Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 213

Jahnvi’s ‘Good Luck Jerry’ Has Naysayers Piqued

Being a star kid is a complicated ‘easy’, you get a quick entry into the world of cinema, then comes extra scrutiny, critique and a chock-full of trolls. So some of those who don’t believe in Jahnvi Kapoor, the older daughter of legendary actor Sridevi, are doing a double-take after watching the trailer of ‘Good Luck Jerry’.

Directed by Siddharth Sen, the film stars Jahnvi Kapoor as a poor girl from Bihar, who takes up a job to peddle drugs, because she needs the money for her mother’s cancer treatment. The trailer doesn’t seem very convincing in the first few seconds, but with talented actors like Deepak Dobriyal, Mita Vashisht, Sushant Singh in the cast, the premise soon becomes intriguing. It’s a crime-comedy about how a innocent looking woman hoodwinks cops and grown men to successfully sell drugs.

Fans are thrilled to see Jahnvi take up the quirky role of a small-town-woman dealing in the nefarious world of narcotics and have high expectations from the movie already. She definitely looks like the right fit for the part.

The movie releases on July 29, 2022.

Orphan: First Kill’s New Trailer Traces Esther’s Back-Story

When the psychological horror film ‘Orphan’ first came out in 2009, it was quite the hit with horror fans for its unique story of an odd adopted child wreaking havoc in her new home. Actor Isabelle Fuhrman was only ten at the time and delivered a spine-chilling creepy performance as Esther, the disturbed titular orphan.

‘Orphan’ became a contemporary horror classic of sorts, and fans wouldn’t have expected a sequel, given that the 2009 flick had a pretty conclusive end. But director William Brent Bell is hoping to cash on the film’s lasting popularity and Esther’s deviousness by giving viewers a prequel – ‘Orphan: First Kill’. Isabelle Fuhrman reprises her role as Esther, but with over 13 years between the two films, she doesn’t look as convincing as a 9-year-old kid anymore.

A new trailer for the film shows how Esther is taken in by a family, who believe she is their child who went missing 4 years ago. Julia Stiles plays Esther’s mother Katie Mauerova, and brownie points to the casting directors, because the two actors do pass off as mother-daughter duo. This time around, a lot of characters have their doubts about Esther’s true nature and identity.

Unfortunately, ‘Orphan: First Kill’ looks like a re-hashed version of the 2009 flick, with a lot of the same themes and plot points repeating themselves all over again. On top of that, even the element of suspense doesn’t exist anymore, not for those who’ve seen the first film. The trailer gives too much away, so it’s going to be challenging for the makers to make the prequel gripping. One can only hope they didn’t pack the best parts of them film in the teaser.

Uncoupled – Guess Who Is Lost At The Dating Game?!

Neil Patrick Harris may have had it easy with the ladies in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ as the serial womanizer Barney Stintson, but in the 2022 Netflix series ‘Uncoupled’ he is gay and extremely lost at the dating game!

Netflix dropped the official trailer and it sure looks fun. Neil plays a 40-something Michael who is unceremoniously dumped by his partner of 17 long years. The tagline of the series goes – newly single, but forgot how to mingle. To be fair, falling out of a long-term relationship is never easy for anybody. So Michael’s friends introduce him to the world of Grindr and other dating apps, encouraging him to enjoy his newfound sexual freedom instead of moping around. Tisha Campbell seems to have a fun support role as Michael’s feisty friend Suzanne.

It’s going to be interesting watching Neil play a role so different from one of his most famous onscreen characters; he became popular with viewers as the suave, sexy, smooth Barney, the kind of man people turned to for dating advice. By the looks of the trailer, ‘Uncoupled’ promises to be a sassy, witty funny take on navigating dating life in your 40s.

You can stream the series on July 29th.

Gorr’s Grudge with The Gods – Personal Yet Universal

Spoilers ahead.

‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ begins with a sombre scene of a starved and parched father-daughter duo praying to their God for a miracle in their dried desert land. Christian Bale plays Gorr, one of the last devotees of an ancient deity called “Rapu”, who pays no heeds to the human’s pleas for ‘sustenance’. And so… Gorr’s daughter dies in his arms, and the inconsolable father spends his last hours wrapped around her tomb of sand. In the afterlife, he meets Rapu and asks for his ‘eternal reward’ for worshipping him until his last breath, for never having lost faith. But Rapu mocks Gorr’s devotion and his daughter’s loss. Suffering for their Gods is one’s only duty, and there is only death after death, no rewards, Rapu tells his last disciple.

Faced with the futility of faith, Gorr renounces Rapu and kills him with the necro-sword, a mythical weapon which corrupts its wielder and has the power to slay Gods. So, from a pagan worshiper, Gorr’s grudge with Rapu spurs him on to become the ‘God butcher’. He scours through various planets, desecrating temples, murdering invincible deities, and spreading panic across the galaxy. He is met with a proper fight when he sets his eye on Thor, the God of thunder.

Also Read: Thor Love and Thunder: Waititi’s Goofy Little Wonder

We can argue that Gorr is the hero of this movie, getting rid of self-centered incompetent Gods. Gods who do nothing but bring war, pain and suffering upon people for amusement. His grudge with these all-powerful beings isn’t just personal but universal, his vengeance stands for every honest being who has terribly suffered and prayed in vain. He isn’t a maddened Titan like the arrogant Thanos, whose goal might have been for the betterment of the universe but involved random slaughter of half the population of the galaxy. Genocide will always be pure evil. Gorr’s also a more reasonable antagonist than the Scarlett Witch. She wreaks havoc across the multiverse in the want of kids who aren’t really her own… even though a much easier choice would’ve been to just adopt a bunch. And he definitely has more motive than all Spidermen baddies put together.

In the real world, it makes sense to believe there isn’t an immortal creator who holds the power to dictate our lives. Each time a child dies of starvation, it is only logical to think there isn’t no God who would’ve let an innocent perish for no fault of theirs. And since the galaxy continues to be a chaotic mess, rife with destruction, why do we need Gods? Either they don’t exist, or they must be killed for doing a terrible job. And Gorr takes up that assignment for the world. Too bad he meets an undeserved, unexplained death at the end of ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’.

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KinnPorsche Review – Entertaining Mafia Themed BL

For a good 14 weeks, late Saturday nights had been reserved for the mafia themed Thai series ‘KinnPorsche’, which starts off with a heated chase, gun shots and sparks at first sight. Directed by Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri and Pepzi Banchorn Vorasataree, the show follows Kinn, the heir of a mafia boss, whose path crosses with bartender Porsche while being pursued by armed enemies. Kinn offers Porsche money to defend him from the attackers, turns out – the bartender can kick ass. Impressed by his fighting skills, Kinn’s father persuades him to hire the puckish Porsche to be his personal bodyguard. An orphan, Porsche agrees to the new job after initial reservations, since he has a younger brother and debtors to take care of. What follows is an unlikely steamy romance, hence the 18+ rating.

In comparison to other series in the genre, KinnPorsche’s production value is quite high, it has stylish sets with striking colors, is gaudy when the scene demands it, and some groovy music setting the right mood for the tale. A good-looking cast makes the series easy on the eyes too. Actors Mile Phakphum Romsaithong and Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat plays titular leads Kinn Theerapanyakul and Porsche, two handsome headstrong men who have their own issues yet find falling for each other easy. The makers take their time with the romantic plot, putting focus on ‘how to become a good bodyguard’ in the first few episodes. Someone or the other is constantly trying to kill Kinn, and it’s up to his posse of bodyguards to keep him safe. A rivalry between his family and his uncle’s (father’s brother) family is one of the primary conflicts in the story, Kinn doesn’t trust his cousin Vegas Theerapanyakul (Bible Wichapas Sumettikul) who constantly seems to be plotting something nefarious.

The antics of the bodyguard pack provides amusement and comic relief. A pivotal character is Pete (Build Jakapan Puttha) who is Porsche’s easygoing roommate and in-charge of the security of Kinn’s older brother Tankhun (Tong Thanayut Thakoonauttaya). Despite having few scenes to himself, Tong Thanayut is riotous as the eccentric Tankhun, who wears flashy clothes at home and loves spending his days watching series with his bodyguards. One of the most entertaining scenes in the series is when Porsche convinces Tankhun and his squad to party and the boys raise hell at a bar. Speaking of ‘bars’, leads Mile and Apo have definitely raised the bar for gay romances, their chemistry is off the charts as KinnPorsche. From being passionate, to ridiculously playful, the two capture the essence of being in love with a lot of heart and necessary hilarity. The script gives them enough time and space to gradually grow genuinely fond of each other. For example, the whole of episode 6 is simply about Kinn and Porsche spending time together, after they get lost in a dense forest after a shootout. But once the romantic relation begins, next comes the conflict and trust issues.

Story-wise, the plot’s is pretty great until episode 9, however from episode 10, things get a little tedious, even for those who haven’t read the book. Right from the initial episodes, it’s pretty easy to see the character Vegas is trouble. So for Porsche to believe him over things is just extremely stupid and undermining his intelligence. There isn’t much story to push for 14 episodes, an early wrap up would’ve been a wiser decision. It’s also the reason why a lot of fans started getting excited over the romantic sub-plot about Vegas and Pete in the last few episodes. Because it’s the only new interesting thing going on – the horrible twisted Vegas gets hold of the Pete from the enemy camp, then tortures him for pleasure.

In a not very believable twist, the fun but fiercely loyal Pete falls for Vegas, a classic case of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, where a hostage begins to develop feelings for their captor. Not love. It’s just that the actor Bible and Build look great together and also act well. Had they cast a not so attractive actor as the evil Vegas, very few would’ve been thrilled over the side story. Vegas needed to be in therapy, and most definitely in jail. But then, well, so do a lot of other characters. Moving on… Another romantic sub-plot involving Porsche’s younger brother Porchay (Barcode) and Kinn’s youngest brother Kim (Jeff Satur) amounts to a whole lot of nothing. Unless there is going to be a season two.

The season finale turned out to be messy, with some shocking revelations that were too rushed, unnecessary and unconvincing. You are left with a lot of questions and have little satisfaction over the show finally ending. Regardless, it’s a well directed show for large parts, with a fantastic cast and a really good background score.

It’s a 7.5/10 from me.

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Day Shift Trailer – Works Up Interest

Netflix keeps adding vampire/zombie/monster themed titles to it repertoire and a lot of fans are here for it. Get ready to watch Jamie Foxx plays a different kind hit-man in the upcoming 2022 film ‘Day Shift’.

J.J Perry marks his directorial debut with this movie and has worked as a stunt director/co-coordinator in a bunch of films including John Wick. For a second, you are shocked as a viewer to watch Foxx shoot a helpless old lady, but she immediately turns into a vampire and things start to make sense. The film is set in a world where killing vampires pays great and the protagonist needs the money to give his daughter a good life. So slashing the throats of blood-suckers are part of his ‘day shift’.

Going by the trailer, it looks like a promising action-vampire-comedy flick, with Dave Franco and Snoop Dogg in pivotal roles. The three minutes teaser packs in enough blood, gore, action to pique one’s interest. Come August 12 and we’ll know if it’s worth the wait!

The Great Passage – Book Review

‘The Great Passage’ by Japanese author Shion Mura is all about the business of dictionary making. Majime is an asocial marketing professional, who is spotted and chosen by a senior retiring from the Dictionary division of Gembu books to carry on his work. A few pages into the novel, one wonders if one can finish what seems like a dry tale about a bunch of dedicated linguistic experts devoting years of their lives on publishing a mammoth dictionary called ‘The Great Passage’.

Translated into English by Juliet Winters Carpenter, this isn’t the kind of story you’d want to stay up all night for, but it did turn out to be something one could enjoy reading a few pages before turning to bed, for me at least. Shion Mura through this tale explores the nature of words, their eternal nature and their hold over mankind. Unfortunately, the essence of the book is lost in translation, because the chapters are peppered with Japanese phrases, and even though their meanings are explained, it just doesn’t hit the international reader the way it would it would affect someone who knew Japanese.

While there are about three primary characters, the hermit-like Majime is central of them all, who dedicates almost every waking minute of his life to making dictionaries. And yet, there’s also slight romance sprinkled amid all the nerd talk about words, their etymology, evolution, examples, distortions and cultural relevance. Majime’s relationship with his wife makes for an interesting study of a union between two people who are extremely attached to their profession, and yet make their marriage work, striking a kind of harmony (even if mundane) most couples can only dream of.

Story-wise, ‘The Great Passage’ isn’t exactly an exciting adventurous pick, there are no plot twists, no villains, and definitely no drama. However, it’s a tribute to the invisible men and women who put in their blood and sweat to produce something that might leave a lasting legacy. “A dictionary is a ship that crosses the sea of words,” the characters believe, and it takes them over a decade to bring that ship to conclusion. In some ways, this novel is a slow-burn romance, a love story between a small editorial team and their next big book.

It’s a 4/5 from me.

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Ep 77 – A Look At Gender Queer The Graphic Novel

Boo, Bitch Review – One Long Glitch

If it weren’t for the adorable Lana Condor, there is no way anybody could survive beyond a few minutes of Netflix’s 2022 series ‘Boo, Bitch’. It’s just another teen series about a ‘loser’ high-school kid trying to get a do-over and becoming popular.

Created by Erin Ehrlich, Lauren Lungerich and Tim Schauer, ‘Boo, Bitch’ starts off cute, silly, funny and soon descends into being unwatchable. Lana Condor and Zoe Margaret Colletti play best-friends Gia and Erica Vu, who are pretty much invisible at school – nobody knows them and people think Erica’s name is ‘Helen Who’, thanks to a bully. The two attend their first senior party, where Erica has the time of her life, gets sloshed and meets with an accident while returning home. Next thing we know – Erica is apparently dead but continues to be an embodied ghost who pees. The friends think Erica needs to live her best life in order to cross over to the afterlife. So the goal – attend prom with the high school hottie. Obviously.

For a ghost-themed series, unfortunately, the makers don’t tap into the supernatural potential of the story to garner laughs. Teen drama and Erica Vu’s personal goal to become popular completely overshadows the fact that she is a dead person walking like nothing happened. There is a group called ‘Afterlifers’ featured in the story, a random bunch of kids who are like a ghost club, but they barely get to do much. Also, even though there is a twist, one can smell it in the very first episode. So brace yourself for a lot of predictability, and shit tonnes of abbreviations that make no sense, so their full-forms are pasted in bold across the screen every time a teen uses it.

Lana Condor slowly transforms from a super sweet invisible girl known by the wrong name ‘Helen Who’, to a self-centered influencer Erica Vu. She switches from needy to bitchy perfectly, but her ‘bitch mode’ is just annoying AF. Interestingly, her onscreen chemistry with Mason Versaw who plays her boyfriend Jake C is on point, they are almost as cute as Lana & Noah in Netflix’s darling romantic film series ‘To All The Boys…’. Visually, the show looks just as good as any other Netflix title in the genre – everything is lively, caffeinated, colorful, like out of a pop music video.

Watch it if you are a Condor fan, it’s just another mediocre teen comedy series that completely wastes its potential, but manages to be mildly entertaining. The kind of show you can watch without exerting any brain cell.

It’s a 5/10 from me.

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Listen to ‘Night of the Ghoul’ Horror Comic Series Review

The Boys 3 Review – Diabolical Indeed

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Amazon Prime released its superhero show ‘The Boys 3’ close on the heels of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things 4′, and ironically, it turned out to have more horror than the Duffer Brothers’ offering. Or should we say – more horrifying. Seriously though… like the makers promised, ‘The Boys 3’ is definitely ‘diabolical’, with scenes that might scar some viewers for life. And like some kind netizens warned after watching just episode one – you wouldn’t want to eat anything while streaming the show.

Creator Eric Kripke and team have ensure they throw off comic-book fans off their seats by changing quite a few things on the show. Depending on the kind of fan you are, you may or may not be happy about the tweaks. But it sure helps keep things unpredictable. So, season two is definitely bigger, bloodier, crazier and more entertaining than season two.

Anthony Starr is the absolute star this season as Homelander, he is one of the most neurotic, psychotic television villains to have surfaced in the recent past, one can see insanity trembling in his very skin. Starr outplays all the other actors with his delivery as the damaged dude who is Godlike in his strength, yet too human in his need for attention. Everybody around Homelander shits bricks, from his team-members, to Butcher’s boys who want to kill him and are desperately trying to figure out how. Their quest to destroy Homelander leads them all the way to Russia, where Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) gets a badass mission to murder someone and does it in the most brutal/bizarre way possible.

Jensen Ackles is a new addition to the show as ‘Soldier Boy’, the supe who led Vought’s first superhero team, before Homelander was even born. He is supposedly just as powerful and psychotic. Butcher and Hughie (Jack Quaid) think he is their only way to get rid of Homelander, but Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) has a complicated history with Soldier Boy and isn’t happy with the plan. So we see a lot of division and disagreements within the group over their superhero problems.

I honestly didn’t like Starlight AKA Annie (Erin Moriarty) at all, but the character sees a lot of growth in season three and finally grows a spine. Up until now, Starlight seemed like a whiny privileged superhero with her head in the clouds, but she is promoted by Vought and begins to use her new-found powers and clout to cause some significant damage. There’s a lot more politics going, Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is up to no good as usual, and some interesting deals are constantly made through the runtime.

Eric Kriple gives viewers a break from all the gory violence with a dance break in episode 5, Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko get a whole Hollywood style dance sequence to themselves. While I felt like it did nothing for the show except disrupt the really gritty streak it was on, but a lot of viewers loved the sequence, so guess there are plenty of things for fans to be divided over. A-Train (Jessie T Usher) and The Deep (Chace Crawford) continue to have their sub-plots as the screw-ups of the team. A-Train’s character is used to highlight the white-black divide in America and how racism works just the same, even in an alternate world with superheroes, despite some of them being African-American themselves.

“With great power comes great corruption” is the dominant theme of the show and is done quite brilliantly. Episode seven throws up one of the best and unexpected twists of the show till date, keeping the ‘WTF’ element up. However, the climactic episode eight paled out a versus the other episodes. It’s the unfortunate case of setting the bar too high for yourself and then not being able to top it. There’s obviously the inevitable face-off between ‘The Boys’ and Homelander, but it just wasn’t the kind of epic violent battle some of us were hoping for. Some characters do get their moments to shine, but the ‘wow’/’oh fuck’ factor is missing. Overall, ‘The Boys’ season 3 was very entertaining, but it seems like they are beginning to drag things a little now, because a season 4 is definitely coming.

It’s a 7.5/10 from me.

The Sea Beast Review – Inspired, Not Quite Fantastical

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Set during an unknown time in the past, the 2022 Netflix animated movie ‘The Sea Beast’ is about hunters slaying sea monsters to keep their home-shores safe. Directed by Chris Williams (Big Hero 6 fame), this fantasy flick is kind of like “Pirates of the Caribbean” meets “How To Train Your Dragon”, and while visually it is as stunning and lavish as animated tales can be, the storytelling isn’t as compelling.

Plot overview: A little girl called Maisie Brumble stows away on a ship filled with ‘hunters’ who are out on a mission to kill one of the most dangerous sea beast known to mankind. But there’s more to the beast than meets the human eye, and Maisie embarks on an epic journey with the famous hunter Jacob Holland to learn more. Older viewers can already see where the story is going.

‘The Sea Beast’ is definitely a great engaging flick for younger kids, with interesting moral lessons, some of which may be a little to deep for pre-teen viewers. The animation is a feast for the eyes, bright, colorful, with a beautiful little royal island; but the character design of the main protagonist – the leviathan sized sea beast – felt lacking in imagination, it looks like a giant lump with eyes. It’s the only thing that stuck out like a sore thumb, everything else was exquisitely designed, with great attention to details. Chris Williams and team re-create a fascinating sea-faring world, with their codes and distinct way of speaking.

The central theme of how those in power control information and exploit those around them for selfish gains was done well. It teaches a valuable lesson to children – to question everything and not simply believe what they are told. Too bad I couldn’t get to like the primary sea-beast in the tale. Even Maisie’s character felt a little annoying and too wise for her age. Some of Maisie’s actions should’ve been performed by Jacob instead; and the climax was too convenient and cliched. Or maybe I was just in a more cynical mood than usual while watching this flick.

It’s a 6/10 from me.

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