The Best & The Worst Of 2017

It’s been like 10 years since I last took a flight. This year I’ve, however, taken two flights already, one to Japan and one to Taiwan, places where I never thought I would want to go. Like I said, to move on forward, you got to learn to let go of things that have kept you grounded. And you got to put aside your stereotypes and biases so as to be able to see and find out more about what life has actually got for you. That’s not easy of course. It takes a lot of courage and determination, and you might have to struggle hard with your past and shadows too, but I guess one step at a time is all you need.

Love is indeed a great force that drives us forward, and keeps us hopeful for a better future, a better life, a better world, even though it might probably fail and hurt us over and again. A person without love and hope is basically doomed. As a Buddhist or not, we ought to be brave and fearless to love and care as if we’ve never been hurt before, like a Bodhisattva never giving upon any sentient beings.

This year, to me, great films are few while lousy ones are quite a lot. It’s very easy to pick one to be ‘The Worst’, and when I thought 2017 was going to end without ‘The Best’, there surprisingly came this Bollywood film…

The Best:

I guess any film that features Aamir Khan can’t be too bad because this guy is amazing, professional and dedicated to acting and filmmaking. ‘Dangal’ is in fact produced by his own Studio, and of course some other big Pictures, but it’s a traditional Bollywood film 100% that involves dancing and singing, great acting, storytelling and characterizations with basically no special effects. If you’re fed up with superhero films, visual spectaculars, sequels, prequels, reboots, remakes, and instead in desperate need of a decently told original story, a tearjerker that will move and inspire you to be a better man with a broader mind, go check out ‘Dangal’!

The Worst:

If not for the trailer and Matthew McConaughey, I wouldn’t have checked out ‘The Dark Tower’. Though it’s based on a Stephen King’s long story, how it plays out is absolutely terrible. Things happen casually with no setup at all, and you’d watch it like it’s none of your business. Plus, the action is nothing fresh. The dialogues are like retarded. The acting… er… is there any space for that necessarily? What a waste of a good actor like McConaughey indeed. I wonder why he wanted to be part of it at all. I’m afraid he’s going to be like Cage someday. Well, I hope not!

Alright, last but not least, as usual, a song to wrap it up. It’s ‘Landlady’, U2’s Bono’s beautiful letter to his wife! Enjoy, take nothing for granted, and try to feel thankful to whatever comes to you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you guys out there. See you next year, suppose I’m still alive and kicking. Peace!