Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [2016] (directed by David Yates, screenplay by J.K. Rowling [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] based on her book written under pseudonym [GR] [WCat] [Amzn]) is a generally fun Harry Potter prequel that also would seem to have borrowed visually / conceptually from the Men in Black movies, and thematically from Marvel Comics X-Men series.

Set in Prohibition Era New York of the 1920s, the "Wizarding community" States-side at the time is portrayed in the film as being decidedly _underground_ if also quite _thriving_.  Yes, there was a fairly prominent / loud "Anti-Wizarding" movement (which in many respects looked like any/all "anti-Vice" movements of the time).  Yet, as with Prohibition itself at the time, there was a "live and let live" attitude taken by the Authorities: so long as the Wizarding community "kept to itself" (didn't "cause trouble" / didn't "flaunt" its presence publicly) the civil Authorities left it alone, indeed, to the point that the "Wizarding community" was portrayed as having its own (underground) "parallel government."

The existence of this "parallel government" is actually / interestingly shown as causing its own problems ... those "at the top" of this "parallel social pyramid" / "government" actually seemed to _want_ to "keep things the way they were" with Magic "repressed" and the "Wizarding community" remaining "underground".  Why?  Because said repression actually kept _them_ "the Elites" in this community "in charge."  Fascinating ;-)

But this repression had its costs, especially on "the young" of the "wizarding community" as they had (unsurprisingly) difficulty "repressing" their "magical powers."

So into this just under the surface "pot boiler" enters an English "Magi-zoologist" named Newt Scamander (played quite wonderfully in a slightly "fish out of water" sense by Eddie Redmayne).  He comes to the States with a suitcase full of strange "Fantastic Beasts" knowing that, yes, they were _nominally_ "illegal" but really _not with a clue_ as to what kind of a chaos he's bringing to the States with his very peculiar "baggage."  A few of his magical beasts "get out" of his bag, and ... the rest of the story ensues ;-).

Among that which ensues is Newt's running into an America circa-1920s "every man" named Jacob Kowalski (played wonderfully, if honestly, why didn't the film-makers CAST AN ACTUAL POLISH AMERICAN ACTOR TO PLAY THE ROLE, by Dan Fogler) who enters the story with "a very little Dream" of opening up a small "Polish style Bakery" (in part in honor of his sainted, once baking, grandmother) and found to his dismay that it was _not_ going to be easy to get "a start-up loan" -- with the Quintessentially "Anglo" banker telling him in effect "to make money son, you're gonna have to have money to begin with."

AS A MILD SPOILER, Kowalski's running into the parallel Wizarding World does actually come to help him out.  But before he finds said help, he's plunged into an "Alice in Wonderland" world that before entering it, he honestly would have never ever imagined.  All he had wanted to do is to quit his job "at the cannery" and "sell PACZKIS (pronounced "poonchkis") for a living" in honor of his sainted grandmother.  (Dear Readers, if you haven't had pączki (basically a Polish style "Bismark" or "Danish") in your life, YOU HAVE MISSED OUT ;-).  And yet, before he could get to open his little Polish bakery, what Marvels he had to witness / endure ...  

Anyway, the film becomes an interesting social parable reminding us of the various parallel subcultures that exist around us and the ultimate value of "helping each other out" even if we don't necessarily understand all that is going on in the said subcultures around us.

So, set nominally in 1920s New York, and largely about "Wizarding" ... it's a story that's remains largely "about us" even today.

Good job folks, pretty good job ;-).


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Arrival [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. McCarthy) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (B. Tallerico) review
AVClub (A.A.Dowd) review


Arrival [2016] directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the story "Story of your Life" [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Ted Chiang [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is a quite thoughtful / cerebral (read also rather _slow moving_ if beautifully shot) "first contact" Sci-Fi story that has _much more in common_ with 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968] than, well, the shoot-em-up Independence Day [1996, 2016] scenarios.

This is not to say that the arrival of twelve _enormous_ stone monolith-like objects from (...??) to earth, piloted apparently by a race of "septopods" (with _big_ octopus-like heads and seven elephant-trunk-like appendages), was not scary.  And yes, governments / intelligence services all around the world were scrambling to get answers to the obvious questions: Why were they here?  Where did they come from?  What did they want?

Yet, when U.S. Army Colonel Weber (played dead-on by Forest Whitaker) comes, hat-in-hand, to Ivy-League linguistics professor Dr. Louise Banks (played wonderfully by Amy Adams), it's clear that getting answers to these urgent questions was not going to be easy:  How do these aliens communicate at all?

The film becomes a fascinating meditation on the very nature of language, taking adage that "every language we learn gives us a new/different way of perceive the world" to a, well, SciFi-ish extreme ;-).  Still one fascinating if certainly "cerebral" (if also beautifully shot) movie.

Good job!


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Trolls [2016]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (0 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (G. Ihnat) review


Trolls [2016] (directed by Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn, screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, story by Erica Rivinoja, based on the Troll Dolls [wikip] created by Thomas Dam [wikip] [IMDb]) is an obvious loony-left (if highly commercial) entry into the nation's culture wars that most Viewers would probably wish they were not part of:

The film is about a race of HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (let's just call them "gay" in the pre-1960s sense of the word), RAINBOW-COLORED "TROLLS" who begin the film CAGED by a sullen, uncouth, green-colored REPTILIAN race of giants called "Bergens" who believed that the _only way_ that they could find happiness was if they ATE (destroyed the happiness of) said Trolls. 

Honestly folks, except for the "splash of Neon color" and the inversion of the Good and Evil characters, this film could have been produced by Goebbels & Co.

Now Readers, don't get me wrong.  I have repeatedly denounced Right-Wing propaganda products posing as children's films on my Blog, notably Hop [2011], Hoodwinked 2 [2011] and even the more-or-less obvious racism present in the scripting of Despicable 2 [2013].  I have also viewed and reviewed positively various well-done / _intelligent_ (and appropriately rated) LGBTQ-themed films over the years, including Beginners [2011] / Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2011], Love is all You Need [2012], Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? [2013], Stranger by the Lake [2013], Call Me Marianna [2015] and Carol [2015].

What I object to here, object to almost universally, and then _especially_ when it comes to CHILDREN'S FILMS (!) is a simplistic portrayal of GOOD vs EVIL especially when Viewers (remember these would be KIDS) are pushed into viewing ENTIRE GROUPS OF PEOPLE as "BAD" / "EVIL."

Yes, in as much as "the big / clumsy / ugly Bergens" justified their EATING (radically destroying the happiness) of the "cute as a button" Trolls as their _only way_ to "finding happiness" that would be EVIL.  But ... WHAT / WHO ARE WE ACTUALLY (!) TALKING ABOUT HERE?? 

Zero stars for hammer-over-the-head propaganda pieces.  Zero stars.


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Dr. Strange [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (A.J. Bastien) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Dr. Strange [2016] (directed and screenplay cowritten by Scott Derrickson along with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, based on the Comic [MC] [wikip] by Steve Ditko [wikip] [GR] [IMDb]) while on a purely artistic / technical level is simply spectacular (well worth the 3D glasses if one would wish to pay the $3-4 extra / ticket to view the film that way) is perhaps the most problematic (of the Marvel based films) to date for a Catholic (re)viewer like me.

I write this as both basically a fan of the Marvel comics based films to date and a as reviewer, who though writing from a Catholic perspective, recognizes that artists (including comic book writers / graphic novelists as well as film makers) in a free society clearly have the right to produce any work that they wish.

That said, artists / film makers, etc need to expect their their works will be critiqued and at times criticized by (re)viewers holding any number of values (and yes, at times, quite organized belief systems) including someone like me.

I write that this film has proven to be the "most problematic" of the Marvel based films thus-far because in numerous instances the story's writers / film-makers here appeared to chose to portray Christianity as "in league with" Darkness / the Enemy.

The film's chief villain, a certain Kaecilus (played by Mads Mikkelsen), who appeared to be seeking to move our world into a realm of Darkness, is shown meeting with his followers IN A CHRISTIAN (AND ARGUABLY A CATHOLIC) CHURCH.  Worse, for some reason the film's makers choose to argue (and repeatedly) that the possibility of ETERNAL LIFE is SOMETHING TO BE AVOIDED and arguably EVIL while FINITENESS is somehow by definition GOOD.

Tell that to a mother who's lost her kid to cancer / a car accident ... (or to a kid who loses his or her mother to cancer or a car accident).   In such cases, FINITENESS is self-evidently UNJUST and Christianity, quite FUNDAMENTALLY, seeks to REDRESS this self-evident INJUSTICE with its DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL LIFE -- that not even Death has the Final Word on one's life, that the Final Word belongs to God, and God's Final Word for us is Life with Him and Each Other for Eternity.  That would _seem_ like self-evidently a REALLY GOOD DEAL (Good News [TM]) for someone who's facing untimely death or the untimely death of a loved one.  And yet in this story "Eternal Life" is portrayed, repeatedly (and arguably quite dogmatically) as somehow "in league with Evil."

And I'm just saying that this is _Strange_ ...

Indeed in the film, the story's chief protagonist, Dr. Stephen Strange [MC] [wikip] [IMDb] (played by Benedict Cumberpatch), found himself staring squarely at the INJUSTICE of the FINITENESS of his own life.  He entered the story as a super-talented (if also arrogant) neurosurgeon only to find his life radically altered in a split second, when while driving a split moment's glance at an MRI on his cellphone caused him to smash his car in a way that shattered his hands (to the point that he could _never operate again_) and nearly cost him his Life.   Such a high Penalty for such a small Mistake.

That accident and its consequences forced him to set off on what inevitably _became_ a different kind of quest (from excellence in the narrow field of neurosurgery to something BEYOND IT) ... and much ensued.

Yet, that which ensued ... _need not_ have gone in a way that made CHRISTIANITY (or its hope in Eternal Life) "an Enemy" ... that was a choice made by the storytellers here.

And Dear Readers, I have no problem at all that the film's protagonist chose to go to Nepal to seek a more EASTERN (more HINDU / BUDDHIST) answer to his dilemma.  I'm just saying that CHRISTIANITY / a belief in Eternal Life need not be the enemy.  Indeed, I would hope that it'd be _a good part_ of the solution ;-).


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Keeping up with the Joneses [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 Stars)  AVClub (C)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (P. Sobczynski) review
AVClub (K. Rife) review

Keeping up with the Joneses [2016] (directed by Greg Mottola, screenplay by Michael LeSieur) is a film that I WISH I HAD CAUGHT EARLIER.  I chose to see it only this week (two weeks after its release during a lull in my calendar) because A LOT of the critics (above) DIDN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE IT and SOME EVEN HATED IT).  Yet, as I was watching the film, I realized that as in the case _of a number of other comedies_ about quite _regular people_ -- Katherine Heigl's One for the Money [2012], and Kevin James' Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 [2014] come-to-mind -- listening to the mainstream critics here was DEFINITELY A MISTAKE.

The film begins by introducing us to Jeff and Karen Gaffney (played wonderfully by Zach Galifianakis and Ilsa Fisher respectively) a _nice_ 40-something college educated / "professional" couple bidding goodbye to their two 8-12 yr old boys (we never really see them) who were boarding a bus for a two week "summer camp." They then drive back to their quite nice / spacious home "on a coul de sac" in some random middle-upper-middle class suburb (somewhere near Atlanta apparently).  Their neighbors were all similarly college educated professionals, living in similar quite nice / quite spacious homes.  Zach worked in "human resources" for a nearby defense contractor.  Apparently, a number of his neighbors worked (on the engineering side) of same said defense contractor.  Karen apparently had a degree in interior decorating and, in as much as she could find work, "worked from home."

The nature of Jeff and Karen's jobs is important here because there is an element of "loser" to them.  While most of the employees at Jeff's firm worked on "classified" projects (designing missile components, etc) Jeff had the very "pedestrian" (and _unclassified_) job of keeping these highly competent employees "happy" and "working as a team" (rather than resenting / undermining each other on account of their large but quite bruiseable egos ;-).  Karen, on the other hand, presumably started out an architecture major and came to focus on interior design because one's more likely to find work.  But in the process she's also reduced her horizons from "designing great structures" to "helping to redesign a neighbor's bathroom" (they wanted to "add a urinal" ;-) and _hoping_ that the neighbors would end-up paying her for the job ...

So on the one hand, their lives _were_ tranquil: They "made it", _look_ where they were living.  On the other hand, they're "kinda losers" on a street where the neighbors living in similar houses seemed to be doing _far more exciting things_ and seemed to have the money for "extra frills" (like adding that urinal to a bathroom) even if such "frills" seemed, even from "a step or two away" SOOO STUIUUPID ...

Into this world of soul deadening bbq-fork-in-hand pastel-colored banality enters a new couple, Tim and Natalie Jones (played again wonderfully with the requisite by Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot -- they must have had a blast playing their roles ;-), who immediately _don't seem to fit_.  Why?

Well, they buy the house next door to the Gaffneys "with cash."  Part time "real estate agent" neighbor Meg Craverston (played by Maribeth Monroe), for whom and her missile designing husband Dan (played by Matt Walsh) Karen is redesigning the bathroom to add that famous urinal, DOES NOT MIND that the Joneses would be buying their house "with cash" (It saves her work / worry about the sale still possibly falling through).  BUT it's immediately odd Karen (and should be to a fair amount of the film's Viewers).  WHO would do that?  Yes, the house and the neighborhood (with its lovely tranquil coul de sac) was nice.  Yes, the Joneses, who apparently had the money to pay for their quite nice house (on a street of similarly nice houses) with cash, were certainly _free do so_.  BUT ... honestly, "if one had that kind of money ... to buy a house like that on a street like that in cash ... WHY buy a house there?   Consenting to a simple mortgage, a couple like that COULD BUY A HOUSE ANYWHERE ... on an EVEN NICER, MORE INTERESTING STREET in a MORE INTERESTING / EXOTIC PLACE.

Well, of course, the Joneses "have their reason(s)" for buying that house on that street in that way, reasons that become ever clear(er) as the story progresses ... But it's fun to see _the only ones_ to catch the oddity in the Joneses entering into their quite suburban tranquility there "in the coul de sac" would be, "the most average / banal of them all," Karen and Jeff Gaffney.

And it's then interesting to watch what follows.  Because as lowly / pedestrian as Jeff and Karen Gaffney's lives may seem, they actually have a lot to offer the (seemingly) far more interesting / exotic Tim and Natalie.  

Indeed, by the film's end, I have to admit, I JUST LOVED IT ;-).  Everyone matters.  Everyone has something to give to others.  A great, great, initially pedestrian suburban tale ;-).   


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>
 

Screamfest L.A. 2016

One of the joys of having been transferred down to Southern California from Chicago is proving to be gaining access to a whole new level of film festivals including this "kick" -- the annual Scream Fest L.A. -- apparently held each year in Hollywood around Halloween Time ;-).  Of the films that played at the Festival, I saw the following (and a couple of them should make it to the cinemas or at least art-houses around the country):


Happy Hunting [2016] (R) (written and directed by Joe Dietsch and Louie (Lucian) Gibson) was an AMERICAN "Horror-ish" (something of a "Splatter") movie about "Warren Novak" (played by Martin Dingle Wall) a "regular guy" with some issues, who drove into a sleepy Arizona border town on his way to eventually cross into Mexico to resolve some of said issues only to discover that said "sleepy little border town" had some doozies of its own: A once / "back in the day" "hunters' paradise," all the game in the area had been hunted-down / wiped-out long ago.  So ... the townsfolk resorted to creating a new tradition:  Each year, they'd round-up and then chase / hunt-down and kill some of their more problematic residents or passersby.  Well, poor Novak (his name literally meaning "New Guy") came into the wrong town at the wrong time.  With something of a drinking problem, he soon found himself in the local clink only to be driven out the next day to the outskirts of town to be one of the sacrificial victims in this town's demented attempt to preserve its "proud hunting tradition."  For as its folksy Sheriff (played by Greg Sturm) put it: "Without Tradition, what else do ya have left? Nothing."   Much along the lines of "Mulberry meets The Purge [2013-2016] / The Hunger Games [2013-2016]" ensues ... ;-) -- 2 1/2 Stars


The House (orig. Huset) [2016] (would be R) (written and directed by Reinert Kiil) was a NORWEGIAN entry to the Festival. Set during in the mountainous hinterlands of the country during Nazi Occupation, two German soldiers, an officer and an enlisted man (played by Frederik von Lüttichau and Mats Reinhardt respectively) with a captured Norwegian resistance fighter (played by Sondre Krogtoft Larsen) in tow, seeking to find shelter for the night in the midst of a if not driving snowstorm then just a steady, steady, no reason to believe that it would end soon, snowfall, come upon a seemingly nondescript if uninhabited (perhaps for the winter) House in said Countryside, which they then enter only to find, of course, that this was _really_ "the wrong house" to have come to.  From dreams, flashbacks and/visions that all three experience, it becomes clear that the house had some sort of a Tormented / Evil history in the Past (some sort of an Exorcism had been performed there in the Past, and indeed one of the rooms is just covered by Crosses, all of them hanging upside down ... never a good sign).  They _don't_ seem to be able TO LEAVE the environs of this House that they've entered.  Sure, they could make it outside -- into the steady but unending snow -- make it even fifty or so feet into the woods, but then somehow and always they'd find themselves waking-up again "in the House."  Why?  Was the House "cursed?" (well, Yes...) but there seemed to be something more going on.  It all made for a quite interesting Norwegian "Nazi occupation themed" Twilight Zone-ish [1959-1964] [wikip] [IMDb] film [1] [2] [3] -- 3 Stars.


Lake Bodom [2016] [IMDb] [CEu] (would be R) (directed and cowritten by Taneli Mustonen [IMDb] [CEu] along with Aleksi Hyvärinen [IMDb] [CEu]) a FINNISH / ESTONIAN "Friday the 13th-ish" film THOUGH INSPIRED BY AN ACTUAL 1960 incident in which three Finnish teenagers were actually murdered (and a fourth wounded) while camping by a Finnish lake named Bodom some 22 km outside of Helsinki.  In the current film, four teenagers (played by Mikael Gabriel [IMDb] [CEu], Santeri Helinheimo Mäntylä [IMDb] [CEu], Mimosa Willamo [IMDb] [CEu] and Nelly Hirst-Gee [IMDb] [CEu]) come to the Lake near the Anniversary of the notorious murder, ostensibly because Elias, the nerdiest of the group, "had a new theory about 'what really happened'" back in 1960.  All of the other teens had their own reasons for coming along, among them, of course "that they were teenagers" and ... BUT in any case, like in the recent Blair Witch [2016] remake, the new four start "dropping like flies ..."  What was going on?  Well that's the film, and actually though with its requisite (but actually not terribly exaggerated) amount of blood / gore, there's quite literally a certain "campiness" / humor to the movie and its various often quite funny plot twists.  All in all, though certainly a B-movie, certainly not a bad one -- 2 1/2 Stars.


Inicuo: The Brotherhood [2016] (orig. Inicuo: La Hermanidad) [IMDb] [FA.es]* (would be R) (written and directed by Alejandro Alegre [IMDb] [FA.es]*) was a MEXICAN entry to the Festival that proved simply too Dark for me to stay through.  It was the only film in the Festival that I saw that I got up and left from (Dear Readers, as I've written before [1] [2] [3], just because one buys a ticket to a movie does not mean that one has to sit through the entirety of a film.  There are films that for any number of reasons one could decide: "Okay, I've had enough," and just get-up and leave.  The film here was about a twenty something young adult named Federico (played by Isaac Perez Calzada [IMDb] [FA.es]*) who after experiencing a good deal of pain and betrayals in his life founded a Cult that sought to perform Ritual Revenge on those perceived to have hurt him / the other members of his Group (the Cult).  Again, pretty Dark stuff ... I suppose it reminds viewers that (1) Betrayals / Evil exist and, actually, (2) that Revenge is NOT EXACTLY the "best approach" in dealing said Evil (even if Evil doers would perhaps deserve their due).  Still IMHO the film takes Viewers on a truly Dark path to make the point -- 1 1/2 Stars


The Unseen [2016] (would be R) (written and directed by Geoff Redknap) was a CANADIAN entry to the Festival that may feel to many, especially younger viewers, to be at least partly inspired by the Marvel Comics Wolverine movies.  Ten years back, seemingly regular guy, logger Bob Langmore (played by Aden Young) for reasons unclear upped and simply left his former wife Darlene (played by Camille Sullivan) and then 7 year old daughter Amelia (played now as a 17-year old by Max Chadburn) leaving a terrible hole in their lives that neither had been able to fully patch.  Yet despite obvious anger by both toward their former husband / father, Darlene comes to the conclusion that she simply has to look him up again because Amelia now was beginning to act very, very strange.  What was going on?  Well the story that unspools gives new context to Bob's previous abandonment of his family and is portrayed, at least in part symbolically, in a truly spectacular cinematic fashion.  Honestly, this film ought to win awards for its cinematography / makeup and even screenwriting / direction or at minimum open doors for the artists/film-makers responsible!  Excellecnt job here! -- 3 Stars.


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Kodi [2016]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmiBeat listing**

FilmiBeat.com review**
IndiaGlitz review**
KollyTalk.com review**
OnlyKollywood.com (Surendhar MK) review**
TamilGlitz review**

Indian Express (K.R. Manoj) review**
Hindustan Times () review**
The Hindu (S. Ramanujam) review**
Times of India (M. Suganth) review**


Kodi [2016] [IMDb] [FiBt] (written and directed by R.S. Durai Senthilkumar [IMDb] [FiBt]) is a Indian (Tamil) film that opened both in India and across the world for India's Diwali holiday weekend.  It's a political thriller, which while having its action / comedic elements is really a _scathing denunciation_ of _systemic_ political corruption in Tamil? / Indian? politics today.

The film is about two sons, twins, of a humble "sound-man" (played by the Tamil actor Karuunas [IMDb] [FiBt]), who would help set-up the microphones at political rallies (though, poignantly and perhaps at least in part symbolically, HE HIMSELF WAS "MUTE").

Touched by the vow of a local politician that he and his Party (colors green and gold) would "fight to the death" to close a local factory which was poisoning its workers with mercury, the father takes his sons to a Party rally in front of said factory.  However, to the father's dismay, as soon as the Politician appeared to believe that there were enough photographs taken of him and his Party "protesting in front of the factory," the Politician called the rally-off, saying "their work was done" and began sending the gathered (Party) protesters home.  The father of the two sons, himself, again mute (perhaps as a result of some kind of poisoning in his family's past), can not let himself "just go home" like that.  So the father PICKS UP A CAN OF KEROSENE, pours it on himself and sets himself on fire in protest.  The Politician had promised that they would "fight to the death" to close the factory.  Now the Politician was packing-up to go home after hardly exerting himself at all.  This poor / sincere father WITH A WIFE AND TWO YOUNG SONS, was NOT going to "just go home as well."

... the story resumes 20 years later.   The two young sons Kodi and Anbu (both played by the Tamil actor Dhanush [IMDb] [FiBt]) had grown up, though the two had taken very different paths:  Kodi, whose name apparently meant "Flag" had therefore pursued a life of political action seeking to in effect "partly redeem" (and perhaps even "avenge") his father's death (to make it mean something), while Anbu stayed closer to his mother (played by Saranya Ponvannan [IMDb] [FiBt]) who was angered to current day at her husband for having so pointlessly left her a widow to raise two young sons in poverty.  Growing-up in precarity, both sons nonetheless were educated.  When the film resumes those "20 years later" we find that Kodi has just been promoted by the "Green and Gold" Party as the "Regional Head" of its "Youth Wing."  Anbu, on the other hand, has gotten a job as a mathematics instructor at the local university.

Both would basically live rather "small" yet _happy_ lives if ... not for the return of a crisis resulting from that cursed (20-years closed) mercury factory.  Yes, apparently IN PART due to their father's sacrifice ... officials HAD TO SHUT THE PLANT DOWN.  But now, twenty years later ... the plant was found LEAKING mercury into the local water supply.

When Kodi finds-out about the new situation, he immediately carries the news to his Superior, who ... tells him TO SIT ON THE INFORMATION UNTIL "AFTER THE ELECTION" promising him "WE'LL DEAL WITH THE SITUATION 'RIGHT AWAY' ... AFTERWARDS.

Well, intelligent enough to see a lie being told to his face ... he goes to the OPPOSING PARTY (their banner was RED with a HORSESHOE and A STAR.  Guess what Party, THEY represented? ;-).  Even though the GREEN-GOLD and the RED-W-HORSESHOE-AND-STAR parties were "sworn enemies" of each other, HE HAD "A FRIEND" THERE ... a young lady, HIS AGE named Rudhra (probably meaning "Red" and played by Trisha Krishnan [IMDb] [FiBt]) who he'd known all his life because they'd always go to the same rallies, just on opposite sides and who, like him, had "risen through the ranks" of her, the RED-W-HORSESHOE-AND-STAR party.  Indeed, though not openly, the two had become "lovers" of sorts, having "a lot in common" actually.

Anyway, Kodi tells his friend / lover Rudhra (from the opposing Party) the news about the closed but now found to be still leaking mercury factory.  Perhaps THEY could do something to save people's lives, BUT ...

... And that's then the story.  NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE.  Kodi and Anbu's father DIED to shut that plant down ("so that others may live.")  Now Kodi finds that the plant is yet again a problem but NEITHER Party wants to do anything about it (AGAIN).  He himself DIES, is MURDERED (by whom? ...).

And it's left to mild mannered brother Anbu ... who just wanted to stay home, live a nice simple life taking care of his mother on behalf of his more politically conscious father / brother ... BUT NOW HOW CAN HE "JUST SIT THERE" AND DO NOTHING ...?

And yet it is SO CLEAR that NEITHER PARTY GAVE A DAMN ... AND BOTH EVEN PUT OBSTACLES IN THE WAY of others TRYING "to do the right thing."   Indeed, BOTH PARTIES are shown solemnly having pictures of India's founder, the former living saint, M.K. Gandhi, piously hanging BEHIND THEM at their rallies and in their offices.  AND YET, NONE OF THE CURRENT POLITICIANS DO ANYTHING EXCEPT SEEK _random_ / _trivial_ POLITICAL ADVANTAGE OVER ONE ANOTHER.

Indeed, the film becomes a damning story about "one little family" that "cared" surrounded / embroiled in a system that CLEARLY "didn't give a damn at all." 

I would close here noting that out of four Tamil films (coming from India's state of Tamil Nadu) that I've seen here in the United States since beginning my blog, THREE had as a good part of their theme POLITICAL CORRUPTION.  These films become a reminder that India is a diverse place and that even if Bollywood tends to produce "lovely romances" at one end of the country, at its other end, in Tamil Nadu, the film-makers clearly have "other stories" that they want to tell.

Good job folks, very good job! ;-)


** To load Websites from South and East Asia in a timely fashion, installation of ad-blocking software is often required.

<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>