2012 - The End - Or Just the Beginning

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12th December 2012:
"Water came rushing in from all sides of the island and submerged the complete city in one sweep. Huge rocks were falling from the skies and blasting like Atom bombs all over the mountains. Rocks started to melt like wax does in the coal and houses began to vaporize in seconds.
The minute longs earthquakes were shattering the landscapes, and buildings were collapsing like when a tower of cards crash when even one card is pushed from its base. Bridges were collapsing, trucks blasting and there was havoc everywhere!"


Just the words above can generate chills in the spine. Now imagine watching the destruction on 30 by 70 feet screen size and dolby digital surround sound. Oh, it has GOT TO BE one of the most Amazing Experience ever. And it was. So much so, that I had to watch it two times to get it through.

The apocalypse of 2012 is based on the myth (or perhaps the truth) of Mayan calender's predicting the end of human civilization to be on the 12th day of 12th Month of the year 2012. Nobody can prove the authenticity of the prediction (unless and otherwise they use a Time machine, of course!), but they can at least create a thrill ride of the events, in a circumstance that it might go true.

Story is the (now) stereotypical, "peoples trying to save themselves from destruction of the earth", type of movies, but its hell of a thrill ride. It was the most anticipated movie for me, when I had watched its trailer, months ago. Many people have criticized 2012 for the lack of its imaginative plot, but I dont think you need more! With the Earth coming to an end, who cares about the story; the people would wonder more, if anybody could survive the apocalyptic date.

Inception - Dare to Dream

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The first thing which comes to mind after you have watched the trailor of Inception, is that you will see Leonardo DiCaprio on the Big screen! It’s a known fact, about him being a good actor, and its hard to imagine him without getting the record-setting "Titanic" in mind. But I am glad to say that Inception may have broken this cliché, and instead many people would now remember him for Inception instead!

Although its very difficult to write a review of Inception, after just a single watch (ya, its that obscure), but this is just an account of my experience and knowledge while doing so.

Plot:

Inception is all about dreams, and its invasion. Few people, has the technology to go inside someone’s dream, and steal what is called the most important thing in the modern world - Information or secrets. "Cobb", the main protagonist of the story (of course Leo), has a job to use their dreams to extract the information, and hence he is called, “extractor”. As the story progresses we watch Cobb and his team  playing with the minds of people that they target, while Cobb trying to deal with his own secrets of his memories. That’s all is needed to Incept the idea of Inception in your minds.

World of the Inception:

“Your mind is the scene of the crime.” - That’s the tag line which Inception has used for its promotion. And quite effortlessly, its justified. The world of Inception is the dream.

Cobb (in the center) with his Team

A dream may just be limited by your imagination, and physics sometimes go for a toss. Anything can happen in a dream. But as in the case of dreams we experience ourselves, any event happening in there, comes to effect because of its some kind of relation to the reality. And any event happening in the real world of the  dreamer, may fall an effect in the dream, the dreamer is watching. (Quiet compelling, isn’t it?)

The connection may seem to be burrowed by the favorite film of all time, "The Matrix", but is far more complicated then that, as you may had or would experience yourself. But more on that later.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Cover of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (BTEA hereon), is an adventure which must have been the envy of every student who ever wished to make a history project in there school times.

BTEA is a story of two friends, Bill and Ted, and there journey through time, collecting many historical figures, in real person, like the Greek Philosopher - Socrates from about 410 BC, and
Joan of Arc from about 1430 AD to the 16th President of US, and most popular among them, Mr. Abrahim Lincoln. They all are literally captured by the duo in an attempt to pass in their History report!
I know, sounds a little strange, but trust me, its an epic adventure.


Released just about 10 months before second part of Back to the Future Trilogy, BTEA makes little or no attempt to face the paradoxes of time travel. And the way which story goes, kinda looks childish, but who's complaining? Its quiet an adventure and visually good for its time. The best part: you get to travel in a tunnel of time and can actually "see" the time flowing, and going to a particular time is as convenient as dialling a number in the booth, literally!


If you have seen The Matrix, you would be amazed by the teen look of Keanu Reeves. I mean, I recognized much later in the movie that he was the Matrix superstar! What can I tell you about Matrix? I believe it was a landmark in the history of Hollywood. And there are just two kinds of movies, those made before the Matix and those after. But thats another story.

BTEA definitely comes among the tops in my list of must see time travel movies.
Just for the record, these are some of the people you can expect to meet in BTEA.



(From Left to Right) Socrates, John Or Arc, Abrahim Lincoln, Genghis Khan, Beethoven.

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Napolean Dynamite - No its not a War Story

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The first thing that may come to mind after reading the title "Napolean Dynamite", would either be that this is some kind of a Historical story or a historical War movie. But let me tell you that it is infact neither of the two! Its a name of the guy, played by Jon Heder. He may be a nerd or having some kind of Mental disorder, the clarity of which is not clear in the story. (Do let me know, if it clears to you).

To quote IMDB, this movie is about "A listless and alienated teenager, (who) decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home."

I watched this movie, just for the sake of curiosity, cause I had heard many opinions about it. Dont remember, if it was positive or not, but I certainly fell in love with the characters. There's something about him, that makes him familiar. His geekiness, maybe, or the way he says, :Gosh! There's a kind of innocence, a child inside him, which I think prevails inside me too.

Clockstoppers - being Hyper

Have you ever wished you had more time, when all of your friends are shouting at you, for being late to the party, and you are struggling with your dress, which is failing to put on the right place, just at the right time. Or have you ever being frustrated for being late at the class or at the office, afraid of how might your boss react?

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Almost everyone of us, have demanded more time then we get. And its the only thing that instead flies, with the promise that it would never return.... Okay, I sometimes carry away, when I talk about "Time". So I was saying that if you ever had the shortage of seconds, then the Clock from the movie, Clockstoppers is a gadget you will have to dream of. "Dream" because it would take extreme luck for you to acquire such a device, on which there would be the eyes of some of the villians, who will try to snatch it from you, at every tick of the second you proceed with the clock.

Well, in the story of Clockstopper, the lead role, gets his hand on such a watch, which on the press of a button makes you so fast, that everything around seems to be so slow, that you get the illusion of time being stopped, when actually time IS flying like it always does, but with an extremely slow rate! (Umm.. good physics, isn't it?) And now you can do whatever you can imagine in, what is called as "Hypertime". Now any verb, prefixed with Hyper, is bound to sound cool, and this is no exception!

What makes this story interesting, other than the fact, that it uses Einstein's Theory of Relativity, is the adventure with which the boy is accompanied with that clock. And the best part is he gets to know about that time stopping; okay, time slowing gadget with her girlfriend, and together they try to make full use of it! Hey, don't get bad ideas in you mind! They are children for god's sake. They use this power to... well, I don't want to write a spoiler.

The fact is, they don't get to use its power, cause as in a typical Hollywood movie, there are bad guys, who is trying to get that gadget, for some evil intentions! And that's when the adventure comes, and the survival race begins.

Clockstoppers, is quite a nice movie, nice for kids, cause in terms of the story, it doesn't qualify for big guys. But still, a fun movie to watch, cause it shows, the hidden desire among all of us - to stop time.

Keep an eye on this gadget. You may not go back in time, with that clock, but you sure can go Hyper!

The Ruins – Better not watch this!

I saw this movie by chance, when I cached its beginning, on TV at night. And I think, I would have been better, without it. The movie is so gross; I get goose bumps whenever I remember those scenes. Those horrible situations!

"The Ruins" is a horror movie, although not the best in its genre, but still a great deal to follow for someone like me! The plot involves a few tourists travelling to an ancient Mayan temple of Mexican Jungle, where they became the target of carnivorous plants, ready to eat them alive! Yes you read it right, and it does sound creepy.

Well, I have nothing to write more. If you do want to watch this; then let me warn you - this movie is not for the faint of hearts. And I am sure, even strong hearts would want to skip this one. It contains every thing that makes it irresistible to avoid. And I am glad I saw it on TV, cause most of the horror was censored. Sometimes censoring is good ;)

3 Idiots - Another name for modern Geniuses

** Warning: This article could contain spoilers. So if you havn't seen the movie, go see it first!" **


I am an Idiot. And I am accepting this fact, not to follow the trend of today's youngsters, but because I really am! And I am putting this assertion on the fact that I waited for so long to watch it.

3 Idiots is the story of the guys, who are facing the most difficult times of their lives which is, to make a life! The students who face various kinds of tortures when getting admission to a renowned college, in the form of ragging, as well as the pressures of dealing with studies, and the expectations of their parents, these all are aptly shown in the film.

There are moments of joy, sad and of course, love, throughout the film. But what is prevalent, is the awesomeness of friendship, and the bonding which the trio shows and which could have been the reason alone, for proving it to be a hit.

Horton - Hearing someone no one could hear!

"Horton Hears a Who!", takes us inside to a world living on a spec of dust, where no one could believe that life can exist.

Its a testimony of how incredible, the idea of microscopic life can be instilled with adventure, comedy and horror in an animation of not more than one and a half hour. Comedy when we see the child like innocence of Horton, adventure for those who involved in, or against the elephant, and horror for the Whoville, whose town could be destroyed even if the dust falls in a drop of water.
  
Its later that I came to know that the voice of Horton, the elephant, was of Jim Carrey, one of my favorite actors of Hollywood. No wonder I loved the elephant and besides, he was way too cute! I also loved Morton, the rat who is Horton's best friend, and always tried to bring him down to earth whenever he flies too high in his dreams, which he see mostly in the daylight.


The idea of beings so microscopic that its unimaginable to even think is not a new one. I recall, watching Men in Black many years ago, which too showed this idea in a fashion only Hollywood can do. The end shot of Men in Black where, our whole universe, is zoomed out of a marble, which a giant creature (for us) is playing with, just took my breath away the first time I watched it.

In the end, I could conclude, that this fun-packed family movie, is as well as entertaining, as its educational, and definitely imparts us the wisdom, to never see the world with the same eyes again!

A Beautiful Mind

I saw this intriguing movie last night. A Beautiful Mind, based on the Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences, is the story of John Nash, about how he cope up with his brilliant mind, and his veridical friends.

 

 
This movie, takes us to a journey of his entire life, and we witness the world through the eyes of a mathematician, breaking some of the very complex encryptions, that would otherwise take too much resources to solve.

Also what made me enjoy this movie, was the sheer depiction of the flow of time. Which was like when The Time Traveler of H.G. Wells novel, flies to the future, in its movie version. Its is just fascinating to see the time scaled up to an extent, where winters to spring happens in a few seconds, and we could see the transformations, which is otherwise too slow to notice for an average Joe.





I think one of the justifications for this movie to be awarded with four Oscars, can be given by the fact that not a single moment did I feel that Russell Crowe was an actor. He was so unbelievably more believable.

A beautiful mind, is a beautiful movie, the beauty of which lies in the mind of the character, and the technique he uses to find the solutions of the problems, which itself takes a shape of an art, very few is able to materialize.
And I could go on and on, writing about this art which almost all of us have inside us somewhere. But may be next time.

Having done the graduation in Maths, I am repenting just one thing. "Why wasn't I recommended this movie, a couple of years ago!"

AVATAR - Alien World, never felt so alien!

If you want to know, what happens, when the maker of Titanic meets with the modern technological advancements, then Avatar is the movie you would want to see. With the glory of 3D, it is supposed to dazzle the audience with the brilliance of a world, which is part impossible to cease (like, floating mountains). And with the box office collections, it sure have managed to do so.

After many unsuccessful attempts to go to the theater, (juggling my job and personal life,) I finally made a plan to go for it, even if it meant, watching it alone!
So on the afternoon of a day when it was so freezing, feeling like I was in the north pole, I headed for V3S, Laxmi Nagar, where I had planned to watch it.
Buying the ticket was a big hole in the wallet, but worth it. I mean imagine, this is the only movie after Titanic, in which James Cameron is the Director, Writer as well as Producer!

I think its in my genes, that I become overly excited when the movie is about to start, and wait impatiently for the time,  when advertisement stops and movie begins. The most proud moment I feel after that, is when a message pops up on the screen, for the request for audience to stand, as the music of National Anthem fills the hall with a aura, that is hard to describe. I love the subtle remembrance about us being an Indian, despite that we are watching a movie, which is foreign.

And there it was, the movie begin, and soon I was on Pandora, living with the aliens. But after the movie I was wondering, who the real aliens were, them or us humans!
As the time flew, the spectacular world unfolded its hidden secrets, and I was lost in the so unbelievable world which was seeming more real than the bus or auto we take in order to reach our home.

In the end I was happy that I didn't missed Avatar, and despite the fact that I couldn't enjoy the movie in 3D, I was still enchanted by the magic, I experienced.

To conclude, following is an excerpt from my own dialogue with a friend, "Its true, that Hollywood just doesn't create a story, but an entire Universe..."

Where the Wild Things Are

“A boy living in his own fantasy land, feels ignorant when none of the fellow being give him attention. He runs of the house, and spends the most exciting time, probably of his entire life.” Sounds just like I wanted to do when I was a kid. Dammit, I want to do that even now!

This movie probably shows the physic state of a mind of a child, who has no friends in real world, or might be not able to get along, even if they exist. The wild things are actually one of the prettiest creatures I have seen onscreen. This movie is a great story of the relationships between him and those “wild things”.

If you are watching it, there’s a warning - Its pretty wild! and do justice for the title. Soundtracks and songs are perfect. I enjoyed it till the end and wish I met those for at least once, cause then I will able to show my wild side…

FAQ about Time Travel

"Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel" sounds like a kind of documentary. But on the contrary, its one of those jewel, which adds a sparkling touch to my personal "must watch movies on time travel" list.
What starts with a boring conversation, soon turns out to be the most adventurous night the trio friend would ever have. And with an attempt not to disclose any spoiler, my review for this movie ends here.

Actually this movie can be watched as a guide to the ones who are newbie to the idea of traveling in time, and the paradoxes it involves.
One thing's for sure, that after this movie, I am a fan of Chris O'Dowd. I also watched the series, The IT Crowd, which featured Chris, as a geek, having a seat in basement of an IT building, serving them, and getting nothing than ignorance in return.

I loved the series, cause I could sometimes identify with him. His ascent (probably Irish) made the dialogues even fumier. "Have you tried turning it off an' on again", oh boy, how I used to recite it like a mantra after him. Just seems yesterday.

On closing note, remember, not to perceive a nerd as a nerd, rather, call him an imagineer!

Planet 51 - Dont know where other 50 Are

I decided to watch Planet 51, cause it had a word "planet" in it and it was an Animation, enough to fetish my childhood desires. Despite the green look of the characters (Aliens, to us), which resembled "The Shrek's" Ogre, I fairly enjoyed the movie. But the most lovable character was Skiff, whose cute innocent talks never seized to spread a smile on my face.

Planet 51, too had its emotional moments, and I totally enjoyed every bit of it. The question of "Are we alone in the Universe" was raised again; and again, we were, left to ponder upon. Overall its a good, cute, children movie, that an adult (or so called), too would not regret watching.

Primer - Complex to Understand than even Time itself.

Before I begin, I must say, that I love Time Travel movies. The journey of a man to the 4th dimension, and the probability of meeting with one's own self is itself the most incredible idea that is enough to distill a world of possibilities (other than the probability that the Universe would collapse!).

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But, I can claim one thing, that I have understood more of the story of Primer, after reading it on wikipedia, rather than watching the actual movie. I think, it would require a couple of watches more before I can fully understand the technicality of the story.

I would recommend this movie, for anyone with a high appetite for technical dialogue overdose or someone who wants to have a good night sleep!
But seriously its a must watch for a die hard lover of time travel concept, as it bring with it the most original and innovative method to travel back in time that I have witnessed the night of 1st Jan 2010... (albeit not so exciting, as to travel flying in DeLorean!).

Back to the Future

The mind of a true Sci-Fi lover would immediately recognize the title of this article.

"Back to the Future" is a Robert Zemeckis epic movie which captured the imagination of 80's. With a mind blowing story of a boy getting in trouble even before he was born and the special effects so great for the time, this movie was produced, it truly and literally justifies the title.

And yes, the eve of the new year, on Thursday, 31st December 2009, I was celebrating with my friend Ankur, watching the 2nd part of this incredible trilogy.

Memories came flooding back and each hair on my body was feeling the excitement as I was following the story. No matter how many times do I see it, it always feels the same, as it had when I first watched it years ago on AXN.

My only wish would be to watch this movie on the big screen. But for that I may need the  DeLorean, for the first part was released one year before I was born.

Time to go back in time...

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