Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 207

‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’ Review – Sweet, Stupid

‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’ seemed like a perfect little flick to have a ‘watch party’ on Amazon with girlfriends. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it in one go and then spent three days finding a time suitable for all three of us to finish the last 35 minutes. Since the first half was pretty cute, getting hyped up for the climax was inevitable… but we weren’t prepared for what would come next.

Directed by Ian Samuels, the 2021 time-loop romance is based on a short-story by Lev Grossman about two teens stuck in the same day. The film starts off with Mark (Kyle Allen) waking up in his bed, then going through the day as if he already knows what’s going to happen next. That’s because he does – having lived the same day over countless times. Just when the loop was getting tiresome and frustrating, he meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who is experiencing the same phenomenon. Mark falls in love pretty quick, but the mysterious Margaret doesn’t necessarily feel the same. However, the two agree to capture all the little perfect moments they can find around town in their time-loop day.

Kathryn Newton looks like a mash of Saoirse Ronan and Amber Heard, so it was hard not to think of the other two actors whenever she came onscreen. Regardless, she is fun as the cool aloof Margaret, who knows how to let her hair down and keep a boy at a distance. There’s a plot twist attached to her character which helps build decent intrigue around her, but when her ‘secret’ is out, it is both slightly surprising and disappointing. Kyle Allen is sort of charming as the goofy Mark, a self-centered romantic focused on getting himself the girl he wants. Together, the two make an entertaining enough duo to make the plot work.

Both the protagonists have pretty regular lives on the surface, so if you were a teen who could live a pretty regular day over again an infinite amount of times, would you be happy to be frozen in time? Margaret thinks it’s pretty to great, to never have to age and go through the many responsibilities, anxieties, complications adult life brings with it. Mark begs to differ. Despite their differences, the two have a pretty great time together and all the ‘tiny perfect’ moments they witness together are the sweetest part of the film.

Unfortunately, the climax was incredibly dumb/stupid and almost ruins the ‘feel-good’ vibe the story builds up. It kind of ends like a fan-fiction book written by a teen who loves the romance genre a little too much. Regardless, it’s a decent movie to watch on the weekend.

It’s a 6/10 from me.

‘Odessa’ Review – A Dystopian Odyssey

Enough with zombies and viral diseases, Jonathan Hill’s dystopian graphic novel ‘Odessa’ serves up the classic ‘find your estranged parent’ story in a post-apocalyptic world without some of the best-loved tropes of the genre. The creator does go for mythical monsters and cannibals though. So well, in a lot of ways ‘Odessa’ isn’t all that different and seems to be a play on the classic Odyssey… since the protagonist does embark on quite an adventurous and dangerous journey.

Plot overview – Seventeen-year-old Vietnamese American Ginny decides to leave home to find her estranged mother who she hasn’t seen since the world almost ended after a massive earthquake. Almost. So, in the America Ginny lives in, the old world’s social order doesn’t exist anymore, most people scavenge to survive and territorial gang-wars are rife everywhere. Despite several warnings of fates worse than death, Ginny packs a bag and heads into the unknown… little does she know her two younger brothers are following her too. It’s going to be heck off a trail.

Interestingly, the panels in ‘Odessa’ are washed in a peachy pink tone, a color some of us tend to associate with lighter/sweeter themes in life, like a breezy romance… not ‘young teen with a death-wish on a suicide mission’. But despite the peach shade, the artwork by Jonathan Hill is simple and rough, it may not look very polished but blends well with the dystopian theme. Hill’s illustrations do a fantastic job with facial expressions, every little mood change and emotion of a given character is captured in his strokes. It’s worth nothing that Ginny looks perpetually pissed.

The protagonist is a typical ‘angry young teen’, who despite having a safe life with a caring father and two brothers, decides to re-connect with a mother who left them behind. Ginny is not the most intelligent, or even the most likable character in the graphic novel. Her brothers Wes and Harry are a lot more kooky and colorful, character-wise and some more page space for the boys would’ve been more fun. There’s a very small romantic sub-plot, which might seem either far-fetched or super-cute, depending on the kind of romantic you are.

There isn’t a lot of character development or even enough strife given the dystopian theme, Ginny and team get to walk away through a lot of things with unbelievable ease. All the ‘oh it’s too dangerous out there’ spiel at the beginning of the story makes the hope for some nail-biting sinister stuff, but we don’t quite get anything of the sort. Towards the climax, things do get exciting, so there’s some solace in that fact. But before you invest your time and money in getting the graphic novel, all you should know is that ‘Odessa’ ends in a cliffhanger, and a part two is not out yet (as of September 2022).

It’s a 3/5 from me.

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Ep 79 – Five Graphic Novel Adaptations Worth Checking Out

‘Beloved’ Review – Of Broken Marriages…

A melancholic piano piece draws you into the bed of a couple, their back against each other as the sunlight seeps into their room, the morning warmth juxtaposed against their cold relationship. Written and directed by Bishrel Mashbat, ‘Beloved’ explores a fraught marriage between Anar (Iveel Mashbat), who left his country Mongolia to follow his white wife Kassy (Jana Miley) to America.

Set at snail pace, filled with mundane little scenes from the daily life an average person – washing utensils, taking a leak, listening to the radio – ‘Beloved’ feels underwhelming and tedious at times, perhaps a deliberate metaphor for the rut Anar and Kassy are stuck in. Their relationship is stagnant and neither of them does much to fix things, instead they engage in acts that will only break them apart. Their domestic life is shot with a hint of yellow, adding a nostalgic mood to the story, giving the present a ghost-like presence in the film.

While Bishrel Mashbat gets a lot of elements right about the fragile nature of marriages, Iveel Mashbat and Jana Miley unfortunately don’t have any chemistry. And while the script calls for the protagonists to have little emotions left for each other, the actors fail to emote their longing for each other when the plot does require it. The two are plain uncomfortable around the other and Jana Miley is quite wooden, listless… ironically her character Kassy is a struggling actor who doesn’t have much talent.

The challenges of inter-racial marriages is a key theme in the story, but surprisingly, viewers don’t get much insight on the Mongolian way of life. The script is sprinkled with a few Mongolian dialogues, but except for the “it would’ve been easier if he married a Mongolian girl” after-thought, nobody dwells deep on what the real problem is. Because Anar is pretty American in the way he lives his life, so his differences with Kassy run a lot deeper than mere cultural clash. Both of them could’ve been from the same community, religion and yet have come to point where their love fades.

The resentful dialogues between the two were written well, carrying the kind of sarcasm only those who’ve known each other for long can deliver. And the climax was a lot more engaging than the first half of the film. ‘Beloved’ tells a believable tale of broken marriages that is weakened by a cast that couldn’t shoulder their parts.

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Ep 73 – Cobalt Blue, A Book Vs Film Review (Spoilers Ahead)

‘His Man’ Review – Vanilla And Nice

For a lot of us, ‘Reality Shows’ are all about nasty fights, rivalries, loud emotions, anger, animosity and high drama. Especially those based on relationships. But Korea’s first gay dating themed reality series turned out to be anything but a slice of the usual. Titled ‘His Man’, the show is eleven episodes long and stars eight eligible bachelors looking for love. The show begins with just six men, each randomly paired with the other to go on a first blind date, before they can meet all the participants in the house where they are expected to spend a week together. Whoever finds a mutual match in the end, gets to walk away with their man.

The men are all so well-behaved and reserved, one begins to wonder if they were given some sort of memo by the producers with a ‘DOs & DON’Ts’ list. Or maybe since being openly gay in Korea isn’t easy, perhaps each member felt the burden of representing the queer community positively on TV. There was one poignant episode, where all the eight men sit in a circle together and share how easy or difficult it had been to ‘come out’ to their family/friends.

Just seven days is obviously two less for anybody to make lasting connections, and almost all the men have their eyes set on the same guy through the show, which makes the series quite mundane at parts. Two of the most good-looking men get most of the attention, even though each contestant is visually attractive in their own way. With the way things unfold, ‘His Man’ could’ve been on the lines of dating shows where all contestants fight for the love of one person (like ‘The Bachelor’).

While some viewers suspect the entire thing was scripted, there isn’t a lot going on if a ‘script’ did exist, because the members are quite awkward and shy around each other. If the producers could have mustered up a bigger budget for a longer show with more contestants, things could’ve been a lot more entertaining. But for its sheer novelty factor, ‘His Man’ makes for an interesting enough watch.

It’s a 7/10 from me.

‘His Man’ Review – Vanilla But Nice

For a lot of us, ‘Reality Shows’ are all about nasty fights, rivalries, loud emotions, anger, animosity and high drama. Especially those based on relationships. But Korea’s first gay dating themed reality series turned out to be anything but a slice of the usual. Titled ‘His Man’, the show is eleven episodes long and stars eight eligible bachelors looking for love. The show begins with just six men, each randomly paired with the other to go on a first blind date, before they can meet all the participants in the house where they are expected to spend a week together. Whoever finds a mutual match in the end, gets to walk away with their man.

The men are all so well-behaved and reserved, one begins to wonder if they were given some sort of memo by the producers with a ‘DOs & DON’Ts’ list. Or maybe since being openly gay in Korea isn’t easy, perhaps each member felt the burden of representing the queer community positively on TV. There was one poignant episode, where all the eight men sit in a circle together and share how easy or difficult it had been to ‘come out’ to their family/friends.

Just seven days is obviously two less for anybody to make lasting connections, and almost all the men have their eyes set on the same guy through the show, which makes the series quite mundane at parts. Two of the most good-looking men get most of the attention, even though each contestant is visually attractive in their own way. With the way things unfold, ‘His Man’ could’ve been on the lines of dating shows where all contestants fight for the love of one person (like ‘The Bachelor’).

While some viewers suspect the entire thing was scripted, there isn’t a lot going on if a ‘script’ did exist, because the members are quite awkward and shy around each other. If the producers could have mustered up a bigger budget for a longer show with more contestants, things could’ve been a lot more entertaining. But for its sheer novelty factor, ‘His Man’ makes for an interesting enough watch.

It’s a 7/10 from me.

‘Parenthesis’ – Graphic Novel Review

Plenty of people or ‘experts’ will tell you journal writing can be therapeutic, that putting your thoughts and emotions on a piece of paper could be healing. But not everybody is fond of words, so some choose to draw their feelings. Like Elodie Durand in her graphic novel memoir ‘Parenthesis’, where she recalls her painful journey of living with epilepsy.

For someone who doesn’t know much about epilepsy, Durand’s book is engaging and her simple black-and-white doodles starkly draw out the loneliness of experiencing a debilitating condition. Still in her early twenties when the epileptic attacks begin, Durand suffers severe memory loss and finds the simplest tasks hard to accomplish. Between constant visits to doctors, psychiatrists and the excess sleep caused by the drugs she is on, the author finds little time left for anything else.

‘Parenthesis’ has a sombre, gloomy mood throughout, with the protagonist struggling to come to terms with her situation. The artwork includes some rough drawings which Durand implies are from the time she was undergoing treatment, they resemble scribbles one would make when anxious, the strokes look lost and filled with angst… expressing the creator’s despair over their predicament. The graphic novel format helps readers understand epilepsy in a way a textbook never can, conveying the kind of toll it takes not just on the patient, but also their family. In Durand’s case it is her parents who take care of her and keep a check on her round-the-clock.

Narrated largely in a chronological sequence, the memoir is easy to follow and can be read in one go. However, since there’s a lot of personal trauma involved, I took my time with it. It’s a 4/5 from me.

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

Ep 79 – Five Graphic Novel Adaptations to Read

Cuttputlli Review – Gripping, But Needed Cuts

A remake of 2018 Tamil thriller ‘Ratsasan’, the 2022 Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Cuttputlli’ is an intriguing tale of a police officer trying to nab a serial killer targeting teenage girls. But after a point, the killer moves with the speed and confidence of a supernatural spirit – kidnapping a cop’s daughter right outside their house gate, while her birthday party is still ongoing with a bunch of cops in attendance and the sun hasn’t even set. Matlab kaatil hai ya chudail? (is it a murderer or a witch?)

Directed by Ranjit Tewari, the film starts in a gloomy but picturesque hills of Himachal, where two locals discuss about the crime rate dipping, but ironically discover the body of a dead girl seconds later. We are then taken to Chandigarh and familiarized with principal protagonist Arjan Sethi (Akshay Kumar), a 36-year-old who has been researching on serial killers for seven years to make a movie. Unable to find takers for his script, Arjan finally takes up a job in the police force with the help of his brother-in-law Narinder (Chandrachur Singh) and soon becomes involve in the case of a missing girl, which turns into a serial-killing case.

There are plenty of murders and new characters appearing through the runtime to keep things interesting, but things start to feel a little out of place in the second half. And while Akshay Kumar has played enough cop roles through his career, his acting still falters when he needs to display emotional vulnerability and grief. Rakul Preet plays Kumar’s romantic interest (a pretty pointless role), while Sargun Mehta plays SHO Gudiya Parmar, Arjan Sethi’s senior at work. Both Rakul and Sargun look so similar, it would’ve made sense if they played sisters; instead we have two similar looking actors playing different roles for no good reason. Anyway….

The plot deals with issues like sexual assault, bullying, pedophilia and is largely serious in tone. Sujith Shanker plays creepy math teacher Purushottam Tomar and does his part perfectly, making you detest him, despite his limited screen-time. Thankfully, the script doesn’t get preachy over its content, but does get overstretched in the last half hour. And as mentioned in the beginning, the killer gets absurdly bold with each murder, making the cops look like complete idiots.

There was a clear point where the movie could’ve ended, but the makers decided to give Rakul Preet’s character some more screen-space as an after-thought; so there’s a pro-longed climax that gets tedious. To make things worse, the cinematography in the ending is visually very annoying, because it’s shot in the dark and makes for a jarring experience. They should’ve cut it short by at least 15 minutes, if not more. Sometimes that is all it takes to differentiate between a good pacy thriller and a forgettable filler.

It’s a 6/10 from me. You can stream it on Disney Hotstar.

‘The Black Phone’ Review – Rings In Dread

I had been waiting for horror-thriller movie ‘The Black Phone’ to come on some OTT platform, because its limited show timings in India just didn’t suit me. It’s now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, (yes, you have to pay for it even if you have a membership) so I finally managed to watch it legally after hearing a lot of good things about. Unlike most flicks where high expectations leave you underwhelmed, Director Scott Derrickson does not disappoint. Although, the child actors deserve more credit than Ethan Hawke, who plays the primary antagonist in the film.

Plot overview: Kids keep disappearing in a small U.S town leading to an urban legend of a child-killer nicknamed ‘The Grabber’ (Ethan Hawke). So when 13-year-old Finney (Mason Thames) is kidnapped by a sinister man in a van, he finds himself trapped in a sound-proofed basement, with no hope of survival… until a disconnected black phone in the floor rings. Finney begins to receive calls and help from the killer’s previous victims, who seek vengeance for their gruesome deaths. Can little Finney fight back, or will he meet the same fate as the other children?

The film is based on a short story by famous author Joe Hill and if readers are to be believed, the movie is quite loyal to the original source material. The plot completely justifies the title, the black phone becomes a symbol of both hope and despair for Finney. Each time the phone rings, a tense anticipation builds up, keeping viewers anxious over what’s going to come next. While Mason Thames delivers a measured performance as Finney, actor Madeleine McGraw who plays his sister Gwen does a fantastic job of playing his younger protective sibling with ‘special’ powers. Their relationship is quite precious and makes viewers feel empathy for their situation.

The only thing lacking in the story is the motivations of the killer, who seems to live a pretty normal life on the surface and even supports a younger unemployed brother. Although, the counter-argument could be – why give the villain a back story to understand his behavior? In fact, Ethan Hawke’s character doesn’t have a lot of screen space, but perhaps it’s the limited appearances that make him seem more deviant and terrifying. Interestingly, Derrickson and team do not rely on the usual jump scares of the genre, even though one scene managed to startle me completely, giving me what felt like a mild stroke!

‘The Black Phone’ is dark, derivative and manages to ring in ample dread in the viewer’s mind. It could’ve even done pretty well without the supernatural elements and instead been a psychological thriller, but the horror fan in me was quite satisfied with the subtle ghostly elements. The movie is also filled with a lot of small pop culture allusions to different films, the strongest one being a direct nod to Stephen King’s ‘IT’ (Author Joe Hill is his son, so it probably a deliberate nod to King’s work).

More often than not, horror-thriller’s that start off strong tend to get chaotic or plain ridiculous as the climax approaches. However, depending on how you look at it, ‘The Black Phone’ finishes off quite strong, with a conclusive end which makes you feel like streaming the film was completely worth your time.

It’s a 8/10 from me.

‘Me Time’ Review – Kevin & Mark Make An Oddball Pair

It’s hard to point out ‘why’, but Kevin Hart just doesn’t seem convincing as a sweet supportive home-maker dad of two kids, while the wife brings in the dough. It’s strange, because he was great in ‘Fatherhood’, another Netflix film, where he plays a single parent. Regardless, the 2022 Buddy comedy ‘Me Time’ starring Hart, Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall isn’t a bad one time watch.

Directed and written by John Hamburg, ‘Me Time’ might have you laughing out quite loud at many points, even though the plot relies on old comic tropes, like potty/penis jokes and characters falling around. Or a mix of both, like characters stumbling over shit. Kevin Hart plays Sonny Fisher, who reluctantly ends up taking a vacation with his crazy man-child childhood best friend Huck Gumbo (Mark Wahlberg) after his wife Maya (Regina Hall) convinces him to have some ‘me time’.

Kevin Hart and Regina Hall make a sweet onscreen couple, their chemistry as the boss-wife and house-dad is cute. Hamburg’s script doesn’t explore the dynamics of the couple too much, but keeps things breezy and easy. So as the title suggest, ‘Me Time’ is about the need for the primary caregiver in a relationship to take a breather and relax a little. The emphasis is on – don’t lose your sense of self while taking care of your family. It’s a nice message that may get lost for a lot of viewers due to the chaotic story. There’s a CGI sequence of a tiger chasing Sonny (also seen in the trailer) which was plain ridiculous!

Since ‘Me Time’ is essentially a buddy-comedy, unfortunately, Hart’s bromance with Mark Wahlberg isn’t as smooth, the two are awkward around each other, and it doesn’t help that the script gets quite idiotic in the second half. So the laughs get thinner, the jokes un-funnier. The climax however is wholesome and makes a lot more sense than the rest of the film.

It’s a 5.5/10 from me.

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Listen To ‘The Sandman 2022 Series Quick Review’

‘Hit: The First Case’ – Misses The Mark in Last Phase

‘This could’ve been a one hour long Crime Patrol episode!’ was my last thought as end-credits rolled in for the 2022 thriller ‘Hit: The First Case’. Written and directed by Sailesh Kolanu, the film stars Rajkumar Rao as Vikram, a Sherlock-like cop who is great at solving cases, but carries the trauma of a tragic past. When Vikram’s psychiatrist advises he take a break from work, he goes on a forced vacation but rushes back when his girlfriend Neha (Sanya Malhotra) goes missing. It’s up to Vikram to untangle the missing cases of both Neha and young college student called Preeti who seemingly vanishes into thin air.

It has a well executed first half, where the focus is on Vikram’s personal life and his professional rivalry with a fellow cop. The deep psychological effects of personal trauma is done quite well, everyone around the protagonist is supportive of his mental health problems. Sailesh Kolanu and team take artistic liberties with the cinematography, so there’s a lot of ominous orange lighting to set a dark mood for the crime thriller. Most of the scenes are clean, simple, without the typical extravagant props Bollywood films in this genre tend to deploy.

The biggest problem with ‘Hit: The First Case’ is that there are far too many co-incidences. Preeti’s missing case is like an incestuous web of connections, where almost half the cast is somehow linked to her case. Despite a very intriguing ‘missing’ plot, the story progresses to become a bizarre story with forced moral lessons. It’s a little like an Agatha Christie mystery, where there are multiple suspects, but there isn’t enough time to give them all the spotlight needed in order for the viewers to form their own little theories. So after a bunch of red herrings, when the final culprit is revealed, it comes as a big let down.

The movie wastes a lot of talented actors with its muddied plot and random shenanigans. Rajkumar Rao is sincere in his role, his character Vikram is a little grey and isn’t exactly a model cop, but with a weak climax, there is only so much Rao can do to mitigate a viewer’s disappointment.

It’s a 6/10 from me.

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

Listen To ‘The Sandman 2022 Series Quick Review’