RIFLE RANGE BOY

Wandavision (Miniseries, Season 1; 2021) Disney + (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Now that memory and brain activity can theoretically be digitised and stored, and our cinematic presentation, (i.e. movies and TV shows) are essentially data that can be modulated and transmitted from port to port, nothing will stop these two forms of data (series of 1's and 0's) from intermingling.  With our fixation with Tinseltown and penchant to immerse into instant visual gratification added with the obsession with having our TV/computer displays on 24/7, we may want to run our lives like they do on the silver screen. But, unfortunately, nothing will stop what is real and what is fake, fuelled by a fetish for hyper-reality, virtual reality, and obsession to experience in 3D and VR imaging. How often have we seen children expecting their parents to be like those depicted on American sitcoms? How they wished their parents were cool like them too? When the hard knocks of life hit them hard at their ...

Brothers Karamazov (1958) Fyodor Dostoyevsky's writings during the Russian Golden Age of Literature have been referred to as a go-to place by many great icons of the world. At times of uncertainties, Einstien used to read Dostoyevsky for clarity. Nietzsche defined him as the only psychologist that he needed. Dostoyevsky inspired many writers like Hemmingway and Kafka. Akira Kurosawa made movies based on one of his stories ( The Idiot ). Osho (aka Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh) described the profound moral and philosophical messages in Dostoyevsky's 'Brother Karamozov' comparable to the Bible. This story tells the story of Fyodor Karamazov, a high spirited widowed father who enjoys the more beautiful things in life - wine, music and women, especially a lady, Grushenka, who runs a tavern. Fyodor has four adult sons, each with their own personality traits. He is very tight-fisted with his money. Dimitri, the eldest, an ex-army, has a penchant for money and also an eye on Gru...

Bombshell: The Story of Hedy Lamarr (2017, Documentary) “Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”  Hedy Lamarr.  I bet you did not know that the image of Snow White that we have in our minds, thanks to Disney's classic cartoons, is based on the features of the then dubbed as the most beautiful woman of the world, Hedy Lamarr. Even Catwoman's representation is of hers. There was a time when every actress wanted to spot her similar hairstyle, centre-parted dark hair. Beneath the beauty that she possessed, there remained an inventive scientific mind waiting to create something new. This Viennese daughter of a Jewish banker, Hedy Kiesler, was a free-spirited lass when at the spur of the moment acted in a dirty German film, 'Ektase' which bewildered her the rest of her adult and professional life. She married an arms merchant (to the Nazis and Mousillini) soon after her fame at Austrian movie set later. Things took a turn afte...

Hollywoodism : Jews, Movies and the American Dream (Documentary; 1998)  The main driving point of this documentary is that the American Dream that Hollywood is trying to propagate is no American invention. It is the message brought in by a few Jewish immigrants who escaped the pogroms in the shtetls (Jewish village) of Eastern Europe. They invented Hollywood and owned the six leading studios in Hollywood in the 1920s. The message that they try to disseminate are their own experiences; Harry Warner and his three brothers who brought sound to the motion pictures; Samuel Goldwyn @ Goldfische, the biggest of the independent producers;  Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Studios; Louis B. Mayer, founder of MGM; Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount; and William Fox of 20th Century Fox. They all came from an area within a 500-mile radius area in Europe, between Poland, Hungary and Russia. They end up living in Los Angeles within a 15-mile vicinity. After leaving the tyranny ...