The Critique

Robert Kreyche, The Betrayal of Wisdom , New York: Alba House, 1972, ISBN 0-8189-0248-5, pp. xii + 237, Cost not mentioned. Our world is exhibiting a considerable amount of fragmentation. It is a tragic fact that man despite the tremendous expanse of his scientific and technological knowledge, is still in fundamental ignorance of the real needs of the human spirit and the type of knowledge that would integrate the values of his intellect, will and spirit. The postmodern culture which pervades our world is characterized by distrust towards ideas like finality, goal, soul and the like. In this book the author aims at attempting to clear up the confusion caused by contemporary philosophy’s failure to provide a healing remedy for the ever-increasing skepticism, positivism and agnosticism affecting the mind of man. He presents a skillful analysis of the dethronement of human reason and the steps that are needed to reintegrate it with life. Philosophy has sadly, with the rise o...

Dir: Stephen Hopkins Starring: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis Dur: 2 hrs 14 mins Genre: Biography Rating: 8/10 Jesse Owens was touted to be “the fastest man alive” that is until Usain Bolt showed up. Owens shattered records and established new ones in their place. His records stood until a few years ago. Jesse Owens was only a name to me. I knew very little about him except that he was a great sprinter and that he was a black American who won races and accolades for the country well before America could digest the reality that colour doesn’t matter. His story is really something… I’m glad people have found it worthwhile to bring it to the silver screen. His life is a witness and I’m glad the whole world can now see for itself and acknowledge the true greatness of the man. On this note, I heartily congratulate the director, screenwriters and the whole production team for taking up this project and producing a wonderful film.   The story is heart-warming and if yo...

Dir: Homi Adajania Starring: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Kapoor Dur: 1 hr 45 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 2/10 When the film was released back in 2014, on reading the review I had put it down in my list of films that ought to be watched. Sometime ago, one of my friends on facebook posted that the film is great and must be watched by all Goans. This reminded me of my list and I began trying to get my hands on a copy of the film. I was excited when I did so. One fine day, I set aside time to watch this film… I don’t know where to start. Simply put, IT WAS A DISGRACE AND AN UTTER WASTE OF TIME! You think I’m upset? I’m furious! Not only because of the time I wasted searching for the film and watching it but I’m also upset at all those who promoted the film as something worthwhile. Some may find it so but I don’t, period. The story made absolutely no sense to me. It started well in a typical Goan village but then slid into humb...

Dir: Byron Howard, Rich Moore Dur: 2 hrs 8 mins Genre: Animated Rating: 9/10 Zootopia displays a different character of animation. It unlike anything I’ve seen before. This is not in terms of animation or anything but in terms of story. Mystery is an unknown genre within the animated world. The only other one I’ve seen besides the good old Scooby Doo, is The Adventures of Tintin . The story is interesting but what is more catchy are the dialogues which are for me the real cream of the film. It’s no surprise that the film was the fourth highest grossing in 2016 and 28 th highest of all time. It received a number of awards and nominations; all deserved in my reckoning. The story begins with an attention grabbing scene. The world is ours to experience. No one can categorically impel me to be or do what I don’t want to do. I can do anything I set my mind too. Hard work and perseverance pays well. No one is too small to achieve big things. All these are just a few of th...

Dir: Ava DuVernay Starring: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson Dur: 2 hrs 8 mins Genre: Historical Drama Rating: 7/10 Selma tells the story of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s efforts to acquire voting rights for Afro-Americans. The film has a lot of talk and little action, but that’s what most biographies are about. The story is inspiring in the broad sense but it squandered the opportunity to be so much more. The opening scene is a bit confusing as we are shown Luther receiving the Noble prize, a bomb blast killing innocent kids and a presidential meeting. These events perhaps serve to summarize the important events preceding the ones documented in the movie. Luther’s wasn’t a very victorious story of grit, courage and fame. I’m glad the film showed him for what he really was: a man struggling to keep his ideas in accordance with the reality around him. Oyelowo is a treat and he puts up a good impression of what Luther must have been like. In terms of acting, the film do...