Un-kvlt Year in Review 2022 (Movies) - Ep 03

This is Episode 03 of the Un-kvlt retrospective of movies from 2022, where I conclude with the movies that I really liked from last year (See Ep 01 HERE and Ep 02 HERE). I intend to devote the next set of episodes to lower tier movies, that were either decent or outright sucked. Please leave your feedback to let me know if you think it's worthwhile.

Click on the video link to watch the video of Episode 03 or scroll down to the transcript below if you prefer to read:

Movies I was pleased with:

Atrangi Re (Hindi, Hotstar)

Anand L Rai's Atrangi Re treads some similar lines of glamorized treatment of mental illness and delusion that Imtiaz Ali's Tamasha did. But where Tamasha seemed to be wholly buried up its own ass, Atrangi Re, even though it had some serious flaws, just worked for me. It turned out to be one of the best 'Bollywood' masala movies made in recent times. Sincere performances, committed direction and a genuinely extraordinary score from AR Rahman. I totally agree with the end credits which mark out the film as a truly creative collaboration of the main crew. Just keep all your expectations of real world logic at the door...or further away.

Kimi (English, Prime)

In a career that began more than 30 years ago Steven Soderbergh has made a feature film almost every year, and unlikely for a big Hollywood director, he frequently doubles up as DoP and editor for many of his movies. Kimi is Soderbergh's "virtual windows" wink-wink homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. This is a fun  watch, with Zoe Kravitz making for a credibly tenacious heroine. By giving her near superpowers towards the climax, the film loses some of its tension. But it's still worth the streaming, which is in my view how one should watch a cutting-edge thriller like this, not at cinemas or on ancient disc formats.

Kooman aka The Night Rider (Malayalam, Prime)

This is the new thriller  from Jeethu Joseph, the man behind the Drishyam films. It's rather fun. The plot primarily deals with a cop who decides to moonlight as a burglar purely for the purpose of humiliating his senior colleagues. But very soon this burglar cop is being blackmailed by an unknown entity. A good amount of intrigue is generated in these sequences The last half hour goes into some absurd left-field material, and how much you dig it depends on you, but while I did have a certain "Whatever, man!" sentiment, it remained overall enjoyable and worth the watch.

Avatar: The Way of Water (English)

Avatar 2 is pretty much what I expected it would be. Storywise, it's stodgy and contrived. But James Cameron once again shows why, even in the age of the MCU, he is still king of the large scale technological spectacle. Staying true to the original design, the rendered visuals are seamless with the live action, showing impeccable fluidity and texture. The film's several action scenes are masterfully captured, with no shortcuts or confused edits. The visuals here ARE the story, and a gorgeous experience they make. I was engrossed enough in the world of Avatar 2 to not hugely mind its shortcomings in script and characters, and I wouldn't mind watching it again, on a bigger screen. (Reviewed on this site HERE)