Stranger Things - Bingeing on Season 2

I don’ usually do this binge watching thing, never understood how people find time to do it. But I just had to watch season 2 on Stranger Things the day it is released. I had so many questions ! And I love the eighties ! Yay !

Well i just finished watching all nine episodes back to back.  Overall, loved it !

Its amazing how the show creators have managed to build up the entire mythology and increased the danger, and still got children to save the day. And nobody else in the little town is aware of all these dark tidings. This season ended without a cliffhanger, but there is definitely one more season coming.

I loved the story, acting, and all those eighties references. Arcade games, nylon records, the costumes and music…reminder of a simpler era. I kept forgetting that they still don’t have mobile phones there, so they all cant talk to each other over long distances like you today. And we all need a sister like Erika !

But I hated that the breakout character from last season, eleven, is separated from the rest of the group. They only meet in the last episode.  Also I didn’t like Will’s exorcism, and when Dustin tried to protect his creature, knowing it is from the other side. And I could not also relate to some of the newer characters.

Poor Bob had to die. :( . Barb did get a funeral, but what about Bob now ?

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Here are some thoughts….in real-time.

Twist right at the beginning : eight ! Somebody got out earlier.

Eighties vibe…arcade games, those cool cycles, retro cars, and the music. The terminator is playing, and some in a ghostbuster suit is walking into the upside down.

How did they get all those pictures of younger Barb ?

Eleven is back ! She is staying with Hopper ! Wow.they treated that so…calmly.

Ok…moving on to episode 2.

Flashback time. Eleven is stuck in the upside down, trying to get back.

Yep, its worse now in the real world for her. Felt so bad for her in the woods.

I don’t like Madmax. And her mullet-brother creeps me out.

Ok, this episode was more about Eleven than Will.

Ok..moving on to episode 3. I think I will watch this at the gym.

Eeww…new …strange…creature..and it is growing…its actually a little version of the demogorgon, revealed in episode 4

Poor mews.

Episode 7—this one felt out of place. The events in this episode is entirely out of Hawkins. Weird Chicago punk.

Jumping right to the final episode, it was Will’s exorcism. Everyone was heating and poking the poor guy. And of course eleven’s show of strength.

The Predictable Mr Dan Brown

 

I finally finished reading Dan Brown’s new novel. Yes, he is still writing, and he still has got a few tricks up this harris tweed sleeve. I remember the first time I read his novel, it was the DaVinci code, which I read more than 10 years ago. My dear friend Tomci loaned me his original copy. Back then, I was gripped by the narrative, transported instantly to Paris, and London, the setting of the story. This was before the internet had penetrated our lives like it has today. There was no way to verify the claims mentioned in the book, and one simply had to take it at face value. Being  non-christian, I was not offended by the book, but was smiling mischeviously with a I-knew-it smirk. An author with the guts to write, I remember thinking to myself.

Not anymore. Since the day he found his style, he has stuck to it. Religiously, for the lack of a better term. His latest book is equal parts boring and interesting. Boring because it is completely predictable. The settings, the characters, some of the lousy dialogues, and excrucitating detail. And interesting because the book again talks of the rivalry between science and religion. Most of the ideas presented in his latest books are not original, he has taken some ideas and theories presented by others and neatly packaged it. But man of man, it is so boring. Brown needs to find a new characther, or a new genre.

Just a few chapters into the book, I grew suspiciuos of the charachter Winston, and suspected him to be the mastermind orchestratin the crimes about to be committed in the story. There is another, young female companion for Robert Langdon to talk to, who is again a subject matter expert from science, complimenting Langdon’s own expertise in symbols. The whole story takes place over a few hours, less than a day. But the mastermind has planned it all for weeks , or even months. And in the end, predictably, Robert Langdon saves the day, and reveals the secret. He will live for his next adventure. Something about an ancient cult trying to prove aliens exist on earth among us…..

Again the latest book has attracted negativity from religious circles. I find it fascinating that even in this day and age religious evangelists use technology to criticize…well, science ! The question of where we came from is the oldest question mankind has asked. Brown has distilled some long standing ideas into a quick two day read, there is no need to question his faith because the ideas itself are not his original. Until the real truth is revealed, I think the dialogue should be kept open.

And comging back to Origin, well, nothing in it is original. Its a merge of all this previous charachters and style in a new setting and facing a graver threat.

 

In a 2006 interview, Brown stated that he had ideas for about 12 future books featuring Robert Langdon. Oh no….

 

 

PS: I lied, This time, I did not ‘read’ the book. I listened to it. On audiobook. Some chaps have uploaded the audiobook version directly on to youtube, and it can be accessed for free.

Does Agile work ?

Read a nice article on why Agile does not always work.

Bad movies

 

I’ve been watching lesser and lesser movies nowadays, partly because I hardly get the time. But mostly because most of the movies coming out nowadays are garbage.  There are tricks to identify a bad movie.  One trick is asking someone who watched it. If someone tells you it is ok for a one time watch, then it is a bad movie.

Another trick is to check the wikipedia page of that movie sometime after it comes out. If its not updated, specially the plot part, then it is really bad. I mean really bad. Run ! Escape !!

But there are even worse movies coming out, which for some reason , people seem to enjoy. And write about. I watched a few of them this year, because the are available on DVD rip sites. Like the latest Transformer movie, the Last Knight. I wonder what the hell were the creators, thinking ? Right, they were not thinking. Its so bad, I deleted my download the second I skipped till the end. Same for baywatch, the new mummy reboot and furious 8. Horrible horrible movies.

Its even worse for bollywood. That Harry-Sejal bullshit, Raabta, Lipstick-Burka…eww…there are just ones I watched. There are far outrageous crimes being committed. Can’t believe they remade that bad Tamil movie as well.

What I cannot fathom is why are the public still watching these kind of movies. They still make money , some of them still get remakes and sequels. They get prime air time when they debut on cable. The makers are able to make a quick buck before the word gets out, its almost like a huge ponzi scheme. And hardly anyone seems to care.

I guess its a little difficult when there aren’t many options. I can’t say for sure, but I think this is one of the worst years for movie entertainment.

 

 

So bad, I had to go back to my collection of classics, just to stay sane.

Plus point: I came across an Indian version of the Golden Raspberry awards for bad movies, termed the Golden Kela awards.