ThisIsJammy Reviews

Jackson Durai (2016)

Yet an another kollywood horror film!

[6/10 · 2 July 2016]

Usual kollywood horror film that wants to scare you and wants to make you laugh at the same time.

Enough has been said and written about the horror films made in kollywood and this film Jackson Durai is no different, Locking up the term logic in bank locker safely, all the director wants to do is to scare you, make you laugh, scare you, make you laugh, Usual back story for the ghost and then what its the same, scare you, make you laugh, scare you, make you laugh.

Sibiraj's acting looks ameture while Satyaraj compensates with it. The only relief of the film is Yogi babu, gem of a performance with his comic timings, even the screen where he isn't shown, he makes us laugh with his one liners.

Pele: Birth of a Legend (2016)

Pelé: Birth of a Legend has the heart to inspire, nothing more is needed to make you watch the film.

[10/10 · 2 July 2016]

Pelé: Birth of a Legend follows the life of Pelé's meteoric rise from the slums of Sao Paulo to leading Brazil to its first World Cup victory at the age of 17.

Needless to say this film is same like any other biographical drama that focus on the star's raise from bottom to top made with the intention only to inspire you. The director tries nothing hard to focus anything but a biographical drama.

The story inspires you every bit like any other inspirational film would, From the childhood to winning the 1958 world cup the wish to succeed the struggles, the leap of faith, the support and love from your parents, the difference we have from the others which should be accepted to make it best, the final winning smile. These clinched moments keep you entertained throughout the film and 1 hour 47 minutes is worth spending.

Unlike the usual sports films the film focuses on something that is different from others 'The Heritage', The need to keep us in the space we are comfortable to and the adaptation from others which aren't comfortable of is itself a good small message that can be conveyed.

Background score by A.R Rahman feels a little bit underplayed, scoring music for an Hollywood film ARR has set a benchmark with Slumdog millionaire but the expectation is too high for him to satisfy our greed. One of my favorite themes from the film 'Oh Ginga' comes only at the end of the film and with the way it escalates the theme could have been used in the other parts too.

Concluding it, Not calling is better or worse than any other sport film, Pelé: Birth of a Legend is an yet an another clinched sport film that is made to inspire us and does as promised.

24 (I) (2016)

"24" is a brilliantly written film with some usual romantic clinches.

[9/10 · 8 May 2016]

Note: the write-up is based on the 2 hours 34 minutes trimmed version that is currently being played in theaters.

The film is trimmed, Well trimmed indeed. Right through the 154 minutes run time, The film is filled with lots of 'Disney' like fun moments that will be enjoyed by the kids and you wont be annoyed accompanying them.

The 'Actor Surya' who has been lately trying hard to become 'Entertainer Suriya' seems to be back in a well executed film. Suriya trying to select different kinds of scripts was clearly evident through his previous films but the script which looked good in paper was never executed well in the screen and this is the only factor why 24 as a film is a well made comeback film. Talking about the execution, Suriya plays three different characters and each character seems to be a break up for three different kinds of audience.

Mani- The jolly go lucky -romantic guy who is enjoyed by the family audience.

Sethuraman- The typical 'for the critic' written guy who runs the plot of the film.

Athreya- The stylish villain who keeps the boys excited throughout the run time.

These break up of characters have done wonders in the film to satisfy whole of the audience and this is the reason why I call this as a 'Pakka Masala' product.

(Taking about me calling this film a 'Pakka Masala product' and if you find this offensive try finding another alternative word for a Sci-Fic film like this containing some totally unwanted romance and misplaced songs, From Thani Oruvan i have been complaining about this and I'm already tired) Right from the film Manam director Vikram Kumar seems to never get the romantic scenes right. It will mostly end up has a half written and half swallowed lines but his brilliance as a writer is rightly shown in the place where he should be appreciated for. His writing and linking of each characters to the story shows his intelligence. Sometimes it makes you complain about the co incidence but believe me it is never easy to link all characters to one plot.

There are different versions of Time travel and as time travel never been proved or experienced you are forced to accept the directors version of time travel. If you have a friend who sees different kinds of films and is comparing each film and finding faults, its high time you ask the nerd to shut up.

According to my knowledge the directors version of time travel is simple, well written and presented. Leaving those love scenes aside the screenplay is well written and even a little bit of annoyance will make you miss some twists. Vikram Kumar seems to be playing a intelligent game with the audience, every time you expect the character to reveal something he fools you and shows you how intelligent his characters are. I bet you can never predict those 'I got it right' moments and it is one of the reasons why the film is never a bore.

Samantha is adorable in each scene and Saranya as usual does the mother role at her best. Talking about the characters in the film, There are around 5 important characters and in which 3 of them are being played by Surya himself :P still you never get bored, Even the style of crying seems to be different for each character.

Another brilliance in the movie is the visual effects. The moments of keys, the inside of the watch and the rain sequence (my favorite ) isn't an immature work. Kudos to the cinematographer and VFX TEAM.

As said before you will never be annoyed watching this film in theater, until your nerd friend starts his theories. :P

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Good writing with some topnotch performance and right amount of VFX.

[8/10 · 6 May 2016]

*This review does not contain any spoilers* Note: To fully understand the film better watch Cloverfield (2008) before you watch this.

Interesting thriller that keeps you hooked and excited throughout the 1 hour 44 minutes run time. The 3 characters and there acting stands out and its actually those characters that keep the tension ticking each minute.

Kudos to the director for not wasting a single minute right from the title card and to the end when the director name appears. The editor is surely the hero of the film and this kind of screenplay is exactly what you ask for.

As said before the film looks terrific throughout but from the brave heart team, the last few minutes may leave you with some confused thoughts whether this film was how it was supposed to end. Leaving those thoughts to yourself I have nothing much to say, Hell yeah i am confused and I'm just jibber jabbering. :P PS: Don't ask suggestions from anyone or check some Wannabe reviewers review right before you watch the film. They may spoil the fun. Just go for it.

Manithan (2016)

Loosely made remake which could have been better!!

[7/10 · 30 April 2016]

Yet an another remake of a good film (Jolly LLB) which falls into Kollywood's money making hands.At the end of the day a film is made only to make profits and not to create awareness (Unlike Visaranai).

Manithan directed by I. Ahmed who made the promising Endrendrum Punnagai seems to get everything right in making this film suit our Tamil audience but fails a bit with 2 hours 30 minutes screenplay.

Must mention is Udhay's performance mainly in the climax and his face suits the dumb not speakable-non heroic character. Vivek may not be at his best but still gives us something to laugh here and there.

Radharavi and Prakash Raj as Adisheshan's performance is one of the highlights of the film. Radharavi as Judge looks uber cool and apt for the role. Kudos to the cast crew.

Like yet an another Tamil film Hansika's role is as useless as studying engineering in this current generation and like a mediocre student trying to pass by writing stories, Hansika survives with some cute expressions. Hansika's mouth synchronization's continues to be pathetic (We have talked about this enough).

The Jungle Book (2016)

Back to childhood with some excellent VFX.

[8/10 · 27 April 2016]

When it comes to Disney making films, they focus on nothing but creating excitement throughout the film and with 'The Jungle Book' the excitement was sky high even before the release, just because Mowgli and Baloo have been part of our childhood days. :) The biggest question is 'As the film been trust worthy to the book'? I would rather say Yes but in parts, The factor of emotion and feelings that arises between Mowgli- Bagheera and when Mowgli gets separated from Baloo seems to the highly underplayed. (Avoiding wasting time on emotions is one such Disney things huh? ) With the VFX, the film goes to the whole new level and that's the biggest plus for the film to be enjoyed in theater with your family.

And Yeah, Bill Murray's dubbing for Baloo was one such awesome things that could have happened to this film.

Airlift (2016)

Masterpiece making leads to a epic film.

[9/10 · 22 April 2016]

I can vouch you that this film is surely the Indian version of 'Schindler's List'. *Proud me* The best thing about a film is 'The emotion in art'. No other form of art, be it books or paintings can shows the real emotions that films can do. When that art meets 'the best of history' the word 'epic' gets the right meaning and this film is one such epic.

The film follows Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar), a Kuwait-based businessman, as he carries out the evacuation of 170,000 Indians based in Kuwait , the Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraq and believe me, the movie follows NOTHING ELSE than the plot (Pun intended).

Big salute to the director of the film Raja Krishna Menon for keeping the film damn straight from the start. There are no plot twists, there is no sudden unwanted songs and the director only focuses on the emotions in the plot, which indeed makes you love the film. With such directing talent in hand and running time just 125 minutes, my greed for more characters and deep characterization's's has no bounds.

The Bollywood film industry is back to its old ways and with films like Bajirao Mastani, Neerja, Airlift and Fan, my love for the Hindi films has increased.

Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam (2016)

Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam lacks Selvaraghavan's magic.

[6/10 · 22 April 2016]

Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam fails in the emotional and real life relational scope where 7G Rainbow Colony and Mayakkam Enna won our hearts...

Not sure the film was written by Selvaraghavan like this or the film lost its essence midway from script to screen transition. Right from the start the film is too dramatic, artificial and for a emotional film like this, you have nothing much to take from the acting nor the scenes (The climax is an exception) Wamiqa Gabbi turns out to be the perfect Selvaraghavan film heroin and this girl seems to be immensely talented and probably the life savior of the film.

Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016)

Sweet, Breezy, Lovable that's what KaKaPo is. (Strictly no spoilers)

[8/10 · 15 April 2016]

After making a black comedy film like Soodhu Kavvum the only thing you expect from Nalan is another laughter riot like the previous one and both Nalan and the producer clearly knows this. If you are expecting it to be a laughter riot, no it is not.

Thinking in the way how a modern girl falling in love with a local goon has become such a clinch in our kollywood industry, The film the way it is taken (especially the climax) makes total sense. Maybe this one is Nalan's stereotype in proving it right.

Yes the film is inspired from 'my dear desperado' but the way how Nalan makes this film in our chennai style adding engineering unemployment to the background you after to thank Nalan for it. The film could have been easily turned into an non sensible laughter riot but Nalan's light heated sense and making makes this love lovable with right amount of cute laughable scenes.

Thank you Nalan Kumarasamy and CV Kumar for this film. With Nalan and Karthik Subbaraj our future of kollywood is in safe hands.

Theri (2016)

Preditable entertainer that is worth giving a try!!

[6/10 · 14 April 2016]

Two things are clearly evident from the film : 1. Atlee lacks originality 2. Vijay's screen presence can save any film.

To start with the film is highly predictable and with an old beaten to death story the film still manages you show some care for the film due to the tight screenplay and Vijay's screen presence. Starting from the first Baasha like scene to the end each and every scene reminds you the scene from another film and Atlee seems to have raid on this factor.

After doing some experimental film like Puli which turned out to be a disaster doing some commercial film is the safe bet for Vijay and lets let it go.

Nainika and Vijay's chemistry as daughter and father being so adorable both ladies and kids may enjoy this film.

Kathakali (I) (2016)

If you love action films with unlimited twists, Then watch this one!!

[8/10 · 11 April 2016]

My love for action gangster film continues....

The 1st 30 minutes of the film may have been felt unwanted but it is the only way to bring local and rural audience to the theaters. (Remember Thupakki?) hence not complaining much about it.

From the 31st minute the film kicks off slowly and the phase never slows down from there. The last 30 minutes was too good and Yes some of the twists were predictable but it was well presented.

Adhi's may have read some of the reviews about his loud music and may have learned a lesson. Mainly 'Kathakali whistle' was too good fora bgm.

If you are a fan of action films with unlimited twists this film is for you. Just go for it.

PS: Kudos to Pandiraj sir for trying different genre of films and succeeding in it.

Jil Jung Juk (2016)

Jil Jung Jukis an 'Hopefull' film!!

[8/10 · 9 March 2016]

*Thoughts (No review) from Quentin Tarantino fan who loves this genre films* Jil Jung Jukis an 'Hopefull' film and here is why: Firstly I saw the trimmed version of the film and I loved it. With adult rated talks to long jibber-jabberr's (Yes, At the start you wonder why but at the course of the film you will get to know why those long conversations were inserted into the film), quickie humour to unexpected twists the film is fully inspired from Quentin Tarantino films and other internet sensation jokes inspired from Guy Riitchie films.

As a Quentin Tarantino fan I would rather give a pat at Dheeraj Vaidy's back and say 'well tried and done'. This film and this genre will become a cult in years to come.

Vishal Chandrasekhar's BGM is one of the highlights of the film and I felt that the starting title card number 'casanova' sung by Andrea is under-rated.

Actor Siddharth as a producer has done a great job and I hope he continues his good work by supporting young talented directors.

OFF TOPIC: Currently with this new gen directors it looks like an star actor reference (Mostly VIjay, Ajith) has become a must. Seriously? Having an unwanted 1 minutes actor reference will never bring those actors fans to theater but a good film surely does. Hopefully this shitty trend comes to an end.

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool is freaking uber cool film!!

[8/10 · 14 February 2016]

The film was dame straight from the start of the promotions. All the film wanted to do is to entertain the bad ass audience from the start to the end of the film. Has it done it? Yes it does. Thanks to the promotion and advertisement team for giving us uber cool super mugs.

Some may say the real hero of the film is its humour but believe me its not. The biggest hero of the film is its screenplay. The director exactly knew the pulse of the audience and did justice to it.

Ryan Reynolds is of course the show stealer and Morena Baccarin looks gorgeous especially in the last 1 hour. Better don't go late to the show or leave the theater after the film ends because you are going to feel for it afterwards. Hoping to see more cool ass film making like this

Visaaranai (2015)

Masterpiece!!

[10/10 · 11 February 2016]

One week after Iridhi Suttru here comes another Novel film Visaranai known as 'interrogation' in film festival's. I always like novel to screenplay converted films where the screenplay writer exactly knows the depth of the story. It is one gem of a film in Indian cinema which must be appreciated for its originality and the realism and brutality(FYI, I am big fan of brutality) Excellent screenplay, Just what the directed wanted acting and polite background music makes the film pleasant to want.

Saving the rest for the best. This film is must watch for its social message it wanted to convey. The film brings a huge debate to the public forum,

Irudhi Suttru (2016)

Saala Khadoos/ Irudhi Suttru is a must watch

[10/10 · 30 January 2016]

I actually saw the Tamil version of the film (Irudhi Suttru) but i wonder why there is no separate page for it. Hence writing my views in this one.

The best film of 2015. Everyone from Santhosh Narayanan to Sudha(Director) to the all the actors and supporting actors clicked as a team. Kudos to Sudha for understanding the intensity of the story and succeeded in making a boxer into an actress rather than doing the vice versa.

The only con i found in the film is there is not much scope for the supporting actors and they looked blank. The film focused too much on the lead. With power packed supporting actors and the running time only 1 hours 52 Min's some extra scenes could have been added. Other than that Saala Khadoos/ Irudhi Suttru is a must watch.