sayedshazee Reviews

Chithha (2023)

Very good movie, could've been a masterpiece

[8/10 · 8 December 2023]

I just feel there is somehow a disconnect within this movie, can't really put my finger on what precisely, whether it is the pacing, or the cinematography or the story, not really sure.

I feel the first half of the movie is good which what a loving uncle the protaganist is, the story line is about an uncle looking for his missing niece and that's what I was waiting for but for no reason they first put in a totally different storyline (not gonna spoil it here) which does somewhat relate to the story but it is a big issue also and I think would've deserved a movie of its own.

The movie starts to go in one direction but abruptly the matter is solved and we get back on course. I think they could have either dwelled more on that particular subject matter or not mentioned it all. Due to that a lot of time was detracted from the main story, the girl, the kidnapper which could've been more fleshed out.

However with that little quirk out of the way the movie was very good in most other aspects, it shone the light on many issues that plague developing countries with regards to sex and new media, how to balance it all, difference between good and bad touching, not feel shame to come forward because of "log kya kahenge" etc.

The ending was not one would've expected (although some of it was) and raised another good point about men trying to be heroes to revenge honour but don't really understand a woman's plight.

All in all this movie is very good, albeit due to some factors cannot be included in the list of recent South Indian masterpieces like Kadaisi Vivasayi or Viduthalai: Part 1 but it is better than 99% of the garbage out there.

The Long Shadow (2023)

Just watch the 1st and last two episodes

[5/10 · 15 October 2023]

No point wasting 6 hours of your life watching dimly lit scene after scene of the same thing ad nauseum. Filler, filler and then some more filler. I love dark thrillers but this just dark (as in lighting wise and tone setting) just for the sake of it. It has all been done before and in a much better way.

I don't want to include spoilers but the only thing I would like to point out is the extreme incompetence and stubbornness from the Yorkshire police, especially from the higher ups, it is staggering,

Anyway like I said, watch the first episode and the last two and I promise you, you won't be missing much and you could probably use that time to do something better.

The Burial (II) (2023)

Not worth your time

[4/10 · 13 October 2023]

Lets start with the story. Its about a white dude who owned 9 funeral homes, made a bad investment and when his business was about to go under made a deal with a corporation but the contract was never signed by said corporation and he sued them out of sheer desperation of going bankrupt.

It is meant to be a David vs Goliath story but the story and characters just aren't interesting enough. They threw in women, black peoples rights etc but it still didn't make me feel anything for the main character. Every two minutes family was brought up, that family was everything and he didn't have anything to leave his family but that was due to his OWN bad judgments and investments. Why should someone else pay for it?

The acting is OK, Fox is over the top as usual and Tommy Lee Jones just sits with the same stern expression on his face throughout.

All in all the story just isn't good enough to make a movie about and they just added random drama for the sake of it, played it by all the usual numbers but in the end I didn't feel anything at all for either of them and spent the last 30 minutes fast forwarding through it.

Snake Oil (2023– )

Surprisingly good and quite funny

[8/10 · 5 October 2023]

First of all, one of the other reviewers left a whole ranting essay saying that the whiskey was snake oil on the show and how it isn't. He should watch the show again as on the show the whiskey is indeed not the snake oil, as the contestant chose the baby teeth which was the snake oil.

Anyone on the show, I don't really like American game shows but this was actually kind of good. Some people said that Spade isn't excited enough but he is actually a pleasant departure from the usual over the top game show hosts and the show uses his dry sense of humor perfectly.

As for the game itself it is quite interesting and trying to decide which product is the snake oil is quite challenging in itself as they are very well prepared and usually make sense as a product.

All in all a good, funny show and much better than most shows out there.

The Jengaburu Curse (2023– )

Good story with a nonsensical rushed ending.

[7/10 · 14 August 2023]

First of all I don't get why most of the reviewers are calling it a cli fi because it has nothing to do with the climate. Hoever I am not surprised since most of the accounts the reviews are from are 2 days old and made specifically to copy/paste some cersion of the same narrative,

I really liked the first 6 episodes, there has to be some considerable suspension of belief and quite a few loopholes but the story seemed sncere and it is good for a one time watch.

The ending however was totally nonsensical and rushed, something straight out of a C movie but all things considered it is a good one time watch,

Taskmaster: Trapped in a Loveless Marriage (2023) Season 15, Episode 2

Anything would've been an improvement over episode one

[2/10 · 8 April 2023]

But alas that wasn't the case. Many a time at the beginning of a show I usually don't know or like the cast at all but by the end of the second episode I'm really into them and by the end of the series they are my favorite group of people in the world-

No such thing so far and I have absolutely no confidence that it is going to get any better either. Lets just hope for all our sakes that I'm proven wrong.

I don't know why so many characters are required for just an episode review but here goes..... Most of the contestants this season are the like the B or C versions of previous contestants, they just haven't got "it".

Jholachhap (2022– )

An honest look into the rural health system spoiled by a dreadful lead actress.

[8/10 · 27 February 2023]

I went in blind without knowing much about the series apart from the premise and was pleasantly surprised.

Positives - It deals with all the related rural healthcare issues Charlatans and Medicine sellers using their very little to no knowledge to take advantage of the poor and in some cases even molest the female patients.

Negatives - It can be seen that the series was shot on a low budget which really is tragic as useless shoot em ups have millions in resources while actual topics which would help the people are made on shoestring budgets.

So it can be seen time to time that the camera work, editing acting etc are all really amateurish but the WORST is the actress playing the main role of the new doctor. She cannot act at all and seems to forget her lines midway and then just mumble some incoherent gibberish to just get it over with. I mean she is so bad that everytime she is on screen and important things are happening she totally takes me out of it with her dreadful "acting" (if we can call it that).

So all in all if you want to learn about the rural health scene then surely watch this as apart from the amateurish production it is a story worth telling.

Shantaram (2022)

My Prison Bible-

[15 October 2022]

The book was my Bible in prison and I read it from cover to cover the 4 years I was there. It was given to me by an Australian of all people who himself was writing a book about his life in prison and used to hand his manuscript to his brother during his visits every month. The line I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime, and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum security prison" defined my situation to a tee and I cried inwardly everytime I read it, still do. I also went to Pakistan later on and had a similar course as his in Bombay but enough about me.

So ofcourse I was apprehensive when I first heard last month that the series is about to launch, I was afraid that they wouldn't do it justice but was also excited because I had always wanted a series based on it.

My first thought was that Charlie Hunamm didn't fit the description at all because Gregory Davids wasn't so conventially handsome and the person who I think would most do his look and mannerisms justice was someone like a Steve Buscemi (but I think he is a bit too old), aperson who would currently perfectly fit the bill would have been that guy who plays Daemon in the House of the Dragon. However the other characters (ecpecially Prabhu, Levy, Madam Zhou, Levy are very well cast and played.

I havent read the book in a whike but U was pleased whem I remembered many things as they happened and they seem to be qiote faithful to the booj so far.

Hunnam is ok, not too good, not too bad but again his looks really take you out of it every now and then, escpially with him being shirtless every other minute.

Prabhus character is hilarious, willy yet innocent, earnest and sometimes heart breaking in his own way and the actor playing him portrays it perfectly.

I didnt think the actress for Karla fit but shes growing on me.

Madam Zhous is played very well by the actress and eludes the imposing and somewhat frightening aura that she has.

The actor playing Khader bhai I know from previous movies where he usually typecast as the Arab guy and doesn't really seems to be clicking for me as the Afghani guy in Bombay especially with his accent and pronounciation of local words.

I will update this as the story moves along cuz there is a lot still to come and I will reserve my final rating and review for when the season is over.

BMF (2021– )

A bit cliched but good

[8/10 · 26 September 2021]

It follows all the previous paint by numbers black crime shows and movies but since this is based on a true story I doubt they could improvise that much.

The production values are good and there is this "feel" and potential to it that it will get better as it goes on.

All in all, 2021 hasn't been that good a year for TV or Cinema and I think this show is better than a lot of the other content put out this year.

Messiah (2020)

Interesting start, lags in the middle and fizzles out towards the end.

[6/10 · 2 January 2020]

Just finished it, it's interesting till the 6th-7th episode but went all Pete Tong after that. Could've done with a couple of lesser episodes to make it tighter as it tends to drone on sometimes and the ending (the whole final episode) in my opinion while open ended was quite underwhelming.

Criminal: UK (2019–2020)

Whats up with the 10 star reviews for the Tennant episode?

[4/10 · 24 September 2019]

I went in expecting some sort of masterpiece after all the "Tennant is phenomenal" and "Deserves an Oscar" reviews but all I got was him saying no comment for the first half and then suddenly deciding to blabber non stop after that a few minutes before the deadline...

It was a very poor episode and since it's the highest rated episode in the series, probably due to the fanboys and girls, I will not watch the others.

Top Boy (2011–2023)

Just Unfair

[10/10 · 21 September 2019]

Haven't written a review in years but had to rectify this wrong.

It's really unfair how stupid movies and series get thousands of reviews and recognition but gems like this only have 30 odd reviews. Hopefully now that Netflix has picked up season 3 and produced a masterpiece, maybe it will start to get the recognition it deserves.

For people watching the 3rd season first, you can watch it as a standalone as even though it is a continuing story line from past seasons like Narcos, etc, you will still understand whats going on and will really connect with the characters.

All in all a very gritty and realistic ride. The character development, suspense, twists are great and at the end of it you will be left wondering why you haven't heard of or seen this series before.

P.S - The ending of season 3 left very mouth watering prospects for season 4 to fulfill.