#its about the city Mumbai and their people facing a tragedy

[srbachchan]

DAY 5210

Jalsa, Mumbai                     May 20/21,  2022                    Fri/Sat 1:04 AM

💚 , May 21 .. birthday ..  Ef Aish from TVM of the Thiruvananthapuram .. Ef Gopi Sheth from the US .. love .. 🌿 .. and .. wishes to Hassan Ali from Egypt .. his birthday on May 20th .. greetings .. 🌿 .. and .. strangely .. for some unknown reason .. this birthday wish was missed .. apologies 😔🙏🏻 Ef Dr. Sunir Kumar .. Bigadda times Ef .. his birthday was on April 10th .. and we wish him happiness .. .. the delayed wish is regretted .. but we greet you , Dr. Sunir , and send you our affection of all the Ef .. love and affection are of all time , they don't need special occasion .. .. 🌿

No one, but no one, can and shall be able to chime the same bells that your heart and soul do .. a song, a piece of music, a film a book a location a relationship .. nothing .. 

And that be the aesthetic attractiveness of the being .. the being that carries your body and soul .. your feel your touch your beat can never be replaced by the ‘other’ .. and the tragedy of such is the palpable desecration of the creative input and output of the being ..

You would rather be aloof and in the company of the self than face the incompetent assessment of the world at large to decipher the heart and mind of its making ..

So as you drive to the long South Mumbai event in the travel of approximately 2 hrs - a time that can take you to Delhi by then - it is the strain of the created music that keeps you company .. the feel and the emotions that sit beside you are just yours .. and no one else’s .. shut them out of this refrain .. allow the repeated on loop play  to reign the roadways, lights traffics selfie hunters by the side of your car all else , destroyed in the milieu of your own sentiment - the most powerful sentiment in the World .. 

Yes the odd wave , a salute, a namaskaar .. but to the one that is in the deserving .. and that decide is with the owner - moi  !

Autographs are redundant .. selfies galore .. and its no longer a pleasing ask .. its a mobile thrust in your face , even as you be in the confines of the wash room .. 

The Commissioner of the BMC, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation , I S Chahal has written a book and its launch is a formal occasion at the Taj .. I visit for just a short while - pending work is waiting, so a quick in and out .. but the occasion does demand a public recognition as one finds the hoi polloi of the city mingling in the Ball room hall of the facility, in deep regard for this one man who took on the challenge of the virus CoViD in the city, with the smartest administrative skills seen in recent times .. absolute genius at work .. and my good fortune and honour to have worked with him during the medical crisis of the pandemic, to witness the massive work intensive methodology at fruition .. the recognition in the overseas destinations a bigger feather in his cap , well decorated already, though the overseas commendation does not compare with the fresh vibrant and most renowned actions in house  .. his planning execution and courage during the crisis an endeavour that needs to be exampled in the entire World .. the book is out ..  IQBAL SINGH CHAHAL, CoviD Warrior and they could not have chosen a more suitable and apt title .. 

There have always been ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ about the service administrative echelons in the country .. or rather any country .. but this is unique .. a rare personality .. a rare working system .. a rare human .. 

May he continue to hoist the management flag to its peak, ever ..

I shall retire then, and be in the knowing by the morrow .. till then be in safe precaution .. in love and in the wellness of all ..

Amitabh Bachchan , still smiling at the acts of people who meet at gatherings and glimmer  - more than Deepika’s Red Carpet sari at Cannes

[arman-blogs-29]

Decoding the Tragic Saga: Terrorist Attacks in India

India is facing the terrifying saga of terrorist attacks. Learn more about these tragic events and their effects on the country in this easy-to-read article

Throughout its history, India has sadly been the subject of countless terrorist attacks. These assaults resulted in massive loss of life and devastation, as well as a lasting influence on the nation. Terrorism has had a dramatic impact on the nation's security, unity, and resilience, from large-scale acts that rocked the entire country to smaller-scale strikes.

Timeline of Major Terrorist Attacks in India Since 1947

The 1948 killing of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse was the first significant terrorist act in India.  This Is the most Terrorist attack in India Since 1947,  India has had countless terrorist attacks, including, to mention a few, the 1984 Sikh riots, the 1993 Mumbai bombings, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and the 2011 Delhi bombing.

Remembering the biggest terrorist attack in India: 26/11

The November 26, 2008, Mumbai attacks are widely recognized as the worst terrorist strike in Indian history. This is the biggest terrorist attack in India Ten terrorists carried out a coordinated series of gunshots and bombs around the city, targeting famous sites such as luxury hotels, a train station, and a Jewish community center. 

The onslaught lasted four days and claimed the lives of 166 innocent people while injuring hundreds more. The 26/11 attacks left an everlasting mark on the nation's psyche while also exposing flaws in India's security structure.

2015 terrorist assault in India

The number of terrorist attacks in India in 2015. The year's most lethal assault was the Gurdaspur attack, in which three gunmen stormed a police station in Punjab, killing seven people.

A Sobering Reminder of a Terrorist Attack in India in 2016:

Terrorist attack in India In 2016, four terrorists assaulted an Indian army post in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, murdering 19 troops in one of the country's bloodiest terrorist assaults.

Recent Terrorist Attack in India: The Battle Continues

Several such horrific instances have occurred in India during the last decade, warning the country of the constant threat of terrorism. These attacks have targeted a wide range of locales, from busy metropolises to isolated border areas.

While the government and security services have made tremendous progress in combating terrorism, the shifting nature of the threat necessitates sustained vigilance and effective responses.

Terrorist Attacks in India Movie: The Impact and Relevance of a Film

The 2008 film "Mumbai Meri Jaan" depicts the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist Attacks in India Movie way. The film illustrates the impact of the assaults on everyday people's lives and demonstrates resilience in the face of hardship.

The Marathi Language and Its Application in Reporting on Terrorist Attacks in India

The Marathi language is extensively spoken in the state of Maharashtra, which has been the target of multiple terrorist assaults. That's why terrorists use the Marathi language. The usage of the Marathi language in reporting on these atrocities contributes to a sense of togetherness and solidarity among the people of Maharashtra.

Newspaper Reports on Recent Terrorist Attacks in India

Newspapers have an important role in moulding public opinion and spreading information about terrorist incidents. One such piece focususe the 2019 Pulwama tragedy, in which a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Indian security officers, killing 40 troops. The incident was extensively publicised, and the government retaliated by launching airstrikes in Pakistan.

To give you a broader perspective, here are the top 10 terrorist attacks in India, taking into account their magnitude and impact:

1. Mumbai Attacks (2008)

2. Parliament Attack (2001)

3. 1993 Bombay Bombings

4. Akshardham Temple Attack (2002)

5. Samjhauta Express Bombings (2007)

6. Malegaon Bombings (2006)

7. Hyderabad Bombings (2013)

8. Pulwama Attack (2019)

9. Delhi Serial Blasts (2005)

10. Varanasi Bombings (2006)

Conclusion:

Terrorist assaults in India have left severe wounds, killing innocent citizens as well as security officers. From the dark chapters of history to contemporary instances, the country has been confronted with the terrifying reality of terrorism. 

As India works to combat this threat, it is critical to commemorate the victims, honor the efforts of the security services, and work to build a safer and more resilient society. Only with persistent dedication, worldwide cooperation, and comprehensive efforts can we achieve our goals.

[sleepysera]

7.6.22 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

South Africa: President decries deaths of 21 teens in tavern (AP)

“The deaths of 21 teenagers in a nightclub tragedy is a crime and South African officials must increase steps to prevent alcohol from being illegally sold to youths, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday.”

India: Heavy rains bring Mumbai to a standstill (BBC)

“It's that time of the year again when heavy rains in the Indian city of Mumbai and nearby areas have disrupted the lives of millions of people in the country's financial capital. Many parts of the city remain inundated in waist-deep water as incessant rains lash the city, causing flooding.”

Ukraine: G-20 meeting may lead to wider divisions over war (AP)

“Foreign ministers from the world’s largest nations are looking to address Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on global energy and food security when they meet in Indonesia this week. Yet instead of providing unity, the talks may well exacerbate existing divides over the Ukraine conflict.”

US NEWS

July 4 Shooting: Suspect expected to appear in court (AP)

“The man charged with killing seven people when he unleashed a hail of bullets on an Independence Day parade from a rooftop was expected in court Wednesday as authorities faced questions about how he was allowed to buy several guns, despite threatening violence. Robert E. Crimo III was charged with seven counts of murder Tuesday in the shooting that sent hundreds of marchers, parents and children fleeing in fear and set off an hourslong manhunt in and around Highland Park, an affluent Chicago suburb on the shores of Lake Michigan. Investigators have yet to identify a motive.”

Abortion: Judge won’t block law banning most Mississippi abortions (AP)

“As attorneys argued about abortion laws across the South on Tuesday, a Mississippi judge rejected a request by the state’s only abortion clinic to temporarily block a law that would ban most abortions. Without other developments in the Mississippi lawsuit, the clinic will close at the end of business Wednesday and the state law will take effect Thursday.”

Environment: Biologists’ fears confirmed on the lower Colorado River (AP)

“Minutes later, the park service confirmed their worst fear: smallmouth bass had in fact been found and were likely reproducing in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. They may be a beloved sport fish, but smallmouth bass feast on humpback chub, an ancient, threatened fish that’s native to the river, and that biologists like Arnold have been working hard to recover. The predators wreaked havoc in the upper river, but were held at bay in Lake Powell where Glen Canyon Dam has served as a barrier for years — until now.”

#current events #news #south africa #india #floods #global warming #climate change #climate crisis #ukraine #war #russia #united states #mass shooting #gun violence #abrotion #environment

[jaanedil]

Mohit Raina as Dr.Kaushik Oberoi in Mumbai Diaries 26/11

Hum human body ko dekhte hain, human character ko dekhna hamara kaam nahi.

#mumbai diaries 26/11 #mohit raina #dr kaushik oberoi #uff this scene #its my first day of quarantine that's why I am spending my time making mediocre gifts and hoping the next one will be better #I cant believe I have to spend the two last days of ramadan and eid alone #disclaimer : mumbai series is not about the why and how and the political issues regarding the terror attacks #its about the city Mumbai and their people facing a tragedy #and in the middle of it the hospital where the problem of the system are exploited brutally in this horrible night #like in this dr Oberoi says that the death of the police officer did happen bc of the gun fights but he could not be saved #bc lack of resources and money #regarding the pandemic you get a hint of all the work that the medical staff is doing #soo a lot of issues are in these series but also too many #sometimes it felt like the makers are just ticking of the list and it did not felt organic in some scenes #but all the scenes with the three new interns are incredible and I love all of them #if this would be my first day as a intern I would need 5years of vacation #can please somebody watch it so I have someone to talk about it ? #and there was too much Hindi in it #mumbai main itni hindi kaun bolta hai ? #myedit

[orbemnews]

India's second Covid wave hits like a 'tsunami' as hospitals buckle under weight Graveyards are running out of space, hospitals are turning away patients, and desperate families are pleading for help on social media for beds and medicine. India reported 295,041 cases of coronavirus and 2,023 deaths Wednesday, its highest rise in cases and highest death increase recorded in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a CNN tally of figures from the Indian Ministry of Health. “The volume is humongous,” said Jalil Parkar, a senior pulmonary consultant at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, which had to convert its lobby into an additional Covid ward. “It’s just like a tsunami.” “Things are out of control,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi. “There’s no oxygen. A hospital bed is hard to find. It’s impossible to get a test. You have to wait over a week. And pretty much every system that could break down in the health care system has broken down,” he said. To prove his point, at least 22 Covid-19 patients who were on ventilator support died Wednesday waiting for oxygen supplies that were lost in an accident, a senior official from the Nashik district in the Indian state of Maharashtra said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Tuesday, acknowledging the country’s “very big battle” against Covid-19. He appealed to states to “use a lockdown as their last option,” even as the capital New Delhi entered its first full day of a week-long lockdown. On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned that failing to halt movement in the city could lead to “tragedy.” “We don’t want to take Delhi to a place where patients are lying in hospital corridors and people are dying on roads,” Kejriwal said. On Tuesday, he warned that some Delhi hospitals were “left with just a few hours of oxygen,” as authorities scrambled to convert sports complexes, banquet halls, hotels and schools into much-needed treatment centers, with the goal to add 6,000 additional beds within days. “Our healthcare system has reached its limit. It is now in a state of distress. It has not collapsed yet but it is in distress,” Kejriwal said. “Every healthcare system has its limits. No system can accommodate unlimited patients.” With shortages being reported across the country, local and state leaders appealed to the federal government for more oxygen and medicine. Modi appeared to answer those calls on Tuesday, announcing plans for the delivery of 100,000 cylinders of oxygen nationwide, new oxygen production plants, and hospitals dedicated to Covid patients. But experts fear it’s too little, too late, as positive patients compete for limited resources and mass gatherings threaten to spread the virus even further. In Wednesday’s incident in which the 22 people died in the Indian state of Maharashtra, senior official Suraj Mandhare told reporters the oxygen was lost due to a leakage from a tanker at the Zakir Hussain hospital. “There was a valves leakage in tankers in Nashik, it was a large scale leakage, definitely this would impact the hospital where the tankers were headed,” Maharashtra’s health minister Rajesh Tope told reporters Wednesday. The district administration is coordinating with hospital officials to make oxygen available to patients who need it at the earliest, Mandhare said. The patients who died required oxygen as their “pressure” was low and the leakage from this shipment meant that they did not receive the supply in time, Mandhare added. India’s Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah tweeted about the event saying: “I am distressed to hear the news of the accident of oxygen leak in a hospital in Nashik. I express my deepest condolences on this irreparable loss of those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. I pray to God for the health of all the other patients.” In Maharashtra there is currently a daily demand for 1,550 metric tons of oxygen for Covid-19 patients but the state manufactures 1,250 metric tons of oxygen which is being used entirely for medical purposes. The remaining 300 metric tons are being supplied by other states, Tope told reporters Wednesday. Maharashtra has 3,343,359 cases of coronavirus including 685,552 active cases and 61,343 deaths according to the Indian Ministry of Health on Wednesday. Pleading for help online With few official options available, families are turning to social media for help. Mumbai resident Anil Tiwari, 34, lost his father to Covid-19 in November last year. Last week, his 58-year-old mother tested positive. She was admitted to hospital but needed an intensive care unit (ICU) bed, Tiwari said. “I’m crying, running to get ICU bed for my mother,” Tiwari tweeted on Monday. “Kindly help to save my mother I love her more than anything.” After days of effort, including calling the municipal authorities to get on a waitlist, Tiwari’s mother was finally given an ICU bed, Tiwari said on Tuesday. But now, she needs oxygen, which the hospital is in short supply of. She is still able to walk, but is having difficulty breathing, Tiwari said. Demand for the drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients has spiked during the second wave, prompting the government to temporarily ban the export of the medication to increase its supply in the domestic market. The Indian government has approved the drug for emergency use within hospitals, though the World Health Organization (WHO) says evidence does not suggest the drug lessens the risk of dying from Covid-19 or needing mechanical ventilation. Abhijeet Kumar, a 20-year-old college student, took to Twitter to raise money to pay for Remdesivir injections for his 51-year-old uncle. Kumar said his uncle had been in hospital in Raipur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, since April 9 after testing positive for Covid. “The injections are very expensive,” Kumar said. “They are saying it costs between 12,000 to 15,000 rupees (about $160-200). He has gotten two doses of the injection but he needs a third and we can’t afford it … my uncle works as a plumber.” Seven major manufacturers of Remdesivir have slashed prices to between 899 rupees and 3,490 rupees (about $12-47) due to “the intervention of the government,” according to a government memorandum on April 17. But several states have acknowledged that high demand and low supply has created a black market for Remdesivir and similar medications. Even many doctors and nurses, too, are frantically searching for open beds and treatment options for their own loved ones, said Parkar, the pulmonary specialist in Mumbai. “Everybody is sick,” he said. “A time has come that we don’t have beds for our own colleagues, for our own parents, for our own extended family.” Complacency and public gatherings The second wave, which has long surpassed the first wave in both new cases and infection rate, was “a situation that was created by complacency,” said Laxminarayan, from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy. After the first wave ended in the winter, the government and public relaxed too much, due to a mix of Covid fatigue and a false sense of security, experts say. In early March, weeks before cases began climbing again, the federal health minister declared that India was “in the endgame” of the pandemic. This kind of triumphant rhetoric meant residents relaxed their Covid-safe behavior, such as social distancing or wearing face masks, experts say. And, despite warnings of Covid risks, large gatherings continued to take place — sports matches resumed, elaborate weddings went ahead, and movie cinemas reopened. The biggest gathering by far is the Kumbh Mela, an important Hindu festival and one of the biggest pilgrimages on Earth. Millions of Indians are traveling from across the country to Haridwar, an ancient city in Uttarakhand state, to attend ceremonies and prayers and take holy dips in the Ganges River. The festival officially began on April 1 and ends later this month. There are Covid-safe guidelines in place — visitors must register online and provide a negative Covid-19 test to participate in the holy baths, and thousands of officers are conducting surveillance — but experts worry it won’t be enough to contain the risk, given the sheer number of attendees. Several million are expected to visit on “auspicious” days. “The Kumbh Mela could go down as one of the largest mass super spreading events ever, simply because of the size of the number of people who show up there for the ritual bathing in the Ganges,” said Laxminarayan. For weeks, Modi, who has a significant Hindu base, refrained from commenting on the Kumbh Mela and its Covid risks. But earlier this week, he finally appealed to pilgrims to avoid congregating in Haridwar. “Now Kumbh should be carried out symbolically amid the ongoing corona crisis,” Modi tweeted on Saturday. But for some, Modi’s message rang hollow, as the prime minister continued to hold massive political rallies ahead of parliamentary and local council elections in four states and one union territory. Videos from Modi’s rallies, including one in Tamulpur in Assam state on April 3, show him speaking before massive crowds, packed tightly together and cheering. In West Bengal state, a significant election ground, tens of thousands attended rallies by Modi’s Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress Party. Modi’s rallies have attracted sharp criticism from several other political figures, including a former finance minister who called the mass rallies “completely insensitive” given the Covid crisis. In the face of surging cases, the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party, has suspended all public rallies in West Bengal. And on Monday, the BJP said it would only hold “small public gatherings” with a cap of 500 people in the state due to “the difficult phase of the pandemic.” Meanwhile, the Kumbh Mela hasn’t been ordered to stop, nor have any new rules been imposed. Uttarakhand state has issued a series of new restrictions including a night curfew and cap on public gatherings — but the festival is exempt. Haridwar has seen a spike in infections, with more than 6,500 new cases reported since the Kumbh Mela began. Several religious sub-groups, including Juna Akhara and Niranjani Akhara, have since asked their followers from out of state to return home and follow guidelines. Some states and cities are requiring festival returnees to be tested and quarantined. But medical workers fear it’s too late. “It’s already gone on for a couple of weeks. Now, of course, they are dispersing, but they may be carrying the virus back to their homes at this point,” said Laxminarayan.”It’s truly a terrible situation at this point.” CNN’s Esha Mitra contributed to this report. Source link Orbem News #buckle #Covid #hits #hospitals #Indias #tsunami #wave #weight

[ericfruits]

A real-life Bollywood tragedy becomes a political farce

Covid? What covid? A real-life Bollywood tragedy becomes a political farce

A fallen star. A villainous girlfriend. An outspoken heroine. Inept cops. Three-letter agencies. It’s a blockbuster

WHAT STORY should top the news? That covid-19 cases are rising by nearly 100,000 a day? That the economy shrank by a shocking 23.9% last quarter? Or perhaps that an increasingly bellicose China is massing troops on the border? No! Even with the darkest prospects in decades looming over India’s 1.3bn people, the spotlights of its main TV news channels have in recent weeks focused instead on the private lives of a clutch of Bollywood stars.

This great distraction began on June 14th, when the body of Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old actor, was found in his flat in Mumbai. The suicide provoked a media frenzy. Mr Rajput’s rise from the obscurity of Bihar, India’s poorest state, to screen fame as the hero of a biopic about a revered cricket captain was itself a filmi tale. His apparent slide into depression raised just the kind of questions about the underside of the film industry that India’s raucous chat shows and gossipy social media love to chew over.

Yet when an ambitious actress and members of Mr Rajput’s family began to air charges that the actor had been corrupted by an entourage of drug pushers, fleeced of his earnings and perhaps even driven to kill himself, the story took on a sinister hue. The more sensationalist news channels trained their sights on Rhea Chakraborty, a 28-year-old actress and Mr Rajput’s girlfriend, turning her into the villain of the piece. Politicians, too, swiftly spotted opportunities.

State elections in Bihar, to be held before December, represent the biggest political test for Narendra Modi, the prime minister, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since this year’s multiple crises began. The state is India’s third most populous, and is famed for the caste-infected complexity of its politics. The party’s strategists appear to have seen the actor’s suicide as a chance to pose as upholders of rustic Bihari virtue in contrast to the wickedness of Mumbai.

There are political stakes in the big city too. Promoting Kangana Ranaut, the actress who spoke out about celebrity drug culture, as a paragon of virtue, the BJP and its media toadies raised a ruckus about the supposed ineptitude of the city’s police. The subtext is that, since elections last year, Mumbai and its surrounding state of Maharashtra have been controlled by a coalition that includes former ideological allies and now bitter opponents of the BJP.

The Supreme Court waded into the affair, ordering the Central Bureau of Investigation, a national agency, to take over the Rajput case. Two more federal bodies, the Enforcement Directorate, which combats financial crimes, and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), have launched their own investigations. The drug enforcers have been the fastest to concoct a case, arresting some 18 people, including Ms Chakraborty. She and her brother, also arrested, have been denied bail.

Mr Rajput’s relations have cheered the swift action. Yet to many, the campaign smacks of mob justice. And, just as Biharis are being told to take umbrage over Mr Rajput’s demise, many people in Ms Chakroborty’s home state of West Bengal have been disgusted by her persecution. The BJP is determined to wrest that state from opposition control in an election next year. Its strategy in the Rajput affair has certainly diverted public attention from the real and numerous problems facing India. But Mr Modi may come to regret its impact on Bengali voters. The drama, as Bollywood fans like to say, is not over yet. ■

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Covid? What covid?"

https://ift.tt/33HdgjQ

#IFTTT #Feedly

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Deadly Dorian Pounds Relentlessly at Desperate Bahamas (AP) Hurricane Dorian came to a catastrophic daylong halt over the northwest Bahamas, flooding the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings, trapped people in attics and drowned the Grand Bahama airport under 6 feet of water. At least five people died and 21 injured people were airlifted to the capital by the U.S. Coast Guard, Bahamas officials said. “We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in announcing the fatalities. He called the devastation “unprecedented and extensive.”

Coast Guard: 25 bodies found after California boat fire (AP) A middle-of-the-night fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving at least 25 dead and nine others missing.

Northern wildfires (Reuters) Wildfires in Greenland, Alaska and Siberia are leaving a painful mark on the environment. Most have been in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Russian region of Siberia, but one fire in Alberta, in the Canadian Arctic, was estimated to be bigger than 300,000 soccer pitches, or about the size of Luxembourg.

Restrictions on Hard Currency Take Effect in Argentina. (AP) Restrictions on access to dollars took effect in Argentina on Monday as the government tries to control a rapid loss of foreign reserves and an accelerating devaluation of the currency.

Trump Blimp in Copenhagen on Day He Was Scheduled to Arrive (AP) Although U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled a visit to Denmark, his effigy is here in the form of a 20-foot blimp that has become synonymous with resistance to the American president.

Intense Brexit debate expected in UK Parliament (AP) Summer recess is over, and Britain’s Parliament reconvenes Tuesday to face a momentous decision about whether to intervene to try to prevent a possible “no-deal” exit from the European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken steps to suspend Parliament during part of the period before the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline, giving legislators little time to try to rush through legislation designed to prevent a disorderly departure. They face a formidable challenge.

Spain Rescues Almost 200 Migrants in the Mediterranean (Reuters) Almost 200 people were rescued attempting to make the dangerous crossing from North Africa to Spain on Monday, the coastguard said.

Death Toll From Taliban Blast in Afghan Capital Reaches 16, With 119 Wounded--Official (Reuters/AP) A Taliban vehicle bomb late on Monday close to a housing compound used by international organisations in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 16 people and wounded 119, officials said as emergency workers began cleanup operations. Angry Kabul residents climbed over the wall into the international compound, which has been targeted frequently, and set part of it on fire.

War-weary Afghans have little voice in their country’s fate (AP) For almost a year, Afghanistan’s more than 30 million people have been in the awkward position of waiting as a United States envoy and the Taliban negotiate their country’s fate behind closed doors. Without a say in their own future, Afghans’ frustration is clear. “We don’t know what is going on but we are just so tired,” said Sonia, a teacher in the capital, Kabul, who like many people goes by one name.

Iran Oil Tanker Pursued by US Turns Off Tracker Near Syria (AP) An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. turned off its tracking beacon, leading to renewed speculation on Tuesday that it will head to Syria.

Iraq Suspends US-Funded TV Station for 3 Months Over Program (AP) Iraqi authorities on Monday suspended the license of a U.S.-funded TV station for three months after it aired a program on alleged corruption within Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite religious establishments.

Four Dead, Three Injured in Fire at ONGC Site; Mumbai Gas Supply Affected (Reuters) Four people have been killed and three seriously injured in a fire at an oil and gas processing plant on the outskirts of Mumbai run by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp, a local police official and a company source said on Tuesday.

Hong Kong Leader Says Has Not Discussed Resigning With Beijing (Reuters) Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she has never asked the Chinese government to let her resign to end the city’s political crisis, responding to a Reuters report about a voice recording of her saying she would step down if she could.

Hong Kong students rally peacefully before brief night skirmishes (Reuters) Thousands of Hong Kong university and school students boycotted class and rallied peacefully for democracy on Monday, the latest acts of defiance in an anti-government movement that has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into crisis.

Zimbabwe State Doctors Go on Strike Over Pay (Reuters) Zimbabwe’s public sector doctors went on strike on Tuesday after the government failed to meet their demand to have their wages benchmarked in the U.S. dollar.

Looting, Violence Spread in South Africa’s Major Cities (AP) Looting and violence spread across several neighborhoods in South Africa’s major cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg on Monday, after a spate of overnight attacks that appeared to target foreign-owned shops.

#headlines

[blograzorwit]

Jest A Minute (2/2/2018) from Subroto Mukherjee

Movie Treat-------------------- It was a treat going to see Padmaavat. Literally a treat. The film offered a taste of the spectacular. The snacks at the theater were yummy. And there was even a bonus -- the rowdy mob outside was generously offering cocktails. YIKES! It turned out to be Molotov cocktails! RUN! *** Take A Bow, Pad Man------------------------------ Originally Pad Man was to release along with Padmaavat. But Pad Man postponed its own release in a magnanimous gesture to make way for the great queen Padmavaty. In other words, here is a film about PERIODS respectfully making way for a PERIOD queen. Nice, no? *** Hospital Horror------------------------ In a horrifying tragedy, the relative of a patient was sucked into the lethal maws of an MRI machine in a Mumbai hospital! It was a freak mishap. Rarely does anyone get sucked into an hospital MRI machine this way. The way our hospitals are run these days, usually it only SUCKS all the money out of a patient's pocket. Of course, certain upscale facilities also SUCK all the bank balance and savings out of a poor patient! ***   5-Star Slum Holiday------------------------------- What is enterprise? Enterprise is spotting a business opportunity in the most unlikely places. Like offering foreign tourists a stay in a Mumbai slum! Which is exactly what some enterprising guy is doing. Offering this novelty, this incredibly unfamiliar experience to foreign tourists. So, hey, if you are an adventurous  foreign tourist, for Rs 2000 a night, you can now enjoy a cramped 5-star accommodation in the maze of a typical, congested, chaotic city slum. Why am I calling it a '5-star accommodation'? Because when you are lodged at night in a loft-like quarter, that's exactly what you will see overhead through the crack in the tin or tarpaulin roof -- FIVE STARS!   *** Jobless In MP------------------- In MP, graduates, post-graduates, doctorates, doctors, engineers and scientists are applying for the position of peons. I say, so what? No matter where you start, you can always move on to better things, can't you? After all, didn't a vegetable hawker in Mumbai go on to become the Maha state's deputy chief minister? Didn't a bus conductor in South India go on to become a superstar? And most impressive, didn't a tea boy in Gujarat go on to become a prime minster? *** Rotten State of Things------------------------------- Our great leader Modi-ji claims that his anti-corruption drive has driven at least 3 former chief ministers to prison! True, 3 ex-CMs are currently rotting in jail! Isn't that something? Sure is. Now how about paying a little attention to the way law and order is rotting away in at least 3 states run by the PM's own party? So much so, even a bus-load of school children are not safe from rotten rowdies! *** Rockets Ahead In Warfare------------------------------------ Recently there has been an exciting archaeological discovery -- unearthing rockets dating back to the 18th century and belonging to Tipu Sultan. Goes to show, even way back then, with what fanfare Tipu-ji celebrated Diwali! I guess Tipu-ji was the Kim Jong-un of that time, facing his enemies with rockets rattling in his pockets! ***   Capital of what?------------------------ In Meerut, cops refused to take an accident victim (a boy bleeding by the roadside) to hospital in their vehicle because -- listen to this -- because all that blood would make a mess in the vehicle! Hey, Lucknow might be the capital of UP, but thanks to those cops, Meerut just earned the status of a capital. It just became the CAPITAL of APATHY and CRUELTY! You heard the phrase 'a turd-kicking town'? Well, in this town, certain turds in cop uniform sure deserve to be kicked! *** Prize Heavenly Gift------------------------------- A solid mass of something fell in Gurgaon from the sky, exciting people near by and speculations ran riot. What the hell -- or heaven -- was it? A meteor or part of a comet? A new-year present from aliens? Or a gift from the gods? Turned out the mystery object was nothing but frozen, solidified CRAP dropped from some overflying airliner! OH SHIT! Now you tell me! At least that was the reaction of those who even carried home parts of the precious heavenly body! You know, we Indians can be such religious nuts, it's a wonder that right there and then some folk did not create a shrine to this gift from God and begin mass worship! *** Shut Up, Kim--------------------- The US Government has SHUT DOWN. Yes, well and truly shut down. No work or wages for its thousands of poor public servants. Turns out the world's wealthiest and mightiest nation's pockets are as empty as its President'd head! Now one thing simply cannot be shut -- Uncle Sam's best friend Kim Jong-un and his big mouth. He is rolling on the floor roaring with laughter! *** Out of Order-------------------- A minister now says that Darwin's theory of evolution is bunk. This minister used to be a police commissioner in the past. Well, I guess -- poor guy -- part of his brain is now out of commission. *** Asteroid Alert! --------------------- Alert! Alert! Alert! A big asteroid will pass very close to the Earth next month. How close? So close that in case you are tall -- like, say, Mr Amitabh Bachchan -- then you need to WATCH YOUR HEAD outdoors! *** Hidden Talent--------------------- A top Bollywood star's farmhouse has been sealed in the government's drive against benami properties. Hey, we are talking here about a star of many great talents. He can act, emote, dance, be witty and entertain. Now we realize he had another HIDDEN talent. The talent to HIDE his assets! *** Oh Shucks, Man, Can't Shack Up There---------------------------------------------------- Jab Harry Met Sejal was such a boring film about a lost RING that by the time the film ended, the audience was ready to RING -- er -- WRING the film-maker's neck! I feel this is how the film should have unfolded. When Harry meets Sejal, he falls for her, wants to shack up with her so he sweeps her off to his Alibaug farmhouse. Only to find it sealed for being a benami property! *** Great Shakes--------------------- At one time our great leader Modi-ji was mocked for flaunting a 10-lakh suit. The other day it was Rahul-ji's turn. He was made fun of for sporting an original imported Burberry jacket worth Rs 36,000 at a public event. Come on, never mind the top-end price tag, have a heart. Have you not felt the bone-rattling chill outdoors this winter?  No wonder he wrapped himself as warm and snug as a pug in a rug. Hey, fact is it's now so cold in certain parts of the country -- why, even our mountains are wearing woolens. SNOW CAPS! *** Order Order Order---------------------------- Great news for our SC and HC judges Their salaries have been doubled! I bet they are now merrily dancing and singing for joy : "Order! Order! Order! Order all the good foods and drinks! For celebrations are in ORDER!" *** Prison or Pig-pen?----------------------------- In London, a tycoon wanted here by the law is pleading not to be sent back to India because he fears he will be locked up in a jail where the livings conditions are so bad, it's UNFIT EVEN FOR PIGS! Responding to this, the jail authorities have reassured the tycoon : "Don't worry, sir. Before you arrive here, we will make sure the jail is fit for a pig like you." *** .

[trendingnewsb]

Great Filmmakers Pick Their Favorite Movies of the 21st Century

Film directors including Antoine Fuqua, Sofia Coppola, Paul Feig, Denis Villeneuve, Brett Ratner and Alex Gibney recently spoke to The New York Times about their favorite movies of the 21st century to date.[1] Below, I highlight 20 of the choices. This is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for great movies you haven’t seen or haven’t even heard of.

Antoine Fuqua’s Selected Films

Antoine Fuqua himself has directed Training Day, The Magnificent Seven, and other films. His selections included:

Fences (2016)

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the film takes a passionate look at former Negro-league baseball player Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) as he fights to provide for those he loves in a world that threatens to push him down. Fences was also directed by Washington. It’s adapted from a play by August Wilson, who Fuqua says “would be proud” of the output.

Watch Fences here.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Fuqua’s comment on the movie,

“It took us into a world that I have never seen before and executed it in a visceral, gritty way. It was not only moving, but it was heartfelt, dangerous and entertaining.”

When a penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai comes within one question of winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, a police investigation reveals his amazing story. Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards®, including Best Picture of the Year and Best Director, Danny Boyle.

Watch Slumdog Millionaire here.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Fuqua on this movie,

“A world undiscovered by some, in our own backyard. And it doesn’t use the tricks of Hollywood.”

Newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis is Hushpuppy, the tenacious six-year-old force of nature in an isolated bayou community. When her tough but loving father Wink (Dwight Henry) succumbs to a mysterious malady, the fierce and determined girl bravely sets out on a journey to save him. But Hushpuppy’s quest is hindered by a “busted” universe that melts the ice caps and unleashes an army of prehistoric beasts.

Watch Beast of the Southern Wild here.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Fuqua notes it does something a lot of movies don’t,

“sustained intensity and tension, even when it was only two people in the room talking.”

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. It’s the story of that search and ultimate raid/assassination.

Watch Zero Dark Thirty here.

Sofia Coppola’s Selected Films

Coppola is best-known for Lost in Translation, as well as being the daughter of Oscar-winner Francis Ford Coppola. Here are some of her selected films:

Force Majeure (2014)

Here’s how Coppola commented on the film,

“I loved the little moments, the details that said so much.”

This is the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children— on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.

Watch Force Majeure here.

The White Ribbon (2009)

Coppola loves the black-and-white photography.

In a village in Protestant northern Germany, on the eve of World War I, the children of a church and school run by the village schoolteacher and their families experience a series of bizarre incidents that inexplicably assume the characteristics of a punishment ritual.

If you like old-time photography to convey the WW1 sense, this may be for you too.

Watch The White Ribbon here.

The Savages (2007)

Coppola loved the acting of the two main performances, by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Until recently, all John and Wendy Savage (Hoffman, Linney) had in common was a lousy childhood and a few strands of DNA. But after years of drifting apart, they’re forced to band together to care for the elderly, cantankerous father who made their formative years “challenging.” In the process, both of these aimless, perpetually adolescent forty-something’s may just, at long last, have to grow up!

If you love good acting, this is a good film to try out.

Watch The Savages here.

Paul Feig’s Selected Films

Paul Feig is considered one of the best comedy directors working today — especially for women — having helmed Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, among others. His selected films are:

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Feig on the movie,

“One of those movies I could watch over and over again, because it was just so out of left field. In comedy, we feel that we’ve seen it all and done it all, but then an original voice comes in and you go, damn.” It is truly an original movie.

From the rural town of Preston, Idaho, comes Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder). With a red ‘fro, his moon boots, and illegal government ninja moves, he is a new kind of hero. When his friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) decides to run for class president, it is Napoleon to the rescue to help him triumph over adversity.

Watch Napolean Dynamite here.

This Is The End (2013)

Feig says,

“They pulled off all those elements that seemed like they couldn’t work — it was emotional and funny and they did it playing themselves.”

While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse. Kevin Hart and others make appearances.

Watch This Is the End here.

Amelie (2001)

This film was nominated for five Academy Awards, and Feig says,

“it’s so literal and yet stylish. You fall in love with her immediately.”

A painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris café, Amelie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better. From then on, Amelie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness…in the most delightfully unexpected ways.

Watch Amelie here.

Denis Villeneuve’s Selected Films

Denis Villeneuve is most recently the director of Blade Runner 2049. He has also worked on films including Arrival. His selected films are:

A Prophet (2009)

Villeneuve pulls out one scene for The New York Times, 

“The deer being killed in slow motion by a car in “A Prophet” (2010) remains one of the most powerful cinematic shots of the last decade.”

An impressionable and vulnerable Arabic man gets thrust into a hellish prison, and ironically discovers greater opportunities for success than he ever possessed outside of the bars.

Watch A Prophet here.

Dogtooth (2009)

Villeneuve says,

“The madness in “Dogtooth” (2010) is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in a long time. Yorgos Lanthimos may be one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. I’m still laughing at the crazy adults running to catch airplanes falling into their garden, because their father convinced them that they were fruit dropping from the sky.”

Three teenagers live isolated, without leaving their house, because their over-protective parents say they can only leave when their dogtooth falls out.

Watch Dogtooth here. 

Dogville (2003)

Villeneuve on the movie,

“The idea of making a set without walls to show the cowardice of a community was genius.”

When a beautiful young Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the isolated township of Dogville, the small community agrees to hide her from a gang of ruthless gangsters, and, in return, Grace agrees to do odd jobs for the town’s people. But as the search for her intensifies, they demand a much better deal. What they don’t know is that Grace has a dangerous secret, and their quiet little town will never be the same.

Watch Dogville here.

Brett Ratner’s Selected Films

Brett Ratner is famous for working on the Rush Hour films as well as Hercules and other big box office movies. His selected films are:

The Kid Stays In The Picture (2002)

Ratner simply calls this “one of the greatest documentaries ever made”.

Success. Scandal. Sex. Tragedy. Infamy. Robert Evans knew them all, and in this provocative and compelling documentary, he reveals how one of the greatest winning streaks in Hollywood history almost destroyed him. From his early acting days to his stellar rise as head of production at Paramount and involvement in a well-publicized cocaine sting, Evans’ meteoric career reveals the moviemaking industry during one of its most glamorous and scandal-filled periods.

If you enjoy documentaries, consider it.

Watch The Kid Stays in the Picture here.

The Pianist (2002)

Ratner on the movie,

“It will go down in history as one of the greatest Holocaust motion pictures ever made.”

The Pianist, stars Adrien Brody in the true-life story of brilliant pianist and composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, the most acclaimed young musician of his time until his promising career was interrupted by the onset of World War II. This powerful, triumphant film follows Szpilman’s heroic and inspirational journey of survival with the unlikely help of a sympathetic German officer.

Watch The Pianist here.

Borat (2006)

Ratner calls it legitimately “one of the best comedies ever made.”

Sacha Baron Cohen brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native Kazakhstan, Borat travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences.

Watch Borat here.

Alex Gibney’s Selected Films

Alex Gibney has directed the film Taxi to the Dark Side. These are some of his selected films:

City of God (2002)

Gibney references the opening scene, featuring a chicken and a knife, as classic.

The streets of the world’s most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro’s “City of God” are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye, the eye of an artist.

Watch City of Gold here.

Michael Clayton (2007)

Gibney makes an interesting point about what you can learn from this film,

“Great take on corruption. My favorite scene is when [George Clooney] takes care of a client who is too arrogant to know how much trouble he is in. Want to understand the 2008 financial crisis? Watch this scene.”

Clayton cleans up clients’ messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians. Though burned out and discontented in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to the firm.

Watch Michael Clayton here.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Gibney argues that this movie can make you think about major societal issues,

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about torture. This film gets deep into the horror of it all and the imagination that’s needed to survive it.”

Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil.

Watch Pan’s Labyrinth here.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Gibney gives it high praise,

“The ultimate post-9/11 film that has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or the politics of the Iraq war. It’s about a brutal force of terror that can’t be bargained with and can only be understood with the wisdom of a lawman philosopher.”

When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Not even west Texas law can contain it.

Watch No Country for Old Men here.

There’s a good chance you haven’t seen all these films, or even heard of them. But people who love and respect the craft of filmmaking as their own career point to these as stellar movies made since 2000. Give them a chance. You may even learn quite a bit about history or new parts of the world in the process.

Reference

[1]^The New York Times: Six Directors Pick Their Favorite Films of the 21st-Century

function footnote_expand_reference_container() { jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).show(); jQuery(“#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button”).text(“-“); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container() { jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).hide(); jQuery(“#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button”).text(“+”); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container() { if (jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).is(“:hidden”)) { footnote_expand_reference_container(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container(); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery(“#” + p_str_TargetID); if(l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery(‘html, body’).animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top – window.innerHeight/2 }, 1000); } }

The post Great Filmmakers Pick Their Favorite Movies of the 21st Century appeared first on Lifehack.

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2yD4KEX via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

[wionews]

The love and war over one's language

Language is proving to be a rather contentious issue in India. From the hills of Darjeeling district in West Bengal to the IT hub of Bengaluru in South India, Indians are fighting over their native language. While the feud over language is taking a violent turns in Darjeeling, Bengaluru is facing its own cold war over Kanada. While the debate between Kannada versus Hindi, may seem exclusively about languages, in reality, it is far more complex. Everyday conversation with ordinary citizens reveal an undeniable prejudice against North Indians, Africans, North-easterners and, sometimes, even Tamilians that extends beyond languages.

I have spoken to cab drivers who do the night shifts on weekends and many of them are convinced that Kannadiga women are the paragon of virtues as they wear attire prescribed by patriarchy and remain indoors. On the other hand, the short-dress wearing and alcohol-drinking “characterless” lady with easy virtues speaks a tongue that are either native to the Hindi-speaking hinterlands or are from the North East. Ironically, while speaking to a Haryanvi taxi driver in Delhi not too long back, I heard him describe women from the south as being “characterless” and “out of control”. 

Why have these fault lines emerged? Recently, the situation worsened as protestesters gathered at Bangalore metro stations against display boards containing directions in Hindi. Undoubtedly, behind every big rift and conflict, there is politics. But politics, in its nefarious sense, is premised upon exploiting a vulnerability. Indians, are in that sense, the stereotypical (and patriarchal) damsel in distress, ever so vulnerable to exploitation. 

So allow me to throw light on Kannada. One of the oldest Indian languages, Kannada is not just poetic and beautiful; it has been the catalyst for some of the greatest philosophy, literature, poetry and cinema written and produced in the subcontinent. The works of Basavanna and Sarvagna enshrined values and principles that the western world later called “Human Rights”. Puttanna Kanagal was a director whose works were no less impressive than the great Satyajit Ray. In Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Anant Nag, we produced actors of incredible stature and calibre. The characters they essayed often proved to be role models for society and contributed to the positive social change. 

The fact that the people in the city of Bangalore spoke at least two or three languages with ease only made this easier. I say all this with pride and not regret.

  ×

Yet for all that Kannada is and will be, it is also remarkably humble and unassuming. It looked the other way and did not raise a quarrel when south Indians became synonymous with “Madrasis” (who represent, contrary to popular belief, the people of a region of Tamil Nadu, now called Chennai, and not the whole of south of India). The people of Karnataka learnt many other languages, instead of refusing to go beyond their own, because we are both capable and sensitive. In the north of Karnataka, Marathi and Hindi is spoken with ease. In my city, even before the IT boom occurred, Tamil and Telugu was prevalent. With the IT boom, large waves of people from the west, north and east of India called Bangalore their home, thereby, enriching our city. Many expats soon found the weather and the cosmopolitan culture here quite pleasant and further contributed to the city’s diversity. The fact that the people in the city of Bangalore spoke at least two or three languages with ease only made this easier. I say all this with pride and not regret.

Yet somewhere this humility became insecurity and this became apparent through the world of cinema. “Paru, I love you”, “Dil Rangeela”, “Paru, Wife of Devdas”, “Johnny Mera Naam”, are just some of the examples of Kannada films having English and Hindi titles. Where South Indian stalwarts like P.B. Srinivas and S.P. Balsubramaniam along with S. Janaki ruled South Indian music, they were replaced not by south Indians or Kannadigas, but by the likes of Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Kumar Sanu and Shreya Ghoshal who sang many hit Kannada songs. Why did we abandon our own talent who could pronounce Kannada better, in favour of those singers and artists who barely knew the meaning of the songs they sang?

Our own heroines were substituted by heroines from Punjab, Mumbai and other parts of India. Wouldn’t actors from other parts of India find it difficult to mouth dialogues in Kannada?

  ×

Karnataka's own heroines were substituted by heroines from Punjab, Mumbai and other parts of India. Wouldn’t actors from other parts of India find it difficult to mouth dialogues in Kannada? Never mind that Indian cinema, in general, has few character roles for women, preferring instead to make them look fair in skimpy clothes. Heck, Sudeep, one of Karnataka very talented actors, starred in a movie called “Bachan”, named after the legend himself. In yet another movie, “Maanikya”, he grooves to a song titled, “Aasman se khoodle, tu naachle tu naachle” and the Kannada in that line is clearly invisible. 

It is not all bad. Films like “Urgram”, “Shuddhi” and “Urvi” signal the revival of Kannada films towards the story driven narrative that we were once famous for. We have talented new film makers like Rakshit Shetty, Pawan Kumar, Raj B. Shetty and Prakash Raj who are delivering excellent movies. While I am yet to come across the quality of lyrics that some of the Black and White Kannada movies would have, there are talented lyricists, such as Jayanth Kaikini who have expressed romance through incredible lyrics. Yet these aforesaid movies are still not mainstream enough. On the other hand, Kannada films with Hindi and English titles have not failed to be popular so far.

Kannadigas must find their lost pride for their language and represent themselves with confidence instead of insecurity.

  ×

With the issue around language being what it is today in Bengaluru- we have two parallel fault lines to correct. On one hand, you obviously have a culture that operates on the ignorance that Hindi is our national language and, therefore, Hindi speakers need not speak Kannada. This hegemony, premised on ignorance, is not only self-depreciating but offensive. The tragedy is, there are discourses on social media and elsewhere which mock Kannada and Kannadigas. An absence of the ability to speak a language is excused, but the absence of effort and inclination needs correction, of both attitude and approach. On the other hand, Kannadigas must find their lost pride for their language and represent themselves with confidence instead of insecurity. That, we are home to multiple languages and remain inclusive as a culture, is our strength and not our weakness. 

My first words were in Kannada. I think in Kannada and what I write in this article is translated from my Kannada thoughts to English sentences. In times of intense emotional crises and personal setbacks, solutions come in Kannada and not English. I wear this language with pride. When there is a child born in the family, I have no means to interact with him or her except in Kannada. My native vernacular, after all, is not just a language, it is part of my identity. I am sure other languages mean the same to their speakers. Why should that stop us from learning other identities? 

Back in 1947, the idea of India was born in the hope that we will shed the baggage of our many socio-economic problems, prejudices and biases. India’s growth story is founded upon the spirit of co-operation which was necessary to heal the wounds of colonial rule that exploited these prejudices. Yet, when once livelihood and poverty drove us to understand and speak with each other better, today our abundance is making us wonder why we should make that effort in the first place. Such a thought process is the beginning of a decline. It is about time we make an effort to talk to each other instead of trying to talk at each other, that too, in a dialect that is seemingly foreign yet perfectly native. 

]]>

[makingabigdealoutofnothing]

A Cosmic Vasectomy

The ice caps were melting faster than a self-immolating monk.

A village in a far corner of Siberia was home to 35 Eskimo and counting- the civilization's population was increasing at about 1/10 of a person every 250 years.

The men would spend most of their days fishing, hunting, and drinking, while the women spent most of their days distilling tundra twigs into alcohol, curing meat and fish, and gossiping about which man held the throne as most ice cold Eskimo.

None of the men could see very well due to the lead content of their moonshine. Drunk and blind most of their lives, the women did most of the neighborhood planning.

Igloos were the way to live.

Some igloos had style, other igloos took the more simple approach. Some Eskimo had style, some Eskimo took the more simple approach.

Overall, life didn't change much for the Eskimo over the past few millenia. There were few aberrations to the bleak, cold townscape, and few Eskimo to think differently than the rest.

Once a year, there would be a fist fight over a loathed woman which resulted in exactly 1 Eskimo death. There were never any Eskimo lost to sickness or natural phenomena, as their immune systems were well adapted to the natural bacteria around them and no outsider had ever come in contact with them, or wanted to.

You can't want something which you know nothing about, though we try but can't seem to find reason.

Their defense against wolverines, moose, and the occasional reindeer reaching a midlife crisis was impeccable. Babies that were birthed with imperfection were boiled into stew.

Far away, in America, business tycoons gathered in a scyscraper just high enough to perceive the civilians walking below as ants. Real “I fuck hookers because I don't have time for a real relationship” types, though they were all married with children. The fortune must live on through little Joe's boots.

“Bad for the environment? BAD FOR THE FUCKING ENVIRONMENT? I told him he can go calculate his way out of the mess we're making for him, and that's that,” one tycoon said, and the rest assumed laughter.

“We're finally seeing returns from the rigs we drilled off the coast of California 8 years ago, Joe.” another chimed in. “The only casualty there was Santa Barbara- and the liberals are acting like it's some big tragedy!”

They all sat around, speaking of “no-brainer” investments and how to save a dime at the grocery store. This that this that this, and that.

Finally the meeting was about to reach its conclusion.

“And y'all know how we do,” Joe bellowed gregariously, loquaciously. “Sacrifice all of society- from Mexican immigrants to Greenwich Village whores to stay at home moms to tiny villages in Siberia- for OUR personal profit. We're in this together, and if any of us loses any faith in our paradigm here, you are putting US at risk, and you will most likely find yourself breathing through a hose- at the bottom of the big ole' toxic ocean. This meeting is adjourned.”

The room stood up, applauding, and returned to their indifferent penthouse hookers.

Meanwhile, back in Siberia, the Eskimo began to take off their jackets for the first time since childbirth. Their houses were melting. Skin was tanning.

The fish were flourishing, as the rivaling polar bears were sitting back drinking tall cans and dying. It was like fishing in a barrel for those blind drunk Eskimos. All was swell.

As the ice melted, long-frozen artifacts and corpses were being uniced as well. The artifacts and corpses left the Eskimo baffled, and led to various forms of new-age dogma amongst the small town. One Eskimo in a drunken stupor slipped and punctured his ass on the perfectly preserved tusk of a wooly mammoth.

But artifacts and corpses weren't the only things being introduced to the civillazation through the melt; ancient bacterias and viruses that couldn't be seen even by the sober female Eskimo were doing what they knew how to do best: fucking up the human lives.

The Eskimo began coughing, vomiting, and shitting blood. Their glands swelling, varying body temperatures began a search for the jackets that had been naively discarded after the first few weeks of the melt. Tempers were unstable as well, leading to more fist fights amongst both men and women, though seizures would stop the altercations short of untimely deaths.

The real battlefield was between the poor Eskimo immune system and the insidious anthrax emanating from the corpses of pre-Ice Age moose and mammoths and Alamo Eskimo from a long frozen dynasty.

The immune systems didn't stand a chance. All of the adults and most of the children were wiped out. The few remaining adolescents couldn't cope with their being thrown into adulthood so prematurely, and turned to the bottle, Tundra moonshine, that is, and drank their little lives into oblivion.

So it goes.

Back in America, profits and revenues were plateuing. The rich weren't getting any richer. They weren't getting poorer, either, but if you're not getting richer what the fuck is the point in living.

Several crusading groups of activists were able to gain enough unity and notoriety to pass some injurious laws on the rich. Something about climate control and limiting environmental impact yada yada… It was all words and numbers to the bone head rich. But it did mean war.

The rich finally developed a plan to fill the government with a team of all-star panderers that the American people absent-mindedly elected.

The rich, then, feeling vindictive over their previous defeat at the hands of scientists and lovers of life, passed a 3 trillion dollar “nail in the coffin” bill to strip the Earth of all remaining resources as quickly as possible.

Their response to the world that preferred to keep the human race running a little bit longer was simply, “Rock n roll. Deal with it.”

Production maximized. Oil drills and mines were reaching 8 miles below the earth, sucking every little ore and ooze and mineral and metal that could possibly have grimy hands groping it.

Cities began collapsing- literally. The mines and wells were jeopardizing the foundations which buildings were built. Rio de Jeniero wasn't built in a day, but it crumbled in one.

As the old biblical story goes, he who builds his house on rock may still someday lose his wit and begin dynamiting the shit out of it.

Part of the bill mandated that every human receive a car, a train, a plane, a personal power plant if they wanted, as long as it was doing something to fuck up the Earth.

Most humans happily applauded this part of the bill, and helped out as much as they could.

Skies were grey and yellow, even through the enormous artificial sun that was built and run by an equal amount of energy used by the cities of Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Guangzhou combined.

There was no need for an artificial moon, as all romantic connections with the original one were lost.

The tycoons were still getting rich, though even they knew that the days for Earth were numbered.

Most people on Earth, aside from loonies and conservatives, knew that Earth was done-zo washington.

There were few that felt it worth the fight to try to bring down those responsible for the current state of things. Security was tightest on the bracket for those brazen tycoon punks.

Among the fighting force, was a young scientist that had been ardently studying global warming since out of the womb, as his father had taught him. He had observed the phenomenon of the Eskimo being exposed to ancient anthrax. It broke his little scientist heart.

He decided that the only just thing to do to get back at those responsible would be to expose them to ancient anthrax.

He knew where to get it.

Back in Siberia, a whole civilization lay in bloody melted ruin. It stank of shit and moonshine.

The young scientist and his team deboarded their chopper, suited in the finest protective suits, and fetched up one of the deceased rotting Eskimo and brought it back to America.

The tycoons met in the skyscraper. The artificial sun barely permeated through the cloud of pollution that groped the earth.

They raised glasses.

“Well boys,” Joe the tycoon addressed the group, “We've successfully maxed out our profits and fucked up the Earth beyond repair.” This was followed by a swath of haughty laughter and approval.

They clinked glasses.

Unbeknownst to the tycoons, a chopper rushed towards the building. A young scientist was gleaming with passion and determination. A rotting anthrax-stricken Eskimo corpse was sitting next to him unaware of the role he was about to play in rectifying the playing field in Earth's current folly.

The chopper gunned it towards the large unshaved shaft that the tycoons roosted in. Their faces turned from glee to confusion as the young scientist hurled the Eskimo out of the chopper. The chopper flew past the top of the building and the Eskimo crashed through the window at about 200 miles per hour, striking Joe the Tycoon and pancaking him against the opposite wall.

Before the others could process this freak occurrence, the anthrax that had wiped out an entire Eskimo village contaminated the tycoons and made them all start coughing vomiting and shitting blood.

They died shortly thereafter.

The artificial sun simultaneously became terminally ill and exploded, wiping out the rest of civilization.

The Earth stood lifeless like rapture at a hookah bar.

So it goes. . .

#conundrum #vasectomy #runin #eskimo #anthrax #soitgoes #rapture #science #in the wake #global warming #send it back #guyzini #hookah bar #moonshine #fishing in a barrel #cosmic #done-zo washington #multiple ways everything can get fucked up

[nofomoartworld]

The Edge of the Earth. Climate Change in Photography and Video

The Edge of the Earth. Climate Change in Photography and Video. Critical essays by author and historian TJ Demos and curator Bénédicte Ramade. Introduction by Director of Ryerson Image Centre Paul Roth.

On Amazon USA and UK.

Black Dog Publishing writes: Increasingly and forebodingly, contemporary artists are turning their attention to the subject of climate change, in poignant and often confrontational ways. The Edge of the Earth: Climate Change in Photography and Video explores recent and historic work in the context of present-day environmental concerns, considering the future consequences of the age of the anthropocene, and humanity’s harsh imprint on our planet.

The Edge of the Earth accompanies a major exhibition at the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto, and includes works by pioneering and renowned artists such as Edward Burtynsky, Naoya Hatakeyama, Richard Misrach and Robert Rauschenberg; critical propositions on present situations by Chris Jordan, Gideon Mendel and Brandi Merolla; plus visionary works by Jean-Pierre Aube, Adrien Missika, Evariste Richer and Andreas Rutkauskas. Photojournalism from the RIC’s Black Star Collection is also included, contextualising artistic reflections within half a century of historical reportage on the environment.

Paola Pivi, Untitled (Ostriches), 2003

Paul Walde recording sounds on BC’s Farnham Glacier. Photo: Pat Morrow

The Edge of the Earth is the most poignant, upsetting and stunning book i’ve read (so far) this year. The catalogue of an exhibition that closed recently at the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto, it builds a visual iconography of climate change and of environmental repercussions so complex that they probably surpass our comprehension and control.

In her text, curator Bénédicte Ramade explains how the images selected for the show and the book offer far more than mere depiction of landscapes, natural (or rather man-made) events and hyperobjects. They add urgency and a more tangible dimension to phenomena that would otherwise be little more than headlines in newspapers and tragedies that happen to other people, they remodel our definition of environmentalism in the light of climate change, and force us to reassess our individual and societal responsibilities.

TJ Demos wrote a thoughtful essay on the visuality of the anthropocene. His concluding lines are particularly moving. He believes that it might not be the spectacular accidents caused by the fossil-fuel economy that should worry us the most but the silent, accident-free and uninterrupted march of the industry. This new normal background is the one that we should resist politically, civically, morally and economically.

Hicham Berrada, Celeste (video still), 2014. Photo courtesy Kamel Mennour, Paris

Whether they are of the documentary or the speculative type, the photos in the book often made me feel uncomfortable. How do you deal with the ambiguous emotions prompted by beautiful photos depicting ecological disasters in the making? What do you do with the anxiety and the feeling of being powerless that these images inevitably trigger? Should we put our fate into the hands of geo-engineers? Or should we take a step back and re-evaluate our understanding of innovation, progress and survival?

I’m going to let you weep over these questions and list below some of the most remarkable artworks i discovered in the book:

Andreas Rutkauskas, Oil!, 2013

Taking its title from a 1927 Upton Sinclair novel, the video Oil! introduces us to the early days of oil extraction in North America. The video follows the mechanism of a rusty jerker line system, developed in the 1860s and still used today to draw crude oil from the wells. The tranquil and trusty mechanism runs day and night, throughout the year.

Jean-Pierre Aubé, Electrosmog World Tour 2012, Mumbai (video still), 2012

Jean Pierre Aubé makes visible the electromagnetic fields that envelop a city. During his performances around the world, the artist uses radios, antennas and network computers to collect and record radiofrequencies, revealing the invisible presence of thousands of emissions from personal communications systems, security, commercial beacons and satellites.

Isabelle Hayeur, Chemical Coast 02, 2011,

Isabelle Hayeur‘s Underworlds series exposes the transformations of rivers, lakes and other aquatic environments. She dives into polluted waters with her waterproof equipment and reveals dying ecosystems and other man-made disturbances.

Paul Walde, Requiem for a Glacier (trailer), 2012-2014

Requiem for a Glacier honours British Colombia’s Jumbo Glacier area, a landscape leftover from the last ice age, under threat from global warming and resort development. The center piece of the project is a four movement oratorio scored for orchestra and choir that converts information such as temperature records for the area into music notation. It seems that the project of the resort has since been abandoned.

Julian Charrière Panorama

Julian Charrière Panorama Behind the Scene. Photo via Bugada and Cargnel

Julian Charrière Panorama consists of photographs seemingly depicting majestic alpine landscapes under various weather conditions. However, the images are the result of ephemeral interventions in various construction sites in Berlin. Using extracted soil that was covered by flour and fire extinguisher foam, the artist fabricated miniature, model Alps inspired by his native Switzerland in the middle of the city. The series questions not only how perception works, but also our fantasized relation to “Nature” and the sublime.

Benoit Aquin, Equestrian Statue of Genghis Khan, Inner Mongolia, 2006. From the series Chinese Dust Bowl

Chinese Dust Bowl documents one of the largest conversions of productive land into sand anywhere in the world. Today, 22% of the deserts located in China have been caused by human activities such as over-exploitation of arable land, overgrazing and increasingly deep drilling for water. The resulting dust is picked up by the wind and transported, in the form of giant sandstorms, all over China and into Japan, Korea and even North America.

Amy Balkin, The Atmosphere: A Guide, 2013-2016. Image via zkm

The Atmosphere, A Guide is a poster-essay depicting human influences on the sky and their accumulated traces, whether chemical, narrative, spatial, or political.

Visually referencing the Cloud Code Chart, another interpretive aid for looking up, the Guide visualizes some ways humans occupy present, past, and future atmospheres, from sea level to the exosphere.

Nicolas Baier, Réminiscence 2, 2013

Conceived using a 3D model based on climatological data, Réminiscence is a speculative photo that imagines the gas formation at the early ages of our planet.

Sharon Stewart, Outfall Drainage Ditch at the Union Carbide Plant. From the series Toxic Tour of Texas, 1988-1992

Texas has the largest concentration of oil refineries and chemical plants in the U.S. It also ranks first in the country in the amount of known or suspected carcinogens released by the industry into the environment.

Sharon Stewart‘s Toxic Tour of Texas is guided by farmers, priests, mothers, ranchers, engineers, nurses, teachers and other grassroots activists who are intent on protecting their homes and their communities from exposure to hazardous waste. Some of their actions reversed governmental decisions and halted harmful industrial practices.

Joel Sternfel, Robert Kofi Bamfo, Corporate Manager, Forestry Commission, Ghana. From the series When It Changed

In 2005, Joel Sternfeld attended the 11th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, in Montreal. Almost all the participants agreed that not only was climate change occurring, it was also about to reach a tipping point and become irreversible. His photos portray the delegates at the moment when the horror of what they were hearing was visible on their faces.

Gideon Mendel, João Pereira de Araúj, Rio Branco, Brazil, 14 March 2015. From the series Drowning World

Gideon Mendel has spent 8 years traveling the world, photographing people whose lives have suddenly been devastated by floods.

Peter Goin, Accelerated Erosion, July 1987, from the series Nuclear Landscapes. This canyon is in the South Silent Canyon area on the grounds of the Nevada Test Site. Although the area is not used for testing it demonstrates the accelerated erosion caused by nuclear testing nearby. Vibrations from underground testing fracture the rock cliffs, breaking loose huge boulders

Brandi Merolla, What the Frack!, 2013. From the series Fracking Photographs

Photo on the homepage: Paola Pivi, Untitled (Zebras), 2003. Photography by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin.

from We Make Money Not Art http://ift.tt/2oI7Na0 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #We Make Money Not Art

[trendingnewsb]

Great Filmmakers Pick Their Favorite Movies of the 21st Century

Film directors including Antoine Fuqua, Sofia Coppola, Paul Feig, Denis Villeneuve, Brett Ratner and Alex Gibney recently spoke to The New York Times about their favorite movies of the 21st century to date.[1] Below, I highlight 20 of the choices. This is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for great movies you haven’t seen or haven’t even heard of.

Antoine Fuqua’s Selected Films

Antoine Fuqua himself has directed Training Day, The Magnificent Seven, and other films. His selections included:

Fences (2016)

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the film takes a passionate look at former Negro-league baseball player Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) as he fights to provide for those he loves in a world that threatens to push him down. Fences was also directed by Washington. It’s adapted from a play by August Wilson, who Fuqua says “would be proud” of the output.

Watch Fences here.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Fuqua’s comment on the movie,

“It took us into a world that I have never seen before and executed it in a visceral, gritty way. It was not only moving, but it was heartfelt, dangerous and entertaining.”

When a penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai comes within one question of winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, a police investigation reveals his amazing story. Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards®, including Best Picture of the Year and Best Director, Danny Boyle.

Watch Slumdog Millionaire here.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Fuqua on this movie,

“A world undiscovered by some, in our own backyard. And it doesn’t use the tricks of Hollywood.”

Newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis is Hushpuppy, the tenacious six-year-old force of nature in an isolated bayou community. When her tough but loving father Wink (Dwight Henry) succumbs to a mysterious malady, the fierce and determined girl bravely sets out on a journey to save him. But Hushpuppy’s quest is hindered by a “busted” universe that melts the ice caps and unleashes an army of prehistoric beasts.

Watch Beast of the Southern Wild here.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Fuqua notes it does something a lot of movies don’t,

“sustained intensity and tension, even when it was only two people in the room talking.”

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. It’s the story of that search and ultimate raid/assassination.

Watch Zero Dark Thirty here.

Sofia Coppola’s Selected Films

Coppola is best-known for Lost in Translation, as well as being the daughter of Oscar-winner Francis Ford Coppola. Here are some of her selected films:

Force Majeure (2014)

Here’s how Coppola commented on the film,

“I loved the little moments, the details that said so much.”

This is the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children— on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.

Watch Force Majeure here.

The White Ribbon (2009)

Coppola loves the black-and-white photography.

In a village in Protestant northern Germany, on the eve of World War I, the children of a church and school run by the village schoolteacher and their families experience a series of bizarre incidents that inexplicably assume the characteristics of a punishment ritual.

If you like old-time photography to convey the WW1 sense, this may be for you too.

Watch The White Ribbon here.

The Savages (2007)

Coppola loved the acting of the two main performances, by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Until recently, all John and Wendy Savage (Hoffman, Linney) had in common was a lousy childhood and a few strands of DNA. But after years of drifting apart, they’re forced to band together to care for the elderly, cantankerous father who made their formative years “challenging.” In the process, both of these aimless, perpetually adolescent forty-something’s may just, at long last, have to grow up!

If you love good acting, this is a good film to try out.

Watch The Savages here.

Paul Feig’s Selected Films

Paul Feig is considered one of the best comedy directors working today — especially for women — having helmed Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, among others. His selected films are:

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Feig on the movie,

“One of those movies I could watch over and over again, because it was just so out of left field. In comedy, we feel that we’ve seen it all and done it all, but then an original voice comes in and you go, damn.” It is truly an original movie.

From the rural town of Preston, Idaho, comes Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder). With a red ‘fro, his moon boots, and illegal government ninja moves, he is a new kind of hero. When his friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) decides to run for class president, it is Napoleon to the rescue to help him triumph over adversity.

Watch Napolean Dynamite here.

This Is The End (2013)

Feig says,

“They pulled off all those elements that seemed like they couldn’t work — it was emotional and funny and they did it playing themselves.”

While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse. Kevin Hart and others make appearances.

Watch This Is the End here.

Amelie (2001)

This film was nominated for five Academy Awards, and Feig says,

“it’s so literal and yet stylish. You fall in love with her immediately.”

A painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris café, Amelie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better. From then on, Amelie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness…in the most delightfully unexpected ways.

Watch Amelie here.

Denis Villeneuve’s Selected Films

Denis Villeneuve is most recently the director of Blade Runner 2049. He has also worked on films including Arrival. His selected films are:

A Prophet (2009)

Villeneuve pulls out one scene for The New York Times, 

“The deer being killed in slow motion by a car in “A Prophet” (2010) remains one of the most powerful cinematic shots of the last decade.”

An impressionable and vulnerable Arabic man gets thrust into a hellish prison, and ironically discovers greater opportunities for success than he ever possessed outside of the bars.

Watch A Prophet here.

Dogtooth (2009)

Villeneuve says,

“The madness in “Dogtooth” (2010) is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in a long time. Yorgos Lanthimos may be one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. I’m still laughing at the crazy adults running to catch airplanes falling into their garden, because their father convinced them that they were fruit dropping from the sky.”

Three teenagers live isolated, without leaving their house, because their over-protective parents say they can only leave when their dogtooth falls out.

Watch Dogtooth here. 

Dogville (2003)

Villeneuve on the movie,

“The idea of making a set without walls to show the cowardice of a community was genius.”

When a beautiful young Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the isolated township of Dogville, the small community agrees to hide her from a gang of ruthless gangsters, and, in return, Grace agrees to do odd jobs for the town’s people. But as the search for her intensifies, they demand a much better deal. What they don’t know is that Grace has a dangerous secret, and their quiet little town will never be the same.

Watch Dogville here.

Brett Ratner’s Selected Films

Brett Ratner is famous for working on the Rush Hour films as well as Hercules and other big box office movies. His selected films are:

The Kid Stays In The Picture (2002)

Ratner simply calls this “one of the greatest documentaries ever made”.

Success. Scandal. Sex. Tragedy. Infamy. Robert Evans knew them all, and in this provocative and compelling documentary, he reveals how one of the greatest winning streaks in Hollywood history almost destroyed him. From his early acting days to his stellar rise as head of production at Paramount and involvement in a well-publicized cocaine sting, Evans’ meteoric career reveals the moviemaking industry during one of its most glamorous and scandal-filled periods.

If you enjoy documentaries, consider it.

Watch The Kid Stays in the Picture here.

The Pianist (2002)

Ratner on the movie,

“It will go down in history as one of the greatest Holocaust motion pictures ever made.”

The Pianist, stars Adrien Brody in the true-life story of brilliant pianist and composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, the most acclaimed young musician of his time until his promising career was interrupted by the onset of World War II. This powerful, triumphant film follows Szpilman’s heroic and inspirational journey of survival with the unlikely help of a sympathetic German officer.

Watch The Pianist here.

Borat (2006)

Ratner calls it legitimately “one of the best comedies ever made.”

Sacha Baron Cohen brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native Kazakhstan, Borat travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences.

Watch Borat here.

Alex Gibney’s Selected Films

Alex Gibney has directed the film Taxi to the Dark Side. These are some of his selected films:

City of God (2002)

Gibney references the opening scene, featuring a chicken and a knife, as classic.

The streets of the world’s most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro’s “City of God” are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye, the eye of an artist.

Watch City of Gold here.

Michael Clayton (2007)

Gibney makes an interesting point about what you can learn from this film,

“Great take on corruption. My favorite scene is when [George Clooney] takes care of a client who is too arrogant to know how much trouble he is in. Want to understand the 2008 financial crisis? Watch this scene.”

Clayton cleans up clients’ messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians. Though burned out and discontented in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to the firm.

Watch Michael Clayton here.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Gibney argues that this movie can make you think about major societal issues,

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about torture. This film gets deep into the horror of it all and the imagination that’s needed to survive it.”

Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil.

Watch Pan’s Labyrinth here.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Gibney gives it high praise,

“The ultimate post-9/11 film that has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or the politics of the Iraq war. It’s about a brutal force of terror that can’t be bargained with and can only be understood with the wisdom of a lawman philosopher.”

When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Not even west Texas law can contain it.

Watch No Country for Old Men here.

There’s a good chance you haven’t seen all these films, or even heard of them. But people who love and respect the craft of filmmaking as their own career point to these as stellar movies made since 2000. Give them a chance. You may even learn quite a bit about history or new parts of the world in the process.

Reference

[1]^The New York Times: Six Directors Pick Their Favorite Films of the 21st-Century

function footnote_expand_reference_container() { jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).show(); jQuery(“#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button”).text(“-“); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container() { jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).hide(); jQuery(“#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button”).text(“+”); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container() { if (jQuery(“#footnote_references_container”).is(“:hidden”)) { footnote_expand_reference_container(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container(); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery(“#” + p_str_TargetID); if(l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery(‘html, body’).animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top – window.innerHeight/2 }, 1000); } }

The post Great Filmmakers Pick Their Favorite Movies of the 21st Century appeared first on Lifehack.

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2yD4KEX via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

[blograzorwit]

Jest A Minute (12/5/2017) from Subroto Mukherjee

Very Capable-------------------------- The powers that rule our country today are very very capable people. This we already knew. But thanks to Kejriwal-ji's recent demo of how EVMs can be rigged, one cannot but feel a sneaking suspicion that our powers-that-be are not only capable but quite capable of anything! Even sweeping polls by unfair means! *** Powerless--------------------- In India, thousands of debt-crushed farmers are driven to take their own lives in desperation. The powers-that-be appear to be quite powerless to save them! We cannot find enough funds for child care, health care or education. They seem to be way, way down somewhere on our list of priorities. But we have grand plans to spend thousands of crores on grand statues -- something totally useless and purposeless! You know, such a tragic waste might not move our powers that be. But I bet it would move even a statue to tears! *** All For Saving The Cows But . . .-------------------------------------------------- We keep hearing of self-appointed cow saviors attacking cow hustlers and saving our poor cows from slaughter. That's great. I am all for saving cows. But my question is, if we are going all out to protect cows, how come the statistics tell us a different story? How come India is now a leading beef exporter along with Oz and Brazil? How come our beef export could be touching a staggering 40,000 crore? Where, pray tell, is this beef coming from? Have we ingenious Indians found some ingenious way to grow beef on trees? Or is the beef miraculously falling out of the heavens into our laps? *** Nuts!------------ No, no figuring out our youngsters. They complain about the stress of exams, the heat, the commute to exam halls, the study load for which they cannot find time to eat, sleep or shower. But the same kids will hang out outside the Mumbai airport for 3 days and nights in a row, without sleep, bath or proper meals -- you know why? Because they are waiting for a god called Bieber to show up! *** Enviable Adulation------------------------------ 45,000 fans packed a Mumbai stadium for the Bieber concert. But most of our top film celebs stayed away. I bet our stars turned green with envy at the stupendous display of adulation for a pop kid. No wonder our stars preferred not to show their face at this concert. I mean, their green, green face! *** Thrills, Chills And Bill---------------------------------- Bill Clinton is writing a thriller titled The President Is Missing. If this thriller is about Trump, the book's title should read -- The President Is Missing His Brains! But if this book is about Clinton himself, then the title should be -- The President Is Missing Monica Lewinsky! *** Matchless-------------------- And, as usual matchless in a shouting match, Arnab is back in action. Going hammer and tongs after Shashi Tharoor. Correction. No, Arnab does not go after anyone hammer and tongs. It's more like he goes after everyone hammer and TONGUES! *** Role Model Devdas---------------------------------- To impose prohibition in Bihar, cops there are carrying out raids left, right and center and seizing liquor bottles from everywhere. In fact, so much liquor is being seized, the cops are running out of storage space for it. So liquor bottles are piling up in police stations. In fact, recently a whole army of rats raided one such police station, broke up the bottles and guzzled liquor all night! You know UP has its Anti-Romeo Squads. Well, these rats in Bihar decided to launch a movement of their own -- the Pro-Devdas Brigade! You see, these rats believe in drinking themselves into happy oblivion like their role model Devdas. ***   Coming To Work In Pajamas------------------------------------------------- In recent times, here and there across the country, there have been cases of hospital doctors being assaulted by relatives of patients. This has prompted some doctors of a Delhi hospital to take lessons in self-defense. But the hospital is now objecting to the doctors coming to work in pajamas! Or at least what looks like pajamas -- their karate outfits! *** Balancing Act-------------------------- A hospital in Mumbai managed to reduce Eman Ahmed's spectacular weight. So she could finally regain her balance and sit up in bed. The heavy cost of the treatment ran into crores. Now I hope this hospital can regain its own balance -- I mean its bank balance! *** Our Great Health Resort---------------------------------------- Swine flu is back in Mumbai. You know what that means?  It means our city has turned into quite a health resort. The swine flu viruses are flocking here in droves like tourists -- using our bodies like 5-star hotels to luxuriate it -- and growing hale, heart and healthy! All you germs and viruses out there, welcome to our wonderful health resort! *** Shedding Fake, Plastic Tears----------------------------------------------- Experts predict that, by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans! I cannot conceive of anything more tragic than that. Can you? Now the question is, so what are we doing about it? Just expressing deep shock and letting it go at that? Simply wringing our hands in helplessness? Already mourning the extinction of our spectacular marine life with its endless colorful specimens and its breathtaking, flamboyant diversity? Are we doing anything about disposing plastic in the oceans and curbing this plastic menace that is decimating our oceans? Or are we merely shedding fake, plastic tears over this profound, unfolding tragedy? *** Yes, You Can Walk On Water -------------------------------------------------- Jesus was God or at least a godly man and he once performed the miracle of walking on water. Hey, just wait for a few more years and we will all be able to perform such a miracle. Easily! You see, in the years to come, our lakes, rivers and seas will be so full of plastic and junk, so crammed with rubbish, so tightly packed with trash -- we will all be able to 'walk' on water without sinking! *** Wait a minute, 'Mother Nature' did you say?-------------------------------------------------------------------- The US dropped its biggest bomb in Afghanistan and described it as the 'mother of all bombs'! And rightly, the Pope took issue with that. Can a weapon of mass death and destruction be called 'mother'? Which brings us to an interesting question. Can Mother Nature herself be called 'mother' when she unleashes calamities like floods and earthquakes on us? Catastrophes that take such heartbreaking toll on life and property! *** Deeply Religious Indians------------------------------------------- Turns out the wealthiest Brits in the UK today happen to be Indians!Hey, call me naive but I attribute this to our deep Indian devotion, to our religion. No one else in the world is as religious as we are -- no one else in the world worships money the way we do! *** No Brain Drain-------------------------- World's top billionaire Warren Buffet says India is advancing by leaps and bounds because Indians have brains. Well, we certainly have the brains to make money. Take the plumber who came to my place to fix a drain. Not only did he clean out the drain but he also cleaned out my wallet. I sarcastically asked him : "You charge like a brain surgeon! What did you just perform -- brain surgery?" "No," he replied coolly, counting the cash and walking off, "drain surgery!" ***