DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  All Quiet on the Western Front [2022]  Starring: Felix Kammerer, Daniel Bruhl, Albrecht Schuch Direction by Edward Berger, Original story by Erich Maria Remarque Language: German Well, I guess I'm just a snob. I normally do not like action movies, especially war movies because they are so incredibly cookie cutter. For weeks, I have been debating actually putting myself through the experience of watching this, but at the end I'm so incredibly glad that I did. I can definitely say that this is my top choice for Best Picture at the Oscars. This may have been the single most harrowing, poignant, heart-wrenching, brilliant film that I have ever seen. Firstly, let's talk about the movie as a whole. In my experience, we learn about World War One from an American/British point of view, and so seeing the flip side of the conflict was incredibly eye-opening. Seeing the experiences of German troops, in a way, really humanised them. At the end of the day, soldiers were just pawns in ...

It has been five years since Sridevi passed away; five years since Bollywood lost one of its biggest superstars. In her memory, I have decided to write a series of reviews in her memory: ' Spotlight on Sridevi' . English Vinglish [2012] Starring: Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Mehdi Nebbou Direction by Gauri Shinde Language: Hindi This was a movie that was definitely different to other Hindi-language films I have seen in the past. For so long, the Bollywood industry has focused on young protagonists, who largely fight against the expectations and actions of those older than them. This movie, however, completely flipped this norm the other way around. The movie centres around an older, married lady played by Sridevi, whose inability to speak English makes her the object of ridicule from her family.  What I found really interesting was the fact that this movie broke the mould of Bollywood movies: there were no giant dance numbers to distract from the narrative of the story, and the prota...

  Tár [2022] Starring: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant Direction by Todd Field  Language: English Given my love for Michelle Yeoh, I just HAD to see who her competition was. I think it's pretty safe to say that Blanchett is a formidable opponent after seeing this movie, and I think that anybody who sees it will agree. Tár, which is set in the world of symphonies and grand orchestras, was so wonderfully different to any other movie I have seen: I feel as if the world of music is massively underrepresented in film.  Let's start with the casting. I would actually say that the casting is amongst the best of the all of the frontrunner movies at the Oscars. The nature of this movie meant that all of the characters were incredibly complex, and everybody who acted in this picture was able to live up to such extra ordinary standards. Hoss, for example. was perfectly able to balance the effects of her character's illness, her character's emotional vulnerability, and fin...

 Top Gun: Maverick [2022] Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell Direction by Joseph Kosinski, Screenplay by Ehren Kruger Language: English New decade, same Cruise.  I've never really been into action movies, and I didn't particularly like the first installment of the franchise, but for the first time I can safely say that the recent film surpasses the original.  Bigger, better and faster than its predecessor, Maverick is a sequel that lives up to the nostalgia of the original movie. Top Gun is a movie the defined a generation (even though I found it relatively lackluster), and is seen to be a 'classic'.  I watched the original Top Gun before watching Maverick and I felt that it was difficult to tell where Tom Cruise ended and where his character Maverick began: Cruise was THAT natural in his role, even after so many years. Maverick seems to be an extension of the actor himself.  The appeal of Cruise has not diminished over the years, and yo...

  SILSILA [1981] Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Jaya Bachchan Direction by Yash Chopra, Music by Shiv-Hari Language: Hindi I was watching this new show on Netflix: ‘ The Romantics’  and it reminded me of two Hindi movies that I have watched but completely forgot to review: so here I will be reviewing Silsila.  Mein aur meri tanhai, axar yeh baatein kartein. Tum hoti toh kaisa hota? Tum yeh kehti, tum voh kehti. tum is baat mein hairan hoti, tum is baat mein kitnee hasti. Tum hoti toh aisa hota, tum hoti toh vaisa hota. Mein aur meri tanhai, axar yeh baatein kartein. Me and my loneliness often converse. If you were here, what would happen? You would say this, you would say that. You may have been astonished by this talk or you may have laughed. If you were here, this would happen, if you were here, that would happen. Me and my loneliness often converse.  Sorry! There are certain Hindi dialogues that I just remember and that’s one of them. My translation might not ...

  DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE [1995] Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal Direction by Aditya Chopra Language: Hindi I have recently had the pleasure of seeing two of the  most iconic movies in their respective industries in the cinema: Titanic from Hollywood and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) from Bollywood. DDLJ has been playing for over 20 years in cinemas in Bombay, and I was super excited to finally have the proper movie watching experience.  Let's start with my actual experience watching it in the cinema. Wow! The theatre was packed, and everyone there had definitely watched the movie beforehand: everyone sang along during the big songs, and everyone cheered and clapped whenever there was a romantic moment. Watching the movie in this environment was incredibly enjoyable, and it's difficult to understand whether it was the experience of the movie itself which made me like it so much.  Much like Leo DiCaprio in Titanic, this...

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness [2015] Direction by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Language: Urdu/Punjabi I was too young to watch this documentary when it was originally released in 2015: the documentary focuses around the subject of honour killings and community pride in lower income groups in rural areas of Pakistan. Not only are those wildly inappropriate topics for a child under the age of 15 to actually watch and listen to, but I think my parents were perhaps trying to shield me. For the longest time, when I heard of Pakistan, I thought of family and excellent food, but this documentary exposed the dark underbelly of a Pakistan that I was not used to seeing: a Pakistan that, whilst being a haven for culture, is a country rife with social challenges that have yet to be resolved.  I won't judge this documentary by the quality/clarity of the actual video (I did watch it on YouTube so I may be completely wrong), but by the impact that it left, by the messages conveyed throug...