Hotel Rwanda
Good plot to revolve the characters around. No wonder this movie was nominated for the Oscars.
Some of the best segments in this movie include:
i. The answer to a question as to 'who is a tutsi and who is a Hutu?'
ii. The way the protagonist bribes his way into getting things done in his capacity as a hotel manager was another interesting part of this story. And also, the way he escapes and allows his tutsi-friends in his hotel to escape the offensive of Hutu army was also nicely shot.
iii. The UN commander's reasons for why 'Americans and Europeans refused to stop the genocide' and the realisation part of the our protagonist was also interesting. But the protagonist's emigration to Belgium is hard to digest inspite of his realisation!
I remember listening to the African genocides in Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Bothswana, Congo, Rwanda but somehow it hardly got registered in the Indian news media(even the good old Doordarshan). There seems to be definite disinterest in following such events. One should really pity the protagonist's idea of showcasing the strife in his native country to the world-media, hoping for international-intervention.
It's quite true that like money interests all. If these countries could display economic-superiority, then nations around the world would have made a beeline to stop such atrocities, not for helping the people of this country but to protect their interests in this country! It sucks bigtime to know that the only thing that really matters is 'money'!
21 Grams:
This movie-style reminds me of another movie 'The Hours'(Nicole Kidman an Australian starred in 'The Hours' while another Australian Naomi Watts has acted in 'The Grams') which also had three-different characters and in the end the audience were allowed to figure out what connected these three characters. Amazing way to tell a story!
With great actors on screen like Noami Watts, Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro also helping the cause!
Another sublime idea which seemed to run the whole story was the 'guilt' part. The best punishment one gets because of one's misdemeanour is 'guilt'. It is extremely difficult for one to lead the usual life with 'guilt' feeling always in one's head. The movie 'Closer' was also exceptional in exploiting this feeling.
Guess, Mahatma Gandhi or Gautama Budha were exceptionally intelligent to make use of this 'guilt' feeling to succeed in their pursuits.
100 Girls:
Ordinary fare. This movie is more of a 'wannabe' of the American Pie genre. But hardly reaches that grade.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Charlie, Harry, Majaa and Things...
Majaa:
Few things I noticed in this movie which was funny include, the way Vikram and his co-stars pointlessly tell 'majaa' after a number of scenes, as if they want to remind the audience that they watching the movie 'majaa', it like how in radio shows and tv shows where the person behind the mike keep telling us they are listening to 'all india radio or radio mirchi or suriyan fm or times fm or you are watching star movies or something along similar lines'
Also, another funny part of this movie include the 'final credits' in which instead of using the word 'Cast' the word 'Cost' was used to provide the names of Vikram, Asin, Pasupathy, Manivannan.....Maybe the producer's intention is to raise a pitch on the high-salaries he had to pay for the star-studded cast, instead of investing more money on the story and other basic areas of this movie.
Things to be before you are thirty:
Ordinary movie.
Expected this movie to be a laugh-riot, since the title sounded more the American Pie genre and of course the famous 'Guru' star Jimi Mistry was also acting in this movie. But this movie remained more down-to-earth more of a black-comedy genre which somehow has provided a another Brit-movie hit 'The Full Monty'.
The plot sounded hollow and did not do much of justice to the star-studded cast. It is very difficult to make movies with many stars and still do justice to their characters, guess 'Love Actually' was good in that respect which was also fiercely anti-Bush.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
Guess, the movie did not live to all the hype after Johnny Depp-Freddie Highmore's success of 'Finding Neverland'. This movie had some really good frames(photography), but the story had no exciting parts and it was more of a deja-vu. The feel-good factor hardly enters one's head, because of the plot which was along anticipated lines.
Guess, Johnny Depp's forthcoming movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2' sequel will be as good as the earlier movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean 1'.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
The adolescence displayed by almost all the kids in this movie was incomplete, since the director had to move on with the action segments of the movie. Guess, thanks to this adolescence sequences, the emotional-intensity that Harry Potter shows in action-sequences were mostly diluted and he hardly makes an impression.
Maybe reading the book might have helped i.e in understanding the sub-plots inside this story. But the best part about watching the movie rather than reading the book is that it takes just 2-3 hours for watching the movie, but 10+ hours for reading the book.
Few things I noticed in this movie which was funny include, the way Vikram and his co-stars pointlessly tell 'majaa' after a number of scenes, as if they want to remind the audience that they watching the movie 'majaa', it like how in radio shows and tv shows where the person behind the mike keep telling us they are listening to 'all india radio or radio mirchi or suriyan fm or times fm or you are watching star movies or something along similar lines'
Also, another funny part of this movie include the 'final credits' in which instead of using the word 'Cast' the word 'Cost' was used to provide the names of Vikram, Asin, Pasupathy, Manivannan.....Maybe the producer's intention is to raise a pitch on the high-salaries he had to pay for the star-studded cast, instead of investing more money on the story and other basic areas of this movie.
Things to be before you are thirty:
Ordinary movie.
Expected this movie to be a laugh-riot, since the title sounded more the American Pie genre and of course the famous 'Guru' star Jimi Mistry was also acting in this movie. But this movie remained more down-to-earth more of a black-comedy genre which somehow has provided a another Brit-movie hit 'The Full Monty'.
The plot sounded hollow and did not do much of justice to the star-studded cast. It is very difficult to make movies with many stars and still do justice to their characters, guess 'Love Actually' was good in that respect which was also fiercely anti-Bush.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
Guess, the movie did not live to all the hype after Johnny Depp-Freddie Highmore's success of 'Finding Neverland'. This movie had some really good frames(photography), but the story had no exciting parts and it was more of a deja-vu. The feel-good factor hardly enters one's head, because of the plot which was along anticipated lines.
Guess, Johnny Depp's forthcoming movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2' sequel will be as good as the earlier movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean 1'.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
The adolescence displayed by almost all the kids in this movie was incomplete, since the director had to move on with the action segments of the movie. Guess, thanks to this adolescence sequences, the emotional-intensity that Harry Potter shows in action-sequences were mostly diluted and he hardly makes an impression.
Maybe reading the book might have helped i.e in understanding the sub-plots inside this story. But the best part about watching the movie rather than reading the book is that it takes just 2-3 hours for watching the movie, but 10+ hours for reading the book.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Sin City
Sin City:
This movie was absolute fantasy and I really liked the massive hunk (first story about him and how he gets revenge for the killing of his sweet-heart. Robert Rodriguez has chalked out a really novel way of directing a movie. The black-and-white, the garish red-colour, the colour of blood and the golden yellow colours were never seen earlier. The flying-overcoats, the killing-style, the scarfaced face, the Jap-Eng model who appears in this movie as Mayhem all come up with memorable performances in this movie.
When Benicio Del Toro loses his left-hand which is holding a pistol and tries very hard using his right hand to grab the pistol from his amputated left-hand was awesome to see. Maybe the shots were gory for some, this movie was great fun to watch. The movie is so fast that one will hardly have any qualms about this, except for, why cant this movie stretch any further and also, why wasnt the hunk's role extended to the complete length of this movie!
This movie was absolute fantasy and I really liked the massive hunk (first story about him and how he gets revenge for the killing of his sweet-heart. Robert Rodriguez has chalked out a really novel way of directing a movie. The black-and-white, the garish red-colour, the colour of blood and the golden yellow colours were never seen earlier. The flying-overcoats, the killing-style, the scarfaced face, the Jap-Eng model who appears in this movie as Mayhem all come up with memorable performances in this movie.
When Benicio Del Toro loses his left-hand which is holding a pistol and tries very hard using his right hand to grab the pistol from his amputated left-hand was awesome to see. Maybe the shots were gory for some, this movie was great fun to watch. The movie is so fast that one will hardly have any qualms about this, except for, why cant this movie stretch any further and also, why wasnt the hunk's role extended to the complete length of this movie!
Monday, November 07, 2005
Movies by Deepavali
Dodgeball:
Entertaining movie.
I remember trying to see this movie maybe 3 or 4 times, but never ever passed the first 30 minutes because I doze off
pretty soon :)
But this time, I promised not to doze off and watched the entire movie. The movie wasnt all that bad actually.
This movie more of an Adam Sandler genre of comedy. Ben Stiller as the villian was hilarious.
Thirteen Days:
Good movie.
Fast-paced movie based on the Cuban missile crisis starring Kevin Costner.
Guess, Kevin Costner must be a Democrat, cause I remember his earlier movie 'dancing with the wolves' and now 'thirteen
days' all have some democrat-ideologies encapsulated in them.
It is quite surprising how come this movie was allowed to be released, since it had too many real-life characters and
it is quite impossible for the director to unfold the story as it happened some 40 odd years back. One would
expect a truck-load of controversies getting started due to this movie, and of course barrage of lawsuits etc.,
Anyway, bold attempt for a movie!
In India, very few real life based movies were actually tried, and when few of them are actually released, it always
sparks tremendous opposition from various groups(there is a group for almost everyone out here!) and finally
the director calls-off the project or is happy to release the film only for foreign film festivals.
Shaolin Soccer:
Stephen Chow's comedy movie!
This movie is entertaining in the slapstick sense, and also it has some dark-comedy as well.
The dark-comedy of course is a shocker to viewers, who dont expect such kind of comedies from Chinese films.
This isnt exactly a spoof one and neither is this is an action-extravaganza with comedy-fillers.
Trainspotting:
Another black comedy movie!
Best part of the movie include: Ewan Mcgregor talking about how Scotland was conquered by wankers(read England) and why they should not go for mountain climbing trip. It sounded senseless but was funny nevertheless. Also, the Scottish accent was great fun to listen.
Parineeta:
Vidya Balan was extra-ordinary all through the movie. But sometimes, she tends to give a photographic smile in quite a few sequences. This photographic smile is not really required, sometimes it is slightly irritating because those looks are artificial and you will tend to wonder whether she is doing an advertisement for a 'toothpaste or something'! Aishwarya has this bad habit of showing off her best smile all through the movie rather than look natural. Hope Vidya Balan doesnt overdo this smile!
For a moment, I thought 'Parineeta''s story is similar to 'Devdas'.
Rich boy in love with next-door neighbour. Rich boy's father wants his son to marry some rich-girl and is against the relationship between these two love-birds... but thankfully that's where the similarity mostly ended, else this movie would have been as worse as 'Devdas'.
A Walk to Remember:
Mandy Moore's idealistic behaviour was highly intolerable.
Story is a regular love story and the movie went from bad to worse when Mandy Moore claims that she has got 'cancer'!
Wimbledon:
Good romantic comedy movie.
The movie really takes a sprint right from the first sequence. There is hardly a dry segment all through the movie.
The game-shots was choreographed in an impeccable manner.
Wonder why this movie was dedicated to Mark McCormack?!
Enter the Dragon:
Must have been atleast 10 to 12 years back when I first saw this movie in DD Metro, when they showed 15-20 minutes of this movie and I patiently watched this movie 20 minutes every week to see 'The End'. Then, I grew impatient at the way this movie was shown on national television, as if this is television serial! At that time, I liked any Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee action movie and so I liked 'enter the dragon' then!
Now, when I saw this movie again, I dont see any good points at all in this movie, except for the funny sounds that Bruce Lee makes when fighting his rivals, his funny face-expressions when he kicks or jumps on someone, the best of all is the crazy mirror fight sequences - damn - that was a stupidest action sequence one could ever see on movies! Nevertheless, enjoyed watching this comedy movie!
Harry Potter - Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban:
I havent read the Harry Potter series as yet, but I was promised by a couple of my friends that this is top-class work. The movie was ordinary fare according to me, but I am sure ardent 'Harry Potter' readers might think the other way. Lots of sequences in this movie seems to have been copied from various mythological stories or simply picked from well-known adventure-fantasy writer's works. The time machine based climax and the 'back to the future' kind of picturisation are plagiarised in this movie.
Somehow to me seeing a movie seems to be a better option than reading the book. Book consumes major chunk of one's time, while a movie consumes just 2-3 hours to the max.
Iqbal:
Ordinary movie. Did not expect to see such a below-par movie from Nagesh Kukunoor. This was worse than 'Hyderabad Blues 2'. This 'feel-good' movies will certainly irritate the audience.
The Legend of Zorro:
Entertaining movie.
More in the Indiana Jones-way, no wonder Steven Spielberg's Amblin Production house is behind this movie.
Liked the way Hollywood couples american history with the protagonists in the movie and Spielberg Zemeckis are masters in this area.
Moon Landing Hoax:
I think this documentary is a big hoax.
Seeing this documentary reminded me of 'Wag the Dog' movie.
India is planning to land a man on the moon by 2007 and hopefully another documentary like this will creep-in and provide fun for all of us.
Once upon a time in America:
Ordinary fare.
Best part of this Sergio Leone movie is the pace at which it moves. Though the duration of the movie is a bit too long, and this will take a heavy toll on the viewer. This movie went along well till the point when Robert De Niro comes back to New York as an 60 odd year old man.
Guess, Mani Ratnam's inspiration for the 'Nayagan' smuggling modus operandi i.e throw the smuggled goods into the ocean/sea along with sacks full of salt was picked up from this movie.
Once upon a time in West:
Good movie.
Charles Bronson and all the actors in this Sergio Leone movie were great to watch. The music by Encino Morricone was also good. Guess, all Sergio Leone movies will have an actor playing a tune with harmonica. Quentin Tarantino's movie 'Kill Bill' seems to be inspired from this western classic. The theme music, the acting style, the revenge-part and the setting part all seem to be similar to this movie.
Guess, even Sholay seems to be inspired from Sergio Leone movies. For example, Amitabh's role seems to be quite similar to Sergio Leone's protagonists. Thankfully, Amitabh went on to do movies taking up roles which potrayed him as a calm-quiet-reticent-angry when pushed a bit too hard-taking revenge in style.
Tarzan - animation movie:
Entertaining fare.
Star voices include George Carlin and Brad Garrett.
Pulp Fiction:
Good movie.
Quentin Tarantino's dark-comedy style is great entertainment. The senseless arguments that his characters get into during the course of an important segment in the movie is great fun to watch, and we wonder 'damn.. can you guys stop this senile conversation and get alongwith the actual story of the movie', for example the one on 'five dollar shake' or the 'foot massage' or the 'why no one dont rob restaurants' or 'whether escaping from gun-shots was a mirace or not'.
Fourty year virgin:
Ordinary movie.
This movie started along similar lines to the movie 'the office space' and I was expecting this to be a comedy riot, but the movie lost the tempo.
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind:
Good movie.
Great idea for a movie, i.e allowing people to erase their memories of someone who they dont like. It was a novel attempt. Jim Carrey's role will remind us of his earlier role in 'the truman show' where he desperately tries to find out 'who he is'. The way Kate Winslet's hair colour was used in this story was interesting. Kirsten Dunst's character-name in this movie is 'Mary' and it looks like she is having a name-fetish with this name, since she happens to carry the same name 'Spiderman', 'Wimbledon' and now in this movie. Also surprised, to see the name of SD Burman, Lata Mangeshkar, Lakshmikant Pyarelal and Mukesh's name in the soundtrack credits, since I dont remember listening to any hindi song during the course of the movie.
Run Lola Run:
Thought this movie was slightly on the boring side. The story line gets repeated thrice and the enthusiasm to watch the same movie thrice really will put one off from watching this movie.
No Man's Land:
This movie beat 'Lagaan' and three other non-Hollywood movies to win the 'Best Foreign Language film'.
Guess, 'Lagaan' deserved to get the Oscars with its nice 'feel-good plot', unlike 'No Man's Land'.
This movie seems to have a strong backing from various television network majors from France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and UK.
The Real Da Vinci Code:
Haven't read this book 'The Da Vinci Code', but having seen this documentary, my earlier doubts about the authenticity of this book is proven right. Would love to read 'The Da Vinci Code' just for the entertainment value and of course will love to see Tom Hanks in action in the soon-to-be-released movie 'The Da Vinci Code'.
Dr. Strangelove:
Dark comedy which must have generated lots of publicity among-the-sixties generation ! It is a pity that Peter Sellers did not have much of a role. It is very difficult to make sense of this movie in the current era, where there is only one superpower.
The humming sound in the background everytime the bomber is shown on screen is hard-to-forget!
The Motorcycle Diaries:
Seeing this movie in Spanish(guess so), without any English sub-titles made life not-so-easy for viewing this movie.
And me also not knowing much about Che, also didnt help much. One will get a feeling that this movie is incomplete and thus will not impress upon the viewer.
The Graduate:
Good movie.
Dustin Hoffman's performance was top-class.
Simon and Garfunkel songs all through the movie also makes up good listening.
Beauty and the Beast:
Ordinary movie.
Guess, this is the first animated movie to have won an Oscar.
Maybe this movie-experiment paved the way for better animated movies than this.
Dil:
A Vikram movie before he had hits starting with 'gemini'.
Vikram seemed to be a much better actor in this movie before he started acting in outright-masala movies.
The story was a novel one in tamil cinema and it seemed to be vaguely based on the hindi movie 'Is Raat ki Subah Nahin'.
To Kill a mocking bird:
Thought this movie was kind of ordinary, did not live up to all the hype I heard about this movie. The child-actors in-particular the protagonist's acting i.e Scott was fantastic.
The Alabama accent is great fun to here, remembering listening to the same accent in Forrest Gump.
Full Metal Jacket:
Great movie.
This movie stamps Stanley Kubrick's class.
Best part of this movie include:
i. the funny rhymes the marines are taught
ii. the name-giving ceremony to the marines by the PT
iii. Joker's stubborness on claiming that 'virgin mary was not virgin' inspite of his PT trainer's insistence otherwise
iv. the dark style of film-making whether it is comedy/action
v. the war-game when they try to catch a sniper in the climax
vi. Joker's 'talk the talk' bold comments was great fun to watch.
Adaptation:
Good movie.
Nicolas Cage in a new avatar.
The movie was extra-ordinary except for the last 15-30 minutes, when the movie started taking the usual-commercial masala cinema plot.
Clockwork Orange:
Did not like this Stanley Kubrick movie, maybe a trifle too long also.
Entertaining movie.
I remember trying to see this movie maybe 3 or 4 times, but never ever passed the first 30 minutes because I doze off
pretty soon :)
But this time, I promised not to doze off and watched the entire movie. The movie wasnt all that bad actually.
This movie more of an Adam Sandler genre of comedy. Ben Stiller as the villian was hilarious.
Thirteen Days:
Good movie.
Fast-paced movie based on the Cuban missile crisis starring Kevin Costner.
Guess, Kevin Costner must be a Democrat, cause I remember his earlier movie 'dancing with the wolves' and now 'thirteen
days' all have some democrat-ideologies encapsulated in them.
It is quite surprising how come this movie was allowed to be released, since it had too many real-life characters and
it is quite impossible for the director to unfold the story as it happened some 40 odd years back. One would
expect a truck-load of controversies getting started due to this movie, and of course barrage of lawsuits etc.,
Anyway, bold attempt for a movie!
In India, very few real life based movies were actually tried, and when few of them are actually released, it always
sparks tremendous opposition from various groups(there is a group for almost everyone out here!) and finally
the director calls-off the project or is happy to release the film only for foreign film festivals.
Shaolin Soccer:
Stephen Chow's comedy movie!
This movie is entertaining in the slapstick sense, and also it has some dark-comedy as well.
The dark-comedy of course is a shocker to viewers, who dont expect such kind of comedies from Chinese films.
This isnt exactly a spoof one and neither is this is an action-extravaganza with comedy-fillers.
Trainspotting:
Another black comedy movie!
Best part of the movie include: Ewan Mcgregor talking about how Scotland was conquered by wankers(read England) and why they should not go for mountain climbing trip. It sounded senseless but was funny nevertheless. Also, the Scottish accent was great fun to listen.
Parineeta:
Vidya Balan was extra-ordinary all through the movie. But sometimes, she tends to give a photographic smile in quite a few sequences. This photographic smile is not really required, sometimes it is slightly irritating because those looks are artificial and you will tend to wonder whether she is doing an advertisement for a 'toothpaste or something'! Aishwarya has this bad habit of showing off her best smile all through the movie rather than look natural. Hope Vidya Balan doesnt overdo this smile!
For a moment, I thought 'Parineeta''s story is similar to 'Devdas'.
Rich boy in love with next-door neighbour. Rich boy's father wants his son to marry some rich-girl and is against the relationship between these two love-birds... but thankfully that's where the similarity mostly ended, else this movie would have been as worse as 'Devdas'.
A Walk to Remember:
Mandy Moore's idealistic behaviour was highly intolerable.
Story is a regular love story and the movie went from bad to worse when Mandy Moore claims that she has got 'cancer'!
Wimbledon:
Good romantic comedy movie.
The movie really takes a sprint right from the first sequence. There is hardly a dry segment all through the movie.
The game-shots was choreographed in an impeccable manner.
Wonder why this movie was dedicated to Mark McCormack?!
Enter the Dragon:
Must have been atleast 10 to 12 years back when I first saw this movie in DD Metro, when they showed 15-20 minutes of this movie and I patiently watched this movie 20 minutes every week to see 'The End'. Then, I grew impatient at the way this movie was shown on national television, as if this is television serial! At that time, I liked any Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee action movie and so I liked 'enter the dragon' then!
Now, when I saw this movie again, I dont see any good points at all in this movie, except for the funny sounds that Bruce Lee makes when fighting his rivals, his funny face-expressions when he kicks or jumps on someone, the best of all is the crazy mirror fight sequences - damn - that was a stupidest action sequence one could ever see on movies! Nevertheless, enjoyed watching this comedy movie!
Harry Potter - Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban:
I havent read the Harry Potter series as yet, but I was promised by a couple of my friends that this is top-class work. The movie was ordinary fare according to me, but I am sure ardent 'Harry Potter' readers might think the other way. Lots of sequences in this movie seems to have been copied from various mythological stories or simply picked from well-known adventure-fantasy writer's works. The time machine based climax and the 'back to the future' kind of picturisation are plagiarised in this movie.
Somehow to me seeing a movie seems to be a better option than reading the book. Book consumes major chunk of one's time, while a movie consumes just 2-3 hours to the max.
Iqbal:
Ordinary movie. Did not expect to see such a below-par movie from Nagesh Kukunoor. This was worse than 'Hyderabad Blues 2'. This 'feel-good' movies will certainly irritate the audience.
The Legend of Zorro:
Entertaining movie.
More in the Indiana Jones-way, no wonder Steven Spielberg's Amblin Production house is behind this movie.
Liked the way Hollywood couples american history with the protagonists in the movie and Spielberg Zemeckis are masters in this area.
Moon Landing Hoax:
I think this documentary is a big hoax.
Seeing this documentary reminded me of 'Wag the Dog' movie.
India is planning to land a man on the moon by 2007 and hopefully another documentary like this will creep-in and provide fun for all of us.
Once upon a time in America:
Ordinary fare.
Best part of this Sergio Leone movie is the pace at which it moves. Though the duration of the movie is a bit too long, and this will take a heavy toll on the viewer. This movie went along well till the point when Robert De Niro comes back to New York as an 60 odd year old man.
Guess, Mani Ratnam's inspiration for the 'Nayagan' smuggling modus operandi i.e throw the smuggled goods into the ocean/sea along with sacks full of salt was picked up from this movie.
Once upon a time in West:
Good movie.
Charles Bronson and all the actors in this Sergio Leone movie were great to watch. The music by Encino Morricone was also good. Guess, all Sergio Leone movies will have an actor playing a tune with harmonica. Quentin Tarantino's movie 'Kill Bill' seems to be inspired from this western classic. The theme music, the acting style, the revenge-part and the setting part all seem to be similar to this movie.
Guess, even Sholay seems to be inspired from Sergio Leone movies. For example, Amitabh's role seems to be quite similar to Sergio Leone's protagonists. Thankfully, Amitabh went on to do movies taking up roles which potrayed him as a calm-quiet-reticent-angry when pushed a bit too hard-taking revenge in style.
Tarzan - animation movie:
Entertaining fare.
Star voices include George Carlin and Brad Garrett.
Pulp Fiction:
Good movie.
Quentin Tarantino's dark-comedy style is great entertainment. The senseless arguments that his characters get into during the course of an important segment in the movie is great fun to watch, and we wonder 'damn.. can you guys stop this senile conversation and get alongwith the actual story of the movie', for example the one on 'five dollar shake' or the 'foot massage' or the 'why no one dont rob restaurants' or 'whether escaping from gun-shots was a mirace or not'.
Fourty year virgin:
Ordinary movie.
This movie started along similar lines to the movie 'the office space' and I was expecting this to be a comedy riot, but the movie lost the tempo.
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind:
Good movie.
Great idea for a movie, i.e allowing people to erase their memories of someone who they dont like. It was a novel attempt. Jim Carrey's role will remind us of his earlier role in 'the truman show' where he desperately tries to find out 'who he is'. The way Kate Winslet's hair colour was used in this story was interesting. Kirsten Dunst's character-name in this movie is 'Mary' and it looks like she is having a name-fetish with this name, since she happens to carry the same name 'Spiderman', 'Wimbledon' and now in this movie. Also surprised, to see the name of SD Burman, Lata Mangeshkar, Lakshmikant Pyarelal and Mukesh's name in the soundtrack credits, since I dont remember listening to any hindi song during the course of the movie.
Run Lola Run:
Thought this movie was slightly on the boring side. The story line gets repeated thrice and the enthusiasm to watch the same movie thrice really will put one off from watching this movie.
No Man's Land:
This movie beat 'Lagaan' and three other non-Hollywood movies to win the 'Best Foreign Language film'.
Guess, 'Lagaan' deserved to get the Oscars with its nice 'feel-good plot', unlike 'No Man's Land'.
This movie seems to have a strong backing from various television network majors from France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and UK.
The Real Da Vinci Code:
Haven't read this book 'The Da Vinci Code', but having seen this documentary, my earlier doubts about the authenticity of this book is proven right. Would love to read 'The Da Vinci Code' just for the entertainment value and of course will love to see Tom Hanks in action in the soon-to-be-released movie 'The Da Vinci Code'.
Dr. Strangelove:
Dark comedy which must have generated lots of publicity among-the-sixties generation ! It is a pity that Peter Sellers did not have much of a role. It is very difficult to make sense of this movie in the current era, where there is only one superpower.
The humming sound in the background everytime the bomber is shown on screen is hard-to-forget!
The Motorcycle Diaries:
Seeing this movie in Spanish(guess so), without any English sub-titles made life not-so-easy for viewing this movie.
And me also not knowing much about Che, also didnt help much. One will get a feeling that this movie is incomplete and thus will not impress upon the viewer.
The Graduate:
Good movie.
Dustin Hoffman's performance was top-class.
Simon and Garfunkel songs all through the movie also makes up good listening.
Beauty and the Beast:
Ordinary movie.
Guess, this is the first animated movie to have won an Oscar.
Maybe this movie-experiment paved the way for better animated movies than this.
Dil:
A Vikram movie before he had hits starting with 'gemini'.
Vikram seemed to be a much better actor in this movie before he started acting in outright-masala movies.
The story was a novel one in tamil cinema and it seemed to be vaguely based on the hindi movie 'Is Raat ki Subah Nahin'.
To Kill a mocking bird:
Thought this movie was kind of ordinary, did not live up to all the hype I heard about this movie. The child-actors in-particular the protagonist's acting i.e Scott was fantastic.
The Alabama accent is great fun to here, remembering listening to the same accent in Forrest Gump.
Full Metal Jacket:
Great movie.
This movie stamps Stanley Kubrick's class.
Best part of this movie include:
i. the funny rhymes the marines are taught
ii. the name-giving ceremony to the marines by the PT
iii. Joker's stubborness on claiming that 'virgin mary was not virgin' inspite of his PT trainer's insistence otherwise
iv. the dark style of film-making whether it is comedy/action
v. the war-game when they try to catch a sniper in the climax
vi. Joker's 'talk the talk' bold comments was great fun to watch.
Adaptation:
Good movie.
Nicolas Cage in a new avatar.
The movie was extra-ordinary except for the last 15-30 minutes, when the movie started taking the usual-commercial masala cinema plot.
Clockwork Orange:
Did not like this Stanley Kubrick movie, maybe a trifle too long also.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Vanilla Sky, Alfie
Vanilla Sky:
Tom Cruise came up with a memorable performance alongwith beautiful co-stars Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. The hand-picked soundtracks were very good, as you would expect in any Cameron Crowe movie. As for the story-content, that's the not so exciting part, things just didnt move fast and boredom sets in when the viewer tries to identify which is real and which is dream. As for story content, the ending showed Tom Cruise preferring the reality than the dream.
Dreams are exciting because once you wake up, you have to take great pains to recollect what exactly happened in the dream. And the worst part is that, after lots of thinking, your recollection will go something like this 'i just walked into the railway station... and what happened next.. i woke up from the dream'. After this starts the soul-search, why would i go to a railway station? to receive someone? to leave this town ? if so, why would i leave this town?... and a zillion other questions.... It's a pain to break-your-head about it.... so ignore your dreams(i.e what you get in sleep... daydreaming is different though )
Earlier when I had read 'Tell me why .. ' series or may 'Children's knowledge bank ' or some encyclopedia of this sort, it said that 'our dreams always come in black-and-white colours alone' i.e during dreams we cant identify any colour. Guess, it is wrong, because, during some of my dreams I was able to distinguish colours. Maybe I am conscious of this 'black and white dream funda' that.. I am always searching for colours in my dreams and happy when I notice something in colour during my dreams.
Alfie:
Good movie, inspite of an okay first half.
The narration style of Jude Law reminded me of 'The Hitch'. Guess, this narration really lifts the story.
In this movie, Jude Law is afraid of relationships and everytime he gets very close with someone, he breaks that relationship and moves on to find another one.
Unlike the other usual romantic movies, the best part of this movie is Jude Law confessing to us that he still doesnt know what is in-store for him for the rest of his life, though for a moment we will wonder .. 'what?! .. is he nuts!.. the answer is blowing through the wind... marry some women.. you are close to ..'.
Tom Cruise came up with a memorable performance alongwith beautiful co-stars Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. The hand-picked soundtracks were very good, as you would expect in any Cameron Crowe movie. As for the story-content, that's the not so exciting part, things just didnt move fast and boredom sets in when the viewer tries to identify which is real and which is dream. As for story content, the ending showed Tom Cruise preferring the reality than the dream.
Dreams are exciting because once you wake up, you have to take great pains to recollect what exactly happened in the dream. And the worst part is that, after lots of thinking, your recollection will go something like this 'i just walked into the railway station... and what happened next.. i woke up from the dream'. After this starts the soul-search, why would i go to a railway station? to receive someone? to leave this town ? if so, why would i leave this town?... and a zillion other questions.... It's a pain to break-your-head about it.... so ignore your dreams(i.e what you get in sleep... daydreaming is different though )
Earlier when I had read 'Tell me why .. ' series or may 'Children's knowledge bank ' or some encyclopedia of this sort, it said that 'our dreams always come in black-and-white colours alone' i.e during dreams we cant identify any colour. Guess, it is wrong, because, during some of my dreams I was able to distinguish colours. Maybe I am conscious of this 'black and white dream funda' that.. I am always searching for colours in my dreams and happy when I notice something in colour during my dreams.
Alfie:
Good movie, inspite of an okay first half.
The narration style of Jude Law reminded me of 'The Hitch'. Guess, this narration really lifts the story.
In this movie, Jude Law is afraid of relationships and everytime he gets very close with someone, he breaks that relationship and moves on to find another one.
Unlike the other usual romantic movies, the best part of this movie is Jude Law confessing to us that he still doesnt know what is in-store for him for the rest of his life, though for a moment we will wonder .. 'what?! .. is he nuts!.. the answer is blowing through the wind... marry some women.. you are close to ..'.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Movies by mid-week
Larry Semon's "Wizard of Oz"
Guess, this has to be one of the technologically advanced movies of those times.
I didnt like the ending i.e where Prince Kynd gets to marry Princess Dorothy married.
The plot could have been lot more interesting had the scarecrow 'Larry Semon' been the rightful husband for Princess Dorothy. This silent movie was fast-paced similar to most other silent-movies I had seen, mostly Charlie Chaplin movies!
Runaway Jury
Enjoyable thriller.
I had earlier read the novel 'Runaway Jury' by John Grisham, but the movie never failed to amaze me. It is a difficult job i.e to make movies out of novels. Lots of sequences which can be found in the novel, did not get featured in the motion picture. For example, the sequences in which John Cusack gains the confidence of his fellow-jurors are mostly absent in the movie.
The best part in this movie, was the sequence where Dustin Hoffman enters into a argument with Gene Hackmann in the restroom where Dustin Hoffmann warns Gene Hackmann that 'Gene Hackmann might win this case, but someday he will lose and that day he would be alone and no one to help him'. Quick came the reply from Gene Hackmann 'It doesnt matter, I dont give a sh**'.
Guess, the best John Grisham movie has to be 'The Firm' which had Tom Cruise in the lead.
Ali G Indahouse
Ordinary comedy movie, there are better spoof-style comedy movies for sure. Guess, 'Hot Shots' and Leslie Nielsen movies are the best in this genre.
Sacha Baron Cohen's(the main man in this movie) claim to fame must be appearing on the music video 'Music' alongwith Madonna.
Paycheck
Typical John Woo classic thriller. Enjoyable fare right from the beginning.
It's a shame that Ben Affleck hardly gets any movies to show his skills. He seems to be tailor-made for the ultimate American hero characters like Bruce Wills' John McLane(Diehard) and Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan(Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games..). His performances in 'Good will Hunting', 'Reindeer Games' and 'the sum of all fears' also made up good viewing.
Guess, Philip K Dick's "Paycheck" was originally a short-story. Guess, in a way it was easier to make movies out of short-stories rather than based on novels, because in case of short-stories the Director has the responsibility to include new plots and make the movie interesting. But in case of novels the director will get busy on how to edit the sequences and shorten the sequences to fit into a moving picture!
Gajani
Ordinary fare. The story didnt fit well into tamil masala cinema profile.
Most irritating part of the movie, is the horrible 'arabic/chinese/god-knows-what-language hymns/sloka/humming in the background during various stages in the movie'. Harris Jayaraj's chorus vocals will leave one a lot to be desired. The worst part in this chorus vocals is that it will remind you of SA Rajkumar kind of music, cause till now I thought only SA Rajkumar is capable of copying himself.
The Cat's Meow
Good movie!
The plot was simple and what appears to be a true-story made the viewing even more interesting. I could identify only the real-life character of Charlie Chaplin played by Eddie Izzard in this movie. Kristen Dunst also plays a key role in this movie.
Guess, this has to be one of the technologically advanced movies of those times.
I didnt like the ending i.e where Prince Kynd gets to marry Princess Dorothy married.
The plot could have been lot more interesting had the scarecrow 'Larry Semon' been the rightful husband for Princess Dorothy. This silent movie was fast-paced similar to most other silent-movies I had seen, mostly Charlie Chaplin movies!
Runaway Jury
Enjoyable thriller.
I had earlier read the novel 'Runaway Jury' by John Grisham, but the movie never failed to amaze me. It is a difficult job i.e to make movies out of novels. Lots of sequences which can be found in the novel, did not get featured in the motion picture. For example, the sequences in which John Cusack gains the confidence of his fellow-jurors are mostly absent in the movie.
The best part in this movie, was the sequence where Dustin Hoffman enters into a argument with Gene Hackmann in the restroom where Dustin Hoffmann warns Gene Hackmann that 'Gene Hackmann might win this case, but someday he will lose and that day he would be alone and no one to help him'. Quick came the reply from Gene Hackmann 'It doesnt matter, I dont give a sh**'.
Guess, the best John Grisham movie has to be 'The Firm' which had Tom Cruise in the lead.
Ali G Indahouse
Ordinary comedy movie, there are better spoof-style comedy movies for sure. Guess, 'Hot Shots' and Leslie Nielsen movies are the best in this genre.
Sacha Baron Cohen's(the main man in this movie) claim to fame must be appearing on the music video 'Music' alongwith Madonna.
Paycheck
Typical John Woo classic thriller. Enjoyable fare right from the beginning.
It's a shame that Ben Affleck hardly gets any movies to show his skills. He seems to be tailor-made for the ultimate American hero characters like Bruce Wills' John McLane(Diehard) and Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan(Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games..). His performances in 'Good will Hunting', 'Reindeer Games' and 'the sum of all fears' also made up good viewing.
Guess, Philip K Dick's "Paycheck" was originally a short-story. Guess, in a way it was easier to make movies out of short-stories rather than based on novels, because in case of short-stories the Director has the responsibility to include new plots and make the movie interesting. But in case of novels the director will get busy on how to edit the sequences and shorten the sequences to fit into a moving picture!
Gajani
Ordinary fare. The story didnt fit well into tamil masala cinema profile.
Most irritating part of the movie, is the horrible 'arabic/chinese/god-knows-what-language hymns/sloka/humming in the background during various stages in the movie'. Harris Jayaraj's chorus vocals will leave one a lot to be desired. The worst part in this chorus vocals is that it will remind you of SA Rajkumar kind of music, cause till now I thought only SA Rajkumar is capable of copying himself.
The Cat's Meow
Good movie!
The plot was simple and what appears to be a true-story made the viewing even more interesting. I could identify only the real-life character of Charlie Chaplin played by Eddie Izzard in this movie. Kristen Dunst also plays a key role in this movie.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Lobo
I have been a fan of Lobo's songs like 'Dont expect me to be your friend', 'I'd love you to want me' etc.,
Lobo's 'Dont expect me to be your friend', made up great listening. I am not a big fan of poetry, but somehow be an ardent fan of music with great lyrics. Not sure, whether lyrics like these can be called as 'poems'.
The lyrics of Lobo's 'Dont expect me to be your friend':
I stopped sending flowers to your apartment
You said you aren't home much anymore
I stopped dropping by without an appointment
Cause I'd hear laughter coming through your door.
Sometimes late at night you'll still call me
Just before you close your eyes to sleep
You make me vow to try and stop by sometime
Baby that's a promise I'can't keep.
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So lets just let the story kinds end
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So don't expect me to be your friend.
I don't walk down through the village or other places
That we used to go to all the time
I'm trying to erase you from my memory
Cause thinking of you jumbles up my mind.
You always act so happy when I see you
You smile that way you take my hand and then
Introduce me to your latest lover
That's when I feel the walls start crashing in
Lobo's 'Dont expect me to be your friend', made up great listening. I am not a big fan of poetry, but somehow be an ardent fan of music with great lyrics. Not sure, whether lyrics like these can be called as 'poems'.
The lyrics of Lobo's 'Dont expect me to be your friend':
I stopped sending flowers to your apartment
You said you aren't home much anymore
I stopped dropping by without an appointment
Cause I'd hear laughter coming through your door.
Sometimes late at night you'll still call me
Just before you close your eyes to sleep
You make me vow to try and stop by sometime
Baby that's a promise I'can't keep.
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So lets just let the story kinds end
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So don't expect me to be your friend.
I don't walk down through the village or other places
That we used to go to all the time
I'm trying to erase you from my memory
Cause thinking of you jumbles up my mind.
You always act so happy when I see you
You smile that way you take my hand and then
Introduce me to your latest lover
That's when I feel the walls start crashing in
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Enemy at the Gates
Remember seeing the movie 'the enemy at the gates' and could not really digest the idea that 'every country needs a hero to lift the people's morale during trying times'. And I kind of feel the same way, when the whole country stood behind Sania Mirza during her trying times. Even during the last BJP-tenure, Sania was selected to be the 'mascot' for 'the year of girl-child' scheme. That was a time when she hardly had this big-international exposure. But then, she had already starting making waves in the Indian scene and also in SAARC scene.
A photograph in 'the hindu' shot in Bhopal had some really old muslim-woman standing in a human-chain in support for Sania. This photo speaks volumes on what India needs at the moment i.e heroes to pullout the rest of the crowd from backwardness. Maybe, five or ten years from now, Sania might be a millionaire and be least bothered about people like that old muslim-woman who dared to come out to protest against fundamentalism, but to me the crux of the idea is that 'people will start using Sania as a mascot to achieve higher ideals of life'!
One question that struck me was 'Do we need someone to inspire us to do something beyond our skins? '
When India won the world cup in 1983, Indira Gandhi took the opportunity to paint India as a resurgent power not just in cricket but in other aspects as well. This could be a phoney way of deriving courage, but what the heck we need to start somewhere. And India as a country needs leaders in hoardes not just a handful of few to lift the rest of the folks.
A photograph in 'the hindu' shot in Bhopal had some really old muslim-woman standing in a human-chain in support for Sania. This photo speaks volumes on what India needs at the moment i.e heroes to pullout the rest of the crowd from backwardness. Maybe, five or ten years from now, Sania might be a millionaire and be least bothered about people like that old muslim-woman who dared to come out to protest against fundamentalism, but to me the crux of the idea is that 'people will start using Sania as a mascot to achieve higher ideals of life'!
One question that struck me was 'Do we need someone to inspire us to do something beyond our skins? '
When India won the world cup in 1983, Indira Gandhi took the opportunity to paint India as a resurgent power not just in cricket but in other aspects as well. This could be a phoney way of deriving courage, but what the heck we need to start somewhere. And India as a country needs leaders in hoardes not just a handful of few to lift the rest of the folks.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
LOTR
LOTR 1
One of the really longish movies one could have ever seen!
The length of the movie induces a boredom with you and when you get to see no usual-climax, you are bound to feel let-down. After all one doesnt buy tickets and spend 3 hours for nothing.. i.e not watching a movie which has no climax :(
This is what I felt, when I watched this movie for the first time, before it ran away with loads of Oscars. I had heard of this book called 'Lord of the Rings' through couple of my friends. But did not really get to read this book. I think had I read it, maybe I could have appreciated this movie better. The computer-animation used in this movie in various sequences also, brought boredom to me, since I think I had seen n-number of movies with somewhat similar style of animation. I later decided to skip LOTR 2, because I didnt want to torture myself for yet another 3 hours, without understanding the story and with no climax(since LOTR 3 is in the offing). But, somehow got inspired to goto the theatre to see LOTR 3, since I was told that this is the third and last part. Also, this third and last one bagged loads of Oscars, so I thought this better be good. Of course, it's the same old sequence of events, again during the last-part also, but nevertheless what mattered was 'I saw LOTR'.
Now that I have LOTR 1 and 2 cds with me, I thought why not give it a try i.e to watch LOTR 1 and 2 at one go(its been atleast 2-3 years after I saw LOTR 1 in a theatre in Madurai). I took the challenge and this time, I was keen to follow the story and characters and concentrate on the plots and sub-plots which made this movie such a 'talk of the town'. I achieved watching it at one go, but not really sure whether I liked it!
Noticed a couple of things:
i. The background music kind of reminds me of Godfather style of music(not the flute-tune, but the treacherous-buildup tune with a violin)
ii. NZ is a beauty of a country, but I bet Indian movies exploit such locales best than any other moviemaker!
iii. Hugo Weaving appearing on screen reminded me of another 3-phased boring movie 'Matrix'(what was originally not supposed to have a sequel)!
iv. To me, the best sequel-mode movie ever made must be 'back to the future'. It was top-class with an interesting plot!
v. JRR Tolkein is supposed to have been born in South Africa and spent his younger years in South Africa. Sure, JRR Tolkein must be immensely talented to have written such a novel. South Africans seem to be really outstanding in a variety of activities inspite of all the turmoil that nation was put into for so long. For example, Ian McEwan(booker winning writer), hoardes of top-class golfers, great cricketers including Kevin Pietersen, top-class rugby players. Among all these folks, the best ambassadors of this country after Tolkein, has to be the top-class golfers that they manufacture at ease!
One of the really longish movies one could have ever seen!
The length of the movie induces a boredom with you and when you get to see no usual-climax, you are bound to feel let-down. After all one doesnt buy tickets and spend 3 hours for nothing.. i.e not watching a movie which has no climax :(
This is what I felt, when I watched this movie for the first time, before it ran away with loads of Oscars. I had heard of this book called 'Lord of the Rings' through couple of my friends. But did not really get to read this book. I think had I read it, maybe I could have appreciated this movie better. The computer-animation used in this movie in various sequences also, brought boredom to me, since I think I had seen n-number of movies with somewhat similar style of animation. I later decided to skip LOTR 2, because I didnt want to torture myself for yet another 3 hours, without understanding the story and with no climax(since LOTR 3 is in the offing). But, somehow got inspired to goto the theatre to see LOTR 3, since I was told that this is the third and last part. Also, this third and last one bagged loads of Oscars, so I thought this better be good. Of course, it's the same old sequence of events, again during the last-part also, but nevertheless what mattered was 'I saw LOTR'.
Now that I have LOTR 1 and 2 cds with me, I thought why not give it a try i.e to watch LOTR 1 and 2 at one go(its been atleast 2-3 years after I saw LOTR 1 in a theatre in Madurai). I took the challenge and this time, I was keen to follow the story and characters and concentrate on the plots and sub-plots which made this movie such a 'talk of the town'. I achieved watching it at one go, but not really sure whether I liked it!
Noticed a couple of things:
i. The background music kind of reminds me of Godfather style of music(not the flute-tune, but the treacherous-buildup tune with a violin)
ii. NZ is a beauty of a country, but I bet Indian movies exploit such locales best than any other moviemaker!
iii. Hugo Weaving appearing on screen reminded me of another 3-phased boring movie 'Matrix'(what was originally not supposed to have a sequel)!
iv. To me, the best sequel-mode movie ever made must be 'back to the future'. It was top-class with an interesting plot!
v. JRR Tolkein is supposed to have been born in South Africa and spent his younger years in South Africa. Sure, JRR Tolkein must be immensely talented to have written such a novel. South Africans seem to be really outstanding in a variety of activities inspite of all the turmoil that nation was put into for so long. For example, Ian McEwan(booker winning writer), hoardes of top-class golfers, great cricketers including Kevin Pietersen, top-class rugby players. Among all these folks, the best ambassadors of this country after Tolkein, has to be the top-class golfers that they manufacture at ease!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Ashes for England
Aussies look out of sorts without McGrath. And take away Warne, this Australian cricket team looks vulnerable in the bowling department. The batting line-up is world-class, but what can a batting line-up do, without good support from bowlers particularly good fast-bowlers and good spin-bowlers. Pakistan with its top-class fast-bowlers and spin-bowlers have achieved more than anyother team inspite of its history bad batsmen! India with its famed middle-order has under-achieved than any other team thanks to its lack of expertise in fast-bowling department!
I would still consider the series between India and Australia in 2001 in India in which India won 2-1 is a bigger achievement when compared to this Ashes series, since India won inspite of a fiery McGrath and Gillespie! Hopefully England win this Ashes and oust this head-over-heels Aussie team!
I would still consider the series between India and Australia in 2001 in India in which India won 2-1 is a bigger achievement when compared to this Ashes series, since India won inspite of a fiery McGrath and Gillespie! Hopefully England win this Ashes and oust this head-over-heels Aussie team!
Courage under Fire
Good movie!
The movie brought back memories of a classic Sivaji movie 'antha naal' i.e the narration of the same incident by many folks. This movie had a decent conspiracy theory and that lifted this movie. Meg Ryan looked out of place in this role as a soldier, but the character hardly had any weightage in this movie, except for Denzel Washington.
The movie brought back memories of a classic Sivaji movie 'antha naal' i.e the narration of the same incident by many folks. This movie had a decent conspiracy theory and that lifted this movie. Meg Ryan looked out of place in this role as a soldier, but the character hardly had any weightage in this movie, except for Denzel Washington.
The Siege
Ordinary movie!
Denzel Washington seems to be a staunch Democrat. Another movie movie titled 'The Manchurian Candidate', also had some strong Democratic party school of thought encapsulated in it!
The movie was outstanding in a number of sequences including the paint bomb-blasts warning, the actual bomb-blasts, the termination of cell 1 by FBI, the bomb-blast of FBI building and the tempo of the movie was in fifth-gear, but soon one had to see the excesses of Bruce Willis and that's when the film lost the plot with what could have been an interesting battle between FBI and the invisible Jihad-cells, it became a rheoteric between democrats and republicans.
Denzel Washington seems to be a staunch Democrat. Another movie movie titled 'The Manchurian Candidate', also had some strong Democratic party school of thought encapsulated in it!
The movie was outstanding in a number of sequences including the paint bomb-blasts warning, the actual bomb-blasts, the termination of cell 1 by FBI, the bomb-blast of FBI building and the tempo of the movie was in fifth-gear, but soon one had to see the excesses of Bruce Willis and that's when the film lost the plot with what could have been an interesting battle between FBI and the invisible Jihad-cells, it became a rheoteric between democrats and republicans.
High Crimes
Ordinary movie!
The movie could have been inspired from a few other army-court battle movies including Few Good Men. The movie was extremely disappointing except for Ashley Judd.
The movie could have been inspired from a few other army-court battle movies including Few Good Men. The movie was extremely disappointing except for Ashley Judd.
Mangal Pandey - The Rising:
Ordinary movie!
A disappointing spectacle from Aamir Khan and Ketan Mehta.
1. Aamir Khan was lost in emotions for a major part of the movie. Poor guy, Kamal Hassan didnt get this much funds for his 'Maruthunayagam'. Kamal is versatile and he would have caught us all spellbound with such a nice-historical movie! Aamir and his attempt towards method-acting for Mangal Pandey is lost because there is hardly any plot or drama to talk about in this movie to build emotion!
2. The introduction of characters like Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee was unwarranted and that certainly spoilt the chance of Mangal Pandey getting more screen-time.
3. Guess, 'Mirch Masala' and 'Dil Chahta Hain' will continue to be the best movies of Ketan Mehta and Aamir Khan.
4. Songs, Sophia Haque, Rani and Amisha have successfully derailed the tempo of the film and made a bad-masala out of Mangal Pandey.
5. Tajikistan is said to have played host for a few sequences in this movie i.e barrenlands sequences, lakes sequences and afghan-war sequence.
6. Om Puri uttering what is happening in screen(in Hindi) when the characters speak English is also an absolute spoiler to the viewers.
7. The hype was a bit extra-ordinary and I think that also has built up huge expectations among most of the viewers.
A disappointing spectacle from Aamir Khan and Ketan Mehta.
1. Aamir Khan was lost in emotions for a major part of the movie. Poor guy, Kamal Hassan didnt get this much funds for his 'Maruthunayagam'. Kamal is versatile and he would have caught us all spellbound with such a nice-historical movie! Aamir and his attempt towards method-acting for Mangal Pandey is lost because there is hardly any plot or drama to talk about in this movie to build emotion!
2. The introduction of characters like Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee was unwarranted and that certainly spoilt the chance of Mangal Pandey getting more screen-time.
3. Guess, 'Mirch Masala' and 'Dil Chahta Hain' will continue to be the best movies of Ketan Mehta and Aamir Khan.
4. Songs, Sophia Haque, Rani and Amisha have successfully derailed the tempo of the film and made a bad-masala out of Mangal Pandey.
5. Tajikistan is said to have played host for a few sequences in this movie i.e barrenlands sequences, lakes sequences and afghan-war sequence.
6. Om Puri uttering what is happening in screen(in Hindi) when the characters speak English is also an absolute spoiler to the viewers.
7. The hype was a bit extra-ordinary and I think that also has built up huge expectations among most of the viewers.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VIII - The myth called Dracula
The surname Dracula means 'from the clan of Drac(in native tongue it means Dragon). 'Vlad II Tepes Dracula' is supposed to be the person after whom the Dracula character was created. Tepes means Impale. Vlad II ruled Transylvania in 15th century. His palace is in the midst of a highway which links the western corner of Romania to the eastern part of Romania. This highway was frequently used by traders(mostly Germans and Ottomans(read Turks)). Just behind this palace one can see a thick pine-forest, awesome sight this i.e the palace is facing the plains/landscapes/grasslands on one side and the forest on the other! Vlad II was born in a medievel-town called Singhisora. Singhisora hasnt changed much in the last 500 years and the small streets, bricklanes, churches all give a distinct old-Europe!
The German-population in Transylvania has always had skirmishes with the native-Romanians and Turks during those times. The Germans felt victimised by Vlad II's reign and they started the mass-campaign agains Vlad II and accused him of being a tyrant. And this grapevine was picked by Bram Stoker when he wrote a play on Dracula. Soon, Hollywood picked up this thread and made a huge number of movies surrounding the legend of Dracula!
The Romanian communist government nationalised this castle from the then-rulers. There was a conscious campaign by the Romanian nationalists to ignore the Dracula-story and thus one will be amazed to see the little or no information about the famous-Dracula in this palace. One will get to see the name and photos of 'Queen Maria', who is said to have conserved most of the artifacts in this palace! The palace is the biggest claim to fame of Romania to the western nations. Scores of travellers visit this place. I am sure all the people who have read the Dracula stories and seen those Dracula movies will be disappointed by the little or no documention on Vlad II in this palace.
Contrastingly, the bazaar outside this palace has done a superb job in selling 'Dracula' tourism unlike the government. One gets to see key-chains, clothes, bracelets, tea cups, pencils, idols etc., with Dracula's face on it!
The beautiful landscapes in this part of Romania is a treat to watch, covered by mostly grasslands and small hills!
It's only summer-months does, one get to see this part of country brimming with activity!
The German-population in Transylvania has always had skirmishes with the native-Romanians and Turks during those times. The Germans felt victimised by Vlad II's reign and they started the mass-campaign agains Vlad II and accused him of being a tyrant. And this grapevine was picked by Bram Stoker when he wrote a play on Dracula. Soon, Hollywood picked up this thread and made a huge number of movies surrounding the legend of Dracula!
The Romanian communist government nationalised this castle from the then-rulers. There was a conscious campaign by the Romanian nationalists to ignore the Dracula-story and thus one will be amazed to see the little or no information about the famous-Dracula in this palace. One will get to see the name and photos of 'Queen Maria', who is said to have conserved most of the artifacts in this palace! The palace is the biggest claim to fame of Romania to the western nations. Scores of travellers visit this place. I am sure all the people who have read the Dracula stories and seen those Dracula movies will be disappointed by the little or no documention on Vlad II in this palace.
Contrastingly, the bazaar outside this palace has done a superb job in selling 'Dracula' tourism unlike the government. One gets to see key-chains, clothes, bracelets, tea cups, pencils, idols etc., with Dracula's face on it!
The beautiful landscapes in this part of Romania is a treat to watch, covered by mostly grasslands and small hills!
It's only summer-months does, one get to see this part of country brimming with activity!
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VII - Raj Kapoor
Old Hindi films and film-music are extremely popular in Romania. Raj Kapoor is the unofficial Indian ambassador to Romania. Shame, me not seen that many Raj Kapoor movies. It is quite common to listen to cabbies humming songs like 'Awara hoon... ' or 'Mera jhoota hai japani... '. Guess, the prime reason why Raj Kapoor is a darling to this nation is due to the kind of roles he donned during his prime-days. Raj Kapoor's movies talked about socialism and during those days this country was also ruled by communists/socialists, so Raj Kapoor also became the unofficial ambassador of Communists/Socialists. So, government started showing Raj Kapoor movies in national television. Since the people hardly had any interaction with foreign culture(except for the Soviets) and Hollywood was kind of out of bounds for this poor-country, Raj Kapoor's movies became an instant hint.
But none of the natives are aware of the new-wave Bollywood cinema and Hollywood's charm has hijacked the current generation of Romanians. Not sure, the current wave of Bollywood cinema has any ideals to offer to this country, certainly not in the calibre of Raj Kapoor.
Nehru is also highly revered in this country, because of his ability to stand-up against both the Soviets and USA.
But none of the natives are aware of the new-wave Bollywood cinema and Hollywood's charm has hijacked the current generation of Romanians. Not sure, the current wave of Bollywood cinema has any ideals to offer to this country, certainly not in the calibre of Raj Kapoor.
Nehru is also highly revered in this country, because of his ability to stand-up against both the Soviets and USA.
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - VI - How Caucescu's regime ended?
Caucescu was in Iran during the winter of December 1989 when things got stormy in Romania. Protests and agitations became a mainstay. Caucescu hurried back home and was terribly surprised to see the people's unrest. Strangely, Caucescu was of the opinion that his people are all happy during his rule ! Guess, Caucescu was not in touch with reality.
Earlier when Caucescu was in his zenith, he was an outstanding ruler from the Eastern block of countries thanks to his independent foreign policy intiatives and his courage to stand-up against the Soviet war-machine. Caucescu was inspired by North Korean communist experiment and Chinese communist experiment.
Some policies during his rule include:
i. Every youth must enroll in Army, as long as the individual is not pursuing any higher education(read drop-outs from school)! I believe this policy is still pursued in Romania
ii. Every person should get married before the age of 25, if not tax will be levied on that person(i.e family-tax).
iii. Slums were eradicated in and around most cities and huge apartment blocks were built.(direct influence of North Korean communist philosphy)
iv. Every married couple get a Dacia, an apartment and a job! Note: Dacia cars are omnipresent in Romania - guess it is very cheap! (similar to our Maruti)
Earlier when Caucescu was in his zenith, he was an outstanding ruler from the Eastern block of countries thanks to his independent foreign policy intiatives and his courage to stand-up against the Soviet war-machine. Caucescu was inspired by North Korean communist experiment and Chinese communist experiment.
Some policies during his rule include:
i. Every youth must enroll in Army, as long as the individual is not pursuing any higher education(read drop-outs from school)! I believe this policy is still pursued in Romania
ii. Every person should get married before the age of 25, if not tax will be levied on that person(i.e family-tax).
iii. Slums were eradicated in and around most cities and huge apartment blocks were built.(direct influence of North Korean communist philosphy)
iv. Every married couple get a Dacia, an apartment and a job! Note: Dacia cars are omnipresent in Romania - guess it is very cheap! (similar to our Maruti)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - V - Indian restaurants in Bucharest
There are three Indian restaurants in Romania:
i. Haveli - Is run by a Pakistani and this hotel is close to Gara-de-Nord(or North Station). The ambience is appreciable out here. They play hindi music all through the day and there is also a dancing programme during the weekend-evenings. The best part in the dancing programme is that one will get to see a Romanian dancer dexterously dancing to Indian film-songs with the same enthusiasm as Shah Rukh or Hrithik.
ii. Taj - Cozy/costly restaurant, just opposite to hotel Marriot is another place to have good Indian food. One could get to see lots of celebrities' photos and their signature in the walls of this hotel alongwith the Indian chef. Dont recollect many of the personalities I saw, but remember seeing the photo of Wesley Snipes(hollywood actor).
iii. Karishma - Another good Indian restaurant. Maybe the best among the lot!
All the above restaurants only provide North Indian food and its a shame why the chefs dont cook South Indian food. All the above restaurants are frequented by the locals, wonder how they handle the hot-and-spicy food!
i. Haveli - Is run by a Pakistani and this hotel is close to Gara-de-Nord(or North Station). The ambience is appreciable out here. They play hindi music all through the day and there is also a dancing programme during the weekend-evenings. The best part in the dancing programme is that one will get to see a Romanian dancer dexterously dancing to Indian film-songs with the same enthusiasm as Shah Rukh or Hrithik.
ii. Taj - Cozy/costly restaurant, just opposite to hotel Marriot is another place to have good Indian food. One could get to see lots of celebrities' photos and their signature in the walls of this hotel alongwith the Indian chef. Dont recollect many of the personalities I saw, but remember seeing the photo of Wesley Snipes(hollywood actor).
iii. Karishma - Another good Indian restaurant. Maybe the best among the lot!
All the above restaurants only provide North Indian food and its a shame why the chefs dont cook South Indian food. All the above restaurants are frequented by the locals, wonder how they handle the hot-and-spicy food!
Arbitrary stuff from Romania - IV - Caucescu Palace
Caucescu palace is an amazing landmark in the city of Bucharest. This building's construction was started in the year 1984 and the building was 90% complete in the year 1989. Then, came the revolution which overthrew Caucescu and then the stoppage of the palace-construction. What will upset the visitor of this palace, is the way the palace-guide treats Caucescu's era with absolute contempt! According to the palace-guide, Caucescu plundered Romania's wealth and this palace was a huge waste of money. Caucescu's palace's official name is 'People's palace' though according to the guide this palace was built only for Caucescu and not for the Romanian people. Caucescu is supposed to have spent millions and millions of dollars in building this amazing landmark when thousands of people were on the verge of absolute poverty. The topic of 'Caucescu' will enthuse most readers to goto wikipedia and learn more about this communist dictator. After reading wiki's article, one could come to the conclusion that maybe he wasnt all that bad as he is potrayed!
Strange philosophy of Caucescu:
i. More the human population, more powerful the country will become.
Sounds silly but strangely, Jawaharlal Nehru also had similar notions on human population. Once when J R D Tata(in 1951 roundabouts) met Nehru, Tata explained to Nehru about the need to create an awareness among the Indian people about the advantages of small family, which will improve the quality of life. But, Nehru replied 'human resources are the most valuable resource for any country and there is no question of advising people to have small families'. Note: Later after 40 years JRD Tata got 'World population award' just before his death.
One key point to note is that in Romania thanks to the dictatorship-rule, strange laws like if a man/woman is unmarried and his/her age is above 25, then he/she has to pay more tax.
In Romania, once a man/woman are married then they are provided a 'Dacia' car(something as ubiquitous as Maruti cars in India) by the government alongwith a flat in the city.
When Caucescu started the palace construction, the absolte secrecy surrounding the palace-construction upset most Romanian people and allowed people to speculate and spread rumours about Caucescu's luxurious lifestyle. So, thanks to the palace-construction, suddenly Caucescu could no longer gain the same affection from his people and soon he was overthrown from power. One could sense a strange parallel between Jayalalitha and Caucescu, Jayalalitha was overthrown from power in 1996 thanks to the luxurious marriage function of her foster-son. Jayalalitha was not called by an army court for execution thanks to India's matured democracy!
Strange philosophy of Caucescu:
i. More the human population, more powerful the country will become.
Sounds silly but strangely, Jawaharlal Nehru also had similar notions on human population. Once when J R D Tata(in 1951 roundabouts) met Nehru, Tata explained to Nehru about the need to create an awareness among the Indian people about the advantages of small family, which will improve the quality of life. But, Nehru replied 'human resources are the most valuable resource for any country and there is no question of advising people to have small families'. Note: Later after 40 years JRD Tata got 'World population award' just before his death.
One key point to note is that in Romania thanks to the dictatorship-rule, strange laws like if a man/woman is unmarried and his/her age is above 25, then he/she has to pay more tax.
In Romania, once a man/woman are married then they are provided a 'Dacia' car(something as ubiquitous as Maruti cars in India) by the government alongwith a flat in the city.
When Caucescu started the palace construction, the absolte secrecy surrounding the palace-construction upset most Romanian people and allowed people to speculate and spread rumours about Caucescu's luxurious lifestyle. So, thanks to the palace-construction, suddenly Caucescu could no longer gain the same affection from his people and soon he was overthrown from power. One could sense a strange parallel between Jayalalitha and Caucescu, Jayalalitha was overthrown from power in 1996 thanks to the luxurious marriage function of her foster-son. Jayalalitha was not called by an army court for execution thanks to India's matured democracy!
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