Citadel, Review: When James meets, Jane it’s a Bond Two franchises have set the benchmark as far as spy thrillers go. No marks for guessing that these are James Bond and Mission Impossible. It’s been a mind-boggling 61 years since the first James Bond film was released. Ethan Hunt, of Mission Impossible, first appeared on screen in 1996, 27 years ago. And neither seems to have called it a day. Both have a male protagonist, who performs mind-boggling stunts and survives against al...

Amazon Prime Video’s International spy web series Citadel: Messing with minds Imagine you are a spy. Imagine you have done things to people that they cannot imagine, and some of those people have done the same to you. Now imagine that an organisation can erase your memory and give you a new identity. So, in other words, your memory is at the mercy of a professional outfit that messes with your mind. Now imagine Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the top spies of Citadel, in Ama...

1917, Review: One shot wonder, real-time revolution War films can be about nations and nationalism, or soldiers and their sagas. While the former promote jingoism, the latter tend to be anti-war, by personalising the narrative and addressing personal trauma of the protagonists, while universalising their sentiments. 1917 belongs to the second category. It is a technical marvel, but never wavers from the plight of its main characters. All the awards and encomiums it has garnered, raising expec...

Rocketman, Review: Messed-up multi-millionaire music-maestro Film-makers now need to ask themselves whether it makes good sense to churn out bio-pics with regular frequency. Does the genre hold enough promise to deliver quality cinema? In recent times, many of them are guilty of picking eminent personalities from films and music, with common traits, like troubled childhood, inability to handle fame and fortune, sexual mania or alternative sexual behaviour, and drug abuse. The phenomenon is co...

Cinderella, Review: Kinder Ella and some Branagh courage Eschewing 3D and confining the classy animation/effects to only relevant scenes, Cinderella is a new take on the fable of the tortured step-daughter and her Prince Charming, with major roles played by animals and objects, led by a dazzling and highly desirable glass slippers that many teenagers would be willing to die for. It is the same old story, with minor cinematic license and major positive shift in logic. Ella (Eloise Webb) is an...