So you wanna watch something…
The Adam Project: Yes, it’s yet another Ryan Reynolds movie. This one has him going back in time to stop time-travel technology falling into the wrong hands. He ends up stranded in the wrong year—and meets up with his 12-year-old self and his parents (Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo), all while being chased by a robot army from the future. South China Morning Post calls it a “warm hug of a movie,” despite the fact that “it’s not quite as moving as it thinks it is.” Hollywood Reporter isn’t as generous, calling it “a big, dumb lug of a movie that…isn’t really engineered for emotional investment.” We leave it to you to decide whether the film is worth the popcorn or an overdose of standard smart-alec Reynolds fare. Drops today on Netflix.
Turning Red: The heroine of the latest Disney-Pixar movie is Mei Lee—a dorky, confident 13-year-old Chinese girl who lives with a loving family and friends in Toronto. But she has a slight problem: She turns into a giant red Panda when experiencing extreme emotions—which is unfortunately far too frequent for a teenager. This is a coming-of-age movie with all the awkwardness and rebellion that comes from being a teen—including boy bands, hormones and a mother’s expectations. It has received highly positive reviews. The Wrap describes the movie as “cuddly as Meimei’s panda form, but it’s also a perceptive examination of how one person’s coming-of-age has a ripple effect on those closest to them.” The Hollywood Reporter calls it, “original, funny and tender.” Now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
The Andy Warhol Diaries: Produced by Ryan Murphy, this six-part docu-series takes us on a journey through the life of the iconic artist—in his own words. Footage from Warhol’s life is accompanied by an AI-created voiceover—reading aloud his diary entries in his voice. As Variety puts it, “The result is a flat, almost robotic recapitulation of observations and events, narrating a vivid stream of footage from his life and career without emotion or intonation.”
Variety also praises the series for giving us “a sense of its subject as intelligent, but alienated from his feelings and even from his own talent”—but six episodes may be more Warhol than some of us want. The Guardian says the series can sometimes feel “indulgent” but gives it four out of five stars as “an intensified version of an old story: that of the artist as an interested alien.” Streaming on Netflix.
The Kashmir Files: If you are not fond of the BJP or its supporters, you may not want to spend time or energy on this film. But here’s a heads up, in any case. Directed by Vivek Agnihotri—and starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi—it focuses on the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of the 1990s. Agnihotri is not shy about underlining the brutality that characterised this period in history—or about his politics. And it is hard to tell what is based on fact or just added for effect. Example: A woman is made to eat a handful of rice mixed with her husband’s blood in order to save the rest of her family from being killed. There are no good Muslims here from what we can discern, and the villains are lefty professors who brainwash the innocent.
We can’t find any reviews as yet except this melodramatic one from the Hindustan Times which declares, “You would cry, sob, feel scared watching the tragedy of lakhs of men and women who were made refugees overnight.” Like we said, this one is very much about your worldview. Releases in theatres today.
Mrs and Mr Shameem: Looking for a Pakistani soap to binge on? This 20-part series follows the atypical love story of college friends Umaina and Shameem—she is feisty and he is soft and shy—to the point of being mocked for being effeminate. When Umaina is left jilted and pregnant by her Mr Right, she agrees to marry Shameem. This sounds like a refreshing look at stereotypical ideas of romance and masculinity—and we definitely plan to check it out. There are no reviews as yet. Premiers today on Zee5.
A list of good reads
- Scroll explains why PhDs are a minefield for India’s marginalised students.
- Wired offers a fascinating look at an app that can diagnose rare diseases by just “looking” at a child’s face.
- Vogue brings happy news that undereye bags and wrinkles are now ‘in’ thanks to French fashion—a good reason to kiss your concealer goodbye. Also in Vogue: a lovely collection of unusual photographs of Princess Di.
- The Guardian has an expert guide to hacking your happy hormones—i.e. boosting you oxytocin and serotonin levels.
- National Geographic has an intriguing read on what a huge lily pad can teach us about building design.
- The Hindu takes a closer look at what the latest climate change report has to say about the future of Kolkata. It’s not good.
- Mashable has an interesting piece on “intuitive eating”—aimed at redefining healthy eating as “whatever gives us pleasure and satisfies our hunger.”
- New York Times profiles a California startup that aims to be the Dunzo of outer space.
- Third Pole has an important piece on a Himalayan river in Uttarakhand—which is being hollowed out by mining—and why it represents the future of rivers in Asia.
- Surely you want to read a book excerpt from ‘Run Rose Run’—co-authored by James Patterson and Dolly Parton!
- Rahul Desai in News9 has a wonderful personal essay on ‘Gehraiyaan’—using it as a peg to explore his relationship with his father.
- Speaking of wonderful essays, Kalapini Komkali’s culinary memoir of growing up as Pandit Kumar Gandharv’s daughter in On Eating is an absolute must-read. (h/t founding member Basreena Basheer)
