Coolie - My View

I go to every Rajini movie expecting something which we became a fan of in 80's and 90's. But I only end up saying may be in the next movie.

The truth is I do not see that magic anymore. It is seen here and there. We can see that old magic but it is lost in the noise.

Jailer was an exception, in Jailer we were presented with a different Rajini, a new magic which was refreshing to see.

I am a fan of Managaram by Lokesh. I didn't like Kaithi and I have not seen his other movies. Based on how everyone is raving about Vikram I was expecting a neatly done movie but Coolie did not satisfy movie.

The movie was too noisy for me which was the case with Annaththe. There was nothing to root for. The flashback was not meaty and it comes almost at the end of the movie. We travel with Rajini not even knowing his background. When we do not know why we need to root for someone it is difficult to engage with the movie.

Nagarjuna was typical villain. Soubin was different but didn't understand why he was doing what he was doing.

The plot of that machine sounded amateurish. 

While the music tries to elevate the scenes without background it can only do so much.

It was difficult for me to follow the story as well as it was going all over the place.

My one wish is Rajini would do a simple movie with a great story. I wish he gives it a try before he retires.

Cycling in Chennai

 Rode a cycle after almost 13 years. The one before 13 years was also a just few 100 meters. There was a cycle which was collecting dust and I gave it to service and he charged me a bumper. It was almost like servicing a two wheeler. He had changed two tires and tubes. The service charge alone was 700 Rs.

I was actually worried about cycling back home as there is a subway and some years back I was not able cycle the uphill part of the subway. The other scary part was people constantly honking behind us. I was looking for a rear view mirror habitually and there was none.

Whenever I had to turn I was looking for the indicator switch and few times I tried to accelerate by throttling the right handle.

So it took me sometime to adjust to basic cycle.

The good part is I was able to do the slope easily than I had feared. So its a little comfort that there is some fitness left in me.

But riding cycle in Chennai roads would not be a pleasant experience.

Perfect Days - Japanese Movie

 

Knock at the Cabin

 After a long time a Shyamalan movie. I have a liking for Shymalan on a personal level as one of his movies is linked to my personal milestone. Apart from that I liked The Sixth Sense. I also liked The Village. Devil, Signs, Old and Visit were all ok.

I had been postponing watching this movie and chose it as there was no other better choice.

I was put off by the same sex parents concept as that stands out like a forced thing. Nowadays it has become a custom to have at least one same sex couple character for DEI.

The movie becomes interesting as it moves forward and when it ends it does end well. 

But a lot more could have been done with this concept but here they have dealt it in a straightforward way which is also not a bad choice.

The question that obviously comes in our mind "what will we do in such a situation" is what makes this movie interesting.

What will we do if we are asked to sacrifice something that we love the most to save the world?

Ikiru

Just finished watching this movie and what a profound movie. This is my first Akira Kurosawa movie and I was simply blown away by the movie. When I read the story I expected the movie to be a cliche about death and life.

The movie has so many layers or we can also say the movie can be looked as having six distinct parts.

The first part introduces us to the characters and the environment. This is a short part. We are shown the lead character, his job and the people around him. We might not think many items shown here will become important in the coming sections.

The second part is where the lead character learns about his intending fate. This is also a short one. But even in these short parts the director conveys so many subtle messages.

The third part is where the lead character tries to change his ways. There are two sub plots here. One where he tries the cliched stuff of trying to live his life by spending on drinks and women. We also feel this should be the whole message of the movie. But no I was wrong. The second subplot is about the lead character realises there is much more to life than spending on drinks and women.

The fourth one is where the lead character realises what is about living and we also feel this should be the core message and the movie would be over after this part.

But there comes the most important fifth part where they play out the message. This is like a conversation within ourselves. Whatever questions we would have asked critically, all of them are asked and answered. The answer is satisfactory.

Then we have the final sixth part which shows humans will never change.

Everything about the movie was top notch. We can also say India is still in this state. May be Japan overcame all the bureaucracy but I am not sure if we will change. 

Dell Video Lag Problem

I was struggling with a problem in my laptop where videos would take lot of time to play. Whether it is a video file or video embedded in a site like Twitter (X), all videos would take at least 10 to 15 seconds before it plays. It also happened with youtube.

Any number of searches did not give a solution. I was thinking of factory resetting my device but didn't want to go through installing all patches again.

Finally I found the solution, What a relief.

The solution can be found in the following thread.

https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/xps/xps-13-9310-youtube-playback-delay/647f9a70f4ccf8a8dee1469f

Looks like it is a defect in Dell laptop and this happens whenever you connect to wireless display this problem manifests. Even if you have disconnected with that display this will happen. The only solution to this is to remove the device from the Settings->Bluetooth & Devices list.

Once I removed all the devices listed there the videos started playing normally.

What a weird problem to face.

I was thinking the problem would be with the graphics driver or something.

Really thankful for that thread.

வாழை - Vaazhai

சற்று முன்பு வாழை படம் பார்த்து முடித்தேன். இந்த படம் நல்ல வரவேற்பை பெற்றதை அறிவேன் ஆனால் கதை என்ன என்று தெரியாமல் தான் பார்த்தேன். பல வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு நடந்த ஒரு துயரமான சம்பவத்தை தழுவி இது எடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்பதை படம் பார்த்த பிறகே அறிந்துகொண்டேன்.

ஒரு சம்பவத்தை தழுவி எடுக்கப்படும் படங்கள் நம் ஊரில் சற்று குறைவு தான் ஹாலிவுட்டுடன் ஒப்பிடும்பொழுது. அங்கே தான் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட சம்பவத்தை தழுவி படம் எடுக்கும் பழக்கம் அதிகம். 

"The Sweet Hereafter" என்று ஒரு படம் நினைவுக்கு வருகிறது அதுவும் இந்த படத்தை போன்றதொரு துயர சம்பவத்தை அடிப்படையாக கொண்டது அனால் அதன் நோக்கம் வேறுபட்டது.

சம்பவங்களை தழுவி படம் எடுப்பது தவறில்லை சில நேரம் விளையாட்டில் வெற்றி பெற்றவர்களை குறித்து எடுப்பார்கள் சில நேரம் துயர சம்பவங்களை தழுவி எடுப்பார்கள் கல்லூரி படத்தை போன்று.வாழையும் அப்படிப்பட்டதே.

ஏதோ ஒரு காரணத்தால் என்னால் படத்தில் முழுமையாக ஒன்ற முடியவில்லை. நெல்லை தமிழ் அழகாக இருந்தது. ஆனால் படத்தில் அந்த கடைசி சம்பவத்தை எடுத்து விட்டால் வேறு ஒன்றும் இல்லை  காமிரா ஆங்கிள் மேக்கிங் என்று அனைத்தும் அருமை ஆனால் பல இடங்களை வேகமாக ஓட்டியே பார்த்துவிடலாம்.