RIFLE RANGE BOY

Since the 1920s, antics of artistes from Hollywood have been frowned upon by the rest of America. They were blamed for the decadence of society moral then. The conservative part of the community thought that it was time to hold the rein on what the society should be exposed. Hays Code is one of the predecessors of the present film rating system. In previous rating system, almost everything is a taboo - uttering the word Jesus in a negative light to first night scenes! Over the years, societal values changed. Succumbing to external pressures in the form of liberal European outlook on various subjects, the morality code had to be relaxed. In the era of Golden Era of Hollywood, many directors pushed their boundaries to test the waters - 'Duel in the Sun' is one such movie. It is a 1946 western movie done in technicolor with a storyline which will raise an eyebrow even in the 21st century. It tells the story of a Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones), a vivacious young mestizo (half ...

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) The picture of the 'Diktator' (real name: Sacha Baron Cohen) in the newspaper walking on the red carpet before the Academy Awards aroused my curiosity to have first hand experience on his previous movie 'Borat'. I remember many years ago reading about it in Newsweek singing praises on its effort. My verdict: I should not even waste my time blogging about it! Or maybe it would discourage others from wasting their precious times too, but then, any publicity is good publicity in Tinseltown! I never really paid much attention to this Borat character before. I actually thought that it was a Kazakh production. It starts with Borat, a TV reporter showing us his village in Kazakhstan in a very derogatory, sexist and vulgar manner. He stereotypes Kazakh man and also ridicule their leader by giving the same name to his neighbour and puts him in bad light. Their ch...

A recent interview that was caught on radio about a Kelantanese boy who studied in a Chinese type school, stayed above his father's mechanic shop studying all the way to Cambridge, becoming a renowned surgeon in the London only to discover that he was wasting his time in England sipping tea lazily on an autumn afternoon at the prime of his life. That prompted him to pack his bags and family back to the country where he remembered his childhood was. Maybe he thought that he was not getting any younger whilst his contemporary were minting money away in private practice in Malaysia and enjoying its perks. Pray listen and decide.... All the 21 years of training in the UK has surely improved his communication skills and he is not too economical with his words like most Asians are. And as you can see he wears many hats!

Housefull (Hindi, 2012) Now shouldn't it be full house, you may ask. Well, that is how people in India refer to a movie which had sold all tickets and all the cinema houses are full to the brim. This phrase have been around for ages that even those illiterate in English still fully understand the its meaning and is accepted in their society. 'House full 2' is a 2012 Hindi comedy which is remake of a Tamil movie which in turn is a remake of a Telegu movie about two brothers who claim to be the real son of their father! This feud even extends to their spouses and daughters. Trying to outdo each other, both brothers engage a common marriage broker to marry off their respective offspring to someone richer than the other. A prospective groom's father, insulted by one of the brothers, lands in intensive care after a heart attack. In the name of revenge, a conman is sent to woo one of the girls. Through a comedy of errors, 4 people end up claiming a billionaire's son an...

J. Edgar (2011) Taking freedom of speech to the extreme, Clint Eastwood produced and directed this 2011 movie on American icon of paranoia who made Americans to perceive that there is USA and there is the rest of the world, John Edgar Hoover, the first director of FBI. The movie dwells upon at best speculative stories that surfaced after his death regarding his secret private life, essentially, opening up his closet and displaying its contents in full for public scrunity. Looks like Leonardo De Caprio is slowly stereotyping himself into acting in biographies - first he acted as Howard Hughes in 'Aviator' now this. A stellar performance he did give and is slowly earning a reputation as a actor of class.There are a few 'myths' floating around in books and Internet on J. Edgar Hoover. He is alleged to have black ancestry and was adopted by the Hoover family. His wirery curly hair in his younger days is testimony to this effect. The movie starts with an old JEH dictatin...

The Star Monday April 23, 2012 Down in the dumps But Then Again By Mary Schneider Many people who have been dumped experience such an overpowering desire to get back with the dumper that they lose the ability to think rationally. THE 19-year-old daughter of a friend was recently dumped by her boyfriend of one year. One minute she was dreaming of having his babies, cooking him sumptuous meals, lovingly ironing his shirts, and helping alleviate his stress at the end of a busy day, and the next he’d jettisoned her, by text message. “av found sum1 else, pleez return my dvds,” the message said, completely blindsiding her. There had been no inkling that the relation was floundering: no heated arguments, no cooling of ardour (at least, not on her part), no secretive text messages, no missed dates, no accidentally calling her by the wrong name. Overnight, she slipped into a depressive state, a condition that worsened when her pleading phone calls, text messages and emails to him wen...

The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (1952) There are conspiracy theory stories surrounding William Shakespeare. The first says that he could not have written the playwrights by himself looking at his non-aristocratic family background. People like Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere and Sir Francis Bacon are some of the likely candidates who are the possible real authors. Another theory is, of course, the alien intervention of infusing wisdom to mankind to improve them culturally. So with that background, I decided to watch Orson Welles' presentation of Othello. Seriously, I was clueless about Othello - I never had the chance to read it. The black-and-white movie made in 1952 with many versions- the one I watched is the 1992 restored version. It starts with a funeral procession and backtracks to the unceremonious union of matrimony of Othello (a Moor, a North African general of the Venetian army) and Desdemona. His jealous 'comrades', Diago and Cassio stir the sere...

Austerity, what's that? Spanish King Juan Carlos slammed for £27,000 elephant hunting trip as his country drowns in debt and half of youngsters are jobless. Check here From the time cavemen were running from the feared mammoth and saber toothed tigers, they always tried out ways to be in control over their predators. So, they used their thinking cap and the God given fifth sense to outwit them so much so that men now control most of the planet and have sent many of those animals into hiding and extinction. The nearest that the average man come in contact with animals are either cooked, domesticated or when.they pay to see them caged. Even at this age and time when we are supposed to be civilized and cultured, some people find joy in gunning down animals just because they can - not for their food, hide or self defence and exhibit their kill for others to awe! Bengal Tiger floored One notorious man-eating tigress known as Champawat (pictured above) killed some 200 men...

The message (1976) I thought of giving a go at a movie on Prophet Mohammad. I was curious to see how they made a movie about the Prophet as the Moslems are known to be touchy about his depiction as no depiction can be as perfect as He is. Remember the Danish caricature of him and the ruckus and bloodshed that it created. At the beginning of the film, the producers clarified that their story was authenticated and approved for screening by some high authority in Islam. In keeping with the sensitivities of Moslems, the Prophet is not acted by any actors and even his voice is not heard. His orders are repeated by people around him. His view is shown as if he is looking through the camera. The movie predates a time when Mecca appears apparently prosperous with thriving business activities and multiple religious festivities but beneath the apparent prosperity, there are the unhappy lot - the slaves and the female population who are treated as second class citizen as female infanticide ...