Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 188
January 18, 2023
Barnstormers Issue #4 Review
Issue #4 of ‘Barstormers’ by Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay conjures up an old school Hollywood forbidden romance, with a dash of daredevilry in the mix – lead couple Bix and Tilly are making decent money by performing aerial stunts but are unaware that their enemies are hot on their trail. Remember – Tilly is a newly married bride who runs away with Bix who had literally gatecrashed her marriage party with his aircraft. The fuming wealthy groom is hellbent on getting his woman back and punishing Bix.
(Read Barnstormers Issue #1 #2 & #3 Review for a recap)
Issue #4 sees the story progresses in a predictable manner, but Tula Lotay’s glossy gorgeous artwork makes you feel like you are watching a motion-picture. The cover image for this issue looks like a young Jason Segel and a brunette Margot Robbie; making one wonder if actual actors served as inspiration for the protagonists. Snyder’s decision to make Bix suffer from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is one of the few elements in ‘Barnstormers’ that sets it apart from old school love stories. Bix might be living the fast-flying life with the beautiful Tilly by his side, but his war experience continues to haunt him.
I feel like just 30 pages per issue for this 5-part comic series isn’t enough but considering how conventional most of the plot has been so far, maybe it’s for the best. Bix and Tilly are forced to make some tough decisions in this issue and it looks like readers might either get a very tragic climax in the next issue or an unexpected exciting climax. The latter would be nice.
It’s a 3.5/5 from me.
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January 17, 2023
Blue Lock Episode 13 Review
Things were supposed to be getting crazier in soccer anime series ‘Blue Lock’, especially after episode 12 ended with an exciting reveal – that Reo Mikage, Nagi Seishiro and Zantetsu Tsurugithe aren’t the top three players in the building! However, some of the new characters who take center-stage in the new episode are annoying, making the proceedings a little overbearing.
(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)
Aptly titled ‘The Top Three’, episode 13 sees primary protagonist Isagi Yoichi and his team of three going against the top three players of ‘Blue Lock’. Rin Itoshi, who is at rank 1 as per the revised rankings, is a total jackass and easily the worst character in the show so far. The writers give him excessive swagger, his personality is too cliched and he brings down the pace of the episode every time he opens his mouth. Aoshi Tokimitsu who is ranked 3 is a bit of a weirdo too, he is exceptionally nervous and reminded me of Zenitsu Agatsuma from ‘Demon Slayer’, Aoshi is also an unpredictable nervous wreck but is nowhere as funny or endearing as Zenitsu.
Rank 2 Jyubei Aryu serves as mild comic-relief due to his obsession with beauty; he says dialogues like ‘assist my glam goals’. However, the writers should’ve inserted some more comic relief to make the edition a little more entertaining. Things do get exciting by the end of the episode during the ‘three versus three’ match, and things end on an unpredictable note. Can Isagi, Bachira and Nagi beat the top 3 with their quick thinking and teamwork?
Stream the series on Netflix.
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‘Blurr’ Review – Thriller Done Like Supernatural Flick
When Gayatri dreams of someone forcing her twin Gautami to hang herself, she rushes with her husband to her sister’s place to find her dead indeed. Everybody is convinced it’s a simple suicide case, but Gayatri begins her own investigation, convinced her sister was murdered. Someone shadowy starts to tail Gayatri everywhere and things get more complicated when she starts suffering from progressive blindness, just like her twin.
Directed by Ajay Bhal, who has co-written the story with Pawan Sony, the 2022 Bollywood Thriller ‘Blurr’ stars Taapsee Pannu as the twins and Gulshan Devaiah as Gayatri’s husband Neel. The premise of the film is intriguing, and Taapsee delivers an engaging performance as a lone woman trying to catch hold of a potential psychotic killer. However, her character makes some decisions that aren’t very logical and simply serve as plot devices to push the story forward. Like her decision to live alone in her sister’s remote home after an eye operation, even when the doctor suggests she stay in the hospital. But fine, we can roll with it…
The cinematography post Gayatri’s eye operation was interestingly creative – except for her, all characters are shot in a way that the viewer cannot see their faces but only hear their voices. It’s the creator’s way of showing us things through Gayatri’s perspective when her eyes are covered in bandages. It also serves to build considerable suspense over the events unfolding in the story.
While the first half was quite gripping, the pace begins to slacken a little in the second half and becomes tedious after the first major reveal/twist in the story. Some of the settings were blatantly overdone – they all seem out of a horror movie from the 90s. The houses featured through the runtime are cluttered, creepy, and cosmetic. A lot of things were very predictable, except for the final truth about Gautami’s death. So, while the climactic twist did come as a surprise, the writers prolong the drama towards the end and squeeze in a few last-minute themes in the tale that weren’t necessary. With some cuts and a crisper runtime, this could’ve been a lot more thrilling. ‘Blurr’ is a decent thriller, I just felt more disappointed than usual because it builds your hopes up as a viewer and then delivers a prolonged end chapter.
It’s a 5/10 from me. Stream it on Zee 5.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube.
Listen to – ‘The Closet’ Horror Comic Series Review
‘Blurr’ Review – Thriller Done Like Ghost Film
When Gayatri dreams of someone forcing her twin Gautami to hang herself, she rushes with her husband to her sister’s place to find her dead indeed. Everybody is convinced it’s a simple suicide case, but Gayatri begins her own investigation, convinced her sister was murdered. Someone shadowy starts to tail Gayatri everywhere and things get more complicated when she starts suffering from progressive blindness, just like her twin.
Directed by Ajay Bhal, who has co-written the story with Pawan Sony, the 2022 Bollywood Thriller ‘Blurr’ stars Taapsee Pannu as the twins and Gulshan Devaiah as Gayatri’s husband Neel. The premise of the film is intriguing, and Taapsee delivers an engaging performance as a lone woman trying to catch hold of a potential psychotic killer. However, her character makes some decisions that aren’t very logical and simply serve as plot devices to push the story forward. Like her decision to live alone in her sister’s remote home after an eye operation, even when the doctor suggests she stay in the hospital. But fine, we can roll with it…
The cinematography post Gayatri’s eye operation was interestingly creative – except for her, all characters are shot in a way that the viewer cannot see their faces but only hear their voices. It’s the creator’s way of showing us things through Gayatri’s perspective when her eyes are covered in bandages. It also serves to build considerable suspense over the events unfolding in the story.
While the first half was quite gripping, the pace begins to slacken a little in the second half and becomes tedious after the first major reveal/twist in the story. Some of the settings were blatantly overdone – they all seem out of a horror movie from the 90s. The houses featured through the runtime are cluttered, creepy, and cosmetic. A lot of things were very predictable, except for the final truth about Gautami’s death. So, while the climactic twist did come as a surprise, the writers prolong the drama towards the end and squeeze in a few last-minute themes in the tale that weren’t necessary. With some cuts and a crisper runtime, this could’ve been a lot more thrilling. ‘Blurr’ is a decent thriller, I just felt more disappointed than usual because it builds your hopes up as a viewer and then delivers a prolonged end chapter.
It’s a 5/10 from me. Stream it on Zee 5.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube.
Listen to – ‘The Closet’ Horror Comic Series Review
January 16, 2023
‘Roller Girl’ Graphic Novel Review
Unlike a lot of American school stories that are focused around the ‘middle grade is hell’ theme, ‘Roller Girl’ is a gust of fresh air following a young girl’s dream to become a pro at her new hobby – roller derby. The graphic novel is written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, who plays the sport in real life. Honestly, I had no idea what ‘Roller derby’ was until this book and the creator does a fantastic job of explaining the skating-based sport through her colorful illustrations.
Plot overview – When twelve-year-old Astrid signs up to train for an exciting new skating sport over the summer, she simply assumes her best-friend Nicole would do the same. The two girls do everything together, so their friendship gets strained when Nicole chooses ballet class over roller derby, what’s worse, Nicole is warming up to Astrid’s nemesis. Alone at the roller derby camp, Astrid is the only ‘newbie’ but is determined to ace the sport and participate in a public event.
Astrid looks and behaves like a regular kid and doesn’t try to ape grown-ups, she is sweet, naive and funny. For example, she thinks coloring her hair like all the other girls at the camp could be the secret to getting better at skating. My favorite character however was Zoey, a spunky feisty girl Astrid befriends over the summer and the two together try to get better at the game. Zoey is sweet, supportive and has a whole bunch of annoying brothers at home, which makes her a lot more grounded than most kids her age. Their blossoming friendship is cute and comes with its own set of minor challenges. Victoria Jamieson does slip in some mild drama, like the tension between the protagonist and her childhood best-friend Nicole, but it never gets far-fetched.
The artwork is simple, cute, engaging and the pace moves smoothly, without the many bumps and falls Astrid experiences along the way. I just kept turning page after page and probably got done with the 200+ pages novel in less than two hours!
It’s a 4/5 from me.
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Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
January 15, 2023
Should You Read ‘The Discomfort of Evening’?
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Ten-year-old Jas has a far from idyllic childhood, but things only get worse for her family when her older brother dies. If I had to write a one line review for ‘The Discomfort of Evening’, it would be something on the lines of – striking visceral writing, but repetitive tedious story with unnecessarily graphic imagery and scenes involving children and animals.
Listen to my longer spoiler-free review of ‘The Discomfort of Evening’ on the latest podcast episode of ‘Abstract AF’. The novel Marieke Lucas Rijneveld had won the 2020 International Booker Prize, a fact I wasn’t aware of while buying the book. (It was on discount and the cover looked intriguing)
January 14, 2023
Drishyam 2 – Hindi Movie Review
If you’ve already seen the original Malayalam movie ‘Drishyam 2’ starring Mohanlal and Meena then you should know that like the Hindi remake Drishyam, the sequel too is quite faithful to the original. And both versions are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Directed by Ajay Pathak and written by Jeethu Joseph, the sequel stars Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav as the Salgaonkars, the family which notoriously manages to hoodwink Goa police and successfully gets away with the murder of a top cop’s son. ‘Drishyam 2’ picks up the family’s story seven years later – the Salgaonkars are leading a comfortable life, but Meera Deshmukh (Tabu) has still not given up hopes of sending her son’s murderers to jail. When a new witness turns up in the case with some crucial information, Vijay Salgaonkar must outwit the police again to save his loved ones.
The only major difference between the Malayalam and Hindi version is the fact that Pathak’s team has a bigger budget and it shows. Akshaye Khanna as IG Tarun Ahlawat who’s determined to solve the case looked out of place in the cast, Tabu was far more intimidating as the IG. Bulk of the film is shouldered by Ajay Devgn, who is calm, confident, and calculated as Vijay Salgaonkar. Tabu as a mother hellbent on vengeance doesn’t have as much screen-time as last time but still packs a punch, while Rajat Kapoor as her level-headed husband is the Yin to her Yang.
Gripping for most parts, ‘Drishyam 2’ highlights the kind of psychological impact a crime can have on perpetrators, apart from that, the case resolution wasn’t too convincing. But if viewers don’t ask too many questions, the ending will seem satisfactory enough.
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January 13, 2023
‘Dog Gone’ – Quick Movie Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Some of us are suckers for dog movies and the makers of 2023 Netflix movie ‘Dog Gone’ attempt to tug the heart-strings of ‘dog-people’. Directed by Stephen Herek, the film is based on a book of the same name by Paul Toutonghi and starts off with college student Fielding Marshall (Johnny Berchtold) adopting a dog from a shelter after breaking-up with his girlfriend. He calls the pup Gonker and the two become inseparable until Fielding loses sight of his pet during a hike in the Appalachian trail, one of the longest hiking trails in the world. How his parents help Fielding find Gonker forms the rest of the story. Their biggest challenge – Gonker has Addison’s disease and needs to be found within a certain number of days or he could die without his medication.
Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams-Paisley plays the Marshalls, who aren’t very enthused about the fact that Fielding doesn’t land a job after finishing college. Regardless, Mr Fielding (Rob Lowe) insists on accompanying Fielding across the Appalachian trail to look for Gonker, the search gives father and son the opportunity to heal their strained relationship. So, while the plot is based around the sweet dog, the primary focus is really on the family.
With a 90-minute runtime, ‘Dog Gone’ unnecessarily adds multiple sub-plots for Fielding’s character, so there’s one about his love for Gonker, another about his uneasy rapport with his dad and a third angle that could’ve been completely omitted. Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Mrs Marshall was the sweetest character, she is slightly technologically challenged, but gives her all in finding their beloved dog. Both the book and the movie are loosely based on real people and events that took place in the 1990s, however the Netflix version does a decent job of updating the plot to suit 2022. For example – Mrs Marshall sets up new social media handles to help spread the word about the search.
I wish there were more scenes featuring the dog that plays Gonker, but otherwise ‘Dog Gone’ makes for a good title to stream with the entire family. The end credits had some cute real-life pictures of the cast and crew with their pets and it’s good to know that most of them are also ‘dog people’.
It’s a 6.5/10 from me.
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Listen to – Why ‘To the Lighthouse’ Can Be a Frustrating Read
‘Phone Bhoot’ Review – Silly AF but Fun
“Idiots!” – I must have exclaimed at least 20 times if not more, while watching 2022 Horror-Comedy ‘Phone Bhoot’ that follows the antics of two horror fanatics who refuse to grow up and live off their dads’ money. But the “idiots!” was usually followed up by a laugh or snigger.
Directed by Gurmmeet Singh, ‘Phone Bhoot’ stars Ishaan Khattar and Siddhant Chaturvedi as childhood best-friends Gullu and Major who are both obsessed with horror films, ghosts and live in a house that looks like a mini-horror museum. The boys try to make money out of horror-themed parties, events and what not, with zero success, but when the beautiful ghost Ragini (Katrina Kaif) enters their life, she convinces the boys to start their own desi ghost-busters business. Jackie Shroff plays Aatmaram Shastrashakti, a evil villain who deals with ghosts and seeks to eliminate the new competitors in his field.
If you aren’t a Ramsay Brothers’ fan, you won’t appreciate most of the ridiculous stuff unfolding in the movie, but as someone who’s watched ‘Veerana’ at least ten times, ‘Phone Bhoot’ was right up my alley. The flick is also laden with a thousand Bollywood pop culture references, from Jackie’s ‘Trimurti’ to SRK’s ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gam’, slivers of popular dialogues and scenes find their way into the script. There was a brilliant little dance sequence where Katrina Kaif and Ishaan Khattar recreate the hook steps of Kamal Haasan-Manisha Koirala’s song ‘Telephone Dhoon Mein’. In-fact, a bunch of songs are peppered throughout the movie and weren’t too annoying because they are well choreographed and all three lead stars can dance. Ishaan Khattar is joyfully expressive and fluid in his movements and might remind some viewers of a young Shahid Kapoor.
A lot of ‘Phone Bhoot’ makes no sense, some of the humor is meant for ten-year-olds, but the script is also laden with sexual innuendoes, so it isn’t exactly kid-friendly either. Majot is a bit of a creep who says things like “you’ve broken my trust and lust”, while Gullu is a scatter-brained genius. Both actors are hilarious as obsessive horror fans and Katrina’s Ragini gives them the push they need to do something with their life. The climax in comparison to the rest of the film was lackluster, boring and overstretched. Regardless, I’d give it brownie points for all the loud laughs it managed to get out of us (’twas a family movie night pick).
Watch the film on Prime Video if you are a fan of the horror-comedy genre. It’s a 6.5/10 from me.
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Listen to ’22 Movies From 2022 To Watch on Streaming Sites’
January 11, 2023
Sam and Oscar – Graphic Novel Review
It’s probably more apt to call ‘Sam and Oscar’ by Ademar Vieira and Ana Valentine a picture book instead of ‘graphic novel’. It’s a silent illustrated story with zero dialogues depicting the relationship between a young man and his sweet little dog and cat.
The book is a cozy walk down memory lane and would be best enjoyed by those who either have/had pets or long for one. Ademar Vieira fondly draws the challenges of getting accustomed to a pet for the first time, the challenges, the initial frustrations and finally the pure joy of having someone who loves you unconditionally.
The story starts with a young Ademar moving to an unfurnished flat that’s in disrepair, with cracks in the walls, stains on the floors and dysfunctional fixtures. He turns the place around and those scenes would be relatable to anybody who’s taken joy in personalizing their own space. The artwork is simple, engaging and didn’t need words to explain what’s happening.
With a little less than 150 pages, ‘Sam and Oscar’ offers a perfect little book break for those who are fond of pets.
It’s a 4/5 from me. (The book is also available on Kindle Unlimited library)
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