Something to write about - my favourite movies of 2009-10

After writing post titled Nothing to write about, I thought for sometime, and remembered something to write about. Something that I wanted to write about for a long time, but kept forgetting to write. I wanted to write about the best movies I saw in last one year. And here it goes.

I saw quite a few movies in last one year. Let me recollect the names - The Last Emperor, Driving Miss Daisy, The Pursuit of Happyness, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Chariots of Fire, One who Flew over Cuckoo's Nest, Three Idiots (Hindi), I Hate Luv Stories (Hindi), Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani (Hindi), Avatar, Up in the Air, Night at the Museum II. These are the ones I could remember right now. There might be other movies that I don't remember right now. However, it doesn't matter, because if I don't remember, they are probably not the best ones.

The top 3 movies that I enjoyed the most were:

1. Chariots of fire

2. The pursuit of happyness

3. The last emperor

Chariots of fire was best movie of all and the biggest surprise of all, because I had never heard of the movie before. It's a well-deserved winner of four Oscars, including the Best Picture, at 1982 Academy Awards. The amazing true story depicts the "fire within" of two British athletes (Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams), who go to 1924 Olympics at Paris to win two Golds for their country. It's a engrossing story of triumphs and tribulations of the two Cambridge students, whose crisscrossing paths cause them to confront each other at times and collaborate at other times.

Nothing to write about

Not sure what to write about.

I watched TV

What's in it to write about, you might ask. We all watch TV, everyday, don't we? Yes and no. Most people watch TV, everyday. Most, but not all. There are few like me, who have given it up almost altogether. In last 7 years, I have spent more time brushing my teeth, or tying my shoelaces, than watching TV. I get my news on the Net. There is little else of value on TV. Yes, I know, there is that one amazing serial that you are so fond of! But for me to figure out when and where it is aired, would be like searching a needle in a haystack. Easier it is to give the remote a pass.

On Saturday, however, I purposefully watched TV, just to give myself a break from it all. I watched Dominick and Eugene, which turned out to be a decent movie. Kind of drama that I love to watch - about people and relationships, plausible and realistic. It's a story about two brothers - Nick, who is mentally retarded, and drives a garbage truck to earn money to send his brother Eugene to medical school. I not a must-watch movie, but it did entertain me enough to keep me glued in front of the idiot box for an hour and fifty minutes - not a bad achievement, I would say.

Resolving the Kashmir Imbroglio

Even as the clueless Manmohan Singh government refuses to concede that it has failed in its primary duty to maintain law and order in the country, the only sensible reaction to the relentless violence in Kashmir has come from Maninderjeet Singh Bitta, chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF), and former chief of the Youth Congress.

In his statement Bitta has:

• opposed a special package as that would amount to conceding victory to militants
• asked for abrogation of Article 370, which confers special status on Jammu and Kashmir
• felt that governments were more worried about rehabilitating the militants than providing relief to the Kashmiri pandits
• disapproved of the India-Pakistan talks, and
• urged government to press USA, UK and Russia to declare Pakistan a terrorist state

It is rare that we see such sensible suggestions from either intellectuals or politicians, big or small. The fate of Kashmir problem is sealed with Article 370. No lasting peace in Kashmir is possible until Article 370 is abolished. The earlier India develops gumption to accept this fact, more likely Kashmir issue will be solved, and lasting peace be established.