Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 190
January 5, 2023
Blue Lock Episode 12 Review
More than half the players have been eliminated from the crazy strict soccer training program called ‘Blue Lock’ in the latest episode of the anime series and things are only getting tougher for the boys.
(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)
Titled ‘The Second Selection’, episode 12 has a creepy but intriguing start. After springing a nasty surprise on them after round one, Ego re-asserts becoming Japan’s best striker is not going to be easy. True to the slightly dystopian nature of the series, viewers get some impressive hi-tech training modules in the second round. The surviving players are expected to go through a grueling challenge all alone at first and are pitted against machines.
A whole bunch of new characters make their way into the episode, players who were on other teams and never faced Isagi Yoichi and gang. It was slightly annoying to notice that the player rankings weren’t refreshed in the first half of the episode. Isago still had an absurdly low number on his sleeve, but eventually the ranks are updated and turns out, the monstrous trio from team V – Reo Mikage, Nagi Seishiro and Zantetsu Tsurugi – aren’t the top three players of ‘Blue Lock’!
Stream the series on Netflix.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube
Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
‘Aquicorn Cove’ Review – Balmy Breezy Graphic Novel
The first few pages of the graphic novel ‘Aquicorn Cove’ by K. O’Neill immediately reminded me of the underrated Japanese animated movie called ‘Ponyo’. Both stories are set against a gorgeous sea-side town and have some magical water creatures in them. But apart from the basic setting, the tales are quite different from each other.
Plot overview – Young Lana goes to her seaside hometown with her father and helps the locals recuperate from the after-effects of a terrible storm. A simple trip home turns magical when Lana rescues a seahorse-like creature and learns about the fascinating underwater species whose way of life is being threatened due to over-fishing and exploitation of their resources by humans.
K. O’Neill’s art in the graphic novel is simple yet dreamy and I loved reading the breezy story. It’s a lovely children’s fantasy book that attempts to explain the problems of over-fishing and its damaging effects on coral reefs in a simple manner. I really enjoyed the illustrations and Lana’s little adventure in her hometown.
‘Aquicorn Cove’ may not be a very engaging read for older readers but is a balmy breezy graphic novel that makes you want to go on an underwater adventure.
It’s a 5/5 from me.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube
Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
January 4, 2023
‘Blue Lock’ Episode 11 Review
Episode 11 of ‘Blue Lock’ starts off from the biggest cliffhanger yet – the final minutes of the tense match between the monstrous Team V and underdogs of Team Z. An exaggeratedly entertaining soccer game was obviously in the offing.
(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)
Titled ‘The Final Piece’, episode 11 is protagonist Isagi Yoichi’s time to shine on the ground, a little like most other episodes really, so it wasn’t as exciting as others. In a wise move, the creators don’t drag the game for the entire episode and viewers get a surprisingly early conclusion to the ‘do or die’ match between the two formidable sides. What comes next is a wicked twist in the tale that leaves ‘Blue Lock’ players fuming and will have fans amused.
The elusive ‘Blue Lock’ master-mind makes his appearance in this edition and riles up the soccer kids as usual. It will be interesting to see a flashback episode on Ego’s motivations and drive. For now, viewers will have to be content with the next level of training, where things are going to get crazier for Yoichi and new friends.
Stream the series on Netflix.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube
Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
7 Women and a Murder – Movie Review
Seven women are virtually trapped in a mansion with a dead body and one of them is the murderer… but who?
Directed by Alessandro Genovesi, the 2021 movie ‘7 Women and a Murder’ is a remake of François Ozon’s ‘8 Femmes’ which came out in 2002. It’s a fun dark murder mystery, which never gets too serious and despite death being the primary theme the movie feels festive since the story unfolds on Christmas eve.
Plot overview: Marcello, the owner of a large estate is discovered with a fatal stab wound to his back on Christmas eve by his two daughters and wife. Margherita Buy plays Marcello’s wife, who isn’t exactly grief-stricken by the death, his older daughter Susanna (Diana Del Bufalo) who arrived the same morning is shocked, so is the younger bored Caterina (Benedetta Porcaroli), the only one who immediately suggests they call the police, but the only phone in the house is disconnected. Their car is broken, a snowstorm is afoot, and the women can’t do much except suspect each other, especially Marcello’s mistress Veronica (Micaela Ramazzotti) who suspiciously arrives knocking at the door moments after his death is discovered.
The remaining three women are Marghertia’s sister Agostina (Sabrina Impacciatore) who was hopelessly in love with Marcello, their wheelchair bound mother Rachele (Ornella Vanoni) and their rather beautiful housekeeper/cook Maria (Luisa Ranieri). All the actors were entertaining; Ornella Vanoni was a riot as an old lady with a drinking problem who instantly celebrates her son-in-law’s demise with some alcohol. Sabrina Impacciatore adds a lot of comic relief as the middle-aged spinster who suffers the indignity of having to live in the house of a woman who is/was married to her beloved.
‘7 Women and a Murder’ had a tragi-comedy air to it and was like a stage-play and interestingly does follow the classical three unities of drama – of action, place, and time. The movie’s action is focused on Marcello’s death and the women in his life, and everything takes place within the mansion and the story is over within 24 hours. While I really enjoyed watching a film with an all women cast, the pace slackens in the second half. While I wasn’t aware of who the director was while streaming the title, but due to a specific scene one would think it’s probably a man, because it just seemed like it was from a ‘male gaze’. In-fact even the original story is based on a play by Robert Thomas. Aha!
Anyway, overall, it’s a fun dark comedy, with a rather happy ending for a murder mystery, even though a funeral is around the corner.
It’s a 7/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.
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Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
January 3, 2023
‘Patience’ Graphic Novel Review
‘Patience’ by Daniel Clowes is about 200 pages long but sucks you into to a bizarre sci-fi toxic romance that feels so much longer. And even though it wasn’t particularly thrilling, gripping or entertaining, I couldn’t help but turning page after page, purely out of the need to know what happens in the end and wanting to be there for the whole journey instead of skipping to the climax.
Set somewhere in 2012, the story follows Jack and Patience, a young couple who are barely able to make ends meet but dream of a better future with some kids of their own. But that future is shattered when Jack finds Patience dead in their apartment one day and he becomes the primary suspect in his beloved’s murder. A few years later, when Jack is much older and time travel is made possible, he decides to go back in time and fix things.
Clowes has this distinct retro-ish art style, the panels are colorful, psychedelic and the only redeeming thing about ‘Patience’. It’s not like I hated it, but all the characters that appear through the story are one-dimensional and trashy. This story should’ve been about ‘Patience’, instead it’s about this whiny dumb dude Jack, who thinks he is some sort of hero, whereas in reality he is nothing but a destructive terminator from the future wreaking havoc in his partner’s part.
Last title I read by Clowes was ‘David Boring’, which was a lot crisper and compelling. Although, ‘Patience’ was overall an interesting distraction from a present where time travel is never possible.
It’s a 3/5 from me.
Subscribe to our Podcast show by the same name on YouTube.
Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
January 2, 2023
‘A Dreamer’s Search’ – Short Film Review
An American artist travels to a remote island in Alaska with his son, hoping the primordial region would serve as muse for his art, but sometimes, inspiration needs to come from within.
Written and directed by Eric Downs, the short film ‘A Dreamer’s Search’ is set in 1918 and follows painter Rockwell Kent’s stay in the Alaskan wilderness. Bradford James Jackson plays Kent and is earnest in his portrayal of the ‘tortured artist’ who struggles with meeting his own idealistic expectations. Iver Mitchell portrays his son Rocky, a sweet mild-mannered boy who cherishes the time spent with his reclusive father.
As soon as the movie begins, Kent’s quest for inspiration in nature’s lap would remind literature enthusiasts of Henry David Thoreau who had written his famous work ‘Walden’ in a secluded cabin in the woods. A little reading on Kent’s life reveals that too had read Thoreau’s works and followed the footsteps of such transcendentalists.
Back to Eric Down’s film – the cinematography is stunning, the beautiful Alaskan landscape is like balm for tired eyes, making one wish its breeze and earthy fragrance could waft through the screen and surround you. When Kent and his son take a boat to the island, the camerawork was slightly shaky, but it makes the viewer feel like they are on the water with them. It was perhaps a deliberate creative decision as the cameras were stable for the rest of the film.
With a crisp 30-minute runtime, ‘A Dreamer’s Search’ is a succinct creation which captures the struggles of an artist and poignantly explores a father’s relationship with his young impressionable son.
It’s an 8/10 from me.
January 1, 2023
‘White Noise’ Review – Absurdly Enjoyable in Parts
I was hoping to watch ‘Death to 2022’ on Netflix, but since the creators decided not to do one for 2022 year end, I streamed ‘White Noise’ instead. “From Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach comes an absurdist comedy about a family grappling with love, death and an airborne toxic event” – sounded like something right up my alley. And it was, for some parts at least.
Adam Driver plays Jack, a professor who is an expert on Adolf Hitler, while his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) takes ‘posture classes’, together the two are raising four kids and find their life turned upside down when a toxic airborne event forces them to evacuate their home. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to summarize this film because a lot of random strange things keep happening and the pace is just all over the place.
The dialogues are deliberately verbose, so the conversations between Jack and Babette sounds out an literary play instead of regular talk between a married couple. The writers make them sound scholarly, intellectual, but give them ridiculous insecurities which offer a comical contrast to their beings. Death is a dominant theme of this story. ‘I believe there are two kinds of people in the world. Killers and diers. Most of us are diers.’ a character hilariously says at some point to Jack. The professor has an irrational fear of dying and his wife Babette has some sinister secret anxieties of her own. Her daughter Denise (Raffey Cassidy) finds out Babette has been popping some unknown pills and that becomes a major mystery in the plot.
The story is both chaotic and calming. Imagine the world coming to an end, everybody around your town running in panic and losing their mind, but you and your family choose to quietly sit around the dining table discussing what to have for dinner. While some scenes are witty, entertaining, others are painfully awkward and cringe-y. One can see a touch of Beckett in the writing, but the problem with ‘White Noise’ is that it’s not absurd enough. Baumbach doesn’t stretch the limits of imagination, sure, there are some bizarre elements in the tale, but they never come together. The film feels like a forensic expert stitching up one body with limbs that belong to different people.
It’s a 6/10 from me.
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Listen to – 22 Movies From 2022 To Watch On Streaming Sites
December 31, 2022
A Note To Our Readers
It’s the first day of 2023 and I wouldn’t want to take the liberty to wish you the generic ‘Happy New Year’… because a lot of us have had it rough and there might have been very little or nothing to celebrate. Some of us have lost loved ones, nursed a broken heart, struggled to make ends meet, grappled with identity crises, anxiety attacks, crippling depression and a loss of a life that was perhaps far easier. So here’s wishing and hoping that your new year is a little better than the last one, that you can take small steps if not giant leaps, towards your goals and dreams.
I hope you find more time to do the things you enjoy most, maybe read all those books on your ‘to be read list’, find more time to do ‘movie nights’ with friends or family, enroll into classes for a skill you’ve always wanted to acquire, take walks in your neighborhood or simply take some guilt-free naps you’ve been denying yourself. We all tend to be too hard on ourselves, so take a breath and appreciate the little things you do. I am not aiming for an ‘inspirational talk’, it’s just that I’ve had my fair share of self-doubt; moments of wondering if I’ve been wasting away all my days. If it weren’t for all these modern apps keeping track of all that we do, perhaps I’d genuinely believe my past year was in vain. In a variation of the famous Charles Dickens quote – each year is going to be the best of times for some, and the worst of times for others.
You’ve probably been doing your best, and a lot of times it feels like it isn’t enough but remember to be kind to yourself when nobody else is. At the end of a hard day, treat yourself to a nice meal, watch a nice movie or read a good book. And I am always here to recommend or warn you against what to watch or read 
Thank you for reading and subscribing to ‘Abstract AF’.
Lots of Love,
Sneha Jaiswal.
‘Beauty’ Graphic Novel Review – Tantalizing!
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
My last read (‘The Dead’ by James Joyce) was so disappointing, I had to read something that would make me feel good about finishing 100 books in 2022. So, I picked ‘Beauty’ a graphic novel by Hubert and artist duo Kerascoët because their artwork is quite magical.
‘Beauty’ is a dark tale about deceptive physical appearances and the dangerous consequences of unparalleled allure. As soon as the tale began, it instantly reminded me of a character from the Hindi epic ‘Mahabharatha’ – Matsyagandha, literally meaning one that smells like fish, who becomes Queen Satyavati. Just like Matsyagandha, Coddie, the protagonist of ‘Beauty’ also smells like fish and is rid of the smell through the virtue of a boon and eventually marries a king.
Coddie is often made fun of by everybody in the village because she is ugly and smelly, but the young girl meets a fairy who grants her a wish that enables people to see her as the most beautiful woman in the world. All men start to dangerously lust after her and it takes years for the simple-dumb Coddy to realize how her wish only spells trouble. From the village drunkard, to none other than the king himself, every body wants a piece of Beauty, a name Coddy takes up after the physical transformation.
That ‘beauty is a dangerous illusion’ is the biggest takeaway from this graphic novel that’s meant for adults. It has a lot of violence, sexual undertones and no ‘Aesop Fable’ like lessons to impart. I like Kerascoët’s illustrations because they are reminiscent of the drawings in a popular children’s magazine, I grew up reading. However, their childlike artwork offers an interesting contrast to the adult themes the story delves into. From feeling sympathetic towards Coddie, to despising her as Beauty, the readers are taken on a roller-coaster ride that starts as a simple sorry tale about a poor ugly village girl and goes to the dizzying heights of politics, wars that sees the same girl transform into an extravagant whimsical Queen who makes the King dance on her little fingers.
It’s a 5/5 from me!
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Listen To ’10 Graphic Novel Reviews Under 10 Minutes’
22 Movies From 2022 To Watch On Streaming Sites
Watching every movie that comes out in a year is simply not possible for anybody, but I’ve seen at least 184 movies in 2022 and recommend 22 movies released in 2022 in the latest podcast episode of ‘Abstract AF’. They are in no particular order and are available to watch on streaming platforms. The list doesn’t include any superhero movies… because well, if you were a fan, you’d have or will watch them anyway.
(Click on the titles for longer reviews)
Sharmaji Namkeen – Hindi – Comedy – Amazon PrimeAll Quiet on the Western Front – German – War/Action – Netflix Turning Red – English – Animated comedy – Disney Hotstar Premium The Lost City – English – Campy Comedy – Amazon Prime Bullet Train – English/Japanese – Action – Netflix Night Drive – Malayalam – Political Thriller – Netflix Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – English – Parody Biopic – Roku Love Today – Tamil – Romantic Comedy – Netflix Monica, O My Darling – Hindi – Dark Comedy/Thriller – Netflix Something From Tiffany’s – English – Christmas Romance – Amazon PrimeApollo 10½ – English – Animation – Netflix Metal Lords – English – Teen Musical – Netflix Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ – English – Animation – Netflix My Police Man – English – Romance – Amazon Prime Troll – Norwegian – Fantasy – Netflix The Swimmers – English – Biopic – Netflix Dasvi – Hindi – Comedy/Drama – Netflix Do Revenge – English – Teen Drama – Netflix Scrooge: A Christmas Carol – English – Animation – Netflix 13: The Musical – English – Children’s Musical – Netflix Slumberland – English – Children’s Fantasy – Netflix Entergalactic – English – Animation/Romance – Neflix
