Boredom

It's absolutely fabulous time to be a test cricket fan right now. Four top teams competing in four different corners of the world with four pretty competitive ones. Ind and WI; Aus and SL; Pak and Eng; and NZ v Zim......test cricket is well and truly on a glorious course. Bulawayo gets a test match to host after 5 years and that's a welcome change for Zimbabwe Cricket. Zimbabwe being one of the 10 full members of ICC does need the supreme form of Cricket to survive and function and I'm glad New Zealand were willing to play them in their home conditions. But the most heartening cricket stories of this week come from the 'Pearl of Indian Ocean, i.e. Sri Lanka'. They always unearth truly extraordinary and super special cricketers when the chips are down and this time, they have managed to find two such gems: Lakshan Sandakan, a wiry, young left arm wrist spinner and Kushal Mendis, said to be a hybrid of Mahela and Arvinda De Silva. Sandakan represents the tiniest subs...

I was about to do a full feature on UFC's most famous and hyped 200th PPV but the news that Brock Lesner, the co-headliner of Mega, Landmark Event had failed a drug test made me changed my mind. Brock as we all know is an athlete of few equals in world, has been my key reason to cover this event. He made a triumphant return in Octagon against Mark Hunt, the number 8th ranked heavyweight MMA fighter in world and collected a winner's purse of USD 2.5 millions but this latest development of a failed drug test will not only jeopardize his earnings but as well his future engagements with both WWE (which he currently signed with) and UFC (no one can deny his future with them). He is currently scheduled to fight Randy Orton at WWE flagship event of Summerslam, a fight that was 14 years in the making but everything will be in dark now. WWE too has revised its drug-test policy to tilt in recent years and regularly suspends its performers when they fail it. They have, just couple of week...

European feature films are quite different in nature when compared to Asian and American productions. They usually represent simple tales of emotions or human beings and seldom dwell in their complexities. They are slicker in nature and unilateral in their pacing. They don't force the viewers to make too many conclusions, instead they make them soak all that happened on screen. I came across these realizations while watching two of their examples and I must say I didn't like them too much although I picked them for the same elements that I generally like to see in Asian and Hollywood productions: Stellar Starcast, Intriguing Plot and their Critical Acclaim. Both these films: A Bigger Splash and Rust and Bone had all these elements aplenty and despite the fact I didn't like them still, they have remained 'etched' in my memory ever since I watched them.....it's more than 10 days now!!! 'A Bigger Splash' stars Ralph Fienns, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnso...

'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' has been panned universally for its supposedly 'muddled' writing, long duration and wrongfully messing with two of America's greatest superheroes. I watched it yesterday. It wasn't awfully bad. It was, in fact, nearly good. Yes, it was dragging. Character development wasn't there. Plot was slowly deconstructing......blah, blah, blah but I believe accommodating two of the greatest superheroes of USA in a 3-hour feature film (Ultimate Edition was 3-hour long and received more favorable acclaim from critics) was a risky proposition from the very start and summer blockbusters rarely receive critical acclaim barring helmed from Tim Burton, Steven Speilberg and Christopher Nolan. Considering these notions, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' was an appreciable effort with extraordinary visuals and jaw-dropping action sequences. Batman and Superman fight sequence was fantastic and then there was 'Aquaman' creati...

'In the Name of The Father' is a 1993 biographical courtroom drama directed by Jim Sheridan and stars Daniel Day Lewis, Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite. I came across this film while doing a feature on Daniel after his victory of Best Actor Award for 'Lincoln'. I first watched it in year 2013 I guess and wanted to write immediately about it but as it happens with me, some other emotions of work took over me and I didn't do what was required. However, the movie and its portrayal of 'Guildford Four' or IRA's conspired 'Guildford Pub bombing' has ever since been etched in my memory. Jim Sheridan had previously directed Daniel in 'My Left Foot' and it got both of them Oscars. Daniel Day Lewis since then has established himself as one of those 'untouchable' acting deities of World. Three Oscar Wins as Best Leading Actor.....no one has ever done that in Oscars history and this film gives us the glimpses of his earliest acting pot...

Things I did in last two weeks while being bedridden: a) Watched Two of Johnny Depp's most recent movies (not that wonderland one) : Black Mass (A Must Watch) and Donald J. Trump's Art of Dealing (If you wanna watch how Depp could possibly look like Donald Trump......if you go with my words, he has absolutely killed it) b) Watched 'Zootopia'.........it's surprisingly good!!!! c) Watched 'Salt n Pepper' (Malyalam) and Sairat (Marathi): Both are certificates to the fact that how good our regional cinema is doing!!! d) Watched FAN.....why because Pakistanis loved it......I didn't get the logic but Shah Rukh as Gaurav Chandna was fantastic and unmissable!!!! e) Watched Game of Thrones last two episodes....immensely satisfying television.....couldn't complain......couldn't be more overjoyed!!!! (Hope to follow on this one later) f) Read tonnes of articles on Brexit and yes, it did happen!!!! g) Watched Copa America Final (my first major ...

Yeah, it's been a while. Let's start with GoT S06 E08. This whole season has been so disappointing and frustrating that given a suitable option, I would really like to hang on but let's go on for a while. Daenaris Targaryan gets kidnapped by her baby dragon and drops her off in Khal Dothrak. She comes back to Meeren after burning everything and with whole lot of Dothraki soldiers. Anything surprising???? Arya Stark decides to be a STARK again and makes her wishes known to Jaqen H'Ghar (It's really an exotic name). He decides to drop her off the hook instead via Waif. Waif is a lusty killer but she really can't kill Baby Arya. This is Bollywood stuff, really and It's Waif's face that gets hung on one of the pillars of 'House of Black and White'. But what's really is this 'House of Black and White' anyway? Surprises, not really!!!! OK.....Who is this Breyndan 'The Blackfish' Tully? During Episode 5, Ser Davos Seaworth, former ...