Spider-man--Far From Home, Review: PP, HH, Ray, May, MJ, Ned, E.D.I.T.H., Nick and Beck Can a pulsating teenage romance between a super-hero’s alter ego and a beautiful schoolmate over-ride inherent flaws in a film’s scripting and logic? Is the inability to go “aw..so cute!” every time you see an awkward boy mustering up the courage to approach his love interest, to utter the three magic words, a sign of aging and fossilisation? Is the need to look beyond the obvious, ...

Captain Marvel, Review: Skrull duggery, the Kreeps, a charismatic cat and muddled memories To many Indians, who grew up reading DC comics in the 50s, 60s and 70s, Captain Marvel is a man, and he acquires super-powers upon uttering the magical acronym, SHAZAM: genius of Solomon, strength of Hercules, unbreakable will of Atlas, lightning blasts of Zeus, power of Achilles and speed of Mercury. Named Billy Batson as a human, Captain Marvel’s powers comprised super strength, flight, invulner...

MIFF 2018, XI: 400 years of the Negro That is what it took for the black people in America to get civil rights. And almost prophetically, the then Attorney-General and brother of the President, Robert Kennedy predicted that America would have a black President in 40 years. But not before thousands had been brutalised, beaten and even killed, including leaders like Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., none of whom lived to be 40.   Oscar nominated documentary on the...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent When the original KING KONG was released by RKO in March of 1933, some of the trade ads included a tie-in between Kong’s big bang box office receipts and the failed banks of the Great Depression roaring back to profitability. It was a nostalgia sell, a heart-tug for a pre-code Hollywood monster romp, the likes and scale of which had never been seen on the silver screen. In a quick recap, Merian C. Cooper was turned down at Paramount, th...

Siraj Syed reviews Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: Ymbrynes and the Deadly Hollows Bookish and Burtonish, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children scores on many counts: good casting, wide span, consistent allegorical references and even pace. In print, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children has sold millions of copies, been translated into 40 languages, and has spent more than two years on the New York Times best-seller list. It has also been named one of...

The Legend of Tarzan, Review: Gorillas in the Midst Remember the immortal lines, “Me Tarzan, you Jane”?  Now try this, "He's Tarzan, you're Jane. He'll come for you," says her captor to Jane. He sure will. He’s been coming on to the screen for the last 98 years, in 41 movie and 57 TV outings. Adds up to 98 again. The Legend of Tarzan, preceding the character’s on-screen centenary by a whisker, is a slightly over-written exercise, without too ...

Big Game, Review: Game on Incredible and ambitious, Big Game is also warm and infectious. It is a good example of how some thoughtful writing can make a far-fetched premise convincing and exciting. Jalmari Helander, the Finnish film-maker who first made a splash with the controversial Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010), has adapted a 2013 novel by Petri Jokiranta and blended both Hollywood and northern Finland with bartender-like finesse. A hunting clan in Finland is initiating 13 year-ol...

Avengers: Age of Ultron, Review: Fan-fare Overloaded, campy and ‘fancentric’, Avengers: Age of Ultron is the Marvel Comics and Studios’ counterpart of the Justice League of America, the other array of comic book heroes that have thrilled young readers for several decades now. Just as readers were thrilled to find Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Cyborg, Firestorm and Element Woman (current line-up, different from original members) between th...

      Kingsman—The Secret Service, Review: Tinkering tailors, soldiering spies Opening titles assembled bond-style, prologue in the ‘father’s sacrifice will not go in vain, for the son will step into his shoes, to fight again’ mould, carefully crafted plot that is as contemporary as it could get, a canvas that grows bigger by the minute and a narrative style that is irreverent while paying rich tributes, and preposterous while tickling your ribs as many t...

  CAIRO ¬ The joke going around Cairo today is that the Algerian Tribute in the city's international film festival will be withdrawn if the Algerian football team beats Egypt in this Saturday's crunch game. It is only a joke, but the fact is that even the most ardent of Egypt's film buffs are focused on the crucial world cup qualifier that will see one or the other country through to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year. Punters have commented that the orga...