DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  Dune: Part Two [2024] Starring Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler Direction by Denis Villeneuve Language: English I am still in shock after watching this movie. For context, I never saw Dune: Part One (Sci-Fi is not usually my thing), nor have a read the books. When I was watching the Oscars in 2022, I would role my eyes whenever Dune won and my favourite movies didn't. Flash forward to 2024, and I wasn't even planning to see this installment of Dune. I had seen advertisements for it online, and I was aware that some of my favourite actors had significant roles. But my (now extinct) hatred for Sci-Fi stopped me from going. It was only when my auntie came to stay when she dragged me to Dune. I rolled my eyes when I saw it was an almost three hour long movie: not even modern Indian movies (which are known for being long) topped the length of this. However, I soon came to find that three hours was simply not enough. I would have sat in that theatre for thir...

The Holdovers [2023] Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph Direction by Alexander Payne Language: English In the roster of Oscar nominated movies, I was a little worried about watching this one. Well, maybe not worried. But from the description, it didn't seem like my type of movie. However, my local cinema chain was showing this movie in theatres - a rare treat. I'm glad that I took the opportunity to watch it in full screen: it has become my favourite of the Oscar-nominated films (and I've watched a few - reveiws yet to come). It was the first movie which has been significantly awarded by the Academy which was fun to watch. And before you say something like 'Barbie was also lots of fun', this movie was fun to watch because it was so comforting. For the first time in a long time, I didn't have to strain to understand, whilst profound, incredibly complex themes interwoven with intricate plotlines. This movie was simple and easy to gras...

All Of Us Strangers [2023] Starring: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy Direction by Andrew Haigh Language: English I sat down to watch this movie with a friend, and when I told her I hadn't before seen, to my recollection, a movie starring Paul Mescal or Andrew Scott she was absolutely shocked, saying I was a disgrace. As such, she literally watched me watch the movie, making sure I didn't avert my attention away from the screen for a single moment. A part of me resents her for that - the movie, whilst poignant with all the ingredients of an award winning movie, didn't really resonate with me. I don't know why - my friend again told me I was insane, but everyone has their moments where a movie someone loves is something they can't stand.  To be honest, this was a movie I didn’t really understand until halfway in, and that massively affected my viewing experience. I had no idea that the main character, played by Andrew Scott, was having hallucinations about the p...

  The Zone Of Interest [2023] Starring: Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel Direction by Jonathan Glazer Language: German At first glance, I thought this movie would be absolutely brilliant. Movies about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust have often been some of my favourites, as they were tragedies so large and pronounced, with impacts that continue to reverberate into contemporary society. I don’t know what I was expecting from this, to be honest. I usually think that every movie will have a main character who serves as a focal point, but I soon found out that in this movie, that wasn’t the case. It was almost as if the audience is god-like, peering into the lives of what seems like an ordinary European family, expect for that fact that the patriarch is one of the bigwigs at the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which is directly adjacent to the family home.  My first instinct when it came to watching this movie was this: it was chilling, and really highlights the qui...

Mughal E Azam [1960] Starring: Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Prithviraj Kapoor, Nigar Sultana Direction by K. Asif with Music by Naushad Language: Hindi My parents often tell me this: ''you cannot call yourself an admirer of Hindi cinema without watching Mughal-E-Azam''. And it was on a drive home where my parents happened to play the movie soundtrack that I made my decision to watch the movie. I was initially very hesitant to watch it: the only way I could watch it was on Youtube, a platform that doesn't offer English Subtitles with a movie like this one. I can speak Urdu/Hindi conversationally, but such complex Urdu, like the one spoken in the movie was something I knew I would have challenges with. As such, the experience of watching this movie was a little stilted, as I had to keep pausing to ask my parents what certain words and expressions meant. But I get what Indian cinephiles mean when they call this movie a classic: the movie was a pioneer, which contained all t...

  The Call [2020] Starring Park Shin-Hye, Jeon Jong-Seo, Lee El, Kim Min-Ha Direction by Lee Chung-Hyeon Language: Korean I can safely say that I have experienced thrillers, across cultures. Whilst taking a well-needed break from mock revision, I visited my friend's house. She has an obsession with all things thriller, and roped me into watching this at first confusing but ultimately fantastic thriller film. I tend to be able to understand films, but thrillers, being outside of my reign of expertise, often stump me, particularly if they have complex story plots like this one.  The movie revolves around two people: one in the past and one in the present. The character in the past is a serial killer, who communicates with the character in the present through telephone calls. It is the character in the past who has the power to change the future reality of the character in the present day. From me explaining the plotline in three lines, it is still a little difficult to grasp wha...

 It seems as if all I'm doing recently on this blog is apologizing. But I swear I have a valid reason! I have just finished with my mock examinations, and now I have the time to review some of the movies I have been watching. I have watched six in the past weekend, and I'm going to try to publish them all in the next few days. Rest assured, you will be getting plenty of content from me soon.  Rehla 404 [2024] Starring: Mona Zaki, Mohamed Farag, Khaled El Sawi, Mohamed Mamdouh Direction by Hani Khalifa Language: Arabic  I would like to dedicate this review to my friend Gigi: had she not been late to our meeting at the mall, I would not have looked through the synopses of all the movies screening in the theatre. If I had not done that, I would not have found this movie. Given the fact that it is in Arabic, this movie would have totally slipped under my radar if I hadn't off-handedly read that plot. I am not usually one for thrillers, but after this movie, I may consider see...