asabfatin Reviews

Delhi Crime (2019– )

Well made bingeworthy copaganda

[8/10 · 29 November 2023]

Season 1:

Minus the mouthpiece moments Shefali Shah was phenomenal, she looked scary enough to be authoritative. The whole cast did a good job too, minus some moments e.g. The last scream from Akaash. Liked the fact they depicted the incident through dialogue rather than visually, cause I think it's impossible to film a sexual assault scene without becoming either exploitative or toothless. There were some dark ironies too e.g. The crosscutting between the shot of Aakash and Deepika looking for CNG then Bus and the shot of DCP Varthika convincing her daughter to not leave India cause there's a "good part pf Delhi" in the first episode. But it felt too much a copaganda/propaganda for police and that kind of hurt my enjoyment of it. The cliffhanger at the end of the third episode felt like a cheat as it was of no consequence.

Mystery Road (2013)

Gritty Australian Western Exploring Racial Tension

[10/10 · 30 April 2023]

Pros - 1. Slow-burn and minimal music, makes it gritty and draining like the process of investigation 2. Explains no relationship explicitly - sparse use of dialogue and gesture 3. Great cinematography capturing both the vastness of the landscape - Huge skies, low horizons and fincher-like focusing on the details of the evidence simultaneously 4. Fluent acting by the whole cast 5. Very gritty and realistic standoff, The interesting long pauses between the sniper shots made it more gripping and tense.

Cons - 1. Very generic ending (not that I minded though) 2. I knew everything that's gonna happen to Johnno by a mile.

Primer (2004)

Fresh look at the sci-fi sub-genre of time travel

[7/10 · 21 December 2022]

Pros-

1. Charged with heavy scientific theories(half of which i don't understand) not dumbed down for the audience. Serves it's homegrown realism.

2. High production value for a microbudget project. Shots feel calculated and cinematically composed. Once it kicks the sense of paranoia is always there. The dialogues are pretty naturalistic and creates the atmosphere of being accompanied by scientists(not seen that often). It feels homemade rather than cheap and that helps maintaining its low-key presentation.

3. For a genre known for silly pseudo-science and not giving much thought about paradoxes it faces, this film started the trend of 'science based' time travel movies.

Cons-

1. Too much theoretical talks for exposition in the first act. Nearly lost me there.

2. Convoluted plot, partially saved by the narration.

Moshari (2022)

Another Chilling Bloody Middle Finger to Patriarchy From Nuhash Humayun

[8/10 · 15 October 2022]

Fans of 'Pet Kata Shaw' get another glimpse of the powerhouse that is Nuhash Humayun. Marks of his deliberate direction is on every department-from the first frame of the skull of a cow and a swarm of flies (indicating the film's soaked in blood and death) to the inclusion of Indalo's 'Hobeki'. Showing the creature just enough to expose what's happening rather than the budget. He included a very impactful jumpscare(I HATE JUMPSCARES; in the hands of a worse director they ruin the atmosphere and is the crutch to provide cheap scares) to elevate the tone.

'Moshari' is a story of two sisters encountering a mosquito-human-hybrid monster (great creature design) that is patriarchy in the guise of authoritarianism, misogyny, colonialism, classism (and other metaphors i probably haven't caught correctly, there is certainly some ecological commentaries too) that lives and breeds on the juice of life. Nuhash gives the characters a beating heart, which is the area of this genre that garners frequent criticism.

'Moshari' creates the dreadful atmosphere that is the heart of horror genre through Nuhash's fast paced editing, the pitch-perfect performance of both Sunerah Binte Kamal and Nairah Onora Saif, Ejaz Mehedi's superbly effective chiaroscuro lighting backed by great production design, Ye Min Sng's purposeful soundscape consisting breathing, shrieking, and other human sounds tinted with Dameer Khan's breathy ambience and flute-tabla infused heartbeats.

Now a bit of nitpicking (i mean i gotta criticise something to pose like a critic). The dialogues felt a bit mechanical, which reached its distracting peak in the middle where Apu was giving a lecture about the concept of moshari. The ending didn't feel very covincing. Why didn't Ayra straight up told Apu that the moshari's stuck in the door? I know that she's a kid who didn't understand what kind of danger she's in but she's already encountered the monster, right? But i digress.