Category: Watchlist

Movies, TV shows, Dramas, Videos in the queue. (Have I missed anything?)

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Best of List Index Recommendations Watchlist

Watchlist 2025: Mini-Reviews [Long List]

Happy New Year 2026!

Lots of watches this past year 2025, and here’s a time capsule of everything good that I binged on.

Frankenstein (2025)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Standout watch of the year. This movie is a spellbinding visual feast. To think it is based on a book written by 20-year old Mary Shelley during a writing contest among friends in 1818! This story remains relevant for modern times, as genius scientific inventions come perilously close to upending longstanding concepts of humanity… and you wonder, at what cost? Where are we heading towards?

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Joan of Arc is a fascinating historical figure, so I jumped to watch this French silent film, which has been restored after great damage to the original reel and is in public domain. Yes, I know, silent films are difficult to watch, especially when superstition and religion are added to the mix. But seriously, the acting by Renée Jeanne Falconetti is phenomenal. She does not need words, her facial expressions of the solemn, devout, hurting, doubting Joan convey it all. When they burn her at the stake near the end, it is an electrifying, goosebump-raising, horrifying moment that will bring tears to your eyes. An underrated masterpiece.

Conclave

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Ralph Fiennes has been my favorite actor ever since I saw him in The Constant Gardener and he shines in Conclave too. The election of the next Pope is a grand but top-secret affair, and now we look within to see how it all plays out. But what if the former Pope had been murdered? Fiennes, playing caretaker of the Papal elections, has a difficult task indeed. I am not particularly fond of the resolution, but I know I was glued to the screen throughout.

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Starred Recommendations Watchlist

Shogun

Shogun (Season 1 – FX/ Hulu 2024)

I watched this late last year, but only putting up a mini review now for records. First of all, I had no idea it was based on a series of books, Asian Saga series by James Clavell. Second, I had no idea there had already been other TV adaptations in the past. Third, I am waiting for Season 2, due for release in 2026!

We are in Japan in the 1600s. The Taiko, the old ruler, has died and the country is dangerously divided among competing feudal lords. Two very ambitious men from two very different worlds – an English sailor named John Blackthorne and a shrewd Japanese feudal lord Lord Toranaga – collide (and sometimes collaborate) over conflicting interests. So much is changing in the 1600s globally that Japan too is bound to change.

If you haven’t watched Shogun yet, believe me, you are in for a treat.

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Best of List Books Watchlist

Mid-Year Check In: Best of 2024 So Far

I am ready to write bad angsty poetry on my never-ending reading/ blogging slump! Still, somehow, pushing myself to do this mid-year 2024 blogpost on stuff I have liked till now.

Let’s all pledge to move out of Slump Valley! And just in case these recs reach you, hope you’ll like some of these.

1 / The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

    I have not been a great fan or follower of the Grishaverse, so was hesitant in picking this up. But what a marvelous story this turned out to be. We peer into the ages of 16th century when anti-semitism was rife. Luzia is desperately trying to escape her confined pitiful life with her displays of magical craft… but soon ends up getting embroiled in a larger political net. Everything in this book was so impressive – the Spanish Golden Age/ Renaissance feel, the worldbuilding, the writing, the prose, the characterizations. Aaaaand, it is a standalone. If you’ve liked Mistress of the Art of Death, you’ll love this one too.

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    Books Watchlist

    Mini Reviews / Last Quarter(s) Wrap-Up

    Mini Reviews

    What’s been cooking for the past few months? Er, past few quarters (since my last mini reviews date back to pre-July)? At least for me, the last 2 months fared way better for my reading than the rest of the year, so I am thankful for that. All in the name of conquering Mount TBR!

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    Miscellany Recommendations Watchlist

    First Quarter Wrap-Up +Movie Recs

    Well, it’s been more than a quarter, but it’s just easier to sum up that way! I’m still not getting much reading done, but at least I managed to find some really good movies. Here’s a wrap-up for the first quarter.

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    Books Miscellany Recommendations Watchlist

    Last Quarter 2022 Wrap-Up

    Here’s a quick wrap-up of what I read and watched in the last quarter 2022. I found a few great shows even though I read very little. And now we are already gearing up for 2023. How time flies!

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    Recommendations Watchlist

    Movie Review: The Inugami Family

    The Inugami Family (Japanese Movie)
    Year of Release: 1976
    Director: Kon Ichikawa
    Based on the Book: The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
    Recommended for fans of: Gothic, Foreign Period Dramas, Eerie Mysteries, A touch of Horror, Brilliant Plot, Golden Age of Detective Fiction

    Some time back, Words & Peace had recommended The Inugami Curse and I’d wanted to read the book ever since. I decided to take the shortcut when I accidentally discovered there was a subtitled movie adaptation too.

    It’s a superb plot. The patriarch of the Inugami family clan dies, leaving behind several competing successors and a really crazy will. I don’t think it’s giving away spoilers to say that the will goes along the lines of “If A dies, B gets the property. If B dies, C gets the property….” It’s like the dreadful old man was setting them all up to murder, starting with A! Along the way there are some red herrings – the challenge is to identify which ones are red herrings and which ones are not.

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    Books Music & Poetry Recommendations Watchlist

    Tri-Monthly Wrap-Up/ Mini Reviews

    Is “tri-monthly” the right word? June, July, August — loads of books and shows that I discovered and even liked (wonder of wonders)! Interestingly, in pretty much all of these, I also found that the blurb or the trailer had been misleading. Here’s a (long post) wrap up.

    Castle Barebane by Joan Aiken

    Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

    A rather strange and underrated historical fantasy work set in the 1880s involving a “road trip” from New York to Scotland. The journalist heroine sets out to help her odd brother (and also escape her marriage). Then she finds herself embroiled in a blackmail plot and with her young nephew and niece in tow. This book really defies genre and age groupings. The suspense is slow to build-up, the “fantasy” part is very, very subtle. I even thought there was some LGBTQ representation in this 1976 book. Also historically accurate, as can be expected from Aiken.

    Why didn’t they ask Evans?

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    A very quirky new adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s more complex mysteries. This cryptic question changes every time: Why didn’t they ask Evans? Why didn’t they ask Evans? Why didn’t they ask Evans? Wait at least till Episode 2 for the show to really get going.

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    Music & Poetry Watchlist

    Four for Poetry Friday

    It’s been a while since I cross-linked to old favorite poems. But here are a few to keep the week going. The videos add to the beauty of the poem, so hope you watch those even if you’ve read these pieces before.

    The Astronomer by Walt Whitman
    We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
    Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
    The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
    More Poetry
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    Memes Watchlist

    10 Recent Book to Screen Adaptations

    Since most books these days have both prologues and epilogues, this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic didn’t really ring a bell for me. Instead, I’m just gushing about 10 recent screen adaptations of books. Just in case you want to add to your watchlist….

    [1] The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry ⎮ Apple TV

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