Book Reviews: None of This Is True, The Maidens & More

Goodreads reminded me recently that I have only read 3 out of 20 books of my Reading Challenge this year. So I googled the best thriller books of 2023 and picked up one of the top results, None of This is True by Lisa Jewell and followed it up with The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (not a book from 2023)

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Here are my thoughts on these books.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell (of The Family Upstairs, I Found You and The Third Wife fame) has given us this interesting psychological thriller this year. The plot is pretty much summed up by the title of the book. It's about Josie Fair who meets her "birthday twin" Alix Summers, a journalist with a popular podcast. They hit up a friendship and Josie offers her "intriguing" true life story to be made into another podcast. Josie who is from a small town lives with her husband and a daughter now. Her other daughter has left home. While her behavior is shady and odd, her life story is interesting and Alix is sure, it can make for another successful podcast. So she ignores the odd behavior and lets Josie enter her life and her home. Many different twists and turns later, you learn that Josie's story is not exactly true. So, what is the truth then? 

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The author tries too hard to confuse the reader with different narratives from different characters at the end but fails at it. A rather disturbing trope in this book which made it difficult to go on was a female character who is 13 yr old being blamed for entering into a relationship with a grown middle aged man! No matter how well written this is and how interesting the characters get at certain points, this is just unacceptable. 

This book currently has a 4.2 rating on Goodreads and my intuition tells me, might end up winning this year's Goodreaders Choice Award under Mystery and Thriller. However, due to the problematic plot point, I am going to give it a 3

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Alex Michaelides who rose to fame with his debut novel, The Silent Patient could have done so much better with his second book, The Maidens. The first book set a gold standard for psychological thriller novels. For someone who wrote that, to then lay in front of us a book like The Maidens is pretty disappointing

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Mariana Andros, a group therapist has recently lost her husband, Sebastian. In the middle of her grieving process, she has to pack her bags to Cambridge to go see her niece, Zoe whose friend Tara is murdered. A series of more killings leads Mariana to believe and allege that Edward Fosca, the "dazzling" Greek Tragedy Professor is the murderer. Her obsession with this belief makes her go overboard and mess with the police investigation. When she stops, the actual murderer becomes visible. 

A fast thriller that lost the plot near the end is how I would sum it up. Very well written with interesting characters but the ending was too much of a stretch. It feels like a twist for the sake of a twist. It had such a potential to be a good story. Any other character in the book would have made a more convincing murderer than the actual one! 

Others

I read two graphic novels this year, This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki (illustrated by Jillian Tamaki) and Ghosts by  Raina Telgemeier. 

This One Summer has to be the most visually pleasant books that I have read. Its a coming age story of two friends that meet during the summer break. The illustrations are so beautiful, depicting a small town, the beach, the night sky, a forest, so many places that you feel like you are in them. 

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Ghosts is a heart touching story of a young Catrina and her  younger sister, Maya who is currently unwell. They meet ghosts in their new town who help Catrina process her grief over Maya's illness. 

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I had stopped reading books some time ago. I am glad that the desire to devour books has come back 😊💟. I took up The Silent Patient again this week but then, to complete my reading challenge, I had to move on to an old book on my TBR, Tell Her Everything by Mirza Waheed . So far so good. If you are reading this post, do let me know in the comments what books made your year!

Book Review- Amma by Vaasanthi

           I read an advice from Tim Denning today that went something like, "the only way to write well is to read more and write more". I think that's a really good advice- while I have tried to consistently blog here and have not been that successful, I did do some journaling on Notion and found that it gave me clarity of thought. Even on this blog, when I restarted in 2020, the posts got better and better! (No really, check them out 😀😀) 

          I read the book Amma: Jayalalithaa's Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen by Vaasanthi recently, so let me restart (again!) blogging with a review of it. 

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          Amma is not exactly a biography, its more of a collection of important events (narrated chronologically) - the events that shaped the Thalaivi. I knew Jayalalithaa was a strong leader to have emerged a winner despite the constant sexist attack on her meted out by the men in the opposition but this book helped understand how shrewd she had to get to navigate the toxicity. 

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         It talks about her childhood- how her mother, also an actress, wasn't around that much while she grew up and how she longed for her and then takes us through her life. Jayalalithaa, despite not being interested in movies, got into them and became a superstar. Not only that, she got into politics because of MGR and won at that too! She was elected the CM of Tamil Nadu 4 times! That is a true winner- no matter what she touched, it became gold because of her hard work and sheer charisma. 

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         This book seems to suggest she was drawn to married men. That might be true but I would not treat it as a true telling of Amma's story as she is not one of the sources. Yes, a few chapters are based on her own writings in a magazine years ago but that's that. Whether this book had her blessing, I am not sure. 

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        It also talks about her missteps - her close relationship with Sasikala and the corruption during her time as the CM. The book goes on to say that Jayalalithaa being alone needed company and she chose Sasikala as a "sister from another mother". I guess that could be true. All of us have been there, life gets easier with someone by our side - a spouse, a sibling, a best friend, etc. 

       The writing was extremely mediocre in the first few chapters but as you keep going, the language gets progressively better (I don't mean to trash writers because a lot goes into this craft. It's just that the expectation from them is higher, which is why, those chapters in the beginning didn't work for me). It's written in simple language too, which makes it charming in its own way- you get to focus on what is being told than how it is written. It's brevity also plays to the positives of this book- there are no unwanted or boring chapters, this alone was enjoyable for me. 

        The best part is it stays true to its character of a simple retelling of the events that shaped Amma and and not a biography (which it doesn't claim to be). From that POV, it does its job well. In places, you can see that the author has brought in her own opinions but again, she puts is across as that and not as the truth. So it works out fine. 

      I would give this book a rating of 4

      Of late, I have been interested in reading life stories of formidable leaders- have started reading Obama's A Promised Land (this is not my first attempt at this) and Katherine Frank's Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi. Hope to finish them this year- both the books are more than 500 pages long! 

      

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Book Reviews- Sci-fi, War, Murakami and more!

Hello everyone! How's it going? So, here's me attempting to write frequently again after being MIA for sometime now. Last year, there were some important personal life changes (AKA "I met the love of my life and got married!"), so I couldn't continue the streak. This time I intend to, once a week at least. 

Of late, I have been thinking about all my creative skills that I haven't honed in a while. For eg, blogging, writing a post on Linkedin, drawing/ painting/ art in general, playing the guitar, etc. Given that I just turned a year older, I now want to restart everything, think about where I really want to go in life and what I want to achieve. I want to try my hand again at all the above and see if that helps sort things. So, here I go. 

I am starting with some book reviews. The past 7 months, I have tried new genres- sci-fi, war, Murakami, etc (Umm, yeah I know Murakami is a writer but his distinct way of writing can be a genre of its own!) 

1) Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

I don't generally consume any content that is sci-fi because, it's not close to reality and it makes me uncomfortable. But I tried Dark Matter, a gift from my husband and boy did I love it! This is a brilliantly written book about parallel universe. The protagonist is kidnapped one fine day and is thrown into a science lab. The ensuing chaos leads him into a cube- a cube that can take you to parallel universes. There are different versions of him that go on to exist in parallel in each of those universes. In one of the worlds, he made a life choice 15 yrs ago which led him to create this cube himself! 

Is he going to finally figure out a way back to his original world? Will his other versions let him get back to his wife and son? That's the story. 

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I give this book a 4 star rating. The story is interesting and creative, and the writing helps you visualise everything pretty clearly, which I think is hard to do in this genre. Esp, for a sci-fi noob like me, who felt that such content is hard to understand, this book was a breath of fresh air. 

2) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Heartbroken- this is how I felt once I finished reading this book. Taking place at the time of the Biafran War, this novel is a compelling story of how wars break humans and make them too! Three characters- Ugwu, Olanna and Richard narrate their perspectives. 

Olanna is the beautiful daughter of Chief Ozobia of Lagos and one half of the twins, Kainene. She marries professor Odenigbo, an aspiring revolutionary. They have a life full of chaos and love that is tested further by the war. Ugwu is the houseboy who works for Odenigbo - a revolting character all in all. 

Kainene, the most beautiful character I have ever read about- this woman is idealistic, she gets on the ground and does the hard work for the cause she believes in, has burning self-belief and is so stoic! I loved reading about her, how her character shaped up- such a strong woman. Her British boyfriend is Richard, through whose lens some of the chapters flow. I had an indescribable sad feeling because of Kainene's story arc. However, the story does leave the ending open to interpretation, so I guess there is a silver lining. (I am trying hard not to give spoilers here. So this is sounding vague I know. Go read the book, you need to experience a book like this in your lifetime!)

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This book takes you through how a state goes from being non-existent to suddenly being a creation of victory and back again to vanishing in a chaotic war-stricken void. You see privileged , well to do people go from owning houses, entertaining guests, eating sumptuous food to losing everything they had and still have all the will to move forward. You catch a glimpse of the decisions they make influenced by their emotions and how they affect them. How even with that loss, they continue to go on with their lives with unbelievable strength and try to make a difference is really something. 

I love stories where people keep going despite what life throws at them. This is one such book, it is very close to my heart and will stay so. I give this a 5 star

3) Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Ugh! I don't want to talk about this book! I have always hated men writing women characters. This one takes the cake for being the worst women characters written by a man in my opinion. Am I missing something? Why is this so celebrated? What's so special? Or do I need to read more books by Japanese authors to truly get it? I don't know!

For me, it was a mediocre story filled with some weird sexual escapades. There is nothing wrong with sex if it makes sense in a story but here, it's like the characters don't know what else to do with their lives and with everyone they have any kind of relationship with! Women behaving like they are in need of someone to save them! Just no!

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I am going to give this book a 2 star. 

4) The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan

This is only the second book by an Indian author that I was able to read completely. Unfortunately, my initial experience reading Indian authors wasn't great except for Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things. So, I swore off on them until The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan (Thanks for the recommendation, Pint). A nice love story between Mehrunnisa and Prince Jehangir and the power she and her beauty wield on him. 

Yes, its a "nice" story. I tried adjectives like "heartwarming" but no, this is just a nice story because its a story from the past where men married several women. For me, it is hard to believe that those men ever loved any woman they were with. There are successors to this book about Mehrunnisa's raise to power in the Mughal kingdom. I am going to read them and let you know what I thought. 

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The writing is interesting, all the details of the Mughal era and its riches thrown in. It helps create good visuals in your head and experience the story well.  

I would give this book a 4 star

5) Win by Harlan Coben

A my-kinda-book! Fast paced crime thriller with a flamboyant, boastful, privileged protagonist, Win. This character really drew me in. True to himself, having no hesitance acknowledging how blessed he is in all aspects, an honest character imo. 

It's about Patricia, Win's cousin who was kidnapped as a young girl and tortured, and a group of 6 radicals, called Jane Street Six, whose plan to protest goes awry due to an unexpected situation. Are the two cases connected? Did the Jane Street Six kidnap Patricia or is there someone else?

My only issue with this book is that near the end, it drags on. Unnecessary twists here and there tend to get a tad boring. 

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A pretty decent book though, this receives a 4 star from me.

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So, those are some of the stories that caught my attention these past 8 months. I feel like I should read more of the classics, the epics (like Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones), etc. Do you have any suggestions? Oh, I have changed the layout for the mobile site to make your reading experience better! It was a difficult decision because I was really in love with the old one but I knew it was not looking good. So I had to do it! Do tell me if you liked it in the comments :) 

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Also I found a nice little book shop at Ranga Shankara in Bangalore called Paperback Bookshop. This beautiful theater built by Arundhati Nag (who we saw and Pint was in awe of!) in memory of her superstar husband, Shankar Nag hosts a cafe as well that has some healthy options on its menu. I intend to see a play here soon. Definitely check it out! 

Mani Ratnam movies

I watched some Mani Ratnam movies recently. I was amazed at how perfect these movies are - in their stories, the choice of actors, the cinematography (beautiful), Rehman’s music and just how there were no loopholes or unfinished business anywhere. The way these stories flowed was so smooth too. Mani Ratnam has paid attention to every little detail to create these masterpieces. (Every movie on this list but one! Read on)

BOMBAY

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Bombay has a political background just like Ratnam’s Iruvar, Roja, Kannathil Muthamittal, Dil Se, etc.  As we all know, it is about an interfaith couple and how the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition in the early 90s affects their life and the entire nation. 

The way this story is told is straightforward, it evokes the right emotions. The actors are such a treat to watch! I could not get enough of Aravind Swamy and the 2 child actors. Manisha Koirala, also, as someone who is not a Tamilian has done a pretty decent job (I am a “nouveau-Tamilian” myself, so I am only speaking from that POV).

KANNATHIL MUTHAMITTAL

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Kannathil Muthamittal is about a child born to a Srilankan adopted by Indian parents in the backdrop of the Srilankan civil war. You have a star cast of Madhavan, Simran, Prakash Raj and Nandita Das at the helms along with the fantastic child actor, P.S. Keerthana. Each actor knows perfectly what’s expected out of them. And Nandita Das in those red sarees makes for such a beautiful woman 8)

OK KANMANI

Another Mani Ratnam movie that is an absolutely bliss has to be O K Kanmani! What I loved about this film was that even though its a romantic movie, its does not depict overtly dramatic loving between the couple like in Bollywood movies, no masala for the sake of masala. Its a simple story with complexities of a young couple in love with life decisions in front of them. Dulqer Salman is good as usual but Nitya Menon outshines him with her natural adorableness and splendid acting! Like Bombay and Kannathil Muthamittal, this one seems near to reality too- the way the characters handle different situations.

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CHEKKA CHIVANTHA VANAM

After those master pieces, I watched Chekka Chivantha Vanam and was surprised to learn that it is from the same director! Surprised because it's a thoroughly disappointing fare. This movie spoils it all for you, the image you have of Ratnam, the kind of stories he can churn out and even getting his actors to their best.

It’s so mindless, you keep looking for a story but never find it. The writing is insincere- why and how would someone like Mani Ratnam with movies like Bombay create this disappointment willingly? There are so many loose ends to this movie. While it was a delight to watch Aravind Swamy and Vijay Sethupathi, the climax drilled a hole in my brain. How lazy and insincere can you get? And really? People spent their money and efforts to create this disaster and present it to an audience with so much confidence and so little respect to their intelligence?

I get really irritated when a male writer tries to present expectations from females from his perspective (Looking at you, Ally McBeal!). The character played by Jyothika is supposed to be perceived as strong not only because she is ok with the fact that her husband is having an affair with another lady but also runs to be there by his side during his time of need. Arent these kind of messages dangerous? Any human being with self respect should move out of such a relationship imho. We need to call out such narratives in movies. Even today, men write such characters, its pukeworthy. 

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It makes one wonder how this mess has a rating of 7.3 on IMDB and made a ton of money (”declared the biggest opening for a Mani Ratnam movie”). Have we been consuming such bad content that something like this is not just tolerable but worthy of the “biggest opening” tag? The answer could not be that simple because Netflix, Prime, Hotstar etc have been doling out some seriously good shows and movies of late. May be, we are so bored at home since the past 2 yrs of the gloomy pandemic that we are willing to watch movies that are just entertaining even if they are mindless! I would not go as far as saying Ratnam knows people watch his movies, so he decided to create a joke and make money of it or would I?! I am in two minds!

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Book of love

The kind of people you surround yourself with can have a profound impact on your life. They open up your mind to new perspectives and a whole new world. I have had this revelation lately. For years, I have consumed the same kind of content, thrillers (psychological thrillers esp!). I wouldn't touch the classics or the noir because I had decided they were really complex and I wouldn't understand them (For eg, I hadn't attempted George Orwell until recently). I haven't read absurdism or magical realism either because, "come on, that's not real! World doesn't work like that"! (I belong to the minority that hasn't read or watched the Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings series).

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It all changed the day I met Vishu. Now, I am not gonna gush over him because hello? this is a pop culture blog! But I am gonna go ahead and say that a magical new world of books is waiting for me!

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 From the list of books Vishu bought for me, I started with Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbø. Although the genres are world apart, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Anxious People by another Nordic author, Fredrick Backman. They have the same way of opening the story, with some amount of philosophy thrown in and navigate the narrative very similarly. (Coincidentally, both are translated to English by Neil Smith). 

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It's a charming story of Olav, a "fixer" (a hitman) and his very movie-like romance with his boss' wife, Corina, who by the way, his boss wants killed. It's an easy read and keeps you entertained till the last page. It reminded me so much of The Sopranos that I have now started watching James Gandolfini in all his glory!

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Bindu, my soul sister (not!) is another well read person I know. She introduced me to Gabriel García Márquez's Strange Pilgrims. I had kept away from this author because Pint had told me the content generally is sexist and voyeuristic. Well, she is not wrong. I don't personally think that the stories have aged well. I did like the writing and enjoyed the book in parts. All the stories are connected by the theme of travelling to a foreign land. Some are enjoyable, some are heartbreaking. All in all, a pretty decent read. 

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My next book is an uphill climb, Joy in the Morning by P G Wodehouse. Since I have loyally read the Gone Girl genre, switching to anything else seems daunting. But mon chavelier swears its a fun ride and that he gets his charming sense of humor from these books, so I am going to give it a try! 

Meanwhile, lets talk shows. American Crime Story is back! The Monica Lewinsky (the wonderful, Monica Lewinsky) produced third season brings on screen, the Clinton- Lewinsky scandal. I thought it was interesting to watch Monica's side of things on the affair that brought a president down. 

Although I love Ryan Murphy shows, I am not enjoying this one as much. Season 1 on OJ Simpson's acquittal threw it out of the park with a gripping script and a strong star-cast. The one on Gianni Versace's murder paled in comparison and now this season is even duller! 

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The story itself is of course, engrossing given that its based on the most scandalous affair the world has witnessed but I blame it on the cinematography, the piles of makeup, and the boringly slow narrative. Also, I am not ok with Sarah Paulson in a fat suit playing Linda Tripp. That was so unnecessary! I get it, Sarah is an amazing actor but there are other plus sized talented actors that could have played this character equally well. Its time we moved away from fat suits, black faces, straight actors playing gay characters, et al. The world is filled with plenty of talented people in all shapes, colors, sexual orientations and personal choices. Lets get them in! 

They have tried to make it all very convincing with their fantastic line of actors, Beanie Feldstein, Clive Owen, Annaleigh Ashford, Edie Falco, etc. These actors have literally put themselves in their characters' shoes and gotten the mannerisms just right! (Chef's kiss). They all do look like the people they are playing but the gross over use of prosthetics take away some amount of realness. 

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There have been only 2 episodes so far, so you never know, it might just pick up. Let's wait and watch. 

So, there. Thats all the pop culture for this week. What shows have you been watching? Do you have any book recommendations? Drop me a comment! :)

Must Read- Arnold Schwarzenegger's Autobiography- Total Recall

Before I review the book, I will get one thing off my chest about Arnold Schwarzenegger's biography- it is sexist and it is a bit hypocritical! Almost on all of the pages in the first part about his life in Austria and initial yrs in California, he mentions "girls" at least a 100 times and in one of the chapters, he goes on to call a charity group his wife is a part of- "Rich Broads' Foundation"! Hypocritical because this guy goes on to give you life advice and you feel like do you really want advice from someone who cheated on his wife of some 30 yrs? I decided to take Pint's advice one more time and separated the art from the artist! In order to enjoy the book, you have to ignore those misgivings. 

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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Alright, now to the best part about the book- it's definitely inspiring. Arnold was born in Thal, a village in Austria. From the beginning, he thought of himself as special and meant to do something bigger, meant to move to America. His book tells you that it's not just about dreaming big but to have goals and smash them!

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BODY-BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS

He started with body building, became a world champion- won different contests many times, including Mr Olympia for a record 7 times! He tells you that it's not just about body building but also about how you manipulate (for the lack of a better word!) your opponent into losing! This winning led him to his dreamland, America. He lands in California and guess what? One year of his stay has been taken care of by the fitness magazine Moghul that brings him there and employs him in his gym. 

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SUCCESSFUL MOVIE STAR

The second mountain that he conquered was getting into movies. You know you can't just think of the 90s without thinking of The Terminator- 2. Now, his goal was not just to become one of the biggest movie stars of all time but also earn $1 million. I have to admit that apart from having unwavering faith in his dreams, this guy is definitely smart. It's not just about grit and determination but also about learning everything there is to learn and conquer all the odds. (in his own words, several times in his life, he became a "sponge" and absorbed everything there was for him to know). He gave back to back hits and became one of the most bankable stars of the 80s and 90s. 

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Before getting into movies, Arnold made a lot of money through sheer intelligence and calculated investments in real estate. Think about it, this guy from a small village in Austria set his foot in a foreign land, learned the tricks of the trade, made some really clever investments and started living a life he dreamed of. 

THE GOVERNATOR

Once he vanquished the cinema world, we all know, his next conquest was becoming the Governor of California. I haven't read about whether he was a good governor or not from people's perspective but it looks like he did all that he could under his power to be a good one. One of the biggest learnings for me here is that when governors or heads of a state visit a disaster-hit area, it's not for photo op! But so that the head can see what's happening first hand, help out or figure out the best ways to help! We are so used to our "leaders" visiting/ photoshop their pictures just for publicity, we forget the intention of such actions altogether! Arnold toured Napa and other flood affected areas, quickly got a pulse of the situation and acted immediately on setting up shelters (proper ones at that), providing immediate aid, etc. That's wonderful leadership!

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At the end of the day, it hit me, how much confidence, persistence and hard work do you need to have to go from a village in Austria- become the biggest names in body-building, become one of the biggest movie stars and then become the governor of California! If I have to point a finger at what it is that is so different about him, it has to be his intelligence and perseverance to achieve his goals. An interesting point is he also firmly believed he was always special, ergo, he must have felt he deserved more than an average Joe in whatever he asked for. You know sometimes, its all about what you think manifesting into things. I truly believe that myself. Looking at famous people dream big and bring them into existence just makes that belief stronger

(A note on the heading to this part- The Governator was not a name that initially bode well with Arnold because of the negative connotations it entailed. But later, he was almost developing a comic book by the same name with Stan Lee. That went for a toss as his cheating allegations surfaced)

The book ends with Arnold's apology letter to Maria for having cheated on her and it looked like at the time of the publication of the book, he was still very much in love with her. I see them now, all these years later, coming together for their family for birthdays, festivals, etc. May be that's the right thing for them and their happiness. 

I want to recommend this book to everyone. You learn how people with big dreams live, how they make those dreams a reality. With a lot of hard work and self belief. 

With that, I say "Hasta La Vista, Baby"! (Sorry I had to do that 😁 )

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Half Travolta-Half Cage and a Stellar Kate Winslet!

 I have been reading the terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography "Total Recall" since a week or two (has some 600+ pages!)- this book got me thinking about all the other mainstream heroes of the 80-90s like Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and the omni-present, Nicholas Cage! So I watched one of their movies, read on to know more

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FACE OFF

When my dad brought the Aiwa TV and CD player set into our lives back in the 90s, we got some CDs for free. We have watched Titanic (2 CD set) at least 25 times along with Dunston Checks In ! There was also one whose cover looked particularly annoying to me (I hated action movies, may be that's why!), which was of Face Off- it had half the face of Travolta and half of Cage. Whenever I saw it, I just put the CD case deep inside my mom's wardrobe and pretended it never existed

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Coming back, while reading Arnold's book, I was trying to remember the name of this movie. Last weekend, while browsing Hotstar, as if a divine intervention, saw the same cover that I hated in their English Movie list! Half Travolta, half Cage. On a whim, I decided to watch it! Here's what I thought. 

Cage plays Castor Troy, a terrorist who, in an attempt to kill Travolta's FBI Agent, Sean Archer, misfires and gets Archer's son instead. For years, Sean is in hunt for Troy for bloody revenge. The moment arrives when there is intelligence of Troy's new plan for bombing some location in Los Angeles. The FBI squad manages to catch Troy and his brother Pollux in a duel (This duel has to be iconic for the sheer amount of lameness plastered all over it- the FBI catches them while they are onboard a plane!). Archer shoots Troy which renders him unconscious. 

Meanwhile, Pollux is sent to a high security prison. While Troy is unconscious, a bunch of FBI officers and a doctor hatch a plan to get the exact bomb location out of Pollux- have Troy's face transplanted on Archer and send him to the prison where Pollux is jailed and coax it out of him! You should watch the movie to see the beauty of the face transplant (I am of course being sarcastic, which is the general tone of this review, btw). 

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They carry out this plan and Sean ends up in prison, while his face skin is nicely preserved in the room that Castor is lying unconscious. Here's a "twist", prepare to be mind blown (NOT!). Troy wakes up one fine night, one thing leads to another and voila, he gets Archer's face transplanted on him and the fun begins! I don't want to get overtly critical of this movie because I am guilty of enjoying it at the end of the day!

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The true star of this movie has to be John Travolta! His portrayal of the holier-than-thou Archer and his anti thesis, devil-may-care Troy has to be one of his best works. He gets Cage's eccentric mannerisms (That launched a thousand memes) just right. At the end, you cannot shake off the feeling that it still may be Troy pretending to be Archer. Cage has done a decent job too by the way. In my opinion, if you forget all logic and laws of nature, this movie can actually get pretty entertaining! (Just like most Bollywood movies). 

MARE OF EASTTOWN

I watched Mare of Easttown too last weekend and boy, was this show brilliant! You rarely come across a crime thriller that has a good plot, is directed well, keeps you guessing, has exemplary actors and overall, is a decent show. This one crosses everything in the list. 

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Its about a suburb called Easttown, where a girl has been missing for over a year. While solving this murder, Detective Mare Sheehan has to grapple with the murder of another young girl with the help of an out of town detective, Colin Zabel. It starts to look like a serial killer has his grip on the town but does he? Are the murders connected or are they separate acts? 

It was a little unsettling to watch Kate Winslet as a grandmother (come on, is she that old?!) but she has done an absolutely delightful job in the show. Her acting is composed and as stellar as the direction of the story. On a show like this, it is easy for a writer to go awry with their twists- not just what twist and how many twists but also where do you drop them! Mare of Easttown has got it all just right. Until the end, you are glued to the screen and just near the wrap up, BAM! there is a twist out of nowhere! It made sense too, the last one because without it, it just couldnt be the end. 

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Guy Pearce has made a surprising appearance, without having any actual part. Generally, you see such blink and miss parts given to actresses (for eg, the second-youngest Academy Award winning actress, Anna Paquin in a silent role in The Irishman). But I am not complaining, have been a fan of Guy since L A Confidential, such a good actor. 

Evan Peters as Detective Jobel could have done better. His acting is spent on grinning with full teeth and no other expressions but may be that's just me. I saw some rave reviews coming his way online. 

I have watched Kate Winslet in so many good movies after Titanic but she remained Rose to me all these years until Mare of Easttown. This changed it all. It is a 5-star worthy show, do watch it and let me know what you thought