Alas, the lucky bastard is still alive..

Finally the last movie of Harry Potter franchise released after much hoopla. Everyone raved about it and wherever we read we found good reviews about the movie. We, being a fan of the HP universe, had to watch this movie. We just had to. We were not expecting much from the movie after reading the book. We were disappointed about how the story ended. How is it that a boy who can get beaten up in every Chloromint commercial beat the greatest wizard of all time? How much luck does a nerdy pasty looking teenager need to beat the person who was supposed to be the lord of the entire universe? Yes. We are Dark Lord’s followers. We hate the potter kid. We were a huge follower of Severus Snape when he was mean to Potter.  He was number one in our favorite list. Once we realized that he tried to save the boy, we had to move him out to second position. We still like Snape for the six and a half books were he was mean to him. 

Everyone starts their review or blog talking about Harry or Voldemort. We will not. We will start with one person who made it possible for us to watch all the movies. One person who we admire. It’s Alan Rickman. We hereby acknowledge Alan Rickman’s contribution to make Snape look so evil as the best part of Harry Potter series. Ever since we heard the line “Clearly Fame isn’t everything” we had sworn our allegiance to Snape. No one else could have portrayed the role better. It has to be one of the most marvelous roles we have seen. Role of a life time even. He made us like Snape more than the Dark lord himself.  Also, don’t forget that Snape gave Potter the ultimate bitch slap even when he was dying. His last words to potter were about “mother’s eyes”. If you know Hindi, you know what he actually meant.

OK now we will get back to the movie. What can you notice from Harry Potter movies? Apart from the fact that the Harry Potter is more nerdy looking than JK Rowling wanted him to be. Everyone can agree that there is only one point to note. Emma Watson is hot. She is. And she does not disappoint in this movie either. It was sad that she got that ginger haired whiny one as a boyfriend. You will also notice that the story/movie becomes increasingly adult oriented as the story progresses. It still has the fun fantasy parts for the kids but it’s very hard to ignore the backdrops of mature/adult themes. No We are not talking about shakeela type adults. You know, normal adult types. Love and feelings etc whatever ruins a normal teenager’s life.

The movie as any normal part two would, starts where the first one ends. Voldemort gets the elder wand. The movie shows you how three horcruxes are destroyed (The cup, the diadem(What the hell is a diadem), the snake) and how Harry being one horcrux sacrifices himself. But sadly he comes back and in what is one of the most shittiest endings in movie history, defeats the Dark Lord. We were so pissed with the ending. We will not tell you how it happens. Don’t beam that you have read the book. You would be upset too. The director tried to save few minutes and some million dollars worth of effects we guess. But it’s sad. Even sadder than the fact that the Potter boy survives.

We don’t like Potter. But that is not why we would say Daniel Radcliffe is not that good an actor. He just doesn’t cut it for us. The fact that he has to share screen with likes of Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes  definitely does not help him. Rupert Grint even though twice as annoying, turns out to be the best of the trio. Emma Watson is hot. We will not say anything more. Neville is heroic which is refreshing to see after being the comic relief for most part of the series. But show stealer as we mentioned earlier is Alan Rickman. That guy looks like he was born to portray this role. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is wonderful as usual. It’s hardly surprising actually. He played Amon Goth in Schindler’s list after all. The scenes where he faces Harry, he outshines the boy pretty easily.  

The movie for most part was pretty impressive. We are not telling this because we are a fan. Except for third and fourth movie, we liked all others a lot. Now we have another reason to hate the fourth movie. It has that vampire Edward in it. Although he dies, we still don’t like it very much. OK what we were talking about was the graphics and the adventurous mode of all the movies. Aided by excellent supporting cast, the movie is a visual delight to watch. Even this movie doesn’t disappoint. The dialogues make you chuckle at times and  there’s Emma Watson. The movie cannot disappoint. Till the end comes that is. Voldemort’s last moments are pretty poorly covered. No thrill. Nothing. He just disappears like how originality does in Pritham’s presence.

We would rate it 4 stars out of 5. Somehow the ending ruined it from becoming one of our favourites. We seriously wish that there is one more horcrux which Rowling has not revealed yet. We are fine if there are more.

One English movie and some Kannada songs.

Right. Let’s start this with a paragraph movie review.  We saw Cars 2 this weekend. We have to say. We liked it a lot. The detailed analysis of the world from a car’s eyes is truly awesome. Here Lightning McQueen plays a supporting role. The movie revolves around Mater, the bumbling tow truck best friend. How some old cars play villains and how Mater is mistook for a spy and in the end how he saves  the world is the story. Without discussing about story line much, we will tell you this. Very rarely a sequel is better than the first movie. Here is one such movie. Larry the Cable guy is totally delightful as Mater. We give this movie two thumbs up and a 9 out of 10. This is like your childhood dream come true. All your Hotwheel cars and all your yeeeeoooowwww’s.  Watch this movie.

We came back and we were not feeling sleepy. So we thought we will listen to songs. Kannada ones.  One song was from Hudugaru.  It was an item song called Pankaja. Somewhere between “Akka nim maneyalli naayigu Dancu barutta” and “Nim ooralli thamaTena hodyakke chancu sigutta” , we started thinking about how Kannada songs have gotten back their mojo. There was a phase where Kannada songs were qualitatively poor. Once Ravichandran and Hamsalekha kinda broke up, the Music became more to the mass than class. Apart from some movie exceptions, most songs did not catch our fancy much. But then suddenly it seemed like all is well again. What happened?

If you think about it, this seems to have begun from Mungaru Male. Everyone tends to agree that Mungaru Male really started this upward trend. It increased the listener count by many folds. Many of our friends who were not really fans of Sandalwood music started listening from then. And then the quality started improving. Not just the lyrics. If lyrics are outrageous, tunes became catchier. It was like the music industry picked itself up and decided, “Right, We need to show others what we are about.” We like this new trend.  We do not mind listening to nothing but Kannada songs.

After that almost every movie that has been released, has had at least one beautiful or catchy track. Even movies which were pretty horrible had one nice track. We don’t want to start listing the songs we like. Because there are plenty. Our phone has hundreds of new Kannada songs. And every day we get to add some song or the other from a new movie. We, being a Kannada movie fan, absolutely love it. Kannada Industry has always had people who make some really good musical movies. But in late 90’s it was limited to Ravichandran. He had his way with the leading ladies and always had flowers and fruits and honey around and on them. But it was not just about visually pleasing his male audience. He made sure that the songs were melodious. He was immensely talented when it comes to picking songs.

But now the number has increased. Every other director, every other producer, every other actor seems to crave for quality. There is some flip side to it as well.  The local talents seem to have been neglected. Sonu Nigams and Kunal Ganjawalas started hogging the space and have replaced Rajesh and Hemanth. Shreya Ghoshals have replaced Pallavis and Nandithas. Sure the Bollywood singers are talented. But shouldn’t these songs go to the local talents? We are pretty sure any good Kannada singer can sing the same songs just as well. Why do we have to go to Bollywood and pay more money? Pallavi Arun is the best and most versatile singer in Kannada industry. Give more chances to her than Shreya. If the songs are as good as they have been for past few years, audience will listen no matter what.

Weekend update... Delayed.

Aren’t we a bit late on telling u what we did on the weekend? Even if you say yes, we would ponder for a moment if we give a rat’s ass about what you think and then will go ahead with our story anyway.  But before we start anything on that, we want to tell you that we got our driver’s license. We have not actually got it but we have cleared the test and will get it in ten days max. It was a huge burden lifted. Also it looks like it lifted the bad luck we have been having. See. We planned to go there three times before and actually reached the DMV two times. First time, our roommate damaged his back. Second time the photo machine in DMV was broken and third time, they said we need to get a proof that we exist here legally. We did not get it. We had our learner’s license. Why would they still ask for passport or I-94? Finally we had everything ready, spent three hours waiting and finally completed the test successfully. We were so happy we could hug anyone. Actually, no we take that back. We were just happy.

But we have told you countless times that all we do is sit and watch movies on our laptop and occasionally play cricket. It seems we have been watching too many movies lately. Our friend circle here has doubled (another person has newly come to Charlotte). So we go to many movies and since our ex-roomie is getting married, we are doing plenty of shopping too. All in all, good times are happening.  So are expenses. This past month has been the most costliest here, apart from our HK trip. Haven’t we told you about our HK trip? May be we will. Soon. We won’t post pics though. We have it in our picasa page and will give you link. OK? Ok. Anyway, two movies we saw this weekend.  Both were sci-fi. One was a master class and one was very ordinary. We were amazed at both the movies. Considering the hype for the movies and way they turned out to be.

The first one we saw was X-Men: First Class. As the title says, the movie was well and truly first class. If you have seen the rest of X-Men movies and not comic reader, then you would wonder how the entire premise was built. This explains it. Who are they and how did they become what they are. It is wonderfully crafted film which keeps you engaged. The Cuban missile crisis has been interwoven very well with the story. We see Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr before they became Professor X and Magneto. Erik being the victim of Nazi cruelty when the SS officer kills his mother to exploit his powers, wants to take his revenge on the Nazi officer who is now planning to rule the world. Erik does not know that the Nazi officer is a mutant himself. Charles meanwhile becomes a professor and leads a better life with his childhood friend Raven. The chemistry between the two leads is a delight to watch. We already knew that James McAvoy is a good actor after watching Last King of Scotland. Here he does total justice to the role. But the actual highlight of the movie is Michael Fassbender as Magneto. He emotes himself very well and we have to say we were totally awed by him. We hope he gets a Oscar nomination at least.

We actually did not plan to watch the second one. We actually went shopping to a mall and mall closes at 7 PM on Sundays (very Hip. We know.). But we could not come out as it was raining cats and dogs. Not literally. It means very hard, rain. So we decided to watch Super-8. Turns out drenching in rain would have been a equally good/bad option. The brain behind the movie is J J Abrams who is also the creator of the series Lost. The movie started ordinarily and end was also expected. There was no moment in the movie where it tried to be different. You get bored and would fall asleep if not for the ear splitting sound effects. Its about how a kid and some of his friends accidentally record an alien escape and then how that alien wreaks havoc in the town and in the end how he flies back to his homeland. There are efforts to bring some family drama and romance into the picture. But nothing that interests you. The kids have done a good job. But overall the movie just doesn’t have that ‘something’.

We also saw two Divya Dutta movies. We saw Monica and Haat, the weekly bazaar. She is one of our all-time favourite actresses. We always feel sad that she did not get enough opportunities in Bollywood. She is awesomely talented and we want her to act in more movies. Of course we saw them streaming because not many Hindi movies are screened here. Ready is beng shown in a theatre here but we do not want to watch that. OK That is pretty much what we did during the weekend. We would highly recommend X-Men: First Class to anyone who wants to watch a movie.  We wasted plenty of time watching junk stuff on the internet (No not porn. It may be a surprise but we don’t watch porn. Anymore).  We also managed to lose yet another cricket match. We managed to reach semifinals. There were only four teams. But come on. Semifinals.

P.S: Did you read about Delhi college cut-offs? Sriram College for Commerce? 100%. They want to make sure no unworthy candidate joins. Is it true SRCC? Its not just them by the way. All colleges have increased their cut off by pretty huge margins. So either we will see lot of fake caste certificates or there will be lot students taking the unwanted courses which nobody with high marks usually takes. Like languages. We wonder what we would have done if we faced such scenario. 100% cutoff? We were lucky we cleared 60% cut off. A good point to note would be, we believe our intelligence cannot be measured by the education system we face.

3 movies and a moving.

We moved into a new apartment. We had to take day off from work to shift. It was one of the most hectic days in our life. We never knew our house had so much stuff.  We had to shift because we were staying with a friend of ours and since our lady is coming we cannot stay with him anymore. It had been a wonderful year or so. Ever since we realized that we are coming here, we never thought of having anyone else as roommate. It was discussed and planned. But it had to end some point. Now since he is getting married and our lady is coming here. We sadly have to, wait... Are we making it sound like ending a relationship? We did not have that intention.

Moving stuff from one house to another is very tiring business boss. We never thought it will be so tiring and hectic. We had stopped cooking and for the first time in Amrika we had outside food continuously for a week. We usually prefer homemade (read Self made) food.  And our roommate has got a TV which alone is like Ramesh Powar is girth and weight. Plus regular things to move and it took us more than three hours. We had to clean the previous house as well before leaving as they can fine us in case they don’t find it as neat as they had given it. So one week of irregular cleaning and one day of bloody moving and we have decided we will not be going to Gym for a month. We did have help from another friend of ours who recently moved to Charlotte. Apart from helping shift, he also bought a PlayStation3. Now that’s more than regular help you have to admit.

By the way, this is long weekend and since our friends are in production support daytime oncall business, we had decided we will be spending it at home. We thought we will watch three movies three nights. All three were sequels. All were supposed to be fun. Two of them had mixed reviews. So we decided to skip one. Ever since the movie business spawned, movie fanatics have been asking one question. No. Not what has happened to Ram Gopal Varma. Nor How can south Indian heroes get such pretty heroines. Its about is it worth it to make sequels to successful movies? Some agree some don’t. We are in the middle. To add another story line is very difficult work indeed. You need to give surprises. Make sure audience doesn’t get bored and leave. In that way both the movies succeed. Here is our review of two movies.

The last movie we saw was Hangover 2. We liked the first part and thought it was pretty innovative story telling. This is where doubts about sequels come. It’s a wonderful premise and very difficult to repeat. And we were right with the doubts. The second part tries hard and fails to emulate the effect. Its funny at parts. We agree. But overall the movie is just flat. Its more vulgar and crass than the first part. We never could understand the point of full frontal nudity in movies. We firmly believe it is just for getting more male audience. When someone says it’s absolutely necessary for the movie, understand that they are lying. (But hey we are not against it… We do enjoy it occasionally). In this movie there are generous display of male genitals. We have no idea why and we do not know who thought it would be funny. It was not. It was just plain vulgar and obscene. Overall, we would not advise to watch this movie. You have not missed anything if you don’t watch it. Ignore the hype. Its crass and not good. 

The second movie we saw, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The fourth installment built solely to let us know how important Johnny Depp is to the POTC franchise. It has a predictable story and weak action sequences. Its about Jack Sparrow’s journey to get the fountain of youth and his entanglement with his former flame Angelica.. How he faces threat from Spanish and a fellow pirate, Blackbeard. There is another thread of second love story. Between mermaid and missionary doesn’t hold firm either. The movie is visually good. But that’s pretty much it if you are not a fan of Johnny Depp. But we are. We are a huge fan and we do not know how he has not won an Oscar yet. He carries this entire movie. There are only two good things about this movie. One is Johnny Depp and other is no Orlando Bloom/Keira Knightly. Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane are wonderful actors and they have done justice to their roles. Although you do feel that Rush has overdone it a little. Penelope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter Angelica is an eye candy and nothing much else.

Now comes the best one and sadly this was the first one we saw and weekend steadily went worse in terms of movies. Kung Fu Panda two. Ever since we saw the first one, we had added it to our favourite animation movie lists. That’s one movie we strongly recommend. We recommend this one too. Adding a new plot to KFP doesn’t seem an easy task. This story is about how Po defeats the evil peacock, Lord Shen who is out to end Kung Fu. As usual we will not reveal the story details. But we will tell you that the movie was full of fun. Most scenes were as expected. But the dialogues were not. It’s the dialogues which keep you entertained throughout. But we will not take anything away from the story and animation. The movie is a delight to watch. The animation is better and story is good too. But having said that, we admit that it was not the best animated movie we saw. (That would still be “Up”). But this is a good way to spend 90 minutes. We also recommend 2D. We do not like 3D and we are not a fan of that technology. The only complaint we had about the movie was Master Shifu gets very less screen time.

We definitely recommend POTC and KFP. Agreed that they are not the best movies. But definitely worth the money. You can forget about everything else and have a good time watching them.  You can skip  Hangover two. It is not for the family nor it is good fun. Unless you are that kind of guy who thinks the show of genitals in a comedy movie is funny.  Well, in that case, we are sorry. We do not like you.

Tale of Three Cities...

Have you heard of Rio de Janeiro? Carnival? And the Brazilian music? You can see the splendour of all three in a movie called “Rio”. It is one of the most vivid and colourful animated movies I have ever seen. It’s the story of Blu (voiced by Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg), a blue macaw. When he was a kid, he was smuggled and carried to US. He falls off the wagon accidentally and Linda, a little girl passing by sees him and takes him home. As it turns out, he is the last male of Blue Macaw’s and there is a female in Rio. In order to save the species and you know, reproduce and stuff like that, Linda takes him to Rio. Now, Blu is not an ordinary bird. He is smart and intelligent, but cannot fly. He is kinda like Bhoomika Chawla’s career in Bollywood, pretty and smart, but failing to take off. When he sees Jewel (voiced by wonderful Anne Hathaway), the lady macaw , he falls in love with her. But they are captured by the bird smugglers. How they escape the smugglers, how the pair falls in love and how Blu learns to fly is the movie.

There are three major supporting characters without whom this movie would have fallen flat. I normally do not like George Lopez and his style of comedy. But as Rafael, he provides able support. Jamie Foxx and Will.I.Am as Pedro and Nico are simply marvelous. They provide some of the best moments in the movie. If you look at the story, Its pretty average and nothing great. But the movie becomes a wonderful experience because of the music and animation. The Brazilian music has been utilized quite brilliantly. I am hooked to the songs. Especially “Real in Rio”, “Let me take you to Rio” and “Hot Wings”. This has to be one of the best movie soundtrack listings you can ever listen to. And animation. Words cannot describe how wonderful it is. The song “Real in Rio” is a delight to watch.

Hats off to Carlos Saldanha for coming up with such a visual delight. On a scale of 10, I can give it 7.5. Or may be 8. Because even with all the wonderful voice overs, animation and music, there is something missing in this movie. I cannot quite say what that “something” is. You see Kung Fu Panda, and then see Rio, animation and music-wise, Rio is superior. But somehow, Po is more likeable than Blu. Having said that, I am going to add Rio to my best animation movies. It is a must watch just for the animation and music, if nothing else. Ok Rio was the first city. For the next two, let us move to Spain.

When the WC semifinal between India and Pakistan happened, I had told that it cannot get bigger than that (Nobody cares about the other one anyway). Well.. I, sort of, lied. It does. It has a proper name too. It is called El Clasico. Two of the greatest football clubs in the history of the game play each other twice a year. And if luck allows (by luck I mean if Los Blancos get through) in Cope Del Ray or Champions league. It is the most watched club league match in the world. By this time you would have guessed what I am referring to. It is Football Club Barcelona versus Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, Blaugrana vs Galacticos, Cules vs Meringues, Spanish vs Catalan. You get the point. It is Barca vs Real.

I don’t want to be rude. So let me give you some intro about Real before I talk about my team. Although the football club started in 1897, Madrid FC came to life in 1902. In 1920, the King named it Royal (Real in Spanish) and added the crown as well to the emblem. It has always been supported by Royals and Rich. Even by Satan’s younger brother, General Franco. It is the most decorated club in the Spain, winning more trophies than anyone else. Why not. They had the money and they got the best players by shelling out more money. From De Stefano to Zidane to CRon, they were always able to spend enough to attract big names. FIFA called it the most successful club of the 20th century. Many call it the greatest club of the past century.

Coming to the current best club in the world, FC Barcelona. Now this introduction will be little longer. This is my favourite club and I’m very biased. I have been a Blaugrana follower since 1992. They played the first football match I saw. And they won it. It was the champions league (called Europeran Cup then) final. I loved the club then, I still do. Started in 1899, this club unified the Catalan supporters who saw it as a way to protest against the Royals. The feeling intensified during Rivera and Franco regime as they tried to thwart the Catalans. It did start very well and did give enough scares to Real. But by 1960, Barca had become weak. Enter Johann Cryuff in 73/74 and things looked better again. Although the team did not win many trophies, he helped the team’s morale. Johan Cryuff is a legend in Barcelona. He won the Catalan hearts when he said he preferred Barca to Real as he did not like Franco. The people adored him and they still do. He created wonders when he was a player and returned to form the winning team from ‘88 to ‘96. His tiki-taka did wonders then and still is successful. Even the Spanish national team followed it and won the world cup. Well, it had 7 Barca players which made it easier. Currently, he is the manager of the Catalan national team.

It was 2003 when the club showed intentions of being a world beater instead of just being a La Liga team. Frank Rijkaard changed the course of the club. He brought in Ronaldinho, the buck teethed champion. The Man could create miracles just by touching a football with his feet. Samuel Eto’o was powerful striker and when you add the emergence of Xavi and Iniesta and improved Puyol, people realized that this was no ordinary club. In 2008, the real revolution started. Former player Josep Guardiola took over. And Ronaldinho was let go along with Eto’o . Nobody bothered. Because God had decided that enough was enough and he wanted to play some ball too. Leo Messi had arrived. Xavi and Iniesta reached their prime too. The dreadful years for the opponents had begun. Apart from the loss to Internazionale in Champions league, the team never looked weak. Messi, time and again, made mockery of the defenders and keepers. It became a habit. My supporting of the team through thick and thin was paying off. Barca was humiliating every other team. Inculding Real Madrid.

Real currently is the second best team in Spain and looks like it will stay that way for a while. A great football team cannot be made by assembling great players together. It’s the team that matters. Having said that, I have to acknowledge that Real have a strong lineup. (I am including CRon as well). That’s what makes the Clasico interesting now a days.. Both teams and strong and both teams are winning matches (Barca more than Real.. and Real have not won a El clasico since May 2008). The tiki taka of Barca against powerplay of Real. It is the magician Messi against theatrical Ronaldo. Strong Puyol vs Mercurial Ozil. Brilliant Xavi and awesome Iniesta against.. well. No one.. There is no one in the world who can be compared. Sneijder and Bale in current form are the only names I can think of who come close.

For now, Barca are the better team. In past three years, they have not lost a single match against Real and have scored 5 goals or more twice. When you see how good a lineup Real has, you will realize the class. This month they will facing each other our times. El Clasico, Copa Del Rey finals and Champions Leagues Semifinals. It is going to be one hell of a time. Four times within a month? There will be lot of heart attacks around the world. There will be so many people spending their time glued to the TV or internet during these four days. I am going to be one of them. I am a cule and its cool. After all, Mes Que Un Club. Its more than a club.

Write to kill.. the time...

Past week saw an unprecedented statistic. I saw three new movies within a week. Two of them had my favourite stars and one of them was pretty bad albeit funny.

First one was Source Code. A time travel sci fi stuff. It was Jake Gyllenhall and Vera Farmiga. About a dead soldier whose partly functioning brain is used to track a train blast. Source code is the system which can be used to send the brain to cover last eight minutes of another person's body. Pretty cool, huh? Jake and Vera Farmiga have done a good job. The ending seems incredible but when you think about it, it does not make any sense. One cannot change the what has happened without any consequences. Here everything seems to have gone well. The loophole reminds you of Back To the Future movies. but whatever it is, it is worth a dekko.

Second one was Your Highness. A totally senseless and mindless movie. It has James Franco (who looks as interested in this movie as he was in Oscars) and Danny McBride as brothers. Zooey Deschanel, the very pretty and talented actress, has been limited to show cleavage and kiss Franco at every opportunity possible. Natalie Portman, the best actress of her generation so far, has it even worse. She is supposed to be a fighter who finally falls in love with, yes, McBride. She tries but is unable to save the movie from the disappointment that it is. There are far more cuss words and vulgar moments than needed. Even though It has some funny moments, its really not worth the money. Skip it. You can watch the trailer instead. That pretty much has all the good bits.

Third and final movie of the week turned out to be the best. Rango, the story of a lizard becoming the hero, is made of stuff everyone likes. (not THAT stuff... the story and acting I mean). Johnny Depp voices a pet lizard who accidentally reaches a desert town, aptly named Dirt (If you heard dirt and imagined Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston kissing, you are more mature than I thought). The lizard by few coincidences/luck and his loud mouth, becomes the town hero and sheriif. The town is facing acute water shortage and how Rango solves it while facing his inner turmoil is the story. Johnny Depp, can be forgiven now for making the Tourist. He carries this movie wonderfully well. Rest chip in. But this movie belongs to Depp. Even though it is an animated fixture, this is not just for the kids. It has intelligent humour and great fun to watch. Definitely worth the money.

In other news, Anna Hazare has ended his fast. Finally the lazy Government decided to wake up before the citizens spanked it like what Max Mosley got in his "films". It is a huge victory for the fight against corruption and it feels good as a citizen. Lets just hope it goes the right way. And Kapil Sibal, the charmer that he is, is claimed to have said that it is due to generosity by Soniaji madam and Mr Singh. I am not sure what he smokes but it may be pretty strong. But it doesn't matter. People have stopped taking him seriously anyway. First Diggi Raja, Now Sibal, where do they find these people anyway. Talking about such people, Yeddi has decided to give the World Cup winners 25 Lakhs instead of plots. All plots in Bangalore are pretty much the Yeddi/Katta property. I wonder what happened all of a sudden.

Also, IPL started. One excitement hardly over, another begins. Anyway, Kochi Tuskers Kerala played their first match in their Orange/purple Jersey (snigger...) and lost. KKR started their IPL campaign as expected by pretty much everyone. They lost. Kings XI and Delhi just bent over and let the other team do whatever they want. Is it getting interesting? It better be. The world cup just ended. If you don't want IPL to feel like an overdose, you better put up a pretty good show. The opening ceremony was not as spectacular as expected. Lalit Modi might have been laughing, like the Joker from that batman movie, watching the way it unfolded.


P.S: I have finally found the one. The car I mean. I was whining about lack of the cars few days back. Finally I found one. Its a 2004 Honda Civic LX Coupe. Silver.  (No smileys here. Just imagine the grinning me...  sporting sunglasses and a Dev Anand style cap. Yep. Cool..)

Other aliens.. In your face.. ha.

Aliens can never be the same again.. Move over ET.. The greatest creature from outer world has arrived.. Simon Pegg and Nick frost have taken the idea of cute n' sweet alien and then punched ET's face with it.. The smoking, drinking, trash talking alien Paul is here everyone.. The quirky English comedy works.. This has to be the funniest alien movie I have seen. By far..

Paul is actually the name of the dog which is killed when the alien spaceship crashes. The name sticks and the alien is christened Paul. He talks in English fluently and its not the science fiction brain fuzz thing which enables him.. He just does. Thats bloody brilliant. I was tired of all the directors trying to show that aliens are alien to the technology we use. Sure, he has super power like other aliens do in other movies. but he is not that odd creature who is uncomfortable around earthlings.. and he doesn't have weird robotic way of talking. He uses more cuss words than a mobster in a Scorsese movie.. And he doesn't say "take me to your leader". He is the brain behind most alien stories for 70 years.. and now He is trying to escape from the leader, "the big guy" who is infact Sigourney Weaver (who does know a thing or two about aliens.)

The English nerds Graeme and Clive (Pegg and Frost) help him escape and are supported by a conservative christian who is shown the truth and a covert agent (Kristen Wiig and Jason Bateman). After the adrenalin filled journey, its the happy endding. The simple yet unpredictable storyline is carried very well by the cast.You sometimes feel that Seth Rogen actually tries to takes over Paul and ruin it.. But thankfully he has failed..

Simon Pegg.. What do I say.. the man cannot do anything wrong, can he? Blood and ice cream trilogy (Shaun of the dead, Hot Fuzz, third movie yet to come.) is awesome but he just went one step ahead with Paul... With his best buddy Frost, he creates his weird yet lovable creature. The chemistry between the two (three if you include the green wacky dude..) is very interesting to see. Their teamwork and effort is sincere.. More sincere than a group of college boys trying to get some weed.

Im going to give five out of five, ten out of ten, an A+, two thumbs up.. Whatever way you can put it.. It is not a family oriented movie.. But you can leave your family behind, go have fun. Trust me, you will have fun.

Silence is golden

How many of you have seen a silent movie? Some of us may remember Kamal's Pushpak. But apart from that can you name any other movie?

I recently saw two silent movies. Back to back. I have to say I was moved by the talent. When expressing the feeling voice modulation plays a huge part. but without the voice can a movie really touch your heart? (I wish Akshay kumar never acted ina talkie movie but then I can simply mute him... Same goes with Himesh's songs.) The answer is yes. Two propaganda movies, two silent propaganda movies turned out to be two of the finest movies I have even seen.

The first one is "Battleship Potemkin" by the immensely talented Sergei Eisenstein. It was released in 1925. This is one helluva movie.I am proud to say that I own a copy.. It is about sailors on a battleship protesting against the way they are treated. They refuse to eat the poor quality of food being served. In this mutiny, their leader is killed. The people mourn his death. During the gathering, the tsarist soldiers massacre the citizens. Finally the soldiers who were ordered to bring the rebels to "justice" refuse. The soldiers cheer their victory. The movie had a very strong message against the tsar rule. The movie failed to attarct people but become critically acclaimed. It is said that Himmler was scared that his army may get influenced and banned the army from watching the movie, eventhough Goebbels adored it.

The second one is "Metropolis". Directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1927, it came under heavy criticism by movie critics. The film shows the evil of capitalism. It is a love story as well. Between a rich man's son and a worker lady. It also has the conflict between two friends turned enemies. Im not going to write the entire story. you can probably get it from Wikipedia. The movie is significant for the way it has been shot. The lightings seem weird for us who have seen movies liike Avatar and other fantasy movies. But do not in any case, stop watching it. A marvellous movie. Recently they have found a copy which has additional scenes> the copy has been restored, they say. I cannot wait for the day it gets released here.. If it gets released here. Else we always have internet.

Both the movies are marvellous. There hasn't been a 'top movies' list without these two. These were the pioneers who showed us that movie making can be a skillful art rather than just entertainment or in those days, achievement. Both are pre-1930 movies which, even after 80 years still mesmerize you. We should be thankful to the brilliance of the people who made them possible.

7 murders forgiven....

I had read wonderful reviews about the movie 7 Khoon Maaf.. So I decided to watch if its actually worth it.. but when I actually saw the movie, i realized that the reviews had not done justice to the movie.. It is haunting and brilliant.
I can now say that Indian moviemakers do match the hollywood in style. This has been the best movie I have seen since Black (Yes.. Im a sucker for Rani Mikherjee but lets all agree that the movie was a masterpiece from , the man who was once a class act, SLB.)
Now why am I rooting so much for it, you ask? Well. For one, the music is simply marvellous. Rekha Bharadwaj has got to be the best singer bollywood has seen since Lataji. Sorry ma Shreya. you are good but she is better.. ok? ok. Lets get back to the story. where was I.. yes. two songs stand out. Daarling and Bekaaran... And background music is marvellous im not even going to explain how marvellous it is.
Here's the story (SPOILER ALERT. If you wish to watch the movie, better skip the remaining part. blog ends here for you).
Piggy chops, with her luscious lips and long legs (oh yeah. she is pretty alright.....) is Susanne. A rich girl who is married to a major, Neil Nithin Mukhesh. The stable is managed by Goonga, a deaf mute.. He loses his leg during Operation Blue Star (yes.. the movie starts way back.). He is the typical jealous type bollywood pati.. You know who beats the crap out a lieutenant because he danced with PC etcetc. So one day the crazy major has a fight with Goonga and plonks an eye out.. so the Goonga, goonga and behra that he is, is now aadha andha too. So PC decides that her husband is crazy and the best thing to do.. Kill him. one down six to go.
She marries the singer John Abraham.. who besides cross dressing and stealing others songs, snorts drugs as well.. when police inspector Anu Kapoor catches a drug peddler and comes to PCs house for investigation, well.. the best thing to do. Kill him.. two down five to go.
She marries a Poet shayar Irfan Khan.. who romantic that he is, loves to beat/bite/whatnot his wife in bed.. well.. love hurts. literally. so the best thing to do. Kill him.. three down four to go
She marries a Rrussian smart guy.. who turns out to be a spy. Arun, the ex stable boy narrator, who has gone to Rrussia for higher studies thanks to the Rrussian sees the Rrussian with his wife and kids. well you know PC.. when the Rrussian comes back, she does the best thing to do. Kill him.. four down three to go.
the RRussian's murder becomes a big deal and guess who is the intelligence officer to investigate? its the deewana, mastana, parwana...Anu Kapoor.. To escape for arrest etc, she sleeps with him, making the cowboys proud. Anu, who I dont think ever got to do it with a pretty lass, comes back for more. so the best thing to do. Kill him.. five down two to go.
And now she is sad and tries to kill herslef.. the ever faithful butler gets the Bengali doctor Naseeruddin Shah (horrible Bengali accent btw..) . you know bollywood. Love happens.. and the doctor is actually broke and wants money.. he kills the butler for reasons I dunno.. In one of the finest scenes i hv seen in past few years, PC plays Russian Roulette with Naseer. Well.. starts with it at least... then she does the best thing to do. Kill him. Six done. last wicket..
well.. scared she tries to burn down the house and commit suicide.. Mausiji... (whenever saying suicide, i end it with Mausiji.... I blame Sholay.. . K coming back.. ) the maid (Usha Utthup in an excellent supporting role) dies and PC escapes. Every one thinks PC is dead... well turns out she is alive. in Pondicherry.. and finally becomes a nun. A cameo by Ruskin Bond here as the father.. (Not PC's father.. the priest father..). By committing herslef to chirst, seventh murder is complete.. Finally bollywood gives to India what the bleddy Cricket Team could never give.. reliable last man..

Well this is the gyst of the murders. I hv not done complete justice to the plot.. You would need to watch the movie to get full details anyway ( I dont hv patience to write the full script here..)

Priyanka Chopra is awesome as Susanne.. There are not many herione centric movies and she has utlized the opportunity. There are not many talented actresses out there. PC can fill the gap left by Madhuri, Kajol and Rani ( I include Rani since her last good movie was KANK. I hope she bounces back..). Like Natalie Portman winning all the hollywood awards for Black Swan, PC is going to sweep all the awards for this movie.

I have to admit that the movie is not perfect. Anu Kapoor doing it with PC has got to be the worst on screen make out in terms of the jodi. I have got a new addition to the worst things about bollywood (Topped currently by Ajay Devgan for his dance in Golmal series, and Akshay "huh huh huh" Kumar for his huh huh huh in.. every movie.. ). And why is John Abraham there? Dude can't act and there is nothing much for ladies (and some guys. I dont know your priorities.) either .

OK the post has run too long. Lets end it.. The first couple of lines are not true.. I actually wanted to watch Rango.. My room mate was too busy at the time, so settled for this movie instead.. Anyway.. A must watch. I'd give two thumbs up.. if anyone cares.

And dear PC.. Please get out of my head. Please. Thanks!