S.K. ChishtyDec 22, 20212 min2021's Best in Review: Azor A film of menacing subtlety. "We are at a purification phase... parasites must be eradicated" Private banker Ivan De Wiel (Fabrizio...
S.K. ChishtyDec 6, 20212 minFilm Review: Demonic (2021)Blomkamp's newfound 'neatness' is even worse than his messiness. Listless and dull, Demonic is a purported change of pace for the...
S.K. ChishtyDec 6, 20213 minFilm Review: Old (2021)Interesting, but oddly uninvolving. During a tropical vacation, a family discovers themselves trapped on an 'exclusive' island where time...
S.K. ChishtySep 13, 20213 minMalignant (2021)Visually uninspired wanna-be Giallo. Malignant is being touted by some as the film James Wan would have made much earlier in his career...
S.K. ChishtyJun 25, 20213 minBrawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)Zahler's film wears its blood-splattered grindhouse influences on its sleeves. Broken teeth, smashed-up faces, shattered limbs, and...
S.K. ChishtyJun 18, 20212 minPervyy uchitel (The First Teacher, 1965)Konchalovskiy's film admirably prefers nuance over propaganda. In 1924, a former Red Army soldier is sent to the remote village of...
S.K. ChishtyJun 11, 20212 minInfiniteFuqua goes for 'The Matrix' but delivers 'Jupiter Ascending'. Infinite's casually tossed flimsy opening exposition tells us that the...
S.K. ChishtyMay 31, 20213 minCruella (2021)Entertaining, yes. But also a cop-out. Agreed that Cruella DeVil is not exactly one of the great villains of children's fiction. But the...
S.K. ChishtyMay 31, 20213 minSeance (2021)Atmospheric and involving, yet oddly unsatisfying. After a prank that involves reconjuring the ghost of a girl who had killed herself on...
S.K. ChishtyMay 16, 20215 minThe Woman in the Window (2021)Joe Wright's foray into the noirish world is thin, unsatisfying, and very Netflix. Plot: An agoraphobic woman Anna Fox (Amy Adams)...
S.K. ChishtyMay 13, 20212 minOxygene (French, 2021)Mostly, a softening of Aja's chops as a genre director. Currently, for Indians, the word oxygen is loaded with heartbreak and anger. As I...
S.K. ChishtyMay 13, 20212 minBeast from Haunted Cave (1959)Thankfully, the film's economy is not confined to its budget. Released as a double-bill along with Roger Corman's The Wasp Woman, Beast...
S.K. ChishtyMay 13, 20213 minThe Father (2021) The film effectively plumbs down the depth of a mind losing its grip on reality. French playwright and novelist Florian Zeller makes his...
S.K. ChishtyMay 12, 20211 minFilm Review: Witness to Murder (1954)The unrealized subtext is more powerful than the film. Just like My Name is Julia Ross squanders its potential for commenting on class...
S.K. ChishtyMay 12, 20212 minFilm Reviews: My Name is Julia Ross (1945)An underseen & intriguing attempt at a Gothic thriller misses its mark. A down-on-her-luck Julia Ross (Nina Foch) recovering from an...
S.K. ChishtyApr 3, 20213 minFilm Review: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971)A heady mix of trashy exploitation and undeniable artistry. Body horror fans expecting any gross out transformation scenes are bound to...
S.K. ChishtyApr 1, 20211 minMini-Review: Green Dolphin Street (1947)Handsome soap-opera! Two sisters, Marriane and Marguirette (Lana Turner and Donna Reed, respectively) compete for the attention of the...
S.K. ChishtyApr 1, 20213 minFilm Review: Ucho (The Ear) (1970)Chilling satire of state's invasion into the personal. In the late '60s, Czechoslovakia enjoyed a brief period of Liberalisation, known...
S.K. ChishtyFeb 28, 20214 minFilm Review: Shin Godzilla (2016)The Japanese still know how to do this right. Shin Godzilla is Toho Studio's 30th incarnation of Godzilla, making it the longest-running...
S.K. ChishtyFeb 28, 20213 minFilm Review: Kajillionaire (2020)Miranda July's movement towards more expansive pastures parallel her protagonist's. It is wonderfully bracing to see women directors...
S.K. ChishtyJan 30, 20212 minFilm Review: Palmer (2021)Palmer struggles against two sets of clichés - of its story and of its location. In the trailer review of Palmer, that Abha Dhyani wrote...
S.K. ChishtyJan 27, 20212 minFilm Review: Kris (Crisis, 1946)The great Ingmar Bergman's debut is an uninteresting melodrama. Part of Early Bergman, #1 of Criterion Collection's Eclipse Series, a...
S.K. ChishtyJan 26, 20214 minFilm Review: PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020)A powerful, stylish takedown of toxic masculinity. Set to throbbing all-women, pop soundtrack, Promising Young Woman is a powerful and...
S.K. ChishtyDec 30, 20203 minFilm Review: Anatomy of a Murder (1959)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...
S.K. ChishtyDec 5, 20204 minFilm Review: The Devils (1971)Ken Russell's one-of-a-kind attack on conformity still has the power to shock. In "De Palma", a documentary on Brian DePalma, the...
S.K. ChishtyNov 30, 20204 minLa Vérité (The Truth) (France, 1960)Criterion's blu-ray does justice with late-career Clouzot triumph starring a great Brigette Bardot. Sometimes while watching a film the...
S.K. ChishtyNov 19, 20202 minFilm Review: The Dark and the Wicked (2020), Bleak and atmospheric, Bertino knows what he's aiming for. The family has been an important component of horror cinema. Most horror...
S.K. ChishtyOct 24, 20205 minHalloween Month Review: Antebellum (2020)I propose that Veronica/Eden is actually a white person who happens to be Black.
S.K. ChishtyOct 21, 20204 minBed and Sofa (1927, Russia)Tretya meshchanskaya is a mysteriously lesser-known masterpiece of silent cinema. Made allegedly in support of the state-sponsored...
Aabha DhyaaniOct 20, 20202 minHalloween Month Review: Hubie Halloween (2020)Adam Sandler reprises his man-child act for the umpteenth time with surprising results. If you have taken time out to watch an Adam...
S.K. ChishtyOct 19, 20202 minHalloween Month Review: The Wretched (2020)This is homage without feeling... but you can do a lot worse with your night. A troubled teenager Ben (John-Paul Howard) comes to stay...
S.K. ChishtyOct 16, 20203 minHalloween Month Review: The Lodge (2020)The film's style has more heft than the content. One of the main problems I had with 2018's critical darling Hereditary was that its...
S.K. ChishtyOct 16, 20203 minHalloween Month Review: La Llorona (2019)For better or for worse, this is one of the most overtly political horror films you'll see. Also known as "The Weeping Woman", this film...
Aabha DhyaaniOct 14, 20203 minHalloween Month Review: The Watcher in the Woods (1980)Disney's scariest film? The horror scene changed considerably since the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). It brought forth...
S.K. ChishtySep 20, 20204 minFilm Review: A film called 'Film' by Samuel BeckettToday, Beckett's film can be deciphered as a warning against Social Media excesses and surveillance. Samuel Beckett wrote only one...
S.K. ChishtySep 13, 20205 minFilm Review: i'm thinking of ending thingsKaufman's literal mindedness is at odds with his 'Lynchian' dream logic. The work of Charlie Kaufman has been nothing if not cerebral....
S.K. ChishtySep 11, 20202 minFilm Review: Chess Fever (1925)Proof that silent Russian cinema is not only required viewing for serious film appreciation students. Thanks to their lofty presence in...
S.K. ChishtySep 1, 20202 minFilm Review: La Cigarette (1919)Germaine Dulac's psychological drama pre-dates what came to be called 'Hitchcockian'. One of the first women director's working in the...
S.K. ChishtyAug 24, 20203 minFilm Review: Las niñas bien (The Good Girls) (Spanish, 2018)Writer & Director Alejandra Márquez Abella skewers the Mexican high society against the backdrop of '82 financial crisis. In the '80's...
S.K. ChishtyAug 23, 20202 minFilm Review: Paris (French, 2008)A love letter to the iconic city goes nowhere. If interlocking multiple story lines a la Amores Perros or Love, Actually is not your...
S.K. ChishtyAug 3, 20202 minTrailer Review: Rogue (2020)Megan Fox's attempt for an image change looks destined to meet the same fate as G.I.Jane.
S.K. ChishtyAug 2, 20204 minFeature: Upcoming Blockbusters You Should Be Excited About!The time when families used to plan going out for an 'event' summer flick seems to be a thing of the past. The best they can do currently...
S.K. ChishtyJul 31, 20201 minYour wait for 'Tenet' just increased...The new Christopher Nolan film has been in news since its teaser arrived. Last year, Christopher Nolan fans got something to be really...
S.K. ChishtyJul 26, 20203 minReview: In the Tall Grass (2020)Indistinct chanting. It is widely believed that there are two kinds of fiction writers: Plotters and Pantsers. Plotters, as the name...
S.K. ChishtyJul 19, 20203 minReview: Godzilla: The King of Monsters (2019)Spectacle without fun. Hollywood has always enjoyed and entertained its audiences by bringing humanity to the brink of destruction....
S.K. ChishtyJul 17, 20202 minReview: 'Becky' (2020) is more 'Die Hard' than 'Home Alone'.“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...
S.K. ChishtyJul 2, 20203 minReview: Sátántangó (1994): A Rare ExperienceA muddy field. Slowly, some cattle arrive and start to explore it. Most try to graze at the slim picking the ground has to offer, some...
S.K. ChishtyJul 2, 20202 minReview: 'The Personal History of David Copperfield' is a Delightful UpdateDespite its popularity, David Copperfield has been mostly ignored by filmmakers comparatively. As Armando Iannucci, the director of the...
S.K. ChishtyJul 2, 20203 minReview: 'Meanstreets' plays like a Scorcese manifestoThough it was his teaming up with Thelma Schoonmaker that helped him hone his style to perfection, Martin Scorcese’s debut feature plays...