The Offbeat Critic

Where to Watch: Netflix The third installment of this fly-on-the-wall sports documentary is back on Netflix after four years since the previous season and six years since the first one.  We have a new Chairman - "Kyril  Louis-Dreyfus" the  son of "Robert Louis-Dreyfus" (a former CEO of Addidas and French Football Team Marseille). This season covers  the  2021-2022 season  of Sunderland , their fourth consecutive one in League One.   The season shows their intent to push themselves from "League One" (3rd Tier of the English Footballing System) to "The Championship" (2nd Tier of the English Footballing System). Like the former seasons, this one gives ample screen time to the non-sporting staff and  fans,  and how the club's fortunes  are correlated  with their well-being. Finishing in the top two out of 24 teams guarantees automatic promotion , finishing  anywhere from third to sixth means that you have to go through the dreaded ...

Where to Watch: Free Streaming on PLEX, available for rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies Christmas - it has to be one of the most celebrated festivals across the world. It is the time for social and family gatherings, religious services, people taking part in gift-giving, and businesses experiencing increased economic activity. Things seem to be happy during this time of the holiday season. There are a lot of "Christmas-themed" movies. One of them is "Home Alone (1990)" which seems to be playing on the television every time you switch it on during this period. As I am not a fan of Slapstick humor, I decided to watch something else. That something else was "It's a Wonderful Life". A movie that was not as financially successful as "Home Alone" but was more "Critically Acclaimed" (albeit not immediately). This stars James Stewart, whom I have seen previously in "Rear Window" (another classic). The movie starts with an...

Where to Watch: Disney + Hotstar When I think about Pixar, the first movie that comes to mind is "Toy Story 3" (my favourite animated movie). In 2022, Pixar released "Lightyear" a spin-off of the "Toy Story" Series focusing on one of the series' main characters "Buzz Lightyear". "Lightyear" was a box-office bomb and received mixed reviews. I felt the first 15-20 minutes of that movie were good, but after that it went haywire. In June 2023, Pixar's twenty-seventh movie "Elemental" was released. It is a marked improvement over both "Lightyear" and "Good Dinosaur"(Peter Sohn served as the director for both "Good Dinosaur" and "Elemental"). This movie premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival where it received mixed reviews , but the reviews became more positive when it reached wider audiences.  It is the story of the four elements of nature - Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. The focu...

Where to Watch: Netflix A few years ago, I saw a movie called Searching (2018), directed by Aneesh Chaganty, an Indian-origin Director. It was a mystery thriller unlike any other I had seen before. The story was riveting like many movies in this same genre, but its portrayal on screen was unique. It is a relatively new genre of visual storytelling called Screenlife. While the definition of a Screenlife movie may be a bit hazy (as per the link ), the movie certainly wasn't. It was one of the best thrillers I had ever seen, and to see the director make such a movie on his debut is worthy of praise. Five years later, we have a Standalone Sequel to "Searching"; called "Missing". But this time, Aneesh Chaganty only serves as the Writer.  While comparisons to the former are inevitable, this is a worthy Standalone Sequel (The characters or plot line here are not the same as that of the original). There were some pacing issues in between, sometimes the screens shifted t...

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video Movies, when you decide to watch one, what do you look at? The IMDB score? The Runtime? The Cast? The Genre? The Director? The book/material from which it draws inspiration? When I started watching movies, I used to check the IMDB score. But there were many instances where I felt disappointed, mainly because some had a higher rating than they should have while others had a lower rating. Mostly I think IMDB is biased because users can skew the ratings. Otherwise, how does one justify Mithun Chakraborty's Gunda receiving 7.3/10 (as of 15th Aug 2023)? I reckon Metacritic 's ratings on a scale of 100 makes sense for mainstream movies. I went through the list of my watched movies and gave a rating on a scale of 100 and checked their Metacritic Ratings and found them to be similar to what I had given. (for documentaries I generally don't refer to them as they usually have high ratings). One of my favorite Film critics is Chris Stuckmann. I came...

Where to Watch: Apple TV Back in 2021,  the "UEFA Euro 2020 Final" (yes, the tournament was supposed to happen in 2020 but happened in 2021 due to "you know what") ended with the England Football Team finishing as runners-up against Italy. The game ended 1-1 after extra time with Italy winning 3-2 on penalties. After a few days, Jason Sudeikis (who plays the central character Ted Lasso) was seen sporting a Black Jumper with the words " Jadon & Marcus & Bukayo " (supporting the three players who missed the penalties for England and were targets of racial abuse) ahead of the Season 2 premiere. This was the first time I heard about this series and after researching about it, I realized that this character is based on a series of TV commercials that aired back in 2013. The premise was intriguing enough for me and I saw Season 1 (2020) and Season 2 (2021) back to back.  Seasons 1 and 2 were good for the most part, but there were a couple of episodes in...

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video The second season of "The Test" comes out almost three years after the first season debuted. This season has only four episodes compared to the eight in the first season. The season begins just before the 21-22 Ashes series when Tim Paine stepped down as Captain of Australia's Test team. The first two episodes focus on the Ashes Series, Pat Cummins' captaincy (and Steve Smith's during the second test match). The third episode shifts focus to the Australian Cricket team returning to Pakistan for the first time in over two decades to play a three-test match series. The final episode is Australia's Tour of Sri Lanka (Only the Test Matches). If I had to judge this installment, I would do it in 2 parts; the first two episodes had a slower tempo (maybe because it was one-sided) while the last two episodes were riveting. This series could have been better if it had two more episodes. The episodes covering the Ashes focussed more on ...

 Where to Watch: Amazon Prime The Spanish title translates to "Spain National Football Team: Strength of the Group". This is a 2-episode fly-on-the-wall documentary that captures the story of the Spain National Football team in the UEFA Euro 2020. I couldn’t help but compare it with 5-Episode “All or Nothing: Brazil National Team” a documentary filmed in a similar style during “2019 Copa America”. Although at 5 episodes that documentary was too long, I felt that at 2 episodes, “Selección Española de Fútbol, la Fuerza del Grupo” was too short. The episodes are around 35 minutes each and I think they could have had one more episode. One can argue that Spain did not win the Euros and hence the 2 episodes should be enough, but I think there are a lot of good moments involving Coach “Luis Enrique” and his team. I felt the coach and his style, the build-up to the Euros, which was a bit rushed, deserved more time. These minor shortcomings aside, I feel this is pretty watchable and w...

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video All or Nothing, a “fly-on-the-wall” series that has covered various sports like Rugby, Ice Hockey, American Football, and Soccer (just) Football, is back with its’ next installment covering Italian Football Club Juventus’ 2020-21 footballing season. Many football teams have had documentaries made on them, notable clubs include, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, Boca Juniors, the Brazilian National Football Team which have all lasted one season. There are only two football documentaries that come to my mind spanning two seasons, namely Netflix’s “Sunderland ‘Til I Die” on English Football Club Sunderland A.F.C. and Amazon Prime’s “Takes us Home: Leads United” on English Football Club Leeds United. Both of these series capture clubs that have fallen from grace and are vying to play in the “Top Echelon” of the English Football System, albeit with differing fates but satisfying to watch nonetheless. But the case with Juventus ...

Where to Watch: Disney+ Hotstar Premium Luca is Pixar's 24th movie and has released direct-to-streaming similar to Pixar's previous, "Soul". Set in a fictional town called "Portorosso" in Italy, it follows the main character named "Luca Paguro" a "sea monster" that lives underwater that can take the appearance of a human being when out of the water (which he later finds out).  Luca is warned by his parents not to get out of the water and they call the humans out of the water "land monsters" (It is all about perspectives you see). Now Luca comes across and befriends Alberto who also happens to be a "sea monster" and encourages him to venture out of the water. The pair when out of the water look at a poster of a Vespa scooter (Product Placement?) and start making plans to first build and later purchase one and travel the world. What happens later on forms the crux of the story. I have seen every one of Pixar's previo...

Where to Watch: Netflix Drive to Survive, a fly-on-the-wall documentary series first debuted in 2019 and covered the 2018 Formula 1 Season. Since then the series has had a lot of following and is into its third season. Truth be told, "Drive to Survive" is the reason I started watching Sports documentaries. I hadn't seen any race in 2018 before the first season came out, and I only saw the final race of 2019 before the second season. I was eagerly awaiting for the 2020 Formula 1 Season to start before "you-know-what" delayed sporting action across the globe. The season finally kicked off in July with certain races either being canceled or postponed. The good parts about this series are its intensity, behind-the-scenes action, the interviews with the Drivers, and the "key-personnel" of the various teams.  Now even though I saw all the races of 2020, it became a bit difficult to follow because the episodes go back and forth in time rather than in a sequen...

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime This two-episode series follows the Australian Women's Cricket Team while playing at the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. The organizers have a plan of smashing the record attendance at a women's sporting event.  The previous best being 90,185 at the 1999 Women's FIFA World Cup Final. (Check the second episode of "This is Football", another Amazon Prime Series). They choose the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) as the venue for the final.  The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup features ten teams split into two groups of 5 and, the top 2 teams from each group progress to the knockout stages. The focus is on the Australian Cricket Team and the games that they play. There are glimpses of how the results of the other teams went. I couldn't help but compare it to the "The Test" (again another Amazon Prime Series, following the Australian Men's Cricket Team after the "2018 Australian Ball-Tampering Scandal" leadi...

Where to Watch: Hotstar Premium As far as comedies are concerned, I have seen a few silent movies of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Although many would classify their works under the "slapstick" tag, in my opinion, they are much better than "Modern-Day" slapstick comedies. I have also given a lot of sitcoms a run, only to leave them midway.  If I was to recollect series that I have completed over the past decade, there are three of them that stand out! The first one is Dexter (2006-13) [although Dexter last aired in 2013, it has been renewed for another season scheduled to come out in 2021]. The second one is Breaking Bad (2008-13). The third, its spin-off series Better Call Saul (2015-present).  These series, although fall under the "Drama" tag, are also classified as "Black/Dark Comedies" ! So, I went about and searched for series having this brand of Comedy and I stumbled upon "Barry"! Barry stars Bill Hader (who also serves as t...

 Where to Watch: Amazon Prime "Fernando" is a five-episode series that follows racing driver Fernando Alonso taking part in  2019: 24 Hours of Daytona 2 018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship  (which also includes the 24 Hours at Le Mans ) 2019 Indianapolis 500  and the 2020 Dakar Rally This is the third documentary I have seen that has Fernando Alonso. The first being " Grand Prix Driver ", an Amazon series that released in 2018 when he was racing with " McLaren " in Formula 1 alongside Stoffel Vandoorne . The second series was Netflix's " Drive to Survive: Season 1 " that covered the 2018 F1 calendar. Alonso and his team McLaren were also part of the mix. This is the first series with Alonso in focus. The series starts with covering his childhood and then the aforementioned races in a chronological manner. Now, Alonso is after the triple crown that means winning the " Monaco Grand Prix "; " 24 Hours of Le Mans " and ...

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime [Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the first season] Leeds United - a footballing side that last played in the Premier League in the 2003-04 season. They were relegated to the Championship (second tier of English Football) that season. In 2006-07 they were again relegated to League One (third tier in English Football). After two years of narrowly missing qualification back to the second tier, Leeds finally secured automatic promotion in 2009-10 where they finished as Runners-Up. Since 2010-11 Leeds have stayed in the second tier, neither getting promoted nor relegated. The first season of this documentary series covered the 2018-19 season of Leeds United under new Coach Marcelo Bielsa. It was a six-episode documentary with the last three episodes focussing on their promotion push. Leeds come agonizingly close to the automatic promotion spots but finish third. This meant they had to play the dreaded "play-offs". They lost 3-4 to Derby County o...

Where to Watch: Netflix " Lost Bullet " is a French action movie that was released on Netflix in June this year. Mentioning anything more than Netflix's summary would be giving away spoilers. That is how clichéd "Lost Bullet" is.  If I was to shift my focus to other French action movies I have seen, the first ones that come to my mind are " District 13 " and its sequel " District 13: Ultimatum "; and " Nuit Blanche ". There are other movies which may not be in the French language but have either a French Director or Production Company. The " Taken Franchise " consisting of three movies, the " Transporter Franchise " consisting of three movies , I beg your pardon they made four movies. A fourth one (which I am unaware of) was released in 2015 with the previous trilogy lead  Jason Statham  being replaced by  Ed Skrein .  Movies of the "Transporter" and "Taken" Franchise used a lot of " shak...

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video This series covers the 2019-20 season of the English Premier League club "Tottenham Hotspur". Tottenham finished as runners-up in the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League losing 0-2 to fellow Premier League side Liverpool. This 9 episode series was released in 3 parts, the first three came out on the 31st of August, the next three episodes a week later, and the last three yet another week later on the 14th of September. It starts with flashbacks of the previous year's dream run in the Champions League. Later, the focus shifts to the current season which is not the best of starts. It shows Tottenham coach "Mauricio Pochettino" attending press conferences with reporters asking him tough questions. The mood is gloomy and by the 22nd-minute into the first episode, Pochettino is sacked and is replaced by José Mourinho. Now, José Mourinho's track record has been phenomenal, winning many trophies with the teams he has coached. Tottenham...

Where to Watch: You can rent this movie in HD for ₹120 or buy it in HD for ₹590 either on "Google Play Movies & TV" or on "YouTube". Having seen "Contagion" just a day before, I decided to watch another movie that became popular early this year. This movie is directed by "Wolfgang Petersen" and is my third movie of his after "In the Line of Fire (1993)" and "Air Force One (1997)". Both of those movies were low on substance and this one is no different. This film follows a virus called "Motaba" and its outbreak in erstwhile Zaire (Now the Democratic Republic of Congo), and how it makes its way to a fictional town called "Cedar Creek" in the United States. This movie is plain ludicrous, with funny dialogues thrown in when something serious is going on and a lot of the scenes are "over the top". While there a few instances in this movie that create some tension, that quickly goes away when these ...

Where to Watch: Netflix  Alternatively, you can rent this movie in HD for ₹120 or buy it in HD for ₹590 either on "Google Play Movies & TV" or on "YouTube". TED is a non-profit organization where people from around the globe deliver thought-provoking ideas. All you have to do is to go to YouTube and watch it for free. One video that became very popular early this year was a TED video of Bill Gates titled "The next outbreak? We’re not ready". In that video, there is a mention of a movie called ''Contagion'' featuring a stellar cast. Contagion is directed by Steven Soderbergh. The movie starts by showing a female character who had gone to Hong Kong for a business trip return back to Minneapolis. Later she has a seizure and eventually dies while at the hospital of unknown causes. Now whatever happens later in this movie has an uncanny resemblance to how "COVID-19" is wreaking havoc. There is a mention in the movie that ''...

About a decade ago, when we had to watch a movie, the first thing me and my friends used to do was to check tickets online and then either pay a convenience fee so that we could book our favourite seats in the hall if it was a movie which was in demand or we used to take a risk by looking at the number of empty seats and reach the theatre in time hoping those favourite seats were not booked by someone else. Either way, the internet helped us in this small little mission. A decade later a lot has changed with internet data prices at very low prices, OTT applications are the talk of the town. These applications are now fighting for a space on our mobile phones. When we would hear about a movie most of us would check on either Netflix or Amazon Prime if it is English, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLiv, Zee5, ALTBalaji, ErosNow, SunNXT if it is in a regional language. So when I was searching about these applications, I came across an advertisement on YouTube for MUBI. MUBI is a Subscription-bas...