A new type of post from me. I know it’s normally Mini-review Monday. But seeing as I prefer to post over the weekends, I thought it would be fun to do a short review of two things that that I quite enjoyed. One movie or TV show and One book.
This month, I’ve had quite a bit of fun. I’ve watched…2-3 movies, and 2 new tv shows. Alongside that, I’ve also read 3 books! So interesting is the least I can say. From all the things I’ve read and all the things I’ve watched here are my short reviews of two of them
Movie Review: Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!
I grew up with parents who loved movies from the 70s and 80s and passed that love onto me (If you’re not careful, I can and will burst into songs from both Grease movies or make a Ferris Buller reference at the most inopportune times). Ghostbusters was not an exception. The giant Pilsbury Doughboy made a lasting impression on the 10-year-old me that watched the original movie and I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten it.
This movie takes the original story and runs with it. The year is 2021 and Ghostbusters are a thing of the past. Single mom Callie and her kids Phoebe and Trevor arrive at a small town and find themselves embroiled in the legacy left behind by the kids’ grandfather…and their connection to the original Ghostbusters.
I went into this movie humming the theme song, came out doing the same thing. It was a fun watch with the comedy that I remember from the original movie balancing quite well against the plot and mystery that comes with ghosts. It was also interesting to see how they squeezed in character development that I was not expecting and a misfits band together arc that I expected but did not fully see the consequences of. I think there is something in this movie that captured the nostalgia that comes from having watched the 1984 Ghostbusters without making it a nostalgia hole that newer viewers can’t relate to. I watched this movie with my younger sister who hadn’t watched the original Ghostbusters and she enjoyed it.
Talking about characters, I have given each of the characters a nickname and been teased because Paul Rudd’s nickname is both affectionate and silly. That said, when it comes to characters, I mentioned earlier that there was unexpected character development. This is because having a legacy usually shows characters rising to the occasion and filling the shoes of those that came before them. This movie however showed how legacies can have lasting effects, and not all of them are good. The characters we are introduced to in the film (aside from Callie and Paul Rudd’s character) are quite young and you get to see them struggling two-fold with youth and a legacy. This was something I quite enjoyed alongside seeing the impact of legacy on those that are past the age of idealising.
Moving onto the plot and pacing, these are both things that I enjoyed in this movie. The plot brought together the original movie(s), tiring them into this movie and still making this movie interesting. It did make me want to go back to the original and see if the little clues tie up well, but that might just be me. I also didn’t think the movie was too slow or too fast. Paced well enough that you had a few jump scares (if you’re like me that is and averse to all things scary) without relying entirely on jump scares to drive home the scariness of the ghosts. The one thing that I will say, which impacted the rating of the movie was that I felt it a little bit too serious? Maybe my memory of the original movies are painted by the age I watched them at, but I remember laughing more and being a little less scared about the ghosts.
Aside from that definitely an enjoyable movie to watch with anyone over the age of 12/13. For those who want that hit of nostalgia and for those who want to get into the Ghostbusters but don’t know if you want to watch the older ones.
Book Review: Star Daughter
Can I have a moment of your time to gush about this book? Aside from just how gorgeous this cover is and how intriguing the story sounds, what really interested me about this book before I read it was that it was a fantasy based on stories that I knew.
The story is about Sheetal Mistry, a sixteen-year-old ABD, American Born Desi who holds a big secret. She’s not entirely of this world. Her mother is a star and Sheetal is half a star. Born with white hair and the song of the night sky, Sheetal hides from the world and has since her mother left her to rejoin her constellation. With the starsong getting louder and hiding growing more difficult, Sheetal ascends to the sky to meet her maternal family. Nothing could have prepared her for the world of politics and history that awaited her.
My love for this book comes from a few different places. The first is that these are stories and names of constellations I rarely see in fantasy works, they are what I call them. This book, with the Bollywood themes and parties reminded me of my life in which no longer living in India hardly meant escaping the nosy aunties or the pressure that comes from knowing what “the neighbour’s friend’s daughter who is your age” has achieved that you haven’t. But more than that, these are stories of stars that I was told as a child sitting next to my grandmother. These are histories, myths and worlds that I have heard of even if I’ve never heard of it exactly as it’s talked about in the book.
Taking a step away from the reliability, let me talk about the book itself. I found that Sheetal was an interesting character to read (not my favourite, that was Sheetal’s best friend, but interesting nonetheless). I think what I loved about Sheetal was that she was a teenager. Sure she is a chosen Human Champion and a misfit in both worlds, but she is also seventeen. As the story unveils itself, you see her learning to navigate the space that is somewhere in between adulthood and childhood in a world where adults are thousands of years old. You also see her make mistakes because she was emotional or because she didn’t think things through, but she is undeniably human and a teenager. The other characters in the story are also well written and while there are some I would love to know more about, they all have their own motivations and lives that have an active impact on the plot and I love that.
The main plot of the story has to do with Sheetal being a human champion, but there are so many other things going on and Sheetal (and the readers) find themselves pulled into the lives and story arcs of many other characters and most of them are tied up neatly in the end which is something I always appreciate. I also loved the explanation given for many things and the hints at the way other myths/legends/stories I grew up have a place in this world.
I also enjoyed the writing style and the pace of the story. A pageturner for sure, I loved how the explanations rarely felt like info-dumps and were spread throughout the story. I think what I enjoyed the most was that we did have a character that was essentially completely out of depth in the Celestial world, but we don’t follow her so there’s a bit of brain-work involved for the readers to piece together the information presented in the text to format coherent whole.
With that said, I think this book is best suited for lovers of fantasy, one with time on their hands because this book is near impossible to put down once you’ve started. Don’t make my mistakes kids, don’t pick this book for a 20-minute work break.
Huh...neither of these reviews are all that short. Please accept my cookies and the promise that I tried
Until next time!
~Miki
A Writing Soul's Story 