War has begun.

Guest post : Movie Review - Dawn of the planet of the apes

‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ introduced us to Caesar, his struggles with his identity after being passed on residual genetic effects resulting in him being super-intelligent with capabilities sometimes surpassing human. The ethical conundrums that were posed during ‘Rise’ brought us to a conclusion where what was dubbed as ‘Simian flu’  had taken its toll on humans but left the planets apes or at least the group of them in America with enough intelligence to develop under Caesars leadership and training.

Dawn cuts over to ten years after the virus has spread throughout the world(from the title snapshots) and sets the tone straightaway with a confrontation which is almost a prelude to Caesar observing later ‘I did not know we were so much like them’. The apes’ settlement needs to be passed through for the humans to be able to bring power to SF where a small group of survivors led by Dreyfuss(Gary Oldman) still exists. When Caesar agrees to an appeal from Malcolm(Jason Clarke) who represents the reasonable side of the humans and assures Caesar that the apes will come to no harm, unrest and emotions hitherto unexpressed in the ape community make an appearance. Conflict and chaos are not only shown as byproducts of civilization but their base roots are traced in spectacular fashion. Justifications are put forth by the apes and the humans, both reasonable and unreasonable depending on the perspective.

The movie might as well be compared to some of the best sequels in movie history(for example ‘The Godfather II), the poignancy being elevated to an all new level not only by the director Matt Reeves but also by the nuanced and brilliant motion capture performance of Andy Serkis who doesn’t just stop at breathing life into Caesar but gives him a persona that is almost as memorable as characters like Vito Corleone. Caesar and Koba(Toby Kebbell) don’t just have the crouched walk of apes but have expressions that correspond so much to our nearest cousins in the animal kingdom that it would be a shame if WETA does not win the special effects statuette from a fair few awards again.

It would also be improper to not mention the casting coup(cannot call it anything else) that has been achieved in casting Gary Oldman as Dreyfuss, defacto leader of the surviving humans(to not spoil the movie I cannot mention his equivalent in the ape group), Jason Clarke as Malcolm, Keri Russell as Malcolms wife Ellie and more who pull off performances that hold their own against the apes. Judy Greer plays Caesars mate Cornelia who does not have too much of a role in this movie with calm grace.

The cinematography(Michael Seresin) keeps our eyes glued to the post converted 3D scenes be it in the jungle or in almost post-apocalyptic San Franciscan city borders. A scene with a tank  is reminiscent of well made war movies putting the audience in thedrivers seat and reminding us of the current ugly machinations going on in Gaza and elsewhere. Michael Giacchinos music reminds us of much more poignant fare such as Kurosawas epics in its simplicity and puts us inthe forefront of action whenever the scene shifts.

‘Dawn’ shows us how an intelligent science fiction movie can be made, building on Rupert Wyatts ‘Rise’ and never slowing down. In characterizing Caesar as far possible from his Roman nomenclature as possible, in fact as a Gandhi albeit one who does not say no to violence where it is deserved, Matt Reeves and Andy Serkis serve a classic combination that does not so much as deliver a punch but makes us recover and take notice. The wanton violence as delivered by Koba is not so much inevitable as representative of everything that goes wrong when a single person incapable of sensible leadership is faced with a shot at power. The climax builds to a crescendo without being shoved down the throat of the viewers and when Caesar pronounces the words that denounce his opposer, the subtlety becomes ironically obvious.

A beautiful mixture of intelligence and cinematic skill, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes deserves sure mention in the annals of good science fiction blockbusters that are not senseless in their implementation.

4/5

Food diaries - Iftar in Bangalore

*Ramzan food festival

*Mosque Road, Frazer town, Bangalore

*Open till 1-2 AM

*Dont like a crowd? Go early evenings or late nights. Avoid weekends. Difficult to find parking so be prepared to walk.

*Feeling adventurous? Camel,veal tikkas and kebabs. Chickenarian like me? You'll find everything from haleem to biryani, varieties of fish and prawn. Skip the bigger restaurants as they're open all year round and head to the food stalls next to the mosque. Go in a group to try a little bit of everything. 

*Finish up with a matka of phirni or jalebis. Dont forget the suleimani for the morning after!

When Andy thought he's Indi-ana Jones

This little bat like creature on the left is my brother. His name is Andy. A name I gave him after those really cute Andrex puppies. A little ball of fur. I mean I've run away from dogs all my life but then I thought, how harmful/violent can this softie be? There're not many times people say this. But Andy changed my life. For someone who was absolutely petrified to be anywhere within a few meters of a dog on leash to someone who scratches dog bellies, I've come a long way. As Andy grew, I grew and I started seeing how very misunderstood and mistreated animals are. We've passively adopted about 6 boys and a girl near home now (about whom you'll get to know soon. As soon as I can get them all in one picture frame).
Back to Andy, he's alright. Yeah, he's alright. Its just that he's bonkers. And I mean crazy lunatic. You think you've seen it all in Marley and Me? Well you haven't met this guy. We're pretty sure he was dropped on the head when he was a baby. The idea of disciplining another living being seems a little cruel to me. So we didnt train him more than necessary. He always pees outside and does tricks when you've got a treat but thats pretty much it. We brought him up to be one of us. Even if he's a boo boo.
I want to remember yesterday. Because yesterday is the day when Andy became Indiana Jones. Having a little city adventure of his own to which he did not invite us. Rude Andy. Very rude. He took off to explore unexplored territories. He crossed big main roads with big red buses. He looked for treasure in supermarkets and under food trucks. He used his barking power on enemies on bikes. After completing his quest of 5 minutes, he decided to be found. Come to think of it, he had a leash. All he needed was the hat. 

Everything else in the middle

A lot has changed since 2009. So much so that when I read back, a lot of what I wrote does not sound not like the present 'me'. I think its called growing older - restraint, refrain automatically applied to thoughts, emotions, behavior. Hopefully I wont be doing any of that here. Writing/ continuing to write in this little journal will clear a lot of clutter that has occupied in an otherwise peaceful, composed mind. Clutter that is caused due to age, change in personality, change in careers, also change in the government. A few key things though have not really changed. I remember expressing somewhere in the blog that I see myself settling down in India. And in India I am. Somewhere between stuck in a rat race and not participating in a rat race.

Before I start sounding deep and philosophical, I'll stop. I've decided that I might as well enjoy the 'in-between/ self-discovery' process until I gather enough courage to fully drop out of the rat race. I've quit research work. One that I'm a double graduate in but lost a taste for when I started to work in my previous place of work. It has been a year and in the last one year, I've picked up the computer more times to edit pictures than to research on outdated technologies. I've picked up a note pad more to create and compose visuals than to make notes as a 'shadow referee'. I've enjoyed myself directing my models to enjoy themselves in front of the camera more than being directed to repeat experiments for the sake of repetition. I've enjoyed times when I saw spaces come alive from a piece of paper more than when my papers were published with someone else's name.

So here's me restarting to write, restarting to find myself little by little and everything else in the middle.