Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy II: The Golden Army sadly does not fare well neither for a filmmaker (Guillermo del Toro) whose forte is dark fantasy nor for a franchise that is deeply rooted in mythology and occult in the graphic medium. My rebuke is more so because the film has the writer/creator, artist aboard as screenwriter. Sin City had Frank Miller aboard and it is history. Perhaps, Sin City is a hard act to follow, that is, without deviating from the standard set by for a fictional world in the graphic medium. Well, no, look at what Nolan has achieved with the Batman universe. Nolanverse deviated from the graphic medium yet inspired every bit from it adding a great deal to it. To critique the former in light of the latter, the translation is overall tragic and bleak.

It would be wrong to say I didn’t enjoy the film at all. I was awestruck by the portrayal of magical creatures, namely Tooth Fairies the seemingly adorable tiny things with wings, until a bunch of them feed on a live human and display his skeleton in a minute; the Troll infant that says I am not a kid, I am a tumor grown out of the interrogated Troll; surrealist Cathedral Head, who provides Princess Nuada with the map, with crown like miniature cathedral and a goblin that has wooden cart for back; and the Angel of Death who ironically helps Hellboy survive. Del Toro is at his finest when dealing with surrealism and magic. When comes to connecting it with the alternative world is where his film falters. He did it with his seminal Pan's Labyrinth, alas! Not here. Mignola's Hellboy is a demon who chose to fight for planet earth instead of being its destruction. Such a protagonist and his surrounding world are brought to life in a horror series inspired by folklore in graphic genre. But this is like uninspired Harry Potter and Narnia series that haven’t been touched by the light of Lord of the Rings or Nolanverse.

RATED 5/10; MISS IT BUT NOT AT MY EXPENSE

Sequential Art and Hollywood Pact!

What if some of the finest works in literature are shelved in comics section where one would fear to be spotted and mistaken for a giant kid? I must eventually confront my onlooker. So, I call him forth and point to him the tag at the back of the cover that reads “Suggested for Mature Readers,” and The Comedian molesting Silk Spectre from the pages of Watchmen or Dream Lord cutting Lucifer’s wings off from Season of Mists, and read from Rorschach's Journal in Watchmen, “The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!' And I'll look down, and whisper 'no.'” Now you may wonder if such materials are thus shelved. Yes, I am positive, and I am thinking a great deal telling the shop guys to put such titles in the top shelf where it is unreachable to a kid except, of course, if he be a giant. Graphic Novel, the pioneer of the medium Will Eisner suggested it to be called, so they now call it: a genre directed towards adult readers.



Hollywood’s pact with this medium is history in itself. A work that serves as storyboard to the other no surprise must be in its hunting A-list. Alas! But there was something devised by the god of that art form that made it so unique left the other yet cracking the code. When discussing the nature of comic art in an essay written in 1985, Alan Moore asked: Rather than seizing upon the superficial similarities between comics and films or comics and books in the hope that some of the respectability of those media will rub off upon us, wouldn't it be more constructive to focus our attention upon those ideas where comics are special and unique? Rather than dwelling upon film techniques that comics can duplicate, shouldn't we perhaps consider comic techniques that films can't duplicate?

Nearly all of Moore’s works translated to films have turned out to be tragedy, From Hell to Constantine, excepting V for Vendetta to an extent. Now, his seminal work Watchmen is being filmed, a work that once was said loudly to be un-filmable by screenwriters. This Graphic Novel—a heavy meditation on the pitfalls of masked vigilantism, impending nuclear warfare, amorality of so-called heroes, and the corruptibility of power set in the backdrop of an alternative America that had won Vietnam War; one giant twisted beast containing in itself brilliant panel-to-panel transitions, red herrings, tongue-in-cheek characterization, overlapping storytelling tricks—for all my worthy bets must take a trilogy to flesh out faithfully on silver screen. To do it in one film, and even portray half the brilliance the original work has, should be nothing short of a miracle and a stroke of genius.



For now, I must wait and watch.

Delicate Silence

Delicate is the silence that keeps away from noise.
Like dark corners that stay away from sunrays.
The delicate silence that hears no sound, but its own.
The silence that does not drift past, but stays.
The silence that does not speak up, but still says…
The quietest of moments are the noisiest,
But keep the promise that objects make to surroundings.
Delicate it is, the silence, and breaks not due to sound,
but due to its aim to isolate itself.

FASHION by Madhur Bhandarkar

Have you guys seen this movie?
I believe it is the the weakest execution by Madhur Bhandarkar ever.
Did he do a research on a variety of subjects and then decide that it would be safe to call it Fashion?
I don't know. Where is the spark that he showed in Chandni Bar?
Where is the smart direction we all witnessed in Corporate?
Where is the reality-edge that Page 3 carried and shook us?
I guess this is where Madhur Bhandarkar is transforming from a real-film maker to a real film-maker.

http://pradeeprajendran.blogspot.com/

unedited. uncut and unashamed. I'm still working on this
You can send feedback. Grammar Sucks incredibly.

http://pradeeprajendran.blogspot.com/

Corruption

Where did it all start?
Did it start due to our government’s negligence to issues that are important, but are buried somewhere in the rack of old files?
Did it start due to the young generation’s transparent protest for a better society, which slowly transformed into an opaque and endless disagreement?
Or did it start in the insignificant goals of these decision makers who are not leaders, but solicitors of our country’s values for money.
I’ ll tell you where it started.
It started in our minds. It started because of lack of determination.
It started because we allowed it to start.
And it goes on because we all allow it to go on.
It started from the extra bucks we pay to get our jobs done quickly in government and private offices.
Let me tell you something.
India has amazing guidelines in theory, but not in practice.
Why is that?
It is because our opinion leaders fail to reinforce them at the grass root level.
Let me ask you a question.
How do you know that the money in your pockets right now is white or black?
How do you know where it came from?
I won’t be surprised if the money in my pocket has come to me, roaming from a poor father who paid an unnecessary donation to admit his child in the school.
It must have come to me, roaming from a retired citizen who has to put his assets at stake to make sure he gets his pension.
I don’t know.
I wont say all of us, but most of us have witnessed corruption and not many of us have made an attempt to stop it, or even question it at that point in time.
Even if we believe that we are not responsible for all this, we should understand that we need to be responsible enough to put an end to it.
I can see a lot of opinions building about what I said. I hope it also builds the determination in you to challenge the corrupt system and get an optimistic reply called change.

An unremarkable existence

An unremarkable existence
is like a quickly smoked cigarette.
that life will be short.
like shortcuts lazy people take
cigarettes shall cause short lived writings.
they will bring down a curtain of smoke
and death by asphyxiation.

Shards

In darkness
Alone 4a smoke
An open door to the roof
Beams across the light

The quiet & light shatters
Explodes with several tinkles
Barefooted in the dark
Walk around & prevent being shard-ed
Heightened state of fear; the idea of pain
Bulb fragments & tungsten?

How many bulbs blew up in Edison's face,
He was saying that Genius was a % of inspiration & 99% perspiration
The light bulb is a connection

Walk in circles
Walk a random pattern
Walk the chances of being shard-ed
Walk the smoke

Feetless for a few days
Brainless for life
Gamble, its all a half chance

Chance, Louis Pasteur saying; Gamble, it favors the prepared mind.

The walker didn't get shard-ed
I'm footloose & free
& a real oddity

Writer's Block

Question:

How do YOU as a writer deal with "Writer's Block"?

Cinema Paradiso

Noon after noon, he comes to see her. Her haughty talk makes him dream and as she sways his eyes widen. She rarely looks at him but he senses the corners of her eyes.

“I know… I know…,” he tells himself laughing silently.

“Dali would have painted you but I can only write,” he regrets and scribbles secretly in the tiny book he always carries. When the music comes, she sings and dances, and everybody whistles at her.

“Love me, baby”, they all shout and scream from everywhere around him.

The medley puts him off. “I wish I was the only one who could see her,” he curses at the people around him. Whenever she goes away, he starts scribbling hurriedly; and she shows up again.

Even in the evenings he goes to see her, again the same act, music and medley. The only time he misses her is in his sleep. The movie ends but her act, never. For he knows, she’d come tomorrow again.

“I know… I know…,” he tells himself.

And justice for all

Scurrying rats
For an ounce of grease

Lethargic pigs
Feeding on muck

Hungry hyenas
Ogling at flesh

Sleek serpents
Spewing on foe

Eyeless bats
Gouging for blood

Creepy lizards
Charging at wings

Savage lions
Ravaging at prey

Covert insects
Infecting the healthy

Miserly Gods
Helping with death

Sordid humans
Seeking at dogma

Maimed innocence
Writhing for justice

The future of a Book is in the Blurb

The future of a Book is in the blurb.
-Marshall Macluhan

Source: From a 3rd party [work in progress].

A rally for what there is to believe in...

Do you know what it is that you believe?
Do you truly see?
Really understand?

Do you & I,
Do we have perspective?
Who knows truth, intention?

Or like most things in India,
I our understanding nothing but - a ball of rubber bands.
Minds entangled in the complexity of our Heart's Mind.

Rally, a movement or a mob
Rally, a movement that becomes a mob
Rally, a movement nurtured in the essential goodness of belief
Rally, misguided, misinterpreted, simply fcuk ed up. [French Connection UK]

Rally
Mob
Chaos
Infiltration
Violation
Personal Space - Invasion

Movements: A search for meaning
Movements: radical, people searching for something to believe in, to become a part of, Identity.
Riots: Rhymes of the Unheard. Rage Against the Machine
Trains, Glass Metal and Windows. Cancer. Scourge. Break. Hearts and Minds. Souls. Sentiment.

Ideology: People who say it, usually have to idea what they're talking about.
Disfigurement: Proof.

New Media Technology. Cellphones and Viral Marketing. Traditional Marketing. Sending a message. The world, a smaller place. Traditional Messaging, word of mouth. Cellphones.

Break
Brakes
Violence
Ensues
Destruction
Thrill
Fear

Batman says, a means to fight injustice, to turn fear onto the fearful.
Fear
of what?
The Mob?
Rape?
Murder?
Worse?

Every reason to find a gun.
Every reason to not raise kids.

Fear = Exit
Exit = Run
Run all. All of you. Scatter.
Run to the police, if you see them, runaway.
They watch. The Mob. The Cops. They just watch. Maybe they all join in. This is my country. All Indians are my Brothers and Sisters. But run.

News
Media
Coverage
Mikes
Newstime
Fame = Fifteen minutes
Infamy, a lifetime
To forget = Maybe in India, it is inherent to Forget

He who fails to remember the past is condemned to relive it.
- George Santayana

Contradiction
Paradox
Contradiction
Paradox

Belief equals Violence and in its own strangeness, Belief echos Non-violence. Neither are remembered. Only repeated. Through History. Do things change? Thats why we write. Writing = Hope as much as it = vain.

What is rationale?
Under what rock in our minds does rationale lie.
Did it break with the glass?
Was it the disfigurement?
Was lost in rape?
Who are we?
What are we?
Animals mostly don't see colors.
We see rainbows after the rain.
Where is joy?
In the rain?
Or did the flood wash reason away.

This is from a 3rd party. Its subject to interpretation.
The real story, I now begin to write.

www.writing4media.com

Road Trip

Here we are in the middle of nowhere
I've been here so many times, although I've never seen it before
But now that I have, I don't want to see no more

I'm off on a road trip to find something new
I should be back on Monday

Do I remember the way I felt when I read a particular book in the past
If I read it again, do I see how much I have changed? How do I find out?

strings of god

Somewhere in remote Madhya Pradesh.
God is everywhere.
If only.

If only.

I could play sitar.
I could emote as much.

broken

My tooth broke.
It was the apple.
Damn thing cost 25 bucks.
These are expensive times we live in.
Anyways, my tooth broke.
And I can’t tell mother about it.
Five years back she paid 6000 bucks to get it fixed.
She’s always doing things like that.
Sponsoring my repairs.
6000 bucks.
That’s 240 times more than what it took to undo.
I am not going to fix it again.
To hell with expensive repairing.
Till death with broken tooth.
The weekends will be tough, though.
How will I socialize?
Who will I socialize with?
How cool is broken.tooth@gmail.com?
I learnt something last weekend.
Not having your own vehicle hurts.
Especially, when you have to ask for a ride.
And don’t get it.
Everyone else seems so mature.
They advise you grow up.
Responsible, mature, nauseating adults.
Pretentious, revolting lives.
Their monotonous chatter is a burden.
I’d rather get bored alone.
In silence.
But it’s too late to back off.
Too many explanations to give.
Too many questions will be asked.
I will be advised to grow up again.
So, I swallow my nausea.
And socialize.
And drink.
Round after round.
And smoke.
And drown all sensations.
But on Monday morning, I discover again.
Life is in a mess.

Prof. Ghose's Lost Garden

On the futility of Ctrl+Z

I usually hate using quotes. But this one spoke to me:

"The moving hand writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."

From Edward Fitzgerald's version of 'The Rubaiyat' of Omar Khayyam

I forgot

I shut my laptop down & had to restart because I needed to leave something here. Something I read today.

I read something that went like; In the sea of bloggers & webcontent, we [specially me] should not write, just for the heck of writing. Don't be spineless & don't talk\write about stuff when you\me, we do not have any authority on the subject. - Its just something I read today & it made sense. But it also said, to write everyday. and so I do what I "think" I do best.

Now, writing all this reminds me of something Arundhati Roy says in her new book, "The shape of the Beast", she says, & I'll suppose that her context is the turmoil we face in several spheres of life, living in India & dealing with the 'idea' of democracy, society, injustice etc etc.

She says, something along these lines, In our Nation's situation & with the complexity of our problems, (of which we all need to be involved, perhaps are already involved - whether we like it or not), it is as politically violent, to do nothing, to say nothing, as much as it is to do something.

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http://www.copyblogger.com/writers-block/

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write on money

Once upon a time, there was me & I was a boy without a cause, and became a man ready to jump into any cause good or evil, and then I began to write, after which I began to burn all the paper because there was great meaninglessness in writing for nothing, then I got a system system and decided, hey, its the only thing I really like doing, so just do it. I dare you to do what I write about. I dare you to do what I write about. And then we can all die happily ever after. Knowing that we did.

Write on money, everybody sees it. everybody gets it. everybody wants it. Its the medium, we write the message. Write on money, its your own form of social protest.