DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE [2022] Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu & Jamie Lee Curtis Direction & Screenplay by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert Languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese I’ve always enjoyed watching Michelle Yeoh: she is a phenomenal actress. Therefore, when I found out that she was finally starring in a movie I was immediately inclined to watch it. But, unfortunately, my love for Michelle Yeoh does not trump my hatred for Sci-Fi films. Whilst members of my family loved this picture, I simply could not sit through it: it was definitely not my cup of tea at all (at least the science fiction element of it). Let’s start with the acting. I find it difficult to discern what good acting looks like in a film that’s not very intellectually stimulating, but one thing that I can say for sure is that there was definitely a lot of versatility in the roles of each character in the cast. That’s a huge credit to the screenwriters: science ficti...

  JOYLAND [2022] Starring: Alina Khan, Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani Direction & Screenplay by Saim Sadiq Language: Urdu / Punjabi It has been a long while since a Pakistani film has even reached a foreign audience, but here we are with a film that has been nominated for an Oscar! Although it is in a lot of ways an exceptional film, there was one key factor that dictated my viewing experience: censorship. I watched the film in Pakistan, in one of the only provinces that allowed the movie to be screened in theatres. There were very obvious cuts (I later found out that over twenty minutes of the film had been cut in the censored version). This censorship is a huge problem! It is incredibly disheartening to see that a movie that has been produced in Pakistan cannot even be viewed properly in its home! The censorship completely interrupted the narrative of the film, to the point where I just could not understand some of the film’s progression. The movie was full of sexual...

  VEER-ZAARA [2004] Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji, Kirron Kher Direction by Yash Chopra & Screenplay by Aditya Chopra Language: Hindi In Bollywood, this is one of the movies that everyone just knows. With a star-studded cast and its controversial messages about love across the borders of India and Pakistan, it was truly ahead of its time in terms of confronting social norms. However, this is a view shared only by the old: people my age hate it for its lack of modernised choreography and its slower pace. In spite of this, I must say that I absolutely ADORED this movie.  The story and the message that the movie put forward was so different to anything else previously seen in Bollywood. The evolution of love between the two main characters was much slower, and therefore much more easier to understand: most Hindi movies follow the typical ‘love at first sight’ motif which is nothing short of overused.  I am not the biggest fan of Shah Rukh Khan: he ...

  CALL ME BY YOUR NAME [2017] Starring: Timothée Chalamet & Armie Hammer Direction by Luca Guadagnino & Story by André Aciman Language: English In the five minutes before I was about to board a plane to Pakistan, I hurriedly found ‘Call me by your name’ in my Netflix suggestions, so I downloaded it to watch on the flight. All in all, it was quite a strange film, and I don’t really know how to feel about it. I don’t regret watching the film, and I think the movie was great in certain aspects, but the message conveyed by the production was problematic to say the LEAST.  I had never really understood the hype surrounding Timothée Chalamet before watching this film. I heard people rant and rave about how great he was, and how skilled he was at portraying complex characters. However, I understand now why he has received so many accolades from this film. The mind of a teenager, especially one who is questioning his/her sexuality is incredibly fragile, and he was able to enca...

PAKEEZAH [1971] Starring: Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Nadira Direction & Screenplay by Kamal Amrohi Language: Hindi To be honest, I have no idea how I came across this film, but I am so unbelievably glad I did. I have watched the movie just shy of a dozen times since the winter of 2020, and I can safely say that it never loses its appeal in my eyes.  Filmed in 1971, the story centres around Sahibjaan , a courtesan who unexpectedly falls in love. After an unfortunate series of events, drama and tension builds up and reaches a climax in the final scene (which I can remember verbatim).  It is without a doubt that the fourteen years it took to film the movie was completely worth it. The stereotype surrounding old Bollywood movies is that they are really slow, which is often the case. Whilst this film was relatively slow, and points of tension within the production were few and far between, I was completely hooked the entire time I watched it, which is a rarity when ...

  THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE [2021] Starring: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield & Mark Wystrach Direction by Michael Showalter & Screenplay by Abe Sylvia Language: English I had no idea that this movie had actually been made until I found that Jessica Chastain had been nominated for her role as Tammy Faye Bakker. This was such a different type of movie, and it was such a pleasure to watch! I can safely say that I am wholeheartedly onboard with more biographical films: I had never heard of Tammy Faye before, and it was such an eye-opening experience to see the rise and fall of celebrities I had never before heard of.  Let’s start with the actress who received an oscar for her performance: Jessica Chastain. She has always been great at what she does, but this film propelled her over the top for sure. It takes somebody incredibly versatile to be able to convincingly portray one character at different ages - and she handled this somewhat daunting task super well! This was part...

  CRAZY RICH ASIANS [2018] Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan Story by Kevin Kwan & Direction by Jon M. Chu  Language: English Do you have a movie that you could never get sick of even after a million viewings? A comfort movie that you watch whenever you have a bad day? A movie that’s fun and easy to watch? It may not be a big award-winner, but for me, that movie was Crazy Rich Asians. I originally watched it in the cinema, and I still tear up whenever I see it. The messages of family and the contrast between Eastern and Western ideologies are so poignant: especially for me, an individual who has grown up in a relatively liberal place but has quite a traditional family.  What makes the movie fun to watch are the visuals! I live vicariously through the opulence of all the fancy suits and dresses, the opulent jewellery, the dramatic staircases and all the magnificent houses. I had watched the movie after reading the book, and to ...

  WEST SIDE STORY [2021] Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist Original Screenplay by Tony Kushner & Direction by Steven Spielberg Language: English (and some prolonged Spanish scenes) You cannot say that you love movies until you’ve watched West Side Story! It’s the perfect film: featuring BRILLIANT acting, excellent costume and makeup design, not to mention the world-famous soundtrack. I saw this film in December of 2021, and have watched it many times since then. I am ashamed to admit that I watched the newer version first, but now, having seen the 1961 version, I can say that the recent version lives up to the high standard of the original. Whenever I watch the movie, I am left in a sense of awe, amazed at how mankind has been able to create such a masterpiece (you can tell that I love this movie).  We cannot discuss a musical without first mentioning the soundtrack! Apart from a few word changes (which I don’t think were necessary), the soun...

  ELVIS - 2022 Awards Season Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge Screenplay & Direction by Baz Luhrmann Language : English I have long been an admirer of Elvis Presley, as I have a penchant for soul music. I did not know anything about Elvis’ life before watching the film, except for the fact that he eventually turned to drugs in his last years. I was therefore looking forward to seeing this movie.  However, it is safe to say that his legacy has largely been tainted by a production which can only be described as being deeply strange. I left the cinema wishing I could get back the 2.5 hours it took to see. The only reason I did not leave the movie halfway through was because of Austin Butler’s convincing performance of Elvis. Elvis is a tough character to play, with his erratic movements, iconic accent, eccentric personality, warped sense of self and fragile mental state, especially in his final years. Austin Butler was able to incorporate all of these elemen...

THE LEGEND OF MAULA JATT Starring: Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Hamza Abbasi & Humaima Malick Screenplay & Direction by Bilal Lashari Language: Punjabi   Pakistan has waited a long time for a movie like this! The golden age of Lollywood has been dead for decades, but this movie feels like it may be getting a revival. A remake of the original from the 1960s, the film brings this folk tale to life, sans any random modern additions. Pakistani cinema is often overshadowed by larger Indian films, especially in foreign markets such as Dubai, but the acting displayed in Maula Jatt just indicates that there is tremendous talent just waiting to be exploited in Pakistan. I have never in my life seen an entire cinema watching a Pakistani picture, even in Pakistan, but this film proved me wrong.   Fawad Khan & Hamza Abbasi are seasoned veterans in the Pakistani acting industry, and so they, as expected, performed exceptionally well. Mahira Khan was disappointing : she was only p...

THE FAREWELL [2019] Starring: Awkwafina, Zhao Shu-zhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma Screenplay & Direction by Lulu Wang Language: Mandarin/English A deeply moving story of a family spread over continents yet closely tied together with love and familial bonds. As the beloved grandmother, or Nai-Nai , is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the family fabricates a marriage in the family so that they are all able to return to China and spend time with Nai-Nai without having to tell her about her disease. The Chinese believe that fear of a malady is often worst than the malady itself. Into this cultural setting comes ‘Billi’ (Alwafina) with her American values, and the clash of cultures that ensues is subtly written in the movie, and makes for a rare watch.  It is very seldom that we see Asian movies getting significant recognition in Hollywood: this was the first Mandarin-language film that I have ever seen being shown at cinemas where I live. I originally watched the film a few years ago, when...

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE [1951] Starring: Vivian Leigh, Marlon Brando & Kim Hunter Original Story by Tennessee Williams Language: English After studying the play as a text at A Levels and watching some absolutely awful modern interpretations of the play (I wanted to gauge my own eyes out), I decided to give the original screenplay a chance. Wow! I was absolutely blown away. I don’t usually enjoy black and white films, but I can safely say that this was an exception. The original version, though several decades older than its modern counterparts, far outpaces any subsequent play versions that have been released since 1951.  I was pleasantly surprised to realise that the film stayed true to the original play, which is very often overlooked when modern productions interpret this play. Tennessee Williams was a visionary at the time, and all of the details of his play, the subtle deterioration of Blanche’s mental faculties to the red silk pajamas that Stanley wears in the infamous r...