Of Tigers and Cows

The wild bull was a rare specimen. She possessed all characteristics of a cow, but had big horns and could fight like a bull.  She rarely ever used her force, but was known as a fierce slayer when she lost her temper. No one ever thought of her as a cow, but every animal found her irresistible. 

No Country for Old Men - film review

The new collaboration between the Coen brothers and Cormac McCarthy "No Country for Old Men" is a dark and hopeless film, full of apocalyptic messages.  


This film is graphic and appealing in an eerie way.  It brings together stellar performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, and Woody Harrelson.


The plot evolves around an uncanny incarnation of evil in a psychopathic serial killer, Anton Chigurn. 
Anton  uses unorthodox methods in killing his victims, while always escaping at the right time and surviving even the worst of injuries.  


The film starts off with a twist and keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat until the end, which I thought was a total let down.  Despite good intentions, the ending is unsuccessful in leaving any kind of moral message to take away.  


I walked out of the theater feeling very empty.  Perhaps it should be so when it comes to serial killers.  There is really nothing one can do with a man like Anton.  


This is a film I will remember, but try hard to forget.   

Life of Pi

This book by Yann Martel is one that is likely to remain in my memory for a long time. It is a very different novel, a half real half imaginary tale of coexistence between an Indian teenager and Bengal tiger, aboard a life boat drifting for nine months in the open of the Pacific. With the use of vividly striking imagery Martel examines a developing relationship between a tiger and a boy that is neither friendship, nor attachment, but a bond on many varying levels. This bond develops slowly, over many months and is shaky at best, but ends very abruptly without justification. Or does it?

With the use of philosophical allegory, the author explores the dualities between human and animal, good and evil, physical and metaphysical, conscious and subconscious, reality and imagination, instinct and will. The most refreshing part of the novel is its ending - it presents a novel choice for the reader in the form of a “second story” - an alternative explanation for the (mis)adventures that befell the characters. The reader is then left with an option of deciding which story to believe, or whether to believe at all.