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jpragasam
Reviews
Where the Land Meets the Sky (2021)
Sound department needs to buck up
The storyline was good and so was the ending. However, the actors' voices were often inaudible, and sounded like incoherent mumbles. Turning up the volume control only made the listening worse. The background piano music was occasionally so overpowering that the voices were drowned out. We resorted to watching the movie with closed captions turned on to make any sense of the dialogue. Pity! The sound did not do justice to an otherwise great story with a good moral. Furthermore, the casting and portrayal of the grandparents seemed to be unrealistic. Overall, it seemed to be a low budget film with makeshift locations.
Dhadak (2018)
Surprisingly Good despite all the negative reviews.
An enjoyable movie which deals with the Hindu caste system and the risk of honour killings when inter-caste marriages inadvertently take place in Indian society. The film also addresses the corrupt political system and the shenanigans employed by politicians to gain power. The two protagonists acted by young and new upcoming stars, Jahnvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar, seemed well suited to their roles. The on-location filming in Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur and Kolkata was rather interesting. The music to the closing credits was poignant and fitted the ending. No, I have not seen "Sairat", but "Dhadak", in my opinion is a well-made film which pulls at the heartstrings.
A Royal Runaway Romance (2022)
Yawn!
Seen better Hallmark movies than this one. The princess was miscast and seemed naive, undignified and unconvincing. Furthermore, royal etiquette would be not to speak with mouth full or while munching food.
The plot was very predictable and the ending though not unexpected was somewhat unbelievable. In reality, wouldn't the queen object to the princess marrying an employee, I wonder?
A Royal Christmas Engagement (2020)
Familiar plot with predictable ending.
A typical Hallmark/Lifetime genre movie. The extras in the office scenes are irritating. As office workers, they seem to have little to do except walk around continuously often holding files or coffee mugs. Very distracting and annoying.
Anne (2017)
Gross injustice to Lucy Maud Montgomery. Glad that the show got scrapped.
Tolerated Season 1, but was completely turned off by Season 2 after enduring in disbelief until episode 8. I stopped watching the remaining episodes of Season 2. Wisely, gave Season 3 a wide berth.
The departure from the clean, wholesome books by L. M. Montgomery was appalling. A corruption, to say the least, and an insult to the brilliant Lucy Maud Montgomery.
This adaptation by Netflix and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation cannot hold a candle to the iconic TV mini-series from the 1980s with Megan Follows in the lead role.
A Summer to Remember (2018)
More a Fiji Tourism promo
The plot was very predictable given that this was originally aired on the Hallmark Channel. Since it was set in Fiji, I wonder why there were no native Fijians in the acting roles. Besides two of the main cast, the rest were Aussies and a Kiwi.
Sorry to disagree, but the acting was rather staged and the direction rather run-of-the-mill. Besides the typical love triangle story, the film's seems to be a tourist promotion travelogue for Fiji.
The Mysterious Note (2019)
Moral lessons overshadowed by bad acting
I had to force myself to keep awake while watching this. Acting was generally abysmal and the dialogue was clichéd and off-putting. The youngsters were stiff and amateurish as if they were in a school pantomime.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
A Wasted Opportunity
What a let-down! This film was touted as a grandiose production boasting a star-studded cast. Since we missed the cinema screening of this, my wife and I opted to watch the DVD of the movie with much anticipation, when it was released. The actors included some big Hollywood names and quite a few international actors to lend realism to the portrayals of the Middle- Eastern characters that the film called for. However, the mediocre script-writing, lackluster acting and the overall insipid production left much to be desired. Despite the modern special effects and CGI technology, this film was intellectually non-stimulating. Woefully, this film could not hold a candle to the 1956 Ten Commandments for dramatic intensity, acting and direction. Even though Cecile B. DeMille's film might seem a bit dated, but the acting, cinematography and directing were streets ahead of this modern version of the epic drama.
The Book of Esther (2013)
Really appalling!
Without a shadow of doubt, this is the worst movie of the Book of Esther that my wife and I have ever encountered, let alone the worst adaptation of any Biblical book. The screenplay was atrocious, and the plot was sketchy given the many liberties taken the scriptwriter in a futile attempt to bring something fresh and novel to the age-old Biblical narrative. The direction, cinematography and editing left much to be desired. The lead actress was much too contemporary American in speech and mannerisms - not befitting of Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia. Some of the others in the cast were not convincing either. Our advice to film-buffs is to avoid this movie altogether. In other words, give this PureFlix film the flick.
Mercy Rule (2014)
Absolute waste of time
This was touted as a Christian family movie, having been made by a prominent actor who has starred in successful Christian movies in the past. My wife and I decided to watch it with the greatest anticipation of a good hour or two well spent. To our amazement, there was hardly any mention of God or of God's word at all in the movie. The content and themes were as secular as it can get. What has the lead character's craving for nicotine, and the tattoos on the arms and palms of the baseball coach have to do with Christianity? We are still bewildered as to what this movie is trying to achieve and what morals it is trying to promote. This is certainly one of the most disappointing movies that we have ever watched.