01 | Bidding Farewell to Chadwick Boseman, Lindsay Lohan's Comeback & More
In this issue: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Falling for Christmas, Enola Holmes 2, Monica O My Darling, and Young Royals S2.
Hello and welcome to the very first issue1 of Should You Watch This?
To get us started, I decided to go with titles that were released earlier this November ‘22. A common thread among them was how the stars outshined the story.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was very much a celebration of Chadwick’s life and career, even though the story itself grew past his character. Falling for Christmas, on the other hand, marked Lindsay Lohan’s much-anticipated Hollywood comeback. Last but not the least, Enola Holmes 2 is quite the turning point for Millie Bobby Brown, who as lead actor and co-producer, is in the early stages of building a franchise of her own.
Beginning a legacy. Reaffirming a legacy. Immortalizing a legacy.
Without further ado:
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Genre: Superhero2
Language: English
Gist: In the aftermath of T’Challa’s death, the “weakened” Wakanda has to now face the threat of Namor and his underwater nation, Talokan. Will a new Black Panther rise to defend Wakanda?
Review: This is a great superhero origin story exploring grief and responsibility3, only second best to WandaVision. The visuals are stunning, the much-needed humor is on point, and the female characters, in particular, make you feel so empowered and ambitious. Chadwick Boseman's presence was felt throughout and it was a lovely way to say goodbye (perhaps, keep some tissues handy). Overall, I sat in the theatre thinking, "This is a tight film." Special shout-out to Angela Bassett, the MVP! 🌟
SYWT? Yes, you should watch this! If not in theatres, then at least when it comes out on Disney+.
Young Royals (Season 2)
Genre: Queer Romantic Drama
Language: Swedish
Gist: After their sex tape is leaked at the end of S1, crown prince Wilhelm must distance himself from “commoner” Simon. They must move on… but can they?
Review: It’s for the first time in a long time that I’ve watched a sophomore season and thought, “Wow, they could really explore this story for 2-3 more seasons.”
Do you remember what it feels like to have an unrequited crush on someone? S2 of Young Royals builds on this very angst, taking us through the tremendous anxiety that Wilhelm is subjected to as a public figure who must maintain decorum. August, on the other hand, makes for one of the best troubled villains I’ve seen on screen.
SYWT? I have five words for you: I can’t recommend this enough!
Falling for Christmas
Genre: Christmas Rom-Com
Language: English
Gist: Set in the holidays, a ski-resort heiress loses her memory and ends up living in a local cabin, where she finds love.
Review: Falling for Christmas is formulaic (like most Hallmark movies) with hollow characters and no comedic or romantic appeal. Yet you can’t help but root for Lohan’s return to the screen and all five stars in this rating are attributed to her — she carries this film on her back. To say the least, there’s not much meat to this mince pie.
SYWT? If you’re willing to ignore everything else in the film for Lohan, then sure. Otherwise, there are better Christmas films to re/watch instead.
Monica, O My Darling
Genre: Dark Comedy
Language: Hindi, Hinglish
Gist: Three men are collectively blackmailed by their female colleague after having an affair with her. Their solution? To kill her.
Review: A comedy of errors that tests your patience, but may leave you with a smile. I genuinely spent the first half wondering how the film expected its audience to stay interested. The hook had failed. The second half, however, picks up a little and makes you forgive the just-above-average acting and offbeat pace.
SYWT? I won’t put this too high on the binge list, but it can be worth the watch on a lazy afternoon. Plus, all those old-timey Bollywood references and Radhika Apte’s accent.
Enola Holmes 2
Genre: (Comedic?) Mystery
Language: English
Gist: Enola opens up her own detective agency, only to be overshadowed by her brother, Sherlock. That is until she is handed a peculiar missing person’s case that could spark another social revolution.
Review: Enola is back with her oomph, spunk, and fourth wall breaks, which in itself makes the movie a fun watch. Besides this, it has everything that a good crime-mystery film should have: explosions, going undercover at balls, and a marquess who can’t stop professing his love for you. I really did rack my brain trying to solve the case on my own and was pleasantly surprised with some of the Sherlock-themed answers at the end!
SYWT? Yes, why not? My favourite part was learning about the real-life social movement that inspired this movie.
We’ve come to the end of this issue! Don’t forget to hit like and turn that heart button red! If you have any thoughts to share, the comment section is all yours.
Before I go:
Although this is the first issue, I’m leaving a link to SYWT’s archive for whenever you want to pull up past issues.
Looking for any title in particular? Cue the database — This has the list of movies/TV shows covered so far with ratings and links to the newsletters they were reviewed in.
Here’s an interesting thread about Hollywood Eating Itself AKA monopoly will kill all creativity.
What’s stuck in my head4:
Best wishes, warmest regards,
sal.
Admittedly, I struggled with the title format because I will be covering quite a few movies & TV shows in a single post — How do I encapsulate all of it with one title?! All with trying to be SEO and algorithm-friendly, I don’t feel like I have correct answers.
There’s so many of them, we’re just going to give them a genre of their own now.
This has actually been MCU’s Phase 4’s theme if we were to look closely.
Make a prayer circle for me and my cousin to get The Eras Tour tickets.