Hancock - Movie Review

Hancock – starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman

There is a famous Hokkien proverb “BOH TAU BOH BUAY” meaning “No Head No Tail”, and I think that says it all for the movie.
Hancock – played by Will smith, is a guy with super natural powers and with a natural vice of alcoholism. He is incredibly sarcastic and cracks some good jokes despite showing some incredible non-sense action (though inspired by the movie Jumper). He is the most hated super hero, till his life is changed by a public relations consultant who introduces him to anger management and alcohol management……..!!hard to digest that.
But it’s a super hero movie, so u can ignore small details and watch on for some action. But my advice, don’t wait for the action to come, it will never come in the movie. Just a few camera thrills and then it does not carry the momentum of a super hero movie. Who would want their kids to see a super hero, who is abusive, has a reasonably irritable attitude, and is always high on Jim Bourbon whisky!!!
A couple of sequences in the movie find a good laugh in the cinema, but overall it fails to bind audience’s interest. I think had this movie been promoted not as a super hero movie, it would have got some appreciation, because people don’t come to watch a superhero movie with a story line of super hero fighting with his own problems of loneliness and identity crisis. Superheroes are considered to be god send machos, by the audiences still, and are expected to involve in social service acts, saving the planet or for an even bigger issue and not just their own image improvement issues.
I think I would give 1 star for the novelty of action in the first scene and the overall comedy in movie, and a half star for a little surprise in the middle of the movie, a half more for Charlize Theron. She looks stunning. Overall I would rate it not more than 2 on the scale of 5.
“There are heroes, there are super heroes and then there is ….. HANCOCK.” If that is the promised offering of the movie, then I think it needs to be remade to keep the promise.

NOT FOR SOFT HEARTS

I very clearly remember those days of Indian cricket when I and dad used to watch the matches with a lot of interest and passion. There used to be meal time discussions on the teams and matches. I cannot forget the 1996 semi final against Sri Lanka, when not only India lost miserably, but I nearly flung my social studies matriculation exam the next day. And I would like to forget all those matches of India which some great cricketers had fixed against the sentiments of millions of Indians who just eat cricket, drink cricket and sleep cricket. I and a lot of people like me had lost interest in the Indian Cricket after that. The lost hope and interest of a lot of Indians like me was rekindled by the Dhoni brigade in Twenty 20 World Championship. My love for cricket rejuvenated with the phoenix like rise of Indian Cricket in last 5 months. We were out of the 50-50 World cup, humiliated by a defeat at hands of minnows, and one would have started thinking Indian Cricket will face the event less fate of Indian Hockey.

What got the team so motivated, was it the lack of proper coach, or lack of superstars in the side or was it the bollywood flick “Chakde India”. Whatever was it, the young team looked like playing with courage and finesse. One could see the hunger and passion for playing as a unit, for winning, for taking tough catches and for sticking to their plan. I think Dhoni did what SRK did to women hockey team in the movie. All the sectors of game, batting fielding, and bowling were put on test in four big matches against England, SA, Australia, and Pakistan, and it was at the end the game of wits, the game of nerves which really tested the true character of the Indian team.

And what a befitting final. It was a treat for all the spectators around the world. What more can one think of for a cricket world cup final. It is as good a wish as if a teenage boy wishes to plan a blind date on the top of a hill overlooking a valley on a moonlit night and his date turns out to be the most beautiful girl on the earth for him. The final of the world cup could not have been better in the sense of teams playing it; in the sense of what a clincher it was and in the sense of what it gave to the shorter version of the game.

I was watching the match with a bunch of friends at our “should-be-quiet” flat in a quiet Singapore locality and when Misbah hit Joginder for a slice over leg and the camera showed the ball in air but with no fielder in the frame, I am sure everyone’s heart in the room would have stopped for a micro-second, but the historic moment after that could be heard by the whole of Singapore out of our vocal cords for the next few moments.

I asked my friend to pinch me to make me believe what I witnessed was indeed true. We had won a clincher, and what a spectacle was it to see the young guns of India celebrating on the field.

I think this is what the gift of T20 cricket to the world. As Harsha Bhogle said “The tournament was in infant stage at the start” and I think this ending could not have given much better start to the new face of the limited over`s cricket. It had been discussed and written a lot that T20 was slogger`s game and I think the critics of the version got it straight with the Indians bowling out the oppositions beautifully in last 3 matches. The world cup final saw a jam packed stadium in the Wanderers, and anything going forward would only get better. This version of the game can also cannibalise the 50-50 limited overs cricket as happened to 60 overs cricket. And If I am not expecting more, I think this T20 cricket can soon gain the highest viewership across the world, even more than soccer, once a few European teams get into this. The reasons are very crisp - Short game, good hitting, anxious moments and nail-biting finishes.

But for the moment, the feeling of being the world champions is taking me more than anything else. For the last 20 hours we have been talking this and discussing about the match and the life it has given to the aspirations of young sportsmen of the country. These are the moments when every Indian abroad misses India and the festivities which start due to this. I would like to thank the whole team for making all of us so proud. The whole world is celebrating, and it is always quite a big task to make 1/5 of the world population happy. I think the Dhoni`s brigade was successful in doing this, and I wish them luck to always play like they did in this tournament.

"Thou Shalt not kill"

Thoughts inspired from discussions with Swapandeep...a budding writer...

Was just browsing back my high school moral science teachings, and I came across the "Ten Commandments". and yes there was what I was finding "Thou shalt not kill, Man shall reap that which he has last sown. So be it the Law of Justice". So religion teaches us not to kill. If this teaching was given by the GOD as per various religious beliefs, then has GOD gone to sleep or is GOD ashamed of the deeds of his creation. In fact history proves that the maximum number of killings in the world has been in the name of God. Jews were killed because they were Jews. Pre-medieval era witnessed a time of Afghan invaders invading India and forcing their religion on others. India witnessed and witnesses a communal clash frequently and every time innocent people are killed in the name of religion.
The frequency of killings and tensions in the name of religion and faith sometimes lead me to a different reason that there may be different GODS and they may be power hungry, so that to get more people come under their faith. I guess it seems logical as had there been one GOD the criminals would not have gone Scott free. So I guess the commandment changes to "Thou shalt not kill unless the person prays to a different invisible GOD than the one he prays to".

A recent trouble in Punjab over religion and faith caused major clashes in the two groups of people killing one and injuring many and bringing the political and law-order machinery to a stand still. A one day "bandh"(strike) was called in Punjab on May 22nd. Sporadic cases of violence were reported , State transport services were jammed,educational institutions closed, exams cancelled. Fruits, vegetables and milk from rural areas could not reach major cities and towns of Punjab due to the bandh. While people in certain parts of the state, particularly in the rural and semi-rural areas, went without their morning papers.
The news channels say that the "Bandh was peaceful". Peace again has a different meaning for different people. My thoughts go out for those who wouldn`t have been able to even eat yesterday because they could not drive their rickshaws, do their construction labour,market their rehris or simply those who could not beg. Is it really peaceful for them, is somebody not encroaching upon their happiness and their peace. "All in the name of religion". and I read another commandment "Thou shall not trespass upon others things". I don`t intend to support any particular group in this issue, just because if one misguides your faith, the other trespasses your right to live.
A friend of mine Swapandeep who hails from Jalalabad in Punjab was equally moved and wrote to me "I think there is nothing to be got from all this. If this is the meaning of religion, all non-believers will go to heaven......"

Foodie Evenings

Atlast after almost an year in Singapore, I have started discovering my tourist side of personality.And there is I think only one person (amongst the ones i know) in the whole cohort who believes in Epicurean Philosophy of life. Usman Ashfaq was the first one to agree at just the wink of eye to my plan of trying out all the hawker centers in Singapore. So we decided to start off by treating our taste buds at Esplanade Hawker center.
Getting off the MRT at City Hall , we bid good bye to Vikas and Ravi who were keen on some vegetarian stuff from Little India(mind you.. India is much better than Little version). I think it was the first time when me and Usman had gone to Esplanade and we were amazed at the beautiful sight of CBD which was embellished by Fullerton Hotel`s brightly lit building. After having a stroll across the bay we entered the hawker center. The first thing we noticed people having some thing from clay pot, we decided to try that. One thing which is good to hang-out with Usman is that he is not at all a difficult person to convince anything about. He would always say yes for non-veg food at any time of the day. So I wanted to have the mix of Satay`s and the Clay pot thing, and the nest minute we were right in front of the Satay Shop. Another thing good about Usman is that he always orders a lot of food. So we ordered 20 Satay Sticks with a mix of chicken and beef. By the time the order would be ready we went to check out the clay pot thing. and We found that indeed it was a very popular thing. As the lady of the shop named "Happy Pot" explained, the dish is prepared just on the table in front of you (sorry not like famous Japanese restaurant Benihana of Tokyo). The mechanism of preparing is that there is a pot of clay (or Handi in Hindi) which contains soup. The soup can be of your choice like Tom Yam, Chicken broth etc etc. The pot is fired by a small fire arrangement at its bottom (like a traditional angithi used in North India). You are served with marinated meat, sea food and vegetables of your choice with addition of rice and noodles. We ordered for one Non-Veg set (just 10 SGD) and spicy Tom Yam Soup. We put the meat in the boiling hot soup and it was ready on 3-4 minutes, meanwhile enjoyed Satay in the backdrop of Merlion park. The lady at the shop was so cute that she would come everytime to us and help us out with some exciting tips to eat good Thai food. She also told that the soup helps in burning fat.........:) I think if this happens then this is the best way to reduce weight.
So all in all a very good Sunday evening spent and a good experience having Thai food. Now I am waiting for the next Sunday to go to another food court of the world`s food capital- Singapore. By the time I was writing this blog Amarpal has also got convinced with the idea of trying our foodie adventures. So lets see how far we go in tasting what Singapore has to offer.