The Trial of Chicago 7 is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. (Photo: Netflix)Film theatres are slowly but gradually reopening across the country, but it is going to take a lot of convincing to get people out of their homes to watch movies with hundreds of people during a pandemic. It will be a few weeks before theatres in the country are fully functional.
For now, streaming services remain the primary source of entertainment for millions of Indians.
Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of Chicago 7 is one of the most important releases on streaming services this month. It is the only second directorial after 2017’s Molly’s Game and is about the titular Chicago Seven, a group of men who protested against the US involvement in the anti-Vietnam War. The film is a courtroom drama and follows their trial after they were charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.
The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Sharp, Thomas Middleditch, Frank Langella, William Hurt, Michael Keaton and Mark Rylance.
Evil Eye is another big recent release on OTT. It is one of Blumhouse’s film productions made for Amazon Prime Video. In the film, a typical Indian mother fusses over her daughter, who is living in the United States. Unable to secure a good sanskari Indian boy as a match for her despite all the astrology knowledge at her disposal, she is unnerved by the man her daughter does end up liking.
Here are the movies, web series and TV shows on platforms like ZEE5, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, SonyLIV, ALTBalaji and Voot
After Life has been written and directed by popular British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais. Gervais is known for his snarky, brutally honest style of comedy. And that is what he brings to the table here. Except this time he is not hosting any awards show and offending the rich and famous people of showbiz. In After Life, we see another facet of Gervais — the performer. In the series, he has lost the love of his life, his wife, and he finds it hard to keep up the pretence of normality. That results in some heartfelt, but truly hilarious moments.
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.
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.
Compelling characters, story, stunning cinematography, engrossing battle sequences, and fantastic score are just a few reasons why Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is easily the best film trilogy ever made. Even if you have seen the whole thing, it is pretty rewarding to watch the movies again.
At a time when 3D animation was still in its infancy, Spielberg’s Jurassic Park came and shattered all expectations with its stunningly designed models and high-quality CGI dinosaurs that still hold up well today. A truly terrifying depiction of the events which materialise when those monstrous reptiles of the bygone era are thrown abruptly in today’s world with the help of advanced genetic technologies. And above all, the devastating consequences of that audacity.
Netflix’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Victorian-era Gothic horror novel was a surprisingly clever, well-performed piece of entertainment. While it was a considerable departure from the source material, it remains an interpretation that Stoker himself probably would have been proud of.
The Plot Against America belongs to the genre of alternative-history. In this show, the fascists took control of USA in the 1940s. The show stars Winona Ryder in the lead role.
The Plot Against America belongs to the genre of alternative-history where fascists took control of USA in the 1940s. The show stars Winona Ryder in the lead role.
Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, and John Lithgow, is now available on Amazon Prime Video. The film tells the story of a family that moves to a countryside house with his wife and two kids. They discover that their new house is built near a pet cemetery (spelled as Sematary). The said pet cemetery was itself built on an ancient burial ground. Among the two kids, one becomes a little too interested in the cemetery. When their pet dies and comes back, the child is happy. But as we know from horror fiction, when the dead come back, they are never the same. One of the children is also then run over by a speeding vehicle.
A film which became synonymous with the genre, Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is considered by many filmmakers as the greatest war film ever made. The first half an hour of the film, which is considered by fans as the best part of the film, shows American soldiers landing on the Omaha beach amid massive artillery and machine gun fire by Germans and suffer heavy losses. The presentation of the scene is harrowingly realistic with limbs flying, water turning red and a traumatic soldier walking with one of his limbs in one hand. It makes you feel as if you are actually there. Saving Private Ryan is the pinnacle of war filmmaking.
Wish to know what is the biggest and most important story of our times -- coronavirus? Look no further. Coronavirus, Explained is a must-watch if you are unfamiliar with the topic or only have a superficial understanding.
Narcos: Mexico is as gripping as the rise and fall of Columbian drug baron Pablo Escobar, thanks in so small part to compelling writing, performances and the intercutting and documentary-style asides that give historical context to the whole thing. It makes you feel this is not just a regular drama that you are watching, that all this stuff actually happened (albeit in a different way).
The best thing about Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, filmed brilliantly by Jeanie Finlay, is although prominent cast members like Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington and others appear (there is a scene showing the cast reacting to the show’s wrap up that is bound to make you sentimental), it is mostly told through the perspective of the nameless people who worked tirelessly off-screen to deliver some great, believable visual imagery and scenes that are sure to become iconic in future. This includes production designers, makeup artists, extras, stuntmen and stuntwomen, and so on.
The raison d’être for the Deadwood: The Movie is that many felt the ending of the TV series felt incomplete. And sure enough, the movie gives the perfect closure to the entire story and at no point feels extraneous.
Directed by Antonio Campos, The Devil All the Time is based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock. The movie boasts of a star-studded cast with Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson.
Aaron Sorkin's star-studded courtroom drama The Trial of Chicago 7 is based on the trial of the titular group of people who protested against the Vietnam War. It stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Sharp, Thomas Middleditch, Frank Langella, William Hurt, Michael Keaton, and Mark Rylance.
The Haunting of Bly Manor is the follow-up to The Haunting of Hill Home, which was additionally created by Mike Flanagan. Each are a part of the anthology sequence The Haunting. Whereas Hill Home tackled Shirley Jackson’s iconic horror novel of the identical title, Bly Manor makes use of materials from one other well-known piece of horror fiction, the late Nineteenth-century novella The Flip of the Screw by Henry James.
Devs marks Annihilation director Alex Garland’s small screen debut, and it is a confident foray indeed. Equal parts thrilling and uncanny, the TV series builds tension and delivers information in bits – constantly keeping the viewers on their toes.
They Shall Not Grow Old is an extraordinary experience which has rightly earned plaudits around the world. Director Peter Jackson, best known for directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has used modern post-production techniques, both visual and sound, including voice-acting and colourisation to bring alive World War II in all its terrible glory.
What We Do in the Shadows chronicles the ‘life’ of three centuries old, powerful vampires — Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou). There is one other vampire, Colin Robinson, who feeds on the energy of humans by boring them. Ouch.
It falls on Harvey Guillén’s adorable and sweet Guillermo De la Cruz, Nandor’s familiar, to do practically everything for them, starting from opening the coffin in which they sleep to bringing them gullible humans.
Cate Blanchett starrer Mrs America is mighty entertaining. The 70s are brought to life in great detail by the makers right down to the costumes, decor and subtle inflections in accent.
The prime joy of watching this German sci-fi series is the intellectual stimulation obtained from unravelling its intricate story and making sense of its characters and mythology.
Paddington is simply the sweetest film ever made. The cuddly titular character is just so entertaining to watch and also gives a lesson, to young and adults alike, in kindness.
The Vast of Night, an indie sci-fi thriller distributed by Amazon, harks back to those classic stories and accounts of UFOs and alleged alien sightings, and the steady diet of shows and movies made on them which many of us grew up on. The movie, helmed by Andrew Patterson and penned by James Montague and Craig W Sanger, makes no secret that it is meant to be a nostalgia-tinged experience — for viewers who are old enough anyway.
The Social Dilemma is a Netflix documentary that delves deep into the detrimental side of popular social media sites.
This Joseph Gordon-Levitt starrer does a great job of making the viewer feel what Tobias is going through. The restrictive cinematography works wonders for the story, heightening the already sky-high tension.
Project Power is a strange beast. On the one hand, it appears to be trying to critique the superhero culture; on the other, it undermines that aspect by showing superpowers in favourable light. Yet, it ends up being way more entertaining than it has a right to be.
One of the few films that dared to take oppressive societal mores that restrict personal independence head on, Masaan was a surprisingly swell directorial debut by Neeraj Ghaywan. It dexterously wove two independent storylines that run parallel and hardly met. Richa Chaddha once again demonstrated why she is a force to be reckoned with by getting into her role with a professional ease. Vicky Kaushal, then a newcomer, was pretty convincing as a shy and awkward small-town boy.
HBO's miniseries The Third Day is an effective mystery that rises above its premise's trappings largely due to Jude Law's superlative performance, capable direction and cinematography.
They Shall Not Grow Old is a World War II documentary directed by Peter Jackson. It is an extraordinary experience, which has rightly earned plaudits around the world. Jackson, best known for directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has used modern post-production techniques, both visual and sound, including new voice-acting, and colourisation to bring alive World War II in all its terrible glory.
Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One paints the picture of a dystopian society in which most people are poor and have a virtual reality world called OASIS as an escape from their humdrum reality. Ready Player One, starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance among others, is an escapist film in every sense of the word.
Before Game of Thrones, HBO had Rome, a lavish and no-holds-barred take on Roman Empire around the time of Caesar’s assassination. It is a gorgeously shot show that unfortunately turned out to be simply too expensive and was discontinued after 2 seasons in spite of huge success.
Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s stories, which also inspired a hugely popular series of open-world RPG video-games, the world of the witcher resembles Westeros (from Game of Thrones) in many ways. For one, it is a gritty, dirty world full of violence, sex, and so on. For another, there is no clear division of good or bad like in most fantasy tales. However, The Witcher boasts of a lot of magic and fantastical creatures, which George RR Martin’s novels shied away from. The hero itself, Geralt of Rivia, is a mutated human with superhuman abilities. Game of Thrones in comparison had magic, but only on the periphery, at least in the first few seasons.
Helmed by Drew Goddard and co-written by him and Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods is a subversive horror film that takes the hackneyed remote forest cabin premise of so many horror films and turns it on its head. The result is a smartly written and acted movie. Chris Hemsworth plays the role of Curt Vaughan, who is one of the college students who go on a vacation to that forest cabin.
The Good Lord Bird’s episodes lead up to the events of the raid on the Army depot in West Virginia which led to Brown being executed, and the series stays engaging throughout.
The Boys is about a bunch of vigilantes (the titular Boys) who have their own reasons to abhor the ‘supes’ or superheroes. This is a world in which superheroes like Justice League and Avengers exist, and instead of being symbols of hope and nobility, they are blinded by their fame and many of them are more like supervillains.
Space Shuttle: Triumph and Tragedy tells the inside story of NASA's spaceships. As the title says, it explores both the triumphs and tragedies, and the latter includes the death of Kalpana Chawla and her team in Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.
A Tamil anthology film, Putham Pudhu Kaalai is made up of five parts directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Suhasini Maniratnam, Rajiv Menon, and Karthik Subbaraj.
The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta wrote about the film, "The lockdown and its impact has already been seen in many similar efforts by filmmakers around the world. But despite some perky moments here and there, this anthology remains mostly blah."
Ever wondered what it is like to live in space? This film should satiate your curiosity. It tells the story of what it takes to spend a whole year in space.
Rooting For Roona is the story of Roona Begum in the form of a documentary. Roona was a child who had a severe birth defect. She got a chance at a life-changing surgery after her photos went viral. Pavitra Chalam and Akshay Shankar have directed this documentary.
A typical Indian mother fusses over her daughter, who is living in the United States. Unable to secure a good sanskari Indian boy as a match for her despite all the astrology knowledge at her disposal, she is unnerved by the man her daughter does end up liking.
The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta gave the film two stars. She wrote, "You pick on the central theme of the film early enough: misogyny is global, whether it is something that Usha suffered in her early years in Delhi, or Pallavi, losing her independence because of her new love, in the US. The film speaks out loud about daughters looking out for daughters, just in case we missed it, right in the end. But you wish it was done better: it goes back and forth like a metronome, swinging between the two sets of people – Pallavi and her too-good-to-be-true boyfriend and Usha and supportive spouse. Contrivances pop up, and the actors use exaggerated accents which keep slipping, especially Krishnan The ‘South Indian’ Dad underlining his ‘ths’ whenever he remembers to do so. And if you want to lace your film with ‘these superstitious Indians’, then you have to be careful that your characters don’t appear to be stereotypical."
Zakariya Mohammed's Halal Love Story is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The film stars Indrajith Sukumaran in the lead role. Indrajith earlier spoke about his character in the movie. He said, "This character’s name is ‘Shareef’ and he is basically a bad actor so when considering actors for cinema inside the cinema, he’s probably the last option among many but they end up coming back to ‘Shareef’ and he gets casted as the lead in this film so there is a thin line because there are these portions where Shareef performs inside the movie and he’s not a good actor, so he has to be bad while performing."
Also Read | Halal Love Story review: A charming film about love and faith
Wish to learn more about the man who took the one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind? Then this is for you. This special features interviews given by Neil Armstrong to shed more light on this icon.
Aftab Shivdasani stars in this Zee5 web series that revolves around vengeance. The official description of the series reads, “Old players Nandu, Rani, and Pawan are back with their old story of deceit. Find out what their new game plan is in Poison 2”.
The series also features Raai Laxmi, Pooja Chopra, Rahul Dev, Vin Rana, Zain Imam, Asmita Sood, Joy Sengupta and Pawan Chopra among others.