Not only was the new Star wars movie disappointing in its lack of ambition, re-watching Episode 1 now, I think George Lucas got a raw deal for the prequels. Sure Jar Jar Binks is ridiculous but he is no more annoying than C3PO.
Time whizzes by and I, I write of glimpses I steal
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
All things Green
Regular readers of the blog (the imaginary/non-existent beings) know that I turned into a Nerdfighter and John Green fan after the TFioS book (and somewhat disappointing movie adaptation). But so much has happened since.
First, I fell in love with Vlogbrothers videos. This was a Youtube channel that John started with his brother Hank way back in the mesozoic era of 2007-08. The deal was that the brothers would communicate with each other (and the broader Nerdfighter community) through short videos that they posted once a week. There were some rules about length of videos, for instance < 4 mins but the topics covered everything from Hank's rendition of a song he wrote on Anglerfish to John talking about the healthcare system in Ethiopia.
Vlogbrothers led to Crash course and Sexplanations. John did a series on World History for Crash course, which if it was made 17 years ago might have changed my history. I was and still am a history buff and John and his teams' interpretation of the entire history of the world into bite-size packages is so creative, fascinating and educative, I would have embarked on a career following the Mongols if I had watched these videos in my teens.
Sexplanantions was awesome in that I had received no formal sex-education growing up in uber-conservative Chennai. Whatever I knew, I learnt from bits and pieces of information and misinformation from my peers. I wish I had a Lindsey teach me about sex in my teens. But more important than the anatomy or safe-sex lessons from Lindsey, it is the sex-positive atmosphere that I sorely lacked. I am, like so many people, ashamed to talk about sex in an open and curious way and thank the team at Sexplanations for shedding some of those inhibitions.
In the meantime, I also read other books by John Green. Post-TFioS, I started with a book titled 'An abundance of Katherines'. Brilliant doesn't begin to describe the book. I loved loved loved it. I was amused at how well I related to the characters in the book (esp Colin).
Then came, 'Looking for Alaska'. It was John's debut novel and it was as heartbreaking and heartwarming as TFioS. The Green binge was rounded up with 'Paper Towns'.
A common thread around all these novels is that it dealt with smart and curious teens who grappled with big questions about themselves and their place in the world. They read poetry, played pranks, rebelled against authority figures, fell in love, fell out of love and really loved learning. It was ok to be smart. Hell! it was awesome being smart. And that needed to be told.
Don't forget to be awesome
First, I fell in love with Vlogbrothers videos. This was a Youtube channel that John started with his brother Hank way back in the mesozoic era of 2007-08. The deal was that the brothers would communicate with each other (and the broader Nerdfighter community) through short videos that they posted once a week. There were some rules about length of videos, for instance < 4 mins but the topics covered everything from Hank's rendition of a song he wrote on Anglerfish to John talking about the healthcare system in Ethiopia.
Vlogbrothers led to Crash course and Sexplanations. John did a series on World History for Crash course, which if it was made 17 years ago might have changed my history. I was and still am a history buff and John and his teams' interpretation of the entire history of the world into bite-size packages is so creative, fascinating and educative, I would have embarked on a career following the Mongols if I had watched these videos in my teens.
Sexplanantions was awesome in that I had received no formal sex-education growing up in uber-conservative Chennai. Whatever I knew, I learnt from bits and pieces of information and misinformation from my peers. I wish I had a Lindsey teach me about sex in my teens. But more important than the anatomy or safe-sex lessons from Lindsey, it is the sex-positive atmosphere that I sorely lacked. I am, like so many people, ashamed to talk about sex in an open and curious way and thank the team at Sexplanations for shedding some of those inhibitions.
In the meantime, I also read other books by John Green. Post-TFioS, I started with a book titled 'An abundance of Katherines'. Brilliant doesn't begin to describe the book. I loved loved loved it. I was amused at how well I related to the characters in the book (esp Colin).
Then came, 'Looking for Alaska'. It was John's debut novel and it was as heartbreaking and heartwarming as TFioS. The Green binge was rounded up with 'Paper Towns'.
A common thread around all these novels is that it dealt with smart and curious teens who grappled with big questions about themselves and their place in the world. They read poetry, played pranks, rebelled against authority figures, fell in love, fell out of love and really loved learning. It was ok to be smart. Hell! it was awesome being smart. And that needed to be told.
Don't forget to be awesome
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
How I Met Your Mother
The show is over. It had its moments but the general consensus is that it should have ended 2 years ago. They dragged it and dragged it testing the patience of all those who had started watching the series from the beginning. And finally when they started wrapping up all the loose ends and gearing towards the finale, one expected that it could end with a bang and make up for all the busts. One would be so wrong. It sure was a disappointing ending.
*Spoiler alert*
The creators spent the better part of 3 seasons to show the transformation of Barney to a sensitive and loving guy and an entire season to the Barney-Robin wedding only to squander all of it and spend 4 minutes to say, "Robin and Barney split", "There is no 'the gang' anymore", "Ted and Mother lived happily for...waitforit... some time and then she died... you don't need to know of what" Oh well! there is Ted and Robin. Blue French Horn. Good bye.
I call Total BS
In other news, there is an alternative ending doing the rounds on the interwebs. Ted meets the Mother on the Farhampton platform and they find each other... Roll Credits. Now that was a decent ending.
*Spoiler alert*
The creators spent the better part of 3 seasons to show the transformation of Barney to a sensitive and loving guy and an entire season to the Barney-Robin wedding only to squander all of it and spend 4 minutes to say, "Robin and Barney split", "There is no 'the gang' anymore", "Ted and Mother lived happily for...waitforit... some time and then she died... you don't need to know of what" Oh well! there is Ted and Robin. Blue French Horn. Good bye.
I call Total BS
In other news, there is an alternative ending doing the rounds on the interwebs. Ted meets the Mother on the Farhampton platform and they find each other... Roll Credits. Now that was a decent ending.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
50th anniversary of the Doctor
I was terribly excited that I was going to watch the special episode of Doctor Who at Dendy cinemas. 3D and all. This was an episode to mark the 50th anniversary of the BBC show that I have grown to love in the last couple of years (I came to the party late). I consider myself a Whovian and though that gets a snicker from some people (I am looking at you J), I am not ashamed of it.
Dendys was packed in a way that I didn't think possible. I didn't have any idea that the good Doctor had such a following in sleepy Canberra. I kind of guessed it when the tickets were soldout within hours of being released (I got the last 5 tickets available) but still it was so amazing to see Whovians young and old, dress up in Fezzes and bowties, TARDIS dresses and even an Amy Pond kiss-o-gram to watch the special screening on a Sunday morning.
Sunday morning with friends and fellow Whovians to watch Dr. Who on the big screen. The day couldn't get any better. I mean it could have... if the episode was any good. Sadly it wasn't.
*Spoiler Alert*
Firstly, the alien antagonists of the episode were something called the Zygon. I had never heard of them before. They didn't have any historical significance (they weren't the first alien species from the first episode or any such thing). An epic show requires epic villains. What happened to the Daleks? To the Cybermen? To the Weeping Angels? To VashtaNerada? To Great Intelligence? Zygons that could take the shape of any human???? Darnit! You are only as good as your enemy and an enemy who is easily fooled by a cloyingly naive and big breasted Queen Elizabeth is far from the enemy that only 3 Doctors can defeat.
And if that sounds like a quibble, the other problems with the episode sure aren't.
The Doctor had killed off his own people (and the Daleks) to end the Timewar. Everything that comes after, the entire series, is because of that. The last of the timelords; a God with immense power to destroy everything but still cares deeply and protects the universe. The episode takes this pivotal moment in the personal history of the Doctor, and makes a cheap play to say... oh! he didn't really kill those people. He saved them. But he won't remember. So his personal history is still intact.
How can one go back and watch the episodes with Christopher Eccleston and care about the deeply haunted Doctor? How many times in the show have we heard, 'Last of his kind' to explain some crucial aspect of the Doctor? It is very hard to accept that Rose, the companion that changes the ruthless warrior to the sensitive Tenth doctor, was a lie.
Nah! I am not buying it. No amount of 3d boob/chin is good enough to buy this load of horsepoo.
Typically, the different versions of the Doctor in the same room will blow up the universe. But once you reverse the polarity of the thingamacallit, oh! now it is alright. But not always. Just this one instance. The next time the Doctor is facing an impossible foe, he can't get the 13 other versions of him.
Still, seeing Tennant's Doctor was wonderful. I really don't know why they had to get John Hurt to play the Doctor. He added nothing to the show. Now are we supposed to call Matt the Twelfth Doctor. Since Paul McGann does play the Doctor in the web-only minisode ahead of this episode, they could have just used him and not created an anomalous Doctor (who doesn't fit in with the rest of the show). Ok you have the Doctor who is not the Doctor in John Hurt and they are about to use the Moment to blow up Gallifrey and end the Timewar because there really really isn't any other choice. The hand is on the big red button. They are about to press it. Here we go. Almost pressed. Oh! what is that. Clara doesn't like it. OK then. We won't blow it up. Fuck that!
Saving Gallifrey is a total cop-out. One doesn't go... the Doctor's deepest darkest secret is... that he is a saintly amnesiac. The whole episode lacked gravitas. It was a farcical take on Doctor. Almost a parody. It would have been nice for a Children in Need special. Like that one time when Peter Davison meets David Tennant's Doctor. Something gimmicky that is not part of the overall storyline.
It may sound harsh but I have been spoilt to demand big things of the Doctor Who writers. I have sat through the heart-wrenching moment of Rose's departure in Doomsday. I was made to chew through my nails for the Stolen Earth. I have wept and laughed at The Wedding of River Song. In the pantheon of epic Doctor Who episodes, there is absolutely no room for The day of the Doctor. And that is just sad.
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