Lets welcome the New Year

2012 was the year of the apocalypse when the whole world was going to go down in flames. Thankfully for us, the Mayans were wrong with their predictions and here we are, celebrating the dawn of a new year. 2013 is finally here. 2012 may have been an amazing year in terms of travelling and finding out who my true friends are, but this following year is what is going to be rather crucial for me and several of those I hold dear.

The year where I finally graduate and become an Engineer by right. A year where I may have to face the harsh truths of the "real world" and stay my ground. The year which may cause dreams to be shattered and others to be formed. A year where decisions will have to be made. But I'm praying that just like the year that has gone by, the coming year will be filled with people I love and care and those who love me just as much. A year that will be filled with new friends and companions who will remain with me for the rest of  my life. People who will never truly leave my side even though the worst may come and stay there once the worst is gone.

New beginnings are all that people ever dream about, a chance to right ones wrongs, a chance to be someone they believe themselves to be capable of- that ideal self. So well, lets bid goodbye to a year that has been kind and been filled with memories that will never die and say hello to a year filled with promise and  hope.

Happy New Year everybody, I hope you'll have a satisfying and precious year ahead.


Lots of Love

Twilight: The love story

I expect a lot of hate for this, but it's my honest opinion that Twilight is actually a decent love story. Yes, it has silly aspects of sparkling vampires and the majority of hatred it has received over the internet is the ridiculous fan girl craze it has sparked and the movie franchise just made it worse (primarily due to the acting involved). But this doesn't necessarily have to translate into hatred for the series itself.

 The human representation of anything supernatural, be it vampires, werewolves or even zombies, has always been romanticized. Authors have either portrayed them as monsters or as creatures worth our love. If you strip the series of the sparkling vampires and the towering werewolves, you have a girl trying to find herself and finding true love. The supernatural element just makes the books stand apart from the crowd and that is exact what Stephenie Meyer seems to be trying to achieve.

As we go through the books, we read about Bella growing as a person, finding and losing love and in the end, she has her happy ending. Isn't that what everyone person wants? To be able to find that one person you would do anything for even if it means risking your life many times over? That's the notion of true love that has been drilled into us from when we are young children and is fuelled by the media and society. The Twilight series just reinstates this notion.

What the fans seem to be mad about isn't the fact that it's a love story between a vampire and a girl. No, there are plenty of those stories to go around. It's the fact that despite everything, despite all the odds, these two people always seem to find each other and have a Happily Ever After.

And well, maybe having a bunch of actors who could act and eliminating the sparkly vampires may have helped in the process of making it more likeable :P

Movie Review- The Rise of the Guardians

It's been a while since I last watched a movie in the theatres, but this was a celebratory movie to commemorate the end of my exams.

When I first watched the trailer for Rise of the Guardians, I had a great deal of expectation. It held great promise and with a star studded cast- Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin and Jude Law, one would expect this movie to be a great success and I would say that I liked the movie, but it didn't really meet my expectations.

<< Spoilers ahead >>

The story is one of a boy (Jack Frost) who is given a second chance at life by the Man in the Moon after dying whilst saving his sister and sets out to find his "centre" and be recognized. He gets this opportunity in the form of being chosen to be part of an elite group called the Guardians which comprises of Santa/North, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Sandman. These guardians were chosen by the Man in the Moon to help the children of the world have faith, keep them safe from the evil lurking under their bed. Their powers rely entirely on the children believing in them and keeping the legend going. Enter the villain- Pitch Black who has been ignored for a very long time and now sets out to seek revenge in the form of destroying the happiness of the children of the world by poisoning their dreams and getting rid of the Guardian's powers. He seems to succeed too. As the story progresses, Jack begins to realize how important it is to protect the children and finds his centre- fun and towards the end, he gets initiated into the Guardians.

Now, the concept was pretty nice and touching. Jack is like a teenager who is forced to take on a more mature role but eventually makes peace with it and adds his own elements to the role he is given. There are touching scenes where we realize that he is chosen as a potential guardian and given a second shot at life because he saved his sister in an ice skating accident by making it seem like fun when danger was staring him in the face. There are scenes between Jack and the other characters which make them seem so human. There is also a lovely scene in the end where the kid comes up to Jack and asks him whether he is leaving him and Jack replies saying "When the Moon comes up, do you think the Sun is gone?" further saying that he'll always be there to protect them from the "Boogeyman" aka Pitch. These scenes will remind the child in you that there'll always be someone protecting you even if you don't see them.

There is a message there to adults too, don't get so involved in your work that you actually forget all about the reason you're doing that work. It comes in the form of Jack asking the Guardians when they last interacted with the kids that they protect and they realize that it's been quite a while.He shows them the fun there is in being out there in the field instead of just managing the entire operation from wherever they are. The action and fight sequences throughout the movie are pretty awesome and the animation is impeccable as always. But sadly, although there were all these amazing elements, they just seemed too much to take in and well, the Man in the Moon was a little strange. Moreover, some scenes just make you wonder what exactly the story writer was thinking.

Maybe if you leave the cynical side of yourself and just walk in to the theatre expecting your inner child to be awakened and delighted, you'd love the movie. Plus, you get to see the bad ass side of Santa Claus a few weeks before Christmas, so be Nice :P