Straight drive

Going through older blog posts (a bit too old, admittedly), the one topic which screamed for a revisit seems to be the one on Sci-fi movies . There have been quite a few good number of such movies in recent years, more than a handful since the last blog 6 years back. Here I pick two of these which I think are a 'must watch'. The most high profile of the sci-fi movies this decade was of course - ' Interstellar '. 1. Interstellar (2014) Coming from Nolan, the stakes for this movie were already sky high (pun not intended). Nolan shooting some of this in IMAX was a huge bonus. I don't think any other film maker has understood and used IMAX to its full potential yet, but Nolan has come closest. The Hong Kong night shot in The Dark Knight , and the opening sequence in The Dark Knight rises were outstanding achievements and made for thoroughly enjoyable movie experiences. Coming back to Interstellar though. The movie again tries answering 'the big questio

Watching Prometheus recently took me back to the various Sci-fi movies/literature I had come across. Numerous writers and film makers have woven dramatic tales of humans grappling with the consequences of new discoveries and inventions, which, while entertaining, also serve as a reminder of the various pitfalls of tampering with mother nature. While the basic theme of a science fiction is rooted in the ‘science’ or the technicalities of the basic theme, it is the drama surrounding its application/misuse/consequences that make it interesting, and results in most science fiction movies ending up as a ‘thrillers’. Here is a list of my  favourite  sci-fi movies, rated 1 through 5. Please note that since I haven’t watched as much of sci-fi as, say,  drama , this might not have many of the movies you would consider to be in your top five. I would love to hear of a few more movies I can watch 5.    Jurassic Park  (1993):  The ‘popular’ choice!  For my generation, this film is a tr

As I caught up with a few movies over the new year weekend, it got me thinking over a tool many filmmakers seem to have been using recently - that of retelling a standard classic. Since there is no longer anything of value to be added, they tweak a little something: either set it to a different time, or provide additional layers to the characters or the plot. While most of the time it is an interesting exercise in that it tries to provide an answer to some of the 'what if..' situations we think of, other times the filmmakers take the idea so far out we have a tough time convincing ourselves we are watching the same movie the title seems to suggest! I must admit I had my apprehensions when Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes' came out a couple of years back, but the movie was a pleasant surprise. Ritchies' achievement lay in getting away from the stereotypes that Holmes, and especially Dr. Watson, had becomes in the earlier versions and not retelling any of Conan Doyl

Ah, we are in that cycle again. Every once in a while, during the festive/wedding season or when the migratory birds (read: Desis settled abroad) come visiting or when technology or social networking enables us to connect to people settled all over the world, there is always the inevitable talk of a getting together of old mates. Having lived in the same locality all the bloody time, and owing to my good habit of walking to most places, I do keep bumping into old friends and acquaintances many a time. Rather depressingly, I am starting to feel these meetings end up on a rather disappointing note. Perhaps some explanation is needed. You see, we tend to have these wonderful memories of everyone we knew as a kid, and every time we refer to the person, the memories and stories we evoke conform to that image. Of course, no one is going to stay the same all the time. Hell, I can hardly recognize myself sometimes. If I were to hear myself blabbering on 'official' calls I would probab

I am happy. I am happy for the school kid who cannot resist a peek at the TV to check the score as he prepares for his exams, cursing the ICC for the inconvenient scheduling. I am happy for the proud Bengali who first instilled confidence and taught the team what it was to stand tall in the face of calamity, and who must be proudly looking at the team today as it carries his legacy forward. I am happy for the street kid who spends his hard earned money to buy a ticket costing way more than his income every time there is a match in the town, with the sole intention of seeing his heroes in action, and forgoes a few meals along the way. I am happy for the lion hearted fast bowler who came back into the team the long hard way and for half a decade since has carried the Indian attack on his shoulders despite having a different new ball partner almost every second match; who must have been haunted by the memories of how he, then a young tearaway fast bowler, had gifted the momentum to Austra

Watching Federer go down against Nadal at the final of the Australian Open was an overbearing experience. An year ago, Nadal had demolished the master at the French garrison and then stole the Wimbledon from right under Federer's nose in one of the greatest matches of the open era. Even so, Nadal had to fight every inch of the way as the fifth set went all the way to 9-7 before laying his hands on the crystal trophy. The Australian open final was different. It was, as Federer later admitted, a match he should have won. He was the on who hit far more winners, albeit compensated with his higher number of unforced errors, had almost doulble break points to his opponent, and also won two of his sets rather easily - 6-3. So what went wrong? It was a battle which, more than anything, Federer lost in the mind. He made one bad error in the third game of the fifth set which allowed Nadal to break him, and you could almost recognise that Federer had lost the plot. Though Nadal's immensel