Oxford Murders

Oxford Murders is a sheer classic movie. The script is the standout hero of the movie but the performances of the actors too are brilliant and I genuinely applaud them for making the story so effective. The credits in the movie are French but the dialogues are English, the French directors and writers have got excellent command over English.

I think this is one of the finest psychological thriller movies I’ve watched, even better than “The Imitation Game.” I haven’t heard any examples of psychological thriller movies in past and I just felt to give these credentials to these two movies because they just mesmerize your mind. It is an excellent supplement for literature junkies and needless to say a must watch movie.

The central characters in the movie are Professor Arthur Seldom (Aged guy), Martin (a young student pursuing doctoral thesis at Oxford), Mrs. Eagleton (Aged woman), Beth Eagleton (daughter of the former one), Peterson (Police Officer).

Arthur Seldom is wacky mathematician who has conceived some very complex theory about truth of the life and then try make its mathematical model. He explained some logical series and stating the examples of people having belief that fluttering of wings by butterfly would cause hurricanes on the other side of the world but no one can predict the storms just by simply studying the movements of butterfly. So, philosophy is entirely illogical and therefore futile in every sense according to him.

Seldom’s explanations were very complex and I regret to say that I failed to completely understand them. Mrs. Eagleton’s legs seem to have been amputated and installed artificial limbs. She has got cancer and 5 years ago doctors had declared she can maximally live 6 months more but her daughter Beth takes great care of her and she’s still alive. Beth and her mother live alone in the house and Martin; a foreign student lives like a paying guest there at Eagleton’s. Beth and her mother’s conversations are sour and envious, Beth who is blossoming of beauty and passion in her youth is longing for liberty from caring her mother. Beth seeks a compassion from Martin but Martin is unaware of that. Mrs. Eagleton was part of the team that deciphered the German Enigma machine. The team mostly consisted cryptographers and mathematicians and so she knew Arthur Seldom, the mathematician whom Martin worshiped.

Mrs. Eagleton is murdered, asphyxiated by a cushion. Professor Seldom and Martin both reached at the scene together and they are interrogated by the police. The Professor Seldom was a very unsocial man, he rarely went to visit anyone and just confined himself to his research. He accounted for his visit that he had received a clue that indicated that something was going to happen with Mrs. Eagleton. He said that he threw away the paper which bore the clue and said that it had a circle on it. He told police and Martin that he had conceived a theory that most serial killer’s murders are based on same pattern and can be connected with a logical series. He had received a clue of the murder and so he deduced that murderer wanted to attract his attention and accept that he’s intelligent than him. There is next murder and police receive a clue of it in form of symbol of part of two circles intersecting each other, there is another murder and a clue of triangle is found. It all comes down to solving the logical series and thence stop the murder. During all these incidents, Seldom keeps on confusing the viewers and Martin with his mathematical modulation of murders and logic series. He tells several tales of classic murders and how his friend became lunatic after trying so hard much to decipher the logic series or mathematical theory of some kind.

To stop the murders, Seldom publishes his assumption of next symbol of the logical series of the clues given by the murderer and acknowledges his genius. But still the fourth murder takes place, this time Martin was able to figure out the correct symbol of logical series and he warned the police of the location and targeted people but still police couldn’t stop it.

At last the viewers are given a conclusion as to how did everything take place and how everything was presented as highly planned murder which actually took place on the spur of moment. It was just the brains who looked to fathom it very deep but was relatively simple, but that seems to happen to everyone once they’ve solved the problem. The important detail is the first one that it happened on spur of moment and murderer had no future plans and just randomly connected the dots. Yes, it was all a product of Seldom’s brain. He did not kill anyone but just made a theory to help hide the Beth’s real crime of murdering her mother. He just took pains to place clues with two deaths to show them to be murders.

The manner of flow of story is awesome and I really liked this movie.

The Revenant Synopsis

The Revenant

Revenant Movie is a pilgrimage into human predicament. The Argentinian Alejandro Innaritu has delivered another masterpiece as a director after Birdman. The movie is set in beautiful Alaska and its biting cold storms and freezing glaciers and grizzly bears and yaks captives the audience. Amidst this natural beauty the human emotions too have been described elegantly. It shows how humans can endure heights of pain and sustain through awkward conditions to survive.

Leonardo Di Caprio’s actions speak louder than the words and his performance truly deserves the Oscar. He has very few dialogues in the movie but the action sequences performed with bear and Fitzgerlad (One of their clan member) seem very real and are one of the best I’ve ever seen with hardly any exaggeration at all.

Glass (Leonardo) is an English American and their community have fierce rivalry with native American Indians. The Americans hunt the bears and yaks to get their pelts(Fur) while Americans they are more interested in getting horses which are a good means of transportation in snow laden Alaska. In the beginning we witness that Indians have attacked on Americans’ camp and in this process Americans suffer heavy life loss and they abandon their camp and flee to their boats. The Indians have an upper hand due to home ground advantage and their arrows overpower the American guns. Only 10-12 Americans could make it to the boat and rest of them perished and Glass and his son Hawk are one the lots. But they know that Indians won’t spare them so easily and so after some time they quit the boat and went into forest. Glass(Leonardo) is the most proficient among them and he’s the one guiding them back to their community settlement.

In the forest Leonardo is attacked by a bear. He fought bravely with the bear and managed to kill it but in the process he too got very severe wounds. His team members found him under the recumbent bear and gave him some medical aid. They carry him on wooden sticks and take care of him for few days. An injured person is a liability and they cannot afford to be slowed down or else they may all get killed. So they part into two teams and one of the teams goes without Glass and other team consisting of Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), Hawk and Bridger (a teenage boy) are supposed to carry Glass with them and they’ll be awarded some $300 for doing this job. The greedy Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) wasn’t interested in keeping Glass alive and carrying back. So in the middle of their journey, he told Glass that it was next to impossible that he’ll survive and for the sake of his son he should die so that they can make it home. He asked Glass to wink his eyes and consent him to kill Glass (Glass was in no state to utter a word) Glass winked and so Fitzgerald began strangulating him but Hawk saw him doing that. He started shouting but Fitzgerald stabbed him and hid him away. Glass saw all this and he was filled with rage but he was helpless. Fitzgerald informs Bridger (teenage boy) that he’d seen Indians by the river and they should leave immediately. He told that they’ll have to leave Glass here and there’s no sign of Hawk anywhere. Bridger protests that they can’t leave Glass and also they agreed to give him proper burial lest he should die in the way. Fitzgerald just drags the Glass and puts him into pit and puts some mud on to him while he was still alive. Fitzgerald’s character embodies the selfish human nature and it stinks in him profoundly during the entire movie.

Now, begins the revival of Glass, he somehow manages to get up from the mud and crawl to the river. He’s feeling very cold and to escape from it he does an unbelievable thing. He rubs some gunpowder on to his neck and then lits a fire to it. How disgusting is that but still in such suffering he’s able to think like that, it’s just superb. He’s constantly recalls the happy times with his family and the words of her wife which motivate him to keep the hope. “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight”, “When there is a storm and you stand in front of a tree, if you look at its branches you’ll swear it’ll fall but if you look at its trunk you’ll see the stability.” These are simple but powerful lines and I guess the writers must have struggled to use simple vocabulary in accordance of illiterate nature of the characters of the movie. It reminds me of perplexity of Javagal Srinath who had to bowl away from the stumps and avoid taking a wicket so that Anil Kumble could complete his 10 wicket haul in Delhi Test against Pakistan.

Glass is gets spotted at river by Indians and they start shooting at him. He plunges into the river and swims away from them. He does not die and manages to get on to the bank again. He stays there for a day perhaps; he catches a fish by making a fortification of stones in the shallow part of river. There he meets an Indian who’s killed a yak. He begs him to give him some food, he tells him that he’s injured and his friends had left him for dead. Indian shows mercy and gives him meat. I’d read in news that Leonardo had ate real liver in the movie to generate the genuine expression of bad taste and I think that was probably this scene only. (Hats off for his commitment) Indian decides to carry Glass with him as he too suffered from same pain as Glass did; the separation from the family. He helped to heal the Glass’s scars and left him. (Indian made a tent to provide protection from snowstorm and applied some herbs on to the scars, Glass perhaps woke up after 1 or 2 days). Glass is now capable of making journey to his home, he finds that French have camped nearby and he hides behind trees to escape their sight. He sought an opportune moment to steal a horse.

The French have obtained an Indian woman in exchange of 5 horses with native Indians. It again depicts the grave gender inequality for women are treated as means of entertainment and asset of trade. How can they leave half of our species behind in such purgatory. Leonardo sees a French fulfilling his carnal desires; he saves that woman and steals the horse from the French and flees away. After riding for maybe a few days he encounters the Indians on the way. They prove to be way powerful to him and in the desperate effort to save himself, he falls off the cliff with his horse. Hardly, he had been healed from the scars of bear, he’s met with another peril. Fortunately, he’s saved while his horse dies. There’s snowstorm and to save himself he cuts off the belly of horse and removes its innards to create a sleeping bag for him. He slept inside the horse’s belly till the storm was gone.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Bridger reached their settlement and they met the settlement captain Andrew Henry. Fitzgerald wanted his share of $300 and so they told him the false story of how Glass couldn’t make and they arranged a proper burial for him and they’d dig a pit, said a prayer and put a cross on his grave. Captain gave both of them their share, Fitzgerald gladly excepted it but Bridger did not. The guilt was eating Bridger and he seemed melancholy even in presence of his own people.

The other day at settlement, a man came asking for food and he showed them the can which belonged to Glass. He told them that he found it some few miles from their settlement and the Americans sent their team to rescue Hawk. (They thought it must be Hawk for he went missing and Glass was buried according to the story told by Fitzgerald)

Fitzgerald knew that it must be Glass for he himself had stabbed Hawk. He knew would be subjected to very harsh sentence if he will be caught and so after the rescue team went looking for Glass, he himself ran away whilst stealing captain’s all money and carrying necessary supplies and ammunition. The rescue team did not take long to find Glass and Captain furiously returned back to settlement to charge Fitzgerald only to find him escaped.

Bridger was put in jail but Glass during his conversation with Captain told Bridger to be innocent as Bridger himself was unaware of the fact that Hawk was stabbed and he was just following the orders. Glass asked Captain to allow him to accompany in the hunt of Fitzgerald. Glass was determined to take revenge and said, “he ain’t afraid of dying any more, he’s already done that.”

So, captain and Glass take their horses and go out in the ice laden mountains. Glass’s navigational skills hadn’t faded away and it didn’t take him long to track down Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, Captain encountered Fitzgerald first and he was shot dead. Glass had been on the other side during that time and he quickly came on the scene. Here on Glass played a classic deception. He carried the Captain and his horse along with him. He placed captain on the horse in such a posture as if he was riding the horse and Fitzgerald would think its Glass who’s riding; but Glass rode on the second horse hidden under fur. The deception worked successfully and Fitzgerald (Hidden in the bushes) took aim at riding captain and naturally the corpse fell down. He came closer to the site to verify his kill where Glass was patiently waiting for him. Glass shot him once Fitzgerald came there but he missed and Fitzgerald escaped. He gave a chase after him and they fight savagely. The most realistic fight sequence you’d have ever seen. Glass and Fitzgerald make several cuts on each other but at last Fitzgerald succumbs to defeat.

The movie has very subtle linings about human nature and instinct of survival and I’m mesmerized by such deep attention to details. The pain and hope are very palpable and I’m more inspired towards my goals of life.

Synopsis of Dil Dhadkne Do

Dil Dhadkne Do

Dil Dhadkne Do is one of the finest cinematic pieces of Bollywood. It’s better to categorize the genre of the movie as life rather than love and it brilliantly portrays the complexities of human relationships. I have observed that the movies based on love stories never have a concrete end especially those which begin with showing how the hero duo fell in love and Zoya Akhtar (Director and Writer) has almost dealt with this. The movie has got many fine layers and subtle hints about Human nature (Jealousy, Despondence, Happiness, Gaiety, Ambition, Love). I don’t think I’d be able to do complete justice with my description and would urge my readers to watch the movie and don’t under rate it at all by reading this. (It performed poorly at box office and critics too didn’t appreciate it so much)

The movie revolves around the life of the rich and modern Indian family of Mehras. Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor) and Nilam Mehra (Shefali Shah) are parents of Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) and Kabir (Ranveer Singh). Kamal Mehra is the owner of a big company Ayka and he wants his son to continue the lineage and become CEO. But Kabir has other longings and he likes to fly a plane, he’s an amateur pilot and frankly we expect the sons of rich father to be spoilt only but He’s not so spoilt and on neglecting his some of the traits I find his character a very intelligent and sentimental person.

Ayka company’s become bankrupt and its declining and Kamal is very tensed and he starts taking anti-anxiety pills whilst keeping his family in dark about it. He is not getting any support from other elites of his profession (He himself built the palace out of straw and twigs and so elite himself too) and now starts making a very hideous and unfair scheme to save his company. He wishes Lalit Sood (another rich businessman) to buy Ayka’s 49% shares and in exchange Kabir shall marry Sood’s daughter Noori whose engagement broke off and consequently she became a new topic for high society families to gossip and envy about.

It’s Kamal and Nilam’s 30^th wedding anniversary and they invite their friends and relatives to 10-day cruise voyage to Europe. Soods and Khannas (another businessman) are arch rivals and since Soods were invited at last moment and Khannas were kept oblivious of this information it becomes very suffocating and awkward situation for them as they cannot leave at the last moment.

The drama begins on the deck, Kamal addresses the guests on deck and expresses how he dearly he loves his wife, Ayesha and Kabir giggle at each other because this is very ironical, viewers too being cognizant of the fact that Kamal and Nilam fight with each other and are regret their relationship. It also throws light on human nature of being hypocrite, viewers too now become lucid of the fact that these rich people wear fake smiles and their every action is calculated and pre-planned. Kamal tries to get Kabir to acquaint with Noori so that he might make them fall in love and their wedding can be fixed and Ayka is saved.

Kabir is not at all interested in marrying Noori and he falls in love with Farah (Anushka Sharma) a dancer on the ship. They spend some time together and he learns how Farah struggled in her life after she left her parents when they didn’t approve her to become a stage artist. She fled from her home with £220 and lived all by herself. She chose to live her life by her own choice and didn’t allow herself to imprisoned by living for someone else’s expectations. 

Meanwhile Ayesha is dissatisfied with her husband Manav and her in laws. Ayesha herself is a businesswoman and is prodigious like her father and her company ranks among top 10 or 100 in Forbe’s list but Manav’s family wants her to give a child and quit the business. She demands divorce from him after meeting Sunny (Farhan Akhtar). Sunny was her best friend since the childhood and they were pretty much in love with each other. But Kamal sent him to US for higher studies and separated Ayesha from him so that she’d marry some rich bloke like Manav. We see Ayesha striving for dignity in her family and equal rights as Manav but she’s continually forbid of them and its explained that this is natural for woman. Sunny explains this point beautifully in one of the scenes.

Meanwhile, a fuss happens. Noori lies to her parents that she spent whole night with Kabir while actually she was with someone else and asks Kabir to keep this secret and Kabir complies to her request. Their parents start thinking of their marriage and they discuss it and Kabir too agrees to marry when asked by his parents and they agree not to sell his plane and give it to him. He just did this to spite his father and had already planned with Noori to break up after the engagement and she can then marry her beloved whom her parents won’t be accepting now but later they would.

In one of the days of trip, Kamal spots Noori with her lover and he understands that she’s not right choice for Kabir and their family reputation may be hampered by this wedding. They were on port this time and he’s baffled by this scene and he immediately goes on cruise and he receives heart attack while going to ship on ferry. Mehras are now really worried and they all stand together in this moment of crisis. Fortunately, the attack wasn’t fatal and Kamal receives timely medical aid and he’s alright. Kabir reveals to his father that he never intended to marry Noori and he played a cruel game to revenge him. He’s emotionally anguished at this moment and he tells that he’s not going to spoil his life for making this business deal with Soods. He also tells that Kamal and Nilam’s relationship wasn’t going on very good terms and they were just acting a happy couple in public. Kamal and Nilam are realize that they’ve actually made a mistake and they decide they’ll act in the interest of their children and forget the damn about the world.

Next we witness this reforms. Manav and Ayesha’s family discuss the divorce and blame Ayesha for betraying their investment in her company and destroying their family’s reputation in society. Next Manav tries to take Ayesha with her by force and Kamal bangs Manav to the wall and warns him not to touch his daughter or he shall rip Manav’s hand apart.

 Kabir on other hand learns that Farah (Anushka Sharma) has left the ship because she’s been fired from her job and she doesn’t believe that Kabir loves her after hearing about his marriage with Noori.

Kabir makes a very brave move to reach port to find back Farah (Anushka Sharma). He jumps off the ship and asks his parents to follow him on the life boat and drop him at the port before the cruise officials arrest him. The whole Mehra family is on lifeboat and they laugh and cherish for they are now free from their ego and greed. The movie ends on this note and Zoya Akhtar’s master stroke of giving Aamir Khan’s voice to dog and narrating the things about human nature works very effectively. Mehras are now bound together with love and they have realized this after a very long time.

I think an average viewer may need to watch this movie twice to understand its depth and even I’m not satisfied with one show but I can assure you, you’ll emerge enlightened and remain in thought about this movie for at least a day.

 Arrow Description

Hey friends. Today I had wonderful day in school as well as home. Today we did lot of parade in school and doing marching is just very fascinating. I feel like I'm soldier. I always had felt that soldier's life is a very difficult and proud one and not everyone has capability to live like that.

Now a days I'm watching series Arrow, World Wars and sometimes some movies.

I've been Arrow from season 1 right from beginning. Now I'm watching season 2. I like it a lot and it has become my second favorite series after Sherlock.

I've already described my love for Sherlock in my previous posts. Arrow doesn't go so deep like Sherlock although its one season comprises of 23 episodes. Most probably that is due to short episode duration. Stephen Amell has given wonderful performance and story presentation is wonderful.

Arrow is drama series which revolves around life of Oliver Queen i.e Stephen Amell. He spent five years on an island Lian Yun where he encountered various dangers which are beyond imagining.

After returning back to his home in Starling City he uses his father's list to take down those who have failed his city. For doing this he becomes vigilante who wears green hood to hide his identity. In beginning he does his vigilante activities alone but then he's partners with Diggle and Felicity who help him a lot and save his life a lot of times. 

I would narrate the remaining story in next post. See you tomorrow.

Comeback in blogging after interlude of 3 months

  Comeback Blog

It was very painful to stay away from blog for such a long period of time. I have convincing reasons too for that. I am preparing for JEE and any Indian student who has opted Science subject in standard 11 knows how time consuming and difficult it is to prepare for JEE.

I have never had such a life schedule in my life and it is frightfully tiresome. But this life thought somewhat difficult has given me and has been giving me some very fascinating experiences that I have never ever experienced before. I am starting to learn science in its real practical way. Physics though most difficult is the most interesting subject.

I wonder how Issac Newton formulated all the Laws of motion and gravitation with out the modern equipment we use today. Hats off to him.

If you were living in India as I do, you might be knowing that 5th September is celebrated as Teacher's Day and we have to present a skit and unfortunately we aren't getting any which will suit the occasion. I mean we need a humorous skit but not vulgar. Out two skits were rejected by our Principal due to that. 

If any of my dearest readers have got some ideas or even theme, please comment and help me. I'd be eternally grateful to you.

Got to watch World Wars on History Tv 18 now. 

See you tomorrow.

My stay at Mangrol

My stay at Mangrol

Hello Friends, I'm presently at Mangrol. I came here to visit my Uncle's house. My vacations have started and so I've gone out of station. I'm enjoying here with my brother Keyur. 

He too is of same age as mine and we get together very well.
I'll be returning back to Veraval most probably day after tomorrow or tomorrow. I'm obviously missing Veraval but it's enjoyable here too. I came to Mangrol on Sunday and today it's Thursday. So it has been 4 days from my departure from Veraval. 

Here, I read book "Murder on the Links." Its written by Agatha Christie and is of detective genre. Hercule Poirot as many of you might be knowing is the detective in these novel. I've read many novels of Hercule Poirot before and as I'm reading more and more of Agatha Christie I'm becoming greater fan of her. Previously I had read "Death on the Nile", "Hercule Poirot's Christmas", "Murder on the Orient Express", "Death on the Clouds" and finally this "Murder on the Links." I've also read her most famous play "Mousetrap"
I'm looking forward to read another book of her "Curtain: Poirot's last Case"

I'll write synopsis of "Murder on the Links" when I go back to Veraval. 

Till then Au Raur (French: Good Bye)

Excited for Vacations

Excited for Vacations

Hello friends, Tomorrow is the last day before our vacation. I'm very excited and bit relaxed as I would be relieved of horrible Physics subject for at least a month. Today we had two sports periods in school. We enjoyed playing volleyball and Table Tennis. 

I've download movie Gravity which was highly acclaimed and got highest number of Oscar awards. I'll watch it tomorrow and soon write its description. I'm not having anything more to write. So I'll close it now. 

That's it.