The Veil

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Haven’t seen Jessica Alba in anything for a long while. So I definitely wanted to check out this film which was recommended in a Horror movie fan group as one of the best films of 2016 which most people may have skipped. And plus the film also stars one of my current darlings, Lily Rabe. The Veil is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Phil Joanou and written by Robert Ben Garant. Jason Blum serves as a producer through his production company Blumhouse Productions and the movie also stars Aleksa Palladino, Reid Scott, and Thomas Jane.

25 years ago a religious cult named Heaven’s Veil, had all their members commit suicide in a ritual procedure. Documentary filmmaker Maggie Price contacts the sole survivor, Sarah Hope, to film a documentary about what really happened and she also has never seen before footage. Maggie and her brother Christian inform her that their father was the FBI who led the investigation that found the cult and saw the dead bodies. He soon committed suicide leaving his kids to be obsessed with finding the truth behind Heaven’s Veil. Maggie, Christian and their crew take Maggie with them to the remote site of the cult’s residence, which is deep in the woods. Sarah starts to see flashes of memories, visions of the dead and faints. After she recovers they set up camp for the night. The next morning one of the crew, Ed, is missing as well as their van.

Ann, the sound editor, and Nick, the gaffer, leave to find Ed. The others follow Sarah, who has remembered the location of a house hidden within the forest. Inside, they find the lost footage and missing cult member Karen Sweetzer’s decomposed corpse. In a tape found near her body, Karen rants about not being controlled and briefly addresses Sarah, who they learn is her daughter, before dying. They begin watching the remaining footage. In it, Jim Jacobs, the leader of Heaven’s Veil, describes how he has uncovered the secret to eternal life. By designing drugs with his knowledge of alchemy, he hopes to free his followers’ spirits from their bodies. Ann and Nick return, only to reveal that Ed has died in a high-speed car accident. Jill, the sound editor, argues they should leave, but Maggie and Sarah insist that they continue watching the tapes and the others reluctantly agree. In the later tapes, Jim experiments with dangerous drugs to help him temporarily cross over to the spirit realm.

During one trance, he possesses a cult member and announces that he has freed the first of three bindings from her soul. Ghosts kill Nick when he leaves to restart the house’s generator; he later rejoins the others and kills Ann when they are alone. Ann and Nick return together to continue watching the tapes. Jim reveals further experiments in the footage, where he administers poison to himself. He removes the second binding from his soul, then returns once the antidote is applied to him. Disturbed by ghostly whispers, Jill and Matt, the cameraman, leave. They find Ed apparently alive. As Jill applies first aid, Matt leaves to get help. Ed kills Jill, and they return to the house. Sarah holds a seance to communicate with her mother, who demands that she entice the documentary filmmakers to stay at the house. Sarah murders Christian, who rises and joins her to continue watching the footage with the others, all of whom but Maggie are now possessed.

In the final reel, Jim reveals that the poison administered to the cult members was supposed to be counteracted by an antidote. Karen objects to giving poison to the children and allows Sarah to flee. Jim is revealed to be Sarah’s father and forces Karen to take the poison when she resists. Karen leaves with the footage for the house, where she dies. Before the cult can administer the antidote to themselves, the FBI arrive and interrupt the ceremony. Denied the antidote, the cult members all die. In the present, Sarah reveals that the cult members have possessed the documentary filmmakers, and Jim, possessing Ed, nails Maggie to a tree despite her protests that her father did not know about the antidote. The police arrive with Matt, only to be killed by the cult members, who now possess their bodies, too. Jim announces his plan to feed upon the souls of the rest of the world.

You can predict how things are going to unfold and it’s a bit boring with very little scary stuff but I did find parts of the film cool. I’d give it a 6.5 outta 10! Average run of the mill stuff.

This Is Your Life

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If you could read a book containing all that has happened and will ever happen in your life, would you? If you choose to read it, you must read it cover to cover. 

No. Why would I want to depress myself even more than I already am? A book that contains all of my life events is just too depressing for me to read. I have some really good memories throughout the 40 years of existence and I have even shared several of them on this blog. But reliving all of my past regrets and bad times just isn’t worth it. Nope, not to me.

So why would anyone else want to read a book of it? Sadism? It’s not that good a read, I tell you. Ok there are a few things you might find interesting or entertaining but most of it isn’t that exciting at all. And it can be downright depressing. Atleast I think it does. I wouldn’t want to read in black and white some of my worst moments, the ones that make me cringe and the ones that make me sad and hang my head in shame.

Then again a lot of people enjoy reading stuff that is depressing. The goth in you will like it as will the Emo kid. Read it if you so want to. I won’t.

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Some Alone Time

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Well it’s one of those weekends again. I know, I know it’s only Thursday but hear me out. Mum is ill and has a skin allergy and hence it was best that she goes and stays with one of her sisters who has had it before and can’t catch it from her. She needs rest and it was best that she goes there and relaxes with her sister and another sister who is in town for a few days too.

Due to mum not being at home, my sister and I are a bit apprehensive to have my dad alone at home here by himself until I get back. As I work late evening shifts I will be back home only 4 am. He tends to do unnecessary cooking by himself and had a tendency to forget to switch of lights, the tv or the fan and worse – the gas. It is with this fear in mind and that he might need someone there at night just to check up on him that we told him to go and stay at my sister’s place where he will also have the company of one of my nephews and my niece.

So it’s me all alone at home. The maid comes in the morning and will clean and cook and she will put clothes in the washing machine for me, before I even wake up, which is usually at around 10am. I can have lunch here before I have to go to work, which is fine for me. Rest of the time when I am at home I will be alone. Kinda like it that way.

ROSHAN’S ELEVEN : Top Current Shows On TV

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Here is my top 11 list of current tv shows that I watch. And I say “TV” so I do not count Netflix shows. This is my list and may differ from yours but this is what I like to watch. Ready? Here we go:

  • The Walking Dead
  • Game Of Thrones
  • Arrow
  • The Flash
  • Supergirl
  • Legends Of Tomorrow
  • Homeland
  • Designated Survivor
  • Agents Of SHIELD
  • The Blacklist
  • Killjoys

Rain

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Rain over me you sweet clouds of coolness. We are experiencing that dreaded summer yet again. When the coolness of December and January dies out and February is still plesant, March more than makes up for the lack of heat and humidity. I wish for some rain, some beautiful cool rain to wash all over us. Wash away the sweat and the grime and the dust from our bodies and buildings.

It’s become really hot and humid in the city lately. I guess it’s all over Kerala. I bet if you check statistics, March-April-June are the months of the year when there is the least amount of baby making happening in Kerala. Because who wants all that heat and humidity sticking to you! I dunno though, sometimes heat can drive people horny too!

I think the heat and humidity is getting to me. I am delirious and not thinking straight. Fall down on us rain, you sweet nectar of the clouds.

Speeds Up Or Slows Down

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When you’re giddy with excitement, does time speed up? Slow down? Tell us about the experience of anticipation.

Time does speed up when you are having fun or just relaxing and enjoying the down time. A 9 hour work period can go so slowly while a 9 hour fun time can go by so quickly. I dunno why that is so. It just seems to go like that. Ask anyone and they will tell you the same.

When I am giddy with excitement, I think it depends on what I am excited about. Sometimes it can go by slowly and sometimes it speeds up. I think it depends on what it is that is making you happy and excitement. Most times I think I would say that it does speed up. And it is gone all too soon.

But then you get to recall it and enjoy the memory of it. Sometimes that is sweet too. Only wish that I could have so much more excitement than the boring times.

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

The Full Moon

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When the full moon happens, you turn into a person who’s the opposite of who you normally are. Describe this new you.

Have you seen the original Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis and how he turns from this goofy, nerdy, buck toothed and socially awkward university professor who finally succeed in one of his experiments and invents a serum that turns him into the handsome, suave, charming and cheeky girl-chasing hipster, Buddy Love? I want to turn into that kind of guy when the full moon appears.

Why? Because he is cool and smooth and he gets the girls and he is confident. I want all that! I want to be like that. Why not? So yeah, I would want to turn into Mr. Cool Roshan who is a hearthrob and gets all the chicks he wants fall at him and sweep them off their feet. And not ever sleep alone at all. So let’s get this chemical explosion happening and make me suave!

Ole!

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

It’s My Spot!

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Whenever I go to Cinepolis irrespective of which screen I have my usual seat. Row N seat 2. It’s mine all mine. Almost every time since I started to go to theatres again back in February of last year. That first two times I didn’t get this seat but from the third time onwards, I selected this seat as I liked the vantage point. I would like to chose from the central sections but there are usually lots of families in that section and I’d feel uncomfortable if I had to sit among them. Or large groups of friends who come together to make a lot of noise.

But N 2 is fine. Infact it has become almost perfect. When I go with my cousin Sujith we always get N1 & N2 and he sits in N1. It’s become like Sheldon Cooper and his “It’s my spot” joke. But yeah I have come to like N2. When I go to the PVR in Lulu I have a different seat as it’s not the same layout as Cinepolis. And their screens have various layouts themselves so it differs. Sometimes it’s M2 or it’s Q2 depending on the size of each theatre in the PVR. But Cinepolis is always N2.

One time I had to get M1 & M2 because a couple had booked N1 & N2 before Sujith and I could. And as we saw them sitting in our seats both of us gave them death stares that could have boiled blood. How dare they take our seats!

Life (2017)

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Life is a 2017 American science fiction horror film directed by Daniel Espinosa, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds. The film follows a six-member crew of the International Space Station that uncovers what initially seems to be the first evidence of life on Mars; however, the crew finds their discovery might not be what it seems.

The 6 member team on the ISS are able to successfully capture of a space probe returning from Mars with a soil sample. The crew is tasked with studying the sample, which contains the first proof of extraterrestrial life. After extracting a single-cell from the sample, Biologist Hugh Derry is able to revive the dormant organism with atmospheric adjustments and glucose. It grows into a multi-celled organism quickly evolving at a decent rate and getting named as “Calvin” by children who won a contest back on earth. After an atmospheric accident in the lab, Calvin becomes dormant and a concerned Hugh tried to revive it using a mild electric shock. Calvin reanimated and becomes aggressive, grabbing hold of Hugh’s right hand, ultimately crushing it as Hugh struggles to get free. It shows signs of advanced intelligence escapes the containment cube into the room with Hugh. While it devours a lab rat and immediately grows in size, engineer Rory Adams enters the room and rescues Hugh.

Calvin however attaches itself to Rory’s leg and crew captain, Dr. Miranda North, locks Rory inside the room to keep Calvin in containment. Rory manages to remove Calvin from his leg and begins to attack it with a handheld incinerator. Calvin shows remarkable resilience to fire and evades Rory’s attacks until the incinerator runs out of fuel. Calvin then attacks Rory and forces its way into his mouth, killing him from the inside. Emerging from Rory’s mouth, evolved and even larger, Calvin then manages to escape from the room through an emergency fire suppression vent. Hugh theorizes that the lack of breathable air on Mars is probably what kept the organism dormant until that point. Katarina goes out on a spacewalk to fix the antenna when they discover that communications to earth is down and she too is attacked by Calvin who consumes coolant as a source of nutrition and ruptures Katerina’s EVA suit’s coolant system, effectively drowning her inside her suit. Calvin attempts to enter the station through the thrusters. An attempt to stop Calvin results in the ISS entering a decaying orbit. Engineer and pilot Sho Murikami informs the crew that they need to use the remaining fuel to get back into a standard orbit, but that it would allow Calvin back into the station.

The crew try to suffocate Calvin by sealing themselves into one module and venting the atmosphere from the rest of the station. When Hugh suddenly enters cardiac arrest, the crew resuscitate only to realize that Calvin had attached itself to Hugh’s leg and was feeding off of him. Now having grown into a much larger tentacled creature, Calvin attacks the remainder of the crew. Sho hides in a sleeping pod while Miranda and David lure Calvin away using blood from Hugh’s body and trap it in the module to deprive it of oxygen. Earth Control send a Soyuz capsule as a fail-safe plan to push the station out towards deep space and prevent any chance of the organism entering Earth. The capsule docks imperfectly against the module where Calvin was contained. Presuming it to be a rescue attempt, Sho leaves his pod and rushes to board the arriving ship. He enters the module and attempts to manually open the hatch to enter the capsule. As soon as he opens the hatch, Calvin attacks him. The imperfect docking results in a breach and the resulting explosion sends the capsule spiralling and damages the ISS, as Calvin kills Sho.

Temperature and oxygen levels drop in the station & David and Miranda realize that the incident has also caused them to re-enter the decaying orbit that will culminate in re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Since they cannot allow Calvin to reach Earth, David plans to lure Calvin into one of the pods before manually overriding the system to fly deep space, thus letting Miranda escape in the other pod to return to Earth. This works initially as Calvin is inside the pod with David and Miranda leaves in her pod Her pod however hits space debris from the ISS and is knocked off course. Calvin attacks David as he struggles to send his pod into deep space. The earthbound pod lands in a body of water near two Vietnamese fishermen. As they approach the pod, it is revealed to be David’s, with David encased and trapped in a black substance. Meanwhile Miranda screams helplessly as her navigation system fails and her pod is hurled into deep space. David, still alive, tries to warn the fishermen to not attempt a rescue. As the fishermen open the pod door, more fishing boats arrive. The screen then cuts to black.

We are left to assume that Miranda dies alone in space, drifting along alone in the dark while Calvin escapes and creates havoc on earth. We don’t know what is the fate of the alien or the humans on earth. It’s a story that has been done before and the film offers nothing new but I still found it a good enough film and entertaining enough. Though my main complaint is that Reynolds is only in the film for 25 minutes, his character Rory having been the first to die. I’d give this film a 7.5 outta 10!

Terminal Time

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You’re at the airport, your flight is delayed for six more hours, and none of your electronic devices is working. How do you pass the time?

It wasn’t that many years ago that I had to stay for long waits at the train station without the aid of electronic devices like my laptop, ipad or my smartphone. I don’t travel much, infact I haven’t been on a train in several years. I have been on only 4 flights in the last decade!

But if I were stuck for six hours or more at an airport I would do what I would have normally done a while back. I’d find a book store and buy me a novel or I would have already bought me a novel with me from home that I’d love to read and pass the time. I’d also look for the concession stands and buy me a juice or a soft drink and a sandwich or some snack that I can munch on as I read the book.

Seriously, though I love the internet and playing on apps on my phone, I do not need it all the time to pass my time. I also can do without watching a movie or two or several episodes of a tv show or Youtube to keep me entertained. Although that is what I would prefer.

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Tattoo Me

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I have just the one tattoo on me. The tribal Japanese style dragon that I got done in August, 2015. That too at the age of 39. I had just turned 39 a few days before I got inked and that remains my one and only tattoo. I want more.

I have so many ideas to get some tattoos. I was thinking of what would mean a lot to me than just a cool dark grey dragon tattoo. I would like something musical or like a guitar engulfed in flames. I once thought that I’d like to get the cover of Guns n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction album on my arm. That is a cool looking cover. Or maybe the Queensryche logo.

What else could I get? The Star Trek logo would be so appropriate and mean a lot to me. I have seen some awesome pics of people’s tattoos but I would avoid something that someone else has on them. I would want my own design. How about the Count Roshculla logo? That is so bad ass even if the skull was copied from a GnR logo we made enough changes to it to make it stand out as unique.

That would be cool.

Barter System

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If the world worked on a barter system, how would you fare? Would you have services to barter? Would you be successful, or would you struggle?

I dunno, barter system in current day. What if someday all the currency in the world is destroyed or made useless because of something stupid that humans did and we had to resort to going back to a barter system for food, essentials and other goods?

What can I give? A winning smile, a joke and a sarcastic comment! My charm and wit. My sweet personality? My endless supply of dirty jokes. Or could I get good for sex? No? Ok then, I will have to rely on my charm and dirty jokes!

Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com

The Decline Of A Coffeeshop Chain

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Before I start, I should say that this is solely based on what I have experienced in my hometown of Cochin. Cafe Coffee Day is an Indian coffeehouse chain. They have outlets in all major cities and towns. They are the Starbucks or Tim Hortons of India. A few years ago CCD was the only coffee shop option we had in most cities and I frequented them on a weekly basis. Every Sunday or Saturday out since 2006 started at CCD with a nice thick frappe and maybe a muffin or a sandwich to go along with it.

Until a couple of years ago we had maybe one or two other options for a quick bite to eat like a sandwich or muffins,  maybe a pasty or cake and some delicious cold or hot coffee. Now – there are lots of various options with the slew of independent outlets that have come up. Some have 2 or 3 outlets in the city/state as well and foodies are flocking to them. CCD has 6 outlets in Kochi, 2 of which I have been to. They have 1 in Lulu Mall and 1 near Center Mall and one on MG Road a couple of kilometers from Center Mall (the one that I have been going to the last 3 times). Once a retreat for me, a place where I could go with a book and relax for a couple of hours, have a sub and big frappe it is now the least favourite option.

The last couple of times I have been inside a CCD I found that their sub sandwich have not only increased in price but decreased in taste and quantity of what’s inside. Miserly little things and they have the audacity to serve way beyond mediocre sliders and call then international burger fest! American classic burger – two sliders with chicken cutlets (the Indian kind) and hardly anything else. The two cafes I have been to look old and badly in need of sprucing up. I haven’t been to any of the other outlets though I had seen the CCD in Lulu Mall and it being the newer on, looks more inviting. I will stick to my choices of other outlets most of the time but once in a while I guess I will visit a CCD for old time’s sake.