Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 218
June 11, 2022
First Kill Review – Bleeds Funny
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The 2022 series ‘First Kill’ looks almost as fun and aesthetic as Netflix’s other teen romances, like ‘Never Have I Ever’… until the monsters come in. For a show about Vampires and demon hunters, the CGI is excruciatingly bad. And plenty of monsters make their appearances in the show, from ghouls to zombies, to other ghastly things that look like they were envisioned and animated in the 1990s. Kill joy.
Somewhere between ‘Twilight’ and ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’, ‘First Kill’ is about a vampire and demon-slayer falling for each other, with a very typical ‘love/lust at first sight’ story. Sarah Catherine Hook plays Juliette Fairmont, a ‘legacy vampire’ who’s recently turned 16, so she needs to stop relying on ‘blood pills’ and make her first real kill. Imani Lewis is Calliope Burns, who belongs to a famed family of monster hunters and is yet to kill her first demon. Perfect for each other? Kind of.
Unfortunately, all the exciting elements of a vampire/monster genre are poorly executed – the fight scenes lack punch and the monsters look like they are out of a college play. Juliette and Calliope spar in one of the early episodes, and what could’ve been a killer aggressive face-off, feels like a tame gymnastic-dance rehearsal. Had this series been a comedy, maybe all of it could’ve been entertaining, but the show looks like an awkward combination of ‘serious drama meets parody + B grade horror’.
While Sarah Catherine Hook and Imani Lewis make for an interesting onscreen couple, it’s Hook who carries the weight of being the star of the show. A lot of the other cast members aren’t able to pull of their parts with conviction, making it a tedious watch. Except for the LGBTQ+ representation, ‘First Kill’ brings nothing new to the table. To make things worse, episode 8 ends on a cliffhanger. The series doesn’t follow the one rule that’s very important to its own protagonists – ‘finish what you start’.
It’s a 5/10 from me.
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Listen to – Love Death + Robots Vol 3 Quick Review
June 10, 2022
Hustle Review – Like Karate Kid For Hoops Fans
A 50-something scout for a leading NBA team tirelessly flies around the world to find the ‘next big basketball star’. But when he does accidentally discover a Spanish construction worker who plays like a dream, his new boss doesn’t trust his gut. Adam Sandler plays lead Stanley Sugerman in 2022 Netflix sports drama ‘Hustle’, which feels like a long but engaging promotional campaign for NBA.
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar, and written by Will Fetters Taylor Materne, the plot is quite formulaic. However, the movie manages to be free from cringe-y cliches and stars a string of real-life professional NBA players, who make all the basketball scenes/face-offs riveting to watch. Second lead Juancho Hernangomez (a basketball star in real life) plays the towering Bo Cruz, Sugerman’s accidental find, who looks intimidating but exudes the aura of a gentle giant. Together with Sandler, the two make this Netflix offering work.
‘Hustle’ is a little like ‘Karate Kid’ for basketball fans, where Stanley Sugerman plays Sensei to the talented Spanish kid, waking him up at 4 am every day and grooming him work his ass off to shine on the court. Sport enthusiasts should be thrilled with the film since the makers keep emotional drama to the bare minimum and focus more on the athletic side of things. Cinematographer Zak Mulligan has done a fantastic job with filming the basketball sequences, they are clean-cut and capture the essence of the game.
Sandler delivers a measured performance full of heart, and looks every bit the wayworn Stanley Sugerman, who just wants to be able to spend more time with wife Teresa (Queen Latifa in a sweet cameo) and teen daughter Alex (Jordan Hull) and not live the nomadic life of an NBA scout. Juancho Hernangomez obviously turned out to be the surprise package, despite having no acting background, he plays the hardworking emotional Bo Cruz to perfection.
There’s a touch of reality to ‘Hustle’, which works both for and against the film. It works because the struggles and frustrations of the characters feel relatable, yet the mundane element of reality also makes the climax a little underwhelming – because there’s no extraordinary twist or conflict in the end. So, you don’t have an emotional climactic drumming that will make you want to grab tissues or have your heart in knots. Yet, it’s a movie worth watching.
It’s a 7/10 from me.
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Listen to – Love Death + Robots Vol 3 Quick Review
June 9, 2022
Cheer Up – Graphic Novel Review – Cute AF!
Awww…. ‘Cheer up’ by Crystal Frasier and Val Wise is the brightest, cutest thing I’ve read all week!
The story follows estranged friends Annie and Bebe who become close again after joining the school cheer team. Crystal Frasier uses the classic ‘opposites attract’ trope, because well… its charm is just eternal. So, Anne is an asocial nerd who has the best grades in class and is forced to join the cheer squad for her college applications to reflect some social skills. The popular Bebe is the only trans girl on campus and cheer captain, she helps Anne ease into the team.
The artwork by Val Wise is bright, bubbly and has a cheery effect on the eye. I love the pastel palette; the choice of colors in the panels just make everything seem comforting and cheery. Each character is drawn differently and there’s wholesome representation of different body types. At some points, ‘Cheer Up’ reminded me of the sunny Riverdale from the Archies comic, because it has the same kind of joyous teenage energy.
Despite being so different, both lead characters are absolutely endearing. Bebe has recently begin transitioning, so she isn’t very confident, and her insecurities are further fueled by over-protective parents and people around her who sometimes feel like they are supportive out of the need to be politically correct, rather than genuine affection. Annie on the other hand has ‘the devil may care’ attitude, and helps Bebe be more comfortable in her skin. As the two spend more and more time together, sparks fly.
The climax is slightly predictable, but it really doesn’t matter, because it is super cute. Overall, ‘Cheer Up’ is a very cheery graphic novel and it’s a 5/5 from me!
June 8, 2022
God’s Favor – Kamisama no Ekohiiki Review
What an underrated show! Body-swap stories don’t interest me too much, but the 2022 Japanese series ‘Kamisama no Ekohiiki’, also known as ‘God’s Favor’/’Favoritism of the Gods’ turned out to be a comforting show to watch over the weekend. It’s one of those rare series with multiple leads, where all four protagonists are likable in their own ways. Directed by Matsumoto Yusaku, the show is spread over eight episodes, each about 40 minutes long.
Plot overview: In order to muster courage to confess his love for his childhood best-friend, high-school student Yashiro visits an ancient shrine for 100 days. When he finally confesses, Kenta gently turns him down. A heartbroken Yashiro begins to walk away, when a truck hits and kills him. In a bigger twist, the God of the Shrine he had been visiting, grants the dead Yashiro a wish – to go back in a girl’s body to win over his love.
Adapted from a manga, ‘Kamisama no Ekohiiki’ has exaggerated and fantasy elements – the Shrine’s God called Kamisama (Furukawa Yuki) makes several appearances and has a talking dog for a sidekick. However, despite the body-swapping and talking God sub-plot, the show has some very relatable characters, whose personalities are deeply rooted in the realities around them. Actors Fujiwara Taiyu and Sakurada Hiyori play the leads Yashiro and Kagura, and both of them convincingly switch personalities when the body swap occurs.
Instead of just being another comedic body-swap show, ‘Kamisama no Ekohiiki’ makes its young leads introspect their lives, feelings and friendships. The writers look at love without beyond the lens of gender and show it through their characters, who are made to deeply ponder upon the question – do you love someone for their mind or their body, and can the two be separated? When Yashiro comes back to school as Kagura, he realizes it’s not going to be easy to make Kenta (Kubozuka Airu) fall in love just because he is a pretty petite girl now. To make things complicated, Kenta’s ex-girlfriend Torii (Arai Myra) develops more than platonic affection for Kagura aka Yashiro. Within a few days of being in a different body, Yashiro regrets it, realizing the importance of his life as it was.
Unlike school romances, the characters communicate with each other and are honest about what’s on their mind. The friendships in this show is the most precious thing about it. Yashiro is easily the most likable of all – he is kind, empathetic, sincere and level-headed. Kubozuka as Kenta comes across as a typical popular teenager who chases skirts, but his character grows into a mature, reliable and considerate adult.
The only complaint – the makers could’ve done some better costuming for Kamisama, the God, the actor looks like a cosplayer out of comic-con. But perhaps it was a deliberate attempt at comedy. The climactic episode was surprisingly poignant, emotional and yet wrapped in a ‘happy ending’. Watch this show if you are looking for a simple, sweet coming-of-age series.
It’s a 8/10 from me.
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Listen to – Heartstopper The Netflix Series Is As Adorable As The Comics
June 7, 2022
10 Upcoming Fantasy & Horror Series On Netflix
Horror Fantasy and Fantasy fans are going to have to start marking their calendars, because Netflix is gearing to release a host of titles in the genres! Here’s a list of 10 shows to watch out for –
1. The Sandman: Based on the popular fantasy graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman, ‘The Sandman’ follows the fantastical journey of Morpheus AKA Dream, whose siblings happens to be Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny. Release date: August 5
2. Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: We are most excited about this one! It’s going to be a collection of eight short horror films and just name-dropping Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labrynth/Hell Boy/Nightmare Alley) is enough to get both horror and fantasy enthusiasts whipped! Complete with creepy ominous music, crumbling homes, rotting corpses – the trailer for this horror anthology looks very promising.
Release Date: Yet to be announced
3. The Imperfects: This new Netflix series looks like a rip-off of Marvel’s X-Men. It’s about three youngsters, who are experimented upon against their will. They are genetically mutated into supernatural beings, ‘imperfects’ is a nice polite way to put it. ‘Mutants’ would’ve been Professor Xavier’s choice of word. The trailer however actually looks more fun than most X-Men teasers ever made.
Release Date: Yet to be announced
4. All Of Us Are Dead: Netflix has confirmed the Korean Zombie Series is getting a season two. Things should get more interesting than before, since the show has introduced a new breed of super Zombies, who are just as intelligent as humans! Release Date: Yet to be announced
5. Resident Evil: Come July 14th, and horror fans will get to see the infamous ‘Umbrella Corp’ trying to re-invent itself in the new ‘Resident Evil’ series. ‘T-Virus’ continues to be main problem, however, the trailer features a weird line-up of monsters, which includes a giant spider. Loyalists of the ‘Resident Evil’ games don’t have too many hopes pinned on this spin-off, however many others have high expectations!
6. The Midnight Club: From the makers of ‘Haunting of Hill House’, comes the new supernatural series ‘The Midnight Club’, which is based on a popular book series by Christopher Pike. The story follows 8 youngsters who meet every midnight to swap scary stories and look for signs of the supernatural in real life. Release Date: October 7
7. Sweet Tooth Season Two: The dystopian fantasy series will soon be back with a new season and nothing could be more satisfactory for fans, since the first one ended with a gigantic cliffhanger. Sweet Tooth was an entertainingly good blend of horror and fantasy, even though the series wasn’t as dark as the comics it is based on. Release Date: Yet to be announced
8. Wednesday: It’s so hard to imagine anybody other than Christina Ricci playing Wednesday Addams, but rising star Jenna Ortega looks pretty perfect for the titular role in the upcoming Netflix series ‘Wednesday’. The show will follow a teen Wednesday in ‘rebel mode’, so expect some disruption in the Addams Family! Release Date: Yet to be announced
9. Troll: Nope, not the internet trolls, this show is about an actual troll from Nordic mythology. An ancient giant troll who had been sleeping for a thousand of years inside a mountain, finally wakes up to wreak havoc. How are modern humans going to stop a monster they didn’t think exists? Release Date: Yet to be announced
10. First Kill – We saved First Kill for the last, because the show streams on June 10, which is soon, so you can go and set a reminder on Netflix for it right now. The plot is a little like ‘Twilight’ meets ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’, so yes, there are vampires, werewolves and of course – vampire slayers. And there’s a classic ‘forbidden romance’ trope at the center of it – two girls fall in love, one is a monster, the other a monster hunter.
June 6, 2022
Interceptor Review – Good Plot, ‘Meh’ Cast, Terrible Dialogues
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
We like an exaggerated action film with a strong woman lead kicking butt and saving the world. Oh well… not the entire world, but America to be specific. Elsa Pataki plays Captain J J Collins, America’s last hope to save its cities from being blown to bits by Russian terrorists, in the 2022 Netflix action film ‘Interceptor’.
Directed by Matthew Reilly, this film has an interesting (even if unrealistic) plot, but an incredibly mediocre cast, terribly written dialogues and forced political themes drown its potential. And damn, the dialogues are so bad, it feels like somebody wrote them for their middle-school assignment.
Plot overview: The Russians have managed to steal 15 ballistic missiles and have also compromised one of the only two American Interceptor facilities capable of stopping their attacks. Captain J J Collins is in-charge of the other Interceptor station, and the only person standing between the annihilation of 15 American cities.
Some of the action scenes were quite entertaining, but there’s a lot of political stuff in between that will exasperate viewers. For example they have a white dude spiting immigrants. Captain J J Collins is half-Spanish, her colleague is Indian-origin, and the one of the white terrorists’ whines about immigrants stealing jobs (he is literally their colleague turned mole and clearly not out begging on the streets) and some other mindless spiel that made no sense.
Elas Pataki does a decent job portraying the badass Captain J J Collins, who is demoted after leveling sexual harassment charges against a senior. While this back-story makes for an interesting addition, the writers ruin it by dragging the issue throughout the plot. Luke Bracey plays villain Alexander Kessel, the son of a billionaire, who’s turned into a terrorist because of some ridiculously philosophical crap he tries to explain to Captain Collins. If the dialogues weren’t bad enough, Bracey’s delivery is even worse, he inspires no fear or hatred in the viewer’s mind. At best, you feel like saying “go play with you daddy’s money you psycho” to Kessel.
A lot of little twists make no sense or are too convenient – like how Kessel and team don’t blink before killing the entire staff at the facility, but just tie up Collins and her colleague when they make it to the main control room. It’s not like the terrorists are rookies, Kessel is said to be an army guy who specializes in torture. The writers heavily rely on just brute action, instead of incorporating some elements of tactical thinking or wit. All that said, I did enjoy watching the action sequences, so it’s a 5/10 from me.
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Listen to – Love Death + Robots Vol 3 Quick Review
Star In My Mind Review – Bland AF
Some of us probably watched the Thai series ‘Star In My Mind’ for the gorgeous Joong Archen Aydin, who plays protagonist Khabkhluen… guilty of the same crime. I was punished immediately by witnessing this bland AF college romance about Daonuea (Dunk Natachai) a first year student who crosses paths with his high-school crush Khabkhluen, who had turned him down over a year ago. Daonuea’s feelings re-surface and maybe they were not one-sided.
Literally nothing of interest happens in this series. Daonuea’s insecurities and pain over being ‘rejected’ by Khabkhluen are grossly exaggerated. Our dude confessed his feelings on the last day of the school year, when he is also scheduled to fly out of the country to study. So he basically says “hey you don’t know me, but I am Daonuea, I am leaving the country today, but I like you”; to which Khabkhluen says “have a safe flight”. L-O-L. That’s like the gentlest way to turn someone down, but Daonuea behaves like he had a sword slid through his guts.
Anyway…. apparently everybody is in love with the cute Daonuea in college, girls and boys alike, and Khabkhluen also sends him mixed signals. It’s just slow torture to watch students who are supposedly the top of their class, not being able to say what’s on their mind. Joon’s character as Khabkhluen is annoyingly stereotypical – the handsome brooding guy who doesn’t understand love. Dunk Natachai constantly reminded me of Phuwin Tangsakyuen (from ‘Fish Upon The Sky’), and does a decent job. There are a lot of other characters who have no real purpose at all, except for flirting around and making a few lame jokes.
GMMTV is now just mass-manufacturing romantic mini-series, without giving any thought to plots and character developments. ‘Star In My Mind’ is only eight episodes long, but I lost interest by episode three, however finally saw the last few episodes together to just see what happens in the end. A lot of more forgettable uninteresting stuff. And this series sets ground for another mini-series called ‘Sky In Your Heart’, which follows the romantic journey of Daonuea’s older brother who is a doctor. Going by the trailer, it looks like a re-hash of ‘A Tale of Thousand Stars’, which was also about two people falling in love while working in a remote Thai village.
It’s a 4/10 for ‘Star In My Mind’ from me.
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Ep 77 – A Look At Gender Queer The Graphic Novel #Pride
June 5, 2022
Spy X Family Episode 9 Review
The ‘Spy X Family’ makers have definitely gotten their groove back! While all the episodes so far have been consistently entertaining in this anime series streaming on Netflix, the humor and pace has dipped slightly in between. But you’ll find yourself laughing and smiling a little more than usual in episode 9, which serves up a great balance of spying, snooping, violence and familial love.
(Read Spy x Family Episode 1 Review if you have no clue what the show is about)
Titled ‘Show Off How In Love You Are’, episode 9 begins right from where 8 ended – Yor’s brother challenging her to prove she and Loid Forger are a happily married couple. For the first time, most of the focus is on the dynamics between the two adult protagonists as a pair. Loid trails Yor to determine if she is aware that her younger brother is part of the ‘secret service’. So there’s this slight element of ‘mistrust’ that has entered their relationship, how Loid resolves this new conflict is the crux of episode 9.
Despite a slightly serious theme, there’s ample comic relief peppered throughout the script. Yuri Briar is sent packing back to his office after the first few minutes of the episode. He has some serious sister-complex going on, and continues to have his doubts about the new brother-in-law. Loid’s sidekick Franky makes a cameo again… that little dude is twisted and hilarious! We get a little ‘mission impossible’ style spy business going on, but minimal action.
By now it’s clear that all the three members of the Forger clan come from broken homes, and despite their unique special skills, they are all emphatic individuals who are trying to be emotionally supportive of each other. Loid’s character is steadily thawing, from being a completely cold indifferent spy, he is increasingly becoming a caring husband and father figure. Little Anya gets very few but super cute scenes, encouraging her ‘parents’ to get along. She is the glue that holds ‘Spy X Family’ together! Things end with an adorable family scene. No cliffhangers.
The teaser for episode 10 throws the baton back to the school sub-plot. Stream the series on Netflix.
Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF
Listen to – Love Death + Robots Vol 3 Quick Review
Night of the Ghoul Issue 5 & 6 Review
If you are an avid horror and mystery reader, an omen of having to face impending disappointment is going to creep into your head while reading issue five of “Night of the Ghoul” by Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. “Oh no, is he going to end it like that?!” you might ask yourself while reading the first few pages. Unfortunately, things do head to a predictable end by issue six. Sigh.
Also Read: Night of the Ghoul Issue 1 & 2 Review
Forest and son Orson are closer to cracking the mystery of the infamous ‘ghoul’ film director Meritt keeps talking about. Readers will be able to guess the climax before them, even if they aren’t very sure of it. The only thing keeping one hooked to this series at this point is the old-school comic book art and some fantastic trippy colors in between.
There’s really not much more to say, Snyder dips into usual tropes, doesn’t even give fans the kind of blood and gore you’d expect from the horror genre and leave you with a very 80s style twist one can see from miles away. As an ‘American Vampire’ fan, I was just expecting a lot more story from this series. It still would make for a pretty cool live-action horror mini series, given the right budget, actors and some minor tweaks in the plot.
It’s a 3/5 from me.
Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF
Ep 77 – A Look At Gender Queer The Graphic Novel #Pride
Night of the Ghoul Issue 3 & 4 Review
Things finally get exciting in the horror comic series ‘Night of the Ghoul’ by Scott Snyder! Issue 3 explores historical roots of the titular demon. However, issue 2 begins with poster-like panel of horror movie director T .F Meritt screaming and pointing out to a man who is supposedly the ghoul!
Also Read: Night of the Ghoul Issue 1 & 2 Review
Forest Innman and his son get busted by the sanatorium authorities, who figure out they were lying about their motives. The art and colors by Francesco Francavilla are striking, his usage of black-and-white panels for flashback scenes give the pages a very nostalgic newspaper comic strips appearance. Snyder steadily builds suspense around the true identity of the ghoul and introduces a classic character trope in issue 3 – a professor who is well-versed in the subject of ancient demons.
It feels like the issue gets over even before it begins, but at least the horror elements are more pronounced and the mood gets significantly ominous. The last page of issue 3 ends in the kind of cliffhanger that will frustrate readers if they don’t have immediate access to next comic in the series. Issue 4 sheds further light on the ghoul, along with details on how to get rid of it.
The dual narrative continues – while a young T.F Meritt works on saving his father from the clutches of the ghoul in the past; Forest Innman and his son seem to be in imminent danger in the present. Before you know it, issue 4 gets over in a blink too, leaving you wanting for more.
It’s a 3.5/5 from me.
Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF
Listen to – Love Death + Robots Vol 3 Quick Review
