Death by Lightning: Netflix's Contribution to U.S History & Politics 101

President James A. Garfield, the college educated farmer & Congressman from Ohio should have played a transformational role in U.S history and politics than the couple of months fate had allowed to helm United States of America in 1881.

Netflix's latest historical offering, "Death by Lightning," brings this forgotten giant of American politics into sharp focus. If you're a student of history and politics, especially of U.S. history like me, we should be thrilled by these contributions Netflix is making towards our historical and political education showcasing some of the forgotten figures that shaped the United States. Garfield holds the unique distinction of being the only sitting member of the House of Representatives to be elected president, and his resume reads like a greatest hits of 19th-century American achievement - preacher, lawyer, Civil War general, and finally, a tragically brief POTUS.

The mini-series, based on Candice Millard's exceptional book "Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President," doesn't shy away from the complexities of both Garfield and his assassin Charles Guiteau. The casting choices are nothing short of spectacular. Michael Shannon's portrayal of Garfield is so convincing, his beard looks eerily similar to the president's historical photographs. Matthew Macfadyen's Guiteau made viewers genuinely uncomfortable each time he appeared on screen - which is precisely what a good portrayal of an unhinged assassin should do. Betty Gilpin delivers a convincing performance as Garfield's wife Crete. Nick Offerman as Chester Arthur is so amazing that Netflix, if you want it, you could almost tease out a sequel based on Arthur's presidency.

What strikes you most about this series is how faithful it remains to historical facts. I am sure the personal moments probably didn't occur exactly as depicted or might not have happened at all, but they help building context and fleshing out each character. Guiteau really did join a free-loving commune and failed spectacularly at everything he attempted in life. Garfield truly was one of the last "log cabin" presidents, rising from poverty through sheer intellect and determination. The assassination attempt itself unfolds with disturbing accuracy - Guiteau hiding the gun in his pocket, the black physician being one of the first doctors on the scene, the pioneering use of the first metal detector on the wounded president.

While the series does not really capture the magnitude of Garfield's popularity and the nation's grief on his assassination, that did not stop me from going digging after binging on this engaging mini-series. His inauguration drew 100,000 people to Washington D.C., while his funeral in Cleveland attracted 150,000 mourners - one of the largest presidential funeral turnouts in U.S. history up to that point. He was mourned as a national hero, his death marking a pivotal moment in American political consciousness.

The 4-part series does take some liberties with period-appropriate language - the liberal use of f-word and phrases like "quality time" that wouldn't appear for another century and feels anachronistic. But these minor quibbles don't detract from the overall impact of seeing this transformational figure brought to life.

Interestingly, Garfield's legacy extends beyond politics into pop culture. Jim Davis named his famous cartoon cat after his own grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, who was himself named after the President Garfield following his Republican nomination in 1880. The score, composed by the same talent behind Game of Thrones and Iron Man, perfectly complements the dramatic tension.

One of the reasons "Death by Lightning" succeeds is its perfect length. Four episodes allow enough time to develop these historical figures without overstaying its welcome. Perhaps a deeper dive into Garfield's impressive Civil War career would have strengthened our connection to him, but the focus remains laser-sharp on this pivotal moment in American history. As a student of history and politics, this series got me digging deeper into both Garfield's and Chester Arthur's presidencies - exactly what good historical drama should do.

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Baramulla : A movie by Aditya Jambhale (Netflix)

Baramulla, what could a film about Baramulla possibly be about? Other than being another film about the decades-long disputed-territory status of Kashmir. But I was happily surprised, and in the best possible way.

Before diving into the movie, here's some backdrop: Baramulla is this town up in Jammu and Kashmir, India's northernmost state that's still a bit of a hot mess. Kashmir has been like an open wound ever since India's independence, when the Hindu king of this Muslim-majority region decided to throw his lot in with India. Both Pakistan and India have been picking at this wound ever since, and one of the most brutal chapters was the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits - that's the majority Hindu group in Kashmir, back in the late eighties and nineties. Not exactly feel-good material for your average weekend movie night. Baramulla, the movie, comes from director Aditya Suhas Jambhale and stars Manav Kaul and Basha Sumbli as a Muslim couple. The husband's a cop, deputy superintendent of police, freshly posted to Baramulla to investigate some politician's kidnapped kid. The director and both lead actors are all from the displaced Kashmiri Pandit diaspora which adds a layer of authenticity. The family moves into this gorgeous, rambling old house that screams traditional Kashmir architecture. And man, does this house work overtime in the atmosphere department. It's pretty in that old-fashioned way that makes you want to book a vacation there, right up until the creepy stuff starts happening.

Now, I'm not sure if this counts as a Bollywood film. Sure, it's in Hindi and features Manav Kaul, who's done his share of Bollywood gigs, but it feels like something else entirely. We're seeing this whole new parallel cinema thing happening - movies produced by Netflix, Amazon Prime, and their streaming cousins, using local crews and native languages but breaking free from the tired old Bollywood formulas which have not been hitting the mark lately. I'll admit, I was dragging my feet about watching this one. The producer, Aditya Dhar, made his directorial debut with Uri: The Surgical Strike, which wasn't exactly my cup of tea, so much so that I never even watched it. But then I caught wind of some chatter about Baramulla being supernatural horror, not just political drama. And you know what? Sometimes the best surprises come when you're least expecting them. What we get here is a quality film that somehow manages to mash up history, politics, horror, drama, and actual ghosts without turning into an emotional train wreck or an over-the-top melodrama. For an Indian film to pull that off without the usual histrionics is genuinely refreshing. Shot entirely in Kashmir, with top-notch acting, editing, production design, and direction across the board. Jambhale has crafted one of the most creative supernatural films to come out of India in recent memory, and here's why it works: it's anchored firmly in reality, history, and the real suffering of real people. The genius move here is making us experience the horror through the eyes of a Muslim family - the same religion as those who perpetrated the Kashmiri Pandit exodus - and forcing us to realize that regardless of religion, we all feel the same outrage when faced with atrocity, no matter who's dishing it out.

The sequences where history bleeds into present-day attacks where the veil thins between the dead and the living are masterfully interwoven, creating a storytelling and editing exercise that's both haunting and enlightening. A well-made film that doesn't preach but provokes thought. Perfect for lovers of history and supernatural storytelling who aren't afraid of confronting uncomfortable truths.

 

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Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (2025) : A review

I had been meaning to watch Guillermo del Toro's 2025 adaptation of Frankenstein ever since it dropped on Netflix. As someone who has never actually read Mary Shelley's original novel (yeah, literary sacrilege!), I went in with zero expectations except knowing it was a del Toro film, which usually means visually stunning and emotionally complex storytelling. This is quintessential del Toro - all dark aqua blues, deep greens, and rich browns creating that Gothic atmosphere he's famous for. The production design is absolutely marvelous, every frame looking like a painting, if you were into that whole moody Victorian vibe art. This is definitely a movie that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible because of its sheer grandiloquence. Del Toro has this thing about redeeming his monsters, and this newest retelling of Frankenstein fits perfectly into that pattern. Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein and he's irresistibly handsome in that tortured genius way. Isaac's Victor is portrayed as a complete egotistical dickhead, which apparently has some book purists up in arms. I read in various forums that readers of Shelley's original have major issues with how this adaptation simplifies both Victor and the Creature's characterizations. The consensus seems to be that in the book, Victor is indeed a piece of work for abandoning his creation, but he was also just a naive young guy who couldn't fully grasp the magnitude of what he'd done. Similarly, while the Creature is tragic, he's also a stalker who intentionally murders innocents in his quest for revenge against Victor - far from the blameless victim we see in this movie version.

 

The script-writing deserves special mention here. There's this moment where the monster, still learning human speech, says something like "Perhaps this was the way of the world, the world would hunt you and kill you for the way you are." The philosophical poetry woven through the simple words of a creature learning to speak is just brilliant. There are several such dialogues that stay with you long after the credits roll.

The female lead had me scratching my head a bit. She's written as this very righteous, empathetic character – maybe that's how Mary Shelley, daughter of philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, intended it. Women are often more empathetic than men, sure, but this lady thinks she's wise when she's really just displaying the foolishness of her immature young age. She was literally the only character who could have made Victor see the truth and helped redeem his ways, if only she would get down off her high horse and actually engage with the complexity of the situation instead of just being judgmental.

She falls in love with the creature ridiculously quickly, professing something like eternal love after what feels like two meetings. And wasn't she flirting a bit with Victor, her fiancé's older brother? The whole love angle felt forced, maybe they were staying true to the book, I wouldn't know.

 But sometimes a good story doesn't need to be complicated. Del Toro delivered something gorgeous to look at, Isaac brought his brooding good looks and acting, and Jacob Elordi as the Creature got some genuinely moving dialogue. 

The Arctic scenes alone are worth the watch. There's something haunting about that ship stuck in the ice, with the Creature framed against a pale sun that looks more like a dying moon. "I am malicious because I am miserable," the monster tells his creator, and you feel every word of that misery in the frozen wasteland that mirrors his isolation. Not every adaptation has to be exactly as the book, sometimes it just needs to be good television.

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Love and Loss: Amy Bloom's In Love & Netflix's One Day

Reading Amy Bloom's In Love helped me understand Robin William's final act. While there are nine states (Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Colorado, Montana, New Jersey, Maine and Vermont) and the District of Columbia which have right to die laws, you cannot have a physician assisted suicide without satisfying certain conditions. First, you have to be a resident of one of these states to have the right to die, more importantly you need to get medically assessed as having only six months to live. Which means you have to be almost at death's door to use this right-to-die card to have a physician-assisted suicide in the US of A.  Incurable degenerative diseases like Lewy body dementia (that Robin Williams had) or Alzheimer's or Parkinson's that will slowly hollow out a person over years are not excuses good enough to have the right to die in any of the nine states or DC. This is where Switzerland steps in.  Remember the name Dignitas and Pegasos, just in case.

Just in case was the reason why I decided to read Amy Bloom's In Love after I chanced upon a blurb about the book somewhere. Memoirs focusing on a single event in a writer's life and its aftermath is not my favorite form of non-fiction, but the information provided by the author and her style of writing kept In Love engaging for me.

During the same period I was going through Ms. Bloom's love-n-loss heavy memoir I also accidently started watching a chick-lit(?) series One Day on Netflix. Like Amy Bloom, Ambika Mod's Emma Morley is a bookish ethnic girl who becomes a writer and finds a soulmate in handsome, British upper class Dexter Mayhew.

Emma and Dex in One Day

One Day is based on the book of the same name written by David Nicholls, and tells the story of Emma and Dexter who meet and spend a night together on their last day at the university in 1988 and decide to meet each other every year afterwards, on the same day. There was also a 2011 movie based on the novel, starring Anne Hathaway as Emma. 

I loved the way Emma's character is written. Her one-liners are profoundly deep and funny. Leo Woodall's Dex is hurtlingly handsome and posh. They are from the opposite ends of the spectrum, both socially and intellectually and we, the viewers, desperately want them to be together, to see how it will all turn out. The writing and the script makes sure the audience are invested in Emma and Dex although the plot line of boy and girl from different sides of the track is an over-used one.

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My 2023 list of interesting TV shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime

----------------------------------- NETFLIX SHOWS ---------------------------------------

Bodies turns detective work into a time-traveling comedy, where four sleuths from different time periods in London team up to solve the ultimate whodunit. It satisfies my time traveling craving for the season.

The Fall of the House of Usher : The series is a wild, haunted romp that turns Poe's classic tale into a dysfunctional sitcom-meets-horror mashup.  It's Netflix's way of turning horror into a comedy of errors, making Usher's fall a laugh-out-loud tumble into the absurdly supernatural.

Guns and Gulabs Season 1 is like a crazy curry of '90s nostalgia and gangster drama. The cast is doing their thing, living on their own terms, and you can't help but be part of the ride. Raj and DK deserve a shout-out for the killer screenplay.

Kohrra is not your typical murder mystery. With knock-out performances and a screenplay that packs a punch, it's like peeling back layers of a mystery onion. Punjab's not-so-pretty realities like drugs, forced NRI marriages, and a sprinkle of patriarchy drama form the background of the story. The characters are a hot mess in the best way, fighting personal battles while solving the big mystery.

Beef: Starting from a road rage incident which then leads off to a cascading series of escalating incidents, 'Beef' explores the human condition with a raw, relatable touch. It is a gripping drama about two people living parallel lives in different circumstances. Money, status, and mental health are key topics covered in this series with a unique Asian American cultural twist

MH370 The Plane That Disappeared: The series navigates the complexities surrounding the disappearance of Flight MH370, shedding light on the emotional toll on families, the relentless search efforts, and the lingering questions that resonate globally. It's a poignant blend of investigative journalism and human narratives and expertly steers clear of sensationalism to present a respectful examination of an enduring mystery.

Cunk on Earth:  A mockumentary gem that simultaneously pokes fun at and revels in the absurdities of our historical narrative. The comedic timing is impeccable, and Cunk's deadpan delivery (Diane Morgan at her comedic best) makes even the most mundane historical tidbits downright hilarious.

-------------------------- AMAZON PRIME SHOWS -----------------------------------

Dahaad Season 1: Dahaad is a stellar crime thriller set in the heart of rural Rajasthan, India, exposing the deep-seated biases and injustices ingrained in the region's culture. Sonakshi Sinha shines as Anjali, a determined police officer challenging societal norms. It is based on a true story, the series keeps viewers on the edge, skillfully unveiling the twisted mind of a serial killer.

The Power Season 1 is  a thought-provoking exploration of societal upheaval in a world where women command electric abilities. The writing strikes a balance between drama and the weighty implications of a world transformed. Strap in for a journey where the real shocks aren't just in the superpowers but in the societal currents they unleash. The show adeptly navigates the complexities of power dynamics, instigating a paradigm shift that is both electrifying and deeply reflective.

Wilderness Season 1: Liv and Will, the seemingly golden couple, take their British charm to the Big Apple. The couple's cross-country trip to iron out wrinkles in their relationship turns into a wild rollercoaster of emotions, and suddenly, that dream holiday takes a detour into a living nightmare. 'Wilderness' isn't just a twisted love story; it's a journey into the chaos of relationships, proving that even the best-laid plans can go off the rails. Jenna Coleman is captivating and capitalizes on a well written female lead character, but most of other characters didn't the same kind of attention from the screenwriters.

Vadhandhi : The Fable of Veloni:  Eight captivating episodes centering around the mysterious death of a young woman, setting off a web of deception. SJ Suryah, in the role of Sub Inspector Vivek, skillfully navigates the intricate investigation, revealing layers of lies and deceit. Sanjana, portraying the beautifully haunting Velonie, adds a magnetic charm to the narrative, owning her role effortlessly. Vadandhi may have its flaws, but it's a compelling watch, showcasing the creators' mastery in crafting suspenseful narratives.

Hush Hush Season 1, with its women-centric vibe, shines a spotlight on the talents of Juhi Chawla, Karishma Tanna, Shahana Goswami, Kritika Kamra, Soha Ali Khan and Ayesha Jhulka. The ensemble cast plays a crucial role in weaving a narrative that delves into friendship, secrets, and the highs and lows of contemporary women's experiences. 

When I look at my Amazon Prime picks I realize that these are all series which are either women-centric or has strong lead characters who are women.  Prime also has more quality international content which is not just Korean.

BTW this is how a blog post would look if it was written by generative AI, like this post was :-) Will be switching back to the human mode in the new year. Happy 2024!

Writing Credits for this post : ChatGPT 3.5, the free version.

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Munich: The Edge of War

Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity is  about the meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.  The reason I bring up synchronicity is I believe I had a light brush with it through the movie Munich: The Edge of War. A couple of days after watching the movie, we are in a history-repeats-itself situation with Ukraine, just as it had happened in the movie and history in 1938.

Netflix released Munich: The Edge of War on Jan 21, 2022. Maybe it was a far-sighted move on Netflix's part where their geopolitical team was scouring current events to find subject material for new movies. The team identified Munich 1938 as a plausible candidate to make a movie that people can relate to in the current times, when we have Hitler-lite dictating over Russia and looming like a menacing cloud over Europe. Congratulations earthlings, you were almost wrung out to dry by a global pandemic, how about World War III now? This is the roaring twenties, all over again, the excitement never stops.

A sucker for war movies, I had to put Munich: TEoW in my watchlist soon after it was released. It sat there languishing like the rest of the movies in My List, awaiting for my scroll button to pause on it and click Play. The click Play happened near Valentine's Day, a season I keep aside for watching war movies. But with my movie watching ADD at its peak, the bureaucratic nature of the movie felt a bit too slow for me and I left it there, after watching for about ten minutes. Then I picked it up again last week and finished it off soon after.  

Going into the movie I had no idea about the Munich Accord of 1938 or Hitler's invasion of Sudetenland (former Czechoslovakia,  current whatever) , which was the precursor of WWII. I am familiar with most of the famous battles of WWII thanks to WWII in Color (Netflix), but I am mostly clueless about the events leading up to the war, except having a general idea that Hitler's megalomaniacal territorial ambitions and the program of ethnic cleansing for racial purity eventually resulted in the war. 

Munich: TEoW plays out during the days before and during the signing of the Munich Accord in 1938. It blends history with fiction, where the fictional lead characters are two young government officials who went to school at Oxford together and are now on the opposing sides of the geo-political divide. Both are seen trying to prevent a war, within their extremely limited spheres of influence.

 

Based on Robert Harris's best seller and directed by Christian Schwochow, George Mackay who according to me is the most German looking English man, plays the English civil servant Hugh Legat and Jannis Niewöhner is his college-mate who is now a German diplomat. Then British PM, Neville Chamberlain has been given a makeover or a whitewash and is portrayed in the movie by the indomitable Jeremy Irons. The movie says that Chamberlain's much critiqued move was him deliberately allowing to tarnish his image in history for the sake buying time for the the rest of the Europe (or Allies as they will be called later) by sacrificing Sudetenland.

1938 in the movie feels like a time just like we are in now. Europe is poised at the edge of war, triggered by the actions of a madcap dictator who looks and acts like a man who must have had his black belt in judo revoked recently. Instead of Sudetenland we have Ukraine, a democratic nation whose President - the (multi) Talented Mr. Zelensky, is fighting on the front lines with his troops defending their capital city - Kyiv. But unlike 1938, it is not just European nations who are joining hands to fight the aggressor - here is a sample of one of the Allied partnerships* of 2022. 

*pornhub part was fake news

Yes, here we are. Showing a significant reversal from their post WWII stance, Germany has invested 100 billion Euros for its military expansion. Poland is praying that German forces will march into their country and save their back side if/when the need arises. Switzerland has stopped signing its emails with the pronoun - 'neutral' which was specifically invented for them right after Napoleon's reign and has announced sanctions against Russia, causing Russian oligarchs scrambling to buy piggy banks. 

In case we are still not convinced that this stuff is serious, Sweden and Finland who are the lesser known step-cousins of Switzerland and have never picked any sides just like their more well known cousin, have also picked a side, joining the Pope, Poland and Anonymous. It is not Munich which is at the edge of war in 2022, all of Europe is at the edge of unity. 

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Best shows on Amazon Prime & Netflix: My 2021 List

This is my customary end of the year list post. I usually do best books, but this year I am going to the best TV shows I have watched this year. Some of them were even adapted from books! That gives us one more reason not to read books, we can wait and watch when the show comes out.

My discovery of the year or my best TV show award goes to The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime. Here is the list of my top 10 tv shows of the year in no particular order, except for the one in the first place.

First Place - The Man in the High Castle (Prime): I like history. I like time travel and alternate universes. I don't really like science or fantasy fiction. But I am starting to like Philip K. Dick more than ever. He is the only science fiction writer I have ever enjoyed reading. 

The Man in the High Castle is history, time travel and alternate universes baked fresh from the kiln fired up right after WWII. It is based on Philip K. Dick's book of the same name. I started reading the book after I finished the show which is on Amazon Prime. The show is told from a different perspective than the book. The creators and the actors have kept it engaging, charismatic and it leaves us wanting more. Incredible performances all around. I am particularly impressed by Rufus Sewell who steals the show.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you are a history buff with a weakness for alternate universes, this one is for you.

The Underground Railroad (Prime): What if the underground railroad was a real subterranean railroad transporting slaves to the free lands up north ? Based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer winning novel of the same name, Barry Jenkins' poem of a show is a hard-hitting portrayal of the ambitious and risky flights to freedom undertaken by slaves from southern plantations in the mid 1800s. 

Them (Prime): Amazon Prime has more authentic shows about black people than Netflix. While it has garnered many negative reviews from critics, I liked the period aspect of Them and how it shows a family of four who moved to Compton from the Carolinas battle the duel evils of racism and supernatural evil. Are they one and the same?

Patriot (Prime) : If Wes Anderson was making TV shows, Patriot might be it. Maybe writer-director Steven Conrad is Anderson's brother from another mother. Patriot is about a spy, who cannot be identified as a spy, whose day job is at an industrial piping company in Milwaukee, who also moonlights as a folk singer as an antidote to his stress - the level of which would have killed any other person. It is serious and comedic at the same time. It also reminds me of Asian black comedy crime dramas where periods of silence are abruptly offset by loud action, then all goes quiet again in the next minute and the protagonist carries on with whatever mundane daily task he might have been doing - like sharpening a pencil or reading a bus time table.

The Serpent (Netflix): The exquisitely shot, directed, edited and acted crime drama, The Serpent, follows the notorious criminal and serial killer Charles Sobharaj. Sobharaj was our version of Clyde, of the Bonnie and Clyde fame. There were several Bonnies in the real Sobharaj's story, although in this TV version, Bonnie is Marie-Andrée Leclerc . When I was a kid back in India, Sobharaj was captured and jailed for a brief time in Tihar jail from where he escaped using one of his ingenious schemes. It was great to see re-creation of sixties and seventies, going down the hippy trail in Asia on the tail of a notoriously manipulative psychopath. The production design and casting are on point.

Kim's Convenience, Seasons 1-4 (Netflix) : The best Korean show ever to be made by North Americans. Set in Toronto, it tells the story of a four member Korean-Canadian family who owns a convenience store. While it is light, natural, funny and this is the most realistic portraiture of an Asian immigrant family I have seen on TV.

Harlan Coben series on Netflix: For quick binge-able crime drama, just like the Harlan Coben paperbacks you might pickup from the airport kiosk, the TV shows adapted from Coben's novels are eminently binge-able, no matter what the language. I started with Safe, proceeded to The Five and The Stranger - all produced in U.K, before moving on to The Innocent (Spanish), Gone for Good (French) and The Woods (Polish.) 

Midnight Mass (Netflix) : Midnight Mass is an atmospheric series. It gives me the vibes of Netflix's show Messiah, a favorite of mine which Netflix canceled after the first season. Maybe due to religiosity, which is a cornerstone for both the shows. If you are in the mood for some dark moody horror with depressive undertones that rounds things off with a fiery apocalypse, too specific I know, then you might want to give Midnight Mass a try.

You (Netflix): How does a serial killer who is a book store manager ingratiate himself into high society and find his prey? Watch YOU for the answer. Based on the books by Caroline Kepnes, the protagonist could be called Dexter with a literary bend of mind. Addictive.

If I Hadn't Met You (Netflix): I will take time travel and alternate universes in any language. Si no t'hagues conegut is a Spanish Catalan series, a love story in disguise of a time traveling trope - that's what I fell for.

Other honorable mentions because I am too lazy to write.

The rest of my best on Amazon Prime you have probably not watched, yet.

• Hotel Beau Sejour (Belgium) : Supernatural crime drama with the protagonist murdered, caught up in an after-life limbo, trying to find her killer.
• Unforgotten (U.K) :  British crime series starring Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhasker.
• The Living & The Dead (U.K): Victorian era super natural of a farmer-scientist trying to prove the existence of after-life, starring Colin Morgan.
• Intruders (BBC America) : Stars Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown before she was famous. Supernatural.

The rest of my best on Netflix you might have watched already.

• Delhi Crime (India): Best Indian crime drama ever.
• Clickbait : Crime thriller set in the U.S, but Melbourne stands in for U.S west coast.
• The Chair : If you have always wondered what happens in academia and what do these professors, especially the ones who teach languages do, The Chair is a quick and easy watch.
• How To Sell Drugs Online Fast Seasons 1-3 (Germany) : Real life Breaking Bad about the true story of a teenage German entrepreneur. Engaging and funny.
• Never Have I Ever Seasons  1-2 : Teen drama. Mindy Kaling takes a look at the troubles and travails of teenage angst, through her protagonist, first generation Indian American teen, Devi Vishwakumar

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Korean Content : Best Korean shows on Netflix

Like half of the planet, I too am majorly into Korean shows these days. No Squid Game or Korean rom-coms for me. But even if you don't watch rom-coms or fictionalized game shows where characters get killed for money, there are plenty of stars to gaze at in the Korean media multi-verse. Here is a list of my favorite Korean streaming content that I had been bingeing on :

Reply 1988 : 1988 in Korea was not very different from the 1988 in my part of the world, when I had just entered my teens. We had small boxy cars, CRT TVs and sat on the floor and had dinner even when we had a proper dining table. Reply series is an anthology series with 3 seasons. It started with Reply 1997 in 2012, Reply 1994 in 2013 and Reply 1998 is the last season that started airing in 2015-16 and the only one I have watched in its entirety.

All the seasons are disconnected except a common concept that they are all about a group friends and their lives during a particular year, a turning point in their lives. Some of the actors re-appear, playing a different character in a different season. The last one, Reply 1988 is the most popular and by the third season it looks like the makers  of Reply series had perfected the formula for success. Reply 1988 is one of the highest ranked TV series in Korean cable TV history. 

Reply 1988 is the story of 5 families with teenage kids in the same neighborhood of Seoul growing up in the late eighties. The success of the series is the connection you will develop with the characters as it progresses - all fifteen of them. With 20 episodes almost an hour long it is a serious commitment, but once you get hang of it, you wouldn't want to get off that train. I almost gave up after first couple of episodes, but I am glad I did not.

Below is a quote by the female lead from the very last episode of the series. She is the one in the middle row, dead-center.

 “1988. This is the end of our Ssangmundong story. Longing for that time and longing for that street isn’t because I miss the younger version of myself. In that place, where we won’t be able to gather like that again, I regret being unable to say my final farewell. To the things that are already gone, to a time that has already passed, I want to say a belated farewell. Goodbye, my youth. Goodbye, Ssangmundong.”

Stranger (Secret Forest in Korean), season 1 : A police woman and a prosecutor team up to solve a political mystery / crime. The handful of main characters are complex and evolve as the story progresses. If you like detective stories or crime thrillers with a legal angle, a la John Grisham, Stranger is it. It was also featured in NY Times list of top international TV shows for the year 2017.

Hello, My Twenties (Age of Youth in Korean), season 1 : 5 girls sharing a house as they embark on their college journeys, part time jobs and share their growing pains. Been there. Done that. I could relate to it more than I could ever relate to Sex & the City or Friends. Both of those I have only watched sporadically, before the days of Netflix or other streaming platforms. How can Carrie Bradshaw writing a worldly wise weekly column in some New York newspaper afford to live in an upper East side brownstone? What could be more further from reality than her implausible NY life with her craze for Manolo Blahniks?

I was not really sure of Hello, My Twenties during the first episode or two. But once past that, the characters started to grow on me and their struggles and happiness started to matter. I finished the first season in a couple of days, but I couldn't bring myself to watch the second season as they switched out the actor - my favorite of the five girls, with a different actor. Thus my revisit of the twenties ended abruptly with Season 1.

Sisyphus - The Myth : If you like sci-fi, you might like Sisyphus. The lead actor from Stranger is also the lead in Sisyphus, that is what first lead me to it. It is also TV-14 which meant I was able to watch it with my kids. Sisyphus is not exactly the best of the best K-drama and it only appeals to a certain kind of audience. You have to check reality and logic at the door. It was good for a light one time watch.

Chicago Typewriter : I find that with Korean dramas or probably it is the case with every foreign language TV series or film, if I like some of the actors I try to find out if anything else is available on Netflix or Prime that these actors have been featured in and if there is, I give it a try. I started watching Chicago Typewriter when I found from Wikipedia that one of the actors from Reply 1988 was in it and it was available on Netflix. Also the theme of the show looked intriguing - how were they going to establish a Korean connection to Chicago, through a typewriter?  There are only a handful of characters, and it could be summarized as a sort of time-traveling ghostly love triangle involving a typewriter. The three main leads are strong and convincing. You cannot apply human logic to ghostly deeds so even if you have questions you can attribute the lack of answers to the ethereal nature of the story.

A couple of other Korean TV shows I had reviewed are here - Tunnel & Signal. These are the shows which got me started on K-drama, in case you are looking for a gateway drug to Korean content and don't really care for rom-coms.

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Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Before Oscars So White Redux (2021) I didn't care much about Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to write a review.  I wished Riz Ahmed would win the Best Actor award, although like most people who had kept tabs on this year's nominations, I knew it would go to Chadwick Boseman and was mostly reconciled to it. After all the incredible human being and actor that Boseman was, he would never again get a chance to be in the Oscar race ever again. Everyone else, including Riz Ahmed, who I hope will have a remarkable career ahead,  will have more chances.

Then the Academy went ahead and did its thing- awarded Anthony Hopkins who was blissfully sleeping in his bed and didn't even Zoom into the award ceremony, the Best Actor award. This made it imperative that I had to write about Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, to make peace with Chadwick Boseman, even though he is at a place where they are indifferent to gold-plated bronze statues of Uncle Oscar and other such earthly knickknacks.

Viola Davis put in a power house performance as Ma Rainey, the so-called Mother of the Blues. But it is Chadwick Boseman as Levee - the trumpeter who steals the show. I did not even recognize him at first in the film. Considering it was shot during the last few months of his life, physically, he was a shadow of King T'Challa he was in Black Panther.  That did not deter him from pouring his soul into Levee. 

Chadwick Boseman as Levee at the center, in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom has all telltale signs of being adapted from a play. That coupled with my absolute no-clues-about-blues persuasion didn't endear me to the content of the film much. Ma Rainey also says in the movie that it would be an empty world without the blues. Maybe for you Ma, not for me.

The silver lining for me was Boseman's Levee. Despite his irreverent, go-getter attitude, his was the only character I found myself rooting for. The script gives a handful of theatrical monologues to Levee, knowing that this might be the last time Boseman would have an opportunity to deliver such hard hitting lines. Like this one on death, which considering the circumstances add to the poignancy,

"Now death. Death got some style. Death will kick your ass and make you wish you have never been born. That's how bad death is. But you can rule over life. Life ain't nothing."

The black and white footage at the end brings home the message that black artists didn't get their due and had their intellectual property stolen from them. It is heart-rending to watch white musicians play Levee's piece sans any emotion, while we the viewers know how much the black musicians had poured their souls into their compositions and never got credit.

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Recursion by Blake Crouch, a book review

There are movies made from books after the book creates a current and a following of its own and catches the eye of an actor or a director. Then there are books written to be movies, like Recursion by Blake Crouch. Never heard of him before, I blindly picked the book from my public library's Overdrive, sorted by 'Most Popular at the Library', filtered to 'Available = Yes' and then read a quick blurb to make sure I can finish it off in a night or two. I was in a fiction reading mood after years, can't let that slip.

Blake Crouch is an interesting name, my thoughts went a full circle from William Blake to Crouching tiger tiger burning bright back to Blake, W. Maybe this Blake will be exciting. The blurb had enticing statements about a time travel/memory puzzle box.

Recursion has Christopher Nolan written all over it. There are three main characters - an NYC cop named Barry, Helena a neuroscientist/inventor and a billionaire technocrat - Marcus Slade. These characters embark on several repetitive cycles of time travel using a chair (which can also be considered a character) invented by Helena. The outsiders, which is everyone except the primary players, consider this groundhog day years as a syndrome called FMS - False Memory Syndrome. Helena was Helena Bonham Carter and Slade was Elon Musk in my mind the whole time I was reading the novel. Russell Crowe could be Barry.

The first 1/3rd of the story is amazing, the second 1/3rd is alright, but things are starting to venture into a Nolanesque maze of multiple timelines and the characters are glitching out. The last 1/3rd is the reader realizing none of these timelines matter, as we say in Indian Sanskrit, sarvam maya = everything is an illusion. Overall it is a fun ride, if you don't try to make sense of the groundhog years.

Further research into the cinematic prospects of Recursion brought up news stories that Shonda Rimes and Matt Reeves are adapting the novel to a movie and a series for Netflix.

....and then I watched the movie Boss Level. Its story line is extremely similar to Recursion except Boss Level has a video-game skin on top. In Boss Level it is only the day that repeats endlessly just like Bill Murray's day in Punxsutawney, not several years as it does in Recursion. Will review it as a separate post.

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