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Critics in the time of Corona!
Posted on March 23, 2020
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Devarsi Ghosh
March 23, 2020
Just wanted to know how delighted you two were over coming up with #MaskBR and how many times you cracked up about this.
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krishikari
March 23, 2020
You guys should be sitting further apart. 😷
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sivans21
March 23, 2020
Can you do a poll for us to choose an older film from your curated list that can be reviewed.
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N Madhusudhan
March 23, 2020
I recently watched an Icelandic series called Trapped. I found it fascinating because it was gripping in a conventional way that we prefer but the performances were very different. There was little i could call “acting”. It’s hard to say who has given the best performance of the series or who nailed those “difficult moments” etc. The emotions don’t register as strongly as they do when we watch Indian stuff but it still felt genuine and not plastic. This show is one of my first exposures to foreign content (i don’t include South Korean films because i somehow find them very close to indian sensibilities). While Film companion puts out reviews of English shows, reviews of foreign shows like Trapped could be very interesting.
Also I would like to watch AskBR sessions on web series – shows such as Sex Education, Delhi Crime, Trapped, The Test (in Prime) deserve some attention from BR 🙂
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Madan
March 23, 2020
Hoping there will be more essays like the Visu one during this period.
As for me, there is a strong temptation to binge on films even though we are mandated to maintain business continuity. 😀 But no, gonna restrict to a maximum of 1 film per day which is still a lot for me.
Watched You’ve Got Mail today after many years and understood it better this time. It has some heart albeit it’s still an essentially slight and feel-good film (with the premise of idealistic Kathleen Kelly just getting over Joe Fox after he destroyed her store being very unpalatable no matter the chemistry between the pair of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan). Also realised while reading about the film that Kadhal Kavithai was NOT a remake of You’ve Got Mail; in fact, they both came out in the same month.
Thanks for the heads up about Pagadai Panirendu. That as well as Kadhal Parisu or Mangamma Sabatham should be worth a laugh. Speaking of, don’t know how many will second my motion but one of the worst movies I have ever seen (so bad that it’s hilarious) is Charlie’s Angels. Can’t believe those ratings, are they too taking the piss at me? Thankfully, Ebert did give it a half star so I know I was not alone in thinking this was a gigantic piece of crap. Texas Chainsaw Massacre and American Gothic should also be enjoyable in terms of horror done impossibly bad (though the latter is a little too slow to be entertaining even unintentionally).
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Raju
March 23, 2020
Hey BR,
Can you do a write-up/video on your home cinema set up?
What is your preferred set up at home to enjoy films? Laptop? LED TV? Speakers?
Do you like watching films alone or with family and friends?
Maybe you can share some of the most profound movie experiences you have had (good or bad) whilst enjoying at home.
Thanks and be safe
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AdhithyaKR
March 23, 2020
I watched the Jaishankar video after this and cracked up, but with respect because I could see what BR meant. What was the director thinking? Their performances reminded me of the actor who played Dhillaan in the serial Kolangal.
@BR, could you please write an article/do a video about watching surreal cinema or cinema without a narrative? It’s something that I’ve not quite gotten the grip of and I don’t think there is really a right way to watch it, but would be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.
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Sutheesh Kumar
March 24, 2020
Adhithya KR,
https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2019/11/07/the-non-dramatic-drama-in-pawel-pawlikowskis-ida-and-what-it-means-for-a-film-style-to-be-transcendent/
I don’t know if this qualifies.
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AdhithyaKR
March 25, 2020
@Sutheesh Kumar,
Thanks for pointing me to this article. It was a great read. I was thinking more about movies like Jodorowsky’s The Dance of Reality, or Possession, or Mulholland Drive, where a lot of visuals evoke some sort of feeling but the movie as a whole just leaves me wondering what it was all about.
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Madan
March 25, 2020
BR: Would an interview with SPB on skype/whatsapp vid be possible during this shutdown? I know he has started doing a Simply SPB series talking about his memories and it’s quite popular.
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