Movies and Series 2026

Bugonia - 3.5/5

CEO of a corporation is kidnapped by a conspiracy theorist who believes that  she is an actual alien. A typical Yorgos Lanthimos film - meant to shock you, awe you and then something. Jessie Plemons and Emma Stone are both fantastic but its the story that shocks you. There is a commentary on the corporate office workings that goes on the side and it is subtle but very well done. The ending, will not spoil it, but it is one of those - "what if we do this" and someone will say "nah, you wouldn't) but Yorgos then will double down 

Nuremberg - 3/5

Based on the Nuremberg trials, a perspective from a psychologist who is tasked to understand how the Nazi leaders think, if they have any remorse, trying to understand the why etc. Rami Malek is one of the strangest actor to be in Hollywood - very unorthodox dialog delivery, mannerisms,  he has his own style but it works. The challenge with Nuremberg or any other such movies is that if they focus on one subject, the psychologist in this case, everyone else is shown as dumb people who are not listening to the right ideas. The protagonist is the most important person who saved the trials while others were not so good. This stereotyping is there everytime. Makes this a good plane ride movie. 

Train Dreams - 4/5 

A movie where nothing happens. Slice of life movie about a man who is a wood cutter, cutting wood to make railway tracks, bridges, houses or what not. Lives next to a lake, introvert, finds a girl by chance, happily married, with kids. Lives with nature, peace, but with inner turmoil and then, as is life, life happens. Slow pace, in no hurry. Fantastic women characters - both Kerry Condon and Felicity Jones are awesome. Felicity Jones from Rogue one and Kerry (from F1, Banshies of Insherin) are amazing. Joel Edgerton's perfmance is really good as well. 

All We Imagine as Light - 4.5/5

This one won the Cannes top prize 2 years ago. Took me sometime to watch it. Woke up one day at 5 and decided to see it - what an amazing way to start the day.  It is amazing and really difficult to believe that this was made in India. Kerala nurses working in a small hospital in Mumbai and going through their life journeys and challenges. A movie of a lot of nuance and texture - many small small things add flavor and meaning to this wonderful film. The camerawork puts the city is very amazing - simple shots of Mumbai local or markets brings out the best part of the city while hides the filth, the people. It is a must watch. Chaaya Kadam is there too and one should watch all her movies :) 

I was so impressed with All We Imagine as light that I saw a lot of Payal Kapadia's press interviews, her movie inspirations, cast interviews. This one is a special film. Payal's inspirations and her art, her lens of making movies is up there with the best of arthouses. I would like to see this one again. 

The Secret Agent - 4/5

This one won all the awards last year. The Secret Agent is a commentary on Brazil corruption and institutional killing back in the 70s. It takes a lot events that happened and weaves into a fictional story of a professor who is being hunted. The 70s period is captured very well via camera. Then there is a layer of current generation who is trying to research this story and the story also is non-linear - based on the tape recording the current generation decides to listen. Some very interesting narrative devices and some very memorable characters on the side. The real world incidents chosen have an element of magical realism to it. Reminds me of the present day India in many ways. In general, the absurd cinema does not work for me, but in this case, it is based on true newspaper clippings and that adds a fun element. Good cinema.

Sheep Detectives - 4/5

I laughed so much in this movie. The rating is high because sometimes you walk in to a movie that yeah, it is going to be a timepass one-time watch movie but the sheer comedy of it makes you laugh so much that not only you forget the time but also end of recommending this movie to everyone around you and they in turn are also equally happy. I loved Sheep Detectives and will likely watch it again. It combines a murder mystery with comedy, combines real world actors with animations (sheep), combines a small town feeling with cunning - I can go on and on. I love it. 

Sister Midnight - 3.5/5

It is actually 3/5 but the extra 0.5 is purely because it was made in India. It is a Radhika Apte talent showcase film - she is outstanding. I went in to see a marital distress film but I was so surprised to see the twist and turn that happened in there. Surreal. Dreamy. The fact that this was made in India is unbelievable. Yet, it did happen and the bold cinema that it carries with has to be saluted. So much new ground is broken. The chawl space is so effectively utilized. 

Tu Yaa Main - 2.75/5

I liked the masala. The thing is when you watch so few Bollywood films that when you do watch it, it is a refreshing experience. It is part nostalgia too. The songs or romance that is without a build up is acceptable. If there is a boy and girl, they will hate each other but will fall in love. You do not question this, you accept it. Two influencers are stuck in a diving swimming pool and a crocodile is there. The first part is disconnected from the second part but so what. It is two movies at the price of one :) 

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The Boys - 4.5/5 (all season rating)

It is gory. It is madness. It is over the top. It is wild. Action, revenge. Anthony Starr (Homelander) and Karl Urban (Butcher) will forever be remembered for this series. Other cast is ok. But the highlight is the story, the premise and what an amazing social political commentary of our times. It is no kidding that we are living in a time when the exaggerated thing described in the show happens in real life and the show runners have to add extra messages to add that this is fiction. The commentary is spot on. 

The Boys ended its run after 5 seasons. Decent ending - little bit more predictable than what the series has been. I would have expected more catharsis. Online too, some fans are not too happy. But, landing an ending is never easy. I would say ending is 3/5. But the show is awesome. It is also funny - so much dark humor. The Boys is the typical American culture show - I do not think that any other country has seen so much capitalism and is secure enough to make fun of it. 

What surprises me is not that this show got made but so many folks have seen it - it is extremely gory, and liked it. Just the times that we are living in. I guess, the charm of people without power taking people with power, and to do so in style, some grandy style, makes it viral, as the V dose was. 

Daredevil Born again - 3/5 (Season 1 & 2)

It is one-time watch. Does not stand well on its own. Again, a show with lot of political commentary on our current live events. But, many things do not add up, especially the ending where Fisk gets an exile. The legal part of the show is almost gone. There is media, corruption, but the joy that should be there as the good folks take down the bad folks is subdued. Show wants to be gritty to show that good folks can not win but also wants to make a david v goliath story. It ends somewhere in the middle with some sense of flawed morales and story lines that does not make sense. Meh meh series. A 3-star only because of the nostalgia factor of what the show is . 

TV Series review - Andor

 Andor

Created by Tony Gilroy

This review has spoilers 

Andor is all about the rebellion of Star Wars. It is the best thing to come out of the Star Wars universe. It is Star Wars without the force. When you remove the Force, then there is no Jedi, no Vader, no Sith, it is now all about an emperor who is tyrannical and about citizens who are rebelling against the tyranny. It is now a story of every fascist regime, every dictatorial govt, a story of ordinary people rising up and asking for their rights. 

Andor takes us behind the scenes. How does Tyranny work? In season 2, the whole Ghorman saga covers propaganda, manufacturing dissent, raw use of power to suppress free speech, oppression, and the greater-good.  Behind the emperor, at a planet level, at a city level, there are ordinary citizens who are following orders and participating in the tyranny with their free will and believing the BS that is fed to them. 

Andor takes us behind the scenes of how a rebellion works? How recruitment works, how planning is done, how they get money, who are these people and what drives them? How well known folks are taking risks to fund the rebellion.  When ordinary folks rise up against the tyranny, you know it is less to do with the hatred against the evil, but more to do with the love of their closed ones. 

Andor talks about sacrifice. 

Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I've given up all chance at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion: I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my, what is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them.

I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!

Look at the writing above. Look at the writing of the Nemik's manifesto above. Andor is a writer's show. It is at par with Sorkin's TWW.  While the acting, direction, story is great, the writing and the set-design including costumes, is at another level. The sets and costumes transport you to the galaxy, to different planets and make them believable. It is stylish.

But the writing is just another level. Let me share another example, this is the Mon's speech in the penultimate episode. 

Fellow Senators, friends, colleagues, allies, adversaries. I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart. I’ve spent my life in this chamber. I came here as a child. And as I look around now, I realize I have almost no memories that pre-date my arrival and few bonds of affection that cleave so tightly. Through these many years, I believe I have served my constituents honorably and upheld our code of conduct. This chamber is a cauldron of opinions and we’ve certainly all had our patience and tempers tested in pursuit of our ideals. Disagree as we might, I am hopeful that those of you who know me will vouch for my credibility in the days to come. I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This Chamber’s hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Plaza. What took place yesterday… what happened yesterday on Ghorman was unprovoked genocide! Yes! Genocide! And that truth has been exiled from this chamber! And the monster screaming the loudest? The monster we’ve helped create? The monster who will come for us all soon enough is Emperor Palpatine!

The other thing that is unique and great to Andor is that it is prequel to the movie Rogue One. The movie came out before the TV series. So, in a way, you know the final chapter of Andor's journey. So, when season 2 ends, its ends hit harder. Rogue one was in-turn prequel to the original Star wars trilogy. But, once I have seen Andor, all Star Wars movie feel gimmicky. The movies do not acknowledge how the rebellion started, and it gives importance to people who can leverage the Force. But, the real heroes of the rebellion are the ordinary people. Nemik's manifesto gives voice to those nameless and the faceless. 

The TV series format also allows us to spend longer with these folks, that also goes to Andor's favor. 

One of the reasons why Andor is also so popular is how much closely it resembles our current times. While the emperor is fascisct, the tyranny is carried out by ordinary people. In Andor, this means that a junior officer is recruited to infiltrate and spread the wrong information to rebels. But he feels that he is doing the right thing. This junior officer's realization that his service, which is his life, has been a lie is done masterfully. This junior officer's superior (Dedra) is the architect to sow dissent. She ends up in prison because of her own arrogance. To demonstrate her bravado, she tries to capture a key rebel enemy solo, this mission ends up in failure and she is put in prison with the allegation that she was colluding with the rebels. Dedra's superior is shown to kill himself because of his failure to spot/remove the rebels. Dedra's superior's superior is killed by the same weapon (Death Star) that he helped create. The people who work for the empire are not happy, living and doing under fear, and eventually, all pay the price of understanding that the regime is not on their side. The empire does not care about its citizens, and they are also eventually citizens. If you compare this to what is happening in the political ecosystem, how many of Donald's supporters are getting prosecuted, the resemblance is uncanny. Andor came before this. It still resonates because the story of dictatorial regimes are similar everywhere. The template is same. History is merely repeating itself. 

I have now seen Season 1 once and Season 2 twice. But, I have appetite for rewatch, multiple re-watches. The show is cult! 

Movies and TV shows of 2025

 Movies and TV shows of 2025

What blew me away!

Andor Season 2 -  5/5

A show about rebellion, politics, david vs goliath. The ending of Andor is known because of the Star Wars movie that came before it. But the show is a beauty on its own. Set in Starwars universe with no mentoion of the force, that is how it should be. Just humans trying their best to push back against the evils of the empire. Characters taking their next logical step. Very well acted, directed, written with set design that is the best that has been there so far!

One Battle After Another - 4.5/5 or 4/5

I keep on oscillating between the two ratings. It is definitely good. The title itself is 5/5. The movie has a momentum and it never slows. It is so typically PTA - so original, very difficult to predict what is going to happen, and things do happen. It could be today's times or it could be 70s or 80s, such is the amazing part of the movie. Plus, the ending car chase scene on the highway - maintains tension that is amazingly well done. 

Homebound - 5/5

What a sad but hauntingly beautiful movie. It is one of those real life commentary movies that you just wish was not true but you realize deep down is that this movie is actually a better side of how bad the truth is. The ending hurts, the middle hurts, the start hurts but there is a beauty between them. A tale of friendship, love, idealism, hope is there - captures the spirit of India that very few movies can. A must see film by Neeraj Ghaywan of Masaan fame!

Adolescence - 4.5/5

A kid is murdered by another kid, both young early teenagers. How does it happen, impact on parents, how police handles it, how the school reacts. All this happens in a 4 part short series that is extremely gripping. 

Anora - 4.5/5

I did not expect Anora to be this much funny as it was. Yes, it was tragic, with a lot of sex but it had so much humanity under the hood. Humanity came from unexpected places and it was heart warming. Plus, the social commentary that comes with the subject matter itself was very well handled. 

What was good!

Sinners - 4/5 

Horror movie with a lot of oomph! Also, a lot of music. It is the music that carries the film. Ryan Coogler - Michael Jordan duo never disappoints. 

Slow Horses season 5 - 4/5 

I love the humor of Slow Horses. That it is a thriller action series is bonus. Love the characters, love the arcs, extremely well done. It is amazing that I do not mind re-watching the series as well. 

A man on the inside - season 1 & 2 - 4/5

Sign me up for anything that Michael Shur (of Brooklyn 99 fame) makes. And if it has Ted Danson in it, then it has to be savored. Everything about this show is good. Michael Shur has a unique talent of creating fictional situations and then having characters have honest dialogue with each other. Such honesty and absurdity combination is a treat to watch. 

Bear season 4 - 3.5/5

At this point, the Bear seems to be on auto-pilot. We know the characters, we know what drives them, their backstory etc. So, all the Bear has to do is to make them follow the next logical step and each one is doing that. This season was a redemption season - Bear goes to Molly, goes to his mom, Sydney says no to new restaurant offer etc etc. They didn't screw it up, so overall a good watch. 

A house of dynamite - 3.5/5

I have a soft spot for political thrillers. In AHOD, there is a missile coming to US, of unknown origin. What happens next ? How does military react, how does politicians react, it is done in a Rashomon setting. A good time one-time watch. 

Blackbag - 3.5/5

Steven Soderbergh has an art of making films and I dig his art. Marriage + espionage has been tackled in the series The Americans, in a action-comedy like Mr and Mrs Smith. In Blackbag, Steven brings his own flavor of style and grace and makes it a really good one time watch. 

Weapons - 3.5/5

There are very few actors which make you watch a film because they are in it. Julia Garner for some reason does it for me - she brings mystery to her portrayal that it is difficult to ignore. Weapons is a horror film in which in one one night kids run away from their apartment and disappear. All kids belong to the class where Julia Garner is the teacher. Amazing premise for a horror film. 

The last stop in Yuma county - 3.5/5

I love these kind of diner pulp fiction movies. Ordinary characters (played mostly by unknown actors) thrown where things happen on its own, but driven by a basic human emotion, in this case, it is greed. 

Masala 

Fallout - 3/5

Wake up dead man - 3/5

Ballerina from John wick universe - 3/5

Superman - 3/5

Thunderbolts - 3/5

Lokah - 2.5/5 (could have been much better)

The therapy of Schitts Creek

 

Schitt's Creek won ALL the Emmy awards this year under the comedy/musical category. This was indeed the last year of Schitt's Creek. Earlier this year, the show said goodbye, and though no one cried - we all whispered a sigh of joy in how it ended. 

Schitt's creek started with a question - What if high rich people lost all their money and were forced to live in a small town with little or no money? From that premise - Schitt's creek got the best of both world - from the rich it got the panache, fashion styles in lavish dresses and wigs, and a sense of not working to make a living. From the small town, it got the sense of community, living off the treadmill, a small but healthy distaste of the city-life and lastly, a pondering on existence in such a small town in the context of personal ambitions. 

The rich people here are Rose's who are confined to a motel. They can not travel because of no-money. Confined to this two room existence, a lot of viewers have felt this to be similar to our existence in lockdown. 

Watching Schitt's Creek is a therapy of sorts.  It is a show that accepts gay love as the way it should be - completely normal and should not require any ifs and buts. It never decries the small town folks - yes, their mannerisms could be different but all of them are treated with a respect that seems in place. (Kudos to Moira Rose who walks this line so delicately in almost all of her episodes that she pulls it off by putting the focus where it should be - on herself :) ) 

My favorite bit of Schitt's Creek is Rose apothecary - a super store market selling all organic locally sourced products in a stored designed like an Apple store fashion sense. The fact that it exists in a small town, that it could be a viable business, that, yes, why this is not the acceptable way of how a small store should operate; and finally it doubles as a space for local events. Rose apothecary should be a norm; it should be the icon for 'small is beautiful'. It is run by folks who care. 

My favorite character of the show is Stevie. Stevie is the motel owner/manager where Rose are forced to live. Her character oozes empathy, plays the kind of friend that one could wish for and finally her character brings out the dilemma faced by so many small town people - should they stay there or move to cities for better opportunities. 

Schitt's creek existence itself is miraculous as it is a show that would never have been made had it not hatched out in a corner, away from all the influences that spoil the thought, creation of a practical town filled with ideas of an ideal society. 

Watching Schitt's creek while sitting in the present day India feels as much as if Schitt's creek is Westeros.  Lacking of emapthy, decency, basic tenets of societal living.  Schitts creek is escapism at its best, a wish for good. 

AV report June- Sept 2020

Nolan's Tenet has been released and deemed a dud.  Cinema theatres are about to open from Oct 15. Covid cases are still rising. Confined to our homes, Movies and TV are the only window to the external world out there. 

Real escapism is needed to escape the reality of our times.  Lot of escapism is needed :)

So, with that, here is how I have survived the last few months 

Movies

I vitelloni

With unemployment more than 25%, do you know how the unemployed youth is spending their time? When you have no work to do, the days are longer and the emptiness in abundance. Fellini's I Vitelloni covers the  story of such youth after world war 2 - no work, no jobs, carefree, with limited money, each one finding faults in the society in its own way.  This belongs to the 'slice in time'  genre of movies - a story of 4-5 friends and how they decide to spend their days and their years. They dance, drink, tease women and are philanderers. They are naive. As with all of us, they do not see any fault in themselves. I Vitelloni captures the times, the wastage of youth, the idiocy of their actions in a very real manner. 

4/5 - this cinema was not escapist at all :) 

LA Confidential

Take a great cast, put it in a great story, characters dying at any moment, add politics, mafia, corruption and an idealist cop who understands the politics of all of it, a hard hitting muscular cop who understands that his role in the system, a media who wants to profit from this shit-show who very well knows that the audience in real world loves this pulp-fiction and lastly a sensual mix from a prostitute who wants to break free but can not - all done in an incredible stylized manner, neo-noir genre is what it is called. The twists and turns come till the last moment. Great film to escape the current times. 

4/5

Old guard

Old Guard is a group of people who are blessed with a gift of immortality, rather a curse, but with a twist that the immortality has an end date which is unknown. What would you do if you are immortal? Living for 500+ years. Seen regime changes, world wars, famines and also all the good things. You still have to hide yourself as the immortality has to be kept a secret. There are interesting things to theorize with this premise and Old Guard does a decent job. By making this into a super-hero genre, it is able to do se with some nice action, albeit with a cliched villain who wants to replicate their immortality in a lab. Charlize Theoren is excellent, action choreography well done and supporting cast holds the fort.  Not so loud, not very flashy, Old Guard takes a reserved approach to a super hero genre. All in all, a perfect masala escapist movie .

3.5/5

Ford vs ferrari

The worst thing about Ford vs Ferrari is its title. Honestly,  this is like Mahabhratha being titled Pandavs vs Kaurava. Once you get past the initial 15 mins of the movie, it is all about the behind the scenes of speed racing - what research is done, identifying risks, research, trial, error, can money buy progress? and how speed racing is an art not some capitalistic tool. Yet, it is what it is - Ford throws money to build the fastest car, but it is not enough.  Matt Damon and Christian Bale are excellent. Best part of the film is that it does not take itself too seriously and it also does not make the speed racing very flashy. 

3.5/5

Frozen 2

Frozen 2 cashes on top of Frozen 1 with a bizarre storyline, too much of feel goodiness and honestly the emotional heartfelt touches seem too artificial even for an animation world

1.5/5

Psycho

Psycho is actually a masterclass in film making but it much effort to identify the mastery. How is the director trying to show a particular scene, what does this scene signify. Even for those who know the ending, the movie is very taught, it pulls you in though its sheer mastery. The camera effects are brilliant. Hitchcock had a great knack of knowing what the audience is thinking at a given time and then he uses this to deliberately not resolve this. The conflict is within the audience's minds and that I think is the ingenuity of Psycho. 

4/5

Les diabolique

Is he dead or is he alive? Was that a perfect murder? Who is lying? What is the truth? Les diaboliques  was truly ahead of its time in bring such complex plots to screen. The setting of a boys boarding school adds whole level of eeriness to it.  

3.5/5

Martian

The Martian is a feel good movie with feel good actors - Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.  This was a re-watch.

3/5

Pyaasa

Pyaasa is all about Sahir Ludhianvi and S.D. Burman - it is a movie with damn good songs with damn good lyrics and nothing else matters here. Yes, the plot is there, it is ahead of its times as it shows a red light area, protagonist landing in a  mental institution, media trials and what not. The jumps between scenes are not smooth; too many things happen in too few scenes until a songs comes in and adds a depth to a scene that is so profound that - nothing else matters. Above all, its ending is a positive one. 

5/5

Homemade

Homemade is a product of 2020 - a movie made by 20+ filmmakers while respecting social distancing/varying degrees of quarantine norms and made minimally with minimum crew. Some are fairly very creative, some very funny ones. I liked the auto-biographical aspect of Gunindher Chaddha's one - mainly because it has a foray into the lives of Indians in these times. Overall, it has various nuggets to please every kind of viewer, including one where Pope and Queen go skinny dipping :) 

3.5/5

TV Series

Laakhon mein ek - Season 1

A good one time watch - reasonably well made series. Although, it has some cliches but some of the lines are good. A honest attempt to capture the lives of people struggling to fit in.

3/5

Homecoming Season 1 & 2

A fantastic season 1 followed by a dud season 2. Sam Esmail is a genius - both Mr. Robot and Homecoming follow the same style of cinema making applied to two different stories. The store delivery is top notch. 

Season 1 - 4/5

Season 2 - 2.5/5

Schitts creek - Needs a separate review

The leftovers - Needs a separate review

Good Omens - Book and TV Series Review

Good Omens
By Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Two words review - Its ineffable.

There is an angel and there is a demon, both assigned on Earth.  The world is going to end, an armageddon is coming. This war is the reason why the world was created. The god's army is preparing a war with the satan's army. Both sides believe they will win. This war will happen on Earth and will destroy the planet. And along with the angel's antique book store and all the Sushi. So will go the Queen's soundtrack and nice Bentley cars obsessed by our demon. Together, they decide to take matter on to their own hands and save Earth.

Goofy, hilarious and very very clever is what Good omens is. In the hands of two people who would become masters of world building and story craft in future from the time book was written,  Good Omens is a prescient foreboding of it all. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, living in different continents would exchange floppy drives with new passages thrown in between.  Good Omens is filled with insane creativity and imagination.

Crowley, our demon, is duty-bound to mess up humanity's existence. While other demons will tempt humans with greed or lust, our Crowley will architect a highway that will cause future traffic jams (and incalculable human pain) while it exists.  The demon is bit more fascinating than the angel, they always are for people like me.  This demon wears shades all the times, even while driving and especially during night, you know why? because it is cool.

The book of Job takes new meaning as the technical work documentation for jobs of angels and demons. Pages are riddles with hilarity, reminding so much of Hitchhiker's guide. The lens to view the world changes after reading this book.  Local surrounding actions can be deemed as the work of either Aziraphale or Crowley.

But at the heart of it all, there is a bit of bad-ass in our angel and our Crowley is also a wee bit do-gooder. In times of armageddon, it is their friendship that wins the hearts of everyone.  This armageddon itself was predicted down to its last detail in the prophecies of Agnes Nutter. There is also an anti-christ, a hellhound who takes the form of a dog whose name is also Dog. The four horseman are now riding bikes and one of them is replaced by a new sin, called Pollution, more suitable to our times. God Omens take known things around us and offers a never thought before Biblical angle that even God did not intend. For all it does, who knows, it may be part of God's plan :)

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Good Omens TV series
Written by Neil Gaiman
with Michael Sheen as Aziraphale and David Tennant as Crowley

It is good that TV series was written by Gaiman himself. This protects the essence of the series. Gaiman understands this medium enough to tailor it. The story is timeless as ever, recent events since the time novel was published adds more flavor. Using Queen's songs as soundtrack provides an excellent background score, makes the book things more visceral. But the best part of the TV series is the casting of Aziraphale and Crowley as Michael Sheen and David Tennant respectively.

I would have watched this show for Michael Sheen even if everything else is removed. But David Tennant, as menacing as he was in Jessica Jones season one, is as Crowley as Crowley could ever be. Both David and Michael nail their respective characters and add more flavor to it.   While Aziraphale's expressions and style of delivery is definitely angel-like, David's walk and mannerisms like a drunk, rich, reveling in the use of modern conveniences and luxuries makes him a likeable devil. David Tennant portrays as if the Crowley was written for himself only.

This TV series is not the greatest ever but it is something that does enough justice to the book and more. Book is more rewarding but viewers of TV series will be content. TV series so far have not been able to do justice to bizarre hilarious books. Tragedy and violence is the primary medium of TV, it comes naturally with all the action and gore. Next to that, it is the drama with sombre mood building and nihilistic characters that is the recent phase. But goofiness and hilarity is difficult to portray. When TV does it in direct manners, the wit is lost and when it is under a symbolic gesture, people fail to grasp it.  Also, wit that comes from wordplay comes more alive in books that verbal utterance.

Take the scene where Crowley is threatening its plants to perform (that is grow fast and be green) else there will be consequences. It works, David pulls it off very well. But in the pages, it is peak hilarity. In the TV series it comes at an odd time, establishes some humor and goes. In the book, it is begins with a natural section, describing the Crowley's home where Hastur is about to come for him. It all seems connected.

But the TV series shines in characterization and soft expressions with the background of music. Michael Sheen must win an award for this.  Just look at this video -







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After the book and the series, there is one more things to be done. Find all other works of Gaiman and Pratchett and devour them

Review: The Americans - TV Series

Slow Burn is a trope where the story focuses on development of characters, evolution of story, while keeping the in-your-face conflict taut.  In the trope, the tension of main conflict is not resolved, although it is teased multiple times. This slow unraveling of the story until it climaxes is called Slow Burn.

For some reason, I have found myself drawn to Slow Burn based TV series a lot.   First, it was Breaking bad, but I think there also too many things were happening. Then, it was Line of Duty which is sheer brilliant. The Americans - TV Series, I believe has been the best so far.

Two Russian spies pretending to be a couple have been tasked to settle in US, live life like normal Americans blend in,  but at the same time,  their main task is to spy for the Russian government. They get their assignments via a Russian handler. Both of them are trained in defense, offense, and using sex, emotion or whatever in their means to achieve their end goal.

The series start with the couple - Elizabeth and Phillip, already living in US for many years, they even have two kids - Page and Henry. To masquerade their spy activities, the couple operate a small travel concierge company which employees 3-4 other people.

In the very first episode, an FBI agent moves in to a house opposite to their house. With this, the series sets itself to its primary conflict - will they get caught? Their missions are dangerous, their next door FBI agent is leading them. In other conflicts, their kids do not know about their spy game, but till now they were small. But now, as they grow and become curious, will they find out?

In another side, we have the Russian embassy where schemes are being devised to aid these folks. Folks in embassy do not know of their identity. The setting is when the US-Russia conflict was at its peak. 

The greatest con pulled by The Americans is to make Americans care for two Russian spies. Think about it, let me add some Indian flavor. There are two Pakistanis, a couple, living in India, spying on India, killing Indian people, stealing trade secrets, copying war codes and what not but still the Indians like them enough for them to be ok. To pull it off is ingenious.

How does Americans pull it off? One word - doubt. The Americans - our spies, with so many years in US are now doubting whether US is indeed a real enemy? They have better infrastructure, better food, ordinary folks do not hate Russia, they are people and like our species, they are inherently good. They want better future for their kids, want the world to be a happy place. The classic Arjun-Krishna dilemma - Why should we hate them? These thoughts are contrasted with life of challenges back home with some flashbacks. 

To top this setting : Slow Burn. The main conflict is not resolved at all. It is accepted, internalized but yet it is always there. And the minor ones, just keep on adding. Americans does not give you an inch in resolving even the minor ones. Only in later seasons, we start to see some closures, but in first three, it was just - keep the pot boiling.

The writing is very good. After reading a lot of their interviews, the writers admit that their approach was - what would this character do in this situation, what would be the logical next step? With this,  because it is so grounded in our psychology, it is so believable.  The last episode is a killer one. The last season is a killer one. RT rates it at 99%.

Just as much as it is a spy drama, it is a discourse on marriage as well. Two people tasked to live together as a couple, found some meaning of love with each other, who are now partners, but now are facing the trials of marriage, of raising kids but with different parenting philosophies, who come with different beliefs.

There won't be another The Americans for a long time. Just like there won't be another West Wing ever.  There won't be another Seinfeld.  Once you start, you will have to watch till the end. Be prepared.

On Newsroom

Last week, Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom aired the final episode of its final season, season 3 to be precise. What started as perhaps the best openings of any TV series ever, Newsroom's ratings plummeted with every season. Newsroom had it all - support from HBO meant complete freedom, a talented cast except with couple of minor hiccups, a subject matter that deserves attention and fresh treatment and most important, Aaron Sorkin at its helm. Yet, even with all of this, something was always amiss.

The first season of Newsroom was quite creative as it showed real life incidents being covered live by a news channel. With the power of hindsight, Newsroom was able to poke holes in the coverage of the present news channels such as Fox or CNN and at the same time, it tried to project how an ideal coverage would look like. It would have been a great season had it not been the unnecessary romantic sub-plots infused into the media story line. More than 50% of key newsroom characters are in a relationship with another main character. Any time spent in going into their personal lives was a drag.

Not everybody liked the fact that Newsroom was covering actual issues. I am not sure with how much seriousness Sorkin takes the fan reaction, nevertheless, the second season was completely fictional. Newsroom's fictitious channel is in the middle of airing a fake story regarding US defense. The show deconstructed how a story is manufactured at such a grandiose level and what are the  repercussions of airing a fake story.

Season third consisted only of six episodes and has no major arc whatsoever. There is a small arc with Neal gets access to some highly confidential Govt. documents and rest of the series mainly talk about issues regarding source protection.  The final episode has a big flashback component and it was put in there because Sorkin wanted to write it in to give the show a background.  The background in no meaningful way compliments the finality of the episode.


The fundamental problem with Newsroom is its sub-plots and side characters. A lot of criticism comes because Sorkin's dialogues are actually monologue rants between two individuals who tend to disagree. Even when there is no disagreement, there is still a monologue rant. I agree with the charge but I disagree that this is the issue with the Newsroom. Newsroom suffers because it fails to put these rants in the right context of things. The rant-ing characters are only utilized to air these rants. Most non-rantish discussions are related to office romance which nobody cares about for the most part.


Maggie is one of the most awful and frustrating character in the entire series. It is not because of the actor's acting but just how the character is defined. She is emotionally vulnerable yet emotionally strong, and she goes into these extremes every other episode. It is impossible to empathize with her. Other side characters are not developed enough and suddenly are given enough screen time to make us like them but it rarely works that way.

The other charge against Newsroom is its pushed-down-to-throat idealism. It is preachy, like a self help book, rather than based on observations and experiences. No-one likes to read a self help book.  This type of thing worked on West Wing because it was a point of view from a democratic government standpoint and there were enough contrast points to add richer flavors to the argument. In comparison, Newsroom has its own point of view which is the only one and it is right as well. Newsroom appears smug in many conversations and hence the audience fallout.


The problem with Newsroom began when even loyal fans of Sorkin failed to defend him. The failure of this show lies entirely in the treatment of the subject matter and nothing else. But, it was okayish entertainment overall but in patches, it was magical. This fan will wait for another Sorkin series, atleast he is trying to raise the level of programming.

TV Series Review: The Wire

I would have never read To the Lighthouse beyond 30 pages or Catcher in the Rye beyond 20. I would have not sat through Goddard's films or American History X beyond its opening sequence. Along the same lines, I would have never finished Homer's Odyssey or Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali,.  There are some things you do because people tell that it is worth doing so. People vouch their sanity, sometimes even their existence to such works. The Wire is one such instance. In the medium of TV series, it stands  at the peak.


It takes time to warm up to the Wire. The first three minutes of the very first episode did not made any sense to me. But I went back to it after finishing the first season and  realized how it was just a cog in one giant wheel.  It even gets time to get used to various subtle accents. I preferred watching with subtitles on. But once you get the hang of the show, understand what it is trying to say, then what comes off is a magic. The same feeling that you get after reading through the first 40 pages of To The Lighthouse.  The writing flows. Stream of consciousness flows through you. You are eager to learn the next train of thought or imagination. You dig it. With The Wire, it is about 4-5 episodes. Interestingly, when The Wire asked critics to review episodes, it did not sent then one episode at a time, as it was the norm, they sent the entire season.

Once in a dinner conversation, a friend of a friend remarked that The Wire is discussed as a Homerian Odyssey work. Having read Odyssey, I had wondered how it would compare. I would still agree that the comparison is still a stretch but The Wire, with its grandiose scale and imagination,  has come the closest to its goal.


What is The Wire?
The Wire is a realistic portrayal of dysfunctional life in the city of Baltimore. It is a nuanced analysis of a system gone wrong and how it effects different people. It highlights the majestic design built into the system that hides its ills under a carpet and how all of us are fooled by it. The first season focusses largely focusses on the interplay of cops and drug sellers. It shows hierarchy in both the systems and it takes time to realize that the drug lords are much more organized than Police Commissioners and Majors. It is not that cops are good and drug sellers are bad. Cops beat people unnecessarily, they lie, sometimes steal and for the most part are not willing to do their jobs. And how can you hate drug sellers who are mostly small early teenagers, hope to be doctors, pilots or whatever will make them rich and are kind to their own people. There is no right or wrong in The Wire. There is only fact. This is what happens. Judging characters in Wire is akin to judging ourselves, our society and it is highly disconcerting.

The second season expands its scope by going one step up on the ladder of drug distribution, aka drug sourcing. We now look at life of people in shipping docks who are involved in smuggling trade in to Baltimore. The docks are dying, running off technology that is decades old and realizing that their skills  are not required in the new world. The next generation of dock children are lost looking for a future for themselves. We go more into the personal lives of our cops, or the lack of it.

The beauty of Wire is that it keeps on introducing new characters and yet each one fits the system. Season 3 goes back to the streets where there is a new attempt to legalize drugs in order to keep streets crime free. This season of The Wire starts going more into the political angles of the city, how police is controlled by corrupt mayors and how political players manipulate the system for their own good.

Many call the fourth season of The Wire as its greatest. One reason is that by third season, we are totally invested into this world,  we are comfortable being in it. We want to know what happens to our friends and what's new in store. The Wire does not disappoint. In the fourth season, The Wire takes on the education system by focussing on how our schools are failing. Reality is grim. It drains you all your energy by mere thinking about it. The system is fucked up that it is beyond anyone to set it straight. No one knows how to set is straight. And the worst part is that no one even wants to talk about it. Not David Simon. It is in this season that it hits us that this is the greatest strength of the wire. To take the ugly ,the broken, the untouchable and the untalkable and bring it into our living rooms, make it palatable although with huge gulps, to start conversations, to make us understand that the cocoon in which we live in is not the only world that is out there. Fourth season can be enjoyed on its own but to see it as a continuation of first, second and third season is something else. The paining which started on a handkerchief sized canvas is now covering the entire Berlin wall.

Fifth season extends on the fourth one by going into the dying print journalism industry. It has been called a very weak season but a David Simon blog post justifies the season. He writes that it is equally important to see what is not being said as it is to see what is been told. The meta takes a whole new meaning.


The Rage
The Wire is an outcome of a rage. The rage of David Simon. On perhaps the greatest country in this Earth, the system is so screwed up that it is beyond repair. If our civilization has to be collapse and thousands of years later if one has to study what led to its collapse, Wire will be one of the best sources to study. The channeling of this rage is evident in several characters. Several shades of rage come out sometimes in rants and sometimes in silences. Every episode starts with a line on an epigraph and each episode does feel like visiting yet another graveyard. With lines like "Maybe we won" and "Don't matter how many times you get burnt, you just keep doin' the same", there are shades of resignation and comedy.