, “Will you let me love you?” She shyly says yes. And so begins the up-and-down romance of Anand and Vaishnavi.

After graduating from high school, Vaishnavi plans to go to college, while Anand plans to stay in their hometown and work full-time as a mini-cab driver. He owns his own mini-cab and has been doing this work part-time while in high school. The college that Vaishnavi is going to is far from her hometown but not too far away for Anand to visit several times a month. Vaishnavi does not have a driver’s license.

Anand is very insecure about whether or not their relationship can last when it’s a long-distance relationship. Vaishnavi assures him that their love can withstand this test. Anand is also insecure about his family background and his low income. Vaishnavi comes from a loving home with two married parents (played by Nagendra Babu and Lirisha Kunapareddy), who don’t have names in the movie. Anand describes his home life to Vaishnavi this way: “My father died when I was young. My mother is dumb. I have no money.”

Anand’s mother (played by Prabhavati Varma), who doesn’t have a name in the movie, actually isn’t “dumb.” As later shown in “Baby,” she’s a concerned and compassionate mother who’s a little overprotective, but she means well. In a scene that happens in the movie, Anand’s mother finds out that Anand is having financial problems, so she generously gives him some cash, even though he didn’t ask for it. In response, Anand shouts at her that he doesn’t need her help, and throws the wad of cash on the ground.

Anand’s disdainful attitude toward his mother is one of many examples of how all the principal male characters in this movie are misogynistic. Vaishnavi becomes part of a love triangle, but what’s shown in this movie is not real love, even though the filmmakers are trying to make “Baby” look like an epic romantic story. What this movie is all about is Vaishnavi being treated as a pawn between two men in a battle of their egos.

The trouble in Vaishnavi and Anand’s relationship doesn’t happen right away. At first, Vaishnavi and Anand adjust to her being away at college, because she’s followed Anand’s orders not to drink alcohol, especially when she’s at a nightclub or bar. Anand warns Vaishnavi that if she gets tipsy or drunk, men will take advantage of her and she might get raped. Although it’s a valid concern, it’s very domineering and sexist how Anand dictates to Vaishnavi what she can and can’t do to be a “proper lady.”

As soon as Vaishnavi is told that she shouldn’t get drunk in nightclubs, you just know it’s eventually going to happen. During her first day at college, a popular student named Seetha (played by Kirrak Seetha) introduces herself to Vaishnavi and tells her that they will be friends. Seetha, who hangs out with a crowd of other student partiers, is determined to “loosen up” Vaishnavi, because she thinks Vaishnavi is too prim and uptight.

Seetha and her friends like to get drunk, smoke (tobacco and marijuana) and do other drugs. Vaishnavi politely declines when she’s offered any drugs, but she finally relents (after much pestering from Seetha) and smokes tobacco for the first time through a hookah. Eventually, Vaishnavi starts drinking alcohol too.

At Seetha’s insistence, Vaishnavi lets Seetha pay for Vaishnavi to get a full “glamorous” makeover. After the makeover, Vaishnavi starts wearing makeup and wearing her long hair unrestrained, after previously wearing her hair pinned-back or in braids. Vaishnavi’s wardrobe also changes from being plain and modest to more daring and revealing.

Anand dislikes Vaishnavi’s makeover. He gets so angry about it, they have an argument where he pushes her hard and calls her a “whore.” Anand is later apologetic, and Vaishnavi forgives him. But it won’t be the last time that Anand has an abusive outburst against Vaishnavi. She’s reluctant to break up with him because Vaishnavi thinks Anand is her “one true love.”

Vaishnavi’s outward transformation is immediately noticed by a rich and arrogant student at the school named Viraj Ashwin (played by Viraj Ashwin), who was already attracted to Vaishnavi before her makeover. After her makeover, he becomes even more attracted to her. Viraj begins aggressively courting Vaishnavi, even though he knows that Anand is her hometown boyfriend. Viraj is the type of person who thinks he can buy someone’s love.

The rest of “Baby” has many scenes, dialogue and acting that are absolutely cringeworthy. Shortly after Vaishnavi began attending college, Anand gave an Android phone to Vaishnavi as a gift, so that they can keep in touch. He also gave himself a matching Android phone. Vaishnavi is grateful but also annoyed that Anand got himself a matching phone. She tells him that the gift isn’t as special because he bought himself a phone too.

Meanwhile, Viraj notices that Vaishnavi is using an Android phone that she tells him was given to her by Anand. It isn’t long before Viraj constantly tells Vaishnavi that she should have an iPhone. Viraj says to Vaishnavi: “Beautiful girls should have beautiful phones.” Viraj compares an iPhone to beauty so much in this horrible movie, it starts to look like shameless iPhone product placement.

And sure enough, Viraj eventually gives an iPhone to Vaishnavi, who starts using the iPhone (because it has more features) than the Android phone that Anand gave to her. Anand inevitably finds out and get jealous. More arguments ensue between Anand and Vaishnavi. Suddenly, Viraj is starting to look attractive to Vaishnavi, even though she’s not in love with Viraj.

“Baby” has some very weird and unbelievable moments that make no sense at all. For example, Viraj throws a big party at a nightclub, where he announces in front of everyone that he’s in love with Vaishnavi, even though he and Vaishnavi barely know each other, and they’ve never been on any official “dates.” At the same party, there’s also a scene where drunk Vaishnavi kisses Viraj out in the open at a table near the dance floor, where dozens of people can see them, but then she makes Vaishnavi promise not to tell anyone that they kissed.

“Baby” continues to sink into a tawdry cesspool of bad performances and even worse storylines while showing a lot of abuse and mistrust masquerading as “love.” There’s a subplot about sexual blackmail that is absolutely pathetic. Considering all the misogyny in this junkpile movie, it’s easy to know who is the target of this blackmail. People who think “Baby” is a good movie need to check their attitudes about women and girls, because those attitudes are probably sexist and outdated.

Mass Movie Makers released “Baby” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on July 14, 2023.

Review: ‘Neeyat’ (2023), starring Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Dipannita Sharma, Shashank Arora, Shahana Goswami, Neeraj Kabi and Amrita Puri

July 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

Pictured from left to right: Neeraj Kabi, Dipannita Sharma, Ishika Mehra, Niki Walia, Madhav Deval, Shahana Goswami, Rahul Bose, Shashank Arora and Prajakta Koli in “Neeyat” (Photo courtesy of FunAsia Films)

“Neeyat” (2023)

Directed by Anu Menon

Hindi with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in Scotland and briefly in India, the dramatic film “Neeyat” features a mostly Indian cast of characters (with a few white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A billionaire gathers family members and friends for a lavish birthday celebration at his remote Scottish castle, but not everyone makes it out of this reunion alive, and a tough CBI agent from India is on the scene to investigate the murders.

Culture Audience: “Neeyat” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching idiotic and poorly acted “whodunit” mysteries.

Amrita Puri and Vidya Balan in “Neeyat” (Photo courtesy of FunAsia Films)

“Neeyat” is a very inferior imitation of movies based on Agatha Christie novels. Most of the acting performances are cringeworthy and not credible. It’s also fairly easy to figure out the killer’s motive, even with all the plot distractions. There are enough plot holes to sink this already weak “whodunit” mystery.

Directed by Anu Menon, “Neeyat” (which means “motive” in Hindi) takes place mostly in Scotland, but almost all of the characters in the movie are from India. Menon co-wrote the filmsy “Neeyat” screenplay with Girvani Dhyani, Advaita Kala and Priya Venkataraman. Everything about “Neeyat” tries desperately to be suspenseful when the movie is actually quite dull and silly in too many scenes.

“Neeyat” begins in Scotland, where a pompous, middle-aged billionaire Ashish “AK” Kapoor (played by Ram Kapoor) has invited several family members and friends to his large, cliffside estate called Highgraves Castle. The occasion is to celebrate AK’s birthday. The event planner is a recently hired young man named Tanveer (played by Danesh Razvi), who is efficient and eager to please his new boss. Tanveer is the one who greets most of the guests when they arrive.

AK owns a company in India called AK Aeronautics, which he wants to be the number one outer-space program in the world. AK inherited his fortune from his deceased wife Tahira. And he’s recenly been embroiled in a scandal of misappropriation of funds. He is wanted by the Indian government for owing about ₹200 billion in taxes and fines. In 2023, that’s approximately $243.7 million in U.S. dollars.

Before AK’s birthday party ends, his body will be found at the bottom of a cliff. And all of the guests will become persons on interest in this investigation, which is led by a stern CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) agent named Mira Rao (played by Vidya Balan) who arrives on the scene from India. Mira shows up unannounced because she was there to extradite AK back to India to face charges of financial fraud and corruption. And now, she might have to file a homicide report. Some of the witnesses give contradicting statements about whether AK accidentally fell or if he was pushed over the cliff.

These are the guests and employees who are investigated for AK’s death:

  • Lisa Kapoor (played by Shahana Goswami), AK’s sweet-natured and sultry younger sister, is a bachelerette who has been living off of his money.
  • Sasha Mistry (played by Ishika Mehra) is an orphaned teenage distant relative of AK’s late wife. Lisa has been Sasha’s guardian since Sasha became an orphan.
  • Ryan Cooper (played by Shashank Arora), AK’s only child, is in his 30s. He’s arrogant, irresponsible and addicted to cocaine.
  • Gigi (played by Prajakta Koli) is Ryan’s “mysterious new girlfriend.” She doesn’t approve of Ryan’s drug taking and doesn’t partake in it.
  • Jamhad “Jimmy” Mistry (played by Rahul Bose) is the openly gay and flamboyant brother of AK’s late wife Tahira. Jimmy and Tahira ran the family business before she died. Jimmy is resentful that AK, not Jimmy, inherited the family fortune and family business.
  • Zara (played by Niki Walia, also known as Niki Aneja Walia) is AK’s “spiritual healer” whose best friend is her Jack Russell terrier dog named Rumi.
  • Kay Patel (played by Amrita Puri) is AK’s loyal personal assistant, who has accompanied AK from India.
  • Sanjay Suri (played by Neeraj Kabi) is a prominent and wealthy plastic surgeon who has known AK for years.
  • Noor Suri (played by Dipannita Sharma), Sanjay’s wife, is a famous actress and a glamorous London socialite.
  • Ishaan Suri (played by Madhav Deval), the son of Sanjay and Noor, is a nerdy film school student.

AK is a controversial public figure not only because of his financial misdeeds but also because it’s well known that he decided to lay off numerous employees of AK Aeronautics without taking a pay cut himself and continuing to have a lavish lifestyle. It’s been reported in the news that some of these former employees were so distraught about losing their jobs, they committed suicide. One of those suicidal employees was a 30-year-old named Devika Chellam, who was a rising star at the company.

Of course, a murder mystery with several characters will have the expected “bombshell” secrets that are eventually revealed. In “Neeyat,” all of the secrets are quite unimaginative and not very surprising. One of the most ludicrous aspects of this story is that CBI agent Mira Rao doesn’t call for backup right away when there might be a killer on the loose. She wants to solve everything on her own.

The mediocre-to-bad performances in “Neeyat” sometimes make it very difficult to watch this moronic movie, as it lumbers along from one “reveal” to the next. The final reveal is foreshadowed too soon, because a certain person’s name is mentioned enough times in the story that you can figure out that this character will be connected to the killer’s motive. An end-credits scene in “Neeyat” hints that CBI agent Rao is not as morally upstanding as she appears to be. With any luck, viewers will be spared from any more Mira Rao movies if these sequels are going to be as misguided as “Neeyat.”

FunAsia Films released “Neeyat” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on July 7, 2023.

Review: ‘Love Never Ends,’ starring Ni Dahong, Kara Wai, Leung Ka Fai Tony and Cecilia Yip Tung

July 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

Cecilia Yip Tung, Leung Ka Fai Tony, Kara Wai and Ni Dahong in “Love Never Ends” (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Film Group)

“Love Never Ends”

Directed by Han Yan

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of China, the dramatic film “Love Never Ends” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Four elderly people navigate romantic love as couples while facing challenges over health and grief.

Culture Audience: “Love Never Ends” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching dramas about romance among people in the later stages of their lives.

Ni Dahong and Kara Wai in “Love Never Ends” (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Film Group)

“Love Never Ends” is a sometimes-uneven but ultimately well-acted drama about finding love later in life. The movie is occasionally repetitive, but the story is compelling enough to maintain viewer interest. Although the movie’s tone overall is serious, there are occasional moments of levity that brighten up a story dealing with some depressing subject matter.

Directed by Han Yan, “Love Never Ends” is based on Kang Full’s comic book “I Love You.” Cheng Li wrote the adapted screenplay for “Love Never Ends.” The movie (which takes place in an unnamed city in China) is about four different elderly people, but the person whose perspective is shown the most is an eccentric widower named Chang Weije (played by Ni Dahong), who is a retired zoo maintenance worker. Weije has been a widower for the past 10 years. His wife also used to work at the same zoo.

The movie begins with a scene of Weije being told during a visit with a doctor that Weije has hyperthyroidism, a condition that causes a thyroid to make and release high levels of thyroid hormone. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include weight loss, increased appetite, rapid heart beat, sweating, shaky hands, muscle weakness and anxiety. Weije keeps this diagnosis a secret from most people he knows.

Weije lives in an area that could be considered working-class poor. The apartment buildings are run-down, and there’s a lot of garbage strewn over the area. Weije is familiar to many people in the community because he stands out: He likes to wear a long-sleeved black Nirvana shirt, and he likes to use a whip in public for no other reason than to show he can crack a whip. He doesn’t use a whip to scare or harm people but to show that he’s agile enough to use a whip.

Weije has another health problem besides hyperthyroidism. He also abuses alcohol. Although it’s never really said if he’s a full-blown alcoholic, his alcohol abuse has become detrimental to his health and to many of his relationships with people. Weije has an adult son and an adult daughter who know about Weije’s drinking problem, and they worry about his getting arrested for doing something illegal while he’s drunk. Certain people in the neighborhood want to see Weije arrested because they think he’s a nuisance who can be reckless.

Early on on the story, Weije meets Li Huiru (played by Kara Wei), a feisty widow who’s about the same age as he is. Wei is a caretaker and a tenant of an elderly woman named Qui Huaxing (played by Cecilia Yip Tung, also known as Cecilia Yip), who is living with dementia and sometimes uses a wheelchair. Huaxing’s devoted husband Xi Dingshen (played by Leung Ka Fai Tony) is very attentive to Huaxing, but he is feeling the strain of he health issues.

“Love Never Ends” shows how the relationships between these four people evolve over time. Weije gets to know Huiru better, and a romance gradually develops between them. Huiru confides in Weije that she’s ashamed that she and Dingshen often have to collect gabarge to recycle for small amounts of money.

Eventually, Weije starts to help take care of Huaxing when he sees her. Dingshen starts to rely on Weije to help with the physical aspects of taking care of Huaxing. For example, in a scene where Huaxing accidentally falls down outside, Dingshen yells at Weije (who was nearby during this fall) for not helping Huaxing get up right away.

In their own ways, Weije and Huiru are grieving over their deceased spouses and are reluctant to get involved in a serious romance with anyone else. They also feel that they’re too old to fall in love again. It’s a myth that is often perpetuated by society that often thinks of elderly people as people who are just passing time until they die.

The ups and downs of being in love with someone who has serious health issues are handled in a mostly realistic and often tender way in “Love Never Ends.” There’s a long stretch of this nearly two-hour movie that is a “will they or won’t they get together” storyline for Weije and Huiru. This part of the story should have been shorter, since it’s very obvious (and also shown in the movie’s trailer) that Weije and Huiru will get together.

“Love Never Ends” is mostly worth watching for the admirable performances of the four main cast members. In addition to the romantic love that the couples have for each other, all four of these characters develop a genuine friendship that is depicted in a refreshingly candid way. Too often, elderly people in scripted movies are presented as people who are mocked or pitied. “Love Never Ends” doesn’t fall into that trap. It’s not a perfect movie, but it handles some of its most difficult topics with charm and grace.

Shanghai Film Group released “Love Never Ends” in select U.S. cinemas and in China on July 7, 2023.

Review: ‘Lost in the Stars’ (2023), starring Zhu Yilong, Janice Man, Du Jiang, Ni Ni and Huang Ziqi

July 13, 2023

by Carla Hay

Zhu Yilong and Janice Man in “Lost in the Stars” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Lost in the Stars” (2023)

Directed by Rui Cui and Xiang Liu

Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place on the fictional Asian island country of Balandia, the dramatic film “Lost in the Stars” (based on the play and movie “Trap for a Lonely Man”) features an nearly all-Asian cast of characters (with one white person) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: While on an anniversary trip with his wife, a man finds her missing and another woman insisting that she is his wife.

Culture Audience: “Lost in the Stars” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching unpredictable mysteries.

Ni Ni in “Lost in the Stars” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“Lost in the Stars” is a stylish and twist-filled thriller that delivers an appealing combination of suspense and plausible acting. What isn’t so believable is a certain aspect of this conspiracy story, but most of the movie is better than its flaws. It’s the type of movie that will keep viewers guessing until the last 15 minute when secrets are revealed.

Directed by Rui Cui and Xiang Liu, “Lost in the Stars” is based on Robert Thomas’ 1960 play “Trap for a Lonely Man,” which was then made into the director Alexey Korenev’s 1990 movie of the same name. Chen Sicheng, Gu Shuyi and Yin Yixiong wrote the adapted screenplay for “Lost in the Stars,” which takes place mostly on the fictional Asian island of Balandia. There are also several flashbacks that take place in China, the native country of the main characters in the story.

He Fei (played by Zhu Yilong) is a former scuba diving instructor who is on a wedding anniversary vacation with his wife Li Muzi (played by Huang Ziqi, also known as Kay Huang) in Balandia. Things seems to be gong well during this romantic getaway. But then, not long after Fei and Muzi arrive in Balandia, Muzi disappears. A glamorous-looking stranger (played by Ni Ni) then appears in the couple’s hotel room and claims to be Muzi.

Fei calls the local police to report this bizarre situation. Zheng Cheng (played by Du Jiang), the police officer who arrives to investigate, is skeptical, to say the least. The woman whom Fei claims is impersonating his wife has photo IDs and other things that she offers as proof that she is Muzi. Fei’s credibility is further called into question when surveillance video from a local bookstore shows that the woman who says she’s Muzi is shown with Fei on the day before Fei says Muzi disappeared.

The woman who says that she is Fei’s wife tells Officer Zheng that Fei has a tendency to be forgetful. She also says that Fei can be abusive. Fei denies it all and insists that the woman who’s claiming to be his wife is the one who’s lying. However, several hotel employees and other eyewitnesses back up the woman’s claims.

The plot gets a little shaky when Fei calls someone in China to ask that person to email photos of the real Muzi. There’s a rushed explanation that the WiFi service is unreliable on this island, so the email doesn’t arrive. The local police are satisfied with the eyewitness statements that the woman claiming to be Muzi is the same woman they saw with Fei the day before Fei claims that Muzi disappeared.

Fei is very disturbed by the woman claiming to be Muzi. She knows a lot about Muzi and has seemingly taken over her identity. Fei isn’t willing to give up so easily in proving that he’s telling the truth. At a bar, he is told about a “hotshot attorney” who might be able to help him.

The attorney’s name is Chen Mi (played by Janice Man), who is intelligent and has a no-nonsense attitude. Mi agrees to help Fei investigate and find out what happened to Muzi. The rest of the movie is a race against time to solve the mystery before Fei’s visitor visa expires.

As Fei and Mi begin to get to know each other better, Fei opens up to her about how he and Muzi met (she was a student taking scuba diving lessons from him) and their whirlwind courtship. Of course, viewers will keep wondering why this mystery woman is impersonating Muzi, or if it’s all just a delusion from Fei. Zhu and Man give the standout performances in “Lost in the Stars,” as Fei and Mi start off having a prickly relationship that appears to turn into gradual respect.

“Lost in the Stars” has definite influences from Alfred Hitchcock films, in terms of cinematography and pacing. However, parts of the story get too convoluted and hard to believe. The big “reveal” at the end is meant to be shocking, but it just raises more questions that the movie never answers. Even with this shortcoming, there are more than enough entertaining aspects of “Lost in the Stars” that should satisfy people who like watching mysteries that don’t follow the usual formulas.

CMC Pictures released “Lost in the Stars” in select U.S. cinemas on July 7, 2023. The movie was released in China on June 23, 2023.

Review: ‘Maamannan,’ starring Vadivelu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Fahadh Faasil and Keerthy Suresh

July 12, 2023

by Carla Hay

Vadivelu and Udhayanidhi Stalin in “Maamannan” (Photo by Red Giant Movies)

“Maamannan”

Directed by Mari Selvaraj

Tamil with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in India, the action film “Maamannan” features an all-Indian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Two political families have a power struggle, and their feud becomes deadly.

Culture Audience: “Maamannan” will appeal primarily to people who want to watch repetitive and repulsive violence from mostly unlikable characters.

Fahadh Faasil in “Maamannan” (Photo by Red Giant Movies)

“Maamannan” is hate-filled, idiotic garbage with excessive scenes of animal cruelty. It rehashes the same old plots of family feuds and murderous revenge that have already been done in much better ways in many other action flicks. The scenes of animal murders are especially heinous because they’re filmed in close-ups and in slow-motion with enhanced sound effects, as if the director wants viewers to wallow in all the gratuitous gore. It’s disgusting.

Written and directed by Mari Selvaraj, “Maamannan” is yet another violent action flick about family members out for revenge. In this story, which takes place in an unnamed city in India, two political families are feuding with each. The patriarch of one family is Maamannan (played by Vadivelu), who is a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) and a speaker of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.

Even though the movie is named after Maamannan, he’s not the main protagonist of the story. Maamannan’s prodigal son Athiveeran, nicknamed Veera (played by Udhayanidhi Stalin), is the “star” character of the movie. Stalin is also the producer of “Maamannan.” In other words, it’s easy to make yourself the star of a movie if you’re paying for the movie to get made.

On the other side of the feud is district secretary Rathnavelu (played by Fahadh Faasil), a truly evil villain who has been in a power struggle with Maamannan for quite some time. Rathnavelu, who is close to Veera’s age, is scion of a wealthy political dynasty that is part of the dominant community in this district. The dynasty includes Rathnavelu’s father Salem Sundaram (played by Azhagam Perumal) and Rathnavelu’s elder brother Shanmugavel (played by Sunil Reddy), who are corrupt but not nearly as monstrous as Rathnavelu.

Rathnavelu and Maamannan have been locked into a dispute over the close election results for Maamannan’s position. Rathnavelu has declared himself the victor, but Maamannan is contesting this election. Rathnavelu has been pressuring Maamannan to give up and concede the election to Rathnavelu. Maamannan, who is a little wimpy and naive, is contemplating what to do.

Veera has had a tense relationship for years with Maamannan, ever since Veera was about 15 or 16 years old, and he temporarily ran away from home after being attacked. Veera was wrongfully blamed for the attack, which tainted his reputation. Veera never really forgave his father for not being as supportive as Veera expected.

Now in his 40s, Veera owns a martial arts dojo, where most of his students are teenage boys and young men. The dojo is how Veera meets Leela (played by Keerthy Suresh), who is a teacher at a school for underprivileged kids. Veera and Leela begin dating each other soon after they meet.

Veera eventually introduces Leela to his parents. Maamannan shows his sexism when he comments to Veera later that Leela isn’t very ladylike because Leela has a tendency to wear jeans and athletic shoes. Veera’s mother Veerayi (played by Geetha Kailasam), who is very passive and mostly mute, seems to have some mental health issues. The minority of women in this male-dominated movie are mostly background characters.

In addition to being a politician, Maamannan is a farmer. The family farm has several animals, but the farm mainly raises pigs. Rathnavelu owns a pack of hound dogs and is involved in dog racing. If one of his dogs loses a race, Rathnavelu doesn’t hesitate to viciously beat the dog to death.

During this bloated, 155-minute, trash dump movie, the feuding escalates between the two families. Maamannan is considered too elderly to get involved in most of the physical fights, so his son Veera is the one who ends up in most of the brutal conflicts with Rathnavelu. The movie tries to show how Veera and Maamannan start to mend their relationship when Veera becomes his father’s protector, but there’s so much nasty violence that Veera commits, he doesn’t look heroic at all.

Rathnavelu is the movie’s worst character, with no redeeming qualities. The acting, writing and directing in “Maamannan” are mind-numbingly terrible. “Maamannan” writer/director Selvaraj chose to film the animal death scenes in such a sadistic way, it sinks what was already a tacky movie into a permanently putrid cinematic cesspool. Disclaimers saying, “No animals were harmed while making this movie” will not convince viewers otherwise. Avoid this awful movie if you value your intelligence and your time.

Red Giant Movies released “Maamannan” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on June 30,2023.

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