One Shot, starring Ranjan Ramanayake‘s biceps
Watched ‘One Shot’ tonight, in pleasant company. It is quite possibly the best Sri Lankan movie ever. There is an A/C bus getting hit by a train, ministers getting beat up, dancing, whiskey drinking, pants-wetting, attempted suicide, monks, and a crucifixion. This is a spoiler, but my favorite part was the last chase scene. It starts in Colombo and inexplicably ends in the Middle East. As he is escaping One Shot throws his love interest into a sand-dune and she is never heard from again. The movie is fun cause its all about abuse of power, conniving Ministers, and One Shot beating the crap out of them. The film plays off the Sri Lankan desire to punish corruption, while at the same time taking no personal responsibility.
The first scene is a great example. In order to pander votes, Minister A has provide an A/C bus for a school. The bus is happily going along, carrying 20 children. A rival Minister stops the bus on train tracks and locks one door. The adults on the bus make no attempt to break a window or escape. Ranjan spends 5 minutes rocking out to Enrique Eglesias and tossing his hair, then he kicks the window in and saves the kids. The adults immediately begin complaining. ‘Aney, we have no bus, what can we do, who will help us’. After getting caught in the crossfire between patrons, they can’t think of anything except finding another patron. Ranjan pulls like Rs 400,000 out of his friend’s sarong and everyone is happy. The point they miss is that if they raised Rs 1000 among themselves they get 20 seats on a bus and not depend on anybody.
Sri Lankans suffer from and complain about corruption like its their job. At the same time, they create conditions under which corruption is inevitable. People ask the government to house them, feed them, clothe them, and employ them. They want Ministers to come to their weddings, funerals, prize-givings, and to bring gifts. They demand money, goods, transportation, and land – and then they wonder why MPs need to take bribes. To pay you and give you all these ‘free’ services. People complain about a parasitic state, but they don’t really want to end it. They just want in on the spoils.
The perception is completely fucked. Sri Lankans seem to think that somebody else pays taxes, and that it’s just a magical present for them to spend. However, through VAT everyone pays tax – on petrol, milk, food, etc. Furthermore, every employer gets it up the ass – especially on cars – which keeps wages low. Further furthermore, because civil servants aren’t paid well, they all require bribes. And because people demand feudal patronage from Ministers, they too are corrupt. Everyone seems to think Ministers have access to some magical Happy Money Land, when it reality it’s their money.
Education, Health Care, etc all ‘feel’ free. When a MP gives you a wedding gift it ‘feels’ free. In reality it’s all your money. The government is spending and wasting the people’s money – on the Ceylon Electricity Board, broken Universities, insolvent banks, ten thousand tanks and assorted communist bullshit. It feels free – but at the same time you notice that Ministers drive Pajeros, their loser sons live above the law, and that you have to pay bribes to get your papers filed. You notice that you can’t get to work, can’t dream of buying a car, and cannot educate your kids, but people don’t put two and two together. They seem to think that some savior is going to turn the government from a Parasitic State to a Nanny State, but it never happens. Sri Lankans don’t want small government, they just want a different government. When the bus gets hit by a train no one learns their lesson, they just go looking for a new feudal lord – who they will inevitably corrupt.
Another one of those only at Indi.ca posts. Truly surreal.
Got to hand it to ya mate. Exactly. why on earth our men and women, grown up and all, can’t they understand reality? All we want is to bitch about how the govt isn’t giving us this and that, isn’t bringing down the cost of living and isn’t washing our asses after we take a shit. But none of us want to wash our own asses.
well done, indi. i wish more people were enlightened in this manner. its so convenient to sit around and complain, its become a habit.
one shot was terrible! i wish though, that it WAS a good film, because it does have a very brave and important concept. it is talking alot of truth, and giving across a very crucial message…but its so bad, its a joke. i wish there a better made film on the same lines, or that it had been better made, one that people could take seriously.
Yeesh – one shot’s OK – but what the hell is indi talking about it for – Oh I get it’s another little boys competition he’s running with his nemesis Morquendi – hey this is better than SL politics – these guys will probably form their own parties in 10 years time and start killing each other – WOW – how history repeats itself man .
Sounds like a pretty good movie. I had to watch these dumbass videos of Sesame Street because we had to watch Lanta’s niece. I think she’s a little old to be watchin that shit, but whatever. We were stuck with Dilani cause Lanta’s sister had to work, his parents are visiting relatives in Kandy, his older brother’s in jail and nobody knows where the girl’s dad is, he’s Cuban so my guess is that he’s in Sobe gettin some ass. Anyway speaking of Sesame Street…what the fuck happened to this show? Sesame Street was slammin back in the mid ’80’s when I was little. It was the Shiznit. Now, it’s just shitty. There are still a couple of choice bits, such as The Adventures of Trash Gordon (shoot, Gordon has been on Sesame Street since the Dawn of fuckin Time. What do they do? Keep him in a vat of formaldehyde when the cameras aren’t rollin?) as narrated by Oscar the Grouch. That was cool. But since when does the fucking pet worm TALK?! That makes no damn sense.
And Elmo gets his own fifteen-minute SHOW?! WTF?! Kids these days must be borderline retarded. I HATE Elmo. Even at the age of four, I could tell that he was just an ill little narcissistic fuck. Talking in the Third Person, like an asshole NBA star with an overinflated ego. “Elmo wants to draw a picture.” “Elmo can count to three.” Yeah? Well, Elmo can kiss my ass. The Cookie Monster is, like, 5,000% cooler than Elmo. Where’s his fuckin show? Everyone should take a page from The Cookie Monster’s book. He just don’t give a fuck. You want to laugh at his googly eyes and broken english? Fine. He don’t give two shits. Just give him the fucking cookies and get the fuck out of the way. And yeah, bitch, he’s gonna eat the fucking plate, too. You have a problem with that? Well, you can go to hell. He’s hungry. And no, Prarie Dawn (you waspy, puritanical, repressed bitch,) it don’t matter that the letter M isn’t a cookie. If the Cookie Monster wants to eat it, he’s gonna eat it. You can’t stop him, because he’s the fuckin COOKIE MONSTER!!
We had a nice weekend with Dilani tho, she’s a good kid.
I always laugh when a dumbass car commercial tells you “you’re in control” (Cadillac, Jeep, and Nissan). Control of what? The air conditioner and radio! Why is the road ALWAYS wet in a car commercial? Even if they shoot the scene in a COVERED parking lot, the floor is always wet. Why do they always front like there’s not traffic and show you the car been driven through downtown streets like your craptastic car is the only one around? Isn’t there a speed limit in that magical city? Shouldn’t drivers obey traffic laws? I guess this is very real in Nissan world.
Who the Fuck is Toyota kiddin when they claim that the Prius is eco-friendly? What happens to all those batteries when they don’t hold a charge and you have to replace them? Does the lead and acid content just go the away or does it run up stream from the dump site and end up inside Bambi? Who the fuck is Cadillac kidding tryin to sell their cars to young people. Come on…it’s an American car and that’s always been for old 40 year old people. Why does BMW tell people that they own the road? The don’t own the motherfuckin road, why are BMW owners frontin? Or is it that they have to get to work on time so they won’t lose their jobs and paycheck for their car payment? Oh, fuck no….BMW drivers are just asshats. Who would pay that much money for something not worth it!?!What the fuck is the point of a concept car if we will never drive one? Why not spend all those millions in a car that will actually be sold!!
Why is it that cars have not evolved? Why do car commercials keep sayin that it’s a “NEW†model when nothing has really changed? So the exterior has changed….but nothing else has!!! That’s like buying an old flat screen TV and payin for a Plasma….you got ripped!
Baby Z you’re too much, honestly, I’d have to say you’re as annoying as Morq or Electra and twice as obnoxious. You and your ghetto trash Sri Lankan American fiance Lanta need to go back to school and learn how to speak proper English. Speaking of Lanta I bet his parents are really wishing they had stayed in Kandy now, or at least moved to a nicer part of the U.S. I still can’t imagine a person like you being born in a nice, sophisticated place like Montreal.
So you live in Miami? I’ve been there once on vacation and I swear I’m never going back, they have the absolute worst hospitality I’ve ever seen (and I’ve travelled quite extensively in the U.S., Africa, Europe and Asia). I must say though Miami’s beaches are amazing, crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, but the local people are the worst. The whole week I was there all I saw were rude, ignorant, non-English speaking people with no class, surprisingly the only intelligent people I met there were fellow tourists like me.
Just so you know ebonics isn’t a recognized language and using abbreviations to disguise the fact that you don’t know how to spell doesn’t work. I know you’re a very attractive woman, but you’re still an air-head, maybe it would help if you stopped smoking marijuana and drinking so much. If you’re going to reply to this and I’m sure you will, please learn proper English. A bit of sophistication might help too, that means you’ll have to travel outside of Miami, because trying to find sophistication there is like trying to find the Holy Grail. I hate you Miami people and I hope a hurricane comes and wipes out the entire population. Enjoy hurricane season Baby Z!
re: Noodles…THAT’S LIKE SAYING HOPE YOU HAVE ANOTHER TSUNAMI??? THAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? JUST BECAUSE YOUR ASS DIDN’T HAVE A GOOD TIME IN MIAMI, DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN WISH ILL-WILL ON THE WHOLE FRIGGIN STATE!!
THAT’S JUST WRONG.
re: Noodles…THAT’S LIKE SAYING HOPE YOU HAVE ANOTHER TSUNAMI??? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? JUST BECAUSE YOUR ASS DIDN’T HAVE A GOOD TIME IN MIAMI, DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN WISH ILL-WILL ON THE WHOLE FRIGGIN STATE!!
THAT’S JUST WRONG.
typo_what not that…
wow…someone needs to get laid…
Someone needs to get laid proper………
::!:: This is me giving you the finger Noodles, what the fuck kind of name is that anyway? We don’t need to go back to school we have degrees. All the peeps of Miami are happy your bitch ass isn’t comin back, our plan to keep tourists like you out of our city worked. You must have read all the shit I’ve said so far, can you say obsession? Get a fuckin life. Yeah, I agree your ass DOES need to get laid an I’m not talkin just anybody I’m talkin somebody who knows how to do it right. I get laid every night, but some people are just not that lucky are they? I know women (Im assuming) like you, they don’t get laid til they’re 30 something and when they find someone they fuck it up. The guy will be wantin to get it on and your ass can’t stop correcting his English so the guy is like fuck this shit and bounces and you don’t know why.
I live in the U.S. I got freedom of speech, that means I can say what I want, where I want, when I want. Here’s an idea, if you don’t fuckin like like my comments don’t read them bitch, it’s that simple. You’re a dumbass if you think a hurricane is gonna come and wipe out Miami’s population. Every time there’s a hurricane they have to tell people to evacuate. Lanta and I don’t typically evacuate unless it’s a cat. 3 or higher. Since most people evacuate it’s not possible to wipe out the entire city. Congrats you are a fucktard. You been served, if you got anything else to say to us E.I.
Baby Z, I’m happy you get laid every night. Is Lanta that good? Oh no, I’m sorry I forgot, it’s because you don’t know any better!
Yeah Loku, he’s HELLA go0d! Lanta don’t rush he takes his time and does it right. We haven’t been with anyone else, but When I talk to friends, I know how mothertfuckin good I have it. His parents don’t like it cause we’re not married yet, but they’re old school, they had an arranged marriage back in SL and don’t know how to appreciate it. Even my ultra Catholic dad says we’re living in sin, I say if we’re goin to hell we might as well go all out and be creative. It really is true what they say once you try black you won’t ever go back. Loku it looks like YOU should go get laid, maybe you could hook up with Noodles and she can help you with your English.
“Once you’ve tried black you won’t go back”?…………………
I’m confused now…………who’s tried what exactly?
What I mean to say is once you try black you can’t quit it. See in the U.S. it’s a known fact that when it comes to this shit darker IS better and once you go black there’s no turnin back. I’s got friends who have white or Cuban guys, some have African American guys and I got a Sri Lankan American guy. Now by talkin to the girls with the white or Cuban guys I believe the hype so I can say for the most part that light skinned vatos just don’t measure up, they think their mackin but really they’re lackin. Sure there are exceptions to this, but in general this is how it is.
Baby Z, FYI “the fucking point of a concept car” is the introduction of new technology. When new technology or a new design is conceived in the minds of car designers, they build a test version to test and evaluate the product, fix bugs and to find out whether the car is practical or whether it suits the time period. It costs millions of dollars to build a concept car but the costs are really investments for later models.
For example when one designer comes up with a new car design and without any further planning the car company approves the design and builds like 300 000 models, only to find out no one likes it. To prevent they build a concept version of the model and after the concept car is 100% ready they present the concept car in auto shows and in mags to observe the public’s reaction. If the concept car receives tremendous approval from the public the car company goes ahead and mass produces it.
Of the many concept cars introduced every year only a few models ever make it to final production. This is, as mentioned earlier due to the public reaction of the car model. So some car models may look good but they may have some bad traits. As a result the car will get a few OOh’s! and aah’s! but it won’t reach final production production status.
You sounded like you want a concept car free world. OK. Have you ever noticed how old American cars still kick ass? (Cars such as the Ford GT40, 69′ Pontiac GTO, 67′ Shelby Mustang GT500, various Cadillacs…etc) Have you noticed how the recent American cars are booring. (1980 – 2003) After the Arab Oil Embargo, there was a crisis in the US, Cars were designed ASAP without much planning, and PRESTO! US cars sucked and imports ruled. It was in this time Toyota introduced Lexus in 1992 after years of planning and as a result of it, Lexus is the 1# Luxury car brand in the US, with Benz and Cadillac in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
As of now US cars are making a comeback with the introduction of concept versions of cars like Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro was originally a concept car noting else for a number of years (since 2000). As a result of the response received it was immideatly put for production and the car will be released in 2009. (Dodge will be released on 2008)
Any back to the main point. If there was no concept cars the cars we drive would be very boring.
You mentioned that you can’t drive all the concept cars. That is true in a way. If a particular concept car did not reach production the technology used in the concept car would be reused in other cars.
For example the Bugatti Veyron supercar has a 1001hp, 8.3l W16 engine with 11 radiators, 4 turbochargers and countless other gadgets. It was originally a concept car then later it was a limited production car (only 300 copies). VolkswagenAudi AG the company which created the veyron will lose an estimated 4 million US$ per car. Anyway the cost the is an investment because the new technology developed for the Veyron would be used in other cars in the VolkswagenAudi lineup. (The new Audi A6 uses a W12 engine).
Many of the features you see for granted in ordinary cars were once in concept cars. These include but not limited to sat nav, cruise control, cd changers, climate control, electric seats, carphone, folding hardtop roof (Merc SLK).
So Baby Z the next time you put on you A/C and and say thank goodness for climate control remind yourself, as soon as you go home take a monkey wrench and rip out any component that was previously included in a concept vehicle and take pride for having a now naked but normal car.