Synopsis: On June 25, 1983, the Lord’s Cricket Ground witnessed 14 men beat the two time World Champions West Indies, putting India onto the cricket world stage.

*SPOILER ALERT*

With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

In my opinion, Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the greatest Marvel movies ever made.

The marketing of this movie intrigued me because the major selling point to the movie was if Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in the movie or not and the way Sony and Marvel played around with the leaks was nothing short of a tactical masterclass. I had been following the marketing for this movie for the whole of last year and they still managed to surprise me in the movie.

No Way Home is nothing short of a love letter to all the Spider-Man fans all over the world.

Tom Holland’s Spider-man’s major criticism was that he did not feel like Spiderman because he did not go through the hardship and struggles that the previous renditions of Spider-man faced. This movie corrects all the criticisms that this version of Spider-Man faced and Marvel manages to correct them in the best way possible. It was extremely easy for this movie to be just a cash grab as it could have just fed on nostalgia like the Star Wars sequels did but director Jon Watts does a stellar job in maintaining the heart and soul of the movie. None of the characters including the villains feels like cardboard but instead, all of them feel human which has to be applauded.

The movie starts directly from the ending of the previous movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home and the first hour is relentless in its pacing and does not miss a beat.

I had seen the movie in 4DX and the web-swinging scenes were extremely immersive in the theatre.

Having Charlie Cox reprise his role as Daredevil was also a treat to watch. After Peter Parker approaches Doctor Strange in the movie that’s when things start to boil up. The VFX work is top-notch and especially in the scenes where Doctor Strange and Spider-Man have their confrontation.

Speaking about the villains, Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin was more unsettling than he was in the first Spider-Man movie where he appeared.

Jamie Foxx as Electro and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock both were exceptionally good as well. Rhys Ifans and Thomas Haden Church as Lizard and Sandman respectively were not as fleshed out as the others but they were strong additions regardless. But when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield entered that was when my theatre erupted and quite rightly so. Tobey Maguire as the older and wiser Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield as the more upbeat and traumatized Peter Parker fit in perfectly with the MCU and I can’t wait to see more of them going forward.

Marvel managed to balance fan service, nostalgia, humour, action and the core of what makes Spider-Man, one of the greatest superheroes out there, his selflessness.

They somehow always manage to have their content be fresh and not let it grow stale. James Cameron had said that there would be superhero fatigue due to the mass content of these kinds of movies these days but, I don’t see that happening anytime soon because Marvel keeps surprising us, the audience, in the best way possible.

——————————————————-

RATING:

Story: Good

Treatment: Excellent

Performance: Excellent

Recommendation: Must-See.

Hello everyone, I’m Sparsh Banerjee, one of the ’75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ at IFFI 52′ which was an initiative taken by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. I am 18 years old and I am currently pursuing my B.A. in Filmmaking degree from Whistling Woods International. I also have been awarded the ‘Subhash Ghai Vidyadaan Merit Scholarship’. For me, Martin Scorsese and Satyajit Ray both are one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and both are a massive influence for me as a filmmaker.

So when I heard that Martin Scorsese was awarded the Satyajit Ray lifetime achievement award I was extremely excited because this is a person who has always credited Satyajit Ray as a source of inspiration for him. Martin Scorsese has played his part in restoring 9 Satyajit Ray films which clearly states the love and passion which the American-Italian filmmaker has for the legendary Indian filmmaker. That was evident when I was present at the festival when I saw his acceptance speech in which he was very proud of receiving the award. I could feel the weight of the emotion with which Martin Scorsese spoke which got me thinking in exactly what way did Satyajit Ray inspire Martin Scorsese so much? What value did Satyajit Ray bring to Martin Scorsese’s filmmaking career? This question brought me to write this blog in which I try to find the answers to this question.

Of course, there are a few tangibles that have been stated by Martin Scorsese in his own words but I’ve also found some of my interpretations to this above question. I would love it if y’all have more interpretations and more ideas to the question, ‘How Satyajit Ray added value to Martin Scorsese’s filmmaking career?’ Please feel free to share it in the comments below.

In his own words:

• For Martin Scorsese, the Apu trilogy — Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) — was a milestone. He was used to seeing India on-screen but through a purely colonial perspective, which meant that the principal characters were Westerners and the “extras”, the people who provided the local colour and the background detail, were Indians. He had no idea whether the stories were happening in Gujarat, Kashmir, West Bengal or Maharashtra — it was just “India”.

• So, for him seeing the trilogy for the first time was a bracing and eye-opening experience and a very moving one as well. The people that had been in the background of so many movies were now the characters in the foreground. The pictures told stories of everyday life in a vein that was somewhat similar to Italian neo-realism according to him. And the artistry and filmmaking took his breath away. It was poetic, immediate, sweeping and intimate, all at the same time which touched his heart.

• The plot of Abhijan is quite similar to Taxi Driver. A Rajput (a warrior instead of a Vietnam veteran) reduced to the lowly task of a taxi driver; vents his frustration by hitting the bottle and even falls in love with a prostitute who he then looks to save from the clutches of her associates.

The following is the synopsis of Taxi Driver – Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city. When Travis meets pretty campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), he becomes obsessed with the idea of saving the world, first plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate, then directing his attentions toward rescuing a 12-year-old prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster).

My observations:

• Martin Scorsese saw all three pictures in one sitting in a theatre in Manhattan. He was mesmerised. The remarkable close-up of Apu’s eye in Pather Panchali, the way the cut works with the sudden burst of Ravi Shankar’s music — for him, that was one of those precious revelatory moments he had in a movie theatre, and it had a profound and lasting effect on him as a filmmaker. Here’s my interpretation –

• On the topic of close-ups, Martin Scorsese uses close-ups very sparingly because when a close up is used, it’s as if the filmmaker is conveying very important information to the audience so when a close up is used in a Martin Scorsese movie, it usually means something. The close-up frame of Apu’s eye had a lot of meaning and that’s what in my opinion has had a ‘profound effect on him as a filmmaker.

• Martin Scorsese has his unique way of using freeze frames then having music accompany it to highlight the importance of that frame in the audience’s head. In my opinion, how Ravi Shankar’s music plays during the scene of Durga’s death when her father cries out loud for her which is followed with a push in shot of Apu looking at his father, has had a part to play in how Martin Scorsese uses freeze frames such as the iconic ones in Goodfellas and Raging Bull.

Martin Scorsese is not the only filmmaker who had been inspired by the works of Satyajit Ray. Here are some other legendary filmmakers working even today who consider Satyajit Ray the ‘Master’ of the craft of filmmaking.

Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight filmmaker is one of those rare directors who with every film manages to impress both the critics as well as set the box-office on fire. During his recent visit to India, he said that Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali is extraordinary and one of the best films ever made. It made him want to work with Indian directors.

Wes Anderson: His works bear a heavy influence from Satyajit Ray who he has often cited as his inspiration. The ending of his film The Darjeeling Limited pays homage to Ray’s Apu Trilogy.

Francis Ford Coppola: The legendary filmmaker who has directed The Godfather saga, often cited as the film of all time is a huge fan of Satyajit Ray’s work and cites him as a major influence in his life.

George Lucas: The creator of the Star Wars saga called Satyajit Ray an extraordinary filmmaker whose work had a profound influence on filmmakers across the world. He called for bringing his work to the attention of young filmmakers.

I want to thank the Ministry and Shri Anurag Singh Thakur Honourable Union Minister of
Sports, Youth Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, Government Of India for helping me to attend the festival. I also want to thank Chaitanya Prasad, the Director of IFFI for the festival and for screening the films of Martin Scorsese in theatres. I had the privilege to watch ‘Goodfellas’ in 35 mm film print in theatres which ignited the idea for me to write this blog. I hope y’all liked my analysis and please feel free to share what you think in the comments and add your own opinions and analysis below.

Thank you!

Sparsh Banerjee.

#75creativemindsiffi #52iffi #iffi52 #iffigoa #iffi2021 #iffi #SatyajitRay #MartinScorsese

“Tarantino At His Best”

Django Unchained is directed by Quentin Tarantino and stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo Di Caprio. It was released in March, 2013 and it’s runtime is 2 hours 45, a bit longer than the usual 120 minute mark movies these days.

Quentin Tarantino is regarded as one of the best filmmakers of all time.

He has directed films like Pulp Fiction, now considered a classic, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds and many critically acclaimed films. Django Unchained is also in that list. It won the Academy Award for best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. It is about the story of Django, a slave who gets his revenge against the racist with the help of his German Friend, Dr. Schulz.

It’s a Western/Drama and it is a damn good one.

The plot subverts you in ways you would never think. It drags a bit at the end but on the larger scale, it’s miniscule. It also won the MTV award for the most jaw-dropping moment. The dialogues are fascinating.

I strongly believe that Tarantino is the best dialogue screenwriter at this moment.

There is violence too, it’s ‘fun’ as Tarantino says and doesn’t detract from the plot. The acting all around, is the best one can offer. Christoph Waltz was intimidating and menacing in the Inglorious Basterds but here, as Dr. Schulz, he is the friend you wish you had.

The range is commendable.

Jamie Foxx as Django “Freeman” is snazzy and Leonardo DiCaprio gives a unhinged performance we haven’t seen before.

The score fits the Western Genre the film is going for and the Cinematography is beautiful with extravagant locations.

It’s a movie which should be seen for film-enthusiasts and is a must watch.

——————–RATING——————

Performance: Excellent

Treatment: Excellent

Story: Good

Recommendation: This one is for the film-lovers.

‘Memorable Experience’

With a name like Sonic: The Hedgehog, you’ll expect a film which is messy, with no substance, and is made for kids. Make no mistake, this is aimed at kids but it is also a family friendly film much like Detective Pikachu whose aim is to make the film as memorable as possible for a family with kids’ characters.

Sonic is a videogame character by Sega and I have no personal attachment to it.

I went to watch it just for Jim Carrey. I was promised the 90s version of him in the trailers and I got it. He made me chuckle everytime he was on screen. His character was written was so well that he came off as scary too.

It’s 75% Carrey’s performance and 25% screenplay.

Sonic’s design was up for a debate when the first trailer dropped and to be honest, it was ew. The new design is much more like the one in the videogame.

The love of the filmmakers for the character is seen in the film.

They really wanted to make a competent film and they listened to the criticism and made the design better. Ben Schwartz as Sonic’s voice is very good. Usually in these type of films, more focus is given on the main protagonist and not the side characters but here, all of the others are likeable and it all boils down to a very good screenplay.

It’s fast paced just like the speed of Sonic and never catches a break.

James Marsden as Tom Wachowski is ‘likeable’ and the relationship between his character and Sonic’s is endearing. The cinematography and the music is nothing special. The background score felt generic. The action scenes are well handled though.First time director Jeff Fowler has done a remarkable job with this film and I look forward to the sequel.

———————–RATING————————
Story: Average

Treatment: Average

Performance: Excellent

Recommendation: Worth it for 90s Jim Carrey.

The 92nd Academy Awards has just been completed with a list of winners which would never have had been thought, is possible. We’ll get into each of the wins in the major categories.

Best Picture: Parasite

Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite has taken the world by storm. 4 wins at the Oscars is no easy feat and being a South Korean film, it had no right to be a winner as previous Oscars have suggested. But this award is completely deserved and has made history by being the first non-english film to win a Best Picture.

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)

We all knew this was coming. It was inevitable. His performance was unique and one of a kind. In my opinion, Adam Driver came close for the win for his performance in Marriage Story but Joaquin had more to play with as he was the Joker. He nailed the laugh, the mannerisms and depicted the insanity with his raw performance.

Best Actress: Renée Zellweger (Judy)

To be honest, I have not seen ‘Judy’, the film for which Renée Zellweger has won Best Actress. She plays the actor Judy Garland who’s known for starring in *The Wizard Of Oz*. After seeing some snippets of her performance, I can say she has done a good job even though I was rooting for Scarlett Johansson’s performance in Marriage Story to win.

Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood)

It’s safe to say, everyone wanted this to happen. He was the best part of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and carried most of the movie. Al Pacino and Joe Pesci’s performances were also commendable but the fan favourite got the win here. Well deserved.

Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Marriage Story)

The actress known for Jurassic Park has won an Oscar. Laura Dern deserved this and the Oscars have chosen the right people to win this time and have not been biased.

Best Director: Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite)

The direction in Parasite was Oscar-worthy and it has won an Oscar. The other nominees were Oscar-worthy too, but Bong Joon-Ho’s craftsmanship for perfection takes the cake.

Best Original Music Score: Hildur Gudnadóttir (Joker)

The two things which I remembered after watching Joker was Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, and the haunting score. I was very pleased to see both of them win an Oscar. A fact that you won’t know is Hildur Gudnadóttir composed the music for Joker after only seeing the script and before the shooting process. The music was used to play on the set to set the tone for the movie and boy, it did.

Best International Feature Film: Parasite

All I can say is, this was a no-brainer.

Best Original Screenplay: Parasite

Han Jin-Won and Bong Joon-Ho completed the 4th win of Parasite.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jojo Rabbit

I never thought I will see the day Taika Waititi winning an Oscar after watching Thor Ragnarok. I was proven wrong. His first win at the Oscars, I’m sure there are more to come.

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins (1917)

1917 was a beautiful looking film, edited out to be a one shot thrill ride. Roger Deakins winning this was fair.

Best Film Editing: Ford Vs Ferrari

Andrew Buckland and Michael McCluster win the best Film Editing for Ford Vs Ferrari. I think this is mainly because of the fast paced racing scenes which are edited beautifully. I was rooting for Parasite in this one because if you haven’t seen it, there’s a 5 minute montage containing Peaches which is impeccable. That scene alone was Oscar-worthy but oh well.

Summary:

I think most of the wins are well deserved and are not politically motivated at all. Parasite well-deservedly won all the awards which it did on its merit. Usually there is a case of giving awards to films which have a racial message attached to it even though they didn’t deserve it but this time, that wasn’t the case. For me without a host, it is much smoother and there are way less goofups. The singing performances of Billie Eilish and Elton John were the standouts. There was humour as well provided by James Corden and Rebel Wilson dressed up as cats. Overall, this was an entertaining affair.

“Impressive”

Birds Of Prey: And The Fabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn (that’s one big name) is directed by Cathy Yan, a Chinese-American director who is not exactly well known.

She only has 5 films to her name and Birds Of Prey is her 5th.

I think it’ll be fair to say that she’s a newbie and she has done a decent job with Birds Of Prey. Props to Warner Bros to trusting a rookie to helm a huge film like this.

This movie is supposed to be the film Suicide Squad aimed to be.

But that had failed due to studio reasons. That is another story. WB gave Cathy and the filmmakers all the freedom to do what they want just like they did with Todd Philips. With Joker earning 1 billion dollars, Birds Of Prey can also be that successful even though it is miles away from being as good as Joker. I know, there’s a lot of difference between those two films. In the DCEU, Birds of Prey will rank 3rd for me. It’s not as good as Shazam and way, way worse than Wonder Woman.

It is about the consequences of Harley Quinn and Joker’s break up.

I know it sounds stupid. But it is supposed to be like that. It’s entertaining to say the least.

The redeeming parts are the characters.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is phenomenal. She has nailed the voice and crazy persona brilliantly. She makes up about 80% of the film. Black Mask aka Roman Sionis played by one of my favourite actors, Ewan McGregor, is very good too. The problem was that he started off very strong but halfway through, they had to reduce his influence on the plot to show the other characters which was disheartening.

Ewan did a fantastic job.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the Huntress was memorable. The other side characters like Black Canary were meh.

It is a beautifully looking movie with great cinematography (done by the same cinematographer in Venom).

The action scenes were a standout. The plot dragged in the second half but the music choices were hilarious. I think it’s fair to say, DC are on the right track.

———————–RATING————————

Story: Average

Treatment: Excellent

Performance: Excellent

Recommendation: Watchable just for fun.

*An Intensely Humourous Ride*

Parasite is a 2019 South Korean film directed by Bong Joon Ho, a renowned filmmaker who has an impressive track record with films like Snowpiercer, The Host and Okja.

But, Parasite must be his best till date.

It’s a very funny film but there it’s scary as well. The tonal shifts are masterfully handled by the director and the pacing feels flawless.

It is a film about greed and class discrimination which threatens the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Usually in these types of films, the poor families are shown as imbeciles but in this film, all the members of the poor Kim family are smart because they have to somehow scrounge to get enough money to earn their living.

The film respects it’s characters and it’s a testament to the craft of Bong Joon Ho.

Not much can be said about the story because there is too much stuff which can be spoiled but there comes a point in the mid of the second act which completely changes the film. This was something which could have never in a million years be predictable and the twist gets even better with repeat viewings.

The cinematography, editing and sound design was impeccable.

All the acting felt raw and realistic which bettered the overall product. Park So-Dam as the poor family’s daughter (Ki-Jung) was the standout and the Al Pacino of Korean films, Kang Ho-Song who plays the father of the poor family (Ki-taek) was superb as well. The best description of the movie was given by the director himself: ‘The movie is a comedy without clowns and a thriller without villains’.

—————–RATING——————-

Story: Excellent

Treatment: Excellent

Performance: Excellent

Recommendation: Well, you can’t miss one of the best films of 2019.

“Rushed and Heartless”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the 9th and final film of the ‘Skywalker Saga’ which serves as the ending of a 42 year old story but fails to be satisfying and feels desperate to be pleasing to the fans.

It feels completely rushed and heartless.

I don’t even know where to start. This is all so disappointing. The movie which got me hooked into Star Wars was the Force Awakens. The scene where (spoilers) Kylo Ren killed Han Solo was the moment I became a Star Wars fan. It caught me completely offguard and it was ‘something special’. I decided to go through all the other 6 movies which came before it and all were fascinating except Episode 1 and 2 but both had redeeming qualities and we could see George Lucas’s vision.

The ‘No, I am your father’ twist still sends chills up my spine.

So, obviously I had high hopes for the Rise of Skywalker as it had a huge task to complete and it didn’t. Firstly, the first hour or so of the film was ‘damage control’. It undid what Episode 8 did i.e. ‘The Last Jedi’. Instead of Snoke, Palpatine was brought in a stupid reason was given which I’ll say in the spoiler filled review down below. Bringing back the Emperor in the third film without setting him up in the seventh and eighth Episode felt like J.J Abrams, the director wanted to apologize for the mistakes done by Rian Johnson who directed the Last Jedi.

If The Last Jedi never existed, the first hour would have been enjoyable even though the pacing was way off.

There was too much exposition and thus it felt like a video game. There was some fan-service which felt too much on the nose and felt desperate.

The plot was not coherent at all.

Whenever an interest was kindled through a scene, the movie cut to another scene which was less interesting. All the actors though gave their all. Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Finn as John Boyega, all were good. The VFX was top-notch which is obvious as it is a Disney movie afterall.

Overall, I didn’t feel bored. I felt disappointed.

_____________RATING______________

Story: Bad

Treatment: Average

Performances: Excellent

Recommendation: You’ll have to see it if you’re a Star Wars fans to know the story atleast.

Now to some of the spoilers I can’t wait to discuss.

Spoilers down below:-
(You have been warned).

There are many deaths in the film and there many answers to the questions posed by the previous films e.g. Who is Snoke?, Who are Rey’s parents? And where was Anakin’s lightsaber found? The first two questions were related to none other than the Emperor.

Both were okay answers but, the set up of Palpatine was completely rushed.

He was the person who was supposedly killed by Anakin Skywalker and bringing him back undermines the importance of Anakin’s sacrifice. So the only way to put this is Disney was too desperate to get the Star Wars fans to see this film and the only way they could do that was bringing back the Emperor himself.

The death of Ben Solo was unacceptable to me.

He was the most interesting character of the Disney trilogy and they killed him off. Killing off Rey was the sensible thing to do but I don’t know whether it is the feministic propaganda of Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm, they made Ben sacrifice himself to bring back Rey alive. That was utter nonsense.

They also made Rey the most OP (overpowered) character in Star Wars.

She could do things, which have never been seen before. Bringing back someone to life? And without any formal training from a Jedi? Come on give me a break. This is too much. In the end Rey takes up the Skywalker name being a Palpatine with Luke’s and Leia’s force ghost looking over her happily. That was just infuriating to me.

Well, this trilogy just proves that a plan must be made before starting one.

Even atleast an outline because this has been one hot mess and has disappointed thousands of fans. Disney, you ruined Star Wars.

*Disappointing but Hilarious*

Jumanji: The Next Level is directed by Jake Kasdan and stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Jack Black in lead roles. It is the sequel to the critically appreciated Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. In that movie, the change of making the boardgame of the original Jumanji into a video game for the new generation, was fresh and creative. Here, the makers try the same formula and tweak it enough to make it an enjoyable 123 minutes.

It is not as good as the first one though.

Some aspects feel repetitive and weary but as it is a story told through a ‘video game’, anything can happen.

Zany things kept happening and when it was happening, I could only tell myself, ‘it is a video game’.

The story was similar to the last one but with Danny Devito as Spencer’s grandfather and Danny Glover as his friend. They gave a new dimension which helped keep things new. The acting of all the cast members was spot on.

Jack Black was able to play an adult black man and a girl in this one, as crazy as it may seem and he pulls it off convincingly.

Kevin Hart was hilarious as usual and Karen Gillan also brought her comedic timing into the mix. The film had good jokes was almost as funny as the last installment.

The music here by Henry Jackman was much better though than the last one.

In Welcome to the Jungle, he had a generic ‘adventure’ based theme but here he brings a variety of good stuff. The VFX was good and pretty believable. All in all, Jumanji: The Next Level may not be a new product, but it has the fun elements to it.

———————-RATING——————–

Story: Average

Treatment: Excellent

Performance: Excellent

Recommendation: Not worth it if you haven’t seen Welcome to The Jungle.