Movie Review: The Mist

Yesterday I managed to get hold of The Mist on DVD. I have to say that this was one of the best movies I've ever seen. The Mist is a movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel with the same title and it was directed by Frank Darabont. This isn't the first time that Frank directed a Stephen King movie; many of you might recall The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, both of which are in my top-ten list of favorite movies. Frank Darabont did an excellent job with The Mist...it couldn't have been any better!
I've identified Frank Darabont's variable list that are included in most of his movies:

• Create characters which the audience can identify with
• Make the audience love the good characters (the good guys I mean)
• Make the audience really hate the bad characters
  
• Be ruthlessly cruel with these characters (both the good as well as the bad characters)

With The Mist, Frank Darabont touched all the above points, particularly the first and the last one. Frank's aim is to make you feel as many emotions as possible. While watching this movie I felt these emotions (strictly in the following order):

1. Helplessness
2. Despair
3. Fear
4. Deep seething rage
5. Joyful contempt
6. Fear
7. Joy
   
8. Total helplessness
   
9. Heart-wrenching sadness
10. Shock
11. Sorrow

If you don't feel at least four of the above emotions while watching The Mist, you might try visiting your GP to see if you're really human. I need to point out that I HATED the ending, a big shocker, yes, but it was so very sad and so unfair I couldn't think straight for the rest of the day.
There is a back-story to the whole thing, mostly dealing with monsters in the mist but the movie is so smart and so character driven that you hardly pay any attention to it. Basically the story revolves around a group of people who become trapped together when an unnatural mist surrounds the grocery store they're in. Soon they realize that there are lurking dangers in the mist and anyone trying to escape dies a horrible death. However the dangers inside the grocery store far surmounts the dangers outside and we get to see how fear and crazy-talk can make people do unspeakable things to each other (think: Jews being killed in concentration camps, suicide bombers, holy wars, witch-hunts etc). This movie highlights the dangers of Faith and why a society should never base their values on what's written in archaic books or the ramblings of power-thirsty, attention-seeking dictators: rules+irrationality=disasters.
Frank Darabont created the best on-screen villains ever: Mrs Carmody. I am a very peace-loving person who opposes any kind of violence, but seriously, if I was one of the people in that grocery store I would have enjoyed torturing her ass off. I hated her so much, she was so evil and I just loved hating her every time she opened her mouth.
This movie is a must see (though if you're a religious republican you're gonna hate it, trust me), and even though the ending is 100% not cool, I guess Frank used it to draw any remnants of unsurfaced emotions from the viewer, and with that, he receives a big A+ for meeting his goal.

Why some people refute Evolution

Many people, particularly US Republicans think that there is a huge issue on the Theory of Evolution. This results from widespread misinformation particularly in America where the Republican party uses Jesus as their poster-boy to lure in votes from the religious. People refuse to believe in it for the following reasons:

• They don't really understand what evolution is.
• Their relatives and friends are against evolution, so they are against evolution as well.
• If the introduction of the bible is wrong than that means than everything else in the bible is wrong too so they refute evolution no-matter how much much sense it makes or how much proof there is in favor of the topic ( check this link).
  

People who don't understand evolution often have the following misconceptions on the topic:

• If people evolved from apes, then apes should have become extinct.
• The Theory of Evolution is a theory and theories are just that because there is not enough evidence to suggest otherwise.
• They think that there isn't enough proof in favor of evolution.
  

I will resolve the above misapprehensions here:

• Life began million of years ago (about 2.7 billion years) and is mostly made up of the following: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur. All these were abundant on planet earth during those times. Science knows more or less how life started and they have successfully created life in laboratories; and I'm not talking about eggs and sperm here, I'm referring to creating living organisms from completely inanimate materials. The first organisms were uni-cellular and very basic (a lot like the modern amoeba). These organisms evolved to adapt to the diverse forms of environment: first the sea, then earth and finally the sky. You will find living organisms who are adapted to living in waters which are above boiling point or living in the coldest regions of the earth and other places that were previously thought impossible to support life. So how do organisms evolve to suit their environment? This mostly happens thanks to mutations. Mutations are small changes that occur spontaneously to the genes. This happen in the very early stages of conception. Mutations can be helpful or they may be harmful. An example of a harmful mutation is albinism. Although albinism occurs a lot, you rarely find albinos in the wild. This is because albino organisms are not well adapted to living in most environments...albinos are often victims of predators since their white color makes them easily recognizable. However, albinism is quite popular in domestic animals since they are not susceptible to natural predators. On the other hand, mutations can be very helpful with allowing a species to continue its existence. A good example is the peppered moth. Originally, the vast majority of peppered moths had light coloration, which effectively camouflaged them against the light-colored trees and lichens which they rested upon. However, due to widespread pollution during the Industrial Revolution in England, many of the lichens died out, and the trees which peppered moths rested on became blackened by soot, causing most of the light-colored moths, to die off due to predation. This is the best example of evolution. Of course evolution under normal circumstances usually takes millions of years.
  

• People did NOT evolve from apes. But both apes and people evolved from a common ancestor. Also, there is no reason why apes should be extinct since they are perfectly well adapted to living in their own environment just like humans are perfectly adapted to their own environment. If you get a group of people and throw them in a jungle they will find lots of problems with coping with the new environment and most probably will not survive for more than a few weeks. It is important to understand that evolution is not a linear process, i.e. it usually branches out in different directions so more than one species can originate from the same ancestor. Consider horses and zebras. They both have the same common ancestor but none of them died out; they're both thriving and well adjusted at living in their own environments. Or take dogs and wolves as another example; wolves are the ancestors of dogs. Poodles and Labradors both share a common ancestor which is the wolf. continuing with dogs as an example, this is one of the best ways for people to understand evolution since it is an artificial rendering of evolution. Dog breeders choose the traits that they want to make evident in later generations, example if they want a dog with short legs, the dogs with the shortest legs are always bred until eventually, in later generations, the right height is reached. However it would be highly uncommon for animals with short legs to thrive in natural environments. I just can't understand how people can argue with such strong evidence.
• Evolution is a Theory yes, just as gravity is a theory. The only reason they are theories is because they are still waiting for proof to show the contrary of what it is that they are stating. In other words, there is still nothing that proves the contrary of what they are saying. All proof shows that gravity and evolution are 'Good' theories, but there will never be enough proof to make it stop being a theory. Many people think that the term "Theory" in science has the exact same meaning as the same term used in every day speech. To better understand what science means by the term "Theory" you'll have to understand the Scientific Method, which explains the occurrence of a natural phenomenon. First someone (usually a scientist) comes up with a hypothesis which is equivalent to any other idea. As soon as the hypothesis is publicized other scientists will bombard it with experiments in an attempt to disprove it. Think of a computer program undergoing testing. If the results of the experiments do not disprove the hypothesis, then this becomes a theory. to read more about this click here.
  

Also I really hate it when religious people come out with a phrase like "There is a lot of proof against evolution...bla bla". Then they fail to mention what this proof is. Excuse me! If you think that way: You're wrong. There is no single piece of evidence against the Theory of Evolution. If you don't want to believe it and you rather believe in fairy tales than you are just a self proclaimed STUPID.

Cheating in exams or tests

I assume that anyone who is sitting at a test or an exam would want to pass. I hope that you all take your exams seriously and study well for them. However, having a backup plan in case you forget what you studied can be a big nerve-calmer...Obviously, for the following cheats you will need to have notes so there is still some 'studying' involved. Therefore the first step is to make notes.

• Make notes in point form.
• get notes from relevant books or notes jotted down during classes.
• work past papers and include the answers in these notes.
• identify trends common in past papers, i.e. identify which questions appear in more than one past paper. These are the most important.

Now the next step is to find ways and means of getting access to these notes during the exam. Do one or more of the following:

• print the notes in fine print and hide these in your pocket / in your shoes. During the exam skim through the paper and identify the questions to which you don't know the answers. keep these in mind and ask for permission to go to the toilet. When you get there open the notes and identify the answers..now dash back to your seat before you forget the answers, jot them down quickly in point form and then use these points to expand them into proper answers. This is the best way and probably the safest way of cheating during exams.
  
• If you use admittance cards for exams: scan the card in high resolution then use Photoshop or any other picture editing software to insert notes between the lines of text on the card. Print the card and cut it in the same size as the original card. Make sure to match the colour of the ink and that you do not overcrowd the card with notes. It's best if you only use this method if the cards are not checked. I've used this method and it worked but the school I go to never checks the cards, we just put them on the desk during exams.
• I love this one: Get a Coke bottle or any other beverage bottle, carefully remove the wrapping from around the bottle. Make sure that you leave the wrapping intact. Scan the wrapping and use Photoshop to remove the words in fine print (y'know the words that tell you how many calories, vitamins etc are present in that particular beverage). Now use fine print to type down as many notes as possible. Print it (on glossy paper if you want to be extra careful) , cut it out and stick it back on the bottle. Make sure that the bottle is not empty. Leave the bottle on the desk during the exam and sip some of its contents from time to time to add more realism and conviction. If the invigilators ask you to remove the bottle, just tell them that the stress of the exam makes you feel parched. I tried this cheat twice and it worked perfectly! I was sitting in the front row and the invigilator was just a few feet away from me and she never noticed a thing! If I passed those 2 exams it's all thanks to this cheat.
  






• For the following method you will require the help of two or more people: Buy a big eraser, the bigger the better, and during the exams write a question on the back of the eraser (example: Question 2 b) with a pencil. Now make a signal which you and your friends have agreed upon (example: tap your fingers on the desk or cough twice). Your friend will now ask you for the eraser from which he/she will read the question you wrote down. Your friend will now rub off your question with his/her finger, write the answer and pass it on to you. If the invigilator becomes suspicious, quickly rub off the text on the eraser with your thumb so as to eliminate all proof. It's best if you practice this before the exam and try not to make the whole charade obvious to the casual viewer.
• Another method is to get an old watch, dismantle it and behind the time hands put a small circular piece of paper with notes in fine print. Wear long sleeves for extra security. If you need to access these notes during the exams just lift your sleeve and casually look at your watch as if you're checking the time. Again don't over-do it and don't make it obvious. It's best if you do this while the invigilator is looking away.
• Etch notes on one side of a pencil or on a ruler. Use a sharp razor to do this and don't etch too deep, make the etches as fine as possible so that not even the casual viewer can see these.
  
• Get a translucent pen and dismantle it. Print notes in very fine print and wrap this around the part that contains ink (it's best if you use glue for this). Now put the pen back together and give a light coating of varnish to the pen so as to make it less translucent.
• if you are using a calculator for the exam do the following (the calculator must be black): get a black pen/marker and write your notes on the back of the calculator. These will be practically invisible unless light shines from a particular angle.
• Get an arm band (such as the ones joggers use to fix iPods to their arm) and wear this under your sleeve. now get a rubber-band (a wide one and needs to be extra stretchy and extra long) and write notes on it with a pen. attach one end of the rubber band to the arm-band and stretch it to your hand, loop the other end through one of your fingers and read the notes from the rubber band. in case an invigilator gets suspicious, unloop the rubber band from your finger and the rubber band snaps back into your sleeve so there will be no proof of what you were doing (unless they make you undergo a strip search...but I think that that would be in breach of some civic rights).
• You can also convince someone to take the test instead of you. Find someone that looks like you, give them your ID card and pay him/her for their service. This cheat is often underlooked but works fine particularly when large groups of people are sitting for the exam. The ID card isn't "really" checked since people often appear completely different in ID photos.

That's it I guess, enjoy. The thrill of cheating during exams is priceless, it's like parachuting only less scary and there are no parachutes involved :) ...and
whateva', I do what I want...

Please keep in mind that if you get caught you'll get into a lot of trouble, so be careful and I'm not responsible for what you do...OK?
Good Luck !