<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/29861620.cms" /><br /> Experiments are great if they usher in something new and meaningful. When the <keyword id="303" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Director">director</keyword> is <keyword id="189787" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Devika-Bhagat">Devika Bhagat</keyword> and one of the lead characters is <keyword id="34091" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Abhay-Deol">Abhay Deol</keyword> (hailing from the legendary <keyword id="9281" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Dharmendra">Dharmendra</keyword> clan), one hopes to see a plot as intriguing as <em><keyword id="30024" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="manorama-six-feet-under">Manorama Six Feet Under</keyword></em> where Devika was the story &amp; <keyword id="236139" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="screenplay-writer">screenplay writer</keyword> and Abhay was the lead character. So we have expected the actor-director combo to set the screen on fire this time, with a new format of storytelling. Deol has co-produced the rom-com and his real-life girlfriend <keyword id="76307" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Preeti-Desai">Preeti Desai</keyword> has also teamed up with him, but all to no avail. Thanks to an inane plot, the flick has literally crashed at the <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="box-office">box office</keyword>.<br />
<br /> The numbers are quite dismal after Day 4 (February 3) and the flick has grossed a paltry Rs 4.6 crore as per industry estimates. According to <keyword id="255727" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Box-Office-India">Box Office India</keyword>, “<em><keyword id="1526690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="One-By-Two">One By Two</keyword></em> fared poorly at the box office as it collected a little over Rs 1.50 crore nett over the weekend. The collections were around Rs 50 lakh nett on Friday and Saturday each while there was a little jump on Sunday to Rs 55 lakh nett (approx). The film is a disaster all over as some circuits hardly had any contribution.”<br />
<br />
The movie has been released on January 31 and has hit about 500 screens across India. But unless it witnesses some miraculous jump in collections, this one may not be able to recover the costs.<br />
<br />
Now, let’s have a look at the story itself and what it brings to the audience. <em>One by Two</em> revolves around the <keyword id="2045033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Parallel-lives">parallel lives</keyword> of two people – <keyword id="49316" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Software-engineer">software engineer</keyword> Amit Sharma (Abhay) and <keyword id="2045034" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="aspiring-dancer">aspiring dancer</keyword> Samara Patel (Preeti), born out of wedlock but trying to connect to her rich father. Both Amit and Samara have struggled to cope with their personal hard luck stories and a lot of coincidences bring them together, but not until the last scene. That may hit you hard, especially if you are waiting to watch some bubbly romance, while the surprising twists and turns are not enough to see the movie through.<br />
<br /> At best, you get to see stereotypes – a jobless Amit dumped by his girlfriend; his loving mom (<keyword id="15316" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rati-Agnihotri">Rati Agnihotri</keyword>) anxious to see her son settled and Samara’s alcoholic mom (<keyword id="12972" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lillete-Dubey">Lillete Dubey</keyword>) helped by her daughter. There’s an extremely weak subplot – that of Amit hacking into a dance reality show to wreck the producer who is now dating his ex – which finally connects the central characters.<br />
<br /> Serious movie-goers might have expected some Luis Buñuel-type <keyword id="2045045" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Neo-reality">neo-reality</keyword> in a plot where <keyword id="2045053" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Disjointed-storylines">disjointed storylines</keyword> suddenly converge. But the movie doesn’t step beyond the ground reality; nor does the urban sparkle contribute to the freshness of theme or originality of characters. The gags look tired after a time; the plot fails to impress in spite of endless possibilities and the lead duo can’t display the kind of acting prowess that would have broken the traditional mould and taken the flick to a new height of <keyword id="2045050" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Urban-isolation">urban isolation</keyword> and <keyword id="2045051" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chance-connections">chance connections</keyword>.<br />
<br />
<strong>Image:</strong> Indiatimes



One By Two: Fragmented
Storytelling Fails To Impress, Flops At Box Office

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: Spoilers ahead for "The Mandalorian" season three.</li><li>In its latest episodes, "The Mandalorian" has lost some of the spark that made us love it.</li></ul><p>In episode seven of the latest season of <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-cast-real-life-photos-2023-2">"The Mandalorian,"</a> a remnant of the Empire had Din Djarin, aka the titular Mandalorian (<a href="https://www.insider.com/pedro-pascal-the-last-of-us-ethan-hawke-interview-2023-4">Pedro Pascal</a>), and his allies backed into a corner.</p><p>The odds seemed dire and yet, somehow, by the end of the season finale, the good guys made a spectacular recovery and defeated the Empire militia's leader, Moff Gideon (<a href="https://www.insider.com/giancarlo-esposito-broke-6-lightsabers-mandalorian-2023-4">Giancarlo Esposito</a>).</p><p>To some viewers, that description of the final two episodes may sound familiar. That's because it's essentially the same story as the last two episodes of seasons one and two.</p><p>"Star Wars" is a franchise full of repetition. There's always another Death Star. The big evil always somehow ties back to Palpatine. Every hero needs a sassy droid sidekick.</p><p>Yet "The Mandalorian" was supposed to be different. <a href="https://www.insider.com/star-wars-celebration-cosplay-best-worst-things-convention-2023-4">A fresh direction</a> after the <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-boyega-says-disney-pushed-star-wars-character-to-side-2020-9">chaos of the "Star Wars" movie sequels</a>. A series that could unite old fans who loved Boba Fett, and new fans who have fallen in love with <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-baby-yoda-details-to-know-grogu-2023-4">Baby Yoda.</a></p><p>It was no longer about space wizards, giant armies fighting against each other, or the battle between good and evil. It was about one bounty hunter and his mission to protect the little green alien he stumbled upon one day.</p><p>The simplicity of their bond is what made <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-pedro-pascal-grogu-cry-baby-yoda-2023-3">"The Mandalorian" so good.</a></p><div type="image" title="Baby Yoda" height="1618" width="2157" msid="99648447" hostid="261"></div><p>But the show has lost its way this season, though one could argue that it has been veering off course for some time now.</p><p>While the series has always had season-long story arcs, it initially established itself as a mission-of-the-week show.</p><p>As Mando attempts to protect Grogu, he journeys to new planets and completes missions while setting the stage for a season-ending showdown. This makes every episode feel like watching a mini-movie, <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-boba-yoda-secret-bryce-dallas-howard-kids-2020-9">especially with the talented directors involved</a>, while providing an emotional payoff at the end.</p><p>However, the longer the series has gone on, the more its writers have begun to <a href="https://www.insider.com/mandalorian-character-names-actors-2019-11">complicate it with lore</a> that has begun to overshadow the mission-of-the-week premise that made us love it in the first place.</p><p>Particularly this season, the show's writers have ham-fistedly tried to balance the weekly missions with season-long narrative arcs, making for disjointed viewing.</p><p>At one point, for example, we see <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-7-details-to-remember-before-watching-2023-2">Bo-Katan Kryze</a> (Katee Sackhoff) struggle to decide whether she's the right leader for the Mandalorians. But then we are pulled away from that story and thrust into a monster hunt for most of the episode. We never truly see Bo-Katan's array of emotions as she struggles with the weight of her predicament.</p><p>And in episode three, we follow former Imperial officers Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) and Elia Kane (Katy O'Brian) adjusting to their lives in the Republic. However, their story — one of the most compelling of the season — comes right after we see Bo-Katan's only home destroyed. Instead of sitting in the moment, we are never shown the impact that this might have on Bo-Katan, and thus, her character feels underserved.</p><p>Neither plot, then, really flourishes.</p><div type="image" title="Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) on a throne in Kalevala" height="1605" width="2141" msid="99648448" hostid="261"></div><p>The confusing dissonance between the <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-mandalorian-season-3-book-of-boba-fett-star-wars-2023-2">long-term story arcs</a> and the episodic nature of "The Mandalorian" makes every journey in season three — from Mando's redemption quest to the return of Gideon Moff — feel underdeveloped, rushed, and ultimately boring.</p><p>The end of season three gives us some hope that "The Mandalorian" may be returning to its humble beginnings, with <a href="https://www.insider.com/will-baby-yoda-talk-the-mandalorian">Mando and Grogu traveling the galaxy on new adventures. </a></p><p>However, for the show to thrive, its creators really need to learn from season three's mistakes. Less is more.</p><p>"The Mandalorian" season three is now streaming on Disney+.</p>

'The Mandalorian' has lost its way and it's unclear what the show is even about anymore

31 'Grey's Anatomy' couples ranked by their chemistry

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for "<keyword id="12794865" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness" source="Orion">Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness</keyword>."</li><li>The Sam Raimi-directed sequel is filled with sprawling action scenes that are fun to watch.</li></ul><p>"<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness">Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness</a>" is filled with mind-bending visuals and huge action sequences, but it's also destined to be <keyword id="11899344" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="marvel" source="Orion">Marvel</keyword>'s most divisive film in years. </p><p>Marvel's 28th film is, unexpectedly, the studio's darkest film to date with many violent moments that may be a bit too much for a younger crowd. </p><p>Additionally, there are multiple creative choices that will be controversial among fans. </p><p>The sequel to the 2016 film wastes no time getting right into a big action sequence. We follow Doctor Stephen Strange (<keyword id="11935005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="benedict-cumberbatch" source="Orion">Benedict Cumberbatch</keyword>) as he tries to figure out who is after America Chavez (a spunky and delightfully fun Xochitl Gomez), a teenager with the power to traverse the multiverse. </p><p>Once you learn who is after young America, you may find yourself conflicted over the film's choice of villain. </p><h2><keyword id="11928894" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elizabeth-olsen" source="Orion">Elizabeth Olsen</keyword> gives a tremendous performance as the Scarlet Witch, but her role in the film may be controversial.</h2><div type="image" title="Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in &quot;Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.&quot;" height="1206" width="2880" msid="91293942" hostid="261"></div><p>If you don't want any sort of spoilers, I'd stop reading here. I'm noting the following because it's a major plot point of the entire film which will likely divide fans.</p><p>We learn pretty early on in the film that Wanda/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is the main villain who's after America's unique powers in order to find a universe <a href="https://www.insider.com/wandavision-end-credits-explained-2021-3">where she can be with her children again</a>. (Does she really need America to be able to get to another universe if she's an all-powerful witch? Debatable.)</p><p>I'm not sure if fans will accept that Wanda, a character who fans fell in love with as she navigated grief beautifully in <a href="https://www.insider.com/wandavision-marvel-references">"WandaVision,"</a> takes such a dire turn in this film so quickly to make her a full-blown villain.</p><p>Without getting into spoilers, she does some pretty horrific things in this film that may leave fans floored. </p><div type="image" title="Wanda / Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2" height="1170" width="2638" msid="91293945" hostid="261"></div><p>Those who have not seen <a href="https://www.insider.com/wandavision-unanswered-questions-2021-2">"WandaVision"</a> may feel a little lost here as it's not really explained how Wanda all of a sudden had children who somehow disappeared. Strange drops a line that they never really existed, but that may not be enough for general moviegoers who will then wonder how she has children in other universes.</p><p>It's also a tough sell that a mother would want to regain her children at the expense of someone else's child (America), suggesting that the film's script needed more of a woman's touch than just that of writer Michael Waldron.</p><p>That being said, Olsen is a scene-stealer in every moment of the film. She understands every nuance of Wanda and plays her to perfection. Here, she's allowed to dive into some of the scarier aspects of the Scarlet Witch as a dark magical book, the Darkhold, takes hold of her. </p><p>For those who complain that Marvel movies never have consequences, this film definitely does, but fans may leave the film unhappy with some of the big swings the film takes to villainize Wanda, a woman who is just yearning to be with her children again. Hopefully this isn't the last we see of her in the <keyword id="11899346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mcu" source="Orion">MCU</keyword>. </p><h2>The sequel's full of beautiful sequences and horror elements. It works to an extent. </h2><div type="image" title="Doctor Strange 2 Wanda" height="1178" width="2794" msid="91293947" hostid="261"></div><p>You're never bored watching "Multiverse of Madness" as it moves quickly from one massive action piece to the next. But the film is a bit disjointed as it juggles being a horror <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword>, an origin story for America, and a story of growth and closure for Stephen Strange, who finally learns it doesn't always pay to be arrogant.</p><p>To his credit, director Sam Raimi injects the film with effective jump scares and some fun nods to his horror roots. ("Evil Dead" fans will be pleased.)</p><p>There are several gorgeously mesmerizing moments in the film, including one early on where Wanda finds herself inside a magical trap of Strange's devices. That's the only one that rivals the Escher-inspired mirror dimension <a href="https://www.insider.com/doctor-strange-multiverse-of-madness-details-to-know-2022-4">in the 2016 film</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" height="1180" width="2808" msid="91293949" hostid="261"></div><p>Instead, the movie is filled with many huge battle sequences that cleverly use magic. Most are entertaining to watch, except one towards the end which feels a bit random when two adversaries start using musical notes as weapons.</p><p>While more mature in tone, the film may be a bit too scary at times for youngsters. Parents taking children to see the film should know there are several brutal deaths on screen that were a bit shocking for a Disney film. </p><h2>The film over-promises on delivering to fans. </h2><p>"Multiverse of Madness" largely feels like Marvel is trying to replicate what Sony did in December with "Spider-Man: No Way Home," but with less success. Here, <keyword id="11938414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="doctor-strange" source="Orion">Doctor Strange</keyword> has another teenager with a problem that could lead to the destruction of the multiverse. But non-comic-book fans won't be as invested in newcomer America as they are in Spider-Man, and the cameos aren't as nostalgic or as satisfying as <a href="https://www.insider.com/are-tobey-maguire-andrew-garfield-in-spider-man-no-way-home-2021-12">Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire</a> to require multiple outings to rewatch the film.</p><p>Lower your expectations going into this film a bit. One of the most frustrating aspects of "Multiverse of Madness" is believing that it has more tricks up its sleeve than it actually does. </p><div type="image" title="Doctor Strange 2 trailer teases Professor X" height="1190" width="2726" msid="91293950" hostid="261"></div><p>The film contains less variants, less cameos, and less appearances of alternate multiverse dimensions than the film's teasers may lead you to believe. The film's most satisfying surprises are short-lived, something which may also draw ire from fans. (If you've been online recently, just about every big cameo in the film has leaked, save for one.)</p><p>The film sets up the expectations of going through various parallel universes; however, it never really seems to deliver on the promise of seeing this entire mad multiverse. At one point early in the film, America says that she's been to over 70 different universes. </p><p>While the sequel zooms by a dozen or so different worlds in one brief sequence — most of which have already been shown in trailers — the film largely fixates on four universes while merely teasing some other more fascinating worlds.</p><div type="image" title="Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness multiverses" height="1170" width="2828" msid="91293953" hostid="261"></div><p>Most frustrating is that the <a href="https://www.insider.com/loki-finale-explained-marvel-future-impact-2021-7">catastrophic events of "Loki,"</a> in which the multiverse was actually broken, have no effect whatsoever on this movie. (What's the point of these Disney+ TV series if they're not going to have some sort of payoff in films when they're meant to exist in the same world? Should we not be wasting time on them?) </p><p>Additionally, the film largely ignores the end of the first "Doctor Strange" film in which Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) swears he'll destroy anyone with magic. Here, we puzzlingly only see a variant of his character, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UffVhIixpLA">despite trailers making fans think otherwise</a>. </p><div type="image" title="Baron Mordo, Chiwetel Ejiofor in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" height="2000" width="3000" msid="91293955" hostid="261"></div><p>Gaping holes like that made me wonder what Scott Derrickson's version of "Multiverse of Madness" would've been before he departed the project <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-director-scott-derrickson-drops-out-marvel-1203462569/">over creative differences in 2020</a>.</p><p>By the film's end, everyone seems to have a satisfying resolution except for Wanda. As the character says early on in the film, that just doesn't seem fair.</p><p><em>Also starring Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Stuhlbarg, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is in theaters Friday. As always, stay during the credits for two extra scenes. Only the first one is impactful to the future of the MCU.</em></p><h2>Grade: C+</h2>

'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' is Marvel's darkest and most violent movie ever, and it will undoubtedly divide fans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword> has refused to concede the election.</li><li>A shortened window for a proper <keyword id="79989" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Transition">transition</keyword> has happened before.</li><li>The most notable recent example was in 2000, when the incoming George W. Bush administration was left with far less time to prepare after a lengthy legal battle over the voting results in Florida.</li><li>The 9/11 Commission Report detailed how the truncated transition played a role in the planning for the attacks going unnoticed.</li><li>A <keyword id="125707" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Michael-Lewis">Michael Lewis</keyword> book called "The Fifth Risk" predicted how the Trump administration would be caught flat footed if a major event occurred after their 2016 transition was mired by a feud between Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.</li></ul><p>While President Donald Trump's refusal to concede defeat in the <keyword id="7600569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2020-election">2020 election</keyword> is unprecedented in American history, the disjointed transition he's presiding over is not.</p><p>The Trump administration is still blocking President-elect <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword>'s team from accessing some basic components of a transition, such as classified material and the COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan.</p><p>The most notable example of a bungled transition was in 2000, when a prolonged legal battle over vote counts in Florida delayed the results of the presidential election for over a month.</p><p>George W. Bush's incoming administration was forced to shoehorn its transition efforts into a much shorter window than anticipated, and subsequent research showed the results were deadly.</p><p>In the 2004 9/11 Commission Report, the truncated transition was cited as one of the key faults that led to the terrorist plot that killed almost 3,000 people.</p><p>The <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic has already killed more than 247,000 people, according to the <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University tally</a> as of Tuesday morning.</p><p>In a recent interview with CNBC, Andy Card, Bush's former chief of staff, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/11/former-bush-chief-of-staff-cites-9/11-warns-about-slow-transition.html">cited 9/11 as an example</a> of the perils that come with a squeezed transition.</p><p>"The 9/11 Commission had said if there had been a longer transition and there had been cooperation, there might have been a better response, or maybe not even any attack," Card said. "This is very serious, so we're calling on the president to open up the transition office, give the money out, let people start transitioning, and get ready to take the baton at January 20th at noontime, even if we don't know the full results." </p><p>The Trump administration had a transition team in place with help from the Obama administration, and by all accounts, it did not go well.</p><p>Michael Lewis dedicated an entire book to that period in late 2016 and early 2017, titled "The Fifth Risk."</p><p>Back in December, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/02/michael-lewis-trump-is-like-a-psycho-dad-to-america">Lewis predicted that a pandemic could be uniquely devastating in the US</a> given the Trump administration's cavalier approach to the transition.</p><p>Lewis reported on several agencies that prepared detailed briefings for the Trump team, only to have them disregarded, and in many cases, not read at all.</p><p>Much of this came down to the initial head of the transition, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, getting ousted by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.</p><p>Christie later wrote that despite preparing copious materials and vetting candidates for key positions, he was axed by Kushner for prosecuting his father, Charles, for among other things, <a href="https://nypost.com/2004/07/15/sex-gal-now-helping-feds-hooker-turns-on-kushner/">hiring a prostitute to blackmail his brother-in-law</a> to prevent him from testifying.</p><p>While the Trump administration has been criticized for decisions like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/03/trump-scrapped-pandemic-early-warning-program-system-before-coronavirus">getting rid of a pandemic early warning program last September</a>, Lewis' account shows that the overall disregard for the expertise at their disposal left the White House and the nation uniquely vulnerable to any number of threats.</p><p>The Biden team is still forging ahead with their own transition efforts, with the president-elect already forming his own COVID-19 task force.</p><p>Yet beyond the pandemic and the vaccine rollout, the 2000 transition shows that it's the unforeseen threats that can wreak havoc down the line.</p><p>Whenever the coronavirus recedes from dominating daily life, there will be myriad other risks that the federal government is uniquely equipped to address — but only if the new administration can get the baton passed to them.</p>

Refusing to concede is just a formality, but recent history shows how impeding a transition team could cost lives and delay preparations for America's biggest security risks

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="(Photo by Andrew Yates - WPA Pool/Getty Images)" title_caption="Theresa May is under fire from her own backbenches." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b01807de988ef40038b5063-960/theresa may under fire.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b01807de988ef40038b5063-1500/theresa may under fire.jpg" border="0" alt="theresa may under fire" data-mce-source="(Photo by Andrew Yates - WPA Pool/Getty Images)" data-mce-caption="LLANELLI, WALES - MAY 18: UK Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Welsh Conservative party conference at Ffos Las Racecourse on May 18 in Kidwelly, Llanelli, Wales." /></a><p class="source"><span>(Photo by Andrew Yates - WPA Pool/Getty Images)</span></p><p class="caption">Theresa May is under fire from her own backbenches.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A small group of hardcore pro-Brexit Conservative members of parliament wants to bring down the UK prime minister.</strong></li><li><strong>"The only alternative will be to kick over the table and trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, which will likely lead to another general election," one has said.</strong></li><li><strong>Premier Theresa May's problem is that she needs the support of her own eurosceptic MPs to survive, but in order to get the EU withdrawal package through the Commons she may also need the votes of MPs outside her party.</strong></li><li><strong>The coup plotters are probably going nowhere: If they topple May, the Conservatives risk losing the election that would follow.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />LONDON - A group of Conservative MPs wants to bring down the prime minister.</p><p>The Sunday Times reported that a group of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mps-prepare-for-snap-autumn-election-as-theresa-may-hit-by-brexit-deadlock-3ppzg9l3r?shareToken=c310a6f2399158bf5d917c52e2a7f81d">hard-Brexit MPs are preparing a coup against Theresa May</a> that would trigger an unscheduled snap election in October. They are unhappy that May's current proposals for leaving the EU will keep the UK closely aligned with Europe's customs union, a trade framework that would require Britain to follow many European laws. One told The Times:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The numbers are against us and if we face repeated defeats when the [EU] withdrawal bill returns to the Commons, the only alternative will be to kick over the table and trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, which will likely lead to another general election."</p><p>It is telling that this MP declined to be named on the record. They don't have the cojones to go public with the plot against their own leader.</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/conservative-mp-warns-theresa-may-oust-surrender-on-customs-union-brexit-2018-4">Business Insider's Adam Bienkov has repeatedly reported</a> on <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/leadership-challenge-theresa-may-conservatives-mps-brexit-2018-1">the plot against May</a> and his sources are also too shy to speak aloud. That suggests the anti-May group number far fewer than the 48 they need to trigger a vote against their own leadership.</p><p>Another clue is at the beginning of that quote: "The numbers are against us." The House of Commons as a whole has a large pro-Remain majority. Those MPs would vastly prefer a soft Brexit that keeps the UK close to Europe, and not the disjointed cliff-plunge favoured by the hardcore Brexiteers who want May gone.</p><p>This is May's problem: She needs the support of her own eurosceptic MPs to survive, but in order to get her EU withdrawal package through the Commons she will likely need the votes of MPs outside her party.</p><p>That's why the coup plotters are going nowhere. If they topple May, they risk the following events:</p><ul><li>A general election that might see Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn elected prime minister.</li><li>That scenario could result in a softer Brexit than the one May is planning.</li><li>Even so, it would leave the right of the Tory party with no influence on the Article 50 talks.</li><li>And it could cripple the government just five months before the Article 50 exit deadline.</li><li>That timetable might force "Prime Minister Corbyn" to retract the Article 50 request or extend its period.</li><li>The other alternative is for the UK to drop out of the EU with no deal in March 2019 - the very worst scenario, economically. </li></ul><p>The anti-May plotters might actually prefer that last outcome. It's the only way their kamikaze tactics make sense, and it explains why so few other MPs are supporting them.</p><p class="tagline">This column does not necessarily reflect the <keyword id="6356002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="opinion">opinion</keyword> of Business Insider.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ian-bremmer-globalism-american-dream-dead-chinese-dream-alive-2018-5">Ian Bremmer: Why the American dream doesn't exist anymore</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/MQmNu6tW-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Conservative MPs took a day off to celebrate the royal wedding but on Monday they will be back at work on their favourite project: Trying to bring down their own prime minister

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58503fd2dd089514558b4a37-2400" alt="Rogue One Star Wars Orson Krennic ben mendelsohn" data-mce-source="Disney" /><p class="source"><span>Disney</span></p><p class="caption">Ben Mendelsohn plays one of the movie's villains.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>The <keyword id="79969" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="insider">INSIDER</keyword> Summary:</strong></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>• The first reviews are in for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."</strong><br /><strong>• Critics are impressed with how thrilling the action is, and how diverse the cast is.<br />• Others wished it didn't fit so neatly into the "Star Wars" template.<br />• Overall, people think it's good!</strong></p><hr /><p> </p><p>The reviews for the first "Star Wars" spin-off movie, "Rogue One," are here.</p><p>"Rogue One" takes place before the events of "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," and follows a band of rebels who plan to steal the plans for the Death Star from the Galactic Empire.</p><p>The reviews are mostly positive, but critics have some quibbles. The middle part moves a bit too slowly, and some critics think the film revisits too much of the same material found in the other "Star Wars" stories instead of staking out its own territory.</p><p>Mostly everyone, though, is impressed by how action-packed it is and by its commitment to cast diversity. Jyn Erso, the film's feminist hero (played by Felicity Jones) is a particular highlight.</p><p>Here's what the critics have to say. </p><h3><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-review-955566">The Hollywood Reporter</a> finds it an entertaining set-up for "Star Wars: Episode IV."</h3><blockquote><p>Director Gareth Edwards, whose low-budget debut feature Monsters was more than a few leagues better than his mixed-bag Godzilla redo, knows what he's up to here. Shooting in a more spontaneous-feeling manner than his series predecessors that keeps the energy high and both the actors and the audience on their toes, the director builds up to a gigantic third-act showdown that plays like a sci-fi version of the Battle of Iwo Jima, complete with tropical island.</p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://collider.com/rogue-one-review/">Collider</a> likes how the film is refreshingly different from its predecessors.</h3><blockquote><p>Director Gareth Edwards finally pushes the franchise outside of its comfort zone. It's unmistakably a I movie, but the universe has been re-contextualized through a more sophisticated lens. We're past the point now where we assume Rebellion = good, Empire = bad. Through <em>Rogue One</em>, we see a more recognizable conflict tinged with darkness that feels real rather than darkness that just wants to gritty up the joint so that people will take the movie seriously. </p></blockquote><h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58503fd2dd089514558b4a38-1030/screen shot 2016-04-07 at 10.42.44 am.png" alt="star wars rogue one" data-mce-source="Disney" /><p class="source"><span>Disney</span></p><p class="caption">Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso, the hero.</p></div><p></p></div></div></h3><h3><a href="http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-review-1201939299/">Variety</a> noted how adult-friendly the movie is. </h3><blockquote><p><span>There are no Ewoks or Jar Jar Binks-like characters here, thrown in just to appeal to pre-school-aged audiences. The plot is designed less like a flashy video game, and more like a down-and-dirty war movie ... And quite a few of the principal characters die, which would be upsetting for young viewers ... With all due respect to comic-book devotees, this is the "Suicide Squad" audiences have been waiting for this year.</span></p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2016/12/13/rogue-one-star-wars-story-ew-review">Entertainment Weekly</a> loves how the story dives into a new corner of the "Star Wars" story.</h3><blockquote><p><span>How did Princess Leia come to possess the plans to the Death Star that she hides in R2-D2 at the beginning of that film? Where did they come from? How were they obtained? Were they stolen or turned over by a traitor? Granted, these may not be the questions that keep a lot of us up at night. But thankfully, they do keep up people like Gareth Edwards. Because that one tiny missing puzzle piece is the entire narrative for </span><em>Rogue One</em><span>.</span></p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-review-it-s-a-familiar-feeling-blockbuster-1.12748982"><span>Newsday</span></a><span> doesn't find the story very innovative.</span></h3><blockquote><p>Director Gareth Edwards takes a brave risk by staging several action sequences in Vietnam War-movie mode - it's interesting to see laser-toting soldiers trudging through ankle-deep water against a backdrop of palm trees - but the final battle is overlong and very jumbled. "Rogue One" should thrill die-hard fans and placate casual ones, but this stand-alone story often seems to be standing in the same old place.</p></blockquote><h3><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/583f1e5bdd0895131a8b4823-2400" alt="Chirrut Imwe Star Wars Rogue One" data-mce-source="Disney" /><p class="source"><span>Disney</span></p><p class="caption">There's a motley crew who tries to steal the plan for the Death Star.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></h3><h3><span>The Daily Beast, on the other hand, thinks it's </span><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/13/rogue-one-kicks-ass-the-best-star-wars-movie-since-the-empire-strikes-back.html"><span>the best "Star Wars" movie since "The Empire Strikes Back."</span></a></h3><blockquote><p><span><em>Rogue One</em> serves up plenty of political statements about what makes a hero-or rather, a heroine-and the timeless human imperative to stand up to bullying and injustice in the world. ... W<span>here </span><em>The Force Awakens</em><span> leaned on a family-friendly appeal with its innocent do-gooder leads and tantrum-throwing baddie, </span><em>Rogue One</em><span> satisfies a darker itch.</span></span></p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-rogue-one-review-20161209-story.html">The Los Angeles Times</a> admires the movie's commitment to its characters' diversity.</h3><blockquote><p>It takes only a glance at this ragtag ensemble to notice the same striking commitment to on-screen diversity that marked "The Force Awakens." Casting quotas, of course, don't make a movie; actors do, and you are likely to leave "Rogue One" marveling less at its demographics than at Jones' sympathetic ferocity, Luna's flinty charisma and the kick-ass sangfroid of Yen, one of Hong Kong's biggest action stars.</p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://screencrush.com/rogue-one-review/"><span><span>Screen Crush</span></span></a><span><span> wishes the characters had more room to breathe.</span></span></h3><blockquote><p>Edwards is very good at crafting images that straddle the uncomfortable line between beauty and horror, and at dwarfing people with giant monsters and machines with powers beyond mortal comprehension. It's his comprehension of mortals that sometimes feels lacking.</p></blockquote><p> <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58503fd2dd089514558b4a39-1117/undefined" alt="k2 so rogue one" data-mce-source="Disney/Lucasfilm" /><p class="source"><span>Disney/Lucasfilm</span></p><p class="caption">K-2SO is the movie's comic relief, but he's still a badass droid.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h3><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/13/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-review-felicity-jones-gareth-edwards?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">The Guardian</a> finds Jyn Erso a new feminist hero.</h3><blockquote><p><span>Felicity Jones is in the tousled-yet-game tradition of Star Wars female leads, like Carrie Fisher or Daisy Ridley: well-born but determined, with a sense of purpose befitting an heiress, if not a princess. </span></p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://theplaylist.net/rogue-one-flawed-still-thrilling-darker-chapter-star-wars-universe-review-20161213/">The Playlist</a> says the reshoots make the movie seem disjointed.</h3><blockquote><p>Given the patchwork nature of the movie, even on a practical level, one cannot dismiss the impact of the reshoots. ... And while the new threading isn't as obvious as something like "Suicide Squad" for example, the fragmented story beats suggest the presence of problem solving ringers brought in to aid the unwieldly sequences, many of which have trouble sustaining their poignant qualities.</p></blockquote><h3><a href="http://www.indiewire.com/2016/12/rogue-one-review-star-wars-1201757457/">IndieWire</a> thinks the film is a balancing act between Lucas's prequel trilogy and Disney's takeover of the franchise.</h3><blockquote><p><span>The whole movie is compellingly balanced between old and new, determined to pave over the potholes that have been caused by corporate and creative upheaval over the years and force a feeling of cohesion upon Hollywood's signature spectacle. This is about bringing peace to the galaxy in more ways than one.</span></p></blockquote><p>Our own Kirsten Acuna says "Star Wars" fans will be very happy with the end result. You can read <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-is-it-good-2016-12">INSIDER's "Rogue One" review here</a>.</p><h3> </h3>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/once-the-worlds-most-dangerous-path-2016-12">This was once the world's most dangerous path</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l0N2cwODE66Gn5bd-XUSimYNSTfMjR0o" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'l0N2cwODE66Gn5bd-XUSimYNSTfMjR0o',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The reviews for 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' are out - here's what the critics are saying

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d9b7636e97c623008bb89a-3555-2666/ap_981635665480.jpg" alt="Donald Trump" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump." /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Donald Trump.</p></div><p></p></div></div>One of the most tumultuous weeks in recent Republican Party history ended with a sort of détente.</p><p>Sen. Ted Cruz has painted GOP frontrunner Donald Trump as a liberal who will work with the Republican Party's most vehement Democratic enemies in Congress. Sen. Marco Rubio has labeled Trump, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-donald-trump-con-artist-debate-2016-2" target="_blank">over and over again</a>, as a "con man."</p><p>Yet, when pressed at Thursday's debate, both senators said <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-nominee-support-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-kasich-debate-2016-3" target="_blank">they'd support Trump</a> if he ends up as the Republican nominee - a scenario that grows more and more likely by the day.</p><p>It was an odd, disjointed conclusion to a week that will long live in party lore. This was the week the party ruptured, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-civil-war-boehner-mcconnell-cruz-2015-7" target="_blank">its long-simmering civil war</a> exploding out into the open by the brash billionaire from New York.</p><p>Many in the party are worried, for varying reasons, about whether it will cost them dearly in November.</p><p>Others are so terrified about the party's future with Trump as their nominee that they'd rather have Hillary Clinton win the White House than stand behind Trump's campaign in the general election.</p><p>GOP strategist Rick Wilson, a prominent Trump critic, told Business Insider why some Republicans are more focused on stopping Trump than Clinton:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Stopping Trump is most important. Hillary Clinton is a nightmare but she's not actually clinically insane. She'd unify conservatives against her. Trump will destroy not only the GOP but also the modern conservative movement. He'll also pollute the GOP brand for a generation.</p><p>Here's a brief summation of the week, just from Thursday: The 2012 Republican nominee, backed up by the 2008 nominee, unloaded on the 2016 party frontrunner, who was backed up by the 2008 vice-presidential nominee.</p><p>Got all that?</p><p>"This week was a total disaster," said a top Republican strategist and former 2016 campaign aide. "I don't see how we come back from this."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d9ef516e97c631008bba97-800-400/omney-aims-to-stop-trump-at-republican-convention-cnn.jpg" alt="Former Republican U.S. presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks critically about current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and the state of the 2016 Republican presidential campaign during a speech at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah March 3, 2016.   REUTERS/Jim Urquhart " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Former Republican U.S. presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks critically about current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during speech in Salt Lake City" /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Mitt Romney.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The week started and ended with veiled references to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-hands-no-problem-marco-rubio-2016-3" target="_blank">frontrunner's genitals</a>.</p><p>Between the two references, there was little question about the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-super-tuesday-2016-3" target="_blank">Trump's domination</a> of the swath of states that voted on "Super Tuesday," the most important day of the primary-election season.</p><p>But instead of rallying around someone - who, in most other nominating contests, would be the party's presumptive nominee with this number of wins - Trump's dominance has only emboldened those in the party who say they will refuse to support him.</p><p>The #NeverTrump movement exploded on social media this week. Their preferred candidates, Rubio and Cruz, savaged him on the campaign trail. The Republican 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, launched an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-donald-trump-speech-watch-2016-3" target="_blank">unprecedented attack on Trump, the party's frontrunner</a>, calling him a "fraud," a "phony," and a "con man," among other things.</p><p>Trump's critics are furiously plotting to deny him the nomination. One plan has Rubio beating Trump in his home state of Florida and Gov. John Kasich beating Trump in his home state of Ohio. Others are focused on trying to stop Trump from securing a majority of delegates, which would thwart Trump from winning outright at the convention, while some unifying hypothetical candidate - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romneys-donald-trump-contested-convention-2016-3" target="_blank">Romney? Paul Ryan?</a> - steps in.</p><p>Wilson described the situation in fairly emphatic terms.</p><p>"German tanks rumble on moonlit roads outside Paris in 1940, but the city still parties like nothing is wrong," the strategist told Business Insider. "The hot French summer of 1789 as the old order flees in darkened carriages for Calais. People rarely realize they're in the middle of a huge historical inflection point; it's the details that absorb attention."</p><p>Wilson continued:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">We are in that moment for the GOP, right this minute. There is a (currently) non-violent revolution inside the GOP and both the amplitude and frequency of radical distortions in what we thought Republicans <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword> and conservatism actually mean is increasing.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d9ef386e97c625048bb9cc-2850-1425/ap_341879782174.jpg" alt="marco rubio" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Carlos Osorio" /><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Carlos Osorio</span></p><p class="caption">Marco Rubio.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>If the plans to stop Trump sound discombobulated and lacking cohesion, that's because they are. Trump has secured 332 pledged delegates, according to a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/election/primaries/parties/republican" target="_blank">CNN estimate</a>. The next closest candidate is Cruz, at 230, and Rubio, who is fast becoming the Republican establishment's candidate of choice, is at just 113.</p><p>A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/upshot/if-super-tuesday-voting-pattern-continues-donald-trump-will-reach-delegate-target.html?_r=0" target="_blank">New York Times analysis</a> on Friday found that if the "Super Tuesday" voting patterns hold up through the rest of the primary season, Trump would be able to secure the 1,237 delegates needed to claim a majority. That is why many party leaders and GOP-leaning figures are urging Republicans to face reality and coalesce around Trump, their most likely nominee.</p><p>Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist who urged donors to mount an anti-Trump effort early in the primary season, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/02/gop-strategist-castellanos-time-to-rally-around-trump-too-late-to-ask-mommy-to-step-in-and-rewrite-rules/" target="_blank">said it was time</a> to get behind the businessman. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch said the GOP establishment <a href="https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/705134886324215808">would be "mad"</a> not to unify around Trump if he became the "inevitable" nominee. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and presidential candidate, urged Republicans to wake up and realize the stark choice between Trump and Clinton.</p><p>"I think he'll be a really strong candidate," Doug Watts, a former adviser to the campaign of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, told Business Insider last week. "He's as good as we've got."</p><p>Romney <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/trackers/2016-03-04/romney-trump-can-be-stopped-at-convention-if-he-lacks-delegates" target="_blank">argued that Republicans</a> should take the fight all the way to the convention floor to block Trump's nomination.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d9e3ac6e97c622048bb9d5-1400-841/rts97mx.jpg" alt="republican debate trump hands" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Jim Young" data-mce-caption="Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump shows off the size of his hands as rivals Marco Rubio (L) and Ted Cruz (R) look on at the start of the U.S. Republican presidential candidates debate in Detroit, Michigan, March 3, 2016." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jim Young</span></p><p class="caption">Marco Rubio, left, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Others argue that a contested convention would be a disaster: a recipe for Clinton's election to the White House. Indeed, Romney's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-email-bryan-pagliano-2016-3" target="_blank">speech lambasting Trump overshadowed</a> seemingly significant developments in the FBI investigation into whether any classified material was mishandled in connection to the private email account Clinton used at the State Department.</p><p>About 35% of the Republican electorate in the states that have voted so so far has voted for Trump, and polls have found that Trump's supporters are committed to their candidate. And any attempt to launch an 11th-hour coup against Trump at the convention would inevitably result in intense backlash from the frontrunner's many fans.</p><p>GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, the president of the Potomac Strategy Group, told Business Insider that was simply no good solution for the establishment's Trump dilemma. He argued instead that there was still time for other scenarios to come to fruition, such as a "unity" ticket between Cruz and Rubio.</p><p>"I fear that there will be a revolt if Trump loses after the first ballot if he has a significant delegate lead going in," <span>Mackowiak</span> said. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-wins-nevada-caucus-republican-frontrunner-hispanics-low-income-2016-2">'Number one with Hispanics!' - Trump obliterated Republicans in Nevada</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VjOWg5MTE6NWbLT6nFlQktpjNy0hrDSn" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'VjOWg5MTE6NWbLT6nFlQktpjNy0hrDSn',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The week the Republican Party imploded

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/27534955.cms" style="" /><br /> It never rains but it pours – so the saying goes. And the adage came true on Friday the 13th as it saw a couple of <keyword id="406" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Movies">movies</keyword> opening and the release of a third one (<em><keyword id="1167288" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lucky-Kabootar">Lucky Kabootar</keyword></em>) getting postponed due to technical reasons. However, none of the two movies has managed to make the cut at the <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="box-office">box office</keyword> after Day 4.<br />
 <br />
Let’s begin with the most touted of the lot – <em><keyword id="35955" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="jackpot">Jackpot</keyword></em>. As the name suggests, the story is all about a <keyword id="1978994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Casino-boat">casino boat</keyword> (in Goa) and crazy <keyword id="4736333" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="con-artists">con artists</keyword> rushing to pinch the <keyword id="1978996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jackpot-money">jackpot money</keyword>, interspersed with comedy one-liners, a good dose of skin show and an extremely predictable plot. Starring <keyword id="836886" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunny-Leone">Sunny Leone</keyword>, <keyword id="6475049" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sachiin-Joshi">Sachiin Joshi</keyword> and the veteran <keyword id="6354338" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Naseeruddin-Shah">Naseeruddin Shah</keyword> (the Boss), the <keyword id="1978999" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Comedy-thriller">comedy thriller</keyword> has a total <keyword id="1960834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BO-collection">BO collection</keyword> of around Rs 6.4 crore till December 16, and the numbers do not augur well for <keyword id="303" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Director">director</keyword> <keyword id="66915" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kaizad-Gustad">Kaizad Gustad</keyword>. It’s his fourth film, the earlier ones being <em><keyword id="276427" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bombay-Boys">Bombay Boys</keyword></em>, <em><keyword id="6366414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Boom">Boom</keyword></em> and <em><keyword id="1286097" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bombil-and-Beatrice">Bombil and Beatrice</keyword></em>.  <br />
 <br /> Critics, too, have flayed the flick unmercifully, mainly due to the absence of wit, thrill and suspense. Subhash K. Jha of SKJ <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> News has given it no stars and says, “Jackpot is <keyword id="1978997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Noire-film">noire film</keyword> with twists in the tale.” Reagan Gavin Rasquinha of Times of India has given it 2 stars out of 5 while Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express has decided on a 1/2 star only. Avad M of Bollywood3 has rated the film 1.5/5 and stated that Naseeruddin Shah is the only saving grace of this movie as he is brilliant as the <keyword id="1979011" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="notorious-business-man">notorious business man</keyword>.<br />
 <br /> The music is praiseworthy, though, but the whole exercise puts a big question mark on the theme and the lead actors. Why do <keyword id="1979000" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood-thrillers">Bollywood thrillers</keyword> have to be inane, completely lacking that <keyword id="23116" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="fear-factor">fear factor</keyword> which chills your bones without being explicit? As for Sunny, she has graduated fast from an <keyword id="1978990" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="adult-film-actor">adult film actor</keyword> to a <keyword id="25842" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood-heroine">Bollywood heroine</keyword>, but has a long way to go if she really wants to impress cine lovers. <keyword id="287171" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Entrepreneur-turned-actor">Entrepreneur-turned-actor</keyword> Sachiin has, however, a better exposure here. His earlier two outings – <em>Aazaan</em> and <em>Mumbai Mirror</em> – were big flops. <em>Aazaan</em>, a 2011 action <keyword id="1979002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Spy-flick">spy flick</keyword> starring Sachiin and South African <keyword id="6355606" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="model">model</keyword> <keyword id="167432" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Candice-Boucher">Candice Boucher</keyword>, had a <keyword id="182563" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BO">BO</keyword> collection of Rs 4.2 crore, against a budget of Rs 37 crore. <em>Mumbai Mirror</em>, a <keyword id="1979001" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Crime-thriller">crime thriller</keyword> released in January this year, was again a disaster at the box office. <br />
 <br />
<strong><em><keyword id="1888631" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="What-The-Fish">What the Fish</keyword></em> in troubled waters</strong><br /> We thought this one might have an interesting storyline evolving around <keyword id="2665" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dimple-Kapadia">Dimple Kapadia</keyword>. Ageing, divorced and suspicious, <keyword id="212966" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sudha-Mishra">Sudha Mishra</keyword> (Dimple) is too much in love with her <keyword id="761101" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="goldfish">goldfish</keyword> and <keyword id="1979005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Money-plant">money plant</keyword>. And she turns out to be the grumpy old Delhi ‘mausi ji’ you meet almost every day. But when Sudha goes to visit her son for a month and her house is left in the care of her niece and her fiancé, they soon find others to do the chores and those others find some more people and the whole thing goes on…<br />
 <br /> All this is funny at first, as you may guess, but reeking of confusion and extremely haphazard at a later stage as more and more characters flit in and out of the house, all with some personal agendas. There’s no sparkling wit here or the softening grace of humour that makes classic comedy. So it’s no wonder that the BO numbers are really down – just Rs 2.9 crore after Day 4. This is the second flick by director <keyword id="193437" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gurmeet-Singh">Gurmeet Singh</keyword> after his debut film <em><keyword id="1872956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Warning-3D">Warning 3D</keyword></em>, an underwater movie shot in <keyword id="79116" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Fiji">Fiji</keyword>.<br />
 <br />
<em>What The Fish</em> has opened to some mixed reviews all over. Neha Gupta of Bollywood3 says that this is a novel concept and also lauds Dimple as absolutely brilliant. There are sight gags and a free-flowing style that leaves enough room for irreverent jokes. But the movie still lacks a strong binding thread and spirited performance that could have buoyed up this kind of disjointed comedy sequences. You fail to appreciate the many characters and the entire movie feels too episodic, instead of being a cohesive whole.<br />
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<strong>Image:</strong> Indiatimes.com

When It Comes To <i>Jackpot</i>,
No One Gets The Moolah

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/35710506.cms" /><br /> When <keyword id="707762" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Thalaivar">Thalaivar</keyword> takes the centre stage, big bucks are bound to roll in. The <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="box-office">box office</keyword> drought is finally over as silver screen sensation <keyword id="14509" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajinikanth">Rajinikanth</keyword>’s latest outing <em><keyword id="1849408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kochadaiiyaan">Kochadaiiyaan</keyword></em> has turned out to be a smash hit, crossing the Rs 50 crore mark in just five days, according to industry estimates. The movie grossed Rs 42 crore worldwide in the first three days, according to a release by <keyword id="128026" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Eros-International">Eros International</keyword>. Domestic collections amounted to Rs 30 crore in the opening weekend while the rest came from overseas business. This could be equivalent to Rs 32.3 crore nett worldwide, as per trade estimates. “<em>Kochadaiiyaan</em> opening weekend – Worldwide: Rs 42 cr gross. All 6 languages. 2D and 3D. SUPERB,” film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.<br />
<br /> However, first Monday collections dipped considerably to Rs 5 crore in the <keyword id="1761158" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="indian-circuit">Indian circuit</keyword> while the movie managed to earn Rs 4.5 crore at home on the first Tuesday. Although overseas numbers for these two days are not available yet, industry insiders put gross worldwide collections at Rs 50 crore-plus just after five days. “Kochadaiiyaan… has fared exceptionally well in <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> in particular. Is good in the <keyword id="6355055" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="USA">USA</keyword>, the UK &amp; <keyword id="6355478" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Australia">Australia</keyword>,” Adarsh tweeted about weekday business. With earnings from <keyword id="6358065" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Satellite">satellite</keyword> rights in multiple languages, audio and music rights, brand tie-ups and other income, the film is well on its way to cross Rs 100 in revenues.<br />
<br /> This period drama-cum-futuristic fantasy was off to a stupendous start on Friday (May 23), hitting 3,000-plus theatres worldwide. Eros International released the film in 2D and 3D, in 6 languages, and directly undertook the distribution in <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword>. The flick saw nearly 95% occupancy in Tamil Nadu where Rajinikanth has a huge fan following. In contrast, the Telugu version saw a lacklustre beginning at home, grossing only Rs 5 crore in the first 3 days. Business slumped in the <keyword id="2266509" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Northern-belt">Northern belt</keyword> as well and the Rajini-starrer significantly lagged behind with Rs 4 crore gross during the first three days. The budget of this movie is Rs 125 crore across all languages.<br />
<br /> In case you are not aware of its many merits, let us quickly run you through some landmarks. Directed by <keyword id="1800934" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Soundarya-R-Ashwin">Soundarya R. Ashwin</keyword> (Rajini’s daughter) and written by K.S. Ravikumar, <em>Kochadaiiyaan</em> is India’s first 3D film to use <keyword id="2266515" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Photorealistic-motion-capturing">photorealistic motion capturing</keyword> techniques – a technology that makes animation as lifelike as possible (you had a good dose of it in James Cameron’s <em><keyword id="44111" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Avatar">Avatar</keyword></em>). The film has Rajinikanth in triple roles – Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena. <keyword id="598" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Deepika-Padukone">Deepika Padukone</keyword>, <keyword id="297" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jackie-Shroff">Jackie Shroff</keyword>, <keyword id="1029184" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="nassar">Nassar</keyword> and <keyword id="24628" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shobana">Shobana</keyword> did pretty well in other key roles in the film. The music has been composed by <keyword id="11851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="AR-Rahman">AR Rahman</keyword> and cinematography has been handled by Padmesh.<br />
<br />
For the thinking audience, however, the storyline has nothing new. It features the same old conflict between the good and the evil but also comes with some surprising twists and moral dilemmas. Yet, at the end, it tires more than illuminates, failing to take you past the visual dazzle. As film critic Shubhra Gupta so rightly notes, “Even Rajini, the one and the only, can’t pick up a film and run with it, if it has the oldest, creakiest plots cobbled together from many books. But the best tech specs in the world can’t rescue a sinking story… After a point, it all becomes too much sound and fury and not much else. One Rajini flipping cigarettes is much more fun than two Rajinis flinging swords in never never land.”<br />
<br />
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/35710564.cms" /><br />
<br /> Produced by <keyword id="27326" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sajid-Nadiadwala">Sajid Nadiadwala</keyword> and directed by <keyword id="616900" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sabbir-Khan">Sabbir Khan</keyword>, <em><keyword id="1184791" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Heropanti">Heropanti</keyword></em> (a remake of the 1983 movie <em>Hero</em>) is the other release of the week and has performed better than <em>Kochadaiiyaan</em> in the northern circuits. The action-romance flick has seen an influx of debut actors (a total of 21) including <keyword id="133664" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tiger-Shroff">Tiger Shroff</keyword> (Jackie’s son) and <keyword id="210696" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kriti-Sanon">Kriti Sanon</keyword> in the lead roles<br />
<br />
“<em>Heropanti</em> passes the crucial ‘Monday test.’ Fri 6.63 cr, Sat 6.42 cr, Sun 8.28 cr, Mon 4.26 cr. Total: Rs 25.59 cr nett. India biz,” tweeted Adarsh while trade figure puts the domestic collections at Rs 24.96 crore. <keyword id="1996079" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Overseas-collections">Overseas collections</keyword> stood at Rs 2.13 crore gross after Day 4. The masala entertainer was released in 2,100 screens across India and its debut day earning is the fifth highest opening day collection for movies released in 2014, behind <em><keyword id="6593120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jai-Ho">Jai Ho</keyword></em>, <em><keyword id="72970" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="2-States">2 States</keyword></em>, <em><keyword id="6427325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gunday">Gunday</keyword></em> and <em><keyword id="1020628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ragini-MMS-2">Ragini MMS 2</keyword></em>. Earnings on Monday fell less than 40% than what it was on Friday and the strong growth continued even on Day 5 (Tuesday, May 27) when it collected around Rs 4 crore at home.<br />
<br />
This one is a medium-budget movie and cost around Rs 26 crore including promotion. So we can safely assume that it is set to be a hit without much fuss. But all these good numbers do not essentially spell quality.<br />
<br /> While Kriti Sanon (<keyword id="7876" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dimpy">Dimpy</keyword>) looks quite striking in a below-par storyline featuring love-and-marriage adventures and misadventures in Jattland, Tiger Shroff (<keyword id="230102" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bablu">Bablu</keyword>) looks quite inane unless he is in the thick of the action, doing some awesome stunts and beating up the goons. Noted film critic Anupama Chopra has given the movie 2 out of 5 stars saying, “<em>Heropanti</em> is comically bad and the disjointed narrative brims with low-IQ, high-testosterone men brandishing weapons. The women are puppets who either simper or scream.”<br />
<br />
Quite depressing, if you ask us, but there’s one silver lining. Both movies are raking in the moolah after a long time and that’s what matters in the business of cinema.<br />
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<strong>Images:</strong> Indiatimes<br />



Box Office: Kochadaiiyaan Thrives On Rajini Power; Heropanti Soaring High

'Jupiter Ascending' is one of the worst movies you will see this year

<p><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52b59d36eab8ea7b529f9b82-1200-600/paris-cafe-2.jpg" border="0" alt="paris cafe" width="800-" /><p class="source">derekskey via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derekskey/9159256442/in/photostream/">www.flickr.com</a> creative commons</p></div></div></p>
<p>ONE of the most perplexing questions of the early 21st century is this: how can the French, who invented joie de vivre, the three-tier cheese trolley and Dior's jaunty New Look, be so resolutely miserable? To outsiders, the world's favourite tourist destination embodies the triumph of pleasure over desk-slavery, slow food over fast, the life of the flâneur over that of the frenetic. Yet polls suggest that the French are more depressed than Ugandans or Uzbekistanis, and more pessimistic about their country's future than Albanians or Iraqis. A global barometer of hope and <keyword id="6358439" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="happiness">happiness</keyword> puts the French second to bottom of a 54-country world ranking, behind austerity-battered Italians, Greeks and Spaniards, and ahead only of Portugal.</p>
<p>Happiness is of course a slippery concept. Asked if they are happy, people everywhere are more than likely to say yes; far fewer say that they laugh much. Gallup, a pollster, has devised a global "positive experience index", based on whether respondents report that they laughed and smiled a lot or did something enjoyable the previous day. By such measures, <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="France">France</keyword> does better than the world average. But take out war-torn or poor countries, and measure the French against fellow rich nations, and they still turn out to be unhappier than their peers. The French report fewer "happy experiences" than those in America, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium. The land of the bon vivant is an unhappy outlier.</p>
<p>Claudia Senik, a French economist at the Paris School of Economics, calls this the "French unhappiness puzzle". In a 2013 study, she found that the French were not only unhappier than their level of wealth and unemployment would suggest, but also more discontented than French-speaking people in Belgium and Canada (so language is not the reason), and more miserable when they emigrated compared with non-French expatriates in the same place (so they take their gloom with them). "Unhappiness seems to be more than about life in France," Ms Senik concluded. "It is something about being French."</p>
<p>Naturally, Ms Senik's findings caused a stir in France, prompting Maureen Dowd, a New York Times writer who was visiting Paris at the time, to report that "joie de vivre has given way to gaze de navel". Le Monde ran three pages under the title "Liberté, Égalité, Morosité", in a bid to decode its fellow countrymen's "persistent melancholy". France, it turns out, has the highest suicide rate in western Europe after Belgium and Switzerland. An American psychiatric study showed that, among ten rich countries, the French were the most likely to have a "major depressive episode" at some point in their life. Even the French language seems to be particularly well stocked--morosité, tristesse, malheur, chagrin, malaise, ennui, mélancolie, anomie, désespoir--with negativity. Can there really be something about being French that makes for so much gloom?</p>
<h3>Fifty shades of noir</h3>
<p>Two periods in France's recent history have contributed most to the rich seam of misery in its culture--one after the revolution, the other after the second world war. In the quarter-century from the fall of the ancien régime in 1789 to 1814, France overthrew a monarchy, endured the Terror, and lost an empire. After this period the Romantic movement, from Baudelaire to Chopin, expressed a melancholy infused with nostalgia and ambivalence towards a society dominated by rationalist thought and bourgeois values.</p>
<p>In "René", a novel published in 1802, Chateaubriand introduced to the world the tortured French youth, whose "wretched, barren, and disenchanted" existence embodied what the writer called the mal du siècle. In his memoirs, Chateaubriand recognised that he had set more of a trend than he had bargained for:</p>
<h3>If René did not exist, I would not write it again...all we hear nowadays are pitiful and disjointed phrases; the only subject is gales and storms, and unknown ills moaned out to the clouds and to the night. There's not a fop who has just left college who hasn't dreamt he was the most unfortunate of men; there's not a milksop who hasn't exhausted all life has to offer by the age of sixteen; who hasn't believed himself tormented by his own genius; who, in the abyss of his thoughts, hasn't given himself over to the "wave of passions"; who hasn't struck his pale and dishevelled brow and astonished mankind with a sorrow whose name neither he, nor it, knows.</h3>
<p>Romantic miserabilism was experienced as a form of pleasure. "Melancholy", wrote Victor Hugo, "is the happiness of being sad." It was treated as a noble state, a higher aesthetic condition. "I do not pretend that joy cannot be allied with beauty," wrote Baudelaire in his diary. "But I do say that joy is one of its most vulgar ornaments; whereas melancholy is, as it were, its illustrious companion." Much of this tradition is firmly fixed in today's French mind. Hugo's poem "Melancholia" is required reading for French lycée students, as is Alfred de Musset's "La Nuit de Mai", whose narrator laments that "Nothing makes us so great as great sorrow."</p>
<p>The strange beauty of melancholy finds some echo in mid-20th-century France, which produced a second wave of miserabilism. Françoise Sagan's "Bonjour Tristesse", published in 1954, for instance, opens with the 17-year-old Cécile's lament:</p>
<h3>A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sorrow. The idea of sorrow has always appealed to me, but now I am almost ashamed of its complete egoism. I have known boredom, regret, and occasionally remorse, but never sorrow. Today it envelops me like a silken web, enervating and soft, and sets me apart from everybody else.</h3>
<p>Yet the ennui that marked this second period had less to do with nostalgia than nausea. In "L'Etranger", Albert Camus's protagonist, Mersault, is perhaps the world's best-known embodiment of anguish in the face of the unknowable meaning of existence, or the absurd. Post-war French theatre developed the absurd, through the plays of Camus, Jean Anouilh and the Franco-Romanian Eugène Ionescu. Samuel Beckett, an Irishman, wrote "Waiting for Godot" in French. On a chilly winter's evening in 1953 on Paris's left bank, two years before the play went on to unsettle English-speaking audiences, it was first staged at the 75-seat Théâtre de Babylone, and struck a chord with post-war Paris.</p>
<p>Neither Camus nor his contemporary, Jean-Paul Sartre, was ultimately a pessimist. But it is the torment of existentialism, rather than its conclusions, that captured the imagination. Indeed, the left-bank literary clique led by Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, which gravitated to the cafés of Saint-Germain-des-Près, adopted ennui as a way of life as well as a philosophy. When Sartre handed the original manuscript of "Nausea" to Gallimard, his publisher, he entitled his novel "Melancholia".</p>
<p>Perhaps the best exemplar of miserabilism among contemporary French fiction writers is Michel Houellebecq, the controversial Goncourt-prize-winning novelist, in such nihilist works as "Whatever" or "Atomised". His characters invariably lead empty, often sordid, always disillusioned lives. "In the end," writes Mr Houellebecq in "The Elementary Particles", "there's just the cold, the silence and the loneliness. In the end, there's only death."</p>
<p>There have, of course, been periods during which the gloom lifted. It was after the double shock of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 and the bloody Paris Commune, after all, that the Impressionists took their tubes of paint and brushes outdoors, delighting in light and colour. Despite a measure of fin-de-siècle anxiety, the belle époque was a moment of breezy certainty. Gustave Eiffel unveiled his wrought-iron tower in 1889. By 1900 the City of Lights drew 51m visitors to its universal exhibition, under the theme of "Paris, capital of the civilised world", and Matisse, Derain and other fauves had started to capture exuberant colour and warmth on canvas. Yet miserabilism seems to have a greater hold on the French mind today.</p>
<h3>I doubt, therefore I am</h3>
<p>One reason could be the French appetite for brutal self-criticism. From Descartes onwards, doubt is the first philosophical reflex. "The rationalist tradition makes us sceptical; we exist through criticism," argues Monique Canto-Sperber, a philosopher and director of Paris Sciences et Lettres, an elite university. "We treat those too full of hope as naive." In "Candide, or The Optimist", published in 1759, Voltaire mocks the folly of looking on the bright side in the face of unimaginable horrors. "Optimism", says a disabused Candide in the novel, "is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable." When a French magazine recently tried to decode today's national pessimism, it concluded: "It's Voltaire's fault". "We find it more chic and more spiritual to doubt everything."</p>
<p>Up to a point, this is an affectation of the elite. "It is in a certain Parisian milieu that there are intellectuals who are grumpy by trade," argues Jack Lang, the Socialist former culture minister: "There is a gap with the rest of French society." Yet France cherishes public intellectuals, so their influence spreads wide. It is a talking, thinking culture. Its films value dialogue over plot; its talk-shows are interminable. The French, wrote a helpful official guide for British servicemen heading to France for the 1944 liberation offensive, "enjoy an intellectual argument more than we do. You will often think that two Frenchmen are having a violent quarrel when they are simply arguing some abstract point."</p>
<p>The country treats its philosophers like national treasures, even celebrities, splashing photographs of them across the pages of glossy magazines. And it ensures that the canon of French thought is fed to the whole country. All pupils taking the school-leaving baccalauréat exam must study philosophy, and teenagers are examined on such cheery essay questions as "Is man condemned to self-delusion?" or "Do we have an obligation to seek truth?". So if French intellectuals are predominantly critical pessimists, miserabilism may in part be the consequence of holding them in such esteem. Were Americans to pay more attention to the writings of Noam Chomsky and Jared Diamond, perhaps they would be gloomy too.</p>
<p>This critical reflex reaches right into the classroom, generating a further source of negativity. In French schools, for example, the tradition is for teachers to grade harshly, and praise with excessive moderation. Under a nationwide system that awards marks out of 20, a pupil doing a dictée has points (or even half-points) deducted for every error; so a child swiftly ends up with zero. The idea is that all children can always do better. The result is a lack of what the French, borrowing English syntax, call "la positive attitude".</p>
<p>Fully 75% of French pupils worry that they will get bad grades in maths tests, according to an OECD study, nudging stressed-out South Korean levels (78%). A recent government-commissioned report on a small pilot experiment in some French secondary schools, where Cartesian grading had been shelved in favour of a more encouraging system, noted with some surprise that weaker pupils were absent from school less often, more confident in the classroom, and "less stressed when faced with failure".</p>
<p>If the French are life's critics, they are at the same time idealists, and these two make unhappy bedfellows. Thanks to the philosophers of the Enlightenment and the 1789 revolution, the concept of progress towards an ideal society has, despite periodic turmoil and bloodshed, been a powerful narrative in the French mind. The best embodiment of this is the French declaration of human rights. Unlike the American declaration of independence in 1776, which guaranteed the rights of all Americans, the French version 13 years later guaranteed the rights of all mankind.</p>
<p>To this day, the ambition to inspire the world with a secular republican ideal, backed by the spread of French culture and language, stirs political leaders. "France is only itself when in pursuit of an ideal," wrote Dominique de Villepin, a former prime minister, in a deliberate echo of Charles de Gaulle's reference to the country's "exceptional destiny". It is great stuff for myth-making, as De Gaulle demonstrated so masterfully after liberation from Nazi occupation. But when reality does not quite match up to ideals, self-criticism kicks in and misery results.</p>
<p>Left-wing French intellectuals never quite got over the failed revolutionary promise of the May '68 student uprising, nor their disillusion at the declining influence of French thought from the 1980s onwards. Others struggled to reconcile French values with the country's darker moments, notably under occupation. Today, "belief in a better tomorrow has come to an end," says Christophe Prochasson, a French historian. "There is a crisis of progress."</p>
<p>Put simply, the French know that they have enjoyed a fabulous way of life, and are depressed by the thought that neither the French model, nor Europe, seems able to provide the prosperity or the national grandeur it once did. The upshot is that "we are collectively animated by a sense of doom and decline," says Dominique Moïsi, of the French Institute of International Relations. "We have in mind this great nation of ours: the major power in Europe under Louis XIV and Napoleon I, the biggest allied standing army in the first world war. Now there's a sense of 'What happened to us?'."</p>
<h3>The pleasure of pouting</h3>
<p>France is not alone in contemplating its diminished status. Britain had a grand past too. But the post-colonial, post-industrial British do not share the French sense of national depression, partly because they never considered their empire to be part of an effort to export a culture or a model society. And, having accidentally given the world the English language, Britain feels relaxed about its global cultural influence. The contrasting decline of French, once the language of European diplomacy, high culture and polite conversation, is felt as a national wound.</p>
<p>Idealistic France's painful reckoning with decline is therefore quite different to the British approach of resigned muddling-through, argues Jean-Philippe Mathy, of the University of Illinois, in "Melancholy Politics". It is almost, says Mr Prochasson, the historian, a form of bereavement. "There is a very profound pessimism today due to the realisation that France is becoming a country like any other, and this is difficult."</p>
<p>Does it matter? Certainly, France's high suicide rate is a serious cause for concern. Dissatisfaction also makes the French a particularly fractious people to govern, ready as they are to contest, and protest, at the slightest excuse. Confidence too is elusive in a country given to pessimism, making it harder still for politicians to persuade the French to try new ways of doing things.</p>
<p>Yet pessimism has not stopped France from enjoying itself. French hedonism has survived miserabilism--or perhaps provided a refuge from it. Even in the immediate aftermath of the 1789 revolution, the country exhibited a "thirst for pleasure", as one contemporary newspaper report put it: "The stream of fashion, a succession of dinners, the luxury of their splendid furniture and their mistresses, are the objects that chiefly employ the thoughts of the young men of Paris." With firework displays, extravagant fashion, circuses and carousels, Paris at the time, for the rich at least, was all about enjoyment. During les années folles, upper-class American tourists took the steamer to Normandy and then the railway to Paris, drawn to France, writes Harvey Levenstein, a historian, as "a land that was free from American puritanism, where the pursuit of pleasure reigned supreme".</p>
<p>Nor has miserabilism discouraged the French preoccupation with beauty and taste. France does not wear its gloom like a dreary accessory. On the contrary, its culture delights in elegance, sensuality, quality and form: the exquisite hand-stitching on the haute-couture dress; the immaculately glazed tartes aux framboises lined up in the pâtisserie window. The aesthetics of daily life, the art de vivre, remains a source of both grand gestures and small stolen pleasures. It is no coincidence that the two biggest luxury-goods groups in the world are French.</p>
<p>Modern French culture may not have supplied great writers to rival Hugo or Molière, and Paris may lack the buzz of New York or London. But it is hard to argue that negativity has stifled French creativity. Would France have brought the world existentialism had Sartre been a cheerful fellow?</p>
<p>The critical impulse has promoted cultural innovation. Both cinema's New Wave and French literary theory were born of critical reconstruction of what came before. Some of France's most creative periods have followed bleak times: the flowering of painting, literature and science after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war, or of the avant-garde in art and fashion after the horrors of the first world war. Christian Lacroix, a French designer, points out that war and revolution in France have been times of "creative reinventions, the moment new forms of luxury come into play".</p>
<p>Perhaps the French need dissatisfaction and thrive on doubt. "There is a certain pleasure taken in being unhappy: it's part of an intellectualism of French culture," says Ms Senik. "Malaise and ennui are to France what can-do is to America: a badge of honour," wrote Roger Cohen in the New York Times recently. Pessimism does not preclude pleasure. All that sitting around at pavement cafés, looking fashionably discontented, can be fun. Optimism is for fools; sophisticates know better. Bleak is chic--especially when opening another bottle of Saint-Emilion and reaching for the three-tier cheese trolley.</p>
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