I'm Ansh, a student living in Mumbai who moonlights as a developer of experimental games and writer of short stories. I also write an occasional review of music albums and games.
The 1995 original Ghost in the Shell adapted from Shirow Masamune’s manga is deservedly considered as the high-point of not just stylistic, intelligent anime but also of the sci-fi genre itself, effortlessly melding the politics of a post-human society with dense questions on existence, identity and sexuality. In the years since its release, it …
Prodigies have the unenviable position of living their entire life under the heavy expectations of the world and their ownselves while always being at the risk of peaking too early and looking back at mere possibilities of what could have been. While career documentaries on prodigies have been done plenty of times before, what sets Bobbi …
As a collective society in the aftermath of a tragedy, we often struggle to differentiate the victim and the labels media puts on them from the actual person behind them. Michele Josue’s brilliant, deeply personal and emotive documentary Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine is a conscious attempt to get a close look at the…
A moody exploration of sexuality as a fluid concept, Something Must Break mixes twenty-first century notions of queer sexuality with gender identity crisis. While that premise may not exactly come across as unique to those familiar with films centered around LGBT characters, this Swedish film tries to distinguish itself through its …
From the very premise, Venus Talk reeks of derivative female-centric rom-coms centered on a trio of forty-plus women with obvious influences from Sex and the City. Sadly barring few moments, director Kwon Chil-in’s never seeks to explore the territories outside its influences and it ends up leaving an all too-familiar bitter taste in your mouth. There was considerable potential for Venus Talk to explore some of the gender issues unique to Korean society, which is squandered on largely caricaturish characters and borderline cartoon comedy.
In an America that is sharply divided between religious and atheism, Holy Ghost People may have hoped to provide a balanced and humanized look into the members of a distinctly unique snake-worshipping cult in West Virginia. Much like its’ 1967 namesake, it initially seeks to make the churchgoers sympathize with those who may be equally religious in their vein, but worship their beliefs in an entirely different way.
Instead of a somber-toned documentary, Altieri goes into the thriller territory with bloody face-offs, guns and angry mobs. It features a confident Emma Greenwell as Charlotte who is searching for her drug-addicted sister teaming up with Brendan McCarthy’s Wayne, a former Marine to help her get back from a remote town run by the supposedly infamous cult.
America means a lot of things to different people — a sanctuary to some, an escape from the atrocities in their own country, or merely a place of better opportunities to others. Common among all of these dreams is the hope for a better future for themselves and their family.
I Learn America, a documentary focusing on the high-school students of the International School at Lafeyette, NYC explores similar ground but from a very distinct angle of five teenagers, all of whom are immigrants from different parts of the world.