RIFLE RANGE BOY

Hunger Games (Based on Novel Trilogy by Suzanne Collins)  Film Series, 2012, 2013, 2014. 2015, 2023 There is a thin line between having hope and fear about things happening our way. To quote Baruch Spinoza, there is neither Hope without Fear nor Fear without Hope. This applies at an individual level when one wants to pull himself up with his bootstrap. He may tell himself not to fear the unknown but to hope for a better future. Hope is not a bad thing when things look hopeless. To hope and not strive is foolhardy. That must be the reason why 'hope' was one of the reasons it was found to be one of the contents still lingering in the Pandora Box when it opened. Perhaps it was the lesser of the evils, as all others had escaped.  To rule over a group of people, politicians create fear among their subjects. The goal is to create so much fear that the subjects will succumb to the pressures and submit to the demands of the oppressors. At the same time, to avert retaliation, the subje...

Prey (2022) Director:  Dan Trachtenberg When the film 'Predator' came out in 1987, it was a hit. It was the time of American jingoism. The free world believed that America was the only superpower around and only they could give the best solution to all of world problems. Rambo and his First Blood franchise did just that. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Muscleman from Austria, did not want to be left behind. After fighting baddies from all four corners of the world, it was only natural that our Mr. Universe try a hand at muscling down enemies from out of this world.  When 'Predator', a sequel to 'Prey' in terms of story timeline, came out, it was a super duper hit. Shot in the lush forest of South America with cinematography completed with sense-around movie theatres, moviegoers thought that was the pinnacle of Hollywood's moviemaking. The movie developed a cult following. Comic books were rolled out, bankrolling on its success. Board games and computer games ensu...

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Carrie Fisher, who acted as Princess Leia since the beginning of the Star Wars since 1977, died on December 27th 2016. But thanks to computer-generated imagery (CGI), she is kept alive in the movies until her character gets a decent burial. She appears in almost half of this movie due to the unused footage from Episode VII: The Force Awakens. I magine someone who had died two years previously still featured in a movie that demands continuity. As we see in this film also that there is a thin line between being alive and dying, especially if one is a Jedi Master. A departed soul can still perform ground shattering literally 'out-of-this-world' feats. One has to tune in to the correct frequency to receive the intended instructions on decision making. Do I sense a speck of Vedanta teaching here?  This kind of make-believe is no longer confined to the celluloid industry and fantasy but has permeated into the mainstream. Cyber...

Pirates of the Caribbean Series The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Dead Man’s Chest (2006) At World’s End (2007) On Stranger Tides (2011) The lure for control, power and money drove many shady characters to the 4 corners of the world. Of course, by this time, the time frame upon which this film is set, Man has already realised and accepted the Earth to be a sphere. The brave Portuguese seamen paved the way to find sea routes to reach the East when the Islamic Empires controlled land routes. The early Portuguese seafarers had no plans to conquer land. All they wanted was to control ports and prosper via tax collection. The brutal Spanish sailors tried to outdo their Iberian Lusophone neighbours by finding an alternative sea route to the East. What they discovered instead were Indians who were ‘red-skinned’ and mountains of precious metals. The hospitality of their hosts was returned with barrage of artillery and small pox. Pretty soon, scores of ships were plying the Atla...

Spectre (2015) With all the hype that preceded the launch of latest of the James Bond's franchise release, it was only natural that we were all riled up to be one of the early viewers of this offering. It started with the usual 'edge of the seat' suspense befitting of a Cold War hero who is out to save the world from despotic domination with a licence to kill! The build-up before a spontaneous collapse of building and rogue rudderless helicopter created the atmosphere for more suspense. The filming technique of a street parade in Mexico to honour the dead was quite interesting as the camera appear seamlessly be lifted off the ground and down as if the camera was mounted on a drone! The buck stops there! After the credits rolled in, it was the same old swashbuckling display of pyrotechnics. My head grew heavy and eyes grew dim. Trying my level best to keep my eyelids open was a Herculean task. In between the eye-shut, twilight and occasional eye-opening, all I s...