The Educated Moron

The only reason why the Pyramids exist in Egypt is because they were too heavy for British folks to steal and put in the British museum.

Getting the kid involved with Diwali preparations. Dad version vs Mom version.

On a spectrum of behaving as if you too have put money along with Namit Malhotra & will be personally affected by the movie's failure and behaving as if Namit Malhotra killed your relative & wanting to see the movie fail at any cost as an act of vendetta, where are you?

Here is why I love 'Aftersun'. The first time I watched it, for the first 90 minutes the primary feeling it evoked was nostalgia. A dad and his 11-year-old kid on a vacation. Beautiful places. It reminded me of my family trip to the North India in 1995, where I played lots of those coin-operated video games (like the kids in the movie) that were popular in the 80s and 90s and then a package holiday tour to the South in 1999, where we kids became friends during the long package trip together (like the kids in the movie). I could see that the dad was depressed. But throughout those 90 minutes, the lingering feeling was that nothing else was really happening in this movie. What am I even watching? Is this just a slice-of-life movie? Then this needle drop happens featuring this bloody great song by Queen/David Bowie and the whole movie turns on its head. It becomes about an adult reminiscing about that one vacation she took with her dad before he died by suicide. It becomes about memories and regrets. About how you grow up and wonder: Could I have done something differently? Could anyone have done anything to change what happened? As a child, you don't understand what's happening around you. Your parents are these superheroes who almost never fall sick, almost never break down, and so on. And then one day, you become their age and realise how much they were hiding just to protect you. And then I immediately rewatched the movie, now that the ending had turned everything on its head. (I had an incentive to do so, too, since I had rented it on Prime and had a 48-hour window to rewatch it for free). This time, all those scenes that felt sweet and wholesome almost brought tears to my eyes. This time, I could see just how broken the dad was, probably how the kid in the movie could see now as she was looking back at all of it as adult. I love it because it took me through all those feeling. I also lost my dad when I was still in my teens. Not under these circumstances but that might have added another layer to all these feelings. (And this one is a very personal movie for the director too as it is actually based her own life).

Watched 10 movies this week after watching 0 in 10 days during Durga Puja. 8 of them are 2026 releases, including 1 theatre visit and 1 rewatch. Here are my quick thoughts on all 10. -Hope: Highest-budget Korean movie of all time. Has some insane chase sequences. The action worked, the story not so much. Never got hooked on any character or cared enough about them. Recommended if you like survival dramas like A Quiet Place / Bird Box. -Harakiri: Straight away goes into my top 100 movies of all time. (It's a mental list, I haven not written it down anywhere so far.) The movie is about samurai culture but barely has any action scenes. It is mostly dialogue-driven. Highly recommended. -Clayface (theatre visit): Not great. Not bad. Very generic body horror. A 3-star rating might be a bit generous. -Blue Heron: Reminds me of Aftersun (which I absolutely love) due to its similar themes. A deeply personal movie, not for everyone. Good directorial debut. -You Can See Everything: The first half with Elizabeth Holmes didn't work for me at all. The second half, with Amanda Seyfried playing Elizabeth Holmes, did. Will rewatch once it drops on OTT. -The Invite: The only rewatch this week. Bumped it up from 4 to 4.5. It is well-written, well-shot and well-acted. The comedy bits worked well in theatre, while the emotional bits worked better on OTT in a calmer setting. One of the best of 2026. - Howl's Moving Castle: 3 might seem low. Beautiful and abstract, like all Miyazaki movies, but somehow didn't hit me the way Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro did. -The End of Oak Street: The movie is full of time-travel wormholes and script loopholes. Average. -Dorothy: It was heading towards a 5/5 masterpiece, but the ending felt like jumping off a cliff to me. Didn't like how it went from a friend developing compassion for his friend going through a transformation to turning them into lovers. -Baththa: Vijay Sethupathi playing a rowdy gangster for the millionth time. Didn't find it funny, didn't find it heartwarming (the kid in it has acted very well though). Would have rated it 2 stars but deducted 1 for the use of GenAI for something that would have cost barely a lakh or two more in a ₹20-crore-budget movie if done by human illustrators.

This month the kid has outdone himself. Of all the things he could have picked when asked to name a sign he frequently sees around his school, he went with 'Boys’ Toilet'.

The one on my t-shirt today.

I have a feeling that my wife as well as the side chick I dumped (and had kids with) are plotting against me. I don't understand why these people are overreacting just because 61 billion people died and 90 planets got destroyed due to my actions.