Game: Hollow Knight

Over the last couple of years, I have written about games I absolutely adored. Stardew Valley, Celeste are both indie games, with satisfying gameplay and a strong emphasis on story telling. Hollow Knight is a similar game, developed by Team Cherry and released in 2017. It was one of games I was most excited to …

Movie: When Marnie Was There (2014)

Studio Ghibli's 'When Marnie Was There' is unlike any other Studio Ghibli movie I have seen. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, it lacks the usual music, joyfulness and wonder that most Studio Ghibli movies or Hayao Miyazaki's movies have. It is also a bit slower than most other movies, but I think the slow pace was …

The Expanse: TV Show vs The Book

Last year, I finished 'Leviathan Falls', the final book of 'Expanse' saga by James S.A Corey. I was introduced to the franchise by the TV adaptation which has completed sixth and possibly the last season. After finishing the book series, I felt there are few differences between the show and the books. Before I proceed, …

TV: Severance (2022)

Note: this post contains spoilers for Severance. Please watch the show before reading this, as I will discuss the finale here. Severance is a 2022 Apple TV show created by Dan Erickson. It depicts a world which is almost familiar but slightly skewed. This world would definitely become reality if the relevant technology existed. Severance …

TV: Chernobyl & Smoking

Chernobyl is a 2019 TV mini-series which is almost a documentary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The show follows people of Ukraine (then USSR) and their sacrifice in this time of crisis, the people who unwillingly or willingly performed heroic duties. I don’t want to discuss what the people of Chernobyl and their characters did …

TV: Arcane (2021) – About Ekko

As I was writing about Arcane, I realised that I can’t really fit in everything that I loved about the show in one piece. Arcane is full of amazing, multilayered characters and I can’t do them all justice by craming everything in a single post. In this piece I want to talk about my favourite …

TV: Arcane (2021)

League of Legend’s Arcane (2021) is the only show I regret not watching on release. Usually, I prefer to watch shows after all the hype around them has died down. This way my enjoyment of the show is greater & I get to see other people’s opinions about what they liked, what small details they …

On Finishing things

As the Christmas-End of Year holidays started, I noticed that I had a lot of stuff on-going or not started including writing work, programming projects, movie on my watch-list & games. I started the holidays with a plan: to finish as many things as I possibly can. I have always enjoyed completing things. Yeah the …

TV Show: Ted Lasso (2020)

Ted Lasso is an Immigrant Story. I found myself remembering my first couple of days in NZ as I watched the first two-three episode of Ted Lasso. There are a lot of differences of course: Ted moved to a country with the same native language, a country whose people predominantly share his skin colour & he moved after he took a job.

TV Show: The Expanse & what I love about it

The Expanse asks the question of what if we travel to distant solar system bodies without any actual change in how we view our society.

Ben Howard makes me feel

Ben Howard is my favourite singer-songwriter. One whose songs leave me introspective & nostalgic. They start with a mesmerising guitar intro; enveloping his vocals as the lyrics are sung. His old albums Every Kingdom & I Forget What We Were featured songs I associate with morose & lonely places; and yet there is an ember …

Movies: The Cat Returns (2002)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-H_YOcYTM Cat Returns (Japanese Trailer) Studio Ghibli has made multiple movies in which a young adult matures after being transported into a 'another' world. The young adult overcomes obstacles and finds answer to the question: who do I want to be/where do I belong?. 'Spirited Away' is one such movie. The Cat Returns (2002) is …

Game: Stardew Valley

I have written about pretty much aspect of my life and its passions: fictions, photography, programming & movies but I haven't written about how I spend most of my free time: playing games. To be honest, I never considered playing games an important part of my character. I would rage at losing while playing Rocket …

Movies: Little Women (2019)

I have never read Louisa May Alcott's 1869 novel Little Women. The first time I heard of Little Women was on This American Life's episode #680. I did not know there had been 6 adaptations of the book but I knew of Greta Gerwig through her movie 'LadyBird'. It took a wonderful recommendation from FilmJoy …

TV: Good Place Series Finale

It is difficult to sum up a multi season TV series. NBC’s The Good Place has the following (cheesy) synopsis on IMDB: Four people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good. - IMDB Here is my take: The Good Place was a brilliantly made show which tried …

Movies: Parasite (2019)

In the last year, Bung Joon-ho's Parasite is a movie that I keep coming back to. Parasite might be the best economic class disparity movie I have ever seen. It is so tightly packed because of its absolute perfect direction and story that it is an absolute joy watching it and when the movie is …

Movies: Toy Story 4 (2019)

Credits: flickeringmyth Each Toy Story movies is unique as each presents a metaphor for different age milestone. First Toy Story dealt with teens/early twenties or college years. Toy Story 2 dealt with Woody undergoing a midlife crisis and questioning his life's purpose. Toy Story 3 dealt with the idea of retirement and the prospect of …

Thoughts on a book: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (2018)

Grief is a hard thing to describe and write about. It is, I think, comparatively easy to write about when grief is thick like morning fog or when it leaves a strong taste in the mouth. It, when coupled with depression, gets harder to describe as most often when there is no feeling. It is …

Harry Potter books and the mirror they hold

Image Credits: Scholastic Art is political. Ergo, books are also political. I have seen a lot of argument online about how authors shouldn't try to shove in their own political opinions into books. I don't think that is possible, as writing bares one's soul onto paper. An author is bound to throw in their political …