Archive for the ‘Cinema/Tele’ Category
Interstellar: Possible Explanations of Plot Holes
Q 1: When 12 Lazarus missions were launched. Why didn’t they send embryos with each of the mission. 3000/12=250. We could have sent 250 Embroys with each of them. No need to wait 10 years for them to study the worlds and ping back the results. Whoever find the right habitat, start the civilization.
A 1: Maybe when Lazarus were launched, the Embryo breeding technology was not there. They developed it in those 10 years.
Q 2: Cooper met her daughter roughly 90 years later in Cooper station. That makes it around 65 years since Murph broke the gravity deadlock (with help from Cooper in bookcase). The idea of Plan A was to transfer humans from Earth to new planet that Cooper would have found habitable. What Murph and all the humans did in those 65 years? They just made the satellite stations. Why didn’t she send a reconnaissance mission through the wormhole in search for her father and the habitable planet?
A 2: Maybe it took a lot of time to build multiple such Stations. Maybe stress was on creating such stations and transferring all humans to such stations. All resources were concentrated on that. And given the human population (nearing 7 billion), to create such stations and transferring humans would have easily taken 65 years and maybe some poor humans were still living on earth in dire conditions waiting to be rescued. However Murph made sure a station was docked near Saturn (near Wormhole) which can pick up on activity if any.
Q 3: How was Cooper able to get rescued after entering the black hole.
A 3: Not exactly plot hole, but one hell of a blockbuster ending. The explanation that I can come up with is that 5D beings made sure that he travelled back through the wormhole and was left near the Cooper Station so that other 3D humans can rescue him. Or Maybe the force of love (Cooper for his daughter) was so strong that Cooper broke through the dimensions himself, travelled back the wormhole to see his daughter once again.
Q 4: How did Cooper and TARS interact in Tesseract?
A 4: Seems simple wireless technology. It might not have worked in Tesseract. But I feel 5D beings made sure they interact easily so that TARS relays quantum data from singularity to Cooper who relays it back to Murph.
Q 5: Why Mann wanted to kill one and all? He could have just explained that he lied as he did not want to die and that he is Sorry. Lets now got to Edmunds together and breed the humans.
A 5: I can only say that his evil actions made him see evil in everyone. He might have thought that other people can kill him for his lie. Maybe he thought they are going back to earth and even if he tell them the truth, they wont stop. To save the race he decided to kill them all and also let his deception die with them. Or he just went nuts.
Q 6:How did dying Murph knew about Amelia estranged on Edmunds?
A 6: Cooper might have been de-briefed and Murph would have come to know about adventures of Cooper via that. So she knew about sling-shoted Amelia’s landing on Edmunds.
Q 7: Why did Cooper go alone to Edmunds to look for Amelia and not with a whole new crew?
A 7: As to why Cooper went alone when Humans have to move to the new planet in the long term, I am really not sure. Maybe humans were happy with Satellite Stations and not want to got to another planet which can again die like Earth. Maybe it was that kind of politics. Hence Cooper had to go alone, not just for human race but also for his kindling love for Amelia who is the only thread left for him from the past.
Q 8: How old would be Amelia if Cooper did meet her again?
A 8: We can’t be sure as to how long in Edmunds time Cooper was in bookcase/blackhole. We can’t say how much did time slow down in blackhole w.r.t Edmunds. I leave this to experts.
Interstellar: 5th Dimension Explained
One thing that is left totally unexplained in the movie is the 5th Dimension. It talks of 5th Dimensional beings. It establishes Time as the 4th Dimension. But never lets out what the 5th Dimension is. It is just told that Future humans might have become 5-Dimensional beings.
1. Who are 5th Dimensional beings?
By referring 5-Dimensional beings, Nolan refers to beings for whom manipulating 4th-D (Time) is a piece of cake. They are beings who are no longer bound by the rules of 4D. They are not able to interact directly with the 3D people. They can only interact with people in 3D/4D, by manipulating gravity, which is explained as force that transcends dimensions.
2. Why has 5th Dimension not been explained in the movie?
Nolan has used 5D as a reference to people who have moved beyond 4D. Who can move across multiple 4D’s (Just like 3D people can move across multiple planes i.e. multiple 2D’s). Something like super humans. I think Nolan might not have wanted to over complicate already complicated fundas. Hence he just left at 5D beings who can manipulate 4D.
3. What is 5th Dimension?
My take is Parallel Timelines. In 5D we can’t just move back and forth in Time (Single line), but also adjacently (adding one more dimension). It means that 5th Dimension adds parallel timelines. In 5D we not just move through past-present-future but also different timelines of each moment of past-present-future. In Tesseract 5D humans, either rendered 3D projection of just one of the parallel timelines or there were all the timelines there, but Cooper concentrated only on one.
4. Why can’t 5D humans interact with 3D humans directly. Why toy with them indirectly?
Maybe they can. Maybe they can’t. Maybe they just choose not to interact directly. Just like StarTrek into Darkness’s opening sequence, where only observations of other evolving planets was allowed, but interference was outlawed. Or as Nolan explained, beings from different dimensions can only interact via manipulating Gravity. As Gravity is the only thing that transcends dimensions.
Interstellar: Time Travel Climax explained
Saw Interstellar last night; another one of the notebook movies. I call them notebook movies as you have to sit with a notebook and pen to understand the mind-bending concepts.
I liked the movie overall which has a repeat value for me on the entertainment quotient alone. First half is a bit lazy as it unfolds, but second half is an edge of a seat journey.
This movie is based on scientific nuances of Time Travel, Wormholes, Black holes, which humans know in theory but are yet to corroborate by experiencing physically. It contains directors take on such concepts. In the process it fringes on the boundaries of present scientific knowledge. Hence explanation of entire movie within the layman notion of science might not be entirely possible. However I will relate what I make of it. This post deals with the Time Travel Climax of the movie and the confusion thereof.
Let me call Two Coopers as Cooper farmer (who lives with child Murph) and Cooper bookcase (who went into the blackhole and emerged into the bookcase). Cooper bookcase gave Cooper farmer the coordinates to the NASA facility. Cooper farmer could not have gone to NASA and eventually become Cooper bookcase without knowing these coordinates. How did Cooper (any one of the two) come to know the coordinates in the first place? Someone other than Cooper would have told them right? How does the knowledge of coordinates become self sustaining? Cooper told Cooper, but who told Cooper?
This deals with the concept beyond what humans have experienced physically. The 4th dimension of Time. Post Miller mishap, a desperate Cooper asks Amelia, “Can’t we go back to past, change something to save people?” And Amelia replies, “Time flows in one direction. We can’t change what has already happened”. Her reply was perfect as far as our 3D world goes. But when Time becomes a dimension, we can travel though time too.
Just like we travel in 1D (ants moving in a single line), 2D (cockroach crawling the floor), 3D (insect flying in the room), we can travel through time in 4D (where 4th dimension is Time). In 1D, we can move back and forth on the line; in 2D we can crawl in any direction on the floor and in 3D we can fly in any direction in space. Similarly we can move in any direction in time.
Here comes the catch. Since we have understanding of just 3D world, we start asking questions about, “What will happen if someone goes in the past and kills his grandfather, thereby erasing his own birth?”, Or in the movie’s case, “The Cooper farmer got the coordinates from Cooper bookcase and went to NASA and ultimately reached the bookcase from where he relayed back the coordinates. How?”
Various scientists have tried to explain the Grandfather paradox from the 3D understanding,
- “A new timeline will emerge when he kills his Grandfather, a parallel universe”, Or
- “We can’t change anything. What will happen, has already happened. The rules of dimension make sure of it”.
Since we have never experienced the 4th Dimension of time, whatever science of today tells are mere guesses. Researched Guesses to be exact. But still guesses.
As I see in 3D, we can move from one 2D plane to another 2D plane, which would be mind-bending to a person who lives in 2D. Similarly in 4D, we can move through time, front and back. In fact past-present-future all exist simultaneously (don’t think of them as existing at the same time. Time has become a dimension now, not just a measure of past-present-future). The concept of PPP is no more in 4D. Hence Cooper bookcase and Cooper farmer can come to know of coordinate from each other as they both exist simultaneously in 4D.
Since time is not uni-directional in 4D, to think that Cooper bookcase came to know of coordinates only coz he was Cooper farmer in the past is wrong. It’s not Past-Preset-Future but Future-Past-Preset, Present-Future-Past anything. The only fact is that both Coopers has to come to know of the coordinates somehow. Information in 4D does not flow from Father to Son, but can be Son to Father too. In either direction.
Bookcase Cooper does not depend on existence of Farmer Cooper as time is not longer linear (Amelia was hence wrong). Bookcase Cooper came to realize this in Tesseract where he saw the entire timeline of the Murphs room all at once. Initially he tries to stop Cooper farmer by asking Murph to make him STAY. But he realizes it’s futile as laws of 4th Dimension are not allowing it.
What Nolan has portrayed is a 4th Dimension with a closed loop explanation, which says nothing can change. Cooper bookcase can tell anything to Cooper farmer; still he will end up in the bookcase. When he says “Stay”, Cooper farmer ignores the message, whereas he easily believes in Gravitational anomaly message from Cooper bookcase. Rules of universe made sure of it.
Similar is the explanation as to how future humans survived in the first place to be able to put wormhole to attempt saving past humans.
If and When humans conquer the 4D, they may find this explanation to be entirely wrong. Something we have never thought of could be the reality in 4D. Till then we are free to throw off our own hunches and punches just like Nolan has done.
What Times are Now?
An unfortunate controversy erupted when a leading English Newsgroup published a not so subtle article about a leading actress. Without getting into the details of the write up, silence of the associated news channel amuses me. On all other issues, this TV channel is always here and Now.
Had it been a politician who would have made some unsavory speech; had it been a police head who would have issued a demeaning guideline; had it been some actor who would have made some politically incorrect observation, the channel would have raised hue and cry on primetime and rightly so. The primetime which it boasts have garnered highest TRP’s in the last 5 years.
But today all silence. It’s not an isolated incident. If you go to their website, you would see more of such obnoxious articles. Skimpy clad images of female models collated from across the globe. Explicit stuff posted at the very top, just to grab eyeballs.
Some of the headings with equally raunchy pics one finds there are, “Babes flaunt assets online”, “Bollywood babes unbuttoned”, “Hotties’ peek-a-boo moments”, “Celebs caught pantyless” and “Celebs’ oops moment!” I feel ashamed even typing them, but not the newsgroup which can do anything for money.
What I am afraid is that such acts leave the fourth pillar vulnerable to attack. In their lust for readership to plunder advertising revenue, they are ready to sell the very essence of news. I agree that these pics are collated from public domain but why plaster them on the news website?
I urge Press Council of India to take suo moto cognizance and issue appropriate guidelines. Now is the Time to put an end.
Lucy Movie Ending Explained
After a long time I saw a movie that made me sit down with a pen and paper. Although I have pondered over expanding brain usage in the past but never really went down the road of What if 100%? Lucy went that way and I must say I liked what I saw.
The ending kind of seems puzzled (deliberately so like other movies of this genre). What happens at 100% brain usage can’t anyways be fathomed by us mere 10% souls. 100% goes beyond dimensions and into the meta-physical. Let me try and explain the ending or what I could make of it.
1. Disappearance of Lucy
Lucy already was able to control her body and also matter by that time. Since body is also made of matter, disappearing/disintegrating sounds not that difficult. As she explained earlier maybe she went faster than speed of light which opens all dimensions but invisible to us. As to what happened to her post that is what we will explore ahead.
2. Why make the Super-Computer if all that was left was a pen-drive?
Seems silly on the face of it. Seems like director tried to simplify for the audience and hence the pen drive. Or maybe Lucy thought for current world pen-drive would seem easy to grasp.
What happened was Lucy started merging matter around her as she needed energy. Energy equals mass time speed of light squared. A lot of energy to upload all knowledge she could gather from the starting of time.
Energy was needed not just to create the processing unit for that knowledge but also to convert it into a format understood by normal humans. The pen-drive seems simplistic but it could not have been a simple pen drive. It would need to store huge amount of data maybe TB powers 100 for all we know. All knowledge gathered as she moved through time.
That computer was just for processing data to be able to store into pen drive. Hence computer destroyed itself at the end.
3. If she is so super human and could control time. Why did she die?
Here’s the catch. She did not die. She imbibed herself to all dimensions. She had no need for the body. She can’t feel pain. No happiness. More like a robot. Hence she gave up last piece of vulnerability. Her body. She became omnipresent. Across dimensions, across time, across worlds.
4. Everything she gained was due to her brain. How would she survive now without her brain?
Tricky! She would have what was required. Brain is also matter. She converted her brain along with her body into some other form, which we even don’t know. The meta-physical, omnipresent form. Can be equated to our understanding of God. Invisible to us.
Love and Rage: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Yesterday night I was watching rerun of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock presents, a suspense TV series of the old. The story brought myriad of emotions in me. I felt compelled to narrate it in my own words to get some closure.
The story started with a woman of around thirty lying on a bed with a bandaged hand, too weak to get up, in a dimly lit room. She tried to remember where she was, but couldn’t. She then tried to account for what happened last. “Yes, I was waiting for Jack”, she got a bit of smile back thinking of him.
Jack came home and she fixed him a drink. She was feeling a bit tensed and anxious while holding the drink, Why? Oh yes, she was an alcoholic and have been off drink for some time. The Craving. But for his sake, she fought hard. “Darling lets go to a party tonight”, he said, taking her in his arms. “A party you said, but with all the people, all the drink around? I feel scared”. “I am sure you will be fine”, he assured her.
They entered the party. He had some urgent work with the hostess and went in to the study with her. She was feeling so scared and lonely in that room full of people, trying to resist the craving. But why was her hand bandaged? She still could not remember. A stranger offered her a drink but she declined. Where is Jack? What is he doing with her? Just then Jack came out arms in arms with the hostess. Something happened then, What was it? Yes, she threw a drink at the hostesses face, and then ran out crying.
Jack knocked at the door. He would be so angry. But he was not. “I am worried for you Martha, coz I love you”. “You love me after all what I have done today?” “Yes I love you dearly”. “Oh Jack, my Jack, I am sorry for everything. When I see you with other women, I can’t control it. And while resisting all that drink. I think I will go mad. What would all those people be thinking about you at the party? Let’s go back and undo the damage”. He smiled and they kissed. “Let’s get married”, he proposed. She was so happy.
How come she ended up in this dark room? “Nurse”, she called out. They went back to the party. He was having a conversation with the hostess and another woman. She went out to the balcony for some fresh air. The stranger came back. He turned out to be the brother of the hostess. “You see my sister over there with that man. She loves him like anything”. The rage came back. “She loves him, but they say, he is in love with another woman.” She blushed. “A woman, who they say is an alcoholic. The worst kind”, he went on. “They say it won’t be long before she goes back to her ways and he comes running to my sister”.
It was all true, isn’t it?. She needed a drink now. The craving was back. She gulped a double martini. After a couple of shots, she said, “Let’s go bar hopping”. Don’t know what took over her. They went from bar to bar, drinking like anything. She was in a mess. Jack came looking for her along with the hostess. She will take him away. She will take him away. Jack tried to hold her, but she was in a violent rage. “Leave me alone, I tell you, Leave me alone”, she threw herself around. Jack was not able to hold her. She fell down, broke the glass she was holding and hurt her hand. The reason for the bandage. There she was lying with a bloodied hand, pieces of glass and spilled drink. Jack bent down to pick her up.
A nurse entered the room. She felt less scared. “Nurse I am feeling better now. I want to leave the hospital”. Nurse looked amused, “You can’t leave lady. This isn’t exactly a hospital.” “What is this place then?” she asked confused. “Well this is the city jail”. “What???? Why am I here?” “You killed a man yesterday night, slit his throat with a piece of glass. A man named Jack Simmons”.
She felt like something ripped her from inside. She tried to cry but voice stopped in the tracks.
Shahrukh Frooti Ad: Meaning of Lyrics
I saw this latest Frooti advertisement featuring Sharukh and simply fell in love with the music, lyrics and concept. Lyrics, though hummable are not entirely clear in meaning.
Aamaletiya stavin crata pile pila,
Aamaletiya merlucchiya pile pila,
Inlorpotamanta tora tut tut tiya,
Less so less in nina amichiya strala,
Aamaletiya stavin crata pile pila – 4
Aameletiya merlucchiya…
I assumed these lyrics are not garbage and tried to de-cypher. What I saw is they are a mix of Japanese, Spanish, Swedish, Hindi, Italian words.
Beautiful and lovely mango, to us highly starving people, you will act as pile of batteries to recharge,
Beautiful and lovely mango, you are partly wicked, you will act as pile of batteries to recharge,
We are salivating greatly agreed, from unpleasant fighting people, we become happiest person in the world,
As it is getting over, like a little girl, it is emitting eternal love,
Beautiful and lovely mango, to us highly starving people, you will act as pile of batteries to recharge – 4
Beautiful and lovely mango, you are partly wicked…
Glossary:
Aam: Hindi, Mango
Letiya: Urban Lingo, Beautiful person, lovely heart
Stavin: Short for starving
Crata: French, might/strength
Pile: Spanish, batteries
Pila: Italian, Pile
Mer: An affix meaning “part”, used in chemistry
Lucchi: Hindi, wicked
Lor: Singapore Lingo, Agree
Pota: Uraban Lingo, Salivating
Manta: Spanish, Great Size
Tora: Japanese, Quarrel
Tut-tut: Urban Lingo, Disapproval
Tiya: Urban Lingo, Happiest person in the world.
Nina: Spanish, Little girl
Ami: Italian, Love
Chiya: Japanese, Eternal
Strala: Swedish, To radiate light
Disclaimer: This is just my view. Chances are, this might be entirey wrong.
Life of Richard Parker
Some are meant to make you laugh, some are meant to make you think, some are meant to make you fear, some are meant to make you thrill, but once a while there comes the one to inspire. I am talking about the movie Life of Pi.
The movie was about not losing hope, to hang in there, to labor through the rough. The movie is narrated from the point of view of the protagonist Pi Patel. What about the perspective of our very own Richard Parker?
It’s a story of hope for Richard Parker too. Stranded at ocean amidst the shipwreck, how he braved the circumstances and lived on. He had to swim to the safety of the boat. He had to compromise on his ethic and eat the dead (tigers don’t eat the dead, they eat their prey), to survive. Richard learned about the need to change. Against the instinct to attack and kill Pi, he eventually learnt to become subservient. Pi was keeping him alive by providing with fish and fresh rain water after all.
However he had been kept captive by humans. He knew given a chance, Pi and its species would not hesitate to enslave him again for its pleasure. Pi owed its life to Richard as much as Richard owed his life to Pi. It was a give and take. Richard learnt the importance of freedom at ocean. When the boat reached Mexico, Richard jumped off and escaped as soon as he could. There was a good chance that he would have been captured or killed by humans had he stayed.
It was just smart of him to leave. For him it was the process to gain his freedom. It was the process to gain his life back after captivation by humans and having faced death at sea. That he didn’t kill Pi was his gratitude enough to the race that reveled in capturing and enslaving him. It was more to ask to turn back to Pi and say a good bye.
His good bye lied in gifting Pi his life. I guess it was too much for us humans to understand.
Of Batman and Bollywood
With anxiety about the latest Batman flick running Everest high, Christian Bale is the name on everyone’s lips. This masked and caped vigilante has brought a sense of respect to comic books, missing till now. There have been many a actors who have donned the cowl over the years ranging from the heroic Val Kilmer to the forgettable George Clooney.
This led me to wonder how would the character have panned out had our own Bollywood stars played The Batman. Let see one by one.
| 1. Salman Khan | |
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The accented Khan would have suited best as when he speaks in accent he is hardly intelligible, much like Batman whisper. How awesome would it have sound.
Catwoman: “Tumne Gotham ke liye bahut kuch kiya. Ab bas karo”.
Batman: “Nahin, ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, toh main apne aap k bhi nahin sunta”.
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| 2. Shahrukh Khan | |
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He is no alien to wearing tight body suits and saving the town. Unlike Batman, his sign would be posing sideways with arms stretched out.
Whenever he would do that, Inspector Gordon would run into his arms with music in the background.His melodrama and his enemies would die weeping. Casting Robin for him would be a no brainer! |
| 3. Akshay Kumar | |
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A flirt Batman. A Kishen Kanhiyya. More like Bruce Wayne, partying with models on his yacht. His endless gags one after the another and his enemies would go insane laughing.
Dialogue: “Mein apne desh ka pehla launda hoon jo chimkadad ban ke ud riya hoon.”
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| 4. Ajay Devgn | |
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The Singham Batman would break the fingers when pointed at.
Aata majhi satakli, aali le aali Joker, teri baari aali. The superhero with tilted head would be famous for car chases, blowing and flying cars as he chases his enemies in Bat Car.
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| 5. Saif Ali Khan | |
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The cool urbane Batman with a sheepish smile.
“Ek baar mein samajh gaye ki main Batman hoon ya mein waapas ghoom ke aaoon”.
He has his readymade Batgirl in Kareena. He would roam around flirting with umpteen girls while his enemies would get eliminated. “Bade aaraam se”.
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| 6. Aamir Khan | |
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The perfectionist Batman. He would sleep hanging upside down at the ceiling, lest the character gets diluted. He would surgically get bat wings and paint his face black.
Instead of fighting crimes, would fly away and live with bats in their caves. His logic, Bat’s don’t fight crimes, they just hang upside down and terrorize people. |
| 7. Abhishek Bachchan | |
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This would be the first Batman of its kind. Liberation! Instead of the Cape, he would be donning a gown. Instead of all black, it would be all red and pink.
He would charm his enemies and live with him happily ever after. |
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