The Sane Lunatic

Oh man. I've been delaying this one for more than half a year now. Which I know kind of defeats the purpose of making this a series for you readers. But to be quite frank, I put it on hold because I had nothing interesting to share with you good folks, but given that I am no longer there, this may well be a fitting time to end it. In a way, this post in the series should have been written back in June, when I did move out of my bed in Colaba. I'd moved to a flat in an area called Kurla West, where I had a sizeable room to myself in a 2BHK layout and a living room as well, for the same rent. The tradeoff was living in quite a shitty part of Mumbai, where I'd get creepy vibes everytime I went down to get some groceries. It also meant having to commute to work by the local train. The station itself was just 10 minutes away on foot, and the journey would take 30 minutes. If I'd schedule it properly I could take the direct trains and get space quite easily, both when...

A redneck heist movie directed by the same guy whose resume includes the Ocean's Trilogy and The Informant, that stars Channing Tatum and Daniel Craig, involves Nascar and a one-armed bartender. Needless to say, this one was on my watchlist since the first time I saw the trailer and it entertained me more than I expected it to. The narrative revolves around the Logan family, mainly the two brothers - Jimmy (Channing Tatum) and Clyde (Adam Driver). Jimmy was an American football player in college but suffered a lifelong leg injury while Clyde is an Iraq war veteran who lost his right arm..sorry, hand and uses a prosthetic while working as a bartender. Jimmy also happens to have an adorable daughter, Sadie (Farah McKenzie), that he shares custody of with his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) while his sister Mellie (Riley Keough) works as a nanny for Bobbie's new family. Jimmy gets laid off from his construction/digging job as his employers see his injury as a potent...

So you've got Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as the lead characters of a film based on a book by Stephen King, pitted against each other in a classic good vs evil, stopping the end of the world kind of film narrative. Sounds like something that should offer at least 90 minutes of entertainment and brilliant voices if nothing else, right? Well that's what I was expecting from 'The Dark Tower' but Director Nikolaj Arcel has managed to...how shall I put it? Fuck it up. The film is a disappointment, to say the least. The premise, as already unveiled in the trailer, revolves around something called the 'Dark Tower'. Apparently, it is at the centre of our universe and is responsible for protecting it and its inhabitants from what in essence is a version of hell and means the end of all things and all worlds. The movie's narrative introduces us to it and the antagonist through the visions/dreams of 11-year old Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor). It is through th...

Okay, I've been waiting for this one since I first saw the trailer a few months ago. And it delivers as expected: the super entertaining chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds!! Michael Bryce (Ryan) is an executive protection agent, a bodyguard in simple terms, who has fallen down the industry spectrum after the assassination of a very high-value client. Darius Kinkaid (Samuel) is a notorious hitman, extremely skilled and known for an improvisational approach to the job, though currently in jail having been arrested by Interpol. While the two have crossed paths before in their respective field over the years, the two highly-trained killers need to NOT kill each other and work together to survive. Why? Because of Vladislav Dukovich (Gary Oldman), murderous dictator of Belarus There isn't a lot to the premise of the setup, so let me give you the gist of it. Dukovich is on trial in the world court for his heinous crimes but there is a substantial lack of...

This was it. The finals of the 100m at the 2017 World Championships in London. The last time we'd see a legend do what he is best at on the tartan track. The runners were ready on their marks, an eerie silence falls upon the stadium. Blam! And they're off! Most eyes are on the blur of black, yellow and green in the inside lanes. Less than 10 seconds later, the cheers are a mix of hurrahs and sighs. The legend didn't win. Cut to his next appearance, the last time we'll see him gunning for glory, the 4x100m relay finals. He looks set to bid farewell on a high and recover from his earlier disappointment. But oh no! He's backing off!! He's limping!! He's on the ground! He's injured! Unbelievable! In his farewell race, he's pulled a muscle.....and the rest of that night fades away. But the legend? Oh no. He will not fade away. Nor will his legacy. Not in this time. Maybe not for a long time. After all, he is the man of speed. He is, Usain Bolt. Th...

Excuses. Right now, as soon as you read that word in your mind, you connected a vibe with it which I am willing to bet was not a positive one. Then there are the all too familiar phrases with that word – making excuses, being excused, having an excuse and such. The vibe, while not necessarily negative, wouldn't be called positive either. And I started to wonder why that is. Let's first take a look at the dictionary definition of the word 'excuse': As a verb 1. Seek to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offence); try to justify. 2. Release (someone) from a duty or requirement. As a noun 1. A reason or explanation given to justify a fault or offence. 2. an excuse for - A poor or inadequate example of.   Now, from what I interpret, an excuse is the answer to the question regarding why something didn't go right. It is a reason. The reason in itself is not negative, but it explains why the outcome was negatively affected. Yet, it is used in the context...

Christopher Nolan is a name you can bank on for an entertaining cinema experience, and when you add Tom Hardy to the billing, you know you can expect at least some quality acting in the story. But Dunkirk is so much more than that, especially to the British viewers. After all, this is a film about what was one of the most significant albeit weakest moments of their participation in the second World War. It would help to clarify at this point, that this film 'Dunkirk' is not a documentary of the events that happened, instead is a cinematic representation of them for the purpose of entertainment. It is not a history lesson but it does have a certain patriotic tone to it in a very British sense. Nolan's 'Dunkirk' is a relentless and distressing tale of survival surrounding the battle of Dunkirk in 1940, wherein some 400,000 allied troops had been cornered by the Nazi forces on the beach and were being picked off by bombers and fighter planes, like fish in a ba...