Atypical Binging

The Founder (2016) 'You know what? Contracts are like hearts. They are meant to be broken' IMDb Plot Summary:  The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into the biggest restaurant business in the world with a combination of ambition, persistence and ruthlessness. I know that a lot of people hate McDonalds. I on the other hand absolutely love it; in fact, its my favourite fast food franchise, always has been. And this is the story of the man who helped bring this food industry empire to a stage where it feeds 1% of the world's population everyday. The story of McDonald's is available all over the internet, but I'll put a short version of it here. Two brothers with the family name McDonald started a restaurant called McDonalds that served burgers in 30 seconds instead of the standard 30 minutes; at that time, this was a giant feat and no one had done something like this before. By c...

Strike (2017) IMDb Plot Summary: Private investigator Cormoran Strike is hired to find out if a supermodel's suicide in London may have been a murder. I am a big (big is an understatement actually) fan of Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)'s Cormoran Strike novel series. I was just so overjoyed when I had heard sometime back that Rowling had agreed to adaptation of her Strike novels to the big screen. I was expecting the adaption would manifest itself in the form of a movie but I was pleasantly surprised when yesterday I found out that the adaptation was in fact in the form of a TV series that had rolled out by the title 'Strike'. Let me put this out there first - this TV series is near perfect. I can guarantee that there can never be as good and as perfect a conversion from a book series to a TV series as this one. The makers of this TV show didn't take a lot of liberty with the story; in fact, everything in this series is almost exactly the same as in...

Wild Tales (2014) IMDb Plot Summary:  Six short stories that explore the extremities of human behaviour involving people in distress. Wild tales is an anthology foreign language film features several tales of revenge. This film explores revenge that manifests itself in various forms and how it affects the person vying for the revenge and those around him. Here's a breakdown of the short films that are contained inside this anthology masterpiece: 1. Pasternak - Two strangers on a plane realise that they know the same person and soon find out that everyone on the plane is same as them in this regard. This film explores how even the smallest of actions can have dire consequences and how dangerously revenge can manifest itself when a person has been continuously beaten down in small doses over the course of his life. 2. Las Ratas - A waitress working in a restaurant realises that the customer she is serving is a loan shark who was responsible for her father's dea...

The Deuce (2017) IMDb Plot Summary:  A look at life in New York City during the 1970s and '80s when porn and prostitution were rampant in Manhattan. I'm usually not a fan of movies and shows set in the drug and sex world of the 70s and the 80s but this show works amazingly well even for someone like me who isn't a fan of this sub genre. Up until now, only the first episode has aired, so its a little too soon to make up my mind about this show, but as far as the pilot goes, it looks really good. James Franco plays a double role. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a sex worker. There's a lot of nudity in this show, as would be expected from the plot. I have a really good feeling about this one. I'll update this blog post as the show progresses. For now, I'll give it an IMDb 9/10 and put it on the ' recommended ' list. Ref:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4998350/

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) IMDb Plot Summary:  The world's top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time. I don't have a lot to say about the movie, except the fact that I utterly hated it. But I also believe the reason I hated this was probably because I hate movies in the spoof genre in general. Though I can imagine people who like movies like 'The Interview' would also definitely love this. So if you are like me, then please don't watch this. You'll simply end up wishing for your time back. I liked Elodie Yung's performance in this movie that deserves a special mention. Amongst all the other bullshit that goes around in this movie, her character is a welcome sight. An IMDb 3/10 for me, fans of this genre would probably not agree with me on this. Ref:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1959563/ ...

Wondering what to watch today? Now you can browse through my recommended picks here and select what you love: http://atypicalbinging.blogspot.in/search/label/recommended I assure you that all movies and TV shows that will appear under this label are worth a watch and will feature movies across genre, languages, actors, etc. Happy binging!

Death Note (2017) IMDb Plot Summary:  Light Turner, a bright student, stumbles across a mystical notebook that has the power to kill any person whose name he writes in it. Light decides to launch a secret crusade to rid the streets of criminals. Soon, the student-turned-vigilante finds himself pursued by a famous detective known only by the alias L. Death Note has got to be one of the most popular and well done anime of all time. When I heard Netflix was gonna make an American remake, I was too damn excited. And today that I've watched it, I'm utterly devastated. This movie is a 101 on how to destroy an amazing concept. Everything in the movie was bad; from the acting, to the direction, to the script, the graphics special effects, the sound, the cinematography...if I have left anything out, feel free to add them here. Death Note is the sort of story where you need to develop a strong emotional connection to the characters and the way this movie is implemented ma...

Equals (2015) 'It's so weird; I'm like... I keep thinking about... Ever since we were kids, it's been drilled to us that our purpose is to explore the universe, you know? Outer space is where we'll find the answers to why we're here and where we come from. It's like everyone's... searching for these answers eight hundred million miles away and the truth is the answers are right in front of us' IMDb Plot Summary:  In an emotionless utopia, two people fall in love when they regain their feelings from a mysterious disease, causing tensions between them and their society. Equals is set in a society where emotions are considered to be defects or a disease in humans and have been, over time, removed from the human gene because it was thought of as the reason for a massive war that took place. Sometimes for some people, this repressed gene that's responsible for emotions surface and they are considered to be defective members of the huma...

Megan Leavey (2017) 'You don't leave because you have somewhere to go, you leave because nothing is keeping you there' IMDb Plot Summary:  Based on the true life story of a young Marine corporal whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. This movie is based on a true story about a total washout who one day suddenly decides to join the US Marine Corps. There, she ends up being a handler to a sniffer dog who is deemed hard to control by other handlers and she ends up forming a special bond with this dog. While Kate Mara is amazing in this movie, nothing else pretty much works. One of the biggest things that work against this movie is the huge length. The movie spans over 2 hours, which is just way too much for what they wanted to show and it just simply bores you to death midway through the movie. A much better script would have made this movie so much better. An IMDb 4/10 . Disappoin...

What Happened to Monday? (2017) 'What happens to one of you, happens to all of you' IMDb Plot Summary: In a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid being put to a long sleep by the government and dangerous infighting while investigating the disappearance of one of their own. This movie is set in a distant future where population growth has increased manifold and reached catastrophic numbers. A new agency is created under the Child Allocation (CA) act, which prohibits anyone from having more than one child. Siblings are taken away and put to cryo sleep in hopes of waking them up one day in the future when the population problem has been resolved. Amidst this mess, seven children are born together (septuplets) to the same mother and the grandfather, an influential man, decides to hide them from the CA enforcers by keeping them grounded inside their home. When they become old enoug...

The Unknown Girl (2016) 'She doesn't care. She's dead' 'If she was dead, she wouldn't be in our heads' IMDb Plot Summary: A woman gets obsessed with the case of a dead woman after learning that the woman had died shortly after having rung her door for help. This story is about a talented young doctor who loves and is loved by her patients. Tragedy strikes when one day, a pair of detectives come to her doorstep and inform her that a girl has been murdered and that the girl had rung her doorbell just moments before her death, a call which she hadn't answered because it was too late in the night. This fills her with guilt blaming herself for the girl's death as she feels she would have saved the girl if only she had answered the door at the time. Finding her mind to be at extreme unease without knowing who the girl was and what happened to her and how she is connected in all this, she sets out to find answers on her own, endangeri...

Love at First Fight (2014) 'The army is hard up. It is the number one recruiter in France' 'Number two. The first is McDonald's' IMDb Plot Summary:  Between his friends and the family business, Arnaud's summer looks set to be a peaceful one. Peaceful until he runs into Madeleine, as beautiful as she is brusque, a concrete block of tensed muscles and doomsday prophecies. He expects nothing; she prepares for the worst. He takes things as they come, likes a good laugh. She fights, runs, swims, pushes herself to the limit. Given she hasn't asked him for anything, just how far will he go along with her? It's a love story. Or a story of survival. Or both. This story is about a girl who believes that an apocalypse is on its way and she has to prepare for it, and the way to do that is by joining the hardest military regiment to learn how to survive in the harshest conditions. This story is also about a guy, who has a chance encounter with...

After the Wedding (2006) 'Time is precious. Every acquaintance, every friend, every person who has a place in your heart; it is the time with them that really means something; nothing else matters' IMDb Plot Summary:  A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret. Mads Mikkelsen (one of my all time favourite actors) plays a Dannish social worker, Jacob, who lives in a slum in Mumbai India taking care of poor orphaned children at an orphanage he started. He has been taking care of hundreds of poor orphaned children, especially a kid called Pramod whom he has taken care of since his birth.  The financial resources of his orphanage has depleted and it is close to being shut down when his orphanage is contacted by a wealthy billionaire from Denmark with the condition being that he must personally fly over to Denmark and meet him in person. Jacod thinks its a way for the businessman to flaunt his so...

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) 'Are you sad we missed it?' 'We didn't miss it. This is it' IMDb Plot Summary: High school student Nick O'Leary, member of the Queercore band The Jerk Offs, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg when she asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a refreshing romcom. On top of that, the entire movie is filled with some amazing soundtrack, that just perfectly sets the mood for this movie. Yes, there is nothing so special about this movie that makes it so different form the tons of other romcom out there, but this movie is sure to leave you happy and with a smile on your face. And then there's the fact that this movie stars the adorable Michael Cera...what else do you need, eh? An IMDb 7/10 . Ref:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0981227/

Annabelle: Creation (2017) 'Forgive me father, for I'm about to sin' IMDb Plot Summary:  Twelve years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the doll maker's possessed creation, Annabelle. The Conjuring universe is definitely considered to be one of the best horror film universes till date. This universe is famous for what I like to call 'deceptive horror', where the audience gets the scares at the places where they least expect it. And in this regard, Annabelle: Creations simply shines the best. If we talk about the plot, there are many problems with it. There are times where you would wish they had done a better work with the story. But they more than make up for it with what this movie is supposed to be - a thrilling horror experience. This movie is for me, the scariest installation in the Conjuring un...

Freaks and was canned prematurely as I talked about. Because of this, some episodes that were completed were not aired on TV at the time. This has completely messed up the episode order in some sources that you get the show from. So here's the right episode order, in the correct sequence of events that follow: Episode 1: Pilot Episode 2: Beers and Weirs Episode 3: Tricks and Treats Episode 4: Kim Kelly Is My Friend Episode 5: Tests and Breasts Episode 6: I'm with the Band Episode 7: Carded and Discarded Episode 8: Girlfriends and Boyfriends Episode 9: We've Got Spirit Episode 10: The Diary Episode 11: Looks and Books Episode 12: The Garage Door Episode 13: Chokin' and Tokin' Episode 14: Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers Episode 15: Noshing and Moshing Episode 16: Smooching and Mooching Episode 17: The Little Things Episode 18: Discos and Dragons

Freaks and Geeks (1999) 'I don't need another friend. I already have two. I mean, how many more friends does a guy need?' IMDb Plot Summary: A high school mathlete starts hanging out with a group of burnouts while her younger brother navigates his freshman year. Freaks and Geeks has a special place in my heart. And before I can tell you why, I need to get you through the context of the show a little. This show aired between 1999-2000 and shows the high school life of a few teenagers during the 1980-1981 school year. This time period is important to understanding this show, because high schools today weren't like the high schools at the time. In today's world, differences among people are highly appreciated. You could be a complete nerd or a total freak and you wouldn't be left out. Things weren't the same back then. The freaks and the geeks were total outcasts in schools. It was the time when 'jocks' were the cool kids on camp...

Atypical (2017) 'Human behaviour is less like a chicken and more like an albatross. No matter how far an albatross flies, it always returns home. Unless it flies too close to the water and gets eaten by a tiger shark' IMDb Plot Summary: Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, decides it's time to find a girlfriend, a journey that sets Sam's mom on her own life-changing path as her son seeks more independence. I am a big fan of Apatow's Freaks and Geeks and when I came to know that a new teenage comedy had come out, I had to, at the very least, check it out. I hated Netflix's last attempt at a teenage show (13 Reasons Why) and hence I was very sceptical about this one. But in the end, Atypical turned out to a be pleasant surprise! This show is about an 18 year old kid in the autism spectrum and how he deals with his daily life, friends and family and most importantly, his quest to find himself a girlfriend. Alongside, we see the lives of his...

I watch way too many TV shows and movies. Yes, of course, there are millions of people all over the world just like me in this regard. But unlike most people who binge on movies and TV shows for entertainment, I do it for some other reason. And here's why. A simple google search reveals the average life span of a human being to be about 79 years. Compared to everything that our life has to offer, this time period that we have on our hands is so minuscule. For me, this is where movies and TV shows step in. In the short time that I have got to spend on this wonderful planet, this medium lets me enjoy not just my own life but also the lives of all the characters that I get to watch on screen, thereby effectively increasing the intake of all that life has to offer, for myself. This is why I call my binge watching 'addiction' 'atypical binging'. I do not do it just for entertainment - it serves a greater purpose! People often say that watching movies and TV shows...