The world leader in streaming, Netflix, has announced a 25 per cent reduction in bandwidth. The company, however, maintains there will not be any reduction in the quality of the service.
Ken Florance, Vice-president, Content Delivery, said in a statement, “Given the crisis, we’ve developed a way to reduce Netflix’s traffic on telecommunications networks by 25% while also maintaining the quality of our service. So consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan - whether it’s Ultra-High, High or Standard Definition. We believe that this will provide significant relief to congested networks and will be deploying it in India for the next 30 days”.
Bikram Choudhury, better known as the man who introduced the fad called ‘Hot Yoga’ to the West, is the subject of Netflix’s documentary Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator and much like the name, you see these multiple versions of the man through the 86 minute documentary. Read More.
Starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani, Good Newwz is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The Indian Express' review of the film read, "Two couples with the same names, sperm samples, in-vitro fertilization, and a switcheroo which has far-reaching, haha, consequences: is this really a Bollywood film? Just going by the fairly novel premise, I have to hand it to Good Newwz: so refreshing to have something so out-of-the-box (another word for ‘risky’) come out of an industry whose default option is to play safe by churning out tired, jaded sequels of tired, jaded super-starry vehicles." Read More.
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"Nicole (Johansson) and Charlie (Driver) are a great couple, great artistes, great friends, and great parents. Baumbach opens with the two reading out what got them attracted to one another in the first place, and both Nicole and Charlie’s accounts drip with warmth and genuine affection. Suddenly though we cut to the two of them with a marriage counsellor, where a distressed Nicole refuses to read what she has written. It is the first sign that this won’t be the elegant, neat divorce that Gwyneth Paltrow ambitiously termed ‘conscious uncoupling’," read The Indian Express' review of Marriage Story. Read More.
The Indian Express' review of the film read, "Darbar may be Superstar Rajinikanth’s first film with hit director A R Murugadoss, but it remains a Rajini film which bows at each step to the continuing myth of the one and only Thalaivar." Read More.
Starring Rishi Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi, The Body is streaming on Netflix. The Indian Express' review of the film read, "The Body, based on a 2012 Spanish film of the same name, starts with a missing body. We know from the beginning who is responsible. Or do we? As Hashmi’s two-timing husband acts all hurt and innocent, the cops, led by a bearded middle-aged sleuth (Kapoor), swing into action: was the body stolen? Is Maya really dead? Or is she, shudder, a ghost?" Read More.
Jai Mummy Di stars Sunny Singh, Sonnallli Seygall, Supriya Pathak, Poonam Dhillon and has been directed by Navjot Gulati. The film is streaming on Netflix. Read the review here.
Starring Mahesh Babu, Sarileru Neekevvaru is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Indianexpress.com's review of the film read, "Mahesh Babu has played the role of Major Ajay in his latest movie Sarileru Neekevvaru. Ajay may be a trained soldier, but he’s a quintessential fan of Telugu cinema at heart. He behaves like a typical Telugu hero, who is very particular about his looks and his judgements are driven by hyper-masculinity. Also, he is all over the place. On odd days, he seems to head a bomb disposal squad, and on even days, he leads a squad of foot soldiers into a rescue operation. Well, accuracy seems to be the first casualty of the act of glamorization." Read More.
HBO’s The Outsider has proven to be as good as, if not better, than the best-selling Stephen King novel it takes its source material from. That is not something you can say so often with the Master of Horror. The show is streaming on Hotstar. Read More
Starring Kiara Advani, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Guilty is directed by Ruchi Narain. The Indian Express' Ektaa Malik wrote in her review, "The problem with Guilty is not the subject matter or the premise. Rather a mainstream film on the given matter, in a post #metoo world would have helped take the conversation forward. But it’s the other infractions and the rather insipid treatment that lets you down. We get that the writers wished to reflect that strong, independent, expressive women shouldn’t be slut-shamed and that a no is a no but the way they bumble their way through it leaves much to be desired. Not once do we feel any empathy for any of the characters. Kiara Advani is reduced to the ‘tortured-artistic-creative’ types, and Tanu Sharma, in her ill-fitting clothes is a poor caricature of the small- town-girl with big dreams." Read More.
Tanhaji was the first big success of 2020. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Kajol in pivotal roles. Shubhra Gupta's review of the film read, "There’s a lot of thunderous speechifying combined with thundering hooves, as befits an epic which toplines a historical figure who was chiefly a warrior. The opening credits tell us that eminent historians were consultants for this resurrection of the hitherto ‘unsung’ Tanhaji, to give him his rightful place in the pantheon of Maratha braves." Read More.
Starring Dhanush, Pattas is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Indianexpress.com's review of the film read, "Pattas is a star vehicle tailor-made for Dhanush. It gets utterly generic, though the laughs (in the first half) are great. You get action sequences, which Dhanush aces. He doesn’t look out-of-place even in a single scene." Read more.
Street Dancer 3D stars Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles. The Indian Express' Shubhra Gupta wrote in her review, "The film is based in London, so the two chief competing gangs have to be, naturally, Indian and Pakistani: the first is headed by hot-headed Sahaj (Dhawan), the other by pretty Inayat (Kapoor). Perhaps recognizing that neither is exactly fleet-footed, she much less than he, a sub-plot involving illegal immigration is shoe-horned into the film. But it ends up sticking out clumsily, added only to add teary melodrama about ‘apna watan’, and the longing to return home." Read More.
The second season of the much loved series premiered recently. Indianexpress.com's Kshitij Rawat wrote in his review of the second season, "Starring Michael Peña and Diego Luna, Narcos: Mexico's first season was a compulsive watch due to good writing, and acting by the two leads. The second season falls way short of what the inaugural season accomplished." Read More.
Termed as one of the best Indian web shows, Kota Factory is set in the student city of Kota. Here, we follow 16-year-old Vaibhav, who is preparing for his IIT exams. Unlike many shows where young adults find the path to success restricting, this show celebrates student life in all its educational glory. Jitendra Kumar’s character Jeetu Bhaiya was adored by viewers. Kota Factory is available to watch on TVF Play and YouTube. Read More.
The strangely titled The Banker is Apple TV+’s latest offering. Why do I believe the title is strange? For one, it is not accurate. The lead character played by Anthony Mackie is technically not a banker in the movie. Also, the title makes The Banker appear pretty boring, and this is a film which covers an absolutely fascinating real story and does it in an entertaining fashion. Read More.
Starring Jason Momoa, See is a story set in the distant future where humans live like tribals and the power of sight is only a myth. Things change when Momoa’s Baba Voss is blessed with twins who can see. The premise sounds promising, and if the first few episodes are anything to go by, the show is weirdly fascinating. I say weird because a few customs of this world will make you laugh out loud, even when they don’t intend to. However, the strong storytelling in the first few episodes saves the day. Read More.
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are back together after Project Runway as they mentor designers on Amazon Prime Video's Making the Cut. The series starts streaming on March 27 on Amazon Prime Video.
Parasite created history at the Academy Awards 2020 as it became the first international film to win the Best Film prize. The Indian Express' Shalini Langer wrote in her review of Parasite, "Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s latest film is a subtle and subversive depiction of class. The setting is Korean, and Ho brings out that country’s obsession with America, English, North Korea and aspirations succinctly. But in depicting the many layers that divide, and blind, the rich from the poor, the poor from the rich, men from women, and husbands from wives, Parasite is universal. And very, very unsettling." Read More.
Modern Love is a romantic anthology TV series that dramatises the real-life love stories from the New York Times' column of the same name. For those not familiar with the column, it has essays and stories submitted by readers. The column offers honest explorations of love, relationships and related topics. Modern Love explores love in all its forms, including experiencing it, feeling it, needing it, betrayal, heartbreak, and so on.
Your definitive zombie movie. In this South Korean film, zombies do not hobble, they run like Usain Bolt and possess the stamina of a racehorse. Cramped confines of a train do wonders and well-drawn characters are pretty relatable. The pacing is just right. Bottom line is, if you love zombie movies, you cannot really go wrong with this one.
A low budget film that tells the story of screenwriter Emily V. Gordon and her husband and comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who have also written the story together. This is a no-holds-barred story that does not gloss over anything a relationship is - messy, sometimes infuriating and perplexing, but beautiful nonetheless.
A mysterious quarantined zone is affected by an alien phenomenon that is mutating creatures and landscapes inside it. The zone is surrounded by a shimmering electromagnetic field and it is thus called the Shimmer. The zone is getting larger and larger and the US government believes that it would one day surround the whole world if not stopped. This film has elements of science fiction, horror, and mystery. Its denouement is a gorgeous interplay between mind-bending visuals and incongruous electronic notes.
This Mike Flanagan film, which is a Stephen King adaptation, is not horror in the sense that there are ghosts. Well, there might or might not be ghosts, but it is not scary because of them. It is scary because it is one of the darkest films you will ever see. Gerald’s Game explores topics like misogyny and child abuse in gory detail and it is advised to watch the film only if you can handle them.
Steven Spielberg's adaptation of HG Wells' novel of the same name, War of the Worlds sees an invasion by the Martians. Tom Cruise stars as a longshoreman who witnesses the invasion directly. Scores of people are disintegrated by the Martian war machines called Tripods that emerge from beneath the earth. War of the Worlds is a non-stop thriller that never lets up.
This surprisingly sweet film has everything that makes a road trip movie great. Despite using the same old tropes (different personalities travelling together reluctantly) The cast (Paul Rudd - 'nuff said) does a great job of making a strong script and clever dialogues come alive.
Two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, team up to fight supernatural threats. The threats include vampires, shape-shifters, demons, even angels and Lucifer himself among others. The premise is basically the same every episode. Dean and Sam spot news hinting at something bizarre and race to the location in their Impala, acting as FBI agents. Despite repetitiveness, Supernatural has remained enjoyable across more than a dozen seasons (!) because of some really interesting characters.
This movie was about a school kid who has nothing special about him. His fortunes change, however, when he pulls King Arthur’s famous sword Excalibur from the stone it is buried in. According to the Arthur stories, only the true king could pull the sword and wield it. The film was an enjoyable adventure for both kids and adults and Andy Serkis’ son Louis Ashbourne Serkis, who played the lead, has a bright future ahead of him.
One of the more underrated films,Brightburn was a truly terrifying superhero (or supervillain?) horror film. It was an inversion of Superman’s lore. Everything else was same, just one thing was reversed. Just like Clarke Kent, Brandon Breyer came from outer space and fell in a Kansas farm. And just like Clarke, he found loving parents. But instead of being a kind, thoughtful individual, he submitted before his darker proclivities and went on a murder spree. That was incredibly scary, just the thought of it: an evil, amoral and invulnerable kid with nobody to stop him.
Rescued from a train station, Paddington Bear finds a haven with a London family -- until a taxidermist decides to add Paddington to her collection. It is also one of the finest family movies ever made.
Rescued from a train station, Paddington Bear finds a haven with a London family -- until a taxidermist decides to add Paddington to her collection. It is also one of the finest family movies ever made.
This probably needs no introduction as almost everybody who watches American TV shows has at least heard about it. Seinfield is to sitcom as The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. Sure, there were a lot of sitcoms before Seinfield, it kind of made it mainstream. And the most amazing thing is Jerry Seinfield's comedy is not hurtful, offensive or full of cusswords. He is one of the cleanest comedians out there and also the funniest.
It is a pity that one of the best sitcoms on television is not as publicised as others. Curb Your Enthusiasm is an out-and-out Larry David show, who is the writer behind probably the greatest sitcoms of all time, Seinfield. He plays his own fictionalised version in this show. This show delivers more laughs in one episodes than a popular sitcom like The Big Bang Theory would in an entire season.
Based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré, this miniseries has two of the best actors on television: Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston. It is a espionage drama and is engaging throughout its run.
An HBO miniseries, The Night Of targets American criminal justice system and its inherent biases. A Pakistani-American young man is charged with rape and murder, and the procedure is more defined by the race and origin of the person than evidence. Performances are great including Riz Ahmed as a naive young man, but my favourite is John Turturro as a small-time lawyer with troubles of his own.
This HBO miniseries is executively produced by two giants of American cinema, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who bring their experience of Saving Private Ryan to Band of Brothers, which is an exquisite and sensitive portrayal of a company of soldiers.
A DC TV show that embraced the crazy after tip-toeing around it for a couple of seasons. And it is live-action. There is few things off-limits or too insane for this show. It may not have Batman (Bruce Wayne is a young boy in the show) but it has every single member of Batman's rogues gallery, and this was just as good.
This Batman movie is the most Batman-esque movie. In fact, if you see only this movie, you will have a pretty good idea as to what the superhero is all about. Will Arnett's superbly written and voiced Caped Crusader is as much a tribute as a parody of every live-action version of Batman. And it is downright nuts. Voldemort and Sauron are two of the villains that the Joker recruits to take down Batman, for crying out loud, and that is not the craziest thing in this movie. Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson and Ralph Fiennes are also part of the film's voice cast.
This FX series has everything in its favour - colourful characters, dark humour, varied settings (every season takes place in different places and times), and excellent writing. Cops face solo gangsters or gangsters with families and your sympathies are dragged all over the place. You think things like -- why did this charismatic rascal had to be a bad person, inherently? There is a character played by David Thewlis in the third reason who is the repelling-yet-compelling sort -- a perfect representation of the show as a whole, I think.
Netflix's extremely good-looking period drama, a story of Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage and the circumstances leading up to her coronation until today, is not particularly bingeable. It is not so much its pace as the narrative heft which forces the viewer to pause and reflect after each episode. It actually moves rapidly, chronologically speaking. The show is absolutely gorgeous. It does complete justice to its immoderate budget. The visual beauty is not just skin-deep. The attention to minute details is as exquisite. With the third season, it has only gotten better with the addition of Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter (replacing Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby, respectively).
The classic Doordarshan TV series based on RK Narayan's charming small-town based stories still holds up well. Relive your childhood (if you watched Malgudi Days as a child, that is) with this series.
Created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (also known as Raj & DK), The Family Man starred Manoj Bajpayee as a middle-class man, who is secretly an intelligence officer working with a fictional branch of National Investigation Agency (NSA). The series was gripping from start to finish and featured a characterstically nuanced performance by the excellent Bajpayee.
Also Read | The Family Man review: Father, Husband, Soldier, Spy