Rush (2013) - 123 min

Rush is a biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara, Pierfrancesco Favino & Natalie Dormer.
Clay Regazzoni: Agnes’ last boyfriend was a British Formula Two driver who has a reputation for two things. For being a little crazy on the track, and for going all night and all day and all night again in bed.
Niki Lauda: What’s his name, the driver?
Clay Regazzoni: Hunt. James Hunt.
Based on a real-life incident, it tells the story of famous "Hunt–Lauda Rivalry" that happened during the 1976 Formula 1 motor-racing season. James Hunt, an aggressive driver who finally got a chance to show his craziness in Formula One and On the other hand Lauda uses his brain to buy a ticket into the racing game.
Still, Rush continues to fascinate me and finished watching it for the fifth time. It gives me the exact same feeling of watching it for the first time. Ron Howard mainly boosts the rivalry part and some scenes were cooked up for the films like Hunt beating the journalist. This time I mainly concentrate on finding the details of hidden friendship between Hunt and Lauda. The beauty of the movie is you might go with Hunt in the beginning, But in the end, you'll come out with Lauda. Rush can be easily considered as the most exciting F1 race film and Hans Zimmer music makes you feel like you are in the driver's seat. Hemsworth may be the lead actor in the movie, it's Brühl's supporting role makes it a special one for me. Overall, Rush is a cinematic masterpiece while delivering everything you wish to see in an F1 race movie like this.

Verdict: Great

Summer of 84 (2018) - 105 min

Summer of 84 is a Canadian horror mystery film directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell.
Starring Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye & Rich Sommer.
The story revolves around a bunch of Teenagers who enjoys the summer of 1984 in Ipswich and the head of the gang is Davey Armstrong. The newspaper is filled with stories about a serial killer who targets teenagers as his victim and Davey suspects his neighbor Mr. Mackey might be the serial killer.
“Is Mackey a serial killer?”. The story kicks off like Stranger Things Tv series with the same backdrop of 80s nostalgia and easily considered as a good mystery film with elements to create tension at some points. I like this kind of films and had me on the board from the opening moments. Started watching this movie with zero expectations and enjoyed every bit of it especially kids game. Genuine performance from the assembled cast and the ending was entirely different from typical movies which makes it worth a try. Overall, it's that kind of a movie where you just sit back in soffa and enjoy the movie with a pleasant face.
Verdict: Good

Ghoul (2018) - TV series

Ghoul is a horror web miniseries directed by Patrick Graham.
Starring Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee & Mahesh Baleaj.
Season: 1
No. of episodes: 3
Running time: 44–49 minutes
Set in a dystopian future, Nida is posted in a covert detention center where military officials interrogate terrorists. With the arrival of Ali Saeed things get nasty.
Ghoul means evil spirit and it is based on the Arabic folklore of the myth of jinns which trades one's soul. The first episode was a major let down and somehow manages to show energy towards the end. The second and third episode contains a few good moments. Still, the story unfolds in a way that you can easily guess where it is going to end. Performance wise, Apte's Nida character shines and remaining supporting cast fades away in the dark. Overall, Ghoul fits right into supernatural horror category and it actually reminds me of a Korean movie "The guard post(2008)".
Verdict: Average

Tag (2018) - 100 min

Tag is an American comedy film directed by Jeff Tomsic.
Starring Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Hannibal Buress, Isla Fisher & Jeremy Renner.
"We get Jerry now or we die"
It's a game played by five childhood friends - Callahan, Jerry, Hoagie, Randy and Sable. They still play the game and select May as their tag month. The game is simple you need to tag your friend by touching his body. What makes this game interesting is Jerry has never been tagged since 1983.
Based on the hilarious real-life story which published in Wall street journal article, Tag is a game you wish to play with your friends. The concept sounds like fun and credits show the real-life friends playing the actual game makes the ending a lovable one. Tag mainly concentrates on the game more than friendship and somehow I felt Jerry is the character that helps to continue this game so long because he is unbeatable. Overall, Tag is an entertaining movie and it delivers what it promises on trailers. Finally, after so many bomb stories, I enjoyed a comedy movie.
Verdict: Good

Deadpool 2 (2018) - Super Duper Cut

Deadpool 2 is an American superhero film directed by David Leitch.
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison & Zazie Beetz.
The film opens with a dialogue from Deadpool that he won't survive this movie like Wolverine in Logan. Cable, a soldier from the future, arrives on a mission to kill a 14-year-old mutant named Russell and Deadpool mission is to save that kid like Arnold from Terminator movie.
Frankly, this spoof movie or whatever it calls is not even comparable with the first part. Deadpool 2 is more violent and unlimited rapid-fire jokes create hilarious moments. After the first part, There is no limitation for Ryan Reynolds and his co-writers to say whatever they think. Ryan's self-troll was right on the money and Fox gave footage to Deadpool crew to make fun of themselves. The 'Super Duper Cut' doesn't change any equations of the movie apart from 14 minutes extra and no idea what this cut means. The two-part post-credits scenes were actually good and wished to see that kind of energy in the whole movie. Overall, Like Deadpool say "Well, that’s just lazy writing".
Verdict: Average 

Amen (2013) - 165 min

Amen is a Malayalam-language film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery.
Starring Fahadh Faasil, Indrajith Sukumaran, Natasha Sahgal & Swathi Reddy.
Solomon is a nervous guy while playing clarinet in front of others and Sosanna, his lover is the only person actually motivates him. His dream is to achieve a place in St. George's church band and with the arrival of Father Vattoly, Solomon's life starts to change.
This is a surprise pack from Lijo Jose Pellissery and Like a fairy tale story, it's a journey through the village Kumarankari. Lijo Pellissery makes sure that there is something new to encounter each time we look into the characters. The comic situations lie mostly in dialogues and he even tries to introduce comic characters like Vikraman and Muttu into the big screen. Both Fahadh and Indrajith delivers a stellar performance in the movie with a lot of support from the supporting characters. Swathi as Shoshanna shines every moment she appears. The outstanding cinematography from Abhinandan captures every single detail of Kumarankari. Overall, It's a fantasy version of the Romeo and Juliet story which took place in a village.
Verdict: Good

Sila Samayangalil (2018) - 92 min

Sila Samayangalil is a drama film directed by Priyadarshan.
Starring Prakash Raj, Sriya Reddy, Ashok Selvan & Nassar.
The film revolves around seven people who wait in a medical testing center to check if they are HIV positive or not. From a hospital worker, they hear one of them is HIV positive prior to scheduled time of results.
Like Aruvi, this film also tried to provide awareness about 'HIV'. We can sense their tension and that's the way Priyadarshan created the movie. The final shots were equally brilliant and thought-provoking one from Priyadarshan. He uses Ashok Selvan as his medium to connect with each character who cannot stop talking. The sound department is perfect even the speaker that calls out the token number can provide tension sometimes. Prakash Raj and Ashok Selvan get more opportunity to perform and they both done a remarkable job. Overall, the concept of the movie catches my attention and like each character waits for their name to be called, we need to wait with them to find who is affected by HIV.
Verdict: Great

Eastern Plays (2009) - 83 min

Country: Bulgaria
Director: Kamen Kalev
Cast: Hristo Hristov, Ovanes Torosyan, Saadet Aksoy & Nikolina Yancheva.
Hristo is an artist by profession who spends most of his time in depressed mode. His brother, Georgi joined a neo-nazi group and while hanging out with them he attacked a Turkish family. Hristo rescues the family from the attack and starts to see them more.
Eastern Plays deals with social issues from a lost man's point of view. The director claims the things shown in the movie actually happened to his friend, Hristo and he chose that friend to play the lead role in the movie. Sadly, before finishing the whole movie Hristo died of an overdose. There is a love angle present in the story between Hristov and lovely Saadet Aksoy which boost the characters as well as a sight relief from the drama mode. The ending reminds me of a Malayalam movie which is not going to disclosure anyway. Overall, it's a movie to learn about modern Eastern European culture and if you like to experience that feeling you can watch it.
Verdict: Good