Editor's Reviews
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From
"Seasons 1–4 · 40 Episodes · Rating 3.5/5 — Gripping mystical horror whose labyrinth is more exciting than its centre. What M. Night Shyamalan couldn't achieve with the much anticipated now cancelled adaptation of the popular science fiction series Pines authored by Blake Crouch, From maintains the concept and expands the whole thing into a fractal structure of tree branches and twigs and a network of roots, only not in the sci-fi rather in the mystical horror genre. And that structure itself has gradually become the issue here, not discounting the fact that how the show keeps the intrigue and mystery in its principal focus. That issue could have been resolved if instead of a branched out structure had it followed the path of a winding river with tributaries and distributaries connecting to it. As usual, like with any series of this nature (referring to the later seasons of Stranger Things here), the first season gets you hooked with its premise very early on and slowly unravels the rules of the game and characters who have to play by those rules. The performances were a little rough on the edges but gradually with each season it has gotten polished. The weirdos did a far better job than the stable ones which is not very left field when it comes to horror shows but what bothered me a tad bit was how it keeps on adding new rules and new players even in the latest one, the fourth season which I am assuming given the feeling of getting near the end, this one might be the penultimate season of what started as a journey with a fascinating world building back in 2023. Within these four seasons, From has its ups and downs. The mechanics of the show are quite mysterious and binge-worthy, the horror elements are also spot on whereas it lacks in a steady gradual flow of screenwriting and exposition reveal. Season one was great, season two was meh, season 3 was again better than its previous installment and the latest one felt like an unfinished bridge that might lead to the end. With such a mesh of network style storytelling, the crux or the foundation seemed to be very derivative of the 2000s-2010s horror formula. It's one of those cases, where the periphery of the design, the labyrinth where the characters have been navigating all this time for four years has been more exciting than the lynchpin, the centre of the labyrinth. It's endless. It's meandering at places. It has too many pieces moving without a cohesive structure sticking to a solid form with too many rules and new characters and purposeless props (sure, as of yet, who knows they might have meanings and means to an end in the next season) being added here and there to create a sense as though they have always been the integral parts of the design narrative, even though the story has reached its final chapter, I'm presuming, of course. But, it would also be unfair to overlook the praiseworthy materials From adds to an already clunky genre where concepts might be derivative but the executions can always be reinvented with atmospheric secluded setting, juggling of the mind and matter, relationships as well as pitfalls and hierarchical community-based order and camaraderie, sacrifice, anguish, hope and other human values and the lack of it. Moreover, From excels at defining and underlining the randomness of the universe where just when it feels like we have figured out the meaning, the purpose, the schematics, the rules and the patterns, we get thrown a monkey wrench as pure chaos because with a lesson that if we figure it out or we think we have figured it out what's even the point of a randomness in a chaotic setting."
Deadloch
"Season 2 · 6 Episodes · Rating 3/5 — Still intriguingly binge-able and very funny, until a formulaic finale. A tight-knit follow-up to the massively underappreciated Amazon's original Australian show that was going so well until the final episode and its climax. The chaos, the red herring, the short bursts of comedy bits along with the community-specific themes are all intact this season with its meaty plot points (quite literally) and solid crisscross detective work but this time around, after investing in some much complex pathways to what could have been a satisfactory ending that cleverly connects the origin of Eddie's journey with the rest of the characters and their whereabouts turns into a formulaic conclusion. But, it's still intriguingly binge-able, if not for that I would still have stuck for the comedy scenes. Season 2 takes the serene, lakeside, hilly, cool climate and the somewhat good-natured friendly members of Deadloch (at least on the outside) and turns the whole thing on its head. It's full-on wild west and it perfectly explains the demeanor of one detective partner, who I think is one of the funniest characters of all time, not only in a thriller show rather in any show. The cast of season 2 apart from the main and recurring roles are as much loud-mouthed brutes, uncouth and hilarious as they are fine beings on the inside who got the receiving end of hundreds of years of neglect and the lingering effects of colonization and the prejudices that still run in some quarters just like the first season. This season, both Kates crank it up with deadly reptiles, bugs, and a whole host of wildlife creatures, long stretches of temperate forests with dry soils and hot humid weather and how it all has an effect on the inhabitants. Although the latest season can't hold a candle to the precisely crafted thrills, reveals, twists and turns as well as backstories, personal identities and interpersonal relationships and character dynamic and especially the comedic timing and funny dialogues and in terms of almost all of the metrics, this season carries where the show left three years ago and tries really hard to move hard and fast. Despite some obstacles, it stays afloat even if it doesn't exactly sail like its predecessor as I was anticipating."
Hacks
"All 5 Seasons · 47 Episodes · Overall Show Rating 4/5 — If she was alive today, Mae West would've been really proud of this show. If she was alive today, Mae West would've been really proud of this show.... Hacks ends on its own terms just like its leads have been characterized. If there is one other sitcom next to Silicon Valley that ended in the last 5 years or so that I'm going to miss, Hacks would be the one that didn't have a coffee house, or a bar or a comic book store or a police precinct where the various plots revolve around the same few characters. What started as this generational gap comedy drama that doesn't shy away from commenting about the contentious woke politics comes full circle in the final season which is not exactly gunning to outperform its fourth installment let alone the peak season of the show which was the very first one. Since the first season, Hacks has always been known to stand firm when it comes to its baddie duo locking horns against each other, arguing about whose principles are better and doing the right thing instead of the easy practical one. In fact, a case can be made that starting each season, whenever Debra and Ava were at each other's throats, the show was at its strongest compared to the seasons where it goes down from an amicable relationship towards a chaotic one. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder's chemistry will be remembered throughout the history of sitcoms and comedy dramas. They both brought emotional gravitas as well as next level hilarity seesawing with their funny banters while reflecting upon the much needed sensitivity that is required in the real-time socio-cultural shift when boomers have been having problems seeing eye to eye with the millennials and the Gen-Z. Hacks tries to find middle ground, suggesting the oldies and rookies to kiss and make-up but it leans hard into the contemporary woke as a means of progression coating it with empathy and solidarity among various groups highlighting intersectionality rather than underlining it as a defeat of conservative norms. Experience from the Boomers and an antithesis to the old stereotypical understanding that says old people are set in their ways, so on compassionate grounds leave 'em alone and give 'em a free pass till their clocks run out while activism, personal identity entangled with the political, collectivism and welfare of the community from the Gen-Z. I mean parents and grandparents eventually do roll over and accept the tantrums, am I right? What will remain etched into my brain when it comes to this one is how it navigated the comedy bits enmeshed with the current politics with its unfiltered tongue while it never hesitated to speak its mind with some heartfelt all-round character development."
Lovecraft Country
"Sci-Fi Horror Miniseries · 10 Episodes · Rating 3/5 — Unwieldy and stretched thin, but the last four episodes turn it into a tour de force. An unwieldy sci-fi horror has a lot on its plate despite all the right ingredients and takes its sweet time to become a tour de force in the last four episodes. If anything there ever is even remotely close to the tv show Watchman, this might be it. In Lovecraft Country, the creatures aren't the real monsters and intersectionality is the magic sword. For a minute there, I thought this miniseries was actually going somewhere and there is no doubt, it tries hard to achieve that. The problem is it tries a little too hard. Hence, all the subtlety about race relations, identity, the self, interiority, sexuality, ideology, personal freedom and civil rights aspects of the message get stepped over by forcing them into the narrative and storytelling instead of inserting them thematically into a well-designed plot. As it progressed, by the time it was halfway, it already started to feel exhausting due to its too elaborately detailed and spread out script but it attempted to course correct in the last four episodes by cranking it up. It's a lot, and not just because of the creative choices rather also because of the barbaric history it shows. The pain, the agony, the unfairness of it. Almost all the performers did their parts except Jonathan Majors who overdid his part a bit by putting too much of his weight leaning into and maybe that's commensurable as per the mystical and fantastical or magical realism nature of the show. But, one thing is clear which is if Lovecraft was alive today, he would be furious to watch his name and his creation being used as instrumentalization for something he vehemently opposed and boy, that would have been gratifying to witness. Alas, Lovecraft has long gone and Lovecraft Country makes it a point to highlight the old "Art vs Artist" debate. It rejuvenates and reinvents his cosmic horror elements but weaves those into the 50s socio-cultural settings and even goes across the pond. For sure, it stands firm face to face against the belief system held by its eponymous dignitary but it also puts a somewhat courageous fight by integrating longstanding issues that are still to some degree very much contemporary while trying to keep the genre intact. It could have been way better. It's stretched pretty thin with overly long episodes and if not for the later parts, it would've been a dud. The acting is really overdone for some characters. Some episodes hit right, some don't. Yet, there are multiple points to be appreciative of. The whole of the playlist and track selection was awesome. The props from 50s, the comic book references as well as tributes to famous authors like- Alexandre Dumas, James Baldwin, William Hope Hodgson, Clarke Ashton Smith etc and many other real life speeches in the form of voiceovers were all spot on. The ninth episode in particular is one of the greatest episodes I have ever seen in television history."
Furious
"Season 1 · 8 Episodes · Rating 3/5 — Has its heart in the right place, but the fury fizzles out by mid-season. Elizabeth Meriwether's Furious depicts a symbiotic relationship between an FBI agent with a traumatic past and a sympathetic serial killer who forged herself as a weapon to exact revenge on the likes of Epstein class. Evidently enough this Hulu show is angry and frustrated with despair as its title suggests. The issue is after a while, not long into the middle of the season, that fury which is supposed to be the bulwark, the driving force behind the narrative dissipates and the showrunners mishandle the channelling of the said fury by letting lose its flow in the right direction all the way to the finish line. The detective side of the story could've been better managed in the initial episodes but after about halfway they came through with the use of fresh avenues and turnings of the plot only to botch the killer's side of the story which by then becomes quite textbook. The investigation side of things gradually loses pace and vigor without red herring or sufficient fluke or strategy and by the time, it reaches the endpoint, one can almost see what's about to happen. Furious has its heart at the right place. Particularly the very first episode was quite well made with sufficient thrill. It attempts to balance out the tricky situations of the limits of law and justice especially when the ruling elite class is not just in cohort with the crime rather actively facilitating it by creating a safe environment for predators to roam around and the reward system that follows to keep it feeding for the future. Where it lacks is the design of the mechanics relating to screenplay and when to reveal what as well as not having enough material to sink one's teeth in. Despite the intense performances of Emmy Rossum, it's about time since Shameless her underappreciated status should be upgraded and a impelling shocking one by Lola Petticrew. I am sorry to say Furious lacks in multiple features due to its prioritizing of the overall messaging than crafting a detailed investigation based on grounded reality."
Lanterns
"Season 1 · 8 Episodes · Rating 3/5 — Very lukewarm show that avoids the mark marginally from being a complete misfire. Still has a promising future. Alright. Let me get one thing straight out of the way. Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre's casting as Lanterns was spot on. And of course, all the raving about the investigative mystery thriller aspects of the show somewhat holds up. The Good Lanterns has this very grounded hush-hush not showboating and not too shabby either approach when it comes to the CGI and its overall power angles. Yet, it leaves much to the desire when it comes to exploring the power of the ring. The humor is also okay. Not great but good enough. There is a nonlinear trait of storytelling which is not much in and of itself. It's just necessary in some contexts to let the lore expand. But, that is it. The Mediocre and The Average Lanterns right off the bat starts not at the beginning rather in the middle of a power transfer and that's the high point. Much of the exposition remain either as memory implants or through dialogues. Ironically, the frustrating elements also get attached to the investigative thriller features of the plot. Two distinctly imperative twists, or at least should have been distinct and unique since both have been teased to the extreme up until that midseason finale and the finale become so generic and predictable that anyone can see it from miles away. Secondly, you can't stress the gravity of the situation to a calamitous level by ringing the bell through one of the OG villains of the Green Lantern Corp and then expect the audience to shiver when it comes to the light that the best the supervillain could do is manipulate by, as one character laughably puts, sexual congress. Apart from that, the only Armageddon proportioned extirpating capability of the other side is supposed to be more than equivalent to that of Elon Musk or Curtis Yarvin or Xi Xinping in the distant future. The ring was used properly like 4-5 times and what's there to use it if the opposing force is so timid. Third and the most important disappointing feature is probably the major one. For much of the talk about pride and honor and power. The show has very little to provide on any of these fundamentals. Even the character of John Stewart gets a little shaky when it comes to honor a couple of times. At other times, he displays that he is the only one with the integrity and the required finesse to wield such a powerful weapon. At least the people under the thumb or in debt stay true to their end of the bargain. The decisions taken by the sheriff, for the most part, pissed me quite a lot. It didn't make any sense and towards the end, it was like the showrunners were just figuring her out as they went on. Even the group supposedly the counterweight to Hal Jordan's mission also has lame basic abilities. And, I never thought I would say this about a superhero product about flair and CGI-saturated spectacle, but here we are. To ground Lanterns in reality and to quieten or dampen the usual stylistic elements of display related to this fatigued genre and to lean heavily on the narrative, one would anticipate more plot points, complex character motivations, intriguing villains and resolves all around like that in case of Legion or Watchmen, not these half measures. The background and backstory of Stewart also stay within the circumference of the used formula that we're all familiar with. Despite all the shortcomings of this show, it's still way better than the rest of James Gunn's DCU projects so far and that'd be setting the bar too low. In addition to that, Chandler's portrayal of Hal Jordan and his chemistry with Pierre's Stewart mostly carried this show. And yes, the soundtrack was amazing. Episode 4 and 5 try real hard to salvage the situation and for what it's worth, these two episodes did that to an extent. That's all. As the season progresses, I feel like, contrary to my expectations, I liked the early two episodes more than what came after the mid-season finale. Overall, it seemed like Lanterns was confused with itself philosophically, as if it lacked clarity and malnourished due to its forced ambiguity and ill at ease with its established comic book lore and the animation materials."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
"I don't get what's Brand New about this. They should have titled it Rebranding Old Days instead. As imaginative as the action choreography in the latest Spider-Man movie might be, fundamentally it is just another glorified conduit to further new franchises and the next phase of MCU by introducing new blood and amplifying powers of once nerfed superheros. Plot-wise nothing extraordinary occurs. The same old themes of original X-Men franchise, even some points borrowed from Deadpool 2 refurbished and repackaged."
Threads
"This could've been Jidu Krishnamurthi and Bertrand Russell's favorite horror movie. Harrowingly pro-nuclear-disarmament. Hard to believe in 42 long years, we have gotten to A House of Dynamite from this. The juxtaposition between daily lives going about their ways and the information seeping through television sets while bureaucratic and political machineries flipping through war manuals makes this even more horrifying to watch. First, Threads puts quite a bit of effort by attempting to identify with the common public by showing couples playing house while subtly inserting the exposition via media in the background so as to what horror is imminent very soon. Then, the collapse of societies aren't rushed by dropping off the warheads rather with step by step processes. Frenzied shopping, looting, chaos in the streets, rioting, people fleeing frantically, helpless and clueless government etc. came later. The latter parts were unspeakably gross as those were heartrending. The explosion, the fallout, the aftermath, how soon a civilization teeming with life and advanced modern technology reverts to prehistoric era basic survival instincts, yet all this in Threads mostly shown through the eyes of two families and a group of government officials buried alive under the detritus of the blast. Although the thorough minute by minute rundown by voiceover announcements like it's History channel and the visual typing aids I could have managed without."
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
"Now, this is a western I could definitely get behind. The speciality of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was in its subversive abilities of shattering the vintage myths and legends surrounding the cowboy who would often be a lone wolf acting on behalf of justice as he rides into the sunset. This one brings home the American Dream and the principles written by the forefathers on a piece of paper, as the lawless Wild West gets tamed with law and order, education and of course all these expediently fast-tracked by the railroads. John Wayne to his reputation does hang his hat his own usual ways on this own terms but plays a balancing act by brilliantly passing the torch, metaphorically speaking, to the next batch but in a rather remarkably heroic way. Cactus rose against a real rose. In a movie that starred John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin, strangely enough Edmund O'Brien playing Mr. Peabody certainly takes over the screen and plays a bridge between the east coast and the western desert with his humorous antics as well as his serious sophisticated erudite nature of his verbose. Not just that, in the most iconic manner, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance enacts these inclusive and progressive themes of twenty first century modern common sense along with the fundamentals associated with the liberal and democratic values of the American Dream very effectively, not just through sheer emotions but in an analytical manner. John Ford's classic does justice to both; the legends around the gun-totting style of the Spaghetti Western as it was fading from the pages and the screens and the upcoming wave of cinema that was going to lean heavily towards critical thinking pointing to modern socio-political issues of the 60s and 70s."
The Sting
"The long con is a gentleman's game in The Sting where hook, line and sinker runs parallel to that of American Hustle with suave, sophisticated and experienced grifters who don't sidestep to pivot one bit off their original plan. And, yeah, a dapper Robert Redford running around embroiled in his own things which in the end all ties up very neatly. Even though Paul Newman plays the head honcho with the legend of his older exploits, role-wise he takes the backseat in this one and lets Redford do his thing and The Sundance Kid lives up to that absolutely wonderfully. The only thing missing in my opinion was some peppy music to add a tiny bit of effusiveness, some pop to the steps which would have made this even cooler. Extraordinarily made and it's nice to watch Newman letting loose a little. Still got his trademark smile. Another addition of an impressive feather in the swindler hat, this time as a slow burn with a setup that demands patience, rigor, elaborate meticulous planning and of course The Sting lands it all in style."
The Taking of Deborah Logan
"The fact that this pseudo-documentary right from the get-go begins on sketchy ethical grounds without consent, surreptitiously like a sting operation should outrightly tell you about its uncanny nature of authenticity; more pseudo, less documentary. That one guy who says he is having the best dream, I don't know what kind of a sociopath's brain rustles up great memories for a sweet dream in that kind of a scary situation. As for the second guy, he rightly points out- "You want the brown guy to go first?" And as for the movie itself, I'll just go ahead and state the controversial thing. Assisted suicide shouldn't be such a terrible hot-button issue."
The City of Lost Children
"Little Alice lost inside Pan's Labyrinth pushing the frontiers of Science Fiction Fantasy back in the mid-90s. A wonderfully weird world of adventurous fairytale inhabited by wacky characters where darkness is as perpetual as the undying and everlasting nature of grit and affection. Has the vibe of Terry Gilliam's Brazil but with the mood of Guillermo Del Toro and Tim Burton. Yet, it's not overtly nor subtly politically conscious like Brazil as The City of Lost Children leans more towards the fantastical elements than socio-political satire based on a totalitarian Kafkaesque dystopia. It has more of the vibe of a Neil Gaiman novel. A Christmas movie that is definitely for children or fresh new parents. If creeping yourself up about a hellish city with disturbing events and malignant cartoonish evil characters is more up your alley, then this is it. Though, it is also full of sadness, hope, love, innocence, dreams and goodwill. Funny at times too. Also, I didn't have any idea Ron Perlman once played such a gentle giant before becoming a stereotypical angry giant."
The Wild Bunch
"Insane in its scale when it comes to its sprawling set designs for action sequences, I for one couldn't foresee the direction The Wild Bunch took. Bandits, bounty hunters,a cat and mouse game, shared past, a brutal civil war, unlimited collaterals, vicious callous humans, long dry arid lands and mountains and amongst all these marichi tunes rocking in the background. That train scene and the bridge scene gotta be one of the top most audaciously maneuvered shots of all time in film history. What surprised me was during a brief respite after what could be considered a crazy first act, I thought as usual like most westerns, it would venture in the same old same old, but I loved how it inserted the political element into it along with the senseless violence from all sides yet maintained the cowboy attitude of wandering in search of new game and above all, pursuit of meaning and higher purpose."
A Serious Man
"This must be the origin story of Anton Chigurh. The magic of Coen Bros fused with Roger Deakins' magic. This was so funny that I felt bad for making laughing stock out of a decent man's misery. Stuhlbarg is amazing."
Blue Velvet
"In David Lynch's strange but non-trippy world, depravity and perverse brutality could be witnessed in dim light with bright colors. The whole tone of Blue Velvet felt like it was a precursor to what had yet to come in the rural town of Twin Peaks. The same talks about light and darkness, black and white, food and beverages, a diner and of course trees and timber. Shrouded in mystery, filled with secrets, and in the midst of it all McLachlan, as per usual. A sick sadistic maniacal villain, obviously with a disability. Blue Velvet is certainly among in the approachable movies category of Lynch and a really good place for a beginner to dip their toes into the Lynchian universe instead of just cannonballing into his web of fugue surrealism."
Border
"Weird fairytale for paleo nerds who're fond of trolls-based lore."
The Searchers
"I didn't expect this to be that funny. The question is- was that all deliberate or it just felt like that because of a different era? Setting aside the rationalization and blatant banner of manifest destiny and American Exceptionalism vis-a-vis savagery driven by tribal instinct of men which can be attributed to this being a product of its time, you gotta hand it to Mr. Ford for the technical prowess involved in this western. The set designs, the location, the skills behind the camera, all of it's just top-notch. Multiple ill-judged attempts at humor, even back in '56, not so much. Yet, The Searchers also displays the paradoxical nature of the indomitable spirit of wandering on a mission of rescue white knighting through the treacherous conditions of an adventure and the desire to come home in hope of settling for good playing house. That mono-a-mono brawl at the end was some of the most serious cowboy shit I have ever seen. Story-wise it's all over the place."
High Fidelity
"How come every time I watch a movie starring John Cusack, I like everything about that movie except for John Cusack? Even when being an ass which is rare for Jack Black, he still takes over the entire thing. Gotta be one of the most self-centred, juvenile and miserable characters I have ever come across. I always thought the way Barney Stinson always went from one chick to another, there's gotta be some sort of catch and I should have known the catch was in a movie released 5 years before since the beginning of that show. But, at least Stinson was having fun philandering all over the tristate area, Cusack is just intolerable and obnoxious in this one which is what they were going for, I guess, and he nailed it. Otherwise, everyone else was great. His sister was great. Tim Robbins was excellent. Zeta-Jones, phenomenal even with her guest appearance."