Random Thoughts Of A Driftwood

The much awaited Ridley Scott return to the Alien franchise is finally out, and as a fan of the Aliens movies, I watched Prometheus with huge expectations. To say that there is a lot to live up to is an understatement of gargantuan proportions. And you know what they say about expectations, they eventually disappoint. Prometheus is director Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi films and the Alien franchise. Does Prometheus succeed or does it fail like the Titanic ? The year is 2089, and archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway find a drawing on a wall of a cave in rural Scotland.It isn't just any drawing on a cave, but it's a star map, pointing out to a particular cluster of stars. They see this as an invitation and an opportunity to meet our makers. They dubbed them the 'engineers' and they have seeded life on earth. The same image were found all over the world validating their opinion that this isn't just a coincidence. Fast forward a little and the f...

George Orwell’s most notable book is most definitely ‘ Nineteen Eighty-Four’ , a book that showcased Orwell’s deep seated hatred for Totalitarian regimes. The book was a what if rhetorical question; what if the west lost?; what if Stalinism persisted, and took over the world as we know it. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a peering look into the bleak world, split into three main continental powers… Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia. I read the first chapter and saw how Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rather influential book. The working class men going to work and going through his daily routine is now almost a cliché opening scene in storytelling. Perhaps cliché is too harsh a word… but it’s been used so often in all forms of media since the publishing of this book. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is an outer party worker working in the news department. In this world, no one writes any longer. Machines churn out pieces of fiction and even news(which is fiction themselves) and Winston modifies th...

I couldn't let off the chance of owning a P.G. Wodehouse book when I saw the book in a book store shelf. Yes... I'm quite the impulse purchaser of books. This is by no means a bad purchase though as the writing of PG Wodehouse came highly regarded among the English writing circle. I picked Carry on Jeeves... as the first Wodehouse books to own. Possibly his best known series. And by Jove is it a cracker! The Jeeves series follows the comedic exploit of one Bertie Wooster, a little lacking in the intellectual department and his valet(butler) Jeeves, making up for his master's lack of cranial matter. The book is a collection of Bertie and Jeeves stories, loosely connected with the each preceding one. It reads like a television comedy show, with each 'episode' relatively standalone in nature. There is no doubt that this series of books has had a huge influence on British comedy and comedy in general(we've had quite a few of comedy shows featuring a wise cracking ...

Homage to Catalonia is one of the best(if not the best) wartime accounts from on the the best writer of our times. Serving with the leftist POUM militia(Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista), Homage to Catalonia captures the optimism and idealism of revolutionary Spain. It then explores the mundaneness of trench warfare, which was more like non warfare. The treachery, living in fear of being outed, street fighting in Barcelona all vividly expressed. Even in the humdrum nature of it all, George Orwell writes a captivating account that manages to share with its readers the horrors and poor conditions of those in the front line and the political backstabbing from those that are far away from the actual fighting. A turbulent history of Spanish history with a huge variety of political entities fighting against fascism and against themselves. Homage to Catalonia ends with the hauntingly prescient paragraph in which Orwell expresses his disdain for his fellow En...

First of all, a warning... do not read this if you plan on watching this movie. I'll try to avoid spoilers but it is unavoidable that I touch on instances in the movie to make a point. So be warned. Watch the movie first, then read this post. The Woman In Black is a movie directed by James Watkins and is based on the Susan Hill novel of the same title. The main protagonist(Arthur Kipps) is played by Daniel Radcliff aka Mr. Harry Potter. It's hard to watch this movie without going "Look ma! It's Harry Potter!". Like all novel to movie adaptations, it exhibits some adaptation syndrom symptoms. Let me explain... Like all movies that are rather limited when it comes to screen time, details are definitely cut out. Make no mistake, I haven't read The Woman In Black, but I noticed the lack of detail and explanations for the plot. That being said, The Woman In Black does not(at least to my knowledge) display any gaping plot holes. That's a good sign. The Wom...