MOVIE REVIEW
Limitless
By Orin
This summer of sequels has already started taking its toll on movie viewers. With all the movies having numbers in their names, it's turning into a season full of moderately poor movies with all of us admitting disappointment. With pleasingly hot Bradley Cooper as the protagonist and unpredictable direction, Limitless tries to promise something different in a way.
As the story goes, the protagonist of the movie, Eddie Morra (Cooper) is a writer with a monumental writer's block and a long overdue book to finish. Extremely depressed, he hasn't written a word in weeks. Just to make matters worse, his frustrated long-time girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) decides to break it off. Then Eddie meets his ex-brother-in-law, who, conveniently, is a drug dealer and gives him a free sample of a new smart pill called NZT. Thinking that life couldn't possibly be any worse, Eddie takes it.
NZT allows Eddie to utilise 100% of his brain. Immediately he is someone who can do anything. Words literally fall from the sky (in the movie it's the ceiling) as he finishes his book in only a couple of days He also begins speaking foreign languages fluently, can get any girl he wants and basically becomes a person with infinite abilities. The downside is, one NZT pill only lasts a day. So basically, a Felix Felicis deal. How else would you get the story rolling?
Here we have a person with four-digit IQ, who can possibly find a cure for cancer or solve the Fukushima problem in Japan and we see him turning all his attention to Wall Street, becoming the protégé of a money mogul Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) and trying to make a ton of money. This is probably the low point of the movie. While it's fun to see Cooper crunching numbers and looking great in a suit, it doesn't serve a lot of purpose, let alone score any points for originality.
As things start to fall into the right places, Eddie's dependence grows and then come all the twists and turns necessary for a summer action thriller.
Where the movie does score well is the directing and the camera work. Some of the scenes are visually awesome. Also the story moves quite fast and doesn't bore you at all.
The movie is ambitious to say the least, but it doesn't have a lot of things to work with. While we have Bradley Cooper running all over the place, and Robert De Niro being a super rich old dude, it doesn't offer a lot to the audience. That being said, we don't really want a LOT from summer movies, we want to be entertained. And entertain it does. Limitless might not be the best movie of the year, but it's worth the time.
Verdict: 7/10
By Saleh-Uz-Zaman
Music occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of Bengalis. So it's hardly surprising that Bangladesh has given birth to numerous talented musicians and bands over the generations. The talents of many artists over time have gone unnoticed and they had never earned the recognition they deserved. Others have found their way to fame and fortune.
Probably the latest group of musicians to rise to a quick newfound fame is a band called Xodiac. Their song 'Onuvuti', regularly played in Radio Foorti as they were selected as “Airtel Radio Foorti Artiste of the month”, has touched thousands of music lovers over the country, although the band is relatively new, and their album is yet to be released.
Like many artists who later went on to become great in their line of profession, Xodiac's journey started as a nameless band in the greenrooms of their education institute in Comilla Cadet College. A few teenagers with big dreams embarked upon an endeavour that would one day bring them fame as musicians. In 2004 they composed 'Onuvuti', though the song would be refined over time until it hit the market seven years later. After completing college, harsh realities of student life took away much of their time and many of the band members left their beloved hobby to pursue their respective careers and studies. But three of them stuck together; Anu, Topu and Barky would one day form the band Xodiac.
One of them, Anu was a student at Charukola. It was at the fresher's night in the second year that Anu and his two friends thought that since they are into music, this was a good way to welcome the newcomers to the institution. It was during this time they met another present band member, Aditi, who along with another band member Shukhon joined the band. Another member Pulak would also came into the fray around that time.
In the days following the show at Charukola, Rakib would also join their ranks. Rakib was Anu's roommate and used to play the flute. The two soon developed a friendship and would spend endless nights sitting in front of their residential hall jamming. It was during this time in 2006, when Onuvuti was finalised and a rough recording was done.
Xodiac performed numerous charity shows in the DU campus. In the meantime another member Kazol joined the band. The line up which exists today was complete. By now, many had recognised their talents and urged them to go for the radio. But finding the correct link in the media is not easy and at first they got the cold shoulder.
One Friday morning, Anu noticed an Airtel advertisement asking aspiring young artists to send their application. Anu followed his instincts and jumped on the golden opportunity.
Following voting by Radio Foorti listeners they were elected as the Airtel Foorti Artist of the month.
By Osama Rahman
'Bury me smiling, with Gs in my pocket,
Have a party at my funeral, let every rapper rock it.'
(2Pac, Life Goes On)
June 16th, 2011 marked the 40th birthday of the greatest rapper to ever grace this earth; the late Tupac Amaru Shakur. While Afeni Shakur invited a host of up and comers to commemorate one of the single most important days of hip-hop, consider it given that Tupac is not sitting and watching quietly in Thugz Mansion up in heaven. He is surely partying with his comrades, all who have found their much needed 'ghetto' up there. So what songs are blaring up in the seven skies and who is crooning what? Here, we take a guess at how our favourite rapper is celebrating his birthday with the rest of his ballers.
1. Big L - The illest rapper ever, Big L will obviously let loose when the curtains open. Big L sets the mood by reliving the moment that made him great beyond time as he goes all out in 'Put it On', bringing about a few chuckles as he spits 'I keep rapper's hearts pumpin' like Reeboks'. Surely Big L would take the mic up for one more rendition of 'Ebonics' to everyone's delight.
2. Big Pun - Is this even a surprise? If anyone can sustain the hype Big L leaves behind it has to be Big Pun. The Puerto Rican rapper was lyrically more blessed by a long mile than even the best wordsmiths of the game today with a knack for rhyming words and sentences no one could think of rhyming. The first Latino to go platinum, Big Pun would take up from where Big L left off by inducing frenzy and a non-stop party mood with his track 'I'm Not A Player'. “And make a wish/ I'll make you rich
Take your kids to the flicks/Come back and fix your favourite dish, NOT!!” And that's how Pun would land more than a few guffaws as he lands more than a few punches.
3. Left Eye - What would a birthday celebration be worth without one of the greatest female rappers of all time? An accident may have robbed the world of Lisa Lopes aka Left Eye, but she sure didn't stop when she left. To sombre the mood down a few notches, Left Eye would sample from 'Waterfalls', as everyone in the audience is mesmerised by the power in her voice, as she says “Dreams are hopeless aspirations, in hopes of coming true, believe in yourself, the rest is up to me and you.” Left Eye would leave the stage, while her audience would be lulled into a sense of calm reflection.
4. Notorious B.I.G - Notorious B.I.G must have been Tupac's most hated opposition but things such as hate have no bearing in Thugz Mansion. So why on Earth would the second greatest rapper miss out? Blessed with a flow and a lyrical sense of timing that may even pale Tupac's ability, Biggie has long been considered one of the East Coast's greatest products. With the luxury of a wealth of classics to choose from, we are guessing he would be inclined to go with 'Juicy'. Why? Because it is the most honest reflection of his life and the best to go with the tone Left Eye set. So Biggie would go off into mapping out the life before he made it to the life after and the rags to riches tale, would surely find the audience nodding along, relating to every instance. More than one of them would know the truth about when Christmas missed them too. 'Damn right I like the life I live(d), because I went from positive to negative..'. Biggie's summing up of his life would be met by more than just deafening applause. Perhaps a verse from 'Sky's the Limit' then?
5. Tupac - And who to wrap up the event than the birthday boy himself? The most charismatic, persevering and lyrically talented rapper of all time, Tupac morphed into more than just a rapper; he was seen as a prophet by some and a revolutionary by others. And in heaven, after the dust has settled, Tupac knows that he has paid his dues and now its time to relax. So instead of going with something too hard hitting, it would be quite apt for 2Pac to settle for his famous 'Thugz Mansion'. With best mate Yafeu Fula to back him up, no other verse could best serve the purpose. The stellar line at the end would sum up what all these rappers have searched for in their young lives; destiny. 'So right before sleep dear God, what I'm askin'/ Remember this face, save me a place, in thug's mansion.' After the darkest night always comes the brighter day and through the storm of struggle Tupac finds the peace he dearly craved all his life. In Thugz Mansion.
Though many others would grace the event, only a chosen few, who represented everything 2Pac did, would grip the mike. And along with them, we all cherish the memories of the greatest rapper ever and wish him a Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday Tupac!
