Checkmate Review | An Atrocity Inflicted on Native Malayalis by NRI Malayalis

In one of the interviews for  Checkmate, I heard Anoop Menon talking about why he decided to do the film eventually. His wife told him that as he is anyway doing a lot of trashy movies these days, why don’t he just do this one too? Well, the end result of that push from his better… Continue reading Checkmate Review | An Atrocity Inflicted on Native Malayalis by NRI Malayalis

LLB Review | A Bland Sentimental Package With Heavily Outdated Cliches

The new Sreenath Bhasi film LLB has this tagline – Life Line of Bachelors. The connection of the movie with LLB will make you feel cheated, the same way some of the students of Zamorins Guruvayurappan College, who attended the show I watched, felt hoping to watch them on screen. Directed by AM Sidhique, LLB… Continue reading LLB Review | A Bland Sentimental Package With Heavily Outdated Cliches

Phoenix Review | A Generic Horror Drama With a Tiring Backstory

Phoenix, the new movie directed by debutant Vishnu Bharathan, with a script by Midhun Manual Thomas, has a first half that is a bit inconsistent yet some of the elements in that first half, especially the interval block twist, give you a sense of excitement about something bigger and better that may happen in the… Continue reading Phoenix Review | A Generic Horror Drama With a Tiring Backstory

Varaal Review | Thamarakkulam’s Political Thriller Is Better off as a Lucifer Spoof

Kannan Thamarakkulam is a director who has maintained consistency in keeping his movies in that trashy space. Writer Anoop Menon has shown interest in that trashy terrain through his last two directorial ventures, Padma and King Fish. Varaal, the new Malayalam political thriller, marks the teaming up of these two talents, and barring the length… Continue reading Varaal Review | Thamarakkulam’s Political Thriller Is Better off as a Lucifer Spoof

King Fish

At one point in the movie, King Fish, the maid in the house Anoop Menon’s character visits, says something profound when he asks her about a closed door in the house. As he stands bewildered about that response, another helper in the house tells him that she might have learned that from Facebook or WhatsApp.… Continue reading King Fish

Padma

When a movie has too many sequences that an editor can easily remove from the narrative, it clearly shows the lack of clarity in writing. Anoop Menon’s directorial venture, Padma, is a messed-up script that just doesn’t know how to treat its central conflict. With pointless humor bits, which they confidently released as teasers, exposing… Continue reading Padma

Twenty One Gms

If Twenty One Gms was released before Jeethu Joseph’s Memories, I would have called it an impressive attempt. But in the post-Memories space, Bibin Krishna’s thriller feels less surprising. The only thing that works in favor of this movie is the climax twist. But the film is so generic up to that point that it… Continue reading Twenty One Gms