FOREIGN MOVIE FEEDS
By Anashua
If there are some jaded eyes, waiting to watch something other than the usual Hollywood films, here is a list of some foreign movies one could try:
Motorcycle Diaries (2004), South America - Based on the legendary Che Guevara, the movie chronicles the Argentine rebel's long motorcycle trip across South America in the 1950's with his college friend, Alberto Granado. The trip ultimately decides the shape of their lives. Though it misses the essence of the actual journals, it is a compelling watch nevertheless.
Delicatessen (1991), France - The word 'delicatessen' means an eatery which sells delicacies, and in a post-apocalyptic France, where food is used as precious money, a butcher's shop in an apartment which is owned by the landlord sells meat at a cheap rate. It turns out that the meat is of the innocent job applicants whom he lures in through a vacancy ad. A retired circus clown applies for the job, and in the meantime falls in love with the butcher's daughter, who knows her father's real intentions and tries to protect him. An interesting film, if one's in the mood for some dark drama.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), Italy - In this roaring western featuring Clint Eastwood, three gunslingers, Blondie (The Good), Angel Eyes (The Bad) and Tuco (The Ugly), an outlaw, learns about gold hidden in a cemetery, and goes after it. They need each other's help in this quest, for each of them knows valuable information about the whereabouts of the gold, but displaying typical bandit mentality, are not keen on sharing the gold. A hilarious movie with an imdb rating of 9.
Turtles Can Fly (2004), Iran - In a Kurdish refugee camp situated on the border of Turkey and Iraq, a group of children try to set up a satellite antenna so that the rest of the people can get news on the capture of Saddam Hussein. Their team is led by a young boy called Saren, and they sweep the area for any unexploded landmines, which they could trade. Saren falls in love with a young girl called Agrin, who is accompanied by a mysterious blind toddler, and an armless brother who can see the future.
Seven Samurai (1956), Japan - A village is at risk from bandits, and since they cannot afford weapons, they hire an experienced samurai, who gathers six other samurais, in exchange for food and lodging. The samurais teach the villagers the art of self defence, and the movie ends with an action packed fight involving a large number of bandits.
Inertia
Q. How'd you guys choose the name?
A. That's actually a very common story, nothing cool or too funny. It suddenly came to Ajmain when he was listening to Black Heart Inertia and he had a sudden inspiration to name the band Inertia. It sort of all plays into the factor that if one member off the band is removed from the situation, the whole thing comes to a halt as we're practically a family now. A band of brothers (and sister), one might say.
Q. What does each of you play?
A. We have Ajmain on guitars, Junaid on drums, the ever so talented Alaina and Zaber on vocals, Siam on guitar and Bobo on bass.
Q. How'd you guys meet? What inspired you to make music together?
A. So, the story goes like this: Ajmain and Sinjan (a former member/founding member) met all the way back in economics class and decided to form a band one fine day. They met Anan from Downbreak and the trio became a band. Anan introduced them to child prodigy Junaid, who was a fantastic drummer even at the tender age of 13. Not long after we finally realised our band could actually go somewhere, so the search for a vocalist began. We met Tamzid, our former vocals, at a show where he was guest singing for Minus+2 and we asked him to join us. Inertia was born and our first concert together was at ISD's Battle of the Bands 2010. Anan left soon after to concentrate on Downbreak and another bassist, Shahrukh, joined. We always wanted a female vocalist as we wanted to be versatile so when Junaid introduced us to his friend Alaina, it was a perfect fit for us. She is an amazing singer and her and Zaber's amazing vocals are a big factor of what made us so popular in such a short time. We've had a couple of line-up changed since then - Siam joined us as guitarist and Zaber, joined the band as vocals. The band is currently stable and doing quite well, fortunately.
Q. What got you into music in the first place?
A. Zaber: I've been obsessed with music for the past three years. As far as genre's go I'm very into grunge, alt rock to name a few. If there's a band I have to mention it would have to be Nemesis. I idolise them, back in 2003 I actually had the chance to perform with them and it was the greatest moment of my life.
Alaina: I sing because I can! I know that sounds so silly but its true! When I was little and had to sing songs in school everyone told me I was good at it, so I kept it up. I had a lot of encouragement and a great support system which has gotten me to where I am today.
Junaid: I wasn't really into playing any instrument but then my older brother, my idol, started playing drums so I followed in his footsteps! I've now been playing for two and a half years.
Ajmain: My parents introduced me to the music of their time and everything I heard from them rubbed off. I got inspired by my Dad's old records and decided I want to be a musician when I grew up.
Bobo: I've been playing since I was a child. From all the way back to when I was four years old. My parents and great grandparents are all musicians, so music is in my blood. .
Siam: My Dad's a musician so he is my inspiration. He's all things music and I guess that just rubbed off on me. It's the one thing I'm truly passionate about.
Q. Who writes your songs?
A. It's a collaboration. We all have input and songs just come to us while we're goofing around.
Q. What are your future plans?
A. I guess it would have to be to make an album and to release our singles. We have had encouragement from legends in the industry and that's such an amazing thing to have from a band starting out. We're so grateful and we just want to keep on doing our own thing and hope that someday we too can be as loved as they are.
Q. Any last words of wisdom?
A. Always be passionate about what you do and long live fried chicken!
Also we'd like to thank our heroes and idols Maher bhai, Labib bhai, ex members because without them we wouldn't have been where we are now, Zulyad and the rest of Circus Police an amazing, amazing band! Adnan, Tamjid, Shams, Alaina, Zubayer Khan, Saadi Bhai, all our fans that we've acquired in such a short time and every single person who supports us. You guys are our family and we love you!
Inertia has a Facebook fan page so please check it out for updates about the band.
By Professor Spork
They do their job well, making us laugh when times are tense and coming up with solutions to problems unstated. Every show has side characters, but the most underappreciated are those in cartoons. A small tribute, then, to a few such characters we believe deserve more than a passing mention.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Sokka) - He's Katara's brother from Nickelodeon's Avatar. Although there is development in his character throughout the series, neither the other characters nor the viewers really recognise him as anything other than mere comic relief. The creators didn't even deign to give him any water-bending powers, and yet he was the main protector of his village. Sokka gathers food and makes fires, and receives complaints and whining in return. He cautions against impulsive acts and finds himself the subject of scorn. He saves their lives. Not that anyone notices.
Justice League (J'onn J'onzz) - Not only does he take care of the Watchtower when Batman can't, he's also constantly healing the rest of the Justice League and getting them out of tight spots. However, due to his dwindling number of appearances over the series, viewers tend to forget about him. In fact, the only thing about J'onn most people remember is that he's green and a Martian.
Phineas and Ferb (the Fireside Girls) - It's interesting how these little girls are the most awesome characters in Phineas and Ferb. They're clever and innovative, helping the boys out in every episode, whether it's by doing most of the heavy-lifting or using their handbooks to build time-machines and save them from T-Rexes. The only troop in Danville is 46321, led by Isabella, and although everything they do appear to be for the revered badges they pin upon their sashes, often they do it just to humour Isabella's crush on Phineas. Now, few could name a second Fireside Girl besides Isabella, even though Isabella spends more time dreaming about Phineas than working. Easily the most underappreciated side characters of the list.
Powerpuff Girls (Miss Bellum) - Moving onto the classics; this Mayor's assistant takes her job way too seriously. Filing reports, taking phone calls, explaining jokes, opening pickle jars, suggesting the Mayor call the Powerpuff Girls when a monster is attacking, she does it all. As seen at the time when she fought Sedusa, who had stolen her identity, she also has an excellent right hook. And yet she doesn't get a pay raise.
Dexter's Laboratory (Mandark) - His debut appearance implied he was smarter than Dexter himself, with his superior lab and 'impeccable' taste in women. Until Dexter came up with the idea of using Dee Dee to destroy Mandark's lab, it was the latter who was the ultimate boy genius. His robots always look better, even though he has a penchant for stealing Dexter's inventions. His signature evil laugh (“HA HAHA! HA HAHA HAHA!” x3) is known all over the world. Yet who makes the list of best characters from Dexter's Lab? Dexter's Quadraplex T-3000 computer, that's who.
SWAT Kats (Feina Feral) - Commander Feral's niece kicks some major behind. She's clearly the most competent of the Enforcer's, often outshining her uncle. She can actually keep up with the SWAT Kats, and surprisingly doesn't engage in any romantic stints whatsoever with either T-Bone or Razor. Now there's a woman who knows her worth. Of course, Deputy Mayor Callie is the more favoured female character, while all anyone ever calls Felina is reckless.
Without these characters, these awesome shows wouldn't be as awesome. So it's about time we showed some love where deserved.
