Life Of Navin

2018 has been an amazing year for movies. It's interesting to have been able to witness so many genres of movies moving in new directions, often with amazing results. It's been a year when the sure-shot superstar-backed movies have bombed badly and better storytelling has taken stage front and center. So as we wrap up this year, here's a list of my favourite movies of 2018:

15. Tehran Taboo (trailer)
Rotoscoping (and similar animation techniques) hold a special place for me since the amazing Waltz with Bashir came out a decade ago, and Tehran Taboo takes that forward in a big way. A very strong female-focussed storyline with an amazing cast, set in the modern-yet-regressive Iranian society, which puts a strong focus on how society and personal relations interplay with each other in modern day society.

If you like Tehran Taboo, you'll probably also like: Have a Nice Day (Similar animation-wise, but set over a long night in China) and In Between (a movie focussed on the stories of 3 girls sharing a flat in Tel Aviv)

 

14. Loveless (trailer)
I hate watching movies like Loveless. Since Anurag Kashyap's Ugly, I've hated movies involving missing children simply because through the course of the movie, you realise how one person's tragedy is just a regular day for everyone else. Loveless follows in that school of thought and gets just as dark just as quickly. Don't watch this on a happy day.

13. 
Upgrade (trailer)
I'm fairly certain that Upgrade is a movie most people didn't even hear about, let alone watched. It's very similar to Venom thematically, except instead of an alien symbiote, it's a computer chip surgically implanted in the protagonist's spine. Sure, the storyline is fairly predictable, but it's the action sequences and punchy one-liners that keep this movie slick. Cyberpunk at it's finest!


Also, if you like this genre, you should also check out: Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, which was an amazing attempt at an "Indian superhero", but couldn't find the story it wanted to tell clearly enough. 

12. October (trailer)
Fairly certain this is the most divisive movie in my list. October was very hit or miss for a lot of people, but I personally loved it. Yes it's slow, but honestly that was part of the charm of the movie for me. And Varun Dhawan was a pleasant surprise as well (it's easily his best role after Badlapur). As a star brat who's had the priviledge of not having to worry about career in real life, he manages to portray the love-over-career-bumpkin role well.

11. Avengers: Infinity War (trailer)
The end of an era. Literally the end of an era. I still remember watching the first Iron Man movie and being in awe of RDJ and the storytelling. After a decade of bringing comics to life, and 3-4 years of movies formulaic enough to be included in science text books, I had little hope for Infinity War. No, you cannot do justice to so many storylines and so many characters I thought. But I was glad to be mistaken. Avengers: Infinity War truly defines the term "Summer Blockbuster", and I simply can't wait to see how they wrap up this decade-long arc with EndGame.


 10. Borg vs McEnroe (trailer)
Adulting is a lot about finding a style of functioning that suits you. No two people work in the same way and what is the best for one may be the absolute worst for the other. And no two people at the peak of their sport displayed this contrast as much as Borg and McEnroe. The movie is equal parts stunning as devastating, showing how much individuals push themselves to "the best in the world", and how despite being very different people, they were the only two who really understood what drove each other. This movie reminded me a lot of another amazing movie: Senna. Top marks for the cast of this movie, especially Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LeBeouf as the titular characters.

9. Imaikaa Nodigal (trailer)
Anurag Kashyap as a serial killer. Nayanthara as a CBI officer being challenged to catch him. A soundtrack by Hiphop Tamizha. I needed to watch this, and boy was I glad I did. A tight psychological thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you at the edge of your seat, Imaikaa Nodigal was an awesome ride throughout. Reminded me in some ways of Vikram Vedha (but that's at a different level altogether)

The other thrillers I really liked this year was the much applauded Andhadhun and Oscar nominated The Guilty, which turns this genre on it's head altogether.

8. Batman Ninja (trailer)
I'm a simple man. I'm a fan of Batman. I'm a fan of anime. You do a crossover and I'll watch it. But boy, was I blown away by Batman Ninja! The art, the voice acting, the sheer audacity of the batman mecha-battle, everything was brilliant. Love how the movie incorporated the best of both cultures to create an experience that I could only have dreamed of.

I also really liked Into the Spiderverse as well, but for me, the best alternate reality animated movie for the year was hands down Batman Ninja.

 

7. Manmarziyaan (trailer)
Anurag Kashyap's take on love in the 21st century is what this movie promised, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. What made this movie amazing for me was that none of the characters were rubberstamps or selfless lovers (*cough* Devgan in HDDCS *cough*). Love is, in a lot of ways, a very selfish thing, and this movie does a good job of showing that. Vicky Kaushal is amazing in this (when is he not?) and the soundtrack by Amit Trivedi is easily the best movie OST for a Bollywood movie in 2018.

6. Heavy Trip  (trailer)
The only comedy movie in my list is this criminally underrated Finnish comedy Heavy Trip (Hevi reissu). It's such a quirky story, with such an amazing cast. And having travelled through small towns in Scandinavian countries, this movie is so soaked in the niche culture of these small towns that it's an immense treat to watch. I for one sure hope to hear more "Symphonic Post-Apocalyptic Reindeer-Grinding Christ-Abusing Extreme War Pagan Fennoscandian" metal by "Impaled Rektum" in the future.



5. Nanette (trailer)
Not a movie, but it's my list and you really should be watching this so I'll break every rule I need to to have this on the list. Nanette was marketed as a Stand Up Comedy on Netflix. And yes, it is laugh out loud funny in large parts. But Nanette just as easily veers into territory that makes you uncomfortable, teary-eyed and straight up outraged. Hannah Gadsby lays out her soul on stage during this show laced with social commentary about her life as a non-straight woman in a society that is split and often aggressive on the subject. If this doesn't hit you in some deep part of your soul, you probably are dead already.


4. Sorry To Bother You (trailer)
Every year there is this one movie which is so weird, and so metaphorical that you can't help but keep thinking of the movie long after you're done watching it. Sorry to Bother You easily takes that crown for this year. The metaphors in this movie are being dissected even today (think a 2 hour long This is America music video) but even leaving that aside, it's an amazing movie in itself. It's very socially relevent, in these times of ground-up movements like #MeToo and the rage against the 1%, all while the people at the top are happily having their 700Cr weddings and playing society like pawns in a game. Again, a kickass soundtrack that lends voice to the visuals (I especially like Level it Up)




3. Thunder Road (trailer)
I'd seen the short film that this movie is based on a couple years ago and when I heard they're making a full length movie on this, I really wondered where they could take that film without losing the spirit of it, and I'm happy that they didn't. The movie reminded me of another gem of a movie "Manchester By The Sea" in the sense that it starts off with a death but that's the happiest part of the film. Thunder Road a soul-crushing film and if you've ever lost someone you'll find yourself tearing up repeatedly in this movie. Jim Cummings as Actor/Director absolutely steals the show and there are so many moments in this movie which are absolutely perfect.


2. Tumbbad
 (trailer)
I loved a lot about Bollywood this year. Almost every pointless superstar movie failed, while gems like Stree, Andhadhun, Lust Stories, Badhaai Ho took center stage, with a lot of them getting popular through word of mouth. But the single best movie to come out of Bollywood this year in my opinion was Tumbbad. For far too long, we've tried to adapt Hollywood's idea of fantasy and horror to the Indian palate, but Tumbbad simply turns this idea on it's head. The story is extremely similar to the Jataka Tales and rural Indian myths I grew up listening to, the cinematography is absolutely top notch, the actors are brilliant and the background score is perfect. Here's a movie that's Indian Fantasy and proud of it. I sincerely hope the success of Tumbbad means that genre will be explored more


On a side note: We really need more Indian takes on sci-fi, superhero stories, fantasy, horror etc both in written and visual mediums. We've explored a lot of humor and drama from an indian perspective, but a lot of these other genres have been explored much less.


1. Thoroughbreds (trailer)
I'm a fan of dark movies, as is probably obvious from a lot of my movie recommendations. And I love movies that revel in darkness rather than try to skirt around it. Thoroughbreds is like a 2018 American Psycho/Gone Girl-inspired story which creates an experience which is simply par-excellence. I watched this movie around April, but I knew right then that this will be in my movies of the year list. Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy as the protagonists are simply perfect and their chemistry is brilliant. If you like demented, dark, twisted thrillers then this is right up your lane.

Also, this is another film that makes such amazing use of the soundtrack to add to the story. I've become a huge fan of A Tribe Called Red and Tanya Tagaq's inuit throat singing, since listening to SILA which is used extensively in the movie.

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A few other honorable mentions you should watch even though they're not mentioned above:
A Simple Favor (Anna Kendrick+ Gone Girl), I Am Not A Witch (African tradition meets modern world), Hereditary (That girl kid is scary), Leave No Trace (PTSD meets parenting), Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham's take on growing up in the 21st century), Tully (Motherhood in the 21st century), Office Uprising (pure unadulterated zombie fun), A Quiet Place (Shh... Don't talk), Foxtrot (Conscription affects a family in different ways), The Insult (when personal disputes grow to a political agenda), Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety (+1 for the dialogues, -1 for the misogyny), Roma (Cuaron's take on his childhood in Mexico. Childbirth scene still haunts), Three Identical Strangers (Fact is stranger than fiction), The Kindergarten Teacher (What would you do if your student is a prodigy?), The Angel (Egyptian spy saves Israeli lives), Searching (a thriller shown through computer screens), What will people say? (a Pakistani movie that hits close to home culturally)

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2018 has been an amazing year at the movies and I'm really looking forward to see what 2019 brings to the big screens. I hope Bollywood continues it's push towards better storytelling and other non-Bollywood Indian cinema starts becoming more accessible to audiences across the country (like Malayalam cinema has done over the last few years). Internationally as well, I have a couple of movies that I'm really looking forward to in 2019, including the end of the decade-long MCU chapter with Avengers: EndGame and I hope that 2019 as a whole lives up to the hype. I initially wanted to make a Top 10 list, but 2018 simply had too many good stories to share and I sincerely hope filmmakers continue to push the boundaries with film making and storytelling in 2019. Your audience awaits... :)

The Python community has been one of the few communities that I've actively been part of over the last couple of years, in part because I'm a huge fan of the language (As the saying goes: Python is the second-best language for everything you want to do!) and also because the community has always been one of the most welcoming tech communities I've come across. I've been lucky to be able to contribute back to this amazing community, be it through open source contributions, conducting Python/ML courses for (usually) college students, or by being part of the volunteer team that organizes PyCon India every year. This year, I was part of the CFP workgroup along with a bunch of super cool people, and the months of effort that many people put in culminated last weekend with PyCon India 2018 taking place in Hyderabad. What follows are my thoughts on the event.



First things first: PyCon India 2018 was a grand success! This year was an especially challenging year for PyCon India for multiple reasons:

• This was the 10th edition of PyCon India, so the community as a whole wanted to have an event which would fit the occasion.
• Due to multiple disagreements (to put it lightly) within the community, the conference was shifted out from Bangalore to Hyderabad with just 4 months to set up the entire event, basically from scratch.
• In between all of this, the PSSI was also dissolved (which IMHO was the best thing to happen to the org since it had long ago ceased to stand for anything useful), and the new PyCon team had to take on the added load of figuring out how to handle finances/sponsorships for the event.

Thankfully, right from the get-go, the nation-wide python community stepped up to ensure that the conference would go through as smoothly as possible. Kudos to the local Hyderabad python community for leading the efforts! I'm happy to say this is easily in my top 3 PyCon India experiences. Special mention of the food at well. Hyderabad definitely lived up to its foodie reputation and I enjoyed the delicious food served over the course of the conference.

Something that I feel worked really well this year was the EuroPython model of having workgroups for different responsibilities. The model was adopted out of lack of alternatives, but it allowed for much deeper focus, and more community interaction during the course of the conference organisation.

From a talks perspective, I've always complained that PyCon suffers from trying too hard to balance between beginner and advanced talks (mostly because of the diverse audience at PyCon), but this year I personally feel we came really close to striking the right balance. My favourite talks at PyCon India 2018 were:

• The Future of Python by Armin Ronacher: This was a talk I was really looking forward to. There are very few people who have not used some python module created by Armin. But he's had a very flaky relationship with both Python as a language and as a community over the last few years. His talk, which was the opening keynote of the conference, was an amazing look at what the Rust community is doing right, be it in code, or through community and what the Python community can learn from it. It was lovely to have someone speak so openly about the shortcomings of Python, and point to actionable items, rather than simply praise the emperor's new clothes. The talk included zingers like "The wider python community and core developers want very different futures for the language" in front of an audience of 4+ python-core devs and 1500 wider community members! :P

• Large scale web crawling using Python by Anand B Pillai and Noufal Ibrahim: This talk was a pleasant surprise, especially since I spent nearly a year working on a product which did web scraping at a scale which can only be described as large! Despite never having heard of their project, but it's funny how similar the system we used at Bloomreach is (which is more complex, but also has half a decade of engineering behind it), and it was interesting to see and compare the compromises we made vs the ones they made with very similar constraints and having faced the same issues.

• Cleaning data with Python by Anand S: Anand is someone whose talks at any conference are always of the same outstanding quality and this talk was no exception. While a decidedly unsexy topic to talk about, the problem of data cleaning is something that literally anyone who works with data runs into nearly every time. Anand's talk focused on different techniques for extracting and cleaning data, and how to handle the billion possible edge-cases you can end up with. Every PyCon, I find one amazing talk which uses live code through the talk, and this was the one from this PyCon (Yes, he used a pre-made Jupyter notebook but that still counts).
  

• The M-Word by Sidu Ponnappa: Sidu is, again, a not-so-obvious keynote speaker for a PyCon, since he's not really a Pythonista in any significant way. But what he has done is build communities and companies which are very strongly engineer-driven and built from the bottom-up. His talk was about the dreaded M-word, "Manager". His talk was more of a brain dump on the parallels between code management and org management, and how different structures and dynamics come into play in organisations, in the same way that systems grow in complexity over time. His talk was enlightening (except maybe the first 20 minutes which felt more like a Go-Jek pitch, and could have been much shorter) and highlighted how engineering principles apply to org management.

• Lightning Talks: Lightning talks are 5 minute talks given by people from the community about any topic they feel is relevant to the conference. In the past, lightning talks have been  pretty meh, with unprepared speakers, half-baked slides, incoherent talks et al but this year was very different. The lightning talks were really well presented, tight talks about projects ranging from a RC car controlled using EEG waves (and using a neural net LSTM), to the role python played in the post-floods rescue operations in Kerala, to types of engineers and how they shift between types, to using python for astronomy, to the super fun talk by @datapythonista on well.... random nuggets of coolness! Special mention of the organisation of lightning talks with dual-laptop round-robin screen switching, which ensured the downtime between lightning talks was practically zero.

@datapythonista doing his thing!

Of course, as a volunteer driven event, there's always things that can be improved upon. These are the things I didn't particularly love about PyCon India this year and I hope we can improve next year:

• Main Hall Setup: The main hall setup had multiple issues. The big one was that the sponsor stalls were in the same room as the main hall. Unfortunately this meant that many talks were disturbed by the noise from the sponsor stalls, where they had ongoing events for participants like quizzes/darts etc. You could hear the noise even from the third row of the Main hall and it was very distracting. The other issue was the sound setup in the same hall which was messed up leading to the speaker not being able to hear anyone from the audience who used a mike (relevant during the QnA session that follows every talk) throughout the conference.
•  Dev Sprints: Dev sprints provide an opportunity for coders to work with open source project maintainers to create patches for open source projects. The barrier to entry for open source is, even today, seen as being high, and events like this help break that myth. Unfortunately, dev sprints messed up this time. Tickets were announced very late, and even then they were charged and limited to 150 seats. Charging someone money to introduce them to open source contribution is ridiculous IMHO. We need as many good developers as we can get (and then some more) and charging/limiting the number of participants for this was pretty bad. This was called out on Twitter by multiple people, and I genuinely think we could have done a better job of it.
• Job board: It's a known fact that PyCon acts as a platform for companies and developers to meet each other and create win-win situations where developers get connected to good jobs which require their skill-set while companies get talented individuals to interview/join. This year, we had a job board, which was basically a flex sheet, and companies were encouraged to write their details on sticky notes and paste them on the job board. People could browse through the board and apply/look for more details. It's ironic that PyCon took such a non-technical approach to this problem. A simple web-app would have been so much more useful for this, and been less painful, more easily searchable, and definitely more practical.

The job board at the end of PyCon

Overall, as I mentioned at the start of the blog, PyCon India 2018 was a stunning success and I truly enjoyed myself throughout my stay in Hyderabad. I definitely look forward to participating in PyCon India 2019, both as a organizing team volunteer as well as a participant (Possible speaker as well? Maybe? Yes? No? :P), because after all these years, what still remains true is this:

>>> import this