463. Web-series Reviews – 260

More web-series reviews…


Scrublands – Came in 2023 and based on a book. Follows investigative journalist Martin Scarsden as he has to uncover the truth of the case of killing of five parishioners by a charismatic and dedicated young priest.

A review from IMDB...

My Review - Scrublands Steaming on Stan My Rating 8:10 Series One I'm always pleased to see another quality Australian television series that introduces me to new upcoming actors I haven't seen before . Thankfully locally made series that highlight the quality of our script writers and film technicians are occurring more frequently.

Scrublands convincingly demonstrates that we can stand proud in the very competitive Cinema and Television World and often surpass some of the mediocre productions that are churned out like sausages from America.

Series one of Scrublands made in 2023 follows investigative journalist Martin Scarsden impressively played by Luke Arnold as he tries to uncover the truth in the case of the killing of five parishioners by a charismatic and dedicated young priest.

The Priest Father Byron Swift played by New Zealander Jay Ryan's motive for the shotgun killings is shrouded in mystery and follows accusations of criminal sexual abuse of the teenage boys in his care .

As the journalist opens up the towns old wounds after 12 months since the shootings he encounters resistance and cover ups that go very deep causing further investigation and some hostility.

I recommend both series one and the recent series 2 of Scrublands they are very different I did prefer the plot of Season One but really enjoyed both seasons.

I must make special mention about Bella Heathcote's very impressive performance as Mandy Bond who in Series 1 runs a book shop in the country town of Riversend . Mandy's bad impressions of the journalist Martin Scarsden eventually thaw and her romantic involvement with the journalist continues as they relocate in series 2 to Martin's hometown of Port Silver.

This coastal town is where investigative journalist Martin Scarsden returns to start a new life with his partner, Mandy Bond. However, his plans are disrupted when his childhood friend is found murdered, and Mandy becomes the prime suspect.

Well directed by Greg McLean and Ben Young both series of Scrublands based on a novels by Greg Hammer is entertaining and the cinematography are excellent.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Staking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror  – Came in 2025. Samantha Stites met Christopher Thomas in 2011, when an unsettling obsession took hold. Christopher constantly stalked Samantha, showing up consistently where she went until 2022, when the harassment turned into something dangerous.

A review from IMDB...

This is a horrific case that is emblematic of the toll stalking takes on victims, and I couldn't imagine having to deal with this for over a decade. It details some of the struggles victims go through to be taken seriously, and it isn't until something truly horrific happens that action is taken. Restraining orders, even when granted, are just a piece of paper, and it wouldn't have stopped this guy from what he was determined to do

As a man I don't think I can ever really put myself in the shoes of someone like Samantha. Yes, men can be and are stalked, in fact I've known it to happen to someone personally. However, almost every woman I know personally has a story of someone showing up randomly, following them, calling constantly, etc, and there is no way to tell when someone is going to cross the line into something devastating

I think the story was told well by Samantha, and the documentary did a good job going through the timeline and highlighting the repetitive nature of what Samantha was dealing with to the point it just became part of her routine. It's sad to hear her doubt her own intuition and question whether she was reading too much into things when the red lights were glaring. It's even more infuriating to know that there wasn't much she could do about it, and when she tried she was denied

However, the tone just seemed off the whole time. Everything was told in a light way as if they were just retelling what they had for dinner yesterday. The way events were explained just didn't match the serious nature of what happened. In fact, I questioned myself a couple times if this was an actual real story or a fictional dramatization because it all seemed so disconnected

I don't know if this was a deliberate choice of the producers or just their natural demeanors regarding serious events, but it was everyone from Samantha's friends, law enforcement, judges, and Samantha herself that just seemed so unemotional through it all. This makes me believe it was a production choice to try and keep things as light as possible which, if true, was a bad choice because this is a horrifying story that is more common than anyone would like to admit

Overall, I'm glad Samantha has the strength to tell her story, and I'm glad she no longer has to live with that fear literally following her around every day. We need much tougher laws surrounding stalking.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Dying for Sex – Came in 2025. Story of a woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, who abandons her husband of 15 years and begins to fully explore her sexuality.

A review from IMDB...

I don't know what I expected when I pressed play on Dying for Sex. Maybe something raunchy as hell. Maybe something extremely depressing. But I wasn't prepared for was how this series would crawl under my skin and just... stay there.

Molly isn't a character. She's a woman unraveling in real time. Her body's failing, and no one knows what to do with that. Not her husband, not her doctors, not even herself. So she does the thing she does best, she makes meaning out of chaos. She dives headfirst into sex, story and sensation. She's doing anything that feels like life while she still has it 

Yeah, this series definitely have it's funny moments. Some parts made me laugh out loud in fact. But the other parts? The other parts felt like being punched in the chest while smiling because underneath Molly's wild stories is a loneliness so sharp it bleeds.

What broke me most wasn't even the diagnosis. It was the friendship. Molly and Nikki. The way they held each other through the fear, the dark jokes, the quiet knowing. It reminded me how love can be both the thing that saves you and the thing that makes the goodbye all the more unbearable.

This show doesn't give you answers. It just hands you the pain, and asks you to feel it.

A really beautiful and well written series.

My Take – An absolute wonder of a series! A true story.

Adios till next time😊!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blog Beginning!!

Hi Friends, I am starting a blog series from next week!! This blog is a curtain raiser on that.  These blogs would contain, as the name suggest, musings from the happenings around us.  I will also be sharing some tips for some how-to-do things.  Some ways to handle and use technology.  How to track your expenses and other such tips. You can be sure that all of them are being used by me in my day-to-day or month-by-month dealings. Rest assured that I will not ask you to do something that I don’t!!  Some of my musings may be already being used by some people.  In that case, that particular blog is meant for others and not you J .  However you may go through the same at your own leisure!! I will make sure that you can read the blog in 5 minutes flat.  I am estimating this based on my reading speed J !!  Anything more than this, I am sure I will lose you for the next blog!! Those who know me, I plan to use some amount of humor i...
Read more

45 - Games - Marbles or Kanchey (in Hindi)

Image
5.       Marbles – I am sure we all would have played with them in our childhood. Even if we had not played games with them, we would have certainly collected them.   I am now going to write about 2 games which I used to play regularly.   In addition to these games, one used the marbles for bartering to get different types of marbles, use them playing catch-catch with others or simply throwing them up in air and practice our catching. To play with marbles, you need to learn some techniques. You keep your left thumb on the ground and with your right hand, with the thumb and the “pointing” fingers, keep the marble at the top of the longest finger in the left hand. You push back this finger with the fingers of your right hand and then release the marble. When you release the marble, with the force of your left hand’s longest finger, you let the marble go the distance.                         ...
Read more

413. Sholay – Interesting details on the Characters

Sholay was written in such a way that every character that you find in the movie leaves you with memories.   These author-backed characters acted as if the part was specially written for them only! A majority of them had a very small part in the movie, but thanks to the dialogues that they had to mouth, the have been heralded in fame!! I have provided below some interesting tidbits of some of the characters from the movie below.  I hope you too would have the same enjoyment as I had in collating these!!  The sources are the same as my previous blogs. Once Viju Khote was walking on a road with his son.  Some people pointed out to him and began calling him as Kaalia, Kaalia.  The son got angry and told his father that he does not like that.  Viju Khote told him, because of Kaalia only we have refrigerators and TV’s in our home!! Without Kaalia, we would not have been where we are now!!  Viju Khote was immortalized by the dialogue – “Ab Tera Kya Hoga,...
Read more