Tuesday, July 29

My Review - The Dark Knight


Finally I saw The Dark Knight today. Just a couple of hours back. I am still stunned. Heath Ledger is not around. I mean when you like a cinematic performance, you want to listen to the person concerned(actor/director) bask in its glory and live the moment. It could be anybody - Farhan Akhtar after Dil Chahta Hai, Ashutosh after Lagaan, Aamir after TZP etc etc. Unfortunately Heath is not around. So I will put it in these words which were sent to me by a certain Mr "Lost-in-his-own-world" from Chicago. Verbatim.

"Ok So we believe that the days where we "live" the characters of the movie are gone. I did. I thought I had grown up. "Acting" like a movie character after watching it was a thing of the past. It had to be either really smart or really artistic. Something has to be really "convincing" or "captivating" to make me do that..The Joker did.Very few things live up to the hype that surrounds them these days.. Joker's potrayal by Ledger is one of them. I was "acting" like him after the movie. Really well supported by the "eerie" music whenever he comes on the screen .. no overwhelming-orchestra-music here.. normal superhero movie.. has its moments.. 2.5 hrs long.. watch it for heath...! Javier Bardem, make way for the new bad man!"

Friday, July 25

The Ultimate Bad Guys list

An impressive list which has The Joker(Heath Ledger), Hannibal Lecter(Anthony Hopkins), Jack Nicholson(The Shining), Kathy Bates(Misery) and the recent Mr Chigurh from No Country for Old Men.

Tuesday, July 22

Digging its own fuckin hole....

Thats for the BJP - the stupid and arrogant "Hindu Nationalist Party". For the six years they were in power they built a strategic relationship with the US, they initiated an agreement and when it came to partnering with the Italian National Congress and passing the very same-but-improved agreement(and in the process, making the Left and Amar Singhs look like non-entities), they put their respective foots in the mouth and did this. In the process, they gave an alternative to all the other Laawaris parties aka UNPA in the form of "Bahen Mayawati".

Manmohan Singh has won and I am happy. For my country and my country alone!

I still don't like Manmohan Singh - he's weak, he's incomprehensible, his record as PM is worse than Kishan Kumar's stint in movies and he does not even have a Lok Sabha seat to back him up. But on this issue, I am with him, behind him, totally.

Friday, July 18

The things to do List

That I like the Travel and Living channel(TLC) is no big secret, what is not known about me is that I have a huge fascination for adventure. I might not have the stamina or a previous skydiving/mountain biking/bungee jumping record or the money(LOL! for now that is) but I have always had a huge inclination to go for a (mo)bike ride across Ladakh or take the Jism(Ahem the film!) route from Chennai to Pondicherry and the biggest of them all - the Trans-Siberian Railway. I dont know when did I read about it, I guess it was in some travel magazine - maybe Outlook Traveller. But its hung up on me. The very thought. 7 days of a train journey acoss Russia, the landscape, the experience, the people, the culture shock. The kind of stuff you tell your grandchildren about. Right?!!

But yesterday I saw something even more exciting on the TLC channel. The name of the show is Long Way Round. Its a documentary of a 31,000 km journey of Evan Mcgregor(acted in Moulin Rouge and Black Hawk Down) and his friend Charley Boorman from London to New York on BMW bikes in 2004. In between they pass through Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, SIberia and then via Alaska, Canada to New York. I saw one episode yesterday and it was actually mindblowing, something which could better the Trans-Siberian Railway. What do you think?!!

Wednesday, July 16

Hancock Vs Harman

A run of the mill comment from Bollywood makes up for a dissapointment from Hollywood. I saw Hancock today. After Spidey 3 and Hulk remake, this also comes as a dissapointment(I haven't seen Iron Man). The movie has an excellent first half with Will Smith clearly at his best. Just when you expected the momentum would carry forward(along with chicken nuggets and a cuppa coffee)....BAM...bollywood comes in with a superwoman, a centuries old love story and a hospital ending. Gawd!!!

As for Harman, how do you expect the junta to like you when even your girlfriend won't kiss you? LOL. Note the lines guys - "That's exactly why she didn't do the kiss. She couldn't make a concession with me because then other filmmakers would've accused her of preferential treatment. So we simply scrapped the smooch." Great!

Sunday, July 13

Hit SMS

What did one Congress MP say to the other after SP decided to extend support to the UPA?
Pehle Lal Salaam, ab Dalal Salaam!

Source : Swapan Dasgupta's article in today's Sunday Times

Thursday, July 3

Bol na halke halke

Listened to this song from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom almost seventeen times tonight. Pata nahi kya baat hai is gaane main. I get addicted to it especially when I am all alone.

P.S. : I know the singer is a paki but the music directors are Indian!

Wednesday, July 2

My Review - Dus Kahaniyaan

Last Sunday I managed to catch Dus Kahaniyaan on Sony. Most of the stories in the film are good but what lets you down is the direction. Also, the film moves at a very fast pace. Arre Gupta Saheb kisne kaha tha Dus Kahaniyaan dikhaane ko. Saat dikha dete! Anyway, the stories which I liked are Zahir(*ing Manoj Bajpai and Diya Mirza), Gubbare(*ing Rohit Roy and Nana Patekar) and Rise and Fall(*ing Sunju Baba and Sunil Shetty). Rice plate starring Naseer and Shabana was also good but I am not comfortable with pseudo-secularism so I let that pass.