‘Watched’- April-May

Hey there! Welcome back to ‘The Confessions of a Random Blogger!’

I think what I miss most about pre-pandemic life is being able to sit in a dark cinema hall for a couple of hours with a huge bag of popcorn, and sort of just disappear. A place where it is not just encouraged but expected for people to shut up.

It just sort of felt like a break from reality for at least a few hours.

However, all we can really do as the pandemic continues is either replicate our old coping mechanisms or find new ones.

One of the only reasons I’m still somewhat sane (many people will testify against that statement) is because of the constant influx of amazing television shows and movies.

In contrast to sharing my music recommendations of the month, movie and television show recommendations are always appreciated, because who couldn’t use a bit of a disconnect from reality?

Especially this reality.

So today I’m going to be sharing some of my favourites from the past couple of months.

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Manifest (Available on Amazon Prime)

A new friend of mine recommended this show to me a few weeks ago and it has been one perpetual unproductive binge session ever since.

‘Manifest’ is a supernatural drama series which follows the passengers of a commercial airplane returning from Jamaica. However, when they land in New York, they discover that their plane has been missing and they have been presumed dead for 5 years.

I can’t really say much more. You know- spoilers? However, what I can say is if you’re into that whole specific supernatural analytical mystery type genre, ‘Manifest’ is the show for you!

Special shout out to the person that recommended this show to me!

Roohi (Available on Netflix)

‘Roohi’ is a Hindi horror comedy film (or so Netflix claims).

One thing you should know about me is that I absolutely love horror and thriller movies. If it can scare the shit out of you, I want to watch it!

Therefore, when I saw ‘Roohi’ pop up in my recommendation list I decided to give it a chance! I mean, I love horror. I love comedy. What could go wrong?

Evidently a lot.

Perhaps most frustratingly, this movie just… didn’t make any sense!

From plot holes to scenes that served absolutely no purpose (horror or comedy wise) to an ending that made absolutely no sense even after I Googled it.

As usual I’m not going to reveal the plot. Not because of spoilers, but because all these days later I’m still unsure of what the hell the plot was exactly.

At the end of the film I found myself cursing the invention of the camera that led to the creation of this movie. It wasn’t even one of those ‘so bad it’s good’ films.

It was just really bad.

The Lucy Show (Available On YouTube)

I’m sure most of you are well aware of my adoration for sitcoms.

The Lucy Show is a sitcom that aired from 1962-1968 starring Lucille Ball.

To be honest, I would have to say that I enjoy classic sitcoms from many decades ago because of their sheer simplicity.

If a modern sitcom were to use the plot lines from ‘The Lucy Show’ today, they would be labelled as cliché and unoriginal. However, I think sometimes we forget that clichés have to start somewhere.

At some point those unappreciated clichés were extremely original and innovative!

There’s just something so comforting about watching a straight to the point, wholesome sitcom.

This may even sound a little controversial, but because of the massive amounts of censorship that plagued television at the time, this show very rarely mentions or acknowledges any actual social or political issues.

Although it may sound a bit ignorant, it’s actually kind of nice to disappear inside a 1960s sitcom where the biggest problem is a housewife losing her contact lens in chocolate cake batter.

Furthermore, owing to the sheer mass availability of content being made available to us on a daily basis, I think we forget that back in the day there probably weren’t that many entertainment options available. Therefore, whatever you did choose to watch had to good.

Television from back then wasn’t amazing because of its simplicity or creativity; but simply because they had to be!

The Woman In The Window (Available on Netflix)

A little bit of backstory here for you guys.

‘The Woman In The Window’ is one of my favourite books. In fact…I actually wrote a book review of it! (shameless self promo: sorry not sorry).

However, I was pretty disappointed by the film adaption. Although I was extremely impressed with the cinematography and the acting, I felt that the script didn’t include some of the best thriller aspects of the book.

They had enough material to make a truly amazing film adaptation. In fact, ‘The Woman In The Window’ is one of those rare books that feels like it has already been written explicitly to be turned into a film. Sort of like more of a narrative movie script than a fictional novel.

All they had to do was follow what was literally already written.

Once again, while I was pretty impressed with the creativity of the cinematography and angles (can you tell that I don’t know anything about cinematography or angles); it doesn’t make up for the fact that they missed so many opportunities to utilise the source material properly.

It’s just sort of sad that this movie had everything going for it- great actors, great budget, great source material; and still managed to somehow mess it up.

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Thank you for reading! Comment some of your favourite movie and television show recommendations!

Reminder– you know that comment section below my posts? It’s literally there for you! Go ahead and comment anything that you would like to share!

You can check out my last few posts here:

• The Scariest Things That Actually Exist
• borrowed poems from an anonymous- ‘Expressions of Love’ and ‘Experience’
• The Horror of Surveillance
• Pet Peeves
• Happy Panda- Random Blogger Interviews

Until Next Time.