Tenet Review | wɘivɘЯ ɈɘnɘT

I’d probably be ok with skipping mostly any movies at the cinemas, everything except Christopher Nolan’s. The reason is plain and simple, he makes movies that should, indubitably, be seen on the big screen, not on streaming services, not on laptop screens or even a 4K TV. He makes movies that are visually arresting and so orgasmically sounding with direction and narrative that just glues you to your seat and its best experienced on nothing less than an IMAX screen. It was always a tradition to watch Christopher Nolan at the movies ever since Batman Begins. Haven’t missed any of his releases since then but his most ambitious project of all, a spiritual successor to Inception: Tenet, had been eluding us for such a long time, no thanks to the the pandemic. I had been waiting for such a long time, and almost had taken an oath that whatever be, I still wouldn’t break the tradition and will watch Tenet on a big screen.

Revisiting: Doctor Sleep

The Shining is one of Stephen King & Stanley Kubrick’s magnum opus, setting itself at the pinnacle of classic horror. It’s tough to helm a sequel for the same even when you have source material that’s from the King of Horror himself and especially considering how fans are torn between both the versions of The Shining since Kubrick had taken liberties with his adaptation disgruntling King and his fans. So Mike Flanagan was tasked with this gargantuan feat to satiate both Kubrick and King fans with the film adaptation of Doctor Sleep. Given, Flanagan’s rap sheet, he seems to be completely capable of doing this but there was much skepticism whether it’ll live up to the hype. The guy has made some of the best horror movies and tv shows in recent times; from Oculus to what I consider his best works: The Haunting of Hill House. So it’s safe to assume Doctor Sleep was definitely in good hands. In Flanagan, we trust, amirite? Well, with The Shining being one of my all-time favorites, the bar is set so high that I had to turn down my expectations going in for this one.

Love, Death & Robots: All Episodes Ranked!

This was in the list of WIP drafts since Love, Death & Robots had aired on Netflix and finally I have gotten time to post this. Hey, better late than never, amirite?

Love Death & Robots was one of my most anticipated movies to watch on Netflix this year. Since its an animated anthology there’s always something for everybody and this one’s no different. There are some insanely good ones here and some that just wasn’t my cup of tea. Helmed by David Fincher and Tim Miller and animations coming from some of the top animation studios like Blur, this one had to be the best thing Netflix has offered in a while. Fair warning to those who perceive animation as kid stuff, a major portion of the shorts include excessive blood, violence, and gratuitous nudity.

I am ranking the Love Death & Robots episodes from my least liked to the best. Keep on Reading:

Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark: Gateway Horror

So let’s get this straight, I am a sucker for horror: books, comics, movies, games, collectibles, you name it…I devour anything horror. Grew up reading Goosebumps & Fright Time books and in your early teens, Goosebumps worked as a brilliant PG-13 material to get you introduced to horror. But there’s only so much scares left in living dummies, slimy goo monsters, and see-through apparitions and you are left wanting more. Especially when you’ve already ‘graduated’ watching genuinely scary movies like Evil Dead, Hellraiser and Blair Witch, etc. A little late but I got my copy of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark from a cousin and I remember that read was very disturbing as compared to Goosebumps. Add to that the grotesquely beautiful artwork by Stephen Gammell really brought the horror to life and got etched in my mind.

The Ritual: Chills, Cults & Creeps

Sometimes it pays to pick a random movie and just watch it. No trailers, no synopsis, nothing. The Ritual popped up sometime in February 2018 on Netflix and I didn’t even know that it was horror. Who am I kidding right? Yes, of course, the name screamed ‘horror’ but then again these it could’ve turned out to be drama or thriller these days. Its been long since we’ve had a decent British Horror movie and the recent ones kept walking that not so fine line between horror and the black comedy. What was the last good one, The Descent? 28 Days Later? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Hellboy: B Movie Goodness

Hellboy is one of those rare few comic books which sucks you into its world from the get-go and makes a fan out of you. It just isn’t by the numbers. Mike Mignola created a rich mythology-induced world for his characters to thrive in. The characters in the comic books don’t run on the usual comic book tropes. Most of the stories are intertwined with folk tales and mythologies and that’s exactly what makes it tick, what makes it stand out from other comic book worlds. Despite the rich world Mignola had created with Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. its never been an easy recommendation to people and I am not sure why. Maybe it’s the grim undertones or the way it was published or maybe its the droll of a title. I would still urge anybody with the slightest interest to pick up Seeds of Destruction and have a go. I bet it’ll be worth it. While we are exhaustingly bombarded with the BIG TWO’s superhero movies, a well-adapted Hellboy movie could make a huge difference.

The Incredibles 2: The Name Still Says It All

14 Years. Highly Anticipated Sequel…yada yada…. You know the drill.
For me, Incredibles was by far the best movie Pixar ever made. I am sorry Toy Story & Ratatouille, Incredibles definitely takes the throne here. Every movie Pixar made after Incredibles I kept asking “Wait….where’s Incredibles 2? Who asked for Cars 2? Didn’t we get enough closure with Toy Story 2? And lastly who in the right mind wanted Cars 3?” Almost a decade and a half later we finally get a sequel and does it live up to a decade worth anticipation?

Unsane: A Soderberghian Thriller

Say what you will but Steven Soderbergh is a phenomenal director and like any director, he’s had his fair share of hits and misses. After a short break, Soderbergh follows up his comedy-drama, Logan Lucky, with a psychological thriller: Unsane. Unsane is the story of Sawyer Valentini, a victim of a bad case of stalking, who inadvertently signs herself into a mental institution and amidst her helplessness and her greatest fears coming true, what follows is a question that lingers throughout the movie: Is she really insane?

A Quiet Place: A Genuinely Disquieting Experience

A Quiet Place, directed by John Krasinski, is one of the most effective horror movies in recent times. It’s a breath of fresh air amidst a genre populated by a slew of disappointments like Insidious The Last Key and the overrated Veronica. A Quiet Place is not exactly what you might expect from an ex-The Office actor and it surprises the bejesus outta you and how. I guess comedy actors turned good horror movie directors are all the jazz these days.

Ready Player One: pwnd

Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg is based on Ernest Cline’s ‘Holy Grail of Pop Culture’ of the same name and it rather borrows a large chunk of the concept from the book than adapt it word by word to the big screen. Having read the book it feels taboo to compare the book with the movie. My only regret is, like most book-to-movie adaptation, the movie had to be watered down to be contained into 120 minutes thereby diluting a lot of plot. Spielberg clearly has taken the creative liberty in adapting the book to a more contemporary audience. Of course, he generously pays homage to major pop culture references from the book, but he has added a lot too. Read on to find out if its worth your time, virtual or not.