The Mummy

                                        One of the worst movie that i have come across lately. 'The Mummy' is a complete waste of time and resources besides wasting the stupendous acting talent of Tom Cruise. The movie  merges action, mythology, horror and comedy resulting in confusion . No characters are fully explained, silly comic scenes and a plot which sucks big time makes it a nightmarish experience. Some of the action scenes are breathtaking ,alas they by themselves can't lift the story and can't compensate for unnecessary rats and faceless zombie scenes. One doesn't understand the logic behind certain scenes , though action sequences are brilliantly filmed.

                                        The movie starts by accidentally excavating a cursed tomb of an Egyptian princess by two rogue treasure hunting soldiers in the middle of Iraq,how and why were they associated with US Army,please satisfy yourself with feeble explanation. The erstwhile princess thus rises from the death and starts seducing Tom Cruise for inconclusive idiotic reason. The whole story revolves around this plot while traversing between different locations and time. Some other characters are also around like the British archaeologist Jennifer Halsey ( Annabelle Wallis ) who played the love interest of Tom although everything looks plastic, devoid of any chemistry between the two. Russell Crowe as a leader of a shadow organization is irrational and illogical. The only saving grace is ( Sophia Boutella ) Ahmanet a.k.a. The Mummy, her transitions from a creepy, violent monster to a seductive goddess with ease is mesmerizing .

                                     The verdict is out, this movie is a combination of action sequences of many movies, complete inadequacy of story telling. A vague attempt to create a series based on myths which falls short of expectation and hence should be avoided.

                                       

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

                                       A Brief History of Time has the reputation of being the most bought yet least read book. Firstly, why is it being branded the best selling science book ? I won't accept the usual reason, that book is well written and  over simplifies complex science and astronomical theories in intuitive and entertaining way which are easily explained  for the benefit of masses. The real reason behind the success of this book is Stephen Hawking himself.  He is a phenomenon, a rockstar, of his generation wrapped in gigantic achievements . In his twenties, he contracted ALS  thus lost the movement of his legs and arms and was confined to a wheel chair. Eventually, his voice faded with time as the disease progressed . Today, unable to speak, his physical condition has stabilized but he can only move his eyes and a finger. Deteriorating physical situation couldn't impede Hawking from his research and he remained productive as a scientist . His grit and determination helped him in overcoming all odds and scaling new heights .With the help of computers, he is able to communicate and give lectures. The physical condition couldn’t deter him from writing books, acting in a movie ,giving lectures etc. and is ranked among the best scientists of his generation.

                                   Now, coming back to the book, the book is very interesting and despite the complexity of the subject Hawking has tried of making it about as understandable as possible and in the words of Einstein “make everything as simple as possible but not more so.” The complex theories and explanations are definitely mind taxing and I had to read a few sections a few times also had to google at times to fully understand what i was reading. This book covers wide areas from Big bangs,time travel to black holes and from origin of Earth to intelligent life forms and question the orthodoxy religious beliefs. From Greek philosophers contribution towards science and rational thinking to modern times. Hawking beautifully summed up by telling that earlier everything was believed as God's creation, with time, science started explaining things.By 20th century God gets credit for whatever can't be understood or unexplained but now most of the erstwhile enigma has been successfully deciphered by science.

                                        This book is a treasure trove for young minds and ordinary people alike. This book is fascinating for science students however people with no interest in astronomy might find it boring . Even though some hypothesis explained in this book were beyond me, still i highly recommend this book for everyone .