RIFLE RANGE BOY

Inventing South East Asia (Documentary; 2016) Written and Presented by Dr Farish Noor It is always interesting to listen to or read Dr Farish Noor's rendition of history as we were never taught.  In this documentary series, he dons khakis and ventures deep into the heart of South East Asia. He tells us how the colonialist masters carved out boundaries amongst the borderless Malay archipelago to invent race, identity, cause destruction and pillage, all in the name of bringing 'modernisation' to the 'primitive' natives. What they did not realise or refuse to admit is that the area that they thought were doing a great humanity service, already had a stable civilisation and were already cultured in their own way. They created a smokescreen to do their job, to pilfer enormous wealth and precious natural resources. #1 . Conquerors and Merchants We are seldom told of the British invasion of Indonesia. In fact, they had interfered in Indonesia's affairs twice, al...

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...

Captain Phillips 2013 Don't be fooled by the big star. With an uninspiring title like that, it did not strike me as a movie that would stick in my mind for any time. It is the same old good honest true to his words American guy versus the barbaric emotionless hideous looking bad teeth guys from the rest of the world. In this case, it is an American freight ship with the captain who has his own issues with his family and his crew minding their own business doing what they are supposed to do who is rudely disturbed by heartless Somali pirates. It reminds me of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the aliens in the Aliens trilogy. Ripley is the responsible human trying to fight against the clueless and aimless Aliens who seem to be more interested in quarrelling amongst themselves rather than completing the tasks at hand. Change the Alien to Somali pirates and you have Captain Phillips, the movie! It is supposed to be a heart pounding pulse raising thriller but it did non of the a...