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What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and water, but no fish?

READDLE ME THIS, READDLE ME THAT..

You can see me in water, but I never get wet. What am I?

Going In Style

Directors: Zach Braff

Release date: 30th March, 2017

“These banks practically destroyed this country. They crushed a lot of people’s dreams, and nothing ever happened to them. We three old guys, we hit a bank. We get away with it, we retire in dignity. Worst comes to the worst, we get caught, we get a bed, three meals a day, and better health care than we got now.”

So me and the bestie decided to have a movie night, as I always end up falling asleep during films she opted for a comedy, hoping a continuous stream of laughter would keep me awake. We chose ‘Going in Style’ which is a crime/comedy, as the film also casts two of our favourite actors Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. It was happy days for us as I watched the entire film, however I feel like my time could have been spent watching something a bit better. Here is a quick the synopsis of the film:

Synopsis:

Lifelong buddies Willie (Morgan Freeman), Joe (Michael Caine) and Albert (Alan Arkin) decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-and-narrow when their pension funds become a corporate casualty. Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, the three men risk it all by embarking on a daring adventure to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.

The film was good overall, it included some funny scenes, however, as it was a crime film I thought there would be more suspense and action. The end was a bit of a disappointment, I felt as though it had ended very abruptly with not much excitement leading up to the finish. If you have some spare time and want to watch a lighthearted movie this would be good, but for me it was definitely a one time watch!

If you decide to watch the movie please let us know what you thought 🙂

Click here to watch the Official Going in Style Trailer!

Poonam

ANSWERS

The more you take, the more you leave behind
What am I?
FOOT STEPS

You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me
What am I?
HISTORY

What disappears the moment you say it’s name?
SILENCE

What gets broken, without being held?
PROMISE

What is easy to get into, but hard to get out of?
TROUBLE

READDLE ME THIS, READDLE ME THAT..

What gets broken, without being held? 

So, this is not exactly a review but more of an informative piece on what I am currently reading in. Most religions follow rules which come in the form of a religious book or literature, how these books have been complied is a curiosity of mine. As you may know I am originally from the Western state of India, Gujarat, where religion particularly Hinduism is highly prominent in a person’s everyday life. My mum can be seen as a faith driven woman, in turn my sisters and I follow the same religious views. However, I believe I regurgitate the information that I witness and have been told rather than understanding their origins and meanings, therefore my first insight to Indian literature will be The Mahabharata. To go into The Mahabharata primarily the Veda’s needs to be highlighted.

At the beginning of Indian literature stands the ‘The Mahabharata’. It can be argued that it started during Vedic corpus as this proceeded the Indian epics, in the form of highly distinguished poetry of the Veda, however, a great body of the texts are in terms of ritual and religion which after this period literature starts anew. As the Veda are extremely sacred in the Indian tradition it is not simply referred to as literature. The Veda’s are considered a mantra (a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have psychological and spiritual powers) and became property to certain priestly casts. The interest moved further away from the meaning and more dependent on the niceties of the pronunciation. I have seen this repetitively at functions such as weddings, where the bride and grooms family are following rituals but I’m guessing that majority of the people in the room have no idea what is being said (I didn’t at my sister’s wedding). I went to a wedding at the Hari Krishna Temple in Watford and the priest explained in English the meaning behind the Sanskrit rituals, giving value to the poetic words, it’s a shame so very few people understand it.

The Vedic poets made it harder for latter generations to follow their meaning due to ambiguous vocabulary, complicated grammatical forms and cryptic references to ancient myths and names that throughout time have been forgotten. The concern was directly removed from the meaning and placed on what was going on ritually and cosmetically as they were spoken. This was displayed in ‘The Brahmanas’ (1000 – 800 BC) the ‘handbook’ for the priest which only includes the first word of each line as a trigger. I applaud the mere fact that so much information, coordinated with hand gestures have been memorised by priests over the years, but for the lovers of poetry it is a sad fact that the meaning behind such illustrious poetry has been lost. The Vedas were only known to a limited amount of people, never available to be accessed by the public unless recited during a ceremony. But from what I have witnessed over the years the volume and speed at which the rituals are recited are not loud or slow enough to make the lines comprehensible.

From later examples it can be guessed that the contents of the literature complied of mythological lore, great exploits of individual chefs, their families, dynasties, how battles were won, how one tribe achieved paramountcy over another, new land created by burning down forests. In the Veda itself are mentions of ‘praises of heroes’ where this could be the beginning of the epics in The Mahabharata. This was in the form of ballots and tales, describing individual heroic achievements out of which epics are built. Different professional reciters would have different repertoires of these. The reciters would have been a close companion of the person about whose family the ballots were sung, or someone who witnessed the warriors triumph. History would be edited into legend and legend into history and stories of ‘how it was’ would be passed on from generation to generation.

I’m not going to go into The Mahabharata on this post as it is quite long already! Please let me know if you have found this informative, see you in Part II for The Marabharata.

Poonam

GHOSTBUSTERS:

Director: Paul Feig

Initial Release: July 9, 2016

Paranormal researcher Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) and physicist Erin Gilbert are trying to prove that ghosts exist in modern society. When strange apparitions appear in Manhattan, Gilbert and Yates turn to engineer Jillian Holtzmann for help. Also joining the team is Patty Tolan, a lifelong New Yorker who knows the city inside and out. Armed with proton packs and plenty of attitude, the four women prepare for an epic battle as more than 1,000 mischievous ghouls descend on Times Square.

Quick Review guys. Ghostbusters got a lot of hate when the initial trailer came out, but I loved it!! Genuinely, I really enjoyed the female power the emanates from the remake. Melissa as usual was hilarious, and teamed up with the other SNL cast mates, this movie was both hysterical and brilliant. The reboot not only pays tribute to the 80s blockbuster it also adds a new fresh spin and with brilliant gags.

The movie made me jump quite a few times, and there is a slightly scary side to the film. However, the balance between humour and horror is perfect! Not going to lie, but one of the highlights of the movie is Chris Hemsworth (What women doesn’t love a bit of Aussie).

There is a surprise guest appearance by Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson (the original cast) and the movie not only pays tribute to Ray Parker Jr.’s theme song, as well as a new fresh theme song by Fall Out Boy (Loooooved it!).

There wasn’t one character that dominated the movie, and each of the Ghostbusters bought their own eccentric personalities to the movie. Kate McKinnon was amazing as an electronic engineer but whenever I see her I just think of Pete Davies (Any SNL Fans out there?). The fight scene at the end was totally epic!! She truly is a bad ass!! The catchphrase “Girls Rule, Women are Funny, get over it” is embodied by all four women in the movie.

This movie is brilliant. Honestly if you get a couple of hours free, grab your popcorn, and sit back and enjoy this hilarious hit. Hopefully there is a sequel that is equally as good!

GINA

Jessica Jones Series 1

This Netflix original chronicles the life of one of the darker Marvel characters, the mysterious Jessica Jones. When a tragedy puts an the end to her short-lived career as a superhero, Jessica settles in New York City and opens her own detective agency, called Alias Investigations, which seems to be called into cases involving people who have special abilities. Suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Jessica wants to do good, but her primary interest isn’t in saving the world, it’s saving her apartment and getting through each day. Based on a graphic novel intended for adults, this is not a superhero story for the kids.

Guys. Come on. Jessica Jones though! As the trailer for DEFENDERS was released at Comic Con, I thought it fitting to do a quick review on the Netflix series Jessica Jones.

Straight to it, Jessica Jones isn’t your usual superhero. A private investigator and a magnet for trouble, Jessica is constantly finding herself in sticky situations – from running away from a psycho telepath to helping a teenager accused of murdering her parents. Like that wasn’t enough drama as it is, we see Jessica’s past and what she overcame in order to try and help people – not going to lie it’s pretty sad.

Even though it is a Marvel show, it is not the usual funny show that you would think. There are some really dark themes throughout that are explored, so anyone who is affected by sexual abuse or child abuse should maybe give this a miss?

Anyway, the pilot episode can get a bit confusing. You get a good sense of how damaged Jessica is emotionally, and the extent of her alcoholism – who wouldn’t turn to a bit of booze after what she has been through! You get flashbacks as well, and we see some hints of our Telepathic villain Kilgrave (played by the legendary David Tennant).

Jessica’s superpower is her strength – girl is crazy strong and we see she doesn’t know her strength. We get to see her try to fly though! The lack of detail into her background and how she got her powers indicates there will be another season, and it will be EPIC!

We get to see other important characters as well, including Luke Cage (hero for hire) and Officer Simpson (NUKE), and how easy it is to go from being a hero to a villain. We see a grey area between the side of Good and Evil and this theme is explored all the way throughout the show. Officer Simpson is a dodgy character and we see that he is easily swayed into being a bad guy because he is so intent on trying to take down evil – The Irony is not lost there. Luke Cage is another character that I find struggles with himself and his powers. After the death of his wife, he is intent on running and staying at the bar that she owned – which is kind of cute. He is really into getting revenge for his wife who was hit by a bus (no spoilers there) and you see a blatant attraction between Jess and Luke. I won’t lie to you but there are some steamy scenes.

Also, don’t get to attached to all the characters. That is my advice. I get a bit too attached to TV characters and (no spoilers) if something happens to them then I get so upset. I know it is lame.  Jessica Jones is an emotional whirlpool. Like one minute I am laughing at one of her awesome one liners, then the next I am shocked by something crazy that happened! This show is definitely unpredictable.

The thing about doing a review about Jessica Jones is that if I tell you what my favourite scenes are it’s a major spoiler! So my fellow readdlers, I leave it all in your hands.

Gina

READDLE ME THIS, READDLE ME THAT..

What disappears the moment you say it’s name?