April Binges Part 1: Bait & Taskaree

Haven't been watching enough TV about South Asians? Well, here I am with two VERY different miniseries. One is a British comedy-drama about the pressure of representing the South Asian community (and particularly Muslims) in the UK, while the other is a classic Bollywood action-drama about the customs officers at Mumbai's International Airport. Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Bait: Created by and starring Riz Ahmed, this is the story of a struggling British actor named Shahjehan "Shah" Latif (Ahmed), who is auditioning to be the next James Bond. Obviously, this role comes with a lot of meaning - Bond is considered a quintessentially British role, that has hitherto only been played by white male actors. Naturally, it would be a coup for Shah, a British Pakistani Muslim, to get this role. But the significance of it leads him into a spiral of self-sabotage. We are also introduced to his family, consisting of a doting mother, Tahira (Sheeba Chaddha), jokey father, Parvez (Sajid Hasan), and two cousins who were raised with him, Zulfi (Guz Khan) and Q (Asiya Shah). 

This is a short and sharp show, only six episodes, under thirty minutes long, so I don't want to get into much detail. You have to let the wildness of the show unfold for yourself, but suffice to say, it does a brilliant job of capturing the South Asian immigrant experience, the particular nastiness of the racism faced by South Asians in Britain (be prepared for the P-word to be deployed a lot), and the difficulties of straddling both your brown community and the white one you're trying to integrate into. 

All of the scenes with Shah's family felt like something that could have been filmed during any of my family gatherings (well, with slightly less drama and destruction, of course), and at the center of it all, we have Riz Ahmed, with those big, expressive eyes, conveying a world of hurt, humiliation, and confusion as he tries to navigate this very weird situation he has been put into. The show was not as funny as I wanted it to be, but it was certainly a chaotically good time and a wonderful addition into the TV genre of layered South Asian representation. If you're looking for something fresh and new, this is exactly what you seek.

Taskaree: Are you looking for layers? Then move right along. With this show, created by Neeraj Pandey, you're going to get a rather typical Bollywood masala action romp, with a little dash of romance and plenty of police brutality. This show thoroughly lacks any nuance, but it's still a very fun ride with plenty of twists and turns, so you will have a good time, as long as you turn your brain off first. 

Emraan Hashmi plays Arjun Meena, a customs officer in Mumbai's International Airport who has a reputation for taking his job seriously and being incorruptible in a profession that is otherwise well known to be full of people who are willing to look the other way if offered a nice little bribe. When a new commissioner, Prakash Kumar (Anurag Sinha) is brought in to crack down on all the international smuggling that goes through the airport, Arjun and his most trusted colleagues are brought together on a task force to help bring down a criminal syndicate headed by Bada Choudhary (Sharad Kelkar). Bada has couriers operating out of Al Dera (for some reason, a fictional city that is just a stand-in for the UAE), Ethiopia, and Milan, so what follows is a very international escapade told with a great deal of Bollywood flair. 

The story is fast-paced, every episode ends with an amazing cliffhanger, and as long as you suspend your disbelief at points, you are promised a great time. It's only seven episodes long and makes for a quick and dirty binge, so settle down on your couch. Also, your Hindi vocabulary is really going to expand as you learn more about smuggling terminology and the layers of Indian intelligence bureaucracy than you could have ever expected. So, it's fun AND educational!

January Movies Part 1: Marty Supreme, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Mrs.

I'll be honest, I saw two of these movies in December. But hey, it's hard to blog over New Year's. If you're interested in an awards contender, a blockbuster, and a quiet Hindi movie, this blog post will satisfy all your desires.

Marty Supreme: Directed by Josh Safdie, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein, this movie stars Timothee Chalamet as Marty Mauser, loosely based on the real-life Marty Reisman, who was a US table tennis champion. Set in 1952, we follow Marty's utterly chaotic life in New York City, as a man who doesn't have anyone believing in him, but that's OK, because he sure does believe in himself. The man is a hustler, figuring out any angle he can use to scrape up some cash so he can fly around the world to participate in table tennis tournaments and make a name for himself.

I genuinely wanted this to just be a table tennis movie. There are two sequences in this film, one towards the middle, another towards the end, when you get to watch Marty play table tennis against some of the best players in the world, and those sequences brought me so much joy. But the sport is secondary. This is Chalamet's Oscar vehicle, and he is going to do some Acting! This character is frenetic, whiny, always on the move, and always trying to scam someone out of something. He also gets an assist from the great Odessa A'zion who plays his childhood friend and eventual baby mama, Rachel, a woman who seems very sympathetic at the beginning, but then you realize she might be Marty's equal. Gwyneth Paltrow also stars as an actress who has an affair with Marty for her pleasure and his gain. Does this movie pass the Bechdel test? Of course not. 

I didn't love or hate this film. Chalamet is a powerhouse, but the story felt overwrought and never managed to win me over. It often felt like we were getting a bunch of hyper-intense set pieces that Safdie was struggling to string together into a coherent narrative. Also, 150 minutes tends to breach my tolerance for watching a man who is full of himself. It's a good movie, but in my opinion, certainly not a great one.

Avatar: Fire and Ash: Speaking of men who are full of themselves, writer-director James Cameron is back with yet another installment of the Avatar franchise. Do I remember anything that happened in the previous movies? No. Do I remember anything that happened in this movie despite having seen it just a few weeks ago? Barely.

At 3 hours and 15 minutes, this is yet another bloated extravaganza, that increasingly feels like I'm watching a video game, rather than a movie. This time we are introduced to the Mangkwan, an aggressive Na'vi tribe that live in a volcano and want to partner with humans to dominate the rest of the Na'vi. They are led by Varang (played by Oona Chaplin), and it's just more of the same with the Na'vi tribes having to battle the exploitative humans, environmentalism vs. ruthless capitalism, and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) having to manage his wife and children and save all the Na'vi all over again.

These movies feel like they could just be AI-generated at this point, and obviously I do not care for them. Are they visually spectacular? Of course. But is that enough to sustain that runtime with clunky dialogue and actors who feel like they're just phoning in a performance so they can make bank? Nope.

Mrs.: Every Christmas, I meet a bunch of my relatives on Long Island. And this year, they were all shocked to discover I had never watched the Hindi movie, Mrs. (that is a remake of a 2021 Malayalam film called The Great Indian Kitchen). Naturally I had to go home immediately and watch this film. 

Written by Harman Baweja and Anu Singh Choudhary and directed by Arati Kadav (shoutout to female directors!), the movie stars Sanya Malhotra as Richa, a vivacious woman who enters into an arranged marriage with a seemingly nice and attentive doctor named Diwakar (Nishant Dahiya). As is custom, she moves into his house to live with his parents, and quickly discovers that the daughter-in-law is expected to spend all her time either helping her mother-in-law prepare mountains of food for the men of the house, or cleaning the house and ensuring it is clean enough to meet her father-in-law's exacting standards.

Richa starts out happy and excited about her new married life, but as the daily routine grinds her down, she realizes that her husband expects her to be nothing better than a housemaid and cook. Oh and of course, to have his babies, which turns sex into an increasingly dreaded activity. There's nothing particularly novel about this film, as it comments on the usual patriarchal bullshit that women wade through in traditional Indian households. But what is refreshing is Malhotra's commanding performance as a woman who is slowly driven to despair. You can see the light dimming from her eyes over the course of this movie: but don't worry. She does eventually fight for herself and reclaim her autonomy. It's a sad movie with a happy ending and packs an emotional wallop. Seek it out if you can.

May Binges Part 2: The Studio, The Royals, Etoile, Your Friends & Neighbors

Are you back for more binges? I've got plenty of recommendations, let's go!

The Studio: Every week, I would desperately await the next installment of this show, and every week, it never disappointed. Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, this is a show about what happens when Matt Remick (Rogen) becomes the head of a major film studio in LA and had to now start making uncomfortable decisions between making the artistic cinema that he loves or a big commercial blockbuster about the Kool-Aid Man. Hey, no one said capitalism was easy.

Every episode is a standout in its own unique way, and each one features a murderer's row of cameos. Martin Scorsese shows up in the first episode and gets to do some acting; it's kind of amazing. My personal favorite is probably Episode 2 which is entirely filmed like a one-shot and is about how Sarah Polley is trying to film a one-shot for a movie that Matt keeps interrupting, and it's all so meta and silly and glorious. This is a marvelous show for people who love movies but also love to mock studio executives. The cast is incredible, featuring powerhouse performances from Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O'Hara, Ike Barinholtz, and Chase Sui Wonders, and now you can just binge it all in one big gulp. How lucky are you?!

The Royals: Created by Rangita and Ishita Pritish Nandy, this show is a Bollywood extravaganza that is way too over-the-top and inane. I ate it up with a big ol' spoon. 

Ishaan Khatter stars as Aviraj "Fizzy" Singh, a young prince who has been modelling and avoiding his family in India, but has to return when his father dies, only to discover that he has been named his father's heir instead of his older brother, "Diggy" (Vihaan Samat). Turns out the estate is massively in debt, so the family decides to strike a deal with a company that wants to turn their palace into a hotel where ordinary folks get to live alongside the royal family and get a taste of that royal life. The company's CEO is a feisty and ambitious woman named Sophia Kanmani Shekhar (Bhumi Pednekar) and of course, she and Fizzy butt heads and hate each other at first, only to end up in a tempestuous romance after. As you can well imagine, there are lots of side plots and complications. and all of it is a soapy, dramatic, silly, spectacular delight. Set in Rajasthan, the production design is elaborate and gorgeous, and the actors are fully committed to the silliness, so what more could you ask for? It's not high art, but it is total entertainment.

Etoile: If high art is what you seek, Daniel and Amy Sherman-Palladino have you covered with this show. The premise is that two struggling ballet companies in New York and Paris decide to swap some of their dancers and staff for a year as a stunt to boost ticket sales and generate some buzz. Luke Kirby plays Jack McMillan, who runs the New York Metropolitan Ballet Theater, while Charlotte Gainsbourg play Genevieve Lavigne, the artistic director of Le Ballet National. Lou de Laage also stars as Cheyenne, the etoile, aka prima ballerina of Le Ballet National, who Jack snags for New York. She is highly temperamental and opinionated, but the pain of dealing with her volatile personality is worth it when you watch her perform on stage.

There are many side characters, romantic entanglements, complications, and digressions about art. All accompanied with that trademark Sherman-Palladino dialogue that we know well from Gilmore Girls,  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, etc. I have been to the ballet at Lincoln Center many times so it's also wonderful to get a peek behind-the-scenes, with many of the actual dancers from the New York City Ballet being featured throughout this show. The production design is impeccable, the acting is off the charts, and the choreography is sublime. I absolutely luxuriated in all eight episodes of this show, and the second season cannot come soon enough.

Your Friends & Neighbors: Created by Jonathan Tropper, this show stars Jon Hamm as Andrew "Coop" Cooper, a man whose life is falling apart in every possible way. He got divorced after he found his wife sleeping with his best friend, and then he subsequently got fired from his high-powered hedge fund job. He and his family were accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and Coop is now scrambling to keep up with the payments for all the bougie things that have becomes necessities, like private school, tennis lessons, and country club memberships. One day, he realizes that because he and his friends all live in a gated community, everyone is very lax about security, and he could probably make a lot of money if he selectively stole from his friends. These people just stash priceless heirlooms in random drawers and forget about them, so no one will even realize they've been robbed. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, you guessed it, a lot goes wrong. Ultimately, this is a show about how money can't buy happiness, and the many ways in which people who try to keep up with Jones's will remain in a never-ending spiral of debt and unhappiness. Coop partners with a local housekeeper, Elena (Aimee Carrero), and the episodes where we get to learn more about her life and the stark contrast it makes to that of her employers are always great to ground this show and make it clear who the real villains are. The cast, featuring stalwarts like Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn, is fantastic, and the overall plot is compelling and kept me invested through all nine episodes. It was well-paced for a weekly offering, but might be too bloated for a binge, so I do recommend you savor this one over a period of time, doling it out to yourself like a little treat when you need a dash of mystery and intrigue. Or just want to mock some rich people.

May Movies Part 3: The Wedding Banquet & A Nice Indian Boy

Want a great way to either celebrate the end of AAPI Month or the beginning of Pride Month? Watch two cute movies about queer Asians getting married!

The Wedding Banquet: Written by James Schamus and Andrew Ahn (who also directed), based on the 1993 Ang Lee movie of the same name, this is a movie about two gay couples who are close friends and are about to become a lot closer. Lee and Angela (Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran) are trying to have a baby via IVF and facing biological and financial challenges. Meanwhile, Chris and Min (Bowen Yang and Han Gi-chan) have been together for years but still haven't made a solid commitment. Min is from a rich, traditional Korean family, and while he has been in the US all this time on a student visa, it's about to expire, so his conservative grandfather is threatening to cut him off from his trust fund unless he joins the family business. Min initially proposes to Chris, but for reasons, everyone decides it would be a better idea for him to marry Angela instead. It's convoluted, but it all makes sense. Kinda.

Youn Yuh-jung plays Min's grandmother and delivers a standout performance as an older Korean woman who has always known her grandson is gay and will now try to help him out of his predicament. A lot of hijinks and misunderstandings ensue, but you can rest assured that at the end of the day, this is a sweet tale about found family and how queer friends can come together to support each other. It's a charming movie with a great cast, and while it's fairly predictable, it's a nice, gentle watch, particularly if you have been watching nothing but gory action movies for the past month.

A Nice Indian Boy: Directed by Roshan Sethi and written by Eric Randall and Madhuri Shekar, who adapted it from Shekar's play, this is a cute little love story about what happens when a lonely Indian-American man named Naveen (Karan Soni) falls in love with a white man named Jay (Jonathan Groff) and has to introduce him to his parents. Jay was a foster kid who was adopted by an older Indian couple, so he is well-versed in Indian culture, but he is still white, which comes as a shock to Naveen's parents (played by the delightful Zarna Garg and Harish Patel), who were expecting Naveen to bring home "a nice Indian boy" after he told them that he met Jay at the Hindu temple. Oops.

There's not much plot here, but it's a heartfelt romance that delves into culture clashes, family dynamics, and Bollywood. It also astutely comments on the differences in Asian families between mothers and fathers - Naveen's dad is very uncomfortable discussing his son's sexuality, while his mom watches queer shows on TV in an effort to keep up with her son's life. I was surprised that Naveen was even out to his parents to begin with, but it's a half-hearted coming out, where he just told them he was gay, and then never discussed his life with them after that. That really tracks for most immigrant children. There's also a great parallel with his sister Arundhati (the lovely Sunita Mani), who was a good Indian daughter who had an arranged marriage and is now annoyed at all the acceptance and leeway her brother is getting from their parents. This movie is nothing revolutionary, but it will certainly bring a smile to your face, and sometimes, that's all you need.

More Summer Binges: The Outlaws, Angry Young Men, The Perfect Couple, Sunny, The Change

Yes, yes, you didn't think I spent the summer just bingeing Emily in Paris did you? I found many more random old and new shows to catch up on, and now here are my suggestions for what you should be streaming next.

The Outlaws: Created by Elgin James and Stephen Merchant (who also co-stars), I had never heard about this show before, but when I started watching, I ate up all three seasons with a big ol' spoon. My god, what an astonishing delight. The show follows a group of Brits (and an American expat, played by THE Christopher Walken!) who all find themselves doing community service for a range of infractions. There's a socialite Instagram influencer, an Indian-Polish teenager who crumpled under the pressure to be a perfect student (can anyone here relate *cough*), a nightclub bouncer who is trying to make a better life for him and his sister, a former conman, a mediocre lawyer, a strident Black community activist, and a white middle-aged businessman who is fed up of the woke police.

As you can tell, they all have different agendas, wildly different worldviews, and at first, it seems impossible that this group is ever going to get along. But then...stuff happens. I can't tell you what, because with only six episodes a season (five for the third), this show is economical and brimming with twists and turns that you need to experience for yourself. Suffice to say, this motley crew will have to band together after they get into trouble and need to dig themselves out of an ever-deepening hole. Every actor is doing impossibly great work, and the writing is pitch-perfect, with my particular favorite nuance being the fact that Merchant takes every opportunity to have various people mock the way he looks. It is just an absolute joy from start to finish, funny, touching, and a thrilling caper that will keep you on the edge of your seat. And as a compliance professional, let me just say, I greatly enjoyed the deep dive into money laundering that you will get along the way. 

Angry Young Men: This is a three-part documentary series about the Bollywood writing partnership of Salim-Javed, i.e. Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, who wrote a series of blockbuster scripts in the 1970s that came to define an entire era of Bollywood cinema. Now their kids, namely Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar, and Zoya Akhtar, have produced this documentary, helmed by director Namrata Rao, to give us some insight into how this partnership came about and what makes these two men tick. I have of course heard of these films, like Deewar, Sholay, Seeta aur Geeta, etc. but had no idea they were all written by the same duo. I had no sense of what a tour-de-force they were in the 70s, particularly instrumental in making the career of Abhishek Bachchan and other actors who are now household names. 

Yes, this is a hagiography, with many talking heads from famous actors, directors, and critics raving about their work, but the most fascinating moments are when we get to hear directly from the men themselves, as well as their ex-wives and current wives. For men with convoluted love lives, they seem to have really lucked out in terms of the women they married, and the film paints a rather cheery portrait of non-traditional families. But the best part is when we just get to hear these men speak and share a little bit about their difficult childhoods, and their deep desire for fame and recognition. Were they arrogant and brash? Yes, everyone agrees on that. But were they absolute geniuses? Yes. If you have the slightest interest in Bollywood, this documentary is a wonderful ode to Hindi cinema and these two remarkable writers who were the first to demand attention for the craft of screenwriting that was hitherto considered an inessential component of filmmaking. Unfortunately, the documentary makes the point that writers still don't command much respect in Bollywood, but Salim-Javed are still the gold standard that all writers aspire to when penning their scripts. 

The Perfect Couple: This just came out two days ago on Netflix and I've already binged all six episodes, so that's all you need to know. Developed by Jenna Lamia, directed by Susanne Bier, and starring Nicole Kidman, this is a perfectly paced murder mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously. Kidman stars as Greer Garrison Winbury, a rich author of detective novels who has a "cottage" on Nantucket, where she spends the summer with her wealthy family, which includes her supposedly doting husband, Tag (Liev Schriber), and their three sons. One of those sons, Benji (Billy Howle) is getting married to an outsider (i.e. working-class person) named Amelia (Eve Hewson), so the show takes place during that wedding weekend. When a body washes up on the shore, the whole family is thrown into disarray and every possible person comes under suspicion as they have excellent motives and nebulous alibis. 

It's sumptuously shot, excellently acted, and the Bollywood actor Ishaan Khatter even shows up as a close family friend, which was an utter surprise to me (though might explain why the title sequence of this show is reminiscent of a Bollywood number). Every episode ends on a delicious cliffhanger that will have you slamming the Play Next Episode button at regular intervals, and everything is wrapped up in a satisfying bow - no spoilers, but I promise you won't be left with any irritating loose ends. The show is based on Elin Hilderbrand's novel of the same name, which I have not read, but the show does deviate from the novel in numerous ways that all sound much better to me. So hop on the couch and get excited for a fun summery mystery.

Sunny: Created by Katie Robbins, based on a 2018 novel by Colin O'Sullivan, this slightly futuristic show stars Rashida Jones as Suzie Sakamoto, an American expat in Japan who is plunged into grief when her husband and son are killed in a plane crash. When her husband's company presents her with a "homebot" (a robot that can help you around the house) named Sunny to help her during this difficult time, she is initially resistant, but she gradually starts to warm up to this robot. And in doing so, she discovers her husband designed Sunny, and had a whole life that she knew nothing about. Her mother-in-law (played by the lovely Just Ongg) keeps evading questions about his past, and as Suzie gets Sunny to try and dig into her memories, they find themselves going deeper into a mystery that involve the yakuza and all manner of shady dealings. Over its ten episodes, the show is pretty vibey and has a somewhat erratic tone, sometimes playing into robot comedy, and then veering into dark drama and mystery. But it was compelling enough to keep watching from week to week, and now you can binge it all in one fell swoop. If you're a fan of mysteries, Japan, futurism, or Rashida Jones, this should be the next show on your watchlist, but if you're looking for a tidy narrative with a satisfying conclusion, you might want to try The Perfect Couple instead.

The Change: Created and written by Bridget Christie, this is a weird but weirdly touching little show about Linda (Christie) a woman who hits 50, starts the menopause, and decides she needs a break from being a wife and mother for a while. She packs up her stuff, hops on a motorcycle, and heads off to the Forest of Dean, on a quest to find a time capsule she left in a tree when she a little girl. Which tree? Who knows, let's hope she find it! When she gets there, she rents out a camper van from some strange sisters (played by Minca Dolan and Susan Lynch) and finds herself getting more and more involved in the bizarre lives of the local town's inhabitants. Meanwhile, back home, her incompetent husband, Steve (Omid Djalili), is overwhelmed as he discovers how much silent labor his wife has been putting in over the years to keep their lives tidy and functional. If you enjoy British "comedies" and aren't looking for a huge commitment, you can easily knock this show out in a few hours and have a few chuckles and quiet moments of profundity along the way. 

International Binges: Panchayat & Queenie

Are you looking to diversify your TV viewing by watching something a little less American? I recently binged my way through one British show and one Indian show and can highly recommend both depending on whether you're looking for drama, comedy, or a little bit of both.

Queenie: Created by Candice Carty-Williams, based on her novel of the same name, this is a glorious series about Queenie Jenkins (played by the incredible Dionne Brown), a young British-Jamaican woman in London who is currently going through the most hellacious few months of her life. There is no confirmation that the show will be back for a second season, so instead, sit back and let this series of eight perfect episodes wash over you. 

Queenie is a Black woman in London and she doesn't want to see her mother even though she does spend time with her aunt and grandmother. She has a white boyfriend (though that relationship is on the rocks as the series starts), and an incredible group of girlfriends that she enlists for support, mostly via a group chat, when she makes terrible decisions and needs some advice. Which is something that happens ALL THE TIME over the course of these eight episodes.

This is a classic story of a twentysomething grappling with some intense personal trauma whilst also suffering from a quarter-life crisis. She is trying to establish her identity, figure out how many microaggressions she is willing to put up with, and what are the boundaries she needs, without making the mistake of shutting out absolutely everyone in her life. Like all great characters, Queenie is such a unique individual, but her story is universally relatable - we all have those difficult relationships or moments when we just snowball from one terrible choice to another, and it's wondrous to watch this brave woman bare her soul and try to clamber out from underneath the weight of the world. The supporting cast are all incredible, but mostly, you'll just be mesmerized by this central performance from Dionne Brown and root for Queenie to find a way forward with every fiber of your being.

Panchayat: This show is like watching Parks & Recreation but set in a rural Indian village in Uttar Pradesh named Phulera, where a hapless young man named Abhishek Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar) has joined to be the secretary of the panchayat (the village council that serves as the local self-government). He has had to take this job because he didn't do well in his engineering exams, but now he is hoping to leverage this experience to get into a more prestigious master's program and get the hell out of this village.

The first season of this show is definitely the best. We are introduced to the motley cast of characters that make up the panchayat, led by the Pradhan (aka leader), Brij Bhushan Dubey (Raghubir Yadav), who is technically acting on behalf of his wife, Manju Devi (the glorious Neena Gupta), who was elected to the position so that they could say a woman was in charge to meet diversity quotas. The show is a pitch-perfect expose of the pettiness and silliness of local government, but while the characters initially seem extremely incompetent, you gradually learn to fall in love with their foibles and idiosyncrasies.

While I binged the first season in a day or two, I found the second and third seasons to be a bit slower going as things got a little too Bollywood. The genre slipped from pure comedy to a fair amount of drama, but I must say that they absolutely won me over with the final few episodes of Season 3. Writer Chandan Kumar, and director Deepak Kumar Mishra are finding that right tonal balance for a dramedy, and while I do wish they would lean more towards the hilarity of local village shenanigans (with a little romance to boot!) rather than the broader and more brutal world of Indian politics outside the village, they have a deft and wonderful touch that will certainly keep me coming back for future seasons. And special shoutouts to music composer Anurag Saikia, whose soundtrack and score for this show does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of setting the tone, while the lush cinematography by Amitabha Singh and Amit Kulkarni makes this show a true feast for your eyeballs.

June Movies Part 1: Laapataa Ladies, Hit Man, Origin

I’ve already watched three great movies and we’re only midway through June! Dive in for some cinematic wonder.

Laapataa Ladies: It had been a while since I watched a Bollywood movie, but I knew director Kiran Rao could be trusted to deliver the goods, while working from a script crafted by Biplap Goswami, Sneha Desai, and Divyanidhi Sharma. What follows is a rousing tale about rural women in India, their hopes and dreams, the different paths their lives can take, and the stumbling blocks in their way.

Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta star as Phool Kumari and Pushpa Rani (or is that really her name...), two women who both get married in their respective villages on the same day. Following the wedding, they must now travel to their husbands’ villages, and they both end up on the same train. Dressed alike in their bridal saris, and conservatively veiled (because heaven forfend a woman show her face to anyone except her family), it’s impossible to tell the two women apart. Which means that in the middle of the night, when Phool's husband reaches their stop, he quickly grabs her and hurries off the train. Except he didn’t grab Phool, he got Pushpa instead.

What follows is a delicious comedy with plenty of social commentary. There’s a reason Pushpa got off the train with the wrong husband, but the movie patiently and carefully takes its time to reveal her past and what exactly she is planning to do now. In the meantime, Phool gets off at the wrong station and realizes she is completely lost. She doesn’t know what village she was headed to, and her own village has a common name that could be any of a dozen rural villages across the country. A ragtag group of folk who work around the railway station take her in, giving her shelter and food, but it’s unclear how she will ever find her way back to her husband.

I won’t spoil anything, but I will reassure you that this is a comedy, so don’t expect anything tragic to happen. Instead, this is a gentle movie with some great actors, all beautifully capturing the joys and heartbreaks these women will experience during this adventure. Ravi Kishan also stars as a police inspector who is the typical corrupt villain of the piece…until he isn’t. This is a film that is all about subverting expectations while still reminding us of the importance of women’s choices and giving them a chance to get ahead in the world. It’s a story that never gets old.

Hit Man: Directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Powell (who also stars), this is a wild and twisty movie about Gary Johnson (Powell), a college professor in New Orleans who also works part-time for the police as a fake hit man. He’s the guy they send in to talk to people who want to murder someone - he walks in, gets them to tell him the whole plan, hand over some cash, and then walks out while the cops show up to arrest the would-be murderers.

Of course, things go haywire when a beautiful woman, Madison (Adria Arjona), hires him to murder her abusive husband. Gary takes pity on her and gives her some advice, ensuring she doesn’t incriminate herself while the police listen in. And then things get increasingly murky as the two of them embark on a secret affair.

This movie is hilarious, dark, and twisty. And weirdest of all, it is (kind of) based on a true story, though the filmmakers have certainly taken a considerable amount of artistic license. I had no idea what was going to happen from one point to the next and every scene was yet another delightful surprise as I watched things spiral and escalate completely out of control. You won’t be able to predict a minute of this madcap mayhem so just settle back and enjoy the ride.

Origin: I loved Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, which re-framed America’s original sin of slavery as evidence of casteism, rather than racism. She laid out her argument by making comparisons to Nazi Germany and their treatment of Jews, and the Indian caste system with their treatment of Dalits, aka the “untouchable” caste. Well, in this movie, writer-director Ava DuVernay has audaciously decided to take the story of the real-life author and chart her personal journey while she was writing this book. What follows is a unique tale where we both get insights into Wilkerson’s personal tragedies that spurred her on to throw herself into researching this book, as well as a cinematic representation of the book itself, with all its central arguments about caste systems in various countries and their unifying pillars.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor offers up a tour-de-force performance as she plays Wilkerson, who endures tremendous personal loss and goes through a great deal of soul-searching while researching incredibly difficult and often incendiary subject matter. The supporting cast is filled with stalwarts like Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, etc. who all do great work. But overall, the tone of this film is a little hit-or-miss. Does it want to be personal, or does it want to be didactic? Is it offering up an impersonal history lesson or searing political commentary? Like the book, its scope is vast and ambitious, but unlike the book, it struggles to cohere into a fully incisive whole. 

DuVernay is a tremendous filmmaker, but I would have much preferred if she had adapted Caste in the style of her documentary, 13TH, that did such a terrific job of diving deep into the racist history of America’s prison system. This subject matter is meaty and complex and deserves many hours of cinematic justice, not just a two-hour movie that is trying to tug at your heartstrings about this one woman’s story while also educating you about entire swathes of history in three different cultures. The movie does call out all of the parts of the book that astonished me, and shows the eye-opening connections that led Wilkerson to develop the thesis for her book. But somehow, telling the narrative through her eyes instead of giving us the information in a more straightforward manner made the whole enterprise feel a bit too Hollywood. It’s still a good and unusual movie, but unfortunately, I was expecting something great.

April Movies Part 3: Monkey Man & Murder Mubarak

OK, did I choose to review both of these films because they are set in India and both have alliterative titles starting with M? Yes. But did I enjoy them both for very different reasons? Yup.

Monkey Man: Dev Patel directed this film, co-wrote it with Paul Angunawela, John Collee, and Jordan Peele, and then starred in it. If this is the direction this man wants to go with his career, I am wholly supportive, because this is one of the most fascinating and unique movies I've seen all year.

Patel stars as "Bobby" (not his real name, but that's what I'll use so I don't just have to keep referring to him as Monkey Man in the rest of this post). He is a poor young man in Mumbai who takes part in staged boxing fights, dressed in a monkey mask, to make some money. But we keep getting flashbacks to his past with his mother. It is clear she was very loving and doting, but then something horrific happened. As the movie progresses, we will piece together his traumatic story via many flashbacks and see how they all relate to his vengeful mission to destroy the people who ruined his life.

All of that sounds pretty standard, but where this film excels is in its execution. It does a brilliant job of capturing not only the claustrophobia of the slums, but also the exhilaration of navigating through those narrow alleys and byways and the thrumming pulse of the city where all these people magically manage to co-exist. The music choices are always excellent, with action sequences being set to rap, Bollywood, or occasionally, incredible instrumental music (renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain shows up in this film for a spectacular cameo that I can't stop raving about). The mythology of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, and the Ramayana runs throughout this film, setting up a righteous fight between good vs evil that very appropriately crescendos at Diwali. The cinematography by Sharone Meir is fluid and vibrant. Patel's direction is remarkably self-assured, with scenes that are shot with such an artistic and unusual point-of-view that you know this man storyboarded every frame to death. Moments of this film truly reminded me of The Green Knight, one of the best movies Patel ever starred in, as that too is a film that makes great use of mythology, imagery, and a lone man's quest.

Yes, this movie is a gory and violent action thriller, but I was so captivated by how it chose to depict that violence that I had a big smile on my face even during the bloodiest moments. There is also a significant plot involving a group of hijras (a transgender community unique to the Indian subcontinent) that is beautifully done. I am so used to Bollywood cinema always portraying hijras as villains, but here they get to save the day alongside our hero and also share some of the Hindu mythology that is so relevant to their history. This film has many remarkable themes that it weaves together effortlessly, speaking to the many minorities in India that don't always get a fair share, whether it be indigenous communities, LGBT folk, or women. Bobby's whole mission is driven by the violence done to his mother, and ultimately it is very satisfying to see him beat a man to death with a woman's shoe. I know an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but there is certainly something poetic about watching a misogynist get beaten to death with a glittery heel.

I don't know what it means that this movie has come out right before the Indian elections. To me, it's taking a pretty anti-Hindu nationalist stance, as all the villains in this piece are people who are trying to preserve the status quo and stomp out the rights of minorities. This is definitely the kind of movie Bollywood doesn't make, but Hollywood would never know to make it either. Instead, it takes someone like a Dev Patel, who can straddle both worlds, to come up with something that is so artful and thought-provoking but can also serve as his audition for James Bond. Because damn the man looks great in a tux while slaughtering a bunch of bad guys. 

Murder Mubarak:  Written by Gazal Dhaliwal, Tamojit Das, and Suprotim Sengupta (who adapted the novel Club You to Death by Anuja Chauhan), and directed by Homi Adjani, this movie is definitely the sweariest and sexiest Hindi movie I've seen. Which accounts for why it went straight to streaming on Netflix - this is not the kind of movie you release in theaters to the more conservative masses. Apart from that however, this is still a pretty typical Bollywood film, with some pretty typical performances. What that means is that it's light and frothy, occasionally a little gory, but overall, a pretty good time if you're looking to while away a few hours.

The action takes place at a swanky member's only club in Delhi where a Zumba instructor named Leo Mathews (Aashim Gulati) has been murdered. Though there's a fair amount of misdirection at the beginning of this film for you to even figure that out. Which sets the scene for the rest of this film and its complexities. There is a sprawling cast featuring people like Pankaj Tripathi, Sara Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Karisma Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, etc., etc. Everyone is playing a rather heightened character, and as ACP Bhavani Singh (Tripathi) proceeds to investigate this case, it becomes increasingly clear that every single person had a motive.

The mystery is rather over-complicated and it makes sense that this story started out a novel - I might have to read the book now. Nonetheless, I never got bored while watching this film, even if at times I did feel a bit perplexed. Every actor looked like they were having a blast portraying these varied characters, and at the end of the film, the Poirot-esque denouement was quite enjoyable, as we not only solved the main murder mystery, but about a dozen other mysteries besides. Don't go into this movie expecting a polished script, but certainly expect to be entertained by a huge cast and a twisty plot that'll keep you guessing till the very end. 

December Movies Part 5: Anyone but You, Migration, Ferrari, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan

Alright, it's time for a buffet of movie reviews to close out 2023. Do you want a raunchy romcom, an animated movie about some birds, a biopic about a man who made some cars, or a Bollywood drama about social media? Well, keep reading!

Anyone but You: I wasn't going to watch this movie. But then I discovered it was directed by Will Gluck (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ilana Wolpert), and my interest was piqued. He directed the phenomenal Easy A, so I figured maybe this movie wouldn't be terrible. And oh man. It was splendid! Starring Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell (two wildly attractive yet also thankfully personable actors) as Bea and Ben, this is a story of two people who had a disastrous one-night stand but now have to reunite at the wedding of Bea's sister and Ben's childhood best friend...in Australia. They hate each other, but they don't want to ruin the wedding weekend, so they decide they need to put up a front. Obviously, things don't go smoothly.

It's very tropey, but it's a classic, and the script has just the right amount of sizzle to make this a very R-rated comedy. Also, please note the couple's names: Bea and Ben. This entire movie is an ode to Beatrice and Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing, with references to the play sprinkled throughout the film as delightful nerdy Shakespearean Easter eggs. The tone is always light and breezy but also carries a great deal of heart, and the supporting cast are quite wonderful and unexpected and keep things moving along. If you've been pining for a classic romcom, your prayers have been answered. Get thee to this movie!

Migration: Do you want something more PG-rated? Then this might be the film for you. Written by Mike White (creator of The White Lotus, but don't expect any sexy shenanigans or murder here) and directed by Benjamin Renner, this is a charming movie about a family of mallard ducks that decide to migrate to Jamaica for the winter. They are led by patriarch, Mack (voiced brilliantly by Kumail Nanjiani), who is very anxious about leaving the comfortable pond they have always lived in. But he wants to please his wife, Pam (the equally brilliant Elizabeth Banks), who is longing for adventure, so they embark on this journey with their kids Dax and Gwen (Caspar Jennings and Traci Gazal) and Mack's grumpy uncle Dan (Danny DeVito). 

Unfortunately, they get a little lost, and instead of ending up in the Caribbean, they find themselves in the wilds of New York City. Here they befriend a pigeon (natch) named Chump, voice by Awkwafina, and many adventures ensue, some of which involve a very evil chef who wants to turn them all into dinner. It's a fun, diverting, entertaining movie, and the ideal treat if you're a New Yorker who loves seeing the city in animated form.

Ferrari: Written by Tory Kennedy Martin and directed by Michael Mann, I like to think of this movie as House of Gucci: The Sequel. Which is slightly unfair because it's not an awful movie. But because you can't even laugh at it, you're just left spending two rather dull hours watching non-Italian actors do their best Italian accents and deal with the dramatic fallout of mixing business with pleasure. 

Adam Driver plays the titular Enzo Ferrari, and we follow his strained relationship with his wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz), with whom he founded his company. It's 1957, they are having financial difficulties, their son Dino just died last year at the age of 24, and oh, Enzo has been having an affair since World War II with another woman, Lina (Shailene Woodley), with whom he has a son. So you know, typical Italian stuff. On top of this, we have lots of car racing, lots of drama with Ferrari's drivers, and the high stakes of the upcoming Mille Miglia race throughout Italy. This is a film about a man who is desperately trying to maintain control as every aspect of his life is evading that control, and I don't know. I didn't find it particularly compelling, I thought the actors were fine but only serviceable, and overall, it left me cold. But maybe if you're a huge fan of Ferrari and his legacy, this is exactly what you've been looking for? Your mileage may vary. Pun intended.

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan: Directed by Arjun Varain Singh (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Yash Sahai and my girls Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti), this is a vibey and solid Bollywood Netflix movie about the trials and tribulations of our modern age and everyone's smartphone addiction. We follow a trio of friends from boarding school: Imaad (Siddhanth Chaturvedi), who is a stand-up comedian and is a commitment-phobe who is constantly going on Tinder dates with women he will never meet a second time; Ahana (Ananya Pandey), who thought she was in a solid relationship with her boyfriend of two years, but is now floundering after he has unexpectedly asked her for a break; and Neil (Adarsh Gourav), a personal trainer who still lives at home with his parents but is desperate to build a business, get some celebrity clients, make a lot of money and live his best life. 

These are three well-rounded characters and as the film progresses, each gets a robust storyline that centers on how their constant reliance on their phones and the need to compare themselves to what they see on their Instagram feeds is fueling immense amounts of loneliness and insecurity. There's nothing revelatory in this movie, but it is well-told and hits very close to home, particularly when assessing the horrors of the modern dating landscape. This movie can get intense at times, but overall, you can let it wash over you and bask in its moody Mumbai vibe. In that way, it's just like doomscrolling through your phone.

December Movies Part 2: The Archies, Family Switch, Mr. Monk's Last Case

It's cold, it's rainy, why bother going out? Stay indoors and check out some streaming movies! Whether you're looking for some Christmas, Bollywood, or murder comedy, I've got something for everyone.

The Archies: All I knew about this film was that it was directed by Zoya Akhtar and was based on Archie comics. Zoya is my favorite Indian director and I devoured Archie comics as a kid so this film was supposed to be a slam dunk, right? Unfortunately, I did not realize that a bunch of nepo babies had been cast in the lead roles: Archie is played by Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson, Agastya Nanda, Veronica is Shahrkuh Khan's daughter, Suhana, and Betty is Sridevi’s daughter, Khushi Kapoor, who, to be fair, is the only one I actually liked in the film). Rounding out the cast we have Mihir Ahuja, Vedang Raina, and Aditi "Dot" Saigal as Jughead, Reggie, and Ethel. But the supporting cast is largely superfluous because of course the main story is about the love triangle and Archie messing around with Betty and Veronica. Dude would have really loved dating in 2023 and all the ethical non-monogamy. 

Interestingly, the movie is set in the 1960s, in an Anglo-Indian community in India called Riverdale that was established by a British general who loved the country and decided to stay after Independence instead of going back to London. The production design and costumes are gorgeous and this is a wonderful movie to look at. There is also a song almost every minute, which is excessive even by Bollywood standards, but that soundtrack is ridiculously infectious and my fiancé still keeps humming, “Archie, Archie, everything is politics!” weeks after we finished watching the film. But the script is rather basic and the acting performances from these newbies do nothing to elevate the material. This movie is certainly a charming way to while away an afternoon, but don’t expect anything revelatory.

Family Switch: Written by Victoria Strouse and Adam Szytkiel, and directed by McG, this was my first Christmas movie of the year. Ed Helms and Jennifer Garner star as Bill and Jess, two loving parents who are trying to manage their angsty teenage kids, CC and Wyatt (Emma Myers and Brady Noon), along with their new baby and dog. When the family go to an observatory to take a holiday photo, they all get into a fight, with the son accusing his father of knowing nothing about his interests, the mother and daughter bickering about how neither one understands the other, etc. You know, standard family drama. But, of course, when they wake up the next morning, they discover they have all switched bodies - the father is now in the son’s body and vice versa, and ditto for mother and daughter. And then shenanigans ensue.

We’ve all seen many movies like this. You’ll probably be able to predict every beat from start to finish. But it’s a Christmas movie and we don’t watch those for surprises and unpredictability! We watch them for silliness and jollity! This movie is dumb and will not be entering my list of movies I rewatch every year. But did I regret watching it this year? Not for a single instant. Ho ho ho!

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: I have not seen an episode of Monk or thought about this show for more than a decade. But back when it was airing on USA, my parents and I would sit down and religiously watch it every Friday night (yeah, I was a wild and crazy youth). So, imagine my surprise when I got an email from Peacock telling me that they were now streaming a Monk movie about what happens when Adrian Monk (the always wonderful Tony Shalhoub) has to help his stepdaughter whose fiancé dies in a bungee jumping accident on the day before her wedding. Could it be - gasp - murder?!

Obviously, it IS murder and for 90 minutes we get a diverting mystery involving a Bezos-esque corrupt tech billionaire and some familiar faces from the old show. This is all taking place post-pandemic so there are some fun jokes about how everyone is now sanitizing their hands and behaving like Monk, but as you can imagine, the pandemic was an absolute disaster for his mental health. In fact, there’s a rather dark thread throughout this film about Monk’s state of mind and it definitely didn’t jibe with the comic tone of the rest of the proceedings. But ultimately, this was a good nostalgia watch - I don’t think it will mean anything to people who never watched the show, though the mystery was quite fun to follow, but if you did regularly watch Monk in the olden days, this might scratch an itch you never even knew you had.

Bollywood Blast: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

I had a rotten few days and desperately needed a pick-me-up so I took a half day from work (thanks boss!) and headed to the theater to watch Karan Johar's latest Bollywood confection. And my God, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. I found myself laughing, tearing up, and smiling so hard that my dimples could rival Alia Bhatt's (a girl can dream). 

Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani opens up with a Bollywood number that was cast with every hot young actor who showed up to do the latest season of Koffee with Karan. And while the women are hot, you gotta love Johar for ensuring he objectifies his male lead just as much as the women. For the next two and a half hours, be prepared to gaze on the magnificent form of Ranveer Singh in varying states of undress. But of course, we also have the gorgeous Alia Bhatt swanning around in the most delectable Manish Malhotra chiffon saris that evoke all the romance of old Bollywood. And ultimately, that is what this movie is all about. It's a loving ode to the classics, with a very contemporary twist.

Ranveer and Alia play the titular Rocky and Rani, who cross paths because their grandparents might have mysteriously known each other. Dharmendra plays Rocky's grandfather, who is suffering from memory loss but keeps muttering the name, Jamini. Turns out that's the name of Rani's grandmother, played by none other than Shabana Azmi. Rocky and Rani orchestrate a meet-up and...let's just say you might cry a little. And also whoop with delight.

Of course, in the process, Rocky and Rani start up a romance. Rani is an erudite host of a TV news show and has cultured Bengali parents (played by the glorious Tota Roy Chowdhury, whose character has an incredible arc in the course of this film, and the equally glorious Churni Ganguly). Rocky is a jovial Punjabi boy who is the heir to his family's laddoo empire that was founded by his grandmother, played by Jaya Bachchan. Let's just say that Bachchan goes full-on Disney villain in this role - Maleficent couldn't hold a candle to her. She rules her family with an iron fist, upholding patriarchal values in that gloriously sickening way that only an Indian mother-in-law can, and her coddled son is an abject asshole who treats his wife and daughter poorly and barely tolerates Rocky's shenanigans. But these families are both about to be shaken up when Rocky and Rani decide that they need to spend time living with each other's family to see how they would adjust to married life. 

Yeah, it's a Bollywood movie, it's not meant to make much sense, OK? But this is a typically contrived plot that then proceeds to deliver in spades. Get prepared for a complete takedown of toxic masculinity (you will find yourself cheering at a Kathak dance), and general Indian male haplessness. Rocky has a lot to learn when he lives with Rani's family, including how to make his own coffee, but they also have a lot to learn from him, including how to give good hugs. Meanwhile Rani spends her time inciting a revolution against the patriarchy. I know I can't spend the rest of this year constantly comparing movies to Barbie, but this really might be Bollywood's answer to the Barbie movie and I am here for it.

This movie has everything. Insane production design, beautiful costumes, an absolutely stellar cast (honestly the supporting cast almost eclipse the leads). The script by Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan, and Sumit Roy is perfectly bonkers, and brilliant, and so full of heart. The soundtrack is very Pritam, i.e. it just remixes a bunch of classics, but even that is done in a clever way that really dug down into my psyche as someone who grew up with this music. The "What Jhumka?" song is a great example of something that would confuse any non-Indian person, but every Indian person in the theater was 100% singing along with the wordless tune in the chorus. And the random interludes of Mere Bhole Bhalam every time Namit Das popped up on screen made me giggle. I loved the Bengali versus Punjabi stereotypes, Ranveer's wild, colorful outfits, and the world's most perfectly deployed Emraan Hashmi joke. Again, is this movie really going to translate if you don't already have a robust history with Bollywood? I don't know. There are a lot of inside jokes and references to classic and modern cinema. But for someone like me, who has always found such solace in the movies, this ridiculous film was the perfect distillation of my Bollywood education to date. By the end, it turned into Shloka Aur Bollywood Kii Prem Kahaani.

Delicious Documentaries: The Romantics & Cunk on Earth

I've been having a rough few weeks but Netflix really came through with two short "documentary" series that made me smile. If you're in the need of some uplift, perhaps one of these shows is exactly what you need in your life.

The Romantics: This series is a Hindi movie extravaganza. Purportedly the story of Yash Chopra, the celebrated director who began making movies in the 1950s and had an extraordinary career that spanned decades and essentially defined every era of Indian filmmaking, the series features interviews with a veritable who's who of Indian actors, directors, and the behind-the-scenes folks who were involved in making these movies. And I say "purportedly," because Yash Chopra's son is Aditya Chopra, a man who also became a director and is renowned for the movies he made in the 90s and 2000s that are still an essential part of my childhood and adolescence. So really, this is a documentary about a dynasty, how it came to be, and its dreams for the future. 

I must confess, I never paid much attention to producers and directors of Hindi movies when I was growing up - all I cared about were the actors. So it came as quite a surprise to me as I watched this documentary unfold to learn how much Yash and Aditya Chopra’s movies are some of my (or my parents') favorite films of all-time. And not just as directors but through their film studio, Yash Raj Films. The series pays homage to how this studio came to be and the mentorship that is involved where Aditya is trying to mold new producers, get them to take on the mantle of this immense legacy, and have a stake in their own careers.

This series is created by Smriti Mundhra, the woman behind Indian Matchmaking, who really knows how to craft a compelling narrative for television along with her co-writer Michael Vollmann. This series is only four episodes long, but those first three episodes end with such dramatic cliffhangers that you’ll be smashing that “Play Next Episode” button. And the stellar collection of interviewees offer up varied and amusing anecdotes about the Chopra legacy. I loved that they go in-depth into Uday Chopra’s career - he is Aditya’s brother, and he tried to become an actor, but even with that family legacy behind him, it simply didn’t take. This is a series filled with “nepo babies,” i.e. Indian actors who come from a long line of famous filmmakers and stars. But it’s refreshing to see that audiences can still force a kind of meritocracy onto the screen.

There are also fun tales of actors like Bhumi Phednekar and Ranveer Singh, who had no film connections but made it into the studio via the charismatic casting director, Shanoo Sharma, who is a real hoot. But when we come back to that central father-son dynamic, the story that I find most charming is about a question of costume design. When Aditya Chopra was directing his first film, he wanted an actress to wear a silk sari. His father, who was on set and was always very hands-on about every element of his films, was aghast, insistent that a chiffon sari was the only acceptable material because it would billow in the wind and be much more cinematic. Through this one anecdote, this series brilliantly conveys how these two men approached filmmaking in entirely different ways. Chiffon to silk saris was all it took to herald a new era in cinema.

Cunk on Earth: Oh where to begin? It almost seems foolish to try and describe this show to you, so why don’t you just log on to Netflix and binge the five half-hour episodes? No? You need more? Sigh, fine.

Diane Morgan stars as Philomena Cunk, an earnest British documentarian who is attempting to host a documentary about human civilization from its ancient beginnings to now. But, this woman is an absolute idiot, to put it mildly. This show is a brilliant satire, highlighting what serious BBC documentaries would be like if David Attenborough had done no research, constantly mispronounced things, had various startling opinions, didn’t believe in facts, and said disdainful things to his interviewees. 

Over the course of the series, Cunk interviews many academics on a host of topics, and my favorite part is watching these people either look very shocked or desperately try not to burst out laughing. The best might be a professor of philosophy who, true to form for a philosopher, always gives due weight to Cunk's questions and interprets them in a favorable way that suggests she actually knows what she’s talking about. Much to her own surprise. 

This might be the most joke-dense show I have ever watched. Created by the brilliant Charlie Brooker, every single line of dialogue made me burst out laughing, with jokes that run the gamut from silly puns to visual sight gags. There are silly descriptions like, “Julius Caesar, the most famous Roman, until Polanski” or maps that are meant to show the territory of the invading Mongol Horde that are simply divided into sections that say Genghis and Genghisn’t. And by the end of five episodes, you will be very familiar with a certain piece of Belgian dance music. Oh what a splendidly silly, stupid, and spectacular show!

"B" Movies: Barbarian, Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva, Breaking

Yes, I have now watched so many films that I'm starting to categorize them alphabetically. What follows is some horror, Bollywood, and drama, all catering to a variety of tastes and demographics. Wade on in to see if you find something you like. 

Barbarian: I had zero interest in watching this movie - I saw the trailer in front of a lot of movies all summer long and it seemed like a straight-up horror movie about strangers who get terrorized by something lurking in the basement of their Airbnb. But then the reviews said this movie had other elements that weren't captured by the trailer. Most crucially...it was funny. Well then. You know that the only horror I'm into is funny horror, so I headed out to see what all the fuss was about.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, this is a film that is told in three acts, and while the smash cuts are abrupt and give you a bit of whiplash, all three parts coalesce to a wonderful whole about how white men are the scourge of this earth. Or at least, that's my feminist interpretation. The movie opens with Tess (Georgina Campbell) and Keith (Bill Skarsgard) who are strangers sharing an Airbnb after a booking mishap. When Tess discovers a creepy hidden room in the basement, she naturally wants to run far away. Keith, as a typical white man, thinks she is being hysterical and goes down to investigate. Which is when things go very wrong. I won't provide further details about what happens after that, but let me just say it involves more white men doing dumb/evil things, and it all escalates in fine fashion. 

There are some laugh-out-loud moments in the second act of this film involving an unexpected actor. And the third act is very gory and dramatic, but all lends itself to this film's central premise - when all is said and done, who is truly the Barbarian in this movie? 

Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva (God that's a lot of punctuation): Again, I had zero interest in watching this movie, Bollywood's attempt to create an "Astraverse," which is like a Marvel Cinematic Universe but based on a ramshackle ode to Hindu mythology. However, my boyfriend dragged me to the theatre and what followed was a three-hour extravaganza that was pretty dumb, but made me laugh a lot at how dumb it was, so that was a win.

My main takeaway is that Bollywood has finally learned how to do special effects. I couldn't fault the CGI in this film; it was all very well done and I didn't cringe at any of the effects-laden action scenes. But oh boy did I cringe at the dialogue. The central romance between Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor) and Isha (Alia Bhatt) involves barely any communication beyond randomly saying "I love you" to each other at stark intervals, and the rest of the movie is just exposition upon exposition to explain the convoluted jimjams and McGuffins that make up this universe. There's so much world-building required here, and writer-director Ayan Mukerji is very into Tell, not Show. 

So yeah. Expect this movie to be dumb. But you can revel in its dumbness and have a great time. There's not enough music and dancing, so if that's your main draw for a Bollywood movie, you will be disappointed, but if you just want Amitabh Bachchan fighting mythological warriors with a flaming sword, you might be sated.

Breaking: Finally, a movie that I did want to see. And it certainly did not disappoint. Deftly directed by Abi Damaris Corbin, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kwame Kwei-Armah, this film is based on the true story of Brian Brown-Easley, a Marine Corps veteran who walked into a bank and took two managers hostage in order to gain attention about how unfairly he is being treated by the Veterans Administration.

John Boyega plays Brian, while Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva are Estel and Rosa, the two bank managers trying to stay calm while dealing with this man who is strangely polite and considerate but also claims to have a bomb in his bag that will blow the bank up. And I was surprised and moved to realize that this movie also stars Michael K. Williams in his final film role as Eli Bernard, the negotiator tasked with talking to Brian and ensuring that this situation doesn't continue to escalate. Connie Britton also plays a pivotal role as Lisa Larson, a local TV news producer who Brian contacts to get some publicity. As she calmly talks to him to get the whole story, she is definitely channeling Tammy Taylor from Friday Night Lights.

This is a sad but also enraging story that picks at many of the scabs of American society - the lack of an adequate safety net, the shoddy way we treat our veterans, how easy it is to slide into financial ruin, and of course, the extreme danger of being a Black man in America. Throughout the film, Brian knows he's on thin ice because he is a Black man committing a crime, and the two bank managers, who are both women of color, whilst terrified, also have such empathy for his plight. But as much as these characters are trying to help each other, the system is going to get in the way. It's a taut, moving film, with a tour de force central performance from Boyega. It's not a feel-good watch, but it certainly feels like a necessary one.

August Movie Round-Up: Bullet Train, Emily the Criminal, Laal Singh Chaddha

Summer has delivered a plethora of varied movies as is its wont, so if you’re looking for some action, thrills, or Bollywood goodness, read on for some quick recommendations of what to check out at your local theater.

Bullet Train: Written by Zac Olkewicz and directed by David Leitch, based on a novel by Kotato Isaka, this movie delivers everything you would expect from the trailer. It’s a high-octane action comedy with a Japanese manga sensibility, and everything devolves into a lot of violence and gore. There are several rival killers who have descended upon this one bullet train traveling to Kyoto, and everyone is on different overlapping missions that mean that things get very complicated very fast. 

At the center of it is "Ladybug" (played by a wonderfully hapless Brad Pitt) who is returning to work after a hiatus and was promised this would be an easy job where all he has to do is retrieve a briefcase, nothing else. Welp, life is never that easy, and that briefcase leads to myriad complications where the man simply cannot seem to get off this train.

This is your typical summer popcorn movie. It’s loud and brash, it boasts a great cast, the story is compelling enough to keep things moving ahead, and you won’t get too bored. Will you remember anything after you’re done? No. But are there enough twists and turns and does it look quite pretty for the two hours that you’re strapped in for the ride? You bet.

Emily the Criminal: Written and directed by John Patton Ford and starring Aubrey Plaza (who also produced the film), this is a taut thriller about what it means to be poor in America and how easy it is to fall through the cracks. Emily is a young woman who amassed a mountain of student debt and then couldn’t even finish college because she had to take care off a sick relative. She loves art, but absolutely cannot earn a paycheck that way so has to struggle at a minimum-wage job with a catering company to try and make ends meet. She has a black mark on her record because she was arrested when she was younger, which means that she now fails every background check when she applies for corporate gigs so is stuck in this vortex of poverty that seems absolutely inescapable. Until a colleague gives her a mysterious number and tells her to text it if she wants to make $200 for an hour’s worth of lightly illegal activity. 

What follows is another vortex, but this one spirals into a world of criminality and credit card fraud where Emily can finally spy an opportunity to dig herself out of her current financial situation. Of course, it starts out simple and then turns into an absolute nightmare, and it is a thrill to watch how things play out over 93 minutes. 

Aubrey Plaza is wonderful in this role, filled with a quiet rage and desperation that erupts in epic ways over the course of the movie, while Theo Rossi is great as the Lebanese man who takes her under his wing and has his own immigrant hopes and dreams of this criminal enterprise. It’s a sad movie but a good one, and given the recent news about student debt relief, serves as a worthy reminder of the many ways America’s lack of a social safety net can drive ordinary people to make extraordinarily poor decisions that will haunt them for a lifetime. There's also some epic social commentary about how the lack of debt imbues people with so much privilege that they completely fail to recognize (unpaid internships anyone?). It's a clever, biting film, and well worth a watch the next time you want to rail against capitalism. Which, for me, is all the time.

Laal Singh Chaddha: We all know that I wouldn’t miss Aamir Khan’s latest movie right? This is a remake of Forrest Gump (this is the rare instance where Bollywood actually went through the proper channels and got the rights to a Hollywood movie) so what follows is a three-hour tour of recent Indian history and geography, with two great central performances from Aamir as Laal and Kareena Kapoor Khan, as his best friend (and then maybe something more?), Rupa.

Written by Atul Kulkarni and directed by Advait Chandan, this film takes everything that was memorable about the original and then imbues it with uniquely Indian elements that make it feel fresh and new. Like the original, it is essentially a series of vignettes strung together, but I appreciated the growth of the main characters, particularly the rather harrowing journey that Rupa goes on as a girl who comes from an abusive household and then continues that cycle as an adult woman in the way that so many women unfortunately do. 

I also greatly appreciated the fact that our hero was a Sikh man, as that’s a relative rarity in most Hindi movies. Sikhism plays a significant role in terms of various religious conflicts Laal is subject to as he grows up, but the most poignant moment of the film was when he decides to start wearing a turban again as an older man. There is a beautiful scene set to Ik Omkar where we just watch Laal lovingly and reverently tie his turban around his head and it was a powerful moment that made me tear up and appreciate how this movie took its time about everything. People often complain that Bollywood movies are too long, and this film certainly could have used some more judicious editing. But when I watched that one scene? I was perfectly happy to not change a thing. 

Bollywood Feminism: Masaba Masaba & Darlings

I don't know what's going on over at Netflix India but they have been producing some incredible content featuring Indian women taking control of their lives and not letting men mess them about. One is a dark comedy about domestic violence, while the other is a breezy but heartfelt romp about a fashion designer and her actress mother. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Masaba Masaba: This show is so wonderfully peculiar because it is about the very real fashion designer, Masaba Gupta, and her actress mother, Neena Gupta. Both of whom are playing fictionalized versions of themselves. I find myself constantly perplexed as to whether it is all just a magnificent brand and marketing ploy (Season 2 is literally about Masaba's efforts to increase brand awareness), but this show is so insanely entertaining and colorful and magical that after a while, who cares? Just drink the Kool-Aid and enjoy everything that these women have to say about being women in the world of Mumbai fashion and film. 

Directed by Sonam Nair, this show is a refreshing and bracing look at modern Indian women who are trying to make a name for themselves without the help of any men. Yes, there are lots of messy romantic entanglements, and much soul-searching about how they can "have it all," but ultimately, this is a story where women are the driving force behind every decision and their happiness comes first. Masaba and Neena are clearly having a tremendous amount of fun playing messy versions of themselves (though who knows, maybe this fictionalized Netflix version is neater than the real thing!) and there's a lot of swearing and sleeping around, and a general fearlessness that we rarely get to see from women in Bollywood. 

However, let's not kid ourselves. These two women are extremely unconventional, and they have a lot of social advantages that give them a leg up already to act in this way. But they do a good job of examining all their privileges and showcasing their hard work and efforts to still grapple with big life goals. It's an incredibly funny but also sweet and endearing show, and it has a lot to say about women sticking together and supporting each other through the good times and bad. Plus, let's be real, this show really is a great ad for Masaba's designs - you will immediately want to go shopping once you've watched it.

Darlings: This movie stars Alia Bhatt as Badru, a woman who is being physically and verbally abused by her husband, Hamza (Vijay Varma). Theirs was a love marriage, but the man is a violent alcoholic, and Badru is caught up in a vicious cycle, where Hamza beats her for some inconsequential reason, then apologizes and professes his love and that he'll never do it again, she is desperate to believe that he will change and forgives him, and then he beats her again. Her mother, Shamshu (played by the incomparable Shefali Shah), keeps telling Badru to leave Hamza and come back home, warning her that he will never change. And then eventually, things escalate to a point that the two women have to join forces against Hamza and end the cycle.

I know it all sounds terribly grim, and yes, it can be hard to watch at times. But the direction by Jasmeet K. Reen, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Parveez Sheikh, offers a masterclass in how to play with tone. This is the darkest of dark comedies and you will still find yourself chuckling as you watch how things play out. Also, I do want to shout out that this movie features a twist towards the very end that I absolutely did NOT see coming, and it might be one of the most delightful surprises I've experienced in a Bollywood movie. So please watch this film just so we can squee about it together. 

Frankly, the only thing I needed to know about this movie in order to press Play was that it starred Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah. This is Alia's first foray into producing a film, and if this is the kind of feminist cinema she is interested in, both in front of and behind the camera, I'm very excited for this next chapter in her Bollywood story. This script does a beautiful job of highlighting the difficulties that women face from society at large when they are suffering from abuse and the extreme steps that are often required to escape. The movie can't provide a true solution to the problem, but it shines a much-needed and welcome spotlight on the issue in a way that I hope will capture a broad audience and encourage more women to speak out if they need help. Also, unfortunately, this film could apply to women in any country on the planet; this is a tale as old as time, and you don't need to be a Bollywood fan to find it thoroughly relevant.

Marvel Magic: Thor: Love and Thunder & Ms. Marvel

Do you need a superhero fix for the summer? Never fear, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has you covered.  Whether you need a quick two-hour giggle fest, or a longer six-episode spectacle of a TV show where you will learn more about Pakistani-Americans than you knew before, you’re gonna be entertained for a good long while.

Thor: Love and Thunder: Directed and co-written by Taika Waititi, who also has a role as Thor's sidekick, Korg, this is a supremely silly film. The thing I love about Marvel versus DC is that they always lean into the comedy and don’t take themselves too seriously. But this movie leans all the way into that comedy in a way that may be off-putting to some people. I, of course, ate it all up with a big ol’ spoon. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the epitome of “pretty but dumb,” this lunkhead of a Nordic god who very accidentally became a good guy and can save people but has a lot of trouble with basic introspection and empathy. So this movie consists of watching him mostly whale on people and be dumb about his feelings until the very end.

The supporting cast are great, with Tessa Thompson getting to take on a meatier role as King Valkyrie and leaning into the queerness of that character with casual aplomb. She gets to kick some ass as well as knock some sense into Thor, particularly when Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster/the Mighty Thor. Yup, she got an upgrade and has now become a superhero too. Much hijinks ensue and it’s great to see this alpha male flanked by two powerful women in fight scenes against Christian Bale’s villain, Gorr, who looks appropriately menacing (kudos to the makeup team). 

This movie is very random, but it’s never dull. It feels a bit like you’re watching a sketch show where actors are trying out various bits to see what sticks. There are cameos galore, and you have to keep your eyes glued to the screen for fear of missing out on any sight gags at any given moment. It looks gorgeous and has a banging soundtrack, all of which is very reminiscent of Thor: Ragnarok. Don’t expect high art, but if you expect a competent Marvel movie brimming with dumb jokes, you won’t be disappointed. 

Ms. Marvel: This may be my favorite Marvel TV series to date. Ordinarily I find the TV shows to be steeped in comic book lore and they lose me halfway through, but this show grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. Probably because the emphasis is much more on the cultural and familial background of the character rather than her superhero powers. And since she’s a South Asian woman, I was all in.

Iman Vellani plays Kamala Khan (who will eventually adopt the name Ms. Marvel) and she is wonderful. She is this nerdy kid who idolizes Captain Marvel, and together with her friends Bruno (Matt Lintz) and Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher), she’s just an ordinary kid making her way through high school in Jersey City. Until she puts on a bangle that her grandmother sent her from Pakistan that gives her superpowers. Naturally, chaos unfolds. Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur play her wonderful parents, with Saagar Shaikh as her older brother, Aamir, and the joy of this show is less about the action sequences or watching Kamala figure out how to use her powers, and more about her relationship with her family, her mosque, and her identity as a brown woman in America.

All my favorite lines on this show relate to various Muslim characters sarcastically taking down law enforcement. The show's creator is Bisha K. Ali, a British-Pakistani comedian and writer, and every episode was either written or directed by someone of Arab or South Asian descent so they always stay true to this world and the lived experience of these characters. This show has an incredible soundtrack and every episode ends with a Pakistani or Indian jam that I needed to listen to on a loop right away. I felt like I was watching my own family on screen, with the same quirks and mannerisms so common to all South Asian households, and I was thrilled that the show took a whole deep dive into Partition. (Those episodes were directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist who has won Oscars for her documentaries about gender inequality - what a perfect choice for this show and these episodes in particular.) The show reminded me a lot of Ramy, except I finally got the perspective of a Muslim woman, and it was fantastic. At six episodes, the show is a quick treat that doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it certainly whetted my appetite for more Marvel adventures.