Naveen Durgaraju's Blog, page 11

Split — Review

There comes a movie once in a while that you desperately want to be good but you are afraid that it would be terrible instead.

Split was that movie for me. As a fan of Shyamalan in his glory years who watched him slowly become a pale shadow of what he originally was, I was really anxious on how Split was going to turn out.

And I am glad and very very relieved to say that Split is indeed brilliant and maybe is the mark of Shyamalan’s return to form. The performances of McAvoy and Anna Joy Taylor are spectacular. Rest of the characters — not so much. James McAvoy simply hits this one out of the park. There is a dance sequence of his, which is so magnificently done — which is both funny and terrifying, humorous yet chilling in its execution that you can only watch in awe.

The entire film is a tight thrill ride with constantly escalating tension. It blends horror, mystery and thrill all in the right proportions. As you progress through it, you wonder where this is actually going, until it all comes together in the end. I cannot discuss the plot end and the actual end of the movie because both are huuuuge spoilers and this is one movie which you wouldn’t want to be spoiled. I will post a separate spoiler filled article with analysis and discussion about the ending soon.

Watch this movie to re-discover the magic of Shyamalan. This film will surprise you in all the right ways.

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Kong is a strange beast: A review

Kong is a strange beast.

Not Kong the creature but Kong:Skull island, the movie. Conceptually it is great. It is a breath of fresh air when compared to all that has come before. A Vietnam Era, ‘Heart of darkness’ style story with monsters and Kong.

But this freshness and potential is squandered, saving for a few interesting set pieces and visual spectacle. The characters are plain two dimensional, the writing is shallow and the dialogue is clearly unrealistic. The problems first creep in when the film tries to take itself too seriously. There are plenty of scenes that are supposed to convey great emotional depth and intense drama but are unintentionally funny. And the scenes where the movie actually tries to be funny do not work all the time. There are a few hits but plenty of misses.

Kong looks great, the fights and the action looks great. But the movie has no anchor. The editing is bizarre, the pacing is distracting at times and the movie for all its memorable sequences is ultimately forgettable. It won’t stay with you after you have left the theater. It would be just “the new Kong movie”.

There’s nothing substantially new that we haven’t seen before. Kong battling other huge monsters has been done before to similar effect in earlier incarnations of Kong but those movies had an emotional and thematic weight which this film lacks. This film lacks the gravitas which the new Godzilla movie had.

The film tries too hard to be cool, with its quirky yet distracting soundtrack and all the unnecessary slow-mo. The attention to visuals is sadly not translated to the characters and their arcs.

Hopefully the upcoming battle of the Kings will have the right combination of crazy monster fun and decent writing.

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What the movie Arrival is actually about

(Spoilers)

From a shallow look, the plot of the movie Arrival seems to be about aliens, politics and language.

But on looking closely we understand that the plot is actually about love, acceptance, fate, destiny and how all this effects interpersonal relationships.

Firstly it is about dealing with the fact that we are powerless in the face of circumstances. What is meant to be, will happen.

Next it is about the question of what would you do, once you know how something would end. Would you still pursue something knowing that it would end badly? Would you cherish the beautiful journey knowing the horrible destination it takes you to? Louise chooses to marry Ian and have a daughter knowing fully well that her marriage ends in divorce and her daughter dies at an young age. There are two reasons for this.

It is what has always happened and always will. She can just see things non-linearly in time. But that is what happened and will happen.Just because it ended badly doesn’t mean she would never go down that path. She realizes that she wouldn’t want to change anything even though she sees her life ahead of her.

Next comes the question of communication and relationships. Ian on learning that Louise always knew about Hannah’s death leaves her because he is heartbroken that she didn’t try to protect him from the pain and try not to have the baby and also because she withheld information from him and lied to him regarding this. This goes on to show how much we can hurt and be hurt by those we love, even when the circumstances are pre-ordained. This shows how different people react to the same information wildly differently. It also shows how two people who think completely differently (Louise’s mind no longer thinks the same like Ian because of the nonlinear way she views time) can struggle to co-exist and communicate.

So overall, to me, the plot is about what do you do in the face of fate and love.

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5 steps to escape the internet and spend more time reading books

The internet can be a scary black hole that sucks all your time and attention without giving back anything in return sometimes. And if you are planning on reading a lot of books, then a distracted mind and a high speed internet can be a very dangerous combination. Here are some of the ways you can read more books while escaping the clutches of internet overlords.

Choose your books wisely
We all tend to spend more time and attention on things which we already love. Pick books from the genre you love. This would help you in maintaining your attention while reading and also will assists in drawing you back into the book without much effort. An interesting book solves half the problems.Build your bookshelf
Buy/borrow/steal all the books that you have chosen after careful consideration and line them up in your bookshelf. If you don’t have a bookshelf, line up the books somewhere in your room where you can constantly see them. This would remind you of reading and lets you get back to the book you might have left midway.Make internet a trigger for getting back to books
The mighty irresistible forces of internet are calling you? Good. Make sure you go to the internet only to be sent back promptly to your reading duties. Follow book recommendation pages on all your social media. Make GoodReads part of your daily routine. Make sure your social media feed is filled with beautiful covers of books and witty intelligent reviews of the same. A healthy dose of motivational quotes about reading wont hurt either.Join reading communities
Also join different groups on Facebook, GoodReads etc where people discuss books, reading and just nerd out together in general. This would make reading not only fun in itself but also lends a social aspect to it. A little socializing with readers can lead to wonders in your reading habits.Set goals
At the beginning of every month, prepare a list of books you are going to read. Lot of above mentioned groups and pages will have their own TBR (to be read) lists which you can follow. AND STICK TO YOUR TBR. The first few months might be tough. After that it will be a great deal of fun if you do it right.

These five steps when combined can hopefully make your reading habits more fun, efficient, consistent and productive.

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Character study for upcoming novel #4

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6 reasons why readers have more fulfilling lives

1) Readers have more empathy

The act of reading invariably requires the readers to put themselves in the shoes of different characters no matter how good or bad they are. Readers know that every person is interesting, no matter their beliefs and actions. Readers are the patron saints of grey morality and complexity. No body understands people better than readers.

2) Readers have better imagination

Kings and castles. Far away galaxies and space colonies. Aliens, ghosts and wizards. Dragons and lovecraftian horrors. Readers have seen it all. They have the capability to see the ordinary and imagine the extraordinary and exotic. A reader’s eyes are lens that transform the mundane to magic.

3) Readers get to virtually travel a lot

One moment the reader is sitting in the comfort of his living room and the next, he is doing parkour with spies in Europe, fighting alongside stealthy commandos in middle east, growing up among wild life in Africa or setting up camp on Mars. A reader gets to have vacations everyday without spending a single penny.

4) Readers obtain more knowledge

Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, every book teaches new things to readers. A new fact about the culture of a place, a new upcoming scientific discipline, a lesson on how a certain device functions or the inner power structure of an organisation. Every new book is a potential gold mine of information.

5) Readers are better at communication

Dealing daily with language and words makes writers better at understanding what others are trying to say and also better at expressing their own thoughts articulately. Readers are after all experts at reading between the lines.

6) Readers have a broader world view

Readers are more likely to understand the culture and context of different people and places. They are less likely to give in to extreme ideologies or biased arguments. Readers tend to hate less and accept more. As they say good readers make good leaders.

This was originally a post on Medium. Follow me on Medium at https://medium.com/@naveend23 for more posts on reading, writing and art.

Vajra welcomes the webslinger

Time to welcome the webslinger to MCU

Reading through the night

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The Martian reads Vajra

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Vajra at Great Lakes Institute of Management