Some films I’ve watched recently

I go through periods where I watch a lot of movies, and other periods where the idea of watching something for about two hours seems like a colossal amount of time. I could read half a book in that time!

But, anyway, here is the good, the bad, and the frothy from the past couple of months… as you’ll see, it has been a Bollywood-heavy period. Most of those films are on Netflix, and is a major reason I keep subscribing.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Based on the real-life story of disgraced televanglist Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) and his wife Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain), this goes from Tammy Faye’s early life through their rise to fame and to the eventual catastrophe when Jim’s fraud and possible affairs come to light.

Jessica Chastain is brilliant in this role – she disappears completely, and the performance of sincerity and naivety in Tammy Faye was incredible. I also loved that her faith and her relationship with God are not laughed at – she is absolutely sincere about those too, and they are separate from any misdeeds by fellow believers. Lots of other Christians don’t fare so well in the film, which is par for the course for media, but that central character and performance is extraordinary. It’s no surprise that she won an Oscar for it.

Dog

Channing Tatum plays an ex-soldier who has to drive a dog across the country to attend his friend’s funeral (his friend died at war). It’s absolute hokum, made weirder by the number of odd events along the way – including Tatum’s character pretending to be blind, getting drugged and tied to a chair, being imprisoned etc. It reminded me of the plot of 90s/00s schlock like Dude, Where’s My Car?, but with a far more sentimental dollops on top. Tatum is always a compelling actor, and the dog is impeccably trained, but this is very lightweight – and a box office smash, of course.

Along for the Ride

A sweet coming-of-age romcom – I could tell it was adapted from a novel when they went to a secret pie shop. What is that shop’s business model?? It’s all quite poignant and whimsical, with unrewarding roles for Andie MacDowell and Dermot Mulroney in the background – and a couple of good-looking 20-somethings masquerading as teens. I am too old to watch this film, but it’s a good version of the sort of thing it is.

Senior Year

Rebel Wilson wakes up from a coma after 20 years and decides to go back to high school. You already know exactly what this film is, and it doesn’t surprise – and it happens to be the sort of silliness I love sometimes.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania

Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are two of Bollywood’s best-known and most enjoyable actors, reuniting here in a movie that isn’t a sequel to their Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, but is sort of a spiritual sequel. It’s a romance between a progressive woman and a traditional man, and there is a thread about the role of women – particularly whether or not it’s ok for women to work after their marriage. The movie lands on yes, but there are definitely aspects to this (otherwise fun) movie that wouldn’t make a Hollywood one – e.g. if a man angrily locks a woman in his car boot, he probably isn’t usually the good guy…

Karthik Calling Karthik

My first Indian thriller, and yep I was frightened. I also didn’t realise it was a thriller going in. Karthik is an unconfident man in a dead-end job, bullied by his landlord and his colleagues and not able to talk to women. One evening he starts getting phone calls from… himself. The other Karthik on the other end of the phone helps build his self-confidence, and soon he has a promotion, a girlfriend, and all the success he has dreamed off – but then ‘Karthik’ starts to turn nasty…

It’s a great concept for a film, and I definitely found it compelling – and much scarier than I’d imagined. It started off so sweetly!

The Zoya Factor

I think I watched more cricket in this film than in the rest of my life combined. A copywriter (my job! on film!) is sent to help with writing for adverts involving the Indian cricket team during the 2011 World Cup. She is told not to interact with them, particularly the captain (GUESS WHO SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH).

Sonam Kapoor and Dulquer Salmaan are both very personable and captivating leads, and I bought into their love embarrassingly quickly. My only quibble is that Zoya doesn’t do a moment’s copywriting at any time, she just stands next to ads being filmed and causes accidents.

Judwaa 2

Varun Dhawan this time, playing twins who separated in infancy and now have sporadic powers where, if one moves, the other does too. It is absolutely abysmal. I’ve learned that Varun doesn’t say no to much…

Cobalt Blue

A really beautiful film, and I’m keen to read the book by Sachin Kundaikar now (he also directed and wrote the film). It’s a much gentler, slower Indian film than many I watch – it’s about a brother and sister who both fall in love with their male lodger. It is so stunningly shot and lit, and acted, and I found it mesmerising.