Books and Movies

Hey guys! So, I've been a fan of spy media for almost my entire life. The penultimate fantasy being, of course, James Bond. Apart from that too, I would love the Mission Impossible franchise, Jason Bourne movies, and in general any other spy movie. It is an interest I still harbour, having graduated to more mature spy content as well, Bridge of Spies, Body of Lies, Zero Dark Thirty, and the like. However, as a child, obviously, there was a lot of content not aimed at children.  So when I wanted to read about my fantasy of being a spy and going on international adventures, I would find my solace in two book series: CHERUB. and the focus of today's blog post, Alex Rider. Alex Rider is written by author Anthony Horowitz. It is a worldwide bestselling novel series with 12 books and counting. The first book, Stormbreaker, was published in 2000, a bare two months after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was. This was perhaps one of the only novel series that wasn't c...

 Hey guys. This post is gonna be a little somber and toned down and I'm probably not even going to promote it but I feel that I need an outlet for my emotions right now. Sean Connery just passed away, and I need to talk about why it's so important for me. I was maybe seven or eight years old, and my parents weren't home. All I was doing was flipping through channels on my couch, especially the English movie channels, I loved those. I came across some random film on a channel, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and it was just beginning. "So does England, my dear", says a man in a ski suit and then walks out of a shack. The opening unfolds and young me was hooked. I watched it through in one sitting, and that was rare for me; I was rarely able to that for films, especially for old films. That one afternoon probably shaped most of my life right now because, after that, most of my days were spent surfing English movie channels in the hopes that a James Bond movie would...

In September 1900, a certain prolific Bengali author, by the name of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay pens down a great work of literature, Devdas (published 1917), the story of a heartbroken man who turns to a life of alcohol and self-destruction after not being allowed to marry his childhood sweetheart, Parvati "Paro". In 2002, Sanjay Leela Bhansali made a film off this novel, with the same name and the same title, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit, which was wildly popular, cementing itself forever in Hindi pop-culture, with Devdas becoming the term people call each other by. And then Abhay Deol read it.   This was perhaps one of the most important developments in the course of this story. Because over the next year, Abhay Deol spent his time trying to get people to help him make this movie; or, more accurately, the version of it he had come up with. Most filmmakers rejected his idea, saying it's too artsy and would never work. And then he met Anurag...

Hey Guys! Charlie Kaufman is perhaps one of the most interesting screenwriter-directors working in the industry today. His first film, Being John Malkovich is perhaps one of the most compelling films ever made, and it received generally great reviews all across. Another one of his hallmark films was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is again, an incredible film. Apart from this, he has two (now three) director credits to his name as well (Synecdoche, New York, and Anomalasia). Needless to say, he has had an illustrious career in the film business. And recently, I watched his new film, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", and I can easily say it's one of my favourite films of the 21st century.                                                CAST: Jessie Buckley: Young Woman Jesse Plemons: Jake David Thewlis: Father  Toni Collette: Mother REVIEW: When I first ...

Hey guys! So, as many of you already know, I'm a huge Bond fan. I love watching Bond films, reading Bond novels, some of my most played songs on Spotify are James Bond songs, and overall, I just really love everything related to James Bond. The good thing about Bond is that everyone has their favorites, you could put 100 Bond fans in a room and it is an almost certainty that no two Bond fans will have the same ranking of the 007 films. Needless to say, everyone has their own favourite Bond actors, mine is either Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan depending on my mood that day. Given that, I want to say that I love all of Daniel Craig's films. Yes, that includes Spectre and Quantum of Solace, the latter of which often finds itself at the bottom of many a Bond fans' ranking lists. So today, I wish to make my case and defend this much maligned second outing of Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond. Without any further ado, let's jump right into it. Under the Shadow of Casino...

Hey guys! So, last night I watched Ingmar Bergman's 1957 masterpiece, The Seventh Seal. The film  is largely in the Swedish language. and is perhaps one of the most deeply profound, complex, and brilliant films I have seen.  The film follows a knight, Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), and his squire, J (Gunnar Bjornstrand), as they return home from the Crusades. He comes home to find his country ravaged by the plague. When he arrives, he is greeted by Death, who has been following him for quite a while. Antonius challenges Death to a game of chess to prolong his life so that he can look for answers regarding his questions about God.  All the while, the Knight and his squire journey throughout the land gathering a troupe of different people and witnessing the horrors and the cruelty that the plagu e has brought about in people.  So today, I will try to explain two of the most prominent themes of the film: God and Humanity. 

Hey guys! So, I've decided to go on a Kubrick binge and watch all the Kubrick films. Some films I've seen before, some I haven't. Last night, I watch Kubrick's last film: Eyes Wide Shut. The film stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and is 2 and a half hours long. However, those 159 minutes feel more like 20 seconds with the visionary filmmaking style of one Stanley Kubrick. Now I'm gonna give my thoughts and observations about the film. PLOT: The film follows Dr. Bill Harford and his wife Alice through three days in New York City at Christmas time. Beginning with a prolonged opening sequence of ballroom dance in the high society of New York. There Bill meets an old friend of his and a textbook smooth guy tries to hit on Bill's wife. The next night, while high on some pot, Bill's wife details a sexual fantasy she had for another man. Soon, we find Bill roaming the streets of New York and so begins a night full of chance sexual encounters.  THE FOLLOWING CONTAI...