RIFLE RANGE BOY

Passing through darkness.   (Miniseries, E1-E12, Korean; 2023) Director:  Park Ba-ram Over the centuries, humans have agreed on how they should live life. Compassion, tolerance, and acceptance have been the mantras to sail through the rough waves in the high seas of life. We respect the other with the adage 'Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you' and think that should suffice for all to mind their own business and lead meaningful lives. Life, as we know it, has been so easy. As if there is not enough of Nature's hostility towards over existence, there is danger from our own kind. Nature has dictated species protect their own kind. Still, violence and savagery are justified in the name of the continuity of species and territorial ambitions, which, in a way, also ensure the dissemination and dominance of species. Only in the human species do we humans kill another for the sheer pleasure of seeing someone die. Our inquisitive mind yearns to know what...

Afsos (Regret, Hindi/English; 2020) Amazon Prime Video The human race is the way it is because we are mortal beings. We know we have a shelf life and we want to finish all our humanly possible achievements within our lifetimes. Since our existence is finite, we yearn to immortalise it via discoveries and inventions. Our zest to explore the world we are born into pushes us to yonder to foreign shores and new frontiers.  Without the fear of death, we would probably be fat blobs, uninitiated to pursue any endeavours. Everything would seem purposeless. Relationships are meaningless as there is nothing to expect anymore. We know what happens and how it will end. The diseases that we will get will give us the pain of illnesses but not relief from the distress. We will regress to our primal state; engaging in purposeless activities with impunity, knowing that nothing awaits us at the end. The seven deadly sins of Man will have a field day. With the fear of death and hope of a comf...

Irumbu Thirai (இரும்புத்திரை, Iron Curtain, Tamil; 2018) Every now and then, one can get a fresh new idea popping up in Tamil movies and this is one. As usual, most often the filmmakers, in their best wisdom, would decide that the storyline should be so frivolous that the whole film will end up making not much for an impact, especially to those outside the purview of Kollywood fans.  This film acts more like a PSA (public service announcement) highlighting the general public the dangers of freely divulging personal particular and private data to social media and to people of authority.  The gist of the story is how loans supposedly released for purchases end up with third parties via interception at a digital level. In the greater scheme of things, these wastages are mere paper losses. To the poor debtors, it is a question of life or death; of loss of livelihood. As far the bank is concerned, the transaction is done and the borrower has to pay, no matter what....

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Some will say, "Get over it already!". Others would say, "Put your past behind, there is so much more to look forward to life." Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag (and smile, smile, smile). Perhaps it is the guilt of doing or omitting to do certain things brings shame to the living. Certain unsavoury or inappropriate jokes preceding the event send shivers down the spine every time the deceased's memory resurfaces. Our secret wish maybe, "if only I could re-live that moment!" Sadly, it is just in our dreams can we author our narratives. In an alternative realm, we can re-live every day on a daily basis. Frances McDormand, whom we saw giving a sterling performance as a straight-thinking pregnant police officer in chilling cold Minnesota in the black comedy 'Fargo' and won an award for that, is seen here in the lead-belt white state of Missouri. She assumes the role of a grieving mother...

Fargo (1996) Story, Production, Direction: Joel and Ethan Coen Homespun murder story on embroidery frame? Get the punch line? This movie can be said the most successful one coming from the Coen brothers with their special brand of quirky dark comedy. They start the film with a caption with says... "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." At the end of the credits, however, the usual inter-title claiming that the characters are all fictitious still appears. Now which is which? It is set in dead cold winters of Minnesota. People who are native to Minnesota who are well versed with the Minnesota accents will appreciate the sing-song nature of their speech. The film goes at length to poke fun at their accent and some mannerism which sounds more like Swede or Norwegian - with the yaa...

Across the Hall (2009) Every now and then a story with dark themes, characters with dark pasts, shady morals comes along. It usually comes and goes without creating much fanfare! This is one of those. Well, that does not mean that the movie is of poor quality. On the contrary, it excels in its own way and excites its own admirers of its own specific genre. Set in a run-down hotel, Riverview Hotel, which had seen better times with its peeling wallpaper and lazy workers. The peculiar angle of cinematography, like the angle of the hotel signboard, set the tone for a good film noir. In keeping with some noirs of the 50s where loud jazz music was introduced, the filmmakers decided to infuse loud (a tad too loud) background score which I thought killed the suspense. As expected the film noir takes a twist here and there, the story moves in a non-linear fashion, going in flashbacks and flash-forwards with certain scenes recurring and the murderer goes scot-free. Julian gets a call fro...