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Review: Documentary on Greg Maddux's Life and Career Tells 'One of a Kind' Story

Harrison smajovits | 3 hours ago.

• Atlanta Braves
• Chicago Cubs

Atlanta Braves fans will get the opportunity to go down memory lane when “One of Kind,” which tells the story of hall of fame starting pitcher Greg Maddux airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST on MLB Network.

I had the opportunity to preview it ahead of its release. As someone who didn't get to experience his career - he had retired when I was young and was inducted into the Hall of Fame when I was in high school - getting to see the story of his career told by Maddux and those who got to see it was intriguing.

I’ve seen the stats and highlights, I’ve heard the term pitching a “Maddux” plenty, and I’ve seen the joke about him painting a house but he only paints the corners a dozen times - a very clever joke, by the way. 

But to get the sit-down interviews and get the background on his upbringing and hearing the stories from the clubhouse is a whole different experience. Now, they told what they were willing to tell on TV - and even then, they managed to push the envelope. In an attempt to not spoil the story for first-time viewers, prepare to be stunned a couple times, but rest assured, you’ll be left laughing and entertained. 

It was indeed a “One of Kind” story about one of the most talked about arms in baseball history. The Vegas-themed aesthetic that paid tribute to the town he spent part of his upbringing in and still resides today was a nice touch. 

Longtime Braves fans will get a burst of nostalgia when the legendary rotation of the 1990s - Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz - sits together and talk about the glory days.

One of the top moments of the show is when Barry Bonds joins the show. It’s nice to see Bonds get some appreciation. It’s obvious as to why we haven’t seen much of him in these MLB specials, but we’re at a point where a good chunk of baseball fandom is now more nostalgic for his career. There is a public call for putting him in the hall these days. This would have been unthinkable in 2007. Times are changing. 

Getting to see Maddux and Bonds discuss the intricacies of their matchups is a gem of a moment for those who love to pick the brains of the greats. 

If there was one added detail for this doc, it would have been they added more to the discussion of whether Maddux or Bonds would be an Atlanta Braves come 1993. It’s mentioned briefly in the doc, before, logically, focusing on Maddux signing with the Braves.

The reason for wanting to see more is Bonds could have been a Braves a couple times. There was almost a trade with the Pirates before the 1992 season. Clearly, there was also another opportunity because they even mentioned there is one big contract, and it would have been either Bonds or Maddux. Just would have been nice to get Bonds’ thoughts on the whole thing with Maddux being part of the context. 

But if that’s the biggest critique, a lot was done right. “One of Kind” is a fun watch for baseball fans that’s packed with tidbits and highlights from start to finish. For those who want to continue the trip down memory lane, there will be a broadcast of a dominant outing by Maddux that will air following the documentary. 

“One of a Kind” will air on MLB Network on Sunday at 8 p.m.  

HARRISON SMAJOVITS

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hell Hole’ on Shudder, a Lo-fi Splatter-Creature Body-Horror Movie

Where to stream:.

• Hell Hole (2024)

Is ‘Longlegs’ Based on A True Story?

‘longlegs’ comes to digital, but will ‘longlegs’ be streaming on hulu, stream it or skip it: ‘terror tuesday: extreme’ on netflix, a thai horror anthology based on a popular radio show, stream it or skip it: ‘immaculate’ on hulu, a horror outing that finds sydney sweeney in the habit of delivering dread.

Husband-and-wife filmmaking duo Toby Poser and John Adams garnered a following after their 2021 lo-fi horror outing Hellbender broke through to genre enthusiasts. Their latest is Hell Hole (now streaming on Shudder), a super-gloopy horror-comedy that boasts more budget than their previous films, although it’s still primitive enough that the ledger is surely a few zeroes away from matching the catering budget of a shitty Netflix action movie. And that can be a charming aesthetic for a movie that exists to toss-’n’-splat corn-syrup gore like kids with water balloons on the Fourth of July. The question is whether Poser and Adams can keep our attention for a fairly simplistic 89-minute exercise in invasive body horror. 

HELL HOLE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: TITLE CARD: 1814. SERBIAN TERRITORY. Two members of Napoleon’s army are lost in the forest when they encounter a woman who gifts them with a horse that soon explodes in a bloom of viscera to reveal a rather rapey multi-tentacled special effect that has its way with these guys – after we cut away, thank gawd. SOME TIME LATER: It’s the age of trucks now, because John (Adams) stands next to one. He and Emily (Poser) head a small crew of frackers on a quest for whatever energy source lurks beneath the Serbian soil. It’s also the age of the internet, not that you can get it out here in the middle of nowhere, where an old Soviet Bloc building sits, a decaying husk of a nod to a mostly dead communist age. Well, dead enough that Americans like John and Emily can show up and be capitalists, at the expense of the environment. So it goes.

There’s a bit of a, shall we say, dynamic here, though. Sofija (Olivera Perunicic) and Nikola (Aleksandr Trmcic) are on site because endangered rabbits live in this patch of cold godforsaken woods, and nobody wants to see cute widdle bunnies get fracked, right? Maybe if you’re not a frickin fracker. We eventually learn that Sofija is an expert in parasitology, which we’ll soon learn is all too applicable to the situation. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves – we have lots of tedious dialogue to get through before we reach the part where the creature we saw in the cold open emerges in an explosion of stewey-gooey guts. 

A key character her is Teddy (Maximum Portman), Emily’s nephew, who cooks for the crew,  and might be showing romantic interest in Sofija. They stand by as the crew digs up one of the French soldiers (Marko Filipovic), who happens to still be alive after 200 years because he’s the functioning host for the beast. Thus kickstarted is the plot, which consists of the following: Multiple scenes in which John and Emily talk to each other, and Emily and Teddy talk to each other, and the workers talk with Emily, and the workers talk to each other, and the scientists talk with Emily, and Sofija talks weirdly gleefully about parasites, and Nikola talks about how the creature – which invades body cavities and eventually kills its host in a burst of bloody spew that’ll leave one half-leg standing there in a pool of bowels and slop – shouldn’t be killed, but rather, studied. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of talking in this movie. And not enough action.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Hell Hole references a few enduring touchstones: The Thing , Alien , The Evil Dead . It also made me think of The Void , a similar shoestring horror cheapie from 2018 that does the maximum-effort-with-minimum-money thing in a far more engaging fashion.

Performance Worth Watching: Portman is the standout here, in that he generally seems to be more at ease with reciting dull dialogue than the rest of the cast. 

Memorable Dialogue: An example of the tryhard comedy on hand, via Emily: “I haven’t soaked a tampon in years. Now I just use ’em to plug my nose when I gotta deal with turds like you.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Creature features inevitably make us antsy, as we sit through the talky stuff to get to the good stuff. Hell, even Jaws has a remarkably small amount of shark action. But the key is to inject the talky stuff with energy, through witty dialogue and/or compelling characters, and then deliver a suspenseful climactic shebang. Hell Hole doesn’t do that. It drones on with a turgid script, a cast of limited charisma and a directorial style that far too often props two characters within a static frame and has them talk at each other. Consider our patience tested, as the movie threatens to wear out its welcome before the brief spurts of action even begin. (At least there’s some gooey practical effects at play here, although the use of chintzy CG is more of a winking nudge, like, isn’t it hilarious how crappy this looks? )  

Which is to say, the dynamic is off – the dull shit-to-fun shit ratio is way out of whack. Scripters Adams, Poser and Lulu Adams apparently intend to tease reveals and I-think-the-creature’s- growing developments by having their scientist characters blather on about the adaptive wonders of a species of octopus, residue from which they find among the slop that’s left of some of their fellow characters. You’ll gut out such overlong moments with your arms crossed, thinking, the payoff better be good – and then your patience is never really rewarded (especially with that vague non-ending). There’s not much tension here, and the characters are too bland to root for, whether you want to see them survive the big third-act gorefest, or succumb to it. Sometimes, this type of barely-a-budget endeavor has its charms, but Hell Hole really struggles to supersede its limitations.

Our Call: SKIP IT. A lot of blablabla doesn’t necessarily torpedo a movie, but in Hell Hole , it’s just blah. Same goes for the creature effects, scares, kills and comedy.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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My Dear Donga Movie Review: A character-driven comedy-drama that is endearing and dry in equal measures

My dear donga ( 2.5 / 5).

Films centred around underdog protagonists are not uncommon. Just a few weeks ago, we revelled in the stumbling attempts of Sachin in  Premalu , as he struggled to find love and a direction in life. More often than not, these characters have something going for them. They come with quirks that set them apart. The more imperfect they are, the more interesting their journey becomes.

Director: B S Sarwagna Kumar

Cast: Abhinav Gomatam, Shalini Kondepudi, Divya Sripada, Nikhil Gajula, Sashaank Manduri

Streamer: AHA Sujatha (Shalini Kondepudi), the protagonist of  My Dear Donga , does not belong to that club. She is just… a regular young woman. She has nearly made peace with playing second fiddle in her own life, despite her penchant for breaking the fourth wall regularly with her inner monologues. Her ordinariness stands out more so because, for a large portion of the first half, we see her play second fiddle in other people’s lives as well. That gaze is undeniably palpable in the film's early scenes, like when her best friend Bujji (Divya Sripada) gets a proposal or when Sujatha catches her boyfriend Vishal lying to her.  It’s only when we see Sujatha seated in front of a television, getting all emotional in the privacy of her home, hearing a song from a Mani Ratnam movie, that we first see her in her own world, being her true self. Amidst all the well-timed humour, the pathos of Sujatha rings true, and Shalini Kondepudi sells us the portrayal of this plain Jane prototype, who has nothing going for her.

  So when Sujatha, an emotionally anxious copywriter, gets a uniquely surprising visit on her birthday eve—from a small-time thief named Suresh (Abhinav Gomatam), big changes in her life follow as he ends up becoming an integral component of her life. Little vignettes of conversational humour keep  My Dear Donga  on its toes. In an outrageous moment, as Sujatha and Suresh bond over their similar past of dealing with a distant father figure, the talk ascends to a point where they begin to wonder if their father is indeed the same person. As they utter different names at once, Suresh breathes a sigh of relief. The tragedy instantly defuses into comedy, as they realise they too have something to be grateful for, despite nursing such wounded pasts.

Despite these moments and many scenes with madcap energy, it takes you little time to manoeuvre a film like  My Dear Donga , which is not the sitcom it promised to be, but instead a tender coming-of-age story, where our protagonist Sujatha finally becomes the main character of her own life after an absurdly chance encounter with a stranger. The unfortunate part is that the film fails to find a sweet spot between its humour and poignance. My Dear Donga  surprises us by not going for a conventionally affirmative ending when we know where things are headed. It’s a brave choice to wrap up the narrative the way Shalini does here. The scenes get easier on the laughs and focuses more on emotional resolutions when it’s time for Sujatha to find a little steadiness in her life. The humour takes a backseat, both for Sujatha and the viewers. We just know Sujatha is a different person now, and we can only be grateful for it.  But again, a switch between humour and warmth is not an easy one, and  My Dear Donga  constantly tumbles as it tries to hit the right note. We find ourselves in conflict on whether to surrender to the film’s gentleness or be put off by its rickety staging. The breaking of the fourth wall is interesting, but it gets jaded after a point.

Shalini Kondepudi (who has also written the film) gives her everything to make this film work, but her efforts are undone by other departments that don’t rise to the occasion. My Dear Donga needed a better director. There are many jokes that do land well, but there are also an equal number of moments that pass us by without a chuckle. Also, it’s not often that a film’s low production scale bothers me, but  My Dear Donga ’s distant two shots and underlit frames really stuck in the craw. I was particularly bewildered by Sujatha’s darkly lit face in a crucial confrontational scene in the final act. How can it be easy to emotionally invest in a narrative when we find ourselves trying to see the protagonist’s face? (Credit goes here to Shalini, who keeps us invested nonetheless with her raw yet earnest portrayal of Sujatha.) When director B S Sarwagna Kumar is not impeded by his technical limitations or his struggles to find the right tonality, he keeps up with the script’s ambitions, capturing the mundane awkwardness of real-life relationships. Bujji, Varun, and Vishal—the people who occupy space in Sujatha’s life—are not on-your-nose comic relief figures. They carry an ordinariness just enough to have our empathy, with a touch of self-delusion that makes them funny. When Sujatha and her friends casually begin to dance at a house party, it has no artifice. There is no zealous attempt by anyone to bring the house down. Everyone dances with a unique energy, and it is the incongruity of this energy that resonates. At another point, two newly-formed friends awkwardly talk about the day’s weather, soon pondering about the temperature the day before, turning too analytical for their own good. It’s embarrassing to others around them, but a sweet bonding moment for the two, and the director deftly captures the tenderness of the moment, without losing out on the humour. It’s these moments of laidback charm where  My Dear Donga  shines the brightest. And while there is a lot to complain about here, there is also enough warmth that makes it hard to dismiss  My Dear Donga  in its entirety. 

Screen Rant

10 movies that critics hated but are now verified "hot" under rotten tomatoes' new rating.

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10 Biggest Movies Missing From Rotten Tomatoes' Best Films Of All-Time

10 best movies that are over 3 hours long, 10 movie roles actors admitted they regret, from will smith to ben affleck.

• Rotten Tomatoes' Verified Hot badge honors movies with high audience scores, but some of them were lambasted by critics.
• Some of the worst-reviewed Verified Hot movies are Uncharted , Angel Has Fallen , and Shaft (2019).
• One of the lowest-rated Verified Hot titles is Where the Crawdads Sing , which earned a Tomatometer score of 34%.

10 of Rotten Tomatoes ' Verified Hot titles were despised by critics despite audiences loving them. On August 21, the review aggregator site introduced the Verified Hot badge, a way to honor movies that earned high audience scores (on what is now dubbed the Popcornmeter) comparable to the Certified Fresh badge earned by movies with high critic scores on the official Tomatometer. To kick things off, they shared a list of more than 200 theatrical movies released between 2019 and August 2024 that qualified for the Verified Hot badge.

Quite a few of the Verified Hot movies were also Certified Fresh by critics. This includes titles as varied as the MCU's 2024 box office hit Deadpool & Wolverine , the 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite , the 2023 meta slasher sequel Scream VI , the 2023 wrestling biopic The Iron Claw , and the 2019 Pedro Almodóvar drama Pain and Glory . However, despite this substantial overlap, there were more than three dozen titles that were officially Verified Fresh despite earning Rotten splats on the Tomatometer, some of which were heavily lambasted across the board by critics.

Rotten Tomatoes may be great at collecting reviews and compiling them to make one score, but it lacks the nuance to include some all-time greats.

10 Uncharted (2022)

Tomatometer score: 40%.

The Uncharted Rotten Tomatoes score features one of the biggest gulfs between critics and audiences. On the Tomatometer, the video game adaptation only earned 40%. While critics generally praised the cast, which includes Spider-Man : Homecoming 's Tom Holland in the lead role as a young Nathan Drake and two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg as his adventuring companion Victor Sullivan, the movie was deemed to be a pale imitation of titles like the Indiana Jones franchise.

Audiences seemed to find the movie's adventure genre throwbacks much more charming, however, honoring the project with a 90% score, exactly hitting the threshold for the project to earn its Verified Hot status. The movie also generally appealed to fans of the games, breaking through the initial skepticism that many had had about it being a prequel to Nathan Drake's in-game story.

9 The Girl Who Believes in Miracles (2021)

The Girl Who Believes in Miracles was another movie to receive a thoroughly Rotten 40% score on the Tomatometer. The movie had significantly fewer reviews than many other Verified Hot titles, with just five critics weighing in. However, those who delivered Rotten reviews seemed to agree that it has its heart in the right place with its storytelling, but the execution is lukewarm and tedious.

However, those who delivered Rotten reviews seemed to agree that it has its heart in the right place with its storytelling, but the execution is lukewarm and tedious.

However, the movie's Popcornmeter showed an even stronger 93%, with many audience reviews calling it heartwarming. This strong score may also be the case because faith-based movies court self-selecting audiences who look to be affirmed in their faith, which is not the goal of most critics when approaching a movie for a review. While The Girl Who Believes in Miracles is one of the lowest-rated, there are quite a few faith-based movies on the Verified Hot list including Jesus Revolution , I Still Believe , and Sound of Freedom .

8 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

Tomatometer score: 39%, maleficent: mistress of evil.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil reviews were overwhelmingly negative, earning the sequel to the live-action Disney movie Maleficent a Tomatometer score of 39%. Critics did not adore the original 2014 movie either, giving that title 54%, but their reviews for the follow-up were even more scathing, calling it a wearisome waste of its cast, which included Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The movie's 95% Popcornmeter score, an overwhelming improvement on the original Maleficent 's 70%, tells an entirely different story, however. A great many reviews specifically point to Angelina Jolie's performance as the iconic Disney villain as being a reason the movie is worth watching, but others explain that their love for the sequel in particular stems from the fact that it leans into its subversive, dark fantasy vision, on top of enjoying its swift pace and the sight of Maleficent squaring off against Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith.

7 A Journal for Jordan (2021)

A journal for jordan.

The Denzel Washington-directed biographical drama A Journal for Jordan , which starred Michael B. Jordan and Chanté Adamsm was another title to which critics turned a cold shoulder, giving it a Tomatometer score of 39%. Ultimately, critics found the story to be trite and treacly, with direction that was too flat to make it into anything particularly kinetic and interesting.

Whether or not a movie is overtly faith-based or simply heartwarming in a secular manner, it seems that audiences may have a certain fearlessness in embracing heartwarming drama in general, even in the face of critics' dismissal. A Journal for Jordan earned a stunning 95% Popcornmeter score, with audience reviews praising it for being an effective and powerful tearjerker. Many pointed to the fact that it is based on a true story as a reason for connecting with the material so strongly.

A Journal for Jordan (2021) received several NAACP Image Award nominations, including for acting, directing, and writing.

6 Angel Has Fallen (2019)

Tomatometer score: 38%, angel has fallen.

The third and so far final installment of the Has Fallen movies pending the upcoming Night Has Fallen , A ngel Has Fallen earned the second-worst Tomatometer score of the bunch with 38%. While critics loathed it less than its predecessor London Has Fallen , which earned 28%, they lambasted the movie for leaning in on the same shopworn action tropes as the rest of the franchise, concluding the trilogy in an anticlimactic fashion.

However, audiences disagreed with critics entirely, giving the movie a Popcornmeter score of 93%, which far exceeds the score of either previous installment. According to user reviews, the reason for this is the fact that it is action-packed, leaning in on the strengths of its ensemble cast, which includes action icon Gerard Butler as well as Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Lance Reddick.

5 Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

Tomatometer score: 34%, where the crawdads sing.

The literary adaptation Where the Crawdads Sing was not at all well-received by critics when it premiered, earning 34% on the Tomatometer. Critics had plenty of kind words to say for star Daisy Edgar-Jones, who was then fresh off her stint in the popular miniseries Normal People , but they found the movie to be a leaden interpretation of the source material that failed to bring the story from the pages to life in an engaging way.

In spite of those dismal Where the Crawdads Sing reviews , audiences nevertheless gave the movie a 96% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers had no such qualms about the movie's qualities as an adaptation, enjoying its vision of the world and characters of the original Delia Owens novel on top of the Edgar-Jones performance, which similarly drew praise from general audiences.

4 Shaft (2019)

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The 2019 legacy sequel Shaft failed to ignite the love of critics, who gave the movie 34% on the Tomatometer. Many reviewers found that the movie had not successfully adapted to the modern era of filmmaking, dusting off old, well-used jokes and action tropes to little effect.

On the other hand, Shaft earned a 94% score on the Popcornmeter. Its strong performance with audiences seems to have much to do with the power of legacy. In addition to seeing one more propulsive story being told in the franchise's universe, many users responded well to the nostalgia value of seeing Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree reprising their original roles onscreen once more. Legacy sequels have made strong showings on the Verified Hot list in general, with titles such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick also making the cut.

3 Nefarious (2023)

Tomatometer score: 33%, nefarious (2023).

The 2023 possession horror movie Nefarious failed to capture the hearts of critics, who gave it a dismal 33%. While some found kind words to spare for its direction and its cast, in particular the performances of stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Jordan Belfi, the movie's script was heavily criticized for overplaying its Christian themes with a glaring lack of subtlety, leaning heavily on religion at the expense of character and story.

However, Nefarious was another faith-based movie to become a hit with its core audience, earning a Popcornmeter score of 96%.

However, Nefarious was another faith-based movie to become a hit with its core audience, earning a Popcornmeter score of 96%. In addition to simply appealing to the core values of its viewers, it was widely praised for its filmmaking. Audiences saw the same strengths that critics did, which compounded with a lack of trepidation about the storytelling itself to create a much more solid sense of satisfaction.

2 Super 30 (2019)

Tomatometer score: 31%.

Super 30 landed one of the worst Tomatometer scores on the entire Verified Hot list at the time of writing with 31%. Critics found the Indian biopic to be scatterbrained and flat, leading it to be an unengaging slog despite there being a certain spark in some of its aesthetic elements. Others found the lead actor, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara star Hrithik Roshan, to be miscast in the role of mathematician Anand Kumar.

However, Super 30 is a movie that appealed to its core audience by delivering a strong message, regardless of its filmmaking elements. The movie earned a 92% Popcornmeter score, seemingly also getting a boost due to the fact that it was based on a true story, with many audience reviews calling out that fact in particular as a reason it had personal resonance.

1 Redeeming Love (2022)

Tomatometer score: 11%.

By a substantial margin, the 2022 Christian Western romance movie Redeeming Love is the worst-reviewed title on the list, with a dismal Tomatometer score of 11%, meaning that roughly 1 in 10 critics gave it a positive review. Critics took umbrage with many different facets of the production, from its extensive 134-minute run time to its didactic screenplay to the chemistry between leads Abigail Cowen and Tom Lewis. Multiple reviews also compared the movie's production value to that of community theater.

However, the movie earned an undeniably strong 95% Popcornmeter score, based on a trifecta of appealing elements. As a faith-based movie, it successfully struck its core audience, but it also successfully connected with fans of the Francine Rivers novel from which it is adapted, as well as viewers in search of heartwarming romance in general.

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Vedaa Review: John Abraham and Sharvari starrer is an insanely well-shot, hard-hitting and empowering action-drama

Vedaa directed by Nikhil Advani and starring John Abraham, Sharvari and others, now plays at a theatre near you. Read our review.

• Vedaa is a hard-hitting action-drama that empowers and liberates
• Vedaa plays at a theatre near you now

Name: Vedaa

Director: nikhil advani, cast: john abraham, sharvari wagh, tamannaah bhatia, abhishek banerjee, ashish vidyarthi, kshitij chauhan, writer: aseem arrora, rating: 3.5/5.

Abhimanyu ( John Abraham ) is an ex-soldier from the Gorkha Regiment, who was court-martialled for not obeying the orders in a mission in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He is absolved of any future benefits from the government of India.

In Barmer, Rajasthan, casteism is at an all time high. Vedaa ( Sharvari ) is born in a family of Dalits and Dalits are oppressed by the higher class. Abhimanyu is hired to train young adults in the city of Barmer. Vedaa, despite her willingness to learn boxing, is not allowed to train. However, Abhimanyu trains her separately and makes her capable of fighting. 

Will Vedaa be able to fight against casteism in Barmer or will she be yet another revolutionary who is subdued by those who hold more power? What happens to Abhimanyu? Watch Vedaa to find out.

What works for Vedaa:

Vedaa is a no-nonsense drama that hits just the right notes. It is definitely very empowering and the drama is compelling throughout. The performances are spectacular, be it John Abraham who is at his subdued best or Sharvari, who is showing signs of a bonafide movie star, or the multi-talented Abhishek Banerjee who makes you loathe him through the course of the film. The action portions are mindboggling and eye-popping. They will make you hoot and clap. They are shot extraordinarily and your eyes are definitely in for a treat. Vedaa is a film that gives hope. It is an important film; even more so after the tragic rape and murder news that has shook the world. It is truly sad how relevant Vedaa still is.

What doesn't work for Vedaa:

Vedaa's story or concept is not novel. It has conflicts which we have grown up watching. Brownie points to team Vedaa for the execution, which is nothing short of remarkable. Vedaa does take cinematic liberties which slightly dilute the impact. The run-time could have been little shorter. Rest, Vedaa is a great watch.

Watch the Vedaa Trailer:

Performances in Vedaa:

John Abraham as ex-soldier Abhimanyu is excellent. And what can we even say about his insane action! Sharvari as Vedaa shows signs of a bonafide superstar. She is terrific as the girl who wants to make a difference. One of her action scenes in the second half is so massy that you will be compelled to hoot and clap. Abhishek Banerjee as the man with power is menacing. What a multi-talented actor he is! Tamannaah Bhatia is good in her cameo. Kshitij Chauhan as the spoiled brat makes you hate him and that shows how convincing he is. Ashish Vidyarthi is ever-so-dependable. All other actors in the film do a good job.

Final Verdict of Vedaa:

Vedaa is a hard-hitting film that truly empowers. The action sequences are adrenaline-pumping and the dialogues are clap worthy.

Warning: Vedaa is a heavy film and has triggering content. Only those who can watch it, should watch it.

You can watch Vedaa at a theatre near you now.

ALSO READ:   Vedaa Final Advance Bookings: John Abraham and Sharvari film sells only 22000 tickets in top chains for Independence Day; Audience shows lack of urgency

A journalist who is perennially hungry for entertainment. Loves tracking and analyzing box office collections of movies. Also enjoys

A journalist who is perennially hungry for entertainment. Loves tracking and analyzing box office collections of movies. Also enjoys studying the functioning of different economic bodies associated with the film industry.

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• తెలుగు

Dasara Movie Review: Raw and Rustic

Movie: Dasara Rating: 2.75/5 Banner: Sri Lakshmi Venkateswara Cinemas Cast:  Nani, Keerthy Suresh, Dheekshith Shetty,  Samuthirakani, Shine Tom Chacko, Sai Kumar, Poorna and others Dialogues: Thota Srinivas Music: Santhosh Narayanan Director of Photography: Sathyan Sooryan Editor: Navin Nooli Production Designer: Avinash Kolla Stunts: Real Satish, Anbariv Producer: Sudhakar Cherukuri Written and Direction: Srikanth Odela Release Date: March 30, 2023

Nani had never spoken so confidently about a film or toured across India to promote it before 'Dasara.' The film has received a lot of attention in recent weeks. Nani's promotion of the film gave the impression that it would be a major milestone. Is it really that good?

Let us look into it.

Story: Set in the 1990s in a village called Veerlapally in the Singareni coal mine area, the film begins with the story of three childhood friends, Dharani (Nani), Soori (Deekshith Shetty), and Vennela (Keerthy Suresh).

The villagers are always drinking and spend most of their time at Silk bar. Local politics between Rajanna (Saikumar), Shivanna(Samuthirakani) and the latter's son Chinna Nambi (Shine Tom Chacko) threaten to disrupt their lives.

What effect does a political leader's game plan have on the lives of the three friends?

Artistes’ Performances: For this film, Nani reinvented himself. He played a rustic character for the first time, which was unlike any of his previous roles. He sinks into the role and delivers an amazing outcome. The effort he has put in for the role is evident throughout, and he is the film's main pillar.

The award-winning actress Keerthy Suresh delivers another believable performance in the author-backed role. She is the central character around whom the plot revolves.

Deekshith Shetty, who plays the hero's friend, gives an effective performance. Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko has also given a good performance. There are many actors, but none of them receive adequate recognition.

Technical Excellence: The film's cinematography is the first thing that stands out because the film is entirely set in a coal mine. The dark color palette of the color scheme works so well with Sooryan's imaginative camera work.

The music by Santosh Narayanan yields mixed results. The production design is flawless, and the production values are excellent. The dialogues are neat.

Highlights: Nani’s performances Keerthy Suresh Interval bang Villain reveal scene

Drawback: Slow pace Predictable sequences Loses the steam at many places

Analysis "Dasara" makes its intentions clear from the start, with the hero entering the scene in a coal mine area and his friend assisting him. The scene establishes the story's theme of friendship, and gradually introduces the lives of the two friends, as well as the villagers addicted to alcohol in the coal mine area. It is also quickly established that the two friends are in love with the same girl, Keerthy Suresh. So, the first sections are predictable and move at a slow pace.

However, the film is more about creating atmosphere and focusing on characters than it is about plot. The design of the hero's character is impressive. He's timid and only gains courage when he consumes alcohol. And when he drinks, he loses control and can do whatever he wants. This characteristic trait of the protagonist is used so effectively in the later portions of the film, including the interval twist.

Additionally, there are cultural and social references that are properly established, such as women in Telangana performing Bhatukamma during the Dasara festival and Ravana's effigy being burnt on the festival day. The director effectively employs these cultural aspects in his storytelling.

If we take these elements out of the film, it becomes more or less a typical revenge drama. Srikanth Odela, the new director, has prioritized mood and visual palette over story.

The film's biggest surprise is the interval bang. The pre-interval chase sequence and the intermission bang are handled expertly, revealing the villain's true intentions at the start of the second half. As a consequence, the remainder becomes more predictable, and many sequences are bland. The running time is also too long, and the film definitely needs sharp editing.

Furthermore, the film, whether intentionally or unintentionally, attempts to follow the template of "Rangasthalam," but lacks the gripping screenplay that the Sukumar movie had. Caste politics are also mentioned in the film, but they are not properly established.

Additionally, the period (probably set in the 1990s) is shown as if it happened in the 60's or 70's, even though most villages had more modern facilities by the 1990s, even in remote coal mine areas.

Overall, "Dasara" is a regular revenge drama that relies more on visual style and grand making than the plot. It is watchable because of its ambition and Nani’s performance.

Bottom line:  DasaRAW

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Tags: Dasara Dasara Review Dasara Movie Review Dasara Rating Dasara Telugu Movie Review Dasara Movie Rating Dasara Telugu Movie Rating

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Great Andhra

అప్పుడు సూపర్ అన్నారు.. ఇప్పుడు ట్రోలింగ్.

నిజంగా ఇది దారుణమైన విషయం. ప్రభాస్ హీరోగా నటించిన కల్కి సినిమా ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా సూపర్ హిట్టయింది. నార్త్ బెల్ట్ లో కూడా ఈ సినిమా ఘన విజయం సాధించింది. ఆ మాటకొస్తే, తెలుగు వెర్షన్…

Greatandhra

నిజంగా ఇది దారుణమైన విషయం. ప్రభాస్ హీరోగా నటించిన కల్కి సినిమా ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా సూపర్ హిట్టయింది. నార్త్ బెల్ట్ లో కూడా ఈ సినిమా ఘన విజయం సాధించింది. ఆ మాటకొస్తే, తెలుగు వెర్షన్ కంటే, హిందీ వెర్షన్ కే ఎక్కువ వసూళ్లు వచ్చాయి. అంతలా కల్కి సినిమాకు బ్రహ్మరథం పట్టారు హిందీ ప్రేక్షకులు.

అయితే అప్పుడు థియేటర్లలో సూపర్ హిట్ చేసిన ప్రేక్షకులే, ఇప్పుడు ఓటీటీలో కల్కి సినిమాను తిట్టడం విడ్డూరం. దీనంతటికీ కారణం అర్షద్ వార్సి వివాదం. రీసెంట్ గా ప్రభాస్ పై వార్సి విమర్శలు చేశాడు. కల్కి సినిమాలో ప్రభాస్ జోకర్ లా ఉన్నాడంటూ ఆక్షేపించాడు.

అర్షద్ విమర్శలపై టాలీవుడ్ లో దుమారం చెలరేగింది. ప్రభాస్ ఫ్యాన్స్, అతడ్ని సోషల్ మీడియాలో ఓ రేంజ్ లో ఆడుకుంటున్నారు. అతడి ఫొటోలు మార్ఫింగ్ చేసి మరీ ట్రోలింగ్ షురూ చేశారు. దీనికితోడు నాని, శర్వానంద్, సుధీర్ బాబు లాంటి హీరోలు కూడా అర్షద్ వ్యాఖ్యల్ని ఖండిస్తూ వస్తున్నారు.

ఈ నేపథ్యంలో, ఉత్తరాది నుంచి అర్షద్ కు అనుకూలంగా ఓ బ్యాచ్ తయారైంది. నానిపై ఓ రేంజ్ లో వాళ్లు ట్రోల్ చేస్తున్నారు. ఓవైపు ఇదంతా జరుగుతున్న టైమ్ లో ఓటీటీలోకి వచ్చింది కల్కి. దీంతో తమ కోపం మొత్తాన్ని ఓటీటీ వెర్షన్ పై చూపిస్తున్నారు బాలీవుడ్ జనం.

కల్కి సినిమాలో ప్రభాస్ క్లిప్స్ కట్ చేసి, బాలీవుడ్ సి-గ్రేట్ హీరోలతో పోలుస్తున్నారు. ప్రభాస్ హెయిర్ స్టయిల్, గడ్డంపై దారుణంగా కామెంట్స్ చేస్తున్నారు. కల్కి సినిమా చెత్తగా ఉందంటూ పోస్టులు పెడుతున్నారు. కల్కి సినిమాలో అక్కడక్కడ కామెడీ చేశాడు ప్రభాస్. ఆ క్లిప్స్ ను అర్షద్ కామెడీ క్లిప్స్ తో కంపేర్ చేస్తూ కామెంట్స్ చేస్తున్నారు.

మొత్తమ్మీద ఓటీటీలోకి వచ్చిన కల్కి సినిమాను ఎంజాయ్ చేయడం మానేసి, ఓ బ్యాచ్ అచ్చంగా ఇలా ట్రోలింగ్ చేయడం కోసం వాడుకోవడం బాధాకరం.

17 Replies to “అప్పుడు సూపర్ అన్నారు.. ఇప్పుడు ట్రోలింగ్”

Call boy works 8341510897

vedu fake gadu

Tit for tat bro, nothing wrong in his statement.. these so called supporters from Tfi are making that as big…

vc estanu 9380537747

vellu anti south or anti hindu batch ayyuntaru. hero comedy cheste tappenti? SRK, amir khan etc andaru chesaru.

Robo AI humor/vetakaram is only fits for telugu language. They should have changed that in Hindi

Oka Reddy director teesina average sollu movie. Only Aswini dutt marketing strategies and Prabhas presence saved the movie. Same project Rajamouli chetulloki vellinte result vere level lo vundedi.

Oka Reddy director teesina average movie. Only Aswini dutt marketing strategies and Prabhas presence saved the movie. Same project Rajamouli chetulloki vellinte result vere level lo vundedi.

Stop trolling it’s good film kalki. Prabhas pan India hero

MARI JOKER LAGE UNNADU MOVIE ANTHA THALANOPPI

నాకు మాత్రం ఈ సినిమా చూసి బయటకు రాగానే దీనెమ్మ తెలుగు వాడు అనేవాడు మీసం మెలి తిప్పే సినిమా తీసాడు అని పించింది నేను స్వతహగా బాలయ్య బాబు అభిమానిని కానీ తెలుగు సినిమా బాగుండాలి అది ప్రభాస్ సినిమా ఐన ఎన్టీఆర్ సినిమా ఐన పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ సినిమా ఐన ఎవరిది ఐన దాని ఐడెంటిటీ తెలుగు సినిమా

movie antha goppga emi led. kaani manavaallani support cheyyalsina avasaram vundi. chetta bollywood enppudu south talent ni encourage, accept cheyyadu. chetta vedavalu.

dialogues and dubbing chaalaa daarunam gaa vunnai. Hindi dubbing movie choostunattu vundi.

జనం పట్టించుకోరు

Kalki lo Prabhas di comedian role…unnadi ante ulukenduku. Nijanni nirbhayam ga oppukovali..

Kalki lo hero Amitab… Deenni evaraina kandinchalanukunte ippudu movie OTT lo undi..chusi debate cheyandi…

Yes correct. Modati nundi naaku nachaledu movie. Emundi andulo. Prabhas roke waste. Theatre lo 3 dsy 10 members mathrame vunnaru. Emi kanipinchadu. Dailogues ardam kaavu. Thala pagilindi.. Movie nundi vachaka

నాగ్ అశ్విన్ సుడి బాగున్నట్టుంది, కాబట్టే ఆడింది. ఆసలు ఎంవుంది సినిమాలో?

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