A little less Revolutionary Road..and more of The Reader please...

It would seem the Academy and the members of the jury were not impressed by what they saw in Revolutionary Road. That should explain why the movie was almost completely ignored in the final list of major nominations (save for the one category - best supporting actor for Michael Shannon). To be honest, I haven't watched Revolutionary Road, and I based my predictions off popular and positive reviews. Just goes to show there are no sure things when it comes to Oscars. Sally Hawkins, for instance, was strangely omitted, in spite of her dazzling performance in Happy Go Lucky. Director Christopher Nolan also found himself falling short despite creating one of the biggest movies of the year. Wall-E too, another victim.
If many(including yours truly) were led to believe that this could possibly be the year the Academy traversed off the beaten track and considered alternative motion pictures such as Wall-E or The Dark Knight or hopefully honor some of the creative forces behind these movies, they were sadly mistaken. Instead two movies in particular were showered with attention - Milk (which I haven't watched) and The Reader (which I have watched). The other nominations for best motion picture were as expected.

And having watched the Reader, I do have some reservations from it being proclaimed as one the top five 'best' movies of the year. Yes, it was effectively directed, had coherent storyline, decent performances, but best movie and best director? Really? The movie had a detached feel throughout. I personally could not empathize with any of the characters though the movie dealt with the aftermath of the holocaust and German guilt and all that. Both pertinent, powerful subjects those. But the movie strangely fails to capture the grief. I suppose that might have been the intention to begin with - portraying an emotional subject without actual emotion.
I was partly aroused but never moved. People who watched the movie would comprehend, but I suppose the members, and its their votes which really count in the final tally, got their emotions mixed up?

In any case, the exclusion of Revolutionary Road by the Academy threw my predictions off whack. I will discuss my predictions for the Oscar winners in a latter post.

Here is a link to the actual 2009: 81st Academy Award nominations -

http://www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=nominees

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A Desi State of Mind

Not really worth a post, but it gives me the opportunity to share the link to a wonderfully written piece in the guardian - about denial and empty criticism which so often most Indians display when it comes to the portrayal of India and all things Indian. Although its intended target maybe an old man seemingly out of touch with times and only interested in props on his much publicized daily blog, it serves a good rejoinder to all the arm-chair critics out there who feel threatened by what Slumdog Millionaire has to say.

A little background - Apparently Amitabh Bachchan in a recent blog post criticized the British movie Slumdog Millionaire, although when I went through his actual post, it was a little difficult to figure out what exactly is his beef with the movie? He talks about, and I para-phrase, how poverty, which he refers to as murky underbelly! exists in all developed nations and then goes about trying to defend Bollywood, escapist cinema, bemoaning the fact that, and these are his exact words -- "and not a word of appreciation for the entertaining mass oriented box office block busters that were being churned out from Mumbai. "

Here is the actual link to his blog piece - http://bigb.bigadda.com/page/4/ or look for his post on Day 265.

Now I'm no Freud, but it would seem our esteemed superstar of Bollywood has two possible grievances. First the depiction of extremely cruel living conditions for those living below the poverty line in India in the movie. This has no doubt irked and angered many so-called patriots and nationalists including Mr. Bachchan who also throws an additional gauntlet by claiming a similar movie about poverty in a developed country by an Indian director would not receive the same global acclaim as Slumdog Millionaire. An empty hypothesis until an Indian director takes up the challenge of such a subject.

With regards to poverty - Yes it exists openly in India. We've grown to live with it. We've grown accustomed to little kids holding little babies in their arms and begging for money in the midst of heavy traffic. Blind singers along pathways or the long line of disabled, elderly denizens outside of any place of worship are not an uncommon sight. Yet we do not wish to let the outside world see this. As if they will disappear if remain unseen. As if the rampant construction of shopping malls, high-rise buildings, coffee shops, and availability of big brand name products would hide the untold miseries of such a huge section of the population. Such a typical desi state of denial. The rapid growth of the Indian middle-class but without controlled consumer spending would result in a system where there is no spread of wealth. There is a general feeling in India that more people have more money. Although that may be true this is no way alleviates the levels of poverty.

For instance I make a monthly income of $100 after tax (if I chose to pay). I save $20 and spend $80. I spend $80 on consumer goods - for groceries, at a club, to watch a movie. My $80 provides revenue to the businesses which have provided the good or services which will bulk up their balance sheets and income statements. This in turn would make shareholders happy and they'd make money at the stock market. The businesses would maybe give bonuses, raises to their employees and resources in addition to monthly fixed salaries, and assuming I'm one such employee I now receive $110. Barring no change in my savings, the cycle continues. Now take my spending behavior and multiply by 100 million or so. The money exchanges between hands but there is only interaction between the middle-class consumer and the business. How does this cycle of income-spending-revenue-income help the person living on the street with no education and with hand-to-mouth existence? The only possible way I could make a difference is either by employing them for manual, household labor where I control the rates and presumably keep the pay levels on par with 1980.

Although this an extremely simplistic way of explaining the cycle of poverty without employing economic theories, it shows how, on the flip side, a burgeoning middle-class can play a giant role in concerted effort with big corporations and government bodies to utilize their new found riches towards helping the poor. By providing for education of the poor children, kids of slum-dwellers so they have a chance to be gainfully employed. The Government with its reservations and quotas can only do so much. Although I'm uncomfortable with the concept of reservations and quotas I feel its a sort of quick-fix way to help the down-trodden. But at some point the private sector and the general public will have to get involved. But.

For those who feel angered at the portrayal of Mumbai in Slumdog Millionaire, they are burning the wrong tree. They chose to bury the mirror rather than examine the reflection. I feel I have no logical argument with such folks. I'd simply tell them - 'India is the greatest country in the world' and leave it at that.

Secondly, and more personal to Mr.Bachchan, the fact that a British movie-maker came to Mumbai and made a movie about India, with a somewhat accurate depiction of life in the slums, and it becomes box-office gold worldwide and gets absolute global recognition and praise including a possible Oscar nod, while our beloved star has been toiling away for decades and his movies has failed to garner the kind of response Slumdog has received.
Although Amitabh Bachchan movies are popular in many parts of the world and there are many outside of India who appreciate staple Bollywood fare, one can feel there is a sort of new found appreciation and tolerance growing for Bollywood movies worldwide and especially here in the U.S.A, the fact of the matter is major institutions and film festivals like Cannes, Venice, Sundance, New York, Toronto simply have not recognized Bollywood formulaic products.
And here I'd like to point out the distinction between Bollywood and Indian Movies. The works of Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Adoor GopalaKrishnan, Gautam Ghose, Ritwik Ghatak, Aparna Sen, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, Kamal Haasan and a whole host of Indian directors, proponents of realism, have made their mark around the globe and been honored by above mentioned institutions and festivals.
So lets not give any credence to the argument that there is a sinister conspiracy to blatantly ignore Bollywood and Indian cinema from award ceremonies. We simply cannot expect all foreign viewers to appreciate and understand 'Bollywood' in its present form. Especially since Bollywood excels in the art to regurgitate. And I suppose this is the crux of Bachchan's grief. To us Indians he is a legend, a superstar, but he craves for similar sort of outpouring of love and affection from a wider, international audience and more whiter audience, a need for a hour-long standing ovations and cries of encore! Bravo! to boot. He is definitely popular in India, but it is this very same iconic status that makes him a curiosity piece in the west. But once we're done with all the hype and see the actual work, I gather most westerners would carry a more bemused look and wonder what the fuss is all about. If I were to look back at all Bachchan's work from the past 10 years, there would probably be only a handful of movies which I felt truly justify his iconic status. A quick glance through his IMDB profile revealed he had roughly 60 movies to his credit since 2000 (a little less since he guest starred in many movies) out of which probably only 9-10 were watchable. And if you really think about he did some of his best work 40 years ago - with Zanjeer, Sholay, Deewar, Abhimaan, Anand, Don, Kala Paathar et al and has been collecting royalty ever since. The 80's were a blur with mind-bogglingly inane movies like Mard, Coolie, Toofan, Ajooba, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and others. Suffice to say, most Indian movie-goers have endured his presence for a long time. One can only offer a word of caution to new age Superstars like ShahRukh Khan the self-pronounced Badshah of Bollywood, that once he seeks to attract a more western audience he'll discover his one-card trick routine will not be enough.

I'll pause here and take a breath. I guess I had something to say after all about what started off as a not so worthy post. Here is the link to the article on the guardian which I'd mentioned earlier -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/jan/15/danny-boyle-shows

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Oscars 2009

Its funny how sometimes you desperately look for 30 minutes or so to jot down some quick thoughts, in this case, the predictions for the 2009 Oscar nominations, and you simply can't find it, lost in a mountain of pressing needs. This has been one of those weekends. It can be immensely frustrating, as many may be well aware, to have all those words and wonderful thoughts to convey, and yet not be able to find the time of the day to pen them down.

Its been an interesting year with a good mix of pure drama coupled with serious entertainers. Dark Knight provided proof for one which combined both effectively.

So without further ado and flourishes here are my predictions of possible Oscar nominations which shall be announced within the next 5-6 hours. Definitely too close for comfort or to allow for any form of review, corrections etc.

Best Film -

1) Slumdog Millionare - Feel good, crowd favorite. Slumdog is top dog at the moment.
2) Frost/Nixon - well made ron howard special
3) Revolutionary Road - haven't seen. positive reviews
4) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - crowd pleaser, excellent direction
5) The Wrestler - Indie fav

* Will Oscar go against the grain and give Wall-E the nod? Dark Knight? We have to consider how the Academy will treat the two blockbusters of last year since that will have a big say in determining the major categories. Both these movies were beyond doubt the best movies of the year - critics and the folks loved it and it made plenty of money at the box office. So why aren't they automatic locks for the best picture category? What intangible standards, in the most likely scenario, have these two movies fail to meet? I think this should be a year the Academy decide to implement a sort of measure of public response to a certain movie, and merit the result of such measures while deciding the nominees.

Best Actor in a leading role -

1) Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon - Solid performance
2) Leo Di Caprio - Revolutionary Road - positive reviews
3) Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler - heartwrenching
4) Brad Pitt - The Curious case of Benjamin Button - On the button
5) Sean Penn - Milk - positive reviews

* Ignored by Oscar - Benicio Del Toro in Che, clint Eastwood in Gran Torino

Best Actress in a leading role -
1) Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting married
2) Angelina Jolie - Changeling
3) Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road - could be her year
4) Meryl Streep - Doubt
5) Sally Hawkins - Happy go Lucky - likely contender

*can't see too many surprises here. But will the academy overlook Meryl Streep which will pave way for Melissa Leo in the frozen river. I rather have Melissa Leo over Angelina Jolie.

Best Actor in a supporting role -
Very interesting category as always -

1) Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight - Lock to win
2) Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
3) Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
4) Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
5) Josh Brolin - Milk

* two supporting awards for tropic thunder? Eddie Marson for Happy go Lucky & Michael Sheen for Frost/Nixon? Both Brits, both possibly unlucky. Ralph Fiennes overrated in The Reader.

Best Actress in a supporting role -
1) Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2) Amy Adams - Doubt
3) Kate Winslet - The Reader
4) Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
5) Taraji.B.Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

* Viola Davis for Doubt maybe.

Best Director
1) Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
2) David Fincher -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road
4) Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
5) Darren Aronfosky - The Wrestler

* Honorable mentions - Stephen Daldry for The reader, Andrew Stanton for Wall-E, Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight

Tune in a few hours for the actual nominations-

Good Night

Nav

P.S. So it turns out the actual Oscar nominations are to be announced on the 22nd. And in hindsight some of my nominees would probably not have been picked if I hadn't been in a rush to publish before sunrise. I have this strange feeling Christopher Nolan will be nominated for best director. But I shall leave them un-touched for now.

2008 - The Movies

I saw some outstanding movies in 2008. This given the fact for the first time in my life, I seemed to have less time for myself than ever before, between all the long hours at work, time spent with my girlfriend (and not watching movies), and the time needed for the rest of the daily chores - eating, drinking, commuting, sleeping etc. You know you've got it all wrong when sleeping is considered a chore.

My girlfriend took some time to digest my almost maniacal obsession with movies. She's better now. And its funny when I show her a list of movies I intend to watch (filtering out the crap out there) and she adds her own preferences, say like, Sex and the City, Marley and Me, Prom Night and National Treasure etc. I find it cute. Although it sort of defeats the very purpose of me making a list. But its all in good humor though.

And since I have loads of time at the moment, here are all the movies I watched in 2008 (at least the ones I remember) and my quick take on those movies. It should be a considerably short list and I would never dream of attempting a similar exercise from any other year. Here goes -

1) Semi-Pro - Funny in parts. Will Farrell being Will Farrell. Though his act is getting a little repetitive.
2) The other Boleyn girl - Watched it for Scarlett Johansson and Natalie portman. Very disappointing. Large screen soap opera with costumes. Eric Bana did nothing else this year.
3) 10,000 BC - One of the worst movies of the year. Never trust trailers.
4) Bank Job - Entertaining, british, hip, ever reliable Jason Statham. And Hercule Poirot plays a bad guy.
5) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - A well made movie with excellent production values. Feel good story with a good heart and splendid performances by Frances Mcdormand and Amy Adams. Directed by British-Indian. Recommended watch.
6) Drill Bit Taylor - Funny but forgettable.
7) Run Fat boy Run - Star Simon Pegg and Thandie Newton. Sweet british comedy. Simon Pegg has good comic presence.
8) 21 - Half-baked plot based on best selling book which in turn was based on real life incidents. Intriguing for people who play blackJack. Boring for those who don't care enough.
9) Leatherheads - Another comedy which was interesting in parts. Captures the essence of the 20's-30's but do we really need to make this movie? If not for Clooney and Zellwegger, would have played on lifetime.
10) Street Kings - Keanu reeves plays racist, over-the-top tough cop in LA. Oscar winner Forest whitaker co-stars. Has some shock value but cliched storyline kills it. Mediocre.
11) Prom Night - Disturbingly stupid. The supposedly scary guy is a dude with a knife.
12) Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Definitely funnier than any of the comedy features discussed so far.Especially the dracula song was kinda hilarious yet sad. Definitely worth a watch.
13) Iron Man - Beginning of summer, and first real good movie of the year. Excellent storyline and Robert Downey Jr. makes a great superhero.
14) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull - Inane story line, boring action sequences, Spielberg's infuriating direction, framing all sequences in a bright, hazy mode - franchise killing episode. Hopefully we've seen the last of this series.
15)Kung-fu Panda - Really good fun. Entertaining. No grand storyline but keeps the kids happy.
16) Incredible Hulk - The second comic book hero coming to the big screen in 2008. Effective performance by Ed Norton. Keeps you engrossed in the story.
17) Love Guru - Idiotic. Amateurish. Mike Myers needs to work harder.
18) Get Smart - A much much better comedy starring Steve Carell. Maybe I'm more in tune with Carell's type of humor. Understated yet effective. I remember there were several sequences where I laughed out loud. Good watch.
19) WALL-E - One of the best movies of the year. Imaginative, persuasive, and compelling. Should win Oscar for best animation.
20) The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan takes batman up a notch and introduces a Shakespearean like setting with an amazing interplay of well-defined characters - a brooding, enigmatic, yet incorruptible hero, an idealistic good man who loses both his identity and his idealism, and pure devil of a villain who creates chaos for the sake of chaos; who ultimately have to confront each other and the city of Gotham caught in the crossfire. Fantastic, entertaining and a superlative effort. The godfather of all superhero movies. And Heath Ledger's final role. One of his most memorable.
21) Elegy - Saw it online (does that count?). Powerful performance by Sir Ben Kingsley proving he is one of the elite performers of our times. A thought-provoking movie.
22) Tropic Thunder - One of the best, over-the-top, yet cynical comedies of the year. Fantastic special appearance by Tom Cruise who rocks the show. A fantastic spoof of Hollywood. Directed by Ben Stiller.
22) Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Breezy, artsy with well written dialogue - Woody Allen having fun with some good looking actors and exploring the beauty of Spain. Invites us to indulge in this tale of rich, bohemian lifestyle.

23) Che: Part One - Steven Soderbergh's ode to iconic Che Guevara. Working in close collaboration with Benecio Del Toro who immerses himself into the role of the controversial legend. Part One jumps right into the midst of the Cuban revolution and Che's key role in bringing Fidel Castro to power. The movie is cramped with names, dates, places - history buffs would find this all extremely satisfying, but at the end of the day soderbergh does not have a clear definition of the scope of his project and thus the audience is overwhelmed with details and as a result fail to connect with the movie or have an emotional bond with Che. Who is he? How did he form his radical ideologies? Who is this man behind the myth? It feels like a history lesson with action sequences. The movie in fact begins with Soderbergh spending a good five minutes showing the map of Cuba which we promptly forget once the rubber hits the road so to speak. However Del Toro lives and breathes Che. Fantastic performance. Need to see Part II.

24) Body of Lies - People know I'm reluctant to watch Ridley scott movies since they always seem to be an exercise of his showmanship and unnecessary razzle-dazzle, a sort of cinematic masturbation if you may. His brother, Tony Scott, cranks it up even further, if it that were physically possible. I've walked out of movies such as Domino, Man on fire with splitting headaches. However, Ridley Scott has managed to present Body of Lies without too much gimmickry and depicting an engrossing, involving story. Strong performances by Leonardo Di Caprio and Russel Crowe.

25) Zack and Mirni make a Porno - Given all the hype this was probably one of the more disappointing comedies of the year. An interesting idea but un-inspiring script and a very weak third act left me restless and irritated.

26) Madagascar 2 - A simple, fun-filled movie with universal appeal. I found hard to resist its kiddish charm and old-fashioned tale of combining humor with moral.

27) Role Models - A surprisingly well made comedy. It had ample laughs, and at same time engaged us to care about all the characters on screen. Even if they did partake in a make-believe world of elves, goblins and monsters.

28) Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle's exhilarating, visual threat (in all ways Ridley Scott can never possibly achieve) A tale of dickens-ian proportions, with dark, disturbing places but an ultimately feel good ending. Right from the start, the director weaves a story of chance, fate and destiny with a never die spirit exhibited by the young protagonists in a cruel, cruel world. Excellent cinematography and editing to boot alongside an often pulse-pounding soundtrack by A R Rahman.

29) Quantum of Solace - One of the worst James bond movie of all times. An Un-inspired effort. A wimp of a villain, no gadgets, no wit, no charm, and clumsy direction.

30) Transporter 3 - Eh. They should stopped at Transporter I. For all the good things Jason Statham does in this movie, he ought to look to widen his portfolio a bit.

31) Frost/Nixon - a compelling watch. Draws you in and doesn't let go. Fantastic performances by Frank Langella who is sure to get a Oscar nomination this time around. One of the top ten movies of the year.

32) The reader - This was unusual movie. I suppose it was designed to be provocative in more ways than one, and draw some sort of emotional response as it proceeds, but it left me more cold than I'd expected. Ralph Fiennes is commendable. Kate Winslet gets under the skin of the character and gives a nuanced performance.

33) Tale of Despereaux - Boring. A convoluted plot with annoying voice over narration.

34) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - When I was watching this movie I felt I was seeing something special. It proceeded at a languid pace, and I enjoyed the sense of tranquility about it. A movie of a man growing younger as the world grows older. It was all magical and meditative. Great work by David Fincher and Brad Pitt was born for this role. But after careful consideration, the skeleton of this movie was all too similar with Forrest Gump. But still a great movie nevertheless and should be get several Oscar Nods.

35) Transsiberian - This is one hell of a good movie. It puts us into the shoes of the female lead and then as the movie unravels it has us backing into a corner, we frantically look to escape, and another door closes shut trapping us in a dark,unfriendly place . Excellent story. Terrific performances. Sir Ben Kingsley is on top of his game this year (save the dreadful performance in Love Guru).

Movie yet to watch or which I missed out on

1) Revolutionary Road
2) The Wrestler
3) Valkyrie
4) Doubt
5) Che II
6) W
7) Happy go Lucky
8)Rachel Getting Married
9) Blindness
10) Miracle at St.Anna
11) Burn after reading
12) The Traitor
13) Milk
14) The Pineapple Express
15) X-files: I want to believe
16) You dont mess with the Zohan
17) Redbelt
18) Let the right one in
19) Gran Torino
20) In Bruges
21) I've loved you so long
22) Tell No One
23) The Last Mistress
24) Synecdoche, New York

If I were to select the 10 best movies of 2008 (those I've watched) they would be as follows -

1) Dark Knight
2) Wall-E
3) Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4) Slumdog Millionaire
5) Frost/Nixon
6) Elegy
7) The Reader
8) Transsiberrian
9) Iron Man
10) Body of Lies

This may change the moment I watch Revolutionary road, doubt and any of the other movies on my watch list. In fact I'm quite certain it will.

Nav

03/16/2010 Update: The underlined movies have been watched.

1) Revolutionary Road
2) The Wrestler
3) Valkyrie
4) Doubt
5) Che II
6) W
7) Happy go Lucky
8)Rachel Getting Married
9) Blindness
10) Miracle at St.Anna
11) Burn after reading
12) The Traitor
13) Milk
14) The Pineapple Express
15) X-files: I want to believe
16) You dont mess with the Zohan
17) Redbelt
18) Let the right one in
19) Gran Torino
20) In Bruges
21) I've loved you so long
22) Tell No One
23) The Last Mistress
24) Synecdoche, New York

A winter anew

Its been a while. I have failed to fulfill my promise (to myself) to devote some time towards writing and maintaining this blog -this closet of reflections and random musings. Time flies. It really does. So many things go unnoticed, pass by, not given our due attention and appreciation as we hustle with our daily routines, artificial deadlines and decidedly mundane lives. And before we realize, we see a strange face staring back at us in the mirror.

Life is what happens, when we're busy making other plans - John Lennon

Life become predictable. The young see possibilities, the not so young see inevitability. The slow decline. Partying (clubbing) and all hedonism which accompanies it seems pointless after a while. Is this the curse of wisdom and aging? We're no longer capable of finding pleasure as easily as we could earlier. Why? Flirting with a beautiful woman was fun, made me feel alive. Now I don't bother. What's the point of these momentary pleasantries I ask myself? A short ego-trip, to convince ourselves we have still have power to impress and charm, but in the back of my mind I know this path will lead to nowhere. And there in lies the dilemma my friends. Somewhere somehow, our minds are trained to focus on the end results rather than enjoying the path, the actual journey. And I use the word end result in its most basic meaning.

We humans are mortals. Our lives are our path, our journey. Death is the end result.

We need to appreciate the things we don't notice. And also the things we choose not to notice.

If we were examine humanity as a whole, then economics preaches the Law of Diminishing returns. But we couldn't possibly chalk up the reason for human discontent to one big Law of Diminishing returns. That would be too boring an explanation. Too easy. No, no we humans seek far grander, complex answers. We often see our lives as riddles meant to be solved. What is the meaning of life? Who am I? Why am I here? Am I a good person? Is my life going the way it should be? So on and forth. But there are no rules to our puzzle solving nor any levels. We determine the level of difficulty of our riddles. The older we grow, the more difficult we make it, skewered by our personal experiences, knowledge & belief systems. The truth is far too often simple and boring. We need to learn to accept that. A murder mystery with a simple finish would do just fine at age 10. Would never do at age 30.

I don't claim to know the answers to any of these questions and a million others. Just observations. I am after all just beginning to appreciate my journey and the long bumpy ride ahead.

Nav

A new year (2009)

Many events have happened this past year. Some historical, others personal. Let me try to jot down some of the key events as I remember them and try to offer some perspective -


SPORTS -

Football
NY Giants won the Superbowl XLII. Funny it should be right at the top of my recap. Highlight of the year I suppose. There is no greater joy as when the team you root for and support religiously goes against all odds and beats a superior team (New England Patriots, who were 17-0 and playing for a place in the record books). All the disappointments from the past are washed away. And we quietly move on to our next moment of glory. Await the next triumph. NY Giants are in the playoffs this year. Although the Eagles of this year remind me a whole lot of Giants of last year...

And that's human nature for you. We always crave for more. Bigger, better things. That's why we build taller building, faster cars and reach for the stars instead of living in a mere cave. Boston Red Sox fans waited 86 years before winning a world series title. Now they expect to win one every year. Greed. Can't think of a better word to describe the condition. But greed has such negative connotations. Isn't greed necessary for the survival of humankind? For our eternal evolution and natural progress in life? I often feel the words 'need' and 'greed' can be used synonymously. The need to be taller, more good-looking, more skinnier, more faster, brainier, more rich et al. Our perceived success or progress is largely influenced by our needs.


Anyway back to sports. I'd written a lengthy essay in one of my posts below complaining how every team I'd supported or truly expected to win had either come close and lost or were thoroughly beaten. With the NY Giants Superbowl win, ladies and gents, you shan't hear me complain no more!

Cricket
Indian cricket team did reasonably well this year. They pushed themselves well throughout the year and climbed up the world rankings and are now looking a real competitive No.2 or No.3 test squad. In India and abroad. The tour to Australia was all one could expect. All controversies aside, the cricket was beautiful and exciting. But I'm sure all the trouble off-field helped make the contest more intense. I could never understand why some people detest test match cricket. Some call it boring. And here I'm referring to people who actually understand the nuances of the game as opposed to un-initiated. Anybody who watched any of the three test matches at Sydney, Perth and Adelaide between India and Australia can attest that when it comes providing pure thrill and tension, there is no better sport than test cricket. The one hour in the last day of the Perth test, the duel between young Ishant Sharma and Australian captain Ricky Ponting culminating with Ponting's dismissal which eventually turned the match in India's favor shall forever be etched in my memory.Again we live in a world where time is of the essence. We seek the thrills, the excitement and passion of sport, but all neatly packaged and with a time limit. Like sex without the seduction & foreplay. One can't be bothered with all that when time is of the essence. Instant gratification.


Indian cricket team carried on the good form shown in the test matches into the ODI's and won a dramatic finale against Australia 2-0. 2008 marked the last time Australia would host the standard triangular series (known as world series cricket) in its present format. Australia lost its last two world series titles to England (2007) and India (2008). A semi-tragic end to a competition dominated by Australia right from its inception in the mid-80's.

The cricketing world took notice of India's challenge to Australia's throne. Australia no longer seem to possess the aura of invincibility as they go through a period of transition. They had no answers to any of the questions asked by the Indian team when they toured India in October 08. They lost the four test match series 2-0. They appeared susceptible to disciplined swing and pace bowling coupled with aggressive batting. India showed plenty of both with a steady stream of young bowlers - Ishant Sharma (consistent fast bowler who is proving to be one of the best in the world at the moment), Pavan Kumar (good swing bowler who destroyed Australia twice in the world series finals), Amit Mishra ( hardworking legspinner who has the un-enviable task of replacing the legspinning giant - Anil Kumble), Piyush Chawla (another leggie who showed maturity in Australia), Batters - Rohit Sharma (classy, elegant batter who will surely fill a test spot soon), Robin Uttappa (aggressive opening hitter), Gautam Gambhir (emerged as one of India's best opening hitters alongside V.Sehwag) amongst others. Never before has there been such a rich pool of talent surrounding the Indian cricket team, each jostling for a place in the final XI. Only good things can come from this. V.Sehwag took his game to a whole new level as did veteran fast bowler Zaheer Khan who continues to spearhead this young Indian pace attack. Zaheer Khan and Ishant worked well together to form a threatening pace combination. R.P. Singh, Sreesanth & Munaf Patel proved to be more than adequate second string pace bowlers when required. The Indian team has a good rotation of pace bowlers and new head coach Gary Kirsten should ensure they are all properly utilized.

Both Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh had a considerably good year but were inconsistent. Sachin Tendulkar crossed 12K run and became the highest run-scorer in test cricket.Indian cricket seems to have hit a rich vein of form and this should bode well for new skipper M.S. Dhoni who has impressed all with his cool-headed yet creative leadership. The only sour point was the disappointing form of Rahul Dravid, revealing the effect of age and time on a champion cricketer. I hope we haven't seen the best of Dravid yet.

Of the famous five, Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired at the end of Australia tour of India. It seems like only yesterday I watched Ganguly make his test debut at Lords and become one of India's premier batsmen and captain. If not the best Indian captain yet.


Baseball
Yankees did not make it to the playoffs for the first time after 13 consecutive years. It also marked the last time Yankees would play in the house that Ruth built. The Yankees have built a brand spanking new stadium right across the old one. The old Yankees stadium may be torn down or re-modelled in some way. It was a pretty low-key year for the Yankees. It never looked like they could make it into the play-offs. Pity they couldn't send off the old stadium in a better fashion. After all the stadium has seen much grander days. Also marked the last days in Yankees uniform for Giambi, Abreu, Mussina (retd), Pavano (Ef'ing good riddance), I.Rodriguez (amongst others).
Towards the end of the year, Yankees went on a spending splurge in an attempt to fix their broken pitching rotation by acquiring - CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and also bagged switch-hitting batter - Mark Texeira. Total price tag $400 m +. By doing so they have incurred the wrath of many who struggle in these tough economic times and no doubt there is talk around baseball circles as to the impending ticket prices at the new stadium. Good luck to them.


Fantasy baseball & Football

Fantasy baseball and football is the best. I tried a hand at fantasy baseball in summer of '08 and was quickly addicted. Football too. I know some day it'll no longer be as addictive or exciting. I pray that day never comes.


Olympics

Came and went by too quickly. Probably one of the most popular in terms of viewership as billions tuned into watch Michael Phelps go for the record 8 gold medals in Beijing, including my dad and me. It was unbelievable and for once an athlete matched all the expectations and hype. His dominance in the pool is unquestionable. But my personal superstar of the event was Jamaica's Usain Bolt who just seemed unbeatable and by a distance. His arrogance (or confidence?) was justifiable. Its the sort of self-confidence in your abilities, that no matter who or what you come up against, you know you can win. His brash bring-it-on approach was good counter-balance to Phelps perhaps quiet & good natured personality. Excellent coverage by Bob Costas and gang over at NBC. It was thoroughly enjoyable viewing.


POLITICS

America shall remember the day Barack Obama became president elect of the United States of America. It was a historic and monumental day. Being a resident of DC during that time, one could easily discern the excitement in the air. I'd been following Obama right through the primaries, his first televised debate, his battle with fellow potential democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and his showdown with John Mcain and of course lest one forget - Sarah Palin and all the drama she brought along with her. In hindsight did John Mcain ever have a chance? Would America really tolerate another 4 years of republican goverance and policies? America answered decisively and it was an emphatic win for Obama, sweeping through most if not all the key swing states. Now we'll see how effectively he can deal with the various complex issues facing our nation.

ECONOMY/BUSINESS

It was a whirlwind year. The year the economy was declared to be in a recession. An official recession. Bail-out was the buzzword of the year. Market tanked record points on a regular basis. It was as if they were daring the government to not go through with their bail-out plans. Gas prices shot up to all time high before coming down to pre 2003 prices. The greed and mismanagement of the past changed the face of Wall Street as we know it. Iconic establishments like Lehman Bros, Bears Stern collapsed. Merill Lynch and Wachovia were bought over. Mortgage companies fell in droves. Banks shut down shop like it was 1929. Big players such as Citigroup, UBS, AIG fell to their knees and are still trying to recover. The days of total freedom enjoyed by the privileged few are now over and they will have to bear the full scrutiny of the American government and people. At least for time being. People soon forget and things will be back to normal. The CEO's of the american auto-industry, who are in their last legs, flew in their corporate jets to Washington, stood in front of Congress and basically asked for a lot of money to save their companies. They were rightly admonished and sent back to detroit with their tails between the legs. They returned in fuel-efficient hybrid cars and asked for more. But balked when asked if they would work for $1 salary for the entire year. Why should these companies be saved in the first place? They are perfectly bad business models. Bad business models which have failed. They produce extravagant cars supposedly tailored to an audience who have long foregone luxury for efficiency and as a result have embraced Japanese and European models.

And as if a slap on the face, the porn industry demanded a $6 billion bail-out in the face of economic recession. All in good humor (I hope). It truly highlights the hypocrisy of our times. We are the champions of Capitalism and free markets. But when the shit hits the roof, we have no qualms of running to big brother and asking for protection.

To sum it up was best of times. It was the worst of times.