I wanted to borrow shamelessly from Nisha's lovely post on a decade gone by... except, as I told her, it hadn't been one for me. I mean, sure, the last decade had some good moments - new friendships were forged, bonds were strengthened, a decade went by in studies and perfecting skills I didn't know existed in me. But it was also a decade of loss, of having to face a mirror and see myself for what the world sees me... a decade of betrayal. If the 90s had been about growing up, the 2000s were more about growing old.



And yet, my own post on the Jungle Parable has come back now into my life at the end of the decade. Every decision, every choice I have made has led me to where I am today and perhaps it is time for the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle to fall into place.

The decade has ended and I'm still here - battered, bruised... and smiling. Because I believe there is hope for a better tomorrow. It's a New Year, a New Decade... let's make it count for something, everyone.

Have a great 2011.

After half a decade of getting worse and worse at directing, finally M. Night Shyamalan (MNS ) decided to just hand over his themes under the guise of a trilogy of thrillers called Night Chronicles and let new writers and directors imagine the film in their unique styles. And it shows.

The good news : This will probably be the first film 'from the  MNS stable' in a long time that doesn't make it to the "Worst film of the year" category. ( Unlike say... The Village, The Lady in the Water, The Happening and finally, The Last Airbender, which will sadly make it to this year's list. )

The bad news : While the film ain't bad, it ain't anything great either.

The basic theme has 5 people stuck in an elevator that mysteriously breaks down while the voice-over and a security guard convince us and the movie characters respectively that the signs suggest one of them inside is the Devil itself. Sure enough, people start dying in the lift ( each time the light goes out ) in bizarre ways even as the security guy and an investigating detective watch via the security cameras. It's up to you to guess which one's the Devil.

Ironically, the first thing that struck me were the unique camera angles during the title sequence - so unlike MNS to try something stylish like that. Infact, the camerawork for the fist quarter leading upto the characters getting stuck in the lift is pretty nifty. After that, the options kind of get suffocated in the claustrophobic space of the elevator. But while there aren't many scary moments, there is enough mystery to keep you guessing. The acting, per se, is nothing great and you don't really care for any of the characters. Noone's getting any Oscars here.

Inevitably, there are definite touches of the old MNS visible - the ( stingy ? ) art of just hinting at what might have happened ( remember the train crash in Unbreakable ? ), the religious undercurrents ( Sixth Sense, Signs, Village ), the personal tragedy of a main character ( Signs ) and ,of course, the twist in the tale.

Having said all this, at 80 minutes, the film is short, simple and will keep you guessing and more importantly, AWAKE !! That's a big plus from his last few films ( I actually envied the people in The Happening who got to kill themselves, while I had to watch the whole movie hoping for a twist that never came. )

I give it 2.5/5. Maybe there's hope for 'the mind of Shyamalan' yet.

"If you build it, they will come."- Field of Dreams

I was reminded of that quote when I thought of this post.

In that movie, Kevin Costner has a vision of a baseball field in the middle of his corn field and hears a voice telling him the above dialogue. And annoyed/afraid of the stagnation in his life, he proceeds to do just that - build a baseball field, all by himself, right in the middle of his only livelihood .
"Build what ? And who will come ?" asks his wife. He doesn't know what to tell her. He would by the end of the movie.

Godyears turned 5 last week.. 5 years of fiction, fact, romance, humour, outrage, life.
Of being a doctor, being a patient, being a friend, a movie reviewer, a gossiper and a comedian.



I believe the concept of 'The Field of Dreams" is relevant to us bloggers. We too start writing, not knowing if anyone will read our work. We too have our doubts about what to write, whether our words matter and whether to continue. We hear our fair share of criticism for being bloggers from those who don't care for it. When I started this blog, I never expected it to go beyond a few weeks. Just figures that I'd be wrong again. But this time, I'm happy I'm wrong. Because it's given me an outlet to do what I love ( write ) and also to make so many like minded friends I never would have had the chance to meet otherwise in between the ticking clock of 'the real world'.

Anyway, looking back, I couldn't help but notice that in trying to be mature (?!) with my posts, I'd stopped a section which used to be a big hit earlier - the movie reviews. So coming up next week, we're returning to the basics with reviews of a few films. ( Manoj Night Shyamalan's Devil, for starters. )
Year 6 of Godyears... Here I come.

"People will come Ray. They'll come... for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up at your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say...For it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come. "
- James Earl Jones, Field of Dreams.