Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 206

Maybe Not Check Out ‘Check Out’ The Series

I’ve been been pushing writing this review for quite some time, just like I pushed watching the last few episodes until the finale came out – to get done with all of it at once. Directed by Kapper Worarit Ninklom, the 2022 Thai series ‘Check Out’ doesn’t live up to its well shot ‘episode zero’, which came out a good one year before the full series aired. Imagine building up anticipation for so long, only to serve some random generic terribly written story. Wait, there wasn’t any story.

Okay, let me attempt to write the plot – Nine (Chahub Marut Ghoummeddin) and Daonuea (Best Vittawin Veeravidhayanant) are two young good-looking strangers who meet at a resort and hook-up. Later, Nine ghosts Daonuea, goes back to his extremely annoying ex-girlfriend, then changes his mind and decides to chase Daonuea again. Daonuea on the other hand is on the verge of dating Tee (M Sarawut Laoruamsap), his colleague at work, but Nine shows up and confuses him. Will the two end up together? Phew… that’s the story.

The ‘how they met’ story was very cutely captured in the promotional episode 0 that came out in 2021 with charming performances by both Chahub and Best. But right from episode 1 onward, there’s very little substance to ‘Check Out’, which is why the makers probably stuffed in a lot of kissing scenes, perhaps hoping the steamy moments will distract viewers from noticing the lack of script. One of the biggest problems with the series is how Daonuea’s character is portrayed as some innocent silly little kid, despite him being an adult working professional. They make him behave like a pout-y pampered child and well, Nine’s character isn’t a lot better either. It’s a shame, because they made a promising onscreen pair and have great chemistry in their romantic scenes.

The little humor the writers try to incorporate in the series is quite literally shitty – they are largely bathroom/potty/farting jokes. After a point, it’s hard to care about anything that is happening in this chaotic production. You are probably better off not checking out this series.

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Listen to ‘Cuttputlli Vs Black Phone’ – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

‘The Imperfects’ Review – Flawed But Worth A Watch

An upbeat song plays in the background while a doctor meticulously saws the insides of a man, a young woman looks on excitedly, while two others are horrified on the sides. Some might think it’s morbid but for many others the juxtaposition of a peppy track against the gory scene might make for a ‘fun’ start to the 2022 Netflix series ‘The Imperfects’. College students Juan (Iñaki Godoy), Abbi (Rhianna Jagpal) and Tilda (Morgan Taylor Campbell) gain mutant-like powers due to an experimental gene therapy gone wrong. The trio band together with the brilliant Dr Sydney Burke (Italia Ricci) to track down Dr Alex Sarkov (Rhys Nicholson), the man responsible for turning them into ‘monsters’. But can the scientist undo their side-effects?

Let’s talk ‘powers’/’side-effects’ first. Iñaki Godoy plays comic-book creator Juan and turns into a flesh-eating Chupacabra; Rhianna Japal’s Abbi aspires to be a scientist but finds herself turned into a succubus – she releases pheromones that instantly attract people to do her bidding; Morgan Taylor Campbell’s Tilda is a singer, who gains super-hearing and Banshee-like screaming abilities. Their powers aren’t all that exciting, so it’s understandable for them to want a ‘cure’ out of Alex Sarkov. Rhys Nicholson is exceedingly entertaining as the child prodigy turned crazy scientist Sarkov, he’ll remind viewers of Sheldon Cooper from ‘Big Bang Theory’, except that Sarkov is a lot meaner, funnier and socially intelligent. He is the kind of villain you’d love to see more of. Italia Ricci’s Dr Sydney Burke seems a little too good to be true, making one want to keep an eye out for her… so any surprises from her character doesn’t feel too unexpected.

Also Read: ‘Devil in Ohio’ Review – Does ‘Family Drama’ Better Than ‘Thriller’

The first three episodes are paced well, with generous doses of action, blood, humor and mystery, but ultimately the plot gets predictable; thankfully, even though the background music isn’t exceptional, it keeps the mood buoyant. The creators use a lot of famous songs and bands, from fan favorite Taylor Swift to indie rock band Alt J, so viewers will get to hear a lot of familiar sounds throughout the runtime. As far as the principal trio is concerned, their performances are a mixed bag. Rhianna Japal is rather awkward as Abbi, especially in the first episode, and takes some time to get into the skin of her character. Iñaki Godoy is adorable as the Teen Juan, however, he isn’t able to shoulder emotionally charged dialogues. Morgan Taylor Campbell packs an almost perfect performance as the ‘devil-may-care’ Tilda, who is a softie at heart; even though her character borders on being a bit of a cliche.

What I quite liked about ‘The Imperfects’ is the fact that the show also infuses some horror elements in the story, especially with a sub-plot involving Dr Sydney Burke who suffers recurrent nightmares. The makers slip in some solid jump scares in there. The series starts to go slightly downhill episode 7 onward. With the right kind of snipping, it could’ve perfectly been wrapped up in eight episodes, instead of the rather long-drawn ten episodes. While there isn’t much romance, the little there is – not interesting. For example, Abbi is ace (‘yay’ for asexual representation) and the creators decide she should’ve something going on with another character, but the romantic plot was boring and contrived.

Like its title, ‘The Imperfects’ is quite flawed, a lot of things don’t even make sense, but makes for a decent one time watch. The best thing about the show is that while it’s not ‘laugh out loud’ kind of hilarious, it has a generous sprinkling of jokes across all episodes and viewers get light moments even in the tensest climactic scenes. It’s no X-Men, or Umbrella Academy, but worth streaming for those who are looking for some comic-book style misadventures of three misfits.

It’s a 6.5/10 from me.

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Listen to ‘Cuttputlli Vs Black Phone’ – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

Just 10 Cool Pink Things From BLACKPINK’s ‘Shut Down’

BLACKPINK dropped the music video for their new song ‘Shut Down’ whose lyrics go ‘It’s black and it’s pink once the sun down. When we pull up, you know it’s a shutdown‘. And it sure is all black and pink in their visually stunning video. Here’s just 10 of them –

1. Who knew war tanks could look gorgeous? Sample this completely jeweled/glittery tank with a dash of pink – shopping bags.

2. This mesmerizing Pink sunset.

3. A Black-Pink glove. If they put these up on stores for fans, it’s probably going to sell out in seconds!

4. Did you notice all those black bags were stuffed with pink notes?

5. This clean shot of Jennie lighting up a match-stick from a pink box makes a pretty cool composition.

6. We were hoping maybe the icons might show up in pink hair at some point in the video, well, one of them sort did…

7. Well, everything is drenched in pink in shit shot!

8. Lisa looks straight out of a fantasy-action game with the badass Katana in a solid pink sheath.

9. Too bad it didn’t rain pink money too, but the pink umbrella sure adds some pizzazz to this otherwise plain shot.

10. Pretty much every second thing… from their lip shades, to their belts, to the shop signs on this little street the icons dance… everything is BLACKPINK in ‘Shut Down’. That ‘Pink Kebab’ sign sure as hell is catch. And there’s a little ‘BLINK’ entrance on the left-side corner – a sweet little nod to their fans.

‘Minato Shouji Coin Laundry’ Is A Slow-Whirl RomCom

A lot of Japanese shows exist in a bubble of their own, like the 2022 series ‘Minato Shouji Coin Laundry’, which is based on the manga of the same name. Set in a sea-side town where the summer air rings with the buzzing of crickets, the show explores a high-school student’s crush on an older man.

Created by Yuasa Hiroaki, Eda Yuuka & Kanai Junichi, the series stars Kusakawa Takuya as Minato Akira, who leaves a stressful job in Tokyo to go back to his fishing town and run the family laundromat. His simple semi-rural life is turned upside down when the handsome 18-year-old Katsuki Shintaro (Nishikagi Sho) woos him after finding out Akira is gay.

Also Read: Anything’s Possible Review – Awkward But Sweet

Spread over 12 episodes, ‘Minato Shouji Coin Laundry’ starts off strong – right in the first episode Shintaro expresses his interest in Akira, who is completely stunned at the confession. While Akira is in his late twenties, it’s the younger Shintaro who is bold, confident, assertive, a little too serious for his age, although he does have bouts of teenage immaturity. Nishikagi Sho is the absolute show-stopper in this series, keeping the romantic tension alive in the story with a devilish charm. Kusakawa Takuya portrays the capricious/indecisive Akira hilariously, the character is a total goofball and one can tell the writers haven’t tweaked his traits to be more realistic than the manga/comic.

While it makes for an exciting change to not wait around for a character to confess their feelings after a whole bunch of episodes, after the whirlwind declaration of Shintaro’s massive crush on Akira, things slow down significantly. Shintaro keeps trying to win Akira over, only to be turned down again and again. ‘Slow-burn romance’ would be the ideal term to define this series, it’s filled with little silly moments, often you have scenes where the creators make you believe things are going to finally escalate between the leads, and then leave you hanging. So despite being a whirlwind romance of sorts, ‘Minato Shouji Coin Laundry’ can also be frustratingly slow at points. However, one can understand Akira’s reluctance to date someone who’s just about legal and Shintaro’s intense feelings for a cute guy who doesn’t look much older.

Despite the slightly exaggerated Manga like love story, the cinematography is simple and realistic. Minato’s laundromat looks like it’s the 1990s and his flat is cluttered with knick-knacks, making it look like an actual bachelor pad, unlike most modern series today even college kids live in places that resemble fancy hotels. Food is a big part of the show, the two leads constantly have little meals together and their table is usually filled with delicious looking home-cooked dishes. The creators infuse a laid-back seaside living essence to the tale, which matches the largely lazy pace of the story; might make some viewers yearn for the kind of life Minato lives, away from the anxiety inducing big city bustle.

Now even though ‘Minato Shouji Coin Laundry’ doesn’t have music as its theme (a lot of BL series tend to have characters who are singers), the background score plays an essential element of the series. Instead of adding popular songs or generic royalty free theme tracks, the creators use a piano based tune which not only blends seamlessly with the story but often-times enhances the mood, especially in comical scenes.

There’s a little sub-plot about Minato’s classmate Asuka (Oku Tomoya) who also happens to like an older teacher called Hiiragi (Inaba Yu), which was felt unnecessary, especially because it doesn’t get enough screen-time and also due to Hiiragi’s bizarre character. While Tomoya is endearing as the playful flirty Asuka, Inaba Yu was out of place as the older Hiiragi, a teacher who is emotionally detached and is only interested in architecture. Fukushi Seiji has a small but sweet cameo as Sakuma sensei, a teacher at Shintaro’s school who is kind, empathetic but featherbrained.

There aren’t many twist and turns in the series, it’s a straight-forward romance and it looked like the last episode was headed towards a very typical grand-romantic-gesture sort of climax. Thankfully, the creators don’t serve a cliched closing scenario, instead giving viewers a light, funny but adorable ending. Kusakawa Takuya and Nishikagi Sho chemistry shines in the last few episodes and the two deserve a season two.

It’s a 7.5/10 from me.

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Listen To – Devil in Ohio Review + Ending Explained

‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow’ Trailer Looks Fun

Priah Ferguson is an easy favorite with most ‘Stranger Things’ fans for her portrayal of the spunky outspoken Erica Sinclair and the child star will soon be headlining her own horror-comedy movie. Netflix dropped the official trailer for ‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow’, which follows the supernatural adventures of a family that’s moved to a small town where Halloween is pretty BIG.

Directed by Jeff Wadlow, the film looks quite entertaining! Ferguson plays Sydney, who accidentally unleashes a curse which brings all the Halloween decorations to life, so a whole bunch of animated skeletons, clowns, ghosts go on a rampage around town. Marlon Wayans plays Feguson’s father in the film and the two team up to fight the new monsters. So it’s a bit like ghost-busters, except that the fate of an entire town rests on the shoulders of an inexperienced and clueless dad-daughter duo.

The film releases on October 14th.

‘The Least We Can Do’ – Issue #1 Review

“Sometimes you’ll find that what you feel is the right thing to do isn’t always what the rest of the world thinks is right.” And with that ruminative line, creators Eliza Romboli and Iolanda Zanfardino introduce readers to their latest collaborative comic series ‘The Least We Can Do’. Part-dystopian, part-fantasy, but completely colorful and splashy, issue one will keep you hooked till the last page.

Bestowed with a biblical name, the protagonist is the feisty Uriel, who with her shiny golden locks and red cape might remind some readers of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ in the introductory scene. But unlike innocent little Red from the popular tale, Uriel is a world-wise young woman who aspires to bring peace in her war-torn land where the ruling class oppresses the common man using an entity called ‘the medium’. Uriel joins an underground rebel group with the aim to find a way to make ‘the medium’ available to everybody, unlike the military dictatorship that uses it as a means to exploit the masses.

While Iolanda introduces a whole bunch of interesting fun characters in the comic, Eliza breathes life to them with some fantastically expressive artwork. For a first issue, ‘The Least We Can Do’ does an interesting job of giving readers a sense of what to expect, including a quick little flashback into Uriel’s motivations. I love the variation in color schemes, character designs and personalities through the panels. The comic has a slight steam-punk energy going on and promises to be an engaging series.

It’s a 4/5 from me.

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Ep 79 – Five Graphic Novel Adaptations Worth Checking Out

Disney’s Pinocchio Do-Over Is Congenial

Truth be told, like a lot of fans, l have been patiently waiting for Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s version of ‘Pinocchio’ which comes out November 2022 on Netflix, but until then, Disney’s do-over of the children’s classic looked intriguing too. So we streamed it on Disney Plus.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, ‘Pinocchio’ stars Tom Hanks as eccentric wood-carver Gepetto, who pours his heart into making a little wooden boy. Child actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth lends his voice to the titular protagonist, breathing boundless energy to the puppet. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s vocals were unrecognizable as Jiminy Cricket, the insect that serves as Pinocchio’s conscience. In-fact, Levitt’s voice was pretty annoying at the start as the principal narrator of the story. It’s clear the actor was attempting to ape Cliff Edwards who voiced Jiminy in the 1940 Disney adaptation; perhaps fans of the old classic might appreciate his effort.

Visually, the new Disney ‘Pinocchio’ is sumptuous in parts, and brownie points to the creators for staying faithful to the popular image of the character (although I am still very excited to see Guillermo’s distinctly different take). The animation is simple and all the animated/surreal characters are seamlessly blended into a real life world with real people; so watching an old Tom Hanks in flesh-and-blood dancing with a wooden toy was quite delightful. A few more Gepetto-Pinocchio moments would’ve been welcome, but soon Pinocchio goes on an adventure of his own – filled with mean teachers, deceptive animals, greedy atrocious puppet-masters, rowdy children and evil traffickers.

One can tell younger viewers, especially kids below 12 would probably be thrilled to bits watching this magical tale about a little wooden boy learning about the real world. Overall, the tone of the film is childlike and charming; however an unnecessary amount of scenes are shot in the night against a dark palette, which was confusing as a viewer. Why make a children’s tale look like a horror flick? Also, the pace of the film was a little weird, things seem to move too fast and sometimes it feels like the characters are rushing through their dialogues to ensure things fit within the runtime. All the songs are too short, which is actually great, because the musical score was lackluster.

As far as Disney classics go, the climax didn’t hit the kind of emotional crescendo as some would hope for, yet Gepetto and Pinocchio might manage to worm their way into a lot of hearts. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the film far more than I expected to. It’s a 7/10 from me!

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Listen to: 9 Must-Watch Animated Films From IMDB Top 100

‘Devil in Ohio’ – Does ‘Family Drama’ Better Than ‘Thriller’

(Scroll to the bottom for audio review and explainer)

A scared young girl dressed in white robes desperately runs through a corn field, knife in hand, until she reaches the main road and asks passing vehicles for help. That’s the opening scene of 2022 Netflix thriller series ‘Devil in Ohio’ created and written by Daria Polatin.

Madeleine Arthur plays Mae Dodd, the young protagonist of the show, who manages to escape a religious cult. Emily Deschanel is Dr Suzanne Mathis, a psychiatrist and mother of three girls decides to take in Mae until the authorities can find a safe foster home  her. But the consequences of Mae’s presence in the Mathis house is far more complicated and damaging than the psychiatrist expects it to be. For starters, it takes a toll on Suzanne’s already fragile relationship with her husband Peter (Sam Jaegar) who is struggling professionally.   

Eight episodes long, the Netflix thriller has an interesting premise and draws intriguing parallels between its two women leads – Mae is the young teen, freshly rescued from an abusive environment, while Suzanne has scars of her own from a difficult childhood that she still hasn’t come to terms with. So, you have a ‘saviour complex’ theme going on. For the uninitiated, ‘saviour complex’ alternatively known as the ‘messiah complex’ is a psychological state of believing that you are meant to save somebody. Suzanne thinks it’s her responsibility to keep Mae safe from the cult that’s after her. There’s also a slow-burn investigation going on in the series, an officer called Detective Lopez (Gerardo Celasco) takes it upon himself to find out more about Mae’s cult and their possible role in a bunch of mysterious cold-cases in town.  

Unfortunately, the show is never able to build enough dread to keep viewers on edge. However, on the other hand, the climax was weak and disappointing, so it’s probably good thing that the pace and mood of the series is on the tepid side throughout. Basically, the title ‘Devil in Ohio’ makes you anticipate a dark twisted thriller tale, however, the show isn’t all that serious or disturbing. It’s the performances by the main cast that might keep viewers around until the end.

Not once did it occur to me that Madeline Arthur was in the popular Netflix romantic movie trilogy ‘To All The Boys…’, where she played Lara Jean’s best-friend Chris. So, casting-decision wise, Madeline Arthur was quite perfect for Mae’s role, she easily switches between creepy and innocently vulnerable, depending on what the scene demands. Visually, she is an interesting mash of Dakota Fanning and Amanda Seyfried, and like those actors, she shines in emotionally demanding sequences. Emily Deschanel as Dr Mathis is the backbone of the show, her calm confident voice and over-protective behaviour drives the plot forward, although her character progression does become a little problematic as more episodes unfold. For someone who is a psychiatrist, Dr Mathis is a dubious character who doesn’t know how to read the mood of the room, is a terrible listener and makes some very questionably decisions.  

The series works better as a family drama, where viewers get to see the kind of challenges a couple can face when they decide to adopt a child. Mae forms a strong friendship with Suzanne’s middle-daughter Jules, the two are of the same age and even get to be in the same class when Mae is enrolled into school. Xaria Dotson is quite engaging as the socially awkward Jules, who aspires to be a photographer and finds it hard to fit in at school. Naomi Tan plays youngest of Suzanne’s daughter; she is a cute firecracker as Dani who loves to sing and does sing like a rockstar. Despite her limited screentime, Tan stands out in the cast with her sweet cameo. Alisha Newton as the eldest Helen didn’t do much value addition to the story, if they removed her sub-plot completely, it would’ve made little difference to the series.  

One of the biggest problems with ‘Devil in Ohio’ is the fact that we don’t have a devil-like villain. Since it’s a cult-based story, there is a head that leads the group, but he doesn’t manage to strike any kind of impact on the viewer. Daria Polatin does weave in an entire back-story to the cult’s origins, their beliefs and how they operate on fear, but despite all the background, when the cult members are on screen, they create close to zero fear in the show.  And while there is a little twist at the end, it’s underwhelming and too fleeting to count as a conclusive climax for a thriller.  

It’s a 6/10 from me.   

Listen to the audio version of this review –

‘HollyBlood’ Review – Ditzy Vampire Parody

How far can a teenager go to impress their crush? While the possibilities are limitless and crazy, in 2022 Spanish film ‘HollyBlood’ the hero pretends to be a vampire, because the girl he likes is obsessed with the legend of an immortal blood-sucker.

Directed by Jesús Font, the film stars Oscar Casas as the awkward Javi, who pretends to be a vampire to win over cute classmate Sara (Isa Montalbán). While Sara is quick to believe Javi due to some interesting co-incidences; little do the teens know they are being stalked by an actual ‘immortal’ being, whose motives are unclear.

Writer José Pérez Quintero keeps things silly and ditzy throughout the plot, landing a few good jokes in between; but for large parts ‘HollyBlood’ isn’t exaggerated/crazy enough for a parody and is cringe-y in large parts. The plot takes pot-shots at the Twilight saga and a bunch of regular horror movie tropes, but they aren’t quite hilarious. Isa Montalbán is quite adorable, but doesn’t have any chemistry with Oscar Casas. Carlos Suárez plays their goofy nerdy classmate Diego, an aspiring vampire-slayer with a YouTube channel where he rambles about demons and constantly engages in idiotic antics.

There aren’t many supernatural elements in the story, so thankfully there is minimal use of special effects, because the graphics are sub-par. Jesús Font and team obviously don’t take anything too seriously, but some better jokes and a more interesting soundtrack could’ve made the flick a lot more fun. With 90 minutes runtime and a random climax, it isn’t all that bad. ‘HollyBlood’ in-fact might prove to be a decent watch if a ‘brainless parody with little ambition’ is what you are looking to watch in your free time.

It’s a 5/10 from me. You can stream it on Netflix.

Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF

Cuttputlli Vs Black Phone – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

The Twilight Man – Graphic Novel Review

All kinds of writers would have something to relate to while reading the graphic novel ‘Twilight Man’, an illustrated biography of Rod Serling, best known for writing ‘The Twilight Zone’, a television series which came out in 1959 and still has an impressive 9.1 rating on IMDB.

The story and artwork’s done by Koren Shadmi, who creates an engaging 70s comic-strip like world to tell Sterling’s rise to fame. Divided into five parts, the book starts with Sterling’s stint in World War II as a young, determined paratrooper who is eventually disillusioned and scarred by the experience. Battlefield nightmares haunt him though life and writing becomes a perfect outlet for the monsters in his head.

It took some time for Rod Sterling to find acclaim and envious success, but it came at a cost – work seemed to have completely consumed his life and mental health. The graphic novel attempts to give readers a glimpse into the various facets of a public figure’s life, and even though Sterling is largely portrayed as the ‘hero’, Koren Shadmi does dwell into the not so glamorous parts of his life, even if sparingly.

‘The Twilight Man’ doesn’t just tell the story of a showman, but also aptly depicts how commercialized the world of TV and Hollywood has always been; just like today, producers and sponsors only cared about ‘what would sell’ back in the 1950s and there would be a whole lot of internal censorship imposed on scripts to avoid rattling anybody. Idealistic at the beginning of his career, Sterling attempts to fight censorship and detests advertisements, but once his tastes success and gets used to a certain fancy lifestyle, he eventually succumbs to all the things he once fought against.

A little slice of television history is entertainingly told in this graphic novel and is definitely worth a read for any pop-culture enthusiast. It’s a 4/5 from me.

Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF

Ep 79 – Five Graphic Novel Adaptations Worth Checking Out