I just did a count of the total number of posts on this blog and realized I had put up 53 posts from Feb 2011 to Feb 2012...effectively one for every week. Of course, some of these were one-liners, but each one counts, right? :-)
For some reason, I had assumed that I had done about 30 posts on Weebly, so since I just put up by 21st post on WordPress, I had come back to verify if I had indeed hit the magic number of 50. Instead, I have a happy surprise that cumulatively, I am at 74 posts and counting...
Not sure if I will come back to Weebly. I do have a couple of posts sitting in the draft folder here, but I may write them out on WordPress now, since I have more or less decided to stick to that platform. In fact, I am waiting for WordPress to enable import of blogs from Weebly...I guess that will happen only once Weebly hits a certain critical mass.
I have now created a blog on WordPress and am going to try it out for the next few posts. I just want to see how different the experience is. To be honest, I feel a bit guilty 'abandoning' this Weebly page, WordPress appears to be more complicated to operate, but that's because it has more features.Let's see how it goes. The URL is chronophlogiston.wordpress.comAs a test, I have re-posted my last post about Satyajit Ray on the WordPress blog.
In the past one month, I have added 3 more films to my list of Satyajit Ray movies watched - Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players, 1977), Nayak (The Hero, 1966) and Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1970). Each film is a masterpiece. All of them come from his post-Charulata period, where he moved away from his socially relevant films to a wider set of genres and a less intense tone.
"Shatranj Ke Khiladi" is the most tongue-in-cheek of the 3 films. I can imagine Mr. Ray making this film with a twinkle in his eye, enjoying the subject matter and the performances of Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey, as the two chess players intent on playing their daily game of chess. Interestingly, the core of the film - the antics of Kumar and Jaffrey - is just a sub-plot to the machinations of the British to have the ruler of the state removed from his throne. The characters played by Kumar and Jaffrey are minor noblemen who occasionally appear at the court of the ruler. In fact, there is just one scene in the entire film where they are actually seen at court with the ruler, thereby establishing the connection between the two plots. I must make special mention of the outstanding and understated performance by Hindi film bad guy Amjad Khan as the effeminate and ineffectual ruler of Oudh. A ruler only through the accident of birth, he is much more at home appreciating the fine arts, than focusing on affairs of state - a fact that is continuously brought up by the British General who is responsible for enforcing his abdication. If ever a single film captured the essence of how the British expanded their colonization of India, it is this one. Most of the Indian ruling class couldn't be bothered with what the British were up to, as long as they were allowed to live their lives of luxury. The film is based on a short story of the same name by Munshi Premchand, one of India's foremost writers of popular literature of the early 20th century.
"Nayak" is an insightful look into the life of celebrity, expertly told over the course of an overnight train journey from Calcutta to New Delhi. This film is based on an original screenplay by Mr. Ray. As one can imagine, setting the film on a train gives Mr. Ray the opportunity to populate the story with many interesting characters. While not all of them interact directly with the titular protagonist, their stories play out as a colorful background to the journey of self-exploration undertaken by the actor, in parallel with his train journey. This introspection is triggered by the attempts of a magazine editor to surreptitiously gain an interview with the actor to publish in her next issue. Their discussions take place over multiple meetings in the dining car, each meeting resulting in the editor (charmingly played by Sharmila Tagore) getting further and further past the mask of his public persona. In turn, the actor (played to perfection by Uttam Kumar) becomes increasingly attracted to and intrigued by this ingenuous young writer. The other characters on the train expertly serve to fill the gaps and move the story forward.
"Aranyer Din Ratri" is a sort of road trip, once again a journey of self-exploration for 4 somewhat callow and self-possessed young men on a forest trip from the city. Here Mr. Ray gives us glimpses into the psyche of the Indian middle and upper-middle class (hasn't really changed in the 40 years since the film was made) - a sense of entitlement and a belief that money and contacts are good enough to bypass rules and regulations. The 4 friends bully the watchman of a forest department rest house to 'rent' it out to them, even though they have no official authorization to stay on government property. Their intention is to 'chill out' away from the city, but change their minds and decide to become sociable when they discover that a nearby bungalow is occupied by a wealthy retired man, his daughter and widowed daughter-in-law (both attractive young women) and grandson. In the course of the next few days, their interactions with the women, with the villagers and with the forest dept. officials all serve to showcase the psyche of each of the men. In turn, these events and conversations force the men to examine their beliefs, their fears and their value systems. They return to the city, each a wiser man in his own way.
After each film, I was left amazed at how Satyajit Ray was able to turn the most mundane and ordinary of situations into stories of human insight that I could relate to. I suppose it comes from a deep understanding of what makes ordinary people tick.
For the past few days, all the newspapers and bloggers have been talking about how Djokovic has now really got Nadal's number, having defeated him in 7 successive finals, including 3 Grand Slams.
I see it a bit differently and this is because Nadal has shown in the past how he constantly improves, learns from his mistakes and adds new dimensions to his game.
Case in point is grass and Wimbledon. In 2006, Nadal reached the final for the first time and gave Federer a bit of a fight before losing in 4 sets. In 2007, Nadal reached the final again and this time, armed with a better arsenal suited for grass courts, he took Federer to 5 sets before fading away rather quickly towards the end of the 5th set after missing an easy smash and failing to convert a couple of break point chances early in that set.
In 2008, they went to 5 sets again, but this time, Nadal had the mental toughness to just edge Federer.
Another case in point is the American hard courts and the US Open. It took Nadal a few years to achieve success there...he lost in the semi-finals in 2 successive years before adding a stronger serve to his repertoire and triumphing in 2010.
In the same way, Nadal has suddenly had to face a new improved Djokovic in 2011. This took him by surprise initially and he spent most of 2011 essentially playing the same game which had helped him beat Djokovic in the past. But by the 2011 US Open, Nadal was already trying to do something different and this final went to 4 hours 10 minutes. Then during the off season, he worked on other aspects of his game - serving in Djokovic's body for instance to neutralize his return of serve. And as a result we saw the longest final in Grand Slam history at 5 hours 53 minutes. So, as in the past, I see this as a case of Nadal getting closer to his goal and now believing that he is nearly there and can do enough to cross the line first in his next match-up, just as he must have felt when he lost the 5 set Wimbledon final to Federer in 2007.
Either way, all eyes will be turned to the 2012 French Open final, which represents Nadal's last bastion. He now knows what Federer felt like when he faced Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final. But Nadal is mentally stronger than Federer and that is why I think he will come out on top. I am not a Nadal supporter (Go Federer!!!), but can't deny that Nadal and Djokovic have brought in a completely new mental dimension into tennis...most people I spoke to compare their AO 2012 finals performance to that of a couple of punch drunk boxers keeping at it to the end.
The big surprise with the 2012 Oscar nominations is the inclusion of Stephen Daldry's 9-11 story "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". Of course, Daldry has the credentials...he has been nominated for a Best Director Oscar for each of his past 3 films - "Billy Elliot", "The Hours" and "The Reader". However, his latest effort has had by far the worst reviews of his career, even more than the divisive "The Reader". I haven't seen it so I can't comment.
The weakest nomination for Best Picture Oscar is probably "Moneyball". No doubt it is a good, competent film with good, competent acting, but I believe the appeal is probably greater for American viewers/ voters than it is for an international audience. Very happy for Brad Pitt's 3rd Best Actor Oscar nomination, though. And as a bonus, he is also a co-producer of the movie, so he is nominated in two categories this year.
The big money to win would be on "The Artist", partly because it has Harvey Weinstein behind it, who knows how to turn a movie into Oscar gold; also partly because it is the kind of 'exotic and foreign-made, but entertaining and accessible' movie-making venture which Oscar voters love to reward...think "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Life is Beautiful" and "Slumdog Millionaire".
My sentimental favourite to win Best Picture would be either Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" or Alexander Payne's "The Descendants". I loved Paris. It is incredible that at this stage of his career, Mr. Allen can write, produce and direct a film like this, which can be both a personal passion project and yet so entertaining and accessible.
I haven't seen "The Descendants" yet, but it's got George Clooney in it, so what's not to like :-)
"The Tree of Life" may win some technical awards, but is too deep and profound for the average audience or voter. It is no surprise that it was nominated, given the very high critical ratings, but I personally found it to be like a companion piece to "The Thin Red Line"...incredibly poetic, but difficult to watch at a stretch.
Both "Hugo" and "The War Horse" will get votes, but not enough to come out in front. I think most voters will feel that both Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Scorsese have had their share of accolades.
That brings me to "The Help". This is my dark horse to win on Oscar night. I genuinely enjoyed this film and would happily watch it again. Unlike the other front-runners, this film has that element of social correctness that would make Academy members feel very good about themselves by voting for it. The same sort of emotional tug that helped "Driving Miss Daisy" win the Best Picture Oscar in 1990.
I would be very happy if either "Midnight in Paris" or "The Descendants" or "The Help" won. I loved "The Artist" trailer when I first saw it, but it seems to have got a bit over-exposed over the past few weeks and now I am have gone off it a bit...and I haven't even seen it yet!
Looking forward to Feb 26th.
This is my second Alastair Reynolds novel after Revelation Space. Reynolds' sub-genre is referred to as 'hard scifi'. To be honest, Revelation Space was a bit too 'hard' for me...to much emphasis on technology and too many unpleasant characters. I am happy to say that Terminal World perfectly addresses those aspects of story-telling.
The synopsis implies that the story is all about a giant spire which reaches high up into the sky, on which an entire civilization lives. The spire, called Spearpoint, is divided into different zones which support different levels of technology...starting from horse-drawn carriages at the base of Spearpoint, to Neon Heights, which appears to support 20th/ 21st century technology, to a zone called the Celestial Levels where 'angels' (humans modified to be able to fly) live.
The entire basis of the story is the fact that technology on one level ceases to function when it is taken to a lower level. The people can move between levels, but only for short periods of time and only when administered exact doses of anti-zone drugs. The residents of Spearpoint talk about zone shifts in much the same way that we talk about earthquakes and there is talk of the 'big one', the big zone shift that is expected to come, which will throw all of Spearpoint civilization into chaos.**SPOILERS AHEAD**
The book starts off feeling like a noir murder mystery. Our protagonist Quillon, who works in the government morgue in Neon Heights, is asked to conduct an autopsy on an angel cadaver who has apparently fallen to its death from the Celestial Levels. Soon, Quillon is revealed to be an angel himself, who had been part of an experiment designed to enable angels to live incognito in the lower levels. He finds himself on the run from his ex-employers and has to use his contacts in the underworld to escape to the Outzones, the barely civilized lands beyond the base of the spire. He succeeds in doing so with the help of a feisty young woman named Meroka...some of the scenes feel like they come from a cold war spy novel.
At this point, the story starts to feel like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie...Quillon and Meroka have to navigate their way through the Outzone to a town called Fortune's Landing. They come across bands of marauders called Skullboys, very reminiscent of the punks in the Mad Max movies. Meanwhile, the 'big one' has happened and from the Outzone, Quillon and his team can see the lights on Spearpoint go out as the entire city falls into chaos following catastrophic shifts in zones. At this point, Quillon saves a mother and daughter from a Skullboy gang...these two eventually turn out to be the key to restoring the equilibrium of the zones. They eventually fall into the clutches of another Skullboy gang who trade them to a group of carnivorgs (carnivorous cyborgs) who roam the Outzones looking for humans to prey upon. The carnivorgs reminded me of the biomechanical Voynix creatures from Dan Simmons' Ilium/ Olympos novels.
Quillon and co. are saved from the Skullboys and carnivorgs in the nick of time by members of the Swarm...a conglomerate of airships who live in the Outzone. The Swarm were once the military arm of Spearpoint but broke away centuries earlier and now live a nomadic existence as a flying city...very much like the floating city of ships in China Mieville's The Scar. Once they are part of the Swarm, the story takes a turn into steampunk/ adventure territory. Many more characters enter the story and we get into the 2nd act of the novel, where conversations between Quillon and the Swarm's leader Ricasso reveal much of the history and background of this world.
It is speculated by Ricasso that Spearpoint was originally a space elevator (a nod to Arthur C. Clarke's Fountains of Paradise). Through further conversations, the reader comes to suspect that the story is taking place on a future version of Earth, but the link becomes clear during a dramatic sequence when the Swarm flies over a plain filled with the wrecks of airplanes, of all shapes and sizes. Most of the aircraft bear a symbol of a red rectangle with 5 stars (the Chinese flag). Even more is revealed when they reach an abandoned settlement and discover a diorama of what appears to be a moon landing. However, the flag is Chinese, there are more than 2 astronauts and while the diorama appears to be full scale, the astronauts are pygmy-sized, so obviously this is not a representation of the original moon landings. I didn't get the significance when I read the novel, but then I read a review which explained what this was...it is a representation of a Mars landing. In other words, the entire story is taking place on a terraformed Mars of the future with the inhabitants having evolved to a much greater height than the original humans, due to the lower gravity of Mars. It is clear that the state of the world today is the outcome of some major catastrophe which took place centuries ago, leaving Spearpoint as the only surviving civilization with its multiple zones and fractured way of life.
Eventually, Quillon convinces the Swarm to return to Spearpoint to help out the citizens who are dying from zone sickness in the aftermath of the big zone shift. Another reason Quillon wants to go back to Spearpoint is because he has realized that the little girl is a 'tectomancer', with the ability to shift zones...a remnant of a guild of genetically bred humans who originally controlled the zone technology.
There is a gripping aerial action sequence where the Swarm flies back to Spearpoint through a low-tech zone which has emerged around the city and which is now under the control of the Skullboys. Many lives are lost and there is further treachery once the rescuers enter the city. But eventually, the girl is taken through tunnels to the core of Spearpoint where other surviving tectomancers have made their way back over time and have been plugged into giant machines in an effort to set things right. We are told that this planet is actually a gateway to the stars and a great accident in the past has led to the creation of the zones and life as it exists. Now, after centuries, with the arrival of more and more tectomancers to the secret chamber at the core of Spearpoint, it appears that they will be able to set things right again.
The members of the Swarm meanwhile, help to bring order to Spearpoint and make efforts to end the civil war which has erupted between the angels and the lower levels in the aftermath of the zone shift.
Quillon is wounded during the last action sequence, but as the novel closes, we see him being airlifted by Meroka to the Celestial Levels in the hope of being saved.
Overall, I loved the scope of the story and the concept of a Martian colony which has devolved over time. The thrill comes in the slow revelation of the history of the planet and the discovery that it is indeed written in 'our universe'.
I felt that many of the concepts in the book were derivative and had borrowed from the authors I mentioned above like Dan Simmons (post-humans, carnivorgs), China Mieville (The Swarm) and Arthur C. Clarke (Spearpoint). But it all comes together wonderfully into an intriguing and entertaining read, that rarely slows down.
Although Alastair Reynolds has stated that he will not write a sequel to the novel, I sincerely hopes he changes his mind. A prequel, perhaps...
I am very happy for Tom Cruise. Ever since he jumped on that couch in 2005 and had people dislike him for his personal scientology beliefs, he has had a rough few years.
"M:i:III" which was released in 2006 was the first of a string of under-performing Cruise movies, followed by "Lions for Lambs", "Valkyrie" and "Knight and Day".
"M:i:III" suffered as much from the backlash of the couch incident as it did with story and character issues. Audiences found it difficult to deal with Ethan Hunt getting married (look what happened when they tried to do that with James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969) and Philip Seymour Hoffman's villain was too dark.
"Lions for Lambs" was just plain boring...and anyway American audiences dislike seeing how their government has made a mess of their international affairs.
"Valkyrie" was actually a very good movie and I cannot account for the mixed reviews it received. I have a feeling that director Bryan Singer was dealing with his own backlash following his hopeless Superman reboot.
I think "Knight and Day" would represent the nadir of Cruise's filmography during this period...a very generic action movie featuring a female lead with whom he had no chemistry whatsoever (I could argue that it is not possible for anyone to have chemistry with Cameron Diaz, but that's another article).
The only bright spot in between was his brilliant turn as obnoxious movie producer Les Grossman in "Tropic Thunder"...that dance sequence has to be one of my favourite movie scenes of all time.
So, I am very happy for Tom Cruise to be tasting genuine success with "Ghost Protocol", the live action feature debut by Brad Bird, who until now was famous for his 3 outstanding animated features "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille". In fact, these 3 rank among my most favourite animation movies of all time. What Brad Bird excels at is his ability to humanize his characters...an important skill to have for an animation director. One could argue that after John Woo and JJ Abrams' respective takes on the M:I franchise, it was in need of a human touch...without losing out on its DNA of complex plot lines, tight editing and breathtaking stunts which Brian dePalma so brilliantly brought to the screen in 1996.
"M:I - GP" clearly stands out from its 3 predecessors due to the occasional doses of humour which makes the audience care for the characters...although I have to admit, seeing Ethan Hunt smile and have a drink with colleagues does take some getting used to.
The opening scene followed by the prison escape scene both do an outstanding job of setting the tone for the movie before the credits even roll (in true James Bond style). The highlight of course, is the action set piece on the Burj in Dubai. The Kremlin operation is truly entertaining as well...look, another interesting use for the iPad!!!
The scenes with the Indian industrialist bordered on the ridiculous however, but it all goes by so quickly, interspersed with the action elsewhere, that one doesn't really mind. Although the pre-film publicity would have us believe that this movie would have Tom Cruise hand over the reins of the franchise to Jeremy Renner, I have to say, this is a Cruise film all the way through. Renner is very good in his supporting role, but he just doesn't have the charisma to match Tom Cruise. It is also an amazing achievement that a man who is going to be 50 years old this year can be in such incredibly good shape. But that really is Tom Cruise doing a lot of his own stunts and this represents the kind of dedication and commitment that Cruise brings to all his film projects.
Among the other cast, Simon Pegg is excellent; I didn't really remember him from M:i:III, but here he plays pretty much the same light-hearted counterfoil role that Jean Reno played in the first film, which I thought was missing in the 2nd and 3rd installments.
There is no doubt that Brad Bird has breathed new life into the M:I franchise as well as Tom Cruise's career. Talks are already on for a fifth M:I film, while Brad Bird moves on to the ambitious "1906" project, chronicling the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. We will next see Tom Cruise in 2012 play Stacey Jaxx in the 1980's hair rock musical "Rock of Ages". I was very excited to read about the "Rock of Ages" project, but after seeing the first trailer, I am wondering if this will represent yet another mis-step in his career. Fortunately, he has yet another action thriller coming up in 2013 playing Jack Reacher in "One Shot" an adaptation of the Lee Child novel.
On Oct 31st, I had posted that I was reading Cherie Priest's Hugo-nominated steampunk novel 'Boneshaker'. I finished the book a few days ago. I had a problem with the middle section of the book, where I felt that the plot had come to a standstill while for pages and pages we were subjected to Briar Wilkes telling various people that she had entered Seattle to search for her son...and in alternating chapters we had Zeke Wilkes telling various people that he had entered Seattle to search for traces of his father.
Anyway, eventually, we got to the part I was waiting for, where both mother and son meet the evil Minnericht, who may or may not be Zeke's long lost father Leviticus Blue, the inventor of the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine (the titular Boneshaker).
There is a grand finale in Minnericht's underground lair, where mother and son are reunited, escape from Minnericht and his henchmen as well as the zombies ('rotters'), hook up with some sky pirates and decide to start a new life somewhere else in the US.
Boneshaker is the first of Priest's 'Clockwork Century' novels, which also include 'Clementine', 'Dreadnought' and 'Ganymede'. As far as I can figure out, the Wilkes do not reappear in the other stories, instead 2 of the books feature the dirigible air captains introduced in this book, Capt. Croggon Hainey and Andan Cly. However, the story synopses of the other books don't seem to have quite the element of scifi that Boneshaker has (at least, there are no zombies in the rest of the US) and appear to be straightforward adventure stories, with an element of steampunk/ advanced steam mechanics. So, I am not sure I would be too interested.
Anyway, I have now moved on to Catherine Asaro's 'The Quantum Rose', the Nebula Award winner in 2001. I have to say that Catherine Asaro is probably the most intelligent person writing science fiction today. I say this based on the synopsis of Quantum Rose. Get this - 'The Quantum Rose' is a scifi version of Beauty and Beast; ok, sounds fairly straightforward, right? Wrong. Catherine Asaro has a Harvard Ph.D in chemical physics and apparently the story of The Quantum Rose is an allegory for the physical and chemical process described in coupled-channel quantum scattering theory. That explains why each chapter has 2 titles - one refers to the surface story and the other refers to the quantum processes which are represented by the character interactions. I have read a few chapters. The characters are interesting and the story moves along at a good pace. The setting is a lost colony planet, so there is an interesting subtext whereby the residents live in a world filled with fading magic...whereas the reader knows that this is actually advanced technology slowly falling into disrepair.
As usual, more on this later, when I am finished.
About a year ago, I watched a very enjoyable movie called 'Tampopo'; the story of a trucker who helps a widow refurbish her roadside noodle shop and improve her culinary skills. The movie was filled with likeable characters, with scenes of genuine warmth and camraderie, not to mention several outstanding scenes of food being cooked or eaten with great relish.
I started reading up about the director Juzo Itami and discovered that he has been an actor through most of his career and then suddenly took up directing at the age of 50! His first directorial effort, called Ososhiki (The Funeral) won the Best Film award at the Japanese Academy in 1985.
I finally got hold of 'The Funeral' and watched it last week. What a treat! Like many great directors, Itami uses a standard troupe of actors in all his films. The two key actors are Itami's wife Nobuko Miyamoto and character actor Tsutomu Yamazaki. Fans of Japanese films will be very familiar with Yamazaki, who recently was seen in the Oscar Award winning 'Departures' and in the Japanese special effects blockbuster 'Space Battleship Yamato'.
'The Funeral' tells the story of a funeral (what else) which takes place in the house of the son-in-law of the deceased. Over the course of 3 days, the audience is introduced to a variety of characters, emotions and experiences, most of which would strike a chord with viewers, irrespective of their culture or nationality.
The scenes range from the somber (the mother and daughters break down uncontrollably as the casket is rolled into crematorium) to the hilarious (one of the mourners gets up to answer a phone, but topples over due to cramps from having sat too long) to the risque (the son-in-law bumps into his mistress during the funeral proceedings and they have an 'encounter' in the woods). Fans of Japanese cinema will also be pleasantly surprised to see acting legend Chishu Ryu appear briefly in the role of the priest.
Itami's later films dialled up the social satire, but in this, his first film, the scenes and emotions are mostly genuine and none of the characters are over-the-top. The Funeral is a definite 'must watch'.
Over the past 2 days, I finished watching 2 hit French films from 2009, LOL (Laughing out Loud) and Le Petit Nicolas. They were 2 of the top 3 grossing French language films in France in 2009 (the other being Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard, produced by Luc Besson). LOL is a dramedy centering on the lives of a group of a high school students, specifically Lola, who is called LOL by her friends. Lola lives with her divorced mother (played by Sophie Marceu) and 2 younger siblings. As one can imagine, it's stressful being a teenager today...having to handle peer pressure, deal with nosy parents, trying to keep a love life going, etc. Although this sort of subject matter is not really my cup of tea, the film in general was entertaining and the young actors in particular were very engaging. A word of warning - the depiction of teenage life in LOL is both realistic and familiar, therefore potentially unnerving to parents of teens or pre-teens who are likely to be going through a lot of the same (or perhaps worse) in years to come. There's the usual story arc, with the mother and daughter falling out, but in the end, it all works out reasonably well. The film is going to be remade by the same director in English, featuring Myley Cyrus as Lola and Demi Moore as her mother. Tonight I just finished Le Petit Nicolas, the film adaptation of the beloved stories by Goscinny from the 1960's. It's the polar opposite of LOL, while also being a story about a kid, school friends and relationship with his parents. But, oh so funny, so nostalgic, so good-natured. Nicolas has a perfect life with loving parents and motley group of close friends at school. But then, he mistakenly suspects his parents are expecting another baby and thinks he will be abandoned in favour of the new arrival. This leads to various hi-jinks as Nicolas and his friends try to protect his place in the family. In the end, all the confusion is cleared up and we get to see one of the sweetest family scenes ever filmed, as Nicolas' dad tries to cheer him up at the dinner table. In addition to the basic story, one can also enjoy the film as a social satire of middle class urban life during the baby boomer years in France.
This film is not to be missed.
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