371. Web-series Reviews – 186

More web-series reviews…

The Yara Gambirasio Case – Came out in 2024.  This docuseries digs into the disappearance of 13-year-old Yara and the disconcerting investigation that shattered the peace of a small Italian town.

A review from IMDB...

The kidnapping and murder of 13 year old girl Yara Gambirasio could turn out to be one of the most important cases in international criminal history. As one of the pioneers of DNA evidence, Peter Gill has said - 'DNA should never be used alone to convict a criminal, but with a combination of other evidence.'

Never before has a better case been made than in this tragic case, where a very likely probability is that there is currently an innocent man languishing in an Italian for a crime he may well not have committed.

Despite almost shooting itself in the foot, by presenting the facts of the case with two non linear time lines, this documentary never the less presents a balanced view of a case that Italy was so desperate to have an answer for, an innocent man may well have gone to prison for the crime.

The more likely scenario is that a serial killer is still on the loose in Italy who may have been responsible for more than one murder.

The victim, who quite rightly is often at the forefront of this story, was a bright dance student from a normal middle class Italian family. Yara disappeared on a cold winters evening while walking back from the local sports hall to her house, a walk which only would have taken 10-15 minutes.

From the word go several vital mistakes were made in the case. A proper search was not carried out of key premises, nor key potential witnesses including the janitor of the gym until some time later. The victim herself wasn't found for three months, in an area that was already searched several times, suggesting it was highly probable she was placed there at a later date.

A DNA profile was completed from a sample found on the victims body but the way in which was constructed appears to be flawed and convoluted, it was also evidence which later denied to the defence, and an order was given that would effectively destroy the last remaining samples. Other potential scenarios and perpetrators were not followed up, and the entire prosecution was flawed and evidence was manufactured to favour their case.

You really need to see this series for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but I have a feeling history will not be kind to those in this case who have put a local brick layer in prison.

But please, enough with the non-linear narratives.

My take – Worth a watch!

Chutney Sambar – Came out in 2024.  An orphaned street vendor unexpectedly becomes part of his wealthy half-brother's family, navigating the challenges of gaining acceptance in his new circumstances.

A review from IMDB...

Whatever the title "Chutney sambar" is, it is only used to touch the story... With no knee-jerk comedies, no chasing the camera in the dark, no blaring background music, director Radha Mohan has proved himself to be a veteran by sprinkling a realistic plot and all the right spices. Like his films, this webseries is a treat... There is a worthy plot once you start this series, the screenplay will hook you so strongly with typical family audience values...

Every character has the same priority...The clever twist to make Yogi Babu character, the missing puzzle piece, in making the family complete, is impressive and creative...

Yogi Babu led the entire series with his witty one liners & emotions despite the pain in his heart...His character seems to be drawn straight out of Crazy Mohan universe while Kayal Chandran remains subtle of what plot demands... Vani Bhojan, Nitin Sathya, Maina Nandini, Elango Kumaravel, Deepa Shankar, Nizalgal Ravi, each character entertains you...

Prasanna Kumar's camera work is pleasing in bringing out the Ooty locations beautifully on screen. Ajesh's background music supports the story to some extent. When it comes to Jijendran's editing is crispy enough of what the plot demands...

Overall The serious moments being played out with gentle touches of humour does make it worth a watch during this lazy monsoon weekends to kill your boredom...

My Take – An excellent series!

 

Homicide: Los Angeles – Came out in 2024.  Documentary series focusing on detectives and prosecutors as they revisit their most challenging homicide cases in the city of Los Angeles, California.

A review from decider.com

Documentary series focusing on detectives and prosecutors as they revisit their most challenging homicide cases in the city of Los Angeles, CalOpening Shot: “FEBRUARY 3, 2003.” As we see the view of Phil Spector’s mansion in Alhambra, CA, we hear the famous producer’s voice cursing about being held for the death of Lana Clarkson.

The Gist: Homicide: Los Angeles is technically the second season of the Dick Wolf-produced Homicide docuseries, which focuses on the police detectives and prosecutors involved in notorious murder cases. While the first season concentrated on New York, the second season shifts its focus west, to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office, which the opening text says is “the largest sheriff’s department in the world,” and the L.A. District Attorney’s office.

The first case that Wolf and executive producer Jane Lipsitz examine is the Phil Spector case. Actress Lana Clarkson was reported shot to death in the foyer of Spector’s Alhambra mansion on February 3, 2003. The county sheriff’s office was called in on complicated cases by the police departments of the smaller towns in the county, and as lead homicide detective Rich Tomlin — who had no idea who Spector was at the time — states, Homicide is called in even if suicide is suspected, just to make sure homicide is ruled out.

The evidence they found, from blood spatters on Spector’s white dinner jacket to the gun at Clarkson’s side to the blood-soaked “diaper” used to wipe the fingerprints, was all circumstantial. It took a few months for the DA’s office, who was still smarting from losing high-profile celebrity cases like OJ Simpson’s murder trial, to file murder charges against Spector. Both the sheriff’s and DA’s office wanted to build a case around Spector’s character, and the fact that he held multiple women at gunpoint when they wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

Through archival footage and interviews with Clarkson’s mother, friends, lead prosecutor Alan Jackson, and a number of L.A. County Sheriff’s office homicide detectives, the episode goes through the investigation, Spector’s attorneys successful attempts at getting the trial delayed for years, the first trial’s hung jury, and the second trial, where he was finally convicted of second-degree murder.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Like we mentioned, this is the second season of the Homicide docuseries, but given the fact that the people being interviewed are the police and prosecutors, it’s easy to say that the show is a real-life Law & Order.

Our Take: The idea with the Homicide docuseries is to make sure that the police and district attorneys who work on the cases are shown as real people, ones who emotionally invest in their cases, care about the outcomes, and admit when the job takes a toll on them. The other notion is that there will be some people that the producers of the series interview that will be involved in more than one case, just to show how capable these cops and prosecutors are.

A good example is Mark Lillienfeld, a retired LASD homicide detective who figures prominently in the first two episodes (the second episode is about the murder of race car driver Mickey Thompson and his wife. Given that the Thompson murders and Clarkson’s murder took place 15 years apart, it’s interesting to hear about how Lillienfeld worked the cases at different junctures of his career.

It was interesting to hear Jackson’s reaction to the hung jury in Spector’s first trial, the doubts that crept into his mind during the extended deliberations, and his office’s determination to lay out the case the same way again in the second trial, hoping that a new group of jurors will provide a different result, which they did.

It was also interesting to hear about how these cases take a toll on the detectives who work them, with one of the ones who worked the Clarkson/Spector case talking about how he just reached the “number of bodies” that was his limit.

Will the show talk about both sides of the case? Nope. That’s not what Wolf and company are after with Homicide. So if you’re expecting anything but a literal “law and order” view of the cases and how they went down, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: The discussion about police detective PTSD transitions to information about episode 2, about the Thompson murders in 1988.

Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to Rob Fabroni, who knew both Phil Spector and Lana Clarkson, so he had perspective on how unstable Spector was and how the idea that Clarkson was a depressed hack actress, which is what Spector’s attorneys painted her as, was just not true.

Most Pilot-y Line: The second trial got shortchanged in this narrative, probably because the prosecution’s case was the same. It would have been interesting to see if the defense changed anything from one trial to the next.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Homicide: Los Angeles works if you’re interested in hearing from the police detectives and prosecutors that investigated the cases being profiled. But you certainly won’t get a well-rounded picture of each case.

My Take – Worth a watch!

Adios till next time😊!