Palmer struggles against two sets of clichés - of its story and of its location. In the trailer review of Palmer, that Abha Dhyani wrote for this site, the possibility of this being refreshing because of a gender-fluid character. And to an extent, it is. Palmer's biggest virtue is in its treatment of the little boy who is too effeminate for the burly South that he is living in to accept. His situation is presented with reasonable respect without making him a laughing stock fo

A powerful, stylish takedown of toxic masculinity. Set to throbbing all-women, pop soundtrack, Promising Young Woman is a powerful and surprisingly funny indictment of masculinity. But a close look at the film shows that there is much more going on here. Debutant Emerald Fennell's love of films comes through her exploration of the different genres she uses to tell her story. The first few scenes announce this smartly. The opening image is of a bunch of male waists gyrating to

A rare courtroom drama that puts the audience into the position of a jury. What do you think when you think of courtroom dramas? Blazing arguments in the courtroom aside, by the time the proceedings begin the audience is comfortably aligned with the story's viewpoint, its the perception of right and wrong. Or, they are in dark about what took place only to discover "what happened" along with the main players. Otto Preminger's film subverted these tropes and placing the audien

The trailer indicates a film confusedly trying to mine the Pandemic. It was only a matter of time when Hollywood began peddling its own versions of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The lockdowns with empty roads and people confined to their homes did make us feel like we were living inside a horror film anyway, so why not? It is also not surprising that one of the first miners of what could become a small genre unto itself, is Michael Bay & Co. Ever a purveyor of all bad things

"Freaky Friday" gets a freaky horror twist! Yesterday, I wrote about Possessor, a sci-fi horror about a woman who can be implanted into another's body and then use it to commit assassinations. Today, I am writing about another body-swapping horror film! But if the Possessor trailer scared you, relax, the tone is much lighter this time. Remember 'Freaky Friday'? A mother and her teenage daughter's souls get swapped into each other's bodies for one weird Friday? Now, Christophe

Looks like 2020's first neon-soaked, ultra-violent, mind-bender is here. The first thing that got us excited about Posssessor is that is directed by David Cronenberg's son. If you think we are unfairly projecting father's talent on to the son, you still have to watch Brandon Cronenberg's debut where a corporate sells fans celebrity illnesses to their crazy fans. While not completely successful, it showed great promise and yes, Brandon has learned a trick or two from the maste

Ben Wheatly's film has a lot to live up to. Daphne du Maurnier's classic Gothic novel was immortalized on film by Alfred Hitchcock in the film of the same name. Winning several Oscars and cementing Hitchcock's repuatation, it was also the film which paved his way to Hollywood - leading to "The American Years", as they are called. No one has dared touch the story since then until now. (Though there are some made-for-tv iterations and a fun 1964 Bollywood remake called Kohra).

Megan Fox's attempt for an image change looks destined to meet the same fate as G.I.Jane.

The trailer seeks to subvert our expectations from British underdog dramas. If there is one kind of comedy-drama that the British cinema does much better than Hollywood is the underdog story. From The Longest Yard to The Full Monty to Pride through Eddie The Eagle, British cinema is peppered with fine examples of the-feel-good stories about losers who make it big. The trailer for Misbehaviour seeks to play on your expectations of this genre. It starts with Phyllis Logan (Secr

Spectacle without fun. Hollywood has always enjoyed and entertained its audiences by bringing humanity to the brink of destruction. Lately, most blockbusters have started stressing how it would be best for the planet if everyone on it dies and let nature take its own course. One of the key moments of this trend for me was Captain America in Avengers; Endgame passing casual comments about how silent and quaint the world sounds after Thanos had done away with the majority of th

“Home Alone on steroids”. You can almost hear the elevator pitch for this film. And no doubt, the producers will have a good reason to get excited. Becky (Lulu Wilson) is disturbed. She is dealing with her mother’s death. Her father Jeff (Joel McHale) is marrying Kayla (Amanda Brugel), a woman she still has to warm up to, and she is being forced to spend a weekend with them along with her would-be mother’s little son. All this is fueling her teenage angst factor all the way u