Slim4Shady2 Reviews

Pieces of Her: Episode #1.1 (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Good start!

[8/10 · 5 March 2022]

Just clicked on the show randomly, so having watched without any expectations, it got me hooked right from the beginning.

Toni Collette is good as usual, it is fast paced and keeps you engaged due to the mystic element behind the character. Hopefully it lives upto the promising beginning.

Family Drama (2021)

What a perfect title!

[7/10 · 31 October 2021]

Family Drama is a brilliant tale that deals with plenty of action and motivation. The type of crime drama is unseen in Telugu Cinema given how unlike the other movies, isn't here to preach any moral values. It talks about the scenario of a family who care less about human values in this materialistic world. I had no idea about the film except that it starts Suhas before watching it and I liked how it took me by surprise with it's bold content.

The plot is quite simple, as the film is largely driven by the character motivations. A very important medium to expose this is the acting and Suhas simply steals the show here. I would like to appreciate Meher for the way he has written and executed character of Ram. The way he shifts to playing classical music amidst the chaos created by the characters themselves is tremendous. He also overshadows the other characters in the movie, who were also fine in their roles.

It's interesting how the movie landed at the right time when people have only recently been talking about Chundawat family or the Madanapalle double murder family which shows to what level mental illness can lead to despite being educated. This is a terrific setup by Meher and the team to showcase exactly how important it is to recognize the mindset of an unstable person. On the whole, I liked the film even though it could have been few minutes shorter but it's okay since the screenplay is still very tight.

Play Back (2021)

Orginal? Maybe not. Bad? Maybe not.

[5/10 · 30 May 2021]

Ok, as I see 90% of the reviews are about calling this a copy of Korean movie "The Call" and some saying the movie's teaser came in 2019. Well, the Korean Call itself is inspired from Matthew Parkhill's "Caller" that came out in 2011. There's also a Korean series called "Signal" that has two detectives from different timelines interacting with each other and solving mysteries. Please, go ahead and watch it on Netflix if you haven't yet.

Let's get back to Play Back now. As you know, the theme is the same but they did make an Indianized version of it which is still interesting even though it's not devoid of plot holes and cliches. It's not as gripping (as Call) and probably a bit lengthy as well but at least every alternate scene keeps you engaged. The acting from leads is just about okay, sometimes bad even. I'm kind of disappointed with Ananya, she did so well in Mallesam compared to this and I expect more from her. However, what bothered me the most was hero forgetting the past, I was hoping some clarity would be provided on this but no. There are few others questions that remain unanswered and it definitely bugs the viewer.

One thing I never understand is why don't the movie makers give some credit to the original writers somewhere at the end? It would be a great sign of respect and I would very much have appreciation for both. I remember "8 Thottakal" movie where the director credits all the things that inspired him to make that movie even though it's not a direct copy of anything. Hope more movie makers follow it. Now, on the whole is Play Back worth watching? Yes. But definitely go ahead and watch the Korean movie and the original movie as well if you could find a copy of it anywhere.

Another Round (2020)

Total let down!

[2/10 · 27 May 2021]

I don't even know where to start with. What was even the point of this movie? A bunch of grown ups decide to drink more to see how it affects their lives. Even a 12 year old knows that problem with alcohol is addiction and that could have drastic affects as days go by. It's all so predictable. And it's not even like they try to prove some point or that some thing has changed. Why would they leave their friend like that is a mystery or they are just plain stupid. Then Mads' wife comes back to him all of a sudden. It's like those cliched movies where the writers just do whatever they want with any character without any logic. I understand that it's more about how life is and the behavior of people when such things happen, but.. that's exactly what you expect, so I don't get the accolades. I am not sure if people of Denmark expect something else because of their drinking culture though. Nothing makes sense really, many boring moments through out, the only thing that stands apart is the acting, Mads and Thomas as always are amazing.

I absolutely loved Vinterberg's previous movies I watched - Hunt and Celebration. In fact, the moment I came to know that this movie was from him, I decided to watch it but it has been utterly disappointing. I'm giving +1 for the last dance sequence from Mads, it was a joy to watch.

Aspirants (2021– )

Another decent one from the makers but I'm starting to assume TVF buys reviews on IMDb!

[4/10 · 22 April 2021]

Just want to get straight to the point, it's unbelievable how TVF's shows here are rated overwhelmingly positive. If you read the reviews, you'd barely find well-written ones. I can't be sure if they actually do this but that's terrible if they really do. By no means they make bad shows but they aren't stellar either. The standard set by them for themselves and for Indian shows is great, gotta give them credit for that though.

I'll quickly review this show - It's a good concept, exactly what you'd expect from TVF and the casting as always is great. But the quality is only going down with each episode so far (3). The parallel showcase of past and present between the friends talking about another reminds me of 3 idiots, not gonna lie, I liked it, it's better than being linear. After a decent start, the second episode doesn't really have much to talk about but you never got bored anywhere. The third though is spoiled with the love sequence, you don't really need so much romance in this and I'm afraid it's going to play a key role and could be longer as per the final scene of the episode, speaking of which who the hell would use the same spects for 6 years, man? I don't want to talk much about the annoying Unacademy advertising since we are watching this for free But yes, they could have found better ways for sponsorship than involving it so much into the script.

Anyway, I'd still watch it till the end, they are better than the (so-called) social dramas that Netflix produces and most Indian shows that come out. Would have rated a 7 maybe but the current rating isn't deserved, so would reduce mine by 1.

Edit: It ended worse than I thought. It really doesn't make sense. Only positives till the end are dialogues.

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020)

Terrific! Easily the best Indian series of 2020.

[8/10 · 19 October 2020]

It's so good to see the quality of Indian shows with the graph pointing upwards (Bull run, yeah!), little late maybe but even Sony has joined the party with the brilliant Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, truly a story worth telling to generations ahead. It is not just the story of Harshad, it is the story of all the big players and how they manipulate prices and can fool lakhs of people.

The series is quick to dive into Harshad's story of stocks with not much background about his early career. It makes the show easy to get hooked but little more of his earlier career would help to understand what influenced Harshad in trying to spend a life the way we get to know later. The acting from the main cast was excellent, Pratik Gandhi will surely be a name we'll be seeing more often in the future. I'm not sure how true the entire story is but they seemed to have captured few minute details written by the amazing Sucheta Dalal, who must be praised for her outstanding work in busting not just this but many other scams. Really loved the way Shreya reprised her role in the show. The crew did a wonderful job in recreating the environment and style of the then Mumbai. The screenplay is very tight, making it a gripping show until the final scene. You get involved so much in the show and with the way you're looking through the eyes of Harshad, you'll feel really bad for him and his journey will make you emotional. This is one thing that critics would love to point it, they made him look like a hero, although he could be, to some using shady ways but a villain to plenty especially the law.

Scam 1992 also helps in promoting awareness in a country where the majority are financially illiterate, but I'm afraid, the series isn't getting as much recognition as it deserves, if you compare it to a Prime or Netflix show mainly because of marketing. The word-of-mouth is helping but surely, Sony needs to promote its content better besides also working on making the app which feels underdeveloped. I hope to see more such quality content from the team of Scam 1992 in the future of OTT.

Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (2019)

One of the best films in TFI in recent years

[9/10 · 29 June 2019]

As a fan of detective/thriller movies, I couldn't miss this and I'm even more surprised by how much I loved this movie which usually doesn't happen when I watch a hyped movie. So thankful to Naveen for bringing this brilliant mystery to Telugu audience and dealing with a subject that's making a fool of the innocents. However, the sad thing remains that the film is unable to reach that set of audience.

Coming to the performances, Naveen just nailed it, the way he balances humor, emotion, and intelligence is commendable. Shruthi also did her job very well. It was good to see Suhas as the Kannada version of Agent (although he could've been used better). The screenplay was tight, always keeps you guessing till the end, lots of twists which don't seem to be coming. The pace of the film was so good that you can't think of anything else or search for goofs. The exposition in the film feels justified and that's not very common in Tollywood. There were little cons but that's negligible consider how power-packed the whole movie is, it's a must watch for everyone and I hope there's more to come from Naveen and Swaroop for the Telugu Film Industry.

Mallesham (2019)

Well crafted biopic!

[8/10 · 26 June 2019]

It was great to see so many off beat movies this month, Mallesam was one I wasn't going to miss and a story I always thought that would inevitably end up on the big screen ever since I saw his TED talk. Special thanks to everyone who decided to make this movie without jumping away from reality.

The story starts with the childhood journey of Mallesam, it was a little longer than expected but needed given the context of his path to create the Asu machine. The narration for me looked a little too straight forward and the director could have made attempts to show it in a more artistic way but it's alright. Ever since Priyadarshi lands on screen, he never ceases to entertain us. Him and Jhansi have done their jobs very well, Ananya was surprisingly good as well, the innocence on her face and dialogues was very neat. The acting from the sides within the neorealistic environment seems to fall flat a little but its excusable given the significance. The music from Robin was good, having not heard the songs before (except one), I really liked them and it didn't feel unnecessary as well since it adjusts well with the village background.

Mallesam's countinous strive to achieve the glory was very well put, it's a story that makes you emotional, inspires you in many ways and motivates you on what you do. Overall, it's a great story that never fails to grab your attention any minute. I'm glad this movie is getting good word of mouth since the producers couldn't put their money on promotions, it's a movie that definitely needs to be seen for people of all ages.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Good but nothing Amazing!

[6/10 · 17 May 2019]

Being a fan of Pokemon, I was surely going to watch this movie no matter how it's going to be received. So, without any expectations I watched this movie and I won't say I'm disappointed. It was fun, brings nostalgia, a nice way to make a story revolving around Pokemon in the outside world but just doesn't give you great feeling at the end. Kudos to the VFX department though, the emotions evoked by Pokemon (or just Pikachu) were just too good, Ryan Reynolds as always delivers with his comical elements. Do watch it if you are a fan of Pokemon but don't expect a lot and a theatrical experience with fellow Pokemon friends seem to be a good experience.

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2019) Season 8, Episode 2

Can't believe the love for this episode

[6/10 · 21 April 2019]

On the whole, if I'm just going to forget that this isn't the final season of Game of Thrones with only 6 episodes, I would call it a good episode. But we have very little time left and all we get is this? We were already little disappointed with the first, they have been rushing through everything since last season and now, they just keep talking about their lives as if everything else is all setup. I get this is all about reunion but it didn't seem the right way, I mean all at a time. The only take away from the episode is how much (little) following or love Dany has especially when compared to the Starks. A lot of scenes just say that they're going to die in the next couple of episodes - "let's have some last words". This wouldn't have happened if they went by the books for sure. By this, I'm expecting all the coming episodes to be action-packed and I just hope they make sense unlike season 7. Please don't spoil the end of a great show.

F2: Fun and Frustration (2019)

Routine and Mindless but Funny at places

[4/10 · 16 January 2019]

This was quite expected when we saw the trailer and also, the director's name. The plot is simple and there aren't many logics to be found but what makes this movie watchable is Venky alone. It has been a while since Venky made a family fun riot. There are many jokes that seem cliched but his magical comic timing comes on as a savior.

The less we talk about the story, the better it is. Coming to the performances from others, I thought Varun Tej would be terrible in a comedy entertainer, but he was handled well by Anil, he was okayish although seemed out of places in few scenes. The two actresses did a decent job and were glamorous, I'd say they added a bit too much of masala in a song for a family entertainer. Overall, the first half seemed much better than 2nd and especially the terrible climax where Vennela Kishore is used as the villain (of course, comic villain), he was just there for namesake and with a cringy dialogue of "The North Remembers" naming himself as Jon Snow. Is this a tribute or what?

All in all, I won't watch this movie again and again but this will do well commercially considering Sankranti winner be the best family entertainer and this does just that.

24 (I) (2016)

A new era, but the past can never be forgotten.

[7/10 · 16 May 2016]

Vikram K. Kumar, the director of non-regular flicks like Manam, Ishq and 13B has come with another exhilarating movie - 24. Not many Sci-fi movies are produced in Indian Cinema every year, so this comes in as a new taste for the already fed-up audience. Thanks to Surya for always trying to bring us some offbeat movies to improve the fate of Indian cinema.

First of all, I'm glad to say that this movie, unlike most unorthodox movies produced in India isn't a copy of any Hollywood movie. Although it has a glimpse of BTTF, it cannot be cited as plagiarism in any way but rather can be called as a mere influence to develop this eccentric project. Second of all, let's forget logics while talking about such type of movies.

The movie opens up with the past where Sethuraman invents a watch that could play with time. This scene alone can tell you how good a cinematographer Tirru is who did a similar job with Krrish 3. Just after achieving the glory, in comes the antagonist "Athreya", Raman's own brother who tries to nab the watch by threatening to kill his wife. Here's where the astute scientist mind comes into play who hands the watch to the new-born son and then the boy himself to a woman to look after him.

Fast forwarding 26 years (to 2016) we have the young Suriya named Mani who works as a watch mechanic only under the guidance of his foster mother. In some surprising turn of events, he comes to know about the unprecedented capabilities of the watch and soon starts experimenting with it where at one point we experience the best shot of the movie. He then meets Samantha and as we expect he falls in love with her and makes her fall in love with him using some gimmicks as the rightful owner of the watch. These scenes are dragged a bit and we can see that this part of romance along with the non-essential songs are targeted at a specific set of audience to improve the reach. Not to forget, any such young fun- loving guy would experiment in the same way as he did that also lets him learn a lot about the watch.

Just before the intermission, we can see the protagonist and antagonist facing each other after which the awe-factor of the watch is known that also justifies the name given to the watch. A lot of regular type of drama goes on in the second half which can leave some audience to boredom but the character of Athreya still leaves you glued using his witty tricks to snatch the watch. Albeit, sometimes even he does some stupid things that could never be spoken of. What happens later is better to be seen on the screen.

Overall, 24 isn't a spectacular movie but is definitely worth a watch and does stand out among the heap of recipes we taste regularly. The cast and crew should well be appreciated with big names written all over it. The music by A. R. Rahman doesn't make a big impact on the movie although the background score is appreciable. As mentioned earlier, cinematographer Tirru has done a great job. The acting by Surya in the form of Athreya deserves applauds. As always, director Vikram K. Kumar should be appreciated to what he's trying to do in each and every movie. The flaws come in the form of the usual cliché-ridden scenes that still abide by the law of Indian cinematic rules. I felt like they could have done much better with this script. In fact, it could be made into a TV series as they've already planned a sequel to this film. I'd rate it 6/10 but +1 for letting us (Tollywood audience) watch a Sci-fi flick after a long time.

Fargo (2014–2024)

Outstanding! Must watch. (Update: Not till the end)

[8/10 · 15 December 2015]

Six months ago I finished watching Breaking Bad and I really think that's the best thing I've ever watched and I always felt it is nonpareil in terms of excitement. From then on I couldn't forget it, I missed it. I started watching several shows later, but nothing came close to BB. I went on a search for such exciting crime dramas and then I saw few people on reddit talk about Narcos and Fargo (most of them) to experience something similar. At first, I googled them and decided to watch Narcos as Google knowledge graph mentions Fargo as a comedy series. So, yeah Narcos was enthralling, but didn't really feel 10/10 especially with too much Spanish. Then I decided to give a try on Fargo and boy oh boy! It's simply sensational.

Season 1: The first episode itself left me exuberant. This Martin Freeman guy, right from the day I saw him as Bilbao Baggins, everything he does impresses me and in Fargo there's nothing less. And the others were excellent too, especially Billy Bob Throtton, that man is really one hell of an actor. He is an assassin, every scene of him is jaw dropping with some chills. All in all, Season 1 of Fargo was really the one I was waiting for these whole 6 months and I didn't want to end this beautiful experience, so I immediately decided to watch Season 2.

Season 2: Everyone who watched season 1 will have some idea about how season 2 will go on. It opened off very well and the first episode here too ends dramatically. The next 2 episodes were slow-paced and I thought this might turn out like True Detective Season 2 as it couldn't really recreate the magic of the first season (just my opinion). So, right when I thought it's sinking, it just gets better and better from episode 4. There won't be a moment you could take your eyes off till the last minute of the season finale. I'm glad they renewed it for the next season and I really can't wait for that.

The music utilized over the two seasons is absolutely mind blowing, the way it relates to each and every scenario is just spectacular. Along with this awesome music, the outstanding piece of poetry depicts the ongoing lives of the people in Fargo. The direction part is really masterful and you can clearly see that in the second season". It has few flaws but if you're just looking for some real piece of art then Fargo is a must watch.

Update: Ok, it's sad to say that this amazing show went downhill later. Season 3 for me was 7/10 but at least very Fargoish but Season 4 is pathetic and should be ignored.

Let the Right One In (2008)

Highly Overrated!

[1/10 · 1 October 2015]

Why is this movie listed among the best horror movies? First of all, I wouldn't even call this a horror movie. Secondly, this is nowhere near the best. It's so slow and boring that I actually watched half of the movie setting it to 1.5x speed and what's worse is it all seems coerced trying to make it artful. Great cinematography though, I'll give it that. Moreover, the dubbing in English was awful. The acting from the kids was okay but the plot was insane and I never felt like there was any twist contrary to the popular opinions I read. Funny that despite those deaths (just because a little girl needs to drink blood, her father kills people and finally gives up himself), the cops never show up. And wow! Showing the vagina of a 13-year-old must be the highlight of this movie. Great work director! Never recommend anyone watch this sick movie.