The White Tiger is a new Indian film that was recently released on Netflix. It stars Adarsh Gourav and Rajkummar Rao. The White Tiger follows Balram, an extremely poor boy from India who decides to break free of the caste system. A lot of people are comparing this film to Slumdog millionaire. And while they’re definitely similar movies, The White Tiger is much less of a feel good movie, and more of a thriller.

The White Tiger follows Balram, a poor Indian boy from a village owned by a rich businessman. As he grows up, Balram realizes he will never naturally escape from the poverty caused by the caste system, and instead will have to forge his own fate, through any means necessary. He eventually becomes a chauffeur for Ashoke, the heir to the businessman who owns his village.

This film is very critical of the caste system in India, something which other films seem scared to do. It really enlightens you on how absolutely rigged and unfair the entire system is. It’s also used for some very interesting plot threads, such as Balram literally having to force himself to think against an ideology which has been in him all his life. Additionally, the characters in this film are fantastic. They’re extremely well written and nuanced. Ashoke and his wife are perfect examples of this. When alone with Balram they treat him like family, yet when around other people they behave completely differently. Most of all however, they feel very believable, and the conflict Balram feel when trying to rebel against a master who is nice to him feels realistic. All of this is backed up by some absolutely fantastic acting from virtually everyone in the movie.

One thing I didn’t like is that the pacing is a little weird in this film. The beginning starts off great, and it has momentum up until the halfway point. Not to spoil anything, but there is an accident and Balram is blamed. From here on I thought the movie would become much darker, but instead it almost evolves into a buddy film between Balram and Ashoke. It isn’t until the very last act that this movie begins to get very dark. It felt interrupted in a sense because of the strange pivot. Now, I understand they had to give Ashoke more character development, however they could’ve done that pre-accident, albeit in a slightly different nature, and not hurt the pace of the movie. It felt a little amateurish in what was otherwise a really fantastic experience.

I have no doubt that this film will be praised in the years to come similarly to Slumdog Millionare. However I also think this film is a lot less accessible due to it addressing uncomfortable issues, and being less of a feel good movie. That being said, despite some missteps with pacing, The White Tiger is great, and absolutely merits a watch.

The Social Network is a 2010 film that follows Mark Zuckerberg as he creates and transforms Facebook. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. Recently, we covered this movie on Cinemix, and we all loved it. It has a fantastic screenplay, some great acting, and it’s a compelling film overall. However, it does misrepresent some characters, and it “scapegoats” Sean Parker.

The Social Network follows Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard nerd who gets in trouble after creating a system to rank girls online. He then begins to work on “The Facebook” using money from his friend Eduardo (played by Andrew Garfield.) Later however, it’s revealed that Mark possibly stole intellectual property from the Winklevoss twins, and they sue him.

This film has an incredibly tight script, and as far as movies based off of history, this is a model template. Although it portrays some characters wrongly, many if not all of the events in the movie are accurate. Additionally, unlike some other historical biographies such as Lincoln or Alexander, this movie is actually very engaging. The characters are compelling and charismatic, and the acting is fantastic.

Sadly however, some of the characters aren’t necessarily portrayed rightly. Sean Parker, an early business manager for Facebook is completely vilified in this movie, whereas in real life there are many accounts that he was the opposite. Even Mark Zuckerberg is portrayed a little extremely. In this movie he’s shown as this complete loser who has no friends. In real life, while he was nerdy, he did get girlfriends and he did have a friend group.

Overall, despite some light (and admittedly somewhat necessary) dramatization, the Social Network is a fantastic movie, and will go down in history as a classic. Additionally, this role has ensured Jesse Eisenberg will play nerds in movies until the end of time.

Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 film directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. Sadly, I have not been able to write a review of this movie until now, despite covering it on the podcast about a month ago. I’ve been very busy with college work.

Murder on the Orient Express is an adaptation from the classic novel by Agatha Christie of the same name. It follows the famous Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot as he investigates a killing upon the Orient Express train. However, it is soon revealed that the case may be more complicated than originally thought.

I’m conflicted on this film. On one hand, it has a fantastic protagonist, and some good acting. However, on the other hand, the film is a bit sensationalized from the book, and despite it’s excellent cast, the movie never fully utilizes them. Hercule Poirot is a very charming protagonist. The movie introduces him expertly, and defines his character traits in the beginning very clearly. Kenneth Branagh is very likable, and his acting is fantastic in this film. That’s true for essentially all characters in this film. All are likable and function well within the story.

Sadly, the characters aren’t particularly memorable either. Despite this movie having one of the best casts in recent memory, it fails to use them much. William Dafoe is a very famous actor, and in this film he has a single scene. This is very disappointing, and feels like a missed opportunity. Additionally, this film feels very sensationalized from the book. Hercule Poirot is somewhat of an action hero in the film, whereas he’s much more reserved, and unlike in the film, he’s never shot. This feels rather strange, because on one hand, the movie sells itself as a sophisticated turn of the century mystery film, yet on the other hand it develops into die hard out of nowhere.

Overall, this movie is alright. It isn’t particularly memorable, but it’s a good film nonetheless. I think that they could’ve capitalized on the cast a bit more. If you’re considering watching this film, I highly recommend reading the book first.