There is a moving story of an aging couple coping with health issues and addictions. Their middle aged children are not around. And then one fine day the old man goes missing. The children come home to support their elderly mother and then the a string of stories unfold. Dysfunctional families, sad childhood stories make it intense. The performances are brilliant. The beautiful landscapes of the mid west are just wow.
May 30, 2014
May 24, 2014
Plans...
Its a fancy task planning and imagining how one would be in the future. Most people seem to invest a good amount of time doing it, but I sometimes wonder if we are really equipped to do it well enough to make it such a worthy occupation. To an extent plans are needed - like if you are planning an event or a vacation. But that is just about where plans seem to work. :) It may be best to live in the here and now.
May 22, 2014
Some movies...
Over the last couple of weeks, have watched 3 movies -
1. Bhootnath returns - Did not look like "my type" of a movie. But then I felt like watching. It has a message that every vote in an election counts. Hmm cant agree more.
2. A perfect storm - Watched this movie on a rainy evening and it felt I was on the rough seas as well. Based on a real life story about fishermen braving a storm. It gave me a rare insight into what drives some people to extreme conditions, to take those risks, despite knowing the odds. Very engaging.
3. Disconnect - What happens to victims of cyber crimes? What is the cost of putting yourself out there a little too much on the internet? Money seems the cheapest of them - there is self respect, jobs, identity and lives of loved ones that may be at stake. And what were these people(victims) looking for? Ironically connection, some human connection. Kind of intense. Good watch.
1. Bhootnath returns - Did not look like "my type" of a movie. But then I felt like watching. It has a message that every vote in an election counts. Hmm cant agree more.
2. A perfect storm - Watched this movie on a rainy evening and it felt I was on the rough seas as well. Based on a real life story about fishermen braving a storm. It gave me a rare insight into what drives some people to extreme conditions, to take those risks, despite knowing the odds. Very engaging.
3. Disconnect - What happens to victims of cyber crimes? What is the cost of putting yourself out there a little too much on the internet? Money seems the cheapest of them - there is self respect, jobs, identity and lives of loved ones that may be at stake. And what were these people(victims) looking for? Ironically connection, some human connection. Kind of intense. Good watch.
May 14, 2014
Amazing Spiderman - 2
It is a new release and watched it in 3D because there aren't any other great options among the new releases.
I used to be a Spidy fan as a kid, when I was in school, he was in college and now it has been years since I graduated and Spidy still is in college! :P
The 3D effects are good. There seem to be a few changes from the original. Some are good, some not so much. The action is entertaining, some witty one-liners are amusing. Handling of some of the romantic scenes seem over the top for a Hollywood movie, it seemed a tad Indian in approach - there was a scene where Peter Parker is crossing the road looking at Gwen without paying any heed to the flowing traffic - I thought the background score seemed sooo Bollywood, although it was not! :)... Am not complaining, just a feeling, it was nice anyway.
I love watching movies in the hall and in 3D, so yeah I had fun watching it!
I used to be a Spidy fan as a kid, when I was in school, he was in college and now it has been years since I graduated and Spidy still is in college! :P
The 3D effects are good. There seem to be a few changes from the original. Some are good, some not so much. The action is entertaining, some witty one-liners are amusing. Handling of some of the romantic scenes seem over the top for a Hollywood movie, it seemed a tad Indian in approach - there was a scene where Peter Parker is crossing the road looking at Gwen without paying any heed to the flowing traffic - I thought the background score seemed sooo Bollywood, although it was not! :)... Am not complaining, just a feeling, it was nice anyway.
I love watching movies in the hall and in 3D, so yeah I had fun watching it!
May 13, 2014
Some musings on human bondage :)
There was a time when I thought bonding with friends was easier. It sometimes may be. As kids we are close to family first, then as we grow up we make friends in school and our interactions are no more confined to the safe environment of the home. As teenagers we start experimenting more with the kind of friends we make. Those are probably the times one feels that people you are not related to are easier to bond with!
But as one grows older, it seems rather easier to catch up with family. Even with siblings, moving on and with changed priorities(both of yourself and of the other), it never feels like there was a total disconnect or awkwardness of meeting someone after a while. Even if we do not meet all the time, somehow there is something that keeps that bond intact. - catching up on phone or chat and other family members keeping you updated on everybody else, somehow you know. There is no need to prove that you care, and these are the people who knew you as kids and so they are kind enough to overlook your not so pleasing idiosyncrasies. All the time you spent quarreling with your siblings or arguing with your parents was an investment well made! This would have lead to enrichment of mutual knowledge bases - of which buttons trigger what kinds of reactions and such things.
I had a friend in school, who would easily forget her school friends because of the number of cousins she had , they made up for most of her friend circle. Even with all the technology around to easily connect, she is totally off my radar, and I am guessing she is happy in her own world filled with family, first and second and third cousins, it may be too much to deal with friends from the outside world. In my growing up years I felt, she was missing out since she was not networking enough with friends, but now I feel she may have done a very smart thing investing so much of time in extended family. Since these people would be sharing same social and cultural backgrounds as her and have a history of knowing each other for so long, it must be rewarding to have a close knit extended family.
Many of the friends I made, during my growing up years and then in college are only in touch on FB. It is so superficial to even be called friendships, given that some of these people were very close during those times. It is too time consuming to have too many close friends, I know. But what am saying is my set of close friends also kept changing over years. People get practical and bond more with people who are part of their day to day lives and it takes immense effort from both sides to keep a friendship alive if this is not the case. And then one day the closest friends turned out to be family! Since they were the closest for the longest amount of time! While the thought makes me sad that some of those friends seem no longer as close as they once were(I can bet, if we meet for lunch or dinner I can get along with each one of these friends like a house on fire, but how often does it happen is what makes me sad), its heartening to know that the same people whom I had taken for granted for so long, just because they are my family, continue to be giving, loving, caring and having me in their prayers.
But as one grows older, it seems rather easier to catch up with family. Even with siblings, moving on and with changed priorities(both of yourself and of the other), it never feels like there was a total disconnect or awkwardness of meeting someone after a while. Even if we do not meet all the time, somehow there is something that keeps that bond intact. - catching up on phone or chat and other family members keeping you updated on everybody else, somehow you know. There is no need to prove that you care, and these are the people who knew you as kids and so they are kind enough to overlook your not so pleasing idiosyncrasies. All the time you spent quarreling with your siblings or arguing with your parents was an investment well made! This would have lead to enrichment of mutual knowledge bases - of which buttons trigger what kinds of reactions and such things.
I had a friend in school, who would easily forget her school friends because of the number of cousins she had , they made up for most of her friend circle. Even with all the technology around to easily connect, she is totally off my radar, and I am guessing she is happy in her own world filled with family, first and second and third cousins, it may be too much to deal with friends from the outside world. In my growing up years I felt, she was missing out since she was not networking enough with friends, but now I feel she may have done a very smart thing investing so much of time in extended family. Since these people would be sharing same social and cultural backgrounds as her and have a history of knowing each other for so long, it must be rewarding to have a close knit extended family.
Many of the friends I made, during my growing up years and then in college are only in touch on FB. It is so superficial to even be called friendships, given that some of these people were very close during those times. It is too time consuming to have too many close friends, I know. But what am saying is my set of close friends also kept changing over years. People get practical and bond more with people who are part of their day to day lives and it takes immense effort from both sides to keep a friendship alive if this is not the case. And then one day the closest friends turned out to be family! Since they were the closest for the longest amount of time! While the thought makes me sad that some of those friends seem no longer as close as they once were(I can bet, if we meet for lunch or dinner I can get along with each one of these friends like a house on fire, but how often does it happen is what makes me sad), its heartening to know that the same people whom I had taken for granted for so long, just because they are my family, continue to be giving, loving, caring and having me in their prayers.
May 08, 2014
Ahaha weather...
The weather is so good in Bangalore today, overcast and
dreamy, almost sleep inducing! How does one expect any work to get done in this
weather, I wonder? It doesnt feel like it is May. Listening to nice music I had dozed off with the book in my lap, which I had picked up to read.
Am reading a book called "Stumbling on Happiness" and one the "Chicken soup for the soul" series books. This is the second helping of the Chicken soup series back to back that am reading. I like the fact that they are short stories written by regular people. I can pick up the book anytime, read one or more stories and feel good. And how I stumbled on this book -"Stumbling on happiness" was that I had heard the famous TED talk from the author sometime ago and happened to read something more about him recently on FB. I had made a mental note of the book name, then ofcourse forgotten. But during the last week or so I happened to read mentions of this book a couple of times and so checked with my library if they had it, voila, they did. I picked it up yesterday, and got started - so far, the only thing I dint like about the book was its font size.
May 06, 2014
Nice place...huh?
Sometimes it feels like things aren't happening in life. At least not the things you are waiting for to happen, at the pace you would have liked.
But imagine the people during World Wars. All they hoped was for peace. For the world to be restored to a place where young people can fall in love, children can play around, men and women could go to back to their regular jobs and lives, where all the world hoped was for the usual stuff to happen. There were people in those times who hoped against all odds that the world would go back to what it once was, despite the wars, the holocaust, concentration camps, nuclear bombs...
And the world went back to being peaceful, although it took years of human misery and suffering before the wars finally ended.
And today most people think and wonder if the world is becoming a far less nicer place to be in. Life may not be kind or easy. May be it never was, so no reason it may soon become otherwise..
But people never gave up, either on themselves or on love and peace. So hang in there, things take a while to get better. :)
But imagine the people during World Wars. All they hoped was for peace. For the world to be restored to a place where young people can fall in love, children can play around, men and women could go to back to their regular jobs and lives, where all the world hoped was for the usual stuff to happen. There were people in those times who hoped against all odds that the world would go back to what it once was, despite the wars, the holocaust, concentration camps, nuclear bombs...
And the world went back to being peaceful, although it took years of human misery and suffering before the wars finally ended.
And today most people think and wonder if the world is becoming a far less nicer place to be in. Life may not be kind or easy. May be it never was, so no reason it may soon become otherwise..
But people never gave up, either on themselves or on love and peace. So hang in there, things take a while to get better. :)
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