Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 197
November 24, 2022
‘Wednesday’ Review: Wickedly Good
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram | YouTube)
“Jauntily macabre music playing” declares the first subtitle line of 2022 Netflix series ‘Wednesday’. Hilarious! What follows is a deliciously dark gothic toned series about the young Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) who enjoys torturing people and has changed seven schools in five years. When she is admitted to ‘Nevermore Academy’ mid-session, a boarding school for outcasts where her parents first met, Wednesday is determined to escape. But when someone attempts to murder the new girl within the first week of her arrival and a beastly serial-killer rescues Wednesday just in time, she decides to stay back and solve the mystery.
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, ‘Wednesday’ is spread over eight episodes, four of which have been directed by Tim Burton, two each by James Marshall and Gandja Monteiro. The show is kind of like ‘Gothic Horror’ meets ‘Harry Potter’ – it’s dark, mildly gory and scary, but also conjures up a teen-school-fantasy setting, complete with witches, werewolves, vampires, sirens and whatnot, studying in a school for misfits, where sporting competitions and rivalries are order of the day.
Episode One titled ‘Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe’ is an incredibly entertaining opener that introduces almost all crucial members of the Addams family. I had my doubts about Catherine Zeta Jones & Luis Guzman playing the iconic Addams couple, but they were splendid as the kookie parents of a problem child. Jenna Ortega is wicked, wacky and wry as the titular Wednesday, who gets the best lines and delivers them with deadpan perfection. Emma Myers adds a dash of color to the story as Enid Sinclair, Wednesday’s new roommate, a werewolf who is the only adorable optimistic fur-ball in this black-flavored tale. Interestingly, the first four episodes directed by Burton were a lot more crisp, intriguing, with the right amount of humor. Episode 4 ends with a hilarious nod to the iconic Prom scene from Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’. The plot isn’t as swift episode five onward, but continues to be engaging. At some point, Wednesday refers to Agatha Christie, and even her case turns out to be a typical Christie mystery, full off potential suspects and multiple red herrings.
The primary theme for this season (hoping there are more to come) is ‘outcasts’ vs ‘normies’. The town where ‘Nevermore’ is located has a dark history of persecuting witches and maintaining truce between the two worlds has its own costs. Gwendoline Christies plays Principal Larissa Weems, who keeps up the quid pro quo and is delightfully intimidating as the headmistress handling teen delinquents; a lot like her character from ‘Sandman’, if ‘Nevermore’ were to be equated with hell, she’s its Lucifer. Christina Ricci who was iconic as Wednesday as a child star, was unrecognizable as Marilyn Thornhill in this show, a sweet ‘normie’ teacher who teaches botany. Visually, for me, Ricci is still the most morbid and devious Wednesday, but Jenna Ortega does rise to the challenge of making the role her own. Percy Hynes White and Hunter Doohan play Xavier Thorpe and Tyler Galphin respectively, the former is a rich popular legacy student at Nevermore while the latter is a regular townie with a cop dad, and both play potential romantic leads against Ortega.
A major highlight of the show is the background music, most fans would be glad at how the creators incorporate slivers of the classic Addams Family theme song in this spinoff and even weave in the signature finger-snaps as part of the story. The climax was interesting, it uses some cliched tropes but ends with a satisfying dramatic flourish. I was expecting some more violence/gore, I mean the lead is a legendary ‘homicidal maniac after-all, but overall, the show was surprisingly wholesome and doesn’t disappoint.
‘Wednesday’ combines elements of some of my favorite genres – horror/mystery/fantasy/teen-drama – and delivers a binge-worthy season one. It’s a 8.5/10 from me.
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Listen To: ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ Isn’t What It Seems
November 23, 2022
‘The Wonder’ Review: Slow, But Steadily Gains Steam
‘The Wonder’ is a period drama mystery about a girl whose family claims she’s been living without no food for four months. But more than a mystery, it’s a tale about two strangers establishing a bond that could potentially change their lives forever, for the better or worse. If you are looking for a pacy thriller, this is probably not the title you’d want to stream on Netflix.
Directed by Sebastián Lelio, the 2022 movie is based on a book of the same name by Emma Donoghue. Florence Pugh plays British nurse Lib Wright, who is summoned to an Irish village and be part of an investigation to ascertain if a young girl could be a ‘saint’. The year is 1862, and 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell has become a local celebrity, drawing curios visitors to her village over the tale of her unbelievable 4-month-long hunger. The religious believe they have a miracle on their hands, but skeptics like Lib Wright are determined to uncover how the O’Donnell family is pulling off the impossible feat. Is it a miracle, a medical anomaly or a misguided attempt towards a strange cause?
I said this isn’t much of a mystery because the moment the writers show the first clue as to what’s happening, the answer becomes too obvious. However, there are certain surprising revelations made in the second half, which makes the slow start worth the wait. Pugh’ portrayal of Lib Wright is earnest, she a fascinating character for the 1860s, an independent critical-thinker who trusts scientific facts, not faith and miracles. She is an experienced nurse who tended to dying solider at war and can hold her own against a room full of men ganging up against her.
Kila Lord Cassidy plays the mystery Anna in question, who claims to solely survive on ‘manna from heaven’. Cassidy is an interesting blend of creepy, vulnerable and sincere as a child who is blinded by religious beliefs. Lib and a nun are hired to keep a ‘watch’ over the girl 24*7, doing 8 hour shifts in rotation, to see if the child really is going on without food. Tom Burke is journalist Will Byrne who wants to do a story on Anna and rubs off on the wrong side of Lib when they first meet.
Since the plot takes place in small Irish village which seems to be pretty isolated, the cinematography is plain, stark and representative of the frugal conditions under which the characters live. The small community also becomes a metaphor for their closed-conservative-narrow view of life. For a film that gloomy and dark in tone for most of the runtime, ‘The Wonder’ has a triumphant climax, one that far more optimistic in tone than the skeptical nature of the plot.
It’s a 7/10 from me.
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Listen To: ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ Isn’t What It Seems
‘Kabe Koji’ Review – Amusing Manga Adaptation
One is a pessimistic obsessive manga writer, the other’s a sugary sweet pop idol, the two couldn’t be more different, yet, when Mamoru and Issei cross paths after years, a chaotic connection is re-established.
Adapted from a Japanese manga series of the same crazy long name – ‘Kabe Sa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shouninyokkyuu wo Kojiraseteiru’, the show stars Matsuoka Koudai as broody asocial manga artist Mamoru and Nakao Masaki plays rising singer Issei who admires the former’s work. The plot is goofy – the two protagonists like each other but aren’t able to vocalize their emotions clearly, as Mamoru always pushes Issei away due to low self-esteem issues.
Spread over eight episodes, the series is low-key hilarious, but Mamoru as a character was a little extreme in his negative emotions and should ideally have been seeing a therapist. Or perhaps he cannot afford one. To Matsuoka Koudai’s credit, he slips into the skin of the self-loathing artist brilliantly! Makao Masaki’s Issei is on the other side of the spectrum – he is inhumanely good-humored, sweet and resilient. He is the kind of character viewers want protected at all costs, a completely adorable human-shaped puppy. Yahagi Honoka is cheery as the energetic Yamada Kohari – Mamoru’s friend/manager/motivator/cheerleader, she is there for him whenever he starts slipping into an abyss of self-doubt and hatred. Her character provides some good laughs through the runtime.”Am I a background character in a BL?” she asks in a scene, when she witnesses Issei’s affection for Mamoru.
Like a lot of Manga adaptations, this one too exists in its own bubble and the cinematography gives everything a nostalgic tone. Since it’s a kooky romantic-comedy, one wishes Mamoru and Issei had more definitive moments together or at least a decent length conversation, instead, Japanese pop-idol culture and how the media hounds celebrities gets more screen space. Regardless, the climax was uplifting, with the plot coming to a full circle, ending in a cute scene quite similar to how their story begins! There is an end credit scene too, so watch it.
It’s a 7/10 from me.
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Listen To: ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ Isn’t What It Seems
November 22, 2022
‘Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?’: Fizzy Four-Part Documentary
Fifteen years ago, I could’ve never imagined defining documentaries as ‘fun’. But how things have changed! The 2022 Netflix docu-series ‘Pepsi, Where’s My Jet’ is one hell of an entertaining documentary about how a Seattle boy sued Pepsi in the 1990s over an advertisement claiming one could get a Harrier jet if they collected enough ‘pepsi points’.
John Leonard was only 20 when he saw a Pepsi ad introducing their glitzy sweepstakes campaign. It was on the lines of – ‘buy pepsi, get points, collect enough and exchange them for our merchandise’. A teen flew in with a Harrier jet to school at the end of the advertisement and said “sure beats the bus”. John decided he was going to get the jet at any cost. Todd Hoffman, an adventurous businessman who John met at one of his trekking expeditions as a guide, decided to help the young man out. What ensued was an unexpected legal battle lasting years and plenty of media attention which gave the duo what some would call ‘fifteen minutes of fame’.
Interestingly, the documentary does get both sides of the story, sure, the narrative is driven largely by John and Todd, but the series also features interviews from top Pepsi executives at the time and creatives behind the ad that landed the cola company in trouble. Spread over 4 well crafted episodes, the first one was absolutely fantastic and engaging, while things do get a little slower in the next three. Getting a step ahead from regular documentaries, Netflix uses a bunch of actors to re-create scenes from the 90s, and they have plenty of file footage (including news clips) to intersperse in between. Add to that a bunch of the biggest hits from the 90s as background music, and you get a groovier than usual ‘advertising gone wrong/David Vs Goliath’ story. Pepsi thought these two crazy idiots from Seattle just wanted some quick money, but John seriously desired the Harrier, a military aircraft and even had an extensive plan for what he intended to do with it.
It’s laudable that the creators keep the tone of the series light and energetic for most of the runtime. Nobody goes out of their way to slander the other party. Okay, actually, both sides do say some mean things, but largely in good humor. It helps that John Leonard seems like a really nice guy, who truly believed Pepsi owed him a jet. And since this is a Netflix production, you have some hilarious exchanges like the following –
Interviewee: I said, “You know what? The hell with them man.” I mean I’d use a different language if I weren’t on Camera.
Someone behind the camera: This is Netflix. You can use whatever language you want
Interviewee: Fuck them.
The series highlights how serious the ‘Coca-Cola Vs Pepsi’ rivalry was, popularly known as the ‘cola wars’. Cindy Crawford, brand-ambassador for Pepsi back then, also gives her two-cents on the crazy competition between the brands. In a really cool move, the documentary also has an interview with Jenna Dolan, the first woman to fly the Harrier Jet operationally and in combat. She is brought in to explain how the Jet functions.
To make the primary interviewees seem more human/cool/interesting, the series spends more time than necessary dwelling upon John and Todd’s friendship. Although, the duo definitely makes a great example for friendship between two men who come from different worlds and stuck with each other through a crazy legal battle that grabbed national headlines.
It’s a 8/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.
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Listen To: ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ Isn’t What It Seems
‘Yashoda’ Review: Bloated Surrogacy Thriller
Is Samantha’s performance in ‘Yashoda’ fantastic? A big ‘YES!’. But did I struggle to stay awake in the movie theater and regretted not waiting for it to come on some OTT platform? ‘Yes’ to that too.
Written and directed by duo Haresh Narayan and K. Hari Shankar, 2022 Telugu thriller ‘Yashoda’ stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu as the titular lead, who signs up for a surrogacy program for financial reasons. After receiving a hefty paycheck, she is taken a to a fancy facility called ‘Eva’, where multiple surrogate mothers like her are taken care of under strict rules and guidelines, since their babies are to be handed over to millionaires/billionaires. While things seem great about the facility on surface, there’ something shady about the place and Yashoda tries to investigate what is going on. A parallel sub-plot about cops investigating a murder of a business-tycoon and model leads to some disturbing revelations.
The basic plot of the film is definitely intriguing, but the writers exaggerate and embellish too much. The execution is chaotic and even childish in parts. For example, ‘Eva’ is run like a prison facility, which gives a great dystopian touch to the story, but the surrogate mothers behave like juveniles at a boarding school and like to bully newcomers. The story can’t maintain one mood for long, and each shift in tone is jarring. ‘Yashoda’ ends up being an odd mixture of mass 90s masala entertainer and modern slick action mystery.
The writers bore viewers by over-explaining everything. Even the antagonists get to give a detailed background story about how they met & conceived their evil plan. It reminded me of a dialogue by Radhika Apte’s cop character in ‘Monica O My Darling’, where she tells a suspect to never give an elaborate back story. “The more perfect your story is, the more doubt it creates,” she smirks. Although, Yashoda’s writers would need a tip on the lines of – “the longer the story, the more loopholes”.
The fight sequences featuring Samantha were well choreographed and entertaining, but the rest of the story element keep faltering. Also, I don’t understand the script’s fixation with rape. Why else would a two hour film have two rape attempts and an additional instance of sexual harassment? Two instances were crucial to the plot, but one rape attempt was absolutely unnecessary. Plenty of male heroes get to fight in action flicks without the villain is trying to get into their pants. So why can’t leading ladies kick some ass without having to deal with sexual violence? Sigh.
Some questions that arise in the first half are answered in an ‘almost satisfying’ manner in the climax. But the ending is overstretched, despite there being plenty of perfect opportunities to wind up the film a little earlier. With some more trimming of unnecessary scenes and emotional excesses, ‘Yashoda’ could have been a fantastic thriller. It does have its moments but is diluted due to its unrealistic scale.
It’s a 5/10 from me.
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Listen To – ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Better Than ‘1917’?!
November 21, 2022
We’ve Always Lived In The Castle: Book Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
After a year long wait for a good discount, I finally bought myself a copy of ‘We’ve Always Lived in The Castle’ by Shirley Jackson. Don’t judge me, limiting one’s book budget and not having a shelf full of unread titles is an achievement of sorts.
Anyway… back to Shirley Jackson… her ‘Haunting of Hill House’ was a lot more compelling and the Netflix series based on the novel is even better, especially for those who love psychological horror. But ‘We’ve Always Lived In The Castle’ isn’t a horror story, and unlike what the blurb would like readers to believe, it isn’t even much of a mystery. It does have some great psychological elements and an interesting devious narrator who keeps you wanting to turn the pages until the very end.
Plot overview: The wealthy Blackwood family consisted of seven members, until arsenic poisoning claimed the lives of four of them. The three survivors continue to live in the large mansion where the murders took place and lead an idyllic routine life for six years. However, their life is disrupted when a cousin comes knocking on their door with an eye on Blackwood wealth, paving way for fresh tragedy.
Listen to my audio review of the book on the latest podcast episode of ‘Abstract AF’. Do subscribe to the channel.
Spy x Family Episode 20 Review
Anya Forger is still struggling with academics at school in the anime series ‘Spy x Family’ and her next social-studies requires students to research on an occupation. The children are told to either ask their parents about their work-place or interview anybody else they’d like. Who would Anya choose? Assassin mom Yor with a boring govt day job or spy dad Loid who works as a psychiatrist as cover. The choice is pretty obvious!
(Read Spy x Family Episode 1 Review if you have no clue what the show is about)
Titled ‘Investigate the General Hospital’ the episode gives both Anya and viewers a glimpse of Loid’s fake day job setting for the first time. Anya is dressed as a detective and some amusing dad-daughter scenes unfold as the little trouble-maker tries to do explore the hospital on her own when Loid isn’t looking.
Loid’s friend/informant Scruffy makes a small cameo and provided some silly comic relief as usual. Scruffy is definitely the most funny supporting character in the show. Again, this was a filler episode like 19, with close to no progress on ‘Operation Strix’, the series’ main plot point. But fans of the show would happily lap up a 100 more such editions, as long as they are entertaining!
You can stream the series on Netflix.
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Listen To ‘The House – An Unusual Animated Anthology’
November 20, 2022
Spy x Family Episode 19 Review
School shenanigans take center-stage in episode 19 of Japanese anime series ‘Spy x Family’ about a spy adopting a little girl and getting himself a wife to pass off as a ‘family man’ for his latest mission. The Forget family is getting along well and Anya is doing her best to help spy-dad Loid, who still doesn’t know she can read minds.
(Read Spy x Family Episode 1 Review if you have no clue what the show is about)
Titled ‘The Revenge Plot Against Desmond’, the episode introduces a new character called George Glooman, who looks gloomy like his hilarious name and his character art is inspired by gothic traditions, with sad dark eyes like Pugsley Addams from the cartoon version of the famous ‘Addams Family’ show. Little George is Anya’s classmate and is plotting against Desmond, the boy she has been desperately trying to befriend.
It’s a goofy episode that focuses on children, their understanding of the world and just how evil or kind they can be, depending on situations they are faced with. George’s character is naive and his misunderstanding of a certain situation sets stage for some silly kiddish drama at school.
The other primary protagonists – Loid, Yor – make brief appearances. Yor has the day off, but realizes Anya has forgotten to take her gym uniform to school, so she runs across town and then hilariously tries to covertly give the uniform to her step-daughter. This edition seemed more like a filler, but was still pretty fun.
You can stream the series on Netflix.
Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF
Listen To ‘The House – An Unusual Animated Anthology’
‘Kumari’ Is Fascinating Folkore-Horror Sans Subtleties
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Kumari’ begins with a grandmother’s tale, that of a Goddess who descended upon earth and fell in love with a human, the multiple children she bore to him resembled neither Gods nor humans; soon, these demi-Gods began wreaking havoc across land, until their mother cursed them, banishing them to dark corners of the world. According to lore, these creatures gain power when worshiped… and the movie follows the story on one such entity and its entanglement with a family of landowners.
Directed by Nirmal Sahadev, the 2022 Malayalam movie ‘Kumari’ has a fantastic opening sequence explaining the myth central to the story. Aishwarya Lekshmi is Kumari, a young woman married off into a family far from her home, despite her brother’s misgivings about the groom. Later, Kumari learns the family is plagued by an ancient curse and she might have to pay the price for a blood-curdling deal they made with dark powers to stay safe.
‘Kumari’ offers a kaleidoscopic view of Kerala’s culture, varying art forms, rituals and scenic beauty. There was a brief scene featuring leather puppetry, a near lost art form which was a popular means of story-telling once upon a time and is called ‘Tolpavakoothu’ in Kerala. Some elements of the story reminded me of the 2018 movie ‘Tumbbad’, which also dealt with similar themes. In-fact one crucial sub-plot in ‘Kumari’ is the same as in ‘Tumbbad’, not going to go into dwell into details since it would be a major spoiler.
Aishwarya Lekshmi is measured in her performance as the resilient Kumari, but her character needed some more punch. Instead of giving her an introductory song, which only establishes her as a ‘lively friendly girl’, the writers should’ve inserted least one scene in the first-half to show she has more shades. Shine Tom Chacko is striking as Kumari’s husband, the ‘ignored younger son’ of the family, who becomes a perfect human metaphor for ‘power corrupts’. Surabhi Lakshmi has a small cameo as an eccentric tribal woman and is absolutely electric when she comes on the screen – she is creepy, intimidating and wild; just as her character requires her to be.
Greed, family politics, caste clash and vengeance are the dominant themes in this horror tale. As a viewer, I expected a grander twist at the end, largely due to the fascinating legend narrated at the beginning. Instead, the last half hour was prolonged and overdone, with multiple violent clashes and unnecessary scenes. We get a chaotic climactic face-off, which would’ve been far more impactful if it had been simpler. Regardless, there is also a goose-bump inducing triumphant moment, and you get the classic ‘good prevails over evil’ kind of ending. Overall, ‘Kumari’ is a satisfactory watch for those who love historical horror.
It’s a 7/10 from me.
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Listen to ’10 Reasons Why Tumbbad Deserves More Attention’
November 19, 2022
‘Slumberland’ Review – Spirited Tale Of Dreams & Loss
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
While discussing the pros and cons of ‘children watching television’ in a class, someone articulately pointed out how some children’s movies/shows help kids understand complex emotions and issues. The 2022 Netflix fantasy-comedy ‘Slumberland’ is one such film, on the surface it seems like a wild fantasy story about the land of dreams, but it’s really an escapist adventure about coping with loss.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, ‘Slumberland’ is based on a comic series called ‘Little Nemo’ by Winsor McCay. The tale follows 11-year-old Nemo’s (Marlow Barkley) quest to see her late father again. She teams up with smelly, shaggy ‘outlaw’ Flip (Jason Momoa) in the dreamworld and the two set out on an adventure to find magic pearls that can make one’s wish come true. Meanwhile, in the real world, the home-schooled Nemo has to adjust to a scary new city life with her boring asocial uncle Philip (Chris O’Dowd), who does his best to connect with the child.
The movie is gorgeously shot, although some scenes are slightly overdone, like a dream-sequence where there are so many butterflies, it makes your head spin. Nemo’s introductory scene with her widowed father (Kyle Chandler) telling her bedtime stories was heartwarming. Their little world on an island where they take care of a lighthouse was quite magical in itself. After her father’s death, Nemo begins to sleep a lot more, so she can escape to Slumberland and find pearls with Flip. The symbolism is poignant, because dreams are a way to escape grief and the burden of ‘moving on’.
Jason Momoa and Marlow Barkley made for a hilarious ‘man-child + child’ duo. Their sheer difference in size gives their scenes a fantastical touch. Marlow’s Nemo is a sweet little lost girl, while Jason with horns looks every bit an outlaw who isn’t up to any good. Although, some of the Slumberland scenes would’ve benefited with some more vibrant characters, instead of a bare few that appear through the runtime. Chris O’Dowd is earnest as the ‘long-lost’ uncle, who is saddled with the responsibility of his estranged brother’s daughter. And even though Nemo clearly enjoys Flip’s company more, older viewers will probably root more for the realistic Philip.
The plot balances both a childlike and adult view of loss, succinctly conveying how recovering from losing of someone/something dear can be difficult or even traumatic at any age. ‘Slumberland’ subtly shows the challenges of being a lone parent/guardian and while doesn’t dwell too deeply upon it, it manages to be poignant due to some key scenes. The climax has the crescendo you would expect from a children’s fantasy film like this and I absolutely enjoyed it.
It’s a 8/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.
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Ep 79 – Five Graphic Novel Adaptations Worth Checking Out
