Monday, February 27, 2006

Guess, it's all in the mind

Lately came across a theory called 'Johari Window. Take a look into that article, it sounds interesting. I could not add anything much beyond that observation. According to this technique, it allows a person to open up and be brave to accept one's vulnerabilities and tell the same to others. Also, it also requests one to be open to suggestions coming from strangers.

Following Johari technique is requesting a person to walk naked on the road. Guess, for someone who has got so much used to fancy clothes or even simple basic clothes, the very idea of walking naked will put one-off from this!

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Movies by weekend

Fun with Dick and Jane:

Movie was fiercely ordinary. Not the typical Jim Carey comedy, but some sequences were good. Including one sequence where Jim Carey gets irritated with the way his lawn was bereaved of green grass and is dirt-brown. He resorts to stealing of grass from his neighbours and then plants the stolen grass in his barren lawn, after completing this planting he goes to sleep. And the next morning when Tea Leoni wakes up, she sees Jim Carey's soil-browned hand-print on her shirt.

Brother Bear:

Ordinary animation fare. Typical feel-good kind, seems like an overkill with most animation movies totally turning out to be out and out feel-good kind.

For a Few Dollars More:

The villain role in this movie reminded me of mannerism of Gabbar Singh in 'Sholay'. Guess, this movie has to be the inspiration for 'Sholay'. Really enjoyed this movie, classical western movie! The simple background music, the long stares, the eerie silence once-in-a-while, the gun-battle, the macho-style and most importantly the barren land all have created a perfect setting for this movie.

Fiddler of the Roof:

Movie is made out of a west side story on the same name. The Soviet-Russian and Jewish context kept me watching the movie. Poignant tale!

Apocalypse Now:

Thought the movie was out-of-place i.e the ending part. The movie had some really super sequences like the helicopter bombing and napalm spray. Having seen other Vietnam movies, I feel nothing comes close to 'Full Metal Jacket' and the way Kubrick tells how ordinary people hope to do something extra-ordinary in their lifetime and when faced with such extra-ordinary circumstances how they wilt under pressure. Kubrick is a master in that!
Francis Ford Coppola pulled off a casting coup. Though I felt both Sheen and Marlon Brando were not so suited for their respective roles! The idea that you have to really rout out the enemy completely, inorder to avoid further conflicts sounds logical, though sounds terribly absurd! Remember my friend Bugjhi, telling something along similar lines in one of our usual marathon chats. For someone to tell something like this, they have to either horribly stupid or a unbelievably intelligent! And the worst part is I could not judge whether it is stupid or intelligent.

The HitchHiker's Guide to Galaxy:

Got to see this BBC serial(first part), yet to read the novel though. Will try to see the remaining five parts...

The Incredibles:

Enjoyable one, with some quick action.

On the Waterfront:

Movie seemed to have been released in a time when USA was fast-moving to identify themselves as a capitalistic country and went cynical about socialism or communism. The movie's feel-good ending doesnt seem to fit-in well.

The leftists, socialists (equivalent of Democrats in USA) are slowly on the rise everywhere in the industrialized world thanks to their non-rising economies of late.
Eshwar might sure will have a point or two on this.

Drunker Angel:

Classy Akiro Kurasawa movie. The shot of sewage simply epitomises the movie. Seems to be in the same mould as 'the Bicycle Thief' which also tries to indicate to us that big-cities are not kind to all its citizens.

Stand by Me:

Another classy movie. Movie had a few interesting sequences including the last line the protagonist types on his computer telling us that he did not have a true friend lately and the last time he had a good friend was when he was 12 and poses the same question to us. Another sequence in which the boy-protagonist tells the story about a fat-kid who got his revenge! This movie is based on a Stephen King novel.

Dr. Zhivago:

This movie looked more like an epic just like David Lean's 'Passage to India'. Not really a fan of such epic movies, which kept going-on-and-on without an end in-sight. This movie also has the usual long shots, wide landscapes, stillness that is there in most of David Lean's movies.

Chronicles of Narnia:

This movie looked like a poor-cousin of Lord of the Rings, not just the story, but even the visuals. Guess, the budget must have been on shoe-string.

Hanuman:

This movie was a total bore. Though, the songs that appeared in this movie were good.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Jack Black simply rocks

Lately heard the song 'This is the greatest and best song in the world... Tribute' by Jack Black( Tenacious D ). Thanks to my generous cousin!

The respect I have for Jack Black is growing since the time I saw the movie 'Orange County'... and then.... 'School of Rock'.....and then 'King Kong'... and lately this song 'This is the greatest song.... '. Fellow has to be multi-talented to do something of this kind. Also, heard another comedy actor's song lately i.e Jim Carey's 'Somebody to love'. Think this song was part of the soundtrack for the movie 'Ace Ventura'.

Everytime I listen to Jack Black song, I feel he is referring to Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' as 'the greatest song in the world....'!

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Movies by weekend

Flight Plan:

Fast paced masala movie. Jodie Foster looked a bit too old and haggard.

Rainman:

'Yeah.. Yeah...' and Who's on First were great fun to hear.

Dustin Hoffman really stole the thunder all the way.
In phases, the characterisation of Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise reminded me of Kamal and Madhavan in the movie 'Anbe Sivam'.
Lots of sequences in this movie including the casino sequences were an absolute delight to see.

Secretary:

This movie starred the beautiful Maggie Gyllenhaal. The story was kind of drab.

A Killer Within:

The movie was a bit too predictable, looked more like a B-Grade movie!

Rang De Basanti:

This movie was stylishly made, just like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's earlier movie 'Aks'. And this movie was also lucky to have had a good starcast. This movie's ending looked more like a Shankar-style ending with all the public supporting the heroes' actions. The movie had a slightly overweight Madhavan and slightly cool Sidharth. Sidharth was lucky to have got this role. Aamir was a bit too old for this role. The time spent on comedy throughout the entire first half was kind of cliched. Rahman's songs were below part except for one or two songs. Rahman's punjabi, arabian tunes looked like plagiarised ones.

How to Steal a Million:

This movie was good fun to watch with Audrey Hepburn stealing the show rightaway with her innocence. Audrey must have been a role model for actors like Saroja Devi.

Goodbye Lenin:

Saw this German movie without English sub-titles. So, the dialogues didnt make much sense to me. The movie shows the impact Communism had on East Germany and how East Germany quickly adopted capitalism in their land. Movie was slightly in the slower side.