Spiderman: Far From Home

 It's been a while since I've indulged in a marvel movie...

That being said, I thought Spiderman: Far From Home is unlike any marvel movie I've seen before. It's very whimsical and funny. It's the type of movie that gives you a feeling of ease; like you know it's going to end well and there'll be laughs along the way. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but still offers a good peak into what the main character, Peter Parker, is going through. 

As a high school student, Peter Parker just wants a normal summer. He's supposed to go on a trip to Europe with his classmates and teachers. For him, this is also a prime opportunity to tell the girl he likes (MJ) how he feels. Nick Fury, one of the Avengers in charge of damage control, however, thinks differently. He calls on Peter to embark on a mission with the Avengers as Spiderman, and provides a legacy piece that IronMan had left behind for him. I loved the realism that the movie brought to the idea of being an Avenger; the fact that it's a job, and when you're on call, you're on call, even when you don't really want to be. Peter, being the normal teenager he is, isn't super excited about embarking on this adventure and growing up so quickly. He wants to have fun and have a normal summer. 

The movie explores how Peter grapples with his growing responsibility as an Avenger member, alongside with the main plot of the movie which involves stopping the villain. In the process, we learn a little bit about the classmates in Peter's life: his endearing friend, his crush MJ and his other classmates that have quirks of their own. 

I don't want to give any spoilers away, but I will say that the movie not only engaged me from an action superhero angle, but also from the angle of getting to know and love the characters, and I really appreciated it. 

I also loved the diversity in the film. Of course, Peter Parker himself is caucasian, but his classmates ranged from african american to asian to Indian. It really made me connect to the film more to see people of color (me being Indian myself). 

I would overall, highly recommend this movie. It's not super dramatic, and isn't too crazy about "spiderman" as a superhero either. It really brings to light the heart of the character, as someone who really is shaped by the support system he has and who is willing to grow to meet the needs of the situation. At the end of the day, Peter Parker is a growing human being just like the rest of us.

Black Panther

Watching this film was long overdue... I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Wow. The layers.

There are so many facets of this movie which make it transcend the genre of an "action packed superhero movie". It's not just about the strength of the Black Panther, or the fact that he is a good and righteous man, and blah blah blah. But it also dares to explore the complexity of African perception in the world. Most of us (let's face it) think of Africa as a third world continent, and the movie brings to light that the abuse of colonizers all has led to severe discrimination of Africans (slavery, and its evolved forms: mass incarceration, etc.) around the world.

Wakanda defies all the stereotypes that we lay on Africa. It's rich, powered by the most strong metal in the world, "Veranium" (fictional), and has the best technology mankind has ever laid eyes on. Women are empowering and thrive there as soldiers and scientists. Its trains run on advanced magnetism. It is beautiful, and its people are colorful and peaceful.

The complexity is brought quite nicely into the picture through the villain of the movie, Erik Killmonger, who is not so much a heartless monster, as a product of the violence, injustice and cruelty that African Americans have been facing till now. How much is Wakanda to blame for not stepping up to the unfairness faced by people of African descent around the world? Killmonger thinks a lot. To him, justice is dethroning T'Challa (Black Panther, current Wakandan King) and using Wakanda's vibranium to "colonize the colonizers" and take revenge upon white supremacy. Of course, this is all fueled by anger and hatred, which makes Killmonger need to be stopped, but it raises some very serious questions about whether Wakanda should in fact play a larger role in bridging the gap between Wakandan abundance and African poverty around the world.

That makes the pursuit of defeating Erik Killmonger not so much a good vs evil battle, but rather a wakeup call to the Wakandans.

T'Challa is portrayed in the movie as someone who is pure of heart and good, but who needs to make the penultimate decision to take Wakanda out of its luxurious safety net. He is surrounded by smart and strong women: his sister Shuri: chief scientist of all gadgets and architecture that fuels Wakanda and his black panther suit, his chief general: the nimble and strong Okoye, and his ex-lover Nakia:  refugee saver and mighty warrior. It seems that he is in equal footing in power with all of them, which makes the movie a breathe of fresh air from the typical male dominating superhero films.

The visuals are spectacular, the Wakandans, in their bright and colorful costumes shine with powerful culture, even the Mountain tribe that play as competitors to the Wakandans, are portrayed with gusto. The basal beat throughout the movie is steady and compelling, and the special effects with the gadgets are high quality.

I would therefore, recommend this film. It's more than just good vs bad as I mentioned before, but it also shows what righteousness and honor would be for a situation as complex as this. And I just loved the African empowerment that reminds us all to not underestimate anybody out there in the world.

Coco

I really enjoyed this film. The visuals were spectacular, it made me cry at the end and it was a good overall family entertainment. 

The songs felt a bit lacking for me, partially because this movie wasn’t a musical per se as many other Disney films are so we didn’t get to see a full song in action. 

The Mexican culture explored though was interesting, especially surrounding the significance of ancestral/family blessings in life and happiness. 

The skeleton world was also interesting. I wondered why ancestors were represented as skeletons and not spirits that were just invisible but human like in form? Maybe this was to show the clear distinction between changing bodies as representing changing worlds and perceptions. My mom did comment that some of her pre-school kids perceived the skeletons as scary. I thought they bought a sense of eerie charm, although let’s face it, the skeleton world seems exactly like the human world. It’s not heaven, just a morphed continuation of life where you’re constantly dependent on your legacy in another world to survive. 

I thought the charm of the movie came from how important family is to kids, and to people of all ages in general. Miguel, the main character of the film just wanted to become a musician, yet  he couldn’t easily because of his family. The core insecurity of pursuing music in his current family stemmed from his ancestors, and what Miguel was able to bring from the ancestral world to the current world after his journey was the acceptance of music. With his family accepting music, Miguel was more free to pursue music than ever before. 

The importance of family to an individual’s life and career path is one that is especially prevalent in Asian cultures. The hope to bring pride and happiness to one’s family is a constant goal in many peoples’ lives. This movie touched me when the family really saw that it wasn’t music that was the problem, but a misunderstanding. But even more that they fully embraced what Miguel wanted to pursue at the end, as all good families must do. 

Stranger Things

Stranger things is indeed a strange TV show. Yet, it is extremely interesting. It is the type of show that you can geek out on: it has all the elements: monsters, an alternate universe, a secret laboratory tied to the government, and missing children.
The acting (especially Winona Ryder) if delivered in a lighter plot would be almost comedic, but it works well for the setting and dynamics of the show which is suspenseful and a bit dark.
It does have some whimsy to it though, and that comes with the group of main children characters: Mike, Lucas and Dustin. When their beloved friend Will, disappears in Mirkwood, a woodsy dark area, they try to re-trace his steps and wind upon a strange, and interesting young girl named Eleven. El takes a temporary abode in Mike's basement, and speaks in single words. Soon enough, the boys realize that El has supernatural powers. She can teleport objects with her mind, and perform telekinesis to channel sound waves to hear Will who it turns out, is in another dimension.
Mike's sister, Nancy gets involved when her friend disappears into this dimension in a similar manner, and Will's brother Jonathan, won't stand to give up the search for his younger brother. Nancy and Jonathan form an alliance, and so do Jody, Will's mom (Wynona Ryder) and the Chief Town Police officer (Jim) after Jim shows much empathy remembering the loss of his own daughter a few years earlier.
I won't give away how they try to access this alternate dimension and deal with what awaits them, but if you have read the second sentence of this review and were curious, then yes. There are monsters.
What ironically sets Stranger Things apart from your typical bunch of sci-fi dramas, is the way you grow to care for the main characters, within the very first episode. It's as though you know them, and you can feel their pain and loss. Will feels like your very own brother.

My major conclusion though is if you enjoyed E.T., Signs, and Arrival, then you will most certainly enjoy Stranger Things. It's sci-fi, drama and adventure all packed into one.

Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club is a powerful film. As an Indian immigrant to the country, I related a lot to the struggle all main characters had with reconciling their Asian identity/traditions with their Western ideals. Having the movie focus on the main characters relationships with their mothers, and then showing not only their own but their mothers' perspectives and their backstories is what sets this movie apart.

It's one thing to say, this is how I feel about some of the strange beliefs, paranoias and desires that my mom has, but another thing to then show how your mom came upon those traditions.

The movie spans three strong Asian American parents and how they ended up in US, and the hopes and dreams they carried with them. Their daughters have at some point struggled to relate to their parents' perspective. One daughter Waverly, always performed well in chess, but is turned off by how her mom shows off her ability to all her friends. She gets into an argument with her mom, and says that she never wants to play chess again. Her mom does not budge from her stance, and lets her make the independent decision. When Waverly decides she wants to play again, her mom remarks that it is not so easy to play once practice is lost. Waverly loses confidence from that point, and her mom's intentions, although always good, really hold a high regard in decisions she makes for better or worse. Her mom's back story *** SPOILER ALERT *** is that she built that toughness through being in an unfortunate situation in her youth where she was arranged to marry a pre-pubescent boy. She used superstitions and dramatics to convince her mother in law that the match was cursed and it would be fatal for her husband to get out of the situation. From that point she left China to build a better life for herself and her future child. When hearing that, you can admit that there is a reason she is tough on her daughter to understand how lucky she is to have the opportunity to practice such an art.


This is an example of the type of stories that the movie covers. It's an intriguing film that examines that there is often a why before a how, and how the lives of your parents can often affect your own.

Indian Movie

I have somewhat of an issue with the premise of this movie.

SPOILERS BELOW.


It seems to me that the assaulter in this movie is ironically more of the victim, and the people at fault had gotten away with a crime that nobody feels happy about (including them).

Long story short, the movie is about a man whose daughter gets harassed by one of her classmates, who threatens to post a video of her changing on youtube. What will it take to stop him, her having intercourse with him.

He leads her to a point where she is vulnerable, and she tells her mom about the situation. Her mom's reaction is where the movie becomes over-dramatic. The mom, instead of calling the cops, or even his parents, proceeds to sob and is almost close to yielding to his desire. Meanwhile the daughter finds a club, and in an attempt to smash his phone with the video, ends up clubbing his head instead. The kid dies, and now the family has to cover up this murder scene.


The father steps in, covers all tracks and creates a story that implies the family was traveling during the time of the murder. They are still suspects in the eyes of a couple of cops. The first is one who literally sees the father drive the boy's yellow sports car and the second is the mom of the boy, who is also the head of Police of the state. The family is abused to speak the truth, but no one lets up.

When the youngest girl of the family agrees to show the buried body, they find a dog's instead. The father really covers up the tracks.

The hindi movie element here is that the father learns all of these murder tracking skills through watching movies.

At the end, the father intelligently calls upon the media during unveiling of the dead dog's body to reveal the family's unwarranted abuse by the police department. The Police of the state is suspended, and the cops are all fired.

Eventually the father meets with the ex-Police of state and her husband to not so indiscreetly admit that his family did commit the murder. There could have been a recording there! But alas, this is a Hindi movie.

That's the story. Think what you will, but it is decent in terms of suspense and flawed in terms of premise.
That's my verdict.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder woman blew me away. It was amazing. Every single part of it was crafted to perfection. From the main character, to the story, to the complexity, to pretty much every single detail.

The story takes place during World War II. But when the movie opens, we are introduced to the Amazonian people, all of whom are women warriors. Diana, who is the Warrior Queen's daughter has an appetite for fighting from a young age, and although her mother tries to protect her from it, Diana relents. The Queen's sister sees this, and trains Diana to be strong.

I wouldn't exactly say the story is unpredictable or that it does not have the checklist which a typical action movie would have: action, explosions and some serious kicking butt, but what sets this movie apart is its heart, and the pure goodness of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman can be seen as a symbol of our time, with women rights being in the forefront of today's top social issues. Also, the fact that she fights better than all the men. She raises the beacon of hope and shines, gaining the support of the truly good around her.

She also brings out the best in CIA agent Steve, who falls in love with her and becomes inspired to be  even more proactive in the war.

Here is an amazing story: inspiring, entertaining and maybe with a social/political message?

You can gain respect from those around you, and you can make a difference even if you're an outlier or minority. Only question is: can you be as strong as wonder woman?