The new season is off to a strong start, with a new setting, and a powerful antagonist to rival Reacher in every way possible

Reacher season 3(3.5 / 5)

Living a nomadic life might be an alluring fantasy for a lot of us. With nothing to tie us down, going from place to place, meeting different people, hearing their stories and, most of all, being a hero who saves the day. Reacher season 3 creates a world where Jack Reacher lives out the audience’s escapist dream of being a nomad. In the new season, Reacher moves on from its “airport novel” roots to a suave, cinematic thriller. Interestingly, the story begins with our protagonist getting into the rug business.

Creator: Nick Santora

Cast: Alan Ritchson, Sonya Cassidy, Johnny Berchtold, Olivier Richters, Brian Tee, Anthony Michael Hall, Daniel David Stewart

What sets Season 3 apart from the previous seasons is the fact that it takes the notion of ‘there are no small parts’ and populates its world with intriguing characters. It evolves from the previous seasons as a character-driven story rather than a story with several characters. Every character we meet has an impact on the story, on other characters, and sometimes even on us. The focused execution makes sure that we even remember the extras in certain scenes and makes us curious to learn the fate of all characters.

In season 3, Reacher finds himself against an antagonist who is his equal in both physical and mental capacity. Olivier Richters has, quite literally, an imposing presence on the show that overshadows Alan Ritchson. Richters, as Paulie, is worthy enough to be the unstoppable force that challenges Reacher’s immovable grit. Sonya Cassidy as Susan Duffy becomes Reacher’s competition on an intrinsic level with an approach that rivals Reacher’s directness. However, it is Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold) who challenges Reacher’s guarded persona and evolves his character arc to the next level.

Reacher’s stoic demeanour adds to the intrigue while every episode marches on like a soldier on a parade ground, with calculated precision. Even though the Reacher is minimally expressive and the story does not call for it much, Alan Ritchson manages to deliver a performance that is impactful. With the rest of the season on the way, one can only hope season 3 rivals its predecessors.

News Credit : Cinema Express

A Complete Unknown Review: It is a film that mirrors its subject – distant, elusive, and impossible to fully grasp. But it’s also one that, much like Dylan’s music, lingers long after the credits roll.

New Delhi: Bob Dylan is one of those figures who seems to exist beyond the realm of full understanding, a living enigma whose voice transcends the boundaries of music and culture.

James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown grapples with this very complexity, offering a glimpse into the world of the young Bob Dylan, but never quite unraveling the mystery of the man himself.

This isn’t a conventional biopic, and it certainly doesn’t attempt to decode the elusive genius that Dylan became, but rather it captures a fleeting moment in the early 1960s – when a seemingly unknown folk singer transformed into the voice of a generation.

At its core, A Complete Unknown focuses on Dylan’s arrival in New York City in 1961, a pivotal year in the singer-songwriter’s journey to becoming a cultural icon.

The film chronicles Dylan’s early days in the Greenwich Village folk scene, his growing sense of disillusionment and the struggles he faced as fame enveloped him. Played by Timothee Chalamet in a performance that is as electric as the music it evokes, Dylan is portrayed with an authenticity that doesn’t attempt to imitate, but rather inhabits the spirit of the artist.

His portrayal is less about mimicry and more about channeling Dylan’s essence-a raw, introspective energy that seems to crackle with the intensity of his songwriting and the pain of his isolation. His voice, rough and impassioned, is a revelation, capturing the nasality of Dylan’s early sound while imbuing it with his own energy.

Timothee doesn’t just sing Dylan’s songs; he makes them his own, and in doing so, creates a magnetic, unforgettable presence that holds the film together.

The film doesn’t shy away from the contradictions within Dylan’s character. It examines his aloofness, his discomfort with fame, and his tendency to push away those closest to him. His relationships with Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) are portrayed with tender complexity, as both women try to make sense of their connection to a man who seems perpetually out of reach.

While Baez is a steady presence in Dylan’s life, their dynamic is ultimately one of friction, as his growing celebrity and artistic ambitions strain their romantic and musical partnership.

Barbaro captures the quiet strength and vulnerability of Baez, whose own career is cast into shadow by Dylan’s rise. Fanning, on the other hand, portrays Sylvie with a kind of fragility that underscores the inevitable heartbreak her character endures.

What A Complete Unknown excels at is capturing the spirit of the era-the raw energy of the folk movement, the cultural upheaval, and the political tensions that shaped the music of the time.

The film’s portrayal of the village, with its dimly lit coffeehouses and rebellious youth, feels alive with possibility. There’s a palpable sense of the optimism and urgency that defined the early 1960s, as young artists and activists, like Dylan, began to push back against the norms of their time.

The cinematography, handled by Phedon Papamichael, is as much a character in the film as the actors themselves, with its grainy textures and vibrant Kodachrome colors evoking the period in a way that feels both authentic and cinematic.

The set design, from Dylan’s messy apartment to the vibrant folk clubs, gives the film an immersive quality, grounding it in the specific time and place that birthed some of Dylan’s most famous works.

Yet, while the music is undoubtedly the film’s beating heart, it is also here that the film stumbles slightly. The performances – Timothee’s renditions of Dylan’s songs and the other musical moments – are stirring and expertly done.

But the film occasionally feels repetitive, as if it is trapped in a cycle of Dylan’s alienation and resistance to fame. The repeated images of Dylan on his motorcycle, sunglasses obscuring his eyes, hiding from the world that admires him, begin to feel somewhat monotonous.

There’s a sense that the film could delve deeper into the emotional complexity of Dylan’s relationships and the personal toll of his rapid rise to fame, but instead, it remains somewhat distant, much like its central figure.

The film’s title, A Complete Unknown, is fitting in some ways, as Dylan’s true self remains as elusive in this film as it was in life. The script, based on Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric, touches on key moments in Dylan’s evolution, including his famous 1965 performance at the Newport Folk Festival, where he famously “went electric,” shocking his folk audience.

But this moment comes late in the narrative, and while it’s a crucial turning point in Dylan’s career, it is handled almost as an afterthought – more of a coda than the culmination of the film’s story.

The film’s reluctance to delve too deeply into the emotional or philosophical motivations behind Dylan’s musical evolution, or the reasons why he chose to defy his folk roots, leaves the narrative feeling slightly unfocused in places.

Despite its structural flaws, A Complete Unknown succeeds in offering an evocative, immersive look at the music and the world from which Dylan’s genius emerged. The folk music scene in Greenwich Village is captured with meticulous detail, from the student protests to the grassroots activism, all of which played a part in the formation of the music that defined a generation. The production design and costumes work in harmony to bring the period to life, never drawing attention to themselves but instead grounding the film in a world that feels both lived-in and timeless.

At its heart, this is a film about the cost of genius and the loneliness that often accompanies it. Dylan’s greatest gift was his ability to channel the anger, hope, and confusion of a generation into his songs. But the film doesn’t shy away from the fact that this gift came at a personal cost – his inability to form meaningful, lasting relationships and his detachment from the world around him. This is a portrait of a man who, despite all his success, remained profoundly alone, always searching for something that remained just out of reach.

In the end, A Complete Unknown is a film that mirrors its subject -distant, elusive, and impossible to fully grasp. But it’s also one that, much like Dylan’s music, lingers long after the credits roll. It’s a love letter to an era, to a man, and to the music that shaped a cultural revolution. While it may not provide all the answers, it captures the spirit of the times, the music, and the man at its heart, making it a deeply satisfying experience for anyone who has ever been touched by Bob Dylan’s music.

Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning

Director: James Mangold

News Credit : NDTV Movies

Quick take: The Brutalist is a testimony to the sufferings immigrants go through. Adrien Brody gives another award-worthy performance.

Critic’s rating 4.5/5

What do we, as Indians, know of the immigrant experience? My own family migrated from Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, in 1947. My grandfather and father saw the kind of horrors unfold during that journey which can’t be described. Those scars never quite went away. They often spoke of being treated as outsiders in their own country. Refugee became a derogatory word. It took a lot of time for them to set up roots again and accept their new reality, move on. So many connections got lost during the transition…

The Brutalist tells the fictional story of a Hungarian-Jewish architect, László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a concentration camp survivor, who gets a chance to emigrate to America in 1947. His wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and orphaned niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) are still stuck in Europe. He pines for them and even takes to heroin abuse to assuage his pain. He’s shown writing long letters to them, penning down his pain with brutal honesty. The letters become a diary of sorts of his seclusion. Later, we discover that due to their suffering in wartime, Erzsébet is confined to a wheelchair from osteoporosis caused by famine, and Zsófia is unable to speak. At first he stays with his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), a furniture showroom owner and Attila’s Catholic wife, Audrey (Emma Laird) but later he’s asked to go away. He can’t find white collar jobs and is forced to work as an odd jobs man. His only friend is Gordon (Isaach De Bankolé), a Black American who has been cast solely to show how the Jewish community found solidarity with the Black community in America. He longs for a second chance and finds it in the person of Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), a self-obsessed millionaire who wants to create a landmark building, comprising a library, theater, gymnasium, and a chapel. It’s to be dedicated to the memory of his late mother and be a public place open to the people of Pennsylvania.

Van Buren is a collector and perhaps a Holocaust survivor is his latest acquisition. He’s both repulsed and fascinated by Tóth, aware of his genius but also wary of his alienness. In one particular scene, he compares the architect to a shoeshine boy, throwing a coin at him and then demanding back that coin, showcasing America’s contradictory attitudes towards the immigrants. Van Buren’s entitled son, Harry Lee Van Buren (Joe Alwyn), tells Tóth that while they tolerate him, they can never be his friends. The truth hits home during the climax, when the relationship between Van Buren and Tóth goes totally downhill. The scene is a brutal reminder of how the capitalist society can literally screw the immigrants whenever they feel like as they know there won’t be any repercussions. Ironically, it’s something actually going on in America right now. Another real-life political event which the film hints at is the formation of the state of Israel. Tóth’s niece and her fiance feel it’s the duty of every jew to go to the new nation and be part of its building process, a theory which he doesn’t hold true to. There have always been hardliners when it comes to Israel and those differences have remained till now.

Disclaimer: There was no Hungarian-Jewish architect, called László Tóth in reality. Though Adrien Brody’s life-like performance may convince you otherwise. He has played a Holocaust survivor before in The Pianist (2002), which indeed was based on the life of Polish-Jewish pianist, composer and Holocaust survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman. Brody has perhaps unconsciously drawn upon his earlier role to achieve the nuances required. He won an Oscar for it and looks like a strong contender this year as well. That said, it’s very much true that thousands of Hungarian Jews were persecuted during World War II by Nazi forces. Some indeed migrated to America and slowly built a home for themselves there. Brutalism is a form of architecture. Brutalism insists that buildings should serve a clear purpose for the humans who use them. At the end, we learn that Tóth’s inspiration for the Van Buren institute were his and his wife’s barracks from their concentration camp. It was his way of giving an epitaph to the Nazi horrors. Kudos to production designer Judy Becker, whose colossal architectural pieces make the film and the central character feel real. The film was shot using the VistaVision process and cameras that involves shooting horizontally on 35mm film stock. Seeing the finished product on an IMAX screen makes for a haunting experience indeed. Cinematographer Lol Crawley has produced a visual masterpiece that can be savoured for its photography alone.

If we can find a complaint about The Brutalist, it is that it focuses solely on László Tóth’s character without going in depth about the experiences his wife and niece went through. Surely the female perspective too needed to be brought out. Erzsébet is an Oxford educated journalist but we only see her as a frustrated wife of a troubled genius, which in itself is a much abused trope. Felicity Jones, despite the restrictions, is in fine form here as Erzsébet and knocks your socks off in the climax scene through her performance. Guy Pearce has given a career defining role as Harrison Van Buren. You’ll love to hate him for what he does to Tóth. What can we say about Adrien Brody? He has given us another moving homage to the human condition. His László Tóth never loses grace or dignity even as he struggles with despair and loss. His ambition to craft something new and make his mark upon a foreign land is clear even on the darkest of days.

The film is 3 hours and 34 minutes long and has an inbuilt, timed interval of 15 minutes. However, it’s unlikely you’ll get bored, despite the long run time. Watch The Brutalist for the performances and for its political commentary. It’s trying to say a great many things and will require a rewatch and discussions to assimilate them all.

News Credit : filmfare.com

Nickel Boys Review : A sensitive and impactful story undermined by its experimental approach

Synopsis

Inspired by the tragic events at the Dozier School, where over a hundred Black boys were murdered in 1973, ‘Nickel Boys’ is a heartbreaking film that leaves a deep impact.

Critic’s Rating: 3.5/5

Story: Elwood Curtis, a bright black teenager, is sent to a reform school where he and his friend Turner suffer terrible abuse. Their attempt to escape ends in tragedy.

Review: Based on the novel ‘The Nickel Boys’ by Booker Prize winner Colson Whitehead, ‘Nickel Boys’ is a historical drama set in late 1960s America. Through the journey of two boys, it explores themes of the Civil Rights Movement and brilliantly depicts the horrors Black students faced at reform schools during that era. The film is shot from a first-person perspective, with the camera acting as the protagonist’s eyes—viewers hear him more than they see him. This unconventional style may take time to adjust to and could feel jarring or distracting, especially for those unfamiliar with it. While the film delivers a gritty and powerful story, its unique filming approach may limit its appeal.

The plot follows Elwood Curtis (Ethan Cole Sharp & Ethan Herisse), a bright African American student in Tallahassee, Florida, raised by his grandmother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) and inspired by the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. Encouraged by his teacher, he applies for a free college course. On his way there, he accepts a ride from a man driving a stolen car. Before reaching his destination, the police arrest them, mistakenly identifying Elwood as an accomplice. He is sent to Nickel Academy, a reform school where corruption, racism, and brutality thrive, with a clear divide between White and Black students. There, he befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson), a cynical boy who sees the world differently. Desperate to escape the Academy’s cruelty, Elwood hatches a plan, and Turner joins him—but things take a tragic turn. In the film’s final moments, a shocking twist is revealed.

Inspired by the tragic events at the Dozier School, where over a hundred Black boys were murdered in 1973, ‘Nickel Boys’ is a heartbreaking film that leaves a deep impact, especially through the characters of Elwood and Turner. Director RaMell Ross handles the sensitive subject matter with great care, and the screenplay effectively conveys the boys’ trauma and inner conflict. However, certain scenes—like images of NASA and an alligator roaming the road—feel abstract and difficult to interpret. The film is rich in symbolism, but it offers little explanation, making some moments tough to decipher. Rather than relying on experimental storytelling, Ross might have been better served by focusing on the raw power of the story itself.

The film stands out thanks to its strong performances. Both Ethan Cole Sharp (as young Elwood) and Ethan Herisse (as adult Elwood) deliver restrained and deeply moving portrayals of Elwood Curtis, conveying his pain and resilience through subtle expressions and voice work. As Turner, Brandon Wilson provides excellent support, embodying a cynicism that serves as a survival mechanism. However, the standout performance comes from Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Elwood’s devoted grandmother. One of the film’s most powerful moments is when she visits Nickel Academy, is denied access to Elwood, and then shares a heartbreaking encounter with Turner, asking for a hug. It’s a deeply emotional scene, elevated by Ellis-Taylor’s exceptional talent. ‘Nickel Boys’ is a compelling film, but it might have been even stronger without its experimental approach.

News Credit : Times of India