RIFLE RANGE BOY

Doctor Strange (2022) Director: Sam Raimi The people in the Marvel Cinematic Universe must be thinking that their diehard fans must be nuts. Still riding on the idea of the existence of multiple universes, MCU came out with their 28th instalment through this film. It is a simple story of a woman scorned by losing two young sons. As we saw in Wandavision in a make-believe happy family, Scarlet Witch is livid as she tries desperately to get back to her Universe. For that, she needs power, and she tries to sap the energy of a newbie superhero (who does not even recognise her superpower), American Chavez. The need for inclusivity brought in a Latina-flavoured character. American Chavez and Wong, on their run, between Universes, land in Doctor Strange's Universe and the good doctor is sucked is in into the duel. After witnessing multiple eye-popping displays of CGI and destruction, we are told that there is another evil Dr Strange with a 'third eye' later seen in the post-credit...

Devil All the Time (2020) A t one look, it seems that the story is going all over the place. At one time, you think that one particular character is the protagonist, but wham! she is killed off. Then another also killed off, and another yet again. There are plenty of killings and dying on the whole, but then, it all builds up to make sense at the end. There are many cryptic messages embedded within the storyline that questions the perception of what evil really is. Our divinity and evil part and parcel of the same continuum, not in contradiction but a mere extension of a spectrum?  One complements the other. Just like how light is appreciated in darkness, evil is necessary for us to appreciate goodness. Like how it is a necessity that Tom never catches Jerry for the excitement to continue. Will E Coyote will never have the Road Runner for dinner for Coyote may become mad if, one day, he gets up in the morning to realise that he has nothing to do. Satan can never lose if Goodness we...

The Lighthouse (2019) When we were young, we were fascinated with the lighthouse. Any sketch of nature would include seas, boats, seagulls, clouds and flashing beacons. As Penang, our hometown is a port city, we had the pleasure of seeing many in our lifetimes.  Many stories have been written on the heroic deeds of many a keeper or 'wickies' as they were referred to put their lives at stake to provide a continuous beacon of light to the safety of travelling vessels. The job is an unrewarding one with boredom being the most significant and dangerous occupational hazard to beat. Being located far from civilisation and at precarious locations, access to these places may be easily compromised by inclement weather. Hence, the keepers may sometimes be stranded for months altogether. Solitude was thought to be the single most typical reason for the prevalence of madness in the profession. Another possible aetiology of insanity could be mercury poisoning. In the older models of Fr...