Tag: Netflix originals

Inside Man – a study on wasting good actors with bad writing

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https://m.imdb.com/

Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Starring: David Tennant, Stanley Tucci
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons and episodes: 1 season, 4 episodes, 1 hour per episode
To watch or not to watch: Please skip this despite the stellar cast

The series opens with Jefferson Grieff (Stanley Tucci) in a prison cell helping someone solve a murder. He is a former American law professor convicted of murdering his wife, to which he confessed and is haunted by his act. In the parallel, there is Harry Watling (David Tennant) who is a vicar in a small town in England. He has a troubled parishioner Edgar who lives with his verbally abusive mother. Edgar hands a memory stick to Harry to safe keep, away from his mother. Harry picks up his son’s maths tutor Janice Fife (Dolly Wells), reaches home and deposits his keys and memory stick in a bowl at the entrance. Harry’s son Ben (Louis Oliver) gives the stick to Janice to transfer some material. Janice pokes her nose into what is stored on the drive to find child p*rn, and thinks Harry is a pedophile. This leads to a lot of misunderstandings, and a comedy of errors.

If they had made the series into a real comedy instead of whatever it was, it would have gone down better with the audience. From the opening scene with Tucci’s Hannibal-esque Grieff acting as a consultant because somehow he is a criminal mastermind to the taking of memory stick home, when it was equally safe in the church is farcical. Ben tries to save his father by declaring ownership of the offending memory stick, but the father is digging a deeper hole for himself. Maths tuition and all is fine, but maybe a cognitive understanding class was more needed in this household. There was no confusion which couldn’t be solved by a simple conversation with Janice, which would have taken barely 5 sentences and need not involve Edgar’s identity. Instead, Janice is locked in the basement, she is a believer in making a bad situation worse, by the way (maybe she also needs lessons in cognitive understanding), Tucci is doing something, which has nothing to do with anyone or anything but still features in the series, and there is a reporter investigating Janice’s disappearance? SOS, brain not computing.

Netflix, my dear Netflix, what is wrong hun? All ok? Childhood trauma working overtime? Why take the stellar cast, drive up your production cost and not have someone go through the script once? How did you even get Tucci and Tennant to sign up? Are you blackmailing them? Ok, apologies, got carried away for a bit there, but then the series is unbelievably bad. And the actors did a fantastic job. So much so that a case can be made that Janice was the real villain (and if you go by some of the reviews online, many writers have the same opinion), such is the residual emotion for her character. Listen, the premise is great, and with good writing, it might even make for a beautiful thriller. But working with what was given to us, unfortunately it makes for a horrible horrible play, which cannot be saved by acting alone. Please do better.

Kill Boksoon

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https://decider.com/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Jeon Do-yeon, Esom, Sol Kyung-gu, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim si-a
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A highly recommended watch for all the action lovers and thrill seekers

Gill Boksoon (Jeon Do-yeon) has been rechristened Kill Boksoon by her peers, as she has the most and the best kills within the contract killer agency, MK Entertainment. She is a single mother who participates in PTA, has lunches with other mothers, drives a G-wagon, can also drive a beat-up van to a secluded spot to fight to death against a Yakuza. She has a clairvoyance-like ability to sense the victim’s next possible move, clout within the contract killer community, respect of fellow PTA mothers, a ton of money as evidenced by the high ceiling flat, the ultra premium school she is sending her daughter to, and a boss who is slightly in love with her. What she doesn’t have is a close relationship with her daughter, which she desperately wants, even though she is a “cool mom” and has kept her personal and professional life totally separate. Now, as in any good story, comes a conflict which challenges this precarious balance. Her agency has asked her to kill a minor, something that is not aligned with her principles. This gets the ire of her boss, fueled and fanned by his jealous sister (Esom), a betrayal by her booty call, and a run for her life. All this culminates in one of the most visually appealing and well choreographed fight scenes.

The movie does well what it sets out to do – give a thrilling and chilling action movie with right emotions dotted along the way in the relationships between Boksoon, her boss, her daughter and the boss’ twisted sister. It is centered around the titular character Boksoon. All the other things are mere decors. It doesn’t pull punches when describing Boksoon’s life, but even better is that it doesn’t overdo it either (of which a lot of Korean action movies I have seen are guilty). Boksoon is flawed, she doesn’t always treat people well, her position in her work community has led to conceit, not to mention what she does for a living. But in conjunction with this is also her irresolute principles even within the contract killing, her motherhood, which is reflected in the guidance she gives to the trainee under her and the way she handles the problems her daughter faces in her school. And, as already mentioned, the choreography and direction of the action sequences make up for all the other flaws which the movie has.

Why do we watch movies? To get entertained, to be taken on an emotional roller-coaster, to see experiences we may or may not have experiences ourselves depicted through other people. This one is surely entertaining, and that should be enough to make for the reason to watch it. It also does one thing which is commendable – it portrays, single-motherhood and unconventional relationships which come along with it as part of course. It is much needed to normalise this also-reality, specially coming from Korean cinema which is has been rather binary in this (Oldboy, Handmaiden vs K-dramas). It is a small step in the right direction.

All this rant just to say that it is a good movie to watch after a tiring day, just to get that adrenaline pumping, the heart beating and to feel good. Watch it with popcorn for sure.

Monica, O My Darling

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https://www.bollywoodmdb.com/

Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte, Sikander Kher, Sukant Goel, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Bagavathi Perumal,
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A neo-noir movie which tries too hard and fails. Skip this one

Jayant (Rajkumar Rao) is a star robotics engineer at Unicorn Robotics, and is in a relationship with the owner’s daughter Nikki (Akansha Ranjan). He hails from a small town, intent on escaping it and lands at Pune. Now things are all looking up for him and he is as susceptible to ego as any human, and gets into a casual relationship with the secretary to his future father-in-law, Monica Machado (Huma Qureshi). She claims to be pregnant with his child and is blackmailing him. He is spooked, and rightly so, as it threatens his rise up the company. It turns out, she has been blackmailing other heterosexual male members of the company, namely Arvind Manivannan (Bagavathi Perumal) and Nishant Adhikari (Sikander Kher). The three of them hatch a plan to kill Monica and dispose of the body in a rather Strangers on a Train way. The case is handled by ACP Naidu (Radhika Apte). Needless to say, the plan goes awry and then there is confusion, anxiety and insecurity, which enhances the chaos.

The problem with any such movie (read: Netflix Originals and Bollywood) is that they try too hard. They have tried to do everything the great masters have done in their art, for example, there is quirkiness of Knives Out, confusion of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, opening credit fonts of Quentin Tarantino (seriously, this has to be the biggest crime of this movie, touching something so holy), etc. The idea of the movie, which by the way, is taken from a Keigo Higashino book titled Burutasu No Shinzou (Heart of Brutus) (another blasphemy), is superb, and so are the performances. What else to expect from Rajkumar Rao, Huma Qureshi and Radhika Apte. But everything else just doesn’t reach the mark. The storyline is unnecessarily convoluted, with random flashbacks and parallels which do not add to the mystery, only serves as a distraction. There are multiple plot lines they tried to address, but couldn’t do justice to a single one. Radhika Apte as a sarcastic-comic police inspector adds no entertainment value, only succeeds in being a slight annoyance. Disappointing.

The movie gets aa few things right – Huma Qureshi’s femme fatale is no simpering mess in size 2, she is comfortable in her skin, slays in her character and succeeds in getting all men’s attention without trying too hard. Maybe this movie has rightly projected that it is not always the vampy females who manage to trap guileless men. It is the men who need to be better and not villainize females. It also shows Radhika Apte as a not-too-honest police inspector, something we don’t see, and don’t associate with females. Rajkumar Rao’s Jayant is thankfully not a toxic masculine person either, though is toxic in general. All these points, while good, do not a good movie make. A movie is an amalgamation of direction, story, screenplay, editing and acting. The other points defying convention only enhance it. And in this case, it was simply disappointing to waste so much good because some aspects did not put in the work required. Skip this one without regrets.

Unknown Origins

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https://vocal.media/geeks/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Javier Rey, Antonio Resines, Brays Efe, Verónica Echegaray, Ernesto Alterio
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: A good spoof movie which sets itself apart by its good-ness

The movie opens with a murder of a man. The said man is murdered by steroids injected into him, enough to make him Hulk. This is followed my another murder of a man who has his heart pulled out and replaced by a metal suit. These cases are given to a new cop David (Javier Rey) and Cosme (Antonio Resines), but Cosme is on the brink of retirement (quite literally, the day the first murder is discovered, is the last day for Cosme before retirement). It is soon inferred that these murders have an association with the comic world, of which Jorge (Brays Efe) is an expert – he also happens to be the son of Cosme. So now David and Cosme (much to David’s chagrin) go around understanding the crime, the method and inspiration, which leads them to the criminal eventually. There is also a love angle, because why not, between David and his boss Norma (Verónica Echegaray).

If the above story triggers a memory of David Fincher’s Se7en, no brownie points for you – the movie is quite on the nose about it, mentioning it in one of the dialogues. Despite the sacrilege arising from spoofing one of the best psychological thrillers till date, the movie delivers on what it promises.
First of all, it is doesn’t take itself seriously. It is a fun take on comic book heroes, serial killers and investigations.
Second of all, the quality of direction and production is really good. It doesn’t skimp on that, just because it is sort-of spoof, quite unlike the other spoofs out there.
Finally, the ending of the movie is really good. By no means perfect, but good. The mystery is very unexpected.

This movie is by no means perfect – not the best story, not the best acting, etc. But it is highly entertaining. It is light-hearted and resonates with people because of connection with Se7en and superheroes. This is what the movie was aiming at and it achieves it. The only thing which it could have done without is Norma’s character. It is only a filler, for a gap that doesn’t exist. And to make it even weirder, there is a romantic angle between David and Norma, because apparently two attractive people have to love each other. Without this angle, the whole movie would have come out crisper and more focused. Nonetheless, it is a good one-time watch for people looking for pure entertainment.

Criminal: UK

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https://bgiccnew.bgicc.net/

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Starring: Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Mark Stanley, Rochenda Sandall, Nicholas Pinnock, Shubham Saraf, Aymen Hamdouchi 
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 2 seasons, 3 and 4 episodes each, 43 min per episode
To watch or not to watch: A highly recommended watch for every whodunit aficionado

Criminal comes in different versions, that is, for different countries, but this review is only specifically for the UK version.

Jumping the gun here a bit (and breaking structure of the reviews), this is one of the best series written (and seen) in a long while. In a world of mediocrity, comes this masterpiece which will have you at the edge of the seats and biting your nails, heart beat so loud that you can’t hear the dialogues.
Ok, that last part was a bit exaggerated. But the series is good. Ok?

This is an anthology series, with every episode a new case, so the viewers get the gift of 7 expertly crafted episodes, which have compelling stories with masterful performances.
The concept of the series is to get to the bottom of the crime and the criminal while the suspect is in the interrogation room and is being questioned. Most of the investigation is already done and that makes the series a kind of closed room mystery, what is left is either irrefutable proof of the crime or a confession. The police officers in the interrogation room and the ones in the observation room (on the other side of the mirror) have one goal only – to catch the criminal.

The series is very focused on the case, but there is a small sprinkling of office politics to keep the viewers invested in the characters as well as the case. The tangential story line is only the sprinklers, and not the actual donut so it adds to the whole, but doesn’t distract. All in all, a refreshing, must watch.

Aside: There are about 3 plot holes, which appear towards the last few episodes, but it is nowhere a deal breaker.

Series which should not have been cancelled

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  1. I’m not okay with this
https://www.zedge.net/

Streaming on: Netflix

Starring: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sofia Bryant, Richard Ellis, Sophia Tatum, David Theune, Zachary S. Williams, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong

Genre: Sci-fi/supernatural, coming-of-age story

This series is about a 17 year old girl Sydney, who lost her father the previous year. As a result, the family life has changed drastically and not for the better. She has trouble connecting with her mother, trouble getting along with peers, trouble focusing on school and trouble in general with her temper, which flares and is acted upon. She has one best friend named Dina who is the “popular one” and is dating the school jock. She also has a neighbour called Stanley Barber who has a crush on Sydney and is as much as an oddball as is stereotyped.

The story follows Sydney managing her life, her anger and then her very sudden super powers. She becomes a target or a fascinating study for some savoury/unsavoury characters. And if that was not enough, she is also trying to figure out the matters of her sexuality. She is definitely not okay with any of this.

Netflix is so used to producing below average stuff that the one time they have something good which has all the elements to grasp the attention of the audience, they balk at the thought. They are not used to producing good original content and hence they have cancelled the show (this is the real reason, despite of what is said by the company). They are producing season 2 of Bridgerton.

Amazon, please pick this up. But then you aren’t without faults of your own.

2. Good Omens

https://the-bibliofile.com/

Streaming on: Primevideo

Starring: David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Adria Arjona.

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy (slightly theological)

Aziraphale and Crowley are Angel and Demon, respectively and have been assigned to do their respective jobs on Earth since the seventh day of creation (Crowley/Crawley is the snake with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). They have grown rather fond of the planet and grudgingly, of each other too. In the present time, the grounds of Armageddon have been laid down and in only a week Heaven and Hell will fight it out to establish their supremacy and effectively end Earth. The Angel and Demon duo must prevent it from happening at all costs. Thus begins their adventure to find out The Chosen One and manipulate their respective offices in their favour. Their natures have evolved through thousands of years on the planet and it is shown through some cleverly inserted flash-backs at the important moments in history.

This series is adapted from a Neil Gaiman book. When it comes to book adaptations, this is something near perfection. The acting and the direction leave nothing to be desired and it doesn’t feel incomplete or staccato at any point. The storyline, peppered with theology through the ages is smooth, smart, witty and dark too.

This show was cancelled as it was called out for hurting religious sentimentality. While a case can be made for that, it can be said it shows changing for a higher calling, namely humanity and to get priorities straight, regardless of what we have been taught since birth.

Religions have survived thousands of years. An itty-bitty Amazon series with some 8 hours runtime can hardly harm them suddenly. Please lift the embargo on it and get out season 2.

3. Truth Seekers

https://www.imdb.com/

Streaming on: Prime Video

Starring: Nick Frost, Samson Kayo, Malcolm McDowell, Susan Wokoma, Emma D’Arcy and Simon Pegg

Genre: Horror-comedy

Gus is a broadband installer for Britain’s largest network provider, Smyle. He also moonlights as a paranormal activity investigator and has a YouTube channel, Truth Seekers. His boos, Dave, assigns an apprentice to Gus by the name of Elton Jon (LoL!) to train, and Gus isn’t too happy about it. Together Gus and Elton go around fixing and providing broadband connections. Gus luck seems to have turned around as they have real paranormal encounters at each of the places they visit. They also meet Astris, who is running from the demons haunting her and they try to figure out how to exorcise them.

No story is complete with a supervillain with an extremely nefarious agenda. In this one, the supervillain wants to attain immortality and the way to reach there is mega destructive and the consequences dire.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg come together again on screen for yet another spectacular production which has humour, thrill and horror combined. There is also a threat to humanity, similar to the movies in the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The End of the World – all must watch). There is emotional investment for the recurring cast and also for the anthology-like ghosts they encounter. There is no moment which is dull or draggy. In the short time, it manages to show EVERYTHING. Utter shame it is cancelled and Goliath gets seasons after seasons.

4. Maigret

https://tvtropes.org/

Streaming on: Primevideo (not renewed)

Maigret is adapted from a book series by Georges Simenon, featuring the detective Jules Maigret. It has 2 season with 2 episodes each and the episodes are in anthology format, with new cases in each episode. It is a police procedural, set in Paris of 1950s. What sets this apart from the other police procedurals is primarily Rowan Atkinson. It is very refreshing to see him in a serious role, which he performs flawlessly (goes without saying). Also, the cases are quite interesting and there are little to no red-herrings. The cases are solved by old-fashioned police work. The cases are dark and gritty which keeps one guessing throughout. The performances in the individual episodes too are commendable – no shoddy work here.

Given we don’t have too many of whodunnits series these days, this would have been a good addition to the online content. It is refreshing, nostalgic and pleasing to the eye. With very little personal drama and good storyline, can’t see this failing. And yet it is not renewed for further seasons. It is saddening.

Rebecca

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https://www.imdb.com/

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: A movie no one asked for, and makes the 1940 movie look far superior in comparison

It is based on the novel by Dame Daphne du Maurier. It follows the married life of an unnamed protagonist (Lily James) who started out as a lady’s companion, and meets a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), while on holiday in Monte Carlo. After a short and whirlwind romance, they get married and move to Manderley House in England. There the new Mrs de Winter comes in contact with the memories of the previous Mrs de Winter (Rebecca), who lives on in the minds of the housekeeper, the indomitable Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas) and basically everyone who has met Rebecca. To fit the image of the perfect wife, Mrs de Winter tries very hard to emulate Rebecca, but it seems nothing can please her husband, who grows more distant with time. The story closes with a deep secret which has the potential to destroy the life of the married couple, if exposed.

*Sigh* Even without much expectations, the movie disappoints. The performances of the protagonists isn’t spectacular to begin with, and the awful direction makes it worse. The only one worth mentioning is Kristin Scott Thomas, who is every bit as Mrs Danvers as in the book, but unfortunately doesn’t get enough screen time. The director seems to rely on the knowledge of the viewers about the story, so he doesn’t put in much effort. Things do progess (slightly) in act 3, when it differs from the Hitchcock’s adaptation and Ben Wheatley seemed to come alive on the set for the first time. It doesn’t help though, as the whole premise – the extent of the unnatural adoration of Rebecca by Mrs Danvers – is never fully explained or explored. There was ample opporunity to make this movie stand out, as multiple themes of obsession, homosexuality or illegitimacy could have been explained which were a taboo at the time the book and first movie came out.

It is sad to see a lost opportunity in the world of cinema. The story in and of itself is a masterpiece and the failure of the reproduction cannot go to the performances alone. The only thing that stands out, other than Kristin Scott Thomas (who is the only reason the movie got as many stars as it did), is the cinematography, sets and costume design. The direction fails to capture of the set, which seemed to put the location subtle so as not take away from the movie, but without the movie delivering, it fails on another score. Watch the Alfred Hitchcock’s version if possible, or watch it while scrolling through the phone.

Raat Akeli Hai

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12567088/

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Ila Arun

Streaming on: Netflix

To watch or not to watch: A good whodunnit to watch over a meal

Raghuveer Singh, a politically connected, powerful and old landowner is found brutally murdered in his home on his wedding day. He was shot with a rifle and his face was bashed in with the same gun. The bride is Radha (Radhika Apte) who was sold to Raghuveer Singh and was his mistress. The wedding party was small, with only immediate family members in attendance. They opposed to the marriage, and they all collude to blame Radha for the murder. In comes Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) to investigate the crime, which includes political plot points and internal conflicts between family members.

It is not a very refreshing movie, as crime/mystery/thrillers are a dime a dozen and are a formula for success. This is different from others, in that it has a larger cast list with more well-known faces and a bit more serious crime plot. The movie touches a few social issues and doesn’t veer off the plot. They could have built upon the character stories a bit more, specially Radha, who has a key role. Even Jatil Yadav’s character is only understood by some subtext spread across the movie, making it difficult to understand the reason behind his actions and decisions.

The performances by Radhika Apte and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are perfect. In theory, they would have made an unlikely pair online, but in execution it all looks seamless. It isn’t something which demands constant attention and can be watched while getting chores done. It is good content from Netflix Originals, maybe their best yet.