The Ruminative Reviewer

The thing about Mr. Robot is that every other episode has a surprise. It is a television show that made hackers popular again, but it’s more than that. A group of hackers rises up to challenge and overthrow the biased system of economic dominance of an elite minority. They do so by attacking one of the largest multi-national conglomerates in America - E Corp. It is a story of rebellion, technology, politics, ambition and revenge. Season 1 was more mysterious and slow, but gripping nonetheless. Season 2 was when things started to get darker and more messed up. Season 3 was the explosive fast-paced aftermath of the first two seasons. Rami Malek plays Elliot Alderson, a highly intelligent, asocial and troubled hacker who, unwittingly, becomes a part of the biggest cyber-attack of the century. This season is about the consequences of the attack, for the hackers, the people in their lives, E Corp and the public at large. It is a story about how the ambitious stop at nothing to get wh...

Thor (2011) is entertaining, but forgettable. It is a coming-of-age movie about the Norse god of thunder. Thor: The Dark World (2013) is boring. It seemed to be nothing more than a filler and not even a very good one. Thor: Ragnarok (2017), on the other hand, is awesome. It surpasses its prequels in every aspect and it is, undoubtedly, the best Thor movie to date.  After watching the trailers, I was quite excited about Thor: Ragnarok. The thrilling action, the comic element, the atmosphere charged with superhero awesomeness; Ragnarok showed every indication of being a great movie. When the lights dimmed in the theatre, I wriggled in my seat with happy anticipation and, for once, a movie met all my expectations. I spent the next 2 hours and 10 minutes watching one of the best superhero movies ever. Superhero movies make some of the best action movies, possibly because the known laws of physics do not bind their sort of action. On an intrinsic level, superheroes have di...

The much-anticipated television thriller, Stranger Things, released on the 27th of October 2017. My twitter page was flooded with Stranger Things tweets for weeks. I remember having a mad urge to eat Eggos. I binge-watched Season 2 and I must say, unlike most sequels, it did not disappoint. Stranger Things is one of those shows that you cannot help but binge-watch. The theme music is awesome, the actors are excellent performers and the story is captivating. Mike, Dustin, Will and Lucas have a great chemistry, but their bond of friendship is tested in this season. A new character is introduced, who creates a rift in their friendship. Nancy deals with her misery and guilt over Barbara’s death in her own way. Jonathan begins to come out of his shell. Steve emerges as one of the main participants and not just an observer. Will realizes he has not gotten over his ordeal in the Upside Down and Eleven’s power grows. The Upside Down is more dangerous than ever. Season 2 is not as good ...

The movie IT is a partly scary and partly funny thriller. Now, I know that the combination of fear and humour is a paradox; I mean, isn’t comedy the antithesis of horror? One need only refer to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, to know how a good laugh can wipe out all vestiges of a frightful scare (hint: riddikulus!)  Much to my surprise, I found the horror-comedy of IT quite enjoyable. I wasn’t really expecting to laugh while watching a horror movie. I always thought you only laughed when the film was terrible, like Drag Me to Hell. However, as I watched that fearsome clown in action, there were moments when I looked nervously through squinted eyes and other moments, when the movie coaxed a laugh out of me. Richie, played by Finn Wolfhard, elicited intermittent bursts of laughter from the audience. Pennywise a.k.a. IT, played by Bill Skarsgard, made them gasp in fear. There were scenes of tense silence interspersed with moments of hilarity. The light humour, soot...

It’s hard to find a good horror movie. It should have a decent storyline and it should be a hair-raising experience to watch. If the story is not convincing, it fails. If it’s not scary enough, it is demoted to a mystery movie. Annabelle Creation has both, a convincing story and the scare factor. Annabelle Creation, as the name suggests, explains the origins of the evil doll. The doll maker, Samuel Mullins, suffers a terrible tragedy that results in a demonic possession of the doll. A group of orphaned girls and a nun come to stay at the Mullins’ house. Janice, played by Talitha Bateman and Linda, played by Lulu Wilson, are steadfast friends who are the first to interact with the demonic presence. As the story unfolds, the presence gains power, until it’s too late. There are some minor observations that rankle. Why is the haunted house always so big and dimly lit? If I lived in such a house, I would make it a point to put up as many lights as I could and keep bottles of holy wa...

I sat down to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with a certain amount of wariness. I had not gotten over the terrible experience of watching On Stranger Tides (2011), never before had I been tempted to walk out of the theatre before the end of a movie. However, Dead Men Tell No Tales turned out to be more fun than I anticipated. Jack Sparrow is the same old lovable degenerate, but he mostly stays on the sidelines. The disdainful and daring Captain Barbossa plays a greater part in the story. Carina, played by Kaya Scodelario, is a smart and gutsy woman who does not let anyone stand in the way of her dream; much like Elizabeth. One of the things I like about this franchise is that there is always a strong and independent female lead. The Trident of Poseidon is the coveted treasure in this Pirates of the Caribbean film. New alliances are forged and old enemies return. Love blossoms in unexpected places. All ships race against time to claim the powerful treasure....

It’s telling that the latest wolverine movie is called Logan. It has almost all the characteristics of a classic superhero movie, but it’s so much more. When I sat down to watch the movie, I was ready for action, drama and superhero awesomeness. I was not prepared for depth, maturity and eloquence. It’s a shock to see Logan looking old and weary, it’s painful to see Professor X so incapacitated. It’s difficult to shake off the image of their prior strength, grandeur and invincibility. They hurt in this movie, they feel too tired and old to fight, and yet they do. In this movie, their power comes, not from their mutation, but from their strength of character. In this movie, you see how the superhero suffers and struggles with himself. No matter how powerful they are, how much they have done for humanity and how many bad guys they have put down, life is no bed of roses for them. They hurt, they bleed, they grow weak, but they don’t stop fighting. They do the best they can and liv...

What makes Kong 2017 so good, is the superb action scenes, great visual effects and, more importantly, a departure from the earlier King Kong renditions. When I watched King Kong, 2005, I thought it was just a good adventure movie with enhanced visual effects; more so than the earlier ones. I went to watch Kong Skull Island because I love action-adventure and the trailer promised that. I did not expect to like it so much. The one thing that really put me off about the earlier stories was the ape’s obsession with the heroine of the movies. One may argue that it wasn’t love but a simple attachment like that of a human with a puppy; just to be clear, Naomi Watts (2005) is the puppy here. The truth is that no matter how broad-minded you are, the ape’s feelings towards the female human are clearly creepy. Kong of Skull Island, 2017, however is a much more impressive, kingly and frankly, well-adjusted ape without the kinky attraction to a female outside its species. I loved that about...