Throughout the year, I took a look at quite a few new releases that were shown at the Dietrich Theater. Some of these new releases also consist of a few films that were shown during the seasonal film festivals. And, some of the new releases that I checked out were really good.

In fact, my top films of the year list is slightly bigger than usual. So, let’s get things started and here’s my top picks of 2024.

20. Remembering Gene Wilder

19. Civil War

18. Arthur the King

17. Anyone But You

16. The Holdovers

15. Inside Out 2

14. Ordinary Angels

13. Transformers One

12. The Wild Robot

11. It Ends With Us

10. Alien: Romulus

9. Twisters

8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

7. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

5. Smile 2

4. The First Omen

3. Deadpool & Wolverine

2. The Wild Robot

And my number one pick of the year is … (definitely not Madame Web!) … Wicked.

As usual, there are some honorable mentions that were kind of close to making it to the top list! Migration; Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; The Beekeeper; Moana 2; Kung Fu Panda 4; Abigail; IF; A Quiet Place: Day One; Gladiator II; The Bikeriders; Speak No Evil; Beetlejuice Beetlejuice; Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1; Reagan; Bad Boys: Ride or Die; My Penguin Friend; Saturday Night

For the first time, I will reveal a few selections that didn’t come close to making it to either the top list or the honorable mentions: Joker: Folie A Deux; Argylle; Lisa Frankenstein; The Watchers; Trap; The Crow

I plan on working on quite a few fun reviews through 2025! Besides the new releases and the film festival selections I generally work on, I will also be planning on some throwback reviews. Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Examiner reviews page on Facebook for future reviews that I will be working on.

Former Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were married for only two years. Then they spent four times as long undoing their union.

The Oscar winners, who were together for about 12 years before Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, reached a written settlement agreement on Monday that finally ended one of the longest and most contentious splits in Hollywood history. In it, the “Girl, Interrupted” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” stars, who share six children and were each declared legally single in 2019, entered into a written agreement on their marital and property rights and gave up the right to any future spousal financial support.

Here’s a look at how the actors went from whirlwind romance to epic court battle.

Brangelina: The origin story

A single woman and a married man were cast as husband and wife in the 2005 movie “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” and soon after, “Brangelina” was born. With that movie-set origin story and the ensuing tabloid headlines, Jolie and Pitt immediately became one of the biggest power couples in Hollywood history.

Pitt had been married to “Friends” superstar Jennifer Aniston at the time, but her 2005 divorce from Pitt took less than a year, start to finishStill, it barely beat the 2006 arrival of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and Pitt’s adoption of Jolie’s children Pax and Maddox. Three more children would follow.

Lots of rumors, then — finally — a wedding

After years of couplehood and lots of rumors that either a wedding or a breakup was on the way, the stars’ six children finally cajoled them into getting married. Despite fairy tale nuptials in 2014, the decision to exchange vows would turn out to be a big mistake. Huge.

The split happens — and quickly turns ugly

The world was shocked (well, mostly shocked) when the couple announced their separation in 2016 after two years of marriage. Things quickly got contentious, including abuse allegations stemming from an incident on a private plane — Jolie filed for divorce just days later — and a subsequent probe by the FBI.

Bad blood

Despite minor efforts to make the breakup seem civil, the war between the two stars played out for years and included many episodes of family drama. The estranged couple ultimately enlisted a private judge to help work things out, a decision that helped keep some of the specifics out of the public eye.

2019: More revelations

While the two were declared legally single in 2019, the divorce itself remained unresolved.

2021: More battling

2022: And more

Still going in 2023

Into 2024

Final resolution?

The former couple entered into a written agreement to settle the divorce in the last week of 2024. But the other dispute, about the sale of half of Chateau Miraval, remains outstanding. A judge still needs to sign off on the agreement.

BOTTOM LINE
You Will Bathe in Blood

RATING
2.75/5

CENSOR
A, 2h 24m

What Is the Film About?

When Victor, the younger brother of a powerful mafia family is killed inhumanly by a rival family, his step-brother Marco (Unni Mukundan) promises to take revenge. The movie’s basic story is the way Marco goes about the vengeance and the setbacks he faces.

Performances

Unni Mukundan goes for a complete makeover with Marco. The character is designed as a beast-like personality who is raw and untamed and will go to any extent to protect his loved ones. The physical transformation and the attitude on display make the part believable. But, that is only half the job done as there is a lot of action to do.

Unni Mukundan does extremely well in the action blocks. The ferocity and energy needed for the part are adequately presented in the performance. Believability is the main thing here and the effort makes it convincing from the start to the end. But once he sets the tone and mood for his character, there is hardly any variation he brings.

Analysis

Haneef Adeni writes and directs Marco. It is an out-and-out action film made for genre lovers with a very thin storyline.

The Raid, followed by Hollywood flick John Wick, and series like The Punisher etc. have provided a feast for action movie lovers globally in the last decade and a half. Many have tried to replicate the formula across the industries and here we are now in the same space with Marco.

The movie’s opening segment sets the basic premise neatly without much drag. The principal characters among whom the narrative takes place are given some expository dialogues to establish the world and the editing sets up the tone perfectly.

The hero doesn’t arrive immediately and comes after a lot of buildup, the kind we see in KGF and the like. It raises the expectations and meets them comfortably. The hero’s introduction makes it clear that the movie would be a no-holds-barred action romp with lots of stomach-curdling gore, violence and blood spilling.

The film’s first half is about the build-up to the intro and then to the interval. Everything else happening in between works in tandem with taking the narrative towards those blocks.

The interval block raises the stakes further after the intro in terms of the action. It does remind one of the climax sequence of a recently released Telugu flick, though.

Again, the small twists and turns the proceedings take to reach the interval are on expected lines, and nothing is frankly surprising. These scenes additionally contain brief emotional moments between the brothers to justify all the violence that follows.

Post the bang of an interval, the expectations only increase as to what could come next to top it. However, we don’t immediately get to the ‘action’ and there is some drama. It is typical of the genre, which again feels like a set-up to the next big bang.

We get that bang, but in an unexpected fashion during the pre-climax. It justifies the promotional tagline of the film as ‘The Most Violent Flick’ of the season. It is also emotional and most importantly not for the weak-hearted. Some moments in it might be too much to take for a normal viewer.

The climax is on expected lines after that mayhem seen previously. But, it doesn’t just go through the motions, it delivers a satisfying experience after all things are done. It’s this full contentment experience after the whole ordeal is where Marco succeeds. The joy of making it seeps through amidst all the bloodshed.

Overall, Marco is a violent action thriller with slick execution. It delivers on what it promises without holding back on anything. It is a treat, for action movie lovers who don’t mind the gore. If you like the genre, go ahead.

Performances by Others Actors

We have many artists playing bits and pieces roles in the movie. To those who follow Malayalam cinema, a few faces are instantly recognisable like Siddique, Jagadish etc. They fit into any character given to them effortlessly. We see the same here as they play gangsters.

The rest of the actors are relatively unknown from an outsider’s perspective. However, it doesn’t matter as when it comes to the performances, they all do an adequate job. They generate the right emotion conveying ruthlessness or disgust. Abhimanyu Thilakan and Kabir Duhan Singh impress playing the antagonists. The latter gets a short, but powerful part sure to leave an impact.

Among the female characters, only Yukti Thareja and Durva Thaker have crucial parts. The screen time is small, but they add emotional appeal in their own way.

Music and Other Departments?

Ravi Basrur of KGF fame composes the music. The songs are serviceable to the genre, but the background score is excellent in his typical style. It leans more on the techno side and parts of it are repeated throughout, but it doesn’t get monotonous, though. Technically the movie is slick with excellent cinematography and editing. The action choreography is top-notch and a major highlight of the flick. The writing is okay.

Highlights?

Action Blocks

Unni Mukundan

Editing

Drawbacks?

Thin Storyline

Too Much Gore (Not For Everyone)

Mechanical Drama

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes

Will You Recommend It?

Yes, to those who love action movies in all its bloody glory

Marco Telugu Movie Review by M9