RIFLE RANGE BOY

X: The Man with Xray Eyes (1963) Director: Roger Corman Ray Milland, who first came to my knowledge through Hitchcock's 'Dial M for Murder', had a successful acting career. He was seen as early as 1929 and went through to the 1960s. The pinnacle of his career was winning an Oscar for Best Actor in 1945, 'The Lost Weekend'. This particular movie is a B-grade science pulp, but a rather interesting one at that. I remember the umpteen comics I used to read at the barbershop during my childhood. All the comics had classified advertisements at the back, selling X-ray glasses, which were an adolescent boy's dream present. A pair of special vision glasses that could see through garments was something to get excited about. The only hurdle was postage, as the given PO box was in the USA. If only they had Lazada or Shopee, then... The film effectively portrays how society treats members of the medical profession. Individuals enter the medical field with the desire to serve...

Nishant (Night's End, Hindi, 1975) Director: Shyam Benegal Cultural practices and people's thinking evolve as society progresses. Everybody likes to think that it is progress. If, a generation ago, hugging and cuddling between family members was not the norm, now, touch is considered a prerequisite for healthy psychological growth, especially for the young. What seems perfect today may, in time to come, turn unspeakable. Long ago, the group of people known as the Paraiyars held a certain status in society. They were reputable for making good drums, which were an essential item then. Drums were important tools in religious ceremonies and battlegrounds, and they were an excellent mode of communication in battles. Coded drumming conveyed specific codes. At one point, the Paraiyars even broke from their armies and formed their own empire. Over time, the belief system of the land underwent its own renaissance of sorts. Breakaways from Hinduism viewed meat eating and working on carca...

Seven Years in Tibet (1997) Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud (Based on Heinrich Harrer's book with the same name) Similar to the internment camps established in the USA for German and Japanese migrants during the First and Second World Wars, India had comparable camps. Numerous German workers and even alpine climbers from Austria were detained in various camps around Ahmedabad and Dehradun. One notable individual was Gustav Hermann Krimbiegel, an extraordinary gardener credited with creating royal gardens across India. Krimbiegel was a German botanist who migrated to Britain in 1888. He began his apprenticeship at Kew Gardens and was subsequently recommended to work in the garden of the Maharaja of Baroda. After witnessing his remarkable gardening skills, he was commissioned by other princely states. He is recognised for his development of Lalbagh in Bangalore, Brindavan in Mysore, and many others. In addition to his horticultural achievements, he is also known for introducing new see...

Emilia Pérez (2025) Director:  Jacques Audiard mvtimes.com/es/2024/10/29/emilia- perez-film-musical-genre-bender / This musical offering would not have garnered as much airtime if it had not been for an openly transgender individual who won the Best Actress awards at both the Cannes and the Oscars. Interestingly, a female actor (a cis woman) insists on being referred to strictly as an 'actor', not an 'actress'. They are particularly keen on this, demanding to be addressed as 'actors'. I suppose this does not apply to transgender actors. A quick glance at Karla Sofía Gascón's Wikipedia page states her occupation as an actress. For a transgender person, being addressed as female represents the ultimate victory of her transition.  It continues to be one of the most nominated films of the year and the most nominated non-English language film in the Academy's history. When it comes to the basics, this is a gangster film with a twist. The twist is that one can...

Kadhalikka Neramillai (No time to love,  காதலிக்க நேரமில்லை;  Tamil, 2025) Director: Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi https://www.moneycontrol.com/entertainment/kadhalikka-neramillai-ott-release- when-and-where-to-watch-this-romantic-drama-starring-jayam-ravi-a nd-nithiya-menon-article-12936421.html It would have been just another Netflix recommendation that I would have ignored. Having such an unoriginal name, which had been used before, did not excite me. For the ignoramus, in 1964, the Tamil cinema was taken back by Sridhar's superhit. Its psychedelic, picturesque Eastman moment came to be defined as Tamil cinema's first rom-com. The hit song. ' Visvanathan, velai vendum !' became to be sung as the voice of defiance of the oppressed. My interest was piqued when a YouTuber of a channel I follow went into a tirade trying to tear down Netflix and its moviemakers for thinking out of such a crass movie. Other Tamil movie reviewers were kind to the movie, praising it for its modern a...

The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1988 Director: Philip Kaufman https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ g1kPEwATsCI8DnGx6ViAhUVKQSI.jpg   This film, with such a provocative title, is based on a novel by Milan Kundera published in 1984. It takes place during the Prague Spring of 1968. Against the backdrop of political upheaval in Poland, the narrative explores what it means to be liberated from political oppression as well as the pursuit of sexual freedom. The phrase 'being light' probably has its roots in the New Testament, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). It is said that keeping up the strict law of the Pharisees was difficult, so the followers were told to leave their burden to Jesus. So, to be light is to be free. Freedom comes with its burdens. It is an essential privilege that humans strive for. Its significance cannot be overstated for the modern individual who values self-expression and individualism. Achieving complete freedom withou...

The Sun rears its orangey hue over the horizon. Yet another new day dawns. The Sun does not know it is starting a new horizon. It performs its preordained duty, firing nuclear fusion reactions on its surface. It is the round Earth that revolves around the Sun. The Earth does not know a new day has begun. It just revolves counterclockwise on its axis. It has multiple new dawns at its manufactured latitudes. It neither knows where it started nor its point of reference. A series of celestial accidents brought it to be with its speed and its faithful lunar companion. https://borderlessjournal.com/2025/02/14/just-another-day-2/ This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .