Here is a very entertaining, elegant and rather decent television show about a rich family owning an estate "Downton Abbey" in the early 20th century.
It is interesting how the family operates on the estate -- busying themselves with family connections -- alliances, business and maintenance, and even more intriguing -- their servants, who operate dutifully on serving.
The servants make up quite a bit of the story and seem to be bound by duty to serve their host family.
There is no question of bootstrapping to the top, or aiming for a life of greater recognition. It is all based on inheritance, it seems.
But Downton Abbey has charm, and warmth, and a sense of overall happiness looming, where you know that things will turn out happily at the end.
The characters are decent as people, and most of the problems are misunderstandings. Watching the show, is like watching our grandparents, and I often marvel at how much stronger their family value system is.
I would highly recommend this to people who would enjoy family dramas and anglophiles.
It is also glamorous -- the sets are beautiful, the music is beautiful. It is definitely worth a watch!
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
The Little Prince (2016)
The Little Prince is a charming, but rather odd netflix original about a girl caught up in a society where everyone lives to "grow up" and once they grow up, they forget to live.
Her mother, a genuinely concerned parent, tries to carve out her life and her path to success. It seems that while you are a child you are already put through a bootcamp to reach the Academy, where you officially convert to a grown-up.
The little girl's life is consumed with regimen and discipline, but there are pockets of time, when she looks at her snow globes, or stare out at the sky, that you see she is aware that there is more out there.
In comes in her eccentric next door neighbor: an old, eccentric type that shoots her paper airplanes of stories about "A Little Prince".
That is where the movie becomes somewhat abstract and strange. As the little girl reads on about the Little Prince, she becomes closer to her neighbor, and soon they become good friends.
***SPOILER ALERT FROM HERE ON OUT***
The Little Prince as a character seems to be rather existential and profound for his size. There could be a lot of takeaways here: are children taken less seriously as they should? In The Little Prince it seems as all children are taught to forget about childhood.
Also, the Little Prince seems to take value in relationships, but also understands the meaning of love beyond the physical body, which is fantastic and deep, but also maybe a bit too deep for a children's movie. He falls in love with a Rose too -- with the Rose clamoring attention on to herself, the little Prince leaves, but never lets go of his love for her. There's talk of the Rose being his rose, and there's none other like it. That is a bit too metaphysical too.
I understand where the movie is going, and ultimately it's great. However, it's more suited for an adult audience.
The fantastic part of the movie is really coming to grips with the fact that the Little Prince may never have really existed. Maybe he did, and the little girl does seemingly encounter him. But did she?
She does go through an epiphany which leads her to understand the deepness of "seeing with your heart."
This is an interesting movie. It is deeper than most children movies out there, and is visually beautiful. Would I recommend it? If you enjoyed movies like In & Out and Finding Dory, you might find some value in this film.
Her mother, a genuinely concerned parent, tries to carve out her life and her path to success. It seems that while you are a child you are already put through a bootcamp to reach the Academy, where you officially convert to a grown-up.
The little girl's life is consumed with regimen and discipline, but there are pockets of time, when she looks at her snow globes, or stare out at the sky, that you see she is aware that there is more out there.
In comes in her eccentric next door neighbor: an old, eccentric type that shoots her paper airplanes of stories about "A Little Prince".
That is where the movie becomes somewhat abstract and strange. As the little girl reads on about the Little Prince, she becomes closer to her neighbor, and soon they become good friends.
***SPOILER ALERT FROM HERE ON OUT***
The Little Prince as a character seems to be rather existential and profound for his size. There could be a lot of takeaways here: are children taken less seriously as they should? In The Little Prince it seems as all children are taught to forget about childhood.
Also, the Little Prince seems to take value in relationships, but also understands the meaning of love beyond the physical body, which is fantastic and deep, but also maybe a bit too deep for a children's movie. He falls in love with a Rose too -- with the Rose clamoring attention on to herself, the little Prince leaves, but never lets go of his love for her. There's talk of the Rose being his rose, and there's none other like it. That is a bit too metaphysical too.
I understand where the movie is going, and ultimately it's great. However, it's more suited for an adult audience.
The fantastic part of the movie is really coming to grips with the fact that the Little Prince may never have really existed. Maybe he did, and the little girl does seemingly encounter him. But did she?
She does go through an epiphany which leads her to understand the deepness of "seeing with your heart."
This is an interesting movie. It is deeper than most children movies out there, and is visually beautiful. Would I recommend it? If you enjoyed movies like In & Out and Finding Dory, you might find some value in this film.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Zootopia (2016)
Here is a fun, cute and relevant disney movie drawing parallels between the prejudice and racial tensions existing in society today.
The movie stars an ambitious young rabbit, Judy Hopper, whose dream is to be a cop -- a non-traditional career bath for "cute little rabbits", and make a difference in zootopia, a metropolitan city where all animals of all shapes and sizes dwell together.
Little as Judy expects, Zootopia isn't perfect, and she has to deal with biases on all corners, from her assignment to be on ticket maid when there is a top case she could handle, to even her own biases when she leans on a fox Nick (who is stereotyped as "sly" and "untrustworthy") to help her solve a case.
Here is a great story about how it feels to be an underdog, and also stereotyped based on societal prejudices. In the movie, the big divide is between predators who are "biologically tuned to be savage" and prey who "can never go savage". Both comments are based on societal decisions with no backed basis, and yet their analogies to the workings of racial division in our society cannot be ignored.
Here is a wonderful movie, and highly deserving of its academy award win! I would highly recommend it to everybody!
The movie stars an ambitious young rabbit, Judy Hopper, whose dream is to be a cop -- a non-traditional career bath for "cute little rabbits", and make a difference in zootopia, a metropolitan city where all animals of all shapes and sizes dwell together.
Little as Judy expects, Zootopia isn't perfect, and she has to deal with biases on all corners, from her assignment to be on ticket maid when there is a top case she could handle, to even her own biases when she leans on a fox Nick (who is stereotyped as "sly" and "untrustworthy") to help her solve a case.
Here is a great story about how it feels to be an underdog, and also stereotyped based on societal prejudices. In the movie, the big divide is between predators who are "biologically tuned to be savage" and prey who "can never go savage". Both comments are based on societal decisions with no backed basis, and yet their analogies to the workings of racial division in our society cannot be ignored.
Here is a wonderful movie, and highly deserving of its academy award win! I would highly recommend it to everybody!
Lady Jane (1986)
With my trend of watching old movies, I decided to re-watch Lady Jane. A 1986 historical drama about Lady Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) and her nine day reign with her beloved husband Guilford (Cary Elwes).
It is taken like a 1980s movie, and there is quite a lot of great acting, kind of like a play. The costumes are representative of the 1500s and the language seems to mimic formal english of the past.
In essence, the movie however, is not really about Lady Jane. It does depict her as a young, pure and feisty girl who is trapped in a rotten political quagmire driven by religious differences between her parents and the threat to the throne (Queen Mary).
In an effort to bring back Protestantism as England's primary faith, John Dudley, Duke of Nothumberland manipulates the ailing young King to sign a will that would bequeath the throne to Lady Jane. He establishes a holy matrimony between Lady Jane (who is so young - sixteen) and his youngest son Guilford. The movie catapults on this relationship.
A more appropriate title for this film should be "Lady Jane and Guilford". The majority of the movie evolves their relationship which at the start was cold, into them being kindred spirits. They have conversations about justice, poverty, the worth of a shilling, and religion. One thing that was not clear to me in the movie was whether Guilford shared Jane's faith in God. Maybe he did, but it seemed that he was more championed towards civil rights and hated priests and the corrupt church.
When Lady Jane hears she's queen, she reluctantly takes the crown at Guilford's urging, and they both try to pass many of the policies they believe in. It is enchanting how they are so young, yet revolutionary in their thinking and ahead of their time.
Eventually the movie ends ****SPOILER ALERT*** in tragedy, but with a poignancy that leaves you wondering how many talented, and inspired minds were shut down and undervalued in a time when bigotry and royalty reigned.
This is a great movie. It could be better titled, but it definitely is worth a watch if you enjoy historical dramas and want to re-visit them.
It is taken like a 1980s movie, and there is quite a lot of great acting, kind of like a play. The costumes are representative of the 1500s and the language seems to mimic formal english of the past.
In essence, the movie however, is not really about Lady Jane. It does depict her as a young, pure and feisty girl who is trapped in a rotten political quagmire driven by religious differences between her parents and the threat to the throne (Queen Mary).
In an effort to bring back Protestantism as England's primary faith, John Dudley, Duke of Nothumberland manipulates the ailing young King to sign a will that would bequeath the throne to Lady Jane. He establishes a holy matrimony between Lady Jane (who is so young - sixteen) and his youngest son Guilford. The movie catapults on this relationship.
A more appropriate title for this film should be "Lady Jane and Guilford". The majority of the movie evolves their relationship which at the start was cold, into them being kindred spirits. They have conversations about justice, poverty, the worth of a shilling, and religion. One thing that was not clear to me in the movie was whether Guilford shared Jane's faith in God. Maybe he did, but it seemed that he was more championed towards civil rights and hated priests and the corrupt church.
When Lady Jane hears she's queen, she reluctantly takes the crown at Guilford's urging, and they both try to pass many of the policies they believe in. It is enchanting how they are so young, yet revolutionary in their thinking and ahead of their time.
Eventually the movie ends ****SPOILER ALERT*** in tragedy, but with a poignancy that leaves you wondering how many talented, and inspired minds were shut down and undervalued in a time when bigotry and royalty reigned.
This is a great movie. It could be better titled, but it definitely is worth a watch if you enjoy historical dramas and want to re-visit them.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Avatar (2009)
I decided to re-visit this movie because it is as deep as it is animated and visually phenomenal. This is really the type of film that was made for 3D and VR.
What is so spectacular about this film also lies deep in its story. The usual story we have heard about in history is that an outsider comes in to a land of plenty of resources, greedy to snatch all of it for its already depleted ones. The outsiders use divide and conquer among the indigenous people and manipulate their communities to turn against each other and fall prey to the weapons and control of the outsiders. Soon the resources and community that once kept the natives at peace and gave life to their beliefs are all shattered, and they are enslaved or forced to evacuate. Sounds familiar? Think of the colonies from Europe and the native americans. Better yet the Europeans and African nations.
It is all sad. But Avatar gives it a twist.
What if the outsider infiltrates a land out of Earth, with species called the Navi who are so spiritually and physically evolved, that they are inspiring?
That is what unfolds in Avatar. With Sam Worthington playing an ex-marine Jack Tully, who takes over his dead scientist brother's role as impersonating a Navi avatar to infiltrate the Navis and convince them to negotiate a trade deal. The trade deal is to leave their home (which is apparently a hotbed for some expensive metal) for their lives. The people behind this scummy operation are human beings: corporate (big company) and even the military is psyched to be involved. The lab behind this entire avatar operation are on the side of the Navi however, and want to help them escape, and understand them.
This is a beautiful rendition of a Pocahantas like tale, with Natiri, a local Navi showing Jack the ways of her people, and opening up her world to him.
Their tree of life, and connectivity is one of the most inspiring creations in cinematography. Its roots flowing through everything. Jack also speaking about the way Natiri talks, how she says that energy is borrowed, and after using it, you must give it back -- is beyond our own small minded day to day thinking.
It is clear that the war on the Navis is definitely a metaphor for our war on the environment. Our polluting of the environment, our refusal to recycle, our mistreatment of animals and nature and worst of all, our greed.
This is a beautiful movie. I would highly recommend it to everyone.
What is so spectacular about this film also lies deep in its story. The usual story we have heard about in history is that an outsider comes in to a land of plenty of resources, greedy to snatch all of it for its already depleted ones. The outsiders use divide and conquer among the indigenous people and manipulate their communities to turn against each other and fall prey to the weapons and control of the outsiders. Soon the resources and community that once kept the natives at peace and gave life to their beliefs are all shattered, and they are enslaved or forced to evacuate. Sounds familiar? Think of the colonies from Europe and the native americans. Better yet the Europeans and African nations.
It is all sad. But Avatar gives it a twist.
What if the outsider infiltrates a land out of Earth, with species called the Navi who are so spiritually and physically evolved, that they are inspiring?
That is what unfolds in Avatar. With Sam Worthington playing an ex-marine Jack Tully, who takes over his dead scientist brother's role as impersonating a Navi avatar to infiltrate the Navis and convince them to negotiate a trade deal. The trade deal is to leave their home (which is apparently a hotbed for some expensive metal) for their lives. The people behind this scummy operation are human beings: corporate (big company) and even the military is psyched to be involved. The lab behind this entire avatar operation are on the side of the Navi however, and want to help them escape, and understand them.
This is a beautiful rendition of a Pocahantas like tale, with Natiri, a local Navi showing Jack the ways of her people, and opening up her world to him.
Their tree of life, and connectivity is one of the most inspiring creations in cinematography. Its roots flowing through everything. Jack also speaking about the way Natiri talks, how she says that energy is borrowed, and after using it, you must give it back -- is beyond our own small minded day to day thinking.
It is clear that the war on the Navis is definitely a metaphor for our war on the environment. Our polluting of the environment, our refusal to recycle, our mistreatment of animals and nature and worst of all, our greed.
This is a beautiful movie. I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
