Rann means battle. And battle is a fight between large organized forces. In the context of a civil society and its seep complexities, large organized forces (read news channels, political parties and industrial czars) are not just involved in a fight with each other, but more importantly and frighteningly. They are battling a war within themselves and this especially true of news channels.
Making news is not the easiest thing in the world. So the next best thing obviously would be to make anything and everything appear to be news.
The ways the news is presented today are much more entertaining than family soaps and thrillers. What’s worse is that we enjoy this kind presentation so much that we have got addicted to them.
There is the government – a system which runs the country, then there are wealth creators like industrialists etc and then there are politicians in the ruling party and the opposition.
All the above in a democratic society are supposed to be working for the common people and the one and only means of the common people having any idea as to what those are up to is through the media. Hence the media had been invented as a truth telling machinery serving the purpose of the common people so that they know they are in good hands on in case they are told that they are not, they can hope to exercise the power of their vote to bring about a change.
But in a free economy system where there is so much competition the media by default is lost in its purpose.
The media is a reporting agency. It reports news. News is what is new in what you hear for the first time so to be able to be the first to tell you the various newspapers and channels have an intense competition among themselves and this they do on a need to survive, on an ego to be on the top and on a greed to get rich.
To be ahead of competition means more circulation and higher TRPS which in turn generate more and more ad revenue which will translate into making more and more and more money.
Also the fact that the process the people who run the media realize their power of influencing the common people inevitably makes them power hungry.
Rann would exposes the behind-the-scenes truth of how a truth telling machinery by the very virtue of its positioning has no choice but to corrupt it lf it is to become a money-making and power-brokering enterprise.
via Watch Watch Rann Online Rann.
2.5 Stars (out of 4)
One of the reasons why I cut down on my film viewing drastically in the last couple of years was to do with the alarming consistency with which new films managed to bore me. I didn’t know (and still don’t) whether it was a function of me growing older, or of more bad films being made. Either way, when I decided that I’d go back to the old ways of movie viewing in 2010, I knew it won’t be an easy ride. And it certainly hasn’t been so far, with Chance Pe Dance giving way to Veer.
from here.
Now, normally, I don’t like to talk needless shit, but as Benjie Light and I were waxing and musing about various films that we felt deserved to be on this list, we also, of course, were taking a gander at others’ lists. Some of them are really, really interesting. Some… not so much.
If you click over to the trainwreck of a website that is Ain’t It Cool News these days, you can take a look here at the best of the decade lists by one of their regularly featured… I don’t know what you call them. Are they writers? I’ll be charitable and just say: bloggers. Anyway, the fella calls himself “Mr. Beaks.”
Now, there’s some quality films in this list, there really are. In The Mood For Love in the top five? I respect that. You Can Count On Me in the list at all? I can definitely get behind that. There’s two films by Michael Haneke on the list, which is surprising, but I applaud it. WALL-E’s on the list, which is a no brainer, and so are films like The Constant Gardener, which people always told me were good but I never saw. All of this sounds fine.
But the list itself? Deeply flawed. For example, there’s way too Ridley Scott happening here. Way too much. I’m surprised that Peter Berg isn’t on the guy’s list. And Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale. Seriously. There’s weird caveats as well, like, sure Bad Santa makes it onto the list of top 100 films of the decade, but only the “January 2003 Pasadena Test Screening Cut?” What? That’s ridiculous. Oh, and the that the #100 film is Bring It On, seriously, and the #1 film – and it’s important to note that this appears to be a ranked list – is Irreversible. Which is… wow. Indeed.
Also, here is a list of films that “Mr. Beaks” says “just missed” finding a place on his best of the decade list: The Dark Knight, Juno, May, Closer, Old Joy, Bad Boys 2, Unfaithful, Lovely And Amazing, Unbreakable, Mission To Mars, Humpday, The Prestige, Paranoid Park, and I’m Not There. And The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Just consider for a moment that these titles are together in one section, and then think about how they’re good enough to make it onto the best of list. A-mazing.
Then again, this list is perfect for AICN, and their larger than life founder, Harry Knowles, who once deserved mention in early 90s when it came to how film was discussed on the internet, at least upcoming films. Benjamin Light’s been saying it for a while, and maybe he’s right: I don’t think we care about spoilers anymore. Not that AICN has had them for a while. The system merely absorbed them and spit them back out.
Harry Knowles = the anti-Roger Ebert?
Hell, maybe Bring It On is on your 100 best movies of the decade list. SPOILER: I’m pretty sure it’s not on ours.
That said, our 100 Best Films of the Decade list is (most likely) dropping tomorrow. It’s fantastic. Trust me.
Elsewhere…
The New Year started off with a B-A-N-G on Radio RockeTalk with our programming resuming after a short break with the best the New Year had to offer: The undesputed king of Indian cinema- the guy who knows the pulse of his audience sooooo well; is easy on the eyes; never goes wrong with the choice of music; picks his scripts selectively and still makes half of India feel ‘a flush comes to to my face and my pulse begins to race… it goes boompty, boompty, boompty, boompty, boom, boom, boom…’ Yes, you are right- Aamir Khan. Well he did it again with his new Bollywood release, 3 Idiots!
