Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 179
March 21, 2023
Sweet Tooth Season 2 Out April 27
“YAYYYYYYYY”
My joyous little scream at “ONLY ON NETFLIX APRIL 27” startled mom a bit. Look, I binge-watched and really enjoyed season one of “Sweet Tooth” starring the adorable Christian Convery. However, they ended things on a massive cliff-hanger, and knowing Netflix, nobody was sure if they would actually bring a season two, but thanks to all the love and critical acclaim the series gathered – season two became a reality.
Netflix dropped the official teaser trailer for the second installment and I love how it doesn’t give any story away. Fans of Jeff Lemire’s original comics already know there’s a lot of differences between the live-adaptation and the books, so there’s definitely going to be some surprises in the story. I am going to be clearing up everything on my schedule to binge-watch the new season on April 2th. Mark your dates.
Watch the teaser below –
“You Hurt My Feelings” Trailer – Low-Key & Nice
“So the times you don’t think he is good, what do you tell him?”
“You were fantastic”
Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, the trailer for “You Hurt My Feelings” promises a glimpse into a quirky film about the little white lies we tell friends and family and their consequences.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays protagonist Beth, an author whose last book, a memoir no less, isn’t doing great. Her agent tells her that her voice lacks authenticity, stating that there are plenty of other authors exploring topics such as refugees, cancer, murder, and abuse. In a scene which was darkly hilarious, Beth sarcastically says she wishes her father wasn’t just verbally abusive and then maybe she would’ve sold more copies. To make things worse, she overhears her husband being dismissive of her work. So what do you do when you realize your partner isn’t exactly honest with you?
Most of us in the creative field hope for honest feedback from close friends, but most people hold back their criticism, since… well… not everybody takes criticism kindly. And very few want to take a chance with the truth. Why risk ruining a relationship if you can overcome situations with a quick lie? “You Hurt My Feelings” offers to explore the duplicity of such harmless untruths. While the trailer isn’t rip-roaring hilarious, it seems like the kind of movie one would enjoy watching on a lazy Sunday evening.
‘Online Dates’ Ft ChatGPT
Oh, Online dates, how they doth allure
A chance at love, a spark to procure
But alas, oft they lead to woe
With expectations high, and feelings low
One swipes right, and matches they become
Hopes arise, hearts start to hum
But when they meet, ’tis oft a bore
No chemistry, no spark, no amour
Oh, cruel fate, to play this game
Where love is sought, but ends in shame
Yet still we swipe, and still we try
Hoping one day, love will not pass us by
So let us not give up the fight
For love will come, with all its might
On the internet or elsewhere, we may find
A love that’s true, and forever bind.
– We asked ChatGPT to write a poem on Tinder dates. It’s nowhere near as stirring as Rumi, Neruda or Plath; but it’s not too bad either. What do you think?
March 20, 2023
Reading ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
“The Lottery” is such a simple banal title, it really doesn’t fire your imagination as a reader. So, when I first read about Shirley Jackson and found out that her short story published in “The New Yorker” in 1948 had invited a flurry of reader letters expressing anger, disdain and horror, it got me curious.
The story is available to read on “The New Yorker” and I finally got around to going through it. Like the title, it starts off mundane – everybody in town is gathered to partake in an annual ritual of picking up chits for the lottery, a practice meant for ensuring a good harvest. Set in a small town on a summer day, Shirley’s story reads a little like those tedious Thomas Hardy novels, where the writer painstakingly describes each detail of the scene to help conjure up a vivid image in the reader’s head, even if it comes at the cost of boring some of them. However, Shirley Jackson deliberately lulls you into a sense of slow-boredom, before hitting you with an unexpected climax.
I guess it’s easy to imagine why readers in 1948 would be so outraged to read a story like “The Lottery” – because they probably didn’t have many contemporary shocking dystopian tales to compare it with. Shirley Jackson’s plot unfolds in the times of civilized society, where there’s law and order, yet there are certain practices that lay bare the violently absurd nature of humans. What makes the story slightly timeless is the fact that there aren’t many hints to the actual timeline of when the ritual takes place, a filmmaker could might as well adapt the tale and set it against any year they want – 1648, 1848, 2048 – with minor tweaks. In-fact, keeping the story as contemporary as possible is what makes the ending seem surprising.
If you’ve never read Shirley Jackson, start with ‘The Haunting of Hill House’.
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Listen/Watch – Junji Ito’s Tomie – Quick Horror Manga Review
Blue Lock Episode 23 Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
After all the blood, sweat and tears on “Blue Lock” grounds, one side of boys have to face defeat due to the most unpredictable factors of all – luck. Hard-work and instant ‘chemical reactions’ between players are great, but bending fortune in one’s favour cannot be done through strategy. The most anticipated game in anime series finally sees its conclusion – one team clears the third selection stage. Is it Isagi Yoichi’s squad or the re-awakened Bachira and boys?
(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)
Titled “Luck”, episode 23 was entertaining as hell and the “4 versus 4” match concluded on a high point. Either way, viewers knew both sides were capable of winning, so no matter the outcome, it was going to be an exciting end. “Blue Lock” mastermind Ego welcomes the winning team and gives them a slightly dramatic pep-talk on what “Luck” means and how winners and losers differently perceive the arbitrary phenomena.
One of the things I loved about this episode was how it signaled a new chapter in the friendship between Isagi and Bachira. I can’t help but mention, for the umpteenth time, how much I adore Meguro Bachira – he’s my favorite character (and I won’t stop saying it anytime soon!). Seeing his evolution in this dystopian soccer series has been an absolute blast so far.
“Luck” offers a little bit of everything: soccer play, comic relief, exaggerated dialogue, and fun interactions between the strikers. The best part is that it sets the stage for an incredibly exciting match, as those who made it past the last selection stage get to face off against some of the world’s best players!
Stream the series on Netflix.
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Listen to “Rana Naidu” Review – Thoda Gurda, Zyaada Goo?!
March 19, 2023
‘Rana Naidu’ Review – Thoda Gurda, Zyaada Goo
(Click here for the audio review or scroll down to the end)
Netflix series “Rana Naidu” has an episode titled ‘Kitna gurda, Kitna goo’ and serves as inspiration for this review title. Now that we have the explanation out of the way, let’s talk about the ten episode series created by Karan Anshuman, with Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh Daggubati in the lead. Rated ‘A’ for adult themes, explicit language and several sexual scenes, it isn’t ideal for watching with the family.
Plot overview – Rana plays the titular Rana Naidu, who is Bollywood’s go-to man for covering up scandals, secrets and all sorts of fuck-ups. A ‘fixer’ with a top politician as his patron, Rana is almost invincible, but problems flood into his personal life when his father, Naga (Venkatesh), is released from jail after 15 years and worms his way back into the Naidu family. Naga was in jail for a murder he claims he didn’t commit, but Rana doesn’t want the man around either his wife and kids nor his two brothers.
The story is set in Mumbai and the Naidu family are Hyderbadis at heart, so they speak Hyderabadi Hindi, this allows both Rana and Vankatesh to speak with south-Indian accents while making perfect sense for the show. Abhishek Banerjee and Sushant Singh play Rana’s brothers Jaffa and Tej respectively. Abhishek Banerjee delivers the most poignant performance in this series as the broken Jaffa who was sexually assaulted as a young boy by a self-styled Godman. The trauma haunts him into adulthood and therapy does little to fix him and the return of his father only makes things worse.
In this largely male dominated cast, where woman are just pawns or play-things, Surveen Chawla as Rana’s wife Naina is the only woman with some agency, but her character isn’t treated with much respect. To Surveen’s credit, she does what the role demands of her. Gaurav Chopra’s cameo as movie superstar Prince Reddy briefly reminded me of Manav Kaul’s part in “The Fame Game”, even though there’s few similarities between the two characters. Ashish Vidyarthi swoops in as ‘bad guy’ Surya in the last half and does a commendable job. In-fact, most of the actors are well-cast, but the execution of the story is choppy.
“Rana Naidu” becomes a tedious watch because of the larger-than-life yet cliched character of the lead – Ranu is the typical serious brooding anti-hero who has the same angry expression through most of the show. I thought I’d be able to finish watching the series in two days, but it was pretty difficult to keep my interest up for more than one episode per day. And the plot gets overstretched episode eight onward. This whole family drama could’ve been wrapped up in seven crisp episodes, with wittier dialogues that didn’t simply rely on cuss words to make things gritty. It was just cringe-y to watch Venkatesh say crass dialogues like “tera Cobra Cobri ke liye taiyyar hai” to his son. And that’s one of the nicer lines that comes out his mouth. Some of the scenes that could’ve been funny were ill-timed. Thankfully, the climax wasn’t soppy!
Essentially, there’s close to zero comedy relief in the series, the action scenes are generically choreographed, and there are a bunch of sub-plots that could’ve been deleted completely. Overall, “Rana Naidu” is more crass and less class.
It’s a 5/10 from me.
March 18, 2023
Daisy Jones & The Six – Episode 7, 8 Review
I had to use Nabiyah Beh’s image as the cover picture for this review because her performance of a live song as Simone Jackson at a New York club gave me goosebumps in episode seven of “Daisy Jones and The Six”. And it wasn’t just the vocals, but more about the performance being a tipping point in her career – a closeted black artist who comes to the big city and finally sets herself free through music. The juxtaposition of Simone’s struggle in the industry against Daisy’s nonchalant antics in the face of fame is the highlight of this edition.
Episode seven was great entertainment in terms of story, songs, scenery – a lot of stuff unfolds in the beautiful Greece, where Daisy runs off to after her fallout with Billy. Simone tries to smack some sense into her, with partial success. And then comes episode eight, which sort of killed my buzz. If episode seven was satisfaction, eight resembled disappointment. Daisy and The Six go on tour and the things that unfold from there on were just tedious to watch. Look, I don’t have a problem with predictability, even the Greece bit was cliched, but at least it provided a charming visual break and threw in some new characters.
Titled “Looks Like We Made It”, episode eight has uninspiring dialogues, scenes that just seem to repeat themselves and the usual tension between Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. The band is on tour, so we don’t even get new songs to break the monotony. So, there is the usual sexual tension between the lead singers, some fights, some drinking and a lot of drugs. Zzzzzzz. I am more interested in watching Nabiyah Beh’s journey as Disco queen Simone now; and Ayesha Harris is intimidatingly charming as her DJ girlfriend Bernie.
I haven’t mentioned any of the supporting actors who play the band-members in “The Six” because, I think they are all eclipsed by Riley Keough and Sam Calfin, who portray Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones. In episode eight, there’s a scene where the band is gathered for a press conference, and all the reporters have questions only for Billy and Daisy, as if the rest of them are invisible. That scene sums up who the stars are. However, one wishes that their story could have been more compelling.
Overall, it’s a 6 on 10 from me. Stream the series on Prime Video.
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Listen/Watch – Junji Ito’s Tomie – Quick Horror Manga Review
‘A Map to the Sun’ – Graphic Novel Review
‘A Map to the Sun’ reads like one of those books that you wish came with a recommended list of music you could play while you read it. Written and illustrated by Sloane Leong, the graphic novel bursts forth with neon hues that dance across the pages like the shifting lights of a disco ball in a vibrant house party.
The story primarily focuses on the friendship between five girls from diverse backgrounds, all of whom are struggling at school and become closer after joining the basketball team. However, things get a head-start from the young Ren’s perspective, who loves shooting hoops and becomes friends with a sassy surfer called Luna. As the two girls become close friends, a tragedy in Luna’s family leads her to skip town and basically ghost Ren. The friends re-unite after two years in the same class, but things are just not the same anymore, even though Luna tries hard to blend in with Ren’s gang of girls.
‘A Map to the Sun’ then follows how a bunch of girlfriends, each on from diverse backgrounds, navigate through their friendships, family and personal issues. For example, Ren lives with her divorced dad and hates the fact that he always caves into the whims and demands of her older junky sister; Nell has to work part-time to support her family and has severe body-issues. All of these stories are spiritedly painted in bright colors, each page changing tones and mood of the plot. Sloane Leong’s illustrations aren’t very detailed and feel like draft sketches, but it’s her choice of palette that just has something hypnotic about it, like a shiny 80s music video. I am usually not a fan of neon shades, but somehow the colors just work out fine in this graphic novel.
I love how the main theme of the tale is friendship and sisterhood in ‘A Map to the Sun’, and Sloane Leong doesn’t deviate into romantic sub-plots or boy drama. However, that doesn’t mean the book is devoid of teen drama, as it definitely has its fair share. Ren and the girls come from families that aren’t financially stable, so each of them has a lot on their plate, including dealing with bullies, detractors, and an uncertain future. The friends also have their bitch-fights, squabbles, tensions, but they always come around and watch out for each other. It’s a slice-of-life kind of tale in its own right and kept me hooked to each page.
It’s a 4 on 5 from me.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube
Listen/Watch – Junji Ito’s Tomie – Quick Horror Manga Review
March 17, 2023
‘Joy Ride’ Trailer – Crazy AF Rollercoaster!
Oh man! I immediately streamed the trailer for ‘Joy Ride’ twice, not because I didn’t understand some stuff, but because it was freaking hilarious!
The movie features Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Woo as a group of friends embarking on a journey across China to assist Ashley’s character in locating her biological mother. However, things take a wild turn when they encounter a drug dealer on a train and end up risking arrest by the police. There’s cocaine everywhere – in condoms, clothes, butt-cracks, what not – and to make things worse, they even lost their passports.
About 90 seconds long, the trailer sort of gives a lot of the story away, but I really hope it doesn’t pack all of the best scenes in. The music is fun, the jokes were exaggeratedly funny and all the actors are ridiculously entertaining in the teaser. Following is the Red Band trailer for the comedy.
‘The New Employee’ – Quick Series Review
There was a time when one could lament how conservative Korean creatives are when it came to covering LGBT+ themed stories in their movies and series.. but not so much anymore. There has been a surge in the number of gay and lesbian romances, particularly because the ‘BL’ (short for ‘boys love’) genre has gained immense popularity in Asia and worldwide. As a result, viewers now have a plethora of options to choose from, and some series just don’t seem to have that spark anymore. For instance, the Korean mini-series ‘The New Employee’ starring Kwon Hyuk and Moon Ji Yong was quite mediocre. In fact, I have been putting off writing this review for weeks because of it.
I was actually surprised to learn that this series was directed by Kim Jho Kwang, because he was also behind the lens for the 2012 rom-com ‘Two Weddings and a Funeral’, which was an entertaining movie focusing on the lives of a gay and lesbian couple. Spread over seven episodes, ‘The New Employee’ follows Seung Hyun (Moon Ji Yong), who is in his late twenties and finally lands the internship of his dreams. But on his first day, he comes face to face with the one and only Kim Jong Chan, a total hottie but a bit of a cold fish. And guess what? He’s Seung Hyun’s new boss! Can you say “awkward”? A mildly fun romance follows.
The actors in the show look great, but that’s not even worth commenting on in Korean shows anymore since everyone in K-dramas seems to look like a model. The romance between bosses and their underlings is a common theme, and ‘The New Employee’ fails to bring anything new to the table. The chemistry between the lead actors was okay, although Moon Ju Yong is absolutely adorable as the gullible/sweet Seung Hyun. But the plot isn’t interesting enough and didn’t feel like finishing the series, even though I eventually did. If you’re a fan of the actors, you can still give it a try and stream it.
It’s a 5 on 10 from me.
