I just had this thought, this morning. Over here, there is a lot of discussion around cinema, but so many reviews – unless they are of big films – barely get comments about the film in question. Is it because the particular set of commenters that frequent the blog now do not watch films? Or do they watch films and do not want to comment? (Maybe along with reading, writing is vanishing, too.) Or do they prefer to comment on, say, Twitter, where they may get a larger audience? Or do they prefer to watch series?
As we are talking about change, I want to mention this: Earlier, even the smaller/bad films used to get comments from people who actually saw them! Over the two-odd decades this blog has existed, that it itself a major change.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
July 22, 2022
I have always been an infrequent watcher of movies, definitely never been a FDFS guy. I do wonder about the myriad regulars who have gradually stopped visiting. If I may, this blog shed a bunch of visitors during 2015 to 17-18 thereabouts when the culture wars of the US began to be waged on threads here. It is what it is, just putting it out there, not assigning blame.
It could be something to do with the TYPE of person who chooses to write about movies on blog comments, or write anywhere at all on the net. I remember your Soorarai Pootru review got many Surya fans out of the woodwork and the Vikram thread too saw participants who wouldn’t post otherwise. MAYBE given that this blog’s audience generally skews towards older millennial and gen xers (though Yajiv, Voldemort, sriprabhuram and anonymous violin are younger), it’s only movies with older stars that attract passionate commentary. My wife watches something new, either series or movie, at least every other day on OTT but she doesn’t feel the need to comment about it on the internet. My parents are the same. It turns out then that the audience you got in the mid late noughties was perhaps ‘peak blog’ and either some people moved on to FB or whatsapp etc or some others ‘ragequit’ the blog to use the internet term for it.
Also generally even videos of all sorts are getting lower number of views on YT. Either that’s just rigging by them to favour those who are on some paid program or there is fatigue after covid. Maybe people dived too deeply into the internet and social media world during lockdowns and don’t have the energy to participate in the same way as before. I know that I sometimes feel that way so if it can happen to indefatigable moi, then maybe it’s happening to others.
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Kay
July 22, 2022
I have actually started watching more movies of late, but I don’t know why I stopped commenting here. Maybe earlier it used feel like a group of close friends but now the comments space has become impersonal?
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Sri Prabhuram
July 22, 2022
I figured you would bring this up, but for me personally, there are a lot of factors as to why I tend to be very quiet when it comes to film discussion.
As someone who will be pursuing my MBA within a few months, I tend to have a lot commitments related to my education and I have to prioritize those commitments as high as I can for the next few years. I wasn’t able to watch highly anticipated movies Beast, RRR, KGF, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal due to exams, interviews & in the case of KRK, illness. I was able to watch Vikram FDFS, since it was a summer release in the US and I had nothing else to do.
Furthermore, I feel film discussions have become more toxic and exhausting (mainly on YouTube), especially when people can’t even handle a slight disagreement with reviewers. Take a look a Jai Bhim’s comment section. There were so many people who got triggered, just because BR didn’t enjoy the movie all that much. Most people started trolling and bringing up all the other times they disagreed with him (they will mainly bring up Bigil, Kaatru Veliyidai, Soorarai Pottru) and using it as “evidence” to not “trust” the reviewer. How am I supposed to have a proper film discussion with these types of people, if they won’t make the effort to deal with their opinion differences?
But most importantly, I feel that it is easy for me to determine what movies (and even soundtracks) to avoid, based on my experiences with the director’s past films. I don’t care for films by Hari or Lingusamy, so why would I want to watch Yaanai or The Warriorr? I tend to be fascinated with films by GVM or Mani Ratnam, so of course, I will want to watch Ponniyin Selvan and Vendhu Thaninthadhu Kaadu. I wasn’t a big fan of ARR’S work in Ahmed Khan’s Lakeer, so colour me unsurprised when I say I didn’t enjoy Heropanti 2.
Given all this, the last thing I want to feel about entertainment is a chore. I strongly feel that discussions about entertainment can be nice to have, but they could turn sour, especially on social media. So I just feel it’s best for me to just read/watch and move on with my day.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Sri Prabhuram : And to add, you are not supposed to trust a reviewer anyway. That’s not the reviewer’s job. They are not vouching for the ‘product’. But that’s something that’s completely lost here. The golden age of ‘text’ reviews in India lasted all of two decades, starting with where the internet provided the space for more expansive conversations and ending where people chose toxic fights on social media instead. At least until there’s a second new golden age someday, never say never!
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Karthik
July 22, 2022
People don’t watch the same films at the same time. Chances of discussion are much lower.
There is a lot more consumption of non fiction than fiction. Things about and around a film have become as, if not more, important than what’s in the film.
Earlier, even for films we didn’t watch, the written review was an art in itself; you just had to respond to it. Today, they seem more functional. (Stating without judgement)
I still watch a lot of films, and your reviews+blog comments continue to greatly inform my choices of films to watch. And if anything, my frequency of commenting has increased over the years.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Great points, Karthik.
As you said, the non fiction aspect. Reminds me of P Vasu’s quip during the NEPV audio launch that he never knew you could have a script for the audio launch itself (he used the industry term first cut). Also, react videos may possibly get more videos than the OG video itself!
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Maybe not all the points he mentions apply to India but a lot do. People ARE still going to the movies either physically or on OTT but it’s hard to get the payoff you need from a corpse and you’d think the studios would want to make it exciting for us to watch rather than exciting for them to count the notes…
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vijay
July 22, 2022
“Over the two-odd decades this blog has existed, that it itself a major change.”
2 decades is a long time oldie..were you tweeting one liners on movies 2 decades back? were you watching them on OTT? were you churning out more video promos and video reviews than writeups back then? Along with everything else, the blog and its comments space has evolved as well..what else do you expect..I am guessing a lot of folks here wait for a few weeks or months to catch films on OTT and inevitably the discussion is around the film rather than about it..
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Nappinai (@Nappinai2)
July 22, 2022
I visit this blog regularly but I don’t comment often because mostly what I have to say has been said already. The Gray Man thread was really an exception. It’s also true that I don’t watch many films or at least not as much as I used to. Earlier I used to watch a lot of Hindi films but in the past few years I must have seen just 3-4 in total. A lot of the content I have watched recently and would have liked to comment on have been series – Suzhal, Panchayat, Family Man 2, Decoupled etc.
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abishekspeare
July 22, 2022
Some thoughts i had :
-The variety of content people watch has increased so we’re all watching different stuff at the same time
-BR reducing his presence in the comments section has reduced incentive to comment
-Writing a comment for a written review was easier than writing a comment for a video review
-A lot of comments have become more argument-oriented than discussion-oriented
-Big movies get more comments because people watch them as soon as they’re released in a theatre
-The habit of people taking time to write has reduced , just like for reading
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Madan
July 22, 2022
I think most of us participating in the blog space – even those who didn’t cry in anguish when he moved to FC – just don’t have the same engagement with the video reviews. Since the question of around movies rather than about came up, I actually have watched far more of BR’s interviews and masterclasses since FC days and now as well rather than the video reviews. I get that video is the thing now, totally. But it’s not for me. It’s hard to be as expressive in a video review as in a written one at least for those who started out with the latter. With the ones who ARE natural speakers, well maybe not in all cases but in many, empty vessel syndrome applies. Because critiquing art has an analytical aspect to it even when you do it from a self acknowledged subjective perspective and that’s hard to translate in a non boring Wat with video. At least without using lots of images and footage from the movie, which is what TriedandRefused does to make them at least moderately engaging.
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Yajiv
July 22, 2022
“(Maybe along with reading, writing is vanishing, too.)”
ahem Didn’t someone move from print journalism to Youtube videos? 😉
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ivan
July 22, 2022
So much going on here nowdays (reviews, interviews, stories), so challenging to keep up with your pace. So much so that movies released one week ago seems like older releases. Not saying this out of any disrespect but the layout of the comment section is antiquated, threaded would be convenient.
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Naren
July 22, 2022
Madan – Cudn’t help yourself, cud u?! Hoisting the sanctity of this space by dumping it on someone else and absolving urself by projecting an image of plurality at the same time. Can’t have it both ways man. Besides, posts on liberalism vs facism beckons relevant comments. Did u expect a movie review/commentary there?! Discussions on movies, not just in front of the camera but behind too, beckons relevant comments. These things wud inevitably bring in the culture wars. This is an open “cultural” playground. I simply don’t understand why such wide arrays of discussions wud turn people away. BTW, BR posted a #askbr or a reaction to YouTube comments IIRC and he mentioned a couple of movies there. I commented on one of them and then some. But no response there too. Maybe people didn’t c it or maybe the expectations from a #askbr or a reaction session is something else . . . cud b a plethora of reasons.
As for me not commenting on local movies . . . they tend to blend for me. Most of the movies here r targeted towards a specific demography and hence the outcome’s askew. They more or less keep churning the same thing again and again. I cud talk about
1.How Vikram was ridiculously long with copious filler scenes.
2.How the characters took their own sweet time in the battleground to perform CPR on a dying baby. Apparently only one character can do that even in such a situation.
3.How Kamal’s M2 Browning scene distinctly reminded me of Rambo 4 . . . only slowed down and much less graphic.
4.How Fahad Faasil’s character fizzled out after the capture of Vijay Sethupathi’s character as though there was never a revenge motive.
5.How Vijay Sethupathi’s character was unnecessarily built up and grossly misrepresented.
6.How Surya’s character at the end was rather lunatic than villainous. I’d have settled even for psychotic.
I cud go on and on about this movie alone but haven’t we done this before for a lot of other movies. Maybe it’s just me but this is all I c mostly, with some accidental positives that r negligible in comparison. It’s not just Tamil movies . . . Revathi’s Bhoothakaalam . . . the basic underlying storyline of the female’s mysterious mother dying and then things happening in the house . . . that’s Ari Aster’s Hereditary. We can talk about how this storyline has been treated in both cases but Bhoothakaalam wud end up getting pummelled by me where I wud b talking about similar shortcomings that r happening in movies here, irrespective of the genre/language/industry.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Naren : You were not part of the discussions I speak of so there is no need for you to feel targeted. The timeline was before where you came in. I know by name some regulars who stopped posting because of it. On ‘both sides’ of the aisle. I didn’t make any comment on whether it was wrong for these discussions to have happened but just as you are free to have these discussions, others are also free to disengage feeling that it’s too toxic for them. I think the fact that my even handed comment about it still provoked such a strong reaction from you says it all. Side choose na problem, side choose pannalena problem, internet discussion is now a circus tupaaki. If some people say this is where I get off, that is their choice and you can’t beseech them to come back and endure the punishment.
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Naren
July 22, 2022
Madan – Speaking in generalities does create confusion. I’m very well aware that free speech is not equivalent to forced listening. That wasn’t my point at all. It’s the sacrosanct undertones that I’m targeting.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Naren : There was no sacrosanct undertone. I simply said some regulars left during those culture wars which I know for a fact because they said so while disengaging. I said I am putting it out there without assigning blame. I was pretty crystal clear. Making a film blog space political is a choice and a choice has consequences, period. If you somehow manage to take umbrage even when you were neither called out by name nor was the blog subset you may identify with blamed, I really can’t help it. That’s for you to sort out why you found it so provocative.
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MANK
July 22, 2022
I don’t watch new films that much anymore. Very rarely a new film piques my interest. I still watch a lot of films, but they are old ones-pre-millennial. Most of the films that are made today are not to my liking. I still like many new films coming out in Malayalam , but most of them i prefer to watch on OTT. these days mostly I like watching and rewatching the films that were made up to the ’90s, especially Hollywood films. i find that much more satisfying. I also like writing about films from that era. and from my blog stats i have realized that there are more readers for pieces on films from ’60s, ’70s and ’80s than any of today’s films. So that’s also an incentive. I guess there are a lot of people like me, who are very passionate about films, but who are not amused by films made today and are more interested in discussing films of the past. Also, i am not the boy\man i was 10 years ago, i have lot more professional and personal responsibilities which leaves me very little time for commenting here. It amazes me that there was a time when i used to average 5 to 10 comments a day, and i would regularly top the year-end list of most prolific commenters on this blog. That seems to be in another life now.
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Kasthuri
July 22, 2022
I think i am watching the movies long after the buzz has fizzled out (i.e. when they come online). And then ofcourse, I still come to read the review and other comments here but it feels pointless to leave a comment months or years after it has released.
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brangan
July 22, 2022
abishekspeare: Best comment.
BR reducing his presence in the comments section has reduced incentive to comment
Because a lot of comments don’t seem to be about the film. As you say, “A lot of comments have become more argument-oriented than discussion-oriented..” I don’t have much to contribute in these,,.
Writing a comment for a written review was easier than writing a comment for a video review
You don’t have to watch the video. The written review is right there. 🙂 I am writing as much as I did in FC — 3-4 reviews a week sometimes.
Maybe what you are really saying is that people don’t want to CLICK and go to the written review on the site and then CLICK BACK to come and comment here. Fair enough.
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Rahul
July 22, 2022
Lately, with movies released on OTT, people are watching at their own pace. Like I watched Saani Kaayidham last week,, I have thoughts but I know it is not being actively discussed on this blog.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Apropos the previous discussion, just to be crystal clear, before somebody else takes umbrage again. I am not saying BR made this space political. But because BR does not moderate what we discuss on, the loudest voices have decided the direction of blog threads. That’s just how it is. I have participated in those political discussions too and would do so again. But I also know that many opted out and can empathize with that choice.
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Rahul
July 22, 2022
I think the original hypothesis that people are watching fewer movies is correct. For example, apart from all the content released on the OTT platforms, there are a few youtube channels that I watch regularly.
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sanjana
July 22, 2022
I am watching more movies than before because of ott. Before, I used to watch one or two movies per year! Same case with many of my friends and relatives. Theatres had their day and now it is ott.
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Naren
July 22, 2022
I suggested script treatment and movie comparisons for edification, in the #askbr/YT reaction post that I mentioned before. Reader participation on something other than just textual reviews might stimulate more engagement along with more of BR’s involvement in the commentary. We need not reach the farthest point of obscurity but as MANK mentioned we cud dig up old movies once in a while, that haven’t been explored before.
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Deepika
July 22, 2022
I am relatively a young member here. @Kay: Sorry, for taking up the space!
But, to add, earlier with FC, I would watch alllll the reviews of movies whether or not I would end up watching that Tamil film, but not so when the reviews are pan-Indian as is the case with GP.
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Kasthuri
July 22, 2022
I agree with someone’s proposal above of a threaded comments section. That way, comments/agruments/discussions between a small group of individuals does not bother the others who want fresh views and perspectives.
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Naren
July 22, 2022
Kasthuri: WordPress does inherently offer a threaded commentary similar to Reddit. U just have to click on “Reply” and comment instead of posting as a separate comment. That creates an individual thread. But don’t u think that the microcosmic comments/arguments/discussions r contextual to the premise as long as they don’t veer into obscurity?! I think deep dives doesn’t inherently call for pseudo separatism simply for the sake of easier traversal to the suggestive parts.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
I second Kasthuri’s idea. I was going to say as well that reply works on my blog where it’s hardly required, hehe. But here it would take care of the loudest voices syndrome…to an extent. I don’t think even with nested comments, it would be nearly as elegant as YT or FB where the replies to a comment just get wrapped. Er, in saying that, I am aware that on average YT or FB are way noisier than this forum but I suppose that reflects the kind of participants it attracts, as with other blogs, and not due to the wrapping or nesting function.
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Akhilan
July 22, 2022
For me personally, I too like Madan have never really been an avid watcher of movies in the theaters. I used to at least try and catch some of the big ticket movies be it Tamil/Hindi/English in the theater during my time in Singapore, but after moving to Oslo a few years ago that’s no longer the case. Needless to say, it is more expensive here and in addition, not all of the movies I might be interested in are screened here anyway. Second, perhaps bigger reason is OTT. I watch way more TV series now than I do movies. TV series to me are much more satisfying as a fully-fleshed out product and hence they pique my interest significantly more than movies do. Thirdly, I do second with a few others’ comments that this space has become more confrontational and intimidating at least for me. They are some really strong voices here, and hence, that makes it more difficult to feel heard sometimes. I am quite afraid of being attacked or sounding “dum” here, and it’s really hard at times to have a reasonable, respectful discussion/back and forth with someone. So I just prefer to be quiet and not comment.
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Raj
July 22, 2022
I don’t comment in this blog often, but I agree with a lot of the responses.
Over the last couple of years, my preferences have changed from movies to shows. All the good shows are very well written and executed, and this keeps me invested in the characters and the plot. And there are a lot of these shows…
Movies aren’t bad, but their quality has definitely gone down. With theater profits dwindling, it seems producers are unwilling to experiment with new ideas. It’s either rehash of old scripts or sequels/reboots. Plus a lot of movies seem more interested in pandering to everybody that they forget to entertain us.
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ivan
July 22, 2022
Frankly, not ‘cool’ to watch under hyped movies right away and thus no incentives for commenting on them. How about you doing a midyear post on underrated movies of this year – based on the comments, we can know if people are not watching such movies or if it’s a matter of time.
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Satya
July 22, 2022
If movie watching is the equivalent of high functioning to calm one’s mind from all the shit they go through and feel frustrated otherwise (which I am sure is a possibility), there would be a breaking point. If movie watching is an interest / worship / career, some films just don’t offer anything to say not only when they suck but also when they are great. Like say, how BR liked The Power of the Dog, but didn’t review it. And then there are films which don’t make you speak just out of sheer indifference – my experience in recent times was Major and Thor: Love and Thunder.
This indifference is also part of revisits, not only the first time watches in theatres. Indian cinema, for its mixture of genres, have patrons in revisit for specific parts alone. See the search results for comedy scenes in YouTube, where we see compilation of comedy scenes from a 2.5 hour movie, and that compilation is more than one hour long and has great views than the film itself. Some wish to just revisit the songs – we will offer individual tracks and jukeboxes. Similarly films are cut into 12/13 parts and uploaded as such, and these have a value too, because one can watch specific stretches they like or could watch it like they did once in Doordarshan, episode wise.
Adding the forever fluctuating ticket prices and poor marketing, it is fine enough that not many want to frequent films in any medium unless they are in the mood for it. And even more fine that they don’t want to talk about them, because the experience is everything. Rarely we see films like Kaatru Veliyidai or NGK, which have more to talk about the muscles beyond the bones, or an Arjun Reddy, where every reaction is about the bone and no regard for the muscle at all. I can’t expect such reactions for, say, a Laabam?
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madhusudhan194
July 22, 2022
As many commenters have said here, people don’t watch as many movies anymore or their priorities are now different. For instance, I was expecting more comments on Mahaan thread particularly from big Vikram fans of this blog – Mank, Jeeva etc. And it’s a big film.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
I didn’t even notice Mahaan coming and going. It suddenly feels like a deluge of films. Actually the number of films isn’t that much more but it’s the ready access to regional films with subtitles, a plethora of series and great non fiction content on YouTube which I am personally quite addicted to. It’s like Mumbai Pune expressway of today vs 20 years back.
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tonks
July 22, 2022
I do watch a lot of movies on my mobile, and this blog and its comment section still helps me re define what I saw. Unfortunately the movies I see may not be featured here sometimes, and the movie has to really move me, before I can summon up the time and enthusiasm to write about it. I also think the change from written reviews to videos has changed the character of the comment section. Not necessarily in a good way.
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
July 22, 2022
More a lurker than a commenter here – but want to say that:
(a) I read almost everything on this blog except for reviews of movies I REALLY want to watch and haven’t yet done so (one of my favourite things to do here is to come back to the review after having watched the movie)
(b) I continue to watch a lot of the videos, especially interviews that BR does + longer analyses: don’t comment here because it’s just too much to switch back to the video and post something
(c) On the smaller films not getting comments, I think this is partly also because there is SO MUCH content out there that it is impossible to keep track … There’s much more going around today than there ever was, so we are all watching different – niche – things.
In some ways, if the move from DD to cable was the first big revolution – and was the first time Indians began watching different things on TV – we are living through the second one, wrt OTT …
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Rahini David
July 22, 2022
For me the main difference between say 2013-2017 and Jul 2022 is that I used to go to an office and the interests of team mates and bus mates and lunch mates affected my interest and I carried that to the blog. Now I work from home and the tastes and interest of others don’t shape my decision in media consumption anymore.
Also, I did not have a smart phone pre-2014. So I would listen to mp3/radio during the commute, read a short library book on a weekend and also go to a movie once a month. I may borrow a DVD/pen-drive if someone convinces me that it is a good print
I think it was 2017-2018 when mobile data became very affordable. Quickly I was subscribing to YouTube channels by the dozen. Cover musicians, standup comedians, speed painters and such like.
Playing online games on silent while listening to audiobooks was also a possibility that did not exist even a short while ago. I’d not have thought that it would be a satisfying way to spend my time, but it is now my primary entertainment.
Slowly sitting with a movie seemed much less appetizing and that habit has stuck.
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Cholan Raje
July 22, 2022
Can’t speak for other people, but getting more time and freedom to browse the Internet alongside the increasing accessibility of songs and video games have ensured I don’t need to rely on films for entertainment anymore. I also don’t enjoy sitting in one place for over an hour, which is why I’m not crazy about movies in general (although I’m extremely crazy about the ones I consider above 8/10).
I’ll only watch movies if I have absolutely nothing else to do, which is rare, or if the movie gets extremely high praise.
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ivan
July 22, 2022
People have shorter attention span + unlimited options now, unless you can keep them engaged, people don’t care about your movies and will walk away.
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Aman Basha
July 22, 2022
I am boycotting Galatta Plus, which claims itself to be a pan India channel but will not provide subtitles for its Tamil interviews with popular directors like Lokesh Kanagaraj or Nayanthara’s husband. I will bomb the comment section if the Kamal gala interview doesn’t have subtitles.
(PS: My man looks dapper 😉
Please give subtitles or I will start a change petition.
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anonymousviolin20
July 22, 2022
I second whoever had the idea of making a mid year post (maybe even a quarterly post) about underrated movies.
I also agree with the reasoning that now not everyone is watching the same thing at the same time, so creating a post like that would allow for simultaneous engagement since you can expect that a reasonable number of people would’ve seen the films by now.
My other problem is that I tend to watch a lot of older movies now (90s-2000s), and I really wish the FC flashback/askBR for older movies was brought back for commenting. And of course, the videos themselves were pretty nice. I loved watching the videos on Vishwaroopam and Thevar Magan
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ivan
July 22, 2022
Wow BR you made my day with both the event and your never seen before avatar 🙂 Claps!
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karzzexped
July 22, 2022
Boss – I’ve been following you since your newspaper-critique days. Being a mere teenager back then and having had exposure to reviews only from Tamizh weeklys like Vikatan or Kunkumam, your perspective was a breath of fresh air, although, I really could not understand a word of it 😝 I then discovered your blog and the rest is history.
It’s been 13 years since that movie released (I’m 28 now) and I’ve come to see major shifts both in how art and the critique around it has had a tectonic shift.
Thiruttu VCDs and DVDs slowly mutated into Kickass Torrents and YTS movies and I got introduced into this whole new world of ‘World Cinema’. My college days studying Visual Communication was the best. I virtually spent all my days watching only movies, saving up on my pocket money to catch movies in theatres and binging on TV series like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones in my laptop.
I never really left any movie behind. I could vividly remember watching Nagaraja Cholan MA (the sequel) in a dingy theatre with no AC, standing up! Meanwhile, I saw critiquing secretly have an affair with YouTube and Twitter giving birth to Reviews. Why are these people talking about cinema? I used to rant to my friends. Who gave them the license to spoil a film while fucking watching it? – I would mumble under my breath.
I hated the fact that the cinema theatre would begin to look like a concert where specks of lights lit up soon as the screen did. It irritated me, my sacred theatrical experience was officially adulterated. I’m one of the few living relics who doesn’t have a FB, Twitter or even a WhatsApp account. I hated social media and I secretly despised what it was doing to movies!
But I digress, this isn’t about me. It’s about us, this blog and how far things have come. Yes, you were one of the last, living old guards who weathered the digital storm. But hey, the storm become such a massive uprising that even you had to stay relevant. And then came Film Companion South. I was still okay with you writing your reviews first and then reading them out in your videos.
But somehow, somewhere, Netflix, Prime and Disney + came and then suddenly OTTs became my sacred safe space. No buggering, no fucking talking, no white-screen madness next to me, no calls-with managers from a random audience.
But I still crave the experience, and that’s why going to a theatre has become this ‘experience’ for me. Before it was the norm. Your written reviews were the norm. But now it’s not the case.
Things have changed.
You have changed. Your wardrobe game has changed. You’ve gone – for the lack of a better word – Mainstream. But hey,
You are who you are. And movies are still movies to me.
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Rambo
July 22, 2022
Too many movies, too little time – actually too little attention span. I see there are lots of movie specific comments on blockbuster films or mass hero films because a lot of folks ends up watching it around the time the review post stays relevant. As others have said, a lot of other films, I get around to watching OTT a while later and the review post is long since become dated. You do find a lot of film specific comments even when you see reader posts recalling older films. So I third the suggestion of having maybe a mid-year or once a quarter post that lists the top films in the previous the months (from BR’s point of view) and that would elicit a lot more film specific comments. Till then, I just grab the popcorn and read the comment section for entertaining arguments.
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Ravi K
July 22, 2022
I’m not usually able to see the smaller films right when they come out, since they’re either playing at a theater far from me, or they don’t play at a theater in my area at all. By the time I see them, the discussion here is done. And the way this site is set up, people don’t usually see new comments to old articles. It’s not like a forum where you can see what threads are most recently commented on.
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vishal yogin
July 22, 2022
Very much a noob compared to everyone else on here because I only began watching more than casually post 2016, and I only stick to the big screen. So I haven’t watched enough to participate in commenting besides saying, that was wow.
Maybe BR should write a post on how noobs like me can sort of catch up?
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Voldemort
July 22, 2022
For some reason my comments arent getting posted at all.
I try to post a comment and then it doesn’t get posted, and I try again a few times, only for the same thing to happen. Anyone else facing the same issue?
I intended to post this today morning –
Madan : Maybe people dived too deeply into the internet and social media world during lockdowns and don’t have the energy to participate in the same way as before
I think so too. Remember what a lot of Readers’ Write In’s we had back then?
Sri Prabhuram : As someone who will be pursuing my MBA within a few months, I tend to have a lot commitments related to my education and I have to prioritize those commitments as high as I can for the next few years. I wasn’t able to watch highly anticipated movies …
I’m sailing in a similar boat myself. Personal commitments have been sky high lately and I didn’t even visit this blog once for the past 4-5 months until very recently. (I used to be really active before. Even if I didn’t comment, I’d at least read all the reviews, watch all the videos and read all the comments, and also go back and read archives of earlier reviews) You said exactly what I was going to say, lol. Good luck to you! 😀
I also think a lot of the long-time regulars aren’t as active as they were before because they don’t watch many new movies. MANK has said this above, I also remember Rahini David and(/or) Anu Warrier mentioning the same in some other threads.
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Voldemortt
July 22, 2022
I posted a long comment here this morning. It seems to not appear. Facing this issue for the past few days. Can anyone suggest what’s to be done?
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Rahini David
July 22, 2022
“It’s not like a forum where you can see what threads are most recently commented on?””
What? That is how I have been following the comments for a decade. And you can certainly go to an older thread, comment on it and see it come alive. People do that with reasonable regularity.
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Rahini David
July 22, 2022
Voldemort: Whenever I comment I keep the text in clipboard and try again if I notice it isn’t appearing immediately. They do get lost once in awhile. Can’t help it.
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Madan
July 22, 2022
Voldemort : To riff on MANK’s point, when I watch Zodiac or Gone Girl and feel almost to a level of certainty that something like that isn’t going to be made for a long, long time, it does reduce the level of engagement for me. It’s like saying we should all go back to diesel locos on electric sections and then have the temerity to paint that as some futuristic development. Going back to late 90s, I have been much more into Hollywood than Indian cinema as far as new films go but not only is it the other way round now, I am way more disappointed with where Hollywood is at than even Bolly and there’s nothing to be disappointed about South cinema finally getting a nationwide spotlight. I haven’t watched a new English film now in a year or more. Last was I Care A Lot which had a brilliant concept and somehow managed to still make a hash of it and waste Dinklage.
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Rahini David
July 22, 2022
Also, after a long day I would prefer a known series over a new movie as the characters are familiar and I can just visit just one more day in the life of a Chicago Med doctor or a Detective like Adrian Monk. I know what I am going to get. So it is a bit comforting.
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Santa
July 23, 2022
My TV viewing has gone down considerably (just too many things going on between life, family, and work; hence, too little time for TV). But precisely because of that, a larger percentage of that time is now spent on films since I cannot will myself into getting involved in a series that will last 6 seasons with 20+ episodes per season. The 100+ hours of time commitment required for that just scares me off. An occasional 2 hour movie, on the other hand, is just fine.
As for commenting, I’ve been a frequent visitor to this blog, but rather infrequent commenter. I usually watch films several weeks or months after their release and at that point it doesn’t make sense to post a comment on a months old review.
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praneshp
July 23, 2022
@Voldemortt: same problem, but it was good for me; I had name-called a few commenters which wasn’t really necessary.
To answer the question I stopped coming here for movie reviews when brangan went to video, and these days I seem to read them on galatta (no specific reason, just happened).
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Jayram
July 23, 2022
Like everyone else has said, I do watch films but mostly weeks or months after their release and there’s really no need to comment on a months old review. I don’t have a FOMO or FDFS mentality nowadays and I take my time to find and watch films. The only new recently released movies I’ve watched are Mahaan, Jalsa, part of Kadisi Vivasayi, Maaran, the Adam Project, the Lost City and part of Vikram and I’ve already written about the first two. I still come and read the reviews, except for the films I would like to watch later on.
I don’t have a big need to comment all the time and would rather comment on movies and music that matter to me. Despite the vitriolic confrontations this blog has faced throughout the years, I still find something new to learn each day here whether it’s about form vs content (either in films or writing) or through the #AskBR now QnA or the BRArchives. Thanks for hosting this space and please keep moving forward, BR.
All the best on your MBA, Sri Prabhuram. And MANK, though you’re greatly missed, please take care of your responsibilities and come back whenever you can.
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Iswarya V
July 23, 2022
Along with all the factors others mentioned, there were always fans here of BR’s writing itself and not always the subject discussed. That section, I guess, has almost fallen silent because somehow the style, pace, and depth of the writing seem to have changed. (No judgement, of course.)
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ivan
July 23, 2022
Iswarya: I think you hit the nail on the head 🙂
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ivan
July 23, 2022
Iswarya V: You hit the nail on the head 🙂
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Enigma
July 23, 2022
I do watch movies but BR normally does not review the ones that I watch. I also don’t have access to Tamil movies other than the ones on Netflix, so I don’t get to see a majority of the movies reviewed here.
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madhusudhan194
July 23, 2022
Talking about people not watching films anymore, Shamshera seems to have opened to poor numbers. Despite the aggressive promotions, why hasn’t Bollywood got even a single big opening post pandemic? Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiya 2 didn’t open well either and grew by word of mouth. Karan Johar recently said the era of stardom is gone. He was generalizing but it seems to fit perfectly for the Hindi film actors. If Ranbir, with a fairly credible line of work can’t get a decent opening, what hope do others have?
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aani
July 23, 2022
Come on BR, this space is a lot more silent because you switched to video reviews. Your “written review” is most times a transcript of the video and is so much shorter and less satisfying than before. You also don’t engage on the blog much. You’ve changed and hence the blog changed.
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brangan
July 23, 2022
aani:Your “written review” is most times a transcript of the video
No no. The video review is the “read aloud” version of the written review. How can I “talk” about a film if I don’t think about it and put down those thoughts as a written review first?
You may find I have become a poorer writer, and that is okay. But I am only talking about the process. The writing always is first.
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Madan
July 23, 2022
BR: I didn’t check your Gray Man video but the written review did have the touch of old. Even if you wrote it for a video speakable format, it still had a prose like quality in many places with superb metaphors.
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vijay
July 23, 2022
..another difference I can think of from 2 decades back is that more other-language regional films(besides Tamil and Hindi) are being reviewed in a jiffy these days with this PAN India coverage and many of us here dont really watch all of them, atleast not immediately..so those comment spaces are going to be relatively quiet as well..Earlier it was mostly a Tamil/Hindi affair with occasional Hollywood reviews. Talking of which, Hollywood film reviews seem to have come down in number as well.
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Enigma
July 23, 2022
Back around 2008, when I started reading BR’s reviews, I remember he would cover all Hindi movies and a sizeable number of Hollywood movies too. I remember the Inception blog, some great analysis and comments, both above and below the line. Now the focus is more on South Indian language movies.
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ivan
July 23, 2022
“so much shorter and less satisfying…poorer writer ”
No no, just a concise writer now. Your writing was entertaining, intriguing, and educational for ESL learners like me back in the day. You always had something to say that merits the length. Now, it leaves us wanting more 🙂
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Cholan Raje
July 23, 2022
Seconding ivan, your writing doesn’t have the same level of wordplay or experimentation, probably because you’re trying more to interest those “padam nalla iruka illaya?” audiences in your reviews.
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aani
July 23, 2022
You’re certainly not a poorer writer but compare your recent reviews with anything from 4 years ago – they were much longer and more in depth. I don’t know – it’s just very different now. You probably don’t have the time to do those anymore, considering your commitments.
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Naren
July 23, 2022
BR, the overall implication across the board seems to b that u r becoming more and more corporatised by the day. I’d have to agree with one aspect that ur reviews r not as edgy these days. I mean some edgy humour or a scathing retort . . . when necessary of course. It’s one thing to point out the positive aspects of a movie which cud help with the business but the stupidity/BS need proper treatment too. I think thumbing the nose cud help with the improvement of the movie. Otherwise it’d b just the fanbase demography that’d b driving the market.
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Indira Ambur
July 23, 2022
I stopped watching regional cinema years ago, it just doesn’t interest me anymore.and the films I watch and like are never discussed here.I do have a weird taste in movies !
Comments or no comments, you know we all admire/ love/respect you a lot,BR. You know that, right ?
So with that in mind , am I allowed to ask you …is this what midlife crisis looks like?
Or a writer’s block ? You seem to be everywhere these days … as long as it’s making you happy , do as you please !
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brangan
July 23, 2022
Indira Ambur: Hahaha, thank you for the love. But alas, my midlife crisis isn’t this. Writing about cinema is about two things: writing and cinema. But my love for writing is getting fulfilled through screenplays, so I guess the review style has changed to something more functional.
But I like to believe that the “cinema” part remains unchanged. I think I still analyse films the way I used to. I point put subtext and metaphor in the MALAYANKUNJU review, for instance.
So as a reviewer, I am still doing my job — but yes, perhaps less so as a writer.
And to whoever said I do not review Hindi films, I certainly do. I try for at least one a week.
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kaizokukeshav
July 24, 2022
People do watch films. But now we have access to tons of alternative media like…. Vlogs(household and travel), documentaries, kids series, anime, cooking videos, web series, breaking news, cat videos, idiots in cars, crappy competitions, blah blah…. why would some one just go and watch a movie until it has the ability to carve a name out of itself.
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ivar
July 24, 2022
Since there is so much stuff available to watch on the net, I don’t seem to have the patience to sit through full length feature films. My patience level is so low that I seem to want to fast forward even a 30 second shorts on you tube!!
The only thing that can make me sit through a film is a solid good actor. If I am convinced that an actor has cracked open a window to his heart and is making me witness an extremely private emotion on screen to the point of me getting second-hand embarrassment for him for baring himself emotionally on camera…..is when I am hooked and can watch without forwarding the movie.
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Devi
July 25, 2022
Seconding some other comments on the thread, would be nice to see more Telugu movie reviews from you BR. Was expecting to see a review of Ante Sundaraniki at least since you reviewed Nami and Nazriya at least after it became available on Netflix earlier this month.
I feel like Telugu indie movies are sometimes overlooked on this blog in comparison to other languages.
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H. Prasanna
July 25, 2022
This is still my go-to place for serious commenting on films that aren’t seriously commented about, say a pulikuthi pandi or etharkum thuninthavan. At least since I started commenting, I don’t find you or the blog itself has changed in that sense. I do find an occasional thread in which they write about movies/aspects of movies that are not taken seriously.
Having said that, the commenting around bigger/highly analysed movies have been about the periphery of cinema than the cinema itself.
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sanjana
July 25, 2022
As for comments, there are still comments flowing for some threads.
First it was only BR, BR with focus only on his written reviews. Then the focus shifted to myriad things. The blog became everything except what it was once.
“Jaane kahan gaye woh din kahan”
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ItsVerySimple
July 25, 2022
Glad you addressed this. I used to enjoy the comment space very much a few years ago but these days, I almost know there will be hardly any comment about the movie or any comment from people who have watched the film. The comments section has morphed into a discussion board for mostly old-timers, who pick one aspect or one comment and go on a tangent. (I am not saying they shouldn’t – it is fun/informative to read some of these discussions). I have read so much of their views that I almost know how and where the discussion will head sometimes. There is no much incentive these days to look at the comments section.
But when you frame it as – does anyone watch films anymore? – that makes me think. I suspect may be the loyal readers of this blog don’t really catch up with new releases that much or very quickly. But otherwise, people watch a LOT more films these days. May be a bit more mindlessly but I see on Twitter (let’s say from TN itself) people who ardently watch films from all over the world. A bunch of them watch all new releases as quickly as possible, solely to participate in the discourse or understand the memes before the timeline moves to the next film – it is a form of currency now. I don’t find much discussion though – they are all tailored tweet-length thoughts with an air of finality that almost discourages discussions.
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sanjay
July 25, 2022
Obviously, movies and theaters are not going anywhere and will remain part of our eco system as some call it group therapy of human emotions. But off late heading to movies has become the last thing on human mind unless there is something truly outstanding or screaming to experience the larger than life experience.
Hindi movies are on another planet altogether and its now that they are paying the price for nepotism and the fruits are visible all over. Hardly any individual standing out who is unrelated to someone from the industry, Unfortunately movie making funds are now in the hands of these monkeys who will keep pushing a Jahnvi or Arjun Kapoor and for god sake what is Sunny Deol’s obsession in shoving a pimpled wooden Karan Deol to movies? He does not even have the consequential Deol looks so why can’t he join some other part of filmmaking if movies are his bread and butter. Then there are so called movie shenanigans like Karan Johar with serious identity crisis where they want to be all over the entertainment universe and try to control everything they can lay their hands on and name and fame is being used for all the wrong reasons.
Include that with vicious political atmosphere where the real worth of these celebrities is clearly exposed. It is pretty clear Bollywood thrives on perception driven stardom so the image plays a huge part so now a spinelessness Aamir is clearly engaged in saving his own skin than standing up for what is right so clearly there are fewer takers to his LSC and Satyamev Jayat if he does not have the balls to call things out in society for what they are. I mean how the eff can a SRK convince u to be a Pathan where he was made minced meat by Modi- Shah and their govt henchmen where they easily kidnapped his son and put him jail for a month for no rhyme or reason and the guy cannot even utter a simple statement out of fear. There are umpteen instances and one can go on and on….hence the Hindi audience is trying to draw some courage from the Pushpas and KGF where the fairly unknown hero is actually saying FU to the system and to the govt….. so, they head in droves there to take our their frustrations of life.Rest everything is so bleak at the moment….
There are other usual reasons too and main one being Covid which has exposed us to better content online and on TV. Just the YouTube universe and watching real life Vlogs is more exciting than going to movies where too much is known beforehand on the complete mechanics of the project being made hence the novelty factor is missing. There is repetition galore, and people will not waste any more money on these worthless stars where ticket prices are steep and lets face the fact India is poorer than a decade back.
Personally I would rather watch Superstar singer 2 on TV where a Arunati , Faiz , Mani and Samaira are the real talent rather head to an excruciatingly bad action flick Shamshera that inflicts 3 hr torture in the Mumbai rains.
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sanjana
July 26, 2022
Discretion is better than valour. South stars can get away easily voicing opinions but big bollywood stars better mind their films than jumping into unnecessary controversies which will lead to nowhere.
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madhusudhan194
July 26, 2022
I don’t know if its true that South stars get away easily by voicing opinions. Kamal has been a perennial soft target of many Hindu fringe groups in TN. He was tortured left, right and centre by the ADMK before Virumaandi and Viswaroopam released. Even Vijay faced it before Kaavalan and Thalaivaa. Both of them got into trouble making needless political statements. Probably in Vijay’s case it was his father who had a big mouth. H Raja went after Vijay for a for what was a shockingly stupid dialogue about GST in Mersal.
In Bollywood, Aamir and SRK are targeted primarily because of their religion. Salman, like Vijay, barely says anything of substance even for these fringe groups to take him seriously. I can understand why people like SRK and Aamir want to tread cautiously because they have so much to lose. Perhaps Bollywood faces it more maybe because the number of extremist fringe groups quietly supported by the Government are more up north than the south. Unlike the south, the Hindi speaking belt is majorly controlled by the BJP government. And Bollywood is a soft target for these groups. I am sure these groups are also particular about who they target so they get maximum attention. Perhaps names like Yash and Allu Arjun are not big enough for them to target.
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Madan
July 26, 2022
It’s also that because ‘South’ is a new world for many who never watched Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam/Kannada films before lockdown, the justice for SSR crowd turns a blind eye to the nepotism prevalent in South film industries too.
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Rahini David
July 26, 2022
Please name this a Bitty Rumination for old times sake, BR.
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Nappinai (@Nappinai2)
July 26, 2022
What’s happening within this blog is also a reflection of broader narratives, no? This is at least true for Bollywood to some extent. I don’t think the industry takes film making seriously enough to put the craft above everything else.
A case in point is Anupama Chopra’s review of Rocketry where she started by saying this is a Hindu-national film. As a film critic it’s interesting she chose that line as her lead in, not anything about the merit of the film itself. It prompted Madhavan to reply that’s disappointing because the film is reflective of who Nambi Narayan is in real life.
Similarly when YRF dropped the poster for Shudh Singh, twitter perceived it as anti-Hindu and called for a boycott. It was unfortunate because that was the most widespread reaction to the promos, nothing related to the story, the director etc. It didn’t help when the press and RK’s PR kept peddling his marriage and impending parenthood more than the story of the film itself. So, it’s not surprising that Shamshera bombed. It’s clearly not because of bad content because to determine that you need footfalls to start with. For whatever reason, audiences had predetermined not to watch the film.
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Dora
July 28, 2022
Long time reader here. I watch a lot of movies. I would love to participate in the comments section of your blog for two reasons – you are a wonderful critic and your readers are very knowledgeable about cinema.
However, I have reduced my participation in the comments section because –
1. I consume your video reviews on YouTube rather than reading them on filmcompanion and coming back here to comment
2. Sometimes, a movie’s comments section gets taken over by a couple of readers who engage in a spirited debate. Mostly, the debate is not even directly about the movie but more about some social issue that the movie touches on. I respect such debates, the only downside is, some of the comments regarding the movie get buried and I find myself scrolling away. It would be great if your blog had the ability to show Reddit style nested comments, where people can engage in specific sub conversations. This way, debates can happen and interested readers can always engage in that, while other readers can focus on conversations around movie related specifics
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shaviswa
July 28, 2022
Honestly, I am not too eager to watch films these days. I hardly switch the telly on and I have not been to a cinema hall in years now.
The reason could be that films are more agenda driven these days. And even when you have a solid story, you see people painting it with their own colours – case to point is the Ponniyin Selvan trailer. People interpret the trailer based on their own prejudices and not willing to wait to see what the film has.
IMO my interest in films has definitely dwindled over the last few years – I come here to read some of the interesting discussions – especially on music and Ilaiyaraja. 🙂
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Madan
July 28, 2022
On a less gloomy note, who all have seen Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nope and who all are planning to when it releases in India? These are the two Hollywood films so far this year that I am looking forward to.
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shaviswa
July 28, 2022
On a lighter note, we are still looking forward to your review of “The Legend” 😀 😀 😀
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Satya
July 28, 2022
I liked Multiverse of Madness, so Everything Everywhere All At Once is surely on my wishlist.
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KayKay
July 28, 2022
“On a less gloomy note, who all have seen Everything Everywhere All At Once”
I did, and let me get the biggest gripe off my chest first:
Too.Fucking.Long!
If you’re going to string me along for 140 mins, then it better be in the service of leading up to some mind-blowing revelatory insight, not the much-trod territory of “families are messy, but they’re worth it” and then proceed to ponderously hammer that point over and over again past the point of tedium.
Having said that, damn if this film didn’t touch my nerves and fire off the synapses linked to my typically Asian upbringing. That scene where Yeoh is basically fat-shaming her daughter in the parking lot hit me hard, triggering unpleasant adolescent flashbacks to my mum basically telling her friends, my friends, our relatives and everyone within earshot how her “fat son” was “lazy, lacks initiative, hardly studies and can’t even go out for a walk even though he’s getting larger”. That particular malady of Asian parents of a generation and their utter inability to communicate with their children without nitpicking every single perceived flaw in their personality is just brilliantly conveyed in this film. And Yeoh, given her best role in years, is just sublime, her face conveying frustration, resignation, love, bafflement, fear and regret so subtly she makes you feel everything she’s experiencing. I know it’s practically a cliche by now to suggest a performance deserves at least a Nomination, but I’ll go right ahead and say that in a just world, Yeoh should get a Best Actress nod at least for her role here.
But that’s not to say Mr.Round comes up…Short. Quan is the real revelation here. Just when you think he’s doing the harried, hapless hubby so well, he breaks out some prime Jackie Chan moves and when that’s barely sunk in, here he is giving off Tony Leung-levels of smoldering charisma in a film made by auteurs so attuned to Asian Cinema they can reference both POLICE STORY and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE fluidly within a single film while both respecting one of it’s premier Female Stars’ acting talent and acknowledging her Action Iconography at the same time. Mad props to the Daniels!
Shave 30 mins off this and this could easily be hands down, my favorite movie of the year. But as it stands, this is still a wildly entertaining, frequently wacky, gleefully irreverent and periodically touching film not to mention the Multiverse Flick which we may not need, but sure as hell deserve.
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Madan
July 28, 2022
Thanks, KayKay! Consider me sold. From what I have read about the concept, it’s so intriguing I want to see it just for that.
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Kaushik Bhattacharya
July 29, 2022
I’m a long time reader but very infrequent commenter here.
Personally (as someone who watches films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali), I find the biggest challenge to be the sheer volume of new films, especially with OTT nowadays. So most of the time, I haven’t watched a film by the time BR has reviewed it and by the time I have watched it, I don’t find myself coming back and commenting.
On the rare occasion that I have watched something new relatively quickly (like Suzhal, although it’s not a film), BR hasn’t reviewed it 🙂
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krishikari
July 29, 2022
I just watched Tovino Thomas and Dharshana Rajendran in Dear Friend but I don’t see a review for it here. This happens a lot, there are so many films coming out (a good thing!) but we are not all watching the same ones.
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brangan
July 29, 2022
Kaushik Bhattacharya: Yeah, “sheer volume” is right. I pick a few big (or small but important) films and review them, but last week for instance, I could not review SHAMSHERA. The point is not whether it is good/bad. The point is that it is a big masala film and I just LOVE analysing masala-movie structure.
But I got stuck in Mumbai for the Dhanush/Russo brothers event, and another interview, and then Sudha Kongara and then Rathna Kumar and then another interview. And this week it is out of most theatres.
Playing review catch-up is hard because now now I have this week’s lot 🙂
But still, I prefer this (reviews + interviews) to doing only reviews. That would get far too monotonous. 🙂
PS: If you guys want me to open a page for something big — say, SUZHAL — let me know. So you can discuss even if I don’t have a review up.
And I will also look up settings and see if nested comments are possible
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Rahini David
July 29, 2022
Personally I always found nested comments a pain even in a thread 200 strong. Nested comments are easier when you visit a post after a period of time and go through each topic’s thread. When I see that there are 3 new comments in an active thread it so much easier to just read the last 3.
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vijay
July 29, 2022
does anyone read and respond to your kannada film reviews? Maybe you can ‘sacrifice’ a film or two there and review a couple of Hollywood biggies..for instance, this one seems to have had a solo comment wondering why you havent reviewed shamshera yet..:-)
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sanjana
July 29, 2022
I read Kannada film reviews of BR. There are silent readers like me who respond once in a while. Please dont discontinue kannada movie reviews.
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MANK
July 29, 2022
Boss, you had tried nested comments before it did not work. you had to change back to this format. That’s not conducive for this kind of thread.
Actually a thread on Shamshera would be fine. you can also chime in your thoughts instead of a full fledged review. ill also put in a few thoughts of mine
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Madan
July 29, 2022
sanjana : Likewise I have read some of his Kannada reviews like Ondre Mottaiyin Kathai (apologies if I spelt it wrong) though I didn’t watch them yet. There are enough guys reviewing Holly movies so even though I enjoy reading BR’s perspective on them, if it comes down to a choice, I would rather he write about a South language film.
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Spandana
July 29, 2022
Basically what Rahini said about nested comments. Not a fan.
Is there a way to number comments? Way easier to pickup where one left off and refer/reply to older comments.
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rsylviana
July 29, 2022
@MANK – I’m curious to know, why didn’t the nested comments work on the blog?Is it because people kept starting separate threads for the same topic or people were commenting on the incorrect threads? I’m a fan of the nested comments/threaded chat in my professional chat messenger because its easier to track the various topics of discussion and pick up easily where each discussion was left off. So my hunch is it should make it easier for our blog too since we tend to have extended discussions on the several peripheral topics surrounding a movie and have a host of regulars plus newcomers and surfers alike but I get that people would be more careful about internet etiquette when it comes to their professional sphere than their personal one.
Nevertheless, I get Rahini’s point about it being easier to read the recent comments when its a revived post.
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MANK
July 29, 2022
the thing i remember was that it was very difficult to track the latest comments. even Brangan was finding it difficult to locate them. since he was also moderating them at the time it was hell for him. There was some layout issues also i think, i don’t clearly remember. but it was a miserable experience and after experimenting for some days it was back to this format .
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Enna koduka sir pera
July 29, 2022
It’s too much content for me as well – but I love collecting a list of Malayalam movies to watch and try to watch most of them. BR is the only reviewer I have followed so far and it is through this blog that I came to know of so many of those gems. But, since he may not be reviewing every good Malayalam movie that comes out due to the reasons he mentioned above (and I almost missed Jan-e-man last year – what a fantastically funny film it was!), does anyone have any suggestions for other good Malayalam movie reviewers in English (I don’t understand Malayalam)? (Sorry BR to use your space to find other reviewers :grimacing:)
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rabie
July 29, 2022
yes for shamshera thread, most interesting hindi masala in a long time
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Vikram s
July 30, 2022
BR, please don’t discontinue Kannada reviews regardless of what some of the comments say. I look forward to your Kannada reviews as much as I look for your other language reviews. besides, since when is the comments section the sole barometer..
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Kaushik Bhattacharya
August 4, 2022
Agree with the request to continue Kannada reviews from some of the others here. BR is my only source of info about Kannada films given that almost no one else I know watches them which means that I don’t even get any word of mouth recommendations (apart from the likes of KGF which create big news). Avane Srimannarayana for example was one of the most fun watches I had during the pandemic and it was all thanks to the review here!
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krishikari
August 6, 2022
@BR PS: If you guys want me to open a page for something big — say, SUZHAL — let me know. So you can discuss even if I don’t have a review up.
This would be great. Not just for series (like Imtiaz Ali’s SHE – its kind of great but is it also sexploitation?) and for films you haven’t reviewed, documentaries, etc.. Please and thank you. I would really like to recommend and discuss a fantastic documentary: Navalny on Netflix about Russian opposition leader now in prison. Even if you know nothing about Russian politics this is a great watch. Emotional too.
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asvmf002
August 7, 2022
@BR – I have been an avid reader and follower of you / your writing for 10+ years now.
Till date, I have barely commented or participated on something. For the simple reason that the UI is not conducive.
This space is a thriving community of like minded people. Why not consider something on lines of a Slack or Discord group ?
Will take care of threads, you can share both video as well as other links, etc.
A few of us (long time fans) could help with basic setting up, rollout & mgmt too.
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Karthik
August 21, 2022
On a less gloomy note, who all have seen Everything Everywhere All At Once
this is still a wildly entertaining, frequently wacky, gleefully irreverent and periodically touching film
Good God! What an ADHD fueled explosion of wild wacky imagination Everything Everywhere was! Right from the setup, the scenes just relentlessly burst with creative energy. This was literally a dozen different movies rolled into one. In any other film, I might have been yanked out with all the film references, but here everything just fits.
Too.Fucking.Long!
If you’re going to string me along for 140 mins, then it better be in the service of leading up to some mind-blowing revelatory insight, not the much-trod territory of “families are messy, but they’re worth it” and then proceed to ponderously hammer that point over and over again past the point of tedium.
Yeah, it was slightly longer than I would have liked too. The film was skyrocketing till it reached the “rocks” segment (which was just wow!) And then, it kind of dropped down and just orbited along, as you say, the much-trod territory. I wasn’t exactly expecting a big revelatory insight, and at some level you knew the sappy sweetness was lurking. But I did groan a bit through the extended kungfu kattipudi-vaidyam portion (crazily inventive though a lot of it was). In general though, I thought the film did a supreme job of weaving together sentiment and breakneck action, better than any movie I can think of in recent times, and all three actors pitched their performance so perfectly (and somebody should just give the Oscar to Michelle Yeoh already!). I loved how it all came together in the final parking lot scene.
not to mention the Multiverse Flick which we may not need, but sure as hell deserve.
Yep! Compared to this riotous riveting rager, the other one turned out to be a high school geography teacher who wears a name tag to class.
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Madan
August 21, 2022
Thanks Karthik! Well, I am certainly looking forward to its release in Sept now. I guess PS is coming out in Sept too? And maybe, maybe Brahmastra will be a worthwhile one as well. Dharma does need very badly for it to be a megahit.
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