Editor's Reviews
In-depth reviews by our experts 🔮
The Naked Gun
"It's like watching Arslan going veganNot quite achieves the glory of the classics but it stays true to the essence of the Naked Gun series by mocking the elite establishment of the time. It's the space boy's turn. Neeson is not Neilson and this part recognizes and even acknowledges that. At multiple times it feels like it's trying too hard while we are left reminiscing thanks to the comedic call backs that would teleport us back to the 90s when it all started. Too much potty humor and lots of tangents. Basically a Kingsman parody with Mission Impossible references and the triumph de arch chase score in the background. The interrogation scene with the hospital setup was hilarious though."
Monster
"Monster tactfully paints one of the most impressive pictures about what the simplest act of humanity is capable of and what the scenario might be like in the absence of it. It's so heartbreaking yet full of life whenever the screen graces the presence of that one little kid. Full of innocence and playfulness. Adding this one to my list of all-time greatest movies from Japan. I like a film where the monster hides right in plain sight. In the middle of daylight. Strategically shot in a purposeful manner, full of despair, the stigma, the shame, the hopelessness and bruises while at the same time radiates a message of loving bond, friendship, care for others and compassion. Simultaneously, Monster wants to shake us out of our oblivious slumber to reality. Displaying that kind of range and packing it into a two-hour movie is nothing short of a miracle. Like creating a safe corner in the epic vastness of this ever-expanding universe waiting for the big crunch. Exceptional. Unforgettable. One of a kind. A personification of a child's tight hug."
Black Mirror: USS Callister – Into Infinity
"The extension of one of the awe-inspiring and wonderful episodes of Black Mirror goes for its origins moment with a hail mary to the finish line. While USS Callister had the schematics of a nail biting thriller wrapped around a parody of a beloved classic space opera franchise with a sadist antagonist right at its heart, USS Callister Into Infinity is more action-packed, funny and dilemma-based. It goes to the deep end with the presentation of a topical situation of greed mirroring our real world, where mere torture isn't the satisfactory gradient for a prison dynamic, rather it's about the swindle, corporate avarice and reputation-oriented ego-driven maniac with not a care for others. This episode mocks the generic long-established blueprint for a standard sci-fi product, but in the throes of it, it attempts to stand on the shoulder of a giant while being a separate entity on its own. Amidst all that also successfully sticks the landing. It's not better, it's just different."
Black Mirror: Eulogy
"Paul Giamatti pushes through regrets to find closure in the penultimate episode of the 7th season that reshapes the statement- "memories aren't absolute perfect recordings" with a modern technological feature. Like most episodes this season, this one too works to expand already existing premises and ideas and is very apolitical but doesn't try to push the already existing boundaries as an expanding ever-changing genre. It leans into more emotional stuff rather than a jolt of surprise or curiosity."
Black Mirror: Plaything
"Peter Capaldi is getting more and more unhinged with each of his roles. Now, this one may not be as scary as The Devil's Hour Capaldi and it's not very left field when it comes to the science fiction realm but still it has some basic ideas about tinkering with the old concept of how we as a species aren't as clever as we think of ourselves. It's not particularly mind-boggling, not when we consider how insane and to the limits the whole Black Mirror series has gone previously."
Black Mirror: Hotel Reverie
"An interesting setup as the spiritual successor of what Steve McQueen had left with Joaquin and ScarJo. Hotel Reverie isn't quite San Junipero but it's not gonna be your worst Black Mirror experience either. It has its moments, mostly philosophical and sentimental and less tech or complex concept based and not at all political. Emma Corrin delivers a deeply emotional performance inside a retro setting."
Black Mirror: Bête Noire
"Creates a whole new frontier on the definition of gaslighting and uses it to launch a missile from the silo of sweet old school revenge. Of course, it's not that straightforward as it's a personalized psych warfare than the routinely conventional boring ones. Except it was going so incredibly well that it made me question whether it's going on a little too incredibly well. Right up until the end when it chooses to become the conventional too elaborate and designed right to a tee, it lost me. That was so by the book. I started imagining it to be voodoo or something ancient. But, given it's Black Mirror, it sure does try to push the frontier of sci-fi but for some reason that's not enough of a shocking experience for me which is what this show's secret sauce used to be. It's good enough though."
The Death of Robin Hood
"More tranquil than Sandor Clegane's second chance and equally more savage than the return to the life of the Hound.... Legend is a legend for it passes many tongues in the vast expanse of time. Adding embellishments and subtracting the impertinent so as to make heroes out of troglodytes. Hugh Jackman's fresh albeit grimdark addition which can be considered as one of the formidable roles of his career since Bad Education (seven years too late) spins one such legend to shatter the much accustomed version of an all time legend. I can see why so much of murmurings happened with this being a parallel to Egger's The Northman and the darkness, the senseless brutality, cutthroat tribalism and a violent purpose and many other aspects here sure resemble that blood-soaked Viking tale even though for a fraction of that story but there is a stillness, a sense of haven and peace that runs for a large section of runtime here which makes it diametrically different. Plus the bloodletting, minus the amount of snow and half naked men wrestling around a bonfire. Redemption wasn't anywhere near the sight of The Northman, rather revenge was whereas it is the lifeline of The Death of Robin Hood. Amidst all the cutting, clubbing stabbing, tearing and squelching of flesh and bones, blood gargling inside the throat and getting dragged through the muck as well as the stark gloomy atmosphere, rays of humanity appears in this even within the most irredeemable soul although fleeting, flickering and however much susceptible to the randomness of ebb and flow, back and forth. The serenity and the gnarly. As the movie mentions, the balance. After a while, it becomes transparent as everything that's been laid out sort of start fitting a pattern and that's the chink in the armor. That and the gratuitous nature of intense score here and there. If the many worlds theory has any leg, The Death of Robin Hood must be the Robin Hood version Ridley Scott would have made somewhere in the eternal inflationary universe. Plus the English and Scottish songs in the background. Anyway, whatever hole in the legacy of Scott that's since the reach of 2008 appeared, Michael Sarnoski is here to fill that and intends to carry on that legacy. There is even the similar usage of dull bleak colors of blueish hue and amber as it has been the trademarks of one director once majored in movies often portraying medieval wars comprising heroes of sprawling empires. And of course, effects-heavy battles consist of cavalry which is not this film's style."
Drag Me to Hell
"I don't get all the hype and jacked up ratings, is it the wind carrying the fallen leaves or is it the flying woman or the fissures on the ground or is it just Justin Lang himself? I forgot how outrageously blatant Drag Me To Hell was. I sorta liked it in my teenage years. Gee!! Have we come a long way when it comes particularly to the horror genre. Come to think of it, even the performances seem a little off. A bit green. The dreadful ways the demonic spirit supposed to haunt were more Scooby Doo style cartoonish caricature than what should have induced dread and hair raising scares. It's one disgusting magic trick after another. The whole thing felt like Sam Raimi was playing a prank. It played with a vibe of one of those campy 80s B-grade Bollywood horror films. P.S.- The goat had more intelligence than the seer who shouted at the possessed- "Away, you unclean spirit." My favorite moment was when she murdered the handkerchief of death."
Evil Dead Burn
"Jeez! Where do they find these models/actors! I mean what rundown talent agency is so desperate and how do Warner Bros. Discovery ends up hiring them, that might be a better horror story. Way better than whatever this was. Evil Dead Burn, at first glance plays like a spoof on YouTube short film format. Gradually it becomes a brief commentary about the sham that are the performative so-called family values which is just a euphemism for dysfunctional abusive toxic relationships all around. But, it's just overcompensating for what it truly is- a front for a snuff film. That family shouldn't be near so many sharp objects to begin with. This movie is not terrible. I mean it's not Silent Hill Origins terrible but that's not much of a glowing criteria for a comparative benchmark. At least the final thirty minutes were quite an improvement."
Bodies
"If scientific advancements reach its pinnacle, Bodies won't be a fiction anymore and Curtis Yarvin might play Stephen Graham to perfection. Bodies shines in the long queue of this modern established trope of the future state depending entirely on the mental health of one very powerful and/or smart person. Just like- Legion, Dark, Thunderbolts etc. Difference is here in this case, the show makes it point to underline the consequential outcome by the clever addition of a principle- the sheer number of misery is not worth it just to satiate one person's grievances or to balance out his pain by punishing hundreds of thousands of people. But, then it tries to appease this particular issue in the very last episode putting forth the idea that maybe it's worth it after all the time hopping shenanigans if things can just be course- corrected. Four distinct parts to the story all connecting via the thread of causing immense anguish to a one party is quite a challenging ordeal, yet Bodies does it smoothly without letting the trophy out of its sight. In the final episodes, it picks up its pace and it gets a little too predictable like many other such similar projects that have come before, but nevertheless the miniseries is very much bingeable. Some of the casting choices could have been better but nothing to be concerned about. From the period setting all the way to the present and the future, it doesn't overdo it betraying practicality and keeps it grounded and manageable. The redemptive arc comes at the very last moment and doesn't take a bit too much of the show's time which was refreshing. Bodies is a thoroughly enjoyable show with enough segments and machinery in the plot as well as intrigue constantly moving so as to keep you guessing for a couple of episodes and then it lays bare the whole mechanics without feeling two ways about it."
BEEF
"Season 2The first season of Beef was remarkable with its ambition and underlying themes. Is the second season as good in all the same metrics? Not quite. But, it is its own thing. While, the first season was very much strategic to create and contain its chaos, the second season takes its time to be all that mentioned above. Mean, petty, duplicitous and insanely vengeful. It wanted to convey pure meanness on a new level of how far down in competition two characters being at each other's throats can go and of course, the topical idea of income inequality. While The White Lotus kept churning out more and more seasons on the exact same topics, there is a separate exclusive kind of bankruptcy of human values that fuels the engines of Beef created by Lee Sung Jin. The second season excels at utilizing both the newcomers and seasoned actors and actresses and all of them rise to the occasion on an expected yet remarkable pedestal. The later episodes get a little bit wobbly by letting it lose into an unbelievably almost fantastical territory but the perspective of the winner-takes-all in a dog eat dog world has to go over to the top of the chain and this season doesn't hesitate to highlight that. I particularly love the way it ends this time which feels very practical since it wants to make a point about the results and bargains of a post-capitalist society."
Maniac
"Maniac is what David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas would be if instead of Mitchell, it was created by PKD or William Gibson. It strips away the gobbledygook wooey mystic aspect of reincarnation or even the exotic unbelievable scenarios of however many possible dimensions and instead remains grounded in science fiction but keeps it layered and hard-concept-oriented stretching it between simulations, lucid dream and human experiences of trauma as well as the technologically diagnostic side of ailments along with value-based traits. A real good sci-fi show that started real complex, yet after four to five episodes later, it kinda loses its elusive mysterious nature as things start to fall into predictable places. The performances were very at par with the level of excellence as expected from the cast. I like how this show takes a long warranted break from Hollywood's fascination with the Jungian-style psychoanalysis and the shadow self as well as mirror consciousness and leans into the Freudian concepts and thereby addresses the stigma around mental illness, causes and treatment approaches vis-a-vis substance abuse as a manner of escape from reality. Maniac also underlines the significance of human connection and all things humane itself being existent upon that social connection. Given the finale, with the advantage of hindsight I find it pretty ironic that both Cary Joji Fukunaga and Jonah Hill were at the helm of this show."
Dublin Murders
"This murder mystery whodunnit keeps on spinning its yearns with saturated overcooked backstories, time jumps, repressed memories, multiple branches, personal shenanigans and abrupt loose ends until you start asking yourself when is it gonna stop because of a splitting headache it induces. Both Sarah Greene and Killian Scott did their best as per the requirements of the Tana French novels. Couldn't care for the forced side quest of the inquiry nor its past trauma ridden attitude towards other people, especially women. Apart from that the atmospheric setting of rural Ireland, the woody landscape and gloomy overcast as well as eerie night time designs of the show seem like a waste of opportunity given all the unnecessary red herrings Dublin Murders throws at you. If not for the reveals at the climax and the intent of the gruesome act, most of the episodes contribute nothing fresh to the investigative murder mystery genre."
Mayday
"The first twenty minutes of Mayday is the usual routine of Hollywood flexing its glutes plus the Reynolds trademark of snappy reparate which to be honest has gone stale since past ten years. Then Kenneth Branagh appears and breathes life into whatever that's been going on by converting this behind-enemy-line plot into a lighthearted Hunt For The Red October minus the ocean and the submarine. Rather a better fit would be to draw parallels of it to The Unbearable Weightness of Massive Talents. The final half an hour is stupid with two giant Os. If they had put that in a Fast and Furious movie, it would have still been insane."
A Ghost Story
"Wowza!!! This Stephen King's nightmare of a film induces such melancholy on an existential level that shattered my previously upheld view that horror could either bring forth catharsis or go on a commentary/message slant. Couldn't be able to take my eyes off of it even for a second thanks to the magic the cinematographer and composer were sprinkling. I should have known better going in a David Lowery rabbit hole than to prematurely believe that I'd comprehend this fully. Then, they plastered that Virginia Woolf quote and I was like that'd be it, I am definitely not gonna understand this movie and as the camera lingers and overstays its welcome for more than the appropriate seconds, I was completely sure of this going over my head. That was until the subtitles started to appear. And then it took this loopy Terrence Malick path and things got really interesting. A Ghost Story is one of those study-in-grief type of project. And while everything Rooney Mara was going through, I couldn't help but wondering the one fundamental question- Did she get paid the same as Casey? Because that thing might as well be a rotating stick on wheels under that sheet, who knows!!! Whatever Ghostface's been up to these days has no contest to Casey Affleck under a white sheet with eyeholes cut into it. No. Not the pointy kind with the burning cross. It's not that kind of film. For real though, Scream franchise should seriously consider this art house style of spin given the state of their movies."
Bagman
"Like a fairytale but for the upside down. In this Stephen King's version of The Grabber, Sam Claflin tails a monster out of folklore to its den at the end of earth. Bagman has its moments, sure, but nothing out of the ordinary."
The Whisper Man
"Looks like we aren't even trying to create something even remotely close to Zodiac, instead going in the opposite direction. The Whisper Man is a whimpering fanfare with a banner displaying names of some of the most prominent Hollywood giants. This movie, it seems like, has a knack for showing who's stupider than whom!! The Whisper Man starts very bleak and atmospheric just like True Detective, unfortunately that is it for the resemblance which is ironic since it also has Michelle Monaghan, this time playing from the other side wearing the jacket. From the very first moments, it establishes that all the locations, contacts, the families and friends of the victims were cleared and accounted for. I guess, it means only for the victims, why would the cops even think of any family tree or bloodline of the suspects, let alone the original perp! Right? Secondly, kids are more resilient than Hollywood has been trying to make 'em out to be. Drugged and kidnapped might do for sure but whispers. Third and the most hilarious point. If privatization of the incarceration system in the US ultimately delivers this state of maximum security, then we are better off here with the jails and prisons in India. Apart from three to four genuine jump scares and tip top performances all across the board, as expected, given the roster, there was nothing much to be gained here. The way Adam Scott has been going on about since taking a detour from comedy, he is gonna lose his mind."