MFF 21, 2019, 04: Ten films seen, with ratings Halfway through Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) 21st Mumbai Film Festival MFF), till 21 October, I had managed to see the following films. Here are cryptic reviews, with their star ratings: A Son, France-Tunisia-Lebanon-Qatar, Directed by Mehdi M. Barsaoui, Rating: *** ½ Influences of Iranian cinema apart, the film has some real depth. It leaves several questions unanswered, but that turns out to be its strength. Perform...

Thor-Ragnarok: Of hammers and horns, Avengers and Revengers Add humour. Suspended in mid space inside a trap-net by the fire demon Surtur, Thor asks a fellow prisoner how long has he been there. Pans out the fellow has already turned into a skeleton by this time, and, on hearing Thor’s query, his jaw (bone) drops off, literally. That’s the first scene, and the first laugh. After a marathon bout as gladiators in a cosmic arena, Thor and Hulk are freshening up, and Hulk comes out of...

Transformers-The Last Knight, Review by Siraj Syed: Michael’s Bay Watch A lot of words related to media get either entirely new meanings or stretch their known meanings to the limit and beyond, once you have watched Michael Bay’s Transformers. It is far too tempting to let the last Knight remain as it is, without getting punny. I saw the film last Night (Wednesday late afternoon, to be precise), and I often felt that last Night was never going to end. It eventually did, and exiti...

  James Ivory, the legendary director of such classic films as ROOM WITH A VIEW and HOWARD’S END, and part of the legendary Merchant/Ivory producing team, returns to the big screen with his newest film THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION. The film also marks his reunion with actor Anthony Hopkins, who starred in the director’s HOWARD’S END and THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, as well as a stellar cast that also includes Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Norma Aleandro an...

Friday, January 12----What do you do when you have won every acting accolade there is, including the coveted Oscar for an iconic role (that people will still be talking about 100 years from now)....direct an independent feature, of course. That is the decision made by Anthony Hopkins, whose Oscar-winning turn as Hannibal Lecter in Jonathan Demme's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, is the stuff of legend. After more than 100 feature and television films in a 40 year career, Hopkins (at the ripe young a...