S.H.I.E.L.D.

Does it remind you of the same thing as me? If yes, then you're in the right place! (Hint: I am not referring to Captain America's shield here).

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, aka, S.H.I.E.L.D. Introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man in 2008, it has become a very popular name in the time that it's been around. Why? One of the reasons being that the breathtakingly amazing TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, has a wide viewership. Created by the Whedon family, it started back in 2013 with a lukewarm response. And to be very honest, the first half of its debut season wasn't all that great, but wait for it to kick in and it won't disappoint you. Bringing back fan favourite S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson from the dead (yes, it happens. Welcome to comics and related adaptations) the show created quite a buzz upon its announcement.

Lazarus? yes he's coming back from the dead

The pilot episode was shown at the San Diego Comic-Con (or as I call it, geek heaven), with a positive response. But received mixed reviews upon its actual telecast, which reminds me what a critic said - "What works in Comic-Con, won't necessarily work in the real world". As sad as I feel about this, I concur. Season 1 dealt with monster of the week format, eventually heading towards the aftermath of events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Hydra in S.H.I.E.L.D. - Agentception! And oh boy did it deliver! It hasn't seen a low since then. That is something tough even for the most brilliant of shows.

Josh Whedon

Season 2 started off with a bang, and ended that way too. Introducing Inhumans into the MCU, it also introduced new agents to the team, and had some jaw-dropping moments and twists. This series has shown us that you can focus on your characters even while focusing on a major ongoing arc. And character development is what it excels at! Back while watching season 1, nobody could've thought that these characters would grow so much and have so much depth. It is an example of great writing. Fleshed out female characters with growth and development - Whedon's strong point and this show's too. Season 3, or what I like to call it, FLIPPING CRAZY AND BRILLIANT PIECE OF TELEVISION SCREWING WITH OUR HEADS! Although it's not finished yet, this season has made Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. one of the best things on TV. Focusing on Inhumans, a monolith, and an alien planet, while dealing with relationships between those characters, it makes them more human/people than agents, and THAT is a high!

 If you're planning to binge-watch anything soon, make that anything Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because believe me, it's worth it. It's worth every second (maybe not the first 12 episodes but still). Another reason why it's so good is because of its involvement in the movies and the way it deals with the events that occur in those movies and how those events affect them and the whole of S.H.I.E.L.D. That is one of the plus points of this show. It's something to watch (out for). I'd give you the cast and characters list, but it's so long that I might have to write another article on it.

Wait...so many characters and YET it fleshes out each one of them. IS THIS SHOW EVEN REAL?!?!?!

About the author :- 

Aditya Vyas, from College of Medical Sciences, Nepal, is a big movie buff, a comic fan and a TV-series geek. The tech-addict who generally prefers a laptop to social contact is also a columnist for ExPRESS Magazine. Some of his other articles being :- 

http://express5515.blogspot.in/2015/12/2016-oh-you-enchantress.html

http://express5515.blogspot.in/2015/12/star-wars-story.html

Ready. Steady. Full Throttle

Imagine you’re travelling to some place in a pleasant mood by a car, the ac’s running and you have some music on . You’re actually travelling in a bubble, The Motorcycle, well it gets you out of the bubble. What fits the best between a man’s legs? A bike of course. But for some reason we have been thrown into a society where bikers are ridiculed, picked on and treated as second hand road citizens. But all of it is worth it when you get on your beast and turn the key. One of the greatest joys of riding is snaking your way through traffic while all of the cars are stuck, from apersonal experience I can tell you that its really hard to resist the urge of waving goodbye to the many faces staring at you through the car windows.

But ofcourse the cons always accompany the pros. Like endless advice on why you should wear a helmet. Imagine going for a quick run to the shop without a helmet and an old guy picks your ear off about how you should always wear a helmet and about how some guy he knew met with an accident(again I speak from personal experience). I saw that he was buying biscuits, what if I’d told him about some guy I knew who died while eating a damn biscuit. We are bikers, we are not stupid, we know that we are travelling at an incredibly high speed on a vehicle that cannot stand upright on its own. IF we have a fall,that little bit of plastic is all that stands between our head and the asphalt on the road. So why wouldn’t we wear a helmet? 

On top of this there’s the public notion that any boy who drives a motorcycle is immediately not a "good" boy. On the streets of Kolkata each biker has to take measure of certain things on the road, dogs, cats, toddlers, people talking on phones but what makes Us more wary than any other thing is THE KOLKATA TRAFFIC POLICE. Anytime we spot a white helmet we think to ourselves “Awh Crap, Not now”. Yes it’s true The Police have a spot reserved for us bikers in their hearts. They stop you and ask for your license and when you demand to know why they come up with excuses like “I didn’t like the look of you” or “A bike of this model fled from an accident half hour ago” (again from personal experience). This is just some cock-and-bull to get your papers out, and once your papers are in his hands there are only two possible outcomes :-

 1) They fine you.

 2) They take a bribe. 

We only have one outcome, Pay Money.

 Now moving on from worst enemies to best friends, The Best friends of bikers are, No, not other bikers but the street geniuses (also called mechanics) centered around Prince  Anwarshah Road crossing and Wellington. They are very genuine people and once you become a regular they treat you like a friend, free ‘chai’and a lively chat are offered while you see your beauty getting fixed. They don’t listen to anything  but when you park your bike they take it for a spin, when he comes back he’ll tell you what he thinks is wrong with the bike. Most likely he’ll end with “So bhaiya, did I miss anything?” and a wink. Biking in Kolkata wouldn’t survive without these Mechanics, and you can quote me on that. Parts with minor cracks(or major ones) which most mechanics would "recommend" you to replace, again something which comes with a hefty price tag, but these magicians can actually fix it with  scarps of cloth and fevikwik. They do the job so efficiently that you can put your mind at ease about the obvious dangers of gluing a machine together. When you ride out of the road with a smile on your face of having done good work on your beast you’ll feel a pair of eyes looking at you smiling . So that’s about it, if you wanna travel in a bubble with minimal risk buy a car, or if you wanna experience what travel really means bike’s the obvious choice.

RIDE SAFE. RIDE LONG.PEACE.

P.S :- DO NOT FORGET TO SHARE IF YOU HAVE THE SAME PASSION FOR BIKING :D . cheers! Thank you for your time!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :- 

Swagato Basak is a first year B.com student from Bhawanipore Education Society college.When he is not poring over his huge pile of books he prefers to read,write and photograph the grand event called Life. Some of his other articles are as follows :- 

http://express5515.blogspot.in/2015/11/kolkata-coming-of-age.html

The Master-Filmmaker and his treasure trove

Martin Scorsese is known for his intrepid filmmaking style. His unique art of montage is in a class by itself. He had been cultivating passion for making films since a very tender age. His first bold take in the career was ‘Who’s that knocking at My Door’ (1968), which is supposed to be his first feature-length flick. His latent taste for ‘music’ often got manifested on his screenplay. Scorsese’s remarkable signature technique is to provide voiceover which can be faintly compared to Shakespeare’s soliloquies in the few of his greatest works. 

The evergreen Martin Scorsese

 He uses genre-specific compilation scores in his films.  Keeping aside his literally adaptations, Scorsese preferred to put the real life maladies in his frame and imitate the real life everydayness closely.


His five most admired works are listed below :



TAXI DRIVER (1976) : 

A neo-noir psychological thriller, ‘Taxi Driver’ is Scorsese’s  1976 masterpiece that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. De Niro was worshipped back during the time of its release because of his gritty performance on screen. The story narrates the tale of Travis Bickle, a shattered and depressed young man, who becomes a taxi driver to survive the chronic insomnia he has been suffering from late often. The story unfolds the mysteries as it progresses with a gripping mood. The film won four Academy Awards for its brilliant execution.

GOODFELLAS (1990) : 

‘Goodfellas’ is one of the most meticulously made features ever made by Scorsese. It is an American biographical crime film that adapted its story’s crux from non-fiction ‘Wiseguy’ (1986) penned by Nicholas Pileggi, the co-writer of the Screenplay. The feature marks the oscillation  between the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill and his friends. Scorsese initiated the making of the film naming it ‘Wiseguy’, but postponed it a couple of days after. Later, began remaking the feature naming it ‘Goodfellas’.  The film got nominated for six Academy Awards including the highly regarded awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

THE DEPARTED (2006) : 


It wasn't until 2006 that the master filmmaker received the Academy Award for the best director category. The Departed finally fetched him one! An engrossing thriller about the Irish mob and the police's encounters in the quest to finally nail the infamous Frank Costello! A stellar cast ensemble of Jack Nicholson, Leonardo di Caprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg make this movie worth the 151 minute watch! One is a mole in the Massachusetts police department while another is a rat in the Costello family, its high time you find out who's what!

From the left Leonardo di caprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon

MEAN STREETS (1973) :

 ‘Mean Streets’ is an American crime flick co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. This film is identified as Scorsese’s first feature of his own design. It is a sympathetic ride which sums up into a tragic end. The film revolves around two important characters: ‘Charlie’ and ‘Johny Boy’ who grow up in an environment of blood and guns. The ground-breaking effect of the soundtrack sets the film apart adding an iconic flavour to it. De Niro has won the National Society of Film Critics award for his outstanding play on screen as the’ Best Supporting Actor’.

RAGING BULLS (1980) : 

Adapted from Jake LaMotta's memoir Raging Bull : My story, Raging Bulls is one of the most critically acclaimed American movies and certainly one of the best movies Scorsese made! Interestingly enough, Martin was at first reluctant in making this movie, but was later convinced as he came to relate to LaMotta's story! The story of a self-destructive boxer with excessive rage disorders brilliantly portrayed by Robert De Niro has made this movie an all time classic!

SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) : 

‘Shutter Island’ is a Neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Scorsese. Leonardo Di Caprio stars the character of U.S. Marshall Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels who investigates a psychiatric provision and disappearance of a patient on Shutter Island. The film hit the Box-Office making a profit of 294.8 million dollars. The film has been recognised as the ‘Best Thriller’ with the ‘Best Production Design’ by the Academy of Science Fiction. Also, Di Caprio undoubtedly bagged the award for being nominated as the ‘Best Actor’ for his skilful rendition.



About the author :- 

Manjima Sarkar is a movie buff and a dance enthusiast besides having an interest in music. The movie-columnist for ExPRESS Magazine is pursuing her graduation in English from Loreto college, Kolkata. Some of her other articles are as follows :- 

http://express5515.blogspot.in/2015/12/the-nolan-journey.html

Bar Room Musings

“If I know you, would you, know me?

 If I know you, would you, know me?”

The song kept on straining in my head as I reached for another pint. There was a time when beer was enticing, when the prospect of free beer could get a lot of things accomplished. Now, it does nothing to me apart from adding layers on the fat already accumulated from my beer chugging days.
How I missed a good whiskey on ice slowly melting away to oblivion in the grip of my clumsy fingers. But I wanted to lay off the hard stuff for a few days after the supreme drunken state of affairs that unfolded on New Year’s. I took a swig and looked across the pub.

“You know I know how, to make them stop and stare as I slow down

the club can’t even handle me right now.”

That was the lyric which was actually buzzing in reality, clashing with the ones inside my head. The entire pub was clashing with the world inside my head.
“Let’s go smoke for a while” said my friends and we walked into the small smoking room at the back. I don’t normally smoke, but I wanted a drag because, well, I know how to stare a cigarette in the flame and flirt without getting committed.

As I walked in, my eyes met him. He was with his friends and they seemed to be the ones responsible for making it un-breathable inside there. I could feel his eyes linger as I went and stood beside him (out of compulsion of course, or may be not?). Our shoulders brushed, smoke in between, we exchanged further glances. I tried to be cheery with my friends, the way I normally react (or overreact) when I don’t know what to feel or do. A few laughs, and raunchy jokes later I stepped out of there, and I could still feel his gaze introspecting over me. I turned around just a wee bit to make sure, and let’s just say, “it’s evident” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“Don’t go, tell me that the lights won’t change

tell me that you’ll be the same...” 

The song in my head started to get intense, I could hear every nuance, every turn of the beat throbbing within me.  I sat down at our booth and charted my growth the past year. I seemed to be a pro at cracking stupid jokes overtly with people, yet carrying on deep conversations with myself in my head, all at the same time.

“Oh you wanted to meet her so you can rub it in her face, what she’s missing out on,” Laughter ensues. Everyone loves a little bit of subtle innuendo with their beer buzz.

And whilst I was on the subject of rub it in on people’s faces, my head swiftly linked it to the monologue that has ensued in my head. I thought of all the small yet significant things I had accomplished, how I’d fought the downfalls of the year before the previous one, how I had made it apparent to certain people that I can do things without them, survive without them, and in a much MUCH better manner. And then at that moment, the door of the smoking room opened and he stepped out. He immediately caught my gaze and held it.

“All we need is somebody to lean on”

I have to admit, this one makes me groove. I mean, c’mon! But tonight, the song in my head had invaded its way into my tissues, latched on to my membranes and wouldn’t let go. I don’t like clingy people or clingy songs. But I’d make an exception for this one. It was named after one of my favourite pieces of classical music, probably that’s why?

He went to the bartender and got busy ordering things. The monologue in my head, very conveniently, started thinking of all the men of my Christmas past. I almost couldn’t breathe when I thought of how love can take a backseat, and lust can overpower us. How easy it is for us to let go of our clothes but not our walls. Why have we become a generation of scared, frightened, apathetic young adults who are hiding behind the cowardice of being afraid to love? What scars have made us truly abhor the beauty of romantic inclinations, the poetry contained in our eyes? When did we start letting gadgets provide us with more security than the bosom of our lovers?

“…and we’ll stay here, forever...” 

The song in my head made me nauseated by then. I got up to flirt with another cigarette, excusing myself from my friends. As I made my way to the smoking room, I saw him follow with two beers. His friends were still inside. Are they having some sort of a smoke off? It’s like they’d been living in there for years on end. I lit a cigarette and tried to put my thoughts at bay. I tried to concentrate on the patterns on the wall, the hardwood floor, the colour on the door. My therapist used to tell me that mindfulness is a saviour, it makes one live in the ‘her and now’. To me, Mindfulness has always been a bitch, much like everyone else in this world (apart from a few sweethearts, where would I be without you guys?). The song in my head was getting heated up and I felt like I was being suffocated. It was hard to tell whether it was all the smoke or the obnoxiousness that dwelled inside of me.

He was looking at me when I turned a casual glance on the opposite side. He smiled and took a swig from his beer. I was still trying my hand at mindfulness so I put the thoughts at bay and feigned a smile while dragging my cigarette like it was going to help me breathe any better. The flame almost hit the filter and I let go. He took another swig, kept his beer aside and started to approach me.
I took a quick glance at him, stared at the floor for a fraction of a second and bolted out the door.
I sat down at the booth with my friends and almost instantaneously immersed myself in brainless chatter while retarded club music filled my senses. Four sex jokes and two puns later, I eased into myself and let the mania slide. I told myself that 2016 had to be different.

As hard as it is, I would grow me a pair and brave the hardships of love and art. Love that transcends art, and art that transcends love. I want muses to behold and kisses to bewilder. And all the while, I want to dig deep into the trenches of life to seek what truly is, and what merely persists.

YOUR EMBERS SCATTERED OVER MY CLOSET OF SKELETONS

SHADES OF GREEN, UNTHINKABLE AND UNFATHOMMABLE:

THE ABSINTHE FOG ENVELOPS MY MYSTIC LAND OF MURDEROUS ZEAL 

AS I LIFT MY BONES TO THE GOSSAMER CLOUDS OF YOUR DWELLING.

THIS PATHETIC MANUEVER YOU CALL LIFE IS DISENCHANTED

BY THE BLOW OF A HEMLOCK DRENCHED PRICKY KISS, AND I MISS

THE AFTER TASTE OF YOUR SWEET SATISFACTION ON MY LONELY BEARINGS. 

He came out of the smoking room and looked straight at me, a loopy smile and a perplexed pair of eyes. I smiled back with the tenacity of a four year old.

After all, a poet wants, what a poet wants...


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :- 

Navamita Chandra is a student of Psychology from Loreto college, Kolkata. This passionate day-dreamer, vintage music maniac and devoted writer is also a reputed theatrician from The Dramatically Correct!