So, What did you do this summer?

The long summer is at an end.. and I cant say Winter is coming mostly because Singapore has no concept of seasons.
Ah summer, that time of year wherein you have no work and no concept of the time of day, when deadlines dont matter and all you can think about is Food.
So what did I do this summer worth mentioning?

1.Caught up on some sleep

I can speak for any college student when I say that a good night's sleep is about as common as finding

an alive person on Game of Thrones. And I needed to catch up and stock up on my sleep bank to accomplish anything worthwhile next semester.
So happy days of sleeping at 11 and waking up at 12, (much to the chagrin of anyone in the house) and catching a catnap or two in the afternoon hours when the house is quiet.

Speaking of which...

2.CATS


I have been inhaling cats all summer. Not only am I drooling over the little critters over the internet, I have been host to a family of 7 on my aunts front porch.  ( ok not a family, but its still quite a number- I smell Von Trapp involvement, maybe I should teach them to sing.)

A mummy cat (which my aunt named Kuch) gave birth to three adorable kittens(named- Dr.Sir
Brownie Jr. IV, Kit Kat and Vijayam ( we named the littlest one after my granny-much to her reproach- as a joke, but the name sort of stuck.)) , plus there is a drunk uncle cat who shows up randomly for food( named Brownie) , a scary demented male cat whose meows sound like hes being run over (Bob Cat) and a GORGEOUS black female cat who looks like a cat version of Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon ( whom we very non racist-like named Oprah- well she was pregnant and we were expecting free kittens ("You get a Kitten! You get a kitten! All of you get kittens!") But they didnt show
:( ).

So my day kinda revolves around feeding them, staring creepily at them and resisting the urge to pack them in my suitcase.

3. Became a little less illiterate in terms of Software

I finally learnt two things I ve been embarrassingly illiterate at- Photoshop and Google Sketchup. Although Im still iffy at making anything great, its a lot of fun playing around with them.
With my new Wacom I absolutely adored colouring all my sketches on Ps.

4. While on the subject, I completely ignored my subject

I spent every single day sketching- I finally understood how to draw humans properly and just had a whale of a time using my creativity to its fullest. Like a good friend of mine says- I absolutely thrive on boredom!

5. I finally watched some movies.

Drumroll please!  I think my seniors should be quite proud of me by now.Having admitted (like a fool) that I hadnt watched The Dark Knight and then getting burnt on the stake on charges of Heresy, I caught up on some movies that I should have seen ages ago.





6.Went on a long road trip around Karnataka.. and got lost. 

When my dad finally landed into Bangalore, We piled ourselves into a car and when on an extensive road trip, visiting most of Northern Karnataka like Bellary ( where my mum did Junior College, so it

was really kinda cool visiting her school and sitting on the bench she sat on and visiting her old home, bit of a nostalgic roller coaster for my mum too.) , Hospet, Hampi, and Badami.
There was a lot to see for the Historic Architecture enthusiast. The bit which really got me going was Badami because they had caves cut out from the side of a hill and the workmanship inside was really astounding and awe-inspiring. I find it ironic that we in this day, with modern tools and thinking, cannot reproduce such similar splendor.

Well, as one would expect in a long road trip, we ended up lost in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I guess I need to thank my cousins GPS for getting us home in one piece, although if Google Maps could express an opinion, she would have scoffed at our stupidity. It was an amazing experience though, and I highly recommend getting hopelessly lost atleast once in your life.

7. I fangirled.. A lot.

Introducing me to a new fandom is never a good idea. I never just like or dislike something. I either

absolutely HATE IT TO THE POINT OF UTTER DISGUST (*cough cough* Twilight *cough cough*) or  I LOVE IT TO THE POINT OF UTTER DESPAIR.
And obviously I got hooked to Game of Thrones. It isnt really the best fandom to get initiated into especially if you have had a history of major misery with respect to fictional deaths.
Not to mention my already excruciating wait for Sherlock Season 3, Catching Fire and a bunch of other stuff too long to mention. This led to a virtually depressing summer.. in an awesome way.

8.I broke all sorts of records in the laziness department

Really. I was a combination of Snorlax and Kumbakaran all summer. Lying down and staring at my
ceiling pretty much made up my day.






9. I felt extremely accomplished in the littlest of ways

I kept daily goals and projects for myself, and felt pleased when I did them. Even if it was a sketch a day,  a few comic strips,  learning the Cups song from Pitch Perfect or perfecting a Brit accent, these little things really helped me feel good about myself in the end.

10. Ranted a lot about Tamil serials 

   I learnt a fair amount of  (not so good) Tamil phrases too.

and finally 11. Troubled my family to no end! 

My poor mummy. I really do love being pampered.

Now that my holidays are at an end, I have recouped and re energized myself for a long semester ahead, and I will excel in my own way!

Good luck for the new year guys! 

The Woes of a forced Tamil Serial Watcher

I couldnt resist the temptation to write this. Although discretion is advised lest I should be brutally

chastised by my poor grandmother whose only source of entertainment seems to be these atrocities.


There are several bones I have to pick with the people who produce these serials.

1.Firstly, the major lack of budget these people seem to have. Seriously, I ve seen amateur videos on
YouTube with better quality video and editing than the scenes you see here. Its like they have just discovered the software and some old man drunk on caffeine decided to take the reins and try every single feature possible, stuffing it into a single sequence.

2.Two, They couldnt afford boom mikes, hence they decide to dub the dialogues. Why does it not surprise me that they pick the most annoying, high pitched squealers whose voices go directly through your brain and crack your skull?

3.Three, the acting is terrible. barring like, 2 people in all the serials my folks watch (about 6 in one day :P ) they just refuse to show any reaction to anything. And is it a rule to never face the person when one speaks? Just try it, it is insanely uncomfortable, turning your back to a person while talking to them.

4.Then there is this , almost obligation to show everyone's reaction whenever something overly dramatic happens (which is pretty much always)
And the camera dosent even switch, they just pan over to each person's face, and make sure they get every single person's (about 10 people in the shot mind, you) reaction, which would range from absolutely scandalized to completely nonchalant (like seriously, there would be one guy who is just picking his nose in the scene ).

5.Then there is the terrible background music, long drawn out and extremely LOUD. Some random singing at a random scene accompanied by extremely overdone drums.

6.THE CRYING. It would pretty much sum up these serials. Slaps, tears , constipated faces and more tears.

7. No one really dies. People dying makes it interesting dont you think? ( *cough cough* Game of thrones *cough cough*) . If they do, its usually accompanied extremely loud and incredibly drawn out crying  sequences  which last atleast a week and feature extremely distraught random people who cant act for peanuts. Several suicide attempts occur though, all extremely uncreative, usually featuring a young woman whose marriage (arranged, in case you're wondering) got cancelled, downing a bottle of poison.
One particular scene springs to mind wherein a young lady, having just discovered the brutal truth about her fiance, decides to commit suicide.
So, she runs dramatically to her room and bolts the door, and starts searching frantically in her bedside drawers. Firstly, which house has completely empty night stand drawers?
After opening a few empty drawers, she opens a drawer containing only a bottle clearly labelled POISON which she downs in one go. The circumstances leading to that were as convenient as if one was to find a fully cooked four course dinner in a Masterchef Drawer. Honestly, do they even have script writers?

8. Next is the almost blatant use of stereotypes. The young, saree clad woman with hair neatly pinned and flowered who decides to stay home and look after family? yup she is definitely a good person.
The modern woman in jeans? stay away from her shes the serial's villain.
Also the fact that each serial involves an annoying police inspector and an arranged marriage gone wrong seems quite tiring to the watchers.


I have several more rants but that seems quite sufficient dont you think? It may seem quite hypocritical to be writing so much about a show I so obviously condemn, but it is pure entertainment to watch such bad television. I m sticking to Sherlock and Game of Thrones, people.

Oh nothing much, Just a write-up on Villains.

My topics do get stranger and stranger, but I ve been meaning to write this for a while.
Let's get straight to the basics:
Just what is a villain anyway?
Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines a villain as "A cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime;who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot." 

My definition of a villain is an individual who from the reader's point of view , is counter-active to the mission of the plot.
Although, if not by definition, but by thought process, I wouldnt classify the Lannisters (A Song of Ice and Fire) as villains per se, would you?

Fine, that has been taken care of.
I ve been reading up, and I stumbled across the AFI List of 100 greatest villains. It got me thinking. What makes a great villain? Why makes a great villain? ( Oh you know what I mean)

How do you go about becoming one? and how do you kill them?

Firstly, Why? No one is born evil, they have to embrace it.
The largest cause is generally childhood trauma. A burning Vendetta, perhaps?
Then there is greed. Greed transforms people into crazed maniacs. 

What makes a great villain?
A great villain is one who can instill great fear into an individual , but at the same time can be admired by a large portion of the human population.

I dont want to go into major details, merely stating a few observations I have made.

Go through the classifications I ve made below.. Can you classify all the villains you know into these? 

I would say by experience, Villains can be broadly (very broadly, you see, villains are mysterious creatures) classified into three:

1. The Skilled Leader

I would say the most common form of villain: It generally consists of a single individual, who, by virtue of their own abilities ( As they are generally skilled in some form of combat, making

them formidable in themselves, or are just very persuasive) have managed to collect a large number of followers , brainwashed ( or threatened) to join their cause.

Motives: Generally a kingdom, Power, or immortality. This of course, gives these villains a weakness wherein they are afraid for their own lives. They are willing to throw their followers into the fire if it means that their own lives be spared, and seldom like to get their hands dirty. You can guess that makes them quite unpopular. These villains are also weakened by the fact that they usually need their followers to make a dent in the world, but can also take you down in a battle quite easily if they have to. 

Major examples include: Lord Voldemort( Harry Potter), The White Witch (The Chronicles of Narnia) , Dr.Facilier (The Princess and the frog) , Scar (The Lion King) , Pitch (Rise of the Guardians)

And to a certain extent, Loki (Thor).

2. The Mercenary 

This kind of villain is generally focussed on a single goal, and would do anything to achieve it.    

They generally avoid followers, mostly because they would like to do everything on their own, but if an ally brings them closer to the thing they want, they will accept help. 

They are scary because they usually dont let anything get in their way. One-on-one combat can generally prove fatal as well, as they are quite skilled adversaries. 

They usually arent very smart, but there are many exceptions to this rule. 

I have noticed that female villains tend to dominate this category, nothing is more dangerous than a woman on a mission wouldn't you say? 

Motives: Generally, a single, burning passion: Eternal beauty, death of their enemy, the last pizza slice. 

Major examples include: The Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves), Mother Gothel (Tangled) , Ursula (The Little Mermaid), Bane (Batman series), Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) , Bowser(?)(Mario) , Darth Vader (Star Wars) , Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek). 

3. The Psychopath

These are, in my opinion, the most dangerous kind of villains, and also the best liked. These are men (and women) who just do not care what the outcome of their carnage is, or whether it works at all. They dont care if the attempt kills them, as long as they get their job done.
This makes them especially formidable because they dont fear for their lives, and hence would go to extreme lengths to get it done. They may not be very skilled in combat, in fact may have little or no fighting skills.Their weapon is their extreme intelligence, and their sly talking skills.

 But they are feared the most just because there is just no reasoning with them, no bargains, no blackmail. They dont really care for their followers either. Its all part of the fun. 

Motives: Its fun. They are bored, you see, or merely hungry. Anything to make life interesting.

Major examples include: The Joker (Batman series), Jim Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes- I see this more in the BBC version) and of course, Hannibal Lector ( Silence of the Lambs )  

I would classify Loki in here too, but partly. 

I obviously couldn't include all the villains I know, that would just take a bit too long.

Villains are important, they give the protagonist a purpose in our stories, and most protagonists feel incomplete without the good old fashioned villain dont they?
Take the case of Perry and Doofenshmirtz.
But you mustn't judge them too hard, after all,

Villains are people too.

My Top-10 Heart Wrenching Animation moments

Been doing a lot of thinking lately about genuine emotion that movies bring out.. and I have this conviction that animated movies bring out (if not the most) a lot of emotion into its work, and cause many a tear in various eyes... So here I have compiled my Top 10 list of moments in Animated cinema which make me cry every single time... The title contains a link to the scene I am talking about.. just in case you want your day ruined with feels :3 .

10. Try to bring Ash back. (Mewtwo Strikes Back- 1998)

 Im sure all of you know what I am talking about. The great Mew-Mewtwo faceoff, Ash getting caught in the middle and turning to stone, AND PIKACHU TRYING TO REVIVE HIM AHHH.
 It has got to be the saddest 3 minutes in Pokemon History. I remember crying buckets over this scene as a kid. OH THE FEELS.


9. Kitty says goodbye (Monster's Inc- 2001)

There was so much emotion in a movie devoted to monsters and frightening experiences. Kitty has to go, love.








8.WALL-E? (WALL-E- 2008)
Its funny how a Robot consisting of just EYES can express more emotion than Kristen Stewart.
This movie has a lot of feeling, and the scene when Eve fixes WallE only to have him forget her is heart breaking to any robotic soul.

7.Brother Bear, I let you down. ( Brother Bear- 2003)

Disney sure likes single parents and orphans dont they?

This scene wherein Kenai confesses to Koda that he killed his mother is soul shattering and tear -inducing. If seeing a cute and tiny bear cub cry dosent tear you up, they add a heart wrenching song to accompany it. Evil Disney.

Not sure if everyone remembers this movie. I feel this is one of the more underrated films they've made, because I personally feel it is fabulous. Great animation, beautiful scenary and goosebump-inducing music to accompany the magnificent emotion felt between two bears who are brothers at heart. 

6. Baby, Mine. (Dumbo- 1941)

Dumbo misses his mother, and surprise surprise, Disney decides to make a 3 minute song sequence to kill everyone who dares watch this movie.

Giving heart breaking feels through generations, I present to you DISNEY!

5. When Somebody Loved Me. ( Toy Story 2- 1999)

How much can a song make you cry? The makers of Toy story 2 shouted "LETS TEST THAT THEORY" with all the heartless enthusiasm only these people can have. The story of how Jessie was replaced when Emily grew up is soul wrenching and heart exploding to say the least. And her expression when Emily gave her away?

Why would you do that to us Pixar?

4. Bambi's mom dies. (Bambi- 1942)

Talk about Childhood Trauma.

 His Helplessness just kills you inside.

Sssshhh, dont tell Phoebe.

3. Andy gives his toys away (Toy Story 3- 2010) 

I would say this is a good sort of crying. It was like Pixar was telling us, thank you folks, you have

grown up with Andy and shared Woody's adventures, its now time to grow up and face the world.
The final act of Andy giving his toys away churns up a wave of nostalgia that hits you harder than a hurricane in Florida.
Its time to go to college, kids.Time to give your Toys away.This scene affects me to the point that I stopped listening to "You got a Friend in me" for fear of dissolving into a pit of feels.

2.Mufasa's Death ( The Lion King- 1994)

Yup, If you werent sad enough, I bring this up.
We just watched good ol' Mufasa fall to his death from the Canyon of Doom. Oh look, theres Simba.
HE TRYS TO WAKE HIM UP AND THEN SLEEPS UNDER HIS PAWS LOOK AT HIM HE IS SMALL AND CONFUSED AND DEVASTATED WHY MUST YOU TAUNT ME SO DISNEY. WHYYYYYYY. Well, you have all seen it. you know what I mean. This one scene can make full grown groups of people weep their hearts out. That is the power of these people. 

Havent recovered from his death yet, Just saying. 

1. Carl and Ellie ( UP- 2008) 

It is said that Pixar came up with a four minute sequence with no dialogue which was a better love story than Twilight. They were absolutely right of course. They take you through Carl's life and his happiness as a married man only to plunge you into the darkest depths of hell by killing off his one true love. All that, without fulfilling her desire of going to Paradise falls.

Apparently, the original script featured Carl using his balloons to fly into the sky to join his wife up there, before the Pixar people realised it just might be a tad too sad.
Woah, hold up on the Childhood trauma, people.

Wow. I seem to have left out Dreamworks completely havent I? There are several other sad moments I can think of but which dont fit in a top 10 list. Feel free to point out any which I have missed!

Be right back, in a corner crying my eyes out. 

What did I want to say?

Now I understand Poor Dory's frustration too. A Must Watch people! I would't say it is Nolan's best, but his revolutionary methods are awe-inspiring.

What if you realise that everything you remember is a lie? Or worse, you dont?  What if I told you that you remembered it that way because I told you so. I prompted that memory, when it wasnt actually there. What you think is fact may actually be false. That is the bit that scared me the most.

What a transient thing memory is. How well can you rely on your mind? Do you remember what you had for breakfast yesterday? How about the day before that? How about today 5 years ago? Do you remember the last significant place you were? The day you visited the Pyramids? Do you recall exactly what it looked like? The smell of the sand? The heat on your face?

How did get here?

This movie made me think a lot. It scared me too. It was so beautifully taken and now I understand why it irks people so when we compare it to its Bollywood ripoff, Ghajini. There was no comparison. In Ghajini they take you on this drawn out hellish journey  on how he meets his wife in the first place and then creates a good (not) old fashioned villain to kill his wife. No spoilers for Memento but they obviously handled it much better without boring us with details of courtship.

Where Am I?

It features two timelines, one in proper chronological order in black and white, giving the audience clues to try to piece together the movie into a jagged whole and the other in colour, featuring clips with the sequences backwards, to try to make the audience understand Leonard's condition.

Imagine forgetting all that you know. Imagine not knowing the difference between what is real, and

what is not. All sounds rather dramatic dosent it? Well, these are the things that happen to Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce)  in the movie Memento (2000). An accident to the head causes him to develop Short term memory loss which means that he forgets what has happened in the previous 12 minutes.. now, what was it I was talking about?  The movie is mind-blowing albeit a little difficult to understand.
Yes,I just saw Memento. I sincerely thank my friends for prompting me to see this. Mindblowing.

Now, read this backwards. Multiply your initial frustration 1000 times and you begin to understand a little how it is to watch Memento. You're welcome. 

My Top-10 Must watch Animated Movies

With the influx of "Must watch movie lists" floating around.. I feel its only apt as Self appointed Animated movie critic to create a list of my own.. I try to be as unbiased as possible and try to keep the fact that these pretty much shaped my childhood out of my judgement. I have taken several things into account, namely the actual animation itself, the voice acting, the Score and Story, the impact etc.

Note: Spirited Away isnt on this list simply because I havent seen it.. I recommend watching it because it is first on IMdb for a reason.

#10- Rise of the Guardians(2012)

 Ok, before you jump down my throat, hear me out. Aimed towards younger audiences, I do not expect people my age to appreciate it as much. But I have several reasons for it being on this list.

Firstly The ANIMATION. Sitting in the theatre I could almost reach out and let the enigmatic sand, designed to inject your mind with the loveliest of dreams, flow through my fingers. And I wasnt watching it in 3D. I felt the chill of the ice, the terror in the Guardians' eyes and the Charming evil that was Pitch ( the Bogeyman) run through my spine. Plus Jack Frost is hot xD

And then there is the Story. You realise that they are summing up our greatest Childhood fantasies and dreams into 90 mins of film. And I think they have done so brilliantly. Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, The Sandman , Jack Frost. The concept of good vs evil in times where kids no longer believe,  beautifully summarised in a way which relives your childhood and makes you, as an adult, want to believe.




#9- UP (2009)

 Tears. Tears. Tears,
Heart-wrenching story, Lovable characters and beautiful soundtrack.
Need I say more?







#8- Corpse Bride (2005)

  Tim Burton's Stopmotion feature is truly mindblowing. The nightmarish concept so characteristic of his films coupled by dark humour and wonderful  music places it on  my list.
The amount of patience required in creating these characters, moving them minutely each time to create the final product. Truly commendable.

#7- Finding Nemo (2003)

 Actually Im surprised I havent placed it higher; The beautiful story of a father's search for his son
through treacherous waters in the Great Barrier Reef has captured the hearts of many since it first released in 2003.  Coupled with the amazing voice-giving of Ellen Degeneres ( who arguably has created the most well-liked character in Animation today) this movie leaves bubbles of emotion in your heart long after the credits are done rolling off the screen.

#6- How To Train Your Dragon. (2010)

 Admit it, theres not much to hate in this movie. Special mention to the beautiful animation and rendition of the dragon soaring across a diamond-studded sky. Makes you want to own one dosent it?
Also the book of dragons. The artwork in it is beautiful.
Relatable characters, amazing scenery and a wonderful soundtrack places this at  #6!

#5- Tangled/Brave- (2010/2012)

I placed both together for the AMAZING ANIMATION OF THEIR HAIR! It is said that each individual strand of Merida's scarlet tresses was animated separately and a special software was created to bring Rapunzels famous locks to life.




Tangled is a compilation of all the good things we havent seen for a long time in the Disney Princess movies. The adorable Rapunzel, her childlike curiosity and  feistiness with her frying pan, Pascal who
has got to be the cutest sidekick ever , Maximus, who honestly has more expressions than Kristen Stewart and of course FLYNN FREAKIN RIDER AKA EUGENE HOTNESS FITZHERBERT.
I mean, that one piece of animation perfection has altered my perceptions of men to such an extent that I ll probably wont be finding one anytime soon. The bar has been raised too high.
Believable story, memorable villain, amazing voice giving and Beautiful music, combined with what has got to be THE most romantic scene in movie history (the lanterns btw), Is it no wonder that it is placed so high?

Brave's animation brought tears to my eyes. The breath-taking Scottish Glens so perfectly rendered by the hands of God himself brought to the screen in all its glory, the characters done so we detect every
subtle expression change and brilliant voice giving combined with a glorious soundtrack which gave me chills. This movie isnt placed higher for the only reason that I could not stomach the gaping holes in its plotline, and the fact that its trailer was the most misleading one I have seen so far. Plus Merida is kind of a brat. We all agree :P

#4- Wreck-It-Ralph (2012)

To be honest, this one deserved the Oscar more than Brave did. The concept was GENIUS. Pure Genius. Video game characters moving around and having adventures? I was mindblown with the animation
And face it, the characters are ADORABLE. Well rounded,with their own backstories and personalities, its hard to hate any one of them. The story had enough plot twists to keep it interesting and enough heart to keep it engraved in our souls for a while.
amount of thought put into this movie. Small details like villain gatherings in Pacman country and a volcano consisting of Coke and Mentos stalactites made me want to cry , overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of the minds of these animators.

#3- Fantasia (1940)

Think of the context in which this movie was produced. 1940, with the concept of Animated features still in the cradle and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs still lingering in everyones minds as a revolution in the movie industry, Disney decides to do something out of this world. Make an animated movie completely coordinated to music.  The artists rendition of their perception of the music, transitioned from Ear to Paper is truly commendable. Imagine the difficulty in syncing the traditional drawing to the music , the problems in translating the tune into the screen, and still capture our imagination so perfectly.
And lets not forget the fact that The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence is widely used today.
True Brilliance is seen only in the time of the Greats is it not?

#2- The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Proof that Imdb is severely flawed. This film deserves a rating in the 8-9 region. I cant fault it.
Ok, Jeffrey Katzenburg is a traitor for leaving Disney and going to Dreamworks, but hey if it brought this quality of film I shouldn't complain.
 The characters are animated to perfection, the Egyptian scenery glorious to the point of Godly.  and the Soundtrack, oh how it brought on the goosebumps, the chills and the tears!
The architecture and context of Ancient Egypt so wonderfully put, breathtaking landscapes , coupled with music which became a household tune irrespective of the Lord you believe in!

 The story of Moses could not have been put in a better way as it was rendered in this magnificent film. A must watch!

#1- The Lion King (1994) 

Call me incorrigibly biased, but seriously, no one with half a brain and a trickle of a childhood has not seen Lion King today. From its iconic beginning, (The Circle of Life sequence which made me jumo out of my skin every single time), to its chill-inducing conclusion, it is virtually impossible to find anything wrong with this movie. Again, Jeffret Katzenburg, however unpopular he might have been, proves his quality. Ironically, this movie was produced by Disney's
team B because they didnt expect this movie to succeed! (Meanwhile,Team A consisting of the genius of Glen Keane and Alan Menken worked on Pocahontas.)

Oh werent they proven wrong!
The animation, flawless, the research without loopholes ( the team traveled to parts of Africa and even had visits in the studios by live Lions and Cubs) and the character development amazing. Based on Shakespeare's Hamlet and featuring the voices of Matthew Broderick ( Inspector Gadget, Godzilla), Jeremy Irons (Eragon, Beautiful Creatures), James Earl Jones(Dr.Strangelove, Star Wars), Rowan Atkinson (Bean, Johnny English)  and Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act) who brought life to these characters, this movie carried the momentum of the Disney Renaissance (initiated by The Little Mermaid in 1989) forward to new heights.

The heart in this movie is unrivalled. I mean, come on, there is no age bar to weeping buckets when Mufasa dies or laughing your heads off to Timon and Pumbaa's shenanigans. The lessons taught in this movie ( Learn from your past, dont hide from it, etc) stay with us as we grow, and these lessons we will pass on to our kids when the time comes.

The soundtrack, beautifully composed by Hans Zimmer and Elton John, features music that will stay in our hearts forever and ever and have us humming its tunes for years to come!

Well now, Hakuna Matata, and I Just Cant Wait To Watch it Again!

Is it any wonder I wouldnt eat without this movie on the screen as a kid?

And there you have it. My list of must watch Animated Features , well thought out and expressed to you here. Sorry it is a bit long, but passion has no word limit. 

Why Benedict Cumberbatch is ruling the internet.

Yes, I have finally gotten down to writing this. With the release of Star Trek: Into darkness and the anticipation ( to put it mildly; in reality it is the slow and bloody torture of our mindless souls churning into the dust of utter pain) of Sherlock series 3, I feel it is only apt for his sheer awesomeness to be brought to light. Then for the benefit of all you cumberbitches out there..( yes that is what his fans are called.) I shall compile a list of movies and shows wherein dear dear Ben has featured.

So lets begin.

Top 5 Reasons to love Benedict Cumberbatch

5.He is British

I honestly think thats reason enough. With his swoonworthy accent and impeccable manners, its hard to hate anyone who makes a scandalized face on hearing his phone ring during an interview.



4. His eyes (and his cheekbones) 

There is a whole website dedicated to Ben's eyes for Pete's sake, ( much better than the one dedicated to Katy Perry's Armpits, just saying) . I mean, they seem to change colour as you look at them, and they seem to contain every hue known to man, and some unknown. It feels like you are staring into the  universe; infinite aspects of beauty.
Glasz: (adj) The most beautiful and magical colour ever. Glasz eyes seem to constantly change colour from blue, green, gray and yellow.
Lets not forget his cheekbones. He needs a BAFTA for those. They look like they can cut you by looking at them.

3. He is freaking adorable

I mean, honestly. When asked what he would want to become, he said a lightsaber. The man wants to BECOME a lightsaber. He wonders why anyone wouldn't want to go

His life goals and morals are exemplary, he has the ideals of an angel and the heart of a child. He is as normal and weird as the rest of us, more human than most of the celebrities out there. We can relate to this man in several levels of craziness.

Shall I let the gifs do the talking? 

2.His acting

His versatility is commendable, whether he play a grumpy son, a high functioning sociopath or a hardcore villain. This is the actor who can cry on command and make us feel the pain in his heart and rip our souls apart.  He is perfectly capable of reverting from murderous psychopath to a person who is on the side of the angels ( but not one of them) .
We fell in love with him in Sherlock, and we are prepared to hate him in Star Trek ( but love him anyway).



1.HIS VOICE.

If I were on my deathbed, my one request would be to have Benedict Cumberbatch read to me at my bedside in all his deep-voiced glory. He sounds like the pearls of rain dropping from the heavens; a rumble from the bottom of the ocean and from the deepest, darkest parts of the forest, with dew on the grass and mist in the air. It also sounds like pure chocolate dripping off your fingers onto a plate of brownies and icecream. In short; all things good.
  With this imagery in mind,it is no surprise that his voice also can cause erotic eargasms which can make anyones eardrums swoon.
I think I ve said enough?

 Selected Benedict Cumberbatch filmography ( why not watch these while waiting for Sherlock?) 
1 Atonement- Paul Marshall
2. Marple: Murder is Easy - Luke Fitzwilliam
3. Third Star- James
4. Tinker Tailor Solider Spy- Peter Guillam
5. War Horse- Major Jamie Stewart
6. Star Trek: into Darkness- Khan

He has also featured in several tv shows but one I saw was Fortysomething starring Hugh Laurie as Ben's dad and it was quite good, and also obviously Sherlock which started this whole "Benomenon" in the first place :3

And this is why this amazing man leaves destruction and debris in his wake (specially on tumblr) and will probably continue to do so many years into the future.

Here's to a year of Uni. - 8th May 2013

It's been a freaking year already. Either time has dilated in my head or im just growing wonderfully old.  Well, with one year of University already behind me (despite the fact that the last day of the 12th Boards is fresh in my mind like it happened yesterday) I guess I can safely say (notice the contradiction) that Ive learnt a lot.

Where do I begin? One year of blood, sweat and tears, mastering the art of last minute submissions ( which in Singlish is called "chionging"(v)- ability to sit overnight and work superhard to get your work done on time.), brutally honest tutors and disappointments, I learnt some major things which one only gets from taking Architecture:

1.You will never have enough time for anything

Remember that painting you wanted to finish, or that booklist you had pending? well, throw it out the

window right now coz you aint finishing nuthin'.
Same goes for your academic work as well.

Its true, be it 3 days, 3 weeks or even 3 months. You will never feel satisfied with the amount of effort you have put into your work, despite a week's worth of sleepless nights and the Dead Sea's worth of Coffee (notice the capitalization; Coffee has achieved Godly status in my books)

There is always room for improvement; however perfectly you have achieved your work, there will always be someone who is better, there is always ways wherein you can add to it.
Never stop striving for perfection.

2.Be thick-skinned

I learnt this the hard way. Tutors in Archi are brutally honest to the point of being just plain rude. Learn to take it in your stride and think of it as a suggestion to improve.
oh when it doubt, always strive to be a cat. That always helps :3

3.(stolen from my friend on fb) Duct tape and potted plants solve a lot of construction problems

Things to take away.

Passion.

 I realised how important passion is for this world to function. Having met the one person I deem truly passionate about his work I realised just how vital it is for us to do what we are doing, and do it well.

The value of friendship

I think this was my biggest fear when I entered Uni. I was scared I wouldnt make friends, or rather not make good ones. I know everyones definition of "good" differs, but atleast most of my definition was fulfilled when I met these amazing people I call my friends. Funnily enough, I was scared I would meet people not as crazy as my school friends, who are the most beautiful set of nutcases I have ever met, but this lot come astonishingly close. Cheesy one-liners, Sitcom moments and amazing memories

accumulated in this one year alone, enough to fill a book.
What use is life without madness? and Im so glad I met that requirement here too. Terrified that people wont accept me for my crazy mood swings and weird tastes, imagine my surprise and delight when I meet people here with the same obsessions of Disney and Harry Potter, major feels for Sherlock and movies in general,
Hell yeah, my seniors are freaking amazing too. Its hard not to be in awe of a bunch of people who go for Lion King 3D for someones 19th (20th not sure) birthday and still cry buckets during Mufasa's death.

Friends keep you going, they give you the moral support which your family cannot, being so far away, and hell, you become just one big HAPPY FAMILY in hostel. Something I am so thankful for.

Three words- PARTI-CI-PATION. (ok, one word) 

Participation can make you discover things about yourself that you never knew; for example, the fact that you can make friends really fast and easily, the fact that you are absolute PRO at Dumb charades and pictionary and the fact that you can imitate people really easily.
Also the fact that you love participating. This will compel you to involve yourself every single time :)
And its all worth the while.


So lets raise a glass ( pepsi, please,) to an eventful (trying to be as diplomatic as possible) year and to smooth sailing in the years to come. Thanks everyone.
 Oh and juniors, cant wait for those to arrive (*insert evil laugh here*)
    

Movies That made me think- Part 1

This week, while battling with the truckloads of work I had for studio, I had the opportunity ( I was making my model, hence I was multitasking, hence I was not slacking) to watch a few movies. Four in particular made me think a lot, and these thoughts I want to share with you here.. There will be spoilers, just warning you guys in advance. Im not reviewing these movies, only picking up on certain aspects which intrigued me. All these movies are bloody amazing, and I highly recommend watching them.
I shall be covering two movies in this post, lest I should make it so long that nobody reads it till the end. In order of my watching them-

1. Never Let Me Go (2010)- Starring Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan.

  

This movie, based on a novel by the same name, is centred around three friends who are from a particular school, a school created for raising children, cloned for the sole purpose of donating organs to the sick, until they "complete". 

So these kids are basically raised for slaughter. Little mercy is shown whilst they remove their organs, because they do not have the fear of losing the donor. Any organ can be donated this way. 

What scared me about this movie was the fact that it was so damn believable. It was so easy to believe that there were schools out there, cloning children, raising them to see them die before their time.
Makes you question humanity dosen't it? 

This movie also pulls in the concept of young love, and the pain of losing someone you love. also the agony of hopes crashing, that little flame which glowed inside your heart for so short a time before it is cruelly snuffed out. It also speaks of acceptance. At the end, the main protagonist (who is also narrating these incidents) has accepted her fate; and she has accepted the fact that she lost the love of her life but that she isnt far behind. 

Imagine going through your life knowing when you are going to die.  Would you make it count? 

I think the luckiest ones are the ones who die in full acceptance, without a twinge of regret or fear or happiness in the fact that they are dying. 

At the end of the day though, how much different is the life of the person you are saving? A life for a life? Is the worth of one life much more than another? How is the fate of the receiver any different from the donor's after we all "complete"? 

That is a question worth asking. 

2.An Education ( 2009)- Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Saarsgard, Emma Thompson. 

This is a British coming- of-age tale of a sixteen year old schoolgirl who gets seduced by a man nearly twice her age. Apart from the fact that this movie would make any self-respecting parent want to lock their daughters up in their rooms for all eternity, it does raise a few thoughts.

The point is, Jenny ( Carey Mulligan) is fed up of her dreary repetitive life, days of toil to fulfill her father's dream of her getting into Oxford. She longs to see the world and experience it; the sights, the smells, the sounds, the excitement of parties, meeting famous people, going to Paris and so on. So naturally when she meets this man who can give her all these things, she falls for him. She does get to experience these things, but after they get engaged, she finds out that he is already married. Her heart is broken, and she resolves to work harder in school and university and live her life the right way,

Ok my thoughts now: Consider the title itself. There is a line in the movie wherein Jenny says " I feel old, but not very wise." implying that she has been through a lot, and the experiences she had now make her feel very foolish. But think about it, what is the value of the education she received form this experience? She was allowed to involve herself in the activities she had only dreamed of, but also learnt the pain of heartbreak and suffered for it. This experience made her wiser than school ever did. Through this experience she realises the value of school and a degree. 

There is also a scene in the movie where she is having an argument with her headmistress who says that studying is hard and boring. Jenny then wonders if the whole point of education was to be bored her whole life. 

We study so much, and do so much work everyday..All for what? If we die the moment we graduate, its the things we do before that which matter.  I may be contradicting myself at this point, but it is a question that has irked me for years.. when does all this work actually matter?  

So i guess what we take away from this is: Make your work matter. When you die, you mustn't go with any form of regret. Love your work, and love the good times, too.

Make life matter, peeps.   

Keep an eye open for Part 2 folks! It will feature The Breakfast Club and Patch Adams. 

Have an awesome weekend :)