7/26/09

What happened to those days?

What happened to those days?
When worries were scarce like rain in the desert,
Where we lived free like butterflies,
free from worries,
Life was fun,
studies were the only concern.

School life was bliss with my group of friends,
When I remember those days,
Those beautiful dusty class benches,
Which contained immortal words carved by us, immoral kids.

Life was as bright as sunshine,
Today the weather looks bleak,
Lots of responsibilities and loads of work,
As I carry on monotonously like a jerk.

What happened to those beautiful moments?
What happened to those awesome cricket matches,
Where our exam pads became cricket bats
And shot plastic balls out of the park.

My dear friend, do you remember the day,
When we all went to the beach,
Gazed out those beautiful girls who passed by,
We were so free then, like birds in the sky.

But today, we find ourselves chained to our worlds,
Where the computer boxes become our only friends,
Where our big bosses care only about business trends,
Life which was once sweet as honey, now alas, it revolves only around money.


Is that all, is that we are worth for?
To work like dogs and sleep like pigs!
Come to work at day and go home at night,
So busy to even recognize a past friend at first sight.

Life has become routine and I have become a machine,
One that has no life of its own,
Once that walks like a zombie, lives like a robot,
And one that can only ponder and say, “What ever happened to those beautiful days”.

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7/12/09

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen: Worth it!!!!!


Being a science fiction movie buff, I went to watch this movie, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. After watching this nearly 3 hour-long movie, I get the feeling that even despite the lack of a strong story, this film satiates the hunger of almost all sci-fi buffs. Without further ado, let's check a common man's view of this film.

People who have watched the first film, Transformers, may enjoy this film very much because watching a film without knowing the characters may leave many people confused. Let me give a three line description of the story. The Transformers are sentient,robot-like, life forms from a planet called Cybertron. They depend on energy sources to live and travel from planet to planet seeking energy sources. The robots are divided into two divisions, the evil power-hungry Decepticons, lead by the megalomaniac giant-sized Robot called Megatron, and the good, life-saving, and ethical group of Robots called as Autobots led by the gentle Optimus Prime. The speciality of these robots are that they can transform into many things ranging from a truck, car, fighterplane, Helicopter etc. However, their transformation is limited to their abilities.

Storyline: Several thousand years ago, the first generation of transformers came to Earth and planned to plant an energy machine called the Sun Harvester which taps energy by destroying the sun. Unfortunately, Earth is beaming with life. The Primes, a group of ethical robots, are against activating the device as it is against their ethical code to deprive any planet from its life source. But the Decepticons, led by the evil robot called the FALLEN, wage a civil war to obtain the key to activate the machine. In order to save Earth, four of the Primes sacrifice their lives to build a tomb and hide the key in a secret location and thus save Earth. The FALLEN is exiled.

After several thousand years, the Decepticons again attempt to capture the Matrix of Leadership, the key to activate the machine. On one side, Sam, the protagnist, is trying to move on with life by relocating to the city to pursue his graduation. On the other side, the US government feels that the Decepticons still haven't left Earth because they want to take revenge on the Autobots for destroying ALL SPARK (Refer Transformers-I). A member from the US government requests Optimus Prime to leave the Earth peacefully as they are the cause for the Decepticons destroying human property and lives. Optimus mocks the admiral saying, "IF you request we shall leave, but what if we leave and You're WRONG" He proves to be right as the Decepticons tap the US satellite and discover the remaining pieces of All Spark. One of the Decepticons then infiltrates the US Base where the piece of All Spark is stored and uses it to resurrect Megatron. The resurrected Megatron then meets his master, the Fallen, and decides that they shall destroy human lives till Sam is found. Megatron plans to kills Sam and obtain the secret symbols from his brain that contain the map to the Matrix of Leadership, the key to activate the Sun Harvestor.

Meanwhile, Optimus meets Sam and requests his assistance to fight the Decepticons, Sam disagrees stating that they don't need him. Only after Optimus sacrifices his life does Sam realize that his brain contains the symbols which when decoded reveal the location of the Matrix of Leadership. The rest of the story deals with how Sam struggles to locate the Matrix of Leadership before the Decepticons do and whether he would save Earth.

Plus points of the film: The film is loaded with loads and loads of enhanced special effects. Watching the transformers transform into cars, planes, and planes gives you immense delight. The best scenes in the movie are when three Decepticons merge to become a 120 feet robot called the Devastator, and the resurrection of Optimus Prime. I am sure that this film will be awarded cult status for its very impressive special effects.
The humor part is well provided by Sam, his university colleague Leo Spitz, and Agent Simmons. While the OOMPH factor is well-provided by MEGAN FOX ;)

Minus points: Weak storyline. The protagonist Sam and his love Mikeala are the only human characters who steal majority of screentime. Otherwise, 70% of the film is all about showing the ways/history of the Decepticons and the Autobots. To put it shortly, it is more about the history of the transformers rather than how Earth is saved.
Most poignant scenes in the movie: Optimus prime saving Sam by fighting off 4 Decepticons before finally getting murdered by Megatron.
And, the resurrection of Optimus Prime.

I would give this film 3 stars out of 4.

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