RIFLE RANGE BOY

Dark Legacy II: The Assassination of JFK Jr.(2014) This is a followup documentary film to the one released in 2009 which incredulously implicated George HW Bush in the 1963 assassination of JFK in the streets of Dallas.  It looks like the Bush-Kennedy animosity seems to continue into the next generation. George W Bush is said to be cited in the death of JFK's son. John F Kennedy Jr. I remember reading about his plane crash on 16th July 1999. The cause of his mishap was told to be spatial disorientation as he was flying at night and lost his bearings when he made a sharp turn near the coast on a dark night with no stars. At that time, I thought it was just a case of a rich kid crashing his new toy.  Now, this documentary shows many loopholes in the reporting, investigation, the search and rescue missions and even official statements from the authorities. JFK Jr was a licenced and experienced pilot who is said to be meticulous in the handling of his flight paths. He h...

Star Trek: Picard (2020) Miniseries, Season 1, E1-10. I did not grow up appreciating the original Star Trek TV series. Hence, I do not qualify to identify myself as a Trekkie. I, however, managed to catch up Star Trek: The Next Generation when it made its way to the terrestrial TV channels. I remember the series not as much of an action-packed series but more of a cerebral one discussing life issues. I never did follow the ensuing Trek series or the silver screen productions. So, to me, Picard is only Starfleet Captain that I know. More than a decade after his last mission and his unceremonious departure from USS Enterprise, Admiral Picard has to go to back to space. He does this clandestinely against the orders of the authorities, with a ragtag assembly of crew and space ship. In his previous mission, Data had caused the destruction of Mars. Because of that, androids, or synthetics as they were known in 2399, were banned. Picard had resigned in protest. Enjoying his retirement...

Andhadhun (Hindi, Blind Melody; 2018) The movie starts with an empirical question “What is life? It all depends on the liver." At one look, it looked like an awkwardly constructed question. It may appear like it is grammatically incorrect. Or perhaps it could refer to how much one could hold his drink dependent on the neutralising effect of his liver. Maybe, it could refer to a time in Mankind's history when he was wondering where consciousness was situated. Some thought it was the brain while others placed it in the heart. Islamic philosophers gave credence to the liver for what we are. We are what we eat, and the liver plays a pivotal role in our digestion. As it turned out, it was none of the above. In the context of this movie, it referred to the illegal organ harvesting trade! This is the gist for its viewers - a film full of double speaks. In fact, the title also could denote the blind rage that one experiences at the height of anger. Andhadhun is based on a French s...

Kapoor and Sons, since 1921 (Hindi, 2016) Maybe, like what Schopenhauer said, every life history is the history of suffering. Life has no intrinsic worth but is kept in motion loosely by desire and illusion. We hopelessly fall in love, to marry to do everything possible to become an object of disgust to each other. The 'will to live' for continuity of progeny has hijacked our will power. He further went on to say that our inborn error is to think that we exist to be happy. But at every turn, we soon realise the contradiction that the world and life have to offer. It seems that is why the face of the elderly intrinsically appear deeply frowned and depressed, realising the futility of life and death that will ensue. From the moment of the first cry, life is just a barrage of tests, tragedy and turmoil. We somehow are geniuses in creating troubles for ourselves. Rational people make rash decisions under the influence of emotion, giving intellect a rest. We think we are wi...

Inventing the AIDS Virus (1996) Authors: Peter H Duesberg and Bryan J Ellison With all the controversies surrounding Coronavirus, whether it is a man-made virus or a naturally occurring one, the debate is just proving to be so convoluted. On one side, the Americans are accusing the Chinese of sending a bio-weapon out to the world to screw up everybody's economy. On the other end, the Chinese are alleging the USA sent the genetically altered virus to China, but the virus has come back to bite them. The situation becomes murky as the rest of the world are taking the Chinese government to court as they concur that Chinese underplayed the seriousness of the disease when it hit them. Throwing a spanner in the work of discovering the origin of the virus is the suggestion that the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, could be a retrovirus, just the most famous retrovirus of all - HIV. For recollection, a retrovirus is a type of RNA virus that inserts a copy of its genome into the DNA of a ho...

Friends (1994-2004; Season 1-10) People need role models to guide them through the uncertainties of life. Every living day is a new experience. Hence, newbies who step into different stages of their lives necessitate the presence of someone with authority to emulate. Parents and teachers are sparse representations of adulthood. Their paths are dull, unexciting and merely outdated. Juniors need to follow routes that are 'compelling' and approved by their contemporaries. They aspire for someone or some icon to tell them what normality is. For teenagers who peeled their inner eyes of awareness at the turn of the century, the Gen-Y's, the TV rom-com 'Friends' could have influenced their perception of what relationship is all about.  Come to think of it, a generation before them formed their opinions on more significant life issues from Oprah. Oprah Winfrey set the standards on women empowerment, relationship issues, and accepting body image issues. It was as thou...