Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 183
February 28, 2023
‘The Night Manager’ Review – Wraps Up Early
I don’t understand why Sandeep Modi and Sridhar Raghavan, the creators of the 2023 Bollywood series “The Night Manager,” decided to release only four episodes first. Just when the story gets more interesting, the viewers are left hanging with pre-mature end credits!
The Hindi version of the 2016 British series, with the same name, follows the story of Shaan Sengupta, played by Aditya Roy Kapoor. Shaan, a former navy man, works as a night manager at a five-star hotel in Sri Lanka. While on duty, he attempts to save a young girl from the clutches of evil men. His involvement leads to an undercover operation to expose Shailendra Rungta, also known as Shelly (played by Anil Kapoor), a top businessman who deals in illegal arms. Will Shaan successfully infiltrate Shelly’s inner circle and help Indian officials put him behind bars?
While the story and screenplay are far-fetched, it’s the riveting performances by Aditya Roy Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Tillotama Shome that keeps the series interesting. Tillotama Shome plays passionate workaholic Indian agent Lipika Saikia Rao, who is hellbent on bringing down Shelly, and handles the logistics for Shaan to get close to the arms dealer. Saswata Chatterjee also stood out in his supporting role as Brij, Shelly’s sarcastic sharp right-hand man who has a weakness for men, but at once smells something shady about the handsome Shaan. Anil Kapoor pulls off the shrewd manipulative cold-blooded ‘merchant of death’ role in style, he adds a suave ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ touch to the character – while not dealing in weapons and murders, he puts up the charade of an altruistic cheery businessman with a genuine soft side for his young son.
The first four episodes are pretty pacy and frill free, I feared they’d dilute the thriller with a sobby romance between Shaan and Shelly’s girlfriend Kaveri (Sobhita Dhulipala), but that wasn’t the case. Spread over India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the cinematography captures varied landscapes and it was nice to see Dhaka not being drenched in dusty orange tints. It’s a little difficult to critique just this first instalment, because only part II can help decide if this show is worth streaming. It’s intriguing so far, even if exaggerated for effect.
It’s a 7/10 from me. Stream it on Disney Hotstar.
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Listen to ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ Review
February 27, 2023
Lost At Sea – Graphic Novel Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
If a graphic novel is gripping enough, it will take readers only an hour or two to finish it, unless it’s exceptionally long (like ‘Ayako’). It took me over a week to get to the end of ‘Lost at Sea’ by Bryan Lee O’Malley.
Plot overview – Shy asocial 18-year-old Raleigh is on a cross-country road trip with three peers who she isn’t even friends with. She considers herself ‘anti-social’ and claims her soul was stolen by a cat. How is she going to get through the long road ahead without awkward conversations with her co-passengers? Or maybe it’s exactly the change she needs.
Written in first person, Raleigh lets readers know early on that the story isn’t going to be coherent or chronological. And the graphic novel lives up to the warning – it’s listless, meandering and not very entertaining. Like the protagonist’s dreaded road trip. The second-half of the graphic novel was amusing, where Raleigh warms up to Stephanie and the two rope in the boys for a bizarre midnight adventure. Some more whimsical comedic elements in the story-telling could’ve made this work a lot more gripping.
The artwork is simple, more in the style of sketch-book doodles, which makes the characters look like they are between the ages 12 – 15, while they are actually 18-year-olds. ‘Lost at Sea’ is mildly interesting as a diary of a young girl just jotting down her experiences about a road trip with three random people. I feel like I won’t remember anything about this graphic novel after a few days. Maybe teen readers would enjoy this one a lot more than an older audience.
It’s a 3 on 5 from me.
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Listen to ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ Review
5 Literary Love Poems To Check Out
If you are sick of reading short inta-poetry that’s too pedestrian, here are five literary poems by celebrated authors in English Literature that are perhaps worth visiting.
1. “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare – This sonnet, also known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous love poem. It is a tribute to a loved one’s beauty, comparing their physical appearance to the visual delights of nature.
2. “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning – This is one of the most well-known love poems in English literature. It is a sonnet that expresses the speaker’s deep and intense love for her beloved, counting the ways in which she loves him.
3. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe – This poem is a hauntingly beautiful tribute to a deceased lover, in which the speaker mourns the loss of his beloved and describes the strength of their love, which even death cannot destroy.
4. “When You Are Old” by W.B. Yeats – This poem is about lost love and the passage of time. It’s addressed to the speaker’s ex-lover, whom he imagines reading the poem when she’s old and grey, reminiscing their past love.
5. “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron – This poem celebrates the beauty and grace of a beloved woman. It compares her physical appearance to the beauty of the night sky, creating a vivid and romantic image of the speaker’s admiration for his love.
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Listen to ‘Little Notes of Anguish & Other Poems – Author’s Take’
February 26, 2023
Blue Lock Episode 19 Review
Who will Isagi and his team pick to move on to the next stage of selection and play a “4 versus 4” match in “Blue Lock”? Viewers already know that each member is keen on a different player to join them, which made episode 18 end on an exciting cliff-hanger. Isagi wants to challenge the Rank 1 player, Rin Itoshi, in the next round. To do so, they’ll need someone who can really help push the group, so the final pick won’t come as a surprise to fans of the show.
(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)
Titled “Dancing Boy,” episode 19 starts off with the conclusion of Isagi’s match with Reo’s team but focuses largely on Meguru Bachira. We are taken back in time to Bachira’s childhood and learn how he became passionate about soccer. Some fans might recall Bachira referring to a “monster” he keeps conversing with; this edition sheds light on his relationship with his inner demon. The artwork for the shadowy ghost figure could’ve been better, however the character-design for mini Meguru was absolutely on point.
Although there is no actual soccer playing in this episode, it contains many small moments between different sets of players and their growing bonds. For example, the bull-headed Barou finally calls Isagi by his name instead of “donkey” during their conversation. Overall, “Dancing Boy” was a mildly entertaining filler that sets the groundwork for an exciting soccer showdown between some of the top players in the facility.
Stream the series on Netflix.
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Listen to ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ Review
‘M3GAN’ – Movie Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Hollywood gave horror fans Chucky with ‘Child’s Play’ and an inspired Bollywood came up with ‘Paapi Gudiya’. Ever since, filmmakers keep trying their hand at the ‘ghost doll’ genre, Annabelle being the most famous 21st century addition and now there’s ‘M3GAN’ – who is far scarier because you cannot exorcise a rogue robot with holy water and Latin chants. Lol.
Directed by Gerard Johnstone, the 2022 Techno-horror flick has been written by James Wan (story) and Akela Cooper (screenplay) and follows the (mis)adventures of a life-size robotic doll that’s meant to be an empathetic child companion. Allison Williams of ‘Get Out’ fame plays Gemma, a robotics engineer at a toy’s company builds M3GAN after she becomes the primary caregiver of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) who loses her parents in a car accident. Neither of them is prepared for the doll’s evil evolution.
This film is creepy right off the bat – a 90s style ad peddles an ugly Furby-like doll branded ‘Purpetual Petz’. An immortal electronic pet that’s controlled by an app. Gemma works for the same firm and thinks her creation M3GAN is going to a gamechanger in the toy industry. Violet McGraw isn’t new to the horror genre, she poignantly portrayed a young Nell Crane in ‘Haunting of Hill House’ (watch if you haven’t) and pulls off the grieving Cady who gets too attached with her fancy new talking robot doll.
While I don’t think the makers were trying to make a modern fable about ‘perils of easy parenting’, it does become an interesting ‘think piece’ on how excessive reliability on technology to distract or take care of children can have damaging behavioural effects. Allison’s Gemma is a young ambitious innovator who wasn’t expecting to be strapped with the responsibility of her sister’s child, so she delegates the task to a robot instead. Easy parenting 101.
M3GAN is played by 12-year-old actor Amie Donald, although there’s also animation involved in bringing the artificially intelligent doll to life for the big screen. The VFX department makes the robot look legit and some of her spooky moves are inspired by horror films, you know those sequences where a possessed person will move like they don’t have bones in their bodies? That kind.
Overall, the film has a solid first-half, but the script gets a little messy towards the climax, ending in a but of a cliched fight. It’s like Chucky from ‘Child’s Play’ meets a chatty version of ‘The Terminator’. I was entertained!
It’s a 7 on 10 from me.
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Listen to – ‘The Closet’ Horror Comic Series Review
February 25, 2023
‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ in a Nutshell
More often than not, literature students around the world are made to read the works of Thomas Hardy, the famous English author who had a penchant for depressing novels. One such title is “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, which was first published in 1886 and is a staple in most libraries. If you don’t want to read the book yet want to know what it’s about – here’s a quick breakdown of the story, themes and importance of the work.
The story unfolds in the fictional town of Casterbridge in rural England, and centers around the life of a man named Michael Henchard. There’s drama right at the first chapter, Henchard is a young and impulsive hay-trusser, who gets drunk and sells off his wife and infant daughter at a country fair. Once the booze wears off, he regrets his actions but fails to find his wife and child. Several years later, the once drunk fool becomes the esteemed mayor of Casterbridge, but his past comes back to haunt him when his wife and daughter return to town.
The novel explores themes of fate, guilt, and redemption as Henchard tries to make amends for his past mistakes and regain the trust of his family and the townspeople. His relationship with his daughter Elizabeth-Jane, who was raised by another family, is a central focus of the story, as is his rivalry with a young and ambitious Scotsman named Donald Farfrae, who becomes his business partner and eventual successor as mayor.
The novel is known for its vivid descriptions of rural life in 19th century England, as well as its exploration of complex human emotions and relationships. It is also considered a classic example of Victorian literature, with its focus on the role of fate and the influence of social class on individual lives.
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February 24, 2023
‘My School President’ Review – Wholesome!
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘My School President’ is a Thai teen romantic-comedy series that delivers everything one would expect from the genre. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, is filled with silly-sweet high school protagonists who fight, rejoice, cry and laugh over little things. Fans who enjoyed watching GMMTV’s ‘Bad Buddy’ might like this even better. I sure did!
Directed by Au Kornprom Niyomsil, ‘My School President’ is spread over 12 episodes and stars newcomers Gemini Norawit Titicharoenrak and Fourth Nattawat Jirochtikul. Gemini plays class topper Tinn who has a secret crush on Gun the lead singer of the school’s music club which is on the verge of being disbanded. Keen on winning over Gun, Tinn becomes the school president to help save the music club, only to realize they have a strict rule – members cannot date anybody unless they win the ‘Hot Wave’ music contest. Will Tinn be able to win over the headstrong Gun who thinks the school president is out to sabotage the band?
I could turn this review into a little listicle about a bunch of things to like about this breezy fun series and the first on the list would be the music. A lot of Thai dramas, especially the high-school themed ones, have songs peppered throughout the show and my first instinct is to fast-forward them. But that wasn’t the case with ‘My School President’, which has a lot of songs, but they were all well sung and entertainingly shot. Gun’s band ‘Chinzilla’ records a video cover of ‘Just Being Friendly’ by Thai band Tilly Birds to enter the ‘Hot Wave’ contest and the series’ version is brilliant. All the actors have sung their own bits and Fourth has a distinctive smooth voice that’s unlike his mischievously charismatic personality. Sattang Kittiphop and Ford Arun play fellow band members Sound and Por respectively and have pretty good vocals too, especially Ford who can hit high notes really well.
Except for the finale, ‘My School President’ is consistent in pace, the romance is cute and cheesy, the jokes are all kiddish but absolutely work for the script because it is set in high school. Gemini and Fourth’s chemistry is adorable, the two light up the screen with their harmless flirting on campus. In fact, Gemini also gets to sing a few songs, one of which is his debut single titled ‘Hook’ – the lyrics are a mash of popular Thai song titles and he sings it to Gun in a syrupy sweet scene. There’s even a flash mob dance performance by the boys in episode 7, which was surprisingly fun.
In a wise decision, there aren’t too many sub-plots and the few with other supporting characters complimented the overall stories and didn’t feel unnecessary. Winny Thanawin plays Win, the hot-headed guitarist of ‘Chinzhilla’ who has an ‘enemies to lovers’ plot with Sattang’s character Sound. The two had minor forgettable cameos as friends in ‘Fish Upon Sky’ but leave a stronger positive impression in this series. Mark Pakin Kunaanuwit should get a ‘best friend of the year’ award for portraying Tinn’s buddy
Thiuson who constantly schemes and plots to get his friend the boy of his dreams. Aun Naupat felt a little wasted in his small but well-acted cameo as Khajorn, he has been in many shows (‘Enchante’, ‘Star and Sky’), and it seems like he can pull of bigger roles but isn’t getting his due. Tao Sarocha Watittapan and Lookwa Pijika Jittaputta play Tinn and Gun’s moms respectively; the two mothers are poles apart in their personalities but their love for their sons are heart-warming. The boys’ sexuality and their parents’ reactions to their children’s choices are tackled sensitively.
Screenwriters Pratchaya Thavornthummarut, Bee Pongsate Lucksameepong have done a fantastic job with this series. From the colorful sets, snappy outfits, to scenes filled with high-school nostalgia, ‘My School President’ gets all its ingredients right. Episode 12 was a little drawn and had a serious conflict which wasn’t really in sync with the rest of the show’s mood. However, things are smoothened out and the climactic scenes were cuteness overload.
It’s a 9 on 10 from me. Stream the show for free on GMMTV’s YouTube Channel.
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‘Red Rose’ – Intriguing Teen Techno-Horror Series
It’s hard not to think of the infamous ‘Blue Whale’ game while watching the 2022 series ‘Red Rose’ that’s about an app taking over the lives of a group of teenagers and driving them to their deaths. ‘Blue Whale’ was an online challenge that assigned 50 tasks to its teen users over a period of 50 days, goading participants to indulge in acts of self-harm and daring them to kill themselves on the final day. In ‘Red Rose’, an app infiltrates a teen’s phone and then starts bullying them into doing destructive things.
Directed by Michael Clarkson and Paul Clarkson, the series largely unfolds like a horror thriller over the period of eight episodes. Isis Hainsworth plays Rochelle Manson, a bubbly teenager who starts to behave differently and ghosts her friends after downloading the mysterious ‘Red Rose’ app. It promised to be a fairy godmother of sorts at the beginning but soon starts to wreak havoc in her life. When Rochelle is found dead at home, her best-friend Wren (Amelia Clarkson) refuses to believe it’s a suicide and downloads ‘Red Rose’ to investigate the app. Wren and her group of friends are then terrorized by the app as they try to uncover the truth.
I couldn’t recognize Isis Hainsworth at all, she looked familiar, but I couldn’t have guessed she was in Netflix’s ‘Metal Lords’ if I hadn’t looked up her filmography. While she was endearing as an asocial talented musician in the film, ‘Red Rose’ sees her transform into a bubbly-bitchy teen who is the ringleader of her small school gang called the ‘Fuckheads’. Despite being one of the more talented members of the cast, Isis’ role is a lot shorter than the others, but her performance helps set the pace for the show. Although at the end of episode one, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue watching the series because cautionary horror tales like these are on the rise – the devastating control technology can have over us.
The mystery over the app’s creators will keep viewers hooked to the show. However, a lot of things make no sense in the series, and one wishes the Clarkson brothers would’ve just gone out on a limb and made a supernatural horror story instead of a dystopian tech thriller. Most horror fans are probably tired of seeing creaky haunted mansions set in the 80s/90s or basically before the rise of smartphones. As it is, plenty of elements in ‘Red Rose’ are exaggerated, who not go for the full crazy package?
To be fair, the show does capture teen angst, insecurities, and the pressures of keeping up social media appearances well. All the cast members do a fantastic job with their roles, especially the younger actors who are a part of Wren’s group. Amelia Clarkson delivers a multi-layered performance as Wren, a teen who loses her best-friend and is bullied by her peers in the aftermath. Natalie Blair was fun as Ashley Banister, a die-hard fan of Princess Diana who dreams of traveling the world. While most of the gang is portrayed to be from financially struggling families, it’s interesting that two new additions to the ‘Fuckheads’ are Indian origin kids called Jaya Mahajan (Ashna Rabheru) and Taz Sadiq (Ali Khan) who are shown to be from wealthy families and while Taz is a bit of an airheard, Jaya is a tech genius who helps understand the origins of the app.
A few sub-plots that were simply forgotten by the end of the series, for example, Ellis Howard who plays Antony Longwell is hinted to have a stalker, there’s some suspense built over his chats with a stranger and then nothing comes off it. Maybe they should’ve compressed the show into six episodes or have made it slightly longer with a more conclusive ending instead of a cryptic cliffhanger that leaves plenty scope for a season two.
It’s a 7/10 from me.
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Listen to – ‘The Closet’ Horror Comic Series Review
February 23, 2023
‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ Movie Review
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Kind”
That kind of seems like a nice quote at first glance but it made me immediately think about how no pre-teen kid is wise enough to say they want to be ‘kind’ when they grow up. Unless their parents trained them to say deeply philosophical things like that. It is one of the very many quotable lines from the 2022 short movie ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ by Peter Baynton and Charlie Mackesy. The latter is also the author of the illustrated book by the same name.
I’ve read the book and didn’t realize how much the artwork is akin to ‘Winnie the Pooh’ until I saw the movie. That said, the animation is quite stunning, especially since the story unfolds in a snowy white forest, brining to viewers a soulful natural winter wonderland where a little boy talks to animals like he is a spiritual guru.
Just like the book, the movie too doesn’t have a coherent plot – a little boy is lost in the forest, meets a mole who is obsessed with cake and the two set out to find him a home. The two meet a fox and a horse along the way and all of them swap wisdom along the way. They say stuff we’ve read/heard a million times over.
Exhibit 1 –
“What’s the bravest thing you’ve done?”
“Asked for help”
Exhibit 2 –
“Doing nothing with friends is never doing nothing is it?”
(“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want” – Calvin and Hobbes – a quote that’s been my Facebook banner for almost ten years now)
Soon, despite being only about 30 minutes long, the movie gets boring. The artwork is wondrous, and the voice actors have pitch-perfect radio voices that make the dialogues soothing to the ears. While I can see how some people would love to see it, it’s too serious to be a kid’s film and too mundane for adults who read. An actual plot could’ve made this an instant classic.
It’s a 6/10 from me. Stream it on Apple TV.
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Ep 59 – 9 Must-Watch Animated Films From IMDB Top 100
February 22, 2023
‘Individual Circumstances’ – Series Review
An upcoming Korean director is faced with the ordeal of filming a porno if he doesn’t find a good script for his next film, so he sets out to convince a haughty author to become his screenwriter. Directed by Kim Jin Yeol, 2023 Korean mini-series ‘Individual Circumstances’ promises to be a fiery romance starring Jun.Q and Han Jun Wan as Seong Woon Jae and Ha Yeon Woo respectively.
The protagonists are shown to be close friends until a misunderstanding drives them apart; years later Woon Jae turns out to be the author Yeon Woo wants to work with on his next film. Can the two strike a deal? Lead actors Jun.Q and Seong Woon Jae look spectacular individually, together their chemistry is lacklustre, largely due to the lukewarm mundane script. Han Jun Wan might remind viewers of Park Seo Ham from ‘Semantic Error’, both have the same face-cut and impish boyish charms.
The cinematography is simple, most of the story unfolds in the premises of Yeon Woo’s house. But the plot of unexciting, using romance tropes that date back to the 1980s and beyond. There’s close to zero humour or fun in the script, it’s a slow flowing vanilla love story. I lost interested by episode six and saw the last two episodes two weeks later just to see how things end. It was predictable through and through. A mediocre show with good looking faces.
It’s a 5 on 10 from me.
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Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel recommendations under 10 Minutes
